WBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Just Bill]

I agree that the potential in Superior is there, but retention has been a problem in the past.  There have been other years that SUP has put three or four promising freshman on the floor, but 2 1/2 years later just one or none remains.

If they can retain this current freshman/sophomore group until they are juniors and seniors then I think .500 is possible.  But that is an "if" that they've haven't overcome in a long time.

This might be an all-time message board record for UW-Sup discussions.

[stoutguy]

I agree that the potential in Superior is there, but retention has been a problem in the past.  There have been other years that SUP has put three or four promising freshman on the floor, but 2 1/2 years later just one or none remains.

If they can retain this current freshman/sophomore group until they are juniors and seniors then I think .500 in possible.  But that is an "if" that they've haven't overcome in a long time.

This might be an all-time message board record for UW-Sup discussions.

Yes, and barely a whimper out of Phoenix_Rising

[The Champ]

I agree that the potential in Superior is there, but retention has been a problem in the past.  There have been other years that SUP has put three or four promising freshman on the floor, but 2 1/2 years later just one or none remains.

If they can retain this current freshman/sophomore group until they are juniors and seniors then I think .500 is possible.  But that is an "if" that they've haven't overcome in a long time.

This might be an all-time message board record for UW-Sup discussions.

Donald Mulhern wasn't the HC at Superior previously.  Changing the HC can dramatically affect a program (good or bad).

From Mulhern's bio:

As the  head women's basketball coach at MacMurray College, Don took a program that had a losing record, having won three, four, and five games respectively in the previous seasons, and turned the program into one of the more respected programs in the Midwest. He helped guide the team from a sixth place finish in his first season (92-93 season) to back-to-back conference championships in the 94-95 and 95-96 seasons. He was named Coach of the Year and Co-Coach of the Year during those seasons and his team appeared in its first ever NCAA Division III tournament in 1996.

You can read more here http://www.uwsuper.edu/athletics/womens/basketball/coaches.cfm

[Usuallywrong24]

I don't want to seem negative, but I just don't see this happening in 3 years.  Stout and UW-L have improved their programs, but Superior is not Stout or UW-L.  UW-L is a great college town.  They have a great environment and a lot of attractions in that town.  Stout is lucky to have the Viking club.  This gives them a shot to have a lot of talent play there at the AAU and see the school and facilities. 

Superior is not a great college town or have great facilities.  It is going to be very hard to keep getting good players coming into their system.  Unless I missed sometihng, they are still 0-8 in conference.  Real talented players aren't going to want to go a team that consistently goes 0-16 or 2-14 in conference.  They have a couple games in the second half they could win, but it is going to be tough to turn them into a 8-8 team in 3 years. 

[buf]

Stout wins over UWP, 83-69.  Hirrsig has a huge game with 37pts (13-14 on FGs) , 10rebs.

UWW big over Superior, 91-48.

[buf]

Point wins over UWO, 59-45.  Both teams shot poorly.

UWEC with a big run in the last 5min win at UWL, 64-47.  Linder comes off the bench to score 13pts and grab 8rebs.

[badgerwarhawk]

WHITEWATER got off quick and behind 62.5% shooting in the first half blew out Superior.  Sporting leads as large as 36 in the first half the WARHAWKS led by 29 at the half, 53-24.  The second half played out pretty much the same with the leads growing to 45 points and finishing at 43, 91-48.   The WARHAWK press forced the YG's into 32 turnover including 17 steals.  Five players scored in double figures for WHITEWATER led by Tiffany Morton with her 9th double-double of the season 16 points, 10 rebounds.  Also scoring in double figure were Heidi Sontag (15 points), Rachael Woolever (13 points, 4 assists), Kelsey Hendrickson (11 points, 5 assists) and Dana Thompson (10 points, 5 rebounds). 

No one from Superior scored in double figures.  Bri Davis led the YGs with 8 points and 6 rebounds. 

I don't know about the Superior team that played Stout but the Superior team that played today has a long way to go if they expect to move into the top half of the conference.   No offense intended and I understand their staff is working hard to improve the program but they just aren't very good even considering their youth. 

[The Champ]

I don't want to seem negative, but I just don't see this happening in 3 years.  Stout and UW-L have improved their programs, but Superior is not Stout or UW-L.  UW-L is a great college town.  They have a great environment and a lot of attractions in that town.  Stout is lucky to have the Viking club.  This gives them a shot to have a lot of talent play there at the AAU and see the school and facilities. 

Superior is not a great college town or have great facilities.  It is going to be very hard to keep getting good players coming into their system.  Unless I missed sometihng, they are still 0-8 in conference.  Real talented players aren't going to want to go a team that consistently goes 0-16 or 2-14 in conference.  They have a couple games in the second half they could win, but it is going to be tough to turn them into a 8-8 team in 3 years. 

