MBB: American Rivers Conference

[Hoosiersfan2323]

There are 4 ARC players who made d3hoops.com preseason all-america teams.

Ryan Garver (NWU) - 2nd team
Nate Schimonitz (NWU) - 3rd team
Cooper Cook (NWU) - 3rd team
Josh Ruggles (Loras) - Honorable Mention

Good publicity for the ARC - surprised that Ruggles (Co-POY with Garvey) is suddenly behind Schimonitz & Cook, but that's what winning the national title will do for you.

And winning the national championship is exactly why you should not be surprised. 

Besides that, I think Ruggles is widely renowned for his scoring and 3 point shooting where Schimonitz, and especially Cook, are viewed as more complete players and players whose contributions come more often at critical junctures of a game than do Ruggles'. Also, while Ruggles is a great 3 point shooter and scorer, he had like 5 teammates who started or played significant minutes who had better overall shooting percentages. And, while he may be an above average or even good defender, I've not heard or read of his name being associated with defense. Completely accurate or not, you hear the name 'Ruggles' and you think exceptional 3 point shooter, and high scorer. So while he may very well be more of a complete player, I think the general perception of him basically ends with the tag of great long range shooter. He may then be a victim of the concept of perception being reality.

Defense is a fair complaint, as he's certainly not known for it, but the line about the shooting percentage is inaccurate. Had he made one more shot on the season, I believe he would have been the only player in the country to hit 90/50/40 numbers (of all players with qualifying # of attempts). Looking at Loras #s from last year, three Duhawk players who played over a quarter of the game on average posted higher shooting % numbers, two of whom were big men (so, to be expected because most of their shots are layups), and one was Rowan McGowen (#2 in the country in 3PT%, took just over half as many shots as Ruggles).

Additionally, perhaps you're right about perception not matching reality, as Ruggles also added 5 RPG & 4 APG on top of arguably the most efficient all-around scoring numbers in the country - more rebounds than Schmonitz & more assists than Cook with nearly 20 less turnovers than both. Again, can understand the NWU players getting much-deserved love, but your comparisons are off-base.

[dunkin3117]

Wartburg taking on UNI tomorrow. Anyone going to be in attendance or know if it will be streamed online anywhere? 

[dunkin3117]

Wartburg defeated by UNI 110-69.  Freshman Spencer Touro led the way with 17 on 5-7 shooting from 3.  Sabus knotched 15 while fellow senior Kickbush had 3 on 1-9 shooting. 

Only other notable exhibition will be Coe at Drake.  Haven't heard or seen any other exhibitions/scrimmages from around the league. 

[AndOne]

There are 4 ARC players who made d3hoops.com preseason all-america teams.

Ryan Garver (NWU) - 2nd team
Nate Schimonitz (NWU) - 3rd team
Cooper Cook (NWU) - 3rd team
Josh Ruggles (Loras) - Honorable Mention

Good publicity for the ARC - surprised that Ruggles (Co-POY with Garvey) is suddenly behind Schimonitz & Cook, but that's what winning the national title will do for you.

And winning the national championship is exactly why you should not be surprised. 

Besides that, I think Ruggles is widely renowned for his scoring and 3 point shooting where Schimonitz, and especially Cook, are viewed as more complete players and players whose contributions come more often at critical junctures of a game than do Ruggles'. Also, while Ruggles is a great 3 point shooter and scorer, he had like 5 teammates who started or played significant minutes who had better overall shooting percentages. And, while he may be an above average or even good defender, I've not heard or read of his name being associated with defense. Completely accurate or not, you hear the name 'Ruggles' and you think exceptional 3 point shooter, and high scorer. So while he may very well be more of a complete player, I think the general perception of him basically ends with the tag of great long range shooter. He may then be a victim of the concept of perception being reality.

Defense is a fair complaint, as he's certainly not known for it, but the line about the shooting percentage is inaccurate. Had he made one more shot on the season, I believe he would have been the only player in the country to hit 90/50/40 numbers (of all players with qualifying # of attempts). Looking at Loras #s from last year, three Duhawk players who played over a quarter of the game on average posted higher shooting % numbers, two of whom were big men (so, to be expected because most of their shots are layups), and one was Rowan McGowen (#2 in the country in 3PT%, took just over half as many shots as Ruggles).

Additionally, perhaps you're right about perception not matching reality, as Ruggles also added 5 RPG & 4 APG on top of arguably the most efficient all-around scoring numbers in the country - more rebounds than Schmonitz & more assists than Cook with nearly 20 less turnovers than both. Again, can understand the NWU players getting much-deserved love, but your comparisons are off-base.

