WBB: American Southwest Conference

[JACKET84]

HPU was very flat Friday.  It reminded me of the game they had 2 years ago against Puget Sound.  They played great in the ASC tourney.  Maybe they just didn't have anything left.  They got further that most people expected this year.  No seniors, and hopefully most of the remaining players will come back.

[BlueZoneBruin]

I believe that Linfield gained a Pool C bid in baseball in 2008 because the Northwest Conference does not have a post-season baseball tourney.

Ralph, Linfield won the NWC outright last year and had the AQ.  George Fox did make the tourney as a Pool C, however. 

BlueZoneBruin

[Ralph Turner]

http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2009/03/07/sports/doc49b29318b05d3076046163.txt

HPU-Transy article.

[Ralph Turner]

I believe that Linfield gained a Pool C bid in baseball in 2008 because the Northwest Conference does not have a post-season baseball tourney.

Ralph, Linfield won the NWC outright last year and had the AQ.  George Fox did make the tourney as a Pool C, however. 

BlueZoneBruin

Thanks, my bad.

http://www.d3baseball.com/notables/2008/05/09/5273/2008-playoff-central.html

[Ralph Turner]

HPU was very flat Friday.  It reminded me of the game they had 2 years ago against Puget Sound.  They played great in the ASC tourney.  Maybe they just didn't have anything left.  They got further that most people expected this year.  No seniors, and hopefully most of the remaining players will come back.

However, I think that most ASC fans expected our tourney winner to make it at least into the third round, at the least.

I now wonder about the prudence of the 8-team tourney format for improving the NCAA post-season performance of the Pool A bid.

[Ralph Turner]

Question for HPU fans who saw the Transy game...

Did you see a level of talent in Transy that HPU had not seen this year?

[dballa]

When HPU and McMurry lost their best players from the previous year HPU(Daniels, Blalock, Hoffman) McMurry(Richardson, Sawyer) they fell back to the pack in the ASC.  The past couple of years they were both way ahead of everybody.

Other teams in the ASC are catching up and as a result when the top tier drops back just a little it makes it look like those other teams are really good. 

Sabinebball, I'm sorry if you think you got robbed out of a tournament bid but after watching most of the teams play this year and comparing them to the tournament teams of last year that I saw (Hope, George Fox, Messiah, UW-Whitewater and even McMurry's team last year) I felt we were lucky this year to get that extra bid.

You can disagree all you want but the results don't lie.  I don't think UTD or McMurry would have faired any different this year.

On that note, have a good offseason and I hope everybody comes back ready to go next year.

Congrats Lady Jackets on a great year.

[Ralph Turner]

dballa, did you go to St Louis? 

My curiosity concerns how UTD played with College of St Benedict which is in the Sweet 16.

[dballa]

Ralph,

I didn't get to go.  I already had a trip planned to Dallas to watch the Mavs Saturday night with my little one to celebrate her birthday.  What can I say she's a Dirk fan and we made it a big surprise all the way until we showed up to the American Airlines Center. 

I watched the HPU/Transy game on the net and listened to it.  They came out firing but went cold.  Rebounding was going to be the key but for whatever reason Transy wanted them more.  They deserve a lot of credit they made shots throughout the whole game and blocked out very well.

Young teams play better at home.  UTD caught St. Benedict on a long road trip early in the season.  I'm sure they played a great game since it went to OT.  But when those same young teams get into a post season tournament such as the ASC tournament, youth tends to overtake talent.  They'll be back next year and most likely will be hosting the conference tournament.  I don't think they'll lose in the first round at their place.

[Ralph Turner]

ASC vs the tourney teams...

Babson (NEWMAC NE Region*) 20-8 lost to HSU 84-75 OT in the Bahamas

Babson lost to Amherst 54-77. Amherst  beat Emmanuel 76-37.

Southern Maine (Little East NE Region*)  22-6 lost to UMHB at Trinity TX 82-73

USM lost to Emmanuel 49-55.

Baldwin Wallace (Ohio AC Great Lakes Region Pool C)  21-7  beat UMHB at Trinity TX 74-67

BWC beat Pitt-Greensburg 52-44; lost at Hope 53-69

In the Fred Jacoby/I-20 Classic...

College of St Benedict MN 24-3 (Minnesota IAC  West Region*) lost to UT-Tyler 81-70  and

beat UT-Dallas 75-67 (OT)

CSB beat Ripon 55-42  and beat UW-Whitewater 67-59

* Pool A winner

[mcmfan]

Other teams in the ASC are catching up and as a result when the top tier drops back just a little it makes it look like those other teams are really good. 

That makes sense.  The final games at the ASC tournament, McM-HPU and then HSU-HPU, both seemed intense and tight.  But it could have just been because they were all so evenly matched, not because they were way above average.  I notice that both the teams that defeated us (meaning HPU and MC) in the first round of the playoffs got beaten by wide margins (over 20 points) in the second round.  That doesn't make the ASC look really great to outsiders, I would imagine.  But it really does make last year's HPU team a one-of-a-kind phenom.

[JACKET84]

Mcmfan,
   I totally agree with you.  Yesterday I looked back at last years HPU season and the scores.  With the exception of McM, HSU, and MC, they were beating people by 20,30,40,50 and even 80 points a game.  In my opinion (for what it's worth), last years HPU team would have beaten this years HPU team by 30+ points.  HPU had a great nucleus of 3 players that scored approx 60-70% of the total points. 
   HPU was lucky that some local companies pulled through and bought a new floor for the coliseum.  If they hadn't, HPU would not have hosted Hope, DeSales, & George Fox.  As great as HPU was, I don't think they could have gotten past Hope on a neutral floor, or their home court.  We had a huge home advantage with the crowd, plus not having to travel.  This time of year it takes lots of talent, plus a lot of luck.

[Ralph Turner]

In that perspective, then one must acknowledge those early/mid-decade (pre-HPU) HSU teams that came so close.

[JACKET84]

I agree, there was probably very little difference between the great HSU teams and last years HPU team. 
  Bottom line, the way DIII playoffs is set up, home court advantage is a huge factor, and HPU was lucky enough to have it last year.
   I'm beating my dead horse, and I know DIII can't afford to, but I believe they need to have a tourney at one neutral site.  Bring all the teams into one place.

[golfniz1]

Jacket last year when HPU beat Hope no one gave our girls a chance in winning that game and probably not even you.The only ones that knew they could do it were those 14 girls that played, Coach K, and the parents of those girls and they went out and won the game.  They played with alot of heart and intensity that is how they played all year, that is why they won the National Championship.  They wanted that game 4 points more than Hope did, please don't say they were lucky, home crowd or not HPU was a very good basketball "TEAM"  last year and proved it beating the top teams (Hope, DeSalles,Whitewater, Messiah and McMurry) in the nation in the process.  So luck is not a good word to use they were just that good.  There is a diffrence in the HSU teams of lore and last years HPU team that being HPU won a National Championship the first for the ASC Conference in any sport.  So please don't tarnish their legacy by calling them lucky.  Please don't take this wrong I know you are an HPU fan, but it upsets me when anyone call last years team lucky.