MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[laxeagles1]

Laxeagles1, I challenge you to approach Coach Koelbl about joining the team as a manager, student assistant coach, or even as a free lance reporter.  You could write a short book on what it takes to run a program and prepare a team to play in the WIAC and the NCAA.  Then, and only then, will I be able to respect or respond again to any criticism you have about Coach Koelbl.

It's not his job to do anything but coach and make the team better, and I will continue to support the program.  As you stated it is not his job to 'listen to the critics'  and not once have i said that Coach Koelbl could not recruit, not once.  I don't doubt he spends countless hours finding the right 'piece to his puzzle', and he has done a very good job of that for 3 years..........All I am saying is that until this year I did not see those puzzles being fit together.........

I am realistic in the sense I did not expect him year one to come in and make LaCrosse a winning program, however in two years you would expect to see a team improving and making strides to a winning ballclub.  In two years they would play a game like they did against UWO or UWSP then counter with a game against UWSUP..........That, in a nutshell is what got to me.............

I respect the heck out of Coach Koelbl from his playing days in Viterbo, the man obviously knows how to play the game of basketball, can recruit basketball talent, yet until this year he has not shown the ability to use that talent properly in a ballgame (the art of coaching).......If this season continues the way it is I will and am already becoming the first to admit he is a better coach than I envisioned and will and is turning into a viable WIAC coach.................I have thought this at times last year but every time I got these thoughts into my head steps backward were taken.......

btw, I know the basketball game pretty well.  I have coached (high school tournament team), officiated, and played for 8 years.  From the stands it is easier to 'coach' than from the sidelines but some decisions leave the most educated fans mindboggled.......and all I am saying is if that 'red flag' pops up in your head too many times you start to question those running the ship......

I just want to reitterate that never once have I attacked coach Koelbl's character, dedication, etc. to the Lax basketball program, I have indeed attacked his coaching ability, to me a huge difference and based on one's thinking of the proper way to go about things.....knowing from players that he is a hard-working dedicated coach (although I know he has a 'Gibbons-like' approach to players he did not recruit) he has all the character traits to be a successful WIAC coach.  Hopefully, for my Universities sake he becomes what other WIAC teams, as well as the community of La Crosse sees as a successful WIAC coach

Tomorrow will be one heck of a game against Point, both the women and the men's

-It would be a great job to be a free lance reporter for Lax basketball, not since my days helping Mike out at badgerstatepreps.com have I done that! 

-Team managers have to work out hard.  I am not in that shape at this point and never will be again to my 'basketball playing days'

-Student assistant coach?  Would love that as well I think I could add valuable insight into my feelings of how to run a successful basketball team (press 100% of the time), 1-3-1 trapping zone with owen on the top implemented as an 'off defensive look', etc. 

[Gregory Sager]

I absolutely detest the 1-3-1. The coach of NPU's women's team uses it about 15-20% of the time, and it always drives me nuts every time that he breaks it out. There may be no worse defensive set in the game of basketball than the 1-3-1 when it comes to rebounding. It's tough enough to find your man and put a body on him when you're preparing for a rebound while in any zone defense, but the 1-3-1 is the worst because it takes the bigs so far away from the basket that the box-out problem is compounded.

Of course, given the lower shooting percentages of women's basketball, it's an even more unwise choice of defense for the ladies than it is for the guys.

Sorry, but since Laxeagles1 brought it up, I thought I'd take this opportunity to vent.

[laxeagles1]

I absolutely detest the 1-3-1. The coach of NPU's women's team uses it about 15-20% of the time, and it always drives me nuts every time that he breaks it out. There may be no worse defensive set in the game of basketball than the 1-3-1 when it comes to rebounding. It's tough enough to find your man and put a body on him when you're preparing for a rebound while in any zone defense, but the 1-3-1 is the worst because it takes the bigs so far away from the basket that the box-out problem is compounded.

Of course, given the lower shooting percentages of women's basketball, it's an even more unwise choice of defense for the ladies than it is for the guys.

Sorry, but since Laxeagles1 brought it up, I thought I'd take this opportunity to vent.

i agree with you most of the time.  If you have a quick big at the top of the 1-3-1 and trap it can be affective.  running a stationary, non-trapping 1-3-1 is absolutely worthless.  =

[Gregory Sager]

I don't like the 1-3-1 even when it's employed as a trapping defense. Any uptick in turnover potential is more than erased by the greater loss of rebounding ability, unless the team you're facing has particularly inept ballhandlers. And there's better ways to take advantage of that weakness in your opponent than in employing a full-blown specialty zone.

[John Gleich]

I know I'm just wasting my time in replying, but I can't resist...

LaxEagles, you clearly don't have enough respect for the rest of the league if you think that winning in the WIAC is an easy thing or something that should be taken for granted.  This is the toughest, most balanced conference in the country with the best teams, from top to bottom.  That INCLUDES the bottom, namely Superior, which you mentioned in your retort to playdefense:

In two years they would play a game like they did against UWO or UWSP then counter with a game against UWSUP..........That, in a nutshell is what got to me.............

With logic like that, (that the coach of a team that loses to Superior isn't a very good one) then what should we say about Coach Bennett?  His Pointer teams lost TWICE to Superior two years ago.

