MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[titanfan]

Pat Coleman,

Why are Tri-State and Oberlin considered Non-regional wins for Wabash?  It looks to me like they are all in the Great Lakes Region.  Thanks!

[GoBigRed]

One word for Denison's coaching strategy - bizarre.

I'm done with the posts, fellas, if ever there was a broken record...

I truly think Ghiloni and company have abandoned all attempts at winning games, and its about getting the guys to play whatever it is he's trying to do. Now they do the 5 sub line change, its just getting worse. Its like they wont mold an offense for what they have, they want what they have to conform - and I dont think he has the players to do it. God forbid he change his philosophy.

Maybe the players all got worse over the summer, but they only lost one starter. Then you have to address all these guys quitting. Ghiloni has lost his mind, it defies explanation and I don't want to rack my brain trying to rationalize what Ive determined is irrational behavior.

Coach Ghiloni, if you ever read this, will you please just run pick and rolls with Hern and Hodgekinson, get your guys to look into the post and if the big guy doesnt have it have those freshman (the ones only you see promise in) ready to shoot.

I keep saying the same thing after every game, and I dont wanna waste my time anymore.

I wish the Big Red luck the rest of the year, and I wish Coach Ghiloni luck at his next job.  

[imderekpoe]

titanfan:

I think that Tri-State is in the 2nd year of their provisional period, thus they don't count as an in-region game.

No clue on Oberlin.

[earlhamalum]

Once again I wish I could of been at this one.  4 outstanding performances tonight... but One team came out on top.  

for Franklin:
Nick Kane- 36 Pts, 17 Rebounds, 3 Blks, and 50% from the field.  

for Earlham
LaRon Henry- 33 Pts, 15-20 Fgs, 2-2 3 pts,  1-2 Fts
Markous Jewett- 21 Pts, 7-15 Fgs, 2-4 3 pts, 5-6 Fts  
Brandon Miller- 19 Pts, 9-16 Fgs, 11 Rebs, 1-6 Fts

Neil Collins off the bench came in a did a great job from a player that you don't expect a whole lot from... but Franklin's top 5, out played Earlham's top 5.  

[Pat Coleman]

Basically, the final Wabash and Oberlin schedules came in so late that we didn't have a chance to punch them in ourselves and had to rely on one of the schools to do it, or one of our interns, who didn't know the rules.

As for Tri-State, click on their team page and you'll find a relatively useful note regarding this.
http://www.d3hoops.com/school_info.php?school=Tri-State&team=m&year=2006

[DenisonFan]

Capital    91
Denison  57

Another terrific defeat orchastrated by the "COACH OF THE YEAR".

I agree with GBR.  I think I am throwing in the towel.  I think Ghiloni doesn't want to win.

The game is 13-9 Capital.  He pulls out all his starters except Kranz.  He puts in two more freshman and two sophomores and Capital goes on a 10-2 run and the game is over.

Does he really believe his second string is as good as his first.  The group he put on the floor was a combined 4-16 shooting on the night.  A smooth 25%.  Now that is good coaching.

Word in the stands is that when Julian guit Ghiloni says the kid was a cancer on the team and we are better without him.  WHAT?  The only two games Denison has won Julian was a HUGE factor.  But he is the problem.  Come on Bob, pull your head out and start doing what I hope Denison hired you to do and that is to win basketball games.

The second half got even better because he would start his starting 5 and then sub 5 at a time to the second group. 

We are 0 for December with an average margin of defeat of over 30 points a game.

A "bumpy ride", this is a train wreck and everyone watching this team knows it. 

But it is a good thing to get that cancer off the team.

I feel sorry for the players.  They know Ghiloni gives them NO CHANCE to win.  How sad is that?

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

[bishopsfan]

Now that we are about 40% of the way through the season, I thought it would be interesting to get some views on how the league will finish.  It looks as if the final rankings have potetial to be dramatically different then the preseason rankings.  As of today I feel the league will look like this come February.

