MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

He must have been in a hurry because after the picture,  he took it and ran off. As he was running off, I yelled, "That guy is stealing the trophy!" Apparently I was the only one who thought it was funny.

[John Gleich]

I really thought this was the year that other teams would step up and challenge Whitewater and Point. Though a lot ran through KJ Evans and Young, the Warhawks still lost Hearn, Bryson and Merg while Point lost arguably more in Hass, Tillema and Heuer. I'm almost disappointed in the WIAC that no other teams can challenge the juggarnauts of Whitewater and Point. I guess that's a testament to Miller and Semling. I mean, Semling really did the job getting 5 role players to step up and play the way they played this year.

It's been a long time that any team has contended for the title on a semi-regular basis other than Whitewater and Point. Is the WIAC becoming (or has become) a top-heavy league? I always prided the WIAC on being a deep league, but maybe I should change that stance now.

Is next year the year for a change? Whitewater loses 1st team pre-season All-American KJ Evans, 1st team All-American Quardell Young, steady Cody Odegaard and post man Steve Egan. Point obviously loses Ryf, Richard, Ritchay and Lutz. As for Point, I guess I'll have to wait for 2020. 

If we look at the underclassmen who got conference accolades, it might shed a light on next year.

1st team

Christensen RF Junior
Erikson RF Sophomore
Kalien EC Junior
Olson Osh Junior

HM
Pelkofer SP Junior
Stage LaX Junior

SCORING
## Player-Team               Cl  G   FG  3FG   FT  Pts Avg/G
------------------------------------------------------------
4.Olson, Alex-OSH.......... JR 28  147   46   88  428  15.3
5.Ketz, Ty-SUP............. JR 23  108   50   73  339  14.7
6.Kalien, Tyson-EC......... JR 27  127   80   62  396  14.7
9.Lindblom, Brian-SUP...... JR 25  122   15   77  336  13.4
10.Christensen, Jon-RF...... JR 26  120   37   58  335  12.9
14.Pelkofer, Stephen-STP.... JR 28  119   47   40  325  11.6
15.Schradle, Zach-SUP....... SO 25   79   15  115  288  11.5
20.Erickson, Grant-RF....... SO 26   82    7   92  263  10.1
21.Johnson, Boston-PLT...... JR 26   89   18   64  260  10.0
22.Vaassen, Cory-PLT........ SO 26  102   17   23  244   9.4
24.Lewis, CJ-RF............. FR 26   78   31   54  241   9.3
25.Mueller, AJ-OSH.......... SO 28   90    7   69  256   9.1
27.Ahsenmacher, Brett-ST.... SO 24   72   37   33  214   8.9
28.Staege, Jared-LC......... JR 25   76   23   39  214   8.6
29.Martinek, Jack-EC........ SO 26   82   19   29  212   8.2
30.Patten, Ron-WW........... JR 27   87   28   18  220   8.1

I'd say, look to the seniors. The four top returning scorers are seniors. Interestingly, RF has two of the top 5 returners.

Maybe it's looking into things too much. But teams that return the most can pick up where last year ended. Teams that lost more need to reinvent themselves.

[tomt4525]

Point might as well keep it going...commit #3 this week that Ive heard of anyways...Drew Fredrickson of State Champion Mt Horeb is taking his talents to UWSP...great outside shooter and high basketball IQ.  I'm going off memory so I may be off but pretty sure Mark Miller had him ranked about 40th on his top 50 seniors list....Big time get

[AppletonRocks]

Point might as well keep it going...commit #3 this week that Ive heard of anyways...Drew Fredrickson of State Champion Mt Horeb is taking his talents to UWSP...great outside shooter and high basketball IQ.  I'm going off memory so I may be off but pretty sure Mark Miller had him ranked about 40th on his top 50 seniors list....Big time get

Titans beat Point once and lost on a half court buzzer beater.......watchout for the Black and Gold !!

[tomt4525]

Point might as well keep it going...commit #3 this week that Ive heard of anyways...Drew Fredrickson of State Champion Mt Horeb is taking his talents to UWSP...great outside shooter and high basketball IQ.  I'm going off memory so I may be off but pretty sure Mark Miller had him ranked about 40th on his top 50 seniors list....Big time get

Titans beat Point once and lost on a half court buzzer beater.......watchout for the Black and Gold !!

