WBB: Midwest Conference

[Out_Of_My_Kitchen]

Berts Men and Women are both dancing again! 

[scottie]

Congrats to SNC and MC for an instant classic!  The early word out of Las Vegas is that the only way to stop the Scots next year will be to lock them out of the gym.

[Just Bill]

New coaches for Beloit...

http://www.midwestconference.org/news/2011/4/14/WBB_0414110156.aspx

... and Lawrence.

http://www.midwestconference.org/news/2011/4/13/WBB_0413111503.aspx

[bballer1280]

With classes starting up later this month for the 2011-2012 academic year regarding most, if not all, MWC schools, has anyone heard whom the new first year and transfer basketball players will be on the MWC women's teams this fall?  Very little information has been forthcoming regarding this particular topic so far.  Of course, that information likely will become available in the next several weeks.  But, it is never to early to ask.

Obviously, it is to early to make predictions for the season regarding standings and MWC tournament qualifiers as this point in time without information regarding roster additions from first years student/athletes and those potential transfers.  However, I think it is safe to say that St. Norbert will be the team to beat until someone actually de-thrones them.  Monmouth is always tough, too.  But, I think Monmouth is definitely a step below St. Norbert while only being just a "small" step above the next group of MWC teams (Carroll, Illinois College, and Lake Forest).  

Yet, the team I think that could easily move into that next grouping of MWC colleges this coming winter is Grinnell College.  Grinnell was a very tough out for nearly all of the top teams in the MWC beginning in January last season and GC will have some very experienced players returning that includes excellent size and good athleticism at all positions.  Coach Gluckman of Grinnell has done a great job of assemblying a very solid and deep roster of players after three full seasons on the job who just might be capable of making a lot of noise this winter in conference play and who, again, likely will be a tough out for all MWC opponents.

In my opinion Ripon, Beloit, and Knox College are all still a long way from challenging the conference's elite teams.  Yet, each of those teams are capable of beating a few of the upper teams under some circumstances.  Only Lawrence is not a team ready to challenge any one on a regular basis in the MWC.  Their conference record is 1-65 over the last four sesaons.  A lot of work still needs to happen for Lawrence.

What are your thoughts?

[bballer1280]

Practice has started for all MWC women's basketball teams as of this past Saturday.  Good luck to all of the teams. 

If you have any information regarding the teams that could be good pre-season discussion, please, share it with us.

[bballer1280]

Attached is a link to the pre-season report for the women's basketball team at Grinnell College.  I am optimistic that this could be a very intersting season for the Pioneers.

http://www.grinnell.edu/athletics/wbasketball/wbk12preview

[quail1231]

Place School (First Place Votes) Points -  2011-12 Midwest Conference Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Poll

1 St. Norbert (8) 80
2 Monmouth (1) 68
3 Lake Forest 62
4 Carroll 55
5 Ripon (1) 51
6 Illinois C. 42
7 Grinnell 40
8 Beloit 24
9 Knox 19
10 Lawrence 9

[quail1231]

No Surprise with St. Norb on top again.  They should be able to run the table and go 18-0.  I don't see anyone coming close to upsetting them, except possibly for Monmouth.  They've got that confusing chaotic 3/4 court zone trap.  Very fun to watch when it's clicking, and very difficult to beat. 
Ripon gets 1 first place vote?  That's random.  They're still a year or two away from really competing for 1st place.  They could slip into the conference tournament though, in place of Carroll. 
And speaking of Carroll, are they ever going to shore up their defense?  They could be a contender if they ever learned to play disciplined team defense.  The offense is always there for them, but their defense is sloppy. 

[quail1231]

Lawrence picks up a win.  From their website:

"The victory snapped a 31-game winless streak for the Vikings. It was Lawrence's first victory since an 88-68 victory at Silver Lake College on Feb. 15, 2010. It also marked Lawrence's first Midwest Conference victory since a 62-53 victory over Knox on Jan. 19, 2008. Lawrence had gone 62 league games without a victory."

