MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[cubs]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, one year does not make or break a coach.  Look at his past 11 seasons, he has 8 winning seasons and 5 NCAA Tournament appearances in what some consider the toughest conference in the nation.  Not too bad if you ask me.

As far as not having an inside game, I remember a guy by the name of Tim Dworak who made a living in the post.  If Gibson is "soft" and guys like Werner are able to push him off the block, I put that on the player not doing enough during the offseason.

I don't think anyone is ever going to accuse TVD of being an offensive genius.  His game is defense, and if you can't play it you aren't going to play for him.  Ever think the reason guys like Pedersen and Johnson didn't see the floor much is that they weren't very strong defensively??  What good is it scoring 10 points, if you give up 15 on the opponent's end of the court.

TVD has many critics out there, but I am pretty sure he has done enough to be given a pass for going 17-9 (10-6) on the season.  Look at Illinois Wesleyan.  They were the preseason #1 and they are sitting at 19-5.  Should their coach be let go as well?? I don't think so. 

I said at the beginning of the year they hadn't done anything to EARN the ranking.  The voters were wrong.  It happens.....

[wishoops23]

This was the first time I've seen Point use their bench, with such consistency.  This was a good job by the coaching staff.  Rortvedt is the best catch & shoot, shooter I've seen in the WIAC, but he needs to get more plays coming of screens.  He is such a weapon to have.  And bad defense by Platville for leaving him opening so many times....His was hot, I think somebody should guard him.  And the referring at the game was terrible on both ends of the court.  The refs, were inconsistent with their calls and made alot of bad calls.  But all in all, it was a good game.  One questions I want to throw out there, Nick bennet or Pete Rortvedt for 3?

[billys]

La Crosse beats Oshkosh in OT and Stout beats River Falls.

Just curious, was the foul at the end of LX/OSH game legit.  I mean, don't want to start anything, but sometimes there are some pretty bad calls at end of games.  Was he hacked pretty bad or a touch foul (maybe the guy kicking his leg out on the follow through and hits the defender...foul called or guy leaning in or something)...just wondering.  Tough end of game for the Titans.

Listened on the radio and from what I gathered it didn't sound like there was a major argument. I could be wrong but from the background and discussion it seemed somewhat legit. Talk about stepping up to save a season. Also it sounded like Gibson may have fouled Werner on the ensuing inbounds pass but the foul was ruled to be after the horn. That would have been something, two fouls under two seconds to lose a game.

Great game to listen to but frustrating as well as a UW-L fan. Cappelle to the line 23 times?! Obviously there is some bias in the broadcast so I can't accurately comment as a whole. But I do have a problem with Joe Werner getting a techinical (which resulted in ejection because of an earlier T) for hanging on the rim late in overtime. That's what I hate about officials in Wisconsin, they see so few dunks that everytime a rim snaps, they hand out a T. I don't care if he did 500 chin ups on the rim, there is no need to call a T in overtime of a conference tournament game with the game hanging in the balance. My guess is in a reverse situation TVD may have jumped off the ship in objection. Hard to tell if Koelbl got his two, or more, cents in. Ridiculous in my mind and the announcers heard the official tell Koelbl he "pulled his knees up" OH NO! What a disgrace to the game! And so dangerous too.

Anyway, just wanted to rant. Great win. Didn't think it was to their advantage to go to OT but considering it took 3 throws to get there, they didn't have another option. I think the Final Four are definitely the top four.

UW-L in the men's and women's semis? Hmmm.

[John Gleich]

One of the most unbelievable shooting performances I've ever seen (and I've seen some unbelievable ones)...

Pete Rortvedt hit 9 of his 11 three pointers to pace the Pointers tonight as they win 70-65.

Old School hit the nail on the head by his "5 freshman" comment...  THere were many, many times tonight where there were nothin' but new guys out there for the Pointers.  Jerome Wotachek was huge with 10 rebounds, 4 steals, and 5 points for 31 minutes, filling in the starting role for Brian Bauer, who played just 7 sparce minutes, none in the second half.  Drew Jackson had 8 pts and 6 rebounds and a steal.  Rortvedt had the aforementioned 30 points, with 4 rebounds.

All told, freshmen combined for 48 of the Pointer's 70 points, with 24 of Point's 34 rebounds, 7 steals, and 4 blocked shots, on a night where Bauer hardly was able to play, and the experience upperclassmen Bouche, Hicklin, and Krull shot a combined 5 for 24.

Krull was kept under wraps tonight for much of the game, but he came up big when it mattered and knocked down all seven of his free-throws.  Before tonight's games, Krull had more made free-throws (155) than any other of the top 15 percentage shooters in the league.  When you have a guy who's shot almost 200 free-throw shooting 81%, you've got an amazing weapon.

