Basketball: Saturday Morning Tidbits

  • Lakehead's win over McMaster last night was their third win over a ranked opponent this season. At 8-1 in the OUA, it's time that everyone takes notice of this team and stops making excuses why they are the third nationally ranked team in their division instead of the first.

  • A very impressive win on the men’s side for Windsor over Western on Wednesday night, which by all accounts wasn’t nearly as close at the end as the score would have suggested.

  • Guelph's struggles continue as they were defeated at home by 25 points on Wednesday night vs. Laurier. The news is even worse for the Gryphons as Jay Mott will be out of the lineup indefinitely with a concussion. The Gryphons simply can not afford to lose their captain and leading scorer and expect to make the playoffs. Add in some injuries to rookies Drew Morris and Adrian Achonwa, and the Gryphons bench is looking pretty thin.

  • I was very impressed by the play of Laurier's fourth-year forward Megan Grant, who had a tough defensive assignment on Guelph’s double-double threat Jasmine Douglas. Not only did Grant hold Douglas in check for the game, including only 6 points and 1 rebound in the first half, but she also chipped in with 14 points and 7 rebounds of her own.

  • Condolences to Waterloo coach Tom Kieswetter, whose father Ernie passed away earlier this week. Ernie Kieswetter was a fixture at Warriors games for the past two decades, sitting with his wife June at the end of the Waterloo bench. A proud supporter of Warrior basketball who watched his son play and coach for the Warriors, and three grandchildren also wear the Black and Gold, he will be missed.
Next PostNewer Post Previous PostOlder Post Home

12 comments:

  1. I'm not from "Tundra-Bay", nor am I a fan (Go Lancers!), but if Lakehead does in fact sweep McMaster this wknd, it would be inconceivable that they don't move has high as 7th (I do believe there is some ridiculous rule about a team not being able to move more then 3 spots up/down in the standings in a single week) just behide my Lancers (7-2) who should be 6th. Toronto and McMaster are (as of this morning) 5-4 in the OUA... "RESULTS" (W's & L's) not "POTENTIAL" should be the deciding factors in establishing these ranking...
    give credit where credit is due!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Regardless of whether they win or lose vs. McMaster tonight, Lakehead should be moving to #8 minimum. If they win, they should be ranked higher than 'your Lancers', but as you pointed out, the rules won't allow them to go past #7 this week.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Without any surprizes in the CIS schedule this evening, I predict the following:

    1. UBC (9-0)
    2. Carleton (9-1)
    3. St. Francis Xavier (6-0)
    4. Calgary (9-2)
    5. Cape Breton (6-1)
    6. Windsor (8-2)
    7. Lakehead (9-1)
    8. Ottawa (9-2)
    9. McMaster (5-5)
    10. SFU (8-1)

    Thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
  4. And without any surprises tonight, I think you're bang on. But how embarrassing will it be for the ranking system if we've got 2 undefeated teams, 4 teams with 1 loss, 3 teams with 2 losses, and a team with FIVE losses? (and with a .500 record at that!)

    Even if Mac wins, they will be in the Top Ten with 4 losses. The system is ridiculously flawed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Flawed", I could not agree more. Forget attempting to change the CIS's nat play-off structure, fix the ranking system!

    I know the Lancers have had an interesting year thus far, but Oliver will pull them through. I'm looking forward to the 29-30 games vs. Lakehead must likely will determine the OUA "Top Dog"

    ReplyDelete
  6. First of all, Windsor was fortunate to win that game versus Western. Rookie PG Josh Collins come through in the clutch, nailing a 3 and a floating jumper at the top of the key to put the Lancers in front for good. This game could have gone either way. I am impressed with the 3 close wins over Ottawa, UT & UWO. These are good wins which teach much to a younger team.

    I still think Mac & Western are the teams to beat for Windsor...but credit to Lakehead for their terrific start. It'll be interesting to see if they can win again vs. Mac. If they do, they are certainly for "real".

