Game #24 - Wednesday Jan 31 7pm ARC - Indiana State on ESPN3

[oklahomamick]

agreed, good move to switch it up from man to zone by Matt.      However, I thought he could have subbed in defensive players after our free throws.  For example, put Sorolla in for Smits after we shot free throws. 


We were out rebounded but we only had 12 turnovers compared to ISU 22

[VU2014]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQF_u8INI4U&feature=youtu.be

[M]

I've been tough on Bakari for only scoring in garbage time.  He really played well offensively last night.  I try to be critical when warranted but try to praise when warranted as well.

[VU2014]

Bakari had a great game but one thing I noticed was Bakari seemed to control his emotions better when the ref made a poor call. It sounds like a little thing but I thought it was a nice sign of maturity. I'd love to see him continue that trend into the future. We need our best players to stay positive when things aren't going our way on the court. Set the tone for the rest of the team.

[bbtds]

We sent them to line 3 straight possessions (2 of those were and 1s) with under a minute to play. 

Thank God ISU missed 3 of their front ends of the "and 1"s, huh?

Valpo sure ain't the only team that often shoots poorly from the FT line.

[crusadermoe]

First smiles at the post-game presser we have seen in a LONG time.   Congrats to the team!!     Just win, baby!! ...Al Davis.

Also, VU72 came down close in his prediction of 65-63.   Nice work.   Good for you guys in believing.   

I will save my rant against the students' attendance for another day.  But it will be memorable.    Great pride shown by a team that had its back against the wall!

[underdawg]

I thought it was a solid game by the officials and we had some ticky tack calls on us with one truly horrendous call on Bakari

I thought the refs were fairly inconsistent. Sometimes they called ticky tack fouls but other times they didn't and players on both teams got frustrated by their calls. When you notice the refs in a game that generally means they weren't great at the officiating. From an administrator on the IN State message board: My thing is I'm fine with however refs want to call it, but you damn well better call it consistently. When a hook is a hook on one end but not the other, that's a problem. I don't feel like Valley officials call it consistently the same on both ends. If they did, I'd have no issues.

You know us SIU fans were bemoaning the refs even though we won our game with Drake last night--I tend to think that like all humans, refs occasionally screw up, but on the whole I think is us fans seeing the calls through our partisan lenses that make it seem that they're total screw ups --they're trying to be fair most of the time

[NativeCheesehead]

While our offense still needs some work, a big positive last night was the shot selection on 3s. This team as constructed is not a very good 3pt shooting team, so we should be very selective in the shots we take. We seem to have about 5-7 3 pt attempts per game where we're jacking up a contested or very deep three. Last night there was only one of those I can remember.

Also another point on Bakari. Keep in mind this is the most game action he's had in a couple of years, and the most talented competition he's faced night in night out in his career. He didn't play much at Neb, sat out last year, and here we are. If he can keep this momentum into next year, I think we'll have a nice foundation for an offense with him, Ryan, and JLF being capable of giving us 35 ppg combined.

[mj]

Glad to see Valpo grind out a win last night. Bakari played well. I always seem to forget that he's only a sophomore.

Loved the zone defense with 30 seconds left. Clever move.

[underdawg]

Expect 6000 plus at Saturday's game in C'dale--for the next 24 hrs they are offering 10 dollar tickets to the end zone Bleachers on line at their website

[crusader05]

The thing about Bakari being only a sophomore really made me think.


We've been talking about him now for a year and a half
Hell, we've been talking about Smits as a part of this team for almost 4 years now
And before Bradford came on he was our only real recruit for that time.


makes me wonder how much of that makes it easier to lose track of how much actual playing time as a college DI player these guys have really had. We've been talking about them as potential keys to this team in some cases longer than they've actually played on these teams.

[Just Sayin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQF_u8INI4U&feature=youtu.be

What a difference in body language a win makes.

[EddieCabot]

Kenpom has Valpo by 1.  I think Valpo wins if they slowed down Scott and Barnes ... if those two get going, it could be a struggle.  I'll say Valpo by 3.

