Game #10 - Ball State @ Worthen Arena Muncie, Saturday, Dec. 9, 1pm ESPN3

[FieldGoodie05]

Matt confirms it is mono.

Talk of a red shirt for 24 year old Tevonn.

The adversity this program has experienced in the last two years is crazy.

Is the talk just from Paul Oren throwing out a concept or are the coaches mentioning this?

[VULB#62]

Matt confirms it is mono.

Talk of a red shirt for 24 year old Tevonn.

The adversity this program has experienced in the last two years is crazy.

Is the talk just from Paul Oren throwing out a concept or are the coaches mentioning this?

Fact. Go to Oren's twitter. I would have pasted it but couldn't.

[FieldGoodie05]

Matt confirms it is mono.

Talk of a red shirt for 24 year old Tevonn.

The adversity this program has experienced in the last two years is crazy.

Is the talk just from Paul Oren throwing out a concept or are the coaches mentioning this?

Fact. Go to Oren's twitter. I would have pasted it but couldn't.

It's just talk from PO at the moment.

[wh]

Clearly, we need another option at the 4. I would like to see Linssen get some minutes there and see what he can do. He is more D-1 ready at this stage than Parker and Mileek. He is more poised, more aggressive and makes good things happen nearly every time he gets in the game. Plus, he will never be satisfied playing third fiddle at the 5 behind J and Derrik for 3 of his 4 years.

[VUSL98]

I will admit that I don't understand the finer points of the game, but is it possible that to some degree the number of turnovers this team commits is related to the number of passes?  What I mean to point out is that we don't have an offensive threat (especially without Tevonn) like we did with Alec Peters.  Someone who creates a play right off of a pass.  Seems like everyone is waiting for someone else to create a play and therefore passes the ball off, resulting in a greater likelihood of a turnover.  Is there such thing as a pass to turnover ratio?

[valpotx]

Tevonn shouldn't redshirt.  He will play professionally, and if he is 24, he needs to get his pro career started.

[VULB#62]

Matt confirms it is mono.

Talk of a red shirt for 24 year old Tevonn.

The adversity this program has experienced in the last two years is crazy.

Is the talk just from Paul Oren throwing out a concept or are the coaches mentioning this?

Fact. Go to Oren's twitter. I would have pasted it but couldn't.

It's just talk from PO at the moment.

Knowing Paul and his lack journalistic integrity        this is obviously fake news and Oz is complicit.  C'mon, man.

[tweet]939614426910658560[/tweet]

[tweet]939615548333322241[/tweet]

[tweet]939615204115144704[/tweet]

[valpopal]

Matt confirms it is mono.

Talk of a red shirt for 24 year old Tevonn.

The adversity this program has experienced in the last two years is crazy.

Is the talk just from Paul Oren throwing out a concept or are the coaches mentioning this?

Fact. Go to Oren's twitter. I would have pasted it but couldn't.

It's just talk from PO at the moment.

Oren was speculating, and so am I. Oren wrote that the odds were against Tevonn redshirting, and I agree right now. However, if the doctors diagnose him with a condition that would require two to three months before coming back at anywhere near full strength, then I would be in favor of the move. In that scenario, Tevonn will not be much help to the team in the majority of conference play, and only might be ready to play effectively by tournament time.


But if he redshirts, he comes back at full strength next year with a seasoned team that only loses Max Joseph to graduation and replaces him with Freeman-Liberty. Tevonn becomes the player who fills the final scholarship being held, and you're not going to find a better candidate. I believe Valpo becomes the favorite to win the Missouri Valley. Finally, Tevonn increases his future financial situation and chances of playing professionally on a good team if he has a great final season.


Importantly, this is 100% speculation since the decision would depend upon analysis by medical doctors, and I don't even play one on television. Hopefully, on the other hand Tevonn's health improves quickly and he comes back strong in time for conference play this season.

[VULB#62]

According to Paul, Tevonn has played in 29% of this year's games.  To redshirt you must play in less than 30%.  He's right at the tipping point.  Paul's string on Twitter is pretty long (so I didn't paste it).  Go to it for his speculation. 

Oh, then you have to apply to the NCAA.  We know how that works 

[usc4valpo]

Suppose Tevonn redshirts. He may also have his degree in 4 years, and ... yep off to a Power conference school for his last year. Sorry, but ...

[bbtds]

Is this El-Amin related to the former NBA El-Amin?

Yes.....Came from some HS in Minnesota.

