7 a.m. Nov. 13 vs. NIU

[vuweathernerd]

great turnout! now if we could have started a little faster... 2 points in the first 6 minutes a little painful. thank god niu is just as cold.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

OK so they have already talked about The Shot...since LaPhonso Ellis is doing color, can we also talk about the Miracle On Union Street?

[valporun]

Apostle, I think Digger found that tape in the vault, and BURNED IT!

[vuweathernerd]

i'd have liked a faster start. we should realistically be up at least 10. rowdy seems to be the only one to have found his shot. gotta give credit to niu though - they've been pretty scrappy and played some decent defense in the half court. our best looks have been in transition with rowdy stopping around the 3pt line and getting the kickout pass.

[KL31NY]

I forget if it was in the PT or NWI story, but I know Bryce implied that a couple recent 7am practices did not go as well as expected. Not too surprised to see each team struggle in its own ways, but we need to come out of the locker room and finish this!

My god, ESPN loves Bryce Drew. They've already shown "The Shot", referenced it a few other times, and he's wired for sound.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

yeah...this game is going to give our offensive ranks a hit for the next ten games or so until it's much less statistically significant than half of our games! :/

on the good side, this will bump our defensive rankings!

but, yeah we should be up more.  not least of which because I picked us to win 20+ in the ESPN streak for the cash!

[vuweathernerd]

yeah...this game is going to give our offensive ranks a hit for the next ten games or so until it's much less statistically significant than half of our games! :/

on the good side, this will bump our defensive rankings!

but, yeah we should be up more.  not least of which because I picked us to win 20+ in the ESPN streak for the cash!

this is looking more like what i was expecting. they're getting rolling now. hail crusaders, who rise to glory!

[valporun]

We started out about as slow, scrappy, and messy in the first half as we did at DeKalb last year. I'm glad to see the guys wake up sooner in this game, and start putting it in the back pocket.

[KL31NY]

Loved the 2nd half. Clean up the defensive glass and ball control, and we can be tough to beat. 69-46 final in case anyone missed it.

Thanks for everyone at Valpo that got us this game on ESPN. Enjoyed watching it, and thanks to all the fans that were able to come. Look liked a great crowd for 7am.

And now... a little bit of fun.

[koala]

G'day from Melbourne Australia.   It's now after 2am here and time for all of Ryan's family and friends that sat up to watch the game go to bed.   Great win by the team and a great game by Rowdy.   We can all sleep peacefully now as you all start your day.   Hooroo from all of us down here, Go Valpo!!       

[vuweathernerd]

G'day from Melbourne Australia.   It's now after 2am here and time for all of Ryan's family and friends that sat up to watch the game go to bed.   Great win by the team and a great game by Rowdy.   We can all sleep peacefully now as you all start your day.   Hooroo from all of us down here, Go Valpo!!       

another game to be proud of, koala. rowdy kept everybody up in the second half, and served to inspire the second half surge.

[vu72]

Overall a pretty solid effort. Did anybody notice how NIU shutdown Kevin?  There was a lot of pushing and shoving inside.  Great, All American performance by Rowdy and on national tv to boot!!

And one more thing--Alex Rossi has yet to miss a shot!

[valpotx]

That was a good student crowd, color me impressed with them for the first time in a few years.  Definitely understandable about both team's slow start.  I don't care how you try to prepare the few days beforehand, it is still a really early time to be getting your body ready for athletics.  We used to run at 5 am in baseball at times, and it took until 6 am and many butt-chewings before we looked like we were awake. 

Good second half by the team.  It's amazing how Rowdy can make a double-double look so easy!  I had no clue he was anywhere near 10 rebounds when they flashed it on screen.  I guess you just come to expect it from him now, so unless it is the rebound where he skies above everyone else, it doesn't catch your attention, but you definitely notice his hard work all the time.  He kept the team together in the first half, and Boggs/Kenney brought us home in the second when we would hit a lull. 

Is Rossi our mop-up guy this year, or just a spark at the end of a game?  Maybe he is not healthy enough to go longer than that at the moment?

Koala, he also handles himself well in the postgame interview   

[valpopal]

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to the game, but I caught most of it on ESPN. As others mentioned and I have said about the previous games, I am pleased by the student turnout thus far this year, and I expect today's game will encourage future turnout as well.

