WBB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Whitecarrera]

I had the chance to see Baldwin Wallace v. UW Oshkosh in the Elite 8 game last night (my first time seeing either team). UWO led wire-to-wire, opened up a big lead, but allowed BW to claw back to 3 points (with possession) in the last minute or two. A very good game.

The biggest surprise to me was BW's coaching (or maybe lack thereof). For a coach with 700+ wins, there wasn't a single moment where you felt BW had a coaching advantage. Twice they played for the final shot in the quarter — each time one player held the ball at midcourt into the last five seconds, and then threw up a bad NBA 3-point shot. 35 years of coaching and that's the best you've got?  And I imagine it's kinda easy to roll through average competition without challenging for rebounds, but when you're behind ten in the first five minutes, you kinda need to challenge for the ball a little. Very disappointing for the BW crowd as they watched some cold shooting lead to conceding a 15 point lead. Just my two cents, now I'll go back to the football boards.

[scottiedawg]

I think I've been lower on Baldwin Wallace all year than most, as they have won soooo many single digit, close, games. I've been trying to figure out why--FT shooting isn't elite. They aren't elite at taking care of the ball.

But watching all of their tournament games, I've been extremely impressed at the subtle things Harrer schemes up (quick 3 for Ressler against OWU being one of them). It's absolutely a reason they won almost every small digit game this year.  (Players are very good too, but there are a handful of teams with very good players that didn't have the same sparkling record in narrow games that BW did this year).

And I'm pretty sure getting outcoached by Fischer is not a knock against a coach!

[Whitecarrera]

Fair comments. Like I said, my first time seeing either, and no dog in the fight. I happened to be sitting nearer the BW parents, so I absorbed some of their mood.