Sometimes in the game of basketball, you just get that bad break that leads to your loss. Maybe it's a questionable call. Maybe it's a bad bounce. Maybe it's not having the possession arrow point your way.
The Tough Loss though it one of the toughest things that a team has to go through during the season. It's often how you come out of those losses that defines how the rest of your season is going to go.
1 Big Thing
Let's just say I'm glad that I turned on Beloit-Ripon on Wednesday night for some midweek viewing pleasure. I was struggling with what to write about for this midweek blog until I got the perfect inspiration.
The game in question was a big one. Beloit came in holding a one game lead on the ever-important fourth slot in the Midwest Conferences standings. Fourth means your in the conference tournament. Fifth means you are out. Ripon came into the game fifth. So that's how big this game was.
And it played out much like that, as the two teams traded blows back and forth down the stretch. One big blow was when Ahmad Shamsid-Deen of Beloit hit a pull-up jumper to give the Bucs a 62-61 lead with 5.8 seconds left.
The biggest blow came just seconds later. No, it wasn't from Ripon. It wasn't from Beloit, either. It was from the team in the stripes.
Ripon inbounded the ball to star Taylor Koth who went up the floor. Redhawks forward Brad Brooks came up to set one of those blind-sided screens you see so much in the backcourt.
Koth came off of it and took a jump shot and made it. But a whistle was blown. The officials called Brooks for an illegal screen and probably two seconds later called a technical foul on Ripon head coach Ryan Kane.
Now I haven't looked at the tape and I'm going on what I saw off of in memory. The screen looked legal, but because the Beloit player went crashing in, it was a hard screen. Secondly, the whistle seemed to come in late. Like three or four dribbles too late.
Note: Upon review, my inclinations upon first viewing seem correct, outside of the ref indicating a foul with his arm up but no whistle. (If you want, here is a link to Beloit's stream, go to on demand, click on the Ripon game and fast forward to the 2:05:00 mark and see for yourself)
Two things came to my brain when I saw this. One, that old two-pronged discussion when it comes to officiating in the final minutes. Do you let them play or if it's a foul it's a foul?
My thought has always been a foul is a foul. I've seen too many game decided where there wasn't a foul called that should've been because the refs swallowed the whistle.
But on a play like this that was away from the play and really didn't have an effect on the overall play and there really wasn't an advantage gained by anyone on the play (you could've even argued calling the Beloit player for pushing) why call it?
It's a tough call to make in a normal, non-end-of-game-situation, let alone a game-deciding situation. And if it wasn't on the ball and it wasn't blatantly obvious. (This one certainly wasn't and I thought for sure it was going to be a no call because it looked, if anything like, Brooks had position) why make it?
The second is on officiating in general. Many people think that officiating has taken a down turn in recent years and that officials are deciding too many games with poor, out of position calls.
I think that that is a little bit overstated and generally I think most refs are consistent in calls, whether it be letting it stay physical or calling it tight. And I don't think that officials decide as many games as people think.
However, I do think it is becoming more and more prevalent in inconsistently-called games, which I do have a problem with. Of course, officials are going to make a wrong call here or there, but the games that get out of control on the ones that are called so terribly inconsistent it gets maddening as a fan to watch the game.
As we all know, you can't blame the officials, as much as we all would like to, for a loss like Ripon's but with a little clean up in mechanics and consistency by officials, situations like this one would be far less likely to happen down the road.
-Who will pull out the suddenly-tight NAC North?
The grouping of four teams at the top of the North division has gotten very tight over the past week.
Lakeland still leads with a 9-2 record, followed by Concordia-Wisconsin at 8-3, MSOE at 7-3 and Marian at 7-3.
What's even more crazy is what these teams have been doing to get to those records. Concordia beat Lakeland this Wednesday but lost to an okay Dominican team on Saturday. Lakeland also lost to MSOE last week. Meanwhile Marian has consecutive win against Aurora and MSOE.
So in other words, it's a jumbled mess right now in the North. So two question arise from it. Who is the hottest and who pulls it out?
The who's hottest is easy. That would be Marian, who has won 7 of their last eight games and two big ones over Aurora and MSOE (both at home, however).
Who will pull it out? I still think Lakeland, even with their recent struggles. They just have a supreme advantage on the offensive end that I don't think the other do and that will be enough to take the top spot in the North.
