MBB: American Rivers Conference

[PainTrain]

Rumor has it that Coe wins despite Coach Juckem not being able to attend tonight's game due to his son having surgery. My thoughts and prayers are definitely with him and his family (see Charlie's post from awhile back...)

[Charlie Kohawk]

Speechless. Absolutely speechless. I saw it with my own eyes and I still don't believe it. If Axdahl had been any further out when he hit that 3 pointer, he would have been in the stands. Then on the other end he jumped about 20 feet in the air to block a shot. Amazing, gutty effort by the Kohawks tonight. Players and coaches talked to Juckem by cell phone after the game and his baby boy is reportedly doing fine. What a night!

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Speechless. Absolutely speechless.  What a night!

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!

[the_apprentice]

My vote for Coach of the Year, while worthless, goes to Brian Van Haaften.  This team loses like 90% some odd of last year's offense, took their lumps early in the year with a tough schedule, but is playing as good as anybody in the conference come February winning their last six and qualifying for the conference championship game for the seventh straight year.

Sounds like BV's focus on keeping Steege out of sync, while sacrificing some looks for Schmidt, worked out again. 

[coocooforcoekohawk]

    I told my best friend, who also graduated from Coe, that I was excited to go to the game last night.  He told me he couldn't get excited about Coe's basketball team when his high school team was better.  Now, his point is true.  His high school on the south side of Chicago could beat the Kohawks.  Between football and basketball they have over twenty kids in the NBA or NFL, including super bowl victor  Antwan Randal El. 
    However, if you weren't jumping out of your seat all game and couldn't get excited during  that game then you have no business calling yourself a basketball fan.  That was division III sports at it's absolute best. 
   
    12 ties
    17 lead changes

    Also, if you did not shed a tear last night when you got home and watched Axdahl's interview on KCRG talking about coach Juckem and the love that teams has for him then you have no business calling yourself a Kohawk.
    The passion at Eby last night was oozing through the floor boards and I have never been more proud to call myself a Kohawk!!!!!

If you are a Coe fan you owe it to yourself to be their on saturday.

COOCOOFORCOEKOHAWKS!!!!!!!!

[iacopp]

What a great game and great atmosphere at Eby Fieldhouse last night. I have to admit..,. as a fan of DIII basketball that this was one of the most exciting games I have seen in some time. It was a gutty effort by both teams! I did think that Coe got outcoached at times, but their athletes made up for that misgiving. I also have to say that it may have been one of the best officiated IA Conference games I have seen in quite some time as well. I can't say enough about how much fun it was to watch. I wish there could have been a bigger crowd from people in the area..., they definately missed out!!!

[Gregory Sager]

    I told my best friend, who also graduated from Coe, that I was excited to go to the game last night.  He told me he couldn't get excited about Coe's basketball team when his high school team was better.  Now, his point is true.  His high school on the south side of Chicago could beat the Kohawks.  Between football and basketball they have over twenty kids in the NBA or NFL, including super bowl victor  Antwan Randal El.

Your friend went to Thornton? It's actually in Harvey, a south suburb, rather than on Chicago's South Side. Thornton usually sends a couple of players per year on to full D1 rides, sometimes more, with a lot of other kids going D2 or to top jucos. They've got a senior named Joevon Catron who's going to Oregon next year who will most likely tear up the Pac-10. When Antwaan Randle El was there he was teammates with Napoleon Harris of the Minnesota Vikings and Melvin Ely of the Charlotte Bobcats. That Thornton team finished second in the state three years running.

However, it's a stretch to say that most Thornton teams would beat good D3 teams (I might make an exception for the Randle El/Harris/Ely teams from Thornton). I don't know where Coe stands in all this, but the fact remains that 16- and 17-year-olds don't have the physical and mental maturity of college players, nor do they have the discipline and the basketball savvy of a good D3 team.

[sc_stormchaser]

sportsknight- I'm assuming WB students will receive a full $15 refund on their bus pass to CR for tomorrow night. 

Was it just me, or did everyone know that WB was going to lose after announcing the presale on bus tickets?

[Charlie Kohawk]

it may have been one of the best officiated IA Conference games I have seen in quite some time as well.

I agree iacopp. I was quite pleased with how the officials conducted themselves and that they didn't influence the outcome. I can't think of a single blown call and they seemed to call it the same at both ends of the court. Iowa Conference officiating is consistent only in its inconsistency, but the crew that worked the Coe-Simpson game was superb.

[RBM]

SC__Stormchaser.......I couldn't agree more.  The second that I saw Wartburg had already announced a pre-sale for bus/game tickets for the championship, I had a feeling that they were gonna lose.  This college basketball, conference tournament, kids potentially playing their last games ever........nothing is a given when those factors are mixed together.

[sportsknight]

First of all, Wartburg the school had nothing to do with getting the bus together.  It was all the work of the "Knights Basketball 6th Man" a student group that wanted to see a big Wartburg crowd at the Championship game had Wartburg made it.

Secondly, one day would not be near enough time to reserve a charter bus for a trip like that.  The way it was, I got one of the last two buses Hawkeye Stages had available.  That was calling on Monday.  Had we waited till today, the odds of a bus being available would have been slim.

Third, if you want to believe in jinxes or whatever, that's fine.  But I highly doubt that our organizing a bus trip affected the Knights play one bit.  Give BV credit, the start they got off to and their advantage on the boards were probably what won them the game.  But the way the game was officiated didn't hurt the Beavers.  There are so many good refs in this league that if baffles me that the conference office would put two of the worse ones on the same crew for a conference tournament game.

[The Show]

The Knights out-rebounded the Beavers by 10.

I'd say the 3 for 21 shooting beyond the arc was the difference, compared to 13 of 23 the last time BV played at Wartburg.

the_apprentice hit the nail on the head...

Sounds like BV's focus on keeping Steege out of sync, while sacrificing some looks for Schmidt, worked out again. 

BV had 6 more fouls called on them and only 2 less turnovers than Wartburg.  I'm only going by the box score, but it doesn't appear that officiating was lopsided...

[sc_stormchaser]

First, take a deep breathe...secondly, I was just messing with you...third, call the Beaver Den, maybe they'll take the bus off your hands.

[The Show]

BV will need a similar perimeter defensive effort to have a chance at Coe on Saturday. Should be a great game!

[coocooforcoekohawk]

I don't know where Coe stands in all this, but the fact remains that 16- and 17-year-olds don't have the physical and mental maturity of college players, nor do they have the discipline and the basketball savvy of a good D3 team.

Your point is taken, I just wanted to let my fellow alumni know it was exciting to be in Eby last night.