Looking to January

[wh]

We play 8 games games in Jan. - all conf. games.    Only YSU and CSU are home games.

Fri, Jan 6            at Detroit
Sun, Jan 8    at Wright State
Fri, Jan 13    Youngstown State
Sun, Jan 15    Cleveland State
Thu, Jan 19    at Loyola
Sat, Jan 21    at UIC
Thu, Jan 26    at Green Bay
Sat, Jan 28    at Milwaukee

[wh]

My heart says we can win 6 of the 8.  I am optimistically predicting that we win both home games, sweep Loyola and UIC on the road, and split with WSU/Detroit and Milw/GB.  This would give us an 8-3 record going into Feb. with 5 of the 7 remaining games at home.  As valporun says, why not stop saying we're playing for next year and go ahead and win this thing now?

[vuweathernerd]

i voted for six, but i could see anything between 4 and 7.

[historyman]

I think Valpo splits every 2 games with the exception of the two Chicago games. Split the Detroit/Dayton trip, Valpo seems to play well in Dayton, split the YSU/CSU games at Valpo, the Vikings will be playing better by then, split on the road trip to Milwaukee/Green Bay, the Panthers are too tough at home. 5 wins.

[sectionee]

I went with 5 which I think is a bit optimistic.  Valpo has the capability to win um all, but winning on the road during conference play is tough especially now that the students will back at school.

[valpopal]

I am the one who voted for less than five; four to be exact. I am hopeful Valpo will win more, but I would rather begin the new year by being pleasantly surprised than by having higher expectations and being disappointed. 

[DMvalpo18]

I have decided to take the very optimistic route of 6 wins. I see the two losses being detroit and milwaukee in that scenario. but i think 5 wins is more realistic, unfortunately. You just don't know with this Crusader team when there will be an unexpected hiccup.

[vu84v2]

I think it will be 4 or 5 (I voted 5).  6 road games for a team that played miserably at IPFW and IUPUI has got to be a cause for concern.  Loyola and UIC need to be wins.  Hard to imagine winning both home games with YSU having improved so much.  Split is hopeful against the two Wisconsin teams.  They shouldn't beat Detroit, but since they are so poorly coached a win would not be that surprising - but I don't see beating both Detroit and Wright State this weekend.

[crusaderjoe]

Six away games in the month of January.  The only saving grace is that the Chicago trip is sandwiched in there.  Still, can't take anything for granted.  I say four up, four down this month.  Hope I'm wrong.  Nonetheless, this weekend will be huge.  An 0-2 start will be disastrous.

[vu72]

I think it will be 4 or 5 (I voted 5).  6 road games for a team that played miserably at IPFW and IUPUI has got to be a cause for concern.  Loyola and UIC need to be wins.  Hard to imagine winning both home games with YSU having improved so much.  Split is hopeful against the two Wisconsin teams.  They shouldn't beat Detroit, but since they are so poorly coached a win would not be that surprising - but I don't see beating both Detroit and Wright State this weekend.

I don't think we've had a game where we played "miserably" the entire game.  Played well the first half at OSU and miserably the second.  Played miserably the first half at IUPUI and outscored them by 8 in the second.  The Oakland game we blew a 17 point lead so obviously played very well followed by miserably.  The IPFW game, they just shot lights out, and we didn't play a very inspired game as well.

Whoever made the point about a bunch of new guys coupled with a new coach hit it on the head.  I expect much improvement and consistency as we move along.  As for depth, the improvement of Vucic, along with Edwards, give us enough depth up front and we have loads of choices at the 1 and 2 spots.

As for wins in January, I'll take 5.

[78crusader]

Not playing well right now + 6 road games = rough month.  I think we lose the first two games of the month and the last two, and win three of the four games right in the middle.  Result: 3-5.  Hope I'm wrong.  Paul

[justducky]

40% chance at 4, 35% chance at 3 and a 25% chance at 5. Just like December I will not pick the outcome of specific games.

[bbtds]

I think it will be 4 or 5 (I voted 5).  6 road games for a team that played miserably at IPFW and IUPUI has got to be a cause for concern.  Loyola and UIC need to be wins.  Hard to imagine winning both home games with YSU having improved so much.  Split is hopeful against the two Wisconsin teams.  They shouldn't beat Detroit, but since they are so poorly coached a win would not be that surprising - but I don't see beating both Detroit and Wright State this weekend.

I don't think we've had a game where we played "miserably" the entire game.  Played well the first half at OSU and miserably the second.  Played miserably the first half at IUPUI and outscored them by 8 in the second.  The Oakland game we blew a 17 point lead so obviously played very well followed by miserably.  The IPFW game, they just shot lights out, and we didn't play a very inspired game as well.

