Keith,

This is a Top 25 board, and you think Aurora is getting the shaft.  I'm just throwing in my 2 cents.  BTW: I apologize for assuming you have not watched Aurora.

Since I have been watching WIAC b-ball for a couple decades, I still think your claim that Aurora could play with these teams is absurd.  I've seen every team in the NathCon this year, and Aurora is beating mediocre talent, plain and simple.  I agree with the pollsters regarding their ranking.

If Aurora does well in the tourney, I will eat the dessert of choice around here (humble pie)  .     

Quote from: keith45 on January 29, 2007, 01:46:58 PM

and imho, Aurora could play with the WIAC on a nuetral court

Keith, how many times have you seen Aurora and WIAC teams play?  Exactly.  It sounds like you are watching the stat sheets because I saw the Aurora/Edgewood game, and Aurora got beat by the better team.  Edgewood is playing more and more like a WIAC team (which shouldn't be a surprise because their coach coached in the WIAC), but they just don't have the overall talent right now to compete on a nightly basis with WIAC teams, neather does Aurora.     

Over the past few years, I've seen all the teams in both conferences, and there is no comparison.  Aurora would be lucky to be in the middle of the WIAC.   

Maybe Aurora should play the WIAC teams like other NathCon teams to really see how they match up.  I guess we'll never know because I don't see them scheduling WIAC competition.  Get over it, Aurora is lucky to even be in the top 20, and they certainly do not deserve to be in the top 10 until they start playing some tougher teams.  The voters are doing a good job, so quit complaining about their ranking. 

Quote from: Old School on January 25, 2007, 12:45:38 AM
Point loses (story) at home to Oshkosh 72-55

La Crosse smokes Whitewater 67-49

Stout surprises Eau Claire 80-69

River Falls gets by Superior 76-68

...and in non-conference action, Clarke beats UW-Platteville 74-71.  Pioneers up 12 at half, but Clarke shoots 71 percent in the second half and 78 percent from behind the arc.  From the sound of it, some of those 3's were well-behind the arc. 

For those of you interested, check out UW-P's athletics' homepage for a tribute to Bo Ryan, in anticipation for the court dedication this Saturday, January 23.

http://www.uwplatt.edu/athletics/ 

Quote from: UWPSUPERFAN77 on January 18, 2007, 06:36:21 AM
Point still plays soft physically

Huh?  Do you mean offensively or defensively?  I don't think either.  They play an aggresive/pressure "D" that is not meant to "bang" people around.  They use their quickness to get in the passing lanes and create havoc.  Offensively, they are not "soft".  Just because they pass the ball and take open shots doesn't mean they are "soft".  BTW, they put a couple ball rotation clinics on last night that every high school team should have watched.   

I do agree that Rortvedt is one of the best in conference, although he doesn't always stand out on an unselfish team like Point.  It's silly how easy he made some of his shots look.   I keep waiting for Point to have an "off" night shooting, but I may have to wait a long time.  Seems someone always steps up for them. 

Platteville played a pretty good game, but Point used a nice run mid-way through the second half to put things a little out of reach.  I was very impressed with the play of our young players.  I have to remind myself that there's a lot of inexperience on the floor at times, but they continue to improve.  Mike Shaw had an excellent shooting night, and Kyle Tetschlag is becoming more comfortable with the college game and showed a lot of determination last night.  It will be fun to watch them the rest of of the season. 

Quote from: Pioneerhoops on January 10, 2007, 01:55:34 PM

Quote from: Mr. Downtown on January 10, 2007, 10:44:34 AM
Platteville student station tape delays and rebroadcasts the next day.

I wish Platteville still did this.  7 years ago, they did pretty much every home game, but over the years I see them doing less and less.  I know I haven't seen them at a home game yet this year.  I don't know if its budget, interest or what, but I personally like listening to the student's perspective of what they are seeing vs. someone who has been doing this for a long time.

Student interest is declining in the communication techologies' major and general media interest.  Our annual two-day telethon to benefit a local charity was moved to one day this year because they were short on volunteers/students to do the work.

They were still doing football this year, but I haven't seen anyone doing tv up to this point.  I only recall a few (at the most) b-ball games last year.  Radio is still strong though.   

RE: Platteville/Superior

This one stung quite a bit.  UWP up 10 with 5:45 to go in the game and only score two FT's the rest of the game.  Lohoff had a well-designed play when the game was tied, but many of us thought he shot the ball will too much time on the clock (around 9 seconds).  Again, it was basically an iso for Lohoff, and he had a pretty decent lane to drive and score but just barely missed the shot (it would have been foolish to turn up the open lane up, but they just ran it a little too soon).  A jump ball after the rebound gave Superior the ball with 7 seconds to go.  Burton-Norman found a wide open spot near the free throw line to nail down the winning shot. 

Even without Skemp and Gossens, they played well until the 5:45 mark and then couldn't get anything to go.  No doubt it will be nice to get Gossens back.  The younger players are really stepping up and are capable of getting some W's.  If they continue to develop, this team may look a lot like Point from last year to this one.  One year they go through their struggles, but they put their experiences to good use and become a very good team the next.  That's our hope anyway!! 

