MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[Bust Ya'll]

You talk about peets throwing a punch, but there was no punch thrown. The fan hit him in the head with the flag pole. Which protecting himself pushed him away, and he fell down. Why was the fan on the court anyways he has no reason to be on the court. Or by our bench for that matter. I was told Coach Noon apologized for the fans behavior and was embarrased by WLC's behavior towards peets and coach r.

Well, slooooow down there little doggie.  No a true punch was thrown, but a running start, near tackle occured.  Poor guy wasnt even looking, he was just running in circles.  And by the way, there was confusion on the courts.  The refs signled a full timeout- so the dance team came out, for the school song, where a student has traditionally ran around with a flag.  However, unbeknownst to everyone but the players, Rass changed it to a 30 so the players all go called on the court half way through....bodies were everywhere.  The flag came off the pole and landed near Peets, got pissed and let it rip.  I would have too, being on the floor my senior year, losing after a 12 pt lead...sucking it up.  However, I would have waited till he was looking and expected the ref to T me up.  Nevertheless, the game is done and over with like Peets career.  No excuses for the hit, unecessary and uncalled for. 
Noon apologized?  Well, I know Noon had shared words with Rass after the game about the incident, but not to apologize for that.  There were some chants and less than "Christians" sayings that yours truely had to explain to the "principle" for the 6th Man.  Ah well, it comes with the job!  Till then slydawg, see ya in the semi....oh wait.
Bust  Ya'll

[keith45]

http://www.niiconline.com/men/basketball/standings.htm

NIIC champion determined by adding point value of regular season (12-10-8-6-4-2), with point value of tournament place (6-5-4-3-2-1)

1. CLARKE 9-1 15-10
12
2. AURORA 8-2 15-9
10
3t. ROCKFORD 5-5 15-11
7
3t. CONCORDIA 5-5 11-15
7
5. BENEDICTINE 3-7 10-15
4
6. EUREKA 0-10 4-22
2

Where are you guys getting your information from?  If you read off of this link, I would read it as it states.  I have tried to open my eyes and figure out any other possible way that others are reading it, but I can't.  If Clarke wins tonight that would assure them atleast second place in the tourny.  According to the NIIC Website(i wouldn't be surprised if it was wrong, that's why I'm asking if you guys know something that I don't), the second place finisher gets 5 points, and the first place finisher, in the tourny, gets 6 points.  I did take statistics last year, and using my knowledge, I have found that 12 + 5 is equal to 17, and that 10(aurora's current point value) + 6(what aurora would get if they won) is equal to 16.  Using my statistical knowledge, I can now derive that 17 is a greater number than 16, which means that if Clarke wins tonight, no one else can win the conference championship.  Also, I am confused by the website because the first round losers finished in a tie for 5th, so how many points do they get?  1.5? Because if that is the case, then tonights losers receive 3.5 points, which means that the only possible way for a champion to lose, in this system, is if they lose their first game of the tourny and the second place team wins.
Which, although this point system i think is ridiculous, is the only fair thing to do.  One week should not weigh near as much as an entire season.

Does anyone out there read the website the same way I am reading it?  Or are they aware of printed, published rules somewhere???
 

I think that is right..if Clarke wins tonight, they advance, so even if they lose on Saturday, they finish second..BUT..if they lose either game, I can't see them making the NCAA tournament..and if Aurora wins both, they (in my opinion) have the best shot to make it, albeit a very long shot)..personally (and relax crusader) I think Aurora is better equiped for the NCAA..more scoring options and shooters and a take over player..I think Clarkes team from last year had a team suited to play in the NCAA's.. you need 1-2 guys who can take over a game, Clarke had that last year

What are you opinions for all-conference? Newcomer of the year? I think Clarke and AU get 2 players each..

[44]

I know peets personally and was at the game with a much better view of what went on then the WLC fans had...1) a fan should not be allowed to run around on the court ecspecially when dude was pretty much wasted out of his mind...2) swing a flag in peets face and billy's face is uncalled for (by the way the brokeback billy chants amazing guys loved and so did bill, genius idea haha), and when you get hit with a PVC pipe flag pole peets did go off and as Bust Ya'll said there was no punch thrown and peets said he was definently expecting to get T'd up or tossed for knocking the piss out of a 6'4 370lbs "rather large individual" who by the way needed to get some pants that fit him, suprised he could find ones to big for him...3) your coach and the majority of your players all apologized for the way that fan acted towards peets and billy while they were exchanging hand shakes at the end of the game...much class by the players and coaches of your school was showed and they should be commended for that.
as far as your chants go WLC i saw not much wrong with them its all in good taste of rooting your team on as a CUW fan i have started/participated in my fair share of those chants haha so no hard feeling there at all....good luck in the next round fellas.

