MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

Happy hoops season, gents.   

I'm looking forward to another exciting year of NCAC hoops!  My preliminary feeling on the Little Giants is...well, I don't know.  I'm looking for big things from Aaron Brock this year.  He had stretches where he was just outstanding last year.  Of course he doesn't have Zimmer drawing attention away from him, so it will be a bigger challenge.  I also hope to see that Wes Smith has an improved offensive game to go along with his already stellar defensive skills.

My immediate concern is size size size.  After Brock and Brian Maloney (who i expect will be starting at center this year), there isn't a ton of size.  There are a couple of freshman on the roster who have good size, but they are freshman and time will tell how ready they are to contribute. 

I had been looking forward to bringing some first hand reports from Wabash's opening tournament this weekend, however certain misfortunes on Saturday have led to Wabash's first round football playoff game being played in Cleveland and as such, I'll be reading about those games ex post facto.  I'll get my first look at the LGs next Tuesday when they play host to Hanover. 

Here's to a good season for the NCAC! 

[all day quads]

Allegheny will surprise everyone this year, as they will finish in the top 3 of the conference.  The Gators have one of the best, if not the best, big man in the league with junior George Raftis.  He's a beast on the boards and also is a very effective scorer in the post.  They also have do it all junior wing player Craig Devinney, who shoulda been all-conference last year (it is a joke he wasn't), who can shoot the three, has a nice mid range game and can also get to the basket very well.  Junior PG Charlie Jaicks, who had a much improved sophmore season, should also be all conference this year.  Jaicks is very quick which allows him to get in the lane very easily and find the open guy, and is also deadly from beyond the 3 point line. 

To go along with those three, they also have depth in their frontline to compliment Raftis in 6'7 Ryan Hollihan and 6'9 Andrew Barker.   Wing players Pete Jones, Doug Price and high flying freshman Donte Briscoe should give the Gators some versatility, as all three players can play multiple positions.  Soph sniper Seth Eisner is a player to also keep an eye on, as he will be one of the best shooters in league.

This is the year Wittenberg will start to decline and Allegheny will be on the rise in NCAC.

[woosterbooster]

Allegheny, especially Raftis, impressed me last year, and I expect them to be very much in the hunt for this season's league title.  Both Wooster and Wittenberg don't appear to be as strong this year.  Wooster might struggle early due to Brandon Johnson's absence and a tough schedule.  If he can return and approach top form by the the new year Wooster will contend.  Otherwise, I'm afraid not.  Besides him, they'll need two or three freshmen to contribute.  That, also, might or might not happen.

[David Collinge]

Kenyon basketball joins the 21st century with LiveStats and audio and video webcasts...and coaches' shows!  Tune in Monday to listen to Coach Croci discuss how his team's "egregiously bad basketball" and good fortune to play a team of "self-beaters" led to their 2-0 start.

[Gregory Sager]

Heh!

[David Collinge]

Six teams get underway tonight:

• Denison hosts Goshen in the three-team Sodexho Classic in Granville.  The Big Red will face Hanover Sunday.  (Hanover and Goshen square off tomorrow.)
• Earlham will participate in Illinois College's Bill Merris Tournament, where they'll take on the host Blueboys.  Tomorrow they will face either Eureka or Benedictine.
• Oberlin opens up at Mt. Aloysius.
• OWU faces UW-Eau Claire at Wheaton College's Lee Pfund Classic.  The Bishops will face either host Wheaton or Staten Island tomorrow afternoon.
• Wooster hosts Washington & Jefferson in the Al Van Wie/Rotary Classic.  Tomorrow evening the Scots will take on either Randolph-Macon or Messiah.
• Wabash welcomes Wilmington to the Little Giant Tipoff Tournament tonight, and will welcome either Franklin or DePauw tomorrow.

Allegheny (1-1) travels to beautiful downtown Youngstown to face the Div. 1 Penguins tomorrow, while Hiram hosts Pitt-Greensburg in the Terriers' season opener.  Kenyon (2-0) is off until Tuesday, when they will travel to Washington & Jefferson.  Wittenberg opens their campaign at Capital the same evening.

Good luck to all!

