11/19/11: IU Kokomo Game Thread

sectionee · November 18, 2011, 05:58:27 PM

http://sectionee.blogspot.com/2011/11/game-preview-vaplo-vs-iu-kokomo.html

Interesting side note in the comment section of this post by Brandon Wood's father. Go Valpo!

agibson · November 18, 2011, 06:16:35 PM

Fun. But, I am a bit confused about what team he played on. Did they once have a team, that was disbanded, and is now restarting?

Or maybe it was a club team?

I'd have to dig up the thread where we were speculating about tournament opponents (maybe it was the schedule thread?), but I think IU Kokomo's exact current status was made clear there.

sectionee · November 18, 2011, 10:32:09 PM

I'm thinking it was probably a club team. Myself, and Danny (the guy who wrote that preview) were a bit confused as well.

valpotx · November 18, 2011, 11:00:00 PM

Valpo 87
IU-Kokomo 49

covufan · November 18, 2011, 11:37:58 PM

Valpo - 90
IU-Kokomo - 55

I'm also going to predict that we'll shoot better from 3-pt land than tonight!

crusaderdad · November 18, 2011, 11:56:49 PM

Hey Guys. IUK has had a team for years. We played in the competitve men's city league. I guess Brandon was 11 or 12 and he used to practice with us. This is the first year they have played other schools. Same for their volleyball program.

CabanVOL · November 19, 2011, 12:11:13 AM

They are a probationary NAIA D2 member, how this game was scheduled is incomprehensible.

Seriously, they just lost to an NAIA JV team... and another team ranked below #1500 in the Massey Ratings.

bbtds · November 19, 2011, 06:07:03 AM

Quote from: CabanVOL on November 19, 2011, 12:11:13 AM
They are a probationary NAIA D2 member, how this game was scheduled is incomprehensible.

Seriously, they just lost to an NAIA JV team... and another team ranked below #1500 in the Massey Ratings.

Obviously Valpo had trouble finding teams to participate in this Coaches versus Cancer "tournament." This was discussed in the "schedule" thread. After playing a very physical Akron team it seems IU-Kokomo may be just the right team to play in a 3 game weekend with only 8 scholarship players and 2 of them being Vucic and Kurth. Unless these two bench guys step up (there is potential in Kurth but Vucic has never really shown that much on the court--I realize some are just happy with his improvement this year) Valpo's core group will start to wither due to the physical demands of playing so much as the season goes along.

chairback · November 19, 2011, 09:36:30 AM

I would not start Kevin in this game. I would start Vucic. Way too risky to give Kevin any minutes at all.

covufan · November 19, 2011, 09:46:15 AM

Quote from: chairback on November 19, 2011, 09:36:30 AM
I would not start Kevin in this game. I would start Vucic. Way too risky to give Kevin any minutes at all.

I agree with rest, but he has earned the start. If Vucic can come in for Kevin and not get to 3 fouls, playing 15 minutes or so, start Vucic the second half - Vucic will have earned that second half start.

Playing three games in three days will require the whole Valpo team to be used tonight, with Kevin and some others getting quality time cheering their teammates on!

valpotx · November 19, 2011, 11:22:37 AM

I wish people would stop saying there is no potential in Vucic. Compared to what he looked like/played like his first few years, he has made improvements. Is he a dominant force? No, not by any means. However, this is his second year of eligibility and he seems on the same track as Antti as I have said many times. By next year and his 4th year of playing, he should be able to give us 10-15 minutes/game, which will be a great contribution for someone who has little playing experience.

I wasn't on this forum when I was in school, but what did people say when Antti all of a sudden put around 20 pts on Ohio State in our third place finish at the Great Alaska Shootout? All it takes is one game to give you some confidence to where you can contribute solid minutes, even if you are not a main player.

sectionee · November 19, 2011, 11:31:15 AM

Expect to see a lot of time from the backups tonight, Carpenter says he is expecting to get 20-25 minutes tonight. Maybe he will break our three point slump!

bbtds · November 19, 2011, 12:03:29 PM

Quote from: valpotx on November 19, 2011, 11:22:37 AM
I wish people would stop saying there is no potential in Vucic. Compared to what he looked like/played like his first few years, he has made improvements. Is he a dominant force? No, not by any means. However, this is his second year of eligibility and he seems on the same track as Antti as I have said many times. By next year and his 4th year of playing, he should be able to give us 10-15 minutes/game, which will be a great contribution for someone who has little playing experience.

I wasn't on this forum when I was in school, but what did people say when Antti all of a sudden put around 20 pts on Ohio State in our third place finish at the Great Alaska Shootout? All it takes is one game to give you some confidence to where you can contribute solid minutes, even if you are not a main player.

I hope you're correct about Vucic. I just don't believe you are. And it could end up costing Valpo a game or two. Other than having a rebound or two and spelling Van Wijk what positives did Vucic bring to last nights game? Capobianco will be a huge improvement next year and Valpo will just have to suffer through having to depend on Vucic until Fernandez or Jakokis get eligible if they ever do get eligible this year.

sectionee · November 19, 2011, 12:05:43 PM

He brought more positives than Kurth...the only thing you can be positive about with him lately is that he is going to turn the ball over.

bbtds · November 19, 2011, 12:13:51 PM

Quote from: sectionee on November 19, 2011, 12:05:43 PM
He brought more positives than Kurth...the only thing you can be positive about with him lately is that he is going to turn the ball over.

