How about a game thread that starts before the game starts?

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/nwisports/status/1348421636668743680?s=21

[covufan]

I'm becoming numb to Lottich's teams...

I understand their first practice back was only on Thursday but I'm so tired of watching mediocre play from Valpo Basketball.

Agree. I think he is a fine person, recruited quality young men (for the most part), runs a good program, graduates players, etc. As a fan, it is frustrating to watch, not knowing which team will show up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JBC1824]

Lol I know what team will show up.

[valpo64]

I'm sorry but 31% from the 3-point line is not good enough.  He doesn't do much better from inside the line either and with his speed and getting fouled he is a poor free throw shooter, and seems to be lost on the court.  And defensively?  Wow! Look at almost any good D-1 team and if they have consistently good PG play, they play better as a team, and do it more consistently.  The teams that do not have good PG play very inconsistently.  The best example of this is IU.  Their best point player is a 17 year old freshman.  Trouble he is  very young and needs experience.  Perhaps someone on this year's VU team will step up and fill the bill as the season progresses.  I sure hope so.

[valpotx]

I am going to reserve my judgment on this year's team, until our next few series.  We started with what is probably the top or second best team in the MVC this season. We had no answer for Mosley, and will learn from him getting to the rim on a consistent basis.  As of now, I would say that we will be a 6 or 7 seed, as there are a few other bad MVC teams this year.

[AB]

Lots of gloom and doom. R E L A X
The team is out of sync for a myriad of reasons.
The covid disruptions/stoppages on the team, has had a big effect on cohesiveness on offense and defense.
No set rotation yet. Players in and out. Lack of practice time, game time etc..
New players have not grasped the offense system yet. spacing on the court, cutting etc. This will take time
Team to three ball reliant at the moment. Draw more fouls and drive.
McMilliian needs to spend more time posting up. He has a soft touch in the lane.
JO needs to get in the weight room. Prim got to his spots to easily.
Sackey needs to go back to the basics on his shot mechanics. Until then D up and distribute. Forcing too much.
Intangibles that didn't show up in the box score from JFL and Kiser can't been replaced easily. Even when JFL wasn't scoring he was factor. Kiser was an underrated defender.
Connar Barrett, Kyle Korver esk player. Huge upside and high basketball IQ. Sheldon is the real deal and just needs more live games.

[bbtds]

Download a Draft Kings account. Put money on VU's opponent every time. Will make the losses easier to stomach.

Only if you really like winning. As the early Martin Luther I am inclined to punish myself for enjoying the Drew years a little too much. :-)


P.S. I was binge watching season 4 of the TV series "Fargo" on Hulu over the weekend and saw a Kansas City mobster use the table prayer before a meal "God is Great, God is Good, Let us thank Him for our food." I always thought that was Lutheran for some reason. Of course those in the Dakotas & Minnesota have a huge Lutheran influence.

[bbtds]

Is Sackey ever going to learn how to drive to the basket without committing an offensive foul?

No.

This team sucks. Plain and simple. Sometime earlier this season I said we should judge Matt by his next four seasons instead of his first four. I was wrong. His offenses have always sucked, I have no reason to say that will change.Besides the fact the the entire offense is unimaginably awful, the players, mostly the veterans, suck at basketball. Eron just threw an uncontested pass into the stands. People are dropping the ball for no reason. Sackey, a junior, is fouling three point shooters. They take dumb shots. They aren't aggressive. I have a lot more to say but it's not even worth spending my time talking about this team anymore.

I'm not sure how you really feel about this season's (20-21) Valpo MBB team. Could you explain your true feelings and stop holding back, please. It's so tough to get through your indirect rhetoric. Thank you.

P.S. Also please explain when Eron Gordon threw an uncontested pass into the stands. Was he passing the ball to some of the support staff?

[bbtds]

As mentioned in the broadcast Southern Illinois is on Covid-19 protocol. It is likely that the next game scheduled at Carbondale against the Salukis will be postponed but keep tuned for further updates EVERYDAY!!

[vu72]

The problem with Daniel is something nobody can fix.  It has nothing to do with effort or even talent--though his shooting is really bad right now. It is his height.  He is listed at 5'9".  I have never stood next to him so don't know if he really is that tall but often roster listings are generous.

D1 point guards are just bigger.  Lane from Central Michigan, who ate our lunch is 6'3".  Black from Missouri State is 6'4".  These guys also are often bigger through the body and so can muscle Daniel up.  It isn't his fault.  These guys are just a very tough matchup.

[vok22]

Is Sackey ever going to learn how to drive to the basket without committing an offensive foul?

No.

