MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

I think Earlham has the edge on Wabash right now in the "who did ya beat" tiebreak by virtue of their win over OWU. 

[smedindy]

I was thinking it was 'who did you lose to' instead of 'who did you beat' - but I could be wrong on that.

Earlham still has to travel to Denison, too, and that may not be easy for them.

[woosterbooster]

Question for anyone who was at the game: Did Wittenberg adjust their defense in the second half, maybe giving the Scots a little less room on the perimeter and fewer good looks from out there?  Or did Wooster just come down to earh on their own?

After this game, my vote for POY has to go to James Cooper.  He's now pretty certain to play on the league's championship (although not necessarily the tournament winner, by a long shot) team, and he's definitely proved his worth with two big games, especially this one, against Wooster's only serious rival.  Again, awesome (8-12, 3-5, 5-6) shooting, plus he led the team in assists with 5 and added 4 rebounds which was only one behind the lead.  I know Russ and Borchers also had excellent games, but winning should count for something.

Evan Will (9) and Marty Bidwell (6) had their minutes reduced drastically with Port's return, but what can you do?

Can anyone who was there give me a take on Witucky's play?  Took only one shot (a three that he made) and had only one assist.

[wooscotsfan]

Wooster has now won 20 or more games for 10 consecutive seasons:

2006:  20-1
2005:  27-3
2004:  26-4
2003:  30-3
2002:  21-7
2001:  24-4
2000:  26-3
1999:  25-4
1998:  22-6
1997:  23-6

Congratulations to Coach Steve Moore and the rest of the Wooster program on a tremendous decade of excellence! 

[David Collinge]

I'm curious to hear what Pat and Lenny had to say about the game on their broadcast.  Did anyone here listen to them??

I had WQKT on.  I started out with Pat, but the sound quality just wasn't as good, so I switched to the old reliable.  I also would have liked to hear their take.  Maybe it'll be available in archive form.

There's a link to an archive of the D3hoops.com broadcast on the front page.  I'm going to go try and cue it up now.

[pennstghs]

witucky was a non factor the entire evening. he had a turnover that was not typical of him. doesn't sound like the best point guard in d3 guys sorry.
ill comment on the game later im too drunk right now

[Pat Coleman]

I wish we could put out a 20K or 32K stream but we're limited by what we can dial up and in an old gym like Wittenberg, 10K was what we had to settle for. Usually I'd go 12 or 16.

[kiltedbryan]

Question for anyone who was at the game: Did Wittenberg adjust their defense in the second half, maybe giving the Scots a little less room on the perimeter and fewer good looks from out there?  Or did Wooster just come down to earh on their own?

Evan Will (9) and Marty Bidwell (6) had their minutes reduced drastically with Port's return, but what can you do?

Can anyone who was there give me a take on Witucky's play?  Took only one shot (a three that he made) and had only one assist.

On Witt's D:  I didn't see much of a change- Wooster shot 9-12 3s in the first, only 3-10 in the second (but really, 3-3 and then 0-7 to end it).  I thought Port took a couple threes that he wasn't quite set up for(after being off three weeks), Faulk missed a wide-open one...so I think they just didn't fall as much.  I don't think Witt's defense kept Woo from shooting threes.

Yea, Will didn't get many minutes, but his contributions were key.  9 pts in 9 minutes- and 8 quick points when wooster couldn't find the bucket after Witt had cut a 13 pt lead to 5 at 60-55.  He's still playing with a confidence that will only help Wooster as a team down the road.

I didn't think there was anything wrong with Witucky.  He played good, close defense on several Witt gaurds.  Witucky doesn't need to score for Wooster's offense to succeed, especially when everyone around you is draining the threes.  I agree it was a little strange to not see more assists, but he as usual contributed a couple boards.