Not sure about those comparisons being very far "off base."

* Schimonitz was injured to begin the season and was limited to 23 games—10 less than NWU played—during which he surely would have secured many more rebounds.

* Comparing Cook to Ruggles is apples to oranges. Ruggles is a guard whereas Cook is a forward who would not be expected to have the ball-handling and passing skills of a guard. That a forward playing the minutes Cook does has more TOs should not be surprising. 

[Hoosiersfan2323]

There are 4 ARC players who made d3hoops.com preseason all-america teams.

Ryan Garver (NWU) - 2nd team
Nate Schimonitz (NWU) - 3rd team
Cooper Cook (NWU) - 3rd team
Josh Ruggles (Loras) - Honorable Mention

Good publicity for the ARC - surprised that Ruggles (Co-POY with Garvey) is suddenly behind Schimonitz & Cook, but that's what winning the national title will do for you.

And winning the national championship is exactly why you should not be surprised. 

Besides that, I think Ruggles is widely renowned for his scoring and 3 point shooting where Schimonitz, and especially Cook, are viewed as more complete players and players whose contributions come more often at critical junctures of a game than do Ruggles'. Also, while Ruggles is a great 3 point shooter and scorer, he had like 5 teammates who started or played significant minutes who had better overall shooting percentages. And, while he may be an above average or even good defender, I've not heard or read of his name being associated with defense. Completely accurate or not, you hear the name 'Ruggles' and you think exceptional 3 point shooter, and high scorer. So while he may very well be more of a complete player, I think the general perception of him basically ends with the tag of great long range shooter. He may then be a victim of the concept of perception being reality.

Defense is a fair complaint, as he's certainly not known for it, but the line about the shooting percentage is inaccurate. Had he made one more shot on the season, I believe he would have been the only player in the country to hit 90/50/40 numbers (of all players with qualifying # of attempts). Looking at Loras #s from last year, three Duhawk players who played over a quarter of the game on average posted higher shooting % numbers, two of whom were big men (so, to be expected because most of their shots are layups), and one was Rowan McGowen (#2 in the country in 3PT%, took just over half as many shots as Ruggles).

Additionally, perhaps you're right about perception not matching reality, as Ruggles also added 5 RPG & 4 APG on top of arguably the most efficient all-around scoring numbers in the country - more rebounds than Schmonitz & more assists than Cook with nearly 20 less turnovers than both. Again, can understand the NWU players getting much-deserved love, but your comparisons are off-base.

Not sure about those comparisons being very far "off base."

* Schimonitz was injured to begin the season and was limited to 23 games—10 less than NWU played—during which he surely would have secured many more rebounds.

* Comparing Cook to Ruggles is apples to oranges. Ruggles is a guard whereas Cook is a forward who would not be expected to have the ball-handling and passing skills of a guard. That a forward playing the minutes Cook does has more TOs should not be surprising.

Apologies, the numbers I listed were per game - as in a Ruggles averaged more RPG than Schimonitz, regardless of how many games he played. Additionally, the fact that Schimonitz played significantly fewer games makes Ruggles having far fewer total turnovers that much more impressive.

I notice you ignored the shooting numbers, too - which was a pretty key point in your original post. I can agree with your point that the perception surrounding Ruggles appears not to be reality in this case, as the numbers show.

[duckfan41]

Loras kicking off the games portion of the schedule (kind of) with a scrimmage at D2 Augustana University (Also the Vikings like the CCIW's Augustana). Loras was chosen specifically by the AU coaching staff because "they will give us fits" according to the head coach. No stream available which is disappointing but I look forward to seeing how Loras stacks up against a solid Augustana squad that graduated essentially their entire rotation from the year before.

[Hoosiersfan2323]

Loras kicking off the games portion of the schedule (kind of) with a scrimmage at D2 Augustana University (Also the Vikings like the CCIW's Augustana). Loras was chosen specifically by the AU coaching staff because "they will give us fits" according to the head coach. No stream available which is disappointing but I look forward to seeing how Loras stacks up against a solid Augustana squad that graduated essentially their entire rotation from the year before.

Loras goes into D2 Augustana and wins an exhibition game 81-76. Senior Ryan DiCanio led the team with 20 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds while senior Demond George & sophomore Rowan McGowen added 14. Solid exhibition win for the Duhawks.

[Smitty Oom]

Impressive... Augustana has been very solid in the past couple years in the D2 level, even winning the national championship a couple years ago. However, they were only .500 last year with a couple good seniors graduating. Either way I am excited to watch the Duhawks this year and make a splash on the national level!

