SectionEE Making A Difference

Now by no means am I claiming that I alone am responsible for the Valpo/Arizona game being shown on ESPN3.com this coming Monday.  However, Thursday night after checking ESPN3.com for their schedule of events and not seeing the game listed I emailed ESPN.  The following is the coorespondence between myself and ESPN employee John T.

Any chance the Arizona vs. Valparaiso game will be available on ESPN3.com?  I'd love to watch it on my Xbox Monday night.
Thank you.

ESPN Customer Care support@espncustomercare.com to me

show details Nov 3 (1 day ago)

Dear ESPN Fan,

Thank you for contacting us.

We value feedback and suggestions from our fans. Your suggestion regarding broadcasting the Arizona vs. Valparaiso game on ESPN3 is very much appreciated and will be forwarded to the appropriate department for review.

For live assistance with this or any other issue, please call Customer Care at 1-888-549-3776 (ESPN) between 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. EST.

Regards,

John T
ESPN.com Customer Care

Game Wrap Up: Showing Improvement

I was unable to attend tonights preseason finale.  After a long evening of parent teacher conferences I received a call that my boys weren't feeling well and that my assistance was needed at home.  Tonights game wrap up will be written by Valparaiso University freshman Danny Mosco who was in attendance.  Folks if you ever need game updates Danny is your man.  I got numerous detailed text messages, probably detailed enough I could've wrote this myself. Thank you Danny for helping me out tonight!


The Game:

I guess there is a reason these games are called exhibitions, since they are not exactly perfect. Thursday night the Crusaders welcomed the visiting Augustana Vikings, a Division 3 school that is nationally ranked in the preseason polls. The game was not as close an affair as the Crusaders’ last time out against Hillsdale. The Crusaders came out playing pretty good defense, but did not come out rebounding well. Augustana pulled down a total of 16 offensive rebounds in the contest, outrebounding Valpo by a margin of 6. The Crusaders did move the ball pretty well throughout the night as they racked a total of 15 assists. In the early going, Matt Kenney showed signs of improvement from beyond the arc, hitting 2 of them. Overall the Crusaders shot 11-25 from the 3 point line, much improved from Saturday’s game against Hillsdale. At the half, Ryan Broekhoff and Kevin Van Wijk were leading the way offensively with 9 points each. So far, in these two games Broekhoff and Van Wijk appear to be to be the strongest offensive presences for the Crusaders.

In the second half, Valpo begin to take control of the game, playing consistent defense. Erik Buggs was playing his usual tight defense, and Bogan and Edwards appeared to be staying with their guys much better as well. Valpo began to pull away during a sequence in which Buggs beat his man to the basket for a layup, followed up by a steal that Broekhoff was able to clean up for a layup. On the next possession the ball was once again poked loose, leading to a Broekhoff dunk, Augustana timeout, and and excited crowd. The game continued on without Augustana getting too close. Valpo ends up winning by a respectable 74-65.

The Positives:

As mentioned before, the Crusaders ball movement was pretty good, racking up 15 assists. Production from Richie Edwards was also substantially higher, shooting 4-9 from the field and scoring 14 points. He also shot 2-4 from the 3 point line. Matt Kenney played much better offensively, scoring 13 on 5-9 shooting. He went 3-6 from 3 point range, which is a good sign from him. Also, he had 4 assists. Will Bogan shot well from the 3 point line, going 3-4. For a guy labeled as a shooter, it’s good to be seeing him knock down shots. Scoring was pretty balanced overall, with Edwards being the high point man and Broekhoff once again putting in a solid effort (13 points 5 rebounds). Team shooting was a bright spot as well, shooting 42% overall and 44% from 3 point range. Team defense was pretty solid for the game, ending up with 7 steals, and forcing 22 Augustana turnovers. 

Needs Improvement:

Despite playing good defense, the Crusaders did not rebound as well. They were outrebounded 37-30 on the night. Turnovers were also a big story, and many of them were ugly. I recall several unforced turnovers were someone was trying to force a pass into traffic, not catching a pass, and even one teammate knocking another out of bounds after a rebound. I hate to single out a guy, but Will Bogan did poorly in this area. He shot well, but led the team with 5 turnovers and only had 2 assists. It is early on, so we can only hope it won’t be long before he gets comfortable playing with the team and doesn’t have as many unforced turnovers. The Crusaders are going to have cut out all of the unforced turnovers, and need to improve upon a 15/20 assist to turnover ratio. With the Arizona game looming on the horizon, there is still some work to do with gelling with each other. Overall, it was an enjoyable game, with the crowd never really doubting the outcome. Coach Bryce Drew gets his second win, and Valpo gets more experience before opening up the regular season at Arizona on November 7^th.

"The Game", "The Positives", and "Needs Improvement" written by Valparaiso University Freshman Danny Mosco

Up Next:
The Crusaders take to the road for their season opener.  The opening round of the 2k Sports Classic Benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer matchup with #16 Arizona awaits the team on November 7th.  Look for our preview to come out Saturday.

