Why would someone feel a need to turn Dan Russ's honest statement of believe in his team into a shot at Bill Brown.  Thanks to the rest of you Wooster fans for congratulating Wittenberg.  These two teams are so evenly matched, so good and so contrasting in style, that they make being a fan fun, don't they.  

I say Dan Russ is player of the year, and it is great that Dane Borchers has decided to come back next year. Thank you to both teams for pushing each other to great play.

Miller is a great talent, but he has often self destructed against Wittenberg.  Has that not shown up against other teams?  Otherwise, let this weekend decide.  I still think Port is Wooster's most complete player.  (Is scoring the only thing that counts?)  If Wittenberg and Wooster get to the final game and if Dan Russ plays as he has in the past against Wooster, it would be hard to choose someone else.

On  another topic, it is great to see Mike DeWitt's team playing so well.  If they were not playing the Tigers, I would be rooting for them.   By the way, he also started his college basketball at Wittenberg.

There was a nice story in the Springfield News-Sun about Bill Brown yesterday. It noted that he is approaching the winning record of Larry Hunter, Wittenberg's winningest coach, probably next year or the year after.  What it described was a good human being who knows a lot about basketball and who really likes to win but also cares a lot about the rest of his players' lives.

Those of us who know Steve Moore, who is also a product of the Wittenberg tradition, know him to be a good human being who knows a lot about basketball and who really likes to win but also cares a lot about the rest of his players' lives.

We are lucky to be able to watch the result of the hard work of these two men.  You Brown bashers might want to think about that.

Wittenberg got back to winning last night against a good OWU team.  Two of the teams ranked above us lost to teams they should not have.  There are games yet to play before we might get to see game number three between Wooster and Wittenberg.  I know there are teams who would love to prevent that matchup, but it would be fun.

I stand by my earlier posts  The Wittenberg Athletic Director has acted in the past to stop ugly behavior.  He would have in this case too.   If you knew the Wittenberg Athletic Director and had seen him in action, you would know that.  You do not know but feel free to criticize anyway.  Maybe you have seen the Wooster Athletic Directors do something when their students yelled vulgar stuff.  I have not.  The adults need to exercise some leadership.  This kind of vulgar stuff is not necessary for fans to have fun and support their teams.

By the way as someone who lives in Springfield, I too was insulted by the homie sign.  James Cooper is a good young man and an outstanding player.  Springfield is proud of him and wishes him well.  Of course we Wittenberg fans just wish he would not do quite so well against Wittenberg.  Most of Wittenberg's students do good things in the community, but some are jerks.  I stated that early on.  Could we just agree that this behavor is stupid and urge both Athletic Departments to try to control it..   

I have no doubts that Wittenberg student fans can be just as much jerks as the Wooster students.  Wooster students have been similarly obnoxious in recent years.  Neither school can be very proud about it.  We recruit from the same pool, and such behavior is tolerated way too much these days.  What I said was that Witt's Athletic Director would act.  He did try to set the tone before the game.  He happened to be out of the gym getting more towels when the Witt students turned ugly.  If he had been there he would have acted as he has during earlier games this year.  My apologies for our students.

That was a great game by Wooster's team.  They were shooting 80% from the 3 point line for the first 25 minutes or so.  I know they are good but doubt they are that good.  Billy Bowen got right in Cooper's face when he guarded him and that seemed to work.  I assume he and teams who see the tape will adopt that approach again.  Obviously, we hope we get another shot at Wooster.  Both Wooster and Wittenberg seem to have played better at the other team's gym in recent years.  We can only hope so.

The value of athletics is not just learning how to win.  It is also learning what to do after you lose.  I think this Wittenberg team has the character to do that well.  We will see. Again, congratulations to Wooster and hope to see you down the road.

We must buy our tickets at Wooster when we get their.  I believe some tickets are saved for parents at each location.  Anyone can ask for a ticket in the visitors section at Wooster.  The area available to visiting teams has become smaller with less good seats each year.

By the way, I would expect that we will see Wittenberg's athletic director control fans a lot more than is true at Wooster where the students seem to get uglier and more profane each year.

I do not quite get the reaction of some of you Wooster fans to Bill Brown.  Those who know him know he would not be the source of the original story.  If anything he is too strait and narrow.  What has he ever done to lead you to be so critical of him except coach teams that beat Wooster about half of the time? 

By the way, there was a good story in today's Springfield News-Sun about James Cooper's relationship to one of his high school coaches and his academic success in college.  After all, that is what D3 is supposed to be about.  Perhaps the paper is doing a little penance.

Bill Brown basically believes in the strategy that Witt has used.  He thinks his guards have developed a greater capacity to defend out on the court. They will not help the big guys inside very much.

Offensively he probably thinks they were a little quick at times at Wooster.  However, Wittenberg does run the court if they think they can. Clearly he wants the big guys to get touches almost every time down the court. Obviously, it is not easy to dictate tempo to Wooster.

I assume he would like a lower score this time. We will see.

1.  While the refs could be criticized at last night's game with Earlham, I think Wittenberg has as much to complain about as Earlham, Dane Borchers in particular.  Fans always criticize refs?

2. Brandon Miller did commit the technical for number 3.  He still came out at the beginning of the second half contesting every shot at the basket.  That runs a high risk. Refs will sooner or later call one of those a foul. Why he did not sit after the fourth foul at least to kool down some is hard to understand.

3. Neither Miller nor James Cooper are likely to be POY. Miller is a very talented player but he just self destructs too often. James Cooper is a talented player and a great shooter, but as some of you Wooster fans noted a couple of weeks ago he has a way to go defensively. Steve Moore will probably change that in the next two years. Also, if he is not shooting well it effects the rest of his game. Apparently he has been shooting so well lately that that has not been a problem.

4. If Tom Port comes back at anything like his previous level, he or Dan Russ will probably be POY depending upon which team is most successful.

5. I hope Port is back for Saturday. Not only is the match between the outside game of Wooster and the inside game of Wittenberg great to watch, but the matchup of Port and Russ is classic. At Wooster Russ looked uncomfortable guarding Port out on the court, and Port had trouble stopping Russ inside.  It should be fun.