MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

So, Watson never made an appearance in a game this season. I know during a radio show, Coach had said there were 3 or 4 players that were hurt that would've been in the rotation. Is it a possibility that Watson was one of the players hurt? I have no idea. It seemed like a pretty big "get" when he announced he was committing to Point.

[Greek Tragedy]

Point looks like complete trash. They are lucky to be down just 19. WLC can't miss and Point can't hit anything. WLC is leading 47-28 with WLC's best player (and conference player of the year) riding the pine after picking up 2 quick fouls in the first 5 minutes of the game. He sat  14 minutes.

[Greek Tragedy]

My wife is having some dental work done tomorrow. It probably won't be as painful as the Pointer game tonight. 86-66. WLC is one of the favorites to win the NACC. Sure, it's "only" the NACC, but they are a very good experienced team with the conference player of the year. Point showed how young they are and need to realize they need to fight for every loose ball, rebound, etc. Tough learning experience tonight. Hopefully they'll learn from it. Seth Miron had his first real good game going for 20. Point was 4-19 from 3. 14-21 from the line. Butler had 11, Genrich with 10.

[ShineTime]

That's a great point about the kids needing to get every loose ball as they're really truly lacking a dominant defensive player. I've seen opponents get way too easy looks and we're missing far to many uncontested shots. Is there a lot of offensive talent on this team I'd say without question but a few kids are going to need to step it up on defense for this team to have any chance of winning games in conference. The kid who gave up d1 volleyball could be great defensively if he bulks up a little and Miron seems to play hard both ends. Baumgartner needs to step it up in a big way I heard over and over how great he would be right away which I questioned because the WIAC just is not a conference where many freshman are great right away! He's clearly a talented offensive player but another one whose going to have to box out and get the loose balls. The Pointers are so undersized and have to get a true big next year I'm talking 6'8-6'9" and over 225 that can protect the rim and clear out boards.

[Greek Tragedy]

To the contrary, I think their size is ok, especially compared to last year. We're 6'5", 6'5" and 6'8". Abdul-Wahid, Miron and Krohn, who is 220. So you nearly have your 6'8"-6'9" over 225 guy already. Obviously Miron and Krohn are freshmen. We're 4 games into their collegiate careers. I know they are going to look real bad at times, like last night, but they are also going to put together some good outings as well.

[ChickenHoops]

There will be growing pains all over the WIAC this year.

Oshkosh is very young, with 4 freshman playing decent minutes alongside 4 seniors and several sophomores seeing first meaningful action. Rindflesch injury hopefully short lived. Ironically Titans had recruited Miron too before Point picked him up during the summer. He'd have fit nicely but best of luck to him at Point, he's a gamer.

Seems like LaCrosse and Platteville are solid but replacing some key talent, WW having the most returning. Have to win the instate non conference games.  No early view on the NW schools.

[cubs]

What's going on at UWSP?? Found out today Bowling Green transfer Jackson Watson quit the team along with Brennan Timm and all is not going well right now! That's after the departure of Landon Val Caster unexpectedly which was a 6'8" kid who could shoot it and was extremely versatile. I think it's way too early to judge and people kind of have to expect there would be battle for spots and playing time. I hope it's not true that some are already calling for Scott Anderson to be in charge of the team!

Departure? 

Maybe it's just a matter of semantics, but VanCalster didn't "leave" on his own accord.... The decision was made FOR him, not by him....

[John Gleich]

Guys... relax!  It's one game.  We're early in season #1 of the Dernbach era.  Point is 2-2.

OK.

We'd like to be 4-0, but we aren't there yet.

I didn't watch a second of the game. But I can tell, from one number, that Wisconsin Lutheran dictated the pace and flow of that game - 86.

It's just one game, but it shows, at least in this one, that SP wasn't playing the type of defense that makes it difficult for other teams to score.

Another set of numbers - 13/25 - WLU shot really well. Part of that could be that they were getting (and making) open shots, which suggests that SP wasn't closing to shooters. But, also, sometimes you have "one of those nights."



Before you sell the farm, go back and listen to the first 1/4 of the Pointer Hoops Radio Show. http://rdo.to/WSPT

Listen to what Coach Dernbach is trying to build.  And listen specifically to HOW he's doing it. Motion offense and man-to-man defense. The Pointer way.

