Milwaukee at Wright State HL Championship Tuesday 3/11/14 6:00 p.m. CDT

[historyman]

If I was a Milwaukee fan I sure would be upset that Jordan Aaron has already missed several three pointers. How is Milwaukee supposed to win if Aaron takes so many shots and misses most of them. Who cares that the Panthers are on the way to making the NCAA tournament by leading Wright St 19-7 about halfway through the first half. That Jordan just shoots too much!

[a3uge]

Huh?

[a3uge]

This is the same game as Valpo and GB. Milwaukee getting out to a lead and still somehow the other team is still in it. Milwaukee hitting a good percentage from 3s, something which they did poorly all year.

[historyman]

Huh?

Huh, what?

[a3uge]

Looks like the Horizon will send a team that finished with a losing record in conference (has that ever happened?). With the amount of top seeds losing, they'll get a 15 seed and play Kansas or someone pretty decent. But Wright State/Valpo would be in the same position. Truly a down year.

[mvandersee]

That guy who tackled Tiby should feel lucky that Tiby got held back from coming after him, cause he would've got pummeled

[wh]

Who would ever have thought that 5-seed Milwaukee would not only beat but absolutely dominate 4-seed Valpo, 1-seed Green Bay (on their home court) and 3-seed Wright State (on their home court) to capture the HL tournament championship.  What a great cinderella story.  I love it!

[talksalot]

Too bad for them, Milwaukee is one of the 2nd round sites... they'll probably be shipped to Saint Louis...and play (as mentioned earlier)... a similar Kansas team that seemed to enjoy playing UDM last year.  (CBS's bracketology still has WSU in their bracket as a 15 against Wisconsin in Milwaukee... Nope)...

Donlon to CIT or CBI?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Ah, Jordan Aaron.

18 points, and it took him only 13 shots to get there.

Someday he'll crack the 40% barrier, and then you can all rub it in then.  But I'll wait.

[classof2014]

They don't call it March Madness for nothing. Great story from worst to first. The team got hot at the right time and they now have the opportunity to make the HL proud. Do I think they'll win? No. Do I think they'll be competitive? Depends on who they're playing. I have nothing against Milwaukee, and couldn't be happier for them.

Congratulation, you guys definitely deserved it.

As for Valpo, time for the CIT's!

[a3uge]

Do I think they'll win? No. Do I think they'll be competitive? Depends on who they're playing.

If 16... Arizona, Florida, Wichita St, Villanova. If 15... Michigan, Syracuse/Duke/Virginia, or Kansas...

Could be a rough time.

[Kyle321n]

Looking at it right now Milwaukee is almost guaranteed to be a 15 seed.

The tournaments that might affect Milwaukee's seeding and could potentially bump them up to a 14 are the MEAC, America East, and Southland conferences.  I doubt there's a major upset in the WAC and Sun Belt, but if there is they could potentially be a 13. Very good odds they are a 15, and no chance at a 16 as there are 4 teams already well below their RPI and 2 more conference championships that will easily end up below them.

[a3uge]

Looking at it right now Milwaukee is almost guaranteed to be a 15 seed.

The tournaments that might affect Milwaukee's seeding and could potentially bump them up to a 14 are the MEAC, America East, and Southland conferences.  I doubt there's a major upset in the WAC and Sun Belt, but if there is they could potentially be a 13. Very good odds they are a 15, and no chance at a 16 as there are 4 teams already well below their RPI and 2 more conference championships that will easily end up below them.

Except seeding at the bottom is shuffled for geography without any regards for how decent a team is. It's why UWM could end with a 14, same seed as Valpo got last year when Valpo had a 56 RPI and won Regular Season, but Montana inexplicably ended with a 13.

On the flip side, they could end up with a 16 seed with worse schools getting a 15. It really depends on what seeds St Louis is hosting because UWM isn't allowed to play in Milwaukee this year (per Jerry Palm tweet last night).

Honestly it would be frustrating to see a team that finished below .500 in conference with a 130 RPI end up with the same seed as we did last year. There were lots of good mid majors last year with even FGCU as a 15 making it to the S16. This year everyone's punching NIT tickets early.

[vu72]

Looking at it right now Milwaukee is almost guaranteed to be a 15 seed.

The tournaments that might affect Milwaukee's seeding and could potentially bump them up to a 14 are the MEAC, America East, and Southland conferences.  I doubt there's a major upset in the WAC and Sun Belt, but if there is they could potentially be a 13. Very good odds they are a 15, and no chance at a 16 as there are 4 teams already well below their RPI and 2 more conference championships that will easily end up below them.

Except seeding at the bottom is shuffled for geography without any regards for how decent a team is. It's why UWM could end with a 14, same seed as Valpo got last year when Valpo had a 56 RPI and won Regular Season, but Montana inexplicably ended with a 13.

On the flip side, they could end up with a 16 seed with worse schools getting a 15. It really depends on what seeds St Louis is hosting because UWM isn't allowed to play in Milwaukee this year (per Jerry Palm tweet last night).

Honestly it would be frustrating to see a team that finished below .500 in conference with a 130 RPI end up with the same seed as we did last year. There were lots of good mid majors last year with even FGCU as a 15 making it to the S16. This year everyone's punching NIT tickets early.

[/b]

Does that mean that Green Bay has a shot at the NCAA's??

