Valpo at Drake Game Thread, Wednesday, Feb. 19 – 7 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

[VUGrad1314]

Come on Donovan! Knock them down! Go Valpo! I BELIEVE!

[valpotx]

Go up strong....holy crap...

[VUGrad1314]

It's okay... We can do this... Krikke needed to take that up stronger... But we can tie or win! Go Valpo! I BELIEVE!!!

[valpotx]

Robinson cost us this game, and Krikke needs to man up

[NativeCheesehead]

DUNK THE BALL!!!!

[FWalum]

Krikke needs to dunk that.

[nkvu]

Even after the phantom fifth fouls on JFL and Mileek we had our chances. Krikke needs to dunk the damn ball in that spot.

Great comeback again that came up short.  When will we ever stop digging these huge holes?

[PlumStreetBum]

Once again, our inability to make adjustments during a scoring drought costs us a game. I know some of you want to blame the players, but they don't draw up the plays when the motion isn't working.

Come to think of it, no one draws them up...

[valpotx]

We should have won that one, in spite of the crappy final 10 minutes of the first half.  At a minimum, it should have gone to double OT, if Krikke would have gone up like a man.  I don't know what Robinson was doing all game on offense.

[VUGrad1314]

The holes... The poor shooting early.... The shorthandedness due to foul outs... Just too much to overcome... This one is heartbreaking especially with Missouri State in a battle and possibly pulling off the road win at Carver... We just started too late and didn't execute down the stretch... We're still okay as far as avoiding Thursday  goes but a lot of our margin for error is now gone. It now comes down to holding serve at home and winning in Terre Haute. Go Valpo! I BELIEVE!

JFL Mileek and Clay deserved better than this outcome... I'm heartbroken for them...

[NativeCheesehead]

Free Throw attempts.

34-9.

[PlumStreetBum]

Free Throw attempts. 34-9.

Good point. We didn't drive to the basket nearly enough.

[NativeCheesehead]

Winnable game.

Didn't win.

Story of the season. 

[hckjag]

Credit to their 7 footer playing good defense. Driving the lane led to a block or incredibly tough shot 90% of the time. Although more aggressiveness May have reduced it slightly he was definitely protecting the rim. Robinson looks in slow motion and far too often the offense is flowing he catches the ball makes a jab step and reversed the course which I feel completely stops any ball movement that was generated.

[VUGrad1314]

This loss is 1000% not on Lottich but it's a very frustrating and difficult loss that increases our chances of a third straight trip to Thursday. The fight that they show show that they respect him and want to play for him . I'm still on the pro extension side of things for Lottich because I think better results are coming if not this year but that is contingent on us not having a rash of critical transfers in the offseason.

[vok22]

I am sorry I did not want to have to bring this up on here and I did not think I would be using this excuse after building a 19 point deficit, but I think the leading cause of that loss was officiating. I know, it sounds like a terrible, whiny excuse, but frankly I don't care. As much as you will say "oh we built ourselves a 19 point deficit we have nobody to blame but ourselves" you could say the same thing about Drake blowing a 19 point deficit. And they blew it while receiving EVERY SINGLE 50/50 call that was to be had, to the point where the Drake announcers were questioning how the was possibly a foul called. They even said McMillan's 5th foul was exactly how the coaches teach defense. We go to overtime with a 34-5 free throw deficit (which yes I know a lot of that was Robbins being fouled on the inside). But really? We only did enough on offense to draw five free throws worth of fouls? I don't think so. As for Freeman's foul, it was all ball. Not a speck of arm was touched on that. Oh and lets talk about the chance to take the lead halfway through overtime. The ball is clearly knocked off of Drake's hand right in front of the ref. Literally 2 feet away he knocks the ball right off his hand out of bounds. Drake ball. Absolutely atrocious officiating that JUST HAPPENED to take out our 2 top scorers before/early in overtime. There is no doubt in my mind we win that game with Freeman and McMillan playing, and there is no doubt in my mind they should have been. I have already addressed the deficit. I do not necessarily think the first half was anybody's fault. We just weren't hitting our shots and they have a fantastic rim protector inside, taking away that option to drive and get inside shots at a decent pace. We stuck to our guns, and viola, the shooting evened out and we got ourselves back into the game.

[PlumStreetBum]

I am sorry I did not want to have to bring this up on here and I did not think I would be using this excuse after building a 19 point deficit, but I think the leading cause of that loss was officiating. I know, it sounds like a terrible, whiny excuse, but frankly I don't care. As much as you will say "oh we built ourselves a 19 point deficit we have nobody to blame but ourselves" you could say the same thing about Drake blowing a 19 point deficit. And they blew it while receiving EVERY SINGLE 50/50 call that was to be had, to the point where the Drake announcers were questioning how the was possibly a foul called. They even said McMillan's 5th foul was exactly how the coaches teach defense. We go to overtime with a 34-5 free throw deficit (which yes I know a lot of that was Robbins being fouled on the inside). But really? We only did enough on offense to draw five free throws worth of fouls? I don't think so. As for Freeman's foul, it was all ball. Not a speck of arm was touched on that. Oh and lets talk about the chance to take the lead halfway through overtime. The ball is clearly knocked off of Drake's hand right in front of the ref. Literally 2 feet away he knocks the ball right off his hand out of bounds. Drake ball. Absolutely atrocious officiating that JUST HAPPENED to take out our 2 top scorers before/early in overtime. There is no doubt in my mind we win that game with Freeman and McMillan playing, and there is no doubt in my mind they should have been. I have already addressed the deficit. I do not necessarily think the first half was anybody's fault. We just weren't hitting our shots and they have a fantastic rim protector inside, taking away that option to drive and get inside shots at a decent pace. We stuck to our guns, and viola, the shooting evened out and we got ourselves back into the game.

