In a similar way to my preview of WIAC football, I will look
at the upcoming Men’s basketball season in the WIAC. This however will be just one post with short
summaries of each team because I actually have classes and other things going
on right now not just trying to do something somewhat productive in the summer
like with the football preview. Without
further ado here is a look at the WIAC men’s basketball scene in 2011-2012
2011 Final Standings:
1.
UW-Stevens Point 26-4 overall, 14-2 WIAC
2.
UW-River Falls 20-8, 12-4
3.
UW-Whitewater 17-9, 10-6
4.
UW-Platteville 17-10, 9-7
5.
UW-La Crosse 14-12, 9-7
6.
UW-Superior 15-12, 6-10
7.
UW-Oshkosh 11-14, 5-11
8.
UW-Stout 10-15, 4-12
9.
UW-Eau Claire 9-16, 3-13
Team by Team Breakdown (in order of last year’s finish):
2011 Recap:
Despite being without the back court of the previous season’s
national championship team, Matt Moses and Jared Jenkins, the Pointers were
still a national force to be reckoned with.
A talented front court and experienced players paved the way for UWSP to
take home both the regular season and tournament crowns in the WIAC with some
ease. The front court of Hoezel, Krull
and Hurd was just too much for most teams. Couple that with Jerrel Harris and
Dan Tillema scoring from the backcourt and you’ve got a deadly team. Unfortunately for the Pointers Tillema went
down with a brutal elbow injury and that hampered the Pointers’ ability to make
a longer run in the NCAA tournament.
Overall the Pointers 2011 team was just another juggernaut for the most
historically dominant school in the conference.
2012 Outlook:
This season will be much different than previous seasons for
this Pointer squad. This year’s team will
be set back by the departure of 4 of its starters. The starting frontline graduated and the main
hope for the future in dead-eye shooter Jerrel Harris followed former Pointer
assistant Lance Randall to St. Leo. That
leaves a ton of responsibility at the feet of Dan Tillema. Tillema impressed me with his performance in
the exhibition game against the Badgers, putting up 24 points on former
Platteville coach Bo Ryan’s squad. He
and his brother Tyler will handle many of the scoring duties and will start
along with Jordan Giordana, Jordan Brezinski, and Trevor Haas. Dan Tillema aside the rest of the starters
are role players at best on most Point squads of the past. These guys have some experience and have defining
roles they can contribute with but just aren’t the caliber of player Point
normally has starting. After those guys
is where the real trouble starts. A
whole mess of unknowns and young players fill out the bench and that is where
Point will be weakest this season.
Especially with the type of grind it out game and tough defense they
love to play it will be interesting to see how Point does when a number of
starters have to get some rest or sit on the bench due to foul trouble. That, in my opinion, is how you attack this
team. Get their starters in foul trouble and make hay when those guys are on
the bench. Despite not being on the
level of past UWSP teams Point will still be Point and will at the very least
be hosting a first round WIAC tournament game.
Player to Watch: Dan Tillema
Big Question: How does the team play with starters on the
bench?
Best Game(s): At Augustana 12/10/11 OR Vs. St. Thomas
12/22/11
2011 Recap:
What to say about the Falcons in 2010-2011? I’ll start with “WOW.” The Falcons came from relative obscurity to
make it all the way into February undefeated in the conference and then lost 4
straight conference games down the stretch, made it to the WIAC title game but
then lost to the Pointers and then got bounced in the first round of the NCAA
tournament. UWRF only lost 1 game at
home all year, a 70-66 loss to UWW to start their 4 game slide. From November to February UWRF just kept
winning. Jake Voeltz led the charge
upfront with 15 points and 7 boards per game.
Shane Manor and Jontae Koonkaew also averaged double digit points for
the Falcons.
2012 Outlook:
Newsflash to the Conference’s SIDs who picked Falls to
finish 3rd this year, the Falcons are GOOD. Yes Voeltz and Koonkaew are gone but back are
Manor, Aaron Anderson (who shot a ridiculous 50% from beyond the arc last season
on over 100 attempts), as well as Brian Kimble and Ollie White a couple of more
than capable role players at the guard and forward positions respectively. Just as if not more important than those
returners is a couple of guys who weren’t on last year’s team but will be on
board for the 2011-2012 season. First of
which is Wade Guerin, the 6-8 senior Center from Bloomington, MN was an All-WIAC
Honorable Mention in 2010 but missed last season due to injury. The 5th year senior averaged 14
points and 8 boards a game in 2010 and will more than make up for the loss of
Voeltz. Another important influx of
talent to this team is Chris Palmer. The
6-4 junior transfer forward from St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN is going
to be a big time player for this team. Palmer averaged nearly a double-double
for the Cardinals out of the MIAC with 17.5 Points and 9.5 rebounds per
game. He also shot 90% from the line 52%
from the field and 38% from beyond the arc. He averaged about 2 assists and 1
steal a game and had a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. If this team has to play on the first day of
the WIAC tournament, I’ll be shocked.
