MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[John Gleich]

Here are the updated non-conference results through 1/3:

WIAC (59-17)  .776

...vs D-III (49-12)  .803

          West Region  (29-8)

     ...vs UMAC (9-1)
          ...vs St. Scholastica (4-0)
          ...vs Northland (2-0) 
          ...vs Northwestern (2-0)
          ...vs Crown (1-0)
          ...vs Martin Luther (0-1)

     ...vs MIAC (6-4)   
          ...vs St. John's (1-2)     
          ...vs St Thomas (1-1)     
          ...vs Macalaster (1-0)   
          ...vs Gustavus Adolphus (1-0)   
          ...vs Mt St Marys (1-0)
          ...vs Bethel (1-0)
          ...vs Augsburg (0-1)

     ...vs NWC (7-3)    
          ...vs Puget Sound (2-1)     
          ...vs Whitworth (1-2)     
          ...vs Whitman (1-0)     
          ...vs George Fox (1-0)   
          ...vs Pacific Lutheran (1-0)     
          ...vs Lewis and Clark (1-0)   

     ...vs IIAC (5-0)   
          ...vs Wartburg (1-0)
          ...vs Loras (1-0)     
          ...vs Simpson (1-0)   
          ...vs Coe (1-0)
          ...vs Buena Vista (1-0)

     ...vs Independent (2-0)     (3 games remain)
          ...vs Finlandia (2-0)      (3 remain, 2 vs. Eau Claire 1/9, 1/30, 1 vs. Superior 2/2)

          Midwest Region (18-4)*

     ...vs MWC (5-1)   
          ...vs St. Norbert (0-1)
          ...vs Lawrence (2-0)   
          ...vs Grinnell (1-0)   
          ...vs Carroll (2-0)   

     ...vs HCAC (0-1)
          ...vs Anderson (0-1)

     ...vs NathCon (8-1)   
          ...vs Aurora (2-0)
          ...vs Concordia (WI) (1-0)
          ...vs Wisconsin Lutheran (3-0)   
          ...vs Edgewood (1-0)     
          ...vs Marian (1-0)   
          ...vs MSOE (0-1)   

     ...vs CCIW (5-1)   
          ...vs Carthage (1-1)
          ...vs Elmhurst (2-0)   
          ...vs Augustana (1-0)   
          ...vs North Park (1-0)   

          South Region (2-0)*

     ...vs ASC (2-0)   
          ...vs Mary Hardin-Baylor (1-0)   
          ...vs Hardin-Simmons (1-0) 

...vs NAIA-I (1-1)   

     ...vs Lewis-Clark St. (1-0) 
     ...vs Westminster (Ut) (0-1)   

...vs NAIA-II (8-3)     (1 games remain)

     ...vs Viterbo (5-0)      
     ...vs Clarke (IA) (1-0)
     ...vs Waldorf (1-0)
     ...vs Sioux Falls University (0-1)   
     ...vs Silver Lake (1-0)     (1 remains, vs. Oshkosh 2/20)
     ...vs Dakota Wesleyan (0-1)   
     ...vs Mount Mercy (0-1)

...vs NCAA-II (1-1)

     ...vs Minnesota Duluth (1-0)
     ...vs Winona St (0-1)

*(regional games under administrative regions)

Remaining Non-con schedule

01/09/10 Finlandia (MI)  @ UW-Eau Claire 
01/30/10 UW-Eau Claire  @ Finlandia (MI)
02/02/10 Finlandia (MI)  @ UW-Superior
02/20/10 Silver Lake  @ UW-Oshkosh


All four of these games should be W's for the WIAC, which would bring the D-III record to 52-12 (.8125) and overall to 63-17 (.7875).

[stcroix]

I don't mean to detract from the luster of the WIAC holiday record, but the four Falcon wins were over a pretty sorry bunch of teams (did not see St. Scholastica, or Macalester, but their records were dismal). To RF's credit, they did  not play down to the opposition.

At the end of the year when you look back...their all dub-yas.

[John Gleich]

PS-

Who is this 6'8" D1 transfer the Point radio guys are talking about?

No clue. It sounds like he has 1 semester of eligibility left and played at Loyola (IL?) and Montana.  With the Lance Randall/Loyola connection, I imagine that's how Point is going to land him... but it'll be his 3rd school, though it sounds like he was D-I caliber (as he played at 2 D-I schools!)

I'll research and post what I find.

Anybody hear anything about this?  I didn't hear anything in the Viterbo broadcast, including from Coach Semling (though he wasn't asked).

I looked at Loyola's roster and I wondered if it might be Andy Polka.  He's an Oshkosh West guy, and (obviously) Loyola guy.  He's a big guy, and he is listed as a Senior (I read elsewhere that he was approved for a medical redshirt year (second story), so he will have another year.  He looks like he's having a really good season, too... He's leading his team and the conference in rebounding at 9.5 rebounds per game.

