Valpo hosts Evansville Game Thread, Sun., Jan. 26,2020, 4:00p CT

[Valpo2013]

We squeak out a win against an awful team
Halftime adjustments or lack of

[NativeCheesehead]

An awful team without their leading scorer.

[VALPO LI]

Twice.....

We squeak out a win against an awful team
Halftime adjustments or lack of

[valpotx]

I am fine with this one.  I don't care that their leading scorer was out, when you consider Sackey, Robinson and Fazekas just came back from injuries of their own.  That evens out, in my view.  E-Vil then hits a few 3s in the waning minutes, and it appears much closer than it actually was for 95% of the game.  It's just like some prior Valpo teams that would only lose by 10-15 to a Power 5 team, but only because we closed on a 10-0 run.

On to the next one, and I will take a sweep of E-Vil any day, moving our crappy record against them to 19-70.

[EddieCabot]

I am fine with this one.  I don't care that their leading scorer was out, when you consider Sackey, Robinson and Fazekas just came back from injuries of their own.  That evens out, in my view.  E-Vil then hits a few 3s in the waning minutes, and it appears much closer than it actually was for 95% of the game.  It's just like some prior Valpo teams that would only lose by 10-15 to a Power 5 team, but only because we closed on a 10-0 run.

On to the next one, and I will take a sweep of E-Vil any day, moving our crappy record against them to 19-70.

Agreed.  Odd scheduling that Valpo's played Evansville twice, but still hasn't seen Illinois State or Bradley.

[govalpogo]

Not able to watch or check-in live.  Read through Paul's twitter feed.  Sounds like JFL is playing through injury, which may explain some of his poor shooting the last couple of games.  I also think that the Kobe news made this a very surreal game for many of our players.  I know that none of them knew the man, but at least for Zion and JFL, Bryant was the main NBA star they looked up to.  Grief can manifest in many different ways (great play as inspiration/poor play due to lack of focus), makes me feel fortunate to get a W when everything washes out.  Phew...now try to get a road W! 

[justducky]

when you consider Sackey, Robinson and Fazekas just came back from injuries of their own.  That evens out, in my view.

JFL 1 of 18 from 3 since the knee incident vs ISU. His points, defense, steals and rebounds all look a bit off.   

Hopefully this gets the Aces fired up so they can win 4 to 6 (with Williams) of their last 10 and maybe help us with our seeding. Both of these teams have no direction to go but up. 

[vu72]

An awful team without their leading scorer.

True, but essentially so were we.  Javon is shooting awful, terrible or worse.  Way off his game and it sounds like some sort of injury.  The good news is we win and now, finally, have a full compliment of our players.  I'm hopeful... and now planning to make the trip to St. Louis provided we aren't in the bottom four.

[M]

At least JFL seems to have realized he isn't right and didn't force up 20+ shots this time.

Get healthy and go get a tough road win.

[Valpo Joe]

This is a good team They have a good coach  The Fans love them  Need the killer instinct when they hit doubled digit lead   

[justducky]

In the last 2 games we have shot as a team under 23% from 3 at 14 for 62. McMillan with 50% for this stretch. Sackey hits 2 of 3 tonight. Obviously we aren't going to win many Valley games with no outside shooting success and Mileek and Daniel getting the only open looks.

The good news is we win and now, finally, have a full compliment of our players.  I'm hopeful... and now planning to make the trip to St. Louis provided we aren't in the bottom four.

Healthy-----I see us winning 4 of our last 6 but our next 4 will be very difficult at Bradley, ISUr, at Loyola, and hosting UNI. Winning 2 of those 4 could really start building some momentum and 10-8 guarantees no Thursday.

[talksalot]

I see the game will be Re-Aired on SportsNetChicago, Valpo-Area Comcast Channel 200 Monday morning at 6am.  If you WANT to see that again.

[VUBBFan]

Wasn't the prettiest of games, but in the end we won and that's all that matters. It was great to meet FWalum and 4throwfan in person tonight. It's nice to be able to put a face on a forum member's name.

Got a few clips from the game.

https://twitter.com/ValpoBasketball/status/1221632053692850176

https://twitter.com/AlBillets/status/1221638900294344704

https://twitter.com/AlBillets/status/1221649416148455424

[VUGrad1314]

Okay so a few things... Yay! We won and we're at .500 again! Yay! We swept Evansville! We haven't done a lot of sweeping of teams in the MVC so we have to take them when we get them... BUT that was WAY too close and WAY closer than it needed to be. Our poor finish to the game has me a bit concerned about our ability to avoid Thursday. We need to do a better job of putting teams away. That said...