What kind of coach was Coach Bennett?  Only the coach of the back-to-back National Champions, NCAA Coach of the Year the last two seasons (INCLUDING the season the Pointers lost twice to Superior) and one of the best teachers/motivaters of the game of basketball I've ever seen, on any level.

[laxeagles1]

I know I'm just wasting my time in replying, but I can't resist...

LaxEagles, you clearly don't have enough respect for the rest of the league if you think that winning in the WIAC is an easy thing or something that should be taken for granted.  This is the toughest, most balanced conference in the country with the best teams, from top to bottom.  That INCLUDES the bottom, namely Superior, which you mentioned in your retort to playdefense:

In two years they would play a game like they did against UWO or UWSP then counter with a game against UWSUP..........That, in a nutshell is what got to me.............

With logic like that, (that the coach of a team that loses to Superior isn't a very good one) then what should we say about Coach Bennett?  His Pointer teams lost TWICE to Superior two years ago.

What kind of coach was Coach Bennett?  Only the coach of the back-to-back National Champions, NCAA Coach of the Year the last two seasons (INCLUDING the season the Pointers lost twice to Superior) and one of the best teachers/motivaters of the game of basketball I've ever seen, on any level.

Last year Superior was a 'down team' and at the time a game that LaCrosse should have won.........I am by no means saying they are a bad team........Last year they just were not good, so my reference was to the league status as of last year.

[laxeagles1]

I know I'm just wasting my time in replying, but I can't resist...

LaxEagles, you clearly don't have enough respect for the rest of the league if you think that winning in the WIAC is an easy thing or something that should be taken for granted.  This is the toughest, most balanced conference in the country with the best teams, from top to bottom.  That INCLUDES the bottom, namely Superior, which you mentioned in your retort to playdefense:

I will not dispute this I agree with you 100%

[playdefense]

It doesn't matter who you're playing!  On any given night in the WIAC, if you don't bring your A-Game, you can lose.  It's a lot different than high school because almost all collegiate teams have good players.  And it's not like high school, when some times you can just shoe up, play an average game, and if you have better talent, win the game.

[hoops2]

Mr, Sager,

You may not like the 1-3-1 but I seem to remember a certain team from UWSP using it and having great success with it.  With the right personnel it can be effective and certainly Point had the right personnel.

[John Gleich]

Good point Hoops.  However, GS's points about the weaknesses of the 1-3-1 are definately applicable.  The weakside wing is at a decided disadvantage, having to sink to the level of the ball when the ball is opposite him, but still having both the responsibility to cover the offensive wing in his side should teh ball be reversed AND rebound with that same offensive wing attacking the board with a full head of steam.

Point definately used the 1-3-1 as a "situation" defense.  It wasn't used as a gimmic defense, as some teams use it, but it was used to throw a wrench in a team's plan, especially late in games.

The zone that became much more of a staple for Point has been the sliding 1-2-2.  Just ask Puget Sound or Rochester how effective it can be at 1) stopping dribble penetration and 2) negating an inside presence.  The Rochester coach made a few jokes about trying to pass through pterydactyl wings, or something like that, after the National Championship game last year, and that's what it would look like.  6'5" on the point, 6'7" on one wing, a very quick 5'8" on the other wing, and 6'9" and 6'7" on the baseline.

Even with the 1-3-1, the passing lanes just weren't there.  Having 6'5" on the point and 6'7", 6'9", 6'4" on the wings really cut down what a team was trying to do, and in the years I've watched Stevens Point play, I've NEVER seen a team come down, recognize the 1-3-1, and immediately get into a zone offense and start attacking.  The point guard always would pull it out, and, scratching his head, with a somewhat quizical look, seem to think "How in the world do I attack this?"  I'll admit that, at least initially, it is a very intimidating thing to go against.  There doesn't APPEAR to be any angles with which to attack the zone.  And if the zone is doing its job and cutting down quick passes, then, by the time a pass is made, the zone has shifted, and there still aren't any angles.

Now, teams HAVE found ways to exploit the zone.  Screening backside and lobbing to the rim is one way to do it.  But you've gotta have an athletic big guy (a la Vince Thomas or Cody Kastern) or somebody who's just really tall (like Gibson) to pull it off.  And it only MAYBE works, if the defense doesn't recognize it.

All in all, the zone, even the 1-3-1, can be a useful tool.  But, except for certain special situations, it is just a tool.  Teams that try and use it as their only defense will get exploited.

[Greek Tragedy]

I didn't think they used the zone much when Relerford was in there.  Thought it was Bauer, Maus, Kalsow, Bennett and Grusczynski...though, I'm not as smart as PS! 

[Gregory Sager]

Strongest conference, top to bottom? Yes, the WIAC is clearly that, OS. "Toughest and most balanced"?  Not so much. What do you mean by "toughest", anyway? Most physically rugged, or most difficult to win? How do you prove "toughest" in terms of difficulty to win? As for "most balanced", I'm sure I can find D3 leagues that have had more movement up and down the ladder in their final standings over the past decade.

[Voice of the Titans]

Stout wins 58-55 at the buzzer.......25 footer to win it.

[John Gleich]

Point over La Crosse 71-55

[laxeagles1]

point over lax 71-55

lax was outplayed in every aspect.  Brian Bauer had the game of his life for point