Quote from: Drake Palmer on March 14, 2009, 02:09:23 PM
Tough run UPS team & fans. You guys had a great season! I was one of the few fans from the MIAC who got a chance to see your team play prior to last night's game against UST in Chicago. Back in '07 UPS came out to Wisconsin & played UW-Stout in their holiday tournament.  I was singing your team's praises back then & continued to do so today.  Very fun, talented team to watch.

Whenever the UST run comes to an end, I'll have to tell you of my accidental good luck charm that I picked up from a school in your conference.   

Good run!

DO tell...

Quote from: LogShow on March 10, 2009, 06:03:50 PM

Quote from: P4L on March 10, 2009, 03:10:24 PM

Quote from: Just Bill on March 10, 2009, 02:12:43 PM
Every team gets the same amount of practice time on the floor: 90 minutes on Thursday and 60 minutes on Friday.  Wheaton can obviously practice as much as they want until Thursday, but once Thursday comes it becomes an NCAA venue and they get only their 90 minutes.

I'd imagine if UPS arrives early they'd find a practice site elsewhere.

Wheaton is a great place to play with a top notch gym and overall athletic facilities.

2 observations:

There are seats on the end line in the first row with about 40% court visibility.  If its packed, better get there early.

Secondly, I always found it amusing how the home announcer for Wheaton announced a Kent Raymond basket.  KENT RAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He seems to be the only Wheaton player to get the announcer EXTRA excited.

Does the mention of Raymond bring back personal nightmares P4L? lol. 
Nobody on your squad could stop him that night...probably nobody anywhere could have.

Actually I don't mind the guy.  I only faced him once and beat him.  Very good player, I think he still had 25 or so on us.

It is going to be very interesting watching the rebound line for the UPS/UST game.  With as many shots going up as we think I would wager that the team more dedicated to securing defensive rebounds would have an advantage.  If both teams hit the offensive boards hard we could have a 100-100 game as that will result in a bunch of fast break situations and 3 on 2's the other way.

Quote from: Gacman on March 10, 2009, 05:14:25 PM
With these two shooters on the floor, the offense they most often run is a 4 out 1 in with McCoy as the one in. When the ball goes into him, he almost never makes a move right away. The first thing that happens when he gets the ball are two to three UST players that will cut off of him. He passes the ball extremely well. If someone hasn't received a pass from him off a basket cut, he either passes it back out or then starts making an offensive move. Almost every move consists of a step-through or an up and under finishing to his right hand. UST's biggest strength might be its bench as they bring in Tuma off the bench who would start for any other miac team, Halvorsen who is a 6'8" wing and is extremely athletic. He is very similar to Foster. Also Ervin and Peltier provide some muscle. They do the little things. both are extremely strong allowing them to guard people bigger than them, but quick enough to defend almost any guard. Healy is a gunner who comes in and looks to get some shots up.

The other starters not mentioned earlier are Lonnie Robinson and B.J. Viau. Both are top notch defenders who play the game under control and smart. Lonnie is the best defender in the MIAC and it isn't even close. He doesn't shoot a lot but can hit the three if you leave him open. Viau is Mr. everything. He defends, rebounds, blocks shots, takes good shots, passes well. His range doesn't go out past 15 feet. He is a good leaper. Him and Kraul will be a good match up. We never broke 60 against them this year. A lot of teams didn't. To beat them, will take a very good shooting effort, because they shoot 53 percent as a team on the season because when they aren't getting layups off their press they are getting great shots in the half court do to their High Basketball IQ and patience.

Good luck to UPS. They will be a formidable opponent and it should be a good game.

Thanks for the recap.. Great info!

I realize St. Thomas plays up tempo as well, but I am wondering if even they will be a bit rushed playing against a UPS team that has reached 100 points 4 times this season.  UST reached 100 once in a blowout of St. Mary's (Minn).

Quote from: Gacman on March 10, 2009, 04:26:16 PM
For those who are wondering about UST, I have played against them six times in the last two years and have also played UPS this year as well out in San Francisco.

St. Thomas, as someone mentioned before me, presses all 40 minutes, but I wouldn't say it's as frantic and scramble type of press that you run. They have the best on the ball defenders I have ever played against in D3 and this is what they use to cause problems. They let you catch it and then play 1 on 1 defense on the point with their 2 wing defenders hanging back around half court. Since very few people can get past the first defender, every team I've seen play against them gets to 6 or 7 seconds in the back court and then has to, in some ways, force the issue just to get it across half court before the 10 second violation. When a team does this, that's when the wing defenders come into play and usually one of them will jump and trap the ball handler at the 6 to 7 second mark which usually causes a difficult pass out of the oncoming double team. The way to beat their press is to attack it early because if you wait, which is tempting since they don't deny the pass or apply pressure right away, is where teams play into their hands.

Besides their press, they have two extremely dangerous shooters in Nicolai and Scott. Both players need little to no space to get off a 3 attempt which helps spread the floor.

To be continued.......

Having seen/played against each in recent history, I would like to hear your prediction on te outcome of the UST/UPS matchup... 

Quote from: Just Bill on March 10, 2009, 02:12:43 PM
Every team gets the same amount of practice time on the floor: 90 minutes on Thursday and 60 minutes on Friday.  Wheaton can obviously practice as much as they want until Thursday, but once Thursday comes it becomes an NCAA venue and they get only their 90 minutes.

