Game 7: @ Valparaiso - Tues 8pm ESPN3

UCH21377 · Unread post by **UCH21377** » 7 years ago

Awful. Same old crap. Disgusting performance. Terrell, Hass, Garrett came to play that's about it. KI was a no-show again. Something is wrong with EC. It's sad to see.

Maybe time to shake up the starting line up? Have a couple of these guys come off the bench for scoring punch? Don't know but that was really really bad. And quite frankly they were pretty crappy against Belmot too; we just chose to kind of ignore it.

Rhodygirl2 · Unread post by **Rhodygirl2** » 7 years ago

Wow - out coached and out hustled -

When the announcers are better at scouting and calling out the plays before they happen we've got a problem.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 7 years ago

Billyboy78 · Unread post by **Billyboy78** » 7 years ago

On to PC. If we lose that one, I lose my mind.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

Against a good opponent in a close game, sad to say we're a bad bet. A very bad bet.

We find a way to lose the close ones almost every time....looks like nothing's changed...

You ultimately judge coaches by their record in close games....and DH frankly sucks in those type of games....if it doesn't change and change soon we will go nowhere under his watch.....

Sounds harsh but it's the truth...his record proves it....

Tom98 · Unread post by **Tom98** » 7 years ago

Terell/Jarvis/ and Hass played very good games. What has happened to EC?????? I can't believe this..... somebody knows what's going on.

section(105) · Unread post by **section(105)** » 7 years ago

......and of course, nothing from any coach on the post game.....oh that's right, they don't after a loss.....weak.....

MTK4L · Unread post by **MTK4L** » 7 years ago

I would say top 35/40 is prob genorous at this point. Top 50 is prob fair I think. Good teams even on off nights will win those games. The A10 stinks right now but so do we ! There are a lot of teams such as umass that will surprise many people here when we have off nights like this. Time to buckle down and focus on PC. Huge game.

ram1980 · Unread post by **ram1980** » 7 years ago

Again the strength is supposed to be pressure and easy transition buckets . also supposed to be so deep.. Well we didn't press until too late. Very few easy buckets and depth is not there. This is not a good half court team. They need to establish that aggressive identity soon or this season will be another disappointment

PlayMikeMotenMore · Unread post by **PlayMikeMotenMore** » 7 years ago

I realize winning at Valpo is hard. But if your team is legit, if you consider yourself big time, if you have a junior/senior laden experienced and talented team...then you should go to Valpo and win. No excuses.

Which team has better talent, better depth, and better experience? If URI hopes to be a top-8 seed, they win at Valpo. Otherwise, they'll be working toward an 9-12 seed.

Win and I'd be impressed.
Lost and it was what I expected.

DanInAZ · Unread post by **DanInAZ** » 7 years ago

4-17 3Pt % - cannot do that against a zone defense.

rhody12 · Unread post by **rhody12** » 7 years ago

NYGFan_Section208 wrote:Hate to say it, but it might be better if EC actually 'was' invisible? No value add in this game whatsoever...and Dowtin does not look ready for this at all... JG and JT and Hass are warriors...but that's all they have.

I know Dowtin is a freshman, but the fact the Dan had so much confidence in him as our "first" player off the bench is scary. He looks absolutely horrible

giovanni · Unread post by **giovanni** » 7 years ago

Yes, I agree take it a bit easy on EC, but Dan's passion and praise for him doesn't make it easy. Let's also remember EC , while a very good player, was not a good player his Sophomore year. He was a turnover machine, who many continued to make excuses for. Very nice young man and talented player. But he really hasn't been very good since his freshman year. At least not the type of star some try to label him I remember his freshman year game against PC, he was outstanding. I thought at that point he would be a definite pro. While, I am certainly going to give him a chance to bet back in the groove, it is very frustrating to see this bull crap again. Year after year, nothing changes, except names and, now a higher talent level which makes this all that much more unacceptable. No fricking way should they lose to that team. Defense was awful too. Valpo is not the 2nd coming of the '86 Celtics. They are a marginal team at best. It's one game and a long season, hopefully the bitterness of this defeat will be gone in Jan and February, but right now this is very difficult to swallow.

The Valpo announcers said this is their school's first win ever against a top 25 team. Please put an asterisk next to that one.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 7 years ago

You can't play against teams with good big men when you only have ONE dependable front court player.
Big men are an afterthought to Dan. Here we go again.

