MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[WoosterBNel]

No the trip to earlham is not worth the trip. Nice gym, pretty disappointing fan base. Most likely will be a blowout also. The opening line is most likely Witt -19.5. Unless Del Harris shows up the trip is a waste of gas, and Del Harris has about the same odds of showing up as Brandon Miller does.
Del Harris to show up: 25/1
Brandon Miller to go for more than 20: 20/1

[waterboy]

I would say Miller is definitely going to be considered for POY, but Earlham is so inconsistent it really hurts his chances of having a legitimate shot.  I think Cooper and Russ are the frontrunners at this point, primarily because of the way they play in pressure situations and big games.  Out of those two, I like Coop to take it because he's been so dominating at his position, even more so than Russ, IMO.

I think Miller and Chojnacki will be up there too, and possibly Hodgkinson if Denison can do anything down the stretch.  The way the NCAC selects awards anything can happen, though.

This is probably a good discussion to bring up now that we're past the midway point in the season.  Anyone else have any opinions on Newcomer and Coach of the Year, or maybe the All-NCAC teams?

It'll be nice to see the Gators on Wednesday.  I haven't had a chance to see them play at all this season so my opinions and details have been fairly limited.  Hollihan looks like a nice player, and it'll be interesting to see how he fares against Vandervaart in the post.  BTW, Hollihan was recruited by Wooster last season.

[waterboy]

Is it just me, or has Witucky just looked bad this season at times?  His 3's are all over the place and his shooting percentages have plummetted.  Out of the regular members of the rotation, his shooting percentage (.421) is by far the lowest and is free throw numbers are scraping just above 60 percent.  I realize he's still leading the NCAC in assists with over four per game, but it seems like the rest of his game has taken a turn for the worse.  Any insightful explanations from the Wooster posters?

It is slightly ironic that one of the discussions before the season began was about Witucky being one of the best guards in the region, which I agreed with on several levels.  What would be his status now in region?  I'd put him second team All-NCAC at best.

[woosterbooster]

I think his all-around play is at his normal level, but he's definitely having a down season shooting the ball, both from behind the arc and at the line.  I've no idea why this has been going on for such an extended time, especially at the free throw line.  One the other hand, he seems to be getting to the hoop and finishing better than ever, although he doesn't do it often.

[Li'l Giant]

if I was coaching and we scored just 13 in the first half I'd probably banish everyone in the second half and play the kids that worked hard in practice - or just play the freshmen to get them 20 good minutes of experience. What do you have to lose, you certainly couldn't do worse than 13 in the first half.

And that's kind of the point I thought I was making. After scoring 13 they ought to go find the IM studs and give them a shot. But Denison has a luxury that Oberlin doesnt: 12 guys who want to and can play.

[David Collinge]

Furthermore, if the starting five aren't even remotely getting the job done on either end, why keep them in?  You might think that the scrubs can't do any better, but it looked like they couldn't do any worse, either.  It might be that the opponent is very well prepared to face the guys they think they're going to face, but are blindsided by someone from the end of the bench that has some attribute that they didn't expect to see. 

As the old saw goes, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.  Or maybe the more appropriate joke is
Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.  What should I do?
Doctor: Stop doing that.

[smedindy]

.  It might be that the opponent is very well prepared to face the guys they think they're going to face, but are blindsided by someone from the end of the bench that has some attribute that they didn't expect to see

Exactly. That's definitely what happened to IU today. Minnesota started a big ol' walkon (former TE at Harvard, no less) that basically could bang with Killingsworth and they couldn't react to it, at all. They scouted one Minnesota team, and another one, with two guys that hardly played, showed up and whopped 'em.

LG - You are right, too. Even Hiram has really good numbers this year and has a JV. I do hope Oberlin can get some numbers in the program. Tell Happy to go scout in Indiana and ask each coach who your smartest kid is, no matter how much he plays, and try to get them to go to school at Oberlin. I mean, it can't hurt, can it?

[Li'l Giant]

Tell Happy to go scout in Indiana and ask each coach who your smartest kid is, no matter how much he plays, and try to get them to go to school at Oberlin. I mean, it can't hurt, can it?

Oh yeah. Because they clearly aren't running that program to win NCAC titles. But they ought to be able to run it to avoid injury and embarrasment. These kids work hard. Way too hard to be put into that kind of meat grinder. I hope they can turn it around and get competitive again.

[kiltedbryan]

Is it just me, or has Witucky just looked bad this season at times?  His 3's are all over the place and his shooting percentages have plummetted.  Any insightful explanations from the Wooster posters?

Waterboy, I was wondering the same thing after seeing the Earlham game- what has been up with Witucky?  I looked at last year's stats, and actually his overall shooting precentage isn't that far off last year (.421 vs. .443 last year).  But it doesn't explain the 13% drop in FT % (60% vs. 73% last year) or the 9% drop in 3-pt % (37.6% vs. 46.7%).

