Chris Siebert’s game is like that proverbial box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
The Lawrence University men’s basketball standout could score 25 points one night, hand out double-digit assists another night or lead the team in rebounds or steals another night.
“He’s a guy who has more than one dimension and that’s rare at this level,” Lawrence coach Joel DePagter said of Siebert. “That’s a huge need for a team that wants to do anything.
“There are days where he’s our best shooter. There are days when he’s been our best defender. He did a great job on a kid from Monmouth on a night when he shot the ball terribly. … Those are things that don’t show up in the box score.”
Siebert leads the Vikings in scoring at 17.4 points per game, and that ranks fifth in the Midwest Conference. The 6-foot-2 guard from Baraboo, Wis., also is among the league leaders in a number of other categories.
Siebert is first in free-throw percentage (87.7), fourth in assists (3.9 per game), eighth in steals (1.5 per game), ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1), 15th in 3-point shooting (37.9 percent) and 20th in rebounding (4.8 per game).
“I’ve always kind of tried to hone my skills as an all-around player. I used to be way more of a shooter,” Siebert said. “I like to think of myself as an all-around player. I want to be a guy who can defend the other team’s best guys, distribute the ball, get to the rim and shoot it. You don’t want to have a glaring weakness. You want to be solid everywhere.”
Siebert has scored at least 20 points in a game six times in Lawrence’s first 14 games, and he’s done it in three of the last four contests. He also recorded 13 assists, the second-highest game total in school history, against Grinnell College on Jan. 13. Siebert, who enters Wednesday’s games at St. Norbert having made 34 consecutive free throws, also had a double-digit rebounding game with 10 at Illinois College on Dec. 2.
Siebert is the only player on the team to have recorded double-digits in three different categories this season.
“Chris could potentially get close (to a triple-double) every night. He doesn’t need to score 25 points for us to win,” DePagter said.
“Chris is a guy who has all the ability in the world. For him, it’s just a matter of not trying to do too much too often.”
With the dynamic nature of his game, Siebert could certainly be considered for all-conference honors and maybe even a look as the conference Player of the Year. Win, said Siebert, and accolades will come your way.
“Winning is the most important thing. If you team doesn’t make the conference tournament or isn’t in contention to make the conference tournament, you might be overlooked,” Siebert said.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it, but it’s all about winning. If we made the conference tournament and have a good finish here, everything will take care of itself.”
DePagter believes Siebert is already at the level that makes him one of the Midwest Conference’s premier players.
“No matter how we do this year as a team, he should be in the discussion,” DePagter said. “He’s in the top five in so many categories in the league. He should be in that conversation or he hasn’t worked hard enough or I haven’t pushed him hard enough. (Player of the Year) should be his goal. That’s a very attainable goal for him.”
Critical hockey series
The Lawrence hockey team faces a critical series when it comes to positioning for the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. The Vikings go to Northland College this weekend trailing the Lumberjacks by one point in the standings.
Lawrence swept the Lumberjacks in a series in Appleton back in November, and the Vikings have an impressive recent record against Northland. Lawrence has won six straight and 32 of the last 35 against Northland, which is dramatically improved over the past three seasons.
Voice of the Vikings too
Legendary Wisconsin broadcaster Jim Irwin passed away on Sunday at age 77 after a battle with metastatic cancer. While Irwin was known as the voice of Green Bay Packers football, he also broadcast Lawrence football in the mid-1960s.
Irwin began broadcasting Packers football in 1969 and did so until retiring after calling Super Bowl XXXII in 1998. Irwin, who also called University of Wisconsin football for 22 years and Milwaukee Bucks basketball for 16 years, took a job as the sports director at WLUK-TV in Green Bay in 1964.
During his time in Green Bay, Irwin called Lawrence football games on an Appleton radio station, according to a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Beloit trims sports
Beloit College announced this week that it would be dropping men’s tennis and men’s golf due to a lack of participation. Men’s tennis is done effective immediately, and men’s golf will end after the spring season is completed in May.
The Bucs have had trouble fielding full teams in those sports in recent years. Beloit hasn’t won a Midwest Conference title in men’s tennis since 1951 and hasn’t won a title in men’s golf since 1962.
Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.