Games #6 & #7 - Looking ahead to Savannah: Kent State (Friday) & UNCW (Saturday)

[govalpogo]

Paul Oren notes that the point spread over the 4 common opponents was +73 for both Loyola and Valpo.  Both teams are taking care of business.  Every game is its own experience, so it's not a great indicator to look at other scores to figure out what's going to happen.

7-0 looks pretty sweet.  I would be disappointed with anything less, but it is no small task to win every game that you are supposed to win.  Teams get hot, you can have an off night, other variables can mess with things, etc.  That's why I went conservative with my 6-2 prediction.  Won't settle for anything less than 8-0 at this point!  Go Valpo!

[VU2014]

Evelyn shines as Valparaiso remains undefeated
Paul Oren Times Correspondent

Joe Burton's shots weren't falling. Markus Golder's dunks weren't flushing. Valparaiso's offense wasn't functioning.

Leave it to Nebraska transfer Bakari Evelyn to save the day for the still-undefeated Crusaders with a performance for the ages.

Evelyn had a career-high 30 points and eight rebounds as the Crusaders came from behind to beat UNC-Wilmington 79-70 in the finale of the Savannah Invitational on Saturday night.

............ http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/evelyn-shines-as-valparaiso-remains-undefeated/article_8e7b9493-36fa-576d-b5c6-774fc87ccbad.html

[vu84v2]

Does our performance in Savannah serve as a decent barometer of how we compare to Loyola at this point in the season? Loyola had no trouble with UNCW and their win margin vs. Kent was pretty convincing. We had to work harder for our two wins.

One must take great caution when considering the use of the associative property of performance.

[VU2014]

UNCW beat reporter did a live chat breaking down the UNCW vs Valpo game in facebook video: https://www.facebook.com/StarNewsUNCW/videos/vb.239401229249/10155983250299250/?type=2&theater

-He referenced the spirited conversation Coach Lottich had with officials at the beginning of halftime as being pivotal
-mentions both Valpo and Loyola are postseason teams
https://twitter.com/AlexRileySN/status/934625924372422656

A quick breakdown video by UNCW's local newspaper (a nice clip of the uncw coach's post-game thoughts but the live-chat facebook video is much more informative breakdown):
https://twitter.com/AlexRileySN/status/934649458838552581

[bbtds]

It seems the UNCW reporters and the officials of the Invitational tournament in Savannah had no Loyolality toward the team from Rogers Park.

[agibson]

It seems the UNCW reporters and the officials of the Invitational tournament in Savannah had no Loyolality toward the team from Rogers Park.

On site the awards were very quick and only Valpo was on the floor. They announced Tevonn's award, but not clearly (there was speculation among the fans that it might have been defensive POTT).

Bakari and Valpo were announced as MVP/champs, no co-.

[agibson]

I was traveling while the game was on.  Does anyone know if and where I could find a replay of this game?  Sounds like Bakari had a career game.

Special request to WVUR? There's no public archive that I know of.

At the game, it was clear that Bakari was having a monster game. And doing a lot of it by himself, scoring wise. It was clear (second half only) that Tevonn and Bakari were getting to the line and converting (probably at least four of Tevonn's were in garbage time). It felt like 8-5 in the first half. At no point did I say "Huh, it feels like we only have a few assists." I've not checked the numbers, but in both games, and maybe it's our first offensive instinct this year, it felt like we were often trying to get to the basket.

[SanityLost17]

The difference between Loyola and Valpo is that this is supposed to be the best Loyola team in 20 or 30 years.  Supposed to be a rebuilding year for us.  SOS has been weak.  I would be happy going .500 the rest of the non-con season.  Lots of road tests coming up. 

[VULB#62]

Our SOS or theirs? Or both?

[UNIFTW]

Our SOS or theirs? Or both?

One of you is at 310, the other 319 out of 351. You pick.


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[justducky]

Our SOS or theirs? Or both?

One of you is at 310, the other 319 out of 351. You pick.


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Warren Nolen has us at 264 and Loyola at 324 but that isn't much better.

I would be happy going .500 the rest of the non-con season.  Lots of road tests coming up. 

@ Ball St, @Purdue, @Nothwestern, and @ Santa Clara and Riverside.  The only home game vs MWC Utah St. Anything between 5-1 and 2-4 is possible. We will soon know how dangerous Lottich and his new team are.

[VUGrad1314]

I'd say 6-0 is possible. Neither of our P5 opponents looks unbeatable. In fact, they've both had significant stretches of vulnerability. I wouldn't put it past Valpo to be able to spring an upset or two.

[valpotx]

Our SOS or theirs? Or both?

One of you is at 310, the other 319 out of 351. You pick.


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Samford was supposed to be at the top of their conference (injuries), while Kent State and UNCW are coming off NCAA bids.  You can't fault the scheduling when we expected these to be 3 solid mid-major games, heading into Purdue, Ball State, and Northwestern.  I very much look forward to playing against UNI in a few weeks . 

[VU2014]

Our SOS or theirs? Or both?

One of you is at 310, the other 319 out of 351. You pick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We scheduled our toughest Non-Conference opponents during the month of December. Both the non-d1s don't affect the rpi either. We need tune-up games for this team.

Talk to me about the SOS after December 17.