What part of my post had anything to do with Oshkosh??

[tomt4525]

Stumbled upon this on twitter, but another Point commit...No idea how long he's been committed...6'0" PG from Vernon Hills, IL...Robby Nardini, from his highlights it looks like he can really shoot it.


http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2289390/highlights/127041381/v2

[Greek Tragedy]

Stumbled upon this on twitter, but another Point commit...No idea how long he's been committed...6'0" PG from Vernon Hills, IL...Robby Nardini, from his highlights it looks like he can really shoot it.


http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2289390/highlights/127041381/v2

That's why they call them highlights. LOL :-)

[frodotwo]

Stumbled upon this on twitter, but another Point commit...No idea how long he's been committed...6'0" PG from Vernon Hills, IL...Robby Nardini, from his highlights it looks like he can really shoot it.


http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2289390/highlights/127041381/v2

From the Chicago Daily Herald:
There might be a little Harry Houdini in Robby Nardini.

The Vernon Hills senior seems to have a flair for the spectacular. Granted, he's not escaping from straightjackets under water or from locked boxes with his arms chained, but he does draw his fair share of oohs and aahs from crowds.

Nardini is a gamer, both on the football field and on the basketball court. He makes big plays seem routine. He's fun to watch, and he makes you wonder what he'll do next.

In football this fall, Nardini hauled in a beautiful 80-yard touchdown pass while running in full stride. That got the ball rolling on an improbable comeback victory at Wauconda that unfolded over the final three minutes.

"That was my favorite (play of the season)," said Nardini, who is all about the long ball in basketball, too.

His knack for knocking down 3-pointers from all angles, even with defenders in his face, has made him the all-time leader in made 3-pointers at Vernon Hills, where shooting 3-pointers is as encouraged as shooting layups.

"If you've got an open shot, you take it," said Nardini, who abides by that rule to the letter.

The 19-3 Cougars, one of the best and most prolific 3-point shooting teams in Lake County, have made 160 3-pointers in 21 games, or nearly 8 per game. Vernon Hills made a school-record 14 3-pointers earlier this month in a win over Grant.

Nardini, meanwhile, accounts for 73 of the team's makes from downtown, or nearly four per game.

Twice in his career, against Wauconda and Niles North, Nardini has rolled up eight 3-pointers in a game. He wound up with a career-high 39 points in the Niles North game.

"The offense we run, we're actually trying to get to the basket as much as possible and if you can do that, you end up getting wide open 3-point looks off of kick-outs," Nardini said. "We kick the ball out a lot, so we shoot a lot of 3s. I'd say of the 16 guys on our team, 14 can hit 3-pointers consistently.

"We shoot a lot of 3s in practice. We're always working on it, doing these little competitions with it. We all love to shoot them and it's a lot of fun playing that way. It brings a lot of energy to our team."

Nardini, who connects on his 3-pointers at a nearly 40-percent clip, leads the Cougars in scoring at 21.4 points per game. Earlier this month, he was named the most valuable player of the Martin Luther King tournament at Lake Zurich and he surpassed the 1,000-point career mark this season as well.

A starter on the varsity since his sophomore year, Nardini scored his 1,000th point in mid-December against Grayslake Central, where his friend held up a sign in the stands that read, "Big-shot Rob. Mr. 1,000."

For Nardini, the 1,000 points was preceded by thousands of shots in empty gyms and on humble courts outdoors.

"It's always good to get as many shots up as you can," Nardini said. "But if you love basketball, you're going to be doing that anyway. You're going to want to be shooting and playing all the time."

When Nardini works out, he focuses on form. He's broken down his 3-point shot from every possible direction.

"You've got to have a quick release so your shot doesn't get blocked," Nardini said. "You've also got to relax your shoulders and have good back spin and shoot straight up at the basket. I always see people leaning all over the place.

"A good follow-through is also really important. That's probably what I do best. I make sure to follow through no matter if I'm wide open or the shot is being contested."