Barnes got going a bit in the 2nd half, but Scott was very average.   Fouls played a part in that, but Valpo defense also did a nice job on Scott.  Nice win.

[justducky]

Kenpom has Valpo by 1.  I think Valpo wins if they slowed down Scott and Barnes ... if those two get going, it could be a struggle.  I'll say Valpo by 3.

Barnes got going a bit in the 2nd half, but Scott was very average.   Fouls played a part in that, but Valpo defense also did a nice job on Scott.  Nice win.

I'm starting to miss the "old" EddieCabot. This new guy imposter is way too nice and hasn't insulted any of us in waaaay over a month.

[FieldGoodie05]

I'm ecstatic for the win, but we must not kid ourselves.  ISU plays poor defense and is a major reason they aren't cream of the crop in the MVC for some time.  We got easier looks at the basket because their defense was suspect in both games this year.  Back to reality with SIU.  They have a rim protector which at the very least should make it difficult for us in Carbondale.

[VUGrad1314]

Are you talking about Bol? He's out for the season

[FieldGoodie05]

I'm I wrong, PIPPEN?

[underdawg]

Obviously the 6-10 Pippen is not as good as the red shirted Bol (80 plus blocks last year) but he can do it. He averages about 2 a game--but his presence dissuades people from driving non-the-less

[wh]

Obviously the 6-10 Pippen is not as good as the red shirted Bol (80 plus blocks last year) but he can do it. He averages about 2 a game--but his presence dissuades people from driving non-the-less

I thought Pippen was impressive in our game at the ARC. Then I watched the Hinson's postgame press conference, and he said Pippen played soft and our bigs dominated him. I guess that shows how much I know. lol

[EddieCabot]

Kenpom has Valpo by 1.  I think Valpo wins if they slowed down Scott and Barnes ... if those two get going, it could be a struggle.  I'll say Valpo by 3.

Barnes got going a bit in the 2nd half, but Scott was very average.   Fouls played a part in that, but Valpo defense also did a nice job on Scott.  Nice win.

I'm starting to miss the "old" EddieCabot. This new guy imposter is way too nice and hasn't insulted any of us in waaaay over a month.

A month ago was January 1st ... maybe my New Year's Resolution was to play nice with others. 

BTW ... I love your posts!  Keep up the good work! 

[VUGrad1314]

Obviously the 6-10 Pippen is not as good as the red shirted Bol (80 plus blocks last year) but he can do it. He averages about 2 a game--but his presence dissuades people from driving non-the-less

I thought Pippen was impressive in our game at the ARC. Then I watched the Hinson's postgame press conference, and he said Pippen played soft and our bigs dominated him. I guess that shows how much I know. lol

I remember our bigs getting plenty of good easy looks that day but that could have been while Pippen was on the bench; but I also remember that both Smits and Sorolla had fantastic days that game relative to how they had been playing. Some of that damage had to have come with Pippen on the floor.

[valpospartan]

I thought it was a solid game by the officials and we had some ticky tack calls on us with one truly horrendous call on Bakari

I thought the refs were fairly inconsistent. Sometimes they called ticky tack fouls but other times they didn't and players on both teams got frustrated by their calls. When you notice the refs in a game that generally means they weren't great at the officiating.

From an administrator on the IN State message board:
My thing is I'm fine with however refs want to call it, but you damn well better call it consistently. When a hook is a hook on one end but not the other, that's a problem. I don't feel like Valley officials call it consistently the same on both ends. If they did, I'd have no issues.

Something I've never seen/heard from a referee: There is a guy who sits near the floor, at mid court, who is constantly "on the refs".  As one of the refs was passing by him , the guy shouted some "instructions" to him. The ref turned to him, still on the run, and said "shut up", and then even added another comment.  I was shocked that a ref would respond to a fan while the game was going on.
BTW, I don't condone what the fan did, either.
. 

[valpospartan]

How about the lack of students at the game?  Sure there were a few fans in Sections K&L, but it was not a "student section", by any stretch.  So sad.