Minnetonka Hopkins in the Twin Cities area. That is the same HS that Jared Nunes was an asst coach.

[wh]

I sense another Jubril cluster fxxx in Valpo's future:

The compliance office files  a "mono" hardship waiver request. Weeks turn into months waiting for a decision from the NCAA. Finally sometime in May we hear back - denied! Sometime after the fact, we learn that Tevonn was well enough to play the last 6 games of the regular season and the Tournament, but the Valpo braintrust decided to stay the course on the waiver thing because the university's ever capable compliance office told ml that getting a waiver approved should be a slam dunk.

The end result - Valpo loses in the 1st round of the tournament and Tevonn's final year and hopes for the future are destroyed. Oh, and in an unrelated but related matter, we learn after the fact that we Maintained our tradition of the past 2 seasons of not practicing on the tournament court prior to scoring 13 points in the first half of our tourney loss because we were offended by the time we were given. Last, but not least, we later learn that we lost a home run recruit we could have had because we were holding the last 2018 scholarship open for Tevonn.

[talksalot]

only loses Max Joseph to graduation and replaces him with Freeman-Liberty.

... and Ryan Fazekas...

[vu72]

Is this El-Amin related to the former NBA El-Amin?

Yes.....Came from some HS in Minnesota.

Minnetonka Hopkins in the Twin Cities area. That is the same HS that Jared Nunes was an asst coach.

Wrong on a couple of points. El Amin went to North High School and graduated the same year as Jared Nuness who played at Minnetonka and was the Star-Tribune Player of the Year.

[vu72]

I will admit that I don't understand the finer points of the game, but is it possible that to some degree the number of turnovers this team commits is related to the number of passes?  What I mean to point out is that we don't have an offensive threat (especially without Tevonn) like we did with Alec Peters.  Someone who creates a play right off of a pass. Seems like everyone is waiting for someone else to create a play and therefore passes the ball off, resulting in a greater likelihood of a turnover.  Is there such thing as a pass to turnover ratio?

[/b]

A fair point.  Clearly it was Tevonn's team both from a talent standpoint and Senior standpoint.  Paul Oren has wondered why Joe Burton hasn't been the number one option and I think you hit on the reason.  Joe and Bakari et al, were deferring to Tevonn.  I think that will clarify itself as we move along without Tevonn.  We have seen Joe and Bakari take on the scoring roll on the last two games and I would expect  those two together with our guys at the 5 to pick up the scoring as well.  Burton has scored 36 over the last 2 games and our 5's have scored 22 in those games.  Bakari had 14 against Ball State.

[valpolaw]

I couldn't imagine having mono and trying to compete in D1 basketball. His energy level is going to be impacted even when he returns. I've also known people that have lost around 10-15 pounds when having mono due to not eating with the sore throat. Not a good situation and the timing couldn't be worse.

[justducky]

Clearly it was Tevonn's team both from a talent standpoint and Senior standpoint. 

The whole season just made a 180 degree pivot. We will be back to a total rebuild mentality. RPI, and MVC records will now have very little meaning. It is all preparation for St Louis in 2018 and for the following 18-19 season.

Can we still win half of our conference games without Tevonn? I would say yes but it is a close call.

Plenty of time and opportunity to watch our freshmen develop as the pressure on them has now lessened. We no longer need instant success.

Golder must step up big. Suddenly he will be asked to play , think and behave like a mature veteran. That is a big leap.

[underdawg]

My opinion as a n SIU fan:

Wins: two ys Drake, Two vs Indiana state, Split Loyola (1), Two Evansville, split Il state (1), split with Bradley (1 but I think could be two)=nine wins--I won't speculate on my own team SIU. MSU or UNI but say  you split with two that's 10-8 which would put you out of the thursday play-in games. It will be hard to win one at UNI but I could see you guys taking one from MSU (we beat them home and away last year) or us if we can't get Bol back

[Pgmado]

Tevonn redshirting is less likely than Green Bay winning the Super Bowl this year. Take that for what its worth.

[VU2014]

Tevonn redshirting is less likely than Green Bay winning the Super Bowl this year. Take that for what its worth.

[VUBBFan]

Tevonn redshirting is less likely than Green Bay winning the Super Bowl this year. Take that for what its worth.

Well, in real life Jim carrey marries the girl Lauren Holly. So there is a chance. lol.

[valpo4life]

Lottich will learn some things from this...

