Acting Head Coach Jake Diebler

[Chairback]

I'm not sure this current team could beat those old school Southern Utah or Cleveland State teams.  I'm serious. 

Look past the conferences we were part of in the past and currently in.  Just Look at how the offense has flowed the last few years and how the team has been dysfunctional. 

Leadership is not getting thru to the players. 

[VU2014]

Long time lurker first post

I'm amused how " fans" of the program seem to think they are more knowledgeable about Athletics and particularly basketball than :

1. An Athletics Director that has been at an ACC school and knows what a successful program looks like

2. A coach that played in the PAC 12

And both I'm sure have access to some of the top people in the country in regards to the management of a program
Honestly- unless someone on the board has better credentials than the above perhaps leave the process of improving the program in a much tougher conference - in much more competitive times to those you constantly second guess.

I'm assuming no one does-

Valpo2003, welcome to the board and thank you for sharing your opinion. I don't want to come across as gaslighting MLB or Lottich, because they are great people but results and record speak for themselves. Also I find your comment about pedigree of coming from the ACC and PAC 12 quite elitist. Yes on average the cream rises to the top and these upper tier conferences attract the top minds and talent, but there is a LOT of poor management in these conference and coaching at that level as well. There is bright minds in every conference. There are coaches that come from a Power 5 background that flame out all the time. It's a tough business.

My opinion has been formed from speaking people who have played and coached college hoops (some from this very program...). I'm not going to lie to you I've been frustrated with the record the last 6 season, but the real concern is the product on the court and the consistent dry spells of offense and mental lapses. At certain point there needs to be accountability and recognition that it's just not working out.

Honestly if I were the AD (full admission I'm not qualified to be, but yes we all can have an opinion), I'd need to see marked improvement by seasons end and if not, Lottich would have one more year with a roster that should have an experienced and talented group of seniors assuming none transfer (Senior: Krikke, Kithier, King / Juniors: Edwards, Barrett / and emerging Sophomore class), and if he can't be an upper tier Valley Team and legitimately compete for 1st - 3rd place in the conference, it may seriously be time to look at making a change at the top. 6 - 7 seasons is not a small sample size.

[Chairback]

Minus Alec Peters, what is his win loss record?   Even with AP he has to be close to being under .500.

To be honest he had to get the job as that was the most comfortable and the easier path to keep AP here.  If a coach came from outside the program it would have been hard to keep him.

I loved the hire at the time too.  But I want to win now.

[Just Sayin]

Jake is probably pissed

https://twitter.com/jeffborzeiio/status/1480733500584116226?s=21

[Valpo2003]

Minus Alec Peters, what is his win loss record?   Even with AP he has to be close to being under .500.

To be honest he had to get the job as that was the most comfortable and the easier path to keep AP here.  If a coach came from outside the program it would have been hard to keep him.

I loved the hire at the time too.  But I want to win now.

I'm not a numbers guy but couldn't the same be said about Bryce without Broekhoff?
Or Homer without Bryce?

[VUGrad1314]

Minus Alec Peters, what is his win loss record?   Even with AP he has to be close to being under .500. To be honest he had to get the job as that was the most comfortable and the easier path to keep AP here.  If a coach came from outside the program it would have been hard to keep him. I loved the hire at the time too.  But I want to win now.

I'm not a numbers guy but couldn't the same be said about Bryce without Broekhoff? Or Homer without Bryce?

No Bryce had several solid to spectacular seasons without Broekhoff (In fact I would argue his best years were the Peters era anyway)


And Homer also had many solid teams without Bryce as a player. Bryce was an assistant under Homer for a long time though and they worked on building many of those solid teams as a collaborative effort.


By unfortunate contrast Lottich has the last Peters year (his first year) Then a smoke and mirrors 8-0 start to year 2 that crumbled into dust. Outside of that it's been nothing but inconsistency struggle and turmoil with a constantly changing roster and no stability. The only bright spot during this time was JFL's individual play and that brilliant run in St Louis that ended 10 minutes short of the tournament. Part of that is just the new era of college basketball that we live in and part of that I believe is that the players all see what many of us do.

[valpotx]

Minus Alec Peters, what is his win loss record?   Even with AP he has to be close to being under .500.

To be honest he had to get the job as that was the most comfortable and the easier path to keep AP here.  If a coach came from outside the program it would have been hard to keep him.

I loved the hire at the time too.  But I want to win now.

I'm not a numbers guy but couldn't the same be said about Bryce without Broekhoff?
Or Homer without Bryce?

If you graduated in 2003, you were part of the same time on campus as me.  We won a ton without Bryce as a player...

[vok22]

I haven't even had the energy to post lately because of the apathy I feel towards the program right now. I don't even care that we are playing Loyola tonight. In fact I forgot until I started writing this. But I just had to type to say there is no other explanation for what valpo2003 is saying other than they are or are close to Matt Lottich. There are people out there that think the current state of this program is good enough ? Must also be in charge of the Bears

[NativeCheesehead]

To play off 22's comment, apathy is what is killing this program, and it's a direct result of the on court product. Valpo losses used to ruin my night when I was younger. Granted, age and having kids gave me a little perspective, but now I just sort of shrug and go to bed. I've reduced my donations to the program, no longer purchase a parking pass since parking is pretty easy on side streets now. I reduced my season tickets from 4 to 2 and have still gone to two games alone this year because I can't get anyone to go when my wife is on call. Anyone who thinks a handful of conference wins is all this program needs is kidding themselves. We have a bottom-half-of-the-conference budget, subpar facilities, subpar gameday experience, and a nonexistent local media presence. To overcome all that you need a coach who is good to great across the board. From recruiting to retaining to developing to Xs and Os. Matt is a great recruiter, and that's about it so far.

[valpopal]

leave the process of improving the program in a much tougher conference - in much more competitive times to those you constantly second guess.

How long does the excuse that Valpo is in a tougher conference continue? (Most federal laws have a five-year statute of limitations.) VU is on its fifth year in the MVC, and the recruiting has elevated to match the competition. In fact, Valpo now has five players who were once on teams in higher conferences (Wisconsin, Michigan State, Seton Hall). I think the "much tougher conference" and "more competitive times" excuses have reached their expiration date. 

[valpo tundra]

vok22- Have you thought about the possibility that you haven't had the energy to post is because you were on your computer at 3:07 AM?