Game 13: Valpo Crusaders vs PNW Pride, 12/29, 1pm CST

[Valpower]

Sorry all, I don't know how to embed quotes, so I have to refer to the person posting in order to respond to a point.

It's kind of clunky.  To embed quotes, you need to click the "Quote (selected)" link for the particular quote you want to embed (or the reply button at the bottom), which will create an empty reply text box. Then, you have to click into the text box (to position the cursor), scroll to the quote you want to embed, and then click the "Quote (selected)" link.

[VULB#62]

Sorry all, I don't know how to embed quotes, so I have to refer to the person posting in order to respond to a point.

It's kind of clunky.  To embed quotes, you need to click the "Quote (selected)" link for the particular quote you want to embed (or the reply button at the bottom), which will create an empty reply text box. Then, you have to click into the text box (to position the cursor), scroll to the quote you want to embed, and then click the [/size] "Quote (selected)" link.

To build on Valpower's helpful post — I saw what I wanted to comment on but wanted to tie it to what you and Valpower said previously, so I went to that post box and clicked on the "Quote" button on that post. It automatically brought up the quote in a reply box and now I am adding my thoughts below that quote.

But if I want to insert a second different quote from another poster I can scroll down below my draft box and select that additional quote to add  into my post. (I selected M's short post just  as example below). I then clicked "insert quote" in M's post and it automatically popped into this post where my cursor was located (make sure your cursor is located in the spot you want the new quote to reside).  And there it is.

I've heard similar from several people closer then the average message board chump.

Voila!

I can't overemphasize using the Preview button to make sure everthing is organized just like you want it. It also helps you pick out errors in your post that you might not see in the draft box.

[bbtds]

I can't overemphasize using the Preview button to make sure everthing is organized just like you want it. It also helps you pick out errors in your post that you might not see in the draft box.

Probably the most underutilized feature on this message board and also the most important one to use.

[wh]

Arrived at 12:30. Asked the ticket taker where the programs are. She said they ran out already. You have to love amateur hour at the ARC.

[VU2010]

Thus far getting beat on the boards against a fringe d-2 team with a new roster. Credit PNW for the effort thus far. Will be interesting to see how things go down the stretch. I'm watching mostly to see who separates himself. Who shows they're a legit d-1 player. When playing in a game like this, there SHOULD BE clear separation. In talent. Thus far, Freeman has been *that* guy to separate himself. Should be seeing forced turnovers, lots of boards, clean transitions, solid defense without mental errors, and polished offensive shemes.

[VU2014]

Bakari isn't suiting up today?

edit:

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/1079075019685330944

[EddieCabot]

Golder is really putting on a show today!  Great to see him playing well after a few challenging games.  Think he'll be ready to make some noise in the Valley.

[vu72]

Jay needs to ride the pines.  Man, the guy can't even dunk. I really think he has regressed from last season.  Great to see the 3's start to fall but really hard to see much one way or another against a team like PNW.

[VU2014]

I was only able to catch the 1st half. Glad to see we won. From what I observed it was a bit sloppy and the rebounding wasn't great either. They brought the energy and effort though. Lot's of hustle play which were nice to see. The officiating was odd with those early techs.

[M]

Rebounding was bad but got much better, probably just wore them down with our size and strength.

I love dunks so that was fun. Now the real season begins.

[valpopal]

Arrived at 12:30. Asked the ticket taker where the programs are. She said they ran out already. You have to love amateur hour at the ARC.

Negatives: I arrived about the same time with a friend visiting from out of town. There were no programs, the upstairs concession was closed, so there was a long line at the downstairs one until late in the game. The band, cheerleaders, mascot, and students were all absent, as expected; however, there also was nobody to sing the national anthem, and about half the chairbacks were unoccupied. My friend wanted to know if the games were always so sloppy, and asked why the scoreboard update of players and points lagged so much. The whole atmosphere seemed little better than a high school gym, and it was embarrassing.


Positives: 1. The halftime kids game was shown on the video scoreboard (although there was a bit of a lag); this should be used for game play to show instant replays. 2. One of the coaches for the kids played in a timeout contest shooting free throws and won with the Valpo method by making 5 out of 5 without even hitting iron; he should be hired to coach Valpo's players. 3. A win is a win, even if the game seemed like nothing more than a glorified practice to fulfill the minimal requirements for placement on the schedule.

[FieldGoodie05]

Jay needs to ride the pines.  Man, the guy can't even dunk. I really think he has regressed from last season.  Great to see the 3's start to fall but really hard to see much one way or another against a team like PNW.

Missed 7-weeks due to severe ankle injury....no?

[nkvu]

Jay actually had a few moments late in the second half when he gave hints of where he might have been but for the injury. It almost looked like he needed the minutes to get used to playing in games again. Maybe barring no further injury he can show some improvement by the end of the year.  If so his senior year could be a good one if he continues to work hard in the off season and avoids injury.

[wh]

Arrived at 12:30. Asked the ticket taker where the programs are. She said they ran out already. You have to love amateur hour at the ARC.

Negatives: I arrived about the same time with a friend visiting from out of town. There were no programs, the upstairs concession was closed, so there was a long line at the downstairs one until late in the game. The band, cheerleaders, mascot, and students were all absent, as expected; however, there also was nobody to sing the national anthem, and about half the chairbacks were unoccupied. My friend wanted to know if the games were always so sloppy, and asked why the scoreboard update of players and points lagged so much. The whole atmosphere seemed little better than a high school gym, and it was embarrassing.


