Game #12 SANTA CLARA Here we come! Dec 18 9:00 PM CST

[justducky]

OK. I'll try my hand at opening a game thread, but don't blame me if this trend continues.   

[NativeCheesehead]

Sitting here watching the Crossroads Classic, Oakland getting MSU on a (in theory) neutral court, Syracuse Georgetown, NW DePaul, and here we are waiting to go play two more SOS killers 2,000 miles away.....

The Life of a Mid-Major.

[valpotx]

Hard to pick this one.  My heart wants to say Valpo, but after NW, I just can't pick us away from home, until Tevonn is back:

Santa Clara 73
Valpo 64

[agibson]

It looks like it'll be available streaming, but you'll have to sign up for a 7 day free trial.

https://watchstadium.com/network/wcc-network/
is the link that works best for me, where the broadcast is labeled Premium which is described at
https://watchstadium.com/stadium-plus-event/?play_request=https%3A%2F%2Fwatchstadium.com%2Flive%2F113200

On the plus side, you've got until 9 PM central, on Monday, to figure it out.

[bbtds]

At first I thought the thread title was

"Santa Claus, Here he comes"

[agibson]

I dunno. These young bucks can't get things together in California, they might be getting coal in their stockings from Uncle Tevonn.

[Just Sayin]

It might be better not to watch the game.

[VU2014]

As bad as this stretch has been for Valpo, I think the next 2 games vs Santa Clara and UC Riverside are very winnable games even without Tevonn. Yes we're on the road but these teams are not world beaters. Santa Clara is not as good as last year (we shouldn't have lost to them last season, but they had an insanely hot shooting night).

I'm not going to predict the score but I do expect a win tomorrow. We have the better roster, imo. SC has a good amount of size so we'll get to see how Derrik and Jay handle their bigs.

My wish-list for tomorrows game:
-Limited turnovers
-I want to see the both Parker and Mileek play with some confidence at some point during this road-trip
-Bakari please DON'T turn the ball over. He has averaged 4 TO per game the last 4 games. We can't have that from our starting PG. Play controlled.
-I'd like to see some sort of evolution of the half-court offense. Don't dribble and make needless passes and run the clock down to the final seconds and settle for bad shots. I just want to see some progress on this California road-trip. Against "lesser" competition there is a little bit more room for experimentation.

[wh]

The level of gloom and doom on this board is ridiculous. If we can't beat a crappy 3-7 team on the road, then look for us to lose every game home and away from now til Tevonn gets back. If he doesn't come back, then pencil 8-22, or whatever.

We just lost by 1 point to a good Ball State on their court on a shot that that B.S. piss ant wouldn't normally hit more than 2 times out of 10 from that range under that kind of pressure.

We're not going to lay an egg in California.

[justducky]

The level of gloom and doom on this board is ridiculous. If we can't beat a crappy 3-7 team on the road, then look for us to lose every game home and away from now til Tevonn gets back. If he doesn't come back, then pencil 8-22, or whatever.

Its worse than I thought!  wh just predicted 8-22!  . Is it too late for me to jump ship and become a UWM fan?

In truth I am not expecting us to lay an egg in California but just in case we do--------------------I think EddieCabot should be asked (begged) to open the following game thread. Yes I know that is like sleeping with the enemy or maybe even the devil but desperate men should be prepared to take desperate measures. 

[VUOR63]

Anyone in the Bay Area going to the game? 

[EddieCabot]

The level of gloom and doom on this board is ridiculous. If we can't beat a crappy 3-7 team on the road, then look for us to lose every game home and away from now til Tevonn gets back. If he doesn't come back, then pencil 8-22, or whatever.

Its worse than I thought!  wh just predicted 8-22!  . Is it too late for me to jump ship and become a UWM fan?

In truth I am not expecting us to lay an egg in California but just in case we do--------------------I think EddieCabot should be asked (begged) to open the following game thread. Yes I know that is like sleeping with the enemy or maybe even the devil but desperate men should be prepared to take desperate measures. 

I don't expect to be needed, but I'll be prepared if called into service!

[vu72]

The level of gloom and doom on this board is ridiculous. If we can't beat a crappy 3-7 team on the road, then look for us to lose every game home and away from now til Tevonn gets back. If he doesn't come back, then pencil 8-22, or whatever.

Its worse than I thought!  wh just predicted 8-22!  . Is it too late for me to jump ship and become a UWM fan?