[crusaders]

did you mean even if they lose they finish first?  and I agree, if Clarke loses either of the next 2 games we have no chance at all.  I really don't see how aurora has a chance at all, but if I can think clarke has a chance, anyone can think aurora has a chance. 

baseman, there is NO WAY you can say clarke would get beat by 20 + in the tourny.  3 teams have beaten clarke by more than 10 pt.s this year.  yes, these are excuses, i like to call them reasons for losing.  aurora(no starting 3 man), mt. mercy(no possible conf. MVP pg), robert morris(research this team, clarkes 28 point defeat was the closest anyone came to them in the holiday tourny, check out their starting lineup, including 2 d1 players last year, and a first team mcdonalds highschool all american)

keith45, you are right, clarke doesn't have 1 or 2 guys who can take over a game.  this year, they have 6!  I'm not being just a fan, they are an excellent team ball club.  They remind me of the 2001 Wisconsin badger squad that made it to the final 4.  bynum can take over a game if needed, that is without question.  what has happened over the course of this season is 5 key players have learned how to play and have surrounded bynum with shooting, passing, and rebounding.  This team moves the ball so well, and the open man hits the shot.  any one of the top 6 players on this team has the ability to score 20 + points every game, nothing makes me prouder of clarke when i look up at the score board to see 5 guys in double figures, cuz i think that is what d3 basketball is all about, teamwork.

i watched 80% of the clarke games last year, including a game against D2 Northwest Missouri State.  That game showed you can not just have 2 guys.  They shut the Byrd bro's down(somewhat) and Clarke got blown out.  Although we started the season slow(which i think is in large part to the offense being centered around the Byrd bro's last year), I am dead serious, Clarke has a better basketball team than it had last year, without a doubt.

i think all conf includes bynum and cirks from cc, harrison from bu, welton and magee from au, smith dunkel from rockford, richard and pfeefer from eureka, and lafayette bell from concordia

newcomer of the year, dunkel

POY bynum...although it probably would be bad to overlook welton's impressive performance this year...so welton might get co-POY

[The Way]

The Way I See It,

Busty, (although this may come as a shock) I see nothing wrong with the antics that got you sent to Mr. Belding's office. Yes, Gonzaga students were warned about similar chants last week,,,but come on. This is a college basketball atmosphere. It is the job of the opposing crowd to haze and heckle players. I have no problem with the Brokeback Billy chants. As a player, I fed off the energy of the opposing crowd. It made me want to play better so i could shut them up.

But with that being said, there should never be any contact made between player or fan (i.e. the drunken Michigan State fan that started touching the Michigan player). I wasn't at the WLC/CU game or can't even tell what exactly happened judging by the many different responses, but it sounds like the fan/cheer boy was out of line by even being over by the Concordia bench. Because correct me if i am wrong, but doesn't the 6th man sit across the bench of the opposing team?

Back to the Semis, I see Lakeland winning a close battle over Edgewood. And I will go with Marian over WLC (sorry Busty, but i just can't pick WLC....although i wouldn't mind seeing a rematch of the finals 2 years ago up at the Tank as the atmosphere was nothing short of stellar in that game).

[trey]

Atmosphere at the 2004 WLC/Lakeland championship tilt was awesome, approximately half of WLC students who know what a basketball is made the trek to the Tank.  I think a few of Zeck's 'roid rage buddies from West Allis made it up as well.

I think the 'Brokeback Billy' chant was quite misguided, especially coming from so-called Christians.  If they view the particular lifestyle referred to as wrong and something to make fun of, they should also be ashamed of their own actions.  That being said, no one is perfect, and I believe they realize the err of their ways.  Personally, I was impressed by the 6th Man on Sunday--quite a turnout, after most of the home games this year were lacking.  It's good to see Busty going out in style.

Seeing as I haven't posted in eternity, I will now return to my normal spot on the bench after throwing up some leaning, off-balance threes from 25 feet.  I'm not Trey for nuthin'.

[crusaders]

CRUSADERS TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS!  shout out to CURF, they played a hell of a game...baseman, your team played a heck of a game...they will be good next year...I promise you that...well officiated game, it was good to see the refs call a good game and be supportive of the fans...the fans appreciated the refs, and apologize for getting in the way of the officials during the aurora game...they have called good games all year, and appreciate the fairness they provided...as far as i can see it, clarke won the championship, so take that aurora fans!!!!  you finally didn't win the championship for year, the last year...what a credit to clarkes team!!!!  bynum showed he can play with anybody tonight!!!!  what a leader on the floor, and the supporting cast did not disappoint...clarke did not play well tonight, and what a credit to the team to still pull out the victory!!!   Any officials on the rockford aurora game?

[bodhi5]

"as far as i can see it, clarke won the championship, so take that aurora fans!!!!  you finally didn't win the championship for year, the last year..." ~ Crusader

Again Crusader, you really shouldn't act like this is the first championship Clarke has ever won.  Wouldn't it be ironic to see Clarke finally win a NIIC championship but still get snubbed from the NCAA tourney???  I believe it would. 

