MBB: Midwest Conference

[larry_u]

UW-Whitewater Pod Links:

Wheaton:  http://athletics.wheaton.edu/index.asp?path=mbball

Lawrence:  http://www.lawrence.edu/athletics/mbasketball/

Loras:  http://depts.loras.edu/sports/mens/basketball/

Whitewater: http://www.uwwsports.com/index.asp?path=mbball

[iwumichigander]

They will be tough, regardless where the game is played.  Point and Whitewater are big games every year.  The atmosphere was crazy down in WW on Saturday.  Usually, the WW crowd isn't much of a factor, IMO.  Two years ago, they hosted a pod with Ill. Wes., Carroll College and DePauw.  They didn't even sell out.

No they did not sell out.  I believe WW may have been on break two years ago.  Wheaton does not travel with a large group of fans.  I'm not sure about Loras.  WW also did a really good job with their hosting; tickets for the 2nd round were available on site with plenty of staffing to handle the sales.

I know you Lawrence fans would rather play at home.   However, since you LU has been selected to travel, the Whitewater bracket has much better match-ups for LU than the Augustana bracket.

[Greek Tragedy]

I really thought it was hard to believe that Whitewater, for the first time in a long time making the d3 tourney, I think, couldn't even sell out that regional.  Ill. Wes. travels very well and Carroll College is about an hour away and there seemed to be a lot of fans dressed up as empty seats.  I was all worried about getting a ticket but I could've easily walked up 5 minutes before the first game and bought one.

I know some of the LU posters are upset that they aren't hosting.  Whitewater was never going to come up to Appleton, in my opinion.  Augustana wasn't either.  St. Thomas can't be argued because they are in a different regional all together, so that's not even comparing apples to apples. 

If LU did host, how would the regionals in this area looked?  You can't put WW and SP in the same regional.  The only reason Oxy and Ponoma Pitzer are playing each other is because they are at the end of the earth.  You probably weren't flying any of those West teams here.  Had Cal. Lutheran gotten in, there'd be a four team regional at Oxy with one flight coming from Whitworth.  You might have been saved there with Whitewater (instead of Whitworth) getting the bye and you playing a home game on Thursday and a trip to Whitewater (or possibly Augustana, if they got the bye) on Saturday.

[larry_u]

I really thought it was hard to believe that Whitewater, for the first time in a long time making the d3 tourney, I think, couldn't even sell out that regional.  Ill. Wes. travels very well and Carroll College is about an hour away and there seemed to be a lot of fans dressed up as empty seats.  I was all worried about getting a ticket but I could've easily walked up 5 minutes before the first game and bought one.

I know some of the LU posters are upset that they aren't hosting.  Whitewater was never going to come up to Appleton, in my opinion.  Augustana wasn't either.  St. Thomas can't be argued because they are in a different regional all together, so that's not even comparing apples to apples. 

If LU did host, how would the regionals in this area looked?  You can't put WW and SP in the same regional.  The only reason Oxy and Ponoma Pitzer are playing each other is because they are at the end of the earth.  You probably weren't flying any of those West teams here.  Had Cal. Lutheran gotten in, there'd be a four team regional at Oxy with one flight coming from Whitworth.  You might have been saved there with Whitewater (instead of Whitworth) getting the bye and you playing a home game on Thursday and a trip to Whitewater (or possibly Augustana, if they got the bye) on Saturday.

I think you could flop St. Thomas and Lawrence fairly easily and have LU host Wheaton while UWSP and Chicago played the other game and have UST play BV at Whitewater.  Thats three teams who would travel prob pretty well considering the farthest team is from Chicago, but then you run into the issue of LU's gym being too small.  Thats still why I think UST is hosting over LU, but its just my opinion.

[Greek Tragedy]

They probably didn't want to send Loras and Buena Vista to the same regional.  The gym issue may not have come into play too much since they could've emptied the gym, giving SP and Chicago 600 tickets each.  LU hosted before without any complaints to the NCAA to my knowledge (and if there were complaints, I'm sure the NCAA wouldn't inform me! lol)

Anyway, no reason to beat a dead horse; they aren't going to change their minds!

[thundermike11]

My concerns would be if they have a strong offensive post presence (Wheaton can handle one, but not two, see Elmhurst and North Central)

I wouldn't use Elmhurst as an example, Wheaton beat them twice; and quite handily the second time. North Central is a different story...

[April]

Wheaton vs a MWC School?

(April begins looking at tickets)

[andrewmp]

My concerns would be if they have a strong offensive post presence (Wheaton can handle one, but not two, see Elmhurst and North Central)

I wouldn't use Elmhurst as an example, Wheaton beat them twice; and quite handily the second time. North Central is a different story...

What I meant by Elmhurst is that Wheaton was able to handle Ruch, the only real post threat for Elmhurst, largely by doubling him down low.  North Central had two post threats in Rogers and Drennan, and Wheaton couldn't handle those two.  Thus, Wheaton's ability to handle one, but not two, offensive post threats

[Greek Tragedy]

HERE is the boxscore for the Oshkosh/Lawrence game.

