Game #10 - @Geo Washington - Sat Dec 8 - 3pm - ESPN+ - the Payback continues

[PlumStreetBum]

I hate to be a downer, but that felt lucky and I fear the coaches will instead think it was a good offensive game. Hot shooting is nice, but we still only have one answer for when the perimeter game isn't working - and if Smits gets doubled low in a game where Bakari and Fazekas are cold, we lose by 20. Still need to see the offensive system mature more.

But it was nice to get a road win 

[vu72]

I wonder if we have ever shot 57% from the three having shot 27 attempts.  It was unbelievable! Four different guys hit 3's.  If we can shoot anywhere near that we will be able to keep the middle available for the much improved Mr. Smits.

Oh, and finally, a brown uniform!  Loved it!

[valpopal]

The last time Valpo made 15 3-pointers in a game was 12/21/13 vs Southeastern. That team was 15-24 (62.5%) against today's 15-27 (55.6%). Among those who made the 3-pointers back then, the names should bring back memories: Dority and Peters had 4 apiece, Carter had 2, Lexus Williams and Clay Yeo each had 1, and big men chipped in, Chadwick with 1 and Capobianco with 2.

[oklahomamick]

That was not the same George Washington that beat us but then again we aren't the same valpo either.  Nonetheless we beat a A10 on the road

[VUGrad1314]

What one person calls hot shooting I call the universe balancing out. Fazekas and (especially) Evelyn in light of the depths of his struggles  are too good to be too cold for too long. This was the bounceback game. Now we just hope that the improved shooting continues and we never face a stretch like we did earlier this season again. Go Valpo!

[vu72]

The last time Valpo made 15 3-pointers in a game was 12/21/13 vs Southeastern. That team was 15-24 (62.5%) against today's 15-27 (55.6%). Among those who made the 3-pointers back then, the names should bring back memories: Dority and Peters had 4 apiece, Carter had 2, Lexus Williams and Clay Yeo each had 1, and big men chipped in, Chadwick with 1 and Capobianco with 2.

OK, Pal, I give.  How did you quickly garner that info without grabbing Aaron by the throat!

[VU2014]

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Evelyn breaks out as Valparaiso holds off George Washington
Robbie Weinstein robert.weinstein@nwi.com, 219-933-4198
Dec 8, 2018 Updated 6 min ago

https://www.nwitimes.com/sports/basketball/college/men-s-basketball-evelyn-breaks-out-as-valparaiso-holds-off/article_fac183c5-1dba-57ae-afee-77cabed89090.html

https://twitter.com/Valpo_Hoops/status/1071575797624905729

[EddieCabot]

That was not the same George Washington that beat us but then again we aren't the same valpo either.  Nonetheless we beat a A10 on the road

Agree! Awesome win!!!

[govalpogo]

Fun game to watch on replay while knowing the end result. Lots of scoring, not too many fouls.  Momentum-wise, good to see the team not let the wheels fall off down 10 early or when GW tied it late.  2 of the last 3 games, Valpo has shot 50+% from three, if that were the case earlier in the week, they'd have won by 27 if memory serves me right.  Is there a team whose shooting is more in their heads than ours?  Either everything goes or absolutely nothing.  Awesome when they're hot, beyond frustrating when they're not.  Enjoy every win, friends.   

I too enjoy these brown unis with the cursive "Valparaiso" across the front. Less cursed than the horrible gray ones from several years ago. 

[crusadermoe]

Great to see them hang tough and win again on the road.   Pretty decent pair of wins at UNLV and George Washington. 

Best of all, they finally pulled out of the shooting slump.   Nothing like a game like that to get people confident again.

[wh]

I did not get to watch the game, but the game stats raise some questions in my mind. First, it appears that this was another game where a bad team with terrible offensive stats shoots lights out against us. Again, we built a sizable lead, but couldnt hold it. Now I read that GW was playing short handed, having just lost their starting center to injury. For anyone who watched, my question is why?  Did they just play out of their minds, despite a great defensive effort on our part?  Are we still having problems with our interior defense?  Were their 3-point attempts closely contested? Any other observations?  Thanks in advance.

[VU2010]

We fouled two 3 point shots .... let's hope that streak doesn't continue again. Kiser didn't get in. Mileek barely got in. Jay didn't do anything. Without Smits down low, we're in trouble. Good to see shots fall but again idk which shooting team will show up. Free throws still drive me crazy. Under Bryce, we were a good free throw shooting team... now??? Idk ...