In truth I am not expecting us to lay an egg in California but just in case we do--------------------I think EddieCabot should be asked (begged) to open the following game thread. Yes I know that is like sleeping with the enemy or maybe even the devil but desperate men should be prepared to take desperate measures. 

I don't expect to be needed, but I'll be prepared if called into service!

I wouldn't trust him!!  He is just lying in the weeds waiting to pounce on the slightest error in talent evaluation. 

[FieldGoodie05]

So what is a realistic return "game" for Walker?  Considering all that we know seems to be that he was feeling 100% better when asked at the NW game (think it was Todd Ickow on the radio dropping that nugget).

Maybe as soon as Indiana State game?  Or is that wishful thinking?

[VUSWIM08-12]

Line opens as a pick-em, SUUUREELLY we win this game. Santa Clara's only DI wins are against ARK PB and Northern Arizona, who are both  atrocious. Burton and one of the bigs play well

VU 69
Santa Clara- 63

[M]

Valpo by 11....74-63

Luckily I think our horrid half court offense won't hurt us this time.

[agibson]

So what is a realistic return "game" for Walker? 

I was going to say SIU with the students back, maybe sooner. But, the students won't be back yet, probably. Not sure why that's my line the sand.

How about Drake, and hope for sooner?

[historyman]

As bad as this stretch has been for Valpo, I think the next 2 games vs Santa Clara and UC Riverside are very winnable games even without Tevonn. Yes we're on the road but these teams are not world beaters. Santa Clara is not as good as last year (we shouldn't have lost to them last season, but they had an insanely hot shooting night).

I'm not going to predict the score but I do expect a win tomorrow. We have the better roster, imo. SC has a good amount of size so we'll get to see how Derrik and Jay handle their bigs.

My wish-list for tomorrows game:
-Limited turnovers
-I want to see the both Parker and Mileek play with some confidence at some point during this road-trip
-Bakari please DON'T turn the ball over. He has averaged 4 TO per game the last 4 games. We can't have that from our starting PG. Play controlled.
-I'd like to see some sort of evolution of the half-court offense. Don't dribble and make needless passes and run the clock down to the final seconds and settle for bad shots. I just want to see some progress on this California road-trip. Against "lesser" competition there is a little bit more room for experimentation.

That's asking a lot.


Maybe we can minimize the damage from our many turnovers.



Hopefully we get back to the fast paced offensive game that won us games in Oct.-Nov. You don't need to run half court offensive sets when most of your points come off the fast break. I just hope Marty Linssen doesn't have a Herzinfarkt on court.

[crusadermoe]

I think Tevonn defense triggered a lot of the running.  If he didn't make the steal, he would force a bad pass.  Just a demon on defense.  Watched him at an away game once and their star guard got totally frustrated..

[VU2014]

I went with sweep. We should win these games.
https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/status/942772411895877637

[FWalum]

So what is a realistic return "game" for Walker?  Considering all that we know seems to be that he was feeling 100% better when asked at the NW game (think it was Todd Ickow on the radio dropping that nugget).

Maybe as soon as Indiana State game?  Or is that wishful thinking?

Depends on the effect to the internal organs.  When the Mid-Con tournament was here I had to take Stovall to the doctor twice.  He insisted that he felt fine but did not get cleared to play. Sitting next to him on the bench during the tournament was interesting....

[covufan]

Back on winning track.  There will be no gifts for this Santa.

Valpo   76
S Clara 67

[VUfan]

My what a difference two weeks makes all the fair weather fans have become IU and PU fans. VU shirts can be had for a song!!! the price goes up VU 76 UC SC 64  the song is up beat!!! 

[VU2014]

I'm seeing odds that Santa Clara is a -1... I'm going to be annoyed & worried if we can't beat a mediocre SC team even if we're on the road. I'm expecting this team to take care of business in California even if it doesn't look pretty without Tevonn.

Santa Clara is 3-7 (Kenpom Rank):
Non-D1 win
Northern Arizona 2-9 (334) win
Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions 0-12 (348) win

If we can't win this game tonight we are a mediocre team without Tevonn which is concerning. We should beat this team. No excuses.

[justducky]

If we can't win this game tonight we are a mediocre team without Tevonn which is concerning. We should beat this team. No excuses.

For team confidence and development this is close to being a must win.

I will be happy with any kind of win no matter how ugly.

How many minutes will we give the freshmen?