Big Eight Review

Wow it has been a long time since I posted. I have have about a handful of posts left that I will do on the basketball season that just ended and may or may not try to keep up with my softball posting but, I'm pretty busy at night during the summer and just don't have the time. Figured I would see how my predictions for the Big Eight season finished off and see how my all conference picks and standings worked out. No real surprises other then the fact that Memorial didn't dominate as much as I thought and the few guys that didn't make all conference were for reasons other then their play whether it be injuries or eligibility. My Predictions Madison Memorial 16-2 Sun Prairie 15-3 Madison East 13-5 Beloit 12-6 Middleton 11-7 Verona 10-8 Madison Lafollette 5-13 Madison West 4-14 Janesville Parker 2-16 Janesville Craig 2-16 Actual Standings Beloit 15-3- Bit of a surprise here with Beloit tying for first in the conference. Didn't realize how many athletes that they returned and had some other scorers outside of Broomfield. Would of been at state under the old format with eight D1 teams making it to Madison. Madison Memorial 15-3- Had a bit of an up and down season and really should of gone undefeated in the conference with the talent that they had. Still won state though and in most people's eyes were the top team in the conference just didn't bring it night in and night out. Sun Prairie 14-4- For the most part had the season that I had predicted. only shocked was that they dropped two games to East but, for the most part beat the teams they should of beaten and split with the top two teams. Madison East 10-8- Didn't finish as good as I predicted but, probably did over achieve in reality. Hillard had an amazing year as expected winning Mr. Basketball but, didn't realize how small this team actually was. Middleton 10-8- Thought they could of been alittle better but, just didn't have an offensive game many nights. Only finished one game worse then what I thought. Verona 10-8- Actually hit this one on the head. This team lost a lot of talent from the previous year but, they have a such a strong program in Verona, you knew they couldn't drop a ton. Janesville Parker 6-12- A bit of a surprise here winning four more games then expected. Parker has been showing gradual improvements and could be a good sign for things to come. Janesville Craig 4-14- Had two more wins may of been because Lafollette and West were worse then I thought. Madison Lafollette 3-15- Didn't think Coach Williams would let them fall this much but, they did. Madison West 3-15- Only slightly worse then what I thought. The top half of teams just didn't dominate as much as I thought. My Predicted All Conference 1st Team All Conference Nimrod Hillard 6'0 senior Madison East- Lived up to the hype and captured the conference player of the year. Junior Lomomba 6'5 junior Madison Memorial- Had a great year but, Hillard was just better. Chris Hawkins 6'5 senior Sun Prairie- Feel he was screwed out of first team a bit and was put on the second team. Leketreius Broomfield 6'2 senior Beloit- Missed a good portion of the season including the end of the season which cost him any all conference consideration. Jamar Morris 6'5 junior Madison Memorial- Injury cost him nearly the entire season and all conference. 2nd Team All Conference Ian Joyce 6'6 senior Middleton- Earned third team which was probably what he deserved, wasn't the best player on his team. Nick Fuller 6'5 sophomore Sun Prairie- Had a huge break out year earning first team. Didn't realize how much he had improved from last year. Jordan Noskowiak 6'3 senior Sun Prairie- Basically played how I expected. An ultimate glue guy that does alittle bit of everything. Tre Burnette 6'4 senior Madison Memorial- Had a slow start but, had a big second half of the year and got the second team. Brendan Ortiz 5'11 sophomore Madison Memorial- Had a so so year and may of had a stronger freshmen year but, really showed up huge on the state level. Actual All Conference Nimrod Hillard IV -Sr , G - Madison East (Player of the Year) Junior Lomomba -Jr, G - Madison Memorial Nick Fuller - So, G/F - Sun Prairie Mike Weston - Sr, G - Beloit Memorial- An under the rader guy but, is a solid player that gets his points and rebounds every game. Creed Knutson - Sr, F - Janesville Parker- Have never seen him player but, put up some big scoring numbers throughout the year. 2nd TEAM Chris Hawkins - Sr, F –Sun Prairie Tre Burnette - Sr, G - Madison Memorial Seth Coyne - Sr, G - Middleton- Wasn't much of a scorer last year but, really put his team on his back at times on the offensive end. Jordan Noskowiak - Sr, G - Sun Prairie Danny Burns - Sr, G – Verona- Knew he was a very strong defensive player last year but, obviously really picked his game up on the offensive end. Those are my final thoughts for the Big Eight season. Within the next week will be looking to look at how my state rankings finished up and then taking a look at some of the top players that I saw this past season.