-Is Grinnell still a threat without Jack Taylor?
Grinnell remains in second place in the Midwest Conference with a 9-3 record. However, their last few wins came without leading scorer Jack Taylor on the court.
And it seems to me that the Pioneers have been missing his scoring a little bit. Their overall team scoring seems to be down from when they had them and they just haven't seemed quite like they were when he was on the court.
Arguably with Taylor on the floor you could've argued that Grinnell was the best team in the conference. Without him though, I don't think you can make the same argument. Losing your leading scorer is tough and even in The System it seems like it might be insurmountable.
I'm not saying that Grinnell is going to completely fall out of the Midwest standings. They'll still be a conference tournament team. But without him their chances of winning a conference title, the conference tournament or getting a NCAA bid are seriously diminished.
The game in question was a big one. Beloit came in holding a one game lead on the ever-important fourth slot in the Midwest Conferences standings. Fourth means your in the conference tournament. Fifth means you are out. Ripon came into the game fifth. So that's how big this game was.
And it played out much like that, as the two teams traded blows back and forth down the stretch. One big blow was when Ahmad Shamsid-Deen of Beloit hit a pull-up jumper to give the Bucs a 62-61 lead with 5.8 seconds left.
The biggest blow came just seconds later. No, it wasn't from Ripon. It wasn't from Beloit, either. It was from the team in the stripes.
Ripon inbounded the ball to star Taylor Koth who went up the floor. Redhawks forward Brad Brooks came up to set one of those blind-sided screens you see so much in the backcourt.
Koth came off of it and took a jump shot and made it. But a whistle was blown. The officials called Brooks for an illegal screen and probably two seconds later called a technical foul on Ripon head coach Ryan Kane.
Now I haven't looked at the tape and I'm going on what I saw off of in memory. The screen looked legal, but because the Beloit player went crashing in, it was a hard screen. Secondly, the whistle seemed to come in late. Like three or four dribbles too late.
Note: Upon review, my inclinations upon first viewing seem correct, outside of the ref indicating a foul with his arm up but no whistle. (If you want, here is a link to Beloit's stream, go to on demand, click on the Ripon game and fast forward to the 2:05:00 mark and see for yourself)
Two things came to my brain when I saw this. One, that old two-pronged discussion when it comes to officiating in the final minutes. Do you let them play or if it's a foul it's a foul?
My thought has always been a foul is a foul. I've seen too many game decided where there wasn't a foul called that should've been because the refs swallowed the whistle.
But on a play like this that was away from the play and really didn't have an effect on the overall play and there really wasn't an advantage gained by anyone on the play (you could've even argued calling the Beloit player for pushing) why call it?
It's a tough call to make in a normal, non-end-of-game-situation, let alone a game-deciding situation. And if it wasn't on the ball and it wasn't blatantly obvious. (This one certainly wasn't and I thought for sure it was going to be a no call because it looked, if anything like, Brooks had position) why make it?
The second is on officiating in general. Many people think that officiating has taken a down turn in recent years and that officials are deciding too many games with poor, out of position calls.
I think that that is a little bit overstated and generally I think most refs are consistent in calls, whether it be letting it stay physical or calling it tight. And I don't think that officials decide as many games as people think.
However, I do think it is becoming more and more prevalent in inconsistently-called games, which I do have a problem with. Of course, officials are going to make a wrong call here or there, but the games that get out of control on the ones that are called so terribly inconsistent it gets maddening as a fan to watch the game.
As we all know, you can't blame the officials, as much as we all would like to, for a loss like Ripon's but with a little clean up in mechanics and consistency by officials, situations like this one would be far less likely to happen down the road.
2 Small Things
-Who will pull out the suddenly-tight NAC North?
The grouping of four teams at the top of the North division has gotten very tight over the past week.
Lakeland still leads with a 9-2 record, followed by Concordia-Wisconsin at 8-3, MSOE at 7-3 and Marian at 7-3.
What's even more crazy is what these teams have been doing to get to those records. Concordia beat Lakeland this Wednesday but lost to an okay Dominican team on Saturday. Lakeland also lost to MSOE last week. Meanwhile Marian has consecutive win against Aurora and MSOE.
