Valpo Hosts Murray St 12/4 1:00p.m.

[humbleopinion]

The first conference home game of the season, and the first time we host Murray St in conference play. After the transfer portal,  the Racers are a whole new team for the season.

Given the fact that I start this thread four hours before the tip-off, it seems that enthusiasm is muted. I hope attendance tops 2500.

[talksalot]

Opposite the bears  packers. 

The tuba Christmas starts at 3..  make it a double feature

[tjjvalpo]

I will be there, but I'm afraid we will be lucky to have 1500 in attendance giving the time of the game. Murray State is not a top tier team in our conference. Given that this is a home game, it should be win.

[VUGrad1314]

Murray has beaten Texas A&M and Tulsa and has narrow losses @Chattanooga and on a neutral floor to UMASS. This is a good team. Probably an upper half MVC team. Being at home may help but we'll be lucky to keep this one close.

[usc4valpo]

Bear Packers? Both teams suck, you get more enjoyment getting a root canal.

[JD24]

I will be there, but I'm afraid we will be lucky to have 1500 in attendance giving the time of the game. Murray State is not a top tier team in our conference. Given that this is a home game, it should be win.

At this point there is no MVC squad except maybe Evansville which "should be win" for Valpo whether at home or not. In addition, depending on your definition of "top tier" in our conference, Murray St. is probably in it.

[justducky]

At this point there is no MVC squad except maybe Evansville which "should be win" for Valpo whether at home or not.

I will catch some games this season but today will not be one of them. I think that I have seen enough to largely agree with JD24 on his quoted conclusion. We could develop slightly by February but most of our incoming transfers seem to lack the talent and versatility to move us forward. Meanwhile I will relax and enjoy whatever pleasant surprises Matt and this group can provide me!

[VALPO LI]

I will be there, but I'm afraid we will be lucky to have 1500 in attendance giving the time of the game. Murray State is not a top tier team in our conference. Given that this is a home game, it should be win.

I would be pleasantly surprised if the attendance broke 1,500.
My optimistic guess is Valpo surprises us all and wins looses by 7! 

[tjjvalpo]

We have already made as many 3's today as made the whole game against Belmont.

[truth219]

Both of these teams are bad. Hard to believe this Murray state team has beat anyone. Currently at the game no atmosphere but the beer is cold

[oklahomamick]

I know no one is watching.  Don't want to call a timeout on the last   possession?  Maybe set something up. 

[chgovalpofan]

Just turned the game on to see us lose almost lose our lead.  I'll be turning back the the Packer Bears game.  Justin fields is way more exciting to watch even if they lose.

[tjjvalpo]

The 3 is the death of us, can't make them and can't defend them.

[hailcrusaders]

Brutal choke in another winnable game. Disappointing. Squandered a great performance by Krikke too.

[valpotx]

Geez, another blown game.  The lack of paying attention to the guy next to you, led to several key offensive rebounds, open shots, and dumb fouls, all in key scenarios late in the second half and into OT.  There was one particular sequence that seemed to set the tone late in the game, where Palm completely lost his guy, even though the offensive player that he was moving towards was already covered by Valpo on the perimeter, which led to that easy pass/score.  On the ensuing possession for Valpo, we miss the shot, and he gets a ticky/tack push in the back foul, where he wasn't even going up to get the ball, leading to a made 1-and-1 to tie the game.  You have to know the situation, and that hand in the back when Murray State is in the bonus, was just pointless.  If you were at least contesting the rebound, I could see it, but just pushing in the back?  WTF?

[justducky]

Best played game of the season and our coaching wasn't terrible either.  Even with that we couldn't win at home. 

[valpopal]

Valpo was outscored 9-0 in the last two minutes of the first half and outscored 7-0 in the last minute of the game. Down 16-0 in crunch time. Enough said.

[oklahomamick]

0-2 to start conference.  When was the last time that happened?

