Game #25 - Saturday Feb 3 7pm SIU Arena - at Southern Illinois on ESPN3

[SanityLost17]

Definition of "Bad Defense". 

Being in a tie game with 1 minute left and triple teaming the ball 5 feet beyond the 3 point line in order to ensure that there are 2 guys wide open to beat you. 

Lottich should have never had us in a zone with less than a minute to go.  His fault.   Fair Criticism.

[wh]

Smits
Is
A
Defensive
Liability Liability Liability

0 rebounds!

[VU2014]

The officiating and free throw shooting were our down fall tonight...

[valpotx]

They had been leaving him wide open all of the second half on that same play, and he never took that shot, so he was bound to try one out.  I agree that it was ridiculous that we ended up with a triple team on a guy that was not in any danger of taking a shot that far out.

[FieldGoodie05]

Our coaching staff refusing to prioritize good FT shooting cost us the game tonight. MAKE YOUR PLAYERS USE THE FREAKING VIRGIL SWEET METHOD. Dear god. This is malpractice.

FT aren't on coach, end of story.

[oklahomamick]

Out of timeouts you want to set up an open look or create a miss match. 

What was the strategy out of timeout?

Both times!

Whatever coach drew up didn't work to give our guys an opportunity at the basket.  Whatever you wanted to do, practice a bit more.
And if it doesn't yeild anything, scratch it and steal a play from someone else

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/Valpo_Hoops/status/959985969188438017

[vu72]

Wow!  talk about bandwagon fans!  We lost on the road to a team in second place and the refs gave them 13 more free throws?  Yes, we blew it to a team with four seniors and five juniors.  Sure. they beat up on our freshman and sophomores.  Yes, Tevonn is not playing well and Max is limited.  Still, a very solid effort for the majority of the game.  At least when watching, I don't expect a win.  I really think we are making progress.  It is flat out hard to win on the road in the Valley.  Get used to it, this isn't the Horizon.  When was the last time we played in front of a packed home crowd?  Probably against Butler.  Sure as heck wasn't against Cleveland State or Youngstown State!

[valpopal]

We've said it before, any team with the name VALPARAISO on its jerseys should be able to shoot free throws, and Steven Helm should be the unofficial free-throw coach. (Still, I can't blame Smits too much for the free throws he missed after standing around in a stunned arena for 15 minutes while the health staff attended to the injured cheerleader.) Having said that, the free throw disparity (24-11) was disgraceful, especially since there were so many phantom fouls called against Valpo. Also, I blame Sorolla's technical foul on Lottich, who has not earned the respect of the MVC officials. Sorolla, Smits, Evelyn, Walker, and others were complaining to the refs after bad calls because Lottich doesn't seem to have their backs and is not getting in the face of the officials enough. (Stop being Mister Nice Guy!) I don't like to make comparisons with Bryce, but he would have had a couple of technical fouls this conference season already. Hell, even Homer would have at least one!


PS: I have to acknowledge the student fan base at the other conference schools are putting ours to shame.

[valpolaw]

Refs may have been bad but I can't blame them when we played like garbage.

I love watching golder dunk but he needs to be careful hanging on the rim. He's going to get an unnecessary tech for it soon. I think he did it in a recent game and again tonight. He got lucky and both weren't called.

[VUBBFan]

It drives me crazy when the other team goes small (like when SLU's tallest player was 6'5") and we have our 7 footer setting picks 18 to 20 feet from the basket.

Also if we hit just half of our missed FT's we win.

[EddieCabot]

https://twitter.com/Valpo_Hoops/status/959985969188438017

Agree with 2014. 

[valpopal]

Refs may have been bad but I can't blame them when we played like garbage.

I don't think Valpo "played like garbage." Both teams shot exactly the same field goal percent (24-49 49%), rebounding was almost equal (30-29 SIU, 22-22 on defense), Valpo shot better from the three-point line (6-19 32% vs. 3-15 20%), Valpo led in points off turnovers (13-11) and tied in 2nd chance points (7-7). The Crusaders only played poorly in turnovers (17-11) and had 13 fewer free throws (24-11), which I blame on the refs. Those are pretty good stats overall against a second-place team on the road in front of a packed arena.

[valpolaw]

The support for my comment about playing like garbage is: missing a ton of free throws. I didn't look at the percentage but it had to be well under 50%. Smits played 21 minutes and doesn't get 1 rebound. How is that possible when you're 7 foot?

Marty plays 1 min and gets two fouls. Kiser plays 21 minutes and no points. I don't remember the last time he scored. I love his hustle but he brings nothing on the offensive side.

Turnovers killed us. We had to have 20 or more.

Poor play calling out of timeouts is on Lottich.

