Viking68~

Was Hinz in "Faces in the Crowd", or just in an article for his 50 and 36?

Lifer~

Flowers named alot of players from different years, never together on the same team.  But I'm talking about this year and last.  I honestly think BC was better as a squad when they had Hinz, Flowers, and Entwistle.  Maybe not as depp, but a better starting 5.  The FT point,  NO S*@T!!!!  Offseason,, you betcha!  I don't believe the supporting cast complaint is BS, but that is my opinion.  I just find it hard to win if you don't have a couple of guys (maybe only 2) that can be day in day out consistant.

"As for the Braier- Hinz debate. What does Braier do if he's with BC the past four years and Hinz is with LU. Hinz would win a couple conference titles and Braier struggles as badly as Hinz to get BC to tourney."

Lifer-

You might be right.  Braier could change the culture of Beloit basketball.  That's all great, but changing the culture doesn't mean the supporting cast can make a basket any easier!  Last time I checked you have to be able to score more than the opponent to win games.  It's hard to do when you only have one person on the team that puts up consistant numbers.  Trust me, Braier's assists would go down big time if he was at Beloit for the same reason Hinz's assist numbers are low.  NO ONE ELSE CAN PUT THE DAMN BALL IN THE HOOP!

This coming from Feb.3 notes on the MWC page:

2005-06 MWC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS: The 2005-06 MWC basketball tourneys will be held Friday and Saturday, February
24-25. The tournament sites are TBD; the MWC Champion will host the host the men's tournament with the winner earning the
conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The women's team with the top regular-season conference record earns hosting
rights, while the tournament winner is crowned MWC Champion and receives the league's NCAA tourney bid. A brief overview of
MWC tourney tiebreakers.
* - Head to head competition pooling all tied teams records against each other. Continue to eliminate by winning percentage and repool remaining teams until field is set
* - Record against highest ranked common MWC opponent. (Common opponents are teams played twice, unless Team A is 1-0 against Team B and Team C is 0-2 against B)
* - WOMEN (men skip to next step) Point differentials between tied teams in head-to-head play. Point differentials between tied teams against highest-ranked common opponent
* - Coin flip by conference commissioner

If you haven't heard yet, Josh Hinz is going to be interviewed on ESPN's "Cold Pizza" this Thursday morning sometime between 9-11 a.m.  Tune in, or tape it like I will have to do!

A lot of great scenerios are possible for the last 3/4 games....

Here's the schedule first: (remember I am a BC fan picking these outcomes)

GC(8-5):  2/11 @ IC....WIN
              2/15 KC....WIN                    
              2/18 @ LFC....WIN
  Should wrap up #3 spot at 11-5

KC(7-6):  2/8 MC...LOSS (need the road upset, but they are playing better now)
              2/15 @ GC...LOSS
              2/18 IC...WIN    
  Ending up at a possible tie at 8-8

BC(6-6):  2/8 @ LU...WIN (if they don't win this one they NEED to beat CC)
              2/11 @ SNC...WIN
              2/15 RC...WIN (in a HUGE game)
              2/18 CC..They can afford to lose if they beat LU, otherwise must win
  Ending up at 9-7 and the #4 spot.  If LU and CC are both losses, 8-8 tie with KC, but the tiebreaker over them I belive.

RC(6-7):  2/8 @ SNC...WIN
              2/11 CC...LOSS (hopefully)
              2/15 @ BC...LOSS (again, hopefully)
 Out of contention at 7-9

It looks to me that the ball in in BC's court (I know, terrible play on words).  But if they do their thing they get in.      

I believe this has been talked about already, but what the hey..........

Beloit (5-5):  MONMOUTH                         Grinnell (7-4):  @ Ripon
                     GRINNELL                                                    @ Beloit
                     @ Lawrence                                                @ Illinois College
                     @ St. Norbert                                              KNOX
                     RIPON                                                         @ Lake Forrest
                     CARROLL


Knox (7-4):  @ Lawrence                          Ripon (5-6):  GRINNELL
                    @ Carroll                                                    MONMOUTH
                    MONMOUTH                                               @ St. Norbert                 
                    @ Grinnell                                                  CARROLL
                    Illinois College                                           @Beloit


Beloit: 4 home/2 away - 2 big games at home against GC and RC.  The 2 road games will be VERY tough to pull off.

Grinnell:  1 home/4 away - 1 home game a must win against KC.  Always tough to win on the road.  Big weekend for them coming up with BC and RC.

Knox:  2 home/3 away - Only plays one team still looking for a playoff spot, but it is on the road at GC.  Other 2 road games are tough at LU and CC.

Ripon:  3 home/2 away - They can probably only afford to lose 1 more, and it probaly will come from the likes of CC at home, or the final game against BC in Beloit.

All 4 teams have a tough test. and I'd like to know who you guys think is better off (controls their own destiny)?  Either way, it's a GREAT WAY TO END THE SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!