Rhody15 · Unread post by **Rhody15** » 7 years ago

Change Hurley's last name and what do we have? A .500 coach who can get great recruits but can't coach them.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 7 years ago

What a wonderful last play. Barf!
We didn't deserve to win.
5 points, 7 fouls from the bench.
Dowtin is like a ghost out there.
Peters destroyed us, like Washington did
with Cincy.
We can't guard a mobile, big forward.
5 points for EC, 4 for Iverson.
Terrell was great.
Martin was good, but the missed FT was a killer.
This will end the national ranking talk for
awhile.
At the risk of being called a PC fan, who gets more out of his players, Hurley or Cooley?
I'm not looking forward to Saturday.
Dan has done many things well for the program.
Bench coaching isn't number one on the list, unfortunately.

BPR2010 · Unread post by **BPR2010** » 7 years ago

Our supposed "depth" has been pretty non-existent this year as well, outside of Stan. You'd expect Sophomores who got significant minutes last year to take the step up this year. Akele and Thompson have been disappointing to say the least thus far. Dowtin and Langevine I can understand, it takes time for Freshmen (not top 50-100) to adjust to this level of play.

5 bench points tonight after 3 on Friday. Not good at all.

RI_Bred · Unread post by **RI_Bred** » 7 years ago

Saturday at PC is a make or break game for the season, for this team's psyche...

NYGFan_Section208 · Unread post by **NYGFan_Section208** » 7 years ago

rhody12 wrote:
NYGFan_Section208 wrote:Hate to say it, but it might be better if EC actually 'was' invisible? No value add in this game whatsoever...and Dowtin does not look ready for this at all... JG and JT and Hass are warriors...but that's all they have.

I know Dowtin is a freshman, but the fact the Dan had so much confidence in him as our "first" player off the bench is scary. He looks absolutely horrible

To say he looked horrible...might be an insult to horrible players everywhere. He is not ready for this at all...has he shown anyone anything that makes one think he will be?

I will be shocked - absolutely stunned - if they win Saturday. But...I guess that's why we buy tickets...to see that kind of stuff...

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 7 years ago

I don't know why I am here right now other than to just remind everyone that we are the same fucking team we've always been, we very well may be cursed, I am probably going to raise grandkids who will never know what the NCAA tournament is and fuck us.

Can't wait to get butt fucked by PC Saturday and pack this season in early.

Rhodygirl2 · Unread post by **Rhodygirl2** » 7 years ago

There was not 1 time that Kuran defended Peters well. Didn't have the size or the skill. Peters was a big boy. Cyril also looked overmatched on him. Why not try Berry + Hass double up on him, even just one time as an experiment, for 30 seconds. It couldn't have been any worse and they at least have wider bodies than KI. Try something different. He won't be the only big man we face and I have no confidence we know how to defend someone with that size and skill.

And the "just let EC work through whatever is going on with him" isn't working either.

giovanni · Unread post by **giovanni** » 7 years ago

Rhody15 wrote:Change Hurley's last name and what do we have? A .500 coach who can get great recruits but can't coach them.

Seriously, I love Dan and what he has done for this program recruiting wise and getting quality young students, but his coaching is very suspect. Kids are in great shape and usually play extremely hard for him and seem to genuinely like him, but as far has his X's and O's, suspect is a kind word. I've always said he is a young coach who is learning as he goes along. But then you see how much better prepared a Valpo team was with a first year coach. And I am sure one that doesn't have a hall of famer father as a coach. 5 years here, he teaches defense well, but it's difficult to say there has been major improvement anywhere else. I like Dan a lot and am very happy to have him here, but its frustrating to watch his teams many times.

At this point, I think Dan's biggest in game skill is that of pissing refs off and assuring we never get a call.

Hate to say it, but I rarely or never see a team this unprepared by Cooley.

DanInAZ · Unread post by **DanInAZ** » 7 years ago

Also slightly concerned about this team not having much of an identity. For a team with 5 starters Jr/Sr expected better adjusting within games. Perhaps expecting EC to be leading the charge based on history and Hassan/JT doing most of it. KI has to improve offensively.

Hassan's team?
JT's team?
EC's team?

Just thoughts I'm having...

Keatgsr07 · Unread post by **Keatgsr07** » 7 years ago

Blue Man wrote:I don't know why I am here right now other than to just remind everyone that we are the same fucking team we've always been, we very well may be cursed, I am probably going to raise grandkids who will never know what the NCAA tournament is and fuck us.

Can't wait to get butt fucked by PC Saturday and pack this season in early.

Not sure what a psychologist would call the fact that I needed that ^, but man reading that felt good.

rhody12 · Unread post by **rhody12** » 7 years ago

It's unfortunate to lose a game like this and while I won't call the season just yet...its very frustrating and disheartening. Dan has done a ton for this program to get us to this position I get that...but this is his time to produce. If he can't win with this team he won't win with any team here.

