MBB: Midwest Conference

[mwc4life]

Did I miss something???

Did anyone see that IC beat Lake Forest College 57-55???

IC out-scores LFC by 15 in the second half!!!

Is IC 3-3 and our league and securing the fourth spot???

This means that the game between Beloit and Ripon is pretty pretty big and like I stated earlier...9-7 will get you the forth spot in this league...anyone care to argue against that now?

I'll be attending the Ripon/Beloit game so I'll give you guys a good report when I get back.

Oh yeah, besides Ripon/LU....the biggest game of the year is tonight as well...

CC vs. LU....wish i could see that one

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Honestly, with the competitiveness of the MWC, the only way for a second team to get in is to win the conference tournament.  Maybe if Carroll gets out with only another two losses they might have a shot.  I think even with the extra bids that Pool C is going to be very competitive this year.

[Early]

mwc,
I know you and I have "beat that dead horse", but see what those RC ballers are talking about.  Do they even realize Schmitting's shooting percentage?  And see if they know what a defensive stance is.

It is clear that Schmitting has had superior coaching, by guess is that the most of it came when he was a freshman.  His coach then must have grooved him into the player he is now today.

[falco1610]

My keys to tonights matchup for Carroll to win.
1. We must keep our key players out of foul trouble.
2. Get to the free throw line and shoot a high percentage
3. Limit Larry's second shots
4. Don't let Braier beat you. (easier said than done)

[scottie]

You forgot #5...Score at least one (1) more point than Lawrence.

[mwc4life]

I've beaten horses worse....

I'll definitely find out what's going on.

Two things you can count on when going to Alex:

1. You will be in foul trouble.

2. Briaer will beat you

[Greek Tragedy]

Actually, OS, those were exactly the 'points' I was working with.

Thanks for the lecture, anyway.

No problem, system.  I guess those "points" at 77 or 80 that you were talking about threw me off, because I knew those numbers had to be around 8 or 11!  Just didn't divide, I guess.

Lecture?    Pat has a MASTER CLASS over in the QOWI board going on!

While I applaud your work and realize that it must have been exhaustive, it still might be a little too early to start talking about Pool C bids.  There are still 10 more games left.  Let's enjoy the regular season first, people.  Or if you live in ScotsNation, try to enjoy it.

Actually, thanks to this site, it's not exhaustive at all.  Plus, it's never too early to start talking Pool C bids.  Prior to the WIAC season even kicking off, I was making references to which teams were possibly already out of the Pool C running.  Plus, Pat had the QOWI listed for teams on Dec. 26th! 

I really see Lawrence and Carroll coming out of the league competition fairly unscaved.  Carroll would be in trouble if they get swept by LU though.  I don't see both going undefeated, so add at least another loss for each team.

[thevicar]

Carroll is a girls' name.

[mnelson]

Seems like LU has been a little under-represented here lately, so...

Being a Lawrence fan and, despite not having seen Carroll play yet, I really think this game could go either way. Personally, I don't think Lawrence is a #5 team nationally, at least not yet, and I also think Carroll is probably at least a top-20 team right now.

Having gone to every Lawrence home game last year except for one, and every Lawrence home game this year except for time spent abroad, I can say that this Lawrence team has the potential to be better than last year's team and possibly even the team that nearly knocked off SP two years ago. Of course, with any of Tharp's teams, the main focus is defense and fundamentals, and what this year's team is lacking is consistency and experience.

Yea LU graduated Holinbeck, Falls and Evans, all three starters last year, but MacGillis and Braier are still here. And the one thing the absence of last year's seniors has done is left minutes open for other guys to contribute, and so far it is coming from multiple players. We not only have some surprising freshmen -- Kadison has been amazing running the point considering he is in his first year, and Kroeger showed against Grinnell that he not only can shoot but just knows where to be offensively -- but guys like Rosenblatt, Hurley and Klekamp have all put in solid minutes and understand the system. Basically, they know how to hustle, they know how to play defense, and they know when it's time to pass and when it's time to shoot.

Bottom line, Lawrence is good right now, but they have the potential to get a lot better as the season goes along, and the games that really teach you are games like tonight's against Carroll. The feeling I have been getting lately is that Carroll is good enough this year that we should almost "expect an upset" tonight. In my opinion, there is no real way of knowing who is the top power in the MWC at this point in the season, and we'll certainly have a better idea tonight.

My point is Lawrence is real good, but the margin for error tonight is small, and maybe we'll see how tough some of our newer kids are.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Carroll is a girls' name.

Great dig.  Understated and unfounded, like all good trash talk.

[The Roop]

IC can play you hard for 40 minutes, just ask Beloit. IC/LF, not sure it's a surprise regardless of who won that one though.

I too will be at Ripon tonight. Waiting on a few phone calls then I'll be on the road in about an hour.

[Gregory Sager]

Carroll is a girls' name.

Great dig.  Understated and unfounded, like all good trash talk.

And, like a lot of trash talk both good and bad, it's also completely inaccurate. Carroll is a masculine name. The two best examples I can recall off of the top of my head are actor Carroll O'Connor, aka Archie Bunker; and Bart Starr's favorite target, wide receiver Carroll Dale of the Super Bowl Packers teams of the 1960s. The dean of students at North Park when I was an undergrad there was a distinguished gentleman named Carroll Peterson, but that's neither here nor there. The name is derived either from the Irish Gaelic word for "champion" or from the Old Germanic word for "man" (aka Karl or Charles).

The feminine homonym is Carol.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Way to ruin it Sager, but you do bring up a good point.  This particular piece of trash-talk transcends gender, especially when spoken.  You can say "Carroll is a guy's name" at the women's match-up and "Carol is a girl's name" for the men's and no one listening will know the difference.  Homonyms: another proof for the existence of God.

[Gregory Sager]

Way to ruin it Sager

Hey, pedantry is my stock-in-trade here on Posting Up. Take that away, and all I have left is dryly technical basketball analysis and the occasional sardonic quip. It'd be hard to build up a 3000-post resume under those conditions. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think I'm just jealous.  I wanted to comment about how there's lots of men named Carroll, but couldn't come up with a good way to do it.