MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Drake Palmer]

DP, I concur with your opinion on "losing" a game prior to the end of the regular season. I think it takes some of the pressure off the troops and would allow them to play a little looser. ( is that even a word?)(more loosely).

I think Mr. Walton's shoes looked more like this:

Sum- I had to spiff up the look a tish for the new century. 

[sumander]

I suppose you are right. The original superstar shoes are way too pedestrian for today's kids. 

Did you mean silky smooth Jamaal Wilkes? He seemed to play so effortlessly!

[Drake Palmer]

There was Sidney Wicks & Jackson Keith Jamaal Wilkes on those great UCLA teams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Wicks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaal_Wilkes

Gotta run.

[Gregory Sager]

can you repeat the part about the stuff where you talked about the things?

I almost fell out of my chair laughing at that one. That post goes in the CMob Hall of Fame!

Greg, fart wings?  Way to wreck a nice winter getaway daydream.  Nice avatar Sum! 

Hey, Drake, you were one of the guys in here that busted my chops for being behind the times when I couldn't identify the pic of Kanye. Consider "fart wings" to be my cutting-edge pop culture reference for the week.

[columbianmaffia]

Now we're talkin'.  It's great to see the Tomcats with the #1 ranking.  It looks quite natural, hopefully it will stick for the remainder of the season.

That is a fierce pic of Joe Scott yakking on the front page as well.  What a mean bastard.

C-mob - Do you think you could make your quotes a little longer?  I had to take a 5 minute break and grab a cup of coffee to read that novel.

HoopPHD - nice stats. If I had the ability to distribute karma I would throw you some.  I love stats.

Drake, I love Bill Walton:  "Raef LaFrentz, get a rebound!"  I have a Portland authentic home jersey that I customized with Walton's name and number.  The point is... there can be no higher praise for Big Al McCoy, then to have his name and Walton's name in the same sentence.   "That was the worst pass in the history of basketball." 

good to see my second favorite miac team ranked number 1

i have been collecting hair off the floor, chairs, couches, and peoples shirts...and i have assembled 5 replica bill walton 1970s wigs (with headband) which i will be selling...along with that comes with a bill walton voice recording on a cassette tape...you will hear great quotes like "michael olowokandi...horrible play" & "i could smell colors" & "detlef schrimph is one of the greatest players of all time" & "DID YOU SEE THAT!?!?" & "Throw it down, big man!  Throw it DOWN!" & "Save some for later?  Balderdash, this is the playoffs!"

this is all yours for a low price of $238.74

and if you order now i will throw in a greatful dead t-shirt...one of bill's favorite bands!

put on your tube socks and lets play some basketball!!

[BBTommie]

DP, I concur with your opinion on "losing" a game prior to the end of the regular season. I think it takes some of the pressure off the troops and would allow them to play a little looser. ( is that even a word?)(more loosely).

I would normally agree with the "get a loss to take off the pressure" approach, but only if you had a team that clearly was good enough to win it all.  The loss helps these types of teams when they start to under-achieve.

I'm not sure yet that the Tommies are that good.  They are clealy the class of the MIAC but I've got to believe there are several teams out there with more talent and a guy that can take a game over (which I don't think the Tommies have).

Not saying it can't be done.  Depends on how much better they get and if they have everyone playing at peak in the tournament.

In the meantime I think that running the table in the MIAC is goal number one.  

[Gregory Sager]

I've never understood the logic behind the "losing one will be good for the team" theory. I mean, I understand the psychological intent, which is to make a loose team wary and on its toes rather than overconfident and complacent -- or, conversely, to help a tight team relax by not having to worry about the extraneous matter of an undefeated season. But the practical ramifications of this theory make no sense. If you're that much better than everyone else -- and, granted, I haven't seen UST play this year, but the consensus in this room appears to be that the Tommies are head-and-shoulders above everyone else in the MIAC -- then you're going to keep winning every game as long as you're putting in at least the minimally-required amount of effort to do so. What's more, you're going to try to keep winning every game, because you're basketball players and that's what basketball players do.

