MBB: Midwest Conference

The Roop · May 17, 2007, 08:49:20 AM

Here's a thought April. Instead of disclosing your secrets perhaps you could design an anti-solicitation clothing line and we would all buy some.

titan2000 · May 22, 2007, 05:47:40 PM

It's time to make some pre-season predictions

I'll start.

Grotberg will not be drafted by the NBA this year since he didn't get his team past round 1 of the NCAA tourney.

LU_nut · May 23, 2007, 02:38:35 PM

titan2K:

Had a good year, but did not get his team past round 1 of the conference tourney, not round 1 of the NCAA tourney.

I am one who does see some attributes to the "system" at the d3 level...everyone plays, etc. I do not think it is well suited for tourney play. It does help to have shooters.......as Grinnell showed two years ago when they stunk up national television. This version is much better and should be very strong the next two years.

Word out of LU land is with 3 straight strong recruiting years, this years class will be small. LU does return 7 of their top 8.

The coaching change is a big unknown.

titan2000 · May 23, 2007, 10:37:02 PM

I have talked to several LU players and insiders and they are fired up---they believe 2006/07 was a fluke and they want to get back on the winning train NOW.

They also said that losing to Ripon last year was the embarrassing because Ripon sucks.

systemfan86 · May 24, 2007, 09:19:35 AM

Quote from: titan2k on May 23, 2007, 10:37:02 PM
I have talked to several LU players and insiders and they are fired up---they believe 2006/07 was a fluke and they want to get back on the winning train NOW.

They also said that losing to Ripon last year was the embarrassing because Ripon sucks.

At least they didn't lose to Ripon in the conference tournament.

Larry's a good team that has had a good run the last couple years. But let's be careful to not crown them as some kind of dynasty, at least not until they win without the Bopper. Like them or not, Ripon has a better overall history in basketball than Larry does. Including the Bopper years, Larry averaged 16 wins a season under Tharp. That's very good. Take away the Bopper years and that goes to 14 wins a season; still respectable but far from dominating.

I have a lot of respect for Larry's team. They play hard and they play smart. I just think you may need to dial back the expectations so that the success you experienced under what could be the best player and best coach in school history isn't the success that you expect every year.

LU_nut · May 24, 2007, 02:33:08 PM

systemfan

Hard to argue with your logic. I think that LU has to be very careful or they will fall back significantly. They just have not put a lot of emphasis on athletics.....even for a D3 school.

I do think Braier was a once in a 100 deal for LU, but I do think they have had a significant number of great players come through in the past 5-6 years, several of which are probably top 10-20 in the schools history. The school did go through about a 20 year period in b-ball when they were consistently horrible in the 70s and 80s. Current players Kroeger and Hurley probably fit that category of top 10-20. Kroeger is on track to be the all time leading scorer at the school and Hurley is as good as any big guy they have had.

I think they will have a ton of talent next year and then who knows? I do not think they will be the pre-season favorite as your running reds have their best back and I believe Lake Forest does as well. Ripon and Carroll both lose their core......St. Norbs probably continues to get better. Knox should probably just play a high school schedule with the loss of MacKlin. Beloit is probably a few years away. Monmouth seems to underachieve consistently the last several years. IC might as well join Knox in a downstate high school league. Am I missing anyone?

Wish the season started soon.

LU Nut

systemfan86 · May 24, 2007, 02:45:10 PM

Quote from: LU_nut on May 24, 2007, 02:33:08 PM
Current players Kroeger and Hurley probably fit that category of top 10-20. Kroeger is on track to be the all time leading scorer at the school and Hurley is as good as any big guy they have had.

I think they will have a ton of talent next year and then who knows? I do not think they will be the pre-season favorite as your running reds have their best back and I believe Lake Forest does as well. Ripon and Carroll both lose their core......St. Norbs probably continues to get better. Knox should probably just play a high school schedule with the loss of MacKlin. Beloit is probably a few years away. Monmouth seems to underachieve consistently the last several years. IC might as well join Knox in a downstate high school league. Am I missing anyone?

Wish the season started soon.

LU Nut

I agree. Don't get me wrong, I think they can continue to compete for the title. Any team that plays hard and smart has a shot. I just wanted to temper t2k's comments.

