Wichita owned us so thoroughly down low that even when the calls seemed questionable, I just thought they probably accounted for calls they didn't get at other times in the game. And I did think the refs were fairly consistent in calling the off-ball fouls. They just felt worst for the Ramblers because the margin of error was non-existent.

Also, I dreamed a dream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsS1MS3EqyM


I really invested myself in shocking the world and now, I'm just so sad. Ah well, Wichita was the better team but it still hurts.

Shocker fans will agree with you about our TV crew. Few can stand them The Bruce is ok, but a pompous ass. Craig comes from a family that has some money around here and that's the only reason we can come up with for why he does color.

Our radio crew was pissed I'm sure that they couldn't get a good phone line in the Gentile and had to broadcast the game on a freaking phone. A lot of Shocker fans will watch our TV games on mute and listen to the radio crew, but that may not have been a very good option tonight. Most of the pregame show was nothing but commercials because they couldn't stay on air for more than 15 seconds.

This was not our best defensive night by any means but Loyola gets some credit there. Our post D was brutal and our guards often seemed half a step slower than usual.

You guys should be much improved next year. I Osborne looked fairly good tonight I thought. There's definitely potential there. O'Leary has an ugly looking shot from three. I don't know if he's a decent shooter or not, but watching it made me cringe personally. Turk, White and Doyle are a good group to build around. I hope your bigs make progress and your recruiting class can develop and fill in where needed.

I will say I was impressed with the number of Shocker fans there. I wasn't expecting much, but after thinking about it, we have a very well respected business school and I believe a number of grads do make their way to Chicago and I'd guess they accounted for a number of those there. It was also nice to see Cliff "Good News" Levingston in attendance.

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The Roundhouse

hey folks,

here's my story on tonight's game if you want to check it out: http://thecatchandshoot.com/perfect-van ... e-to-28-0/

I attribute the fouls to one thing...when you are one of the best in the country, you get the benefit of the doubt. That's fine and I hope the Ramblers get there at some point.

The only reason I even bring it up is that it seemed that we got whistled for more hand check-type fouls. There were some drives where we got whistled and I said to the folks around me that top teams get those calls.

Listen, it is what it is. If we make our layups and high percentage shots, this is a different game. But as my boss loves to say, "If ifs and buts were candies and nuts, what a Merry Christmas it would be."

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Cigarboy sucks!

Thought about the game a little last night and after reading the posts this morning I will put forth my thoughts. The TV crew is horrible and you won't find but a few that enjoy them. The Ramblers came to play and thought they looked a little more aggressive on defense this time around. Can't be passive but you do take more chances in more physical play. Like the way LU played hard and played to win and not just to lose by a respectable margin. Crowd looked good on TV and I hope that those that showed up enjoyed the atmosphere and effort put forth by your team and will come back often. I will disagree with '01 Grads" post that says WSU is not a top team. Who can say what any team is until the game/season is over? If things fall our way this year like last year the Shockers will do pretty good? Really? Every team we played in the ncaa last year for some reason had their worst shooting night of the year. The Ohio State that was pretty good last year with AA Aaron Craft and couldn't stop WSU. I have seen no one in the BIG except Wisconsin that matches the physicality of WSU. WSU again is one of the top defensive teams. And you know what they say about defense and winning championships. There are a bunch of teams this year that look to be really good and able to win the NC instead of the 2 or 3 outstanding teams most years. What teams look like tough match ups? Syracuse, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke for starters. MSU if they can resolve their injuries look to be a player also and who cannot resoect Tom Izzo? I prefer to enjoy what has transpired and let tomorrow take care of itself. I like the way LU has continued to improve even if it hasn't shown up in wins. Good luck unless we have to meet in St Louis.

1. JKRAMER thanks for posting your articles here. There is always some good info. I am going to bookmark it as of NOW
2. Was having a burger at 5Brothers and ran into the Rockford Auburn basketball team all decked out in their Auburn sweats. They are the home high school of Van Fleet the point guard from WSU. I talked to the coach for a couple of minutes and he said that they had been given a tour of LU and that we were looking at a couple of their players. They are 22-5 on the season. Nice group of kids. But I was thinking this was taking advantage of a situation. They come to see an opposing player and we take them on a tour of our place. Im liking it.
3. THose VAN FLEET stats were silly but they make you think that a complete game is about avoiding the negatives as well as putting up the plusses. I surely did not think he was flashy but as Thibeduea would say HE DID HIS JOB

That pretty much sums up what VanVleet does. He has an insanely high basketball IQ and does what we need of him. Sometimes that's scoring and sometimes it's not. I have no doubt that he'll go down as at least one of the top 3 PGs in program history and he has a shot at the number 1 spot.

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The Roundhouse

I don't know if anyone talked about it on another thread, but I was at the game last night, and i thought the tribute paid to Tom O'Hara was fantastic. It was really nice to see the kid who just broke a 4 minute mile come out and present him with an award, and having the whole race played on the video screen was really something to see.

I finished up at Loyola in 2007, and have tried to follow Loyola basketball as much as i can, but it's a little tough not being in the city anymore. We get down on the team a lot, but I really do applaud the University for making an effort to create a winning program and a great atmosphere. The new Gentile is a great venue to see a game at, and I think the arena is built perfectly to suit the type of school Loyola is. To see how farLoyola has come, not just with the upgrades to its athletic facilities, but the campus as a whole is unbelievable. I was proud to be a Loyola Alum last night, despite the disappointing outcome of the game.

In regard to the team, i'm hoping that our youth is the predominant reason we have not been able to take the next step this year. With Doyle and company, I think next year is going to be a pivotal one in determining whether this program is on the right track. While the many losses have been disheartening, the fact remains that we were IN a majority of those games, and the makeup of this team is not like the year we had Blake Shilb and were picked to win the Horizon and tanked… We all pretty much knew that we HAD to be successful THAT YEAR because there was nothing immediately promising down the pipeline when Blake was done. With this team, it seems like everyone is getting the chance to learn from mistakes, and will be able use these experiences as learning tools for next year -- including our coach. Barring anything unforeseen, the whole team is pretty much back, and should be ready to improve in what I think is the best possible conference for us to be in.

After the first few non-conference games of the season, i was convinced we were going to get killed in every Valley game and start our conference tenure winless. After watching last night, i honestly wouldn't be surprised if they clocked in the conference tournament and pulled some upsets. They are not a GREAT team, but they have enough talent that they COULD win on any given night in this league. I guess that's all i could really have asked for THIS SEASON. Next year though… That is when we really need to see the "culture change" we've all been elluding to….

Toledo.
Just curious how student support was when you were at LU? It was great to see the students out for WSU. Hope you make it to some games.