Texas A&M Corpus Christi Game Thread: 11/27/10

[wh]

We play a good 1st half for a change and BW regains his shooting touch.

Valpo 83 TAMCC 71

[valpofan56]

If we play even just one good half against TAMU-CC we should win by a lot more than 12.

[vu72]

Not so fast here fans! Texas A&M CC is the kind of team that can gives us problems--they are big!! Their roster shows two guys at 6'9", one at 260# and one at 235#! They have three guys from Chicago and one from Gary. They have 5 guys 6'7" or bigger and we have...depends on who can go, it could be 4, 3 or 2. If we get into fould trouble again then we better hit our shots, otherwise it could be a tough game.

They lost to Ok State by 10 on the road. On paper, we should win but...

[milanmiracle]

I am going to go with everything you say as far as height, but this needs to be a win. If Valpo is going to have a successful season, they have to beat Texas A&M C.C.

BWood needs to regain his shooting touch, and maybe he should start by taking the ball to the hoop. If I remember correctly, many times thats how he got going by driving to the bucket last year. Hopefully the shooters can draw out the big men and allow some penetration to the bucket.

[vu75]

Kind of half way listening to the post game I thought I heard Witt's name come up. Is he close to being ready to go?

The Blue Ribbon outlook on TAMCC is that last year the Islander's size allowed the to dominate the lower teams in their conference, but when they came up against the two best teams with superior guards they went 0-4.

[fwalum]

Nov 27, 2010 12:42:46 GMT -5 vu72 said:

Not so fast here fans! Texas A&M CC is the kind of team that can gives us problems--they are big!! Their roster shows two guys at 6'9", one at 260# and one at 235#! They have three guys from Chicago and one from Gary. They have 5 guys 6'7" or bigger and we have...depends on who can go, it could be 4, 3 or 2. If we get into fould trouble again then we better hit our shots, otherwise it could be a tough game.

They lost to Ok State by 10 on the road. On paper, we should win but...

I think this is a bad match up for us. A team with a major inside presence. I am not sure who will guard Demond Watt, certainly not Cory or Kevin if they play, would have to be Rogers. Watt is very athletic and leads them in almost every statistical category. I am afraid we may be too beat up to compete with their size.

[stlvufan]

I've opened the chat room, so feel free to come on by.

[okinawatyphoon]

Valpo wins 68-62. Great job guys!

[vu72]

Just finished watching the game, and man, it was a war. They were very big and very athletic.
If you think our defense hasn't improved, think again. Jim Harrick was very complimentary about our double teams and also very high on Erik Buggs for his overall play.

Given the fact that Brandon Wood, who probably was double teamed all game, only had four points, and Rowdy had an off night shooting the 3, this was a solid win.

[fwalum]

Nov 27, 2010 19:04:18 GMT -5 vu72 said:

Just finished watching the game, and man, it was a war. They were very big and very athletic.
If you think our defense hasn't improved, think again. Jim Harrick was very complimentary about our double teams and also very high on Erik Buggs for his overall play.

Given the fact that Brandon Wood, who probably was double teamed all game, only had four points, and Rowdy had an off night shooting the 3, this was a solid win.

I think we can now also see how Kenney can make a difference in games. Now that the injury seems to be affecting him less, he is making the types of plays we saw at the end of last year. His contributions in the last two games have made an impact on the outcome.

[vu72]

The most interesting play of the game may have been the first. Harrick said in all of his coaching career he had never seen it before.

So here it is, for those of you who missed the broadcast: The opening tip and Valpo prevails, with Erik getting the ball. He proceeds across the half court line and the Crusaders pass the ball around for probably fifteen seconds. The ref blows his whistle and...apparently Valpo had gone THE WRONG WAY!!! Now, I was watching and honestly don't remember which way Rowdy was facing for the jump. So what was the call? Well, I think Buggs had it on one side of the half court line and then proceeded to the other end. So, was it a backcourt violation? If he caught the ball on the other side of the half court line then what was the call? A ten second violation? The TV guys never figured it out and it never came up again. Any insite from Todd??

[fwalum]

I did not see it, but stlvufan told me that refs lined them up wrong for the jump.

[stlvufan]

Nov 27, 2010 21:23:08 GMT -5 vu72 said:

The most interesting play of the game may have been the first. Harrick said in all of his coaching career he had never seen it before.

So here it is, for those of you who missed the broadcast: The opening tip and Valpo prevails, with Erik getting the ball. He proceeds across the half court line and the Crusaders pass the ball around for probably fifteen seconds. The ref blows his whistle and...apparently Valpo had gone THE WRONG WAY!!! Now, I was watching and honestly don't remember which way Rowdy was facing for the jump. So what was the call? Well, I think Buggs had it on one side of the half court line and then proceeded to the other end. So, was it a backcourt violation? If he caught the ball on the other side of the half court line then what was the call? A ten second violation? The TV guys never figured it out and it never came up again. Any insite from Todd??

It was the ref's fault, though Valpo can be faulted for not noticing and alerting the refs to it. They absolutely pointed the two teams in the wrong direction. Rowdy was standing on the right half of the center circle (on your video monitor). The CC jumper tapped the ball, but Buggs intercepted it. I'd love to hear what explanation Homer got from the refs for it, but from where I sat, they literally gave the ball to TA&M-CC for no good reason.

I knew something was wrong when Buggs was dribbling near the Valpo bench. You always start with your basket near the opposing bench. Always. It's sort like starting a chess game with the white queen sitting on a black square -- it's wrong.

Then again, who cares? Why not just let it play out? It's completely arbitrary. Growing up, I honestly thought MLB dictated that the home team's dugout was along the 3rd base line because that's the way it was at Comiskey Park. Then I moved to St. Louis and saw that the home plate dugout was along the 1st base line, and I thought, "That's just wrong."

Thankfully, it didn't seem to matter. We controlled the game pretty much from start to finish.

But that opening tip belongs on Letterman's "Stupid Human tricks" (Zebra sub-category). If it was wrong, they should have started over at the very least, instead of just giving the ball to the Islanders.

[chef]

The players were definitely lined up facing the wrong baskets. The officials should have noticed this and did not. Apparently the players are ultimately responsible. Thus they had to make the :10 call. Although, the shot clock was at :21. However, the officials should have re-set the players before the tip. I have never seen this before, but I have seen the officials recognize the players were lined up wrong and switch the players before the tip.

[lowposter]

I have not watched the team yet this year, but have listened on radio...my initial "feelings" on this squad is that Eric Buggs will make a huge difference.

There is plenty of firepower offensively, but his ability to apply defensive pressure 25 feet from the basket, plus his overall quickness will be a positive. Dont care about his scoring, other than hit free throws down the stretch. But, it seems Jay Harris can handle that.

Lowposter