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Post by rlh on Dec 28, 2010 22:50:33 GMT -5
I didn't get to see the game because I had to broadcast a high school game....but looking at the stats, two things jump out at me....how the heck did Buggs get 8 rebounds and we really had almost 4500 fans in attendance....someone explain
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Post by valpo89 on Dec 28, 2010 22:53:37 GMT -5
The crowd was awesome. Both lower decks were filled, the student section was about 3/4 full with non-students, and the upper level was 3/4th filled. Very good crowd, lots of Ball State fans and people there to see Jarrod Jones, Tyrae Robinson and Chris Bond. And Buggs did actually grab that many boards, a few long bounces but you know he's a good jumper.
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Post by dcvalpo on Dec 28, 2010 23:10:06 GMT -5
Things were so much better without those noisy students and without the pep band!
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Post by valporun on Dec 28, 2010 23:12:00 GMT -5
The crowd was awesome. Both lower decks were filled, the student section was about 3/4 full with non-students, and the upper level was 3/4th filled. Very good crowd, lots of Ball State fans and people there to see Jarrod Jones, Tyrae Robinson and Chris Bond. And Buggs did actually grab that many boards, a few long bounces but you know he's a good jumper. Even on HLN, the crowd came out. I'm sure there are a lot of Ball State fans that came in from all over the area, and in from Muncie. Buggs grabbed those 8 boards because he attacked the board from a distance. He was more set to get the long rebound, or get in and battle for what boards he could get. He showed up defensively for this game. Wood had his usual scoring effort, with about 4 3's early in the first half. The guys were all trying to get inside more, instead of chucking up the 3s because they could. I just wish with the inside layups that our guys would go up hard on the layups, and hope for a 3-point play from that. The "going up hard" layup is a fundamental thing, especially for a post or center, but it seems anymore that the posts and centers want the soft layups because so many of them don't have confidence in their ability to shoot free throws, and that can be remedied, as long as they put in their own work on it, and not just shot jumpers on their free time.
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Post by dcvalpo on Dec 28, 2010 23:12:57 GMT -5
In all seriousness, there was good attendance tonight but the crowd was certainly not awesome. Lots of Ball State fans and the Valpo crowd was fairly tame overall. Impressed by the attendance, though.
We did a nice job of making good cuts and making the extra pass...it also didn't hurt that Brandon got hot near the end of the half to extend the lead to double digits. Game was over with 3 minutes to go in the first half. Ball State is not a good team and the Butler beat down they received was indicative of the lack of talent at BSU.
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Post by dcvalpo on Dec 28, 2010 23:14:29 GMT -5
I just wish with the inside layups that our guys would go up hard on the layups, and hope for a 3-point play from that. The "going up hard" layup is a fundamental thing, especially for a post or center, but it seems anymore that the posts and centers want the soft layups because so many of them don't have confidence in their ability to shoot free throws, and that can be remedied, as long as they put in their own work on it, and not just shot jumpers on their free time. Are you serious? We attacked the basket just fine, finishing with two hands often...our guys powered the ball up and finished well.
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Post by wh on Dec 28, 2010 23:36:03 GMT -5
Our RPI just improved from 94 to 73 - a big jump! We also put some distance between us and the Colonial League to help solidify 9th place in Conf. RPI.
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Post by valporun on Dec 28, 2010 23:38:13 GMT -5
I just wish with the inside layups that our guys would go up hard on the layups, and hope for a 3-point play from that. The "going up hard" layup is a fundamental thing, especially for a post or center, but it seems anymore that the posts and centers want the soft layups because so many of them don't have confidence in their ability to shoot free throws, and that can be remedied, as long as they put in their own work on it, and not just shot jumpers on their free time. Are you serious? We attacked the basket just fine, finishing with two hands often...our guys powered the ball up and finished well. They may have attacked fine tonight, but there needs to be consistency to that, and it hasn't been shown as much throughout the season, as we saw tonight.
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Post by ValpoHoops on Dec 28, 2010 23:53:32 GMT -5
They may have attacked fine tonight, but there needs to be consistency to that, and it hasn't been shown as much throughout the season, as we saw tonight. For the season, we have a Effective FT% of .407 (free throws per FGA) Others in the conference: Butler: .428 CSU: .405 WSU: .394 UWM: .441 UWGB: .347 YSU: .313 UDM: .489 LOY: .417 UIC: .304 As you can see there, we are mid-pack in the HL - and really not too far behind anyone other than UWM and Detroit, and since we shoot 57% from 2 we do a very good job of scoring when we get the chance. Tonight was actually our WORST game at getting to the line by this statistic (more accurate than just total FTA based on game pace, etc.) since the Toledo game (and going back before that, all the way to Ohio). So, not sure exactly what you were watching. And, given the size of our posts (small), they can't go up against the bigger, more athletic centers/forwards in the HL a lot of the times, so they just take their layup and go play defense. In addition, if you consider the fact that we played 2 blowout games (IUN, PUC) and two BCS teams (PUR, KAN) those don't help these numbers, since FTA during a 50 point game are usually low, as well as when you play the majors.
