MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Point grinds out a tough win on the road at Platteville. (boxscore link included)

This was a real battle and Platteville played very well.  The %s may say likewise, but I think both teams really fought for shots last night.  Platteville looked like they came in with a game plan to basically run the shot clock down to 10-15 and then try to run a play.  Quick guards like Jamerson really puts a thorn in Point's side.  Several times he broke down the defense, drove the lane and dished the ball outside to Shaw for a 3, or Gossens/Tetschlag for an open layup.  Tough to defend.  The latter two were basically unstoppable inside and Point threw as many as six different defenders at them. 

Point trailed most of the first half, but then put together a nice little run to end the half with a 4-point lead.  Platteville tied, and then took the lead briefly before Point led the rest of the way...but barely.  Point did stretch it to 56-46 with a little less than eight minutes to play and it looked like Point was tightening the screws, putting Platteville in the proverbial vice and possibly swatting that gnat away for good.  But, the Pioneers went a on a quick 5-0 spurt and it was a game again.  Point held on for the win and it was a tough win at that.

I was impressed with Gossens and Tetschlag.  Jamerson did well to break down the defense and Shaw shot very well when the ball came out to him. 

Krull had an off-night, but still made the plays when necessary.  I have no doubt that Rortvedt will probably break Bennett's 3-pt. mark.  The guy seems to hit from anywhere.  Drew Jackson played well, but needs to hang onto the ball after getting a rebound.  Several times, after Point got the rebound, Platteville pressured and won the ball back.  Hoelzel came in and played very well too.

There was discussion earlier about a lack of bench play possibly becoming a problem for La Crosse.  I don't think Point goes very deep with only Jackson and Hoelzel getting double-digit reserve minutes.  Krautkramer plays well when he comes in and Matt Moses seems to be non-existent after some early season minutes.  At one time both Hicklin and El-Amin were on the bench, so it's obvious Semling has confidence in Beamish, Krull or Rortvedt bringing the ball up.  I was holding my breath when Hoelzel looked like he wanted to take it coast-to-coast! lol.

A great win for Point and it looks like Saturday is going to be a huge battle with River Falls playing well and taking Point to the limit the first go-around.

Nice to meet UWPSuperfan77 and once again thanks for the tix.  You are too kind.

Point might have been "soft" last night because I heard that Semling said something to the effect that "their second nap" hurt them...Apparently they stopped in Madison to eat and everyone napped between Madison and Platteville!

One last thing:

Yeah Platteville, 1995 called, they want their Jock Jams CD back!!! It's 2007, I think it's time to update your music.

[Greek Tragedy]

Oh yeah, if you haven't already submitted your ballot for the midseason awards, please do so in the next two days.  Thanks.

[fredfalcon]

Chmarx--thanks for the sportsman-like comment!
I do think RF has more balance than any RF team I can remember (I know--that's a qualifier). I think if Melzer were playing with this team, it would be better than the 2004 team which won the conference.

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

Excellent post Old School on last nights game.  I think that Platteville and Point match up very well with each other, so with that said when our "young kids" and you "young kids" grow up to be Seniors, it should be entertaining.  I thought both teams played well and very gritty basketball last night.  One guy throws a punch, there's another coming right back at him.  Point just happened to get more punches.  I can't say I understand the two possesions in the second half of 1-3-1 defense.  Point knocked down two threes as a result.  I though Krull was non-existent last night until the last 5 minutes.  Rortvedt has got, IMO, the sweetest and purest shot I've seen in this league for quited some time.  The only guy I can recall being a more consistent and a little better shooter was Merrill Brunson.  Drew "Tayshaun Prince's little brother" Jackson played solid, especially getting his long arms out and hands in the passing lanes. 

Good game though, would've liked to see the score reversed, but the Pioneers have nothing to hang their heads about. 

[janesvilleflash]

Nonemacher
Gibson
Perry
Robertson
Nobles
Rortvedt
Krull
Werner
Gossens
Capelle

POY- Krull
COY Semling
Suprise- Point
Champ-Point
Sleeper-RF

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

Also, I agree about the music.  That's why we need school back in session to get the pep band back!!!

