Quote from: LU 05 on March 04, 2009, 05:53:01 PM
sour grapes. 


A grinnell fan can never complain about calls in any gym named darby. 


How do you expect to shoot many free throws when you shoot a million 3s every game?

Please don't misunderstand me. It is not sour grapes.  Lawrence played very well in the conference tournament and deserved to win. I believe their tough physical defense was key to their victory. However, I am sure part of their strategy was to be physical with Grotberg and Long when they attempted 3 point shots. They consistently bumped the shooters and hit their arms when they shot. A good strategy if it works. And it did because the officials missed those calls. Grinnell fouls a lot. I will admit that. But so does Lawrence. In the Grinnell's 101-100 victory at Lawrence, the Vikings shot 41 free throws. Grinnell shot 26 with only 4 in the first half. I was at that game and Lawence got away with a lot of fouls. In the title game, Lawrence shot 58 free throws, Grinnell shot only 20. Quite a discrepancy.  Lawrence fouled a lot more than the 20 they were called for. So, Lawrence fans don't complain about officiating, You did pretty well in that area.   I do believe if that if Grinnell had a healthy Dave Arseneault, the title game would have been a toss up. Losing him, made it a lot easier for Lawrence to defend Grotberg and Long. If you take 16 pts and 10 assists out of the lineup it is going to make it a lot tougher for Grinnell. I only wish that Grinnell had been a full strength against Lawrence. It would made for a great game that could have gone either way. But that is all wishful thinking. I wish Lawrence good luck and success against Wash U.  They have a very good team. I know they will represent the MWC well. A final comment to Lawrence fans...lighten up and be more humble. Your team is very good but so is Grinnell, Carroll and St Norbert. By the way, Grinnell beat you at Lawence twice in the last three years. Not bad.                     PS. The system is not evil. It is good for basketball and allows Grinnell to compete quite nicely against talented teams like Lawrence. Plus it is a lot of fun to watch.

Some observations on the Midwest Conference Tournament at Grinnell. First of all, I thought Grinnell did a nice job hosting. There were enthusiastic crowds and things went very smoothly. As for the championship game, the two best teams got there, Grinnell and Lawrence. In the title game on that day, Lawrence was the better team. They won because 1.They played tough physical defense. 2. Grinnell shot poorly helped by Lawrence hitting Grinnell's 3 pt. shooters arms and getting away with vitually no foul calls. 3. Lawrence shot 58 free throws and made 46 of them. Grinnell only shot 20 or so free throws. 4.Lawrence decisively out rebounded Grinnell. 5. Dave Arseneault got hurt in practice and could not play. If Arseneault had played I believe it would have been a victory for Grinnell in a very close game. It is indeed unfortunate that Grinnell had to play at less than full strength. It would have been a great game to see if Arseneault could have played. However, Lawrence are champs and deserve a lot of credit for their great play and their strong finish. I am rooting for them against Wash U. A very tough first game but I believe Lawrence will represent the MWC well.

As for the All Conference selections, I agree with other posters that Long should have been First Team All Conference. Gillespie is an excellent player but did not have the year that Long had. My first team would be Hoch, Grotberg, Kroeger, Long and Horton.
My second team would be Arseneault, Fleischmann, Gillingham,  Gillespie, Katzfey, and Ladwig.  Honorable mention would be Page, Aplegren, Zimmerman, Kadison, and Dekker.

I think Arseneault and DePagter as Co Coaches of the Year was the right recognition. As for Player of the Year, I believe John Hoch deserved it most. Without him, Carroll was just an ordinary team. He made that team go.

Next year will be wide open in the MWC because of all the graduating seniors. I believe Ripon will be a team to watch out for. Should be interesting to see who finishes in the top 4 positions.

Attended the Midwest Conference Tourney and was impressed with Lawrence. They are playing great defense, shooting well and rebounding well. They really made things difficult for Hoch. Carroll missed Ladwig but I still believe Lawrence would have won even if Ladwig was able to play. As for Grinnell, they won the game despite the untimely injury to Dave Arseneault   Bobby Long was amazing with 33 points and PJ Mahaffey played big inside with key rebounds and 11 points.  It was a great team effort with eveyone stepping up to take charges, get rebounds, and get steals. The home crowd was rocking and really helped the Pioneers to victory.  Grinnell will have a huge challenge to beat Lawrence without Arseneault but I am sure they will give Lawrence a batlle. No matter who wins tomorrow, the team that loses should get an at large bid to the NCAA DIV III tournament. Both these teams are 18-6 and have 8 and 9 game win streaks.
Hoping for a Grinnell win tomorrow. Go Pioneers.