Positives: 1. The halftime kids game was shown on the video scoreboard (although there was a bit of a lag); this should be used for game play to show instant replays. 2. One of the coaches for the kids played in a timeout contest shooting free throws and won with the Valpo method by making 5 out of 5 without even hitting iron; he should be hired to coach Valpo's players. 3. A win is a win, even if the game seemed like nothing more than a glorified practice to fulfill the minimal requirements for placement on the schedule.

BTW when we say they ran out of programs a half hour before game time, we're not talking about multi-page glossy brochures with customized color printing that could have gotten hung up in some local print shop over Christmas. These "programs" are a single sheet of copy paper with the respective rosters on either side in B&W.

[M]

I just wish I didn't have to move the ticket taker tables at the end of every game.

[VUBBFan]

I was only able to catch the 1st half. Glad to see we won. From what I observed it was a bit sloppy and the rebounding wasn't great either. They brought the energy and effort though. Lot's of hustle play which were nice to see. The officiating was odd with those early techs.

With Gerry Pollard officiating it's not so odd. He is never shy at using his whistle. Last year he really hurt us in a couple of games. This is the fourth one I've seen him officiate us this year.
Looks like we have adjusted to his style as we have not been whistled as much as last year by him. But as I said he makes a lot of calls during his games and fans/coaches get on him, however he is a fairly high rated ref.

[VUGrad1314]

The double tech on the PNW player and Golder confused me. I didn't see what happened to warrant it. The tech on Freeman was inexcusably bad and upset me greatly.

I thought we played hard all game and pretty well especially in the second half. Loved the new lineup configurations the energy and the balance. I thought Sackey Freeman Golder and Fazekas all played extremely well. Lavender was solid. Smits was a huge help in weathering that early second half storm. Sorolla had a rather clunky 11\9 but had his moments in the second half. Overall this was a big step in the right direction and I'm more hopeful going into conference play than I was before the game.

That said we still have flaws offensively and defensively that MVC teams can and likely will exploit. Rebounding is still an issue our passes could stand to be crisper and smarter at times defensive rotations were slow at times and we were bailed out by missed shots We still got back doored a few times and our free throw shooting is not good. But I'm satisfied with what I saw today overall and think we went forward today. I hope we play even better against Illinois State. We'll need to in order to win. Go Valpo!

[EddieCabot]

Crowd of 1,925 is disappointing, but not surprising.  Valpo ends the non-con at 7-6, but did average 4.5 points more than their opponents.  If they can carry that average point margin through the MVC season, I think they will be successful.

[M]

I thought the crowd was really good all things considered. Shocked it was that low.

[VUBBFan]

I thought the crowd was really good all things considered. Shocked it was that low.

There were quite a few empty chairbacks. I mean like a lot. The non-season ticket seats looked pretty good, capacity wise.

[M]

There were a lot more people sitting in my neck of the woods up in the DD then normal. Did see quite a few empties across the way.

[valpopal]

Attendance: 1925. So the non-conference home schedule produced an average home attendance of 2365. If you subtract the 3636 that were at the Ball State game and inflated by lots of traveling Ball State fans, the average for the other 5 games: 2110! This could be seen as an indictment of the scheduling and the deteriorating loss of fan base because of missed opportunities or seeming apathy by the university administration. In any case, the time for serious reconsideration (and revising) of scheduling, game-day experience, promotional strategies, arena amenities, and (yes) facilities renovation accompanied by discernible directed actions is long overdue. It should have been done the day Valpo entered the MVC, if not before.


As I looked around the ARC today, I realized the Valpo basketball product off the court has slipped into becoming like Sears or K-Mart in competition with Amazon and WalMart, outdated and inferior.

[VUBBFan]

Can you guess the word of the day?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oqy0khPL8g

Let's get gritty!

[VUGrad1314]

FINALLY! THIS is what I've been waiting to see all along from Coach Lottich! For the first time I really felt the fire coming from him. Now that I know he has it I want to see more of it! Keep it up coach and you'll make believers out of all of us! I think he finally gets it and so does the team. This is great to see and I am pumped up! Go Valpo! This could really be the turning point guys!

[nkvu]

FINALLY! THIS is what I've been waiting to see all along from Coach Lottich! For the first time I really felt the fire coming from him. Now that I know he has it I want to see more of it! Keep it up coach and you'll make believers out of all of us! I think he finally gets it and so does the team. This is great to see and I am pumped up! Go Valpo! This could really be the turning point guys!

Agreed!  The tech on Freeman was pure bs and Lottich let the ref know. Good for him. I can understand somewhat laying low your first year in a new conference, but if at some point you don't let the refs know you will stand up for your guys, some refs will take the path of least resistance and give the close calls to your opponent.  It does not seem like rocket science to me to let your team know that barking at the refs is not their job, it is the coach's.  But the coach has to actually demonstrate that he has his players backs and will get on the refs when they deserve it. I'm a bit troubled about coach's almost apologetic position about "getting gritty" but then I've watched too many successful coaches turn calls in their favor by voicing their opinions on the way games are being called. Even good Christian men like Homer and Bryce picked up the occasional T!  I seem to remember a game where Homer walked out to the middle of the court, stopping play even to get one. From what I've heard Matt was a fiery player. No reason he can't bring a little of that to coaching.