MBB 2019-2020

[VUGrad1314]

Erik Buggs weighs in on the Freshman class at Valpo. I have to agree with him here. They look very promising and if they keep it up we will be a dangerous team.

https://twitter.com/CoachEBuggs/status/1227952126095175680

[VUGrad1314]

If and when Javon Freeman-Liberty breaks the single season steals record are they going to have a ceremony commemorating that where he gets a ball? Maybe have Lubos come and attend if possible to present him that ball and have a photo op? From a former Valpo legend to a future one? Would be a super cool moment I think. We should try to make it happen! Where is Lubos and what is he doing these days?

[VUBBFan]

If and when Javon Freeman-Liberty breaks the single season steals record are they going to have a ceremony commemorating that where he gets a ball? Maybe have Lubos come and attend if possible to present him that ball and have a photo op? From a former Valpo legend to a future one? Would be a super cool moment I think. We should try to make it happen! Where is Lubos and what is he doing these days?

I doubt that Drake would let us do that on their home floor, but it would be nice. I'm assuming he will break the record in the next game and not wait until he comes home. 

[VUGrad1314]

Right but even if he breaks it @Drake Can't we just wait and have it before the Bradley game when we get home? Why not do that? Plus it gives Lubos time to get over here for the ceremony if he's living abroad. It's perfect!

[VUfan]

Let him steal it!!!

[VUGrad1314]

Give some love and props to Javon Freeman-Liberty for winning the MVC Player of the Week for the THIRD time this season! Congratulations Javon! Well done and well deserved! He willed us to that victory over Illinois State this weekend with a truly amazing and scintillating performance. That second half was one for the ages!

https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/1229511080944242688

[FWalum]

Thought it would be interesting to listen to Matt on the coach's teleconference this week after the comeback. https://soundcloud.com/mvcsports/matt-lottich-180118273

[vu72]

So we are now 14-14 and as part of that record we have had 10 games decided by 4 points or less, with 4 games in over-time.  Interestingly enough, we have won 5 of the ten and lost 5 of the 10.  We have won 2 in O/T and lost 2 in O/T.  Thus the 14-14 record.  Same in Valley play.  6 games were decided by 3 point or less with us winning 3 and losing 3.  So if we had won all six we would be 10-5 and perhaps in 2nd place and if we had lost all six we would be 4-11 and probably in last place.

It is a tense situation when play is that close.  14-14 seems about right.

[M]

I always thought the team would wind up right around .500. Imagine if they could figure out a way to stop digging themselves into nearly impossible holes....

[vuny98]

The good news is Mo St lost last night and I'd say a good chance UNI drops Indiana State tonight, which would still put us tied with both of those teams and we play both down the stretch. The bad news, no room for another loss if we hope to avoid Thursday.

[vok22]

The good news is Mo St lost last night and I'd say a good chance UNI drops Indiana State tonight, which would still put us tied with both of those teams and we play both down the stretch. The bad news, no room for another loss if we hope to avoid Thursday.

While I of course would rather avoid any issues and just win out, I think we avoid it with 2 wins. I like Mo State and Indiana State to lose 2 more, putting both at 10 losses. I think we win out at home and lose to Indiana State on the road.

[VUGrad1314]

Looks like the Alumni Association has resigned themselves to a Thursday trip as the Arch Madness Alumni and Friends Event in St Louis is going to be held on Thursday. Bad look IMO.

[FieldGoodie05]

Looks like the Alumni Association has resigned themselves to a Thursday trip as the Arch Madness Alumni and Friends Event in St Louis is going to be held on Thursday. Bad look IMO.

Is logic ever truly a bad look though?

[VUGrad1314]

Looks like the Alumni Association has resigned themselves to a Thursday trip as the Arch Madness Alumni and Friends Event in St Louis is going to be held on Thursday. Bad look IMO.

Is logic ever truly a bad look though?

I really hate when the evidence of the time being proves you to be more correct than not... I hate that the defeatist attitude has seeped into the alumni administration and probably levels higher than that as well but I get it. We don't have a lot to go on to suggest otherwise. It just sends the wrong message in my opinion.  I've been waiting for so long for my convictions to prove true that 1. This can be a multibid league on a yearly basis and 2. Valpo can be consistently competitive in this league across multiple sports. I'm seeing the seeds of both but the programs need to deliver.

[FieldGoodie05]

Looks like the Alumni Association has resigned themselves to a Thursday trip as the Arch Madness Alumni and Friends Event in St Louis is going to be held on Thursday. Bad look IMO.

Is logic ever truly a bad look though?

I really hate when the evidence of the time being proves you to be more correct than not... I hate that the defeatist attitude has seeped into the alumni administration and probably levels higher than that as well but I get it. We don't have a lot to go on to suggest otherwise. It just sends the wrong message in my opinion.  I've been waiting for so long for my convictions to prove true that 1. This can be a multibid league on a yearly basis and 2. Valpo can be consistently competitive in this league across multiple sports. I'm seeing the seeds of both but the programs need to deliver.

I suppose I look at it differently.  Ppl are booking hotels and flights, you have to set these things in stone to get a turnout.

I travel for a living...if I don't have dates and tentative ETA I'm probably not fully committing in general.  It has most to do with logistics of out of town travelers.

