MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Mr. Downtown]

We need La Crosse to play better...but I agree...I just don't see it this year.


With that being said...the WIAC SHOULD have 2 teams in the tourney!

[Mr. Downtown]

This is what TVD said after the game about Marsh: 

"He's really become a complete player," Titans' coach Ted Van Dellen said of his freshman. "He's going to be a heck of a player. Now we just have to somehow keep the rest of the league from noticing him."

Too late 

[ItIsWhatItIs]

Well, I think the UWW Mens Basketball team is officially under the bus now.  I am not one to say I told you so, but the handwriting was clearly on the wall for me after the early season debacles at home to IWU and LaCrosse.  Things needed to be addressed then, but obviously they were not. 

With as large a coaching staff as they have, one would believe they could have remedied their plight of poor substitutions and poor game management.  As other teams have progressed throughout the season, it seems UWW has stayed the same or digressed.  uww4ever observations of this team speaks volumes.  I feel bad for the seniors who deserve more. They have the talent to be amazing...they are capable of being top 15, minimally. 

I know that they still can shock the conference and win the tournament and for some that will validate the season and this team...

Congratulations to OshKosh...impressive stuff on the road at #1

[Greek Tragedy]

Stevens Point...meet Mr. DJ Marsh.

Enough said.

This is what TVD said after the game about Marsh: 

"Hes really become a complete player," Titans coach Ted Van Dellen said of his freshman. "Hes going to be a heck of a player. Now we just have to somehow keep the rest of the league from noticing him."

Too late 

Apparently, Mr. Downtown has become the official spokesman and unofficial media and public relations agent for D.J. Marsh.

Anyway, HE did have a great game against Point and I won't deny that.  Along with Kerry "I finally had a great game against Point" Gibson, Oshkosh was nearly unstoppable.  I'll try not to repeat everything Point Special said, so I'll keep it brief (or try to).

Oshkosh played a near flawless game.  I will not take any credit away from them.  Their perimeter defense was outstanding, especially Jordan Johnson on Rortvedt.  Their rebounding was dominant, outrebounding them by 17 (funny how they outrebounded Point by 15 in Oshkosh and lost).  As I've always said, Oshkosh should throw the ball into Gibson everytime until the opponent shows they can defend it.  Point, last night, couldn't.  Capelle had a quiet 19, with some of those seemingly coming at the end with free throws.  DJ Marsh was outstanding, and he has been for the past several games.  But, he is human and has had his off-nights, so he's not the all-world Mr. DT thinks he is just yet! lol. ...he had a decent game vs Point the first time around and has put up some real good numbers against other teams...so it's not like this was his coming-out party, though it was probably the biggest game for him (and Oshkosh) this year.

On the Point side, thanks mostly to Oshkosh's defense, they couldn't get into a groove.  There were 8-10 shots that went halfway in and came back out.  The few open looks we had, they couldn't convert.  I didn't think there was ever going to be a night when Krull and Rortvedt would have bad nights at the same time, but it happened.  Beamish and Hicklin also showed that it's just not the Krull/Rortvedt show.  Hicklin didn't have a real good game, but he did score in double-figures and Beamish lead the team in scoring. 

It was an overflowing full house at Quandt and the atmosphere was amazing.  The student section was full and they stood the entire game.  Hats off to them because it doesn't happen too often.  It's too bad the players couldn't match the fans' hopes, but that's ok. 

There really isn't a time when you want to accept a loss, but this one wasn't too hard to swallow because Oshkosh simply outplayed Point.  I'm obviously disappointed that we lost, but I can't complain being 16-2 and 9-1 in the conference!  We have a week to think about it and Eau Claire could be in for another pasting on Wednesday. 

I don't think the 17-pt. margin the nation will see gives justice to Point.  I think it was a 10-pt. game with Point launching wild 3s for the last 3 or 4 minutes (and missing) and Oshkosh hitting their free throws.

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

Congrats to Oshkosh, on a tough victory.  Quandt full or empty isn't an easy place to win.

I'm very excited about this weekend though here is Platteville.  Glad I've got my ticket is all I can say.

Can't wait to see some of the old guys back and of course the dedication to "The Man" of Platteville.

Is it Friday night yet?

[Greek Tragedy]

Is it Friday night yet?

Somewhere in the world.

[chmarx]

To get into the NCAA playoffs, I think La Crosse will have to win either the regular season championship or the conference playoff.  We just have too many bad losses.

I suspect that Point is in whatever.

Does anyone else think their team can get in without winning one of the two championships?  Oshkosh, perhaps?

[Gregory Sager]

UWSP's regional winning percentage is .938, and UWO's is .813. I haven't calculated their respective QOWIs, but I'm sure that they're both quite high. Last year it took a regional winning percentage somewhere in the vicinity of .750 to make the Pool C cutoff, so both the Pointers and the Titans are in great shape for a Pool C bid (or bids, if one of the other seven teams happens to win the WIAC tourney). Since UW-LaCrosse is currently .667 in region, and UW-Platteville is .615, my guess is that either one will have to run the table for the rest of the regular season, and then get to at least the second round of the WIAC tourney before losing, if they want a shot at a Pool C bid.

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

T Karma to the King of Statistics. God bless!

