MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[kiltedbryan]

David- Great post that really captures most everything I was thinking about this Wooster team and the result tonight.  +K

Many months from now, it will be fun to watch this Scots team play again.  While I'll miss the always-on enthusiasm and energy of Marty Bidwell, I think all us Scots fans are interested to see how Brandon Johnson will add onto the nucleus established this season.  Johnson averages more points-per-game than Bidwell, so the Scots could actually "return" more than 100% of its offensive production from this year.

For now, though, we get to enjoy rooting our OAC brethren on toward the Final Four.  (Someone needs to, since the OAC mens board is essentially an echo chamber...)   

[M.Knapke]

My Congratulations go to the Wooster Squad on an Outstanding Season. I look forward to seeing you all again next year.

Earlier yesterday afternoon, during a discussion of Capital's team. It was noted that they seemingly are a very lucky team.
Winning many games in the final minute or so of regulation or ot.  After hearing post game comments, and reading this mornings Columbus Dispatch; the real anwser presented itself. First- You make your own luck. Second they plan for it. Third they stick to the plan Fourth the practise the plan Fifth they don't panic and the expect the plan to work.


Seems so Simple........ but  Execution...........

Oh, and Senior leadership sure is a Blessing.

Hey Pat: What is this Karma thing , and how does it get acquired, earned, awarded?

[seinfeld]

Anytime you lose a postseason game that you could claim as yours as much as your opponent, it hurts. This reminds me of 2006 a little bit when Wooster lost to Transylvania in the second round, a game they felt like they should have had. Wooster followed up the next season by going to the Final Four.

Can anyone who was at the game comment on why Balch didn't get more shots? Considering how hot he has been the last several games he has played (including last night), it would seem like they should have made more of an effort to get him involved. Was he being watched closely, or did he just get lost in the flow a little bit?

[David Collinge]

Mark:  Karma.

Seinfeld:  Capital coach Damon Goodwin explained after the game that his goal was to hold Wooster to six threes.  His thinking was that it was likely going to be a close game, and converting four of Wooster's baskets from threes to twos (Wooster averaged 10.2 made threes per game this year) would be worth four points that could make the difference.  It was admittedly a "pick your poison" strategy, since extending the defense and running at the three-point shooters left the lane open for drives by Hallowell, Franks, and Balch, and for passes into Wickliffe in the post.  As Steve Moore pointed out after the game, Wooster's offense was very good last night, making 1.1 points per possession mostly on layups and short jumpers; in my opinion it would have been foolish to try to force contested threes when easier avenues to the bucket were available.  Still, Coach Goodwim's strategy appears to have paid off--if Wooster had made their usual 10 threes instead of the seven they did make, all other things being equal, the outcome would have been different. 

I definitely would not say that Balch (or Hallowell, who took just one shot from beyond the arc) got "lost in the flow".  (In fact, Balch's attempts were right on his season averages: 8 overall, 5 from the arc vs. 7.8 and 4.2 for the season and 9.1 and 4.8 in conference play.)  He was being defended closely at the arc, which is what allowed him to drive the baseline numerous times.

[ScotsFan]

Can anyone who was at the game comment on why Balch didn't get more shots? Considering how hot he has been the last several games he has played (including last night), it would seem like they should have made more of an effort to get him involved. Was he being watched closely, or did he just get lost in the flow a little bit?

He was definitely being guarded closely!  He had a shadow all night.  Both he and Hallowell had shadows.  I think it was quite obvious that Cap wanted to take away Wooster's best offensive weapon and that is the 3-point shot and they were really tightly defending the perimeter.  And as a result, it opened things up inside for Wickliffe and he made them pay by playing by far his best game of the season.  It was very nice to see Wooster take what Capital was giving them and pound the ball inside when the outside game wasn't there.

[David Collinge]

I see that Muhlenberg's head coach, Dave Madiera, has decided to retire.  If I've done my math right, Madiera was an assistant to Steve Moore at Muhlenberg for the five years that Moore was in Allentown, then took over when Moore came to Wooster.  Madeira amassed 311 wins in his 22 years guiding the Mules and retires as their all-time winningest coach.  I wish him a long and happy retirement.

[David Collinge]

St. Thomas and Farmingdale State are among the eight teams to advance to tonight's sectional finals.  Wooster fans got a sneak preview of what could be two Final Four teams last year when both these teams participated in the season-opening Van Wie Classic at Wooster.  Both teams beat Otterbein and both lost to Wooster, playing their first games since a Final Four of their own.  I recall being impressed with Farmingdale, which was the "who are those guys?" entrant in a confab that included three coaches at or approaching 600 wins (Otterbein's Reynolds, UST's Fritz, and Wooster's Moore).

What little dialogue we had about those games begins here, for anyone interested.

[ScotsFan]

Well, in another example of how unfair the brackets were this year, Franklin &  Marshall   is going to Salem.    Why should we care you might be wondering?  Because Gettysburg beat them 3 times this season and they weren't even that close of games.  Yes, the same Gettysburg that Wooster outscored by almost 20 points in the 2nd half of their NCAA 1st round tournament game, beat F&M by an average of almost 10 ppg in their three wins over the Diplomats this season.  Yet Gettysburg gets shipped to the GL and gets ousted by Wooster in the opening round of the tournament while F&M takes advantage of their weak bracket and waltzes their way to Salem... 

And this leaves us with about the most anti-climactic final 4 that I can recall from recent memory.   I think the only suspense left now is just how large the margin of victory will be for WashU.  That is, assuming they have anything left after coming out of the bracket of death.  Unfortunately for the other 3 participants, WashU at 80% is still better than the other three...