Player to Watch: Chris Palmer
Big Question: How does the chemistry work with Guerin coming
back and Palmer in the fold?
Best game(s): 11/22/11 Vs St. Thomas and 11/26/11 @ Puget
Sound
2011 Recap:
Not many knew what to expect out of UWW in 2011 after the
departure of Dustin Mitchell, but most probably thought that the Warhawks would
still be a top 4 team in the league, and they were right. Transfers Chris Davis and Antone Byrd were the
team’s leading scorers at 21 and 13 points per game respectively. DJ Dantzler and Alex Edmunds also averaged
double digits for the Warhawks. Davis
also averaged 9 boards a game for UWW. I
honestly don’t have much to say about the season, they basically won the games
they should have, with the possible exception of a loss at Stout and the
tournament loss to Superior, and lost the games they should have too.
2012 Outlook:
Well another season of Warhawk basketball and another slew
of new faces. As I look down the roster
the only names that jump out to me are Davis and Edmunds. Everyone else was a minor role player at best
on the Warhawks last year. That being
said I expect Pat Miller to squeeze every last drop out of this team. Davis will be the focal point for sure but I’m
not sure even he can carry the load he will be likely asked to do but the guy
did almost average 20-10 last year so he’s obviously got quite a bit of
talent. Davis is too good for this team
not to be tourney bound but whether this team starts on the road or at home is
not as clear.
Player to Watch: Chris Davis
Big Question: Who will step up to share the load with
Edmunds and Davis?
Best game: Vs Illinois Wesleyan 11/30/11
2011 Recap:
Pioneers, oh Pioneers.
You talk about a team that is balanced as all get out and refuses to
lose at home and there are your 2011 Platteville Pioneers. Despite finishing just above .500 in
conference UWP had 4 players average double digit points and lost only 3 home
games all year. While Nick Allen lead
the team in points and was an All-WIAC selection Chas Cross was the story down
in the driftless area. Cross was the
only freshman to receive votes for All-WIAC honors and was the 2nd
leading scorer on the team. UWP had a
really rough stretch early in the year with 5 striaght losses, 4 of which were
by 2 points or less and 2 of which went into overtime. The high points for UWP were wins at home
against UWSP, on the road at Superior and the tournament win at La Crosse.
2012 Outlook:
Three of last year’s top four scorers are gone including
Nick Allen and word is Chas Cross will be out until about January with an
injury so the early going may be rough. UWP
does have 4 guys coming back who were solid role players and could step-up this
season. Brett Stangel, Eric Gerber, Rob
Stallion and Matt Weik all were solid last year and will need to grow this
season in order for UWP to be successful.
If the Pioneers can navigate the early part of the schedule without
Cross they could be hosting a WIAC tournament game, even if they don’t I still
see them playing in the post season.
Player to Watch: Chas Cross
Big Question: How do the Pioneers do without Cross early on?
Best game: 1/18/12 Vs Stevens Point
2011 Recap:
It was the Tony Mane show in La Crosse last season as the
Senior guard split the Player of the Year award in the WIAC with Superior’s
Jake Smith. Mane averaged a whopping 25
points per game which was 15 ppg higher than the next highest Eagle, Al
Cherry. The high points of the season
were a 5 game home winning streak in December and winning 5 of their last 6
conference games. On the downside UWL lost to each of the 3 teams that did not
make the WIAC tournament but only one of those was at home. It was in that home game that Mane scored “only”
20 points the only one of the three he scored below his season average. In their best games, Mane dropped 35 on the
Warhawks in a big win and put up 27 against River Falls. What made the
difference in the River Falls game was the output of Mane’s supporting cast
with Cherry, Rumpel and Degner combining for 51 points. The Eagle’s season ended in disappointment
losing 66-63 at home to Platteville in the first round of the WIAC
tourney. Mane had 33 in that one but no
one else reached double digits for the Eagles.
2012 Outlook:
Mane is gone but back is most of his supporting cast from
last year. It will be tough to replace
35 points per game between him and Jordan Rumpel but I think balance will be
much welcome on this team. I think
newfound scoring balance and expirence on this year’s squad puts this team in a
very similar place to the team that knocked them out of last year’s tournament,
UW-Platteville.
Player to Watch: Al Cherry
Big Question: How do you replace a Tony Mane?