I'd imagine if UPS arrives early they'd find a practice site elsewhere.

Wheaton is a great place to play with a top notch gym and overall athletic facilities.

2 observations:

There are seats on the end line in the first row with about 40% court visibility.  If its packed, better get there early.

Secondly, I always found it amusing how the home announcer for Wheaton announced a Kent Raymond basket.  KENT RAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He seems to be the only Wheaton player to get the announcer EXTRA excited.

Quote from: pineconefan on March 09, 2009, 09:53:23 PM
I think UPS has a chance to go deep in this thing, and I sure hope they do.

PFL, I am glad you emphasized that the refs didn't decide the game.  Refs NEVER decide a game, and any fan that says otherwise is only making excuses for his team's failure.  Even on a totally blown call at the end of a game, the real question would be why a team let a game come down to a single call...

Agreed on both accounts.  Hope UPS goes deep and refs (unless you are in the NBA) never decide the game.

Times like these are when I wish I was filthy rich.  I'd love to go see that pod in Wheaton.  What great basketball!!!

Image search "basketball refs with numbers" on Yahoo and you get "0" results

I think NBA and possibly overseas would be about it.

Quote from: D O.C. on March 09, 2009, 02:43:03 PM

QuoteI can safely say one ref

I believe refs have numbers? Some conferences do. Perhaps not all. Suggest that would be a better way to describe the stripe instead of the way you did.

In all my years of playing and watching the NWC I have NEVER seen a ref with a number on his back....EVER.   In fact, I have never seen it on TV, in person or anywhere else.  Anyone ever see numbers on a ref?

There were 2 short refs and one tall ref.  Out of the 2 shorter refs, one was African-American and one was Caucasian.  I'm Sorry D.O.C., but if you can tell me of another way to easily distinguish between 2 refs who are relatively the same height and weight, have short dark hair, and are identically dressed,  let me know because I think you will hold the key to a fifth dimension!   

What would be a better way than to say he was African American?

Just regaining my voice from last night's UPS WW matchup.  Great game in an environment which represents D3 basketball very well.  Congrats to WW on a great season.  I really believe the players and coaches got everything they had out of each other this season.

Account from the game:

I was WAY off wit the 3 point shooting.  What UPS lost in the 3 point shot they more than made up in FT's

WW had a bad run from about 12 mins to go in the 2nd half to about 7 mins to go.  Sitting right on the floor and I can safely say one ref. (small African American referee) missed 2 out of bounds calls badly which ended up going to UPS.  That ref was bad when I played and is still bad now.  He also made a few very questionable foul calls that went WW's way.  I just think he is bad all around.

Foster is truly the POTY and played like it.  WW had a tough time guarding him inside and the drive to the basket in general.  The refs didn't drive by the WW players, the UPS players did.

Congrats to UPS.  I hate to say it but you guys have a very good team this year.  Now get hot at Wheaton and get to the final 4.  Better shoot a little better than 2-14 from 3!

Quote from: UPS4Life on March 07, 2009, 05:06:17 AM
The talk about chants is kind of dumb, but you guys gotta realize Tom Glassman is the premier organizer of the UPS student section and takes great pride in his work so he's gonna argue this one out with you and I don't blame him, he's relentless.

AS a former player I have to say that the two places toughest to play are WW and UPS.  Obviously being good helps.  I don't think if WW goes 2-23 this year they have quite the fan support.  Also, these are the two schools that actually put some thought into their yelling.  It's much easier to ignore an "F*** YOU!" or profanity in general than someone talking about your parents, teachers, or myspace page.  If you make the player laugh you have gotten into their head.  A monkey can say F-YOU.

Quick story from ESPN the MAG on heckling:  There was a hockey player in the NHL years back with a larger than normal head.  His name was Rob Skrlac.  As he came into the arena he was greeted with a sign that said "What would you rather have: A Million Dollars or Skrlac's helmet full of nickles?"

Quote from: Tglassman55 on March 06, 2009, 05:00:46 PM
Should be a fantastic game!  If you are going make sure you get there early, the UPS athletic administration is TERRIBLE (in all aspects but especially) at getting the word out.  The line will be out the door! 

Also, UPS fans wear white!

Going for the white-out huh?  That should be fun.  I'll be there with a few friends for a Whit-out...ha....ha  Ok not that funny, but you are right about the game and I can't wait for tip off.

Let's hear predictions-

I say WW 87 UPS 86... last possession wins the game and it just happens to be Tim Sellereit with a drive to the basket!

haha.  Didn't know about that one.  I've always been an Ultimate Warrior fan.

http://ultimatewarriortv.com/

I am assuming Gebbers will be back for WW and both teams will be at full strength.  This game will be a final 4 atmosphere and match-up.  Only bad thing about this game is that there are going to be some seniors on one side or the other that leave everything including their jerseys on the floor.

Personally, I am hoping for a physical game, but no injuries, because as much as it pains me to say it...if UPS advances I want them to win it all.

Quote from: oldchap on March 05, 2009, 11:50:16 PM

Quote from: P4L on March 05, 2009, 04:41:57 PM
Prediction time:

WW 81

CMS 67

Impressive P4L... Final score WW 81 - CMS 63

CMS was a much better shooting team than I thought.  WW used that second half run to get up by 12-15 and before you know it there was only 4 mins to go.

As for the prediction I am going to keep the train rolling and say:

Sat night- WW 87  UPS 86!