Game Preview: Preseason Finale vs. Augustana

The Crusaders wrap up their preseason Thursday night when they welcome Augustana College to town.  Questions abound after the preseason opener this past Saturday against Hillsdale.  Can this team make three pointers, can they help on defense, and can they defend the ARC?


Get to know your opponent:
The DIII Vikings compete in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.  Last year they captured their conference crown.  These guys went 27-4 last year and graduated only one of their starters.  They are expected to be one of the best DIIIs in the country as they are ranked #1 in the midwest region and #7 overall in the preseason polls.  This should be a nice final test to see how well the guys are progressing.

Some Interesting Augustana factoids and notable alumni:  Founded in 1860 by Sweedish settlers, Augustana is a DIII athletically, but a DI for the quality of people that leave the school with degrees. The college is known for the excellent dental experts and their Medievil and Renaissance studies graduates that come from their school.   Some notable alumni include former NFL QB Ken Anderson, the first female CEO of Sara Lee and PepsiCo Brenda Barnes, Noble Prize winner Daniel Tsui, and Aaron Kennedy the founder of Noodles & Co.

What to expect:

I expect we will see a group of guys who after a game under their belt and a few more practices will be a bit more in sync.  I suspect we will see a much better shooting effort from the Crusaders, especially from Will Bogan and Richie Edwards.  The team needs to show some improvement in their help defense and double teaming the post defense.  They were a step or two slow in both of these aspects in the first game.  I suspect Erik Buggs will continue to establish himself as a threat to attack the hoop, and I'm hoping to see Matt Kenney play a better game.  Jay Harris will continue to show he is a capable second scorer and will strengthen his hold on the starting shooting guard spot.

Prediction:
Well after Saturday's prediction debacle I'm going to be a bit more reserved.  I don't think Valpo will lose to a DIII team and I don't suspect Augustana will keep this one as close as Hillsdale did.  I will take a Valpo victory 81-64.  The real victory will come as we see Will Bogan hit a couple three pointers, Ryan Broekhoff continue to prove why this is HIS team, and KVW continues to provide an inside scoring presence.

Game Wrap Up: A coachable victory

Let me begin by stating that just about everyone was in preseason form tonight.  From the players to the video board operator to this blogger; everyone has room for improvement!

The Game
If you like nailbiters this game was just what you wanted to see.  In the last 1:02 there were 5 ties or lead changes.  The Crusaders lived at the line hitting converting on 26-39 attempts (would like to see this get a little better) while the Chargers made their living from behind the arc hitting 10-17 three pointers.  The biggest lead in the game was 8, a far cry from my predicted 40 point blowout!


Lets take a look at the final 1:02. With the score tied at 66, Valpo found themselves behind after a layup by Brandon Pritzl.  Valpo cut the lead to one after Kevin VanWijk split a pair of freebies (:43).  A turnover by Hillsdale was followed by a Ryan Broekhoff Centier Bank Three Pointer to give Valpo the two point advantage (:20).  When the Crusaders failed to help Erik Buggs when he got beat he comitted a foul and the layup was good by Tyler Gerber.  After Gerber hit his free throw to put the Crusaders down a point (:10), a nifty feed from Bogan to KVW led to a bucket and a foul.  KVW sank the free throw (:05) and the Crusaders held on to the 73-71 victory.

Needs Improvement
Allow me to make some first game observation.  These are things I am about to point out are things I will be watching for improvement or confirmation on Thursday.
*The new guys stuck out like a sore thumb tonight.  Their movement wasn't as crisp on the offensive end as I had hoped it would be.  Anytime more then one of them (Kurth, Bogans, Edwards) was on the court at the same time the offense really struggled.

*Will Bogan (more on him in the positive section) had tonight.  He was chasing on defense and his shot was off...way off. 

*Richie Edwards is a black hole on offense.  When he got it he was putting a shot up.  I like that he is not afraid or tentative with the ball, but occasionally working it back out or back around (he shoots the three like Cory Johnson) will create a better shot for himself or a teammate.

*Matt Kenney looks like his best fit should be coming off the bench as a 6th man.  There were several times in the first half where he did not help a teammate on the defensive end that led to a layup or a foul.  I'm also concerned that his outside jumper has appeared not to have improved.

*I really hope the team three point shooting improves (5-22).  Yikes!

*The video board is nice (more in the positives) but when the opponent commits an offensive fouls someone is going to have a seizure if they look at the board's special effects.

The Positives
Despite all the things I just listed there were plenty of positives as well.
*Ryan Broekhoff is really good.  His offense was outstanding and his rebounding and shot blocking was superb.

*Kevin VanWijk provided Valpo with a legit inside scoring presence in this game.  He also hit some big clutch free throws in the last minute of the game.

*Will Bogan had some nifty passes that led to some easy hoops for VanWijk and Buggs.

*Speaking of Erik Buggs he was clearly still our best option at the point.  He defended well and even attacked the hoop enough to make Hillsdale leave a defender on him.

*The guys really played the passing lanes well.  Team rebounding was once again a strength in this game.

*The video board was awesome.  I love the in game stats, the loudness meter, and nearly all of the special effects. 

Up Next
Valpo will wrap up their preseason with a game against Augustana on Thursday night.