Rhody15 · Unread post by **Rhody15** » 7 years ago

What have we done this year to think we will beat PC? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Anyone trying to justify that we should win at PC and at Houston will be lying to themselves and this board.

NYGFan_Section208 · Unread post by **NYGFan_Section208** » 7 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:What a wonderful last play. Barf!
We didn't deserve to win.
5 points, 7 fouls from the bench.
Dowtin is like a ghost out there.
Peters destroyed us, like Washington did
with Cincy.
We can't guard a mobile, big forward.
5 points for EC, 4 for Iverson.
Terrell was great.
Martin was good, but the missed FT was a killer.
This will end the national ranking talk for
awhile.
At the risk of being called a PC fan, who gets more out of his players, Hurley or Cooley?
I'm not looking forward to Saturday.
Dan has done many things well for the program.
Bench coaching isn't number one on the list, unfortunately.

Don't forget Spieth...they couldn't stop him either....

Dowtin was worse than a ghost...KI and EC were not much better. I actually hope there IS something wrong with EC, because if not, he's just not a very good player and doesn't have an excuse. Missed FT was a killer, but hard to fault that guy...he's been making 'em all year...that miss was no bigger than DH's stupid T.

I'm not a PC fan, but it's pretty clear Cooley gets more out of his players...no contest. Bench coaching sucks, wait, do they have any bench coaching? How can they leave that last huddle without everyone thinking...'no matter what...get a freekn shot off'? good flippn grief....The suggestion above to shake up the starting lineup is kinda funny...given the 'depth' they have there. I honestly think they coulda/shoulda done more to develop Thompson...seems he's been kinda buried/relegated to spot duty and looks almost as nervous as Dowtin out there...

luke · Unread post by **luke** » 7 years ago

Well, obviously this team is overrated. Terrell and Hassan carried the team. The rest didn't
show up again. They seemed to lack energy on offense all night, a step slow. If this is what they
are, then a fourth place finish kin the A10 is likely. Can't seem to shoot the ball away from the Ryan center.
It has been a problem with this group the past two seasons and it looks like it continues . I could feel
this loss coming at the end of the first half. They can't seem to play with any urgency until it
is too late. If they need a free throw or a big shot late you can count on them missing it. They went 8-8
at the line until the pressure was on and as we saw they missed the final two free throws. I am
sick, but I guess I'm not totally surprised. I was a bit fooled by the way they finished against Cincinnati.
They look the same as they did two seasons ago. They will probably win 20-22 in the regular season, but I
can see them losing any must win games on the road and maybe to a sub par A10 team when it will kill
their NCAA tournament chances. don't mind me, they just broke my heart. I will get over it again as always

Keatgsr07 · Unread post by **Keatgsr07** » 7 years ago

NYG208, this time last year you riled me and others up with your blind optimism - the squad's wearing on you. Sorry.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 7 years ago

Can we play Dartmouth again?

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

Glad to see everyone is on board....not really!

Sad to see, but unfortunately totally expected....always hoping that leopards will change their spots, but they don't...meaning Dan Hurley's floor coaching.....again he's done so much for this program but he can't do the one thing that has to be done...win close games against good teams, especially on the road....

I know we keep beating this dead horse, but is there any reason to think this will change?

I agree with those that are saying we DON'T have the necessary depth to play 9-10 deep, and I'm not sure we have the talent to even do so....

We have 3 legit stars right now, Hass, JG, and JT, and one who is really struggling, EC. Beyond that, what do we have?

skwalk47 · Unread post by **skwalk47** » 7 years ago

I just kept texting my dad "why isn't Martin guarding Peters?, why isn't Martin guarding Peters".

But for real though, KI was getting killed in the post. Why was the A10 defensive player of the year not guarding Peters? Did Dan not think he could do it and didn't want to expose his guy? Did he really think AI was a better option? Was there some other front court stud they needed to have Martin on that I didn't notice?

Seawrightspostgame · Unread post by **Seawrightspostgame** » 7 years ago

Going to have to coach.

That team made several adjustments in the game to beat us.

NCAA's is a high wire act. The lineup is questionable when the team plays the way it did tonight for stretches.

Kuran Iverson's battle reminded me of Delroy tearing apart the guy on the other team that was more touted than Delroy a few different games. Problem was Kuran was the guy that couldn't do anything about it. Occurred to me a few minutes into the game that we no longer have that guy on our team that is underrated but can truly dominate anyone on any night. We have something else.

NYGFan_Section208 · Unread post by **NYGFan_Section208** » 7 years ago

Keatgsr07 wrote:NYG208, this time last year you riled me and others up with your blind optimism - the squad's wearing on you. Sorry.

