Valpo vs Loyola 2/16 7pm at the ARC

valpopal · February 17, 2022, 09:27:16 AM

This has to be the most depressing VU press conference I have seen. Lottich says the team played well for 37 minutes but not the last segment after the final media timeout. Krikke, who had just scored a basket, was removed from the game during that timeout and never put back. Coincidence? I don't understand. Taking out our best player and central figure for the close of the game then not scoring any baskets during that time seems to be a wish-fulfillment for Loyola. Why do them that favor? Loyola had to be watching in disbelief and gratitude. Valpo even had a timeout remaining at the end of the game to reinsert Ben for the final play, but chose not to do so.

Pgmado · February 17, 2022, 10:11:25 AM

Quote from: vuny98 on February 17, 2022, 08:50:20 AM
A few thoughts:

- Fouls killed us, second Loyola game in a row with some very questionable calls
- King was non existent, for what should be our biggest offensive threat to score 2 points is tough
- Edwards had a great game, until he didn't. Last 5 minutes we relied on him and he showed why he can't be THE guy
- Kithier is a key to our team... and he's been out recently and this game dealing with fouls. Loyola made their runs with him on the bench.
- Again and again, end of game we suck. 1 point in the last 4:50 or so. Its unbelievable that its consistently as bad as it is.
- Of our highly touted freshman class, its the walk on that is the one that has played the best. Good for Ruedinger, hes earned a scholarship, concerning for next year with everyone else.

I get asked about the +/- a lot, so here is an interesting one. Kobe King, despite scoring two points in his 33 minutes, led Valpo with +9. Eron Gordon in 11:43 was -16. Sheldon in 26:22 was -4. The starting five all finished positive and the bench all negative. King didn't score, but King took a lot of defensive pressure off other players. It was clear that Valentine wasn't going to let Kobe King be the reason Valpo won.

Chairback · February 17, 2022, 10:12:14 AM

Agree Valpopal. The other thing is ML is not sticking up for his guys. Leaders will jump in and protect their people. He seems to let Sheldon take the blame.

Preston should not have been in the last 3 mins. Sheldon or Kobe could have brought the ball up the court and Ben should have been in the game. Makes zero sense.

Watching the game right when we got the rebound you knew we were going to take a 3 instead of a set play or drive the basket.

JD24 · February 17, 2022, 01:01:24 PM

I agree regarding Krikke not being in the game. I wonder if he had an injury of some sort not being mentioned. Valpo, to me, seems to have an aversion to mentioning injury nearly at any time. Otherwise I don't get the seat on the bench.

Kobe King....I know it's not looked upon fondly by some on the board to speak ill of him but I really wish he'd be more aggressive on offense. 5 shots? Come on dude. Get in the game.

Edwards has been described by others similarly to how I would.

With Reudinger in the game. Krikke not in the game. King not seeming to want to take charge and Edwards wanting to take charge is it any real mystery as to why this particular game for the taking got away?

vuny98 · February 17, 2022, 03:45:49 PM

Quote from: Pgmado on February 17, 2022, 10:11:25 AM
Quote from: vuny98 on February 17, 2022, 08:50:20 AMA few thoughts: - Fouls killed us, second Loyola game in a row with some very questionable calls - King was non existent, for what should be our biggest offensive threat to score 2 points is tough - Edwards had a great game, until he didn't. Last 5 minutes we relied on him and he showed why he can't be THE guy - Kithier is a key to our team... and he's been out recently and this game dealing with fouls. Loyola made their runs with him on the bench. - Again and again, end of game we suck. 1 point in the last 4:50 or so. Its unbelievable that its consistently as bad as it is. - Of our highly touted freshman class, its the walk on that is the one that has played the best. Good for Ruedinger, hes earned a scholarship, concerning for next year with everyone else.
I get asked about the +/- a lot, so here is an interesting one. Kobe King, despite scoring two points in his 33 minutes, led Valpo with +9. Eron Gordon in 11:43 was -16. Sheldon in 26:22 was -4. The starting five all finished positive and the bench all negative. King didn't score, but King took a lot of defensive pressure off other players. It was clear that Valentine wasn't going to let Kobe King be the reason Valpo won.

It's a fair point. I certainly think King was still effective in the game on defense and drawing attention on offense. But we need him to be the guy that can make his own shot despite the extra attention. To not let the other team take you out of the game. To be able to get off more than 5 shots in 33 minutes. Some of that blame falls on him, and certainly some should fall on Lottich.

valpospartan · February 17, 2022, 10:19:56 PM

Quote from: tjjvalpo on February 16, 2022, 11:08:34 PM
According to Luke Gore, the play they practice is Sheldon should have rushed up the court and pass the ball to a cutting Taylor for a bunny or possible foul at the hoop. But, since Sheldon decided to try to win the game himself,s at least the other four guys should been hitting the boards, when Sheldon pulled up to take the shot. Neither of those scenarios happened. Luke actually said they reason the lost the game is that " the team sucked, including the coaching" (his words, not mine) in the last 5 minutes of the game. They didn't do anything that they were supposed to down the stretch. Why Lottich isn't taking control at the end is beyond me. In my mind, they suck because Lottich sucks and I got to believe, at list some of the players think they know better than him.

When does anyone crash the boards? I'll stick around for an answer.

mj · February 17, 2022, 11:16:44 PM

We keep finding ourselves in the same situation at the end of the game, and we keep doing the same exact thing expecting different results. I think that's on the coach.

Lottich has said multiple times that he didn't call a time out at the end of a game because he didn't want to let the defense set up a play. But maybe it's really because he doesn't have any plays to call himself.

In terms of Kobe King, it seems like, based on stats, he was the 6th or 7th best player on his Wisconsin team. Why did we think that a solid Big Ten player dominate the MVC? It seems like the 2018-2019 Kobe King (4.2 PPG) is probably his true talent level versus the 19-20 version (10 PPG in limited action). I think we set our expectations way too high.

JD24 · February 19, 2022, 09:21:29 AM

King's been an enigma to me since he first started to play. He's clearly got a lot of ability and will show that from time to time. However he seems to play in an non aggressive fashion particularly on offense and purposefully appears to avoid any attempt to become "the guy". Couple that with articles I read about him after these observations of his time at Wisconsin and not at Nebraska and his not loving the game and that comes across on the court as well.

Whatever one thinks about Lottich's demonstrated inability to run an effective defense or put together a play to score when needed, no coach is going to coach up a player who is not 100% invested.

This all fits in with each of the transfers having some limitation which, at least in some cases, we thought would go away when they came to Valpo. Instead they've been collectively very frustrating.

justducky · February 19, 2022, 05:05:25 PM

Quote from: mj on February 17, 2022, 11:16:44 PMIn terms of Kobe King, it seems like, based on stats, he was the 6th or 7th best player on his Wisconsin team. Why did we think that a solid Big Ten player dominate the MVC? It seems like the 2018-2019 Kobe King (4.2 PPG) is probably his true talent level versus the 19-20 version (10 PPG in limited action). I think we set our expectations way too high.

Quote from: JD24 on February 19, 2022, 09:21:29 AMKing's been an enigma to me since he first started to play. He's clearly got a lot of ability and will show that from time to time. However he seems to play in an non aggressive fashion particularly on offense and purposefully appears to avoid any attempt to become "the guy".

King is as good as the team supporting him. As a key piece on a solid starting lineup his value was enormous. As injuries have changed this his puzzle piece uses have diminished. Kobe needed everybody around him to be healthy and we will never know how that team and that Kobe would have fared.