Great job by the Crusaders again this year - 21 wins in a basketball season in a competitive Horizon League! If only the team hadn't hit THE WALL in the middle of the season...
Kudo's to the coaches and players for a well-fought season. I am looking forward to next year already!
The team showed so much promise and in my opinion, delivered on all of it. These guys were projected to be a cellar team in the Horizon League, and they proved EVERYONE wrong, by keeping it close against teams like Butler, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin. I can't WAIT to see the 08-09 season!
There were just too many games in midseason where they were leading in the last five minutes of the game and lost it. Three of those midseason losses were to teams in the top 25, one against Wisconsin, two against Butler. The most painful of all was the one in which they led Butler by a point with 25 seconds left and Jarryd Loyd at the line to shoot a one-and-one. Michael Green had just fouled out. It looked like Valpo had that game, but Loyd threw up a brick, Butler hit a 3-pointer, and Valpo lost. Against Wisconsin, Valpo was leading with four minutes left, and was still tied with about two minutes left. If Valpo wins those three, it's a whole different season.
Then there were losses that shouldn't have happened against Loyola and an incredibly bad game against UIC. Those kept it from being one of the greatest seasons Valpo ever had.
But it was still a success. Going into the season, there were questions of whether Valpo belonged in that conference. Well, Valpo was about ten points and ten minutes away from finishing second in the conference. A good CBI showing would make it a very good season.
I must say that I wasn't expecting a 20+ win season our first year in the conference. Although the close losses to top-notch teams were frustrating, I had a much bigger problem with the season sweeps by UIC and Loyola as well as the home loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee. If only the team played as well against the 2nd division HL teams as they did against the best teams on their schedule, we would have had a 25+ win season and been a shoe-in for the tournament.
Tonight's 73-72 win in Seattle against Washington is a great way to start the postseason. Let's hope to see the guys win 4 more and bring a tourney title back to VU.
Best of luck to the guys next year. Shawn Huff will be tough to replace, but I really like breakout freshman Michael Rogers. Here's hoping Homer can bring home win #700 along with our first Horizon League Title next season!
Hail Crusaders! Who rise to glory,
Our challenge has been hurled.
Team Victorious, our colors glorious
Are known throughout the world,
Valparaiso, we're here to back you,
Our cheers like thunder roar.
See our school, our team,
See our colors gleam.
Let's fight for the Brown and Gold.
The player who'll have to step up next year is Samuel Haanpaa. He has to become more aggressive. There were signs late in the year that he might start doing that. Part of the mid-season collapse was people figuring out that he was wicked on the 3-pointer but wouldn't do anything but shoot or pass--he couldn't take it to the hoop. That meant they could be as aggressive as they liked with him. If he moves more with the ball next year, he will either put every team in foul trouble or will start getting those open looks he needs. He's a big guy, at 6'8; if he can put that size to more use and be a small forward rather than a tall shooting guard, he'll be a real weapon.
I'd also like to see them go to more pick and roll on offense. Bryan Bouchie is the ideal player for that, because he's big enough to set the pick and a good enough shooter to take the return pass for the shot.
Yes, great year for Valpo....but the game with Washington shows the strength of the PAC-10...Valpo beat Washington by one point (CBI game)....Washington finished 9th in the PAC-10 (yes, they did beat UCLA at home).
