MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

Oberlin reminds me of CC Sabathia when he was still with the Indians.  It seems like every night, he'd come out and struggle in the first inning, and you'd hold your breath and hope he'd survive.  Then from the second inning onward, he'd be untouchable.  

Oberlin did it again tonight, spotting Allegheny to early leads of 11-0 and 25-6 before settling down and making their huge comeback.  Unfortunately, unlike Sabathia, this has not been a winning strategy for the Yeomen, and it was not a winner tonight either, as the Gators held on for the 83-71 road victory.  Devone McLeod (20) and James Ness (18) led four Gators in double figures.  

Wow, that sounds exactly like Justin Verlander of the Tigers.  I swear, if you removed his first innings he would already have 2-3 Cy Youngs!

Give me Verlander over CC all day any day.

Sabathia's WAR the last two years - 9.7
Verlander's WAR the last two years - 9.8

Good call! But I wouldn't kick any of them out of the rotation. Since I'm in a Cubs 12-step program (on Step three...) I call the Twins my team now, and last year it was Pavano and four guys who could either pitch a shutout or give up 8 runs in 2 2/3.

[pennstghs]

Smed, you're definitely right about the officials approach to calling games this season, if anything I would know

[smedindy]

My only worry is what happens to Wabash if Smith has an off game, or gets into foul trouble. Sutherlin and Zinnerman seem to be the logical ones to take over but neither of them draws fouls and gets to the foul line like Wes.

Sutherlin's only attempted two free throws all year! Did the two years at Earlham sink in so much that he's a basketball pacifist now?  (Just kidding...)

[wally_wabash]

My only worry is what happens to Wabash if Smith has an off game, or gets into foul trouble. Sutherlin and Zinnerman seem to be the logical ones to take over but neither of them draws fouls and gets to the foul line like Wes.

Sutherlin's only attempted two free throws all year! Did the two years at Earlham sink in so much that he's a basketball pacifist now?   (Just kidding...)

The 1-3-1 zone that Mac is putting out there this year is keeping Wes pretty safe from foul trouble.  He's not manning up on the other team's best player (which is what he's done in the past)...and a nice byproduct of this is that it's working amazingly well as a strategy as well as kind of a safety net for Wes.    

Sutherlin is still regaining strength from a knee operation last spring and isn't playing at 100%.  His minutes are increasing and so far his role has seemed to be spot-up perimeter guy.  Last year I watched AJ score Earlham's first 19 points against Wabash at Chadwick.  It was pretty incredible really.  The guy can definitely score the basketball, but playing the attacking wingman isn't his role right now (next year it will be).  If Wabash finds themselves in a game where Smith is on the bench with fouls, I think he can step up and score it.  Bailey has been a good offensive spark when needed as well.  

Ultimately, Wabash is a team that is going to win games with defense and rebounding.  Yes, Smith is a scoring machine, but Wabash has won their last two games by scoring just 60 and 57 points.  Those games were won with defense and rebounding.  That's the team strength.  

[smedindy]

My only worry is what happens to Wabash if Smith has an off game, or gets into foul trouble. Sutherlin and Zinnerman seem to be the logical ones to take over but neither of them draws fouls and gets to the foul line like Wes.

Sutherlin's only attempted two free throws all year! Did the two years at Earlham sink in so much that he's a basketball pacifist now?   (Just kidding...)

The 1-3-1 zone that Mac is putting out there this year is keeping Wes pretty safe from foul trouble.  He's not manning up on the other team's best player (which is what he's done in the past)...and a nice byproduct of this is that it's working amazingly well as a strategy as well as kind of a safety net for Wes.    

Sutherlin is still regaining strength from a knee operation last spring and isn't playing at 100%.  His minutes are increasing and so far his role has seemed to be spot-up perimeter guy.  Last year I watched AJ score Earlham's first 19 points against Wabash at Chadwick.  It was pretty incredible really.  The guy can definitely score the basketball, but playing the attacking wingman isn't his role right now (next year it will be).  If Wabash finds themselves in a game where Smith is on the bench with fouls, I think he can step up and score it.  Bailey has been a good offensive spark when needed as well.  

Ultimately, Wabash is a team that is going to win games with defense and rebounding.  Yes, Smith is a scoring machine, but Wabash has won their last two games by scoring just 60 and 57 points.  Those games were won with defense and rebounding.  That's the team strength.  

I know AJ can score - but didn't know about his knee.

Defense and rebounding can prevail if the scorer has an off night - so that makes me feel better.

BTW, what happened to his running mate at North Montgomery and Earlham, Kyle Calder?

[David Collinge]

Everybody is in action on Saturday:

Conference games:
Wabash at Hiram, 1pm -- live stats
Wittenberg at Allegheny, ~3pm -- Audio and live stats
OWU at Oberlin, ~3:45pm -- video and live stats
Denison at Wooster, 7:30pm -- Audio and live stats

Current conference standings:
Allegheny 1-0
Denison 1-0
Wooster 1-0
Ohio Wesleyan 0-0
Wabash 0-0
Wittenberg 0-0
Hiram 0-1
Kenyon 0-1
Oberlin 0-1

Non-con (currently 26-20):
Kalamazoo at Kenyon, 3pm -- Video, audio, and live stats

[bashbrother]

Way too many turnovers (11) in the 1st half for the Little Giants.....

Hiram 27
Wabash 26

Half

Wes Smith held to 5 points on 2-6 shooting.

Wabash fortunate that Hiram shot 36.4% from the field for the half or they could be trailing this game by more than 1.

Wabash needs to clean it up in the 2nd half.

[David Collinge]

There were 12 steals recorded in the first half (six per team), versus just seven fouls (only two of which were called on Hiram.)  I'm not sure that's physically possible.

Another interesting note: at Wabash's end of the court, each team has 11 rebounds.  When you play Hiram, you've gotta box out.

[David Collinge]

The officials for the CMU/Oberlin women's game thought their 1pm game started at 7pm.  This caused about a 45 minute delay in the tip of that game, which will in turn impact the tip time for the second game of the doubleheader, the OWU at Oberlin men's game.  I've changed the tip time accordingly in my schedule post, above.

[bashbrother]

Wabash 59
Hiram 56

FINAL

Wabash escapes.... 1st close one of the season.

Wes Smith 21 pts 7 rebs  / Ben Burkett 14 pts 7 rebs to lead Wabash

Wabash 19 turnovers.......sloppy..... but still got the win!

WAF!

[Li'l Giant]

Phew. Down 9 with 9:30 left and the LGs rally and escape with a 3 point win on the road. Keep it going. Wabash Always Fights!

[wally_wabash]

They weren't all going to be easy...Wabash made a lot of turnovers and did not do well enough to keep Hiram off of the offensive glass.  But they buckled down and found a way to win.  Nice job by the LGs today to get that win on a day when they weren't at their best.  Now be safe coming back home, fellas.  

Big NCAC contest at Chadwick on Tuesday vs. Ohio Wesleyan.  WAF!

[wooscotsfan]

Wooster Coach Steve Moore noted on the pregame show that Nathan Balch has recovered from the quad bruise and he will start tonight against Denison. 

GO SCOTS!

[imderekpoe]

Listening to the Scots game today from Shanghai.  Gotta love this whole internet thing!

[David Collinge]

Listening to the Scots game today from Shanghai.  Gotta love this whole internet thing!

The Chinese internet censors are allowing this, provided you root for the "Big Red."