MBB: Midwest Conference

[titan2000]

LU wins at Alex over Ripon.

Keven Bradley throws in the last 20 points for LU and saves the day.

Ripon loses its cool and bumps a ref for a T and a big swing late in the game.  Ripon has a good team, really good inside and their guards can penetrate too.  I'm surprised their record is so poor.  They will be a force in the MWC if they get to the tourney.

LU bench gets a T in the first half after a really bad call a few plays earlier--and the ref had to be restrained by the other refs as he lunged at Tharp after he said something to him.  I haven't ever seen that.  It was like the ref wanted to fight or something.  Maybe he was baiting Tharp to get another one?

McGillis covers Bo Johnson like a sheet and he is held to 10 points and not many attempts.

Physical game, the refs let them play.

Gillespie does shake hands so all past sins are forgiven.

[mwc4life]

T2K's assement was pretty accurate....I don't know if the 7 to 1 foul count (LU's favor of course) with 16 minutes to go in the second half constitutes as "letting them play," but I would say over-all the officiating was pretty poor yet again in the MWC.

On to the game.  Anyone who has a chance to see Briaer play needs to do so one last time....I really have no idea what his box score was, but it's so impressive to see how many people respond to him.  I can honestly say that I've never seen a player his caliber impact his teammates on so many different levels.  Whenever LU was down or needed a run it was always Braier who got an "and one" or hit a three or got his man to go over his back.  He is some special player and as this weeks edition in SI states, the only player in the MWC's history to post a 1,000 points and a 1,000 rebounds in his career.  He is the heart and soul of LU's program and there is NOOOO doubt in my mind that LU will take a big step back when he leaves.  The energy his brings to the court is unlike any other and this teammates feed of it like a drug. 

Bo had another bad game at Alex mostly giving credit to MaGillis who is a great competitor...although his 3 points was shocking to be honst.  Three players stood out to me during the game (not including Briaer).  One of course was Bradley for LU who didn't miss a shot and indeed "saved" LU from a potential upset.  The other two were soph Paul Wise (who was the player who got T'd late in the game to seal it for LU) and Brian Schmitting.  LU had no answer for either of those guys.  Wise is really coming along this year and showed a great ability to create and finish his own shot against a great defense.  Brian Schmitting, in my bias opinion, is the best center in the MWC.  He is slowly recovering from a knee injury which one doctor told him he had to sit this whole season.  His knee is feeling the best it has before he hurt it in the UW-GB exibition game earlier in the year.  I don't believe there is anyone that can stop him in our league besides possibly beckford.  I know one thing, if Gillie and Ripon gave Schmitting a touch every possesion, it would open the offense up for shooters like johnson and McMullen.  In fact, I believe if Ripon changed from more of a three guard motion to concentrating on feeding schmitting the ball, they will be extremly tough to beat.  I want to know what the LU's impressions were of him.

Overall LU's defense is very very good and they run awesome offense.  Braier has the Jordan Rules, but deserves everything he gets.  I'm 100% sure they aren't as good as the past LU teams, but they still have Briaer.  I didn't really see anyone from LU that leads me to believe their future is safe post Briaer era.  I realize Bradley can shoot the ball very well from the outside, but they lack size.  All the new faces on LU's team look like clones of one another and no one really stood out (besides Bradley)...meaning I didn't see anyone that could take games over...their greatly run offense is the beneficiary of a lot of their players....gonna be different when Bopper is gone...oh yeah and MaGillis.

One last note: LU does a great job drawing fouls that aren't there.  They lean into defenders, fall down/flop....MaGillis had one play where he threw his leg into an on-coming defender that twisted him around and looked really bad, but thank god the refs didn't buy that one....just stuff like that, but hey do whatever you have to do to win.

[GrinnellFan68]

hows this dope hai-ku
jeff p is straight up sexy
fo sho pioneers


I'm back on the wagon...or off...not sure...whatever it is, I'm drinking again.

love you guys

[The Roop]

So if I understand you correctly. Seeing JeffP has caused you to drink.

[jeffdc]

The interesting is, JeffP has that effect on most of his customers.

I second Jeff's assessment of the GC/IC game. Particularly at the end, GC was shaking up their strategy and giving us some hints of games to come. Bobby Long has the potential to become their 'go-to' guy, and if you couple him with Arsenault and Grotburg, you really start to wonder if there's anything that GC *can't* do!

Of course, I'm a bit of a fan 

[scottie]

Hey Early,

It appears that Gillie is shaking hands again.  But now the players "are giving sportsmanship a bad name."

JeffP, I hope (for MC's sake) that the Scots will be looking to heal some road wounds with a W at home Tuesday night.   Maverick, FS13 and Schwan "Pulitzer" Man ought to provide some good recaps.

[LU_nut]

T2 and MWC4life

Cannnot generally disagree with most of your comments on the game.  LU wins with defense and that is how they beat Ripon.  MacGillis on Johnson was terrific.  So was Rosenblatt and Kadison on McMullen.  Wise and Schmitting had nice games, but each had a lot of their success when LU went to the bench.

Your comments on Briaer are dead on.

Ripon does have talent that is not reflected in their record.  I suspect that Lake Forest is similiar.

I think it is too early to say that LU is not as strong as the past two years.  I am not yet saying they are stronger this year, but they cannot do better than 9-0.  They do sometimes play to the level of their competition.  While they miss people that have graduated, folks like Briaer, Klekamp and McGillis are likely to continue to be better than they have been in the past as most senior's are.  Also. freshman guards continue to play strong.