1)  Wooster....Playing well right now and will continue to
2)  Wittenberg.....it may come down to a tie breaker with Wooster.
3)  OWU....playing a lot better then a lot of people thought they would early in the year.
4) Earlham....led by some very athletic seniors
5) Wabash
6) Allegheny
7) Dension....I wanted to pick Kenyon ahead of Denison but I feel that the Christmas break will help Denison pick up some of its pieces and at least put some resemblence of a season together.  Is it really possible for them to finish lower then Kenyon, Hiram, and/or Oberlin.
8)  Kenyon....there are better days ahead for the Lords.
9)  Hiram
10)  Oberlin.....I heard a rumor that Oberlin is only practicing 8 players.  Can this really be true?

[titanfan]

Thanks Pat!  I missed the Tri-State note on their provisional status.

[smedindy]

That's no rumor - Oberlin has only dressed eight.

I do think you are ranking Wabash lower than they should be. They played IWU pretty tough, and could have beaten Hanover, and SHOULD have beaten Bethany (KS).

Despite all of the moping here, I think Denison is in line for a 9-7 league finish and a record very similar to last years. (For some reason, the site has the Capital loss as a conference game for Denison...)

[waterboy]

I agree with your assessment Bishopsfan, for the most part.

Woo-Witt are going to be 1-2, no doubt about it.

3-5 is going to be a dog-fight, because I think each team can steal a game from one another.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say Earlham edges out the other two for the three spot and Bash and OWU tie for 4th.

Gators right on the money.  Could potentially knock off 3-5 once, but will probably also lose to 7-9 once.

I'm going to go ahead and put Kenyon ahead of Denison.  By the looks of things, Kenyon at least knows what they're doing and they have some nice young players stepping up.

Despite the recent wins, Hiram wins just two in league play, both at the expense of the Yeomen, who end up without a league win on the 10th anniversary of their last 0-16 season (1995-96).

It'll be tough for Johnson to get Newcomer considering some of the other talented first-years around the league, plus the NCAC likes to spread things around a bit too much to my liking, and Port and Coop have the early lead in POTY honors.  Here are some early favorites though:

Brandon Johnson (Woo) - 7.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.1 spg
Bryan Yelvington (Ken) - 13.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 48.3% field goals
Jordan Krantz (Den) - 9.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.7 spg
Mike Loll (Obe) - 11.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.1 spg
Ryan Hollihan (All) - 10.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.4 bpg

Interesting to note that Johnson is far and away the best first-year among the assumed top-five teams, IMO.

[Kramer]

Pretty good picks Bishopsfan.  I agree that the 3,4 & 5 spots are going to be a dog fight.  I think Earlham has the most talented starting five, but will their bench come through when needed?  Very impressive line-up though.  Kenyon may finish ahead of Denison (maybe even Hiram), the defections there may not be over.

[David Collinge]

I'll cloak my responses in secrecy by giving what I think will be the first-round tournay pairings. 

Alphabetically. 

Allegheny at Wabash
Denison at Wooster
Earlham at Ohio Wesleyan
Kenyon at Wittenberg

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'll cloak my responses in secrecy by giving what I think will be the first-round tournay pairings. 

Alphabetically. 

Allegheny at Wabash
Denison at Wooster
Earlham at Ohio Wesleyan
Kenyon at Wittenberg

David, knowing your loyalty, it is a pretty safe bet that you are picking Kenyon for 7th and Denison for 8th!  But other than 'bash and OWU for 3,4 and 'gheny and Earlham for 5,6, I don't know you well enough to decipher the order.

[woosterbooster]

It'll be tough for Johnson to get Newcomer considering some of the other talented first-years around the league...

I agree with you here.  Johnson's problem isn't a lack of ability, but the fact that he's come into a strong program that this year has serious depth at the guard positions.  That's working against him getting the minutes he'd need to produce numbers that could match other freshmen on lesser teams.

Next year, though, with Witucky having graduated, I see Johnson running the offense and playing 30 minutes a game.  By his junior year, watch out. :-)

[David Collinge]

David, knowing your loyalty, it is a pretty safe bet that you are picking Kenyon for 7th and Denison for 8th!  But other than 'bash and OWU for 3,4 and 'gheny and Earlham for 5,6, I don't know you well enough to decipher the order.

Be careful making that bet, Chuck.  You know what happens when you ASSUME:  You make an ASS of the University of Michigan (Eastern)!