This team sucks. Plain and simple. Sometime earlier this season I said we should judge Matt by his next four seasons instead of his first four. I was wrong. His offenses have always sucked, I have no reason to say that will change.Besides the fact the the entire offense is unimaginably awful, the players, mostly the veterans, suck at basketball. Eron just threw an uncontested pass into the stands. People are dropping the ball for no reason. Sackey, a junior, is fouling three point shooters. They take dumb shots. They aren't aggressive. I have a lot more to say but it's not even worth spending my time talking about this team anymore.

I'm not sure how you really feel about this season's (20-21) Valpo MBB team. Could you explain your true feelings and stop holding back, please. It's so tough to get through your indirect rhetoric. Thank you.

P.S. Also please explain when Eron Gordon threw an uncontested pass into the stands. Was he passing the ball to some of the support staff?

I admit, I have been way too turbulent on my opinions of this team this year. Been way too hot and cold with my posts. I think this team has a lot of nice pieces (clay, Krikke, JO, edwards, and Barrett) as well as a solid recruiting class coming in (with point guards which is the most important part). I don't think this team will have success this year though. I think that partly comes down to point guard play. Clearly this team has not figured out the offense with the new additions this offseason a new significantly limited practice time. In order to overcome that we need strong point guard play, and we just don't have that on this team unfortunately. I was also hoping krikke and/or clay would acquire the "takeover" factor in the off-season so that we could have one of them carry us when we go through bad offensive stretches. That isn't there yet, but I still have hope that they will start to become that with them only being sophomores. The weak PG play, no "takeover" player, and 3 contributing freshmen in year where practice has been hard to come by, we are in for a crappy year. I just hope that this doesn't discourage a player like Clay or Barrett to the point that they transfer this off-season. I'm starting to get vibes from Clay that he might not be around very much longer. If I everybody does stay, I think the next few years could be interesting. We have a nice point guard coming in next year from what I can tell. Throw in a 6'8 guard ranked 4th in Oklahoma, and a 6'5 guard that is averaging 36 ppg right now (palesse), I think we have a recruiting class with even more promise than the freshmen this year. Add that to a developed Clay and krikke, now we are talking.

So my final verdict: we suck this year and I don't think that will change, but we do have something to look forward to. The up and coming contributors are in no way mcmillans, Gordons, or sackeys. All are great guys I'm sure, but they aren't helping us win. JO has already made it clear he can contribute and stretch the floor by knocking down 3s. Same with Barrett, who also has had some nice offensive rebounds with put backs. Edwards I'm a little more confused on but he's hit some tough shots and I think he can make some highlight plays.

Honestly, I think I had my expectations a little too high this year and that's why I can't really get a grasp on this team.

[bbtds]

Is Sackey ever going to learn how to drive to the basket without committing an offensive foul?

No.

This team sucks. Plain and simple. Sometime earlier this season I said we should judge Matt by his next four seasons instead of his first four. I was wrong. His offenses have always sucked, I have no reason to say that will change.Besides the fact the the entire offense is unimaginably awful, the players, mostly the veterans, suck at basketball. Eron just threw an uncontested pass into the stands. People are dropping the ball for no reason. Sackey, a junior, is fouling three point shooters. They take dumb shots. They aren't aggressive. I have a lot more to say but it's not even worth spending my time talking about this team anymore.

I'm not sure how you really feel about this season's (20-21) Valpo MBB team. Could you explain your true feelings and stop holding back, please. It's so tough to get through your indirect rhetoric. Thank you.

P.S. Also please explain when Eron Gordon threw an uncontested pass into the stands. Was he passing the ball to some of the support staff?

I admit, I have been way too turbulent on my opinions of this team this year. Been way too hot and cold with my posts. I think this team has a lot of nice pieces (clay, Krikke, JO, edwards, and Barrett) as well as a solid recruiting class coming in (with point guards which is the most important part). I don't think this team will have success this year though. I think that partly comes down to point guard play. Clearly this team has not figured out the offense with the new additions this offseason a new significantly limited practice time. In order to overcome that we need strong point guard play, and we just don't have that on this team unfortunately. I was also hoping krikke and/or clay would acquire the "takeover" factor in the off-season so that we could have one of them carry us when we go through bad offensive stretches. That isn't there yet, but I still have hope that they will start to become that with them only being sophomores. The weak PG play, no "takeover" player, and 3 contributing freshmen in year where practice has been hard to come by, we are in for a crappy year. I just hope that this doesn't discourage a player like Clay or Barrett to the point that they transfer this off-season. I'm starting to get vibes from Clay that he might not be around very much longer. If I everybody does stay, I think the next few years could be interesting. We have a nice point guard coming in next year from what I can tell. Throw in a 6'8 guard ranked 4th in Oklahoma, and a 6'5 guard that is averaging 36 ppg right now (palesse), I think we have a recruiting class with even more promise than the freshmen this year. Add that to a developed Clay and krikke, now we are talking.

