Top 25 talk

[John Gleich]

Take for what it's worth (which isn't much), but a couple Top 25 scrimmage scores from this weekend...

#5 Carthage 91
#1 UW-Stevens Point 80
(at Carthage)

Looks liks Point's in big trouble this year! lol    Were there chants of "Overrated!" in the stands? 

Does a team really deserve to win when they give up 51 points in the second half?!  Check out the CCIW board for some comments on the scrimmage.

Point, there was talk somewhere a while back about a Stevens Point returning starter potentially not coming back this year...I think it's someone who plays football too. (I can't remember who exactly.)

Was that player at the Carthage scrimmage?  (And expected to be back on the basketball team this year?)

Jared Jenkins.  And no, he was not there.  He's been really busy on the gridiron...  He's been the WIAC Special Teams Player of the Week the last two weeks, and the week before that, he was the WIAC Offensive POTW.

In terms of if he's going to play on the hardcourt this year when the football season ends... Only he knows.  UWSP's football team is not going to make the playoffs again this year, so a week from Saturday will be his last game.  Point's first basketball game is on the 16th at Lawrence.

It should be noted that last season, Point's last game was on Nov. 14.  The basketball team had a game on the 15th, but there was an outside chance that Point might have made the playoffs, so Jared obviously wouldn't have gone with the hoops team to Collegeville, MN to play St. John.  When the football team didn't make the playoffs, Jared travelled to (and played in) Tacoma against Whitworth and Puget Sound.  I think that right there showed his dedication not only to football, but to basketball too.

He was 3rd on the team last year at 11.4 PPG and was first team All-WIAC along with Matt Moses and scored 17 points in the National Semi and Championship games en route to being named on the Final Four All-Tournament team.

I think an important point about Jenkins is that last season, he went from being an amazing athlete who plays basketball to being a very good basketball player.  His play, especially down the stretch in the tournament, really helped propel Point to the Championship.  If he decides to focus on trying to make an NFL roster (I'm not sure how realistic it is, either way, as a punter or as a receiver), then there's really no way he can play basketball.  And Point's team will definitely miss him... but it isn't like the cupboard is bare.  It may take a game or two to figure out who is going to fill which role, but the personnel is there for another run to Salem.

Here's a play from last year against Stout in the WIAC Tourney Semi-Finals to show you the type of athlete Jenkins is.  There aren't too many 6'4" guards out there who are as strong as he is.

And it should be noted that the guy on the back end of that clip, Dan Tillema, is now healthy (see the obligatory clip of his dunk against Elmhurst again).  He rose to become Point's go-to-guy by the middle of the season until a knee injury slowed him down.  He came around at just the right time for the tournament last year and hit three big 3's in the championship game. 

And it should be noted that Louis Hurd appeared to be in mid-season form (2nd on the team in scoring last year at 12.5 ppg).  I think Hurd underachieved a little last year a little bit... he was in a shooting funk for quite a while and Point will look for him to be a little more consistent this year.

It may seen strange that a team with so many guys back has to "figure things out" a little bit in terms of personnel... but, like I said before, the guys are there... they just need to wear the right hat on this year's team.

And part of the discussion may be moot... because if Jenkins plays then the roles don't change all that much from last year.

[Titan Q]

Thanks guys.

(And yes, I somehow forgot for a second there that he's still playing football...so he wouldn't have played vs Carthage obviously.)

[dansand]

#18 John Carroll down by 60 (!) at Akron.

Final: 111-48 Akron.

[Mr. Ypsi]

#18 John Carroll down by 60 (!) at Akron.

Hate to read too much into an exhibition game, but that is embarassing.  Is Akron good this year, or is JCU somewhat questionable at #18?

[5 years ago IWU was within one decent run of top 10 Illinois with about 10 minutes left; they eventually lost by a bunch, but a heckuva lot less than 60. ]

[nescac1]

I think John Carroll's unusual style of play might lead it to REALLY struggle against a much more athletic team.  If you are less athletic / less talented, you can equalize that a bit by slowing down the pace, playing disciplined sets, working for good shots, hitting three's, and so on.  A frenetic up-and-down style based on waves of fresh players, I imagine, is just going to get crucified when playing a team full of D-1 level athletes.  And it sounds like that is what happened.  I am speculating here, of course, but a long way of saying, I wouldn't read THAT much into the result. 

[wooscotsfan]

#18 John Carroll down by 60 (!) at Akron.

Hate to read too much into an exhibition game, but that is embarassing.  Is Akron good this year, or is JCU somewhat questionable at #18?

I posted this information on JCU earlier when some posters were considering them a Top 10 team for the preseason poll.

I wouldn't put John Carroll (JCU) in the top tier yet because they lost several key players. John Carroll graduated 5 players from the 11-12 player rotation that Coach Moran runs.