After a slow start, I was happy to see the good shooting return. In fact, the team wound up with 54% from the 3-point line and 52% overall. If you told me before tip-off that Kevin and Vashil would have a combined 4 points and 5 rebounds, I would have expected a difficult game. The only negative of the game was that we were out-rebounded (36-35), but that was mostly because of NIU's advantage on the offensive boards (16-4). However, that can also be seen as a positive since they had so many more chances at offensive rebounds due to so many missed shots on their part, twice as many as Valpo (46-23). Still, Fernandez delivered as promised with 4 blocked shots and a number of other altered shots due to his size. I can't wait to get a healthy Bobby back in that front line, though.

All the new guys seem to be fitting in nicely—Coleman is a real worker on the court and I am impressed by Rossi's shooting. It will be nice when we add Dority to the mix as well. 

Final notes: (1) I am convinced now that Ryan is the best Valpo player we have seen since Bryce. (2) Unless I missed it, Bryce managed to keep his jacket on throughout the game. (3) VU did itself proud on national television, both on and off the court. (4) A question mark about this team in preseason for some concerned their defense, but they seem to be doing just fine defensively so far, though admittedly against weaker teams.   

[valporun]

It looked to me like NIU played a tougher perimeter defense, but in many ways, it also helped open up the backdoor passing game, especially on Kenney's backdoor layup in the second half, taking to Aksel's right side, giving him the lane right to the rim. Was very impressed with Boggs's shooting in the second half, and hope to see Bogan's pick up in the upcoming games. I'm liking the balance of scoring, and that players who didn't really shoot before, aren't being so timid about shooting or their shot selections. Can't wait to put it all together with Capo, and see what we really have to shutdown opponents with.

[humbleopinion]

Apostle, I think Digger found that tape in the vault, and BURNED IT!

I still have a copy... I'd be happy to share with ESPN.

[crusadermoe]

My sense is that defense will be fine this year.     The offense needs to show quicker passes.    A smart and athletic team can pick off a lot of  our penetrate and dish out passes.   Maybe Capo's extra inside presence can keep other team's defense more honest inside.

[govalpogo]

I too enjoyed seeing a Valpo Victory this morning, skipping my own 8:30 class!  Here is a nice write up from Usa Today: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/lopresti/2012/11/13/valparaiso-northern-illinois-game-at-dawn/1702349/ 

[agibson]

Nice article!

[vu72]

Nice article indeed!  I now can't wait till Thursday to see our guys play a big school, even if they aren't picked to win their conference (or even do well).  Still, when you think back to last year when we almost lost to a D2 or 3 in exhibition play, this season's start is pretty impressive against 2 D1 schools regardless of their profiles.

After two games  we are shooting 54.2% from the 3 and 80% from the FT line.  Our avg margin of victory is 27 points and we have four guys avg in double figures with another at 9 ppg.

Our "mop up" guy is an ESPN 92 rated player who, together with Jordan Coleman, are a perfect 9 for 9 from the 3.  All this without Bobby or Dority. Maybe it's just me, but somehow I think this team has potential. 

[valpotx]

Love the article.  This was such a good idea on Valpo's side.  It gives us some publicity against an otherwise crappy match-up.  I had people at work this morning say that they watched my school as they were getting ready to come into work.  Just about everyone knows I went to Valpo because of the brown flag (big one) with the Crusader and Valpo in gold on my office side wall.  You can't miss it as they walk the hall outside my door lol.

[lowposter]

Ah, Jimmy's Cafe...doesnt get better than that.  I hope Rhea was ready to handle the crowd.

lowposter

[wh]

Broekhoff vs. McCallum - today's games:


Ryan      points 20   min. 30   FG 6-12      3pt.FG 4-8   FT 4-4   Reb 13     

Assessment: typical Ryan performance - highly efficient and unselfish


McCallum points 21   min. 38   FG 8-23    3pt.FG 4-12   FT 1-2    Reb 1     

Assessment: Proof positive that if you play enough minutes and take enough shots, you can score 20 points in a basketball game

[78crusader]

I thought this game was a bad idea.  I was wrong.

We need to beat Nebraska.  This is the kind of game that NCAA tournament teams do not lose. 

Paul

[valpotx]

Correct, we absolutely must beat a team like Nebraska.  When we were making our NCAA runs, it was a confidence builder beating South Carolina, Penn State, Ohio State, etc, teams that were beatable at the major level.