Looking for a bright side of circumstances, I note that over eight games thus far Valpo has had 7 players with multiple double-digit scoring outings. Darius is only one point shy of being the 8th (13 & 9). As Captain Obvious would say: if the coaches can devise an offensive system that creates greater consistency and collectively has all players involved avoiding personal droughts as witnessed a few times this season, including by a couple starters last night, while also shoring up the rebounding that had a drought of its own last night, the potential is present.
While watching in the ARC the defense from Schwieger didn't seem very good. In viewing the replay it was much better than I had first thought.
If our solid ball handling and 3 point shooting hold steady to improving then Powell should be able to engineer a lot of good looks nearer the basket.
I'm a believer, Coach Powell and team! You showed a lot of heart against a solid team that has already proven at this point in the season that they can compete nationally. I can see us in the middle of the pack in the MVC this season, which I would view as a success, given that Powell really only had one full recruiting cycle to get players. People will point out that Drake reloaded, but their HC was bringing along 4 players from a D2 national championship team, which is not too different from lower D-1 team transfers, but they are already familiar with his system. We lost by 6 against a team with wins against Vandy, FAU, and Miami, when our best player from last season was held scoreless. I really like Schmidt's playing style, and have been a fan of Sepp's blue collar work since last season. Schmidt is not flashy, but he just knows how to position himself to score, given all of his playing experience in college, regardless of the level he previously played. I know that folks are skeptical about the lower levels of college athletics and how it translates to D-1, but I think we are seeing that top NAIA/D3/D2 talent can contribute at the D1 level. My firsthand experience on the baseball side 20 years back, included playing college summer ball with players from each of these levels, and there never was a significant gap in talent between the top players at schools like St. Joseph's College (IN), Lewis University, Benedictine University, St. Xavier University, etc, versus my teammates from Valpo, Eastern Illinois, Furman, Presbyterian College, TCU, Texas Tech, etc. If you can play at a top level in NAIA/D2/D3, you have a role in D1, and Schmidt is proving it for us, similar to what Humrichous did for Evansville last season, and is continuing to do at Illinois this season ( https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/stats/_/id/5177736/ben-humrichous).
I'm not always the most optimistic person (a character flaw of mine), but last night really made me feel good about the program. Good start, got punched in the mouth and fought back until the end. This team is absolutely better than last year's. When building a program from the ground up, what more could we ask for? I'm looking forward to what's to come for this team, even if this won't be 1998 all over again.
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.
This is my major issue with him. You don't know what you're going to get as you point out. I also who he replaces in the rotation which would have a decided difference in outcomes.
It was a good game last night. The team played well. Shaw showed some ability. I'm not a big morale victory guy.
This is the second game in which the 2nd unit was rather desperately needed over the first unit. It's great to have depth but your horses have to carry the load and some of them are not doing it consistently enough. Consistency in general is a problem. Ellis was the best player on the roster the first few games and he's disappeared. Shaw didn't look like he could play at all and he has a very good game last night. Schwieger's been up and down and last night may have been the downest.
I also wonder if the team isn't better off with All Wright playing the point. He still shakes the nerves a bit with his ball handling but he's not as race horsey as Darius which may fit the rest of the guys on the court better. Plus he can shoot and thus is a threat unlike Darius.
Despite the loss, Valpo jumped 6 spots in the NET rankings. From 267 to 261.
Id like to see Justus get some extended minutes. Maybe Im seeing ghosts but I believe he could be streaky explosive. Everyone (myself included) respects Darius' contributions and assist to turnover ratio but really is almost no threat to score... seems like our stable of guards should be diminishing his minutes even more. Agreed Wright's tempo seems more a fit. And Im still hoping somehow Scroggins and or Louth can at least log some productive minutes at the 5 so cooper could play and guard in position-but seems that ship has sailed. I mean if Ellis is in disappear mode maybe Scroggins could wreak some defensive havoc? Schmidt gotta go from 19 min a game to 28-30 if its defensively feasible. Fearless consistent mature. 500 in the valley this year and maybe a win a game at arch madness would be very nice progress. Then cross fingers and hope we can keep some guys that develope.
McNair is good and is pretty much meeting my preseason expectations. However at this point in time he seems to be well behind our other guards in his abilities to attack off the dribble and achieve positive results. When this comes around and his 2 point shooting % improves his 10 minutes per game average should grow.
As a team we still have more questions than answers so getting to .500 in the Valley still seems highly improbable. Perhaps after Drake I can dream about 8-12 but Powell still has a lot of work to do.
Justus is pretty raw at the moment and sometime just seems to be running around out there. He definitely has a good skill set which could make him more valuable as the season progresses.
As far as Scroggins is concerned...he apparently isn't the talent it was thought towards the end of last season and during the off season. I can't see Powell suddenly inserting him in the lineup unless there is an injury to Cooper or Sepp or Sepp's play falls off considerably.
I’m tooting my horn - Two years ago I brought up the outstanding accomplishments of Ben McCollum at Northwest Missouri State, his coaching style and how his teams would at least compete at the Valley level. Some of you thought I was out of my mind that we should not associated ourselves with a D2 team.
at least Todd gets it!
Dad still remembers when he was the "Voice of Valpo HS Basketball" but seriously. Todd has about as much knowledge of the game as any coach would considering how many years he has been behind the mic. I would trust his opinion
Just watched Drake knock off K-State in OT. Wow. Stirtz has ice water in his veins. Drake is fundamentally sound and well coached. We should aspire to be like them.
@mj08 That's what happens when you have played with the same guys under the same coach for a while. They were a top D2 squad. That transfers over well. They probably have some of the best team chemistry in the country