Gee, you'd think I predicted the Detroit Lions to win the Super Bowl next year....   All I said was that Superior could go 8 - 8, a record that has garnered 6th place in a 9 team league before...

Superior may not have the best facilities, be a great college town.  But they have decent facilities, a decent sized town right next door to Duluth - an even larger city.  Some people might enjoy attending a school on the largest lake in the world with some of the best skiing in the entire midwest right next door...

has a long way to go if they expect to move into the top half of the conference.

BW

Top half would be 4th place or better.

8 - 8 can be done (and was done as recently as the 2005/2006 season) with only a 6th place finish in the WIAC.

All that needs to happen is for one of the big 4 to have a bad season.  At the start of that season, the big 4 were arguably (listed alphabetically) Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Stevens Point and Stout.  Eau Claire had finished 5th the year before, but I think most would have given them the nod over River Falls who finished 4th that year.

The final standings that year were:

1. Stout 12 - 4
2. Oshkosh 12 - 4
3. Stevens Point 11 - 5
4. LaCrosse 9 - 7
5. Eau Claire 8 - 8
6. River Falls 8 - 8
7. Whitewater 6 - 10
8. Platteville 6 - 10
9. Superior 0 - 16

Oshkosh went from tied for 1st place that year, to tied for 2nd to last the next.  The difference in the number of wins is 8 for Oshkosh in those 2 seasons.

WW went from tied for 2nd to last that season to tied for 1st last season -  and a magical run in the NCAA to a 3rd place finish in the tournament.

All I'm talking about is Superior getting to 8 - 8...

[The Champ]

Points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks - (Field goals attempted - Field goals made) + (Free throws attempted - Free throws made) + turnovers = efficency

Let me see if I can get this right...

37 points, 10 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 steals, 14 FG attempts, 13 FG made, 13 FT attempts, 11 FT made, 3 TO

(37+10+0+4) - [(14-13) + (13-11) + 3] = 45

Is that a pretty good game...

[Just Bill]

On the D3Hoops.com standings page, the UW-Superior win over Northwestern (Minn.) is marked as a conference game.  Oh, if only NWC could be a conference opponent for the poor Yellowjackets. 

[phoenix_rising]

Sadly, part of the reason players have left the team is the HC. At least one promising player was kicked off the team and a couple others left out of frustration. Mulhern has to have players that will buy into his particular--I won't say peculiar--method of coaching, or they just aren't going to hang around. I think there may be quite a difference between the recruiter and the coach, although I don't think he coaches differently from what he tells them in recruitment. I think they find out it's a lot harder to play for him than they think it will be. I like his assistant coach a lot.

I might be talking out of the wrong oriface, but that's my take on what's going on in Superior. We DO have some talented players; one of the players who's doing fairly well stunk badly at the beginning of the season. Obviously, the coach saw something I didn't and kept playing her. I think he's got some talent on the bench. Superior--men and women--might benefit from a more generous use of the bench.

[Just Bill]

That's been my, admittedly long distance, perception of Mulhearn as well.  That's why I questioned their ability to retain players.

[badgerwarhawk]

Points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks - (Field goals attempted - Field goals made) + (Free throws attempted - Free throws made) + turnovers = efficency

Let me see if I can get this right...

37 points, 10 rebounds, 0 assists, 3 steals, 14 FG attempts, 13 FG made, 13 FT attempts, 11 FT made, 3 TO

(37+10+0+4) - [(14-13) + (13-11) + 3] = 45

Is that a pretty good game...

That should be +3.   It's still a pretty good game.

[billys]

That's been my, admittedly long distance, perception of Mulhearn as well.  That's why I questioned their ability to retain players.

Mine as well.

And as I said before ... there are plenty of freshmen in the league (not getting much playing time because they're on a good team) who are better than Superior's youth right now.

Then next year the other schools will get a bunch of new players who are probably better than what Superior gets. Not to mention, it's tougher for them to get a transfer down than say WW (Morton, Hendrickson), Oshkosh (Eggers a few years back), Stout (Duoss) ... the type of player that could make that jump.

Champ's two examples- WW added those transfers to veterans and UW-L had a great recruiting class (which is playing most of their minutes now as seniors led by Hunter) but paired it with veterans.

Again this isn't meant to bash Superior ... if anything it's in support of their staff cause I know how difficult a task they are undertaking. I just don't see them going 8-8. I'd say Oshkosh, who is also without Sr's and Jr's with a better shot at 8-8 then Superior in the next few years.

[Usuallywrong24]

Looks like the national rankings got a little shake-up in the last week.  #1, #5 and #6 all went down.  The tough thing about the central region is 3 of the top 4 teams in the nation are from this region. 

Also, does anyone know when the regional rankings will be out?  I am guessing that Illinois Wesleyan will be #1, but after that it is a toss-up between Point and WW.  Should be interesting.