Game #14 - MVC Run Starts @ Indiana State December 28 6pm NBCSports Chicago

[valpopal]

if the second half of tonight's game is any indication, this young team may be on the verge of finally turning the corner and figuring things out

You have mentioned the second half in two posts as though we should be encouraged by what happened in that period. However, the box score shows Valpo losing the second half by 12 points.   

[VU2014]

I was only watching from home but from those who were there who was getting into it with the other team? A lot of times you can't see those exchanges on camera. I'm guessing Golder. Markus can get chippy at times, which I personally love but he needs to pick his spot at times. He's going to be one of those guys that you hate if he's on the other team but love if he's on your team. He needs to real it in sometimes. I thought I saw Coach Dildy get on him for that during the game but it might have been for something else.

I've notice Max kind of cool guys down while he's out there, after a play/call doesn't go our way (which there were quite a few tonight).

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/946565513987182592

[VUGrad1314]

ISU shot much better in the second half, Scott and Barnes went nuts, and they got some extra points from the line during desperation time. But if you don't think that's the best most consistent offensive showing Valpo has had in a long time, I would say you were wrong. I've watched a lot of VU basketball this year and man has it been frustrating on the offensive end, but the second half was the first time I saw coherence on that end in a long time. Personally, I found that encouraging, despite the result of the game.

[bigmosmithfan1]

Why do we insist on doubling on dribble penetration and over again, leaving shooters wide open on the perimeter? That killed us tonight. It's an insane strategy in college basketball with the short 3-point line. It's particularly nuts in a league full of good three-point shooters like the Valley. Unless it's Robert Parrish or Joakim Noah standing out there, stay with the shooters!

A hearty second on the frustration of watching us just throw it around the outside for 20 seconds every possession before trying to find a shot. Also, quit missing FTs!

On the bright side, Tevonn is a warrior, and Max looked like himself tonight (and both got victimized by some very strange calls otherwise their nights would have been even better). Also, Bakari had a great game but these guys could not overcome the lack of anything offensively or defensively on the interior.

Hopefully getting back home helps us right the ship.

[valpopal]

if you don't think that's the best most consistent offensive showing Valpo has had in a long time, I would say you were wrong. I've watched a lot of VU basketball this year and man has it been frustrating on the offensive end, but the second half was the first time I saw coherence on that end in a long time.

Wrong? I would say you and I were watching completely different games. In the first half Valpo shot 58% (11-19); in the second half they shot 41% (12-29). The split on 3-point shots: first half 4-9 (44%); second half 4-16 (25%). Free throws: first half 4-6 (67%); second half 6-11 (55%). I thought Valpo looked awful in the second half and blew the halftime lead.

[VUGrad1314]

if you don't think that's the best most consistent offensive showing Valpo has had in a long time, I would say you were wrong. I've watched a lot of VU basketball this year and man has it been frustrating on the offensive end, but the second half was the first time I saw coherence on that end in a long time.

Wrong? I would say you and I were watching completely different games. In the first half Valpo shot 58% (11-19); in the second half they shot 41% (12-29). The split on 3-point shots: first half 4-9 (44%); second half 4-16 (25%). Free throws: first half 4-6 (67%); second half 6-11 (55%). I thought Valpo looked awful in the second half and blew the halftime lead.

It was hard to tell amid the team slinging more turnovers than  Chuck's Rise and Roll and Arby's combined that they shot that well. They had fewer turnovers as the game wore on and that's what I'm pointing to. They also got some good looks that didn't fall. The numbers may not have shown it but the offense flowed better in the second half. That's what I'm encouraged by.

[valpotx]

Yeah, I don't get why we continue to double the high post.  It worked last year when Alec was the guy to come over, or to help Alec defend.  It has failed miserably this year.  The times it has worked this year is when we double the LOW post.  The high post double has just led to wide open 3's, and we are getting killed each time that we try it.  At least we didn't try the 1-3-1 again...

[M]

I haven't watched a game since the Ball state game, but it sounds like we are still running the same tired half court offense. I do t get it. A team full of athletes is running a half court scheme that doesn't let them be athletic. I'd like to see a new offense take your lumps learning it if we have to (it's not like we are winning anyways) that allows for some creativity and let's these guys be athletes and play more freely. Dribbles ha doffs, ball screens, back cuts...this shouldn't be that hard!

[VUGrad1314]

Lindssen is a willing screener. I wish that would rub off on others. Saw some handoffs too. Not many back cuts though. Should we try a higher tempo setup?

[justducky]

By my count we scored only 2 points in the half court from our 4 position, and with Joe gone our 3 point shooting from the corners isn't good enough to warrant any defensive special attention. So the defense sags in on Jay and Derrik when we throw it in to the post leaving them limited opportunities. Its a vicious circle. We need better outside shooting to open the middle and better middle play to open the perimeter.