Vik68-

In reference to the steals stat.  I did say that Hinz isn't as good of a defender, so that would show that stat true.  But as far as assists, it is hard to get those assists if the guys around you can't put it in.  Also, Hinz is looked to to score for that reason alone.  He needs others to step up and make a shot.  He IS getting others the ball, they just aren't doing anything with it.

With all of this POY talk, all be it premature, Let's pnder this thought.....

Of the recently mentioned candidates (Briaer, Hinz, Maclin, Grotberg), how would their respected teams do if they weren't there?

Lawrence - They would still be winning.  Would they be undefeated?  Probably not.  But that doesn't mean they are undefeated because of Briaer.  They have a strong enough supporting cast where they will still score and win games.

Knox - Winning, but not as much.  Maclin is a very good player.  But if you take him out, they still have guys that can get it done.  They have other "shooters" and "big guys" to score if need be.

Grinnell - Not that Grotberg should even be considered over these other forces, but just for fun.  They would also be winning because they could distribute those 30 shots/game to other deserving scorers in the system.

Beloit - Not winning nearly as much as the other teams.  Definitely not in the thick of things for the top 4.  If you take Hinz out of the lineup, who do you have?  Nobody has shown the ability to score consistantly.  You lose 20+ pts. and 10+ rebs. a game that no one can make up.

With all of this being said, Hinz is a better choice for POY.  If you make that much of a difference on a team, you are showing you are deserving of that title. Hinz might not be the defensive threat like Briaer, but he is getting better and is becoming more of a presence inside.  He is a much bigger offensive threat (even getting double or triple teamed), and now we can see he can rebound just as good.  Hinz is the lone "go-to-guy" on his team, especially at the end of a game.  He is a great all around player and plays more of an important role in his teams success.

One last thought....If you put Briaer in Hinz's spot, could ne put up the same offensive numbers???

MWC4life-
The reason Hinz isn't scoring other than from the high-low is because no one will get him the ball.  I went to last weekend's games and he was fighting for position all game long and they wouldn't give it to him.  On the freak chance he got the ball down low.....boom, double/triple teamed.  His only option is to feed the open guy to take the shot.  The reason he doesn't seem to make anybody better around him is because THEY CAN"T SHOOT!  There are so many guys trying to take horrible shots instead of working the ball around and looking for a good shot.  If Hendry started playing aggressive like last year it would create more opportunities for everyone, because that would create more options for the guards.  Swinging the ball around 8 times and then throwing the ball up with 3 seconds on the shot clock isn't my idea of a good offensive series.  That right there is the lone reason they lost to IC.  No body (other than Hinz) wants the ball in their hands with the game on the line so they just throwit around until someone HAS to take the shot.  Get Hendry down low with Hinz and let them feed each other when they get double teamed.  Moreeasy baskets and less shots for the other guys!

All very good points about Hinz.  As far as MWC4life, I'm not sure why he doesn't take the BIGS from the wing.  My guess is since he has other players that can score on the team, he isn't trying to do it all himself.  But I can't answer that.  I could ask him if you want?  I do however think he is the best person to have the ball at the end.  Maybe not to score, rather than create.  If he has the ball at the end of the game you know damn well he's going to get double if not triple teamed, therefore he will be able to find the open guy.  I'm just not sure who else could take the final shot for them???

Fightingscots13-

I'm not sure why you wouldn't take Hinz for the "must have" at the end of a game.  The reason you don't think he can create his own shot is because that isn't part of their offense.  Hinz actually has very good ball handling skills.  And from personal experience, he can make others look incredibly stupid.  If you give him the ball he will put it in the hoop, or at least get to the line.

About the Hinz/Braier comparison....Are you saying Hinz Isn't an option for POY based on his defense?  Last I checked, he is one guy guarding one guy.  Not too many guys score on him.  It's not all his fault that the others get beat and Hinz comes off his man to take the ball and they dish to his guy.  Let's look at where the play originates from before we pass judgement.  He is a solid defender (probably not as good as Braier), but you can't say there's no way he should win POY. 

Going out on a limb here:

Top 4
Lawrence:  13-3 (good call Hoops fan)
Carroll:  11-5
Ripon:  10-6
Beloit:  10-6

Dolph-

Very good points made in reference to the pressures of the incoming class.  But you have to realize the difference it will make getting Hinz out of the post position and letting him do his thing with the ball as a 4-man.  He will be able to spread out the defense and use his incredible footwork to create opportunities for himself AND everyone else, therefore taking all of the defensive focus off of Hinz.

Yes, defensively they have struggled in the past.  If you throw in some quicker guards to pur pressure on the ball and a 6-8 frame in the middle to go along with Hinz, that could change things as well.  All be it speculation, the changes that have been made in the offsesaon could make a world of difference just because it will be a different setup as last years team.  (and probably for the better)