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:   Wash & Jeff 44  Wooster 41

Scots didn't play very good defense in the first half and W&J made 5 three pointers.  Wash & Jeff outrebounded Wooster 15 to 10 and the Scots also missed 6 free throws in the half.

Wooster is being led by freshman Justin Hallowell with 11 points (3 of 4 on three pointers) and Dustin Geitgey with 5 points.

Wash & Jeff is being led by Brian Felker with 17 points and Wahab Owolabi with 8 points.

GO SCOTS!

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Washington & Jefferson 72  Wooster 70

Wash & Jeff outscored Wooster by 6 points at the charity stripe and that was the difference in this game.

Scots only made 13 of 24 free throws which is just plain ugly (54%).  W&J made 19 free throws and shot 83% from the charity stripe.

Wooster was led by Ian Franks with 21 points (17 in 2nd half), Justin Hallowell with 11 points and both Marty Bidwell and Drew Sawyer each had 7 points.  Bryan Wickliffe had a subpar game with only 6 points.

W&J was led by Brian Felker with 23 points, Wahab Owolabi with 12 points and Albert Varacallo with 11 points.

Pretty disappointing game for Wooster but not surprising given that 5 new players played significant minutes and Brandon Johnson's point guard presence is missing.

Wooster plays Messiah tomorrow in the consolation game tomorrow and misses a great opportunity to play a ranked Randolph Macon squad.  RMC knocked off Messiah by a 75-49 score in the opener and will play W&J in the championship game.

GO SCOTS!

[David Collinge]

Elsewhere:
Ohio Wesleyan 87, UW-Eau Claire 78...Congratulations to the Bishops, the only NCAC team to win tonight.  They get to make a statement tomorrow against Wheaton.
Goshen 75, Denison 62
Illinois College 69, Earlham 54...Quakers take on Eureka tomorrow
Wilmington 69, Wabash 50...LGs face DePauw tomorrow
Mt. Aloysius 83, Oberlin 71

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:  Wooster 40  Messiah 35

Wooster is being led by Ian Franks with 15 points and Justin Hallowell with 6 points.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 86  Messiah 77

Wooster notches its first win of the season.   Scots were led in scoring by Ian Franks with 24 points, Justin Hallowell with 17 points (5 three pointers) and Marty Bidwell with 12 points.

Messiah was led by Drew Sneeringer with 18 points, Jason Miller with 17 points and Andy Hawk with 17 points.

GO SCOTS!

[David Collinge]

Elsewhere:
Youngstown St. 96, Allegheny 59
Eureka 64, Earlham 63
Hiram 98, Pitt-Greensburg 86
Wabash 57, DePauw 52
Wheaton 81, Ohio Wesleyan 59

Tomorrow's only game:
Hanover at Denison

[ScotsFan]

I know the season is early, but there are a couple of concerns I have regarding this young Wooster team.  First is their lackluster shooting from the charity stripe.  After an abysmal 14-23 performance in the tournament lidlifter, the Scots followed that up with seven more misses going just 14-21 last night.  I'm sure that this number will improve, especially considering that both Ian Franks and Marty Bidwell are both shooting at a better clip from beyond the arc than they are at the free throw line...  I really hope it does improve, because missed ft's have already indirectly cost them a win and allowed Messiah to get within striking distance at the end of last night's game.

Defense is my other concern.  A night after W&J shot nearly 45%, Wooster allowed Messiah to shoot nearly 50%.  I'm sure the Scots' youth plays a major role in this.  And Brandon Johnson's absence isn't helping things defensively either. 

Offensively, Ian Franks has looked really impressive with his back to back 20+ performances.  And Justin Hallowell appears to be living up to the hype he was receiving coming out of high school.  He's already made 8 treys in 2 games.  And Wooster is shooting the ball at a nice clip (save from the ft line as noted above...). 

One thing to take solace in for Wooster is that loss to W&J does not appear to be as bad as I originally thought after the Presidents followed up their win over Wooster with a win over R-MC.  Things aren't going to get any easier as next up for the Scots is U-W Platteville at Hanover this Saturday.  The Pios have yet to be tested winning their 1st three games by an average of 35 ppg while scoring 93 ppg in the process.

