Top 25 talk

[True Basketball Fan]

All this talk about Oshkosh, they haven't done anything yet.  Too much hype killed the......whatever, you know what I mean.  I don't doubt their talent, but let's give them some breathing room before we stick them next to IWU, and all those expectations.

[Mr. Ypsi]

TBF (and Hoops Fan),

Yeah, I know what you mean!  I can't help but wonder if that is at least partly the explanation for IWU.

With that incredible class (augmented by a nearly as incredible class the next year), I confess that I was disappointed they didn't reach the final four in 04, and shocked they didn't make it out of the first round in 05 - though, I repeat, losing to Hanover was NOT exactly like losing to Cal Tech!).  With hopes that Scott Trost doesn't allow his players to access this site, I'm gonna be totally bummed if they don't win it all this year! 

Since I'm sure my sentiments are not confined to d3hoops.com, yes, that is pressure!  Ease up on Oshkosh, and I'll try to ease up on the Titans (I suspect they feel exactly the same way I do, but are too savvy to say so)!

[True Basketball Fan]

Even if IWU doesn't win it all this year, it wouldn't be fair or intelligent to call the careers of Dauksas and Amelianovich anything less than outstanding.  Anybody that disagrees needs to sit and think about, or better yet write down, all of the great teams and players who fell short of a national championship.  If your list is less than one page long then you don't really know basketball well enough to label anybody as failures.

Anyway, I think their chances are good.  I just hope they don't doubt their ability and let the past haunt them when things get tough, and let the snobby IWU fans and alumni (some of them) get in their heads about how they're supposed win it all, because "We are Illinois Wesleyan".  Last time I checked they've won it all a few times in the past century.  That hardly qualifies for anybody to complain about the "problems at Illinois Wesleyan", I think they are doing quite well, better than most in fact.

[Mr. Ypsi]

TBF,

Actually, we've only 'won it' once (we were NAIA until 1980[?], and kept getting knocked out by schools that are now NCAA d2 or d1).

But just like my d1 football fave (Michigan, who has also only 'won it' once in the last 55 years [though, unofficially, 10 times before that!]), we're almost always IN THE HUNT - I can live with that ALMOST the king, even if we don't make it this year (though I'd STILL be bummed!). 

And you're right - regardless of what happens, Dauksas and Amelianovich will go down as all-time greats!  I once wondered whether or not Keelan could even match up with Jack Sikma, but have since come to my senses and realized that for a d3 school, Jack was a once-in-a-lifetime (millenium?) player.

But (warning to all d3 opponents!) even if they don't do it this year, watch out for the Jones twins, et. al., next year - the Titans national championship came the year AFTER the 'greatest senior class ever' graduated! 

[True Basketball Fan]

You are absolutely right, the Jones twins are downright scary.  Also, don't forget about Freeman, he's no slouch.  Throw a few decent guards around them (ones that will distribute them the ball all the time!) and the Titans will not drop off much from contending again.

[Titan Q]

Chris and Cory Jones graduate from Illinois Wesleyan this year.  The returning twins next season will be the Freeman's - Zach & Andrew. 

IWU's senior class is...

Adam Dauksas* (2005 CCIW M.O.P.)
Keelan Amelianovich* (2004 CCIW M.O.P.)
Cory Jones*
Matt Arnold*
Chris Jones
Jason Fisher
Steve Schweer
Mike McGraw

* Returning starters

(Junior Zach Freeman is the other returning starter.)

This group attempts to lead IWU to something that has not been accomplished in the CCIW in 30+ years and only twice in league history - 4 consecutive conference titles.  (Augustana won 4 in a row from 1971 to 1974 and Wheaton from 1956 to 1959.) 

Dauksas will be a 4th-year starter this season - he helped the Luke Kasten/Seth Hubbard/John Camardella group win the league his freshman year.  The rest of the Titan senior class has been in the mix the last two seasons.

Whatever this group accomplishes this year is just icing on the cake of a great ride in my eyes.  I've seen too many very good teams come up short in the playoffs to know that the stars really all have to align properly to get to Salem.  IWU's 1989-90 team that lost to DePauw in the Elite Eight...the 1994-95 team that lost to Steve Alford's Manchester team in the Elite Eight...last year's Titan team that got knocked out by Hanover...all talented enough to win a national championship.  Same goes for Hanover's teams the last two years...Trinity (TX) last year...Wash U in 2002-03...Wooster in 2003-04...etc, etc. 