Yikes I didn't realize how long it's been for Lawrence to get a win in conference.  And it's not like it's that strong of a conference to begin with.  The box score looked ugly.  32 TOs for Knox and 39 for Lawrence.  When's the last time you saw a team with 39 TOs win a ball game??

I didn't see the game, but judging from the box score it looks like Knox might be playing a Grinnell-style system.  There's 14 players with nearly equal playing time.  And they put up 37 three pointers.  Wow.

[bballer1280]

At approximately the half way point of the MWC women's basketball regular season heading into this weekend's MWC action, the standings are currently very interesting.  The standings are as follows:

St. Norbert                9-0
Monmouth                 6-2
Grinnell College         5-3
Lake Forest College    5-3
Ripon College            5-3
Carroll University       4-4
Illinois College          3-5
Knox College             2-7
Beloit College            1-7
Lawrence Univeristy    1-7

Obviously, St. Norbert is in a class of their own in the conference.  Yet, they are definitely capable of dropping a game or two before the season ends.  But, there is certainly a "log jam" fighting it out for the 2nd place through 6th place as conference teams begin determining whom will qualify for this season's MWC Post Season Tournament.  With five teams at 6-2 through 4-4, the second half of the season will be very compelling to watch.

As a fan of GC, the Pioneers have lost two games that I hope won't come back to "haunt" them as the season ends and those are their two losses to Carroll, each by just two points, where GC led nearly the entire game in Grinnell back in December and led late while falling at Carroll by the game's end.  The process for GC qualifying for the MWC post season tournament will require that GC wins all of the games remaining that they should win and getting some wins from those that they find themselves battling for in the standings.  They must overcome late game "funks" and close those hotly contested games out better than they have against Carroll.

Further commenting about GC, it appears as though DeGroot, Briggs, and Huey are playing some really outstanding basketball for the team with Jeannin continuing to provide excellent floor leadership.  Continued good play by those four and consistency from others is necessary for the team to make its first MWC tournament berth in years.

[jeffdc]

Great win by GC last night over MC. They were down for much of the game, gritted it out, and got their win. I think we'll see them in conference this year! Nice conversions by Jeanin toward the end of the game, and solid performance throughout by Huey and Briggs.

[bballer1280]

The Pioneer women's basketball team from Grinnell College had another amazing victory against Monmouth College on Wednesday improving their conference record to 10-5 (sole possession of 3rd place).  The team continues to be well balanced with a different player "rising to the occasion" nearly every time the team earns another hard fought victory.

Different people this season have provided the Pioneers with amazing efforts.  Senior power forward, Meg Huey, and junior center, Michelle Briggs have been the players who have provided the team with the most consistent play all season long and, in my opinion, both deserve strong consideration for the all-conference team.  Sophomore wing forward, Rebecca DeGroot, has shown offensive explosiveness many times during the season.  But, the team's senior point guard, Ashley Jeannin, who is primarily known as the team's floor leader who provides solid playmaker skills and is an excellent defender, provided some dramatic play on Wednesday night against Monmouth.

This 60-57 GC win saw an unbelievable six minute scoring effort by Jeannin where she scored the final 12 points for the Pioneers and 10 unanswered points to end the game.  With about six minutes remaining in the game, Jeannin began her scoring burst with a jump shot from the free throw line resulting in a score of 51-50 in favor of Monmouth.  Monmouth scored 6 unanswered points to take a lead of 57-50.  Jeannin followed with 2 three pointers and 4 free throws in the last 3 1/2 mintues or so to help the Pioneers capture the 60-57 win that included over 4 minutes of clock where Monmouth did not score a point demonstrating the Pioneers tremendous defense they have shown time and time again this season.  It truly was a dramatic finish. 

Go, Pioneers!!!  Good luck against Illinois College on Saturday.

