MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[John Gleich]

Not much height on that Pointer roster

There ARE 10 guys 6'4" or taller... but only one over 6'6", which proves the point!

  There was a 7 footer that was a "grey shirt" last year, must not have made the cut (or the grades).

Word is that he did not return to school this year, but that it may still be a possibility down the road.

Purple-Gold game on the 7th is a chance to see some of the new faces in action.

Also, there's a scrimmage today at 2:30 against Michigan Tech.  I'm going to try to shoot over there for a few minutes and take a look!

[Mr. Downtown]

Skemp will be a FORCE down low this year and maybe I am bias to big men but he is my early fav for POY.

He NEEDS to stay healthy.

I'm sorry for being a little skeptical on Skemp, but his injury past has been a problem for the Pioneers, and  its tough to say they can count on him for entire season, when that has never been the case in his career.

As for Oshkosh, don't think they will be slower this year. They are changing their offense, so practices have been kinda rough to start the year.

Here's your projected starting 5

Matt Miller
DJ Marsh (My preseason POY)
Jordan Johnson
Ryan Johnsen
Dane Seckar-Anderson

[Greek Tragedy]

DJ Marsh (My preseason POY)

Wow.  One sophomore made 1st team all-conference last year (Rortvedt) and two more made HM (Beamish and Lohoff).  Three freshmen made HM (Robertson, Enerson-Matthews and Koonkaew).  I think DJ Marsh has a lot of work to do.  No offense, Mr. DT.  Only three underclassmen made 1st team (7 on HM list), so there's room, but POTY?  That would be quite a jump, IMO.

The Media Day was today, so we'll find out what the coaches think very soon!

[Greek Tragedy]

While I was posting...

HERE IT IS, THE PRESEASON POLL AND ALL IT'S GLORY!

[UWRF]

1st- How was media day? Unable to make it do classes and fact that im a poor college student.

2nd- RF intersquad scrimmage tomorrow. Ill have to make it over there for a while to see how the teams look (RF women are having one too).

3rd- RF scrimmages Bemidji State on Nov. 10th but i will be unable to attend because of a trip to Lambeau Field on Sunday. So ill have to find out how it went and report back.

Just some FYIs

[John Gleich]

Well, I'm back from watching the warmups of the UWSP/MTU scrimmage...  Semling had a meeting and so it didn't get started right away... I didn't even get to see the tip off!

Oh well. 

From OS's link:

1. UW-Stevens Point ( 8 )     26-3, 15-1               
2. UW-Whitewater ( 1 )         18-9, 10-6
3. UW-Platteville                  13-12, 8-8
4. UW-Oshkosh                   21-6, 12-4
5. UW-La Crosse                  19-8, 12-4
6. UW-River Falls                 10-16, 5-11
7. UW-Stout                          12-13, 5-11
8. UW-Eau Claire                  10-16, 3-13
9. UW-Superior                    7-18, 2-14


Maybe that's the meeting Sem was at!


Point also #3 in the National poll, Whitewater #25, Platteville recieving 2 votes

Top 25 preseason poll is out.

[Pioneer Hoops Fan]

Skemp will be a FORCE down low this year and maybe I am bias to big men but he is my early fav for POY.

He NEEDS to stay healthy.

I'm sorry for being a little skeptical on Skemp, but his injury past has been a problem for the Pioneers, and  its tough to say they can count on him for entire season, when that has never been the case in his career.

This quote is directly from the announcement of Jeff being named preseason All-American.

"Any time you have the combination of size and experience added back to the team, it immediately helps you," Pioneer Coach Paul Combs said. "Jeff is an impact player for us because of all his strengths. He started 59 straight games for us before he was hurt. He just gives us a different dimension defensively. He's able to disrupt or contest a lot of opponent shots."

Sounds like he's been hurt an awful lot of the 2 and 1/3 seasons he's played!  At this pace in another 2 and 1/3 seasons...then we can say he's injury prone.

[Mr. Downtown]

Shame on me. It's not really history if it only counts a year.

However, isn't it a bit premature to expect a guy, who only played only in 8 games last year, to bounce back and be a preseason  All-American.

Then again, I do go to Oshkosh, and I know what preseason rankings mean at the end.

