Valpo vs Ill St 1/2/22 1 pm at the ARC

[humbleopinion]

The non-con season is left behind with the rest of 2021. 

Will the Beacons rise to the potential that has been on display recently?  This game should provide a good measuring stick for the rest of the season.

Shake off the rust quickly, and demonstrate that predictions that Valpo can be in the upper echelon of the conference are accurate!

[NativeCheesehead]

The argument could be made this is the most important two+ months of Vu Basketball in many years. Either prove we belong here with one of the most talented teams we've ever fielded, or be in position to fire the first coach in over 30 years. (Or we fall flat and don't fire the coach because we're too cheap to buy him out, but that would be the darkest timeline).

Dream with me if you will fellow Crusaders Beacons. It's July, and we're fresh off a surprising 10-6 conference finish (couple of COVID "no contests" in there) and a stunning upset of (insert #1 seed here) in the conference tournament final and our first NCAA berth in the MVC. We lose in the first round, but only because we're matched up with Duke and the officials refuse to call fouls on the Blue Devils so K's last game won't be a loss to Valpo. Final score Duke 73, Valpo 58. Free throws favor Duke 58-4. As the summer deepens, our new President announces a 2 year renovation plan for the ARC, including a bowl of padded chairbacks in the lower level, all new LED lighting and sound system, and bathrooms with urinals that actually flush. Embrace hope for 2022!

[humbleopinion]

The argument could be made this is the most important two+ months of Vu Basketball in many years. Either prove we belong here with one of the most talented teams we've ever fielded, or be in position to fire the first coach in over 30 years. (Or we fall flat and don't fire the coach because we're too cheap to buy him out, but that would be the darkest timeline).

Dream with me if you will fellow Crusaders Beacons. It's July, and we're fresh off a surprising 10-6 conference finish (couple of COVID "no contests" in there) and a stunning upset of (insert #1 seed here) in the conference tournament final and our first NCAA berth in the MVC. We lose in the first round, but only because we're matched up with Duke and the officials refuse to call fouls on the Blue Devils so K's last game won't be a loss to Valpo. Final score Duke 73, Valpo 58. Free throws favor Duke 58-4. As the summer deepens, our new President announces a 2 year renovation plan for the ARC, including a bowl of padded chairbacks in the lower level, all new LED lighting and sound system, and bathrooms with urinals that actually flush. Embrace hope for 2022!

I'm with you right up to the urinals that flush.  That won't happen.

[Just Sayin]

We start off the conference season ranked the 201st best team out 358 according to KenPom. Most teams did not play in-conference games.

We should win this one today (4pt favorite with 62% chance of winning.) Then it gets tough. Not favored to win the next 6 games after today. But we haven't had King in the lineup for most of the NC season. We SHOULD be much better than 201. Buckle up and enjoy the ride. We fixin' too find out what this team is made of.

[justducky]

Ill St is playing well and this could be a big one! In the old days I might have showed up feeling miserable and with a fever but not today and not with these circumstances. I don't know or care what I have (fully vaxed) but fanning the flames makes little sense. Any kind of a win under any kind of shorthanded situation would still be great.

I kind of expect some faces to be missing so this should be interesting. Go Beacons and Redbirds--Lets play if we can!

[Just Sayin]

https://twitter.com/Pg_Benson/status/1477357908723744771

Good Move

MVC change
The MVC changed its policy this week on games impacted because of COVID-19. Instead of teams having to forfeit if they don't have at least eight players and one coach available, the league said "the contest may be considered a 'no contest' following a review by the conference office."

Loyola's game at Southern Illinois on Sunday was postponed because of COVID-19 problems with the Salukis. The game will be made up, if possible.

[VALPO LI]

The argument could be made this is the most important two+ months of Vu Basketball in many years. Either prove we belong here with one of the most talented teams we've ever fielded, or be in position to fire the first coach in over 30 years. (Or we fall flat and don't fire the coach because we're too cheap to buy him out, but that would be the darkest timeline).