I don't know where they found that CD, but it needs to go.

[John Gleich]

Oh yeah, if you haven't already submitted your ballot for the midseason awards, please do so in the next two days.  Thanks.

Patience young grasshopper...

Btw, Jock Jams is classic OS, I remember back in middle school basketball, it really used to pump me up!

Re: Rortvedt's shot

I think PR may very well break NB's 3 record.  Pete played more minutes and had more of a scoring roll on the team as a freshman than Nick did.  Nick did start 4 games as a freshman (I believe with an injury to Kalonji Kadima if my memory serves me correctly), but only led the team in scoring once and made 22 3's.  PR started all 27 games for Point last season, and made 71 3's.  In fact, in Point's second to last game last year at home against Platteville, in one of the best individual shooting performances I've ever seen, Pete knocked down 9/11 3's... that's nearly half as many as Nick made in his entire first year.

[John Gleich]

In fact...

Nick made 22 his freshman year, 39 his sophomore year, 83 his junior year, and 88 his senior year.  Pete, after one season of 71 3's are already chipping away at Nick's record... and he's already got 58 again this season.

So Nick's 232 after 4 seasons will definately go down if Pete keeps shooting at this pace... he's already hit 129 through a season and a half.

WOW.

Btw, Pete knocks down a lot, but look at this stat:

Steve Hicklin from 3: 44-76   .579  As of last Sunday, he was at 41/72 for 56.9%, leading the country by 2.5 full percentage points, and this looks to be going up after his 3/4 performance last night!

Speaking of leading the country... Point still leads all divisions in both free-throw percentage at 83.5% and fewest TO's per game at 8.8125 TO's/gm.

WOW AGAIN!

[Greek Tragedy]

1.) I thought both teams played well and very gritty basketball last night.  One guy throws a punch, there's another coming right back at him.  Point just happened to get more punches. 

2.) I can't say I understand the two possesions in the second half of 1-3-1 defense.  Point knocked down two threes as a result. 

3.) Drew "Tayshaun Prince's little brother" Jackson played solid, especially getting his long arms out and hands in the passing lanes. 

1.) Literally!  There were elbows flying all over the place.  Even if you were a neutral fan, you would even have to admit Gossens shouldered his way to a basket that one time when he totally cleared out Krull! lol

2.) I mentioned before why anyone would want to play zone against Point.  I even yelled after the 2nd one, "Keep playing that zone!"

3.) Sweet!  I like the reference.  Tayshaun Prince was one of my favorite players when he played.

Btw, Jock Jams is classic OS, I remember back in middle school basketball, it really used to pump me up!

WHEN YOU WERE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!  Though I can't get enough of Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's It Takes Two.  Admittedly, some of the crap they play today is...well, crap.

Speaking of leading the country... Point still leads all divisions in both free-throw percentage at 83.5% and fewest TO's per game at 8.8125 TO's/gm.

That Krull guy is killing us!  He missed two more last night.

Here's a stat for you...LAST FIVE GAMES (four of them conference games)

Khalifa El-Amin:  28 assists and 3 turnovers.  Guess I should've drafted him.

Rortvedt has got, IMO, the sweetest and purest shot I've seen in this league for quited some time. 

I was going to argue this point with Nick Bennett, but he hardly had what some would call, "a pure shot"...he just had such a quick release. 

You should've introduced yourself to Swampgoon and I.

Point knocked down two threes as a result.  I though Krull was non-existent last night until the last 5 minutes. 

With apologies to Point's championship teams, there is one thing that I like better with this year's squad than those...balance.  Those teams focused on Nick Bennett from the outside and Jason Kalsow from the inside.  This year, Krull and Rortvedt can do it.  But, Hicklin has also become a force.  El-Amin isn't going to scare anyone with an outburst of scoring, but he can still knock down some shots and, as you can see, he can find the open person.  Bryan Beamish has really become a force, I think.  He had a quiet six points and 5 assists last night, but he's one of those really good all-around players that, on any given night, can do everything.  I also like the fact that Rortvedt has shown his ability to get to the basket.  He fakes the three and then drives into the lane.  Very nice.

