WBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[stoutguy]

Back off, you guys. Stoutguy is a good guy.

Never said he wasn't a good guy, but listening to Stoutguy for the Saturday morning show and then two BB games...  Too much of a good thing can be harmful.
We need to figure out a way where we can get Stoutguy's audio hooked up to the video of the webcast.  When I was out visiting Mrs. Champ last weekend out in D.C. - we watched the game - but it was painful listening to that kid's play by play.

I had thought that if we had two laptops running, we could have had the radio broadcast on one and the webcast on the other - but then they probably would be out of sync and I'd hear Jake talk about the shot going in before Kelsey even got the ball...

Yes, and too much of a BAD thing can be painful.  Anyway, Champ, I really appreciate your getting these EC guys all cranked up.  That is what I enjoy most about d3 basketball.  Passion.   You got them to talk about theirs with yours.  Mark Thomas is a very lucky man to have people like you, Rico, BDB and many others on his side.   He has earned that respect, for sure, but he also appreciates it

[The Champ]

One thing worth re-mentioning about the first matchup this year between UWEC and Stout, was the presence in the paint of Erin Voelker, a 6-3 junior, who came from Madison Area Tech. She played pretty well and was part of the success they had against Duoss that night. But Voelker has since left UWEC, at the break...

So, without Voelker - who you openly admit was a part of the defensive success you had on your home court against Stout, your squad holds the top scoring team in the WIAC to only 65 points and 39.2% shooting - and your complaining about this being your poorest defensive effort?  The EC D also held Stout to 3 fewer rebounds than their season average in 2006 - 2007.

Sorry, I ain't buying what you're selling here. 

You say they gave up too many uncontested bunnies.  Well, your squad held Duoss below her season shooting percentage, and she doesn't miss very many uncontested bunnies.  Kelsey was 7 or 12 from the floor, Hirssig was 3 of 7 and McDermid was 2 of 4.  Those are our players that occaisionally get uncontested bunnies - and they did get some - but not any thing out of the norm, IMHO.

As I said in my last post, your squad needed a great defensive effort and got a very good one.  The problem for EC last Wednesday was not the defense - it was the other side of the ball not scoring enough points. 

Of course commiting 21 turnovers and having 7 shots blocked was a big part of that.  And don't think that it was just Duoss blocking the shots - as she only had 2 of them.  The steals (there were 10 by Stout) were spread around well also with no one player having more than 2.

[The Champ]

Anyway, Champ, I really appreciate your getting these EC guys all cranked up.  That is what I enjoy most about d3 basketball.  Passion.   You got them to talk about theirs with yours.  Mark Thomas is a very lucky man to have people like you, Rico, BDB and many others on his side.   He has earned that respect, for sure, but he also appreciates it

I gotta remember to get on this board earlier in the season next year...  I participate in several other bulletin boards (sports and car related), and just need to get a kick in the assets to remember to post over here when the season starts...

Mark is the man that turned me back onto BB.  I hadn't been to two BB games since I graduated from HS - and that was a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time ago until Mark "badgered" me and Mrs. Champ and told us that "You've got to come out and see my girls play!!!" at the end of race season back when Bonnie Thoe was a freshman.  We came out to see them play, and we were hooked - lined - and sinkered...

That was a few years ago, and you know how often we miss games now - either home or on the road - and we don't even live in Wisconsin anymore!!!    Our car knows the way to Menomonie all by itself...

Heck, he's even got me scouting HS players in MN now...   Considering my daughter never played BB, it's tough to believe I now travel and pay to attend HS girls BB games!!!

You are right - Mark has EARNED that respect, and one of the reasons he's EARNED it is because he appreciates it so much.

[buf]

UWO up at the half 31-28 over RF.  RF had 24 points at the 8min mark and were shooting 8-14 at that time.  At the half, their FG% is now down to 40%, big cold spell.  Knapp, Tyriver and Sharpee are the only ones that have scored for UWO.

