MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wooscotsfan]

Nice article in the on-line Wooster Daily Record today about the Scots big win over Wisconsin-Stout. 

Here is the link:
http://www.the-daily-record.com/article.php?pathToFile=/articles/sports/&file=_sports1.txt&article=1&tD=

[Titan Q]

http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/112005/spo_20051120039.shtml

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. -- Perhaps practicing with the hope of reprising the chant later, the Wabash College student section let Illinois Wesleyan hear it Saturday.

"Over-rated. Over-rated."

This was not, mind you, late in the contest with the Little Giants in control. This happened 25 minutes before the game.


With all of these "Future of Division III" discussions taking place, and all of the subsequent new legislation, I'd like to propose a new rule for our beloved division of the NCAA...

The o-ver-rat-ed chant can only be used in compliance with the conversion chart below:

(Time to play in game/required lead by chanters' team)

0:30 - 5 pts
1:00 - 8 pts
5:00 - 12 pts
10:00 - 16 pts
Halftime - 20 pts
10:00 1st Half - 25 pts
Layup line pregame: not eligible


This issue must be addressed...and the time is now.

[wooscotsfan]

Hmmm...let's review:

--All Male College in a small Indiana town on a Saturday night
--Crowd jacked up from afternoon playoff win by Bash football team
--Mostly male crowd had a few "brews" during/after big football win

They were probably shouting "over rated" before they walked into the Crawfordsville's gymn!   

Titan Q -- your Titans delivered the best possible response....by winning the game and proving that your rating is deserved! 

[smedindy]

I do think the IWU fans were a bit puzzled on why the Wabash students stayed until the end (and even after) and continued with their chanting and support. Ah, well.

Frankly, though, I don't think IWU played like a #1 teams. That team reminded me of several Wooster and Witt teams who had trouble at Chadwick before finally getting past the Little Giants. The first half of both games the Titans looked a bit unfocused at times.

[wooscotsfan]

NCAC teams were 6-3 yesterday 

Wittenberg 52  Rochester 50 (nice road win)
Ohio Wesleyan 91  Swarthmore 68
Earlham 68  Haverford 54
Kenyon 92  Thiel 90
Allegheny 78  Wash & Jeff 77
Wooster 90  Wisc-Stout 82

Illinois Wesleyan 79  Wabash 67
Rose Hulman 73  Denison 57
St. Joseph's (ME) 66  Oberlin 54
Hiram was idle.

[Titan Q]

smedindy, I don't necessarily think IWU played like the #1 team in the country at times either, but the Titans did show flashes of that #1 ranking and why they are so hard to beat.  On Friday, one All-American stepped up and led them to victory - Keelan Amelianovich with 24 points.  And then on Saturday, their other All-American refused to let them lose - Adam Dauksas with 22 pts and 5 assists.  IWU also had big performances from Cory Jones, who set the Little Giant Tipoff Classic record for rebounds (24 in 2 games), and 6-7 Zach Freeman (15 pts, 8 reb vs Wabash) who was IWU's second member of the All-Tournament team (Dauksas the other).  The Titans have a lot of weapons.

With the exception of the 1st Half vs UT-Dallas, I was pleased with the way IWU played this weekend...especially against Wabash.  I think the Little Giants are a good team and Chadwick Court is a tough place to play when the Wabash students are charged up like that.  When you're rated #1, you're going to get everyone's best effort and best shot, and the games in Crawfordsville were a good example of that.

The Allen Center at Wabash is really a great facility.  The overall complex is very similiar to IWU's Shirk Center and the facility at Hanover.

Best of luck to the Little Giants this year as they prepare to battle the two big giants of the NCAC.

[Li'l Giant]

Layup line pregame: not eligible

Sustained.

--Mostly male crowd had a few "brews" during/after big football win

Let's not forget the even more relevant "before" the game.

[ScotsFan]

I think the Little Giants are a good team and Chadwick Court is a tough place to play when the Wabash students are charged up like that.  When you're rated #1, you're going to get everyone's best effort and best shot, and the games in Crawfordsville were a good example of that.

TitanQ makes a good point here.  I'm sure Wabash was riding high on emotion and adrenaline, with the jazzed up crowd and having the chance to knock off #1 and all, through the 1st half and into the 2nd.  But IWU just had too much and eventually pulled away.  Nice showing, nonetheless, by the Lil Giants.  They put up a fight and did the conference proud, even in defeat.



   



   

[ScotsFan]

Here are some impressive  statistical notes for Wooster.  I know its only 2 games into the season, but Wooster's starting five are all averaging in double figures with 2 (Port and Cooper) right  at 20 ppg.  I would guess that this is in correlation with the new style of play for Wooster. 

Wooster is now off until next weekend when they travel to VA and the Emory & Henry Invitational.  This looks like another quality field for the Scots to go up against.  They will take on Methodist in the opener who have been regular season conference champions (USA Southern Athletic Conerence) each of the last 3 years and conference tournament champs in each of the last 2 years earning automatic births into the NCAA's.  They are the preseason pick to win their conference again this year as well.  So this should be a good challenge for the Scots right off the bat. 

The rest of the field includes host, Emory & Henry and Thomas More.  It looks as though E&H is running the Grinnell style and they gave JCU all they could handle over the weekend losing to the Blue Streaks 137-127!  TM is picked to finish 2nd to last in the PAC, so I would guess that E&H should get by the Saints in their opener.  Should Wooster get by Methodist, it could set up an entertaining and high scoring affair with E&H.

[goscots]

After watching both games this weekend I'll add a couple of points:

Andy Vanhorn didn't score alot of points, but he worked his butt off in the Stout game, plus he came up big at the end with a key 3-pointer, blocked shot and steal. He is a gamer.

Even Will is very athletic and can contribute, but he is not a 5 position player. Jeff Stevens only played 9 minutes in the Stout game but they were quality minutes. Vandervaart needed a break and Jeff made a number of plays while he was in there. I still am nervous about the lack of height in the rotation and hope Jeff becomes part of it. I say that because while watching all those three's is exciting I am a definitie believer in "Live by three and die by the three". I just don't believe any team can go far in the NCAA without a strong post presence.

Every year Coach Moore works in at least two freshman into the rotation, which I feel is part of the reason for his continued success. Brandon Johnson looks good, playing 32 minutes in the first two games without a turnover. I haven't seen enough of Marty Bidwell to comment.

Next up - Catholic, No. 25 in the D3Hoops poll. I won't be able to attend but I will be listening...

[David Collinge]

Wrong denomination: next up is Methodist.  In the words of Norman Maclean, "Baptists who can read." 

[wooscotsfan]

Let's hope that Wooster's Presbyterian faith can overcome the Methodists!

GO SCOTS!!

[ScotsFan]

In the words of Norman Maclean, "Baptists who can read."

Methodist is represented in the "others receiving votes" category.  They would fall in at 51st with 6 votes.

[David Collinge]

Although they are 2-0, Methodist is off to a rocky start.  They struggled to beat SUNY-Maritime, who was Caltech-like awful last year, then went to 2OT to beat and lost to Sewanee, who was mediocre last year.  I wonder if Methodist is down this year?

[note: message edited]

[Titan Q]

Is this customary NCAC defense that you guys are putting on my boy Zach Freeman here, or what's the deal?

http://www.iwuhoops.com/wabz2.jpg

Hey, at least we have better hops here in the CCIW...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/wabz.jpg