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

 I enjoy my fellow UWP Posters. We need to meet for a buffet at Pizza Ranch before the game and talk Hoops! Soft to me is playing Physically like the Goose. A classic tough player was Mike Jones our 6'5" Center on our last Championship Team. Jon Krull is the only Physical player on point that gets any minutes.Think UWO will win the rematch game with Point! I think the game last night shows that 3 or 4 teams could win the conference tournament if they get on a roll including UWP! Point can win the National Title, but I still think they need more of an inside presence. Keep up the good postings and God Bless!

[bulk19]

Point Special -
Jock Jams is a classic? That's too funny.  

But if you were in middle school then, where does the "patience young grasshopper" reference come from? That's way old school, a take off of the "patience, young weedhopper" phrase from the first season of SNL... But I thought it was from the "Kung Fu" tv show of the 1970s??? You guys are in the trivia capital of the world in Point, help so me out on that. lol...

Back to hoops... we may have discussed this earlier on this board, but since the comparison was made again between Bennett and Rortvedt, I'll toss out two questions just for discussion's sake =

1) Who would you rather have at the free throw line with the game on the line?
2) Who is better defensively?

I saw Bennett during his championship run, but haven't seen Rortvedt yet... Be interested in hearing more thoughts from the Pointer fans here about those two...

Oh, and PSuperfan's comments about Point playing soft physically? I can understand that comment; that's not to suggest they were not aggressive and intense on D, because they were, and have a few championships to show for their style of play, which was smart basketball, and positioning...

But over the last 10 years or so, their bigs were not really physical bangers... They shot a lot of threes. Kalsow and Krull are exceptions - they are bangers - although Krull doesn't have the size as the others, and is quick enought to be a slasher.

Brian Bauer, too. He'd take the threes, but was more of a banger inside than guys like Mauer, Paynter and Islerloth, who come to mind from past teams... So my definition of physical is guys who throw their weight around and sweep the boards...

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

Dito Bulk. Blessings!

[John Gleich]

2.) I mentioned before why anyone would want to play zone against Point.  I even yelled after the 2nd one, "Keep playing that zone!"

Absolutely.  Point regularly has 5 guys who can knock down the three and any one of them who is WIDE open will hit it the majority of the time.  No zone can cover all 5.  The only defense that can cover each is man to man, and that leaves driving and passing lanes open.  What do you do?  I like that noone has been able to completely figure that out yet!

Here's a stat for you...LAST FIVE GAMES (four of them conference games)
Khalifa El-Amin:  28 assists and 3 turnovers.  Guess I should've drafted him.

He is being overshadowed by the other guys, but that's why he's such a great point guard.  He's distrubuting and doing the little things to make the team better.  Very much like Tamaris two years ago, he is the glue that is keeping everything together.

Rortvedt has got, IMO, the sweetest and purest shot I've seen in this league for quite some time. 

I was going to argue this point with Nick Bennett, but he hardly had what some would call, "a pure shot"...he just had such a quick release. 

Nick's scoring ability was one that was, IMO, willed.  He turned himself from a decent player as a freshman and sophomore to a really good player as a junior, and then an all-American as a senior.  He worked SO hard in the offseason.  Now, if you look at his stats, they're actually not as good his senior year, precentage-wise, but he became more of a complete threat, and teams really keyed on him, and he STILL scored 18 pts per game.

With apologies to Point's championship teams, there is one thing that I like better with this year's squad than those...balance.  Those teams focused on Nick Bennett from the outside and Jason Kalsow from the inside.  This year, Krull and Rortvedt can do it.  But, Hicklin has also become a force.  El-Amin isn't going to scare anyone with an outburst of scoring, but he can still knock down some shots and, as you can see, he can find the open person.  Bryan Beamish has really become a force, I think.  He had a quiet six points and 5 assists last night, but he's one of those really good all-around players that, on any given night, can do everything.  I also like the fact that Rortvedt has shown his ability to get to the basket.  He fakes the three and then drives into the lane.  Very nice.

