Valpo Hosts Indiana State Game Thread, Sat., January 18, 2020, 7p

[oklahomamick]

That was a good coaching job.  I tip my hat. 

Now we need that more often.  But nonetheless, Matt did a great job tonight.  Very impressed. 

[valpopal]

The team effort in this game truly deserves to be labeled "gritty": good hold of home court!

[Valpo Joe]

Finally this board has turned positive  After what 3 years This is one hell of a spirited team and yes the Coach does a great job as well    Bryce and Alex were excellent for Valpo's program, but let FREEMAN-LIBERTY RING  I love watching this guy play

[NativeCheesehead]

After getting home I decided to re watch the second half. Two thoughts so far:

1. Kudos to Matt and JFL for having and executing a plan to keep him from getting that 4th foul. He played offf the ball yet affected the play.

2. My condolences to those of you that had to watch this live and hear two hours of this awful color announcer. He just. Won't. Stop. Talking.

[VUGrad1314]

After getting home I decided to re watch the second half. Two thoughts so far:

1. Kudos to Matt and JFL for having and executing a plan to keep him from getting that 4th foul. He played offf the ball yet affected the play.

2. My condolences to those of you that had to watch this live and hear two hours of this awful color announcer. He just. Won't. Stop. Talking.

Todd Ickow FTW! Who needs visuals when you have him? We are VERY lucky as fans to have a commentator of his caliber.

[Valpo Joe]

Todd OUT of BOUNNNNNS   

[M]

Great win, fantastic last 3/4 of the game. Kiser did it all, game of his career! JFL has a fantastic second half. Clay and Leek did great jobs, Gordon played real well and showed some real toughness.

A couple things to improve on
- Kiser gets beat back door more then anyone.
- Has Valpo drawn a charge this season??
- JFL gotta put a hand up when their killer has it with the clock running down (he was saying my bad at the timeout, so I don't think that one happens again).

Great win, ride this momentum!

[VUGrad1314]

So who's down for this lineup against Missouri State:

G Eron Gordon

G Javon Freeman-Liberty

F John Kiser

F Donovan Clay

F\C Mileek McMillan

Seemed to work out okay tonight... Why not run it back and see how it does on the road against the Bears? (This is being said with no scouting and knowledge of whether or not we'd get abused inside if we did this so take it with a bit of a grain of salt).

[wh]

Great crowd for a bitter cold night. Exciting atmosphere. Students were loud. RailCats guy was great. Halftime show was fabulous. Incredible 2nd half and killer instinct.  Doesn't get any better.

[VUBBFan]

Love this piece by Brandon Vickery on John Kiser.

https://twitter.com/AlBillets/status/1218755063365107712

[wh]

ISU stopping power melts away in second half
By Todd Aaron Golden Tribune-Star • Valparaiso

https://www.tribstar.com/sports/local_college_sports/isu_sports/isu-stopping-power-melts-away-in-second-half/article_e44324a4-8a8a-5e3a-8306-521d5120368a.html

[VUBBFan]

Post game recap Valpo vs Indiana State.

https://twitter.com/ValpoBasketball/status/1218745008762867712

[M]

That Golden article informed that Fazekas is a key bench player and I've been referring to the ARC the wrong way. 

[VUGrad1314]

Good call... Couldn't have said it any better... This was a true team win and deserves to be recognized as such...

https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/1218740158645833729

Also since I like numbers so much and used them to denigrate Lottich as a coach so often, it's only fair that I point out some REALLY positive numbers that say A LOT about his leadership abilities and that he just might be the right guy to get us where we need to go... Have a look at these!

https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/1218762843065126917

Those numbers speak very loudly to the character of this team under Lottich and how hard they fight for him... Matt I am sorry I let emotion and frustration get in the way of seeing what you were building all along... Keep doing what you're doing! Go Valpo!

[valpotx]

Anyone else notice that our glue guy makes sure to go straight to his teammates, whenever they feel that they got screwed on a call?  I have said it for 2 seasons now...GLUE...GUY

[wh]

From a visitor who didn't fully appreciate the good old ARC:

"Just got home from Valpo. Valpo downtown is really cool. Valpo staff and people were very friendly. First let me tell you about the facility. Hulman Center with one working bathroom and tarps flapping in the wind is 100 times better than that place. It's a cross between a high school and juco gym. The fact the MVC let them in with a facility like that is embarrassing. It is not even close to a division 1 caliber facility. Now to the game. Despite the outcome, being there in person was entertaining. JB was fantastic in the first half and not in the second half. Tyreke is just an incredible talent and we need to appreciate it while we have him. Jake and Tre are just freshman. They will be a force the next 3 years, but their defense needs a lot of work. We missed BK tonight. CWill was a no show. Bottom line is you can't win on the road shooting free throws that bad and letting your opponent run a layup drill in the second half. I'm not as down as some. We are a mid pack team. If we learn to play defense we could be top 4, we'll see. If we want to get over the hump next year, we must find a point guard."

