MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[WooMix]

There was some noise over the summer about a potentially great college player of Asian decent that Oberlin was getting.  Oberlin recruited him from some Prep school in California.  If my memory saves me right, he was expected to turn things around for the Yeomen.  I however don't remember his name though.  My apologies for that.  So based on what you've seen of him so far, assuming you know who I'm talking about (if he is even playing), what do you make of him?   

[David Collinge]

There was some noise over the summer about a potentially great college player of Asian decent that Oberlin was getting.  Oberlin recruited him from some Prep school in California.  If my memory saves me right, he was expected to turn things around for the Yeomen.  I however don't remember his name though.  My apologies for that.  So based on what you've seen of him so far, assuming you know who I'm talking about (if he is even playing), what do you make of him?   

Oberlin.edu article on their four recruits.  Two of the four (Gian Chiu and Ryan Magiera) are starters, and the other two (Bernhard and Tompsett) see playing time. 
* Chiu started every game until last night, when he did not play for reasons unknown to me.  He's averaging 4.3 pts. and 2.5 rebs. in 20.8 minutes/game so far, and has 6 blocks in 6 games.  He's the only Asian of the four, so perhaps he's who you are thinking of.
* Magiera is averaging 6.7 and 2.4 in 25 mpg.  He has 24 turnovers in 7 games (5 starts.)  He had 5 points (2/9 shooting), 4 turnovers, and 3 rebounds in 26 minutes last night.
* Bernhard and Tompsett each have started one game--Tompsett's start was last night--and appeared in all seven.  Tompsett has the better stats: 4.6 ppg (.519 shooting), 3.6 reb., 10 blocks, and just 6 turnovers (and 6 assists) in 18.6 mpg.  Berhnard (9.6 mpg) plays sparingly and is averaging 1.7 and 1.0.  Neither was effective last night (combined for 7 pts. and 5 reb. in 24 minutes.)
I haven't yet seen Oberlin, but it's safe to say that none of these first-years has managed to turn things around for the 0-7 Yeomen yet.

[woosterbooster]

Chiu is the man.  He was a highly touted 6'9" post player from the Phillipines via California.

[ScotsFan]

I see that Elam played 8 minutes tonight at Oberlin.  (Box score.)  I further see that Evan Will did not play.  Anyone care to comment on that? 

Nice to see Elam back in action last night just in time for the big showdown in Delaware.  Not so nice to see that Will was out of the game with an injury?!  I hope Will's injury is indeed a mild hamstring problem and that they were just holding him out of Wednesday's game for precautionary reasons.  If he's out Saturday, that could really decrease Wooster's chances in coming away with a win.

Some other thoughts as I was perusing the NCAC statistics web-page...

First, how about Devin Fulk and the season he is putting together this year.  He is leading the league in overall shooting percentage.  And after last night's 6-6 performance he now is sitting at 64%!   Also, with his 4-4 performance from beyond the arc, he is now up to 57 % from 3-point range!  He is also now leading the team in scoring at 15.2 ppg surpassing James Cooper last night.  Although, I would expect Coop to retake the lead in scoring if and when he finds his range again.

As for Cooper and his shooting woes, he is only shooting 39% overall and just 32% from beyond the arc?!  This is from a guy that shot 54% overall the past 2 season's combined and a combined 45% from 3-point range over that span as well!  For as much talk about the lack of production from inside with this team, the Scots really need to hope that Coop can get things going as well.  And soon!

Some other interesting stats that caught my eye concerning Wooster involved rebounding and turnovers.  Not surpirsingly, Wooster is leading the league in rebounding margin at almost +10 per game.  What I thought was surprising was that they were almost +7 ahead of the next closest team which is Witt at +3.4.

And as far as the turnover statistics go, Wooster is negative in this category for the first time in a long time at -1.75.  They are also below 1 in assist/turnover ratio for the first time I can remember.  The Scots seem to have been improving in turning the ball over less as they followed up a season low 11 turnovers against Cedarville with a new season low of 10 last night.  Wooster will need to keep their turnovers down closer to their last 2 games or they will have a tough time winning Saturday if they are up around the 20+ range instead.

[David Collinge]

Six games into the season and Wittenberg (1-5) has already matched or exceeded their loss totals from each of the last four years.  Looking ahead, the Tigers have three more non-conference games, all at home, against Otterbein (1-5), Olivet (2-4), and either Wisconsin-La Crosse (4-2) or NAIA's Marian (4-4).  The best-case scenario appears to be a 2-1 run--they're unlikely to beat LaX, and probably would have to lose to Olivet to avoid playing the Eagles. 

The Tigers have what surely is the longest intact season winning streak in all of college basketball: their last non-winning season was 1967-68 (13-13), and their last losing season was in 1955-56 (8-12), 52 seasons ago.  Should Witt post a non-conference record of 3-6, they'd have to post a conference record of 10-6 have a winning regular season.  While that is, of course, not out of the question, it would probably require the Tigers to win at least 4 games against a group including Wooster, OWU, Wabash, Allegheny, and Kenyon. 