Regarding Superior: I think they are getting on the right track.  Their coach seems to be a quality person and definitely wants things done his way.  In fact, one of his players kicked a chair with quite a bit of time to play and was benched the rest of the game.  He was a starter.  If he can build a foundation, they will improve a lot, but I guess time will tell if they will be competitive on a daily basis.  I do not envy someone trying to rebuild in Superior though!             

Quote from: Old School on January 05, 2007, 03:53:37 PM

Quote from: BlueDevil Bob on January 05, 2007, 08:39:15 AM
Anyway, one take on the game this Saturday has to do with the Point/Superior score.

Any team that wins by 56 points and scores over 100 isn't walking the ball up the court I am thinking. Running it up a little, Pointers? 

I would look at that score as well, if I were an observer and may think that too.  But, frodotwo defended them pretty well.  Point was up 27 at half and when the bench totally cleared at the eight minute mark, with Kevin Grusczynski, Evan Sweeney, Ross Rortvedt and Scott Hoelzel coming in, Point was up 46.  No starter played more than 25 minutes. 

No coach in their right mind is going to clear their benches to start the 2nd half and it's not like Superior didn't have opportunities to score...if you read the play-by-play, they had a lot of "missed shots," while Point had a lot of "layups"!  The reserves played well, and even up by 40+, even THEY want to score.  It was Superior's job to stop Point's reserves and they didn't do a very good job of that either. 

It sure helps having all-state players "just" sitting on the bench too, as Point does  . 

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 20, 2006, 1:42 p.m.
By The Associated Press

2 UW-Stout players arrested in drug bust
Menomonie - Two University of Wisconsin-Stout football players were among four men arrested at two homes in which police recovered cocaine, marijuana and several thousand dollars in cash, authorities said today.

One of the football players arrested, senior linebacker Luke Steffen, 22, of Greenwood, told investigators that steroids also were bought, sold and used at his home, Police Chief Dennis Beety said.

Police also arrested junior reserve linebacker Nicholas OrRico, 21, of Lodi.

[remainder removed to preserve copyright]

They have the most potentional year in/year out.  There always seems to be some excuse to why they don't meet that potential. 

Most of the credit goes to LaCrosse.  They played great defense and shot high-percentage shots.  A couple glaring statistics: UW-P shot 25 3's (6-25) and UW-L attempted 36 FT's (27-36). 

UW-P had some nice looks, especially in the first half, but the ball just wasn't going in.  I thought they showed a lot of heart in the second half cutting a 17 point deficit to a 7 point deficit with 2 minutes to go, but LaCrosee made their FT's when it counted. 

Pioneers will keep improving.  They are very young, so there will be bumps in the road this year.  Individually, Jeff Skemp has improved his post presence, both with his technique and beefed up frame.  If he keeps progressing and the young guards pick up some confidence, they will be a tough out for anyone. 

Quote from: TitleTown2 on December 07, 2006, 08:51:45 AM
Anyone who attended have any observations? Be interested to hear how Werner and ask scored 25 and 18, as well as who impressed you for Platteville last night. Looks like Skemp had another solid game (2 in a row), and freshman Curt Hanson played well...but what happened to the rest of them?

Have you seen Werner and Ask play basketball?  That should clue you in.  Werner plays 5-6 inches taller and is deadly near the basket.  Ask is just a nice, all-around player.  He did make 8 FT's, had a couple lay ups, and mid range shots if I remember correctly.  He also played great defense. 

I think, other than Skemp, you will see a different person every night stepping up.  Lohoff was heckled all night by LaCrosse, never found his shot.  Mike Shaw (a freshman) was unable to hit a few early jumpers.  Curt Hanson (another freshman) found his groove late.  Nobody looked particularly good, except Skemp and Hanson.  For those of you who will see Mike Shaw and Curt Hanson play, let us know what you think of them.  I believe Shaw has the quickest release that I've seen in a long time.  Hanson hustles his butt off on defense and has that "pure" shooting form.  It will be fun to watch all of our young guys continue to play (remember, UW-P starts a freshman, sophomore, one junior and two seniors) and Richter (sophomore) is the first man of the bench) and Hanson (a freshman) plays about 20 minutes a game.  But, there will be growing pains, and I think a lot of that will come on the defensive end. 

LaCrosse had a lot of open looks, and there were just break downs on defense.  That is expected with a young team.  I could tell that LaCrosse was playing with a little more experience, and I remember a few years ago when nobody really wanted to play LaCrosse because their young guys were really turning heads.  Well guess what?  They're Juniors and Seniors now, and it shows.  I think UW-L and UWSP will be within a few points, looks like both are playing well now. 

Here's a photo from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that you may be interested in:
http://www2.jsonline.com/site/userphotos/slideshow.aspx?PhotoID=5678&fileType=JPG&Source=Thumbnail&catid=82&PageNumber=0

Does anyone know if Dominican's webcast is a live webcast or an archived one?