MBB: Midwest Conference

[pgkevin]

Dekker's skills are obvious after only observing him in summer league play.

Who is the LU player with the shaved head? It seems like he has been around forever. He is pretty good too. He MUST be a senior this year!

That would be Doug Kadison...he was one of the 3 seniors mentioned earlier who graduated.  He was playing with the team just in an effort to stay in shape and try to keep the program on the right track. 

[pgkevin]

Greetings MWC posters from a CCIW regular. Just a FYI---

Lawrence won the Deerfield Summer League at the Joy of the Game facility in Deerfield, IL last Thurs night. I believe they only lost one game during the season.
A solid looking team that plays well as a TEAM. I suspect they may have a senior dominated team this year. I noticed one particularly outstanding player throughout the summer who one of the Lawrence parents identified to me as John Dekker. While not following the MWC closely, I'd be surprised if he isn't a 1st team all conference player.   

John Dekker is a really good player.  However, he was not an all-conference player or honorable mention player in the MWC last year as he was over shadowed by three Lawrence U. seniors (Ryan Kroeger, Jayce Apelgren, and Chris Page).  However, I do expect Dekker to have a break out season in 2009-10.

John Dekker is a really good summer league player.  That being said, I'm not certain if his game translates as well to a conference schedule in the MWC.  What I mean by this is that he has struggled on the defensive end in high school and early in his college years, and was a streaky scorer.  Not much emphasis put on defense in summer league so his weakness there was not exposed and conversely not being guarded much probably allowed him to get hot. 

That being said, he very well could still be a breakout player in the MWC this year, just needs an emphasis on the defensive end.  Only my opinion of course.  Didnt mean to sound too harsh, as he is a very good offensive player.

[AndOne]

 pgkevin---thasnks for the info

Just thinking----I wonder if having graduates still playing with the the school team is within the "spirit" of the summer league competition as the idea has always been that the college named teams were composed of players with eligibility remaining. If he is a grad, that could technically be construed as "coaching" which is a definite no-no under NCAA regulations.   

And you're right. Defense is, at best, an afterthought in summer league play.

[pgkevin]

pgkevin---thasnks for the info

Just thinking----I wonder if having graduates still playing with the the school team is within the "spirit" of the summer league competition as the idea has always been that the college named teams were composed of players with eligibility remaining. If he is a grad, that could technically be construed as "coaching" which is a definite no-no under NCAA regulations.  

And you're right. Defense is, at best, an afterthought in summer league play.

Its definitely an interesting question.  Purely thinking about it you would hope that he was doing it just to get into shape.  Cynically thinking it probably does border on coaching, and unfortunately the world has turned into a cynical place

(modified by GS for formatting)

[The Roop]

It's not illegal because he's not on the coaching staff. Now, should he be added to the staff this season I'm pretty sure the NCAA will take a look at summer league roster rules.

[fightintitan2006]

Dekker is not an under the radar player. He was second on LU in scoring and rebounding last year. I think any knowledgable MWC fan would say Hoch, Dekker and Gillespie are the preseason favorites to be the POY this season.

[jlauby19]

FYI- From WisSports

Germantown senior Michael Laubenheimer has decided to attend Lake Forest College and play basketball for coach Chris Conger.
 
A 6-9 forward with excellent length, Laubenheimer joins Madison Edgewood's Derek Braucht as recruits from the state of Wisconsin who will join the Foresters program in 2009-10.
 
Laubenheimer averaged 8.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest while shooting 54 percent from the floor for a Germantown squad that went 21-3 and advanced to the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament for the second year in a row.
 
"We like his upside," Conger said of Laubenheimer, a second-team all-conference pick in the North Shore Conference. "He's 6-9 and can get out and run and catch. I think his best basketball is ahead of him yet.
 
"We don't have anyone of his size so he can provide us with some things on offense and defense that we haven't had."

[jlauby19]

LFC Recruit-

6'-6", 200# Dereck Braucht commits to play at LFC. Braucht is a two-time letterwinner and a three-year starter as a forward/guard. A co-captain as a senior, he is averaging 18.8 points and 9 rebounds per game for the Edgewood High School Crusaders, who are 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the Badger South Conference. As a junior, he averaged 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game to earn honorable mention All-State, second-team All-Area, first-team All-Conference and first-team All-City (Madison) honors. He earned honorable mention All-City honors as a sophomore.

[fightintitan2006]

This appears to be two really good recrutiing classes in a row for Lake Forest. LFC is nt exactly a great system to let your offensive skills shine, but this could be an excellent in the nextfew years if guys dont get bored and quit.

[pgkevin]

Or this year...

Most of the freshmen from last year got a lot of playing time and seasoning.  So I think they are a team to keep your eye on this year

[The Roop]

I agree that Lake Forest is a team to keep an eye on this year, as is Monmouth, but Lake Forest will need to keep games in the 60s to win often enough to make the tournament. Too much offense at the top of the conference for that to happen so it should be the same 4 again; although the order may change.

[hickory_cornhusker]

I think Ripon may be another dark horse this year. They had a young team last year and if they can pull it altogether they could be another dangerous team. However  I agree with Roop that the tournament will probably be the same teams as last year.

[System Error]

I think Ripon may be another dark horse this year. They had a young team last year and if they can pull it altogether they could be another dangerous team. However  I agree with Roop that the tournament will probably be the same teams as last year.

Do you believe that Grinnell will be able to make the tournament as they did last year? Does the almighty Roop know something we do not as I believe they lost some seniors?

[The Roop]

What I don't know I make up and generally spin it pretty well. LOL. However, if you go back a few pages there is a link to an article with Coach Arsenault talking about his incoming class. He sounded extremely excited about the guys coming and he's not one to over sell his team. I don't know that they win the conference again but I still think they will be in the tournament. Next year they may be the team to beat.

[bballer1280]

What I don't know I make up and generally spin it pretty well. LOL. However, if you go back a few pages there is a link to an article with Coach Arsenault talking about his incoming class. He sounded extremely excited about the guys coming and he's not one to over sell his team. I don't know that they win the conference again but I still think they will be in the tournament. Next year they may be the team to beat.

Grinnell freshmen basketball players are on campus now and the recruits physically are "longer and taller" than has been the case in the past for Coach Aresnault.  He has some young, yet inexperienced, "studs" on campus to help begin replacing Groteberg, Long, and Aresnault "The Younger."  Whether or not the Pioneers are good enough to earn a spot in the conference tournament during the upcoming season is yet to be seen.  But, the profile of the athletes that will attempt to do so appear to be capable of evolving into a tournament team soon.