Why I thought t2k could have tempered comments is beyond me, but what the heck.

titan2000 · May 24, 2007, 10:44:42 PM

I have been upset ever since the Grinnell Taco John's shorted me 2 tacos in the drive thru and I didn't know until I was on Highway 80. I called them and no one seemed to speak English.

Pat Coleman · May 25, 2007, 10:37:04 AM

Enough cranking, t2k. We get it -- you hate everything. Spare us.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · May 25, 2007, 11:24:03 AM

Quote from: titan2k on May 24, 2007, 10:44:42 PM
I have been upset ever since the Grinnell Taco John's shorted me 2 tacos in the drive thru and I didn't know until I was on Highway 80. I called them and no one seemed to speak English.

How the heck did you have the phone number for the Grinnell Taco Johns?

titan2000 · May 25, 2007, 04:36:11 PM

Verizon has this high tech thing called 411

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · May 29, 2007, 10:56:24 AM

Quote from: titan2k on May 25, 2007, 04:36:11 PM
Verizon has this high tech thing called 411

You spent money to call information to complain about missing two dollars worth of crappy food?

Yeah, well, I guess that sounds about right for you.

The Roop · May 30, 2007, 03:47:29 PM

The NRO is pleased to announce the inauguration of two new chapter presidents. West of Omro Chapter President RiponRed34. East of Omro Chapter President Titan2K.

A silent vote was recently held at the Greater Auroraville Metropolitan Indian Nation Grounds (G.A.M.I.N.G.) to elect these new officials.

Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan) · May 30, 2007, 03:57:50 PM

Quote from: The Roop on May 30, 2007, 03:47:29 PM
The NRO is pleased to announce the inauguration of two new chapter presidents. West of Omro Chapter President RiponRed34. East of Omro Chapter President Titan2K.

Congratulations; welcome to the insanity.

fightintitan2006 · May 30, 2007, 10:40:58 PM

Speaking of insanity, I took the day off work today to re-shingle the roof on my garage. After a few minutes of heights and humidity I decided to let a pro come do the job, so instead I am going to attempt to try and drum up some offseason convo on the board.

I am no by means an expert, but an MWCTV league package did give me a chance to see everybody play last year and I also got to a few games in person. Here's my opinion on how everybody looks and what they need for next year. Let's hear your thoughts. Also, what's more insane, me thinking I still had a re-shingling effort left in me or spending a off day writing about D3hoops when I could have done it on company time?

Could be a long year for Beloit. Horton is a load and probably an All-American candidate on a better team. The talk on the board last year from Beloit folks was that there is no depth or talent on the bench. With the coach being put into place so late, this year's recruiting class probably won't help, but you never know. I thought their two senior starters last year both threw up shots without any conscience, so we may find BC is better than expected playing team ball that runs through Horton. If they play the same style as LFC, Horton should get a double-double almost every night and when he goes bigger they should find themselves in games late against better teams. I heard from a pretty good source that Dowden will be playing in the WIAC next year...can any Buc fans back that up. If Dowden's gone, a scoring guard becomes the top priority.

Tough to replace the three departed seniors at Carroll. Ladwig and Mueller will both score and will be counted on to score a lot...Mueller is perfect for this offense, but provides no inside presence at 6-7 and Ladwig seems to have first team all-conference ability. Bohn's a good defender and enforcer type, but doesn't offer much on offense and is pretty much rendered useless offensively by their style. I really like Zimmerman...not much offensive game, but long and athletic. Not thick/strong enough to guard the four, which he often had to last year. If Carroll can add a big body or get better minutes from one of their other big guys, I think Zimmerman can be a shutdown defender on an opposing team's best two or wing. I counted several momentum turning blocks and dunks because of his hustle.

Grinnell is going to be good again next year and the year after because of their nucleus, but could take their program to the next level with a couple of impact recruits, while a second straight class full of role players may keep them from making or advancing in the NCAA tourney in the grotberg era. The impact players don't necessarily need to be scorers, although that never hurts. They need a 6-3 to 6-5 kid who is long and athletic to help fill Ticus' role and another 6-7ish kid who can make the 2 on 1s tough for opponents when Chamberlain's out of the game. The need for another above average three point shooter was highlighted with Grotberg on the bench against Lake Forest in the tourney. Roewe stood out to me at the end of the year as a player who really improved and is one of the best among their role players. Idrissa is a great athlete and a good fit for the system.

