Quote from: izzy stradlin on November 19, 2015, 02:20:58 AMQuote from: AndOne on November 18, 2015, 10:57:40 PMQuote from: GoPerry on November 18, 2015, 08:08:28 AMWheaton appears to not have much inside presence at all either on the offensive or, especially, on the defensive end of the floor.
Wheaton goes down to BenU, 76-61.
I would have to say this went fairly according to script with few surprises on the stat sheet. Coach Schauer certainly has some talent but it's all at the 1-2-3 positions with the exception of Michael Berg who is a 3/4 playing 5. Therefore there's little defensive answer for a team with any size and bulk. Luke Johnson, Tim Reamer and Adam Reynolds pretty much had their way down on the block. I thought Berg did a decent job on Johnson but the others were being defended by a wing player like Murad Dillard, Trae Masten or Ricky Samuelson. Wheaton was -15 in rebounding, 43-28, and I'm pretty sure points in the paint was very lopsided the Eagles way.
Offensively the Thunder basically run a 3 or 4 guard offense. Berg still does post up some and while I think he's better than last year, it's still not his most effective area of comfort. Dillard could be quite a handful down low if he can develop his skills just a bit more. Otherwise, everything else is from the perimeter. They have weapons- Masten can simply fill it up from the 3 point arc, Samuelson is a good outside shooter, Teuscher also. But you are relying on your team to shoot 48-50% or higher from the field in order to have a chance at winning and that is a tall order night in and night out.
Tahron Harvey had a nice game for BenU while Blasczcyk was just cold all night. They come at you with a very balanced attack. Based on last night's game, they are entirely legit to be among the NACC favorites and perhaps deserving of some ORV, but I don't see them beating EC next week.
I feel like this is something we have been saying for the last 5+years.
Compared to Bill Harris front-courts such as:
Frank-Senik-Seneff
Hamann-Moo-Collins
Kolmodin-Landry-Steven
Wiele-Carwell-McCrary
(I had forgotten how strong Wheaton used to be down low)
Wheaton hasn't had anything remotely resembling these since 2009. For whatever reason, Mike Schauer simply hasn't been able to recruit big-men like his predecessor.
Long time reader, first time poster here. I think GoPerry is exactly right with one caveat. I've watched Wheaton basketball for decades and all those trios of big men listed have one thing in common: Nate Frank. While Nate was involved with the Thunder program (as player and coach), Wheaton had some good big men recruits and players developing. There's something to be said for having a post coach on staff who has experience and can teach the fundamentals, as well as command a room when he visits post player recruits. I don't remember exact details on when Nate left the bench, but I believe it was after the Nate Haynes/Tyler Peters recruiting class.
Coach Schauer and staff are very equipped to recruit and develop post players. You can observe that Wheaton is always disciplined and well-coached on both ends of the floor. But there is something to be said for having an experienced, talented post coach who has played at this level to keep the post depth strong.