[crusaders]

Who cares, this is clarkes first championship, so be it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  let us rejoice, and rub it in!!!!   Great job clarke!!!!  It would be ironic to get snubbed, but it's not over yet, we still have a chance

[Muskie Fan South]

Big game tonight I wonder if the fish tank will be jumping? This is one thing I don't understand since Lakeland is basically land locked between two towns Howard's Grove and Sheboygan why don't they get more area businesses that want to support the school and also the fan base seems small, in our town the high school draws 1,500 plus every Friday and Saturday night and in my home town every school in the Big Five would draw 3,000 or better in fact even the private high schools (Catholic )draw a ton I just hope the fish tank is full tonight !!!!! by the way congradulations to Coach Grzesk and Liz on the birth of their daughter. Your family are in our prayers  

[The Way]

The Way I See It,

Lakeland does not draw a good fan base at this point whatsoever. I am even shocked to see the lack of student turn out this year. The problem with being out in the country with these little small towns is that high school basketball takes priority. Tuesday nights are big high school b-ball nights and that happens to be a night that conference games are played. I can't offer you an explanation on the Saturday games because typically in the past they have been a pretty decent draw.

And finally, Lakeland doesn't really have an identity. Incoming coaches view Lakeland as a stepping stone for higher things. Until that view of Lakeland changes as a whole, I don't think the community can latch on to a team that may go through a different coach every few years. I use Tom Desotell of Sheboygan North as an example. He has been there for decades and the fan base that follows North is fairly consistent. Desotell has run the same offense since he has been there. People who go to their games know what to expect from the team. The same can't be said about fans going to Lakeland games. It makes it less exciting when you know absolutely nothing about the game or the team you are going to watch.

[baseman201]

CURF - 78
Clarke - 85

I haven't looked at the stats yet, but I will take your word on them playing a great game, seems like CURF gave Clarke all they could handle.  CURF seemed to do that alot, even against Augustana they were in it until the final 3 minutes or so.  And hopefully we are good next year, maybe finally compete for the NIIC title, something that hasn't happened in like........well, a long time.  (probably since I was a young one).

If Clarke does make the NCAA tourney, I may still stand behind my 20+ point difference (maybe lower to to 15+, but we will see).  I consider the NIIC a pretty weak conference this year, with our 1st place team having at best a 17-10 record.  Although, last year Calvin only beat Aurora by 12, and they made it all the way to the final 4.  But, that Aurora team last year was way better in comparison to any team in the NIIC this year, and they still got beat by 12.  Take the football conference for example.  Lakeland dominates the conference and goes 8-2, goes to the playoffs and gets spanked by 27 points at Augustana. 

I know football doesn't really apply here, but I am trying to get my point across that if Clarke (or Aurora) does make the tourney,  it most definately means a first round exit.  BUT!!!!! whoever does make the NCAA tourney should be commended, because winning a conference takes hard work.  At least you can enjoy your conference win, while the rest of us have nothing to show for the season.   

[Big_Uns]

The student turnout has been horrible this year. I'm one of the few that actually go and I usually have a ton of fun (at least try to) and its discouraging to see how few students want to support the teams.

Weekend attendance has been down this year because it seems like Lakeland is becoming more and more a Suitcase College where everyone leaves to go home for the weekends. I remember when I first got here, almost everyone stayed the weekends, and a good amount of people went to the games.

There were nine students in the stands for the women's first round game, or less than 1% of the student population. The turnout for the men's game wasn't much better. SAD.

[lilphil]

Congrats to Clarke on winning the conference...However Aurora gets revenge this Saturday.  AU 83 Clarke 77

[crusaders]

if we play like we did last night, AU might get revenge.  I see welton had a killer game last night against Rockford, and I also noticed Rockford had AU down by 8 at half, and the they exploded for 57 pts i the 2nd.  Was anyone at that game?  Did AU just get on fire???

I hope Welton brings his game Saturday, as much as I am a fan of Clarke, i'm a fan of good basketball and good players.  Very very disappointed in Weltons performance against clarke here.  i was ready for a high flying, explosive all star and i saw 4 points and a hot headed technical. 

any insiders from AU know how the absense of coach lancaster is affecting the team?

and baseman, once again, just so you know, this is the last year for the NIIC..just to make sure you know that.  But LMC, look out for CURF, if they improve in the off season, they'll be a force.  and about the 20 point tourny thing(which the closer we get, the more i don't think we're even going to have to worry about tourny talk), one thing clarke has is a good PG and a good coach.  With those 2 combined, the pace of the game can be controlled and monitored.  Clarke, unless undermanned, simply can not be blown out.  It is just not possible, kind of like clarke losing at home.  Rockford should have beaten us last saturday, but Clarke's confidence and attitude at home is just too much to overcome.  They might not have the most talent, but their heads are on straight and they play disciplined and believe in the system.