We are just ONE game out of 3rd place and have two games against one of the 5-3 teams (Bradley) and a win over another 5-3 team (Drake) as well as a home game against the third 5-3 team (SIU) to make our impact on the standings.

Of the teams with whom we share a 4-4 record we have head to head one one right now (Indiana State) and a home meeting against the other (Missouri State) We also have two games against Illinois St (1-7) that we need to have. Can't lose to teams behind you in the standings if you want to avoid Thursday. That's why grinding out those two Evansville games was super important. These next two weeks are everything for the Crusaders. They can still be a factor in the conference race, and a big one at that, but the schedule is about to get a lot tougher. Here's how the schedule shakes out...

Jan 29 @ Bradley (5-3) Win this and we're comfortably in the middle of the pack. However, Bradley has been very good at Carver, (UNI game notwithstanding though that game was closer than the score would indicate) and the shorthanded Braves are fresh off a loss in Terre Haute. A lot depends on how healthy they are coming into this game. We might have a shot but adjust your expectations accordingly. 

Feb 1 Vs Illinois St (1-7) Matt needs to keep the team focused on this one and NOT looking ahead to next week's UNI\Loyola stretch. This is a game we HAVE TO HAVE and we need to come out and play like it.

Feb 5 Vs UNI (6-2) Yes there's probably a bad taste in our mouths given how eminently winnable the game in Cedar Falls was but this game is wholly irrelevant if we don't beat Illinois St beforehand. If we can steal the game in Carver and beat Illinois St, we have a chance to climb into the upper echelon of the league. A split in those games creates some clear separation but we will be able to climb back in if we can beat the Panthers.

Feb 9 @ Loyola (6-2) This team almost took down the Panthers in the MacLeod Center and we almost beat them at home. However they look much better now than when we played them. If somehow we've gone 3-0 in the previous stretch this will be a huge game but we as fans have to recognize what a tall order it is to beat this team especially on the road where we have won exactly once.

Feb 12 Vs SIU (5-3) This team has been on fire lately and they drubbed us in Carbondale. We need to return the favor and get a win on our home floor. It won't be easy. Mullins has this team locked in and ready to go.  We'll see how Loyola handles their trip down to Little Egypt. That is going to tell us a lot about whether the Salukis are for real. Mullins knowledge of Loyola from working under Moser could be critical here.

Realistically we're looking at a 2-3 stretch with one game to either side of it which would put us at 6-7 or 7-6 on the high and 5-8 on the low. If we can get to 6-7 I think we should be able to hang on to one of the final spots in the top 6. If we come out of this stretch 7-6 or better then I like our chances of avoiding Thursday assuming we have no letdowns in the last few games of the year. Evansville's going to win a game or two they shouldn't this year I think. Teams had better watch out for them and that should help us. Right now we control our own destiny for a lot of this. It's up to us to decide what kind of team we want to be. We can contend. We can be middle of the pack (which I would take). Or we can be a Thursday team. The choice is ours. Just please for the love of God win the Illinois St game and don't fall into that trap. Please don't look ahead to the UNI\Loyola stretch. That's going to be daunting enough when we get to it without making things tougher by dropping home games to teams well behind us in the standings. Go Valpo!

[bbtds]

Not able to watch or check-in live.  Read through Paul's twitter feed.  Sounds like JFL is playing through injury, which may explain some of his poor shooting the last couple of games.  I also think that the Kobe news made this a very surreal game for many of our players.  I know that none of them knew the man, but at least for Zion and JFL, Bryant was the main NBA star they looked up to.  Grief can manifest in many different ways (great play as inspiration/poor play due to lack of focus), makes me feel fortunate to get a W when everything washes out.  Phew...now try to get a road W! 

Did they find out about Kobe Bryant at halftime? How did Valpo get an 18 point lead in the first half? I've heard of excuses before but that has to be the best one yet. Excuses are like butts. Everybody has one and they all stink.

I realize KB meant a lot to a lot of people but blaming a poor 2nd half performance on the death of an NBA player from another large US City is fairly lame. Now if MJ had died..........

[Valpo2013]

Yeah
Kobe dying caused the 2nd half collapse
Unbelievable

[wh]

Did they find out about Kobe Bryant at halftime?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccxng_bvscY&feature=youtube_gdata

[VUGrad1314]

Two positive notes I see:

1. For those worried about attendance, do you think we would have 3000+ as a 500 team coming off two sub par finishes playing the last place team in the league if we were in the HL? I think not. This bodes well for when we finally do contend and establish ourselves as a relevant program in the MVC.

