Valpo vs. Flagler, THU, 11/4/21, 6:00 p.m.

[wh]

Saints look to build on last year's success

https://flaglerathletics.com/news/2021/11/3/MBB_1103_Preview.aspx

Some sobering facts:

• Return four starters.
• Have four 5th year seniors and 1 6th year senior.
• 6-foot-2 senior guard Lottie finished 7th in the nation in scoring with 24.4 PPG. Selected Peach Belt Conference POY and NCAA D2 South Region Most Valuable Player.
• 6-foot-7 forward (sixth season) last year shot 71.6 percent from the field, second-best in the nation, averaged 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Had biggest game, 26 points on 13-of-15 shooting, in Flagler's rout (92-73) of NCAA Division I member Central Michigan University.
• Jalen Barr, a 6-foot-4 swing, was PBC Defender of the Year.
• Added several high profile transfers.

[VUSWIM08-12]

I'm glad someone else started this thread...I'm like 1-3 dating back to last season and Ashland lol. I'll take East-West in a few weeks ! Can we beat an even better D2 team ? I'll be optimistic.

VU 70
Flagler 67

[Pgmado]

Todd and I on the radio for the game. Intrigued to see how Valpo comes out for this one.

[wh]

Flagler College men's basketball begins season ranked second in NCAA Division II poll

https://www.staugustine.com/story/sports/college/2021/10/27/flagler-college-mens-basketball-begins-season-second-ncaa-division-ii-poll/8568078002/

[wh]

I will be looking for 2 or 3 basic adjustments from game-1.
---Matt talked previously about the physicality of the new transfers during practice, how the freshmen weren't used to that, etc. None of that was on display last Saturday. I will be looking for hardnosed, in-your-face, physical defense for 40 minutes by everyone on the court. Make it hard for them to get to the basket, force them into long possessions, make them make mistakes, tire them out. Most D-2 games are not that physical. Play to your advantage.
---Use the clock on offense and make them work on defense. Get the ball into the post. Take 3's as a last resort, not a first resort.

Presumably, Ben won't play. That is a huge loss. Having a 1-2 punchdown low with Thomas would have been a huge advantage. You can almost guarantee 60% shooting from those guys, and drawing a bunch of fouls.

I JUST NOTICED, I SEEM TO BE TALKING TO MYSELF. LOL

[Just Sayin]

Does anyone think that Matt will have learned from the first game and tailored his practices to work on team weaknesses, that he will make adjustments during the game when called for at critical moments, and will bring this team to victory?

You can say all you want about how Div 2 teams are better than they were in the past but there is no way that a good Div 1 team in a tough conference should get spanked two times by any Div 2 team. We should be winning these games big time. Yes, we had an outlier situation the year we went to the Sweet 16 but c'mon, our expectations should be a lot higher than "I hope we win this exhibition game against a good Div 2 team."

[justducky]

I JUST NOTICED, I SEEM TO BE TALKING TO MYSELF. LOL

Thats good because nobody else wants to talk listen to us!

I have vowed patience until Thanksgiving! After that my inner ugliness may reemerge. 

[nkvu]

The Ashland game may have exposed a big weakness this year, that is how thin we are in the front court. To be successful this year the two K's may each need to play 35 minutes a game. Having one on the bench for an extended time seems to disrupt the offense, too often reducing it to jacking up quick threes.  If Big Joe can't contribute valuable minutes, we are going to struggle when one of the K's are out.

As for this game, I expect the team will play better, particularly on defense.  I'm afraid however that it may not be reflected in the score as Flagler appears to be a better team than Ashland, at least on paper. If we were to win by more than 5 I will be surprised and pleased. If we win or lose by 5 I will be satisfied. If we lose by 6 to 15. I'll be disappointed but not surprised. Lose by more than that and well, I'll say we have a long way to go to be at all competitive this year. 

As usual, I try to keep my expectations low early as I prefer to see them exceeded rather than have high expectations dashed.

[VU2014]

Please don't embarrass us AGAIN...

https://twitter.com/valpobasketball/status/1456402053455040521?s=21

[VUGrad1314]

Down at the half... oh boy... Last year I believe we only won one D1 game OOC are we going to struggle to even match that output this season?

