Chicago was switching 5 on that last play---one player did not, a back screen was set at the top of the key and Uche went to the block and two people stayed with the screener leaving him wide open at the block. had it been done correctly for chicago, he would have been guarded by a guard in the post, not an ideal matchup but that's not the goal of the defense, the defense is to prevent any open looks which is exactly what it gave up.

switchin up topics, the UAA overall has been really strong the last few years. the conference is much deeper than in the late 90's when Wash, Roch, and Chicago were runnin the show with all of their stellar big men. I still think good men are prevalent but I feel there are a lot good guards in the conference now as well as some talented power/small forwards besides just teams in general having better talent. Who have been some of the better players in the conference over the past 10 years? The main ones that come to mind are reich, hauben, maurer, perez, jefferies, fawcett, boone, etc. I realize I am missing a bunch of other players with well deserved praise, so I'm asking who else were major standouts? I'm almost interested in compiling a list or even the top 20 players in the last 10 years. if not the list, i'm simply interested in other names...for nostalgia's sake.

tourney picks?
washu/fontbonne-wash
chicago/hope-chicago
brandeis/trinity-brandeis
rochester/plattsburgh st-rochester

what does everyone else think. i'm sticking with the UAA for at least the first round. anyone know anything about the opponents and what they think about the matchups within the games? what about the outlook for the entire tournament? how will all the UAA teams fair?

i think bob's post is a good barometer but i think a certain bit of subjectivity needs to considered when determining all conference teams.  although statistics are the main component, team success is another important factor along with the impact an individual player has that does not show up on the stat line.  if you look at deluca, he's capable of putting up the individual numbers (see last year) but this year they were more balanced, and while he didn't average as many points, he's still the leading score, plus they had a much better team record and could/should be a tourney team. that teams distributes the ball very well and spreads the "wealth." i think the chicago is another example of this where the points are spread all around and the team enjoyed a lot of success and i think they have a few players potentially worthy of all-conference consideration. on my second point about player impact beyond stastistics, look at co-player of the year last year, jason boone. he didn't average the most points in the conference his presence in the lane is huge for that team. he impacts how players shoot when they come in the lane and forces teams to adjust just to stop him. it opens up all his teammates.  now that is not to discredit gaudy individual statistics of say spiros federigos who is up there in points, assists, steals, etc. i just think there are some things that statistics don't necessarily account for. that is not to slight bob's post because don't think that's what he was saying, i think he was just providing a statistical level to compare players.

I think the game Saturday will be a good game and more evenly matched than the first game.  Chicago is a much different team than what they showed in the first meeting.  First off, that was one of their worst shooting performances of the year not to mention one of their lowest total scores.  I think WashU has been consistent the entire season and has played very well at home. I don't believe there is a favorite. I think it could go either way, but in any case, it should be a really fun game.

all conference teams are out. Interesting, no guards on the first team, but then again the big men on this roster definitely deserve their spots.  only 1st teamer who may have been slighted is kildare from the guard spot i think. congrats to all of them.

First Team
Clayton Barlow-Wilcox Carnegie Mellon 6-4 F Sr. Brookline, MA (Brookline)
Jason Boone New York 6-6 C Jr. Sugar Loaf, NY (Warwick Valley) † Player of the Year
Steve DeLuca Brandeis 6-6 F So. Merrimack, NH (Merrimack)
Nate Maurer Carnegie Mellon 6-7 F Sr. Pittsburgh, PA (Linsly School) † Player of the Year
Jon Onyiriuka Rochester 6-7 C So. Painted Post, NY (Corning-Painted Post West)
Carson Oren Case 6-4 F Sr. South Bend, IN (Marian Catholic)
Troy Ruths Washington 6-6 F So. Sugar Land, TX (Stephen F. Austin)

Second Team
Michael DeCorso New York 6-4 F Jr. Freehold, NJ (Colts Neck)
Spiros Ferderigos Emory 6-1 G So. Oldsmar, FL (Berkeley Preparatory)
Marques Johnson Carnegie Mellon 6-4 F Sr. Pittsburgh, PA (Upper St. Clair)
Jared Kildaire New York 5-11 G Sr. Mount Vernon, NY (Fordham Prep)
Funso Lafe  Case 6-0 G Sr. Chesterland, OH (Hawken)
Florian Rexhepi Brandeis 6-0 G So. Skopje, Macedonia (Phillips Exeter)
Scott Stone Washington 6-1 G Sr. St. Louis, MO (MICDS)
Brandon Woodhead Chicago 6-2 G Jr. Lincoln, NE (East)

Honorable Mention
MBrandeis: Kwame Graves-Fulgham; Carnegie Mellon: A. J. Straub; Case: Matt Cannan, Mason Conrad; Emory: Jeff Hall, Johnny Pinto; 
Chicago: Jesse Meyer; Rochester: Joe Canty , Mike Goia, Jeff Juron; Washington: Tyler Nading.

all uaa 1st team-mauer, barlow-wilcox, deluca, boone, ruths, kildare, ferderigos-he's a good player but i don't think he's as good as the others, i think his numbers are inflated b/c of the team he plays on, they don't have many scorers. and i don't know that he's unstoppable, his 45 was very impressive, taking nothing away from him but, i believe he did have stone guarding him who is one of the worst defenders in the UAA.

i've been impressed at sometime this year with every team in the UAA, almost every team seems to have a player they can go to when they're down: washu either ruths or stone, emory ferderigos (or hall now that he's back), case-oren or lafe (even though he doesn't start), carnegie maurer or wilcox (even though everyone can score), brandeis de luca or rexhepi, nyu boone or kildare, roch i guess you could say Onyiriuka, chicago really doesn't have anyone.  all those guys can shoot or get a shot on their own whenever they need to. actually, it's kind of surprising chicago has an above .500 record without any threats like that, talent wise they might have the least in the league, what they seem to have is size and that's about it. then again they play nyu, brandeis and washu to end the season.  every other team though, it's been fun to watch some of their individual players go off at different times this year.

Who's gonna be all UAA this year with the parity the league has shown? Maurer and Boone are locks for first team I'd say, along with kildare, barlow-wilcox, stone, and ruths probably on first team.