[a3uge]

This is the current situation with the mid major auto-bid seeds:



This is based on the teams in the bracket-matrix, which is a combination of 30 some bracketologies. The number on the far left is the bracket matrix score (see http://bracketmatrix.com/ ) basically an average of the predicted seeds. Next to that is the seed based on pure RPI (which is basically what the committee uses along with georgraphy for lower seeds).

Most brackets surprisingly have Utah Valley winnign the WAC over NM St... I'd have to look into that, but NM St are 13.68 on Bracket Matrix.

[a3uge]

Looking at it right now Milwaukee is almost guaranteed to be a 15 seed.

The tournaments that might affect Milwaukee's seeding and could potentially bump them up to a 14 are the MEAC, America East, and Southland conferences.  I doubt there's a major upset in the WAC and Sun Belt, but if there is they could potentially be a 13. Very good odds they are a 15, and no chance at a 16 as there are 4 teams already well below their RPI and 2 more conference championships that will easily end up below them.

Except seeding at the bottom is shuffled for geography without any regards for how decent a team is. It's why UWM could end with a 14, same seed as Valpo got last year when Valpo had a 56 RPI and won Regular Season, but Montana inexplicably ended with a 13.

On the flip side, they could end up with a 16 seed with worse schools getting a 15. It really depends on what seeds St Louis is hosting because UWM isn't allowed to play in Milwaukee this year (per Jerry Palm tweet last night).

Honestly it would be frustrating to see a team that finished below .500 in conference with a 130 RPI end up with the same seed as we did last year. There were lots of good mid majors last year with even FGCU as a 15 making it to the S16. This year everyone's punching NIT tickets early.

[/b]

Does that mean that Green Bay has a shot at the NCAA's??

No, those are all auto bids anyways. There's been surprises before (VCU, Iona, MidTenn), but I doubt GB will get a bid based on their win over Virginia. They have 21 D1 wins and played basically nobody on the road. Their RPI is 62, which is higher than Valpo's last year. It's excusable for a mid major team to lose on the road, but when you drop 2 home games to a team above 150 RPI at both times, you're probably not going to get an auto bid.

[bbtds]

Ah, Jordan Aaron.

18 points, and it took him only 13 shots to get there.

Someday he'll crack the 40% barrier, and then you can all rub it in then.  But I'll wait.

I guess you can't admit that you were wrong. Jordan Aaron was a force for UWM in the Horizon League tourney and I also don't believe he deserves all the condemnation you have heaped upon him.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Jordan Aaron was a force for UWM in the Horizon League tourney and I also don't believe he deserves all the condemnation you have heaped upon him.

You're one for two.  Next time stop while you're ahead.

[valpotx]

I am fully behind LAA/Saders on this one.  Aaron can be hot, but can be really cold.  His shooting % throughout the tournament wasn't anything special.  Yes, he scored points, but it takes him way too many shots to do so...

[wh]

Until the tournament I haven't really thought too much about Aaron one way or the other. That said IMO he was outstanding in their tournament run. He hit clutch shots and key free throws throughout and played a great floor game, as well, despite being a primary focus of everyone's defensive game plan. He was clearly the MVP of the tournament and probably all 4 games they played.

Pointing to something negative on his stat line is kind of like saying that someone who just won the Presidential election should have done better in Nebraska. Does it really matter, even if it's true?

[valpotx]

It does matter.  Yes, he made some clutch shots when it was needed, but he also missed quite a few earlier in the game that theoretically put them in the position where they needed a clutch shot.  The dude just bombs away from 10-15 beyond the 3-pt line, and when I was watching, missed most of them until later in the game.  His % went UP in the tournament, so he was much worse in the regular season.  I am completely behind LAA in regards to shot efficiency.  I was never a fan of Allen Iverson because he shot low %'s, but still took 25 shots/game.  He got his points, but it wasn't even close to efficient.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

What I am arguing here is for the supremacy of statistical analysis over "ol' bird-dog scoutin'".  Sure, that has its place, but numbers tell you who you really are. 

There are 37 players in the HL alone who were more effective offensive players than he was.  (His great tournament moved him from 39th place to 38th.)

This is simply fighting the "Bader is a chucker" fight again, only on a different front and better turf, since, for the record, Bader was the 6th best in the conference this year in O-Rtg.

[a3uge]

Yeah he's the Marshall Henderson of the Horizon, with a better attitude. He'll hit shots at the end because he's the one taking them, but overall, he's just an above average player. He took some really stupid shots in the final and had a number of shots blocked on drives. He took a long contested 3 at the end when they should've been running clock. Bad choice. He missed two stupid NBA range 3s and made 1. Bad choice. The other 3 he made were good decisions, open shots. He was 4-9. Pretty good, but if he could be more efficient if he cuts down on the low percentage one and looks for a pass... after all he had 0 assists last game. He could be a top 5 player if he improves his decision making. But I guess the only thing that matters in evaluating the overall effectiveness of a player is in a 2 game window (this same player went 2-13 a couple weeks ago vs UIC).

[wh]

What disagreement?  Apparently, Aaron's tournament performance fooled everyone but you 2 guys. It seems to be pretty one-sided in favor of us dupes.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

look, dude (not dupe), getting a B+ on the final doesn't make me forget that you half-assed your way through the preceding semester.