Humble Pie, Freeman-Flavored

[Crusader03]

Well, ladies and germs, I have come to eat a big fat plate of Freeman-flavored humble pie...I can handle a loss to a VERY GOOD Rice team.  The SIU loss was a nailbiter and could be chalked up to nerves/extremely poor officiating.  However, a loss to Western Illinois??  Do you guys remember that they used to be a rival?  In case you didn't know, back in the old days, Western Illinois and Valparaiso were in a conference together----the Mid-Con.  They were a distasteful rival then and they have still left a bitter taste in my mouth....the loss tonight stings.  BIG TIME.  Maybe Keith needed to grab a history book in his pre-game and let his girls know how big this game was to us, the fans....and to the program no less.  Utterly disgusted right now.

Granted, I'm just venting.  I still think this VU squad has great potential and will be an NCAA tourney team by season's end. 

[bbtds]

It would help if the Lady Crusaders would start winning soon so they can then prove they are an NCAA tourney team. Of course you don't get to the NCAA tournament by losing. You win games against tough competition. The Lady Crusaders have only won their first 2 games against Huntington and St. Joseph College of Renssalear, Indiana

[Crusader03]

I definitely see what you're saying bbtds...can't plan to make the tourney as an at-large if the Lady 'Saders don't start putting W's in the column.  BUT, I would wager that their best shot at the dance is by winning the HL tourney...an at-large could be tough...not impossible, but tough.

Let's withhold judgement until they get into the meat of their HL schedule

[valporun]

They need to have a roster that is 100% healthy. We might not see that all season, and it shows. In terms of this team, they are playing the men have the last couple of seasons, they would start out decently, then go on a huge scoring drought, and tonight they just couldn't get over that 21-2 run that finished out the first half and started the second half. We were also really scrappy defensively, and we turned the ball over a lot. This women's team has a lot to overcome, and I'm just not sure they'll have the experience and leadership to do it this season.

[KL31NY]

They need to have a roster that is 100% healthy. We might not see that all season, and it shows.

Out of a 14-player roster (12 eligible at the moment), 9 played vs. SIUE, 8 played vs. Rice and Western Illinois, and even that in no way indicates everyone who is perfectly healthy. Plus, this team is dealing with a limited lineup during a four-game, seven day stretch over an academic break. I cannot imagine how hard it is to work in those circumstances and try to maintain any form of a rhythm for games or practices.

[bbtds]

They need to have a roster that is 100% healthy. We might not see that all season, and it shows.

Out of a 14-player roster (12 eligible at the moment), 9 played vs. SIUE, 8 played vs. Rice and Western Illinois, and even that in no way indicates everyone who is perfectly healthy. Plus, this team is dealing with a limited lineup during a four-game, seven day stretch over an academic break. I cannot imagine how hard it is to work in those circumstances and try to maintain any form of a rhythm for games or practices.

And that screams NCAA tourney team to me.......I will reserve judgement though until they are fully healthy and see what this Lady Crusader team has the potential to do. It certainly is possible they could win the conference tourney.

By the way which team is 'Sader03 talking about? 

[IndyValpo]

UWGB is currently ranked #18 and has and will dominate.  We are not in their class yet.
No excuses for losing this game, we had enough talent on the floor to win.
We have not won since 03 started calling them the Lady 'Saders which is probably the reason for the 0-3 start.

[Crusader03]

UWGB is currently ranked #18 and has and will dominate.  We are not in their class yet.
No excuses for losing this game, we had enough talent on the floor to win.
We have not won since 03 started calling them the Lady 'Saders which is probably the reason for the 0-3 start.

You could be on to something!!!!

[jimdandy]

ncaa tournament talk?
are you guys insane?