2. We are doing a much better job defending home court this year than we have in the past. That is a big sign of growth that we are getting back to being able to win at the ARC even against the elevated competition. Next step: learn to win on the road.

[humbleopinion]

1. For those worried about attendance, do you think we would have 3000+ as a 500 team coming off two sub par finishes playing the last place team in the league if we were in the HL? I think not. This bodes well for when we finally do contend and establish ourselves as a relevant program in the MVC.

It helped that the Jackson Elementary Choir sang.  There must have been at least fifty kids whose families had filled the center section of the upper bleachers an hour before tip-off.  It was disappointing to see that most of them had left by the end of the game.

[VUGrad1314]

Then we're hitting more on the community outreach and engagement section of the issues we've been facing and that is to be celebrated. Something we need to do though is figure out a way to cultivate lifelong fans and stoke interest in the program. I was on Loyola's board a few days ago reading and it looks like they have a plan to do just that that is working. I might link it here for people to read.

Here it is:

http://www.ramblermania.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2857

[VUGrad1314]

Two ways to look at Valpo vis a vis "Mamba Mentality" which is about finishing the deal and closing games. Making the plays down the stretch necessary to come away with the win.

If you look at the second half in its totality, it's hard to say that we had the Mamba Mentality with the way Evansville was able to come back particularly as an 8 point lead with 2:12 to go was whittled down to 2 with a chance for Evansville to tie with under a minute left. However, if you look at that moment in isolation the block by Mileek is a PERFECT illustration of what we're talking about. Going up and selling out to make a play when your team needs it to seal a win. Javon who had missed a few shots down the stretch including a free throw stepping up and hitting four big ones at the end is also a great illustration of Mamba mentality. When the game is on the line you have to make those pressure free throws and he did! My verdict: this team showed it just fine and Lottich is right. We're so used to digging ourselves out of holes we have no idea how to play with a lead. Hopefully we will learn and grow from this and show greater closing ability the next time we have a significant lead late. Overall I'm going to take the positive route and say we did our job. The margin of victory in this game will soon be forgotten and remembered only as a win and a sweep against Evansville which is what we needed to do. We handled our business and are now in a pretty good position going forward if we can take advantage of home court and steal one or two on the road. The only real cause for concern would have been if we had lost. Since we won, however, we can move on and focus on what is a big game at Carver with Bradley against what appears to be a shorthanded team. Go Valpo! If we can win that game and beat Illinois State, we'll be 6-4 going into the UNI\Loyola week and in a pretty good position, especially if we can somehow take one (or both) of those games. Hey, we were close enough to do it against both of them! It could happen! 

[crusadermoe]

I will look at the 3/4 full glass this time despite blowing the lead into white knuckle time.   We have a lot of pieces coming together with very high upside.

JFL will return to form at some point soon - should we doubt that?
Fazekas is back and his shot adds a dimension.  Hope he can get stronger and stay healthy!
Nick is a key player and he will be back at some point.
Sackey is back from an injury and getting better
Mileek is a specimen who is now asserting himself now with fewer fouls.  He and Krikke will be important vs the bigger teams.
Clay is just under the radar as a star.  He seems to have all the right positioning instincts and great touch.
Eron, Krikke, and Kiser are solid and give us a 9-deep rotation!

What if these pieces all play in good health at once, play at 80% of their abilities to hit at 80% and get used to each other again?

[bbtds]

Fazekas is back and his shot adds a dimension.  Hope he can get stronger and stay healthy!

Pretty sure we don't beat Evansville without Fazekas. All I was thinking was "Ryan, don't force your body into positions it can't physically handle and don't sacrifice your body for a charge." The reward is just not worth the sacrifice.

[wh]

It helped that the Jackson Elementary Choir sang.  There must have been at least fifty kids whose families had filled the center section of the upper bleachers an hour before tip-off.  It was disappointing to see that most of them had left by the end of the game.

The level of game-day participation by Duneland School System is certainly impressive. The Chesterton HS pep band and choral groups performing during break, elementary choirs singing the National Anthem, elem. basketball teams playing halftime games, dance team, etc.

[valpo64]

The game changed when we got to being up 29-11.  From that point on they outscored us and it didn't  seem to matter who was on the floor they looked like the game was over, and I mean everyone who played.  After a good start, we played badly against a bad team but we won.  It is over and we swept Evansville.    Now let's get back after it  and surprise Bradley.