Game #4 Valpo vs Univ of North Dakota Fighting Hawks Sun 11/17 1:30pm ARC ESPN3

[wh]

10-member band?

A. Practicing for some upcoming event
B. School is not in session
C. Pathetic lack of interest
D. Pathetic lack of support
E. C and D only

[vu72]

Nice win that showed the depth and defensive abilities we have.  Great to see our two freshman gaining confidence.  They will both be studs.  They had turned the ball over about a dozen times coming into this game and we stole the show.  Fun team.  Anybody miss the departed??   

[VUGrad1314]

This team is fun and deep. Good energy. The ball moves and is shared. The defensive intensity is there as always. I like not having to sweat out games against teams we should beat handily. I'm not sure what the Paradise Jam will bring but I am excited. Maybe we'll surprise people there.

[vu84v2]

I definitely like the depth and the energy and it will be interesting to see how Valpo does in the V.I. tournament. Javon really looks like a first team MVC player and there are good signs from Robinson and Maleek. GCU seems to not be playing very well and it is hard to judge where Nevada is right now with Alford and such a new roster. Valpo could definitely surprise on their end of the bracket.

Interesting possible matchups for Valpo's third game (hopefully the championship game): Cincinnati (with Sorolla) and Illinois State (a weird situation with a conference opponent in a non-conference game).

[vufan75]

10-member band?

A. Practicing for some upcoming event
B. School is not in session
C. Pathetic lack of interest
D. Pathetic lack of support
E. C and D only

I thought some of the same things. MLB should chat with other MVC private school AD's to see how those schools work with pep bands. Has to be an easy way. Noticed were not many students in attendance either excluding the 10 band members. Maybe 30-50 or so range?


Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[hailcrusaders]

10-member band? A. Practicing for some upcoming event B. School is not in session C. Pathetic lack of interest D. Pathetic lack of support E. C and D only

I thought some of the same things. MLB should chat with other MVC private school AD's to see how those schools work with pep bands. Has to be an easy way. Noticed were not many students in attendance either excluding the 10 band members. Maybe 30-50 or so range? Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Sunday matinees are always terrible for attendance (seriously, can we stop scheduling them?), but it's not like the Bears are keeping people attached to their TVs. To the students' credit, I heard a few fake shotclock countdowns that appeared to force up early contested shots, but causation is difficult to prove there. Disappointed to see them sitting for most of the second half.

It's been said before and will be said again, but man, I really hope Fazekas gets healthy ASAP because I think we're definitely a top-half MVC team with him. Regardless, I was impressed with how JFL got going, and McMillan has come along as a player on both ends.

North Dakota looked sloppy with the ball. Only had six TOs vs. Gonzaga, but 19 in their exhibition win over a D3 opponent. Valpo is going to have to create turnovers and fastbreak opportunities like we did today to compete with the more talented teams on our schedule. Certainly have the personnel for it.

[PlumStreetBum]

Javon really looks like a first team MVC player and there are good signs from Robinson and Maleek.

I don't know who Maleek is, but I thought Robinson and McMillan looked pretty good. Now that he's a much smaller liability on defense, I wonder if they can find a way to run the offense through Mileek when Freeman is on the bench. He's always had a good scoring touch and we look lost when Javon isn't out there.

[SanityLost17]

Only 1 real complaint for this game.   McMillan clearly had a tight hamstring to start the game and on his last layup in the 2nd half he clearly aggravated it even more.   I am super excited he had great stats playing at less than 100%, but have to question why he played in the 2nd half at all?   Seems a little questionable to me because hamstrings are tricky.   

[JD24]

Javon really looks like a first team MVC player and there are good signs from Robinson and Maleek.

I don't know who Maleek is, but I thought Robinson and McMillan looked pretty good. Now that he's a much smaller liability on defense, I wonder if they can find a way to run the offense through Mileek when Freeman is on the bench. He's always had a good scoring touch and we look lost when Javon isn't out there.

When Freeman wasn't in there, it looked like last year's offense.  I think they had Sackey, Krikke, Clay, Robinson and McMillan and while they played well defensively, the ball just stopped moving.

[justducky]

Great to see our two freshman gaining confidence.  They will both be studs.

Big upside for both. Some question in my mind if Krikke might eventually be the better player 

[vu72]

we look lost when Javon isn't out there.