[VU2014]

Why does everything have to be so difficult in the Lottich era? We were spoiled with the Drew Family but the Lottich has really made me more grateful for what we had under the Drew Family.

I'm not giving up on this Team, but it's really difficult to watch Lottich's Teams... the highs are high, damn are the Lows very Low.

https://twitter.com/valpobasketball/status/1456408342193188867?s=21

[VUGrad1314]

Why does everything have to be so difficult in the Lottich era? We were spoiled with the Drew Family but the Lottich has really made become more grateful for what we had under the Drew Family. I'm not giving up on this Team, but it's really difficult to watch Lottich's Teams... the highs are high, damn are the Lows very Low. https://twitter.com/valpobasketball/status/1456408342193188867?s=21

This is what happens when you don't have a succession plan in place (If you're going to hire from within you have to KNOW BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT that your chosen candidate is going to accept the job. If not, and you still take that route because you're too cheap to do a national search, this is what you end up with.

[tjjvalpo]

I think we really miss Krikke.

[VUGrad1314]

I think we really miss Krikke.

I agree and he's a great and very important player but if losing him makes it so we can't even beat a D2 or at least that we struggle to beat them then we're not a very good team. Sorry that's just a fact. In our preseason exuberance we have probably overrated this team severely. This could be a long season.

[VUGrad1314]

Pulling away a bit perhaps... Thank God...

[tjjvalpo]

We have to remember we are playing against the second best team in NCAA II basketball. For those that remember when Marquette and then UWGB were the top NCAA II teams that beat NCAA I teams regularly. We not playing our usually D2 teams that we have in the past.

[Chairback]

I think we really miss defense

[vok22]

This Flagler (almost) exact roster beat Central Michigan by 20 last year. We played Central Michigan just a couple weeks later and were lucky to lose to them by 5. In theory they are likely even better than they were last year too considering they returned all their key players.

[VUGrad1314]

Even so this is a horrible sign of things to come I would think. If we're as good as we thought we were we should be winning these games. I'm not expecting much this season after these performances.

[vok22]

Even so this is a horrible sign of things to come I would think. If we're as good as we thought we were we should be winning these games. I'm not expecting much this season after these performances.

Yea I defintiely agree it's not a good sign and we should absolutely be winning these games. Still will only be judging this team on their D1 games, but frankly if they are this sloppy against D2 teams I don't see why that would magically change by next week. Starting to feel like the Bears where every game is like watching the same sloppy crappy game with excuses but just enough success when they need it to justify not making significant changes.

[vu72]

Even so this is a horrible sign of things to come I would think. If we're as good as we thought we were we should be winning these games. I'm not expecting much this season after these performances.

I think you are very wrong. We got like 7 points and they got something like 25 from their bench.  That all changes when Ben and Barrett get back and Eron goes to the bench, where he belongs. Kithier, Anderson and Taylor are the real deal.   

[NativeCheesehead]

I understand these were two good dII teams. I understand we have many new players, and are still missing a couple of key contributors. But going 0-2 against DII teams is an absolute embarrassment.

[VUGrad1314]

Even so this is a horrible sign of things to come I would think. If we're as good as we thought we were we should be winning these games. I'm not expecting much this season after these performances.

I think you are very wrong. We got like 7 points and they got something like 25 from their bench.  That all changes when Ben and Barrett get back and Eron goes to the bench, where he belongs. Kithier, Anderson and Taylor are the real deal.

If you say so. This team looks like it has bottom dwelling Thursday team written all over it. Please go out and prove me wrong Beacons but this is such a low point as a fan. It's just one disappointment after another and it's hard to stay hopeful at this point. It's to the point where I almost expect to lose and am pleasantly surprised when we don't. It's sad. I don't want to feel this way. I want to be proud of my team again and feel like we were going to win no matter who we were up against. I miss those days. Will they ever come again?

[oklahomamick]

You think we could just replace our players with the other team players?  Why didn't we offer those guys?  Or are they just better coached? 

[VU2014]

Lottich Teams really know how to squander good preseason vibes from the Fanbase and students.

Embarrassing