On a side note... LaX Eagles, your buddy Shawn Lee came in and played a few nice minutes in the first half, providing a defensive spark, and absolutely crossing up one of the Platteville defenders.  He came in in the second half and had some trouble with the press (as Point did much of the night... the Pointers had 14 turnovers, and I'd say at least half of those were against the press or the zone that Platteville threw at Point). 

This truly was a game of momentum tonight... Platteville had some momentum in the first half, as they were getting stops on the defensive end and converting them on their offensive end (geting a couple of 3 point leads) but Point took a 2 point lead going into halftime.  In the second half, Point really came out strong, drawing 5 fouls and grabbing 4 offensive rebounds in the first 3:30, and gaining a nine point lead.  Platteville didn't give up, though, they shaved the lead down to 1... Point stretched it back up to as much as 15, but Platteville wouldn't lay down, lead by a really gutsy performance by LaVon Crawford.  He ended up with 21 points in 26 minutes (he got two fouls pretty early in the first half) and basically threw the team on his back and flat out could not be denied on several drives to the basket.  Point bailed him out a few times, tapping him to draw the foul and allowing him to make the bucket (they did this on multiple occasions... Platteville shot 21 free throws).

Actually, other than Rortvedt's performance, though it was a very hard-fought and exciting (like almost all of the Platteville/Point games since Coach Combs has been at the help of UWP) this wasn't exactly a pretty game to watch.  There were 33 turnovers, 51 free throws (Platteville was in the bonus with 7 minutes left in the 1st half, and Point had the double bonus with 9 to go in the contest).  Granted, Platteville fouled several times in the last two minute (and Point shot an uncharacteristic 66%, far below their nation-leading 79.9% coming into the game) but they had 29 on the game, and Point had 20.  This game didn't have much rhythm to it, because the play kept being halted by whistles.

There also were 31 combined offensive rebounds and Point and Platteville shot 37% and 44%, respectively.

Both teams played very hard, though, and I've got to disagree with wishoops... while some of Rortvedt's shots were open shots (aided by the good passing Point has become known for), others were pretty heavily guarded.  It certainly did bring back images of Nick Bennett from the past few years for just that reason... P.R. would NOT be denied, and he just kept hitting.

[John Gleich]

That would have been something, two fouls under two seconds to lose a game.

Unbelievable plays are not uncommon to the WIAC tourney... just 5 short seasons ago was the year that #8 Stout beat #1 Whitewater by 41 in WW, #7 Platteville knocked off #2 Point with a prayer from about 30, and #3 River Falls, with the game seemingly in hand, throws the ball in the air in the waning seconds and HITS the ceiling in River Falls' rather small gym... giving Oshkosh just enough time to hit a 3 and force OT... where they won the ballgame.

...getting a techinical for hanging on the rim...

I honestly thought that there was a situation like this at the Point game tonight... Jerome Wotachek played an amazing game, but in the second half, he went up strong for the dunk and missed it... and held onto the rim for a bit longer than is kosher, and the whistle blew.  A Platteville player was charged with the foul... and I honestly didn't see it... but...

Speaking of dunks, tonight's game was a high flying one... sort of.  Jeff Skemp and Drew Jackson had dunks on back to back possessions, but there were 3 or 4 other MISSED dunks as well.  In a game as tight as this one was throughout, I found myself just shaking my head and thinking "just lay it up!"...  A great dunk can bring the crowd to its feet and fire up a team... but a missed dunk doesn't score you any points... and in a game where points were at a premium and possessions really mattered, if you have an breakaway or uncontested shot, go for the highest percentage and take the guaranteed two, with a better chance of making the bucket if there's a foul.  Just my two cents on the issue...   

[CVFan52]

What a bright future they have at Point, that is an tremendous performance, who knows they could even take the WIAC tourney this year

[chmarx]

I agree.  Point may be the most surprising team of the year.

I personally think the technical for hanging on the rim is called too rarely.  It seems surprising that it would be called in a tense situation in a close game.

[Greek Tragedy]

Here is last week's NCAA regional rankings and the results of the teams from Feb. 13-Feb. 19...games used to determine today's new Regional Rankings.

West
1 Occidental 11-1 18-2 (SCIAC): LOST to Redlands; LOST at Clare-Mount-Scripps
2 Wisconsin-Stout 15-4 18-5 (WIAC):  Won at La Crosse
3 Puget Sound 13-2 18-4 (NWC): Beat Willamette; Beat Linfield
4 Wartburg 16-3 18-4 (IIAC):  LOST at Buena Vista; beat Cornell
5 Wisconsin-La Crosse 16-5 18-5 (WIAC):  Won at River Falls; LOST to Stout
6 St. Thomas (Minn.) 17-5 19-5 (MIAC):  Beat Concordia-Moorhead
7 Wisconsin-Whitewater 13-5 17-5 (WIAC):  Won at Oshkosh; Won at Eau Claire
8 Carleton 15-4 18-5 (MIAC):  Beat St. Mary's; Won at Bethel

This week's games will obviously decide Pool A (AQ) and possible Pool C (at-large) bids.  The last Regional Rankings determined after Sunday's games will NOT be released to the public, therefore, we'll have to speculate!

