MBB: Midwest Conference

[mwc4life]

No Respect? Maybe its more of Ripon is off to a terrible 1-3 start and can't afford to take these weekend games lightly.  In years past Ripon has jumped out to a fast start and an early top25 ranking.  They have done this for the last 5 or 6 six years and this is the first "bad" start for them in  along time.  I think at times, especially on the road, Ripon has thought they were unbeatable and don't come out with an A+ effort early in the conference season.  They have always had some of the best athletes in the conference year in and year out, but they haven't put forth what it takes to win road games...ala Briar and LU as of late.  I personally think MC is going be extremly tough at home this year, but until they PROVE how good they are by winning games away from monmouth, people are going to have some doubts about them...they did lose their best leader last year, and those are hard to come by.  Also Ripon has lost in the last moments the last two years there so maybe they get their just due....Or maybe a ref calls another foul at the end of the game and Ripon loses by 1 i don't know.

Old School makes nice points about the players Ripon still has.  They are talented and can get the job done as much as any team in this league.  Soph. Paul Wise is filling in nicely and he will only get better as he learns and becomes more comfortable with Gillies motion offense. Wise is aver. 12.8 pts/gm 4.5 brds/gm and is very athletic.  Ripon's Freshman Vahantre Brown, who i think is going to be special in this league, had 17 against UW-L and is another guy slowly coming along.  I noticed that Ripon is 9th in the conference in assists at 11/gm which is terrible for them (usually in top 4).  It's obvious they aren't playing that well together.  But with more games and reps, it will get better.  I know Schmitting had an injury after the UW-GB game, which made him miss significant practice time in the fall, and is slowly recovering from it.

*another crazy stat i noticed....Briar is 3rd in conference so far with 5.33 asst/gm...WOW


128 days until Briar and LU are no more....wait isn't McGillis going to be gone too!!! OHHHH MAN

[Dolph Stanley]

"Posted by: Dolph Stanley  Posted on: Today at 09:51:32 AM 
Insert Quote 
Lawrence can survive and even thrive when they lose Briar. 

Soooo their better off without him??? I guess I don't understand what you mean by this"

No.  They clearly have thrived with him there.  It simply means that IMO the single biggest factor in the success Lawrence has enjoyed over a period stretching back more than four years  is not Braier (happy JeffP,  but Tharp.  While it may be a long time before LU lands another player like Braier (if ever) look at what Beloit has accomplished (or failed to accomplish) with Hinz. Great players come and go but great coaches find a way to compete more often than not.   Lawrence will not be the same team without Braier next year and will probably indeed be in a rebuilding mode (the number of teams at the D3 level who "reload" is VERY small) but as long as Tharp remains I would not look for them to take very long to be back at or near the top of the MWC.

[scottie]

As for MWC basketball, my earlier post was more of a thoughtful inquiry rather than a complaint. 

Hard to tell by your use of the term Coleman mafia, sir. Not very thoughtful.

Perhaps if you want to be mistaken for thoughtful, you can leave the derogatory terms out of it.

Meanwhile, yes, I am always happy to see our poll validated at the expense of the AFCA's.

Let's see if I got these fascinating blue-box-things to work...

Pat, I'm sorry you feel my term is derogatory and not thoughtful.  I thought it was a witty metaphor.  You know me...I'm a laugh a minute.  Anyhow, I'll try to refrain from using it.  (Just don't screw the Scots or any other MWC team in the polls if they're having a dynamite season...ha ha.)

Now, if I can only figure out how to add one of these clever pictures...

Warmly,

Scottie

p.s.  Where are you Steve Cool?  Are you going to stand up for the Redhawks or what?   

[MWCSID2005]

MWC Announces Live Video Internet Broadcast Of Four Basketball Games On Friday, January 13

The Midwest Conference, in conjunction with media technology firm Penn Atlantic, will stream live internet video of four MWC men's and women's basketball contests free of charge on Friday, January 13.

The four contests, which will be aired with full video, will feature Lake Forest at Ripon and Grinnell at Lawrence. The women's contests are scheduled to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and the men's games will follow at 7:30 p.m.

More details on the broadcast will be available next week.

[mwc4life]

Dolph, we all know why you love Tharpy....let it go buddy, he's never coming back

I have no doubt that as long as Tharp is there LU will be competitive, but I know they won't be as dominant as they have been in the stretch Braier was there.  I'm sure they'll win conference again sometime, two in a row...maybe three no way that happens again. 

I have a question then.  What is Tharps record, resume, playoff apperance, etc. besides the years that Braier was there?  How long has he even been at LU? I really don't know the answer and am curious.  I'll assume that if i don't hear any responses that it isn't all that impressive.

[systemfan86]

MWC Announces Live Video Internet Broadcast Of Four Basketball Games On Friday, January 13

The Midwest Conference, in conjunction with media technology firm Penn Atlantic, will stream live internet video of four MWC men's and women's basketball contests free of charge on Friday, January 13.

The four contests, which will be aired with full video, will feature Lake Forest at Ripon and Grinnell at Lawrence. The women's contests are scheduled to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and the men's games will follow at 7:30 p.m.

More details on the broadcast will be available next week.

Very cool for those of us far away! Thanks for posting these announcements here.

Pat, if it wasn't before, it's official now, you are very D3 mainstream!

[Dolph Stanley]

"Dolph, we all know why you love Tharpy....let it go buddy, he's never coming back "

No question about that.  They had their chance and blew it but thats another story.  However, as I have stated before, they might have a shot at an alternative that could turn out even better after this season.