[bigmosmithfan1]

FT aren't on coach, end of story.

They absolutely are, when this happens over and over again with zero improvement and has now cost us at least three games this season. This is the problem with AAU ball replacing h.s. basketball as the preferred method for evaluating talent -- there is only priority put on athleticism and scoring, less on other skills, and FT shooting is barely evaluated or valued at all.

It is absolutely INSANE that a college coach in this day and age, with all of the reams of data and advanced metrics available to them, cannot figure out the critical importance that FTs play in increasing win percentage/likelihood, and somehow do not absolutely insist that their players shoot 70 percent or better in order to see the floor (which is perfectly reasonable ask for any h.s. player, much less a guy playing D-1 ball).

[valpopal]

The support for my comment about playing like garbage is: missing a ton of free throws. I didn't look at the percentage but it had to be well under 50%. Smits played 21 minutes and doesn't get 1 rebound. How is that possible when you're 7 foot?

Marty plays 1 min and gets two fouls. Kiser plays 21 minutes and no points. I don't remember the last time he scored. I love his hustle but he brings nothing on the offensive side.

Turnovers killed us. We had to have 20 or more.

Poor play calling out of timeouts is on Lottich.

We should shoot better on free throws but we didn't "miss a ton of free throws." You can't miss a ton when you only get 11! We were 5-11, and I already suggested that Smits was iced by the 15 minute wait while everyone was stunned by the injured cheerleader. It wasn't how many free throws we missed, it was how few we got to take (11 versus 24). Even if we shot a good 73% (8-11), that would be only 3 more points. Also, it is hard to be aggressive and get rebounds when you have four fouls and the officials can't be trusted. Finally, you obviously did not read my post to which you are responding: I noted we had 17 turnovers not "20 or more."

[bigmosmithfan1]

Even if we shot a good 73% (8-11), that would be only 3 more points.

Um, that means we would have basically been able to hold for a near-last shot in a tie game, increasing our chances to win significantly. Get crazy and go 9 of 11 and we have the lead and the ball with 40 seconds left if everything played out exactly the same.

[valpopal]

I agree with these interesting post-game comments from Lottich:


"I thought we played hard enough to win that game."
"Our bigs weren't allowed to be very aggressive and that allowed Pippen to get into deep spots."
"The game came down to SIU getting so many free throws. They went to the line 24 times, we went only 11 times."

[valpotx]

Our FTs are absolutely the reason we lost, regardless of the disparity.  We went 3/8 down the stretch, and if we would have made 2 of those, it is a completely different finish, since we still would have been leading until the last minute.

[FieldGoodie05]

FT aren't on coach, end of story.

They absolutely are, when this happens over and over again with zero improvement and has now cost us at least three games this season. This is the problem with AAU ball replacing h.s. basketball as the preferred method for evaluating talent -- there is only priority put on athleticism and scoring, less on other skills, and FT shooting is barely evaluated or valued at all.

It is absolutely INSANE that a college coach in this day and age, with all of the reams of data and advanced metrics available to them, cannot figure out the critical importance that FTs play in increasing win percentage/likelihood, and somehow do not absolutely insist that their players shoot 70 percent or better in order to see the floor (which is perfectly reasonable ask for any h.s. player, much less a guy playing D-1 ball).

Thanks, but no thanks.

[nkvu]

I agree with these interesting post-game comments from Lottich:


"I thought we played hard enough to win that game."
"Our bigs weren't allowed to be very aggressive and that allowed Pippen to get into deep spots."
"The game came down to SIU getting so many free throws. They went to the line 24 times, we went only 11 times."

I'm curious about something. Do coaches keep a book on referees or scout them?  Certainly referees have tendencies as to what they are more likely to call or let go. Would a coach ever consider that in game planning?  For example, if coach new that these referees wouldn't let bigs play aggressively on defense, would he have planned to double Pippen more instead of making our bigs try to defend him one on one and pretty much fail?  Or is this year just getting to know refs we've never seen before and we just have to get some experience with them.

I would appreciate it if someone more knowledgeable would enlighten me.

[bigmosmithfan1]

Thanks, but no thanks.

So, you don't want our coaches actually coaching FTs? Or you don't see the importance of them, or what? Data don't lie.

[FieldGoodie05]

Thanks, but no thanks.

So, you don't want our coaches actually coaching FTs? Or you don't see the importance of them, or what? Data don't lie.

I think you are looking for a singular reason we are losing.  Coaches are only a portion of the equation.  I'd suggest we stop projecting EVERYTHING on our coaches as the sole reason we lose.  My buddy Oklahomamick tells me everyday our coaches are rotten for not having 100% success on post timeout offensive sets 🤔

[nkvu]

Anyone know why Bradford didn't play any tonight?

[M]

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