Game #27 - Sunday Feb 11 3pm ARC - vs Illinois State on ESPNU

M · February 13, 2018, 08:46:23 AM

Can the team be successful with Kiser playing as much as he did at the 4 or the 5....I say no. Given certain match ups and game situations yes, but overall we will need more size and athleticism at those positions to win on a regular basis.

vu72 · February 13, 2018, 09:02:01 AM

Quote from: M on February 13, 2018, 08:46:23 AM
Can the team be successful with Kiser playing as much as he did at the 4 or the 5....I say no. Given certain match ups and game situations yes, but overall we will need more size and athleticism at those positions to win on a regular basis.

Sure, but we just don't have it right now. If, and it is a big if, a guy like Hazen can get his act together, or if McMillan can get his act together, then we could bring some size AND athleticism to the table. We aren't getting the athleticism from Derrik or J. The smaller guys in the Valley are much quicker and can also score. At 6'5" Kiser won't block shots but we aren't getting much of that from our bigs now. He knows how to box out and rebound and even makes an occasional 3. We also can play faster with him on the floor.

FieldGoodie05 · February 13, 2018, 09:10:55 AM

Rewatched the game and it felt eerie to see ISU switch places with VU. They are a more one dimensional scoring team with only Yarbrough on the court, similar to us with Tevonn getting the early double teams. Thankfully we have had time to get some growth in our support players, but I felt for ISU there.

If Burton was still on the team this semester I think we are still only .500 in this conference. But we do have a glaring weakness at the 4/5 positions against more athletic MVC teams. Hope Fazekas has the athleticism to guard...

wh · February 13, 2018, 09:14:49 AM

How many of Kiser's 9 rebounds would Smits or Sorolla have snared? 1? 2? Dare I say 3?

VU2014 · February 13, 2018, 09:24:50 AM

Quote from: FieldGoodie05 on February 13, 2018, 09:10:55 AM
If Burton was still on the team this semester I think we are still only .500 in this conference. But we do have a glaring weakness at the 4/5 positions against more athletic MVC teams. Hope Fazekas has the athleticism to guard...

I'd be willing to say we'd be over .500 in conference play if he were still here. Burton could knock down 3s at a high clip and create his own shot so Tevonn could become a secondary scoring threat and with Bakari's emerging offensive game and Golder could be relied upon as the spark off the bench. Not to mention it would free up the paint more for Smits to operate.

But that doesn't matter anymore. We are working with what we have right now.

bbtds · February 13, 2018, 10:35:14 AM

Quote from: justducky on February 12, 2018, 02:04:12 PM(Well Kiser did get away with one

....and why did he get away with it this game and would have been called on that foul almost any other game?

BTW, the officiating crew was the regular crew for an MVC game. Bo Boroski was part of this crew. Last time he officiated at Valpo he called the foul where Max Joseph was put in a headlock and ended up having a foul called on him. After Paul's story no such obviously wrong calls were made and you admitted Kiser got away with one. hmmmm.

As I said I don't think anyone is consciously trying to even out the FT situation but when an overwhelming abnormal stat is pointed out it's human nature for a human to even out the stat. It's why coaches constantly have discussions with refs over calls. Why else would they do it?

M · February 13, 2018, 10:50:49 AM

My post wasn't meant to be a dig on Kiser. I just don't think we can be successful on a regular basis with him playing as many minutes as he does in the roles that he is having to play. His heart and hustle are unmatched....unfortunately heart and hustle can cover up the talent gap only so long.

I see him as an important role player, glue guy, who can come in and spark a rally from time to time or make a game changing play in the middle of the game....he isn't (at least not yet, which is said about a lot of guys which I do find encouraging) a guy who should be getting 30 minutes of PT a game if we are going to win a lot of games going forward.

VU2014 · February 14, 2018, 10:22:43 AM

Love the dunk and I didn't think it was bush league. There was still about 2 minutes left in the game. If Illinois State isn't going to defend an easy lob dunk then so be it. No need to apologize.

https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/status/963528937484832769
https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/status/963544161210327041

EddieCabot · February 14, 2018, 11:47:39 AM

Quote from: VU2014 on February 14, 2018, 10:22:43 AM
Love the dunk and I didn't think it was bush league. There was still about 2 minutes left in the game. If Illinois State isn't going to defend an easy lob dunk then so be it. No need to apologize.

Valid point. I had turned the game off by that point ... was Muller upset at the play?

VU2014 · February 14, 2018, 11:59:00 AM

I don't think so but I think Paul tweeted out during the game that right after that play Coach Lottich signaled to Muller that it wasn't set play. Micah and Golder literally just caught the Illinois State sleeping on defense.

https://twitter.com/jvick817/status/963048747151261696

wh · February 14, 2018, 01:02:54 PM

Is Muller related to the leader of the D.C. witch hunt?

valpotx · February 14, 2018, 01:17:43 PM

Absolutely no issue with that play with around 2:00 left. If it was within 40-45 seconds, then it is an issue, but you play until the end with that much time left.

vusupporter · February 14, 2018, 02:15:20 PM

There was exactly one minute to play.

VU2014 · February 14, 2018, 02:26:00 PM

Quote from: vusupporter on February 14, 2018, 02:15:20 PM
There was exactly one minute to play.

Even still I don't mind the dunk. It's not like we were jacking up a quick 3 with 20 seconds left or anything. Illinois State should have played D if they didn't want it to happen. It's not like Markus taunted them, but it was a bit of a symbolistic "returning of the favor" for taunting at their place a few weeks ago.

nkvu · February 14, 2018, 02:38:09 PM

After being posterized and taunted previously I don't blame our guys for wanting a little payback. What goes around comes around. If you make a team look bad on a play and taunt about it afterward on one day, you have no room to complain if that team shows you up the next. MG didn't taunt anybody after he threw it down. If our coach let the other coach know play wasn't called by him I see no need to apologize. Other coach has no reason to gripe. I don't care how much or little time was left in the game.

VUBBFan · February 14, 2018, 03:00:50 PM

If you're looking for rivalries. This is how they get started.
I had no problem with that dunk. I was up and cheering in that clip.

bigmosmithfan1 · February 14, 2018, 08:15:21 PM

If you don't want your opponent throwing down an alley-oop when they're up big in the final minute of a game, don't taunt one of their players on the ground after a dunk a few weeks earlier. Pretty simple.