[woosterbooster]

I know the season is early, but there are a couple of concerns I have regarding this young Wooster team.  First is their lackluster shooting from the charity stripe.  After an abysmal 14-23 performance in the tournament lidlifter, the Scots followed that up with seven more misses going just 14-21 last night.  I'm sure that this number will improve, especially considering that both Ian Franks and Marty Bidwell are both shooting at a better clip from beyond the arc than they are at the free throw line...  I really hope it does improve, because missed ft's have already indirectly cost them a win and allowed Messiah to get within striking distance at the end of last night's game.

Defense is my other concern.  A night after W&J shot nearly 45%, Wooster allowed Messiah to shoot nearly 50%.  I'm sure the Scots' youth plays a major role in this.  And Brandon Johnson's absence isn't helping things defensively either. 

Offensively, Ian Franks has looked really impressive with his back to back 20+ performances.  And Justin Hallowell appears to be living up to the hype he was receiving coming out of high school.  He's already made 8 treys in 2 games.  And Wooster is shooting the ball at a nice clip (save from the ft line as noted above...). 

One thing to take solace in for Wooster is that loss to W&J does not appear to be as bad as I originally thought after the Presidents followed up their win over Wooster with a win over R-MC.  Things aren't going to get any easier as next up for the Scots is U-W Platteville at Hanover this Saturday.  The Pios have yet to be tested winning their 1st three games by an average of 35 ppg while scoring 93 ppg in the process.

The free throw shooting has certainly been abyssmal.  While I think it will improve, I'm not sure how much.  I'd be surprised if the team goes over 70% for the season, and would not be surprised if that number was more around 65%.  Many of the good free-throw shooters are gone: Cooper, Port, Fulk.  Bidwell started struggling from the stripe last year and I don't know if he'll come around.  Franks will probably shoot well, but I'm just not sure about the others that have been missing.

The Scots defense has not been good.  Too many guys are allowing penetration, something that I haven't seen from a Wooster team in many years.  Help usually arrives before the perp gets to the basket, but that has brought about dish-offs for open jumpers.

Before Platteville, whom I'm afraid will be too much for the Scots to handle, is Carnegie-Mellon, a tough opponent on the road.  Wooster will probably have to play better than they have to win that one.

So far, I like two of the kids, Hallowell and Sawyer.  I see them as bookend forwards next season, after Bidwell's graduation.  Hallowell is an excellent shooter with lots of range.  He hasn't done too much else, but he keeps his composure on the court and I see his game growing over this season and beyond.  Sawyer has a different set of skills.  He's shown the ability to score inside with a nice touch.  His defensive footwork has already improved, plus he can block a shot.  I think we'll begin to see him run the floor more as time goes on.  I'd like to see his minutes increase to the 20-25 range, but for that to happen, he'll have to stay out of foul trouble.

The return of Brandon Johnson will mean much to this team.  Ian Franks can move to the more natual position of two-guard, where he can continue to score which he's done so well.  But Johnson's speed in pushing the ball upcourt will get the Scots some easier points, plus his savvy and ability to penetrate will get the rest of the offense more involved.  Wooster should be a much better team in the second half; however, I think that they're going to pick up 4-6 2008 losses in the process.  An at-large bid is probably out of the question this year, but the Scots will definitely be among the favorites to win the NCAC and gain the automatic bid. 

[David Collinge]

Hanover edges Denison in Granville, 77-74.  The Panthers ran out to a double-digit lead in the first 7:21, but Denison ended the half on an 8-2 run to trail by 6 at the break.  The Big Red continued to chip away at the Hanover advantage in the second half, catching and finally overtaking the visitors in the final minute.  But a three-pointer by Taylor Dial with 0:19 remaining gave Hanover the lead, and after Denison frosh Jim Leffew missed a three with 0:04 on the clock, two Panther free throws provided the final margin.  Denison was led by junior Chris Luther's 20 points.  DU essentially played an 8-man rotation, with four of the eight being first-years; in fact, of the twelve players who saw game action, eight were frosh.  Hanover may be in rebuilding mode, but for an eight-frosh Denison team to play a tradition-rich program like Hanover to a basic standstill suggests that the future may be bright in Granville (although it must be noted that the four veterans contributed 50 of DU's 74 points and 17 of the 28 rebounds not assigned to "TEAM".)  Box.