So my final verdict: we suck this year and I don't think that will change, but we do have something to look forward to. The up and coming contributors are in no way mcmillans, Gordons, or sackeys. All are great guys I'm sure, but they aren't helping us win. JO has already made it clear he can contribute and stretch the floor by knocking down 3s. Same with Barrett, who also has had some nice offensive rebounds with put backs. Edwards I'm a little more confused on but he's hit some tough shots and I think he can make some highlight plays.

Honestly, I think I had my expectations a little too high this year and that's why I can't really get a grasp on this team.

That was interesting. I was being completely facetious and it produces a very introspective post from a passionate Valpo fan. I applaud your ability to self analyze your thoughts on this team. I truly hope you are wrong though and Valpo puts together about a 500 record in conference this year.

[Valpo89]

TD, a .500 conference record? This isn't the Mid-Con or Horizon.

[vok22]

Is Sackey ever going to learn how to drive to the basket without committing an offensive foul?

No.

This team sucks. Plain and simple. Sometime earlier this season I said we should judge Matt by his next four seasons instead of his first four. I was wrong. His offenses have always sucked, I have no reason to say that will change.Besides the fact the the entire offense is unimaginably awful, the players, mostly the veterans, suck at basketball. Eron just threw an uncontested pass into the stands. People are dropping the ball for no reason. Sackey, a junior, is fouling three point shooters. They take dumb shots. They aren't aggressive. I have a lot more to say but it's not even worth spending my time talking about this team anymore.

I'm not sure how you really feel about this season's (20-21) Valpo MBB team. Could you explain your true feelings and stop holding back, please. It's so tough to get through your indirect rhetoric. Thank you.

P.S. Also please explain when Eron Gordon threw an uncontested pass into the stands. Was he passing the ball to some of the support staff?

I admit, I have been way too turbulent on my opinions of this team this year. Been way too hot and cold with my posts. I think this team has a lot of nice pieces (clay, Krikke, JO, edwards, and Barrett) as well as a solid recruiting class coming in (with point guards which is the most important part). I don't think this team will have success this year though. I think that partly comes down to point guard play. Clearly this team has not figured out the offense with the new additions this offseason a new significantly limited practice time. In order to overcome that we need strong point guard play, and we just don't have that on this team unfortunately. I was also hoping krikke and/or clay would acquire the "takeover" factor in the off-season so that we could have one of them carry us when we go through bad offensive stretches. That isn't there yet, but I still have hope that they will start to become that with them only being sophomores. The weak PG play, no "takeover" player, and 3 contributing freshmen in year where practice has been hard to come by, we are in for a crappy year. I just hope that this doesn't discourage a player like Clay or Barrett to the point that they transfer this off-season. I'm starting to get vibes from Clay that he might not be around very much longer. If I everybody does stay, I think the next few years could be interesting. We have a nice point guard coming in next year from what I can tell. Throw in a 6'8 guard ranked 4th in Oklahoma, and a 6'5 guard that is averaging 36 ppg right now (palesse), I think we have a recruiting class with even more promise than the freshmen this year. Add that to a developed Clay and krikke, now we are talking.

So my final verdict: we suck this year and I don't think that will change, but we do have something to look forward to. The up and coming contributors are in no way mcmillans, Gordons, or sackeys. All are great guys I'm sure, but they aren't helping us win. JO has already made it clear he can contribute and stretch the floor by knocking down 3s. Same with Barrett, who also has had some nice offensive rebounds with put backs. Edwards I'm a little more confused on but he's hit some tough shots and I think he can make some highlight plays.

Honestly, I think I had my expectations a little too high this year and that's why I can't really get a grasp on this team.

That was interesting. I was being completely facetious and it produces a very introspective post from a passionate Valpo fan. I applaud your ability to self analyze your thoughts on this team. I truly hope you are wrong though and Valpo puts together about a 500 record in conference this year.

  That completely went over my head, it was an exhausting weekend and that CFB championship game was starting to put me to sleep.

[bbtds]

TD, a .500 conference record? This isn't the Mid-Con or Horizon.

Reality and Hope are entirely two different things. Otherwise the Colts & Bears would be playing in the Super Bowl every year. ;-)

[Valpo89]

I figured you, like me, were too old to have any hope left for this year's squad.