Dream with me if you will fellow Crusaders Beacons. It's July, and we're fresh off a surprising 10-6 conference finish (couple of COVID "no contests" in there) and a stunning upset of (insert #1 seed here) in the conference tournament final and our first NCAA berth in the MVC. We lose in the first round, but only because we're matched up with Duke and the officials refuse to call fouls on the Blue Devils so K's last game won't be a loss to Valpo. Final score Duke 73, Valpo 58. Free throws favor Duke 58-4. As the summer deepens, our new President announces a 2 year renovation plan for the ARC, including a bowl of padded chairbacks in the lower level, all new LED lighting and sound system, and bathrooms with urinals that actually flush. Embrace hope for 2022!

I'm with you right up to the urinals that flush.  That won't happen.

Era of the Vid...  toilets need to flush freely, water has to run by sensors, dryers must be hands free and Todd Ickow has to be heard from speakers above.  It's the only way!

[VALPO LI]

Gordon making a statement early!
11 pts (3) 3's
3 rebounds
2 assists.

[hailcrusaders]

Virus or not, I remain convinced that Sunday afternoon games are terrible for fan attendance

[Chairback]

Big Joe does not block out nor physical enough to grab a rebound.  They go right over him or block him out easily.

Also, Taylor can be lazy on D frequently. 

Kudos to Eron for stepping up so far.

[tjjvalpo]

Anyone know why Kitthier is out today?

[hailcrusaders]

Kithier has virus

[valpopal]

Nice to see the offensive rebounds leading to the last-second shot by Gordon. Up until then the deficit in offensive rebounding was 10-1 and 8-0 in 2nd-chance points, perhaps attributed in part to Kithier's absence.

[vu84v2]

Offense looks crisp, though some missed shots late in the half and some point blank shots blocked (with great blocks). Gordon played exceptionally well. Perimeter defense decent, defensive rebounding poor.

[AB]

Valpo is going to continue to get what they want offensively in the second half. Surprised they aren't doubling Ben K. Need to clean up offensive rebounds and limit Redbirds open looks from 3. This game is far from over. See if Valpo can play 40 minutes!

[tjjvalpo]

We are letting them hang around. We need to put this game away now!

[Chairback]

Why is Gordon on Reeves?

[valpopal]

Game ball to the whole team for 16-16 from the free throw line for the win! 

[mj]

Feels nice to win.

[hailcrusaders]

Glad we could pull that one out. Even without Kithier (hope he's back asap), would've been disappointing to lose a home game against what will probably be a bottom half MVC team. Krikke did what he had to do, Gordon played well, Andersen, King, and Edwards with some critical plays down the stretch. And how about that FT shooting?!?

Man, Reeves is a player for them.

Some work to do on defense and getting half court plays that go to the bucket. But we'll definitely take the W.

[NativeCheesehead]

A win is a win, especially in conference. But we have to clean up our late game execution.

[FWalum]

If I were Matt and Luke, I would spend the next 2 days working on nothing but rebounding. This is the worst group of rebounders I have seen this year in college basketball. Complete lack of awareness when it comes to blocking out and proper rotations. Redbirds were soooo much more aggressive on the boards it was embarrassing.

[justducky]

A well played game by two shorthanded teams. This really shows the upgraded quality of basketball that the glutted transfer and eligibility situation has created. This was fun to watch and fun to win and we should expect this from us and the Valley every time on the floor. 

[IndyEIT777]

First off, gotta give some props for Gordon's play. I certainly have not been shy about my comments regarding his play this season, but he absolutely balled today.

Honestly I liked what we did on offense most of the game, but we need to set up more cuts to the basket for easy layups to offset these scoring droughts we have when jump shots aren't falling. Trevor needs to be one of our focal guys on offense, he has done so much good for us on offense this year he should be taking more shots.

Defensively, I don't feel any different than I have, I think we still gave too many open three shots to ISU and they just missed a lot of them. And of course, we can't rebound to save our lives but we also didn't have our good rebounding big in today.

Glad we got this win, going to be a very tough stretch now.

[nkvu]

Nice game by Gordon. Good to see him play well. Krikke and King's turnovers at key points toward the end and bad play on the boards gave me some indigestion, but hitting all their free throws provided relief. Nice to see the team pull out another close one.