So in other words, it's a jumbled mess right now in the North. So two question arise from it. Who is the hottest and who pulls it out?
The who's hottest is easy. That would be Marian, who has won 7 of their last eight games and two big ones over Aurora and MSOE (both at home, however).
Who will pull it out? I still think Lakeland, even with their recent struggles. They just have a supreme advantage on the offensive end that I don't think the other do and that will be enough to take the top spot in the North.
-Is Grinnell still a threat without Jack Taylor?
Grinnell remains in second place in the Midwest Conference with a 9-3 record. However, their last few wins came without leading scorer Jack Taylor on the court.
And it seems to me that the Pioneers have been missing his scoring a little bit. Their overall team scoring seems to be down from when they had them and they just haven't seemed quite like they were when he was on the court.
Arguably with Taylor on the floor you could've argued that Grinnell was the best team in the conference. Without him though, I don't think you can make the same argument. Losing your leading scorer is tough and even in The System it seems like it might be insurmountable.
I'm not saying that Grinnell is going to completely fall out of the Midwest standings. They'll still be a conference tournament team. But without him their chances of winning a conference title, the conference tournament or getting a NCAA bid are seriously diminished.
3 Performances of the Week
Chas Cross, UW-Platteville (against UW-Superior
The Pioneer big man collected a double-double by scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 boards in a win. Cross was 8-of-12 from the field including a 3-pointer and also had five steals against the Yellowjackets.
Brandon Gries, St. Norbert (against Cornell)
Gries dropped in 22 points for the Green Knights, who exacted a little revenge on the Rams. Gries went 7-of-12 from the field and knocked in two three pointers in the victory.
David Dixon, Rockford (against Wisconsin Lutheran)
Dixon had a stellar game for the Regents, dropping in 30 points and grabbing 15 boards in the overtime victory. Dixon went 12-of-16 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line on the night.
4 Power Teams in Two Words
WIAC
1. UW-Stevens Point (17-2, 10-0 WIAC) Words: Running away
2. UW-Whitewater (14-4, 7-3 WIAC) Words: Second best?
3. UW-Stout (14-4, 7-3 WIAC) Words: Hanging around
4. UW-Platteville (13-6, 6-4 WIAC) Words: Heating up?
MWC
1. St. Norbert (13-3, 10-2 MWC) Words: Getting tough
2. Carroll (12-4, 8-3 MWC) Words: Still surviving
3. Grinnell (12-4, 9-3 MWC) Words: Scoring down
4. Beloit (10-7, 8-4 MWC) Words: Securing four
NAC
1. Aurora (14-5, 9-1 NAC) Words: Faltering slightly
2. Concordia-Wisconsin (11-7, 8-3 NAC) Words: Beat Lakeland
3. Lakeland (16-4, 9-2 NAC) Words: Struggling lately
4. Marian (11-8, 7-4 NAC) Words: Win streak
5 Worth the Price of Admission
1. NAC, MSOE at Aurora, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $7
This will be a very interesting game for two reason.
One, and the most obvious one is the very contrasting styles of both teams. MSOE likes to slow it down and grind. Aurora likes to get out and run. Meaning that whoever can impose their style on the game will have a serious leg up when it comes to winning this game.
Another reason is that both teams aren't playing their best ball lately. Aurora lost to Marian over the weekend and then had to scrape by a struggling Concordia-Chicago team on Wednesday.
MSOE meanwhile scored under 50 points in their loss to Marian on Wednesday.
Both teams are still very serious contenders in the NAC and, especially for MSOE, a win would keep them in line for division titles.
2. WIAC, UW-Superior at UW-Stevens Point, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $5
The Pointer train minus Tyler Tillema continues rolling after they beat UW-Whitewater on Wednesday to sweep the season series against the Warhawks and take a three-game lead in the conference race.
Meanwhile, Superior is still fighting for that sixth spot to get into the conference tournament, meaning that they are desperate for wins. And what bigger one would the want that finally taking down the Pointers.
My mind is wondering if the Pointers might take the foot off the throttle a little bit with this big lead in conference and after a big emotional win over Whitewater on Wednesday, this would be the perfect game for the Yellowjackets to come in and steal one.
I think this game is going to be closer than people think, coming down to the final few moments. Execution will be at a premium.