I only saw IC a couple times last year and once was against Grinnell, so its hard to judge them. They lost arguably their best player and by far the player they could least afford to lose in Jennings, which ripped that team's heart out. There seems to be some good talent, so it will be interesting to see if they can put things together. Gillingham could be a player of the year candidate in the league with a good cast around him. A talented big man who can replace some of Jennings scoring and some of his rebounding seems to be there most pressing need.

Knox was another team I didn't see much of and I expect to battle Beloit to stay out of the cellar next year. Maclin appears to be a huge loss, but I wasn't real impressed with what I saw of him last season. Turned the ball over and didn't play much defense...he earned his shots with his play his first three years, but there are other guys in the league who could score like him if they had they always had the green light. Kirven seemed like a good player before he got hurt, although I don't know what the injury was or if he will be back (any help?). The Prairie Fire need help all over, but a guard/wing who can score from all over would probably be the place to start.

Lake Forest looks like they have the chance to be near the top again next year...they have some good inside players and Walker will be a player of the year candidate if they finish in the top 3...their opponents know they will grind out the shot clock every possession and look to get a basket down low. Rees is athletic and emotional and looks to have the skills to be better than walker down the road...Hanley is the opposite of Rees, but is effective on both ends and handled himself like a senior as a sophomore last year, a real floor general type. The biggest need would be a guard who can hit the three on the kickout with such good inside players, it seems like their returning guards are more of role players.

Lawrence is my favorite to win the league next year. I'm not as concerned with losing tharp as I am with their mental toughness. They entered last season believing they belonged in the top 25 if not the top 10 and went toe to toe with eventual #1 Stevens Point. That loss didn't hurt, but I think the wins that followed did. Not being able to dominate/put away Wisconsin Lutheran and Concordia in the next two games caused some doubt to creep in about how good they were. The Grinnell losses were the turning point, as GC still appeared record-wise to be a bad team at that point and I think the LU guys began wondering if they were even an average team (I'm no psychologist)...Hurley and Kroeger are both first team talents. I like Rosenblatt as a scorer and would like to see them go small with Kroeger at the 3 and Kadison at the point more often. A player or two need to separate themselves off the bench. With so many guys, they seemed to struggle finding good lineups and sub patterns last year.

Its hard to tell if 7-9 in the league last year for Monmouth was under/over achieving or about right. Terwelp is a stud and Rogers is a pretty good all around player...after that they seem to lack consistency. Moore defined that with really good games and other games where he disappeared. I watched parts of their games when they beat the likes of Ripon and Lawrence and it never felt like an upset, as there never really seemed to be a huge talent discrepancy. Not sure what their major need is besides more consistency from the guys they have...a good three-point shooter to replace Singleton couldn't hurt.

I think Ripon's squad next year has a chance to be like Carroll this year. A tough schedule and taking time to gel will result in some early losses, but they could be very good late in the year. Last year's team had several good players that didn't gel together well offensively. McMullen's instinct was to run, but his only running mate was Wise, so then your options after slowing it down were to get it inside to Schmitting or run Johnson off a couple of screens...not much fluidity and often not enough time to do anything else if the first option didn't get his shot. With Gillespie's kid running the break next year they could be dangerous. Wise is great in transition, especially because Gillespie's scoring ability will command defensive respect. Brown is lightening quick and my sleeper to really break out next year. Kellet's a good player, but not really a four. If they have all these guards, I hope they press or trap or something, because the D wasn't working last year. The biggest need is a guy like Carroll's Bohn (see above)...6-7ish kid who wants to play D, rebound, change shots...shouldn't need much offense from the center position, just finishing easy dishes and cleaning up garbage occasionally.

Anyone who saw Grezsk's Lakeland teams play knows that this was a scaled back version of those teams, probably due to lack of talent and athleticism. SNC was still in the thick of things and played tough. Jandron is very very good, while Gruenewald is a solid player as well, but probably won't need to score as much in the future as Grezsk gets more of his guys in the system. Gruenewald will be at his best running the offense, playing D and knocking down the occasional three. They seem to have some decent big guys down low who can contribute and give them good minutes...a couple of freshman contributors or a very good freshman could make them a legitimate title contender. That guy probably needs to be a 6-4/6-5 wing player who can score from all over, but is best going to the rim and can get to the free throw line.