The reason I put this up is because I would guess that DJ Marsh would be that go-to star that Kent Raymond sounds like he is.  Dane Seckar-Anderson is a pretty big guy that is mobile and can get underneath well.  Jordan Johnson doesn't score too much, but can rebound really well. 

I don't know much about Wheaton, but I suppose if you compare Raymond with Marsh and DSA and JJ with your two big guys, they could be comparable.

I think Lawrence is very disciplined and plays a motion offense.  They take care of the ball and play in-your-face defense.  They basically always play man-to-man.

Kroeger is probably their leader and Hurley is their best inside guy.  Dekker can come off the bench and hit some 3s.  I've seen Lawrence play a number of times over the years and they are a solid team for sure.  Because they are in the MWC they get overlooked, but don't think you'll have an easy time against them.

[thundermike11]

My concerns would be if they have a strong offensive post presence (Wheaton can handle one, but not two, see Elmhurst and North Central)

I wouldn't use Elmhurst as an example, Wheaton beat them twice; and quite handily the second time. North Central is a different story...

What I meant by Elmhurst is that Wheaton was able to handle Ruch, the only real post threat for Elmhurst, largely by doubling him down low.  North Central had two post threats in Rogers and Drennan, and Wheaton couldn't handle those two.  Thus, Wheaton's ability to handle one, but not two, offensive post threats

I see your point. Thanks for clarifying.

[Titan Q]

HERE is the boxscore for the Oshkosh/Lawrence game.

The reason I put this up is because I would guess that DJ Marsh would be that go-to star that Kent Raymond sounds like he is.  Dane Seckar-Anderson is a pretty big guy that is mobile and can get underneath well.  Jordan Johnson doesn't score too much, but can rebound really well. 

I don't know much about Wheaton, but I suppose if you compare Raymond with Marsh and DSA and JJ with your two big guys, they could be comparable.

Here is how those two guys stack up...

D.J. Marsh, F (6-4/195, So): 17.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.0 apg, 160-318 FG (.503), 13-51 3-pt (.255), 111-135 FT (.822)

Kent Raymond, G (6-3/195, Jr): 23.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.9 apg, 202-475 FG (.425), 59-185 3-pt (.319), 147-169 FT (.870)

[Greek Tragedy]

Not sure how Raymond plays.

DJ Marsh is a slasher.  He can really take players one v one.  He's a shooting forward, not a guard like Raymond looks to be.  He can also play with his back to the basket and has a quick turn-around jumper.  He's definitely at his best when he takes you one on one.

Point is headed 5 1/2+ hours away from me, so I may head to Whitewater instead.  It pains me!

BTW, Titan,

Congrats on your engagement and move. 

[Titan Q]

Thanks Tom.

Kent Raymond is a point-guard, but he also plays like a 2 at times and then others like a slashing 3.  He's one of the best perimeter players I've seen in my years around Division III.  Wheaton runs Raymond around a ton of screens and he really knows how to use them.  He's physically strong, and he's a very tough competitor.  He's a better shooter than his 32% 3-point % indicates -- because of Wheaton's lack of depth (they really only have 2 scorers besides Raymond), Raymond ends up having to take a lot of somewhat forced 3-point shots.  Everything Wheaton does offensively goes through Raymond.

He is one of the great small college players in the country.

[thundermike11]

Not sure how Raymond plays.

DJ Marsh is a slasher.  He can really take players one v one.  He's a shooting forward, not a guard like Raymond looks to be.  He can also play with his back to the basket and has a quick turn-around jumper.  He's definitely at his best when he takes you one on one.

Kent is a pure shooter from all over the floor. There is hardly anywhere that he can't hit from. He uses his shooting ability to set up the drive, which he is also very good at. He has an uncanny ability to finish tough plays, and draw fouls as well. Once he gets on the line, he rarely misses. Bottom line is, the guy is an All-American, and he will have an impact on the game no matter what.

Marsh sounds like a tough matchup as well.

[Gregory Sager]

My concerns would be if they have a strong offensive post presence (Wheaton can handle one, but not two, see Elmhurst and North Central)

I wouldn't use Elmhurst as an example, Wheaton beat them twice; and quite handily the second time. North Central is a different story...

What I meant by Elmhurst is that Wheaton was able to handle Ruch, the only real post threat for Elmhurst, largely by doubling him down low.  North Central had two post threats in Rogers and Drennan, and Wheaton couldn't handle those two.  Thus, Wheaton's ability to handle one, but not two, offensive post threats

The reason why Wheaton was unable to handle both Rogers and Drennan was because they're more than simply low-post players. Both can face the basket and take a big man off the dribble, or hit the midrange shot. Wheaton's big men simply aren't equipped to handle that sort of thing; they fare much better when asked to do nothing more than the customary grapple-and-push sort of defense in the paint typically asked of big men. If Lawrence has versatile big men -- in other words, players who are more power forward than center -- then I can see the Larries exploiting these matchups in the same way that NCC exploited them.