MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[stoutguy]

UWSP won with defense, even though UWRF scored 14 points more than the Pointer defensive per game average.

fredfalcon -

Aside from the above comment, I don't think frodo's post really had to do with Point's defense at all.  In fact, I think this comment is a stand-alone statement while the rest of the post is a generalization.  I guess he could've separated it by starting a new paragraph, but I'm not going to criticize frodo for his posting structure.

The next comment regarding Harris really had nothing to do with defense.  So, in essence, you're right, it does have nothing to do with defense! 

Frodo's next comment about Hurd simply had to do with his "great overall game" which happened to include 5 steals.  No one in the Pointer camp is going to say that Hurd is there to just play defense.  Frodo made no mention about how great of a defender Hurd was.  He just said he had a great overall game. 

I really think you took Frodo's comments completely out of context simply by reading the first sentence and thinking the rest of the post had to do with defense.  Granted, Frodo didn't really expand on that comment at all with any supporting facts or thoughts, but I think it's easy to see the rest of his post really didn't have anything to do with his opening comment.

I really think this is the kind of thing Fredfalcon always did when he was grading papers back in RFJHS.  That's probably how Rich Melzer got an "A" in English class, became a fan of RF basketball, and proceeded to raise havoc on the rest of the league for years to come.  All because off FF. 

[badgerwarhawk]

I've always wondered who I should blame for that.  Now I know. 

[frodotwo]

Jerrel Harris makes the D3Hoops Team of the Week.

http://www.d3hoops.com/awards/tow/2010-11/week11

[John Gleich]

I was going to comment on this right after the game Saturday, but I didn't have a chance...

I'm going to go ahead and agree that SP won the game with defense.

This is only the second time I've seen SP play (the other was in the scrimmage against Carthage in the preseason), though I did see a bit of a practice the weekend of the Hall of Fame induction...

But what really impresses me with this SP team is their quickness and physicality on defense.  Now, Harris struggled a bit on defense on Saturday (and he struggled the last time they played RF too, I think), but he's leading the team in steals.  On Saturday, Tyler Tillema had 2 steals and a block.  DeVon Jackson had 3 steals.  Freaking Lou Hurd had 5 steals and 2 blocks. 

Hurd was really a force in that game Saturday, especially in the second half.  He had a couple of early turnovers in the first half and missed a couple of free throws and kind of seemed out of it... but he really stepped up.  He pulled down 8 boards and though a few of those steals were of the "look what I found" variety, I think, he at least was in the right place at the right time to get them.

To say that Point's offense wasn't what got them going would be naive... they started the game 11/13 and 4/4 from 3... 

What kept RF in it was offensive rebounds and some SP turnovers.  Though RF missed some shots (more than Point, at least), they cleaned up their boards and converted.  RF had 7 second chance points in the first half... and they also had 7 fast break points.  And RF had 6 points off turnovers.  The Falcons led in all of these categories at the break.

In the second half, Point got 14 points off of turnovers, 7 second chance points (to just 2 by RF) and 5 fast break points (to just 2 for RF).  So, like I said, Point's early offense got them going... but RF was doing more of the little things and hustle plays in the first half... and Point turned up the D and had more hustle plays in the second half.

Jerrel Harris makes the D3Hoops Team of the Week.

http://www.d3hoops.com/awards/tow/2010-11/week11

It's scary that this kid is just a sophomore...  He's made a bunch of big strides from being a key role player to being a scorer.  He had 28 and 8 assists on Saturday!

[Pat Coleman]

Agreed. I think the improvement even from December is dramatic. The guy I saw play at our tournament in Vegas was not much different than the guy who came off the bench in Salem last year, but he played much more under control and took charge a lot better on Saturday

[fredfalcon]

It took stoutguy, an ex-English teacher, to make me realize I'm not correcting writing structure any more. I guess I still must be back in the 90's (last century). Of course, stoutguy had obviously had too many Mexican beers when he wrote that Melzer got an A in English class. I still remember the day he reported on a book he had not read. Grade on that assignment: F

[Greek Tragedy]

Big night for the conference tonight.  River Falls heads to La Crosse and tries to end a 2-game skid.  They only beat La Crosse by 3 (I think) in River Falls and Mane has been unstoppable lately.  Point tries to avenge their loss at Platteville with a home matchup against the Pioneers.  Whitewater tries to break a 3-way tie with Platteville and La Crosse with a win over Oshkosh.  Both teams have been up and down lately.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Week 3 Regional Rankings are out: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2011/02/16/ncaa-2011-regional-rankings-week-3/

[Greek Tragedy]

