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Post by wh on Dec 18, 2010 8:35:36 GMT -5
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Post by vu72 on Dec 18, 2010 10:00:25 GMT -5
This is a critical game for us to get back on the winning track. The reality is that we have lost two games to teams we were suppose to lose to, one game we definitely should have won and one game we could have/should have won. So we are about five points away from a wonderful start.
These guys have proven themselves against teams like Xavier and Cincy and are well coached. WE NEED THIS WIN!! If we do we are quickly back on track with two very tough games coming up in Detroit. If we lose we could be on a skid that none of us want. Critical game.
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Post by milanmiracle on Dec 18, 2010 15:10:54 GMT -5
I don't know if I am willing to put that much weight on this game at this point. I figure this is a game VU's has a good chance to lose. IPFW has beaten the Crusaders the last two years in a row and their only loses are to Xavier and Cincy, and not by much at that. Valpo's not playing all that well right now (see Toledo loss), so just getting back to playing solid ball would be a good start.
As for the Detroit games...Eastern Michigan should be an easy win (though see Toledo for the should part of that reference), and Oakland is likely a loss since they've played better than their 6-6 record would indicate.
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Post by valporun on Dec 18, 2010 19:57:04 GMT -5
Will those of you aren't in Valpo tonight be going to the chat room this evening? Regulars? New members of this board? Students who frequent this board, who are home?
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Post by jerome1 on Dec 18, 2010 20:35:52 GMT -5
I realize the game is going on as I write this (the Crusaders are ahead in the first half 22-16) but I truly believe that since Valpo respects the record of IPFW and therefore will play much better. Valpo plays way down to teams that are not playing well. I see Valpo winning by 4. 67-63 over IPFW.
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Post by valpo89 on Dec 18, 2010 21:04:53 GMT -5
I'm courtside, and it's 39-21 at the half. Plenty of time for a meltdown??? Sorry, no live blogs tonight. Neither Lazerus nor Oren are in the house.
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Post by milanmiracle on Dec 18, 2010 21:12:15 GMT -5
That would have to be a pretty big meltdown...Is Valpo playing that well, or IPFW that poorly? 21 pts at half seems pretty bad, especially since defense isn't exactly the calling card of this team.
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Post by valpo89 on Dec 18, 2010 21:15:14 GMT -5
IPFW shot only 6-24 in the first half, and now they're 1-6 in the second half at the first media timeout. It's kind of a combination of IPFW just being way off on their shots, and VU playing good defense.
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Post by valpofan56 on Dec 18, 2010 21:40:15 GMT -5
FACT: If Cory Johnson played with a mentality and within himself like Van Wijk does, he would average 20 and 10 and would be the Horizon League POY. No doubt about it.
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Post by drewsaders11 on Dec 18, 2010 22:05:07 GMT -5
I'll take the win, especially in such convincing fashion. Yes, IPFW didn't shoot well, but that can be a byproduct of our defense. IPFW had a good record, and a decent RPI of 127 before the game (vs. ours of 101), so it was a good win, against a team that is comparable to many of the teams in the Horizon. Van Wijk played really well. We shot free throws well, at 78%, but our 3's were lacking at, 2-12.
Solid game, and it was a nice tune-up for the Lou Henson Award tourney. We should beat EMU, without a W against d-1 opponents, but realizing we have been down that road recently. Their losses have been fairly close, too. A win there would be nice leading into a matchup with Oakland in the final, who just beat Tenn. Should be a good week.
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Post by fwalum on Dec 18, 2010 22:45:58 GMT -5
Dane Fife's coaches show is at my cousin's restaurant, the Acme Bar and Grill, on Tuesday night. I will try to see if he will comment on the game, specifically VU's defense.
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Post by vu72 on Dec 18, 2010 23:10:44 GMT -5
Frankly, the way we handled them you would have thought we were playing a D2 or D3 team, not a team with a good record and very competitive loses. We just out rebounded them by 2 and had 5 fewer FT attempts. We just looked like we were manhandling them from start to finish. Great defense except a couple of lapses when I suspect we just got bored. Sure they shot terrible but so did we (2 for 12 from the 3 versus their 3 for 14)
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Post by wh on Dec 19, 2010 0:15:55 GMT -5
Just got home. This was about as dominating performance over a decent team as I've seen us have in a long time. Had to be our best defensive effort of the year. We held a team that averages 16 assists to only 3. Someone must have scouted them pretty thoroughly because we disrupted their offensive sets all night long. The only thing they had any success with was dribble drives to the hoop by their guards. We took just about everything else away. The bottom line is it was great to see an opponent look bad because we made them look bad, not just because they had an off night. Let's build on this and get a couple of wins in Oakland!
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Post by wh on Dec 19, 2010 6:24:15 GMT -5
Published: December 19, 2010 3:00 a.m. Crusaders ‘embarrass’ Mastodons Steve Warden | The Journal Gazette VALPARAISO – Like a big cat in a lousy mood, IPFW coach Dane Fife prowled in front of his bench just before the start of the second half. Hands on hips, with the sides of his suit coat flared out, he gave the scoreboard on the wall a dirty look, and no wonder. With 20 minutes still to play, IPFW trailed Valparaiso by 18 points. A little more than seven minutes later and the deficit was 26. And by the time the clock finally ran out, IPFW walked off the floor, beaten 63-47. The resounding thud inside Valpo’s cozy Athletics-Recreation Center was the remnants of IPFW’s six-game winning streak – the longest since it became a Division I member in 2001 – coming to a sudden halt. “It’s an embarrassment,” Fife said. “We weren’t ready. We weren’t ready in shoot-around. We weren’t ready in pre-game meal. We have a bunch of guys screwing around. We’re going to take some necessary steps to prevent that from ever happening again.” And now IPFW (7-3) goes back on the road next Tuesday to play Purdue, a team that similarly beat Valparaiso 76-58 on this same floor named in honor of its veteran coach, Homer Drew. While the final margin indicated that IPFW outscored the Crusaders (7-4) by two in the second half, it was the first half that sent the Mastodons to their eventual demise. It was a forgettable 20 minutes from the IPFW perspective. It made 6 of 24 shots from the floor, and 1 of 9 from its favorite three-point range. The starting five were outscored 12-9 by Valpo reserve forward Kevin Van Wijk, a 6-foot-8 sophomore Spanish major whose high school ball was played at Katholieke Scholengemeenschap Hoofddorp in the Netherlands. He would finish with 16. And when senior guard Zach Plackemeier hit a jump shot from the left elbow with 1:44 gone in the second half, it was off a pass from Frank Gaines, which was also the team’s first assist of the night. Through 1,043 games as a head coach, Drew said he “couldn’t remember” holding an opposing team to three assists. “One of our focal points was trying to limit their three points because they’re so devastating from the three-point line,” Drew explained the pressure on the IPFW guards. With “devastating” being the key word. Jeremy Mixon came off the bench to lead IPFW with 14 points, and Gaines had 12. Said Plackemeier, “It’s tough. It’s probably the worst we’ve played as a team in the four years I’ve been here.”
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Post by hoopfan22 on Dec 19, 2010 7:46:32 GMT -5
Wait, so there's no calling for Homer and the staff's ouster after this one?
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