Agree that the motion seemed off while he wasn't out there but, part of it may be the two freshman still getting their feet wet.  Looking at the box score showed six guys hitting threes which didn't include Sackey who saw a few of his attempts rattle out.  The ability to have others hit from outside will keep teams from doubling Javon or packing it in like last year.

[usc4valpo]

Nice win over the Fighting Souix!

[M]

Only got to stay for the first half...looked like a lot of of our guys running into the wrong spots on half court sets.  Little confusion (either by them or maybe by this onlooker).

Great job by Mileek and Javon on offense.  Going to take a couple guys each night (Javon + 1).  Keep the winning going.

[JD24]

Nice win over the Fighting Souix!

Fighting Hawks.

[JD24]

we look lost when Javon isn't out there.

Agree that the motion seemed off while he wasn't out there but, part of it may be the two freshman still getting their feet wet.  Looking at the box score showed six guys hitting threes which didn't include Sackey who saw a few of his attempts rattle out.  The ability to have others hit from outside will keep teams from doubling Javon or packing it in like last year.

Krikke tried to back down a defender a couple of trips late and in both cases really wasn't aggressive with his shot. A weak layup attempt and a fall away hook shot. My immediate reaction since he's lefthanded was "I thought Smits transferred???" As with Smits, either go to the basket immediately or kick it out.

[VULB#62]

Please, no comparisons with DS. 

Young, inexperienced, yes.  Lack of hustle, unable to leap, defensively challenged, no 3pt. potential, ah....... no. 

[chef]

Had one bad 4 minute stretch when Javon needed a breather, but keep in mind that coincided with Kiser on the bench with 4 fouls. Kiser's leadership and understanding of what to do and where to be on both ends of the court cannot be understated. There's a reason why Kiser is averaging over 30 minutes a game.

[FieldGoodie05]

Please, no comparisons with DS. 

Young, inexperienced, yes.  Lack of hustle, unable to leap, defensively challenged, no 3pt. potential, ah....... no. 

I'd have to agree with VULB#62 on this one, Smits and he are totally different players.  For one thing, Smits always had the bulk advantage to his side so backing a player down should have been a yawn (it wasn't).  More to the point, Krikke defends and the alone is worth dropping the comparison.  Oh, and he doesn't whine at the referees while a fast break is happening the other way . . .

[Just Sayin]

Nice win over the Fighting Souix!

Fighting Hawks.

Thanks to political correctness. One day, VU will cave to the PC culture and change the name of Crusaders. The world has gone mad.

[SanityLost17]

Please, no comparisons with DS. 

Young, inexperienced, yes.  Lack of hustle, unable to leap, defensively challenged, no 3pt. potential, ah....... no. 

I'd have to agree with VULB#62 on this one, Smits and he are totally different players.  For one thing, Smits always had the bulk advantage to his side so backing a player down should have been a yawn (it wasn't).  More to the point, Krikke defends and the alone is worth dropping the comparison.  Oh, and he doesn't whine at the referees while a fast break is happening the other way . . .

Agree on all counts.   Krikke already has learned to stand straight up and slide his feet and keep verticality at all times.  He also hustles down the floor on every play.  No Whining.

Smits was a better offensive player LAST YEAR.  But Krikke is way ahead of where Smits was the 1st 2 years he played here (excluding freshman year when he was hurt). 

[M]

That and an injury...Kiser is fantastic from the shoulders up.  It's taken 3+ years but I've come around to believing that you almost need a guy like him on a winning team's roster.

[VUBBFan]

Tons of great action pics of the game from NWI Times.
https://twitter.com/AlBillets/status/1196616990678491136

[JD24]

Had one bad 4 minute stretch when Javon needed a breather, but keep in mind that coincided with Kiser on the bench with 4 fouls. Kiser's leadership and understanding of what to do and where to be on both ends of the court cannot be understated. There's a reason why Kiser is averaging over 30 minutes a game.

That was what I was referring to and you're right that Kiser wasn't in at that point. He and JFL were back in fairly quickly upon the game tightening up a bit.

[JD24]

I'd have to agree with VULB#62 on this one, Smits and he are totally different players. 

Clearly. Completely different players.

My post was referring to a few minute period in the second half when Krikke decided to post up, stopped the ball and then weakly made an attempt to score. He also happens to be lefthanded. My post was also more to get a chuckle out of the board.

[valpotx]

For those that have criticized Kiser over the years, I stand by my points early on, that he is a 'glue guy,' and he is now actually producing above what we would really need from him on the stat sheet.