Game #14 - MVC #3 - Bradley at the ARC 1/3 7pm

[Chairback]

2 things:

1). I will not give up on these freshman sophomores.   They are going through growing pains and against much more experienced and older players.   It's a fact.

2). Wardle is such a dip  .  He's an ass to his players and you can see it.   He will slip up some day and be gone. 

[AB]

The graphic says it all, one of the least experienced and youngest teams in division 1. When our shots aren't falling, it effected the defense, wide open shots and not recognizing the shooters. Bad matchup and our youth. Bradley will finish in the middle of the pack. Indiana State in a run a way!
            Darius was outstanding and a walk on from the football team took Connor's minutes!. This team reminds me of Erik Bugs as a Freshman. Learning on the job. Hard to see the light, but next year will be much improved if we keep our core guys. Edwards is the only enigma on this team. Seems like he should be producing more/scoring wise. No Stafford tonight.
             

[VULB#62]

We are incredibly young and overwhelmed inside.  The Tale of the Tape tells us all we need to know...

RBs: B-40, V-27
ORBs: B-14, V-5
2CHANCE: B-19, V-5
P IN THE P: B-36, V-18

We will develop both in experience and physically as the season continues and into next season, but we also have a big player gap under the basket both Drake and Bradley (didn't see Belmont) leveraged throughout the game.  Cooper, at 185,  can't  match up with most bigger centers, but he is being asked to play there because we have no one else.  Jerome shows flashes, but often loses concentration.  Sepp and Ajiboye both have skills and a little bulk, but are both undersized and lost rebounds to taller guys with longer arms going up over their backs.  The antidote for the current situation is, ummm.....consistent lights-out shooting.  Oops.

Our youngsters growing up combined with Roger's scouring the portal  will, hopefully, produce the ingredients for much greater success next year. In the meantime, fans need to be positive and patient.

PS:  Darius, awesome game. 

[Valpo89]

I'm starting to question my decision to pay over $200 for season tickets.
They are almost unwatchable. I know we are supposed to be patient and give them a chance, so I'll hang in there for home games.
If they win another game this season, it will be an upset.

[VULB#62]

We are incredibly young and overwhelmed inside.  The Tale of the Tape tells us all we need to know...

RBs: B-40, V-27
ORBs: B-14, V-5
2CHANCE: B-19, V-5
P IN THE P: B-36, V-18

We will develop both in experience and physically as the season continues and into next season, but we also have a big player gap under the basket both Drake and Bradley (didn't see Belmont) leveraged throughout the game.  Cooper, at 185,  can't  match up with most bigger centers, but he is being asked to play there because we have no one else.  Jerome shows flashes, but often loses concentration.  Sepp and Ajiboye both have skills and a little bulk, but are both undersized and lost rebounds to taller guys with longer arms going up over their backs.  The antidote for the current situation is, ummm.....consistent lights-out shooting.  Oops.

Our youngsters growing up combined with Roger's scouring the portal  will, hopefully, produce the ingredients for much greater success next year. In the meantime, fans need to be positive and patient.

PS:  Darius, awesome game. 

I would add one more thought. I really like Roger's fast pace approach to offense. And even in defeat games are much more exciting to watch than in the past. However, I have felt increasingly frustrated over watching easy, uncontested layups and back doors being given up. I can't recall a charge being taken. I've seen few times when an opponent big was prevented from backing in close for a basket. You know, stuff like that. Granted, I am no defensive expert, and don't have the knowledge to suggest a fix, but I'd feel less frustrated if we could make it harder to score against us on every possession instead of scoring and then immediately giving up a quick return bucket.

[valpotx]

I trust in Powell after this season, but have to keep reminding myself that he was hired at a time when only so many players were left on the market.  I expect at least .500 record next season, or I will be worried.  This year just reminds me of our 9-22 team from 2008-2009.  Very appreciative of those that are playing for this season, but we need to return to the Valpo player quality that we have come to expect in ~25 of the last 30 seasons. 

[AB]

Spot on analysis with the late hire and the 08 09 team. I think that Valpo team was hurt further with Brandon McPherson shutting down after 6 or 7 games

[valpotx]

Spot on analysis with the late hire and the 08 09 team. I think that Valpo team was hurt further with Brandon McPherson shutting down after 6 or 7 games

That and Haanpaa's decision to go pro internationally after his SO season, as well as Bouchie transferring after a solid FR season.  We were solid the year prior with the CBI win over Washington, and were setup pretty well heading into the season before Sami and Bouchie withdrew. 

[VULB#62]

I occasionally lurk on MVCFANS a bit, and saw some stuff that disturbed me. After the Bradley game, a couple of veteran posters were discussing when/if Valpo would get their first MVC win.

Paraphrased comment's:

* They have home losses to IUPUI and Chicago State [my interpretation of this is =  ] and 0-5 on the road.

* Don't play very hard. Not like they were under-talented dudes grinding it out.

* Announcers played the inexperienced card a lot.

* Bradley, with its lousy offense, could have scored 100.

* DeAverio only notable player and would be a good MVC backup PG. [Did note the absence of VU top scorer]

* Noticeably worse than Evansville last year.

* The amount of half-ass shots was astounding.

The thing is that these guys are pretty knowledgeable fans, and I didn't detect any mean agenda or Bradley bias - just matter-of-fact off-the-cuff observations. Then the discussion moved on to Indiana State.

[tiny707]

Guess we have a built in excuse for this year with "freshmen/sophomores". Ever hear of the Fab Five? Ever hear of one and done? McFan comments were spot on. Soft..

[mj]

I'll say that the Bradley game was our worst "effort" game by far and not indicative of how we played this season.

Glad to see that people around the league have recognized the improvement that Darius has made!

[vu72]

Say what you will about Wardle, but his Braves just beat Missouri State by 26!

[Bumbo]

Wardle can coach

[justducky]

Wardle can coach

Yes he can. He was one of the best coaches in the Horizon and remains annually as one of the best in the MVC. We can like him or not but his coaching ability is not a matter of question.