[justducky]

Our SOS or theirs? Or both?

One of you is at 310, the other 319 out of 351. You pick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Samford was supposed to be at the top of their conference (injuries), while Kent State and UNCW are coming off NCAA bids.  You can't fault the scheduling when we expected these to be 3 solid mid-major games, heading into Purdue, Ball State, and Northwestern.  I very much look forward to playing against UNI in a few weeks . 

Another slight hit to our SOS was the schedule shift that prevented us from meeting Loyola (now #89) for the championship game. I am already looking forward to both of these matchups.

[valpo4life]

I'd say 6-0 is possible. Neither of our P5 opponents looks unbeatable. In fact, they've both had significant stretches of vulnerability. I wouldn't put it past Valpo to be able to spring an upset or two.

Eh I don't think we will be beating Purdue, especially in Mackey. Sure they lost two games in Atlantis, but KenPom still has them at 13 and it was played in a ballroom. Only harder place to play would be an air craft carrier. I think we will be able to give Northwestern all they want and come away with a win. But at Purdue you can count me out on

[talksalot]

I posted this elsewhere... but I'll stick it here too, since you asked... this is from WarrenNolan's RPI as of 8pm central time
   SOS   RPI
BRADLEY   23   23
ILLINOIS STATE   50   129
NORTHERN IOWA   99   52
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS   115   105
EVANSVILLE   154   73
MISSOURI STATE   167   132
DRAKE   222   135
INDIANA STATE   226   130
VALPO   244   61
LOYOLA   301   91

[valpopal]

I'd say 6-0 is possible. Neither of our P5 opponents looks unbeatable. In fact, they've both had significant stretches of vulnerability. I wouldn't put it past Valpo to be able to spring an upset or two.

Eh I don't think we will be beating Purdue, especially in Mackey. Sure they lost two games in Atlantis, but KenPom still has them at 13 and it was played in a ballroom. Only harder place to play would be an air craft carrier. I think we will be able to give Northwestern all they want and come away with a win. But at Purdue you can count me out on

I question how much Valpo will be able to give at Northwestern. The Northwestern game is during final exam week, and I wonder whether that distraction will influence players' availability for practice and preparation as well as their state of mind. (I thought Valpo had a policy of not scheduling games during final exams.)

[VUGrad1314]

I'd say 6-0 is possible. Neither of our P5 opponents looks unbeatable. In fact, they've both had significant stretches of vulnerability. I wouldn't put it past Valpo to be able to spring an upset or two.

Eh I don't think we will be beating Purdue, especially in Mackey. Sure they lost two games in Atlantis, but KenPom still has them at 13 and it was played in a ballroom. Only harder place to play would be an air craft carrier. I think we will be able to give Northwestern all they want and come away with a win. But at Purdue you can count me out on

There's a huge difference between Valpo's schedule between now and then and Purdue's once Valpo plays Utah State we've got nothing left to do but spend the next nine days preparing for Purdue Meanwhile Purdue will have started Conference play and has to worry about Maryland and Northwestern on 12/1 and 12/3 respectively. This means that Purdue won't be turning it's full attention to us until 12/4 leaving them just four days to prepare. We've got twice as much time to study them. That's got to work to our advantage. I'm not saying we'll win but I wouldn't be totally floored if we did

[VUGrad1314]

On Northwester: Same deal as Purdue they've got two Conference games AND a game against Chicago State to prepare for between the end of action tomorrow and their game with us as well as a date with the Blue Demons two days after they play us Are you sure we won't catch them looking ahead to their (basically) inter-city rivals from the higher profile conference? I'm telling you these games will be tough and we shouldn't necessarily be expecting to win them but they are much more winnable than a lot of you are letting on.

[bbtds]

Eh I don't think we will be beating Purdue, especially in Mackey. Sure they lost two games in Atlantis, but KenPom still has them at 13 and it was played in a ballroom. Only harder place to play would be an air craft carrier. I think we will be able to give Northwestern all they want and come away with a win. But at Purdue you can count me out on

Purdue's opponent played in a ballroom too? Why is it harder for Purdue to win in a ballroom and not their opponent?

[bbtds]

I question how much Valpo will be able to give at Northwestern. The Northwestern game is during final exam week, and I wonder whether that distraction will influence players' availability for practice and preparation as well as their state of mind. (I thought Valpo had a policy of not scheduling games during final exams.)

The Northwestern players have to go to class too and has exams that they must prepare for. Why is it that these things only effect one of the teams playing. We sure do like to come up with excuses for our team not playing well way ahead of their tough games.

[valpopal]

I question how much Valpo will be able to give at Northwestern. The Northwestern game is during final exam week, and I wonder whether that distraction will influence players' availability for practice and preparation as well as their state of mind. (I thought Valpo had a policy of not scheduling games during final exams.)

The Northwestern players have to go to class too and has exams that they must prepare for. Why is it that these things only effect one of the teams playing. We sure do like to come up with excuses for our team not playing well way ahead of their tough games.

I was not comparing the difficulties during final exam week with other teams but with VU game preparation at other times of the season. I believe this is one reason Valpo used to have a policy of not playing any games during final exams. As for Northwestern: no, they will not be going to class or taking exams. They will be on winter break with their fall semester (including final exams) finished a week before the game with Valpo takes place.