MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[iwumichigander]

Congratulations to the Pointers whom really took the game from the opening tip off and deservedly won.

Go win the whole tournament!  The Pointers will need a strong perimeter defense against R-M whom really likes to put up the treys.

[badgerwarhawk]

Randolph-Macon three point field goal percentage = .370
Stevens Point three point field goal defense = .319

Something has got to give.

[The Roop]

Something "gave" in the UT-Dallas game. Don't worry about it.

[nescac1]

Between Williams' size (only 2000 students total), the fact that Salem is a 10 hour drive from Williamstown, and the fact that Saturday is the start of spring break (hence lots of students already have pre-existing travel plans) I wouldn't expect a huge contingent of Williams students in Salem, alas.  I hope that a busload or two will make it down, we'll have to see though.  There could be a fairly large player family contingent, considering the Ephs currently have one player from Virginia, three from the DC area, and a few more from driveable distances (one from TN, one from DE) on the roster.  

The WSP-Williams 2004 game was one of the best I've seen at this level ... two offensive juggernauts both firing on all cylinders.  Even if it ended differently than I would have liked, the Ephs played a truly great game that day, but just ran into not only a very talented team (Kalsow one of the best I've seen in D-III), but one of the most precise, well-coached teams I've seen as well.  It would be fun to see a rematch, certainly ... this Williams team is very different, but like the 04 squad, they can definitely SHOOT.  

[Ralph Turner]

Something "gave" in the UT-Dallas game. Don't worry about it.

I also think that UTD exposed some vulnerabilities. 

[The Roop]

I'm working out conditions with my wife to allow me to attend the Final Four next weekend.  Not sure what i have to give up, but I'll probably do it!

The best you can hope for is an upscale mall near the civic center and take her with you. Preferably they also have a theatre so you can get the chick flick moment out of the way at the same time. 

[chmarx]

You should definitely pay the marital price and go, Tom!

[The Roop]

Tom still falls under the guidelines of newlywed rules, so Mrs. Old School needs to go too or he will never hear the end of it.

[Pat Coleman]

Something "gave" in the UT-Dallas game. Don't worry about it.

I also think that UTD exposed some vulnerabilities. 

Really? Because IWU didn't exactly take advantage.

[The Roop]

Well Pat, the tournament was stacked against the ASC and I'm sure you had something to do with it. 

[badgerwarhawk]

I'm working out conditions with my wife to allow me to attend the Final Four next weekend.  Not sure what i have to give up, but I'll probably do it!

Come on OS, grow a set!!  Even Mrs BD doesn't expect me to miss a Final Four for bowling.   

[Pat Coleman]

Well Pat, the tournament was stacked against the ASC and I'm sure you had something to do with it. 

I guess if we are to judge UT-Dallas solely on being close in a game against UW-Stevens Point then we have to rank Carleton and Oshkosh and Elmhurst and Superior and the like that way as well.

That's why I rely on the mantra "it's not who you lost to, it's who you beat."

[The Roop]

I think you've missed my dig at Ralph so I'll have to put it another way. UT-Dallas and St. Norbert are the same team. Under normal circumstances they are not beating Point.

[John Gleich]

Here's a repost from the ODAC board.  Part of the initial discussion is about Williams and their SOS and may not be germaine to Point... but it might spur on some discussion none the less.

Ya know, the whole argument of "Williams would have had more losses if they played in the ODAC" might be true... but it might not be true either.

Let's take a look at the final four teams in terms of S.O.S.

