MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

You know, WooBoo, I don't know how many fouls Nick Curosh received just for being big. So I think your analysis has a certain lens that may not be 100% in line with the perception of some of us. And this isn't a cotillion, it's hoops.

You know, I don't give a rat's ass about the perception that "some of you" have.  My post stated MY opinion about NCAC officiating, an opinion that hasn't changed for years, and I'm standing by it.

You've asked several times where the Wooster fans have been all season.  I can speak for many of us.  We don't care for the company.

[Titan Q]

Titan, somewhere around the middle of the season, Matt Fegan was returned to the point guard slot, moving X.B. to shooting guard.

Corrected.  Thanks.

[smedindy]

Well, pardon me for trying to be fair to the entire league and  making sure every team was covered in here. It's an NCAC board, you know, not a one-team fan site for kool-aid drinkers. 

It also seemed that this year, the Wooster fans posted less than they have normally.It was a tough slog, and it will be a tough slog now going forward.

[wooscotsfan]

Here is the NCAA tournament record from 2002 to 2011 for the top 8 conferences (from Gordon Mann's guide)

No. Conference  Tourney Games   Won-Loss   Winning %
1 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) 47  32-15  68.1%
2 University Athletic Association (UAA) 61  41-20  67.2%
3 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) 66  44-22  66.7%
4 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) 74  49-25  66.2%
5 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) 45  29-16  64.4%
6 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) 39  25-14  64.1%
7 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) 49  31-18  63.3%
8 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) 33  20-13  60.6%

During this span, Wooster has been to the Final Four three times and Wittenberg once.

[fantastic50]

I'm not sure the connections in Timken have ever been all that good--and I don't think they did any upgrades to them while building the Scot Center addition, unfortunately. Not sure what you need to be able to get a good stream, but no idea if the bandwidth is really there.

Still, terribly disappointing.

Yes, this is unfortunate.  IMO, I'm disappointed in Wooster's decision to completely ignore upgrading or even updating any part of the original PEC including Timken Gym and Timken Natatorium.  To build that beautiful new Scot Center and choose to leave the PEC basically untouched was a missed opportunity to me.  Especially Timken Gym (a facility I think should be the jewel of facilities at Wooster due to the tradition of basketball at the college). I shudder to think what kind of recruiting hauls Coach Moore could bring in if he had facilities even half as nice as what you see at other D3 programs like Hope and Calvin.  The bones of Timken Gym aren't that bad.  It is just well overdue for a facelift including new seats, new scoreboards, new lighting, and obviously, upgrades to their internet connectablity so we don't have the problems with live video feeds that we have seen now in the last two post-seasons.

Doing everything at once would have been prohibitively expensive, but Timken (bleachers, floor) and the state of the pool both come up frequently in discussions of campus facilities.  I suspect that it will become clearer within the next year or two where these rank in terms of institutional priorities.

On a different subject, have Wooster and Witt ever met on the hardwood in an NCAA tournament game?

[kiltedbryan]

It also seemed that this year, the Wooster fans posted less than they have normally.It was a tough slog, and it will be a tough slog now going forward.

Smeds- For me, at least, less posting throughout the season was directly related to me not just being able to watch/listen to many games because of work scheduling, etc. I've still only listened/watched the Scots about a dozen times this year--many fewer than most seasons for me. But I'm perfectly happy to get to watch/listen to at least one more Scots game this weekend! 

I was able to read the boards regularly, and I do thank you for your excellent previews throughout the season. +k

[smedindy]

I was mostly trying to just poke a little needle. I know real life interferes with 'fun'.

Thanks for the karma!

[smedindy]

Who would have thought that one bracket would turn into an NCAC / CCIW challenge while the 'palace' in Holland is silent and the condiments will start to go flat?

I'd love to see a Witt / Wooster final game - having an NCAC team in the final four is a testament for the strength of the conference (this season) as a few weeks ago it was up for grabs whether Wooster would host a first round game in the NCAC tournament. It's a testament to them that they course corrected with aplomb. Also it was good to see Witt bounce back after their loss to Denison on their home court.

[sac]

Who would have thought that one bracket would turn into an NCAC / CCIW challenge while the 'palace' in Holland is silent and the condiments will start to go flat?