    ReplyDelete
  7. Why not, let's put out some point spreads for Saturday night:

    MEN
    Laurier @ Western (-12.5)
    Guelph @ Waterloo (-6.5)
    McMaster @ Lakehead (+2)
    Brock @ Windsor (-12.5)

    WOMEN
    Laurier @ Western (-9)
    Guelph @ Waterloo (-5)
    McMaster @ Lakehead (too close to call)
    Brock @ Windsor (-10)

    I know at least one person here who will take the Lakehead men plus-two, and his initials are "Sean Furfaro." (I may not be accounting for the greater home-field advantage a Thunder Bay team would have, intuitively.) But we'll see how far off these are.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The margins are so slim in basketball ... what's the difference between an 82-80 win and an 80-78 loss, really? Four flippin' points.

    Mac and Toronto present a challenge ... U of T has lost 4 games by a total of 10 points, Mac is losing all these close games.

    Ottawa is making a great case, especially after having to replace Dax in the post.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What challenge does Mac and U of T present?
    Sure they've lost a lot of close games.
    But the point is, they've lost a lot of games, period.
    Look, I don't care if Toronto lost those 4 games by a point each, 4 loses are still 4 losses.
    And teams barely above .500 don't belong in the top 10.
    Especially when you lose to a team like Queen's, a team that's hardly been awesome so far.
    Or a team like Waterloo, which got punked by the unranked Gee-Gees.
    With Nick Snow in and out of the lineup, there's no consistency to this team.
    Mac I think will go into a nosedive.
    Really, it's only Jeppesen keeping them afloat.
    I don't think Windsor should be ranked ahead of Lakehead, but it's more justifiable than having Mac, Toronto or Dal ahead of the T-wolves.
    Despite losing Surmacz, the Lancers actually have a better record than last year at this time.
    The two games between Lakehead and Windsor at the St. Denis Center will pretty much determine 1st place, IMO.
    Lancers need a sweep but I think it's doable.
    I'm not sure how good a road team Lakehead really is because the only decent team they've played so far is Queen's and they eked out a one point win over the Gaels.
    Windsor is a lot tougher than Queen's.
    If Lakehead sweeps or even splits with the Lancers, they truly deserve 1st place.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ok, first of all, I'm not a "rah-rah-sis-boom-bah, Lakehead is the greatest" kind of guy. I'm not saying that Lakehead is the best team in the country, or even in their division. What I am saying, is that by virtue of their record and the opponents they've beaten, they are being slighted unlike anything I've seen in this league for over two decades.

    You can't be 8-1 and have wins over three ranked opponents, AND be in first place in your division (since DAY ONE), and still be trying to gain respect.

    One of the many 'Anonymous' comments above stated "credit to Lakehead for their terrific start. It'll be interesting to see if they can win again vs. Mac. If they do, they are certainly for "real"."

    First of all, 9 games into a 22 game season, isn't a "terrific start", it's a first-place team closing in on the halfway mark. Come on! And when did beating McMaster become the measuring point for success. You have an 8-1 team playing a 5-4 team tonight, and you're telling me that the 8-1 team has to prove themselves in this game...after already beating the other team once?

    You're joking, right?

    Further to the point immediately above, I too believe that Toronto is heavily overrated.

    Come Tuesday night when the next rankings come out, I'm sure you can expect a lengthy post from me.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So let's see how close these were:

    MEN
    Laurier @ Western (-12.5)
    - Western by 3, did not cover
    Guelph @ Waterloo (-6.5)
    - covered by a lot
    McMaster @ Lakehead (+2)
    - Lakehead by 6, Mac did not cover
    Brock @ Windsor (-12.5)
    - Western by 23, they did cover

    WOMEN
    Laurier @ Western (-9)
    - easy cover
    Guelph @ Waterloo (-5)
    - Guelph by 4, no cover
    Brock @ Windsor (-10)
    - Windsor by 7 in OT, no cover

    3 out of 7 covered...not too bad.

    ReplyDelete