MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[John Gleich]

Platteville dug too deep of a hole in the first half that took a lot of energy to get out of. 

I would like to compliment them for the video broadcast of the game.

I opted to see Marquette vs. Rutgers but the LAX-PLATT play-by-play was fascinating.  An interesting side note to Platteville's season:  UWP's record was W2-L10 when Brett Stangel took 14 or more shots; when Stangel took 13 or fewer shots, the team was W12-L2.  I wondered all season what justified Stangel's playing time (34.8 minutes per game) and hope it was a case of being the best shooting guard option as opposed to being a senior or related to the assistant coach.

How is Chas Cross?  It seemed like he was an up and coming star last year... but I don't know that we really saw that this year.  I know he was injured for a good portion of the year and I can only assume that this held him back this season.

Strictly an observation:  slightly less mobile, not as aggressive.  I too assume the injury held him back.

It was, if I recall (and to use hockey terminology) a "lower body injury."  That would certainly account for the lack of mobility and someone who doesn't feel as quick won't attempt to be as aggressive as when they feel good.

Hopefully for his sake this doesn't linger.  I have to admit, I expected a bit more out of Platteville this year, presuming, of course, that he was going to be healthy.  Bigger things could still be in store in the future.

[emerging1]

Anybody have any insight about the UWSP vs UWRF game tonight?  Point played well at times last game, especially like Ritchay's contribution.  Just not sure we have the horses this year to go deep into the tournament; especially with so many freshman who really don't have too much playing experience. 

[stoutfan1]

All WIAC team and other awards out..... a couple surprises in my opinion

2012 All-WIAC Men's Basketball Team 
First Team       
Name, School, Year, Position, Hometown (High School)   
Chris Davis, Whitewater, Senior, Forward, Madison, Wis. (East)   
Shane Manor, River Falls, Senior, Forward, Altoona, Wis.   
Tyler Tillema, Stevens Point, Junior, Guard, Randolph, Wis.   
Ben Aalfs, Superior, Senior, Guard, Hutchinson, Minn.   
Dan Tillema, Stevens Point, Senior, Guard/Forward, Randolph, Wis.   
Brett Stangel, Platteville, Senior, Guard, Monroe, Wis.   
John Flanigan, Oshkosh, Senior, Forward, Oshkosh, Wis. (North)   
Jordan Petersen, Eau Claire, Junior, Guard, Strum, Wis. (Eleva-Strum)   
Al Chery, La Crosse, Senior, Forward, Wheeling, Ill.     
Luke Knoble, Whitewater, Junior, Forward, Boscobel, Wis.   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Honorable Mention       
Brian Kimble, River Falls, Senior, Guard, Stevenson Ranch, Calif.   
Wade Guerin, River Falls, Senior, Center, Bloomington, Minn. (St. Croix Lutheran) 
Alex Oman, Stout, Sophomore, Forward, Lake Elmo, Minn. (Stillwater)   
Jordan Brezinski, Stevens Point, Senior, Center, Muskego, Wis.   
Eric Bryson, Whitewater, Sophomore, Guard, Elkhorn, Wis.   
Ollie White, River Falls, Junior, Forward, Minnetrista, Minn. (Mound-Westonka) 
Cory Degner, La Crosse, Senior, Guard, New Berlin, Wis. (Brookfield Central) 
Brendan Bauer, Superior, Junior, Guard/Forward, Eleva, Wis. (Gilmanton) 
Erik Olson, Stout, Junior, Guard, Buffalo, Minn.   
Aaron Anderson, River Falls, Senior, Guard, Stillwater, Minn.   
Bronson Byrne, Superior, Sophomore, Center, Chanhassen, Minn. (Chaska) 
Dustin Ritchie, Superior, Senior, Guard, Superior, Wis. (Senior)   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
All-Sportsmanship Team     
Nick Bartlett, Eau Claire, Junior, Guard, Arden Hills, Minn. (Mounds View) 
Luke Tweed, La Crosse, Sophomore, Guard, Fall Creek, Wis.   
Greg Schrimpf, Oshkosh, Senior, Guard, Manitowoc, Wis. (Roncalli)   
Alex Bondar, Platteville, Senior, Center, East Troy, Wis.   
Aaron Anderson, River Falls, Senior, Guard, Stillwater, Minn.   
Jordan Giordana, Stevens Point, Junior, Guard, Kaukauna, Wis.   
Thomas Scholle-Malone, Stout, Junior, Forward, Milwaukee, Wis. (Rufus King)
Dustin Ritchie, Superior, Senior, Guard, Superior, Wis. (Senior)   
Lucas Burns, Whitewater, Junior, Forward, Janesville, Wis. (Craig)   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Player of the Year:    Chris Davis of Whitewater   
Coach of the Year:    Pat Miller of Whitewater   
Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete:           Greg Schrimpf of Oshkosh