I'd love to see a Witt / Wooster final game - having an NCAC team in the final four is a testament for the strength of the conference (this season) as a few weeks ago it was up for grabs whether Wooster would host a first round game in the NCAC tournament. It's a testament to them that they course corrected with aplomb. Also it was good to see Witt bounce back after their loss to Denison on their home court.

Oh we're keeping the condiments on ice for the women's final 4. 

[kiltedbryan]

Who would have thought that one bracket would turn into an NCAC / CCIW challenge while the 'palace' in Holland is silent and the condiments will start to go flat?

I'd love to see a Witt / Wooster final game - having an NCAC team in the final four is a testament for the strength of the conference (this season) as a few weeks ago it was up for grabs whether Wooster would host a first round game in the NCAC tournament. It's a testament to them that they course corrected with aplomb. Also it was good to see Witt bounce back after their loss to Denison on their home court.

I almost picked the CCIW-NCAC challenge --the only thing I have wrong in this quadrant of the bracket was the Hope loss to IWU; that one I didn't expect. But I did fully expect Witt to be here, and I felt that NCC-Wash U was a pick 'em, even in St. Louis. I also think Wooster had the easiest slate to reach the Sweet Sixteen of any of the hosts in this bracket, and that may have played a role in why they're the only host still standing.

[ScotsFan]

Illinois Wesleyan (21-7, 10-4 CCIW) @ Wooster (26-4, 12-4 NCAC)...

PG
(Wooster) Matt Fegan, 6-1/185 Sr - 7.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.6 A/TO (57-125 3-point, .456)
(IWU) Eliud Gonzalez, 5-9/170 Sr - 6.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 5.5 apg, 2.2 A/TO (55-131 FG, .420)

SG
(IWU) Jordan Zimmer, 6-5/190 Sr - 15.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.9 apg (96-229 3-point, .419)
(Wooster) Xavier Brown, 5-11/180 Fr - 13.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.6 apg (142-327 FG, .434)

G/F
(IWU) John Koschnitzky, 6-6/205 Sr - 9.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg (86-216 FG, .398)
(Wooster) Justin Warnes, 6-3/180 Sr - 5.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg (45-91 FG, .495)

F
(Wooster) Justin Hallowell, 6-7/210 Sr - 14.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg (74-182 3-point, .407)
(IWU) Victor Davis, 6-5/225 So - 10.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg (113-219 FG, .516)

F/C
(Wooster) Josh Claytor, 6-7/225 Jr - 11.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg (140-227 FG, .617)
(IWU) Kevin Reed, 6-7/225 Jr - 9.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg (112-183 FG, .612)

Bench
(Wooster) Jake Mays (F/C), 6-8/215 Jr - 6.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg
(Wooster) Doug Thorpe (G), 5-9/175 So - 6.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg
(Wooster) Evan Pannell (G), 6-2/175 Fr - 3.0 ppg, 0.9 rpg
(Wooster) Jalen Goodwin (G), 6-0/175 Fr - 2.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg

(IWU) Andrew Ziemnik (F), 6-5/225 So - 7.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg
(IWU) Stephen Rudnicki (G), 6-3/173 Sr - 6.0 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2.2 apg
(IWU) Nick Anderson (C), 6-9/200 So - 4.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg
(IWU) Eric Dortch (F), 6-3/210 So - 3.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg


Team stats...

PPG
IWU - 77.0
Wooster - 75.2

Opp PPG
Wooster - 62.8
IWU - 66.8

FG
Wooster - .475
IWU - .467

Opp FG
Wooster - .390
IWU - .414

3-point
Wooster - .398
IWU - .360

Opp 3-point
Wooster - .282
IWU - .358

Reb. Margin
IWU - +6.2/game
Wooster - +5.8/game

FT
Wooster - .698
IWU - .678

A/TO
IWU - 1.1
Wooster - 1.0

Opp A/TO
IWU - 0.7
Wooster - 0.7

Hey Titan, thanks for the breakdown.  This looks like a mathup of two pretty even teams to me!  IWU has some size though and I will be interested to see what Coach Moore does in choosing defensive matchups.  Justin Warnes is usually the guy Moore calls on to defend the opponent's best offensive player, but with IWU starting 4 guys at 6'5" or better, this could cause some match-up problems for Wooster who usually employs a 3 guard line-up and sometimes a 4 guard line-up.  Should be interesting to see how this one plays out.

