Predictions for 2/16/08 Games

Wednesday: 1-3

Overall: 43-17

Lax over St I wasn’t real impressed with Lax on Wednesday, but I’m guessing that was one of their worst, if not their worst, game of the season. I have been impressed with how Stout has been playing the second half of the season. They are starting to use their players in a more effective manner. Like RF did, Stout will have to win this game on the defensive end. I have yet to see Stout play well defensively for an entire game though. They would rather out shoot their opponents for wins. I’ll take Lax because I think they can slow down the game and limit Stout’s shots.

Osh over RF The FSN game of the week comes to RF. Unfortunately, I will not be there for the bright lights and sideline reporters. RF played really well on Wednesday and with this game and their final game at WW they have a chance to play spoiler against two teams they battled hard the first time around. If RF plays like they did on Wednesday, they could win this game. The problem is that Lax only has a couple real offensive threats and Osh has 5 legitimate players who can put up big numbers. It is a tough task to stop 5 different guys who know how to put the ball in the hoop. The Hudson boy, Matt Miller, will have an excellent game in front of his hometown fans.

Plt over Sup This will be a nice game for Plt to get their thoughts back in place after a tough loss to WW. Sup has proven that you can’t take them lightly, but Plt has the talent to take care of business without too much trouble up north. Skemp creates match-up problems for all teams, and Superior really lacks an inside presence. I would imagine Skemp should have his way down low and if Sup chooses to double and triple-team him, the guards will get lots of good looks.

StP over WW I feel bad for not giving WW the love after they proved me wrong on Wednesday. They are a tremendous team who has risen up to every challenge put in front of them so far. It is just a gut feeling that Point is going to win this game. Point matches up well with WW and I feel they are one of the few teams who have the tools to limit Goodwin. All I know for sure is that Quandt will be filled to the rafters and I’ll be there. I am just hoping for a hard fought game that comes right down to the wire. I think we’ll have a 4-way tie for first after this weekend!

WIAC Games 2/13/08 (Lax at RF)

1-3, ouch, that stings!

WW 70 Plt 66 I guess I was right about a couple things when I predicted the outcome of this game. First, it appeared to be a terrific game. By looking at the pictures, the place seemed packed and full of Red Bull inspired energy. Second, Matt Goodwin created some major match-up problems for the Pioneers. By all accounts, this appeared to be an equally played game. No team dominated the other in any statistical category. Just a hard fought game with both teams throwing punch and counter punch combos. It’s hard to know what the key was for WW, but my guess is that Goodwin was the x-factor. He has an amazing ability to score points and lead that team when they need it most. What a statement WW makes by coming into Plt and beating them without Perry. Plt needs a little help from the Pointers on Saturday, but they are still in the thick of it. Sorry, I know this post doesn’t do the game justice, but maybe someone who was there can leave a comment.

St 93 Sup 88 Stout has Superior’s number. The Devils put up a copious amount of points and take home the victory. The Devils were led by Miles Webb, 30 pts and 11 rbs. Webb is a tremendous talent. He has all the skills to be the best player in the WIAC. I just wish I could have seen him play within a well run offense instead of all the one-on-one stuff Stout has been doing all season. He would have been a tremendous player to have alongside the Nonemachers last season. Superior is on a bit of a roller coaster and RF is now in the rear view mirror for the 7^th spot.

StP 89 EC 68 I feel like every time I write up Point games I say the same exact thing. Point comes out, plays their game, and takes care of business. I guess I have to resort to calling Pete Rortvedt, Angela Bassett, and say his groove keeps getting stronger and stronger. It is nice to see that Pete is healthy and playing well. Seriously though, another terrific all around game for the Pointers and they have to be happy with their play. Everything is set up perfectly for the big match-up against WW this weekend. Best of all, I will be there to see it! I can’t wait.

RF 73 Lax 57 I think RF should have Kram Karges night every Wednesday and Saturday. The promo of free t-shirts, popcorn, and snow cones really brought the students out in droves. I was already to start this post out with the line, “I went to Kram Karges night and I all got was this t-shirt,” instead I got to watch RF put up their best performance of the season. They played a great game from the opening tip to the final buzzer. The great thing about it was that it was their defense that provided the spark. They really came out playing hard on the defensive end. Courtney Davis was on Tony Mane like stink on poop and he got him frustrated early. Add in 2 quick fouls by Fehrenbach and solid interior defense and Lax looked like the 2 win team, not RF. It didn’t hurt that Scott Kelly caught a hot hand from his first shot. He put up a game high 24 and Lax had no answer for him. Kelly has been a nice player for RF. He came in as the guy who wore #34 after Melzer left and each season has steadily improved from role player to a dangerous offensive weapon. He seems like a hard working kid who was willing to take on whatever duty was put on him throughout his career. Nice to see him have a game like this. Lax looked out of sorts from the very beginning and I’m not really sure why that was the case. I guess Kramming Karges just does that to teams. Nice team win for the Falcons!