[tomt4525]

Surprised with Brezinski only being honorable mention with how many double doubles he finished the season with.  In fact, with just taking the second half of the season into account, I thought he was more deserving than Dan Tillema.

[tomt4525]

Anybody have any insight about the UWSP vs UWRF game tonight?  Point played well at times last game, especially like Ritchay's contribution.  Just not sure we have the horses this year to go deep into the tournament; especially with so many freshman who really don't have too much playing experience.

I'll be at the game tonight and am definitely anxious for it.  The last game at RF I was picked to shoot during the halftime competition, I was wearing a Pointer baseball hat, I doubt the fans liked that too much.

Anyways, back to the game...Point's chances may hinge a lot on Tyler Tillema's health.  He dominated the first half up in RF.  Point also has to limit offensive rebounds from RF, you can't give them multiple shot opportunities.  Last key in my mind and possibly the toughest, keep Manor from getting to the rim.  He had his way with Point in both games.  Guarding guys like Manor is where Point really misses Nick Krull. 

What does everyone else think??

[John Gleich]

Anybody have any insight about the UWSP vs UWRF game tonight?  Point played well at times last game, especially like Ritchay's contribution.  Just not sure we have the horses this year to go deep into the tournament; especially with so many freshman who really don't have too much playing experience.

I'm thinking Brezinski needs to have a huge game... approaching 15+ rebounds probably and/or Point needs to have one of those special shooting nights.  The only other way that I see Point winning this is in an incredibly low-scoring game... RF just seems to have too many scoring threats for Point to get in a shootout with them.

I haven't seen any word yet if Ty Tillema will be back or not.  The last I heard he's day to day... from all of the projections I've seen, Point, RF, and WW are in the tournament barring upsets on a massive scale (WW is a lock pretty much regardless)... so I wonder what the use is of trying to bring him back too quickly and having him potentially hurt it again.


... Point hasn't historically been great with guys who have been "day to day" coming into the conference tournament or the NCAA tournament... Dan Tillema was hurt last year and though I'm not really sure if it was true or not, I heard he was close to coming back... and SP lost by just 2 to St. Thomas at Augustana... and we all know how they ended the season.  Same thing for Pete Rortvedt back in 07-08... Point lost by just one to Buena Vista at St. Thomas.  You'd think that those two guys would be worth at least a bucket or two and could have made the difference.

And yet... you don't want to bring them in during a college basketball game and potentially have them injure themselves in a way that will affect them for the rest of their lives either.  At the end of the day, it's just a game.