They aren't there yet. There will be some lumps, especially early.

But I'm reminded of something I heard Coach Dick Bennett say one time. In order to build a winning program, you have to start with guys that you can lose with.

Losing sucks. Nobody likes it. But it can be very character-forming and can build the right types of players that you need for long-term success.

SP stays on the road for the next few weeks. At Augustana next. They're 1-4 and lost last night to UWW, 93-79.
Then up to Superior (5-0) next Saturday, and off to Trine (4-0) the following Saturday.

I don't put a lot of stock in the Massey Ratings, but SP is an underdog at Augie, a 1-point favorite at Superior, and an underdog at Trine. Hopefully, they can come through this swing at least 2-1.

The spacing of these games, though, means several days of practice, more repetition, and more time to gather experience. Point should be better prepared and equipped to compete.

[badgerwarhawk]

Augustana (1-4): 79
WARHAWKS (4-0): 93

Augustana had a couple early leads in the first eight minutes or so but after a three pointer by Miles Barnstable tied the game 16-16 was followed by a layup from James Kelly the WARHAWKS took a lead that they would maintain for the remainder of the night.  That lead quickly grew to double figures, reaching a high of 18, 49-31. just before the half ended 49-33.  Augustana would trail by as many as 20 and get no closer than 10 points in the second half.  Miles Barnstable led all scorers with 23 points on 6-10 from beyond the arc and 5-5 from the charity stripe.  Trevon Chislom contributed 20 points and a game high 7 assists.  Delvin Barnstable (14) and Carter Capstran (10) also scored in double figures.   Playing major minutes for the first time freshman Issac Verges pulled down a game high 10 rebounds and chipped in with 8 points. 

Augustana has good team speed and couple of nice shooters.  But they lack size and that hurt them last night as they were out rebounded and out scored in the paint.

Next: @ Ripon 11/25

[Greek Tragedy]

What's going on at UWSP?? Found out today Bowling Green transfer Jackson Watson quit the team along with Brennan Timm and all is not going well right now! That's after the departure of Landon Val Caster unexpectedly which was a 6'8" kid who could shoot it and was extremely versatile. I think it's way too early to judge and people kind of have to expect there would be battle for spots and playing time. I hope it's not true that some are already calling for Scott Anderson to be in charge of the team!

Departure? 

Maybe it's just a matter of semantics, but VanCalster didn't "leave" on his own accord.... The decision was made FOR him, not by him....

I don't think "departure" implies voluntary or involuntary. So, yeah, probably semantics. :-)

Guys... relax!  It's one game.  We're early in season #1 of the Dernbach era.  Point is 2-2.

Yes, I've noted that my comments only pertain to this particular game. But, losing to St. Olaf isn't a great sign either. Yeah, they only lost by 3, but they were down 16 or 17? The positive is that they didn't quit, but the Oles' only win this season was against Point. I realize there are going to be growing pains and I'm confident they'll get better as the season progresses.

[wiacfamily]

Uncharacteristic for the WIAC as they go through the non-conference portion of their season. Typically there are multiple teams ranked within the top 25, even the top 10.  Every team should be in the top 100.  These losses might come back to hurt the conference during the selection time in March, making it harder to get that 3rd bid.

Current Massey rank of Conferences:

Team             Record   Rat    Pwr   Off    Def     SoS
University AA      24-10   1        1    2     3     7
Old Dominion AC   41-15    2     3    10     1     17
Ohio AC              33-12    3         5      4      7      18
Wisconsin IAC      18-18   4     2      5      4       6
American Rivers       24-9      5       7       8      6      20

Current Season
Rank   Team         Record
18   WI Whitewater   4-0
26   WI Oshkosh   3-1
40   WI Platteville   3-1
68   WI La Crosse   2-2
123   WI Eau Claire   1-3
143   WI Stevens Pt   2-2
196   WI Stout           2-5
203   WI River Falls   1-4


End of 2022-2023 season:
8   WI Oshkosh   24-7
9   WI Whitewater   25-8
12   WI La Crosse   19-7
35   WI Eau Claire   17-10
52   WI Platteville   14-12
98   WI River Falls   11-15
109   WI Stevens Pt   10-15
205   WI Stout             5-21

[Greek Tragedy]

https://athletics.uwsp.edu/news/2023/11/26/mens-basketball-mens-basketball-picks-up-first-road-win-of-season-at-augustana.aspx

After their debacle at WLC, Stevens Point was able to get a much-needed confidence booster at Augustana on the weekend, 55-41. They were up 27-17 at the break. Transfer Malik Abdul-Wahid had 18 and 5, while freshman Josiah Butler chipped in with 15 and 7. No other Pointer scored over 7.