[jack]

It was a disappointing loss, but one they need to put behind them and move on. I still think it'll be after the holidays before we truly see what level we can compete at. Right now, our biggest hurdle is getting through the injuries. Of the 8 that we saw last night, I'd have to say that 5 can be considered healthy. It was good to see Timmerman get some minutes in, and I was surprised by the number of minutes he played Carr. It's my understanding that she's fitted with a hip brace. Her lack of court time as of late was evident, though defensively she seemed to keep up pretty well. Scott was active but seemed to force some shots, and the entire squad couldn't get much to fall consistently. If you take away the player that kill us with 3's, it was a fairly tight contest. I felt we tried to switch up too much on D. When we had a quick guard at the point disrupting their flow, they struggled to get the ball inside and weren't getting any outside looks. Each and every 3 they hit from the top of the key was uncontested. We're a much better squad defensively when we have a quick guard in their face out on the point.
You hate to use the injury bug as an excuse, but I truly feel it's warranted here. Richards played well, but we flat wore her out with the amount of minutes she's asked to play. Western Ill had the advantage of fresh legs when needed. It's encouraging to see Varner playing at full speed again. It was evident that we also must count on major minutes from Ladd right now, as we are one and done with our shots when she's on the bench. Does anyone have a guess on when we'll start seeing some minutes from Calloway, Horton, and Adams? 
I believe we will be a tale of two teams this season. We'll get our wins, but we need more players in the rotation to do so, in my opinion.
Are the games out west going to be webcast?

[Trufan]

Couldn't agree more with your feedback, Jack... 

Another thing to keep in mind, this issue didn't start with a couple of games and we can not measure improvement level with only a couple of games – especially with an unhealthy squad. 

I will say this much... The coach MUST find a way to work with his rotation until other girls are healthy.    And regardless for season, he must figure out a strategy to put the right players on the court at the right time based on opponent.

Coach has the girls to compete!

[Crusader03]

It was a disappointing loss, but one they need to put behind them and move on. I still think it'll be after the holidays before we truly see what level we can compete at. Right now, our biggest hurdle is getting through the injuries. Of the 8 that we saw last night, I'd have to say that 5 can be considered healthy. It was good to see Timmerman get some minutes in, and I was surprised by the number of minutes he played Carr. It's my understanding that she's fitted with a hip brace. Her lack of court time as of late was evident, though defensively she seemed to keep up pretty well. Scott was active but seemed to force some shots, and the entire squad couldn't get much to fall consistently. If you take away the player that kill us with 3's, it was a fairly tight contest. I felt we tried to switch up too much on D. When we had a quick guard at the point disrupting their flow, they struggled to get the ball inside and weren't getting any outside looks. Each and every 3 they hit from the top of the key was uncontested. We're a much better squad defensively when we have a quick guard in their face out on the point.
You hate to use the injury bug as an excuse, but I truly feel it's warranted here. Richards played well, but we flat wore her out with the amount of minutes she's asked to play. Western Ill had the advantage of fresh legs when needed. It's encouraging to see Varner playing at full speed again. It was evident that we also must count on major minutes from Ladd right now, as we are one and done with our shots when she's on the bench. Does anyone have a guess on when we'll start seeing some minutes from Calloway, Horton, and Adams? 
I believe we will be a tale of two teams this season. We'll get our wins, but we need more players in the rotation to do so, in my opinion.
Are the games out west going to be webcast?

As usual great insights from jack re: the girls' program.  You've got me off the ledge here, buddy. 

In terms of the bolded, I was wondering the EXACT same thing.

[Crusader03]

Pardon me if this has already been asked, but do the sectionee or Beyond the "Arc" blogs cover the women's teams much....from what I have ready of both (but particularly ee), I think they would provide some wonderful coverage.

[KL31NY]

Nice post, Jack. Here are some answers for you:

Does anyone have a guess on when we'll start seeing some minutes from Calloway, Horton, and Adams?

IDK, IDK, a couple weeks. The Times listed Callaway with a back injury Sunday and said Tuesday that Adams will sit out for 2-3 weeks. Horton's never played a lot anyway, and I don't believe she's injured. We probably just have too many posts to use before getting to her...

