MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

Trash talk in advance of a game that doesn't involve Wooster...I love it!

I dream of the day I can read some Hiram vs. Allegheny smack in here...but this'll do for now.

[pennstghs]

true....right now Butler is in a pretty good stretch of basketball in the Horizon, but short of that.....nothing is too promising in Indiana

Have to show a little trash talking every once in a while to keep things interesting.

In all seriousness, it should be a great game Wednesday night. Rebounding will tell the story of the game.

[ScotsFan]

I think it's pretty easy to say that Witt is playing the best basketball right now in the conference. 

I don't think it's that easy.  There's some pretty good hoops being played out West right now. 

Too bad that good hoops being played out west doesn't follow them when they travel east!        

Couldn't let a little trash talking go without my own contribution! 

[wally_wabash]

We shall see if the LGs can take their stong play out on the road.  They didn't have much trouble with Earlham last week...less trouble than the Scots had (at home) with the Quakers.   

Right now (controversial statement alert!!) Wabash has the best player in the league (Smith), one senior who is playing inspired hoops (Brock), another who is coming on after a slow start (Haltom), and a boatload of young role players that are more than doing their job.  Things are meshing quite well right now in C'ville...it took longer to click this season than I thought it would, but they have it rolling right now.  Wednesday is the biggest test for Wabash since the Wooster game...I think they're ready. 

pennstghs is looking at rebounding on Wednesday...I'm looking at how well Wabash can disrupt Witt's distance game.  The Tigers are winning with the long ball this year.  We'll see if Wabash can take away some of those open looks.   

[David Collinge]

pennstghs is looking at rebounding on Wednesday...I'm looking at how well Wabash can disrupt Witt's distance game.  The Tigers are winning with the long ball this year.  We'll see if Wabash can take away some of those open looks.  

The three-ball-center-pocket didn't seem to be a factor in Witt's win in Meadville.  They were pretty cold from outside while building up a pretty good lead; for example, they were just 3/15 in the first half but still led at the break by 13.  Rebounding margin of +15, and second-chance points of +12, seem to have been the decisive factors there.

One could attempt to write off Witt's win at Denison because it was Denison, but prior to doing so I'd encourage you to go take a look at that box score.  It's pretty impressive.  Five turnovers, and two of them were made by some guy named Steven Heatherly (a JV, perhaps?) in his five-minute appearance.  Three of the five turnovers were in the last 6:27, by which time Witt led by 35.  55% shooting, +13 on the boards, 12 made threes from seven shooters, 26 assists on 38 buckets, it goes on and on.  All of this in the immediate wake of the sacking of Mr. Hill.  Tough to look at that and conclude that there's a better team in the conference right now.

[Mr. Ypsi]

While I grant that their schedule has not exactly been 'killers row', and getting blown out by Hiram is embarrassing, it mystifies me how the winningest program in d3, at 13-2 with an 8 game winning streak, can have ZERO points in the d3hoops.com poll!

I only had them 24th on my Posters' Poll ballot (Woo 25th), but still.

[David Collinge]

it mystifies me how the winningest program in d3, at 13-2 with an 8 game winning streak, can have ZERO points in the d3hoops.com poll!

Witt was in the polls for week 1 (#22) and week 2 (ORV).  I expect they'll get a few votes this week (week 7), and then if they win their next two games, they'll get plenty more votes next week.  That's a big 'if,' though.

[ScotsFan]

We shall see if the LGs can take their stong play out on the road.  They didn't have much trouble with Earlham last week...less trouble than the Scots had (at home) with the Quakers.   

Now we're comparing results against common opponents?  I'll just defer to that 18 point win Wooster had over your Lil Giants last month... 

Furthermore, since we're playing the common opponent game, I don't think I need to remind you of the comparisons between Wabash's trip to Granville vs. Witt's trip to Granville... 

[wally_wabash]

The thing about those games in December...is that they were in December.  

Easily riled is the Scots fan (or ScotsFan) that has to read about good things happening somewhere else in the league.  

[David Collinge]

The thing about those games in December...is that they were in December. 

I could point out that there's just three days separating the most recent Witt and Wabash games vs. Denison, making for substantive comparison, even taking into account the fact that it was a road game for Witt and a home game for Wabash.

But I don't have to, since it'll all be irrelevant in less than two days.

In the meantime, does anyone besides me think that Wednesday's Wooster-at-Oberlin game looks like a trap game for the Scots?

[David Collinge]

The new top 25 is out, with Wooster slipping quietly back in at #25 and Witterberg even more quietly re-entering the list with 3 votes.

[ScotsFan]

The thing about those games in December...is that they were in December.  

Easily riled is the Scots fan (or ScotsFan) that has to read about good things happening somewhere else in the league.  

