Game #22 Vs Missouri State Tues 1\29\19 7 PM ARC

[crusadermoe]

I think Bryce in this video sounds like a great guy who is comfortable in his own skin.   He seems to handle the questions better and speak with more confidence than I had recalled.

[valpospartan]

I saw one of the giveaway basketballs go flying into the court right after the final horn. The Valpo Dinosaur actually picked it up with its tony little arms.

Me too.

[valpospartan]

[/quote]

What do the media studies say about sound?
Still need a microphone for the press please! Very difficult to understand the questions asked by the press.
[/quote]

So the arena isn't the only place with a lousy sound system?

[VALPO LI]

The media for these games provide a great source of information.  Replaying a video clip over and over because you can't hear the questions being asked to Matt and his players baffles me.  It is such an easy fix.  If the ticket table can be moved after every home game, I am sure a microphone can be provided to our press as well.

[FWalum]

Lottich isn't ready for any of this. Plain and simple. He's not. And when he doesn't have a Peters on the team to mask his inept ability to coach or lead this team, his inexperience shows. Not his fault - he hasn't ever been the head coach before and had ZERO coaching experience prior to his time at Valpo. He *could* be a good coach someday. The question is ... are we such a subpar program that we'll be the ones who continually say: "wait until next year!" Or "trust the process!" and ride it out until he has the players to execute? Like seriously we should be a 25+ win team next year with the roster we'll have. But I'm sure something will happen to prohibit that from occurring. And like always everyone will make excuses.

Holding the program to a high standard is something that I think every VU supporter on this board can agree with, but your assessment of Lottich is extremely harsh and in my opinion not yet warranted.  There are certainly things that he can improve on, but I think every coach would tell you that they have their faults and need to improve in certain areas. I agree that improvement can be made in some of the areas you suggest and Lottich should keep his demonstrated frustration under control in public. As I have said in other threads, all it takes is one event to disrupt the plan for an entire season and most plans are conceived at least 2 to 3 years in advance.  Good coaches are more adept at making lemonade out of lemons and I think that Matt was showing us that he has the ability to do just that when he changed the lineup at the start of conference and then again when Fazekas went down, but when you take two or three of the major contributors from any team, let alone a mid-major with obviously more dependence on specific talent, it will be difficult to compete at any level.  There are certainly things about the program with which I don't agree, but then I wouldn't coach the same way as a lot of successful coaches.

Compare the bio of these 2 candidates.  Tell me which one you would choose to be your head coach and why.

• Candidate 1 starred on his High School basketball team, setting numerous school records. After high school, he attended a DIII university, where he played basketball and earned his degree. He made the all-conference team multiple times and was a three-time Academic All-America nominee. He transitioned into coaching after quitting a private sector job joining the basketball program at a DI university as a volunteer. He was promoted to a full-time assistant coach after his one season of volunteering. He has five seasons of assistant coaching experience at a successful DI program.


• Candidate 2 starred on his High School basketball team, setting numerous school records and was ranked as a top 100 high school player. After high school, he attended a DI university, where he played basketball and earned his degree. Twice during his 4 years this team was ranked #1 at the end of the regular season. He was the starting point guard every game of his junior and senior years and was a Honorable Mention team selection of this P5 conference as a senior. He was awarded to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Star list, given to the top-15 seniors in college basketball. He played 8 years internationally as a professional. After his professional career he was a head scout for the National Collegiate Scouting Association. He has three seasons of assistant coaching experience at a successful DI program.

Just going by the resume I think most of us would pick candidate 2 despite the 2 fewer years of assistant coaching experience.

Here is another bio, of a coach before his major hire, that you might find interesting VU2010.

This coach starred on his High School basketball team, led his High School team to a state tournament title and was a three-time All-State selection. The P5 team on which he played as a senior was the National Champion. He was named to the 1st team All Conference, and he was named a three-time consensus All-American.  He played professionally for six years and was a league All Star and the leading scorer one year.  He has coached High School basketball for eleven years and has coached College basketball at a Teacher's College for two years. He has had a winning record all but one of his thirteen years of coaching.

Not exactly an overwhelming resume that would lead you to think a major program would hire him and that he might be considered the greatest basketball coach of all time.

The lack of stability in the program has been an issue, but I don't think that Lottich has been completely to blame for that instability.  Carter and Adekoya can probably be at least partially blamed on Bryce.  I am not sure who was responsible for bringing Burton and some of his "red flags" to VU, Matt could be held responsible for not making sure Joe was meeting his obligations.  Sickness and injury can only be minimally contained by the staff. Tevonn of last year, Fazekas, Golder and Smits of this year are virtually unknowable. Can you make plans to mitigate impact with some practiced player rotations? Yes, but they become much more difficult when they are multiple or top level players and heaven forbid when it is a combination of both.

From your moniker I would guess that you were at VU during the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Horizon League seasons, were you as disgusted with Homer for the poor performances of those seasons? Given the adversity the team has faced recently, I think Lottich has done a reasonably good job and with less adversity could give us the MVC results that we fans crave.

[wh]

Lottich isn't ready for any of this. Plain and simple. He's not. And when he doesn't have a Peters on the team to mask his inept ability to coach or lead this team, his inexperience shows. Not his fault - he hasn't ever been the head coach before and had ZERO coaching experience prior to his time at Valpo. He *could* be a good coach someday. The question is ... are we such a subpar program that we'll be the ones who continually say: "wait until next year!" Or "trust the process!" and ride it out until he has the players to execute? Like seriously we should be a 25+ win team next year with the roster we'll have. But I'm sure something will happen to prohibit that from occurring. And like always everyone will make excuses.