Occidental:  In addition to losing twice last week, they also fell on Monday for their 3rd loss in a row. They should go out on a winning note as they play Cal Tech!  Regardless, this is bad news because Claremont-Mudd-Scripps has won the SCIAC title (no conference tourney) and thus thrown Occidental into Pool C consideration.  They'll drop from the top spot, obviously, but may stay ahead of La Crosse, who lost last week at home.

Stout:  The Blue Devils should jump up to #1 in the region with their road win.  Stout won again last night and I think if they lose Thursday or Saturday, they're a shoo-in for a Pool C bid with only a 5th loss (especially since they'll go into the weekend with the possible #1 regional ranking).

Puget Sound: The Loggers should be a solid #2, and could jump Stout with TWO wins, one against a solid Willamette team.  They play in the NWC tourney, so the best thing would be for them to win the AQ.  Willamette or Whitworth could sneak into the regional rankings, but would probably drop right back out if they lose in the conference tourney.

Wartburg: They didn't do themselves any favors by losing to .500 club Buena Vista, but they get a chance for revenge in the IIAC tourney.  They could drop to 6th or even possibly 7th.

La Crosse:  The loss to Stout at home hurts a lot, but could still leapfrog Wartburg.  I still think that 6th loss will cost the Eagles any chance of a Pool C bid.  They will probably drop behind St. Thomas and Whitewater in the Regional Rankings.

St. Thomas:  Looks like St. Thomas may leapfrog La Crosse.  La Crosse does hold an advantage of beating fellow regionally ranked Tommies, so that's a plus.  Of course, St. Thomas does have one less loss to worry about.  MIAC tourney is this week and they have a bye to the semis.

Whitewater:  With all my talk about La Crosse and Stout possibly getting Pool C bids, Whitewater flew under the radar.  Part of the season is because of their low number of in-region wins (they'll be 15-5 in this week's rankings).  Thanks to Wartburg and Oxy tanking last week, Whitewater might improve enough to be a Pool C player, if they lose this week or weekend.

Carleton:  Carleton has been on a roll and could very well get a Pool C bid if they fall in the finals of the MIAC tourney.  If St. Thomas and Carleton are both in the finals, both could get a bid (one AQ and one Pool C). 

[badgerwarhawk]

WHITEWATER[/color] went up 20-6 in the first 9 minutes of the game and snuck past Eau Claire by 41, 88-47.   The game was tied once, 2-2 and the WARHAWKS[/color] led by as many as 25 points, holding Eau Claire to just 19 points, until a BluGold basket made the score at half 44-21.   WHITEWATER[/color] wasted no time in the second half pushing the lead to 30 in the first six minutes and never allowing Eau Claire closer than 26 after that.  In perhaps their best defensive effort of the year the WARHAWKS[/color]  held Eau Claire to just 30% shooting, nearly a 1 to 3 assist to turnover ratio (5-14) and got 9 steals on the night.  Melvin Williams' two dunks early in the first half ignited the offense which shot 61% in the half and 56% on the evening.  Williams led the WARHAWKS[/color] with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 19 minutes.  Andy Freund went 7-9 from the floor and finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 23 minutes.   Everyone saw action, all but one scored and our starters sat for much of the game.  

As far as high flying dunks go Melvin Williams' first dunk last night can rank right up there.  Williams got a running start, caught an alley oop pass perfectly and rammed it home.  I know I'm  exaggerating  but it appeared his chest was rim height.  It was a stunning dunk, one of those that literally take your breath away and you just look at the sky and mutter, "oh my God."  

I thought our refs did a decent job.  There were a few things here and there, there always are, but they worked to the finish and overall did a very acceptable job.  I believe at least one of them, and possible two, are already scheduled for the championship game.

PR was on fire last night, great game.  I agree that Point has done pretty well this year but I picked them to finish third or fourth and they finished third so I can't say that I'm surprised.   Actually I didn't think they'd lose a couple of the games they did, like Lakeland for instance.  But overall they've shown what a successfull system can do with young talent.  

The most surprising team, and in this case it's a negative, is Oshkosh.   Things really went south up there and this season was some major underachieving based on their talent.  I don't know what happened but I wonder if we might not have just witnessed what happens to talented teams without floor leaders.  I'd be surprised if they weren't much better next year.  Guess I'm glad that the WIAC didn't follow my suggestion and simply forfeit the regular season to them so the rest of us could play for second place and they could prepare for their national championship run.  

