NWI Times: Is Valparaiso getting hazed by Valley officials?

[FieldGoodie05]

I can't get on board with the complaining about refs like there's some big grand conspiracy to screw over Valpo of all teams. I think we need to give it a rest. Seems like a lame excuse for losing to me. I agree that we need to look at ourselves and what the team is doing wrong before trying to blame the refs.

In agreement there, we earn it in the W/L column.  No one to blame but ourselves.  Why be so concerned with items out of our control.

[valpotx]

Young team, bound to have a bad season every 5-6 seasons.  I am seeing signs that we will do much better next season, in spite of my general feeling that we suck this year.  We have had 3 or 4 losing seasons in 25 years.  Not many teams can claim that fact, regardless of conference affiliation.  We will be back on top next year.  Good thing that my company is kicking butt, otherwise I would be going nuts.  My Mavs suck, the Rangers sucked, FC Dallas didn't do much, and the Broncos sucked.  At least my Stars are doing well.

[FieldGoodie05]

The issue isn't the refs singling out Valpo, it's that we've seemingly had a downgrade in officiating coming from the Horizon.

I don't feel the officiating has been a factor this year, overall.  We are awful at executing our offense and should not be bailed out by officials.

My overall feeling is that our competitors appear faster and stronger than us.  This is not to say they beat us in sprints after practice, this is purely experience on the surface.  When an athlete knows his offense / defensive assignments like the back of his hand he will execute optimally and thus quicker.

Our guys are mentally young and therefore losing any athleticism edge they had.  We are lumbering many times on the court. 

Add in the fact that our two seniors (who are well scouted) are thick guys, and you get more offensive charges and fouling.  They also absorb hits better than most which don't throw them to the ground like a Micah would. 

If UNIFW or any other conference competitors read that article, I hope they take away that it was a thinking piece by PAUL.  There are always going to be a few emotionally charged posts trying to blame refs for our woes, but I don't think any of us think it's a substantial contributor.

We aren't whinny, not more than any others so check your emotions at the door (admittedly hard to do).  Our HL competitors took umbridge because we had a good number of winning seasons and they didn't despite bigger and better budgets.  That's the past, it's silly to live there because the present is all we have.

UNIFW please reconsider Paul's article from a different perspective.  He's trying to engage with his readership as it's his job, he clearly states that we are bad several times in the article.

[Pgmado]

Northern Iowa at Drake today

Northern Iowa: 66 field goal attempts, 25 field goals, 8 3-pointers
Drake: 48 field goal attempts, 23 field goals, 6 3-pointers

Drake won by three possessions.

Northern Iowa committed 22 fouls leading to 27 free throw attempts for Drake.
Drake committed 18 fouls leading to 12 free throw attempts for Northern Iowa.