Furthermore, the Point radio guys said something last Tuesday, the 29th.  Loyola played on the 29th... and on the 31st, 1st, and second.  Polka played in all of these games. 

[wcbsas]

PS-

Who is this 6'8" D1 transfer the Point radio guys are talking about?

No clue. It sounds like he has 1 semester of eligibility left and played at Loyola (IL?) and Montana.  With the Lance Randall/Loyola connection, I imagine that's how Point is going to land him... but it'll be his 3rd school, though it sounds like he was D-I caliber (as he played at 2 D-I schools!)

I'll research and post what I find.

Anybody hear anything about this?  I didn't hear anything in the Viterbo broadcast, including from Coach Semling (though he wasn't asked).

I looked at Loyola's roster and I wondered if it might be Andy Polka.  He's an Oshkosh West guy, and (obviously) Loyola guy.  He's a big guy, and he is listed as a Senior (I read elsewhere that he was approved for a medical redshirt year (second story), so he will have another year.  He looks like he's having a really good season, too... He's leading his team and the conference in rebounding at 9.5 rebounds per game.

Furthermore, the Point radio guys said something last Tuesday, the 29th.  Loyola played on the 29th... and on the 31st, 1st, and second.  Polka played in all of these games. 

Interesting speculation particularly givne the Randall connection but Polka is having too good of a career at Loyola to be that transfer guy.  Also he's been at Loyola since his Oshkosh West days.

[wcbsas]

I'm wondering if the potential transfer might be John Benkoske an Oshkosh West graduate playing at Loyola.  He's a 6'9" sophomore who is not playing a lot at the moment.

[swampgoon]

I'm wondering if the potential transfer might be John Benkoske an Oshkosh West graduate playing at Loyola.  He's a 6'9" sophomore who is not playing a lot at the moment.

Per the radio pregame show against Viterbo, The transfer's name is Ross Forman.  He played 1 year at Wyoming and 2 years at Loyola.  He is from  Minneapolis MN.

(modified by GS for formatting)

[hoops2]

I believe I heard the Point radio guys say the name of the new Pointer is Forman.  He has just one semester left because of the ten semester rule so he either plays or his career is over. 

[Drake Palmer]

I believe I heard the Point radio guys say the name of the new Pointer is (Ross) Forman.  He has just one semester left because of the ten semester rule so he either plays or his career is over.  

This might be the guy you're looking for.  If so, he's a good, bright kid, & good player who's had some tough breaks in his college basketball career.  He's a 6-8 small forward type player whose talents are better used as a wing rather than post player.  Decent handles, ok quickness, nice outside stroke.
http://loyolaramblers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/091406aaa.html

[badgerwarhawk]

He averaged 3.9 points/game and 2.5 rebounds/game last year at Loyola.

[John Gleich]

Thanks guys.

I wonder when we'll see him.  He isn't listed on the roster (not sure how often or how quickly that woud be updated).  Does anybody know if he's got to attend classes first (i.e. be actually enrolled) to start playing?  That would probably make it about two more weeks unless he took a Winterim class over break.

Looks like he began the year last year starting, then didn't play several games... I wonder if he got injured. 

Looks like Point will have 15 guys to suit up finally this year!

[Gregory Sager]

I wonder when we'll see him.  He isn't listed on the roster (not sure how often or how quickly that woud be updated).  Does anybody know if he's got to attend classes first (i.e. be actually enrolled) to start playing?  That would probably make it about two more weeks unless he took a Winterim class over break.

Enrollment is a function of matriculation, not school calendar. In other words, if you're registered for classes, you're enrolled. The NCAA has to take this policy, otherwise, schools would be unable to participate in sports that begin before their terms begin (i.e., soccer and football) or end after their terms end (i.e., baseball).

[Titan Q]

I wonder when we'll see him.  He isn't listed on the roster (not sure how often or how quickly that woud be updated).  Does anybody know if he's got to attend classes first (i.e. be actually enrolled) to start playing?  That would probably make it about two more weeks unless he took a Winterim class over break.

Enrollment is a function of matriculation, not school calendar. In other words, if you're registered for classes, you're enrolled. The NCAA has to take this policy, otherwise, schools would be unable to participate in sports that begin before their terms begin (i.e., soccer and football) or end after their terms end (i.e., baseball).

Right.  The IWU women have a transfer who has now played in two games without attending any classes yet...

http://www.sj-r.com/college/x1145295090/Lett-goes-from-SIU-to-Illinois-Wesleyan

[wcbsas]

I'm wondering if the potential transfer might be John Benkoske an Oshkosh West graduate playing at Loyola.  He's a 6'9" sophomore who is not playing a lot at the moment.

Per the radio pregame show against Viterbo, The transfer's name is Ross Forman.  He played 1 year at Wyoming and 2 years at Loyola.  He is from  Minneapolis MN.