I was also surprised that Superior couldn't find a conference win somewhere.  It figured they'd finish last but I thought they'd win at least once along the way.  

But this is WIAC and perhaps nothing should surprise us.  

[uww4ever]

I would like to see Stout again if WW plays the kind of tenacious, gritty defense that they played last night.  We don't match up well with 7 footers, but I think that if UWSP wins that Melvin Williams and his shut down defense would shut down Rortveldt and not give him so many open threes.

But, I'm looking ahead of La Crosse.  Hopefully we have enough in the tank after Eau Claire (yeah, it was a blowout, but U Dub Dub played with heart, got up on every player, threw some elbows, rebounded well (did give up over 10 offensive boards to EC, but oh well)).  I haven't seen that in a couple of years from UWW.

Good luck La Crosse, don't give Melvin two ally-oop dunks like EC did (and almost another one to Toellner).

[Mr. Downtown]

Just curious, was the foul at the end of LX/OSH game legit.  I mean, don't want to start anything, but sometimes there are some pretty bad calls at end of games.  Was he hacked pretty bad or a touch foul (maybe the guy kicking his leg out on the follow through and hits the defender...foul called or guy leaning in or something)...just wondering.  Tough end of game for the Titans.

Well...I broadcasted the game TV-wise, and from my angle, and watching the ball, I didn't see what happened. But...the coaches are requesting a tape of the game, and I wouldn't be surprised if our camera caught something. If they did see that there was no foul and Conigliaro did flop, well...I guess the WIAC is getting a VHS tape in the mail soon.

Capelle broke the WIAC record last night for most attempted free throws in a conference tournament game with 23!

No matter what anyone says about the fouls during this game, it was a terrific game on both parts. Again, La Crosse was up by 8 points early in the second half, to only lose it, and then again with the foul in the end to send it to overtime. Only one shot was made in overtime and that was Werner "hanging" on the rim for his 2nd technical and ejection of the game.

The game was very emotional, and La Crosse deserved the win. They will have a tough test next week against Whitewater, but they do match up well with them

On the other end, an end to Pete Warning, who as a back up for 4 years was the hero many times for Oshkosh (reminder to Whitewater fans 2 years ago when he come off the bench to score 18  ) and Andy Jahnke, who improved greatly this year compared to last.

Now for Oshkosh next year should be interesting. They are going to need some depth...but as for someone to replace Jahnke shooting the 3, well they have Matt Miller. But look out for DJ Marsh, TVD was hinting at the beginning of the year that Marsh was possibly going to be the 5th starter as a freshman. He will be back, and knowing its there last chance, Oshkosh still has Capelle and Gibson. Doedens is developing a good offensive game, and Wesener is getting every game. Oshkosh will be back again next year, and maybe because they have more then 1 or 2 seniors on this team, possibly they can overcome the season weakness of not having a leader on this team. Maybe it was good for this team to have a season like this. To remind themselves that nothing is for granted in this conference, and work harder in the summer to give it one last shot.

Good luck to all the teams on Thursday, I will be watching via live stats during our radio show.

Now let's go Ladies...and just some tibit, if Oshkosh women were to make it to the NCAA and host...it will be at ALBEE...not Kolf. Oh yes, the cracker box will rise once again.

[badgerwarhawk]

As I understand it Capelle also set the  record for most free throws made with 19, Downtown. 

Jahnke is a scorer and that's how he helps the team the most.  Last year he had 394 points on the season and this year he had 396 though he did play an extra game last year.   I'm not so sure he was greatly improved or if he wasn't getting the credit he deserved from you and 2K last year.   Just a thought.
 

[janesvilleflash]

Melvin Williams wasn't chest high, but he was looking down at the rim, which is pretty darn close.

Oshkosh/leadership.--I don't buy into that. Any group of talented kids who are COACHABLE, can be formed into a team by a good coach. I think TVD has proved to be more than a capable coach, so I'm thinking his players didn't respond to his coaching. I wouldn't be suprised if some of his returning players, regardless of talent or SIZE, are sitting the bench next year in favor of some new players.

[cubs]

Oshkosh/leadership.--I don't buy into that. Any group of talented kids who are COACHABLE, can be formed into a team by a good coach.

I really have to disagree on this one.  Take a look no further than Cincinatti.  Bob Huggins is what I would consider to be a good coach.  He continuously had some of the top talent every season yet could never win the "big one" even with guys like Danny Fortson and Kenyon Martin (even though you could argue his broken leg cost them a legitimate chance.)

[BuckyC]

Does Gibbons keep his job after EC gets blown out of the water last night and ending another sub .500 season in conference that saw alot of turnover in the roster again?