MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[goscots]

The only freshman playing in the rotation continues to be Craig Elam. He got about 5 minutes in the first half and a bit more in the second. He continues to impress me with his shooting touch as he has a soft touch around the basket and can hit the 3.

Starting lineups tonight had Brandon Johnson against Kyle Witucky, James Cooper against Rodney Mitchell, Andy Van Horn against Matt Smith, Tom Port versus Brian Nelson and Tim Vandervaart against Ryan Gorman.  The game started slow, (something like 2 - 2 after several minutes) and the alumni stayed close throughout most of the first half, but the current Scots hit a spurt just before half and led 46-36. The second half wasn't as competitive and the freshman got in with 2-3 minutes left.

Of the returning letterman I think the most improved is Devan Fulk. His shot is off a bit but the rest of his game (especially rebounding) is very good. Tom Port looks to be the best player. He is playing with a great deal of intensity and confidence and shooting very well. Brandon Johnson has big shoes to fill but appears to be up to the task. James Cooper shot well today and his defense is much improved. Vandervaart and Van Horn continue to hustle and create plays.

If the players don't get stuck on individual accomplishments this could be a very special season indeed!

[ScotsFan]

I know that the expectations are high at Wooster year in and year out, but has there ever been expectations this high heading into the season?  I mean look at all the talent that is returning from last year's team.  I know that the loss of Witucky is huge from a leadership and talent standpoint, but I have all of the confidence in the world that Brandon Johnson will do just fine in filling the pg role.  Not to mention the fact that the guard position is by far the deepest position on this team.

One of the more telling stats was laid out in the 1st edition of "Around The Nation" which listed the starters lost from the final Top 10 teams from last season.  Only Wooster and VWU return 4 of 5 starters, but Wooster returns 7 players that saw at least 15 minutes/game compared to VWU with 5.  And when you look at points returning Wooster has 2,551 out of 2,945 total points returning.  Compare that to Witt who has only 1,075 out of 2,369.  I can't remember a Wooster team that had this much talent and depth returning from a team that spent most of last season in the top 5 in the polls! 

As goscots and WB said, let's get this show on the road!!!

[David Collinge]

Here's the linescore, taken from the Wooster Daily Record.

Alumni  36  44  --  80
Varsity  46  76 --  122

Alumni 80
Witucky 2 2-2 6, Mitchell 1 1-2 3, Nelson 8 5-6 21, Smith 3 0-0 9, Gorman 8 3-5 19, Stanley 4 0-0 10, Sprang 1 0-0 2, Schlingman 3 4-4 10.  30-59 15-19 80.

Varsity 122
B. Johnson 4 4-4 14, Cooper 6 3-3 17, Van Horn 3 00 7, Port 9 2-2 25, Vandervaart 7 3-4 17, Bidwell 3 1-1 9, Fulk 5 0-0 11, J. Johnson 1 0-0 3, Will 1 0-1 2, Elam 4 2-2 12, Tenenini 2 0-0 5.  45-73 15-17 122.

3 -point goals -- Alumni 5-17 (Smith 3, Stanley 2), Varsity 17-36 (B. Johnson 2, Cooper 2, Van Horn, Port 5, Bidwell 2, Fulk, J. Johnson, Elam 2, Tenenini).
Rebounds -- Alumni 22 (Nelson 7), Varsity 38 (Van Horn 7)
Assists -- Alumni 14 (Witucky 5), Varsity 24 (B. Johnson 5, Fulk 5).
Total Fouls -- Alumni 13, Varsity 13.
Turnovers -- Alumni 21, Varsity 13.
Fouled Out -- none.
Technicals -- none.

Percentages-wise, this works out to:
Alumni 30-59 (51%), 5-17 (29%), 15-19 (79%)
Varsity 45-73 (62%), 17-36 (47%), 15-17 (88%)
Those are pretty encouraging numbers, although I hope that the FG% defense improves over the course of the season.  It is also encouraging that 9 individual varsity players sank three-pointers. 

I wonder about the first half, where 'only' 82 points were scored.  Was it played with the same or similar up-tempo style that clearly took place in the 2nd half?  Did it look to those in attendance that the team intends to play a similar style as last season?

