Welcome back to Western Illinois’ quest for greatness in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this series + spoiler-free links to previous seasons on the About page of this website. Also be sure to check out the debut of our new spin-off series on
The refs robbed us! After that alley oop from Haynes to AK33, the Indiana guy literally hit AK in the back with the ball, which is absolutely a technical foul!
Also, you can definitely tell this game is from the mid 2000's when the RPI was the end all be all of seeding. If WIU had somehow lost in the SCT, they would not have gotten an at large bid in the NCAAT with that 73 RPI (which would probably have been lower with a loss in the SCT.)
Maybe game the RPI more. You're forced to do this already somewhat because the scheduler won't let you bring some of the blue bloods to WIU. But if you want to try to up the RPI, then in the portion of the schedule you can control, make as many away games as you can, and hopefully against teams that will end up with good RPIs themselves.
As a Charleston, SC native, I’m stoked that you got a Charleston guy on the roster. Favor: can we just go ahead and give Cam Medina the nickname “Funky Cam Medina?” Tone Loc is still relevant today... right???
Tough loss, but what I love about this series the most is that you don't control the players. We put our trust in them and respect the outcome. There's so much we don't understand, but we're still fans. It's mythical in a Jon Bois sort of way.
What would happen if you were to change the minutes distribution for the conference regular season schedule to give less experienced players more time? Would it help improve their abilities? I doubt you'd lose a game, there's too much talent on the team to lose in the Summit.
On a similar note, would something like that also work for tournament time?
Good thought. I feel like consistency is typically the best way to do it. I mean, we have won two titles. We'll see how things go next year and I'll be open to this approach.
Unfortunately not enough shooting on this year's team and that killed on the last possession. Surprising Assel was not more assertive with his scoring. I feel like he could have taken Indiana off the dribble for way more points.
I'm a little worried they could leave early. We've had good luck so far with guys staying five years. Only Powell has left early. Hope we can keep that trend going, but we support the guys who want to make their dreams come true.
Honestly, it's probably healthy to mix in a stretch of tough seasons in between national championships. It can start to look too easy if the 'Necks win out every year.
Any reason you played UNLV twice in non-conference, or was that a typo? This is probably too long ago to remember. I've been binging on reading about your WIU dynasty tonight/this morning...it's been really fun.
The refs robbed us! After that alley oop from Haynes to AK33, the Indiana guy literally hit AK in the back with the ball, which is absolutely a technical foul!
Also, you can definitely tell this game is from the mid 2000's when the RPI was the end all be all of seeding. If WIU had somehow lost in the SCT, they would not have gotten an at large bid in the NCAAT with that 73 RPI (which would probably have been lower with a loss in the SCT.)
Maybe game the RPI more. You're forced to do this already somewhat because the scheduler won't let you bring some of the blue bloods to WIU. But if you want to try to up the RPI, then in the portion of the schedule you can control, make as many away games as you can, and hopefully against teams that will end up with good RPIs themselves.
As a Charleston, SC native, I’m stoked that you got a Charleston guy on the roster. Favor: can we just go ahead and give Cam Medina the nickname “Funky Cam Medina?” Tone Loc is still relevant today... right???
I'm for it.
Tough loss, but what I love about this series the most is that you don't control the players. We put our trust in them and respect the outcome. There's so much we don't understand, but we're still fans. It's mythical in a Jon Bois sort of way.
What would happen if you were to change the minutes distribution for the conference regular season schedule to give less experienced players more time? Would it help improve their abilities? I doubt you'd lose a game, there's too much talent on the team to lose in the Summit.
On a similar note, would something like that also work for tournament time?
Good thought. I feel like consistency is typically the best way to do it. I mean, we have won two titles. We'll see how things go next year and I'll be open to this approach.
Got sent here from Tom Ziller's newsletter, quite liked it and can't wait for the next one in my inbox!
Awesome! Ziller is the GOAT. Thanks for subscribing.
Unfortunately not enough shooting on this year's team and that killed on the last possession. Surprising Assel was not more assertive with his scoring. I feel like he could have taken Indiana off the dribble for way more points.
Kleinzweig and Comrade Grimes are on a better pace than Draughan and Terrell. Can't wait to see what they do as seniors!
I'm a little worried they could leave early. We've had good luck so far with guys staying five years. Only Powell has left early. Hope we can keep that trend going, but we support the guys who want to make their dreams come true.
Sad way for Harper and especially Assel to go out. That 2nd half against Indiana was brutal. Not used to seeing the Leathernecks blow 20+ point leads.
I published this post a day early because I just wanted to get this season out of my head. Such a tough loss.
Honestly, it's probably healthy to mix in a stretch of tough seasons in between national championships. It can start to look too easy if the 'Necks win out every year.
Any reason you played UNLV twice in non-conference, or was that a typo? This is probably too long ago to remember. I've been binging on reading about your WIU dynasty tonight/this morning...it's been really fun.
I can't remember. Maybe a typo? Thanks for catching up.
Jorts has been my twitter name for years. hope he keeps dominating
Hahahaha
Two teams from the previous year's Final Four meeting in the Round Of 64 sounds unprecedented (and brutal).