MBB: Midwest Conference

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

That sounds like a logical fallacy only The Roop could handle... so either this is a test of our abilities or you are an imposter!

[The Roop]

As far as you know it's a test.

And I saw former Buccaneer Jon Allen today. Had to bring that up to keep it baskeball related or diehardfan won't have anything to compain about.

[diehardfan]

As far as you know it's a test.

And I saw former Buccaneer Jon Allen today. Had to bring that up to keep it baskeball related or diehardfan won't have anything to compain about.

As if I weren't the one who brought up star trek in the first place? 

[Dolph Stanley]

I know it can't compete with all the other interesting stuff but a great hire by St Norberts.  Look for them to rise quickly back to the top tier in the MWC.

As a basketball topic for debate, I think this is an interesting one.  How long should it take a new coach to move a team like Norberts that has been at or near the bottom of the conference in to the MWC playoffs?  At what point if that hasnt; happened does the hire lose its luster?

[Knightstalker]

I know it can't compete with all the other interesting stuff but a great hire by St Norberts.  Look for them to rise quickly back to the top tier in the MWC.

As a basketball topic for debate, I think this is an interesting one.  How long should it take a new coach to move a team like Norberts that has been at or near the bottom of the conference in to the MWC playoffs?  At what point if that hasnt; happened does the hire lose its luster?

I don't know about St. Norberts but RU Newark was in a similar situation and it took about four years for them to improve enough to make it to the NJAC playoffs this past season.

[diehardfan]

I know it can't compete with all the other interesting stuff but a great hire by St Norberts. 

I was actually hanging around hoping someone would mention it. 

Why do you think it's good? Just curious.

[scottie]

I think Grotberg might take the IWU job if he's not guaranteed to go in the first round of the draft.

[Gregory Sager]

I know it can't compete with all the other interesting stuff but a great hire by St Norberts. 

I was actually hanging around hoping someone would mention it. 

Why do you think it's good? Just curious.

I don't know what Dolph thinks, but as I said last Wednesday in here I think it's a great hire as well. Grzesk's Lakeland team really impressed me last year. He led them to their first twenty-win season in over a decade in 2005-06. And he was able to do something his predecessor Pat Combs (now the UW-Platteville coach) couldn't do, which was lead the Muskies to an NCAA tournament berth. He did that in his first season, albeit mainly with players he inherited from Combs. But last season's success was mostly accomplished with his own recruits; only seniors Nick Howard and Germayne James were players that Combs brought in. Everyone else on the team was a Grzesk recruit.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Grzesk has St. Norbert back to MWC contender status within three years.

[The Roop]

3 years might be a bit conservative. Although I imagine it all depends on how you define being competitive. I suspect they will make some noise next season, coaching change or not, possibly challenging for the MWC Tournament even. In 3 years they may be the team to beat as they had 8 freshmen this past season.

Can't really find any quality wins on their schedule however and they were easily handled by upper level teams, in and out of conference. The program was down for a while and I don't think the firing was a knee jerk reaction. For now their future looks bright but they still need to play the games.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

A lot will depend on how many of those 8 freshmen are going to stick around the program.  I think four years is about right, although  do agree that they could be a tougher opponent right away.

And Grotberg already declined the IWU job; the pay wasn't good enough.  He was planning to commute while travelling with his NBA team.  You know how it is.

[LU_nut]

I mentioned it at the time...I was impressed by St. N late in the year.  They looked like a different team the second time LU played them.  They played hard and were pretty quick.  I think they could challenge in the near term.

Nut

[Dolph Stanley]

I know it can't compete with all the other interesting stuff but a great hire by St Norberts. 

I was actually hanging around hoping someone would mention it. 

Why do you think it's good? Just curious.

I like the hire for the following reasons:

1)  Coaching Resume - His stint as a head coach at Lakeland has been discussed but he also has D1 experience with UWGB and Youngstown State as an assistant.  I like the fact that he has been a head coach at the D3 level (and views Norberts as a step up) but that his view of the basketball world is much larger than simply his time at Lakeland.

2)  Connections - Grzesk's roster at Lakeland has a number of players he recruited from the Milwaukee to Green Bay area's (in addition to some players whose path to Lakeland is a little less obvious.)  He knows the high school programs and coaches in the area where they bulk of his players will probably come from.  He played at Tosa East (same school as some guy who just finished up at Lawrence) and UWGB.  He will have credability with both kids and coaches in areas like Milwaukee, Fon du Lac, Oshkosh Sheboygan and Green Bay from day one.  Landing quality kids from these areas can produce enough talent to compet for or win the MWC title.

I look for the program to compete for a playoff spot in 07-08.

[digs]

St Norbert is a very young team coming off the toughest schedule in the conference.  They also played strong late in the year.  Could be interesting this year...

[diehardfan]

Thanks guys, that's interesting stuff.

I never really had a ton of respect for the LMC as a conference as far as thinking that a good record there said alot about a team nationally, and this has caused me to not spend a lot of time focusing on the league's teams or games, especially now that I don't have the easy opportunity to watch any of the teams play. But I am glad to hear that you think it's a good hire...

Lakeland did pull off a few interesting games this past year, and it's probably harder to recruit at Lakeland than at St. Norbert thanks to conference prowess, etc.

If Tharp leaves, and I really hope he doesn't, a whole lot of things are going to be interesting next year. 

Hmm... Grinnell and Wheaton in the playoffs? Jeffery and I finally get to play out our bet?   

[hjmphelp]

DHF-
We play it out ONLY if you spell my name right!