I hope we will hear from our infrequent contributor (who shall remain nameless, unless he chooses to out himself) who actually played in this game.  His insights from having played against this varsity squad would be very interesting indeed.

[woosterbooster]

I did not play in that game. 

However:

1.  While the defense, early on, of the alumni was excellent, as the game wore on their conditioning, or lack of it, began to tell.  They made a concerted effort to get back on defense, and gave up few quick breaks, but the problem mostly manifested itself in their being unable to guard on the perimeter.  Open threes that were not so easy to come by initially began to be readily available and the Scots knocked them down with regularity. 

At one point, with maybe ten minutes to go, Port drained four in a row, probably in a minute in a half, increasing the Scots margin lightning-like by twelve points.  After shooting and hitting another three, Devin Fulk was heard to yell out, apologetically, something like, "I don't want to shoot so much, but nobody's guarding me!"

2. The Scots will surely play in the same style as last season.  The did against Ashland, who chose to run against them with some success until they ran out of gas near the end.  They tried to against the Alumni, but those worthies were ready for it, and while they had their legs, defended very well.  As mentioned above, the legs of some of them failed to last the duration.

3. Interior defense, and to a lesser extent rebounding, against elite teams with good posts, will probably again be a problem.  The personnel is the same as last year so I wouldn't expect much of a change in that area.  The good news is that few teams that the Scots face will have post players as talented as Nelson and Gorman.  Some will be bigger, though, as is Walsh's seven foot Eder Araujo.

4. To me it's a bit of a disappointment that of this much-heralded freshmen class it appears that there might not be much of an immediate contribution.  Elam, maybe.  He has some size, but not a lot, but does seem to have a nice shooting touch and a sense of where he should be on the court.  I'd hoped, and suspected, that a freshman would step forward to gather the extra eight or ten point guard minutes when Brandon Johnson is getting a breather, but no one appears to be going to do that, at least as yet.

[David Collinge]

I did not play in that game. 

You're not infrequent, either. 

Which frosh will contribute is not always apparent at the beginning of the season.  Not everyone is Kyle Witucky, I'm sorry to say.  However, with seven solid veterans, there may not be much PT available for a frosh who can't crack the rotation right from the start.  But I expect the coaches will find PT for two or three frosh, if only for the sake of continuity.  It's no surprise that the frosh who played last night are forwards, since all three seniors play in the frontcourt, while the top three guards (including Fulk in this group) will return next season.

[wally_wabash]

It's officially hoops season...I see you Wooster guys have got a head start on the rest of us.   

A couple of quick preseason thoughts...

- Not sure what to expect from Wabash this season.  Pretty young and inexperienced.  Zimmer and Simkus are probably going to have to carry much of the scoring load.  It's going to interesting to see how quickly and how well this new group comes together.  Right now, I'm not sure I see many really easy conference games for Wabash. 

- The NCAC is Wooster's to lose I think.  The Scots are downright loaded.  They are definitely the target everybody is shooting for this year. 

- I think this is going to be a fun season in the NCAC.  After Wooster, I think we've got several teams that will be very competitve with one another...should make for a good year here. 

Wabash tips off against Rose Hulman Friday night in the Little Giant Tipoff.  Aurora and IU-South Bend play in the other game at Chadwick on Friday night. 

[Vanilla24COW]

Came away very impressed with the Scots after the Alumni game...Port has elevated his game to the next level and I believe he will be the leader that leads this group back to Salem (the talent is definitely there). There was a play early in the first half that I think last year might not have been made but was made in that game and although the shot was ultimately missed in the corner should the same thing happen against the Tigers I believe it would fall. This is a much more talented group than the '03 team, let's hope that this team gels and that guys accept roles as ultimately team chemistry is a much overlooked ingredient for success. I believe if Nelson played this year that he would once again be the D3 player of the year, he has not lost any part of his game. The 1 frosh that did log minutes (when it was close) reminds me a lot of Nelson both with his build and his shooting touch time will tell if he can develop the low post skills that Nelson was able to master. Fulk and Bidwell would start at any other school in not only the NCAC but also many other conferences. It could be a special year.

