Final Score LU 74 - MSOE 53

LU pulled away with about 12mins left in the 2nd.  Ultimately LU had too much size inside.  Very nice crowd in the Kern tonight; almost a full house.  Do the Lawrence supporters always travel like this?

LU 31 - MSOE 26 @ half

Half time score at Kern Center

LU 31 - MSOE 26

Tight first half, MSOE down by  double digits early then made run midway through half.

Another big night for the LMC over a NIIC team on the road.  MSOE wins against Rockford 86-77.  The Mikos-Bayiha backcourt put up mamoth stats to lead the Raiders to a 3-0 start.  Saturday night could be interesting against Lawrence; who I believe just knocked off the Oshkosh Titans in OT. 

jgatz, you are totally right about Nickel (totally forgot about him.  He could really hoop I might add).  However I don't agree with you on your comments about post play.  End of the day, you could have a 6'10" beast on the block; if you haven't got the guards to get him the ball, he's rendered useless. 

In my opinion having high quality guards that will a.) Not turn the ball over b.) Take good shots c.) Create good shots for the whole team and d.) pressure the crap out of the opposing guard will 99% of the time get the job in this conference.  On a national level, things are very much different, where you are going to need the big bodies to compete.  I don't see the quality of guard play in the returning players that will allow them to dominate like last year.  To answer the 1-2 punch question, if given the choice I think most coaches will take a guard/post combination.  A balanced offence is hard one to slow down.

I don't think any team in the conference has a huge advantage over the other teams in rebounding.  Check the stats on rebounding margin for last year; Edgewood with all their size only had +0.4 advantage.  Maranatha and WLC are the only two teams that got consistently killed in that department.  Personally I don't think size is the key to rebounding.  Most rebounding situations in a game require soft hands & quick lateral movement over pure vertical size/leap.  I have seen teams in my time that lacked overall size but were very good rebounding teams because all 5 guys on the floor were relatively quick & made a point of putting a body on someone before running off to play on offence.

The Way, I have to commend you on your insightful posting.  Edgewood losing Mickael-SomethingEasternEuropeanSounding is a big loss.  Not to say I can see Edgewood falling off, they are too well coached for that; I'm just saying solid guard play is crucial to any team's success.

Have to agree with your POY comments also.  I too would be surprised to see Cooper repeat as POY.  Not just because I'm bias and want to see an MSOE player get it but because I play with Metzger now and I know who I'd want on my team (no disrespect to Seth, you're one of the few opponents I didn't have dreams of elbowing in the face the night before a game ).  However, would you not say that barring injury, Wietor would have been a worthy candidate to repeat as POY?

As for Germayne James, this juror is still yet to come to a verdict on his game.

While I'm here, I'm just going to put this out there to marinate in your heads before the start of this coming season.  MSOE will have the best backcourt and possibly the best 1 through 4 overall in the conference.  I can say without hesitation that NO ONE in the conference will have a better 1-2 combo, period.

Busty, I wait in eager anticipation for this "swole" squad that your WLC boys will be brandishing this year.  I'm just letting you know now your full-court-pressure-half-court-trapping-play-the-passing-lane defense isn't going to work this year.  Injuries aside (touching wood as I type ) I predict two 25pt blow outs in the favor of Mo'zee.

Pete,

I think the reasoning behind MSOE moving to the MWC is that it would be aligning itself with private schools of similar size and academic caliber.  Clearly the MWC is a step up from the LMC basketball wise; however I feel that with the new athletic facilities we have here and our President's keen interest to expand the schools spectrum of academic programs further into the medical field, within a few years I think MSOE will be in a position to recruit well on a consistent basis.  I can definitely see in the very near future a team from here more than up to the challenge of competing with the likes of Lawrence and Carroll College.

A quick question; how does qualifying for the National Tournament work as an independent school?  Are there allocated places or are you left to fight for an at large bid?