Whoever made the point about a bunch of new guys coupled with a new coach hit it on the head.  I expect much improvement and consistency as we move along.  As for depth, the improvement of Vucic, along with Edwards, give us enough depth up front and we have loads of choices at the 1 and 2 spots.

As for wins in January, I'll take 5.

Even though we haven't played miserably for a whole game that doesn't mean anything. If you play miserably enough in part of the game to a team that is gunning for you (I'm sure IPFW, IUPUI and Oakland all circled the Valpo game as very important because that "Valpo team used to be a dominant team in our conference") you still lose the game. What makes you think suddenly in January that the miserable play in part of the game will be less, at least less enough not to lose?

I do agree that we will win 5 games in January. I think we can win 3 of the 4 more iffy games(CSU, WSU, YSU and UWGB) by playing better defense and I do think that is one area Coach Drew will make sure the team improves on in January. If we do lose 2 of those 4 iffy games then I believe we put together a great game against either Milw or Detroit and steal one on the road.

[Valpo89]

I think the number of wins will coincide with how well Matt Kenney plays.
You know Ryan will play well every game. Odds are the same is true of Kevin.
Jay Harris and Will Bogan will cancel each other out, one hot, one not - for the most part.
Boggs can only get better, Vucic has been surprisingly solid (when he catches the ball) for the minutes he plays, Edwards will be OK when he recovers from his recent illness. Buggs didn't get in foul trouble the last two games, which is perhaps a good sign of things to come.

But Kenney, you never know which Matt will show up. Will it be the guy who finishes off amazing drives to the basket and knocks down the occasional 3-point shot, comes up with an unexpected block and skies for key rebounds? Or will it be the Matt who, after a few minutes, you look around the court and realize he's been out there a while but hasn't done much.

If Matt averages 11-13 points per game and grabs 6 rebounds, in a tribute to Crusader03 I'd say the Men 'Saders go 6-2 during January.

[StlVUFan]

in a tribute to Crusader03 I'd say the Men 'Saders go 6-2 during January

You're an evil person, 89.

[vuweathernerd]

in a tribute to Crusader03 I'd say the Men 'Saders go 6-2 during January

You're an evil person, 89.

makes more sense than the "lady 'kings" 03 put up in another thread.

[bbtds]

in a tribute to Crusader03 I'd say the Men 'Saders go 6-2 during January

You're an evil person, 89.

makes more sense than the "lady 'kings" 03 put up in another thread.

"Men 'saders" comes too close, with the addition of two letters, to meaning something not so pleasant to talk about.

[Valpo89]

in a tribute to Crusader03 I'd say the Men 'Saders go 6-2 during January

You're an evil person, 89.

makes more sense than the "lady 'kings" 03 put up in another thread.

"Men 'saders" comes too close, with the addition of two letters, to meaning something not so pleasant to talk about.

I'll do anything to make StLou laugh. But you lost me, TD.

[valpo04]

in a tribute to Crusader03 I'd say the Men 'Saders go 6-2 during January

You're an evil person, 89.

makes more sense than the "lady 'kings" 03 put up in another thread.

"Men 'saders" comes too close, with the addition of two letters, to meaning something not so pleasant to talk about.

I'll do anything to make StLou laugh. But you lost me, TD.

Two letters: T, R.   

[bbtds]

in a tribute to Crusader03 I'd say the Men 'Saders go 6-2 during January

You're an evil person, 89.

makes more sense than the "lady 'kings" 03 put up in another thread.

"Men 'saders" comes too close, with the addition of two letters, to meaning something not so pleasant to talk about.

I'll do anything to make StLou laugh. But you lost me, TD.

Innocense is golden. You'll think of it about once a month.

[milanmiracle]

in a tribute to Crusader03 I'd say the Men 'Saders go 6-2 during January

You're an evil person, 89.

makes more sense than the "lady 'kings" 03 put up in another thread.

That's even worse than the L'ders (pronounced elders) I use.

Newsflash - Vikings do not equal Kings. I can't wait to see what get's shortened next...Do the Ramblers become the 'blers?  Or maybe the Panthers become the 'hers?  Ugh.

[StlVUFan]

I have nothing against abbreviations until I run into someone who is opposed to spelling words out.  Then I get obstinate.

[Crusader03]

Like Communist Russia around here.

[milanmiracle]

Yea, I am with you there on abbreviations. I don't mind shortening words...when they make sense and don't completely change the meaning. Example - Vikings to Kings, very different. Wildcats to Cats makes perfect sense.

[milanmiracle]

Now to the topic at hand - January basketball. It's not looking too good right now, but there are enough parts in place to get it turned around. I am not sure what the problem is (my guess is a leader), but there's still time to do something about it. I just don't get the sense of team identity with this group.

It's worth noting however, that of the 8 D1 victories, only 3 of those had a winning record. The overall record of D1 for Valpo and their D1 wins is 55-67 (*NIU is 1-12).