MBB: Midwest Conference

[Gregory Sager]

Sorry, Scottie, but he invited comments about his blog. It was either post it here, or in the NAthCon room, or in the WIAC room. You guys lost.

[scottie]

Lucky us!   


On a MWC-RELATED note, here are tomorrow night's slugfests:

Roop U @ Kevin Walden's team
Redhawks @ Blue Boys
The U @ Mount Monmouth
Honey Boo Boo @ SNC
Chicago @ Lake Forest
Corny @ Larry

I report, you decide. 

[ExBBaller40]

Beloit over Knox- Lazarcik and Butke get big
IC over Ripon- long road trip for Ripon and IC tripped up LF last weekend.
Carroll over Monmouth- Pioneers bounce back big after close win over LU
St. Norbert over Honey Boo Boo- Game of the week, could go down to the wire. Norbert makes System pay late.
Lawrence over Cornell- LU looked solid against Carroll on road and should take down Cornell at home

[jeffdc]

Off topic but of interest (at least to Scottie and Roop) - JeffP just sold his coffee shop! He's excited and with his newly-found leisure time, will probably post almost continuously on this board. So get ready. 

[scottie]

S C O T T I E   I S   S P E E C H L E S S ! ! ! !

[jeffdc]

S C O T T I E   I S   S P E E C H L E S S ! ! ! !

Scottie is the master at fancy animated posts. Just gotta say it.

[jeffp]

He double toothpick NO! I'm not gonna post continuously.

Just semi-continuously.

[jeffp]

And it's jeffp, not jeffP, Mr dc!
hahahahaha!

[jeffdc]

And it's jeffp, not jeffP, Mr dc!
hahahahaha!

I see...now that he's retiring, he is becoming a copy editor 

[Titan Q]

As I posted on the CCIW board...
------------

Grinnell 105
St. Norbert 94

I watched the 2nd half of Grinnell's 105-94 win @ MWC favorite St. Norbert.  It's the third time I've watched a pretty good chunk of a Grinnell game (not counting the scam record game).  I tell you what, Grinnell is a pretty darn good basketball team.  They run their system this year better than I've ever seen it run.  On offense they don't just chuck bad 3s...they seem to get a lot of great looks, both inside and out.  And on defense, they don't give up a lot of wide-open layups after their initial fullcourt pressure.  They seem to recover really well and make the opponent execute in the halfcourt offense.

While Jack Taylor's 138-point effort was a contrived scam, that kid is a legitimate Division III All-American-caliber player.  He likes to get the ball beyond the arc and dribble back and forth between his right and left hand, looking for the defender to commit in some way.  From there he likes to pull up quickly for a 3 off the dribble (where he's a really good shooter), or penetrate for a little 15 footer.  Any D3 team in the country would love to have Jack Taylor.  Today he had 36 points in 18 minutes (9-18 FG, 6-13 3-point, 12-13 FT).

If I'm a D3 tournament team that can't put 4 guys on the floor at all times who can handle the ball, I wouldn't want to get paired up with this Grinnell team in March.

[jeffdc]

The only think I would add to TitanQ's comment is that the SNC defense was impressive, particularly in the 1st half. Double and triple teaming Taylor much of the time, very quick to cover the 3 shooters - honestly I was surprised when GC finally pulled ahead toward the end of the 1st half. But the 2nd half was really GC's game.

[Titan Q]

The only think I would add to TitanQ's comment is that the SNC defense was impressive, particularly in the 1st half. Double and triple teaming Taylor much of the time, very quick to cover the 3 shooters - honestly I was surprised when GC finally pulled ahead toward the end of the 1st half. But the 2nd half was really GC's game.

A couple things I question on the offensive end for St. Norbert...

1) They passed up wide open 3-pointers often.  I know against Grinnell you figure you can get a good look around the basket if you take care of the ball and pass it well, but when you're wide open you have to pull the trigger.

2) St. Norbert failed to attack the basket after getting the ball across halfcourt.  It seemed like they had a number of 2 on 1 situations, with a Grinnell defender planted in the middle of the lane, but would choose to pull it out and work the halfcourt offense.  I think against Grinnell you have to attack the basket (with ball handler either shooting or passing).  The longer you have the ball in your hands against Grinnell, the more likely you are to turn it over.

[scottie]

Don't forget to add that Taylor also has had mono all season, purchased a local coffee house with cash late last night, turned in his Rhodes Scholar application this morning, and delivered 75 meals on wheels before tip-off.   

p.s.  Carrol 71, Good Guys 63

[systemfan86]

Guessing this might have been brought up before, but I was looking at the schedule and noticed the lack of back-to-back games. That should help Grinnell in the regular season, but will make the tournament - if they make it - more interesting.

Nice to get three road wins under their belt. Maybe we see the tournament in Honey Boo Boo Land this season.

[systemfan86]

TRYING TO SEE IF I CAN MATCH SCOTTIES SKILLS!!!!!