Would love to watch another blowout , maybe see Cooper make a couple 3s. NIU is not a good basketball team this year. They have 1 D1 victory against Monmouth, blowout loses otherwise , their best game might be a 16 point loss to Bradley. Vegas has us at -10. Step on the gas early, take some momentum into DePaul…
Valpo 74
NIU 61
This should not be a close game. Only concern is our three point shooting. Which team shows, up? The team that shot 3-17 from behind the arc in the first half against EIU or the team that shot 60% in the second half? Also....Cooper is due for a bounce back from Sunday's performance. Valpo wins going away in the second half and covers. This screams blowout but depends on our shooting. Feast or famine.
Real simple. For Valpo to compete in the Valley we will need Cooper, Darius and Isaiah to all heat up from 3. Today is as good a day as any to get that started.
Too bad this isn't an earlier or later game, selfishly, as I'll be driving during it. Hope to see a good result this evening! Some momentum feels good... Keep it going!
Sepp needs to be starting, plain and simple. Cooper can’t guard a decent 5-man, let alone hold his own against one. Sepp has shown he can hang with the big guys, and he will do the dirty work. That’s just my two cents.
Well...props to the guys for not throwing in the towel. NIU had a lot of deep contested threes fall. So many that I think that they should stop at Hard Rock on their way out and see how much they win. The guys Steeled Themselves. Got their emotions in check. And won.
A win is a win
@rezynezy I agree. Given how up-and-down we’ve played this year, I am perfectly happy with a 4-2 record. Now just gotta hope we can replicate how we played Sunday (especially second half) when we go into DePaul.
Also, while Cooper’s shot still looks less smooth than it did last year, it is huge to have him knock down a couple of threes and get the scoring back (in only 16 minutes!). Now just hoping he can take the next step and end up being better than he was last year.
Oh, and Tyler Schmidt is a stud.
Valpo missed 9 free throws. Fortunately, they made the other 35 they attempted. 74 free throw attempts in the game.
BTW ,that was a really cool 90-seconds for Cooper. Everyone in the arena let out a huge exhale.
On to Friday. Valpo NET is 302. Undefeated Depaul is 320
This was another odd game difficult for getting the feel of how the team is developing. The overall shooting was underwhelming again, field goal percent under 40 and 3-point percent under 30 once more, and Valpo was outscored from the field. Even the free throw percent was down a bit, but it was still nearly 80% (35-44), which is amazing to see. Also, the total number of free throws this season thus far speaks well about the greater aggressiveness of this team.
I was surprised by NIU easily holding the rebounding edge (40-33), especially since their center was out for the game and they sometimes had a line-up with the tallest player at a mere 6'5". I wondered why we didn't see Scroggins in the game at all again, especially in the first half when Schwieger was sidelined by fouls and Valpo had the lead. On the other hand, Valpo has been remarkably efficient by limiting turnovers: only 4 in this game and averaging just 8 per game so far this season! (Darius with only 8 TOs in 6 games and his 10-10 free throw shooting make it a bit easier to overlook his shooting under 20% from the field.)
Anyway, a win is a win and the three-game streak feels good, but reality acknowledges it comes against teams with a combined 5-13 record. DePaul enters Friday's contest at 6-0, more like the quality of teams in the MVC and with a home court advantage. That should prove to be a better test to measure the development of the team.
Agree. A win is a win. At least for today.
Wright was hot early, Coop late and DeAveiro, Schmidt were consistent contributors. Other than that nobody really stood out and the overall team performance and defense left me somewhat disappointed. Maybe I was overconfident and the team was as well?
Coop was absolutely awful before the last 12 minutes.
At the end of the day NIU played the best game of their season (With a whole lot of luck on their side might I add). Valpo played their worst game of the season, and Valpo still pulled out a win. I am not pleased with the outcome, but I can tip my cap to the guys for showing "grit" in pushing through and fighting till the very end.
I still think this team is going to surprise people. Over time they have showed improvement. This game, at least in my opinion, was an outlier. Unfortunately, there is likely little practice time to take place as tomorrow is thanksgiving.
A win is a win. If they shoot this poorly Friday @ DePaul it’s a 20 point loss. Our offensive chemistry is still a work in progress with so many mismatched parts. We have a bunch of individually talented players trying to go one on one. It looks like Powell has settled on a nine man rotation. If Stafford comes back, we have a log jam at guard!
When you need a bucket during the cold spells, Schmidt seems to know how to make a play /drive, draw a foul. Schweiger will get plenty of open looks from 3 this year, so he needs to knock ‘em down, otherwise he needs to take better shots, to many tough contested fade away shots.
Overall we gave Huskies too many open shots from the perimeter, as the defense needs to improve in that area. When we had them down 12, we didn’t extend the lead to 17-20, mature teams figure that out.
A win is a win. If they shoot this poorly Friday @ DePaul it’s a 20 point loss. Our offensive chemistry is still a work in progress with so many mismatched parts. We have a bunch of individually talented players trying to go one on one. It looks like Powell has settled on a nine man rotation. If Stafford comes back, we have a log jam at guard!
When you need a bucket during the cold spells, Schmidt seems to know how to make a play /drive, draw a foul. Schweiger will get plenty of open looks from 3 this year, so he needs to knock ‘em down, otherwise he needs to take better shots, to many tough contested fade away shots.
Overall we gave Huskies too many open shots from the perimeter, as the defense needs to improve in that area. When we had them down 12, we didn’t extend the lead to 17-20, mature teams figure that out.
When Schweiger is making shots from the outside it improves his entire offensive game because it gives him opportunity to get to the basket when the defender(s) come out on him. If they can lay back, his offensive game is very limited.
I'm just not sure the shooting is there from anyone, at least with the exception of one off games, to get the team much beyond what we saw last year.
NIU did not have many open shots from the perimeter. THey took a lot of heavily contested, and deep 3s that just seemed to fall. I would also say the team chemistry is improved. This is not a selfish team. Go watch IU if you want to see what a selfish one on one team looks like.
