MBB: Midwest Conference

[Pat Coleman]

fightin:

If you read the Around the Nation column and not just the front page, you'll get the full story.

We can only fit a few words on the front. There's many more if you click the link.

[Greek Tragedy]

Correct me if I am wrong, but isnt that the intended purpose of the system? GC cant recruit enough big players, so they take your big players (if they cant run) out of the game with the tempo.

I think the general thought is that most "big men" can't handle the ball too well under pressure.  So, Grinnell forces turnovers when they are in the game.  The opposing coach sees this and puts in guards that can handle "the rock".  Some big men can handle the ball just fine in the right situations.  Kerry Gibson of Oshkosh did just fine against the press because the coach basically used him as a pivot.  Stevens Point has handled the press of Puget Sound and John Carroll pretty easily because they have big men that can dribble the ball up.  This year's team is no different if they run into any teams like Grinnell.  Tonight, at one time, the smallest guy on the floor was our best post player, 6'4" Jon Krull, along with 6'6" Bryan Beamish, 6'5" Drew Jackson, 6'5" Pete Rortvedt and 6'5" Scott Hoelzel (though I think he's taller than listed).

[The Roop]

I think you are right on point Roop as far as the top of the league coming down this season.

Speaking of going to Elmhurst for the NCAA tourney, after reading the front page story on them this week, it sounds like their offense goes through their two bigs. I havent seen them play or if the bigs are athletic or not, but that sounds like a great matchup for Grinnell if they were to win the league.

Correct me if I am wrong, but isnt that the intended purpose of the system? GC cant recruit enough big players, so they take your big players (if they cant run) out of the game with the tempo.

I haven't seen Elmhurst either but I've spoken to those that have. They have great team speed, handle the ball well and that is usually bad news for "The System". For example Carroll took it to them pretty good both times they played last year.

My understanding of "The System" is that it is mainly designed to increase player participation. What the specific statistical goals are I don't remember them all. Shoot every 12 seconds, bribe the refs and take lots of 3s; and so on.  It might give them a couple wins a year that they normally wouldn't have gotten but in general the better team still wins. On the other side of it I think "The System" keeps both teams in the game so they probably loose a game or two that they shouldn't.

Like it or not it is what it is. Although if they lost all the time people wouldn't worry about whether it's real basketball or not, instead they'd sing its praise for giving so many players a chance to get into the game. But since they do win a lot it must be yet another free-mason conspiracy to control the world like everything else is. Novus Ordo Seclorum.

[hjmphelp]

What a weekend in the MWC! Good ol' Grinnell swept this northern weekend for the first time in school history! Sound like two terrific games.

Gotta laugh though. One (un-named) player was in on Wednesday for hot chocolate. When he got ready to go I wished him luck and he said they were just hoping for a split, so I did the cranky grandfather routine complete with the fingerwaving and the big frown and said "why the hell wish for a split! Go take both of 'em!"

I guess he took me seriously!

I wasn't there and didn't have internet access where I was so i don't know any more than anyone else, but it sounds like a total team effort led by...well...everyone! Way to go, Grinnell!

[The Roop]

Did he pay for the hot chocolate or did you violate NCAA rules and give it to him

[jeffdc]

So, GC had a pretty good weekend 

Having seen both LU/GC games (the 1st in person, the 2nd via the wonders of the Internet), I can tell you they were very similar. The teams seem extremely well matched. Yesterday was essentially a tie game, right up until the final minute - shades of last week! The big difference for GC was that Grotberg was cold (I think he only managed 15 pts) - but Schmidt, Long, and Ticus all stepped up. The other thing about this year's GC team is they simply never give up. They were playing in an extremely tough situation, against a strong opponent on home turf (as LU had to do the previous week). Yet they never seemed to give an inch, even when LU managed some scoring runs that gave them occasional leads. I'll be curious to see how how GC does against Carroll - my memory of that team is that it is big and fast. Fast we can handle - big is a bit tougher.

Excellent games - excellent playing. The boys deserve a rest.

[hjmphelp]

Why, Mr "the Roop"! Of course he paid for his Hot Chocolate! It is only miscreant Beloit fans and folks named "hoops fan" that skate by without paying here.

Pretty fair weekend for BC this weekend too, eh? 

[Greek Tragedy]

Why, Mr "the Roop"! Of course he paid for his Hot Chocolate! It is only miscreant Beloit fans and folks named "hoops fan" that skate by without paying here.

To make sure jeffp didn't violate any NCAA rules, he probably charged him more. 