If Tharp leaves, it won't be for another program in the MWC

For the record, he is 166-97 in 11 +(?) years at LU. Prior to Braier they won the conference championship in 97 (their first in 53!!!) years going 22-3.  They also played in the conference chamionship games in 98 and 2000.  This was a program that at the time he took it over considered an seventh place finish a moral victory.

While Braier will be missed, old guys like me have seen what a coach with a good system and excellent recruiting connections can do.  I remember (as Roop probably does) when Mark Smith ( a D3 All American and IMO a better all around player than Hinz) graduated from a Beloit team that had been ranked #1 in the country (prior to losing to Augustana in the tournament).  Back to back conference championships followed with a solid group of players but no one nearly as talented as he wa. 

[LU 05]

When Briaer graduates, Lawrence loses a great player, I concede that.  And it may be difficult to overcome his loss in the short term.  But in the long term, I feel Lawrence will be able to maintain their high level of play because of what guys like Briaer have accomplished in the last couple of years.  Why can't anyone understand what a great recruiting platform Lawrence has created? There is no school in the MWC right now that can match LU's sales pitch.  Other schools in MWC can match up with LU academically (Beloit & Knox) and Grinnell is ranked higher.  But can anyone offer the combination of high academic standards and a team that has played in and won  HUGE NCAA tournament games?  Why wouldn't you want to go there if you were serious about playing d3 basketball?  I think the success of recent years is already paying dividends in recruiting.  Enough of this, convincing a Ripon fan is like trying to convice Sammy Sosa to take a pitch.     

[mwc4life]

Dolph,


Tharp has gone a combined 65-17 while Braier was there (including this year) and obviously recuiting is a ton easier when you can say you are a consistant contender year in and year out (not to mention a top 15 team).  But that would make Tharp 101-80....not bad at all, but not the dominant force they are with Briar...and maybe i can throw in the McGillis bros (just as tough)  Look you can have all the talented players/recuits come in, but if they don't have the drive, toughness, defensive mentality that it takes run over our conference like LU has done recently, then there isn't much on an argument.  Like I said earlier....read my posts, I know LU will be contenders most years when Tharp is the coach there.  He does a great job with his players, but it won't be like this anymore...this LU cocky dominance.  Dolph, you make sound like Tharp might end up leaving?  Gillie almost left three years ago to be the top assistant under Rick Majerus at Utah, but he knew what he built at Ripon was more then that.  Will Tharp stay there and build an empire? Doubtful


128 days until Braier and LU are no more!!!

[mnelson]

Can anyone tell me if the LU - IC game is going to be webcast at all tonight? Or even if there is a live stats page?

Also, of course it will hurt LU when Braier graduates -- how could it not? But how come no one can spell his name? Aren't we all current/former college students? It isn't that hard: B-R-A-I-E-R. You may not want to root for him, you may be excited for him to graduate, but it is really hard to take any of you seriously when you can't properly string six letters together. Not to mention mwc4life spelled MacGillis' name wrong...

I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

Look you can have all the talented players/recuits come in, but if they don't have the drive, toughness, defensive mentality that it takes run over our conference like LU has done recently, then there isn't much on an argument. Like I said earlier....read my posts, I know LU will be contenders most years when Tharp is the coach there. He does a great job with his players, but it won't be like this anymore...this LU cocky dominance.

Alright, first of all, what makes you think that Tharp is not looking for drive, toughness and defensive mentality? Of course they aren't as easy to assess as a player's jump shot, but at the same time those traits are necessary  for the style of play coached by Tharp. Braier is a great basketball player, but he is by no means the same as a Tommy Becker, meaning the team does not count on him to lead the scoring charge. Lawrence wins games because they play solid team defense, have good fundamentals and hussle.

Secondly, are you referring to the cockiness of the team or of the fans? 'Cause the fans are cocky -- you would be a pretty crummy fan if you didn't trash talk when your team was again the favorite to win the MWC. And maybe I am biased (in fact, I'm sure I am) but I just don't see the team itself as being cocky. Confident, sure, but they lost four starters to graduation, have a ton of young players getting minutes, and they know they need to come to play every game if they want continued success this year. And if they don't, Tharp (or Braier) will make sure they know it pretty soon. Your two statements contradict each other: you say, with Braier, the team is driven and tough, and yet cocky? I'm honestly curious as to what specifically makes you think the team is cocky -- I'm just assuming my LU bias is clouding my judgement.

[scottie]

Scores anyone?

[Maverick]

Scottie - Bad news out of Monmouth tonight...

RC 90 - MC 83

Not one of the Scots' better defensive efforts in this game (way too many easy buckets for the Redhawks), but still managed to keep it around a 10-point defecit for most of the game and even pulled within 3 late in the game; RC led 49-39 at the half.  For MC, Singleton shot pretty well--had something close to 28 points on quite a few 3's (not sure on the exact number).  Need to get tomorrow's game against Beloit to salvage a split at home this weekend.

[schwanman]

Quick assessment of Ripon:

Bo Johnson -- Very impressive scorer/shooter

David McMullen -- High risk (six turnovers), high reward (10 assists), but clearly a talent

Brian Schmitting -- Very effective big man

Paul Wise -- A very, very solid fourth starter, from what I saw

Singleton had a breakout game for the Scots, but they either need to have two guys hitting from distance on the same night or better interior production (and both would be even better!).

Ripon was the team with some question marks coming in, but it looks like they've passed the ???s on to the Scots.

[scottie]

Thanks for the updates.  Hoping for better Scot-luck tomorrow.

How bout the rest of the league scores???

[jeffdc]

Grinnell dominates Beloit. 133 to 101 (I think) Roop must be wearing Jeffp's GC shirt.