Best game: 1/4/12 @ Platteville
2011 Recap:
The 2011 Yellow Jackets were a bit of an enigma. So much talent and experience between co-POY
Jake Smith, Marcus Helland, Dan Culy and Greg Roeder got this team to 6-10 in
conference and a 6 seed in the tournament.
I just don’t get it. I saw a
bunch of talent and not a lot of wins.
The only win that stands out was the win the first round of the WIAC
tournament over Whitewater. Every other win was expected. How this team lost to last year’s UWEC squad
still boggles my mind. I could just
never get a grip on this team.
2012 Outlook:
It does not look good for UWS this season. All that talent
is gone. All that remains are Dustin
Ritchie, Trent Davis and Ben Aalfs, some decent pieces but not ones that are
going to get you very far. Unless coach Silverling’s
recruiting class is off the charts I don’t see how this team sniffs the WIAC
tournament.
Player to Watch: Ben Aalfs
Big question: How does this team deal with the loss of its
core for the past 4 seasons?
Best game: 2/4/11 Vs Oshkosh
2011 Recap:
The Titans 2011 season was the second consecutive season in
which UWO finished 5-11 in conference and finished outside of the WIAC
tournament. It was disappointing to say
the least. It was a growing season for
many players and overall the Titans simply struggled to score the basketball.
UWO never won more than 2 games in a row all season and only once won back to
back conference games. The Titans best
game was a loss in 2 overtimes to UWW at home.
Overall 2011 was just a bad, bad year for UWO men’s basketball.
2012 Outlook:
You know how I said 2011 was a learning year for many Titan
players, specifically the sophomores from TVD’s large 2009 recruiting class?
Well here is the thing, most of those players are no longer on the team so that
whole season of learning went right down the drain. Besides graduating senior Cory Wittwer UWO
also lost Brian Washington, the high flying sophomore center from last year’s
team, Paul Wojahn, the team’s 6th man, TJ Kellner, the starting
small forward in 2011, and Bryan Gregory, a freshman in 2011 who was a rotation
guy. 5 pretty key losses from last year’s squad. Here is the upside, TVD got a
couple of transfers that can have an immediate impact on the team and the top 2
scorers from last year are back. Jade
Royston is also back after an injury caused him to redshirt last season. I can’t say I’m in love with this year’s
Titans squad because you never know what will happen with transfers, but I don’t
hate it either. If Mario Johnson and Martell Hutchinson can contribute, this
year’s team will be nothing else if not fun to watch. I see this team squeaking into the WIAC
tournament this year.
Player to Watch: Mario Johnson
Big question: How do the transfers gel with the team?
Best game: 11/22/11 Vs Augustana
2011 Recap:
Run and gun was the name of the game for the Blue Devils
last year. Stout put up 78 points per
game but let up 79 points per as well.
While outscoring their opponents in the first half the Blue Devils were
crushed in both the 2nd half and overtime by 40 points on the
season. Mahlon Thomas was only able to
play 9 games before injury cost him the rest of his season. Eric Hoestter was
left with the scoring burden and did average 17 point per game. Overall Stout couldn’t stop anybody in 2011
and thus didn’t win many games.
2012 Outlook:
Remember how I said it doesn’t look good for Superior this
year? Well it looks as bad if not worse for Stout.
Zero seniors on this year’s roster and the top 2 returnees averaged 18
points per game combined last year adds up to very few wins for Stout this
year. They’ll be on the outside looking
in come tournament time.
Player to Watch: Steve Pax
Big Question: Can Stout stop anyone on defense this year?
Best game: 2/11/12 Vs Eau Claire
2011 Recap:
Terry Gibbons’ final season was not a great one for the Zorn
Zanies. The proud program finished last
in the WIAC due mostly to the fact that the team was made up of a bunch of
freshmen and transfers. The team didn’t
win a single conference game away from Zorn Arena. They were outscored by an average of 4 points
per game, by contrast even the other bad teams in the conference were around 1
point per game. Not much to say but a
bad, bad year for UWEC.
2012 Outlook:
It doesn’t look any better this year. Marcus Ruh went with Jerrel Harris to St. Leo
and left new Coach Tyler Green scrambling.
Add on the leading returning scorer coming in at under 10 points per
game and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
UWEC finishes outside of the WIAC tournament by a long shot.
Player to Watch: Nick Craggs
Big Question: What does coach Green do with this team?
Best game: 1/4/12 Vs Stout
Predicted Finish:
1.
River Falls
2.
Stevens Point
3.
Whitewater
4.
La Crosse
5.
Platteville
6.
Oshkosh
7.
Stout
8.
Superior
9.
Eau Claire
Preseason All-Conference
Chris Palmer
Chris Davis (co-POY)
Dan Tillema (co-POY)
Al Cherry
Chas Cross
