MBB: University Athletic Association

[deiscanton]

Thanks for the support, WUH.

Congrats to the Wash U seniors for their terrific career.   Two straight national championships is a fine accomplishment.

Now, my Judges have to carry the ball for the UAA to win another national championship.   Brandeis will do their best next weekend to get to Salem, VA.   They should be arriving back from Rochester any time now if they haven't done so already since they left Rochester earlier today for the 6 to 6 1/2 hour bus ride back to Waltham-- one side effect of the NCAA not paying for flights to games in the postseason unless the teams are over 500 miles away. 

If Brandeis can arrange for my transportation, I would love to go see Brandeis in person in Williamstown, MA this weekend-- if I have to choose one game, I would want to attend the Elite Eight game vs Williams should Brandeis defeat RI College on Friday.  (I want to not be forced to book a hotel unless Brandeis is playing at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA this year.)   However, I will watch Brandeis on video for sectionals if I have to do so.  (I know that the video stream should be working next weekend,  unlike the St. John Fisher feed-- and don't worry St. John Fisher-- I accept your apology for not having a working video stream.)

PS-- Now that we are in sectionals, does NCAA TV take over for all video streaming now with D3Hoops.com personnel doing play by play and commentary on the streams except for the national title game-- for which the NCAA simulcast streams the CBS College Sports video telecast? (D3Hoops.com personnel only works an audio stream for the national title game).   Just wondering.

[Pat Coleman]

The NCAA won't be doing all four sectionals. Initial indications are they will be doing video at two sectionals in men's and two in women's, like last year.

[deiscanton]

It will be interesting to see which two sectionals on both the men's and women's sides the NCAA will pick.  I hope that all the sectionals will get video streamed this weekend, even if the NCAA is not directly involved in the production of all of those video streams.

[Pat Coleman]

I would say we are in a good position to ensure that that happens.

[Titan Q]

So what does Wash U's lineup look like next year?  I think the frontcourt is solid...

G -
G -
F - Dylan Richter
F - Spencer Gay
C - Alex Toth

Is the backcourt of the future on the roster, or will recruits step in?  This year Wash U barely played any PG/SG players off the bench...just Ross Kelley.  (I consider Richter a 3.)  So it's hard to figure out if the answer is on the roster.  I do think the Hoener kid will good a good PG down the road.

[Marty Peretz]

Knepper may play one of the forward spots, with Richter serving as a sort-of 2/3. PG spot is wide open. The recently signed Chicago kid may step in and start right away from what people are telling me.

[Titan Q]

Knepper may play one of the forward spots, with Richter serving as a sort-of 2/3. PG spot is wide open. The recently signed Chicago kid may step in and start right away from what people are telling me.

Chris Klimek is a combo forward (3/4), so will be interesting where they fit him in based on returning players.  I might be tempted to go...

F - Richter
F - Klimek
F - Gay

I do not see Richter as a 2 at all...I don't think he handles the ball well enough on offense, and don't think he's quick enough on defense (I don't see him being able to guard a guy like IWU's Sean Johnson or similar 2's).  With Richter as a 2, the Bears would only have one guy on the floor who can dribble the basketball (the PG).

Wash U has a ton of talent ready to step in, and I'm sure they'll land a bunch of good recruits this year.  By January 2011, I'll bet they are a good team.

[Marty Peretz]

TitanQ,
I wish I were as confident as you. I will be pleased if the Bears go 16-9 or even 15-10 next year. They lose so much it's almost hard to fathom how the team identity will emerge. Knepper needs to improve a ton on the defensive end if he wants to crack the starting line-up, Toth needs to avoid foul trouble, and Richter needs to find a position that meshes with the team's needs/positional constraints. Gay is a lock for the starting 5, but other than that, it's all up in the air. Toth and Richter are also likely, but Klimek is supposed to be a big time player and Edwards has never been averse to starting freshman. Should be very interesting. The freshman big man Burnett figures to see a lot of minutes as well. Word out right now is that for now, the pg spot is Seymour's to lose.

[WUPHF]

I know we have one team left in the tournament, so it is premature to talk big picture conference details, but anyone care to comment on how good the UAA might be in 2010-2001?

I have seen comments here suggesting that the UAA is down this year.  Massey has the conference in fourth for what that is worth, significantly down the ratings from the obvious powers (WIAC, MIAC and CCIW).

[Gregory Sager]

I know we have one team left in the tournament, so it is premature to talk big picture conference details, but anyone care to comment on how good the UAA might be in 2010-2001?

I have seen comments here suggesting that the UAA is down this year.  Massey has the conference in fourth for what that is worth, significantly down the ratings from the obvious powers (WIAC, MIAC and CCIW).