[talksalot]

sycamores beat uni after pulling a drake... giving up 17 of a 20point lead.  ouch

[VUGrad1314]

The great thing about this conference is that every team shows flashes of being the kind of team that can beat anyone and everyone they play against.

The frustrating thing about this conference is that every team shows FLASHES of being the kind of team that can beat anyone and everyone they play against.

Every team in the MVC (but especially Valpo since we are new and represent a downgrade from the team we replaced that we have not even come close to living up to) needs to work on finishing and maximizing opportunities if we're going to become a perennial multibid league again.

[EddieCabot]

sycamores beat uni after pulling a drake... giving up 17 of a 20point lead.  ouch

ISU led by 21 with just over 10:00 remaining ... UNI cut the lead to 1 on 3 different times 2 minutes.  Very entertaining game.

[VUGrad1314]

This makes Lottich's case for an extension so much stronger. If the great Coach Jacobson of Cedar Falls can have awful halves like this what should we expect Lottich to do? Granted it's easier to stomach if you're a UNI fan because Jacboson has proven himself but still the similarities are palpable in this case. Slow starts Deep holes Losses. You have to start wondering about A.J. Green's POY case at this point don't you?

[vuny98]

The good news is Mo St lost last night and I'd say a good chance UNI drops Indiana State tonight, which would still put us tied with both of those teams and we play both down the stretch. The bad news, no room for another loss if we hope to avoid Thursday.

Nevermind...

[VUGrad1314]

Looking like for the third straight year we'll be a Thursday team in a one bid league. That sucks.

[vuny98]

Should be an exciting finish to the MVC season.

3 games left
Top 4 teams are fighting for first place (two teams tied for first, two teams 1 game out)
4 teams fighting for 5th and 6th place to stay out of Thursday (1 game separation there as well)

And then there is Evansville and Illinois State.

[vok22]

The good news is Mo St lost last night and I'd say a good chance UNI drops Indiana State tonight, which would still put us tied with both of those teams and we play both down the stretch. The bad news, no room for another loss if we hope to avoid Thursday.

Nevermind...

Why can't we have nice things

[NativeCheesehead]

I will admit, there is a sense of defeat and resignation that has settled in this week. I enjoyed Arch Madness when I went two years ago, but it's hard to justify the cost when there's less than a 2% chance Valpo plays on Saturday. Was going to be tough logistically for me anyway, but this makes the decision pretty easy. The even tougher part is seeing a path to the top of the conference. Assuming no impact transfers and at least one rotational contributor amongst the freshmen, we should (finally) avoid Thursday night in 2021. But then what? What's the next step?

[FieldGoodie05]

The good news is Mo St lost last night and I'd say a good chance UNI drops Indiana State tonight, which would still put us tied with both of those teams and we play both down the stretch. The bad news, no room for another loss if we hope to avoid Thursday.

Nevermind...

π
Why can't we have nice things

I am proud of the effort most games with this team and I am still engaged despite some epic bad 10-minute runs (seems like we are down 15+ in most of our  conference games).  That being said it's clear that this team is not yet prepared to take that next "consistent" step needed to make a run in conference championship tournaments.  So I am not overly upset by the fact that we are likely to play on Thursday.  With the track record of this years team I am more than happy to see us win a Thursday night game and play a good game on Friday (W or L).  We need to win "any" games in the tournament and stringing back-to-back wins in order to make it deep in the tournament was never a high likelihood.

To this point we have only strung back-to-back wins 2x:  3 Wins (@ SIUe, ND and Grand Canyon) and then 2 Wins (Southern Illinois and @ Illinois State).

This is a mark of a young and inconsistent team which we mostly are.  Before we go off and hope for consecutive wins I would have liked to see us keep consecutive games where our biggest deficit was sub 10 points.  Coincidentally, that also probably meant we would have had more consecutive win streaks!

What is it about the first 6-weeks of conference play that had us stay within single digits (+/-) with our opponents by halftime.  It seems like either we didn't progress while the conference mates did, or we changed something up significantly in that time to where we are now regularly seeing 10-20 points swings by halftime . . . (7 of the last 9 have seen a drastic swing by halftime)

@ Drake (Halftime -18 points)
Final Loss by 2 points

@ Illinois State (Halftime -17 points)
Final Win by 3 points

Southern Illinois (Halftime + 12 points)
Final Win by 17 points

@ Loyola (Halftime -4 points)
Final Loss by 2 points

UNI (Halftime -15 points)
Final Loss by 12 points

Illinois State (Halftime +6 points)
Final Win by 10 points

@ Bradley (Halftime -11 points)
Final Loss by 11 points

@ Evansville (halftime +13 points)
Final Win by 2 points

@ Missouri State (halftime -20 points)
Final Loss by 7 points

Indiana State (halftime -3 points)
Final Win by 9 points

@ UNI (halftime +6 points)
Final Loss by 10 points

Drake (halftime tied)
Final Win by 5 points

@ Southern Illinois (halftime -4 points)
Final Loss by 13 points

@ Evansville (halftime +5 points)
Final Win by 2 points

Loyola (halftime -7 points)
Final Loss by 3 points