[rlgyank]

Nebraska Wesleyan plays at Doane University tonight in an exhibition game for them, but a game that counts for Doane. This is a continuation of a long time rivalry. Last year they played in Lincoln in a game that counted for both teams. Time to get the season rolling.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Welcome to the 2018-19 Division III basketball season!

The season also gets tipped off a week earlier than normal as the new start is now November 8. With an earlier start date comes an earlier start (and more total shows) for Hoopsville as well.

On the season debut of the 16th season of Hoopsville, Dave McHugh will chat with the two preseason top picks, and defending champions, along with a coach who made a big move in the offseason.

Dave will also talk about a lot of the hot topics entering the season including not only normal coaching changes, but also last minute changes including in the Top 10 of women's basketball.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. Sunday's debut will hit the air at 7:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the show here: http://bit.ly/2PHzL3o

If you have questions about Division III basketball, feel free to send them and we will answer them on a the show. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com or share them on social media.

Guests Schedule (order subject to change):
- Dale Wellman, No. 1 Nebraska Wesleyan men's head coach
- Pat Juckem, WashU men's head coach
- G.P. Gromacki, No. 1 Amherst women's head coach

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts instead, you can get access to them or subscribe one of the three following ways (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville




Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #Hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/d3hoopsville

[dunkin3117]

Opening week is here.  Looking at the schedule, there will be a couple of barn burners night one.  Nebraska Wesleyan (ranked #8 in ppg at 95.5) is at home against Grinnell (ranked #2 in ppg at 111) while Loras (ranked 10th in ppg at 93.3) hosts Greenville (#1 in ppg at 126).    Anticipate scoreboards being lit up in those two contests.  Night one also see Dubuque traveling to Milikin.

Over the weekend
Coe travels to Iowa Wesleyan, who could be seeing their final season as a program.
Central hosts UW-River Falls.
Greenville stays in Dubuque to take on UD.
Bethany Lutheran travels to Indianola to face off with Simpson.

[AndOne]

Nebraska Wesleyan plays at Doane University tonight in an exhibition game for them, but a game that counts for Doane. This is a continuation of a long time rivalry. Last year they played in Lincoln in a game that counted for both teams. Time to get the season rolling.

Many moons ago when I was a NWU Plainsman, we regularly played Doane, a fellow member of the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC), the predecessor of the GPAC. To say Doane was our most hated rival was as huge of an understatement as is possible. Pure, unadulterated hatred was the watchword. In 7 of 8 games a fight ensued. It was more a question of when than if. No mere pushing/shoving allowed. Swing for the fences only. A couple of times it was just one player from each team. A couple more it was two on two. But I'm pretty sure I remember 3 separate occasions where just about all 10 of the players on the floor were involved, including one where several guys from each bench felt compelled to join in. Football without pads. Each game featured several members of the police department stationed around the court. However, when the fisticuffs broke out, the gendarmes still couldn't get there before a couple of very solid blows were landed. Guys frequently had bruises that lasted for weeks. Fun times. 😏

[duckfan41]

I'll be tuning in tonight for the Loras and Greenville contest in Dubuque. Two high-octane and uptempo offenses promise a high final score in the opener for both squads. Should be a good one!

[duckfan41]

Loras and Greenville did not disappoint last night in Dubuque. Loras clamped down on defense and found much better looks in the second half to pull away to a 147-129 win.

Key guys for Loras:
Ruggles: 39 points (17 from the charity stripe), 8 rebounds, 8 assists
DiCanio: 29 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists
McGowan: 21 points 11 rebounds
Boyd: 18 points 8 rebounds

And Demond George did not necessarily stuff the stat sheet, but he took several key charges and made many stops on his own on the defensive end that helped Loras gain momentum and eventually pull away. Greenville was owning this game early on, and forced a ton of turnovers with their full court pressure. JT Ford got the brunt of that pressure all night turning the ball over 12 times in only 24 minutes of action.

X-Factor tonight was easily Jordan Boyd. He came in off the bench for his first collegiate minutes and made his presence known with two monster dunks in transition. This kid is the real deal and I think earned himself many more minutes with how he played last night. He's big, fast, strong, and rebounds like a madman which is something this Loras team needs on the floor consistently.

Ruggles started off cold, but got to the line early and often, like the rest of the Duhawks as they went 40-47 as a team compared to Greenville's 31-47. This Loras team is very good, but they just needed a half to get the first game jitters out. I look forward to following them closely all season.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Just a comment about ... oddities.

Loras clamped down on defense while giving up 129 in the win?