[imderekpoe]

My unofficial GL-Region QOWI based after last night's games:

1:  Carnegie-Mellon 11.429 (will go up to 11.467 if they win at home against Chicago today.  Down to 10.933 of they lose.)
2:  Wittenberg 10.800
3:  Wooster 10.706
4:  Hope 10.615
5:  Baldwin-Wallace 10.421
6:  Albion 9.900
7:  Calvin 9.625
8.  Lake Erie 9.333

[DenisonFan]

Denison played well.  They dug themselves a hole going down 19-2 to start.  But made a game of it.  And they traded baskets in the second half.  Give Joseph his due, he played a whale of a game.

Big crowd, and again the refs did a terrible job.  And I am not just saying that because Denison lost.  If I was from Wabash I would be just as pissed.  THEY STUNK!!!  For some reason it seems this season the officials have done a very bad job.  I have no answer.

Hodgkinson played well and so did Hern.  Its apparent that Krantz hasn't seen a shot he won't take.  The first Wabash game he is 5-17 and last night he is 7-18.  Do you really want a freshman who is shooting 34% trying to get you back in the game.  If you have the hot hand that is one thing........but let's learn to pass it once in a while.

I think Krantz is a very good player, don't get me wrong.  He deserves to be out there.  That is not my problem.  I just question his shot selection at times.  I believe he will settle down and be a very good player for the team.

HATS OFF TO OBERLIN!!!  Spencer with 47pts.  Wow.

And what a huge win by Wooster.  They are the real deal.  Nice to see Port back on the floor.  But everyone says, it is real hard to beat a team 3 times in a season and it looks like they are headed for a tournament show down. 

[ScotsFan]

witucky was a non factor the entire evening. he had a turnover that was not typical of him. doesn't sound like the best point guard in d3 guys sorry.
ill comment on the game later im too drunk right now

I'm sorry penn, but your opinion on Witucky doesn't really carry much weight.  I guess one uncharactersitic game in which Witucky is basically a non-factor and he's suddenly not the "best point guard in d3?"  Give me a break penn!  What was the final score again???  Witucky might not put up the glamorous stats of some of the more high profile guards like Adam Dauksas at IWU, but all he does is lead his team to victories.  His intangibles like his leadership on the floor are what separate him from other good guards.  Like scotsbrod said, Witucky doesn't need to score for Wooster to win as evidenced last night.  If everyone wearing black and old gold is on fire, why mess with success?  Witucky did play solid D and just sat back and allowed everyone else who was feeling it get it done. 

[witt4ever]

I wish we could put out a 20K or 32K stream but we're limited by what we can dial up and in an old gym like Wittenberg, 10K was what we had to settle for. Usually I'd go 12 or 16.

23 year old facility old? I'm ancient then.

What accounts for Wooster's crystal clear broadcast?

Luck?

[smedindy]

I think the main issue with the NCAC refs this year is a lack of consistency. It seems that often times, you need to spit out teeth to get fouls in one half, and in the other half you just need to breathe on someone to be called for one.

[smedindy]

It may have seemed that Krantz was just chuckin' it up there, but Wabash's defensive scheme was to collapse on the middle and limit the touches of Hern and Hodgkinson in the paint. Zimmer and Lytle were always in the area around those two, and they couldn't get looks a lot of the time. Hern did a nice job with the assists, but that D also forced him into a lot of turnovers.

So Denison had to shoot from the outside, and Krantz was able to get open.

[goscots]

Late night but my observations

1) Maybe the game won't be regarded as a classic, but what a great atmosphere.  I think both team should be commended for such a well fought game. Each team played to they strength but in the end Woosters advantage in the backcourt was greater than Witt's advantage in the frontcourt.

2) Russ should still be in serious contention for the POY. He is just a complete player. Very classy also. His quotes in the papers are always show great respect for the game.

3) The moisture issue on the court did take away from the game a bit. I feel part of the problem was that there was significantly more than 3100 people in the gym. The students admitting people into the game did not rip tickets, just mearly stamped your hand. That meant someone could go back out and hand their ticket to someone else.  There were alot of people standing court level.

4) I think Brandon Johnson has locked up Newcomer of the year. There are a number of good freshman in the league this year, which is great to see, but Brandon has consistently played at a high level.

5) No kudo's to the Witt student section. Their second half chant should be an embarassment to the Wittenberg administration.