I wouldn't call the MIAC an "obvious power." It had a very good non-conference record this season, but not a stratospheric one -- and because the league is so large, its teams play a pretty limited non-con schedule. My take on the MIAC's Massey rating is that it got a lot of reflected glory from playing a bunch of games against WIAC teams.

Also, while I put more stock in overall non-con records than in tourney performance to measure a league's comparative worth in a single season (because it's a bigger database), the fact that the MIAC went 0-2 and bowed out in the first round this past weekend is telling ... even though both losses were close ones.

I think that the ODAC is the up-and-coming league in D3. It's a legitimate "obvious power" now, along with the WIAC, CCIW, UAA, and NESCAC.

[r-buddy]

Titan Q, you are usually right on target but this time I'm not sure about your comments on Dylan Richter.  He may be quicker than you think.  Whether he can defend most 2 guards may depend more on whether he wants to play that position than on his physical ability.  Regarding ball handling, you're right that it's important, but not sure we've seen enough to judge.

[Titan Q]

Titan Q, you are usually right on target but this time I'm not sure about your comments on Dylan Richter.  He may be quicker than you think.  Whether he can defend most 2 guards may depend more on whether he wants to play that position than on his physical ability.  Regarding ball handling, you're right that it's important, but not sure we've seen enough to judge.

I'll concede that I haven't really seen Richter play enough to be sure.  This weekend, my impression was that Richter is becoming a bigger, bulkier "forward-type" player, as opposed to someone who can chase shooting guards around.  And I just don't think he handles it as well as a guard has to (he does fine as a 3 or 4).

I guess we'll see.  I could be way off.

PS  That headband has to go...that's a bad look.

[WUPHF]

I wouldn't call the MIAC an "obvious power." It had a very good non-conference record this season, but not a stratospheric one -- and because the league is so large, its teams play a pretty limited non-con schedule. My take on the MIAC's Massey rating is that it got a lot of reflected glory from playing a bunch of games against WIAC teams.

Maybe historical power would have been a better descriptor.  I referenced the Massey Ratings as a point of discussion to hopefully draw people in, not to discuss the other leagues, but thanks for the details.  I wish I had more time and energy, not to mention practical wisdom, to know all these things.  Maybe in a few years.  Back to my original thought: do you have any thoughts on the UAA next year?  You follow the University of Chicago.  I do believe that this is a better team than the record would suggest.  What do you think?

[Gregory Sager]

I wouldn't call the MIAC an "obvious power." It had a very good non-conference record this season, but not a stratospheric one -- and because the league is so large, its teams play a pretty limited non-con schedule. My take on the MIAC's Massey rating is that it got a lot of reflected glory from playing a bunch of games against WIAC teams.

Maybe historical power would have been a better descriptor.  I referenced the Massey Ratings as a point of discussion to hopefully draw people in, not to discuss the other leagues, but thanks for the details.

The MIAC's not a historical power, either. Only three MIAC teams have ever reached the Final Four in the 36-year history of D3, and none of them won the national title. And in a lot of previous years the league has found itself south of .500 in non-conference play (the creation of the UMAC, a lower-tier league of mostly Minnesota schools that is filled with a lot of cannon fodder that has recently been folded into the D3 ranks, has helped the MIAC's non-con fortunes considerably). The MIAC should be considered a middle-tier D3 league, both historically and presently.

Back to my original thought: do you have any thoughts on the UAA next year?  You follow the University of Chicago.  I do believe that this is a better team than the record would suggest.  What do you think?

I'm of the same mind as Hugenerd with regard to the UAA. Aside from Wash U and Brandeis, I think it's a young league that isn't losing much of a senior class; it'll be tougher and more competitive next season. As for the Maroons, they'll miss their veteran backcourt of Pancratz and Kinsella next year. But I think that even this year the strength of the team was its sophomore big men, Williams and Stefanou. With a healthy Michael Sustarsic back to run the point next year, Chicago could be pretty formidable. I think that Mike McGrath is going to have to find some wing players who can step into the lineup and keep opposing defenses honest rather than allow them to collapse upon Williams and Stefanou at will, though.

[John Gleich]

I wouldn't call the MIAC an "obvious power." It had a very good non-conference record this season, but not a stratospheric one -- and because the league is so large, its teams play a pretty limited non-con schedule. My take on the MIAC's Massey rating is that it got a lot of reflected glory from playing a bunch of games against WIAC teams.

I wonder if it's by virtue of the 4-6 record against the WIAC...  .400 is the best winning percentage for any conference not named the HCAC (Anderson beat Platteville in an out of region game).  

Now, it just so happened that the 4 wins were upper tier MIAC teams versus lower tier (St. John beat Oshkosh and Eau Claire, St Thomas beat River Falls, and Augsburg beat RF too... )  but even so, I think the MIAC was weighted higher because of it.