MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[ScotsFan]

I was in attendance last night for the game.

Prior to the game both Coach Cline and Coach Moore took a moment to thank Coach Ford and the KSU players and the referees for their gesture (I joked with my dad when they said that the refs had donated their pay for the night that this meant we had to be nice to the officials  ).  It was a pretty touching moment and I'm not ashamed to admit that I had to fight back the tears.   The crowd gave them a very nice standing O and the KSU players were returning the favor.  Coach Ford and his players were a class act for sure!

As for the game, I thought Wooster fared pretty well considering Wooster's top 2 point guards were on the bench in street clothes.  Usually depth at the guard position has been a luxury for the Scots, but last night they had to go with only a 3 guard rotation.  Not to mention, Greg Ross was on the bench in street clothes as well.

My dad had gone to the alumni game and he said he wasn't too impressed with how the team looked against the alumni.  But he said they definitely looked much better in their effort vs. KSU.  I have to say, I was very impressed with both Claytor and Mays.  Mays is very quick around the basket and he doesn't waste too much time taking it strong to the hoop.  They both more than held their own against much bigger KSU bigs.  Not to mention that KSU's starting frontcourt were seniors that these 2 frosh were going up against. 

Another player that impressed me was Warnes.  He's going to be tough to keep out of the rotation.  He had a real scrappiness in his play especially on the defensive end.  He made several nice plays defensively.

All in all, KSU was just too big and too deep for Wooster.  The Flashes had a guard that went 220 and it was a solid as a rock 220!  It was a fun experience to see a team like Kent St. on the floor at Timken.  And it was also nice to see that over $5000 was raised for the Corey John Cline Fund from an exhibition game!  While it would have been nice to see a bit larger of a turnout, drawing nearly 2000 fans for an exhibition game is not too shabby. 

[wooscotsfan]

As for the game, I thought Wooster fared pretty well considering Wooster's top 2 point guards were on the bench in street clothes.  Usually depth at the guard position has been a luxury for the Scots, but last night they had to go with only a 3 guard rotation.  Not to mention, Greg Ross was on the bench in street clothes as well.

I have to say, I was very impressed with both Claytor and Mays.  Mays is very quick around the basket and he doesn't waste too much time taking it strong to the hoop.  They both more than held their own against much bigger KSU bigs.  Not to mention that KSU's starting frontcourt were seniors that these 2 frosh were going up against. 

Another player that impressed me was Warnes.  He's going to be tough to keep out of the rotation.  He had a real scrappiness in his play especially on the defensive end.  He made several nice plays defensively.

It was great to see a Division I team play at Timken last night.  I fully agree with ScotsFan on 3 points that he made:

1.  Ballhandling was Wooster's downfall with Ian Franks and Brandon Johnson both on the bench last night.  The Scots had 21 turnovers and that was too much to overcome against Kent State.  Word in the gym was that Franks would have played if it was a regular season game and on a very positive note, Brandon Johnson has been practicing hard and may see playing time in the near future.

2.  Justin Warnes was the 3rd guard last night and played with a lot of hustle.  He had 7 points and 4 assists coming off the bench and he will probably see some court time even after Franks and Johnson return.

3.  Josh Claytor and Jake Mays are FANTASTIC RECRUITS!   These guys played like Juniors last night vs. a Division I team!  Claytor got the starting nod last night and rightly so because this guy is an athletic 6'7" player who can handle the ball and create his own shot.  He led Wooster with 8 boards and chipped in 7 points.  He reminds me some of Tom Port but he is bigger physically and not quite as fast as Port.  Claytor has a very fluid shot and passes the ball well for a big guy.

Jake Mays is a big 6'8" post who is very mobile and fluid around the basket.  He held his own against KSU's stout bigger frontline.  Mays led the Scots with 12 points on 6 of 8 from the floor and he added 5 boards.

Claytor and Mays will be a very tough pair for most D3 teams to handle.  Combined with Wickliffe and Hallowell, Wooster now has an impressive 4 man rotation up front that most teams will not be able to match.  Gideon Mabeny will be the 5th big guy off the bench playing defensive minutes.

Summary:  Wooster has the talent and depth to win the NCAC again and make another strong run in the NCAA tourney, IMO. 

[wooscotsfan]

It looks like freshmen Jake Mays, Josh Claytor and Justin Warnes all received significant time.