Rudy Kirbus - 12.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 22 mins/game  D3Hoops Great Lakes 1st Team, All-OAC 1st Team
Chris Zajac - 7.7 ppg, 3.1 apg, 20 mins/game All-OAC honorable mention
Brian Dandrea - 5.0 ppg, 17 mins/game, solid defender
Tyler Kirsch - 4.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 17 mins/game
TJ DiSanto - 2.2 ppg

So, JCU graduated over 32 points/game which they will need to replace.  Coach Moran does tend to plug new recruits into his rotation system every year.  JCU plays at Wooster in December which will be a good indicator to see if the Blue Streaks deserve to be ranked in the Top 10.

[John Gleich]

Thanks guys.

(And yes, I somehow forgot for a second there that he's still playing football...so he wouldn't have played vs Carthage obviously.)

Jenkins had another 4 touchdowns yesterday.

[sac]

#18 John Carroll down by 60 (!) at Akron.

Hate to read too much into an exhibition game, but that is embarassing.  Is Akron good this year, or is JCU somewhat questionable at #18?

[5 years ago IWU was within one decent run of top 10 Illinois with about 10 minutes left; they eventually lost by a bunch, but a heckuva lot less than 60. ]

fwiw, Akron is picked 3rd in the MAC East. 

[Titan Q]

It's just very hard to draw anything from these DI/D3 exhibition games.  Most of them end up the same - D3 team gets outrebounded by 15+, turns it over 20+ times, shoots 20 less FT's, and has a miserable FG and 3-pt %.  The size, quickness, and athleticism mismatches just distort the entire game.

 

[Gregory Sager]

It's just very hard to draw anything from these DI/D3 exhibition games.  Most of them end up the same - D3 team gets outrebounded by 15+, turns it over 20+ times, shoots 20 less FT's, and has a miserable FG and 3-pt %.  The size, quickness, and athleticism mismatches just distort the entire game.

... or, conversely, the D3 team stays right in it to the end, as Webster did last night, but it's against a D1 team that's so horrible (SIUE) that it would struggle in the local D2 league.

[Hugenerd]

Just a quick comment on the Top 25 poll.  The UAA preseason poll came out today, and the coaches have ranked Case Western above Brandeis and NYU (and only one point behind WashU for first).  Both Brandeis (55 points, 29th most) and NYU (2 points), each have more points than Case (1 point).  NYU was also picked ahead of Brandeis in the UAA poll:

http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Basketball/2010-11_Preseason_Release.pdf

[John Gleich]

Just a quick comment on the Top 25 poll.  The UAA top 25 came out today, and the coaches have ranked Case Western above Brandeis and NYU.  Both Brandeis (55 points, 29th most) and NYU (2 points), each have more points than Case (1 point).  NYU was also picked ahead of Brandeis.  Case was only 1 point behind WashU for preseason #1 in the UAA.

http://www.uaa.rochester.edu/Basketball/2010-11_Preseason_Release.pdf

There was another interesting development in the WIAC too... River Falls (who was the 22nd team receiving votes with 4) was picked 8th out of 9.

Now, coming into this season, I really thought that they would be top 4... with the possibility of being even higher by virtue of the fact that they have almost everybody back from last year... but 6'8" Wade Guerin (13.9 ppg last year) had back surgery in the off-season and isn't playing this year.

River Falls has a bunch of other guys back, plus transfer Shane Manor (10.5 ppg two seasons ago)... but without their big guy, they may struggle.

I just don't see them pulling in 8th, even without Guerin.

[wooscotsfan]

#18 John Carroll down by 60 (!) at Akron.

Hate to read too much into an exhibition game, but that is embarassing.  Is Akron good this year, or is JCU somewhat questionable at #18?

I posted this information on JCU earlier when some posters were considering them a Top 10 team for the preseason poll.

I wouldn't put John Carroll (JCU) in the top tier yet because they lost several key players. John Carroll graduated 5 players from the 11-12 player rotation that Coach Moran runs.

Rudy Kirbus - 12.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 22 mins/game  D3Hoops Great Lakes 1st Team, All-OAC 1st Team
Chris Zajac - 7.7 ppg, 3.1 apg, 20 mins/game All-OAC honorable mention
Brian Dandrea - 5.0 ppg, 17 mins/game, solid defender
Tyler Kirsch - 4.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 17 mins/game
TJ DiSanto - 2.2 ppg

So, JCU graduated over 32 points/game which they will need to replace.  Coach Moran does tend to plug new recruits into his rotation system every year.  JCU plays at Wooster in December which will be a good indicator to see if the Blue Streaks deserve to be ranked in the Top 10.

Injuries are also impacting JCU this season and it nows appears that their starting Center 6'7" Matt Crozier will be out of action for a significant period.  He did not play in the exhibition vs. Akron and he is listed without an active number on the current roster. 

Crozier averaged 12.6 ppg and 7.4 rpg last year as the #3 scorer so JCU is now trying to replace 44 points/game that they have lost to either graduation or injuries.

[Titan Q]

#4 IWU @ Benedictine live video...

http://vidtechsportsvision.com/

[John Gleich]

Being ranked #2 in the preseason has seemed to carry a jinx in certain years...

But not this year.

#2 Randolph Macon is leading Marymount 75-28 with just under 10 minutes left in the game.