I'm not sure how we solve this.    This team is just too inexperienced to win many games with at most only 3 semi-reliable 3 point shooters on the floor at any time.

[valpopal]

if you don't think that's the best most consistent offensive showing Valpo has had in a long time, I would say you were wrong. I've watched a lot of VU basketball this year and man has it been frustrating on the offensive end, but the second half was the first time I saw coherence on that end in a long time.

Wrong? I would say you and I were watching completely different games. In the first half Valpo shot 58% (11-19); in the second half they shot 41% (12-29). The split on 3-point shots: first half 4-9 (44%); second half 4-16 (25%). Free throws: first half 4-6 (67%); second half 6-11 (55%). I thought Valpo looked awful in the second half and blew the halftime lead.

It was hard to tell amid the team slinging more turnovers than  Chuck's Rise and Roll and Arby's combined that they shot that well. They had fewer turnovers as the game wore on and that's what I'm pointing to. They also got some good looks that didn't fall. The numbers may not have shown it but the offense flowed better in the second half. That's what I'm encouraged by.

I guess 9 turnovers in the second half is better than the 13 in the first half, but 9 turnovers in a half is still terrible rather than encouraging. In fact, 9 turnovers in a half would mean 18 in a whole game, and 18 is the number of turnovers in the last game against Riverside, which was perhaps the worst I have ever seen by a Valpo team against a weak opponent. In addition, there were only 2 assists in the whole second half compared to six assists in the first half, so no better flow indicated by that stat.

[VUGrad1314]

They only had 14 in the last 30 minutes of the game. It is sad that I am pointing to this as a sign of progress and  hope to inspire confidence with the season half over but at this point I'm looking to anything I can.

[bigmosmithfan1]

We definitely need to push the tempo more. Our offense was a lot more dangerous last night when we did that. Getting out in transition (and forcing the issue to do that more) is going to allow us to play to our strengths. The drawback to that system is that going at a higher tempo can lead to some unforced turnovers, but since we're already turning it over plenty in a stagnant half-court set, there's not much to lose here. I'd rather lose being aggressive than being passive.

[NativeCheesehead]

Some Number Crunching:

Jay,Derrick, Hazen, Mac, and Marty:
Combined
MPG: 63.2
PPG: 19.1
RPG: 12.3
Total TOs: 88 (~40% of team total)

These numbers are truly awful, even more so when you consider more than half of our games have been against pretty poor competition.

Hazen and Derrick need their minutes cut immediately. Hazen, who despite these stats I still like long term, is giving you nothing on the floor right now. No points, rebounds or decent defense.
Derrick i'm ready to give up on. He is no better now than when he first set foot on campus. His 32 TOs are second on the team only to Evelyn. I really like Derrick as a kid, but I don't see him as a major contributor going forward.

One thing we have to remember is this year is still a transitional year. Sure, we should still want to win every game, but with the conference change, huge turnover in team contributors, and all the adversity this team has had to deal with, I'm less interested in who is going to help this team win for the next 15 games and more interested in who will help win the next 50.

[VU2014]

Some Number Crunching:

Jay,Derrick, Hazen, Mac, and Marty:
Combined
MPG: 63.2
PPG: 19.1
RPG: 12.3
Total TOs: 88 (~40% of team total)

These numbers are truly awful, even more so when you consider more than half of our games have been against pretty poor competition.

Hazen and Derrick need their minutes cut immediately. Hazen, who despite these stats I still like long term, is giving you nothing on the floor right now. No points, rebounds or decent defense.
Derrick i'm ready to give up on. He is no better now than when he first set foot on campus. His 32 TOs are second on the team only to Evelyn. I really like Derrick as a kid, but I don't see him as a major contributor going forward.

One thing we have to remember is this year is still a transitional year. Sure, we should still want to win every game, but with the conference change, huge turnover in team contributors, and all the adversity this team has had to deal with, I'm less interested in who is going to help this team win for the next 15 games and more interested in who will help win the next 50.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOv7FLd9WvE

[VU2014]

Someone at the Indy Star clearly isn't a fan of Valparaiso.
https://twitter.com/IndyStarSports/status/946752667715432448

Doyel wrote a pretty good article about the ISU vs VU game last night. I feel like every time he writes about about Valpo Basketball it's always a loss or about a disappointing performance for the Indy Star.

