How will Valpo do to finish out the month of January?

[VALPO LI]

With all the talk about pitchforks and torches I thought I would change things up and run a poll to see what fans thought about the remaining games in January.  Some critics say the Beacons had the toughest schedule in the Valley so far.  If true, where or is there a turning point?
Remaining games in January are:
@ Evansville 0-7
UIC 1-6
@ Illinois St. 3-4
@ Northern Iowa 5-2
Evansville 0-7

[VALPO LI]

Valpo did not lay a big egg so 0-5 is out.  Hope they can go for 2 wins in a row vs UIC up next.
Fingers crossed.

[Just Sayin]

With all the talk about pitchforks and torches I thought I would change things up and run a poll to see what fans thought about the remaining games in January.  Some critics say the Beacons had the toughest schedule in the Valley so far.  If true, where or is there a turning point?
Remaining games in January are:
@ Evansville 0-7
UIC 1-6
@ Illinois St. 3-4
@ Northern Iowa 5-2
Evansville 0-7

Valpo's overall SOS is in 9th place . Source: https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/mvc/2023.html

[VALPO LI]

Let me clarify:
Some critics say the Beacons had the toughest schedule in Valley play so far.

[Dr. T]

Whether Valpo had "the toughest schedule" in the MVC thus far or not is irrelevant to an extent. That many conference losses in a row are inexcusable at this point.

I recall all the excuses we made (myself included) when Valpo first entered the Valley ... dealt with the mass exodus of transfers ... dealt with the whole "trusting the process" narrative ... and went all in on the "GRIT" mantra. All that said - here we are ... years later ... no trajectory showing an upward trend toward improvement.

[VALPO LI]

Valpo goes 4-1 to finish out the month of January in Valley Play!!!
I'm intrigued to see how the Beacons fair in February.
Any thoughts

[tjjvalpo]

I think they will win 3 in February and still end up in 9th place. Wins over UIC and Illinois State, plus one surprise win. But, I have no idea who that is.

[crusadermoe]

Makes sense. If they do win a 3rd Feb. game I think it will be this Wed. night at Mo. State.  For them it is just a midweek mid-season snooze game against a weak team.

Momentum and 4 of 5 wins are good for team morale even if the teams were bottom four. Not much to lose for Valpo. Getting into 8th is such a climb and the potential Thursday opponents in the 5th-8th seeds seem pretty interchangeable. They will need to pick off Missouri St. if they want any shot at #8....which gets you into......the Thursday 8/9 game.  Yeah! 

[valpotx]

Clay won't let Missouri State lose to Valpo.  He wants to do more pointing and glaring at our bench, in getting lucky at the 3-point line, as if he should have always been a perimeter player, in spite of Missouri State also viewing him as a within the arc player.

[historyman]

Maybe they will beat SIU. The Salukis may let their guard dog down on the road while suddenly some threes start to fall for both Kobe and Quinton and Valpo pulls out a 72-71 win when Ben tips in a last second shot off a missed Darius desperation three from the top of the key on Valentine's Day. One can always dream!

[AB]

Unless the defensive issues are solved..... 3 or 4 wins at most in February. I hope I am wrong. I don't think they stepped out and covered the shooters that well against the Aces.

[valpopal]

Valpo goes 4-1 to finish out the month of January in Valley Play!!!
I'm intrigued to see how the Beacons fair in February.
Any thoughts

Valpo is 0-0 against Quad 1 teams, 1-10 against Quad 2 or 3 teams, and 8-3 against Quad 4 teams. There are only two Quad 4 teams remaining on the schedule. Therefore, odds are VU has a 2-6 February with a slim outside chance of a 3-5 month, meaning a final conference record of 6-14 or 7-13 and a 9th place finish.

[johnu1]

As an Evansville alum who lives in Valpo and has followed both teams, the regular complaints about the VU men's BB program are, in my opinion, misguided. I recall the Drew coaching days when the Crusaders Beacons recruited globally and were always a delight to watch.
I don't get over there much these days since the Pandemic, but I do go when the Aces are there, renewing friendships. The Aces this year are more painful to watch than they are embarrassing. But that does not mean I don't appreciate what VU has going for it. If there is a downside, I am surprised that student interest has fallen off as it has. That is probably true across the country for programs not in the P5 realm at campuses with 30,000 students.
To the point: Valpo basketball, while a shade shy of 2016 (which won't happen again), is in a pretty good place. Lottich is not a great strategian, but he is also like all the other mid-majors coaches, in that he will have to recreate his roster every year.
That's what the Portal has done.
I will say that the ARC needs some work. The pullback bleachers are past expiration date. The PA guy can stop officiating, to make that complete.
Otherwise, VU doesn't need to fire its coach. The Valley is changing. Valpo has a long history of finding players who surprise me. Ryan Broekhoff for $400, Alex! Ben Krikke for the bonus round.
Despite Evansville's current almost-DOA approach to the sport, it's still a great entertainment at the Beacon palace. Focus on that. Arch Madness is winnable for somebody. Just that, it's hard to win 4 games -- but we all wanted a 12-team league, right? Only 4 teams benefit from that.

[wh]

As an Evansville alum who lives in Valpo and has followed both teams, the regular complaints about the VU men's BB program are, in my opinion, misguided. I recall the Drew coaching days when the Crusaders Beacons recruited globally and were always a delight to watch.
I don't get over there much these days since the Pandemic, but I do go when the Aces are there, renewing friendships. The Aces this year are more painful to watch than they are embarrassing. But that does not mean I don't appreciate what VU has going for it. If there is a downside, I am surprised that student interest has fallen off as it has. That is probably true across the country for programs not in the P5 realm at campuses with 30,000 students.
To the point: Valpo basketball, while a shade shy of 2016 (which won't happen again), is in a pretty good place. Lottich is not a great strategian, but he is also like all the other mid-majors coaches, in that he will have to recreate his roster every year.
That's what the Portal has done.
I will say that the ARC needs some work. The pullback bleachers are past expiration date. The PA guy can stop officiating, to make that complete.
Otherwise, VU doesn't need to fire its coach. The Valley is changing. Valpo has a long history of finding players who surprise me. Ryan Broekhoff for $400, Alex! Ben Krikke for the bonus round.
Despite Evansville's current almost-DOA approach to the sport, it's still a great entertainment at the Beacon palace. Focus on that. Arch Madness is winnable for somebody. Just that, it's hard to win 4 games -- but we all wanted a 12-team league, right? Only 4 teams benefit from that.

The concluding line from the dark Pink Floyd ballad Comfortably Numb comes to mind here:

The child is grown the dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb

[johnu1]

Yeah, that's about the size of it.
Facing facts about the oxpecker leagues that the NCAA is shoving to the curb, getting a .500 record is probably as good as it gets. For general fans, an entertainment value.
I have to turn off Aces games at halftime now.
Get used to complete roster turnover every 2 years now.