[AB]

Missed opportunity at home. Experienced teams, teams with those extra intangibles turn a 6, 7 point lead into a 12 14 point lead and stretch it out. Dangerous to let Murray hang around. Murray will win some games and finish in the top half. They have some very athletic players and nice one on one players. I can see if they get hot they will be in many games. Give Prohm a few years to get his players in and they will be contenders. Rebuild year for them.
                Krikke was excellent and that was a wasted performance. Arguably he is the best all around scorer in the conference. We have three point guards, Nick Edwards, Preston, DeAverio. None have separated themselves. They can't be relied to score consistently from anywhere. Green should look to slash more and score at the basket. He has the length and hops. Jerome Palm should be playing 30 plus minutes a game. Connor, Hedstrom, Emil, Bayou?

[Valpo89]

Even though I had a ticket, I opted to stay home to watch Bears-Packers. I think it was more entertaining, and I took a nap.
I saw some of the game. Dead crowd even though it went to overtime. No one cares any more. I think the chairback people who still buy tickets just do it out of habit.
The program, and the game experience, is but a shell of what it once was. Who knows if it can ever be revived.

[VALPO LI]

I will be there, but I'm afraid we will be lucky to have 1500 in attendance giving the time of the game. Murray State is not a top tier team in our conference. Given that this is a home game, it should be win.

I would be pleasantly surprised if the attendance broke 1,500.
My optimistic guess is Valpo surprises us all and wins looses by 7! 

Unfortunately the home conference opener at the ARC this Sunday afternoon could not draw more than 1,445 
Can anyone who attended the game comment on the game atmosphere?  Was the band there? Student section have anyone jumping around or was it blah?

[valpopal]

The program, and the game experience, is but a shell of what it once was. Who knows if it can ever be revived.

You mean like this?

[JD24]

I'm just going to beat this into the ground I guess until I can't. 2 halves and an OT and we get 4 shots from the PGs. That's just incredible. How can a guy play 32 mins presumably with the ball in his hand a decent portion of the time and take 2 shots?

[humbleopinion]

Even though I had a ticket, I opted to stay home to watch Bears-Packers. I think it was more entertaining, and I took a nap.
I saw some of the game. Dead crowd even though it went to overtime. No one cares any more. I think the chairback people who still buy tickets just do it out of habit.
The program, and the game experience, is but a shell of what it once was. Who knows if it can ever be revived.

I checked the score of Bears/Packers game from my seat in the chairbacks and watched the second half of the football game on tape delay to see Rodgers demonstrate once again that he owns the Bears.

I go to games and contribute to  the program because I want it to get better. I know that if I discourage others from going to games, it will do nothing for the team. I'll do what I can do to improve the atmosphere.

Prior to the game, posts on this board predicted that the team wouldn't be in the game.  The Beacons were in the game and showed me that they can be competitive with "top-tier" teams. They have grown this year, and I anticipate further growth.  Jerome pleased me particularly yesterday.  I was surprised by his hands -- at one point there was a fast pass to Kobe, but Jerome snatched it midway thinking it was for him (it was unfortunate as Kobe would have been more likely to score but still an impressive display of his ability to grab a ball). 

On the way out of the game there was a fan who was loudly complaining about the coach -- the coach that has worked with this team to grow over the season and who drew up a play that got a clean look for Q at the end of OT that just didn't fall. I chose not to confront him, but his outburst did nothing to improve the overall experience of attending the game.

I wish there had been a band for the game.  It seems that there has been a break in trust between the athletic department and musicians.  I don't know how much this has been acknowledged, much less addressed. Merely dangling some cash is evidently insufficient to recruit musicians. As money is invested in athletics, the music department has been an afterthought. I remember seeing Vashil at concerts and cultural events on campus.  I didn't see any team members at Christmas Vespers on Friday night.  In my view, outreach at a personal level would be more likely to pay dividends.

[vu72]

So Matt's excuse about teams taking time to gel with all the transfers should finally be done. Murray had like 10 players transfer and we had our core back and ..e still lose. Sad might not be strong enough.