But if you're a believer in the "lose one now, win more later" theory, then at some point you're hoping that Steve Fritz will take his team aside in the locker room before the game and say, "Well, gentlemen, this is the one that we have to lose in order to help us win later on. So let's go out there and throw the ball away, take stupid shots, and let the guys that we're covering on defense get away from us off the ball. Oh, and make sure that you leave your shoelaces untied."

You suit up, you take the floor, and you try to win. Every game. It's really just that simple. And if you're good enough, you keep winning and winning and winning, and you never lose.

There have been three teams in D3 men's basketball history that have cut down the nets and hoisted the Big Doorstop over their heads on the last night of the season without ever having lost a game all year. I don't think it's going to help UST's ultimate cause one bit if the Tommies lose their chance to become Undefeated D3 Champion #4.

[hoopmaster]

I've seen the Tommies play a few times this year.  They are better than everyone else in the MIAC.  However they are not good enough to be ranked #1.  In my opinion the league is down this year and they have not been tested.  A team with a good post and guards to handle their pressure will beat them.  I see them winning one maybe two games in the post season.  I hope I'm wrong and they make a deep run but I don't see it.

They will be facing an Augsburg team that is playing well.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the Auggies beat them tomorrow.

[Nites]

I've never understood the logic behind the "losing one will be good for the team" theory. I mean, I understand the psychological intent, which is to make a loose team wary and on its toes rather than overconfident and complacent -- or, conversely, to help a tight team relax by not having to worry about the extraneous matter of an undefeated season. But the practical ramifications of this theory make no sense. If you're that much better than everyone else -- and, granted, I haven't seen UST play this year, but the consensus in this room appears to be that the Tommies are head-and-shoulders above everyone else in the MIAC -- then you're going to keep winning every game as long as you're putting in at least the minimally-required amount of effort to do so. What's more, you're going to try to keep winning every game, because you're basketball players and that's what basketball players do.

But if you're a believer in the "lose one now, win more later" theory, then at some point you're hoping that Steve Fritz will take his team aside in the locker room before the game and say, "Well, gentlemen, this is the one that we have to lose in order to help us win later on. So let's go out there and throw the ball away, take stupid shots, and let the guys that we're covering on defense get away from us off the ball. Oh, and make sure that you leave your shoelaces untied."

You suit up, you take the floor, and you try to win. Every game. It's really just that simple. And if you're good enough, you keep winning and winning and winning, and you never lose.

There have been three teams in D3 men's basketball history that have cut down the nets and hoisted the Big Doorstop over their heads on the last night of the season without ever having lost a game all year. I don't think it's going to help UST's ultimate cause one bit if the Tommies lose their chance to become Undefeated D3 Champion #4.

I agree, Greg.  If I'm a player, I'm not interested in losing a game.  Maybe losing a game teaches you that you have to bring it every night and that you can't just go through the motions, but I don't buy into the it takes the pressure off theory.

[VOJ]

Congrats UST!  Nice job on the #1 ranking.

To follow up with Sum’s Question of the Day, I have one of my own:

Is it better to have the # 1 ranking throughout the regular season, and miserably go one & done in post season play; or hang around in the top 10 ranking or so, & then make a DEEP run in the national tourney?

I’m almost of the opinion, ain’t nobody doing like the ‘76 Indiana Hoosiers & going door to door undefeated on the year.  It would be a fantastic feat, but I just don’t see the Tommies doing it.  So if given a choice, I would rather see them lose a late season conference game which really fires up the troops, & then let them go DEEP into national tourney. (IMO DEEP = final four)

Greg, fart wings?  Way to wreck a nice winter getaway daydream.  Nice avatar Sum! 


47 - it's those shoes, man!  Both Big Bill & Al sport those sweet Adidas models.

 
Big Al's                                                                                          Big Bill's

As someone who has been around some great post-season runs...two championship game appearances in football and many trips to the final four in football and one trip to the Sweet 16 in hoops...a post-season run is remembered much more than "hey we were number one and then lost to Bethel"  A 5 game winning streak in the playoffs and  pushing Mount Union to the brink... or in the case of 2003 pushed them all over the field...to sum it up its priceless

We have all lamented, or made fun of, depending on your point of view the Toms inability to get out of the their own gym, it would be nice to remember a post-season run like the Gusties had, and see them represent the conference...