Lake Zurich heavily contested pretty much every look Nardini had at the basket a couple weeks ago. And the Bears held him to just 2 points on zero field goals, the first time in his career that Nardini failed to finish with at least one field goal in a game.

But like any good shooter, Nardini knows that if sometimes you die by the 3, you can be living by it again in no time if you maintain the right perspective.

"You have to forget (about the misses)," Nardini said. "One thing you can do is to work on getting your teammates involved, try to get to the bucket, find other ways to get yourself going.

"Defenses pressure me (on the perimeter) a lot because they think I'm just going to shoot 3s all day. But I can drive and kick to my teammates and you've got to respect that, too."

Nardini will have the same kind of latitude in his game next year at Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He committed there around Christmas.

"They play a similar style to us (at Vernon Hills) and I like that," said Nardini, who plans to major in physical education so that he can become a coach just like his father. Rob Nardini has coached youth basketball teams for years in Highland Park and is also the freshman girls coach at Vernon Hills.

"I love basketball so much," Nardini said. "And I want to coach it. I want to do something for a career that I really enjoy doing."

Of course, there's always escape artistry. What's not to like about that?

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

Follow Patricia on Twittter: @babcockmcgraw

[Greek Tragedy]

As much as I was amazed to see Stevens Point win the National Championship this year, what makes it even more amazing is how they did it in the tournament. Dating back to Point's first title in 2004, this year's Point team won by an average of 18.5 points a game, 2nd to only Point's 2nd championship in 2005 when they averaged a MOV (margin of victory) of 21.2.

Margin of victory starting with 1st game and ending in the Final. You may want to check my math. LOL

2004-Point: 26, 11, 21, 1 (OT), 25, 2: 14.33 MOV average
2005-Point: 35, 18, 6, 23, 24: 21.2
2006-VWC: 8, 1, 11, 2, 3: 5
2007-Amherst: 17, 23, 12, 7, 13: 14.4
2008-Wash U.: 5, 3, 8, 11, 15, 22: 10.67
2009-Wash U.: 2, 3, 3, 15, 19, 9: 8.5
2010-Point: 1, 15, 7, 16, 12, 5: 9.33
2011-St. Thomas: 10, 8, 2, 16, 2, 24: 10.33
2012-Whitewater: 15, 29, 11, 15, 3: 14.5
2013-Amherst: 17, 27, 19, 8, 17: 17.6
2014-Whitewater: 24, 19, 18, 23, 8, 2: 15.67
2015-Point: 32,17, 20, 17, 9, 16: 18.5

[Just Bill]

Green Bay coach Brian Wardle takes the head coaching job at Bradley. Would UWGB want Semling or Miller? Would either of them want Green Bay?

[Greek Tragedy]

Green Bay coach Brian Wardle takes the head coaching job at Bradley. Would UWGB want Semling or Miller? Would either of them want Green Bay?

1st name I thought of was Grzesk, he's a GB guy.

[ShineTime]

Diamond stones picks Maryland they are going to be stacked next year.  Can't complain about badgers but one has to wonder if they could be Kentucky good if guys like looney ellenson and stone would be there.

[ShineTime]

Robby nardini reminds me of tyus jones for duke can really get to the rim and has great range.  Should have shot at being 4 year starter at the point.

[Greek Tragedy]

Diamond stones picks Maryland they are going to be stacked next year.  Can't complain about badgers but one has to wonder if they could be Kentucky good if guys like looney ellenson and stone would be there.

I heard Stone was having troubles getting into Wisconsin, test-wise. I don't know if it's "easier" to get into Maryland or not. I don't know the standards needed, but that's what I heard.

[Greek Tragedy]

Maybe it's looking into things too much. But teams that return the most can pick up where last year ended. Teams that lost more need to reinvent themselves.

UW-Eau Claire
Head Coach:  Matt Siverling; 5th season (3rd at UWEC); 49-54 (overall) / 20-30 (at UWEC)
Letterwinners Returning/Lost:  13/3
Starters Returning/Lost:  5/0

Eau Claire should've won the conference easily then. 

Probably looking into things too much!