And before anyone jumps on me, yes I know upsets do happen and that's why they play the games and stranger things have happened, I just don't see it happening in this Final 4.  All WashU has done on their way to Salem is beat a ranked opponent in every single round including #8, #3, and #1 respectively in the last 3 rounds!    I'm sorry, but I just don't see any of the other 3 participants having what it takes to knock off the defending champs...

Of course, I'm still smarting after that Cap loss last week.  Especially seeing what went down up in the Heights this past weekend.  I really think that Wooster would have matched up pretty good with UT-D and Guilford.  I really thought if they could just get by Cap, they could have a real good shot at making a run to Salem.  Oh well.  We'll never know now.  And in all reality, it would have been ahead of schedule anyways as young as this team is!  8)        

[David Collinge]

Several NCAC athletes were honored today by being named part of the D3Hoops.com All Great Lakes team.  NCAC Player of the Year Bryan Yelvington of Kenyon was placed on the second team, while Wooster's Ian Franks, OWU's Kyle Holliday, and Allegheny's George Raftis earned third team recognition.  Also an NCAC athlete was named the region's Rookie of the Year for the second consecutive year.  This year's honoree is Wooster's Justin Hallowell.  Congratulations to all five of these players!

[David Collinge]

Congratulations to OWU's Kyle Holliday and Kenyon's Bryan Yelvington for their inclusion on the NABC Great Lakes All-District Team.  Holliday was named to the second team, while Yelvington was placed on the first team, which makes him eligible for All-America consideration from the NABC.  Stay tuned for that All-America announcement. 



And just like that, the NABC posts their D3 All-America Team, and Bryan Yelvington is there on the third team.  This award caps Bryan's outstanding career at Kenyon and is a well-deserved honor.  Congratulations, Bryan!

[wooscotsfan]

And just like that, the NABC posts their D3 All-America Team, and Bryan Yelvington is there on the third team.  This award caps Bryan's outstanding career at Kenyon and is a well-deserved honor.  Congratulations, Bryan!

Very nice award for Bryan Yelvington - Congratulations to the Lords big man!


On a separate note, which of these 3 players was most deserving to be on the NABC Great Lakes 2nd Team?

Player #1  15.5 Points/game,  48.9% Field Goal Shooting,  4.2 Rebounds/game,  3.4 Assists/game

Player #2  14.2 Points/game,  45.8% Field Goal Shooting,  2.4 Rebounds/game,  1.0 Assists/game

Player #3  12.9 Points/game,  34.6% Field Goal Shooting,  3.6 Rebounds/game,  2.3 Assists/game


Ian Franks, Wooster's leading scorer, is Player #1 and he was not selected!  He had the best stats in all 4 categories.

Ryan Wood from Capital is Player #2 and he was selected.  Wood was #2 scorer on Cap's team but Franks had the better stats.

Caleb Veldhouse from Calvin is Player #3 with a dreadful shooting percentage of only 34.6% and yet he was also selected.


When his better performance so clearly justifies it, why was Ian Franks not selected?   Well..er..umm..he is only a Sophomore!

So, apparently it is far more important in the NABC's mind to award the average performance of Seniors (Veldhouse, Wood) than the excellent performance of a Sophomore?  IMO, the NABC should be embarassed that they put a player shooting only 34.6% from the floor on their 2nd team.

[seinfeld]

wooscotsfan,

Good observation. And I thought only the NCAC had it in their by-laws that seniors are automatically given preference. A version of political correctness has entered into these types of awards, where you have to take care of the veterans first. Of course we won't go into the joke that is the NCAC Player of the Week honors.

On a different note, this is probably a good time (or a bad time if you are a frustrated Wooster fan) to mention that Aaron Thompson of Washington U. nearly went to Wooster. He went to Elida high school in Ohio, the same school as former Scot players Matt Smith and Rodney Mitchell. Thompson's high school coach works at Wooster's summer camp every year, and even his older sister went to Wooster. Instead, he has been to the Final Four all three years of his career, and can be a part of back-to-back national champions. I'm happy for his success, but it does sting a little for a Wooster fan who has not seen his team even make the national championship game despite being the second-winningest team in Div. III history.

[JohnDaly]

What about Player #4: 17.1 Points/game, 50.2% from the field (40% from 3), 5.4 boards/game, 2.3 assists/game and 1.7 steals/game.

In our own version of a "blind resume" this player is Hiram's Chris Roberts  . Better than all the players in all the categories except assists. I think this is the best arguement over any of the other players listed. I am just saying this to make a point that most colleges can probably put up a legitimate "beef" for some of their guys. This should just give the players a reason to work even harder in the off-season.

I cant wait for next season, with so much young talent in the conference, and a lot of game experience under their belts, should make things very exciting.

[bufordscot]

wooscotsfan,

Good observation. And I thought only the NCAC had it in their by-laws that seniors are automatically given preference. A version of political correctness has entered into these types of awards, where you have to take care of the veterans first. Of course we won't go into the joke that is the NCAC Player of the Week honors.

On a different note, this is probably a good time (or a bad time if you are a frustrated Wooster fan) to mention that Aaron Thompson of Washington U. nearly went to Wooster. He went to Elida high school in Ohio, the same school as former Scot players Matt Smith and Rodney Mitchell. Thompson's high school coach works at Wooster's summer camp every year, and even his older sister went to Wooster. Instead, he has been to the Final Four all three years of his career, and can be a part of back-to-back national champions. I'm happy for his success, but it does sting a little for a Wooster fan who has not seen his team even make the national championship game despite being the second-winningest team in Div. III history.

Political correctness - the misguided belief that it is possible to pick up a turd from the clean end.

[David Collinge]

Congratulations to Wooster's Justin Hallowell, who has been named the national Rookie of the Year by D3Hoops.com.