[valpo84]

In thinking about the offensive weaknesses, concur with the observations that we do not seem to be running as much motion as last year, plus when have we run backdoor like last year?  How about "Carolina" which is back picks to alley oops on baseline? We are throwing the ball around the perimeter because teams are taking away the post pass which sets up this offense.  Smits has lade some good passes out of the double when he does see the ball.  Sorolla is very ineffective if he doesn't get the ball, and he needed to bulk up and didn't and so he's being shoved around by bigger, stronger 4s and 5s in this conference and B1Gs. Do not give up on Smits.  He needs to slow his mind down as he is doing things too quickly. Both Cs are still sophs.  And, the reffing calls on Smits are sometimes just incomprehensible. But, don't forget the road is not a pretty place. Also, remember Vashil as a soph? I am more concerned with the disappearance of Golder who looks like he lost his puppy, and what I have said for awhile, this is not a good shooting team.  So, others are packing it in and will continue to.  Defence and effort have generally been there.  What was noticeable last night about the MVC is that the intensity level on D is ramped up, Guards are really good and power Cs and Fs are powerful and not what we saw in Horizon.  As someone said we have moved up the rung in level of play and this is a transitional year. 500 in conference will be an encouraging goal.

[VU2014]

This team lacks offensive weapons right now. Other the Tevonn and Bakari who else is a serious offensive threat on this team? Joe was one of those players but who knows if he's coming back this season.

Max has sort of stepped up his production but he's limited. This roster doesn't have many gifted scorers.

[bbtds]

This team lacks offensive weapons right now. Other the Tevonn and Bakari who else is a serious offensive threat on this team? Joe was one of those players but who knows if he's coming back this season.

Max has sort of stepped up his production but he's limited. This roster doesn't have many gifted scorers.

Many times I feel that Bakari's TO rate is too high for the return he gives us in points.

I feel that Tevonn will get stronger and if he had had a few more games under his belt after coming off the illness this game would have come down to the last shot like the Ball State game. Help from the centers would have been nice. Tevonn needs a few more games. He did look good. VU as a team still need to improve on FTs but it did get better.

[vu72]

This team lacks offensive weapons right now. Other the Tevonn and Bakari who else is a serious offensive threat on this team? Joe was one of those players but who knows if he's coming back this season.

Max has sort of stepped up his production but he's limited. This roster doesn't have many gifted scorers.

Many times I feel that Bakari's TO rate is too high for the return he gives us in points.

I feel that Tevonn will get stronger and if he had had a few more games under his belt after coming off the illness this game would have come down to the last shot like the Ball State game. Help from the centers would have been nice. Tevonn needs a few more games. He did look good. VU as a team still need to improve on FTs but it did get better.

His assist to turnover is 1.15  while Lexus was 1.5 last year.  However, Bakari is averaging 11.0 while Lex was at 5.2 and Bakari's shooting is better overall, from the 3 and also on free throws.  I do think he will continue to get more comfortable running the offense and as a result he will improve his ratio.  He was lights out shooting last night.

[talksalot]

Looked at the play-by-play chart ... found it a bit interesting...

Following a Time Out (or the start of the half) ... valpo did the following with their first possession:

First Half:
Missed 3 by Walker
Turnover by Smits
Team Turnover
Turnover Bradford
Missed jumper by Joseph
Made jumper by Joseph

Second Half:
Turnover by Evelyn
Turnover by Golder
Two Made Free Throws by Walker
Made 3ptr by Walker
Missed shot by Smits
Turnover by Golder
Layup by Joseph
Missed 3ptr by Walker

Looking at the first 15 seconds coming out of stoppage...

The only "Stat-triggering activity" was:

Under 8 media first half:  Bradford Turnover
Under 16 media second half:  Two Walker Free Throws
2:51 to play in game:  Joseph Layup

[valpotx]

What a lame title for that Tweet by the IndyStar.  We would have struggled in the Horizon League with as much team turnover we had, as well.  It has nothing to do with the upgrade in league at this point.

[VU2014]

What a lame title for that Tweet by the IndyStar.  We would have struggled in the Horizon League with as much team turnover we had, as well.  It has nothing to do with the upgrade in league at this point.

Not to mention we've taken care of business against MVC teams in recent history. Last night was the first time we've lost to Indiana State since 2004.

[EddieCabot]

What a lame title for that Tweet by the IndyStar.  We would have struggled in the Horizon League with as much team turnover we had, as well.  It has nothing to do with the upgrade in league at this point.

Not to mention we've taken care of business against MVC teams in recent history. Last night was the first time we've lost to Indiana State since 2004.

Totally uncalled for ... probably came from the Butler writer.  I'd suggest emailing the Indianapolis Star to demand an apology/retraction.

[bbtds]

Derrick i'm ready to give up on.

Derrik--he still deserves to have his name spelled correctly, right, MotiveCheesespread?