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Post by lowposter on Dec 29, 2010 9:50:40 GMT -5
Wow...4500 in attendance during winter break. That is an impressive gate. Like RLH, I was at a local high school game and the attendance there was pretty decent. I think people were ready to get out and do SOMETHING and basketball was the obvious choice. Ball State no doubt brought in folks as did the Michigan City/Bowman connection. Ball State should be on the schedule every year. It is a natural game, particularly at holiday break. A yearly home and away would be a good draw. Without seeing the game, it is hard to make comments, other than "this is a good solid win." The Cory/Brandon combo could be a dandy combo in league play. I still think we need a little inside muscle. lowposter
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Post by stlvufan on Dec 29, 2010 11:10:49 GMT -5
Sorry, I failed to notice that you already dealt with that point, and after watching them play, I'd agree with your point that it would have been a bad loss. My bad.
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Post by stlvufan on Dec 29, 2010 11:28:18 GMT -5
Interesting. I was underwhelmed during the first 10 minutes. Quite the rollercoaster ride, it was. "YES, a steal!!!!... oh crap, they gave it right back." And you could say that regardless of which team you were rooting for.
I was also underwhelmed by the crowd. Saw lots of empty chairback seats. Upper deck was pretty full, and the lower deck bleachers were pretty full too. Though the students were on break, the student bleachers were full. Some very boisterous Ball State fans created their own fan section over there.
Maybe what soured me about the crowd was the two idiots sitting behind me paying more attention to the Eagles-Vikings game than the baseball game (they both have fantasy teams; every 30 seconds they were giving updates on DeShaun Jackson and Michael Vick).
I can't tell for sure, but I sure understand why people complain about Cory getting away with traveling in the paint. He just *looks* like he's traveling.
It was a good win, but somehow it didn't do much to pump me up for Saturday.
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Post by wh on Dec 29, 2010 12:13:28 GMT -5
Maybe what soured me about the crowd was the two idiots sitting behind me paying more attention to the Eagles-Vikings game than the baseball game (they both have fantasy teams; every 30 seconds they were giving updates on DeShaun Jackson and Michael Vick). What soured me were the knuckleheaded Ball State fans that showed up early and claimed ownership of Section D behind the visitor’s bench. When I arrived, they were sitting everywhere that Valpo season ticket holders sit, including in our seats. When we courteously asked people to move so we could have our seats, they just sat there with a blank stare. Finally, someone stood up and yelled down the row, “Can you guys move down so these people can sit down.” Of course, the people “down the way” see us standing in the aisle and don’t know if the seats on the end belong to us, or if we just want everyone to move down so we can have aisle seats. So, they just ignore us. Finally, I said I guess I’ll have to get an usher. Then and only then did they move. This scenario was repeated at least 15 times over several rows as other season ticket holders began to arrive. It even continued well after the game started when stragglers arrived to find their seats taken. At that point, an usher had to get involved to move people out. Of course, while all this is going on the rightful seat holders stood waiting in the aisle right in front of us - so we couldn’t see the game. In trying to sort out why this happened when it has never happened to us before, we came to this conclusion. Ball State fans are used to going to larger MAC venues that are probably ¾ empty. Basically, you can sit wherever you want, especially behind the visitor’s bench. They develop a mentality from that which obviously doesn’t work in a venue with a much bigger crowd. I think that captures it pretty well, because looking into the faces of these people, they looked far more ignorant than arrogant.
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Post by rlh on Dec 29, 2010 12:19:33 GMT -5
Actually I think this is an usher problem. They are supposed to check tickets and direct people to their seats. This should never happen if they are doing their job.
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Post by 78crusader on Dec 29, 2010 12:20:07 GMT -5
WH, this why VU does not need a larger arena. You are right, many, if not most, MAC games play to small crowds and plenty of empty seats. I've been to a few of those games and there just isn't any energy to them. I'd rather VU play in front of a nearly full ARC than to a half-empty new arena, the cost of which would probably be $30 to $40 million dollars. Paul
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