Over in the pick em page, I'm surprised more people haven't picked La Crosse over River Falls.  The Falcons are on a mini slide here and go into La Crosse with just a 3-pt win over them last time out in their pocket.  Considering how well Mane has been playing, I would think this would be a near-pick em.  Of course, I used this game in the national pick em contest and I don't think anyone picked La Crosse, except me...so what do I know? LOL 

[John Gleich]

@SP 82 Platte 58  UWP held scoreless the last 4:15 of the game...  SP shot 18/24 in the second half (75%)
@LaX 93 RF 78    The slide continues... or the Tony Mane show continues...  LaX scored 58 in the second half
@WW 73 Osh 62   WW slips ahead of Platte... still in a tie with LaX.  Anybody know the tiebreak for those two at this point?
@Sup 65 EC 53


SP clinches at least a share of the conference title.
Superior clinches the #6 seed in the conference tournament

Team	Overall	+/-	Home	Away
SP	13-2	5	8-0	5-2
RF	12-3	4	7-1	5-2
LaX	9-6	2	6-1	3-5
WW	9-6	2	5-2	4-4
Platte	8-7	1	5-2	3-5
Sup	6-9	-2	3-5	3-4
Oshy	5-11	-3	3-5	2-6
Stout	3-12	-4	2-5	1-7
EC	3-12	-5	3-5	0-7

[badgerwarhawk]

Chris Davis 35 points, 14 rebounds.

More in the morning. 

[frodotwo]

@SP 82 Platte 58  UWP held scoreless the last 4:15 of the game...  SP shot 18/24 in the second half (75%)
@LaX 93 RF 78    The slide continues... or the Tony Mane show continues...  LaX scored 58 in the second half
@WW 73 Osh 62   WW slips ahead of Platte... still in a tie with LaX.  Anybody know the tiebreak for those two at this point?
@Sup 65 EC 53


SP clinches at least a share of the conference title.
Superior clinches the #6 seed in the conference tournament

Team	Overall	+/-	Home	Away
SP	13-2	5	8-0	5-2
RF	12-3	4	7-1	5-2
LaX	9-6	2	6-1	3-5
WW	9-6	2	5-2	4-4
Platte	8-7	1	5-2	3-5
Sup	6-9	-2	3-5	3-4
Oshy	5-11	-3	3-5	2-6
Stout	3-12	-4	2-5	1-7
EC	3-12	-5	3-5	0-7

Pretty sure it is LX at this point. They split their two games with WW this year. If they should happen to beat SP on Sat they would win it by virtue of record vs teams ahead of them in the standings.
LX 1-1 vs RF
WW 1-1 vs RF

LX would be 1-1 vs SP
WW 0-2 vs SP

If WW and LX still remain tied after Sat the next tie breaker would be vs the next teams below them. WW was 1-1 vs PL, LX 2-0.

[chmarx]

I was really impressed with the effort La Crosse put forth Wednesday night.

Mane had a great game, but it wasn't only him.  I think we had four men in double figures, with a couple having career nights, or close to it.

On another topic.  The kid who was facing felony pot charges had his case disposed of recently.  He pled toi a misdemeanor charge.  IIRC, it will be removed from his criminal record if he keeps his nose clean.  It was also reported that he signed a contract with the university to be able to stay in school and rejoin the team if he jumps through some hoops for them.

[badgerwarhawk]

Chris Davis scored ten of the WARHAWKS first twelve points that saw them take a 12-8 lead in the first four minutes of play.  However over the next four minutes it was the Titans who out scored the WARHAWKS 9-4 to hold a 17-16 lead.  Over the next six minutes Oshkosh held a lead which ranged from a single point to a high of six points until a three point basket by Antone Bryd gave the WARHAWKS a brief lead 33-31.   A three pointer from Greg Schrimpf regained the lead for the Titans but a free throw from DJ Dantzler tied the game and he followed it up with a layup to give the WARHAWKS a lead they would not surrender for the rest of the game.  The WARHAWKS scored the final six points of the half to lead 40-34 when it ended.  Davis had 22 points in the half and Bryd had 11.  In a repeat of the first half Davis scored eight of the WARHAWKS first ten second half points.  The lead ranged from a low of four points to a high of thirteen points throughout the second half.  The game ended 73-62.

Davis finished with a game highs of 35 points and 12 rebounds.  Bryd followed with 19 points and a game high 4 assists.  The WARHAWKS shot 50% for the game (27-54) and outrebounded the Titans 40-28. 

Paul Wojahn (13), Schrimpf (11) and John Flanigan (10) scored in double figures for Oshkosh.   

[Greek Tragedy]

I'm still the president of the Jerrel Harris For Player of the Year Club, but my vote is for Tony Mane.  He simply is just a scoring machine.  La Crosse could still get as high as 3rd as well.  I think that would help his cause.