[VOJ]

I've seen the Tommies play a few times this year.  They are better than everyone else in the MIAC.  However they are not good enough to be ranked #1.  In my opinion the league is down this year and they have not been tested.  A team with a good post and guards to handle their pressure will beat them.  I see them winning one maybe two games in the post season.  I hope I'm wrong and they make a deep run but I don't see it.

They will be facing an Augsburg team that is playing well.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the Auggies beat them tomorrow.

A 5 point win over Hamline and an 8 point win over the Oles  are not tests huh?  Seems the game has changed since I started in this league 10 years ago...

[VOJ]

I've never understood the logic behind the "losing one will be good for the team" theory. I mean, I understand the psychological intent, which is to make a loose team wary and on its toes rather than overconfident and complacent -- or, conversely, to help a tight team relax by not having to worry about the extraneous matter of an undefeated season. But the practical ramifications of this theory make no sense. If you're that much better than everyone else -- and, granted, I haven't seen UST play this year, but the consensus in this room appears to be that the Tommies are head-and-shoulders above everyone else in the MIAC -- then you're going to keep winning every game as long as you're putting in at least the minimally-required amount of effort to do so. What's more, you're going to try to keep winning every game, because you're basketball players and that's what basketball players do.

But if you're a believer in the "lose one now, win more later" theory, then at some point you're hoping that Steve Fritz will take his team aside in the locker room before the game and say, "Well, gentlemen, this is the one that we have to lose in order to help us win later on. So let's go out there and throw the ball away, take stupid shots, and let the guys that we're covering on defense get away from us off the ball. Oh, and make sure that you leave your shoelaces untied."

You suit up, you take the floor, and you try to win. Every game. It's really just that simple. And if you're good enough, you keep winning and winning and winning, and you never lose.

There have been three teams in D3 men's basketball history that have cut down the nets and hoisted the Big Doorstop over their heads on the last night of the season without ever having lost a game all year. I don't think it's going to help UST's ultimate cause one bit if the Tommies lose their chance to become Undefeated D3 Champion #4.

Second time this week I have gone back to back to back jack...

I heard Bobby Knight, the last coach to lead a team to an undefeated season and championship in Division I talking about this very subject this morning on Mike and Mike in the Morning on AM 660 the Bear...anyway, he shared the same feelings as my homeboy from the Windy City area...he didn't feel that his team would have benefited by losing a game along the way...

He also thought the 2nd half his team played in that title matchup with Michigan was perhaps the best 2nd half of any title game in the modern era.  He also went on to say that because his teams were not favored in their other two title wins, and felt that he was able to discuss other teams more and how good they were, it probably took some of the pressure off his teams. 

[Willy Wonka]

UST(d) SID Gene McGivern offered me some insight today. His thoughts include the following:

• Noting his SID job began in a closet with a typewriter
• Pointing out the only MIAC team to finish 20-0 in conference was the Tommies in 1994-95
• Claiming UST has the bench best in the last 25 years of the league
• Tweaking Wonka's posting habits

Feel free to check out the glorious insight RIGHT HERE.

PS - This is what writers do when they're getting paid disability leave after surgery and can't do their normal job for up to two months. It won't prevent bedsores, but it might allow for some extra fun...

[columbianmaffia]

just keep winning

the lose a game theory is only good once you actually lose a game

[Nites]

UST(d) SID Gene McGivern offered me some insight today. His thoughts include the following:

• Noting his SID job began in a closet with a typewriter
• Pointing out the only MIAC team to finish 20-0 in conference was the Tommies in 1994-95
• Claiming UST has the bench best in the last 25 years of the league
• Tweaking Wonka's posting habits

Feel free to check out the glorious insight RIGHT HERE.

PS - This is what writers do when they're getting paid disability leave after surgery and can't do their normal job for up to two months. It won't prevent bedsores, but it might allow for some extra fun...

Excellent piece!  +k

Next time you talk to the guy, can you ask him to turn the purple off on the school's website?  I hate trying to read articles, stats and box scores through dark purple.  It drives me nuts.