Time will tell.

[titan2000]

I guess all the "LU is dead" when Braier is gone stuff is in my view, over the top.  Yes, Chris is great and we will miss him.  But last night we had 3 frosh in the game (Kadison, Kroeger and Page) a soph (Hurley) and a senior and we didn't give up a lot.  I see the depth as the reason we should be tough in the future, not the weakness.

Watch Kroeger and Rosenblatt and other underclassmen score--when its needed--and next year it will be.  And why would another crop of frosh stay away--we can reload in 2006/2007.

Don't move the MWC conference tournament yet.  It should be at Alex a few more times in the near future. 

[larry_u]

Few things to add to the LU/RC discussion

Lu has now won 6 times in a row in Alex..five regular season meetings in a row, and then the MWC championship game last year.


The 7-1 foul ratio was with 16 minutes to go in the 2nd half, however, majicially as things alwasy seem to go, with 12 minutes to go, the fouls were 7-6....


Bradley is a stud, Braier is god, and LU rules.

They defenitely looked a little rusty, but they got through it.  Hopefully all will be well the rest of the year.

[Maverick]

JeffP, I hope (for MC's sake) that the Scots will be looking to heal some road wounds with a W at home Tuesday night.   Maverick, FS13 and Schwan "Pulitzer" Man ought to provide some good recaps.

scottie - I'm with you buddy!  Here's hoping that the Scots get that elusive first MWC win of the season and, like jeffp said, MC is about due to put it all together and hopefully have a good run for the remainder of the schedule.   The Titans don't have a game Tuesday night so I'm planning on being there to take in the action (we usually have games on Tuesdays but not this week).

[mwc4life]

"The 7-1 foul ratio was with 16 minutes to go in the 2nd half, however, majicially as things alwasy seem to go, with 12 minutes to go, the fouls were 7-6...."

Larry_U

And magically LU didn't foul again until the 5:50 mark...amazing.  LU shot 32 FT to Ripon's 18....enough said.


"I guess all the "LU is dead" when Braier is gone stuff is in my view, over the top.  Yes, Chris is great and we will miss him.  But last night we had 3 frosh in the game (Kadison, Kroeger and Page) a soph (Hurley) and a senior and we didn't give up a lot.  I see the depth as the reason we should be tough in the future, not the weakness."

T2K

I don't understand your logic.  Briaer played 38 minutes and made just about every big play needed.  I give credit to Bradley for knocking down what...EVERY SHOT he took, but nights like those aren't an everyday occurance (ask Dee Brown).  Plus saying LU is going to be down as well is a testament to how good MaGillis is.  He is a lock down defender and can guard bigger wings (who guards Johnson next year?) He, like his brother, has ice in his vains and is an amazing competitor.  Like I said earlier, LU does a nice job running offense even with the underclassman, but they are very small...quick, but small.  With Briaer gone rebounding might be a problem.

Anyways, I really didn't want to make this into a "next year" conversation with three months still to play.  This was the first time I got a chance to see Briaer in person from a fans perspective and it was just amazing to me to see how much his teammates responded to him...just exactly how many plays he makes....he is a play maker.  I have no doubt as long as Tharp is at LU, that they will be one of the top programs in this league for years to come.  But the dominance that was displayed for the last 3 years and counting is something that you won't see again until a player like Braier comes a long again....and as you can see, no one else has ever done what Braier has done in a four year period.

Oh yeah Osland or whoever was the center for LU looked real sweet with his high socks on sat.

[cubs]

I know Gillespie will have his boys fired up for the game, and with as much time in between games he has every play analyzed.  They WILL be ready for the game, but once tip-off starts, it's all up to the players.  Work together boys and good things will happen.

Something that was brought to my attention earlier this year that I hadn't thought about....  Does anyone think the lack of results this season for the Ripon men has anything to do with the absence of a certain assistant coach this season?  It seemed in the past when things were going rough for the Hawks, you could typically see Bob going down to the end of the bench to talk to Gordie.   Now without Gordie their, Bob has kind of lost that resource, and one could argue it has really hurt the Hawks this season. 

I'd be curious to hear what Ripon followers have to say.

[mwc4life]

Cubs -

I haven't really thought of that, but you bring up a great point.  For all of us who were blessed to be coached by Gordie, you know he is as special of a coach alive today.  Gordie was always there to calm Bob down or offer suggestions and thoughts to game plans...his knowledge was endless.  He is definitely missed.  I would have to say more then anything though could be the absence of assistant coach Brian Vraney.  He is now the assistant coach at Lake Forest College and will soon some day run in own college program.  He played bball with Michael Finely and Coach Conger at UW in the mid 90's.  If you had to ask me who Bob misses more, it is definitely Gordie, but if you had ask me who the players miss as far as development and hands on coaching...it has to be Vraney.

[titan2000]

Did Gordie retire or pass away? I noticed he wasn't there but I didn't realize he had any significant role, just thought he got a good seat that way.  My condolences if the latter is true. 

With all due respect, I think the coach on the floor (Becker) is missed the most.  While the Ripon guards are good, they didn't maintain their cool on Saturday. 
I'm sure Coach Gillespie had a talk with them about that on Saturday night.

[Old Fighting Scot]

all this talk of ripon losing at alex had me wondering.  When is the last time MC won at LF.  the talent and final standings have been similar over the years but i know i cant remember the last time MC chopped the trees in chicago.....

schwannman, any insight?