[bballer1280]

Grinnell College had a devastating loss at Illinois College yesterday.  The team seems to have trouble finishing closely contested games unless a "miracle" finish is involved.  A win against Lake Forest College next Saturday, plus some other tie-breaker requirements, now are necessary for the team to earn a berth in the MWC.  Hang in there Pioneers and beat Lake Forest on Saturday.  This is now all that you control. 

[bballer1280]

St. Norbert College has earned a regular season MWC championship by defending last season's championship.  They will host the conference tournament and likely will get the conference's NCAA tournament bid as well based on the assumption that they will win the tournament this weekend as many expect to happen.  St. Norbert will play Carroll in the conference tournament semi-finals.  Monmouth is the second place team and they have shown they are definitely "beatable" this season.  Monmouth will play Lake Forest in the conference tournament semi-finals and I expect this game to be a real "barn burner."  Good luck to all the teams.

I think that it is appropriate to give some concillatory commendation to Grinnell and Ripon who tied for 3rd in the regular season with both Lake Forest and Carroll with all four teams having MWC records of 11-7.  The tie breaker procedure was very cruel to Grinnell and Ripon who demonstrated that they were just as good in all phases of season play as the two teams whom also had 11-7 records that advanced to the MWC tournament.  Tie breaker rules are never perfect and no one would attempt to state that they are either.

As a fan of Grinnell College and the college's women's basketball team, congratulations to the Pioneers for their outstanding season despite missing out on a conference tournament berth.  It was the team's first winning season in conference play since the 2003-2004 season.  Grinnell College had as much talent as any team in the conference, with the exception being St. Norbert, and the Pioneers proved that on several occasions this season with their "sweep" of Monmouth as proof of the fact.  However, four critical conference losses by a total of nine points (home against Carroll and at Carroll, Illinois College, and Lake Forest), with a win in any of those four losses, kept the team from earning sole possession of 3rd place and a berth in the conference tournament.  The Pioneers just had a hard time finishing some of those closely contested games and that cost the team dearly this season.  The lack of team depth probably contributed to this fact as much as any thing.

Finally, congratulations to Meg Huey and Ashley Jeannin as they conclude their playing career at the college as extremely important players in the rebuilding of the GC women's basketball program.  Both girls were instrumental to the yearly improvement of the program as leaders and players with both leaving their mark on the program statistically rising to career leaders at GC in rebounds (9th by Meg) and assists (6th by Ashley) with both being outstanding defenders and solid team offensive players as well.  Those of us that enjoy watching the Pioneers play will miss their intensity, toughness, energy, and skill in the years ahead.  However, with great returning players such as Michelle Briggs, Rebecca DeGroot, and Tolu Alabi, complemented by others on the team and with indications that the incoming commitments for next year's first year class will be very talented, the future at Grinnell will continue to be bright with more program success yet to occur.  Good luck in the future to Coach Gluckman and the Pioneers of Grinnell College as they improve on this season's success with goals of a MWC championship and more in the years ahead.

[bballer1280]

Good luck to Monmouth College in their game tonight against the University of Chicago.  I don't expect Monmouth to defeat undefeated Chicago.  But, I do hope that Monmouth competes against them well enough for the outcome to not clearly be decided by half time with Monmouth "putting a real scare" into the host college.  And, that result is potentially a reality if Monmouth can muster its "A-game."

Also, congratulations to the post season award winners from the MWC.  Furthermore, as a GC fan, congratulations to Michelle Briggs and Meg Huey for earning 2nd team All-Conference.  Both, definitely, deserved the recognition as they were solid performers for the team all season long.

Finally, congratulations to Janelle Groer of Carroll University for earning MWC player of the year.  No one else in the conference meant more to her team and performed at as high level all season long as she did.  She was Carroll's "go to" player all season long and she produced even with opponents double teaming her and defending her with lot's of help defense.  Her ability to score, pass out of double teams to open teammates, and rebound the ball made her a very special player to watch over the last four years.