|
|
|
Posting Up - Scoreboard - Top 25 - Features - Notables - Team of the Week - Live Audio |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
An in-depth look at Division III Posted Jan. 29, 2001 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
top spot is temporary By Mark Simon
Whoever emerges at the men's champion of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will have earned it. There's no doubt about that. It has been a wacky season in the WIAC, one in which the traditional powers have slipped from the top ranks and the usual basement dwellers have snacked on some unsuspecting opponents. The league is 60-10 in non-conference games overall, 3-0 against squads presently ranked in the Top 25. D3hoops.com followed five teams over the course of a week and spoke with their coaches. Here's what we uncovered. It's
lonely at the top It's been 51 years since River Falls last won a league title. After freshman reserve Matt Kukla buried a buzzer-beater to stun host Whitewater last Saturday, 71-70 the Falcons snatched the league lead and the momentum away from the Warhawks. "Somehow,'' said River Falls head coach Rick Bowen, whose team was picked to finish seventh in the league's preseason poll, "we've found a way. "Right now, we're (in) first place. Do we belong there? We'll stay until someone proves differently." If this year's conference trend holds true, that could very well come Wednesday night, when River Falls hosts Superior. They've gotten there despite injuries to four members of their backcourt. The injuries have forced Bowen to use 11 different players in the starting lineup. Thankfully junior point guard Kent Becker has stayed healthy enough to lead the team in scoring at 15.6 ppg. Six-foot-seven freshman forward Rich Melzer is second at 13.3 ppg. "The characteristic of this team is that we shoot the ball well, have great chemistry, and a tremendous work capacity,'' said Bowen, who in 15 seasons in the WIAC has never had a team place higher than third and was one of the strongest supporters of adding the conference tournament for the 1999 season. "I wish I knew (what their chances are). The wheels could come off tomorrow. We haven't won a championship since 1950, so we're going to do everything we can to win one.'' Stuck
in the middle with you "When you have parity, a lot of people think you have mediocrity,'' said Superior head coach Jeff Kaminsky, whose team is 6-5 in the WIAC and 7-0 outside of it. "That's not the case in this league. The parity has come because the teams at the bottom got better. We are one of them." The Yellow Jackets have a player of the year candidate in forward Vince Thomas, who has led the way averaging 20.5 ppg. and 9.0 rpg. Junior guards Jason Strilzuk and Brandon Vesel have also played a major role. "Our guard play has solidified our team,'' Kaminsky said. "When their play is solid, we are very difficult to beat.'' A win on Saturday assured Superior of its second consecutive winning season, the first time the program has accomplished that feat in 22 years and only the second time in the previous 44 years. The Yellow Jackets have a couple of quality triumphs to their credit, with wins against Whitewater and Illinois Welseyan. Now they hope to be ready for the finish. "We could win or lose any of the next five games,'' Kaminsky said. "The next few weeks will be very interesting. I like our team's chances. We are capable of playing our best basketball'' Stevens Point coach Jack Bennett was the one who called the WIAC "a cannibal league." No wonder. Recent narrow losses to Stout and Whitewater left him feeling like he had been eaten alive. "When you lose close games,'' Bennett said, "you question yourself. In this league, it really rattles you.'' Though all of the coaches we spoke to agreed that the WIAC was deserving of multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament, Bennett was the most vocal. He knows that good teams are going to be left out and hopes that one of them isn't his. "It would be great if we could be rewarded like the Big 10,'' said Bennett, whose brother Dick resigned as the head coach at Division I Wisconsin earlier this season. "They get five to six teams in. (The automatic bid process) doesn't hurt the middle type conferences, but it hurts us. If we went back to 64 teams, there would be more representation of good teams. "Great teams sustain an effort and minimize the down time that they go through." For Bennett's team to survive, they will need, in his opinion, more consistency. Sophomore forward Josh Iserloth has been the primary performer at 15.4 ppg. and 7.0 rpg. Bennett wants other players to step up in the key moments. "We've shown flashes of being good, and moments of excellence within games, but I'm not sure we've displayed enough of it,'' Bennett said. "This is one of those years where whoever catches lightning in a bottle is going to win. That's our goal from here on out." Odd
Men Out There are five tiebreakers to examine if teams end up tied in the standings. They are handled in this order. 1. Head-to-head competition
There is a fifth tiebreaker. As WIAC sports information director Matt Stanek said "I hope it doesn't come to that.'' Tiebreaker No. 5, you, see, is the toss of a coin. Looking
Up "All I'm trying to do is win tomorrow,'' Landrum said. "We have a team that is playing its heart out and coming up a little bit short. I can't get involved in this other stuff.'' The four-time national champions aren't used to being in this position. The rest of the league has caught up with them. "I'm not surprised at all,'' Landrum said. "There are a lot of veteran teams that have been together for two or three years. We have some of the best talent in the country. I think it's the fact that nine coaches are working their tails off recruiting. Players in the state have recognized that they don't come in as Division I quality players, but a lot of times they leave as Division I quality.'' La Crosse's Stu Engen is the newcomer to the group. Most of the coaches in the league are used to this. Engen has become immersed quickly since coming over from Upper Iowa. The goal was simply a .500 season. That didn't seem attainable after a stretch of six losses in seven games midway through. Since then the Eagles have won three in a row and finished off a sweep of Final Four team Eau Claire. "From our perspective, we're just trying to win a game once in awhile,'' said Engen. "We don't look at who we play. We just look to improve and stay upbeat. We're all new and young. We don't compare with some of these teams depth-wise or experience-wise.'' La Crosse has a very balanced attack, with seven players averaging at least 7 ppg. The scoring race on that team is representive of the overall evenness of the WIAC. "We have guys that are in the same line ability-wise,'' Engen said. "I think you could say that has helped us and it has hurt us.'' |
Previous
Features How to defend a title Dallas ready for next step
Rankings and links to all D-III teams
Contact Us |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