[buf]

RF with a win at UWO, 61-54.  UWO needs someone besides the top 3 (Knapp, tyriver, sparpee) to step up.  Only 4pts scored from the other UWO players.

[Voice of the Titans]

Tough to do with a short bench and bad fouls getting called on players, but UWO still hangs tough in their games. Telling point was a stretch where UWO led 37-31, then had 5 straight TO's that led to 11 points. After that, they couldn't recover. Preiner was deadly behind the arc. Tyriver got back on track with another big game. Officiating was better than the SP game on Wednesday. John Furrer is a solid ref, Billy McKnight was off and on this afternoon, and Ryan Delong will be a good ref once he's legally old enough to drive. Hopefully UWO can get a few wins down the stretch and get near a 6th seed, I'm sure they are a team that a lot of other would be uncomfortable to have in the first round.

[buf]

UWP up at the half against EC 34-26.  All of EC's regular posts (Burns, Anderson, Hakanson) have had at least 2 fouls from the 10min mark on, Burns has 3 and has barely played.  Witt also has 2 fouls.  UWP hits 3 at the halftime buzzer for the 8pt lead.

[bulk19]

Champ, if you want to throw stats around, UWEC has given up 57.5 points per game, and allowed Stout 65... So I bow to you, and say it was all Stout's offense that made the difference in the outcome, not the Golds' D...

And the Golds also scored only 52 points, compared to 60.3 on average. So yep, it was all poor offense that made the difference in this, and the steals, blocks and turnovers you noted that were created by Stout had no factor...

The Golds have given up 65 or more points per game seven times this year; five of them occurred during the first seven games of the year. When they have given up 65 points or more they are 3-4 in those games. Only two were conference games - road losses to UWL (68), which I didn't see, and Stout (65), on Wednesday.

Two of the other games were non-conference wins during the team's Thanksgiving tournament. Missed them.  The other was a tournament game loss in Michigan to open the season, and a road loss to St. Cloud St., which I also didn't see. So I made my statement, and based it on, how I've seen them play the rest of the season, and after the first seven games of the year, when they had those five games when they allowed 65+ points.

To quote you: "So, without Voelker - who you openly admit was a part of the defensive success you had on your home court against Stout, your squad holds the top scoring team in the WIAC to only 65 points and 39.2% shooting - and your complaining about this being your poorest defensive effort?  The EC D also held Stout to 3 fewer rebounds than their season average in 2006 - 2007."

I'll turn it around on you. Could it be that with Voelker we held you to 44?

You said you saw a good deffensive performance, and that it would take a great one to beat you. I agree with that. But again, you are comparing the 'Golds to the other Ds you have seen this year. But compared to what I've seen this year, that wasn't a good performance from this team. I'll just leave it at that...

[buf]

EC wins over UWP 59-51 due to a great 2nd half performance.  First conference road victory for the 'Golds.  Very balanced scoring for EC.  The only one doing anything for UWP was Tesch with 23.


Back to the EC Defense in the Stout game.  The thing I was dissapointed in was the penetration that was given up by EC.  There were too many Stout players driving past the EC defenders.  And when that happened, there was usually no help defense.  I agree that allowing Stout 65 points on their home court was pretty good.  But EC had been doing well not allowing penetration in most of their games this season.

[buf]

Stout wins over WW

[bulk19]

buf - it's about time you got my back! 

I've been getting beat up by Champ, who can only compare the 'Golds performance that night to one other time he's seen them, and by hoops49, who wasn't going to be at the game, so can't necessarily comment on how they played that night! Ha.

Champ - I think it is safe to say that if we were football coaches, you'd be the offensive coordinator and I'd be the defensive coordinator...

Anyway, I'll let Coach Englund have the final say in the matter, as she said in the pre-game and post-game comments today vs. Platteville. The team needs to play more consistently. And I won't extend it any further than that, to, say, stretch it to the defensive end, either. 