Predictions for 2/13/08 Games

Saturday: 3-1

Overall: 42-14

Plt over WW There have been many great games played on Bo Ryan’s court in the past, but this has to be one of the biggest games played there in a while. The King of the Mountain will be on top all by themselves after this one and the loser will be sitting in a three way tie for 2nd place at 10-3. I like WW’s athleticism and I think Goodwin and McKay could do some real damage against Plt’s guards. I like Skemp’s size and I think he poses a mismatch with whomever WW decides to throw at him. Whoever can impose their will over the other will come out on top. Even though these teams are very different, it should make for a tremendous game. I wish I could be there. Platteville has not lost at home this season and WW has struggled a bit on the road, so I have to pick Plt for that reason.

StP over EC If you read between the lines I already predicted that Point will win this one and move into that log jam in the second place spot. The last time these teams played the first half was brutal and I truly think that is EC’s intent, to bring their competition down to their level. The sloppier and nastier the game gets the better EC feels about their chances to win. Like I’ve said in the past, Point rarely plays to their competition though, so the Pointers leave Zorn with another win and get ready for their big match-up against WW on Saturday.

Sup over St Stout’s only win came against the Jackets and Stout probably played their best game all season up in Superior. The young ones didn’t play well at all last time and I have to imagine that they will come down to Johnson Fieldhouse with revenge on their minds. Plus this will practically be a home game for Culy and Manor just like EC was. I expect a bigger crowd for Superior than Stout.

Lax over RF RF can only go up after their last performance. Plus it is Kram Karges night, so there should be a good crowd on hand. With that said, Lax will be too much for RF to handle. Mane might torch the nets in Karges with the nice shooter’s background Karges has. Lax takes control of 5th place with a victory over the Falcons.

WIAC Games 2/9/08

The day of the blow-out is upon us. The victorious teams all had leads of 10+ points going into halftime.

WW 83 St 61 WW joins Platteville on the top of Mt. WIAC. Stout actually led 20-7 halfway through the first half, but they were brought back down to earth with a WW 33-9 run for the remainder of the half. The story of the game has to be Matt Goodwin. He went off for 45 BARPS, 33 of them being points. That included a lights out 8-13 performance from three. He has completely elevated his game to a new level since Perry went down and has to be the main reason why WW is still right in the chase. Stout played without Jerrel “E-Matt” Enerson-Matthews, as the announcer likes to say. Stout couldn’t take care of the ball and coughed it up 17 times. Stat of the game: Goodwin goes 8-13 from three and WW is 8-23 from three as a team.

StP 95 Sup 65 Another 1000th point scored in the WIAC this season. This time it goes to Pete Rortvedt and unlike the others this season Pete accomplished it in his junior season. That boy knows how to put the ball in the hoop. Not much to say in this one. Point put together another solid all around performance and took care of business against a team that they should beat. The young Jackets have graduated to WIAC 200 level classes and got another hard lesson about how easily Point can blow you out.

Osh 78 Lax 63 Talk about balanced attacks. It doesn’t get much more balanced than this for scoring: DSA 16, Defensive Specialist 16, Hot-Sauce Miller 15, Detlef 14, and Marsh 12. Brandon Brown, 0 points, isn’t making me look too good after giving him, “best point guard” in the conference props earlier this season. Miller took another step towards trying to win that title. Osh gets a nice win, which keeps them right in the thicket of the title race.

EC 77 RF 54 All right, I could go off about how I know EC has more talent than RF and anyone who follows the WIAC closely would have picked EC to win. And the only reason why I picked RF is because I wanted to keep my word to never pick EC to win again all season. I could play that card and be that guy, but no one respects those guys. I picked EC to lose and I can eat my humble pie with warm beer. Truthfully, a small part of me thought RF could win. Boy was I wrong. Look at the scoring for RF’s starters: Kelly 5, Hannigan 5, Wright 5, Davis 5, and Robertson 3. What can you even say about that? RF was led in scoring by two freshman: Danny Johnson 8 and Wade Guerin 13. As a team they shot 19-59 from the floor and 11-23 from the line. Beyer put up another MVP like performance with 38 BARPS. Ryan Shea further proved to me that he will have a triple-double before his WIAC career is over. Nice game for Jacob Schlub too. He has been the poor guy who gets to start, but then gets lost in the rotation as the game goes on. He has been playing much better lately, which is nice to see. The race for 5th place is hotter than ever.