I never said Kurth played better than Vucic. But what were Vucic's positives? That is the question. Not whether Kurth was better than Vucic.

FWalum · November 19, 2011, 12:28:30 PM

Quote from: valpotx on November 19, 2011, 11:22:37 AMI wish people would stop saying there is no potential in Vucic. Compared to what he looked like/played like his first few years, he has made improvements. Is he a dominant force? No, not by any means. However, this is his second year of eligibility and he seems on the same track as Antti as I have said many times. By next year and his 4th year of playing, he should be able to give us 10-15 minutes/game, which will be a great contribution for someone who has little playing experience.

I think that Vucic is much improved from last year. He appears to be much more sure of himself and is moving much better and quicker. Reaction time and anticipation are still not where they need to be, those improve with experience. Now he just needs to get it into his head that he is a 7' WRECKING MACHINE THAT IS GOING TO GRAB EVERY REBOUND AND DUNK ANY ATTEMPT within 3 feet of the basket. He needs to get a lot meaner, stop putting up the weak ball like the one that got blocked last night.

However, I do agree that he will have trouble seeing the floor next year with Capobianco and Fernandez both eligible.

chairback · November 19, 2011, 12:31:39 PM

Vucic will not play at all if vashil and bobby and kevin are playing next year. Every time he is on court the we lose points instantly both on offense and defense. I believe we lost the Arizona game due to him being on the court. But we had no other options.

Annti was leaps and bounds better than Vucic but was stuck behind Grafs. Homer has always said he should have redshirted him his freshman year to spread him and grafs out.

rlh · November 19, 2011, 12:37:31 PM

All Vucic needs to give us at this point is minutes....he takes up space and plays a little defense. As long as Kevin is healthy that's all we need from him. I get tired of people talking about what he isn't....he is what he is and at the moment he's the only choice we have.....

chairback · November 19, 2011, 12:43:30 PM

Let's also stop using the word potential with him.

RLH your show should be back on tv. I miss it.

valporun · November 19, 2011, 01:28:16 PM

The potential for Vucic to improve comes in what he will do in the minutes he's subbing for Van Wijk. I agree with valpotx on this one. Sure, I said a lot of crap about Vucic, but we need his body on the floor to keep Kevin healthy. We don't have any other solutions until next season. This same situation would have been said for Witt, if he was still on the roster.

chairback · November 19, 2011, 02:19:36 PM

Valporun brings up a great point on Witt. To me the team would have benefited much more if he was playing this year. He wasn't a terrible player at all. His freshman year looked promising but seemed hurt most of last year.

justducky · November 19, 2011, 03:14:55 PM

Quote from: chairback on November 19, 2011, 12:31:39 PM
Vucic will not play at all if vashil and bobby and kevin are playing next year. Every time he is on court the we lose points instantly both on offense and defense. I believe we lost the Arizona game due to him being on the court. But we had no other options.

Annti was leaps and bounds better than Vucic but was stuck behind Grafs. Homer has always said he should have redshirted him his freshman year to spread him and grafs out.

I know that time can alter our memory so correct me if I am wrong. The sophomore Annti I remember couldn't shoot, couldn't position for rebounds, and was slow enough afoot that his defense consisted of pushing hacking and going over peoples backs. Most often he had fouled out after no more than 8 minutes-tops and as a result had very little influence on the outcome of most games. Yes, he got better and so will Vucic.

I know nothing about Capobianco except that he failed to impress the folks at IU and so transfered here. So if VanWijk stays healthy, and Edwards, Vucic, and Fernadez continue to improve why should we assume that Capobianco will play a significant role on next years team? Playing time at the 4 and the 5 next year could be pretty hard to come by and the harder it is to find then the better the 12-13 team will be.

valpotx · November 19, 2011, 03:22:29 PM

Yes, until Antti's second half of his Jr year, he was the same type of player as Vucic. He came in for mop-up duty, outside of that OSU game. Always fouling, way out of position, etc. To say Antti was leaps and bounds ahead of Vucic in their second playing seasons is just plain incorrect. Antti didn't get his true change until his third/fourth seasons, when he started to contribute 10-15 meaningful minutes every game. Now look at him, and he is making a good living playing professionally, and is much quicker. I think the same thing will happen with Vucic if he keeps improving at this rate. Take a kid that barely played the sport before coming here, it can take a few years...

valpopal · November 19, 2011, 05:58:16 PM

Look for senior Nick Shelton to get his first start tonight. Also, 6'6" Nathan Stegelmann (below) is the new walk-on:

vuweathernerd · November 19, 2011, 08:13:49 PM

42-24 valpo at the half. vucic has 4 points and 7 boards. kevin has 4 points, but only one board. and we're 11-11 from the stripe. but still only 5-18 from three. kenney and bogan a combined 4-5 from behind the arc, but ryan's only 1-4. some interesting stat lines from the first half.