The Pointer train minus Tyler Tillema continues rolling after they beat UW-Whitewater on Wednesday to sweep the season series against the Warhawks and take a three-game lead in the conference race.
Meanwhile, Superior is still fighting for that sixth spot to get into the conference tournament, meaning that they are desperate for wins. And what bigger one would the want that finally taking down the Pointers.
My mind is wondering if the Pointers might take the foot off the throttle a little bit with this big lead in conference and after a big emotional win over Whitewater on Wednesday, this would be the perfect game for the Yellowjackets to come in and steal one.
I think this game is going to be closer than people think, coming down to the final few moments. Execution will be at a premium.
3. MWC, Ripon at Cornell, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $3
Both of these teams come into the contest tied for fifth place in the conference race, in which they are two games behind Beloit for the all-important fourth spot.
Ripon is coming off that loss to Beloit on Wednesday after being one of the hotter teams in the MWC. Cornell meanwhile has struggled with the top of the conference but continues to beat those at the bottom to stay right in the middle.
This game is all about positioning. Both teams want this game to keep pace and possibly give Beloit a run for their money for that final conference tournament spot.
It's going to come down to who is hungrier for that spot.
Both of these teams come into the contest tied for fifth place in the conference race, in which they are two games behind Beloit for the all-important fourth spot.
Ripon is coming off that loss to Beloit on Wednesday after being one of the hotter teams in the MWC. Cornell meanwhile has struggled with the top of the conference but continues to beat those at the bottom to stay right in the middle.
This game is all about positioning. Both teams want this game to keep pace and possibly give Beloit a run for their money for that final conference tournament spot.
It's going to come down to who is hungrier for that spot.
4. WIAC, UW-Whitewater at UW-Eau Claire, 3 p.m. Price I would pay: $3
This is an interesting matchup between two teams who are looking for wins.
Whitewater is looking for a win and they really need one as they are neck and neck with Stout for the second seed in the conference tournament. And with the season tiebreaker, all they need to do is tie the Blue Devils to get it.
Eau Claire, meanwhile, is still close enough to smell a conference tournament bid. There would be no better way to do that than to pick up an unexpected win over Whitewater.
This game should come down to who is hotter from the 3-point line. Both teams have players that like to jack it up.
It will also come down to how well Eau Claire can shut down the driving lanes against the Warhawks' Quardell Young.
This is an interesting matchup between two teams who are looking for wins.
Whitewater is looking for a win and they really need one as they are neck and neck with Stout for the second seed in the conference tournament. And with the season tiebreaker, all they need to do is tie the Blue Devils to get it.
Eau Claire, meanwhile, is still close enough to smell a conference tournament bid. There would be no better way to do that than to pick up an unexpected win over Whitewater.
This game should come down to who is hotter from the 3-point line. Both teams have players that like to jack it up.
It will also come down to how well Eau Claire can shut down the driving lanes against the Warhawks' Quardell Young.
5. NAC, Lakeland at Wisconsin Lutheran, 4:15 p.m. Price I would pay: $3
The prohibitive NAC favorites have looked shaky as of late, losing two of their last three games and haven't been as sharp on the offensive end as they were earlier in the season.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin Lutheran is desperate for a win after losing their last three games, two of which came in overtime.
Lakeland needs to get this win to stay on top in the North, while the Warriors need it to keep pace for the third spot in the South.
It's going to come down to Wisconsin Lutheran's defense. If they can slow Lakeland like other teams have as of late, they will have a shot in this one.
Thanks for tuning in to my midweek blog. As always you can follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and stay tuned for my weekend blog coming up.
The prohibitive NAC favorites have looked shaky as of late, losing two of their last three games and haven't been as sharp on the offensive end as they were earlier in the season.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin Lutheran is desperate for a win after losing their last three games, two of which came in overtime.
Lakeland needs to get this win to stay on top in the North, while the Warriors need it to keep pace for the third spot in the South.
It's going to come down to Wisconsin Lutheran's defense. If they can slow Lakeland like other teams have as of late, they will have a shot in this one.
Thanks for tuning in to my midweek blog. As always you can follow my thoughts on Twitter at @turkdigg40 and stay tuned for my weekend blog coming up.
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