Taking a closer look at the box score, I hope the game wasn't as ugly as the stats. A great defensive battle? The struggles of two young teams? Point shot just 36% including 5-18 from 3. They also missed 8 FTs. They also coughed the ball up 16 times.

On the positive, they did score 20 of their 55 points in the paint, got to the line 26 times and out-rebounding Augie 38-32. Point assisted on 10 of their 16 FGs as well. So, definitely some positives in the game. On to Superior.

[Greek Tragedy]

https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2023-24/boxscores/20231125_9kfc.xml?view=boxscore

I also stopped by Kolf and took in the battle of 2 preseason Top 25 teams. Oshkosh topped NPU 69-64.

NPU is fast, athletic and quick. They press and play fast. Oshkosh did pretty well against the press and hit some big shots to stave off the visitors. NPU will win games creating TOs and scoring in the transition. Their half court offense is a lot of one v one matchups trying to exploit their superior quickness and athleticism. They made 27 FGs, but only had 5 assists. I think a more disciplined offense may have just thrown the ball into their 6'9" big guy, Philip Holmes Jr because Oshkosh had no answer for him. He ended up with 18 points on just 8-10 shooting while Kolden Vanlandingham  was just 6-19. NPU was 3-22 from 3 and missed half their FTs.

Not surprisingly, everything for Oshkosh went through Steckbauer and Mahoney. They combined for 30 of the team's 51 FGA. Mahoney started off hot, but finished just 5-14 for a team high 20. Steckbauer ended up 7-16 for 18 pts. Oshkosh shot a hot 12-25 from 3, but did have 17 TOs.

Decent sized crowd close to 400 with the students gone, even though the pepband was there. They moved everyone over to one side, so obviously looked fuller. I haven't been there previously this season, so not sure if that's standard now. They also moved the player benches to the other side, opposite of the fans.

[PauldingLightUP]

https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2023-24/boxscores/20231125_9kfc.xml?view=boxscore

Decent sized crowd close to 400 with the students gone, even though the pepband was there. They moved everyone over to one side, so obviously looked fuller. I haven't been there previously this season, so not sure if that's standard now. They also moved the player benches to the other side, opposite of the fans.

Looks like they are trying to repaint the lane lines on the track, so they couldn't pull on the bleachers on that side. Normally both sides are out and bench on that side as it was on Saturday.

[ChickenHoops]

https://www.d3hoops.com/seasons/men/2023-24/boxscores/20231125_9kfc.xml?view

I think a more disciplined offense may have just thrown the ball into their 6'9" big guy, Philip Holmes Jr because Oshkosh had no answer for him. He ended up with 18 points on just 8-10 shooting while Kolden Vanlandingham  was just 6-19. NPU was 3-22 from 3 and missed half their FTs.

Not surprisingly, everything for Oshkosh went through Steckbauer and Mahoney. They combined for 30 of the team's 51 FGA. Mahoney started off hot, but finished just 5-14 for a team high 20. Steckbauer ended up 7-16 for 18 pts. Oshkosh shot a hot 12-25 from 3, but did have 17 TOs.

Decent sized crowd close to 400 with the students gone, even though the pepband was there. They moved everyone over to one side, so obviously looked fuller. I haven't been there previously this season, so not sure if that's standard now. They also moved the player benches to the other side, opposite of the fans.

Oshkosh is a bit limited inside as they are down one man with starter Jonah Rindflesch injured in the Ohio event. Adamson needs to be judicious on fouls.  I think the play of sophomores/freshman like Thomas, Imig, Strassman and Dalton ( amongst others) bodes well for the Titans.