It's that time of year. It's the time when you are playing (mostly) two games a week, two practices in between and everybody is familiar with each other.
It's within these next two to three weeks that teams will separate themselves into contenders and pretenders, the good from the middle of the pack.
1 Big Thing
This is THE toughest part of the season for everyone. It's when you are getting into the meat of the conference schedules but you are still far enough away from the end of the season that you can't feed off that final stretch boost.
That means you are going on straight adrenaline as a player. Practices are still long and tough enough to wear you out and the constant traveling to games kind of gets worn down a bit, meaning you recharge the batteries as best as you can. Trust me when I say you are spending your days outside of basketball playing video games or watching TV and not spending much, if any, physical effort outside of the gym.
Getting up for the games may not be the hardest part, but dealing with the aches and pains of a season that is going on to it's fourth month is. This usually means you are playing at less than 100 percent for the games.
It's this time of year that brings two things to teams. One, is injuries. Two, is momentum.
On injuries, every team has to go through them, whether they are the significant (read: Tyler Tillema, Cody Odegaard) or nagging, they all affect the team.
Maybe it means resting a starter one game or bringing him off the bench or just gutting it out at less than 100 percent, but any way, those are things that could possibly negatively affect an outcome of the game.
It's those teams that are able to get through this three week period without injuries and dealing with the injuries that they do have with a few wins that can use it as a springboard heading into the final stretch of the season.
More importantly, it's this grinding time of the season that can give a team the confidence to go on a run or run down a team so much that they can't get back into it. I'll provide three examples that I personally witnessed/were a part of.
In the 08-09 season as an Eagle, we were 4-4 in conference going into the first games after winter break had ended (some time between January 15-20. I'm getting old, I know). We went to rival Aurora and took them down and beat MSOE the next week in overtime (we had lost to them earlier in the year), both of which were a part of a 10-game winning streak at the end of the season, which ended, unfortunately, to Aurora in the conference tournament semis.
In the 09-10 season, at the same time of season, we were 4-3 in conference, lost to Dominican, beat Aurora, but went on to lose our next three to MSOE, Rockford and Concordia-Chicago and ended up missing out on the conference tourney.
Once again, in the 10-11, we dominated, going 5-1 en route to another South division title, and ultimately a conference tournament title and NCAA bid.
If those three examples are any kind of barometer to what this time does to teams, I don't know what is. The two years in which we did well during this time, we won division titles and the one where we played like crap, we missed out on the conference tournament.
That's why during these games coming up in the next couple of weeks, see who is stringing together the wins. These should be the teams that will be around the top of their respective conferences come the end of February.
Those that are losing should be the ones that finish near the middle of the pack or even lower.
I'm telling you right now that it will be these five or six games in the next three weeks that will determine who will be playing for something later in the season.
2 Small Things
-Can UW-La Crosse stay hot enough to win the WIAC title?
The Eagles have been on fire since they lost to the No. 1 team in the country (North Central) in Vegas over the holiday.
In that game they played a solid 30 minutes, but trailed off at the end and lost to the Cardinals. But I think it showed them what they could be if they put it all together.
They have done that since that game, winning their last four games by impressive margins and have done it on the defensive end, really clamping down on that side of the ball.
They get their toughest test since North Central this coming weekend against Stevens Point in Pointer Land. If they can continue their momentum and grab a key win, and keep riding that momentum, they are still in position to take a surprising conference title from favorites Stevens Point and Whitewater.
But they have to keep doing it on the defensive end.
-Does Concordia-Wisconsin have the horses to challenge Lakeland in the NAC North?
I thought Lakeland was going to go run away with the NAC North.
But one team decided to say, we can do it to. That team has been the CUW Falcons, who've really stepped up their game in the new calendar year and have a 5-1 record in conference right now and are coming off an impressive win against defensive-minded MSOE by scoring 74 points.
Their only loss in conference has come to Lakeland, but it was a close loss. I think the Falcons know that they can beat the Muskies and they do have the team to do it.
They are led by big man Steve Zielinski, but also have a solid supporting cast in Mark Pace, Malcolm Bowers and Brian Jackson and they are a very deep team off the bench as they proved against MSOE on Wednesday.
They are also tough on the defensive end as well, which is always key down the stretch.
If any team can challenge and stay around to steal the North from the Muskies, it's going to be the Falcons.
3 Performances of the Week
Chas Cross, Platteville (against Superior)
The Pioneer big man put in 22 points and eight boards in a thumping of the Yellowjackets. He went 8-of-14 from the field and even knocked in two three=pointers in the victory.
Taylor Koth, Ripon (against Knox)
Koth went off against Knox, scoring 37 points in the Redhawks victory. He was 13-of-20 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line and also grabbed 10 rebounds for Ripon.