Easily riled?  I know that reputation precedes me (guilty as charged  ), but I would hardly include my little banter last night into that category.

Besides, I kind of started this whole thing by talking about good things happening down in Springfield.  Would that not be good things happening somewhere else in the league? 

My overall thoughts wrt Wabash are that I would just like to see them get a solid win on the road.  Sure, they're playing some good basketball right now, but they have been doing it all at home.  Four of their five games on their current win streak were in the friendly confines of Chadwick and their only road game was at the EC.  A win tomorrow night over the hottest team in the league would go a long way in convincing me that they are for real.  But a nice win on the road would go a lot further IMO...

[ScotsFan]

In the meantime, does anyone besides me think that Wednesday's Wooster-at-Oberlin game looks like a trap game for the Scots?

Oooooh!  The dreaded T word!  Given the way the Scots have been playing to the level of their opponents far too often this season, the T word is certainly not outside the realm of possiblility.

I will say, it would be nice to see the Scots show some signs of life here before their showdown at Witt on Saturday. 

[pennstghs]

I agree with the statements that Wittenberg is playing the best basketball in the league "right now" but we'll see if they can withstand their 3rd straight road game tomorrow in Indiana.

I think Wittenberg still should be ranked in the Top 25, even over Wooster. Yes ScotsFan I said it. Wittenberg did have two bad losses, one over a ranked Anderson team and another bad one at Hiram. However, Wooster has had 4 losses total and even though they were highly ranked, they haven't done anything to merit the 24th overall ranking in the country. Now, if they win at Witt on Saturday, I will consider that a top win and that will end my argument. the John Carroll loss is diminishing as the weeks go on with every disappointing loss they suffer. I don't have a read on Wilmington yet......

I would tend to disagree with the Regional Rankings as well. Witt nowhere in the Top Ten is a joke and Penn State Behrend ranked number one, although I know nothing about them at all. History proves that teams from that conference haven't done so well in the NCAA tournament (i.e. Lake Erie College vs Witt)(PSU-Behrend vs Witt) in years past.

Also, I agree with DC's assessment. Wittenberg's great 3 point shooting is a direct result of their inside post play, which has given them so many open looks. I've said it all along this year, Witt struggled earlier in the year but once they pounded it down low and gained some respect from the defense and forced it to collapse, the 3 point shooting would open up. 2-3 zone doesn't work against Witt very well.......

Lastly, what happened to the NCAC Pick Em contest thisyear? No one to run it is my guess, but lets' get it going next year. I'll even pony up and volunteer if needed to run it!

[ScotsFan]

I agree with the statements that Wittenberg is playing the best basketball in the league "right now" but we'll see if they can withstand their 3rd straight road game tomorrow in Indiana.

I think Wittenberg still should be ranked in the Top 25, even over Wooster. Yes ScotsFan I said it. Wittenberg did have two bad losses, one over a ranked Anderson team and another bad one at Hiram. However, Wooster has had 4 losses total and even though they were highly ranked, they haven't done anything to merit the 24th overall ranking in the country. Now, if they win at Witt on Saturday, I will consider that a top win and that will end my argument. the John Carroll loss is diminishing as the weeks go on with every disappointing loss they suffer. I don't have a read on Wilmington yet......

Surprisingly, I would agree with you penn.  Witt really only has one loss that doesn't look all that good and that was their blowout loss at Hiram.  Anderson looks for real and I wouldn't look at that as a bad loss.

I think Wooster is getting the benefit of the doubt because they played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation.  Also, it didn't hurt that they were a pre-season top 10.

I think what has hurt Witt is that they hadn't played anyone of any significance.  The voters reluctantly ranked them #22 when they were 4-0, but then the Tigers proceeded to lose 2 of their next 3 and the losses weren't even close.  And now Witt has rattled off 8 in a row, but has there been a signature win among those?  I just think in the eyes of the voters, the jury is still out.

I also think the same could be said about Wooster.  The voters are still reluctant to move them up too far as well.  Wooster has won 6 in a row and like Witt, there is no win among those 6 that stands out.  The result is that Wooster has been sitting stagnent between #26 and #27 for about the last 3 weeks in the poll.  There have been teams ranked ahead of them drop below them and likewise, teams ranked below them move ahead of them.  Finally, this week, as a result of so much attrition, Wooster kind of backed into the poll at #25.  Hardly a vote of confidence IMO.

I think both Witt and Woo could help themselves a lot with a win on Saturday.  Of course, Witt will have their hands full on Wed. at Wabash.  If they can get by the Lil Giants and beat Wooster on Saturday, I think they would definitely warrant top 25 consideration.  However, a split won't be enough.  And if the Scots can finish the week off 2-0, that could really help them to solidify their position in the top 25 in the eyes of the voters.