[iwumichigander]

More like regional ranking, despite losing two to Wittenberg and despite not seeing the final regional rankings, I am of the opinion that Wooster moved ahead of Witt in the final rankings giving them the chance to host the first weekend and now the second.

Another reason I am confident Wooster was ranked ahead of Wittenberg in the final regional ranking was because Wittenberg went to Transylvania... and they wouldn't have had two #2's in that pod (Transylvania apparently did finish 2 in the Midwest from what I was told).

FYI - if Wash U had WON and beaten NCC... then Wittenberg would have been hosting because Wooster and Wash U are more than 500 miles from one another and the NCAA wouldn't have paid for that flight. Thus, the game would have been moved to Witt, who is inside that 500 mile rule.

Just something to consider.

Dave - I think a post on another board mentioned a distance issue between Wooster and Whittenberg that necessitated sending Whit to Translyvania?  As far as distance; despite the NCAA mileage tool; it seems to me IWU's bus driver clocked 499.5 the last trip to Wooster. It is also ironic the 4 CCIW teams get sent to Ohio - as on the Women's side IWU and Carthage are at Alliance 51 miles away

[hotdawg]

Pennstghs, I'll complain about the officials any goddamned time that I want, especially in a game that doesn't involve Wooster.  They were miserable, if unbiased, and should be put out of work as soon as possible.  Good choice going to the Big Ten tourney, because Wittenberg's going to get their ass handed to them by North Central.  And outside of anyone that makes the trip from Springfield, there won't be a person in the house offering them any sympathy.

ScotsFan: It looks like I have been "granted" a redo on my previous post. Which is probably a good thing... either way I am sticking by and reaffirming my statement that I have read countless idiotic posts from WoosterBooster. After years of following this thread I have come to believe he is a miserable person, who has no real basketball insight. Most posters (ScotFan included) have the sense to actually admit when they are wrong or when the team they follow was outplayed/ out-executed but not Wooster Booster it's always the refs fault.

And most of all, the only reason I did make my 9th career post is this gem: "because Wittenberg's going to get their ass handed to them by North Central." ... which of course could be correct by sheer luck but most likely is just WooBoo again posting something with no substance.

If you do have any basketball knowledge WooBoo you have completely fooled me.

Good Luck to the Tigers. WHO U WITT!

[smedindy]

More like regional ranking, despite losing two to Wittenberg and despite not seeing the final regional rankings, I am of the opinion that Wooster moved ahead of Witt in the final rankings giving them the chance to host the first weekend and now the second.

Another reason I am confident Wooster was ranked ahead of Wittenberg in the final regional ranking was because Wittenberg went to Transylvania... and they wouldn't have had two #2's in that pod (Transylvania apparently did finish 2 in the Midwest from what I was told).

FYI - if Wash U had WON and beaten NCC... then Wittenberg would have been hosting because Wooster and Wash U are more than 500 miles from one another and the NCAA wouldn't have paid for that flight. Thus, the game would have been moved to Witt, who is inside that 500 mile rule.

Just something to consider.

Dave - I think a post on another board mentioned a distance issue between Wooster and Whittenberg that necessitated sending Whit to Translyvania?  As far as distance; despite the NCAA mileage tool; it seems to me IWU's bus driver clocked 499.5 the last trip to Wooster. It is also ironic the 4 CCIW teams get sent to Ohio - as on the Women's side IWU and Carthage are at Alliance 51 miles away

The NCAA mileage tool does not recognize the odometer. It knows all and sees all! 

(And it doesn't recognize the Mr. Ypsi Ferry 'Cross The Mersey Michigan.)

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I used the NCAA mileage program and Wash U and Wooster are more than 500 miles... that would have forced Wittenberg to host.

As for last weekend... the fact that BSC as within 500 miles of Transy was the reason that worked for Transy's favor, along with the fact they apparently finished second in the MW Regional Rankings.

It has been alluded to that Witt traveled and Wooster hosted because Randolph-Macon could bus to Wooster, however I don't think that was the factor to make that decision... because RMC could have traveled to a MW pod or they could have had RMC at VWC with them playing in the second round (though, I hate that idea). In other words, there were other options for RMC... I don't think Wooster hosted just for that reason.