No need to apologize OS, this team IS more balanced.  In both championship years, there were two players who averaged double digits, Kalsow at 17.9 and Bennett at 17.2, and Kalsow at 19.1 and Bennett at 18.3.  Interestingly, Point scored the same number of points per game (73.3, 73.2) so, in the second Nat Championship year, the scoring actually became more UNBALANCED.  This Point team has Rortvedt at 17.0, Krull at 16.4, Hicklin at 13.4, and Beamish at 10.1 for a team that scores a few more points (81.2) but also gives up 5 or 8 more points per game than the 04-05 and 05-06 teams.

Also, this Point team has had the following players lead the team in scoring:

Rortvedt 8 times, Krull 5 times, Hicklin 3 times, Jackson 1 time.

04-05 Kalsow 17 times, Bennett 14 times, Maus twice and Krull twice
05-06 Kalsow 19 times, Bennett 13 times, Krull twice

There's been more balance in this year's team and the guys who has been leaned on has changed more times than each of the championship teams.  Remember, too, it's about half-way through the season this year, and the other stats are for full seasons.

[John Gleich]

Bulk, I totally agree about the Point big men not being bangers.  The last TRUE post would have been Joe Zuiker IMO, and he was even before my time here.  Coach Bennett always preferred a bit more versatile big guys.  Iserloth always preferred to be hanging around the 3 pt line than around the basket, and even though he had the body to bang, he rarely did.  The one real game that he DID bang was the game he went for 40 at Whitewater in an OT game his senior year.  He did hit 4/6 3's in that game, but in the OT, he threw Point on his back and banged, especially for the OT, forcing the smaller WW team to either let him score, or foul him.

Kalsow was just an all-around great player, though his post skills did tend to be much more finesse than power, though he could, and did, both.  Maus was much more a finesse player and beat you with his tremendous footwork, intermediate shooting ability, and ability to "sneak" to the open spot to take uncontested shots.  Krull has great moves and the power game, but is, as you said, undersized for a post, especially in the WIAC.  And Bauer was a bit like Iserloth in that he spent much more time around the arc as opposed to around the paint.

[Greek Tragedy]

Wow Bulk19, you pose some very interesting questions.

First off, I won't insult Nick or Pete and try to compare the two in terms of who's better than who.  Nick was an "automatic" at the free throw line and everyone knew that.  Rortvedt, in his defense, has hit 31-33 this year, and a pedestrian 36-46 last year.  So, I guess Nick, without looking at his stats. 

Nick had such a quick release that he could get the ball with his back towards the basket, turn and square up and shoot in basically all in one motion.  Some of the 3s he hit in the two championship games were simply amazing...like, "how the heck did he do that?!"  Pete, IMO, is more of a guy who needs to come off a screen to shoot, but when he does, I'm confident it's going in every time, no matter where he's shooting from.  Bennett seemed to be a better passer, while Rortvedt has improved his rebounding.  Defensively?  I plead the 5th. 

Big guys, it doesn't seem like they've had a lot of bangers.  Bauer was hardly a banger inside because Kalsow was there during Bauer's years.  Bauer's senior year, after Kalsow left, he still shot over half of his shots from 3-pt. land.  He was 2nd in rebounding at 4.3 though.  I think defensively, Eric Maus (you said Mauer) was a banger.  He didn't do too much offensively, but he usually played well against the opponent's big man and obviously he was overshadowed by Kalsow and Bennett.  Iserloth frustrated me at times from staying outside (98 3-pt attempts) his senior year, but that was still less than a 3rd of his total attempts.  I think he really could've done better inside.

Swampgoon and I have a saying when Kevin Grusczynski or Cory Krautkramer come in..."here comes the lead pipe!"  In English, that means we think they are bangers who come in for that "attitude adjustment" for the team.  They are bangers, though they don't play too much.  I think when Krull or someone else needs a rest, these two can come and still be physical (or more physical) with the post opponents.

One last thing...YOU REALLY NEED TO SEE RORTVEDT PLAY!  Every game, especially on the road, I hear opposing fans say to themselves, "Wow" when Rortvedt hits a long-range 3...and he also does it in opportune times (stopping an opposing team's run, putting the nail in the coffin etc).