Or... Call one successful play during the scoring drought in the first half and win in regulation.


Never blame the refs (absent concrete proof of bribes). Control what you can and overcome what you can't.

[NativeCheesehead]

Refs were bad. No doubt.

But a team set up to play on three straight Thursday night games in St Lou needs to earn some calls. We haven't. Refs didn't cause us to not score for 7 minutes.

[govalpogo]

An incredible comeback.  Impressive fight without the guys who were largely responsible for the comeback.  I don't blame anyone, each team has "would of, could of" plays at the end of the day.  Taking a step back, Valpo has shown us over the last 4 games that they are highly competitive in the MVC.  Single possession games are games of inches, you win some and lose some.  If all you wanted to do was win, Valpo should've stayed in the Horizon or better yet, the MidCon/Summit.  The reality is, we're here...and though there seem to be embarrassing portions of every game (which is obviously infuriating) there are highly impressive portions that are making these games close.  This is apparently a team of momentum, when they're good, they're really good...and the opposite.  At the end of 40 minutes it seems to average out. 

I know and agree that they need to stop digging holes, every person in the organization, coaches and players included agree with you too.  Losing sucks. Losing after an amazing comeback sucks.  Losing such a big game in the standings sucks.  We are, however, still playing meaningful games down the stretch...none of which I believe are automatic L's.    I personally am noticing progress.

[VUGrad1314]

The official excuse is weak I'm sorry. We make a couple more free throws We make a couple of the layups we missed A couple of those around and out shots go in Krikke actually dunks the ball instead of laying it up and Sackey and Robinson aren't absolutely terrible for pretty much every minute their were out there and we're talking at least about a double OT game if not a victory. It's almost never an officials call or calls that decide a game. It's coaching (not in this game but in other games) it's effort It's execution. If we had executed a little better we win the game. It's that simple. We don't want to be that fanbase that blames officiating for losses do we? It's not a good look.

[vok22]

I should also add that I saw a lot of things I liked in this game. McMillan continuing to play well, something that would be a huge boost for next season after 3 years of debatable play. Clay also really played well and I think cemented the idea that he could step up and be the big contributor should Freeman leave this offseason. And if he doesn't, Clay could definitely be a second star on a very strong Valpo team. I saw Krikke take the ball in the post and make a strong move against their big 7 foot shot blocker and score on him where he shouldn't be able to. Combine that with the recruits we have coming in and I think we are set up well for the future, even if that doesn't include JFL, who I would completely understand if he decided to leave.

[VUGrad1314]

I hope he sees and understands what we're building and how close we really are... This team is in for an amazing year next year I think and I hope he wants to be a part of that...

By the way Missouri State lost and Indiana State plays UNI so our Thursday destiny is still pretty much in our own hands (Drake will play them later as well).

The next two home games are huge. Both will be tough but we need them both. If we can go into Terre Haute 9-8 I like our chances of holding onto a top 6 spot.

[vok22]

The official excuse is weak I'm sorry. We make a couple more free throws We make a couple of the layups we missed A couple of those around and out shots go in Krikke actually dunks the ball instead of laying it up and Sackey and Robinson aren't absolutely terrible for pretty much every minute their were out there and we're talking at least about a double OT game if not a victory. It's almost never an officials call or calls that decide a game. It's coaching (not in this game but in other games) it's effort It's execution. If we had executed a little better we win the game. It's that simple. We don't want to be that fanbase that blames officiating for losses do we? It's not a good look.

We only shot 9 free throws and made 7, asking them to shoot perfect from the free throw line is not exactly a reasonable ask, but I understand your point on that, and that could be applied to multiple games we lost this year. And I would not be throwing this excuse out there if it weren't for the fact that we had our top not one but two scorers sitting on the bench for essentially the entire overtime because of not one but two critical absolutely bogus calls. I was not even considering writing that until we got to overtime and I had had enough.  Freeman call, McMillan call, out of bounds call all going Drake's way with the game on the line was the breaking point for me. There is no doubt they got some home cooking. Maybe I am just sick of moral victories. This game pained me the most because I saw so many things I liked but we still lost. That's what irks me the most for this, especially with how big of a step this would've been getting a win here. 3 straight, avoid thursday, playing well, all wiped out in OT. 

[NativeCheesehead]

While i share the optimism for next year, that assumes there is no impact transfers, which is unrealistic in today's game. We're already guaranteed to lose our best three point shooter and the heart and soul of the team. Nothing is guaranteed year to year anymore.

[vok22]

Go 2-1 these last three and I think we avoid Thursday. MO State has to play Loyola, at Valpo, Southern Illinois. Indiana State has to play Northern Iowa, Southern Ill, and Valpo. I like both to lose two of those games, putting them at 8-10. 2-1 would put us at 9-9 and ahead of them only trailing Drake who I think will finish 9-9 but hold the tie breaker over us, unless those two losses knock them to a lower NET than us. Very close race, but we still control our own destiny, and in my mind, even with a loss.