[uww4ever]

Good write up about Bo Ryan in SI (Life of Reilly) about how he's his favorite coach right now.  Of course, when your ranked #2 and winning, it's easy to give all the accolades and not find many negatives (i.e. UWW last year).  But it is much deserved, one of my good college friends met Bo and said he was the nicest person, not full on himself at all and a really good guy to talk to.

I hate pushing UWW under the bus and being negative about them, but it's hard to find many positives.  Like Oshy underperforming last year, hopefully this is a hard lesson for some of the guys to work extra hard not only next year, but this year as well .  Last year might have been a good chance to really do something, and that carried over into this year for about 50 minutes and then IWU came back on us and it pretty much set the tone for the year.  There are still a few games left to turn it around, but again it is easy to be jealous of what SP and Oshy are doing, as much as I'm not a fan of them at all.

GO HAWKS

[Greek Tragedy]

UWSP's regional winning percentage is .938, and UWO's is .813. I haven't calculated their respective QOWIs, but I'm sure that they're both quite high. Last year it took a regional winning percentage somewhere in the vicinity of .750 to make the Pool C cutoff, so both the Pointers and the Titans are in great shape for a Pool C bid (or bids, if one of the other seven teams happens to win the WIAC tourney). Since UW-LaCrosse is currently .667 in region, and UW-Platteville is .615, my guess is that either one will have to run the table for the rest of the regular season, and then get to at least the second round of the WIAC tourney before losing, if they want a shot at a Pool C bid.

You could use last year as an barometer.  La Crosse got in at 20-7 (and just 18-7 in-region) as a Pool C.  So, with the expansion of the Pool C bid, seven losses might get you in.  That might be an easier way to get an idea of what it takes to get in, instead of all these needless stats that Sager comes up with so he can impress all his D3hoops poster peers just to get his karma up! lol (just kidding Greg)    You know I appreciate your work and it's always impressive.

For those who don't like to get out of the neighborhood (i.e., just the WIAC board), I would say at the beginning of February, head over to the mult-regional board and find the QOWI (formerly SOSI) board and learn more about what it takes and how the NCAA figures out who gets those conveted Pool C bids.

[Greek Tragedy]

I'm planning on being at the River Falls game at Oshkosh tomorrow, feel free to say hi, as usual...that includes you, Tim Bartel! lol. 

[Titan Q]

Quality of Wins Index (QOWI) and in-region winning % seem to be the two biggest factors in the Pool C selection process.  Per the QOWI board, here is who made the field last year (sorted by the top 50 QOWI).  The Pool A teams (conference champs) are crossed off.  This will give you some idea of the QOWI and in-region winning % metrics needed for a Pool C bid...


1-10
Amherst     12.160     24-1
Lawrence    11.682    22-0
Worcester Polytech    11.250    20-3
Mississippi College    11.154    25-1
Tufts    11.000    20-5 Pool C
St. John Fisher    11.000    22-1
Lincoln    10.688    12-4  Pool B
Wittenberg    10.652    20-3
Gordon    10.560    22-3 Pool C
Carnegie Mellon    10.550    16-4

11-20
Virginia Wesleyan    10.481    24-3
Augustana    10.478    19-4 Pool C
Cortland State    10.440    22-3 Pool C
York (Pa.)    10.400    22-3 Pool C
Transylvania    10.370    23-4
Trinity (Texas)    10.316    16-3 Pool C
UW-Whitewater    10.304    18-5
William Paterson    10.240    19-6
Hope    10.211    17-2
North Central    10.095    16-5
               
21-30
Bates    10.091    16-6 (not selected)
Carroll    10.087    19-4 Pool C
Ursinus    10.080    20-5
Baldwin-Wallace    10.077    22-4
Washington U.    10.050    14-6 (not selected)
Wooster    10.042    21-3 Pool C
Carleton    10.000    18-5 Pool C
St. Thomas    9.960    20-5
Baruch    9.958    21-3 Pool C
Alvernia    9.958    21-3
               
31-40
Illinois Wesleyan    9.952    15-6 Pool C
Puget Sound    9.944    16-2
Widener    9.920    20-5 Pool C
Lakeland    9.905    17-4 (not selected)
UW-La Crosse    9.880    18-7 Pool C
SUNY-Farmingdale    9.875    19-5
UW-Stout    9.870    18-5 Pool C
Randolph-Macon    9.840    19-6 Pool C
Keene State    9.800    18-7 (not selected)
Fisk    9.800    10-5 (not selected for Pool B)
               
41-50
Trinity (Conn.)    9.750    15-5 (not selected)
Occidental    9.750    12-4 Pool C
Calvin    9.733    13-2 Pool C
Utica    9.692    20-6 Pool C
MIT    9.680    17-7 (not selected)
Messiah    9.583    17-7
Whitworth    9.542    18-6 (not selected)
Catholic    9.542    19-5
Endicott    9.520    16-8
Lake Erie    9.500    18-4
               

[Greek Tragedy]

Nice work TQ.

[titan2000]

This is what TVD said after the game about Marsh: 

"He's really become a complete player," Titans' coach Ted Van Dellen said of his freshman. "He's going to be a heck of a player. Now we just have to somehow keep the rest of the league from noticing him."

Too late 

Just the kind of analysis I've come to expect.