Team	SOS Rank	Win %	OWP	OOWP	SOS
UWSP:	11	.846	.588	.559	.578
Randy Mac:	20	.727	.578	.530	.562
Guilford:	127	.929	.522	.530	.525
Williams:	170	1.000	.508	.545	.520

In one sense, one could say that Williams, because they didn't lose* may be the best team in the country, even if they didn't play the best schedule.  No one* beat them... so it can't be said that they would have lose if they played a different schedule.  I made that same argument for teams like Anderson, St. Norbert, etc, who had gaudy records but didn't have gaudy SOS's.  They matriculated up in what has been dubbed the St. Peter Principle after Gustavus Adolphus (of St. Peter, MN) from a few years ago when teams above them lost and they kept rising in the polls.  They really weren't that good... but because others above them lost, they seemed better, even though they weren't playing the greatest competition.  At a certain point, they should have just stopped rising in the polls (the argument I made for Anderson and St. Norbert was at about 15, or so) until they were challenged by a top team.  That argument (up to 15) holds because both those teams had lost a game or two at that point, and not to a top team.  Now, each team can have an off night and lose a game they should win (such as Whitworth losing to Pomona-Pitzer, in my opinion) but if it's two such losses, then it casts skepticism on if their record is really representative of how good they are... when they don't have a great SOS.  If, however, they lose just 1 game to an average team, than that might have been an off night... but I don't think they should matriculate higher than about 15.

All that is to say that Williams is undefeated* so they really might be that great, no matter what their S.O.S.  Now, one might add that they haven't truly been tested by tough competition... so when the rubber meets the road, they won't be as prepared as a team that has played a tough schedule.  Furthermore, if they haven't lost, then they haven't gone through the maturity and learning that a loss provides, such as weaknesses that would otherwise not come to light.


*Of course, however, Williams isn't undefeated... they've actually lost to Randy Mac, so this string of logic doesn't flow fully, though one might be able to say that this victory was, perhaps, aided by RMC's home court advantage.  I'm not necessarily going to take this line myself, but I don't have a dog in that particular fight...  the WIAC had an .80 win percentage this year and the ODAC would have struggled there too!   

Here are some numbers comparisons of the teams:

Team	Off Eff	Def Eff	Avg Poss/Gm	Off PPG	Def PPG
Point	114.6	92.4	129.0	74.0	59.5
R-M	105.1	90.7	141.7	74.6	64.1
Guil	115.8	95.5	140.1	81.7	66.5
Will	122.8	93.2	138.6	85.2	64.5

The Off/Def efficiency takes Points/100 possessions and the possessions are compiled by this algorithm:

Poss = FGA - ORB + T.O. + (.475*FTA)

The possession numbers per game above are the offensive possessions plus defensive possessions and can be used to see the pace at which teams like to play.

Here's another rubric... it looks at FG%, 3P%, 2P%, % of makes and attempts that are 2's and 3's:

Offensive

Team	FG%	3P%	2P%	%A3P	%A2P	%M3P	%M2P
Point	49.5%	36.4%	53.9%	25.1%	74.9%	18.4%	81.6%
R-M	47.7%	37.0%	53.2%	34.3%	65.7%	26.7%	73.3%
Guil	47.3%	37.9%	51.7%	31.6%	68.4%	25.3%	74.7%
Will	52.7%	45.8%	56.9%	38.4%	61.6%	33.4%	66.6%

Defensive

Team	FG%	3P%	2P%	%A3P	%A2P	%M3P	%M2P
Point	41.1%	31.9%	45.9%	34.3%	65.7%	26.6%	73.4%
R-M	40.3%	30.8%	44.2%	29.3%	70.7%	22.4%	77.6%
Guil	40.0%	32.5%	45.7%	43.2%	56.8%	35.1%	64.9%
Will	39.3%	32.5%	42.4%	31.3%	68.7%	25.9%	74.1%

I don't have time for any analysis right now of these numbers... but the SOS DOES need to be taken into account when looking at these.

[Greek Tragedy]

1.)  Carrie hates shopping, even though she always seems to buy stuff.  No "up scale" girl here.  She's fine at the local Goodwill. 

2.)  I actually tolerate chick flicks more than she does. 

3.)  It looks like WE are going.  There was just a situation we needed to take care of and it looks like we got the "go ahead".

4.)  How long does "newlyweds" last?  Two years? 

Glad to hear Frodotwo is going.  See ya out there!  Point Special?  Any chance?  Carrie wants to know!