(modified by GS for formatting)

If this is the guy ... he's not going to help UWSP much in the post.  He's more of a wing shooter kind of kid.  Frankly that isn't where UWSP needs help. 

[John Gleich]

I'm wondering if the potential transfer might be John Benkoske an Oshkosh West graduate playing at Loyola.  He's a 6'9" sophomore who is not playing a lot at the moment.

Per the radio pregame show against Viterbo, The transfer's name is Ross Forman.  He played 1 year at Wyoming and 2 years at Loyola.  He is from  Minneapolis MN.

(modified by GS for formatting)

If this is the guy ... he's not going to help UWSP much in the post.  He's more of a wing shooter kind of kid.  Frankly that isn't where UWSP needs help. 

I'm not so sure...  Yes, Point doesn't have a dirth of big, beefy bodies inside... but they are much more inside-oriented than in years past. 

Let's look at the past...

05-06
688/1468 45.5%
224/604 37.1%

33.5% of makes were 3's and 41.1% of attempts were 3's

06-07
852/1729 49.3%
309/744 41.5%

36.3% of makes were 3's and 43% of attempts were 3's

07-08
853/1699 50.2%
247/643 38.4%

29.0% of makes were 3's and 37.8% of attempts were 3's

08-09
791/1636 48.3%
226/604 37.4%

28.6% of makes were 3's and 36.9% of attempts were 3's

09-10
363/693 52.4%
61/160 38.1%

16.8% of makes are 3's and 23.1% of attempts are 3's.

Point is taking more than 10% fewer 3's, but they're making them at a better clip.  They also are shooting better from the field as a result.  I haven't done any type of analysis to see what a possible expected value for points would be between different years... but I can report on the scoring averages:

05-06 73.3
06-07 81.8
07-08 76.3
08-09 74.3
09-10 79.2

Now, there are more factors that lead to high scoring than just shooting percentage... and as you can see, the year in which Point shot the best from 3 (06-07) was their highest average scoring season.  What's interesting to note is that turnovers for this year's Point teams are up

TO's/games

05-06 285/27 10.56
06-07 274/29 9.45
07-08 305/30 10.17
08-09 291/29 10.03
09-10 138/12 11.5

As you can see, TO's are up about 1.5 per game more than the last couple of years and up 2 from the college basketball-best mark of 9.45 in 06-07.  But if Point is attacking the defense more (interior passing, dribble drives toward the basket), then more TO's are expected.  And it looks like the "risk" is paying off.

One final stat I want to look at (stay with me, I'm almost done)...

Free throws

More than just percentages, I want to look at avg attempts and makes too.


05-06 419/529  .792  15.52/19.59 per game
06-07 339/412  .823  11.69/14.21 per game
07-08 377/472  .714  11.23/15.73 per game
08-09 348/473  .736  12.00/16.31 per game
09-10 164/218  .752  13.67/18.17 per game

With SP being more inside-oriented, I wanted to see what the numbers looked like.  I'm a little surprized with the 05-06 numbers, though I'm not sure I should be.  Jon Krull shot 168/204 FT's all by himself that season (6.22/7.56 per game), good for 9th and 10th all time in conference, respectively.  The next year, both of those numbers dropped considerably (93/116 3.21/4.00) even as his scoring avg remained the same (16.7).  He supplemented his scoring by hitting 18 more 3's.  And what's interesting, Point's team FT shooting went up to another best-in-basketball mark (82.28%).  The better percent may have to do with fewer attempts (less of a chance to miss) but it's still impressive, none the less.

When Krull graduated, Point's FT shooting got average (at best).  They actually made 2 fewer FT's on 60 more attempts, dropping the percentage 11.9 points.  The next year, they made 11 more on 1 more attempt, which brought the percentage up another 2.2 points, and they're averaging 2.7% better this season too. 

The real reason why I wanted to look at FT's was to see the avg attempts and makes vs the last couple of years.  FT's are still down from the high 4 years ago (down an avg of about 2/1.5), but they're up from 3 years ago (2/4), 2 years ago (2.5/2.5), and last year (1.5/2).  I see this as a move in the right direction, especially because, not only are the attempts up, the makes are up at a higher percentage.  I'd still like to see both numbers higher (heck, at a higher percentage too, if possible), but this is another measuring stick to show that Point is attacking more and sitting back (and  jacking 3's) less.



All of this is to say that another good outside shooter could help this team.  Other than Tillema's stupid good numbers (9/11), and Harris' really good ones (12/25, 4th in conference), the team is average (note: Tillema would be #1 in conference if he had more makes... the rankings require an avg of 1 make per game, of which Point has played 12 thusfar).

[John Gleich]

New Poll out. 

#2 Point  (9 first place votes)
#4 Whitewater
T#22 La Crosse

ORV Platteville (2)

This is the closest poll I remember.  The top 6 teams are all within 87 points.