Eh, no apologies necessary, I could use some blind optimism about now.
I'm in wtf-land, thinking I dropped good $$ on tickets for Saturday....pttth.....

Rhody83 · Unread post by **Rhody83** » 7 years ago

Rhody15 wrote:Change Hurley's last name and what do we have? A .500 coach who can get great recruits but can't coach them.

Why do you say he gets great recruits? He gets 3 star players. They aren't that great. He has recruited 4 good players and unfortuniately one of them has lost it due to an injury. He hasn't recruited a player that would start on a top 50 team since JT & JG.

I don't know why everyone thought Rhody was going to be so good this year. They were bad last year. I know EC was coming back and I obviously expected more from him than this. I didn't think we were a preseason top 25 team when you consider last year's performance and add EC.

Hurley's players really don't develop that much. Is KI any better than the first game he played for us - I think not.
Where is this "vaunted defense" Dan brags about?

This team has played one outstanding half this year. The early patsy games are throw outs. We didn't look good against Brown, didn't look good against Duke, didn't look good against Belmont and now didn't look good against Valpo. We aren't that good.

Right now we have three good players - Hass, JT & JG. We have two upperclassmen who hardly ever have a good half. You can't win with that.

4Diffs · Unread post by **4Diffs** » 7 years ago

Cannot say I am surprised, unfortunately. The coach coaches scared, players pick up on that and play tight. The most frustrating thing about this team is the coaching. I do not get at all why Andre Berry does not play. It is absolutely mind boggling. This team cannot rebound, or score in the half court. I think Berry would help in both of these areas, but coach does not play him at all. Langevine should not be playing over him, no way.

The vaunted D is extremely overrated. You want to talk about coaching? The Valpo coach doubled Hassan often in the post. Valpo has one very good player, you want to know how often we doubled him in the post? That would be zero times, not once as he goes off for 27 points. That is nothing more than terrible coaching. Make somebody else beat you coach! Way too easy for Valpo best player to get anything he wanted.

And yes, this team should play zone occasionally. We can't stop anybody from getting into the lane. Read the Valpo board which said that everyone plays zone against them because they cannot shoot. But still not one minute of zone.

Hoping for the best Saturday, but fully expecting the worst based on what I have seen so far which has been one good half in the last four games.

Rhody15 · Unread post by **Rhody15** » 7 years ago

Peters went one on one against Kuran for like 5 straight possessions and either scored a bucket or got fouled.

Yet Dan continued leaving Kuran on a island with Peters.

Made ZERO sense.

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 7 years ago

It's hard not to get down on Dan Hurley as coach. In four years, he is the one that has hyped every season and while I give him a pass on the EC loss last year, he has not met the expectations he set time and again. The media will soon be onto this guy and his big talk. I went to a meeting where he bragged about this year's team depth and shooting ability. Yea, two games in a row where the bench production was abysmal and we said Valpo had no depth. Just simply disgusted, this guy cannot win big games no matter where they are played.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 7 years ago

This team is playing tight. It lacks identity and chemistry.
I don't understand why we didn't try to speed them up by pressing or trapping when it was clear this game would be played in the 60s if we didnt do something to change that...I don't understand why we didn't do something to stop Peters from killing us in isolation. Throw a double team...run someone at the big kid who wanted to dribble length of the court. In game adjustments were definitely lacking. Their play by play guys knew what they would do on their last possessions - both offensively and defensively, yet both caught us off guard.

NYGFan_Section208 · Unread post by **NYGFan_Section208** » 7 years ago

bigappleram wrote:This team is playing tight. It lacks identity and chemistry.
I don't understand why we didn't try to speed them up by pressing or trapping when it was clear this game would be played in the 60s if we didnt do something to change that...I don't understand why we didn't do something to stop Peters from killing us in isolation. Throw a double team...run someone at the big kid who wanted to dribble length of the court. In game adjustments were definitely lacking. Their play by play guys knew what they would do on their last possessions - both offensively and defensively, yet both caught us off guard.

Their idea of 'pressing' seems to be.... 'stand in the backcourt with them when they inbound...and jog across mid-court with them, looking at them the whole time.' Well, that might be understated...they might have been giving them the "evil eye", too

Rhody15 · Unread post by **Rhody15** » 7 years ago

Remember when NBCSports had us as a Final Four sleeper?

That writer should be fired tomorrow.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

This team has a major weakness at forward when it comes to defense......KI is a fraud and Cyril just isn't ready......we will get roasted and toasted every time we play somebody that has a stud at that position....Dan seems incapable of making adjustments on the fly....bad sign.....