[emerging1]

Well ... a tough way to end the regular season.  I know this is my first year of UWSP BB but here is what I saw (I know we may still play down the road this year):

pros:
+ thank you for the great effort JB.  You often seemed to be a man on an island inside and you were consistent.  I wish we could have given you some help with some other bigs.
+ Dan T. thanks for the effort and for entertaining the crowd with your passion and athleticism. 
+ thanks for the fans that traveled the 3+ hours to watch a game that wasn't the most entertaining for Point fans.  I am proud to be part of the UWSP tradition.  What a great fan base!
+ youth for the future.  Let's hope the young players stick around for the next couple of years.  The lack of sophs and juniors may have hurt us at times this year.  We could have used some more experience off the bench.

cons:
- it is obvious that we have no real offensive scheme.  We simply don't have the players who can consistently "get their own shot". We have no inbounds plays and we seem to not make many, if any, game-time adjustments.  That's on the coaches.
- throughout the year we didn't really develop our bench; it would have been nice to build a little more confidence and given some reps to the future UWSP players; experience is the best teacher.  Other WIAC teams seemed to use their benches better. 
- some what puzzling that we didn't clear the bench when the other coach did.  IMO it looked desperate and unprofessional.

Any idea of the chance we may receive an "at large bid"?  I know we have dropped a few games lately but will they take our whole work into consideration?

[fredfalcon]

Half time score:  38-23. Point shot 29%, RF 66%. Then, RF opens with a 10-0 run, looking as good as I've seen them all year. From then on, it was lackadaisical ball mostly. RF ended up shooting 59%, Point 35%. Dan Tillema started strong, got 4 pts. early, then was shut down for a long stretch. Brezinski the best threat (only one) for Point. I think he got 16. White got 22, Manor 12, Guerin had best game in long time, must have had 6 boards, or so, and a couple of long outlet passes for easy fast breaks. Kimble w/8 pts., 6 assists, 3 steals, 4 boards was very good. Tyler T. obviously missed.

[fredfalcon]

Forgot Guerin's 10 points.

[Falcons04]

For the game, RF attempts 4 less FG's and 2 less FT's than Point, but outscores them by 25.......tells you all you needed to know about how this one went.

Didn't see this final score coming tonight, but certainly one of the more enjoyable wins in recent memory for RF.  As good as they've looked all season through the first 30 minutes.  It seemed like they hit every shot and made the right pass every time down the court.  I didn't go through the stats for all games, but this has to be the best shooting game RF had as a team this season.  Point looked a step slow from the start, and after RF took their 15 point halftime lead and opened the second half with a 10-0 run the game was over.  JB played hard throughout for Point, but they were outmanned across the board.  RF looked very determined, led by Ollie White's 22 points on 10-11 shooting.  Tyler Tillema didn't play, but not sure if it would have mattered a whole lot the way RF played. 

[emerging1]

I got a chance to watch the entire game on the web.  RF looked up for the game and had a very aggressive game plan.  We seemed to come out flat and did not seem to know how to score without Tyler on the floor.  It appears, with all do respect, that we got coached plain and simple.  We have known for days that Tyler would not be on the floor.  It didn't seem tonight that we made any adjustments to fix that.  RF came to play and they spanked us!

[GBMAN]

UW-W 66 V UW-L 55.... we welcome UWRF on Sunday at 2pm.

[frodotwo]

Point was outplayed from the get go tonight and RF played very well. No way 6'4" (short arms) Hass could possibly guard 6'7" (long arms) White. D Tillema forced up poor shots one after the other. We really miss TT and his 26 points a game (17 pts, 4.5 apg) and it shows. Forsythe got some minutes in the 2nd half, don't know if it was because he was from near that area, or his long wingspan, but he nearly equaled his playing time for the year. Point had only 6 assists for the game, TT almost averages that. I agree that they don't appear to have an offensive scheme other than to pass the ball around outside the 3 point circle. 

[Greek Tragedy]

Apparently they have wood sheds in River Falls.  I'm pretty sure Point was behind one of them.

Despite their beatdown they got, Point should be safe for a Pool C bid.  They have an outstanding SOS and a good number of results vs regionally ranked opponents.  They'll make the NCAAs, but without Tyler, it could be a short-lived experience.

Whitewater will be playing for a host bid twomorrow.  Good luck fellow WIACers.

[fredfalcon]

Although I might not feel this way if I were a Point fan, I'd not be so quick to condemn your coaching. How quick we forget the successes when things turn south.