Warnes is a sophomore.  The Woo91 commentators were speculating (or perhaps they knew) that he was a JV last year--I can't remember, and don't have my JV roster from last season out here.  I bet wooscotsfan or imderekpoe can answer this for certain.

Yes, Justin Warnes played on the JV team last year.  Actually if you check last season's boxscore, you will also find that he even had 1 minute of varsity playing time.

[kiltedbryan]

It looks like freshmen Jake Mays, Josh Claytor and Justin Warnes all received significant time.

Warnes is a sophomore.  The Woo91 commentators were speculating (or perhaps they knew) that he was a JV last year--I can't remember, and don't have my JV roster from last season out here.  I bet wooscotsfan or imderekpoe can answer this for certain.

Yes, Justin Warnes played on the JV team last year.  Actually if you check last season's boxscore, you will also find that he even had 1 minute of varsity playing time.

I knew I should've double-checked class years before my post.  Looks like he might be a nice addition to the varsity this season.

[David Collinge]

Matt Croci promises a more up-tempo, guard-oriented, three-pointer attack at Kenyon this season.  With Bryan Yelvington and Allen Bediako gone to graduation, and the last couple of recruiting seasons being guard-heavy, he's trying to open up the offense to take advantage of their area of depth as well as take some pressure off Dave Knapke in the post.  This will put more pressure on JT Knight, but Croci assures us that he's up to the challenge.  He also talks up the improvement in Uros Vasiljevik's game, and profiles his incoming frosh and the conference race.  Listen to Croci's podcast here.

[David Collinge]

From Woo 91's Twitter feed:
"Jason and Andrew just had a great interview with Wooster Men's Basketball coach Steve Moore. It will air this Friday (tomorrow)."
Woo 91 is the college radio station, and they stream live to the web from their home page.

[David Collinge]

There's some very funny stuff going on regarding the Wooster/Wittenberg "Mascot Face-Off" in preparation for the football game this weekend.  One particularly humorous episode involves Wooster alum Bob Dyer, whose daughters Carrie (basketball) and Kimmie (volleyball) play for Wittenberg, making a pro-Witt spot, and getting a reaction from the Wooster Dean of Students.  You might want to check this site out before it goes away, which it might do after this weekend. 
http://www.mascotfaceoff.com/
I think this is an excellent way to remind us that this is in essence a friendly rivalry, something that is sometimes forgotten during basketball season.

[ScotsFan]

Tip-off weekend has finally arrived for us Scots fans!   

The Wooster DR had an article in yesterday's paper previewing the season.  It was a locked article on their website for subscribers only so that is why I didn't link it.

The article did have some good news wrt Brandon Johnson.  Moore said in the article that Johnson has recovered enough and should be available to contribute off the bench on Sunday at Albion!

It also stated the potential of just how versatile of lineups Coach Moore could be using throughout the season.  They could go very guard oriented by having Franks, Johnson and Balch all on the floor togeter or they could go with a very front-court oriented lineup with the potential of having no-one under 6-4 on the floor and they could do that without moving players out of their natural positions!  The example used in the preview was Mabeney (7-0), Mays (6-8), Claytor (6-7), Hallowell (6-7) and Franks (6-4).  Pretty scary proposition for a lot of opponents to have to deal with that rotation.

Moore also said that there are 13 players in the mix vying for playing time right now.  He also said he didn't expect that all 13 would see action in the regular rotation on Sunday.  Moore added that they are still trying to work out who their regular subs will be.

I really think this team has the potential to be a special team.  While the loss of Marty was significant from a leadership perspective and the energy he brought on the floor, I really think that Brandon Johnson can fill that role and then some if he can stay healthy.  And when you combine Johnson's return with the addition of the new bigs to the rotation, I think there is no question that Wooster has the potential to be a much improved team from a year ago!  And that's scary considering they won 23 games last season!   8)

[David Collinge]