BTW, to that visitor:
My taxes helped build your facility. You're welcome! 

[Just Sayin]

Finally this board has turned positive  After what 3 years This is one hell of a spirited team and yes the Coach does a great job as well    Bryce and Alex were excellent for Valpo's program, but let FREEMAN-LIBERTY RING  I love watching this guy play

And to think there were those who were seriously downplaying his contribution to the team when he decided to leave. No big loss. He wasn't all that good.  They said Walker was better than JFL. 

[VUGrad1314]

Who the heck said that? That's ridiculous. I think most Valpo fans recognized the gravity of Javon potentially leaving and were extremely concerned. Also all he did was explore his options had he decided to leave we wouldn't be enjoying watching him now.

[bbtds]

And, as long as I'm venting, 1 of our 2 freshmen who never play is our backup center's backup, thus he won't be any help tonight. And Daniel would have been our quickest defender against 2 the fastest guards on a guard-oriented team.

To have any chance, we can't have any 2-12 nights, or 4 fouls in 12 minute nights from Mileek.

I'm an eternal optimist, but I see IS winning this by 8-12 points.

Interesting. I did not see the game but only listened to Todd's exciting call of the game. Did anyone think that all the complaints about Daniel's liabilities may have actually been a positive and lead to Valpo winning this game. Meaning was not having Sackey making his usual mistakes more of a positive than a negative?

[VUGrad1314]

And, as long as I'm venting, 1 of our 2 freshmen who never play is our backup center's backup, thus he won't be any help tonight. And Daniel would have been our quickest defender against 2 the fastest guards on a guard-oriented team. To have any chance, we can't have any 2-12 nights, or 4 fouls in 12 minute nights from Mileek. I'm an eternal optimist, but I see IS winning this by 8-12 points.

Interesting. I did not see the game but only listened to Todd's exciting call of the game. Did anyone think that all the complaints about Daniel's liabilities may have actually been a positive and lead to Valpo winning this game. Meaning was not having Sackey making his usual mistakes more of a positive than a negative?

Mileek heard this and he stepped up... The whole team did... We did not have any bad nights and we not only gave ourselves a chance we finished the job and won! Great night! I'm not going to say not having Sackey out there was a positive. I have hope for him that he'll figure it out. But I do want to point out that in spite of his injury he was very vocal and cheering his team on. Gore and Ickow pointed this out. He's a terrific teammate and person and I think he'll be just fine. But yes, the improvement in the offense and point guard play relative to how it has been previously was noticeable. However, I believe there is plenty of reason to believe that Sackey can get back to performing at least at the level the guards played last night. He works too hard and he's too good a teammate not to improve.

[bbtds]

Bryce and Alex were excellent for Valpo's program

One of Valpo's best ever and we still can't get his first name correct. The Peters family, which does read this board, must be devastated. ALEC Peters

[bbtds]

Great crowd for a bitter cold night. Exciting atmosphere. Students were loud. RailCats guy was great. Halftime show was fabulous. Incredible 2nd half and killer instinct.  Doesn't get any better.

Parking situation?

[bbtds]

Those numbers speak very loudly to the character of this team under Lottich and how hard they fight for him... Matt I am sorry I let emotion and frustration get in the way of seeing what you were building all along... Keep doing what you're doing! Go Valpo!

Are you just buttering us up so you don't have to eventually eat your hats?

[Just Sayin]

Who the heck said that? That's ridiculous. I think most Valpo fans recognized the gravity of Javon potentially leaving and were extremely concerned. Also all he did was explore his options had he decided to leave we wouldn't be enjoying watching him now.

They know who they are. I'll refrain from mentioning names or posting their past comments.

[VUGrad1314]

Those numbers speak very loudly to the character of this team under Lottich and how hard they fight for him... Matt I am sorry I let emotion and frustration get in the way of seeing what you were building all along... Keep doing what you're doing! Go Valpo!

Are you just buttering us up so you don't have to eventually eat your hats?

No I'm not going to have to do that because Lottich has about a full hand's worth of national championship rings to get as a head coach before that happens. Read the quote again. "If he gets anywhere near Coach K's resume (which is FIVE national titles I think Maybe six I don't remember) I'll eat my hat. Considering I'm pretty sure only Roy Williams and Jay Wright are active coaches with more than one I feel pretty safe.