Valpo is going up against a program that hired an established experienced coach similar to Holtzman at DePaul. Guy was a national champion powerhouse coach at NW Missouri State Division II and he has the best player in the conference. Powell is still learning the ropes and our guys don't have established chemistry on offense yet. To much one on one from Ellis/Monegro. Also, our three point shooting is pretty bad. Doubt we will shoot this bad all year, but right now.....jesh! Drake wins by 20-25 unless we shoot lights out and or we figure out how to win 50/50 balls, rebound better.
Over under 2,000 fans at the game?
I just checked available seating charts and it doesn't look good for an over on fans. Section D sales were good for Drake when they had several northwest Indiana players but that connection appears to have been broken. I'd think that many of us will show to see the best team in the league test our progress but even if their fans show up I'd cap the crowd guess at under 2000.Valpo is going up against a program that hired an established experienced coach similar to Holtzman at DePaul. Guy was a national champion powerhouse coach at NW Missouri State Division II and he has the best player in the conference. Powell is still learning the ropes and our guys don't have established chemistry on offense yet. To much one on one from Ellis/Monegro. Also, our three point shooting is pretty bad. Doubt we will shoot this bad all year, but right now.....jesh! Drake wins by 20-25 unless we shoot lights out and or we figure out how to win 50/50 balls, rebound better.
Over under 2,000 fans at the game?
Who will beat us most convincingly? Drake or Ohio St? Either way we HAVE to win against both Central and Western Michigan.
I remember our home game against Drake in 2018-19 drew a big crowd -- 4,160. Saturday night with a snowstorm right around gametime.
That Drake team did have 4-5 local players.
10 points is more than reasonable for a competitive game at the college level. 15 is where you start to push those boundaries. The fact you don't think a 10 point margin at the half is competitive really shows just how wet your blanket is. Going down by 10 points early in the game is a completely other conversation, but keeping a lead to 10 points before you go into the locker room is still in the realm of competitive.
I wouldn't go around essentially calling people names with this ridiculous opinion.
10 ten points into the locker room isn't competitive? or 10 point deficits aren't competitive games? Go onto ESPN right now and you will find plenty of 10 point deficits that were turned into wins. In fact, its quite a common occurrence see teams will go up or down by 10 points and the game ends up being close or a win. In college, 10 points is still a winnable game. I guess teams should just call it quits every time they go down by 10 points. Or a team gets a nice scoring run going. Wouldn't be too necessary to keep playing right? As by your logic. Its not a competitive match. Should I start being concerned at around a 6 point lead? That's 2 whole 3 pointers!
If you thought we had any chance in that game after about the 12 minute mark of the first half, you were watching through rose colored glasses. They showed us if they absolutely had to pick it up to beat us they could.
10 points is more than reasonable for a competitive game at the college level. 15 is where you start to push those boundaries. The fact you don't think a 10 point margin at the half is competitive really shows just how wet your blanket is. Going down by 10 points early in the game is a completely other conversation, but keeping a lead to 10 points before you go into the locker room is still in the realm of competitive.
I wouldn't go around essentially calling people names with this ridiculous opinion.
10 ten points into the locker room isn't competitive? or 10 point deficits aren't competitive games? Go onto ESPN right now and you will find plenty of 10 point deficits that were turned into wins. In fact, its quite a common occurrence see teams will go up or down by 10 points and the game ends up being close or a win. In college, 10 points is still a winnable game. I guess teams should just call it quits every time they go down by 10 points. Or a team gets a nice scoring run going. Wouldn't be too necessary to keep playing right? As by your logic. Its not a competitive match. Should I start being concerned at around a 6 point lead? That's 2 whole 3 pointers!
We're watching different games apparently. What you see is competitive is not what I nor apparently some to many others do.
I agree with Ducky and most of the negative sentiment. I too have watched them a couple times primarily in the vandy game, they’re crisp on offense , well disciplined, and they looked like a 12 seed in the tournament. They’re picking teams apart. Line is Drake -10.5, I hope it’s that close. I think this turns ugly. Will always be a Valpo fan, but without Stafford this season is gonna be rough…
I agree with Ducky and most of the negative sentiment. I too have watched them a couple times primarily in the vandy game, they’re crisp on offense , well disciplined, and they looked like a 12 seed in the tournament. They’re picking teams apart. Line is Drake -10.5, I hope it’s that close. I think this turns ugly. Will always be a Valpo fan, but without Stafford this season is gonna be rough…
This is the second comment you've made similar to this about Stafford....at least I think it was you. We apparently see different players but what is it that you think Stafford would bring to the court which would make things better to any great degree?
What a tough opponent to kick off our Mo Valley conference games. I guess you could say that we will have the bar oow to measure ourselves. But let's hope it isn't jarring to the team. No idea what to predict.
If Stafford returns soon I would like to see Powell treat him like an open crate of dynamite. By that I'm meaning he would play from the bench and if his aggressive style on offense is needed then you bring him in to try to blow things up. Sometimes this might work and he gets us back in the game quicker than Wright, Monegro or Schmidt. Other times he might shoot us from a 10 point deficit quickly to being down 20. You have to be cautious when handling explosives. 
I agree with Ducky and most of the negative sentiment. I too have watched them a couple times primarily in the vandy game, they’re crisp on offense , well disciplined, and they looked like a 12 seed in the tournament. They’re picking teams apart. Line is Drake -10.5, I hope it’s that close. I think this turns ugly. Will always be a Valpo fan, but without Stafford this season is gonna be rough…
This is the second comment you've made similar to this about Stafford....at least I think it was you. We apparently see different players but what is it that you think Stafford would bring to the court which would make things better to any great degree?
He can get a bucket when it’s needed , he had a year with Darius, Cooper etc, understands what RJP wants in a variety of in game situations. All the nuance things that add up to having a successful team. Did he shoot an efficient clip> Not in a bunch of games, did he light Illinois up in the first half > Absolutely. When we go stagnant for several minutes and need a spark, he can get a bucket and take pressure off Ellis, Cooper, etc.
I’m hoping for a defense that competes and leads an uptempo offense. I’m also hoping that we have been practicing our perimeter shooting and show some of that work.
Keep it close the whole game and win it at the FT line.
78 - 76 Valpo
PLEASE LET ME EAT MY WORDS. Up 7-4 with 14:15 to go in the 1st…
We miss a few shots in the paint, give up a few offensive rebounds and second chance points, make a few sloppy passes and suddenly you’re down 8 points. The little things add up when you’re facing a well disciplined team like Drake.
That was an incredibly frustrating 20 minutes of basketball. Does this team practice offense at all? Do the coaches have a game plan?