Are the games out west going to be webcast?

ValpoAthletics has online stats and audio links for WVUR for both contests. The Colorado site has a video link for Friday's game, but I don't believe it is free to access.

[sectionee]

Pardon me if this has already been asked, but do the sectionee or Beyond the "Arc" blogs cover the women's teams much....from what I have ready of both (but particularly ee), I think they would provide some wonderful coverage.

I've got a wife and two little boys..it is hard enough to follow the men's team!  haha  I'll leave the women's team for someone else.  Thanks for the compliment though.

[Crusader03]

Pardon me if this has already been asked, but do the sectionee or Beyond the "Arc" blogs cover the women's teams much....from what I have ready of both (but particularly ee), I think they would provide some wonderful coverage.

I've got a wife and two little boys..it is hard enough to follow the men's team!  haha  I'll leave the women's team for someone else.  Thanks for the compliment though.

Haha, I feel ya man....maybe get that student writer on the job!

[historyman]

Pardon me if this has already been asked, but do the sectionee or Beyond the "Arc" blogs cover the women's teams much....from what I have ready of both (but particularly ee), I think they would provide some wonderful coverage.

I've got a wife and two little boys..it is hard enough to follow the men's team!  haha  I'll leave the women's team for someone else.  Thanks for the compliment though.

Haha, I feel ya man....maybe get that student writer on the job!

I've read some of the articles that StlVuFan has put on his website about the women's program. Any chance you would take a chance at writing a few pieces about the womens team?

[sectionee]

Pardon me if this has already been asked, but do the sectionee or Beyond the "Arc" blogs cover the women's teams much....from what I have ready of both (but particularly ee), I think they would provide some wonderful coverage.

I've got a wife and two little boys..it is hard enough to follow the men's team!  haha  I'll leave the women's team for someone else.  Thanks for the compliment though.

Haha, I feel ya man....maybe get that student writer on the job!

I'd be open to somebody taking on that task if they wanted too!

[Crusader03]

Paging DMValpo, paging DMValpo....report for duty!

[StlVUFan]

Pardon me if this has already been asked, but do the sectionee or Beyond the "Arc" blogs cover the women's teams much....from what I have ready of both (but particularly ee), I think they would provide some wonderful coverage.

I've got a wife and two little boys..it is hard enough to follow the men's team!  haha  I'll leave the women's team for someone else.  Thanks for the compliment though.

Haha, I feel ya man....maybe get that student writer on the job!

I've read some of the articles that StlVuFan has put on his website about the women's program. Any chance you would take a chance at writing a few pieces about the womens team?

I assume you don't mean me when you ask "Any chance *you* would take a chance at writing..."

The only writing I do are the head-spinning, nerdish tiebreaker analysis toward the end of February.  Everything else is links to other people's writing   That's about all the time I can spare for it.

[jack]

As a follow up, it appears that the Game Friday night at 8:30pm vs Colorado will be broadcast live on 95.1 WVUR, and on line at valpoathletics.com. No mention of the Saturday game yet.

[valporun]

As a follow up, it appears that the Game Friday night at 8:30pm vs Colorado will be broadcast live on 95.1 WVUR, and on line at valpoathletics.com. No mention of the Saturday game yet.

I'm sure the Saturday game will be broadcast too. They just want to have the time set for when Valpo definitely plays, so we're not left guessing.

[DMvalpo18]

i'm not nearly the follower of the women's team as i am the men's. so i don't see myself being ready to cover them right now.

[Crusader03]

i'm not nearly the follower of the women's team as i am the men's. so i don't see myself being ready to cover them right now.

If sectionee could put some funding together (i.e. a paycheck), would you become more of a follower?

[jack]

http://www.cubuffs.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?SPSID=3909&SPID=258&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=600&LIST_SPORT_ID=W_BASKETBALL

Not sure, but this could be a good site to view the game vs Colorado tonight at 8:30pm.