All this season, everyone has been understanding of the unfortunate situation in the basketball program's deterioration. We've accepted excuses allowing for faults, such as the late arrival of a new coaching staff and lack of time for proper recruiting. All of us have cut Coach Powell and the team slack, been lenient with any criticism. With the final buzzer of today's game, that restraint should end. From this point going forward, there must be accountability for preseason recruiting and game performance in the upcoming season. I look forward to better days (especially because it is hard to imagine worse). Let the 2024-25 cycle start!
@usc4valpo Yes, Now is the time to get rid of the faults from this season. I still stand by what I said, this team is no longer "inexperienced" they have a year under their belts with Powell. I agree completely with the following by valpopal. Was I thinking they could win, yes. Am I suprised by the outcome, no. Now its time to hit the grindstone and get to recruitment and player development under the Powell era.
I wasn't expecting a win and believe this game better highlights just how well we played Sunday against Illinois St. I'm already thinking 24-25 and anxiously await who Coach Powell will bring in via transfer. Thanks again to Barrett, Sciarroni and Palm for your work and contributions. Best success to all of you going forward. Meanwhile Roger Powell is still coaching a project team turnaround and today was a valley in the Valley.
@rezynezy agreed, we need some serious transfers and talent to be a real competitor in the MVC. We knew it would be a transition year, but the activities starting tomorrow will be interesting to follow.
Since this is a better team than their record shows, I guess we're not really down by 32 right now. Let's cut it in half. See that...we're only 16 points behind right now!
Calm down...they are not playing well. They haven't played well against Belmont all season. There is no need to be hostile.
For the most part they haven't played well all season. There are reasons for that mostly related to talent on the roster. If one wishes to look at this as being better than their record shows then have at it. Look...they outscored Belmont in the second half by one. That means, I guess, they can hang with any team in the conference.
As Kyle Whelliston from Mid Majority always said, “It always ends in a loss.”
Hey, we won the second half 39-38! 👍🏻
But Belmont played 11, the bench mostly in the 2nd half to rest their starters for tomorrow. When it counted, it was obvious that we are not yet competitive. This may not be totally fair, but we only appeared to be competitive with Belmont’s reserves. That says a lot. But that does not trash what Roger is attempting to do.
We all know what we were getting into. Keep in mind that most on MVCFans picked us to not win even a single game. No one could have predicted Coop being FOY. The foundation is being built.
If you watched closely during the first half you probably noticed that every Belmont player’s on the floor exuded confidence from the tip off. They knew they were better - like most of our Mid-Con and HL teams of the past. Our kids were obviously tight, never having been to Arch Madness (and it can be overwhelming). Game over.
As a deserved aside: congrats to Jerome on his double double (10 points and a big 14 RBs). Sadly, from my perspective, too late in your last year. Nice if you had a couple more years to further develop under Roger.
So………. It’s on to the portal and 24-25 ‼️‼️‼️‼️
Woof Woof. Two years in a row of routes in the opening round. Belmont has three really skilled offensive players. Total mismatch on the court. On to the 2024-25 season. Lets see what the roster looks like a week from today. Palm.....would be a really good DIII player or DII.
We also should keep in mind that Belmont is a good team, playing well. They tied for fourth in the MVC and only were playing on Day 1 because of the tie-break. Prior to yesterday's game against Valpo, they were 7-3 in conference: This included a loss at home to Indiana State, and losses on the road at Missouri State and Drake.
We can be disappointed in Valpo's season, yet there are signs of hope for the future.
I work in Downtown STL, and it is always cool to see the fans of the MVC schools walking the streets. We can dream, can't we? Roger, let's get going.