Holding the program to a high standard is something that I think every VU supporter on this board can agree with, but your assessment of Lottich is extremely harsh and in my opinion not yet warranted.  There are certainly things that he can improve on, but I think every coach would tell you that they have their faults and need to improve in certain areas. I agree that improvement can be made in some of the areas you suggest and Lottich should keep his demonstrated frustration under control in public. As I have said in other threads, all it takes is one event to disrupt the plan for an entire season and most plans are conceived at least 2 to 3 years in advance.  Good coaches are more adept at making lemonade out of lemons and I think that Matt was showing us that he has the ability to do just that when he changed the lineup at the start of conference and then again when Fazekas went down, but when you take two or three of the major contributors from any team, let alone a mid-major with obviously more dependence on specific talent, it will be difficult to compete at any level.  There are certainly things about the program with which I don't agree, but then I wouldn't coach the same way as a lot of successful coaches.

Compare the bio of these 2 candidates.  Tell me which one you would choose to be your head coach and why.

• Candidate 1 starred on his High School basketball team, setting numerous school records. After high school, he attended a DIII university, where he played basketball and earned his degree. He made the all-conference team multiple times and was a three-time Academic All-America nominee. He transitioned into coaching after quitting a private sector job joining the basketball program at a DI university as a volunteer. He was promoted to a full-time assistant coach after his one season of volunteering. He has five seasons of assistant coaching experience at a successful DI program.


• Candidate 2 starred on his High School basketball team, setting numerous school records and was ranked as a top 100 high school player. After high school, he attended a DI university, where he played basketball and earned his degree. Twice during his 4 years this team was ranked #1 at the end of the regular season. He was the starting point guard every game of his junior and senior years and was a Honorable Mention team selection of this P5 conference as a senior. He was awarded to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Star list, given to the top-15 seniors in college basketball. He played 8 years internationally as a professional. After his professional career he was a head scout for the National Collegiate Scouting Association. He has three seasons of assistant coaching experience at a successful DI program.

Just going by the resume I think most of us would pick candidate 2 despite the 2 fewer years of assistant coaching experience.

Here is another bio, of a coach before his major hire, that you might find interesting VU2010.

This coach starred on his High School basketball team, led his High School team to a state tournament title and was a three-time All-State selection. The P5 team on which he played as a senior was the National Champion. He was named to the 1st team All Conference, and he was named a three-time consensus All-American.  He played professionally for six years and was a league All Star and the leading scorer one year.  He has coached High School basketball for eleven years and has coached College basketball at a Teacher's College for two years. He has had a winning record all but one of his thirteen years of coaching.

Not exactly an overwhelming resume that would lead you to think a major program would hire him and that he might be considered the greatest basketball coach of all time.

The lack of stability in the program has been an issue, but I don't think that Lottich has been completely to blame for that instability.  Carter and Adekoya can probably be at least partially blamed on Bryce.  I am not sure who was responsible for bringing Burton and some of his "red flags" to VU, Matt could be held responsible for not making sure Joe was meeting his obligations.  Sickness and injury can only be minimally contained by the staff. Tevonn of last year, Fazekas, Golder and Smits of this year are virtually unknowable. Can you make plans to mitigate impact with some practiced player rotations? Yes, but they become much more difficult when they are multiple or top level players and heaven forbid when it is a combination of both.

From your moniker I would guess that you were at VU during the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Horizon League seasons, were you as disgusted with Homer for the poor performances of those seasons? Given the adversity the team has faced recently, I think Lottich has done a reasonably good job and with less adversity could give us the MVC results that we fans crave.

2010, I love your passion for the program and I understand your frustration, but I think you're way off base about Matt.

Ft. Wayne - great post!

[justducky]

I was horrified by our December performance and or preparation but nothing Matt has done in MVC play disturbes me in the least. I like where we are. I like our defensive effort. I like the focal points for team development. I like Sackey being fast tracked. I like Jay being on the verge of breaking out. The only thing standing between Matt and a terrific Feb-March performance is some healthy bodies.

Injuries have distracted MVC coaches and fans from just how good we can be. Not for a minute would I consider trading places or coaches with anybody in the Valley.

[VU2010]

Here's my ideal:

Everything works out for us and we win big time! Have to work to keep our coach here because others are trying to pry him away. I would LOVE for my gut reaction concerns as a fan to be wrong. Truly

As for the blind resumes, idk. I don't personally put all that much credence in how good of a player coaches were, except when it has to do with the alma mater of a prospective coaching candidate.

[FWalum]

Here's my ideal:

Everything works out for us and we win big time! Have to work to keep our coach here because others are trying to pry him away. I would LOVE for my gut reaction concerns as a fan to be wrong. Truly

As for the blind resumes, idk. I don't personally put all that much credence in how good of a player coaches were, except when it has to do with the alma mater of a prospective coaching candidate.

Couldn't agree more with your ideal coaching outcome. My point about the resumes was that things are many times, not always, about how a coach fits with the institution and the program culture (if the program already has a decent culture) rather than past experience. Candidate 1 was Brad Stevens and Candidate 2 was Matt Lottich.

[truth219]

The coaching is bad. The team has no leader...on the bench or in the game.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[VU2010]

FWAlum. Great points, my friend. I love when they put the blind resumes up when talking about bubble teams leading up to march madness. To your credit, that's a great example you bring up with Brad and the resume comparison for sure. I was reading it like .... hmm who is that? Great perspective.

[JD24]

Blame the coach!

According to social media, John Beilein should never coach another game for Michigan. 

[VUGrad1314]

Blame the coach!

According to social media, John Beilein should never coach another game for Michigan. 

Well how many national title games has he lost? Clearly he's a first class choke artist who can't win the big one.

[VU2010]

Touché, y'all bring up some good comments - satirically - about Beline at UM.