Marious Lobdell, Aurora (against Rockford)
Lobdell led the Spartans in the rout over the Regents with 21 points. He went 8-of-14 from the field and also dished off four assists in the victory.
4 Power Teams in Two Words
WIAC
1. UW-Stevens Point (13-2, 6-0 WIAC) Words: Keep winning
2. UW-La Crosse (12-3, 5-1 WIAC) Words: Impressively hot
3. UW-Whitewater (12-2, 5-1 WIAC) Words: Grinding wins
4. UW-Stout (11-3, 4-2 WIAC) Words: Tough schedule
MWC
1. St. Norbert (9-3, 6-2 MWC) Words: Riding momentum
2. Carroll (10-3, 6-2 MWC) Words: Winning streak
3. Grinnell (9-3, 6-2 MWC) Words: Hanging around
4. Beloit (7-6, 5-3 MWC) Words: Still dangerous
NAC
1. Lakeland (12-2, 5-0 NAC) Words: Easy wins
2. Aurora (10-4, 5-0 NAC) Words: Looking impressive
3. Concordia-Wisconsin (8-5, 5-1 NAC) Words: Quietly winning
4. Marian (7-7, 3-3 NAC) Words: Getting hot
5 Worth the Price of Admission
1. WIAC, UW-La Crosse at UW-Stevens Point, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $10
This one could end up deciding plenty of things in the WIAC conference title race.
Stevens Point is still undefeated in conference and have been doing it without All-American Tyler Tillema, getting contributions from a variety of players game after game.
Meanwhile, the Eagles have been on fire in the new calendar year and have looked very impressive. But now it is time for them to play the big boys.
I think it comes down to how well the Eagles, who have been great defensively the last four games, shuts down the Pointers potent offense, with or without TIllema.
If the Eagles can hold Stevens Point to 60 or so points, they'll give themselves a dang good chance at taking home a key victory. If Stevens Point can get their offense revved up, they'll take home another victory and deal a big blow to La Crosse.
2. NAC, Concordia-Wisconsin at Aurora, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $7
This one should be a good game against two contrasting styles and will come down to who can control the pace more than the other team.
Aurora likes it up tempo. They like to force turnovers and get out into transition and let their athleticism go to work in the open court and it has worked for them to this point.
Concordia loves to beat you up inside with a pounding, physical game on both ends of the floor. They get after it on the defensive end and they work inside-out on the offensive end to beat teams.
I think Concordia's style is how you beat Aurora. You slow down the game enough and get physical against the Spartans and you give yourself a great chance of winning.
It'll be tough for the Falcons in the Land of Lincoln to pull out the win. But with how they play, they have as good as shot as any.
3. MWC, Cornell at Beloit, 5 p.m. Price I would pay: $4
This is a game between two teams who have been surprising as of late.
Cornell has grabbed a couple of win in the new calendar year and almost pulled out another big victory over Grinnell Wednesday night, falling by two points late in the game.
Beloit has been near the top of the conference for much of the season and nearly pulled out a huge victory over Carroll at Carroll, also falling by two points.
Right now, Beloit is just off the pace at 5-3 in the Midwest conference and Cornell, the conference newcomer, is a game behind them at 4-4, which means that this game is a key game as far as positioning goes and especially for who is going to get that fourth and final spot in the conference tournament.
4. MWC, Lawrence at Grinnell, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $3
This is a chance for the Vikings to get a signature win and shoot up the standings with a victory over the Pioneers.
Lawrence just won their first conference game on Wednesday over Lake Forest at home in a tight contest, while Grinnell was struggling with Cornell, but didn't have a full team, including losing top scorer Jack Taylor to injury in the game.
Lawrence hasn't played the greatest against the top of the conference to this point and are looking to get back into one of the top four spots. This is a dang good shot for them to do just that.
This is especially true if Taylor, one of the Pioneers' designated gunners from deep, is out or hobbled at all. Taylor has been a big part of the Grinnell success this year and if he is out, it's one less scorer the Vikings have to deal with.
5. NAC, MSOE at Rockford, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $2
This is a game between two teams that are desperately seeking a victory to turn their NAC ships around.
Rockford has lost their last two conference contests and didn't look great in either one.
MSOE got dismantled by CUW on Wednesday and didn't get into their ground-and-pound style of basketball, getting ripped open for 74 points.
So this leaves this game a key one in each of their respective season. Both teams have two losses in conference and need to get back into the win column to keep pace.
Again, this is another pace game. If Rockford can get out and run, they can take down MSOE. If MSOE can keep it slow and in the halfcourt, it's their game to lose.
Thanks again for tuning into the blog. You can always follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40.
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