The court performances of the Link year kids are proving that Powell's relationship to the academy are going to pay dividends.
Since we shoot free throws so well, continue to attack the basket. Let Coop operate from the the top of the key. A win is a win, but we still haven't clicked with our offensive chemistry in the the half court sets, with that being said, we have three guards capable of creating their own scoring at any time, Schmidt, Wright, Monegro. Sepp continues to be a beast on the glass. Ellis was a non factor and reminds me of Nick Robison (hasn't figured out how his offense fits in the system) Ellis was the guy on his team in the MEAC, he's still adjusting to team ball. Looking to see when all our guards and Coop are clicking on offense for longer sustained stretches.
Ohio State up next. They have been horrendous away from home, so they are a little bit in disarray right now. They will either be vulnerable or ticked off after todays %^&*$% show. Bucks win, but maybe don't cover the spread.
looking forward to seeing Diebler and Powell reunite!
I wasn’t thrilled by the 1st half but liked what I saw in the 2nd. We finally figured out their zone. Also liked how we figured out breaking the press.
Wright, Sepp, and Schmidt are all hard nosed, blue collar players.
I think teams are keyed up on how to play Cooper. He needs to get stronger as well.
Not sure what’s going on with Ellis. His body language is off. Has the same look as Ola and Edwards from last year…
Longtime lurker and VU fan here. Finally had to make an account after that exciting win. Some great shooting and a lot of GRIT that kept us in the game. CMU is an elite defense, only allowing 67.5 PPG, so scoring 93 is incredible. Most CMU has given up this year and this was their largest margin of defeat. The line was CMU -1.5. Additionally CMU only lost by 8 to #15 Marquette (who are now ranked #6). Minnesota only beat them by 3. Valpo moves up to 217 in the KenPom (no, not fantastic, but much better than last year and now comfortably ahead of UIC and Evansville). I think we play like this and we have a lot of wins and at least close fights.
I don’t think it’s the opposing team's defense that’s the issue with Cooper. It’s Cooper himself.
He has been lackadaisical, a lot of standing around, and flat out and not being aggressive. The way he has been playing is on him.
Also, his three ball he continues to fade to the left after he shoots it. Nothing natural going on with his shot.
I sure hope All Wright stays. He is our leader and point guard of the future.
Impressed with schmidt. Just gets buckets. If we get 70 pts from guards Id hope we get cooper going soon...
RE: comments on Coop and All Wright. IMO, Coop has read too much of last year’s reviews. Newby All Wright is hungry. Both have started the same way AP started back then. Alec got hungrier every year. He was possessed from the start to the end and beyond. I loved watching him dictate how the game would be played and, more importantly, his teammates fed off that. That is not happening here.
To an extent, last year started like AP’s with Coop. All Wright seems to share that passion at this point too. But Coop seems to have gotten “casual*.
* Casual. I learned this term from a Irishman whose son was playing on my son’s U-17 club soccer team. His kid was very talented, but he'd frequently kinda slide though knowing he was already better, so he did not need to prove it. His dad was on him whenever that characteristic emerged.
I sense a little bit of that here. AP was mature beyond his age. Coop not so much. He has fallen into the terrible sophomore slump - AP never did. . Until he, Coop, clears his mind and ardently fights for his spot on every play, elbows guys out of the way to grab offensive rebounds every time a shot goes up, Angus will yell to Coop from the sideline “too f$#@ing casual!” (with an Irish brogue of course).
I hope Roger has some of Angus in him because patient benching during a game might not produce the 40 minute adrenaline that drove guys like Alec, Rowdy or Bryce.
One curious thing I saw today, The floor bleachers were packed, the "student section was filled with "Rev's Corner" and the band, but the reported attendance still did not even touch the 2000s according to ESPN. Are the chairback seats really that undesirably priced? From my understanding, the split between floor and Mezzanine is relatively even. 2500 on the floor total, 2500 in the Mezzanine.
A solid quad 3 win today. I wonder how many slots that will move us up in NET Rankings.
Just wondering. When was the last time we had two first year Valpo players score over 20 points in a DI win?
It happened a couple times last year. Last time was March 3, 2024. Cooper 28 pts, Stafford 20 pts
I keep thinking that I do not trust Shaw handling the ball but from the season stat sheet he has only 4 turn overs in 170 minutes of play. 
I may have too quickly jumped to an incorrect conclusion.
Schmidt is shooting insanely well. The breakdown being 66% from 2, 59% from 3, and 92% from the line.
In our 9 man player rotation Coop looks like our worst 3 point shooter. That seems to be evident both from the stat sheets and from the way he is releasing the ball. What is going on?
From my perspective, Coop seems to have been relegated to the center position. Unfortunately, he was just a tall forward last year. It is likely he doesn't get as much time with ball handling drills or beyond the arch shooting as a result. Maybe he is working on that in his free time, but it seems to be like he just isn't comfortable as a center, and his game as a forward has suffered as a result of his status as a center. Sepp seems to do a lot better of a job handling center duties despite his shorter stature.
Good win and one that we can build on after we play Ohio State, and whatever happens with that game. Agreed on Cooper, his 3 point shot appears to be taking slightly longer, and it seems to be making it go left or right each time, versus straight on like last year. Whomever Alec Peters worked with after his FR/SO seasons, specific to quickening his 3 point shot, would do wonders for Coop, but not during the season. He's getting wide open shots, it isn't the defense when he is taking a 3, though opponent defense is limiting his inside the arc shots. He did a great job in getting those 3 straight buckets, as that was a huge momentum lift at a critical time.
I also hope that fans continue to see the progress, and get us above the 2,000 attendance for each D-1 home game moving forward. That 1,800 attendance was our highest this season by a few hundred fans.
Alright, the NET rankings have updated to reflect yesterday's results
Central Mich- 122 -> 155 (For now the game remains a Q3 win)
Valpo -> 265 -> 223 (Solid Jump after yesterday)
