MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Greek Tragedy · December 24, 2009, 02:56:42 AM

Rebuilding year? Says who? They were picked 2nd in the preseason!

Chmarx,

Sounds like that's what Elmhurst did against Point. Point seemed like they were always up comfortably and Elmhurst would make a little run and make us nervous! They are small, but they rebound well. We outrebounded them by just 2 despite our height advantage. I see you guys got out-rebounded by 19! They are quick to the ball with 5 more offensive rebounds than us. They had 28 offensive rebounds against you. Wow! Elmhurst may be only 4-6, but they are a good team.

badgerwarhawk · December 24, 2009, 12:12:52 PM

What do you call it when a team has to replace all five of their starters and loses one of the three returners who had any significant playing time, OS?

I'm surprised to hear Elmhurst is 4-6. We scrimmaged them in the preseason and I was told they were a pretty decent team.

John Gleich · December 24, 2009, 01:50:21 PM

Quote from: badgerwarhawk on December 24, 2009, 12:12:52 PM
What do you call it when a team has to replace all five of their starters and loses one of the three returners who had any significant playing time, OS?

I'm surprised to hear Elmhurst is 4-6. We scrimmaged them in the preseason and I was told they were a pretty decent team.

Reload, BW. Honestly, it's a testament to the program that WW has. They've done it with plenty of different types of guys... guys that they've recruited, guys that have transferred... But between Point and WW, they've been on the top of the league this whole decade, and even though other teams have been pretty darn good too.

Greek Tragedy · December 24, 2009, 02:00:18 PM

Yeah...some teams reload, some teams rebuild. Like PS said, it's a testiment of what Whitewater has in the cupboards, even if the lose four of five starters. Negri started 17 of 29 games. On the other hand, teams like La Crosse, River Falls, Superior and Stout return either all of their starters or 4 of their starters and none can sniff the Top 4. No disrespect to those teams.

John Gleich · December 24, 2009, 02:36:25 PM

Here are the current Pool C standings (taking into account OWP, OOWP, and In-region win percentage).

WIAC's got 3, WW, La Crosse, and Point.

If the season ended today, WW currently in first would get the A, La Crosse is the #1 Pool C team and Point's the #3. Platteville comes in at #24, and there are 19 Pool C bids.

WW is #3 in the country and Point is #4. Platteville came into the season #17 and they fell out after going 2-2 in their first 4 games, but they've been receiving votes all year. Oshkosh came in at #24 but fell out after starting the season 2-3. They're 5-5, but two of their wins are against Finlandia and one is against Silver Lake. La Crosse is also rec'ing votes (they did in Week 2 as well) and I've gotta think they're going to crack the top 25 soon.

chmarx · December 25, 2009, 01:04:03 AM

I certainly agree with OS and others showing love for Elmhurst. We were lucky to beat them.

Mr. Ypsi · December 25, 2009, 01:40:12 AM

Quote from: chmarx on December 25, 2009, 01:04:03 AM
I certainly agree with OS and others showing love for Elmhurst. We were lucky to beat them.

I'll assume that was sarcastic, since LaX was unanimously picked to win in CCIW pickems.

John Gleich · December 25, 2009, 04:11:18 PM

Merry Christmas everybody!

chmarx · December 26, 2009, 06:15:25 PM

Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on December 25, 2009, 01:40:12 AM
Quote from: chmarx on December 25, 2009, 01:04:03 AM
I certainly agree with OS and others showing love for Elmhurst. We were lucky to beat them.

I'll assume that was sarcastic, since LaX was unanimously picked to win in CCIW pickems.

Not intentionally. They gave us all we wanted.

They seem to play much better than they look on paper.

Gregory Sager · December 26, 2009, 06:54:42 PM

Quote from: chmarx on December 26, 2009, 06:15:25 PM
Quote from: Mr. Ypsi on December 25, 2009, 01:40:12 AM
Quote from: chmarx on December 25, 2009, 01:04:03 AM
I certainly agree with OS and others showing love for Elmhurst. We were lucky to beat them.

I'll assume that was sarcastic, since LaX was unanimously picked to win in CCIW pickems.

Not intentionally. They gave us all we wanted.

They seem to play much better than they look on paper.

That's debatable. Elmhurst lost at home to a SLIAC team, and barely edged winless (0-8) Kalamazoo in a game that the Hornets could've won if they'd have knocked down a jumper with six seconds left.

I'll bet that the Bluejays will get better as the season goes along, since that's a trademark of Mark Scherer's teams, but I think that in this particular case it's more a matter of Elmhurst rising to the level of competition than being a very strong team in its own right.

badgerwarhawk · December 27, 2009, 12:26:53 PM

Greg, has Elmhurst lost anyone of significance to injury? I was under the impression that they were suppose to be very good this year.

Gregory Sager · December 27, 2009, 01:54:28 PM

Quote from: badgerwarhawk on December 27, 2009, 12:26:53 PM
Greg, has Elmhurst lost anyone of significance to injury? I was under the impression that they were suppose to be very good this year.

Elmhurst was picked to finish a distant fifth in this year's CCIW coaches preseason poll, well behind #4 pick Illinois Wesleyan. Last season's 20-8, 10-4 Bluejays team that made it into the tourney as a Pool C invite was built around an outstanding front line -- 6'9 All-American center Brent Ruch, 6'4 All-CCIW second-team small forward Ryan Burks, and 6'4, 225 All-CCIW third-team power forward Rob Strzemp -- and all three of those guys were seniors. The mainstay of this year's front line was going to be Ruch's backup over the past two seasons, 6'8, 230 Aaron Hintzsche, but he decided not to play this season.

That left Elmhurst with absolutely no forwards or centers who had any varsity experience, except for 6'9 sophomore Wes Dukeman, who got all of about three minutes' worth of varsity tick last season. Dukeman started the first game this season, and hasn't played since. Elmhurst does have a 6'6, 200 freshman named Christian Dillon who is a part of this year's rotation, but everybody else on the roster is basically either a guard or an undersized small forward. Elmhurst does have a lot of those 6'1, 175 to 6'3, 185 types of guys, and some of them are very good ballplayers -- but you're going to suffer against a lot of teams when you have a lineup that small, no matter how good those guards happen to be.

badgerwarhawk · December 27, 2009, 06:26:44 PM

Thanks for the explanation Greg. I guess my source didn't really know what they were talking about.

John Gleich · December 28, 2009, 09:27:59 AM

I know that Elmhurst lost a lot from last year... but they've competed pretty well against some pretty good teams. They lost to LaX by just 10, Point by 8, and St. Norbert by 3. These teams have a combined 3 losses.

Gregory Sager · December 28, 2009, 06:48:03 PM

Quote from: PointSpecial on December 28, 2009, 09:27:59 AM
I know that Elmhurst lost a lot from last year... but they've competed pretty well against some pretty good teams. They lost to LaX by just 10, Point by 8, and St. Norbert by 3. These teams have a combined 3 losses.

The 'jays seem to be one of those teams that plays to the level of its competition. They've gotten up for the games against the two WIAC opponents and preseason MWC favorite St. Norbert, but they badly laid an egg against Kalamazoo, and no CCIW team worth its salt should ever lose at home to a SLIAC team -- even though the SLIAC team in question (Westminster MO) is probably the class of that league this season.