A Final Four run requires a lot of things - including a lot of luck - to all come together at the same time.  I think of IWU's Final Four teams of 1996, 1997, and 2001 and all of the bounces of the ball here and there that could have sent them home.  Heck, the 1997 IWU national title team needed a 12 foot, baseline, from halfway behind the backboard shot by Bryan Crabtree in the final seconds to beat Rose-Hulman in the 2nd Round (at home).  Or the 1996 team that lost to Rowan in the national semifinal game on one of the most improbable tip-ins you will ever see.  I'm sure the UW-Stevens Point fans who saw the game vs Lawrence @ Puget Sound in 2004 can tell us about bounces of the ball too.

If the 2005-06 Titans get to Salem, great.  If not, this IWU fan will enjoy the ride provided by this group.  They are fun to watch because of how hard they play game-in and game-out.

[True Basketball Fan]

Sorry about the mistake, I didn't realize that the Jones are graduating already.  It seems like I was just watching them in high school.  Where does the time go!?  Nevertheless, the Freeman twins are equally scary.

Good for you, Titan Q.  You are true fan who appreciates the success of your team and doesn't measure their worth by how many rings are on their fingers (National Championship ones, not CCIW, they have plenty of those!).  I'd applaud you if I could but I don't have enough posts......yet. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Q,

I'll give you the karma that TBF couldn't!    My way of making up for that brain fart (I keep thinking the Freemans are the seniors and the Joneses are the juniors - I'll keep it straight someday!).

To amend my earlier warning to d3 opponents: even if IWU falls short THIS year, watch out for SOME pair of twins, et. al.; the Titans' national title came during what was viewed by most as a 'rebuilding' year! 

[True Basketball Fan]

What about Whitewater?  Weren't they ranked last year for awhile?  I know they lost a few guys, but Pat Miller always comes up with a ringer or two every year via DI transfer or something.  I could see them being the 3rd team from the WIAC in the TOP 25.  Platteville and Stout were also ranked last year, but I find it hard to believe there will be 5 WIAC teams in the TOP 25.

Where will Hanover land this year?  I know they lost their All-American guard.  They couldn't be in the TOP ten in again, could they?

[Titan Q]

Hanover lost shooting guard Matt Moore, post player Tommy Dennis, and forward Ryan Lanning to graduation, but they will still be a very good team this season.  Top 15 caliber probably.

6-7/215 sophomore Robby Brown started to get a lot of P.T. at the end of last season - he is big and he is going to be a player.  Sophomore guard Clint Parker also saw time down the stretch of his freshman year.

The Panthers return point-guard Nate Minyard, 6-4 forward Ben Lye (who has rarely started in his career, but may be their best player), and 6-3 small forward Brian Chrin.  They have plenty to contend in the HCAC.

Hanover's system is really all about interchangeable parts.  Of any team I can think of, they probably have the most ability to be consistently good from year to year because they never seem to rely on just one or two players.

[True Basketball Fan]

I figured you'd know, considering they've had IWU's number the last couple of seasons.  

[Gregory Sager]

Ease up on Oshkosh, and I'll try to ease up on the Titans

Just as an FYI, Chuck, UW-Oshkosh's nickname is the Titans.

Welcome to my world, re: having a school relevant to a discussion share the nickname of your alma mater. A day doesn't go by on CCIW Chat when I don't feel some niggling irritation over the fact that both North Park and Augustana are called the Vikings. It's not that I'm that turf-conscious regarding the nickname -- I've even suggested that NPU should be the "bigger" school in terms of gallantry by abandoning the nickname and calling itself the Fighting Swedes instead. It's just an inconvenience, similar to the inconvenience borne by the North Park student section, which has to alter its cheers whenever Grey Giovanine & Co. come to the big city for a basketball game.

Having a very limited amount of gallantry myself, though,  I shall continue to refer to Augustana by their age-old CCIW alternative nickname, the Doggies (as in "Augie Doggies").

[Knightstalker]

Greg instead of Vikings how about the Berserkers, that would be a great team name.

Ypsi, just remember the twins class is in inverse alphabetical order.

[Gregory Sager]

Agreed, Mike. The Berserkers would be an outstanding nickname, especially for a school of Scandinavian origins such as North Park. In fact, those of us who sat in my section of the crackerbox back in the mid-eighties used to call ourselves "the Berserkers".

We were even going to have Berserker t-shirts made, but we probably ended up spending the money on beer instead.

[Knightstalker]

I have had many friends refer to me as a berserker, must be the long blonde hair and red beard.  Sometimes I really love the Ahlstrom (sp) blood from my mothers side, add in the Irish from my fathers side and I could see a group calling itself the Berserkers would figure t-shirt money was better spent on beer.