[WooMix]

Now this is me thinking out loud here.  Wouldn't it be nice for those fans out there who are fortunate enough to attend the games and have video cameras to record some of the action and then share it with the rest of us out here using such avenues as YouTube?  I don't know if so doing will infringe any copyrights owned by the schools but it sure is worth a try.

[ScotsFan]

Now this is me thinking out loud here.  Wouldn't it be nice for those fans out there who are fortunate enough to attend the games and have video cameras to record some of the action and then share it with the rest of us out here using such avenues as YouTube?  I don't know if so doing will infringe any copyrights owned by the schools but it sure is worth a try.

I'm not sure that they allow you to bring in any cameras unless you have a press pass.  I don't even recall seeing any of the players parents with photo cameras, let alone video cameras.  I'm not certain on this, but I surely would have thought that you would see some cameras if they were allowed.

If you're looking for some Scots' Basketball news, the Daily Fishwrap has had a couple of nice articles the past 2 days.  One was kind of a season preview and the other was a nice piece on Tom Port.  Here are the links:

"Scots look to write happier ending"
"Port hoping fifth year is finest"

[WooMix]

Now this is me thinking out loud here.  Wouldn't it be nice for those fans out there who are fortunate enough to attend the games and have video cameras to record some of the action and then share it with the rest of us out here using such avenues as YouTube?  I don't know if so doing will infringe any copyrights owned by the schools but it sure is worth a try.

I'm not sure that they allow you to bring in any cameras unless you have a press pass.  I don't even recall seeing any of the players parents with photo cameras, let alone video cameras.  I'm not certain on this, but I surely would have thought that you would see some cameras if they were allowed.

If you're looking for some Scots' Basketball news, the Daily Fishwrap has had a couple of nice articles the past 2 days.  One was kind of a season preview and the other was a nice piece on Tom Port.  Here are the links:

"Scots look to write happier ending"
"Port hoping fifth year is finest"

When I was at Wooster, I did take my digital camera into the gym and took as many pictures as I wanted.  Nobody ever complained or said anything.  I don't remember reading anywhere that such actions were forbidden.  I would believe that no-one would object to anyone taking a camera into the gym, any gym for that matter.  However, sharing video is slightly different from sharing pictures.

[woosterbooster]

WooMix -

For what it's worth, check out the Wooster schedule on the website.  The have nine games listed as having live video this season.

[WooMix]

WooMix -

For what it's worth, check out the Wooster schedule on the website.  The have nine games listed as having live video this season.

Thanks.  I am aware of that.  Last season, together with a bunch of guys, we tried Teamline but we weren't impressed enough to do it again.  Well, I guess the radio will be a just fine as usual.

[Titan Q]

The 2007 NCAA Record Book shows Wooster in 3rd place in all-time Division III wins, behind Wittenberg and Illinois Wesleyan (page 115).

Didn't Wooster pass IWU last year?  Was there some kind of correction or is there simply a mistake in the record book?

[David Collinge]

Wooster is 1421-739 all-time coming into this season; this record is on the Wooster men's basketball homepage under the photograph and above the "Did You Know?" box.  They started last year at 1395-735 (from the '05-'06 Media Guide) and went 26-4 (from the website).  I believe I recall that COW and IWU started the season tied at 1395 wins.  IWU went 25-7, and your site (IWUHoops.com) confirms that the Titans are now at 1420 wins (1420-793).  So it looks to me like Wooster starts this season with a one game edge on Illinois Wesleyan. 

Wittenberg is still way out in front at 1537 wins all-time.

The Record Book has Wooster at 1402-734, which I can only assume is wrong.  It might reflect some recount (we don't do recounts in Ohio  ), but I doubt that the NCAA green eyeshades care enough about D3 to bother with something like that.  Unless I see some documentation to the contrary, as far as I am concerned the top 3 is
1. Wittenberg 1537-613
2. Wooster 1421-739
3. Illinois Wesleyan 1420-793

[woosterbooster]

116 wins behind Wittenberg?  Not a problem.  All other results being equal, all it'll take is sweeping them (figuring on 3 games a season) for 39 years to move ahead.  Let the good times roll!