Highlights of Coach Moore's interview with the Woo91 student broadcasters:
* Justin Hallowell will be playing the small forward position this year.  This is partly due to the fact that it suits his game more ("posting up is not his game so much"), partly because his ball handling and defensive skills are improved, and partly because there's now more depth in the 4/5 positions.
* Josh Claytor will start at the power forward position.  Moore took pains to avoid comparing Claytor to Bryan Nelson, but the similarities are there.
* Jake Mays is a true center, and he'll be first off the bench to spell Wickliffe at the 5.  He is a good jumper who has the ability to rebound in a crowd, something that is "rare at this level."
* For the record, that means that the starting frontcourt will go 6'5", 6'7", 6'7", with the smallest of these being the center, who will be spelled by a 6'8" guy.  That maybe isn't titanic, but it's pretty big for Wooster teams of the recent past, and they're all pretty athletic to boot.
* With the addition of Claytor and Mays, Moore hopes to return Wooster to a half-court team with fast-breaking ability, much like the Gorman/Ellenwood/Nelson teams of the early part of this decade.  He actually had to give the students a little Scot basketball history lesson when they suggested that Wooster has a long tradition of being perimiter-oriented. 
* Moore confirmed that, pending what happens in the last few practices, Johnson will play at Albion, "probably not as a starter."  He'll probably start out playing cautiously, more of a true point guard than a scoring guard like he was prior to his injuries.  The interviewers made a good point when they said that, last year, we were hoping that BJ would stabilize a team that was young and inexperienced at guard, which neither happened (re-injury) nor was ultimately necessary due to the emergence of Franks and Balch.  This year, the interviewers noted, is different, since now guard is well-covered if not terrifically deep, so where does that leave Johnson?  Moore replied that, if nothing else, Brandon will provide the leadership and defensive stopper capabilities that were handled by Bidwell last year.
It was a pretty good interview.  I've never paid any attention to Woo91 before, if they even had a sports department, but they've started this season strongly in my opinion.  I wonder if they're planning on broadcasting women's games?

[David Collinge]

The Citadel holds Kenyon to 31% shooting and drops the Lords, 64-45 tonight in Charleston.  Kenyon, which never led, was still within 8 at the half, but 20 KC turnovers combined with Citadel's 36 points in the paint doomed the Lords.  JT Knight led the Lords with 15 points (3 for 4 from the arc), and Dave Knapke added 11 boards.  The Lords started a three-guard lineup with Knight, sophomore Anthony Chun, and frosh Marcus Healey, while Knapke was joined down low by 6'7" junior Uros Vasiljevik.  Senior A.J. Clair, just 6'4", was the only other post player to see the floor, while a total of seven guards, none taller than 6'3", saw action.  Kenyon gets the regular season underway at home on Sunday afternoon vs. Muskingum, with Kenyon providing webstreamed video, audio, and Live Stats coverage.

Citadel/Kenyon box score (PDF)

[ScotsFan]

I was hoping that interview with Coach Moore would be available for podcast, but unfortunately I could not find anything.

As far as Woo91 goes, it does appear that they are making more of an effort to develop their sports dept.  I used to be a huge fan of their radio play when their focus was more on devoting a large part of their airplay to indy bands.  But the last few years, it seems more hit and miss for indy music being played.

The radio station did appear to have a feed set up at the KSU game and they were doing promos and such during the game.  It will be interesting to see if they will continue that throughout the season or if it is just more of a special events type of promotion.

[David Collinge]

I was hoping that interview with Coach Moore would be available for podcast, but unfortunately I could not find anything.

Yeah, I figured as much.  That's why I tried to take good notes so I could relate as much of the substance as possible.

The radio station did appear to have a feed set up at the KSU game and they were doing promos and such during the game.  It will be interesting to see if they will continue that throughout the season or if it is just more of a special events type of promotion.

They did broadcast/webcast the KSU game, and did a pretty good job of it.  But I'd rather they concentrate on other sports, especially women's hoops, that aren't already covered by WQKT and ClearPicture.  A third broadcast option (fourth, if you count the visiting team) for Wooster home games is not something we really need.

[David Collinge]

First "uh-oh" moment of the season: JT Knight is not in Kenyon's starting lineup.  I'm not sure if he's in the layup line or not; if he is, he has a Mohawk, as do several other Lords.
UPDATE: No, he's there, and he came in after a couple of minutes.  Kenyon looks awfully shrimpy next to Muskingum, who is out to an early big lead.  Maybe it's the new home grey unis that make them look so small.

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:  Albion 26  Wooster 24

Wooster played a sloppy first half and Albion leads at the break.  Bryan Wickliffe is leading the Scots with 12 points.

[ScotsFan]

Sloppy half is right wsf!

Bryan Wickliffe is 5-8 shooting while the rest of the Scots have only made 4 baskets as a TEAM!

So, when looking at it from that perspective, Wooster is fortunate that the deficit is only 2.