[stoutguy]

Hey, Champ, go out and find another home schooler for Mark, will you?  Hirssig is fast becoming my favorite player.  Nonstarters outscore the starters again, Duoss, Stout record breaking 11 blocked shots, and the Devils get ready for what will be a tough game down in RF.

[foul_language]

Champ and Buf, you're probably both right; the stats make it look like key EC players were getting some foul trouble early enough, they may have been snakebit on defense. Offense should have stepped up and made up for the points the defense wasn't preventing, although the defense must have at least rattled Stout to keep it under average. Whose court were they on? Oh, Menomonie. Couldn't have been a case of fewer points due to hostile court.

There was a lot of rattling going on in Menomonie last night.

Good chatting with Champ and Stoutguy after the Stout game last night. I can't wait until WW posters weigh in on the game. It was a barn-burner; kind of one of those hell-bent-for-leather kind of things. What does that mean, anyway. Have I got it wrong? Is it hell-bent-for-weather, which makes more sense where I'm from.

[The Champ]

You said you saw a good deffensive performance, and that it would take a great one to beat you. I agree with that. But again, you are comparing the 'Golds to the other Ds you have seen this year. But compared to what I've seen this year, that wasn't a good performance from this team.

I did see a good defensive effort by the Blugolds against Stout at Johnson Fieldhouse.  It's too bad that you missed it...

EC is not the best defense we've seen all year.  You point out that the EC D has held opponents to 57.5 points per game.  River Falls is the best defense we've played all year - and their 50.1 (a full 4 point advantage over #2 Oshkosh and 7. 4 PPG better than #4 EC) point per game average backs that up.

One of the factors that is hidden in EC's PPG ranking is the recent Oshkosh game - they held Oshkosh to 48 points - a great defensive effort, IMHO - and lost the game.  Was that the fault of the defense in your mind too?  They held Oshkosh to 10 points under their season PPG average.

How about the recent Point game?  They held point to 64 points (magically 1 point below the 65 point reference you used to extoll the virtues of the Blugold defense), 5 points below Points average - and lost that game too.

So let's recap...  Three January WIAC games where the EC D holds the opponent 5 - 10 points below the opponents season PPG average, and you lose all three games.  Your offense averages 46 PPG in those three games.

Champ - I think it is safe to say that if we were football coaches, you'd be the offensive coordinator and I'd be the defensive coordinator...

Well, to be honest - I'm more defensive minded - and would probably be a defensive coordinator.  I'm better at figuring out how to prevent my opponent from scoring - but also smart enough to understand that I can't pitch a shutout everytime out.

I would depend on my offensive coordinator to score some points for me to cover my back.

In your situation, in your recent losses to Oshkosh, Point and Stout - your offensive coordinator let you down.

If I were Tonya (and I'm not) - I'd be looking at how to improve my offense.

Simple math tells you that when your offense is only 1.4 PPG better than the worst in the WIAC - the problem isn't the defense which is #4 and is 9.6 PPG better than the worst in the league.

Whether it be baseball, football or basketball, a good defense will help you win games, assuming you have a good offense.  If you have a poor offense, you will need a great defense to win games consistently.

EC has a good defense, and gave a good defensive effort against Stout.

[The Champ]

Hey, Champ, go out and find another home schooler for Mark, will you?  Hirssig is fast becoming my favorite player.  Nonstarters outscore the starters again, Duoss, Stout record breaking 11 blocked shots, and the Devils get ready for what will be a tough game down in RF.

I'll be out scouting again this week, but no home schooler's....

I'll be looking for defensive minded players exclusively...

Of course, a defensive minded player that can sink an occaisional 3 pointer (I think she had 5 the last time I saw her play) is a bonus!!! 8)

BTW, the stat sheet I saw only credits Kelsey with 10 blocks - a real piss poor defensive performance by our top offensive threat...

And I can't take credit for "finding" Julia - Coach T did that.  It was worth the price of admission to see her play HS ball though!

We'll need a solid performance from the whole team to beat RF on their home court.  I don't want to have to try and come from a 10 point deficit with 5 minutes to go like we did at home.