1) you don't have to start the second half with the same guys you started the first half
2) don't start players that aren't producing
3) don't run clock with 4 minutes left
4) tell your team to guard the 3 at all costs up 2

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one questioning Lottich. The offense just looks stagnant/easy to guard too often. Combine that with not being a sub par 3 point shooting team, it's a combo that can lead to lulls/sloppy play (131 assists to 150 turnovers this season). By this time of the year, you need to have mixed in more "stuff" because scouting has become very advanced. And this is just for non conference opponents, it will only get harder come MVC play.

For the record, I love the energy and recruiting Lottich brings to Valpo. But I'm not sold with the on court portion yet. One thing that will always stick out to me was last season at home against Oakland we came out of a timeout and Shane dribbled it up and went off a little false ball screen action with Alec and shot/missed a 3 without a single pass. Ever since then I've had slivers of doubt enter my mind.

I don't mean to be super critical. Head coaching is hard. Especially the year after losing a player like Alec. We are a good defensive/rebounding team, good in transition. I just want to see more out of this roster in the half court offensively, they have the ability.

[covufan]

Tevonn redshirting is less likely than Green Bay winning the Super Bowl this year. Take that for what its worth.

This is a significant uptick in likelihood, compared to Saturday:

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/939650054213730305

Teamrankings has the odds of Green Bay winning the Super Bowl at 0.2%.  With Aaron Rodgers coming back next week, I'd think these odds are increasing.

https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/projections/standings/

[VULB#62]

Rogers will return   If    he passes his bone density test.  We here in Wisconsin hope he studies really, really hard for that one 

[VU2014]

Lottich will learn some things from this...

1) you don't have to start the second half with the same guys you started the first half
2) don't start players that aren't producing
3) don't run clock with 4 minutes left
4) tell your team to guard the 3 at all costs up 2

1. agreed. I'd love to pick his brain and ton of things. Overall we need to realize we lost on the final possession on the road against a strong Ball State team without our best player.
2. I'm assuming that is aimed at Parker. My guess is that Coach doesn't want to crush his confidence (he did the same thing with Bradford last season). But to be fair to coach, what do you want him to do. The only other option is Mileek is also very green and almost always gets himself in foul trouble. Yes Mileek has shown he can produce more but let's not act like he's the massive upgrade at this point in his college career. There are flaws in his game too. Maybe he thinks Mileek pairs better with different guys. The coaches know this team then we do.
3. I'm not sure what was going on during the finals minutes of the game. We couldn't execute the half-court when we needed to. This team is clearly still a work in progress.
4. Sometimes you just need to give a guy credit for nailing a shot. Valpo is actually a very good team at defending the 3. Clearly that Persons 3 was a moment where Tevonn would have been very useful to have health & on the court. In hind sight they may have wanted to force that final shot on someone else and I don't know why Joe (not a great defender got switched on Persons). I have to go back and watch but was Max on the court for that final shot? If so he'd be the ideal guy playing man-to-man with Persons for the final shot.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one questioning Lottich. The offense just looks stagnant/easy to guard too often. Combine that with not being a sub par 3 point shooting team, it's a combo that can lead to lulls/sloppy play (131 assists to 150 turnovers this season). By this time of the year, you need to have mixed in more "stuff" because scouting has become very advanced. And this is just for non conference opponents, it will only get harder come MVC play.

For the record, I love the energy and recruiting Lottich brings to Valpo. But I'm not sold with the on court portion yet. One thing that will always stick out to me was last season at home against Oakland we came out of a timeout and Shane dribbled it up and went off a little false ball screen action with Alec and shot/missed a 3 without a single pass. Ever since then I've had slivers of doubt enter my mind.

I don't mean to be super critical. Head coaching is hard. Especially the year after losing a player like Alec. We are a good defensive/rebounding team, good in transition. I just want to see more out of this roster in the half court offensively, they have the ability.

100% agree the half-court looks bad. The ball movement hasn't been great. I'm not sure if that's a personnel issue (we are just plain and simple a BAD 3 point shooting team with only a few good shooters) or an issue of being so young and not having experienced team that has played together. I tend to think its the ladder. Last year we were a good half-court team but that team was also stacked with veterans.

If we don't get our act together with the half-court offense its going to be a long year because the MVC is a VERY good defensive league with teams that can clamp down the defense on you and force teams into bad shots. We need to get better by the end of the season.

I'm willing to stay patient with this team. Like Coach Lottich said, "This team will better by the end the season." I think that 8-0 start got to our heads (mine included) and our expectations got loftier then they were coming into the season and now we'll be without Tevonn for an extended period of time so its time for us to re-adjust.