[nkvu]

I really don't know what's going on with the Maleek/Sorolla thing. If Sorolla is healthy, why aren't we trying to develop him to play 15+ minutes to spell Smits.  We have two 7 footers. Why aren't we trying to develop them both?  To force a 6 '8 Malik into a 5 role to take minutes makes no sense to me. Malik needs to develop as a 4, unless the staff knows that after next year we cannot recruit another 5 and Maleek will have to do.

[VUGrad1314]

What about Bediako and Skogman? So quiet on the recruiting trail these days.

[VU2014]

I really don't know what's going on with the Maleek/Sorolla thing. If Sorolla is healthy, why aren't we trying to develop him to play 15+ minutes to spell Smits.  We have two 7 footers. Why aren't we trying to develop them both?  To force a 6 '8 Malik into a 5 role to take minutes makes no sense to me. Malik needs to develop as a 4, unless the staff knows that after next year we cannot recruit another 5 and Maleek will have to do.

Sorolla's cardio might not be up to par after the ankle injury. I doubt he was doing much running on it. To be fair Smits has really taken advantage of the opportunity and has earned minutes. It's a luxury to not have to push Sorolla right out of the gates.

Coach addressed the Mileek situation:
https://twitter.com/MichaelOsipoff/status/1070794285480624130

What about Bediako and Skogman? So quiet on the recruiting trail these days.

Spring recruits and not many coaches are hitting the recruiting trail this time of year. I doubt the VU coaches have been recruiting much with all the travel this team has been doing.

[valpotx]

Fun to watch this one.  Bakari is a good shooter, so he is bound to right himself by end of year.  For as much as some have knocked Fazekas, he is a really good shooter.  I think that his quick trigger has some questioning his abilities, but the dude is now shooting 46% from 3.

[VUGrad1314]

The age old question that has raged in Valpo fans' minds since the beginning of the season is back again: is Valpo good? Ten games in and I still don't know. Our overall performance with a shorthanded team\thin bench makes me excited for what next year could bring. Our ability to be competitive and win on the road is encouraging. However our puzzling play against some highly beatable opponents at home is disconcerting. Ball State will be a good test but the proof will be in conference play. If we perform better in conference play and improve our record especially on the road then it will be easy to consider this a successful year of progress and say that we've improved.

[vu72]

This team has the potential to be very good this year and really good next year.  I know it is difficult to compare scores of games against the same opponent, but just for once I'll do it.  We beat UNLV by 8, Cincinnati beat them by 5.  Cincy just took down Xavier by 15. Illinois just beat UNLV by 3.  We lost to WVU by 12.  WVU just beat Pitt by 10.  And so on.  My point is that as we continue to mature as a team we should be competitive in conference and able to win all of them.  The question is, can we develop a killer instinct and win the close games versus being "oh so close". 

[FieldGoodie05]

This team has the potential to be very good this year and really good next year.  I know it is difficult to compare scores of games against the same opponent, but just for once I'll do it.  We beat UNLV by 8, Cincinnati beat them by 5.  Cincy just took down Xavier by 15. Illinois just beat UNLV by 3.  We lost to WVU by 12.  WVU just beat Pitt by 10.  And so on.  My point is that as we continue to mature as a team we should be competitive in conference and able to win all of them.  The question is, can we develop a killer instinct and win the close games versus being "oh so close". 

We are in a unique position of defining the next "go to scorer" on this team.  Because of the new key pieces (Freeman + Lavender + Fazekas) and the new consistent scoring threat (Smits) we have A LOT of on court dynamics to work through.

Consider that 3/5 starters did not play in a game situation together until 1-month ago...

When we struggled to begin this season I was a bit irked by the argument "but it's a young team" showing up for two years consecutive.  But as I leave the emotions out, I keep coming back to 3 new starters and the emergence of Smits as a reliable contributor.

I'm trying to strap on a bag of patience for the moment, we'll see how long it lasts!?!?

P.S.  Bakari was the "go to" last year on offense, knowing now he didn't play basketball due to surgery (off season) adds a wrinkle I wasn't aware of until mid way they our "ok" start to this season.  Throw in Sorolla and excuses of substance abound.

NOW LETS PLAY SOME DEFENSE!!!