Without significant mid-year improvement, I'd have to say that Wittenberg's 52-year winning streak is in serious jeopardy.

[pennstghs]

DC you may be right but i wouldn't be too quick to count this team out. They have been competitive in every game, with their inexperience and youth hampering their ability to finish games. I think they will be fine, it just takes time to go through the learning process. I have been wrong often though.

Time to get win number 2 Saturday!!!!!

[Li'l Giant]

Final from Chadwick Court:

DePauw 60
Wabash 71

Wabash led the entire game and the LGs were up double digits at the half. DePauw made a run in the 2nd half getting as close as 6 but Wabash held the Tigers off and go home with a crowd pleasing win.

That's a great ending to a crappy day for this LG fan.

[sac]

Whats Wabash doing playing a girls school. 

[wally_wabash]

Back from Chadwick and almost fully transitioned into hoops mode....the eyeball report from tonight's action...

As LG mentioned, Wabash opened with 5 Earl Rooks points and never looked back.  Wabash led by as many as 9 early in the game, but DePauw came back on the back on Mike Moore (who is a really good little point guard) and tied the score with about 8 minutes to go in the first half.  Wabash responded with a little run of their own and went to half up by 10 points.  Chase Haltom led the LGs with 10 first half points and Zimmer (as you would expect from a senior playing his last game vs. DPU) added 9 in the first half. 

The second half was more of the same for Wabash....timely shooting with stout defense and excellent rebounding kept the Tigers at bay for the remainder of the game.  DPU briefly got within 5 or 6 once or twice, but never really threatened throughout the second  half.  Wes Smith chipped in with 8 second half rebounds. 

For the game, Zimmer, Haltom, Rooks, and Smith all reached double figures.  Wes  Smith notched a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. 

I was impressed with Wabash's tenacity on the glass tonight...very few DePauw rebounds came easy.  Overall a really good effort from the LGs tonight and a good win for Wabash. 

Whats Wabash doing playing a girls school. 

This is Hall of Fame quality posting. 

[Gregory Sager]

Six games into the season and Wittenberg (1-5) has already matched or exceeded their loss totals from each of the last four years.  Looking ahead, the Tigers have three more non-conference games, all at home, against Otterbein (1-5)

I'll bet that the last time that both Wittenberg and Otterbein had losing records when they met on the basketball court was back when you still had to climb a ladder and fish the ball out of the peach basket after a made shot.

[smedindy]

WOOT! Glad to hear 'Bash took care of business and somewhat made up for the Monon Bell loss...

[David Collinge]

The Daily Record's Zach Bollinger reports today that Evan Will should be available for tomorrow's game at OWU.  Will comments about this injury and the decision to sit him down at Oberlin:

"It's nothing serious," Will said.  "We just decided to take it easy, make sure I would be ready for Saturday. [...] I will be ready to go."

The article does not appear in the online edition.

[DanTHEman67]

Witt. is just going through some growing pains with young players, but it must be agreed they have been competitive against some teams that are rated quite highly.  Don't count them out. I truly believe they will make some noise before the season ends.

[sac]

This is Hall of Fame quality posting. 

Shamless, wasn't it. 

[David Collinge]

Kenyon drops Ohio Christian tonight, 78-65, at Mt. Vernon Nazarene U.  Kenyon, to my eyes the vastly superior team, played 20 minutes of uninspired and ineffective basketball at both ends, limping to halftime trailing 37-36.  They must have gotten a wake-up call in the locker room, as they started the second half on an 18-2 run to put the game away.  I confess I stopped paying close attention at that point, spending most of the second half pestering the patient father of one of the KC players with my inane chatter.  It seemed like every time I looked up, either Dave Knapke or Bryan Yelvington was ripping down another rebound, and the box score bears this out.  Knapke had a monster game with 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Yelvington added 14 and 12, including a welcome 6/8 performance from the free throw line.  (Overall, the Lords were 14/18 from the stripe, including 12/12 in the second half.)  Defensively, the first half Lords allowed the smaller Trailblazers to penetrate and get open looks, and as a result they hit 44.8% of their shots.  The second half Lords were having none of that, though, as they clamped down on OCU, holding them to 30.6% shooting, and just 8 buckets from inside the arc (in 31 attempts).  Since OCU was one-and-done all night (Kenyon dominated the glass 54-26), the much tougher second half interior defense spelled the Trailblazers' doom.

After building up the big lead, it seemed that Kenyon coasted a little and OCU hung around, getting to within a few possessions, but I never felt that the outcome was in doubt--not even during the miserable first half; Kenyon is just that much bigger, stronger, and more talented than the Trailblazers.  Tomorrow will be a horse of a different color, though, as the Lords take on MVNU, the #8 ranked team in NAIA 2.