sounds like a couple exciting endings in the cciw tonight.  How did Carthage get the ball to Steve so deep for him to hit a 2 after a basket in two seconds?  You would think they would make it very difficult for him to catch the ball let alone in the front court. 

Did I also see that there were only 100 people in attendance at North Central?

Quote from: tjcummingsfan on January 27, 2008, 01:05:21 AM

Quote from: spencer44 on January 27, 2008, 12:52:03 AM
The lane violation on Gant was a lane violation.  I'm not sure about the offensive foul but it only helped North Park.  The ref was right when he indicated that the made shot was after the buzzer.  If they don't call the foul, North Park has no chance to win as time expired before they got their last shot off.

The shot absolutely went through before the buzzer.

We can agree to disagree on that one.  It was a hard played game on both sides.

The lane violation on Gant was a lane violation.  I'm not sure about the offensive foul but it only helped North Park.  The ref was right when he indicated that the made shot was after the buzzer.  If they don't call the foul, North Park has no chance to win as time expired before they got their last shot off.

Quote from: Titan Q on January 13, 2008, 08:13:16 PM

Quote from: OurHouse on January 13, 2008, 07:58:06 PM
I hate to say this but a FRESHMEN beat IWU - lets not keep talking about freshmen this and freshmen that - this is my 13th game and this Sean Dwyer kid should be playing in an overtime game, sorry. He also should be logging alot more minutes in future games if they are going to win against and good CCIW teams.

....and lets not forget to compare where these freshman originate - 4A vs 5A vs 6A
6A is the toughest and that is where this Sean kid is from. Come on now boys.

I have been looking at game re-caps and he has played half the minutes and scoring almost just as many points to those playing more - Come on now boys.

Just the facts - jmho~

OurHouse, I am a big Sean Dwyer fan too, but you continue to come across as a fool here. 

-jmho~

Mr. Dwyer, I know you think your son should be starting.  It is hard to be objective as a father but please try.

Our House is obviously a relative of Sean Dwyers.  I think Sean is a great kid and a decent player.  If I were Sean, I would ask that person not to be so blatant on his praise of Sean while criticizing teammates and the head coach.

Sean is too class to let someone else make him look bad.

Quote from: OurHouse on December 30, 2007, 03:53:57 PM

Quote from: Titan Q on December 30, 2007, 11:15:56 AM

Quote from: Late nite on December 30, 2007, 10:49:13 AM
Q---From the scores of the Titan games, it appears that the current group is very similar to past teams---Try to outscore the other team and don't worry too much about the defensive end---Is this true?---The least amount of points given up in a game has been 66 points---That may lead to some success in non-conference games, but may be a problem in the CCIW---Youth has something to do with it, but surrendering 80 plus points to any opponent is more scheme and execution---Your thoughts

While Illinois Wesleyan has been an offense-oriented team as long as I've been around the program, I think the suggestion that the Titans "don't worry too much about the defensive end" is a little bit of a myth.  Here are opponent FG% numbers for IWU's four Final Four teams, for example:

2005-06: .422
2000-01: .423
1996-97: .424
1995-96: .425

Last year's CCIW leader in FG% defense was North Central (.431 in 26 games), followed by Augustana (.436 in 28 games).  North Central was also the leader in 2005-06 (.421 in 28 games), followed by Illinois Wesleyan (.422 in 32 games).

IWU certainly has never been a team built around defense, like Augustana under Coach G, but I think Dennie Bridges and Scott Trost-led Titan teams were a lot better defensively than people realize.  IWU has always been an up-tempo team, which leads to a lot of field goal attempts...field goal attempts obviously lead to points and scores in the 70's, as opposed to the 60's.

I don't think opponent FG% is the perfect and only measure of team defense, but I think just looking at opponent PPG can be misleading.

This Titan team is poor defensively right now.  From what I see, it is simply just a matter of an inexperienced group of perimeter players trying to learn how to play man-to-man defense at the college level.  IWU's 5 perimeter players in the rotation are:

Travis Rosenkranz (freshman)
Sean Johnson (freshman)
Jordan Morris (junior who started 7 games last year)
Matt Schick (freshman)
Sean Dwyer (sophomore who missed his FR year with injury)


Ron Rose has stuck with man-to-man almost exclusively, not bailing them out by trying to play zone, and I like that.  That's the only way they're going to get better...and I think they will with more experience and more muscle and strength.

Titan Q:

I saw the game last night and there are only a FEW players (perimeter & post) that can play defense - when you let a great shooter get into rhythm early, it is tough to stop the momentum even when others try to come in to help (mistake by Rose)

Rose will need to STOP starting Sean Johnson and or Travis Rosenkranz if he wants to win and be a contender (cannot wait to see if they develop or not)....they need to come out intense from the tipoff - here is my assessment of your list above:

1) Sean Johnson CANNOT play defense
2) Travis Rosenkranz does NOT have the athletic body to play "yet")
3) Matt Schick is too light
4) Jordan Morris has potential
5) Sean Dwyer is a great defensive player but needs to get into basketball game shape

The post players DO NOT play alot of HELP defense - they need a leader from the start of tip off - there are too many players worried about who is starting and who is not (Rose needs to play the BEST players and forget favoring those that he recruited)....if things do not change soon, I will rank Rose as ONLY a high-school coach. A great college coach needs to do what it takes to WIN and not worry about stuff around him!!!!

I still don't understand why Sean Johnson is a starter - I see him as coming in off the bench as a role player. IWU is NOT a great 3 point shooting team as compared to others I have seen so they need to get it done on defense or it will be a LONG season, PERIOD

jmho~