[FieldGoodie05]

This team has the potential to be very good this year and really good next year.  I know it is difficult to compare scores of games against the same opponent, but just for once I'll do it.  We beat UNLV by 8, Cincinnati beat them by 5.  Cincy just took down Xavier by 15. Illinois just beat UNLV by 3.  We lost to WVU by 12.  WVU just beat Pitt by 10.  And so on.  My point is that as we continue to mature as a team we should be competitive in conference and able to win all of them.  The question is, can we develop a killer instinct and win the close games versus being "oh so close". 

We are in a unique position of defining the next "go to scorer" on this team.  Because of the new key pieces (Freeman + Lavender + Fazekas) and the new consistent scoring threat (Smits) we have A LOT of on court dynamics to work through.

Consider that 3/5 starters did not play in a game situation together until 1-month ago...

When we struggled to begin this season I was a bit irked by the argument "but it's a young team" showing up for two years consecutive.  But as I leave the emotions out, I keep coming back to 3 new starters and the emergence of Smits as a reliable contributor.

I'm trying to strap on a bag of patience for the moment, we'll see how long it lasts!?!?

P.S.  Bakari was the "go to" last year on offense, knowing now he didn't play basketball due to surgery (off season) adds a wrinkle I wasn't aware of until mid way they our "ok" start to this season.  Throw in Sorolla and excuses of substance abound.

NOW LETS PLAY SOME DEFENSE!!!

All that being said, we are full of juniors in NCAA experience and shouldn't have a large learning curve.

Coach was gifted a large senior class three years ago and he has to work thru these lopsided recruiting cycles.  It just turns out that we are junior laddened with MINIMAL playing experience amongst said juniors.

This is on Lottich because he recruited transfers and or had bad experience with freshmen transferring out (Hazen etc).  But it exists so it's sonething to ponder.

[M]

Valpo won the rebounding battle!! I can't believe it!

Golder only got 14 mins and took 3 shots?

[Valpo2013]

Winning on the road is always tough
Although UNLV and especially GW aren't as good as years past I think it's nice to have wins against bigger programs with more resources than us

[justducky]

I did not get to watch the game, but the game stats raise some questions in my mind. First, it appears that this was another game where a bad team with terrible offensive stats shoots lights out against us. Again, we built a sizable lead, but couldnt hold it. Now I read that GW was playing short handed, having just lost their starting center to injury. For anyone who watched, my question is why?  Did they just play out of their minds, despite a great defensive effort on our part?  Are we still having problems with our interior defense?  Were their 3-point attempts closely contested? Any other observations?  Thanks in advance.

GW shot well at 58%. The majority of their attempts were well defended and they also hit a few that were greatly defended.

Interior Defense?     We are still making some mistakes in our interior coverage and rotations. Some of their runners and pull up jumpers were well but not perfectly defended. Smits was called for 2 fouls that could have been ignored.
3 Pointer Defense?   We still need some work. Any half court wide open 3 point looks are unacceptable. Smits in particular is a liability anytime he has to cover out to the 3 point line. This problem could really show itself in MVC play where many centers have that kind of range from distance.
Transition Defense?    Getting back quickly is key but even then an instantaneous "best course of action" decision has to be made and implemented. We have many who aren't quite there yet!

Golder only got 14 mins and took 3 shots?

Golder is much better in an open court, man defense setting. Against smothering coverage he gets impatient and tries to do things he shouldn't.

The age old question that has raged in Valpo fans' minds since the beginning of the season is back again: is Valpo good? Ten games in and I still don't know.

Neither do I. We need to win one or both against Ball St and Texas AM to convince me that we are still on track for a 10-8 or better MVC result.

[vu72]

Winning on the road is always tough
Although UNLV and especially GW aren't as good as years past I think it's nice to have wins against bigger programs with more resources than us

We need to win one or both against Ball St and Texas AM to convince me that we are still on track for a 10-8 or better MVC result.

You guys need to take another look.  UNLV lost to Cincy by 5 and Illinois by 3.  We are playing in the Valley, not the ACC.

[EddieCabot]

Winning on the road is always tough
Although UNLV and especially GW aren't as good as years past I think it's nice to have wins against bigger programs with more resources than us

We need to win one or both against Ball St and Texas AM to convince me that we are still on track for a 10-8 or better MVC result.

You guys need to take another look.  UNLV lost to Cincy by 5 and Illinois by 3.  We are playing in the Valley, not the ACC.

I share vu72's optimism.  Valpo has a lot of good wins and losses are to ACC and Big 12 teams.  10-8 in the MVC would be a disappointment after what I've seen so far.