Dan of course helped blow this game with the T, and as usual poor decision making at the end.....again the mark of a good coach is his/her success in close games against good opponents....in which Dan is an abject failure in his time here......I've harped on this for the last couple of years, and by now you know I'm right, like it or not....

We might Dance, but only because the A10 stinks this year...we'll still make it hard though, we'll lose a couple we shouldn't, to the likes of a UMass or St. Joes, count on it....

One and done in the tourney if we do get in....

Rhody15 · Unread post by **Rhody15** » 7 years ago

Can't wait to watch Bullock score 30 on Kuran and Hurley continue to leave Kuran to defend him straight up one on one for the whole game.

giovanni · Unread post by **giovanni** » 7 years ago

bigappleram wrote:This team is playing tight. It lacks identity and chemistry.
I don't understand why we didn't try to speed them up by pressing or trapping when it was clear this game would be played in the 60s if we didnt do something to change that...I don't understand why we didn't do something to stop Peters from killing us in isolation. Throw a double team...run someone at the big kid who wanted to dribble length of the court. In game adjustments were definitely lacking. Their play by play guys knew what they would do on their last possessions - both offensively and defensively, yet both caught us off guard.

It's called coaching. Making adjustment as the game progresses. When do we ever try anything different when our gameplan is clearly not working? Whether its offensively or defensively. Yes it's only one game in November, that very hopefully will be meaningless and just a bad memory come March, but that doesn't stop the frustration of seeing the same exact things for 15 years. I've been going through this for much of 40 years following this team. So at times its not fun to see this, even if it is November. Yes, it's not the end of the world and the sun will rise tomorrow, but at this point it is a very difficult pill to swallow.

Rhodymob05 · Unread post by **Rhodymob05** » 7 years ago

After blowing off some steam, this was supposed to be a tough game and Valpo has a real baller in that team. Also congrats to Hassan on his 1000th point. Just beat PC, still time to get this team on the same page.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

I've never seen this board so collectively down on DH...

Yet it's deserved......he has done NOTHING results wise since he's been here....we hired him for a lot of good reasons, but he's not a good bench coach, plain and simple....no better than [gasp] the previous coach in that regard.

And that's a horrible thing to say, but it's the truth.....

15, if we're lucky, KI will foul out early...anything will be better than what we saw tonight....

giovanni · Unread post by **giovanni** » 7 years ago

Yes, on a positive note, congrats to Hassan on his 1000th point and to the women's team on a nice victory.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 7 years ago

If we lose Saturday.....the meltdown at Fukishima will seem like child's play.......if the game's close, we'll find a way to lose....

The Dude · Unread post by **The Dude** » 7 years ago

This team didn't look like a team. They looked like a bunch of guys playing 1 on 1 most of the time.
These guys have to find a way to cut to the basket for a pass when someone penetrates.
They need to be aggressive on rebounds. There isn't one single player, other than Jarvis, that knows how to properly box out an opponent. Hint: It's not using the upper body to muscle your way around someone.
The free throw shooting and coach's play calling MUST get better if they are going to win close games.

When Jared or Jarvis or anyone drives to the basket and draws a double team the person who's man is on the double team should be cutting to the basket with the ball handler, so there is a passing option. It's SO easy to do, but they just ball watch. It's immensely frustrating to watch. They almost seem too afraid to do it.
Iverson will never be a good defensive player until he learns to have his hands out on defense ALL OF THE TIME. I see him and others with their hands by their sides TIME AND TIME AGAIN as a player passes the ball right past them to an open runner. Most of the passing lanes would be non-existant if their hands were out and eating up the open space.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.....DAN HURLEY, just give me 2 hours with that team and they will be playing the best damn ball you've ever seen. I'm dying on the inside, while watching fundamentals just being lost on this team.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 7 years ago

Christion Thompson. Showed much promise last year, especially early on.
He faded as the season went on, but still played 18 minutes a game.
He's averaging 13.1 minutes this season, and his numbers are down all around.
Didn't some of us see him as the successor to EC?
Nice shot, tough D.
Did he just lose it? Is he in the doghouse? What?
Dowtin. early, yes, but does anyone see him as Garrett's understudy?
What is Akele? He hustles, is a good stand-still shooter. Can he put the ball
on the floor and drive? What does he add to the offense that could
make him more than a role player?
Oh, and Saturday? Rodney Bullock will torch Iverson.
When did Dan morph into Brendan Malone?
We slam Derek Kellog for having talent and not getting the max out of therm,
How is our situation any different?
I like the man, personally, but he's not who we thought he was.
Just thinking out loud....

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