On the perimeter I think Witucky has been forcing more shots than he did before.  It seems like he's hustled up a couple shots where he used to send the ball on for the one extra pass.  Last year I would have said that I wish he would shoot more from the perimeter, but Wooster has so many perimeter weapons that now I wonder if he should re-focus on making the extra pass.

I do think that Witucky is a big-game player, though.  His focus and determination and level of control always seems to go up in big games (career high in the Witt game last year), so I would expect that he will improve as Wooster plays the big games on the remainder of its schedule.

[DenisonFan]

Denison was not going to win the game from the tip.  My only point is that why not let the guys try and fight through it.  Why pull em as soon as something goes bad.  It is great experience to play against a good team.  Why not let them battle it out?

Nobody on the Big Red played well.  They just do not match up against Witt's size.

Again, I don't think it is a good idea to sit Hodgkinson and Hern at the same time.  Stats don't lie.  Those two guys are your best chance of getting the ball in the basket.  Sit them together for any length of time and you are making a huge mistake.

When you score 13 points in a half you won't beat too many teams. 

Hopefully they can right the ship and get back on the winning side on Wednesday.

[imderekpoe]

Off topic...

I meant to mention that leaving Wooster after the game on Satuday I drove down Palmer and the LC Boles was packed!  There was a group waiting on the 4th tee, a group on the 3rd green, and a solo waiting to hit his approach to the green.  His location - right next to the road - brought back many fond memories of playing there when I was a teenager just learning to golf.  If any readers here live on Palmer by #3, I apoligise for the times that I hit your house - or maybe even your dog in the backyard!

[smedindy]

Again, I don't think it is a good idea to sit Hodgkinson and Hern at the same time.  Stats don't lie.  Those two guys are your best chance of getting the ball in the basket.  Sit them together for any length of time and you are making a huge mistake.

It's obvious from the stats that the only time they did that was in garbage time, since Hodgkinson played the entire first half and almost all of the second.

[imderekpoe]

Very unofficial QOWI for the GL Region after the weekend's games:

CMU: 11.077
BW:  10.647
Witt: 10.643
Woo: 10.200
Hope: 10.182
Albion: 10.000

[David Collinge]

Is it just me, or has Witucky just looked bad this season at times?  His 3's are all over the place and his shooting percentages have plummetted.  Any insightful explanations from the Wooster posters?

Waterboy, I was wondering the same thing after seeing the Earlham game- what has been up with Witucky?  I looked at last year's stats, and actually his overall shooting precentage isn't that far off last year (.421 vs. .443 last year).  But it doesn't explain the 13% drop in FT % (60% vs. 73% last year) or the 9% drop in 3-pt % (37.6% vs. 46.7%).

On the perimeter I think Witucky has been forcing more shots than he did before.  It seems like he's hustled up a couple shots where he used to send the ball on for the one extra pass.  Last year I would have said that I wish he would shoot more from the perimeter, but Wooster has so many perimeter weapons that now I wonder if he should re-focus on making the extra pass.

I do think that Witucky is a big-game player, though.  His focus and determination and level of control always seems to go up in big games (career high in the Witt game last year), so I would expect that he will improve as Wooster plays the big games on the remainder of its schedule.

I haven't seen Witucky (or any other Scots) since the Stout game, so I'm going entirely on mental impressions formed from radio coverage, stats, and discussion in here.  But (leaving aside the free throws, a bug that seems to have bitten the whole team), when trying to compare stats from last season to this one, you need to keep in mind how very different these two teams are.  Last year, Witucky's role was to run the half-court set, engineering a way to get the ball into Schlingman, Mealer, Vandervaart, or Bradley with the best position to score, or to get it inside for a kick out to Port or one of the other shooters for the open look.  His role was not shooting, which meant he had more open looks as the game went along. 

This year, he's running a more hurry-up offense, and is less that he's running it than he's a part of it.  The offense more or less runs itself.  It seems to me that one important aspect of this offense is that Vandervaart has a decided quickness advantage on the folks guarding him, so the quicker the ball get up court and shot, the better chance he has for a rebound.  That might explain why Witucky shoots in situations where last year he might have passed.  The "extra pass" is always important, but with this offense it's less important.  Every player in the rotation has the ability to shoot, even to shoot 3's.  Considering that, I think there is an emphasis on shooting whenever you have a good look, especially early in the possession, when Wooster's quickness advantage will help offset its relative lack of height.  That mindset will lead to more shooting and less passing from a player like Witucky.

[sac]

Very unofficial QOWI for the GL Region after the weekend's games:

CMU: 11.077
BW:  10.647
Witt: 10.643
Woo: 10.200
Hope: 10.182
Albion: 10.000

Nice work, anyone else surprised to see CMU's so high.

The winners of this weekends witt/woo  hope/albion clashes should get a big boost.  Those will be 14 or 15 point wins for someone.