A couple more points:

1) I think DJ Marsh is going to make a big leap this year. Hence why preseason-wise, he doesn't look like a sexy pick, but I think he'll be one of the best players this year in the WIAC

2) Point is the best, but I disagree with the SID's on Whitewater (#2) and especially with River Falls (#6).

3) Superior will make the WIAC tourney this year

4) This is going to be a much different WIAC season as in style of play then we have seen the past couple of seasons.

5) Because of 4, it'll be a great year of competition

6) Because of 5, the WIAC will only have one team in the NCAA Tourney

I can't wait until it starts!

[frodotwo]

Food is served starting at 5PM OS  The Pointer Backcourt Club is treating I believe.

[frodotwo]

I thought DJ Marsh was a fine player last year, but he was option #3 on the team and most of the defensive attention was placed on options #1 & #2. We'll see how he does this year when defenses key on him as option #1.

[Greek Tragedy]

frodo, 

Thanks for the info.  I'm there!

Mr. DT.

Don't get me wrong, I think Marsh is a fine player, but that's a huge leap, IMO. 

As a freshman and sophomore, Jon Krull did real well as the #3 option behind Bennett and Kalsow.  I wasn't sure how he would do when they graduated, but he did extremely well.

I agree with you on Whitewater and River Falls.  I think we may all agree that River Falls is a sleeper.

As a sophomore, he didn't make AC at all, but as a Junior and Senior, he was 1st team AC...so I guess it isn't out of the question. 

[chmarx]

Brian and I went up to Winona for the scrimmage between UWL and WSU.  Man they are good!  I doubt the Gophers will ever scrimmage them again, but I'd say they are closer to Minnesota in talent than UWL.  They had no trouble beating us by almost 40 points.

As far as UWL, the veteran guards looked good.  The front line looks porous without Werner.  The skinny guys who were freshmen last year didn't put on much muscle.  There is a freshman from Westby who is a bit burly, but he looks soft.  On the other hand, he wasn't afraid to take the rock to the hoop against WSU's big center.  he ate it, but I like his spirit. 

Fifth in the conference looks about right to me for UWL.  Definitely a rebuilding year.

WSU could win it all again.

[badgerwarhawk]

Of course the ability of the SIDs to predict the winner is a subject of debate but typically last year's winner is the front runner.   Point will be very tough again this year.

While things will look different around the league this year, which is really going to make Skemp stand out, you won't see much different in WHITEWATER.  We'll push the tempo like we always do.  We've got a couple recruits that will contribute immediately, our size is adequate considering the rest of the league and hopefully we've found a point guard.   I don't know where we're going to finish but we should be very competitive.   

[uww4ever]

WW does have some big front line guys.  Mitchell added I would say 10+ pounds of muscle.  I don't know much about the recruits, but my prediction for this year is hopefully not like in years past, we protect the rock and if we do push the tempo, we can finish.  Time will tell in this season to see who will step up and seperate themselves in conference.  I would hope that WW can shoot the 3 like the Pointers,  I remember one game last year when that's all UWSP did was shoot 3s, and make them!!!!  But at UWW, it's a fairly easy target (when I used to shoot around, even I could make a few, the rims give a little and the hoops seem bigger).

GO HAWKS

[stoutguy]

Brian and I went up to Winona for the scrimmage between UWL and WSU.  Man they are good!  I doubt the Gophers will ever scrimmage them again, but I'd say they are closer to Minnesota in talent than UWL.  They had no trouble beating us by almost 40 points.

As far as UWL, the veteran guards looked good.  The front line looks porous without Werner.  The skinny guys who were freshmen last year didn't put on much muscle.  There is a freshman from Westby who is a bit burly, but he looks soft.  On the other hand, he wasn't afraid to take the rock to the hoop against WSU's big center.  he ate it, but I like his spirit. 

Fifth in the conference looks about right to me for UWL.  Definitely a rebuilding year.

WSU could win it all again.

Regarding WSU, one of our Menomonie kids, Cole Kraft, decided that he wanted to give college basketball a try after football at Winona and the coach appears to not even have been interested.  Now, to me, that says plenty.  Cole Kraft is one of the best HS players that I have ever had the privilege of watching.  If he didn't interest them, they must be really good.  I guess I will see that first hand as Stout plays them this year.