[mnelson]

Tough game for LU against Grinnell this weekend. I think this game really showed the big differences in leadership between this year's team and last year's. Obviously the skill of MacGillis and Braier was huge, but LU turned the ball over in so many situations that just should not happen. Things like soft passes back to the top of the three point line that got picked off, lazy post feeds and the like. Not to mention a few full-court inbounds passes that had no chance of being caught.

But really the big difference here is that Grinnell had the best second half I've ever seen them play. Granted, I've only seen them play maybe five times, but this was pretty astounding. There was a point at about 10 minutes left in the game where Grinnell scored on 13 straight possessions. The only shots they missed on those 13 possessions were one free throw and a three that was put back in for a layup. And believe me, most of these shots were contested, it seemed like anything Grinnell threw up went in.

And to be fair, LU didn't do so poorly offensively during that stretch, either, as it was 76-71 at the 10-minute mark and was 97-101 at the 3:15 mark, but that stretch was pretty demoralizing. So all in all, both teams played hard, the System is hard to beat any given game, but when Grinnell shoot 70.6% from three in the second half, I don't know how many teams could beat them.

[RiponRed34]

Actually, Grinnell gets two and a half wins....@RC, @LU and Ripon's 2nd half of lastnight's game.  The whole team shot terribly...up seven at half, you gotta wonder if Grinnell legs game into play here especially with someone on this board pointing out that there were Ripon players playing over 30 minutes against Grinnell.  Who do they think they are Tommy Becker.  I'll never forget the kid played 40 minutes against Grinnell and then dunked the ball in the last minute!

Congrats to Grinnell for the improbable sweep this weekend....that's as hard of a trip as it comes!

Fieck gotta be the player of the week right?

Extremely disappointed this weekend

and....GO BEARS!

[systemfan86]

Why, Mr "the Roop"! Of course he paid for his Hot Chocolate! It is only miscreant Beloit fans and folks named "hoops fan" that skate by without paying here.

Pretty fair weekend for BC this weekend too, eh? 

Roop, let me tell you from personal experience, jeffp won't even let GC grads get free drinks...

Of course, the mug I used to drink it didn't make it back to the inventory... 

[The Roop]

I'm sure publicly he has to say he charges players

Yes, Beloit got two needed wins this weekend but they need to keep the 40 minute effort going. Not sure I like the idea of having a week off now but they're at home again so the lay off shouldn't be too distracting. The good news is they are 4-1 at home in conference. The bad news is that they are 0 for the season on the road. If they make the tournment this year they will have earned it. Of the remaining teams on their schedule only Illinois College is behind them in the standings.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Why, Mr "the Roop"! Of course he paid for his Hot Chocolate! It is only miscreant Beloit fans and folks named "hoops fan" that skate by without paying here.

Hey, I'd rather not be included in this group, but I did have the gall to leave my wallet on the dresser before leaving the house.



(Crap, now I do sound like a miscreant Beloit fan... dang it).


In other news, GC is playing pretty well, huh?

[systemfan86]

With the huge cavaet that anything can happen... Grinnell's two wins in WI put them in a great position for the rest of the conference year.

They are 1 game off the lead with 8 games left. Five of the eight games are at home, and the three road games are at IC, MC, and KC. All roads games are tough, but those three teams are at the bottom of the conference standings today, so it's seems reasonable that GC could pull out at least 2 wins. The five home games include games against IC and KC (again, winnable games), LFC (who they lost to by 1 on the road), and then the two big games Carroll and St. Norbs (who they currently trail in the standings). The hardest part of those two games is that they are on back-to-back days.

Carroll has to play five on the road - at Ripon, Beloit, Grinnell, MC, and Larry - and three tough home games - Larry, Norbs, and Ripon. Not an easy finish.

Norbs has seven left. Five on the road - Larry, Ripon, KC, GC, and CC - and two home games BC and Larry. Again not easy.

Ripon and Larry are tied with GC right now, but (obviously) GC owns the tie breaker against these two, so as long as they match wins with these two, they are in a good position. It seems like 12 wins could win the conference and maybe even 11 wins could do it.

At a minimum, GC has some control over their fate. If they can continue their good run - they've won their last five games - they could be sleeping in their own beds on February 23rd & 24th.

Congrats on a couple of great wins, and keep fighting hard, because ain't no one in this league going to hand you anything easy. 

[systemfan86]

...the three road games are at IC, MC, and KC.

BTW, from GC perspective, those are three of the easier road trips distance wise. Beloit might be a bit better than Jacksonville, but the Galesburg area is a nice interstate drive.

Also, don't know if it made a difference or not, but Grinnell students don't return to class until today. The Pioneers didn't have to make the trip to Appleton and Ripon and deal with school work.