MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[bashbrother]

Great Win for the Little Giant's today.

WAF!

[wally_wabash]

Then why did you say, "Also, we learned that Wabash is more than just Wes Smith?" 

For your edification...trying to include the room at large with the "we" there.  

You said it, not me.  And furthermore, why has it taken 21 games for someone OTHER than Wes Smith to step up and lead Wabash in scoring?

It hasn't taken until today for somebody else to lead Wabash in scoring.  It's happened before...but, that's not the point.  Why does it not make sense for the best offensive player in the entire league to lead the team in scoring most games?  That seems like it should be obvious.  

[ScotsFan]

It hasn't taken until today for somebody else to lead Wabash in scoring.  It's happened before...but, that's not the point.  Why does it not make sense for the best offensive player in the entire league to lead the team in scoring most games?  That seems like it should be obvious.  

I stand corrected.  Today wasn't the first time Smith didn't lead his team in scoring, it was his second.  He also failed to lead his team in scoring in a 28 point blowout of Oberlin where he only played 26 minutes.  So, I guess if not leading the team in scoring in all but one game equates to 'most games' in your eyes, so be it.  I just think that if you look back at the losses Wabash has sufferred this season, you could also point to the fact that Wes Smith did his thing, but no one else stepped up to help because they were relying on Smith to do it all. 

Today, to their credit, Smith's teammates stepped up their games and look at the difference in the outcome.  Without Zinnerman and Kurosh stepping up and scoring almost 10 more than their season averages along with Baily scoring almost 7 above his season average, Wabash doesn't win this game.  All I'm saying is that, perhaps Wabash doesn't lose 4 of their last 7 games heading into today's game if they had consistent help for Smith like he got today...

[wally_wabash]

The problem is that the picture you're painting is that Wabash's offensive plan is to hand it Smith and then clear out and let him play one on five.  It doesn't work like that.  Are there times and situations in games where Wabash will isolate Smith and let him create something?  Sure, but what team doesn't do that from time to time...especially with a player of Smith's caliber?  I'm not going to go as far as to say that Wabash is balanced, but it takes all five to make the offense work. 

I also think you're making a bit too much out of the losing four of seven thing.  Let's recap:
- Lost by 2 to the #1 team in the nation...buzzer beater to win just missed
- Lost by a single point at Wittenberg
- Lost at OWU on Tim Brady's career night
- Lost to Denison when Leffew turned into Reggie Miller for ten seconds

The sky was never falling for Wabash.  It's easy to react that way without perspective, but there was never a need for Wabash to panic.  They didn't panic, kept working hard, and beat a good team today. 

[ScotsFan]

The sky was never falling for Wabash.  It's easy to react that way without perspective, but there was never a need for Wabash to panic.  They didn't panic, kept working hard, and beat a good team today. 

Funny how you can say this today after you have been pretty much a ghost in here during the 4 of 7 stretch Wabash was in... 

But Wabash beats Wooster and here's Wally, front and center.

[wally_wabash]

My bad.  I wasn't aware that I had to check in with the board with any kind of regularity.  I took a break from this forum because it had reached a point where no matter what I had to say, I would wind up getting insulted somehow.  If that's where this is headed again and you want to make it all about me, I'm happy to enjoy my hoops without the grief. 

[seinfeld]

Big crowd (almost 3000, including a bunch in red), tough loss.  Kudos to Wabash on coming up with the big plays in OT after losing a 7-point lead in the final minutes of regulation.  Hopefully, this will help the Scots to refocus on the stretch run.  If Wooster can win at Witt next Saturday, they could have as many as nine consecutive home games ahead.

Or if they lose to Wittenberg, which I would put the odds at 50-50, or maybe worse for Wooster, then the Scots may not play another home game after Feb. 19. There is recent precedent for this. In 2005-06, Wooster was #1 in the country heading into the final regular season game against OWU. They lost there, and in the NCAC title game, giving them three regional losses. They went on the road for the first two games of the NCAA Tournament. The Scots focus, which I'm sure it is, should be on cutting down on turnovers and figuring out why their hottest shooter in recent weeks (Nathan Balch) and their hottest shooter in the first half against Wabash (Hallowell) were ignored for the entire game and second half, respectively.

[wally_wabash]

Big crowd (almost 3000, including a bunch in red), tough loss.  Kudos to Wabash on coming up with the big plays in OT after losing a 7-point lead in the final minutes of regulation.  Hopefully, this will help the Scots to refocus on the stretch run.  If Wooster can win at Witt next Saturday, they could have as many as nine consecutive home games ahead.

Or if they lose to Wittenberg, which I would put the odds at 50-50, or maybe worse for Wooster, then the Scots may not play another home game after Feb. 19. There is recent precedent for this. In 2005-06, Wooster was #1 in the country heading into the final regular season game against OWU. They lost there, and in the NCAC title game, giving them three regional losses. They went on the road for the first two games of the NCAA Tournament. The Scots focus, which I'm sure it is, should be on cutting down on turnovers and figuring out why their hottest shooter in recent weeks (Nathan Balch) and their hottest shooter in the first half against Wabash (Hallowell) were ignored for the entire game and second half, respectively.

They played one of the best defenses in D-III.  Wabash had a plan to limit the 3FGAs and force Wooster inside...which led to a lot of turnovers.  The Scots didn't do anything wrong today.  No shame in losing by one to a good team. 

[wooscotsfan]

Back from Wooster where I watched an exciting game and overtime today.

Congratulations to Wabash on a well deserved important road win.  The Little Giants defended Wooster well today and forced some turnovers.  They also hit the boards on the offensive end and it paid dividends for them.

Great play by Wes Smith to knock the ball away from Ian Franks at the end of overtime.

[seinfeld]

They played one of the best defenses in D-III.  Wabash had a plan to limit the 3FGAs and force Wooster inside...which led to a lot of turnovers.  The Scots didn't do anything wrong today.  No shame in losing by one to a good team. 

There isn't a team that has played Wooster since the end of the 2008-09 season that hasn't tried to limit their three-pointers. Wabash played good defense, but it couldn't have been that good if Wooster shot 54% from the field, including 58% during regulation. Balch's game is just as strong inside the three-point line as it is beyond it. While Hallowell takes the majority of his shots from three, he was posting up early in the first half and making shots from inside. They just stopped going to that completely. Of course there is no shame to losing to Wabash. My point is that there is just a good a chance that Wooster loses a couple of more games than it does winning them all. This is giving credit to Wittenberg and even Wabash if they were to play in the NCAC Tournament.

[wooscotsfan]

Wooster shot 54% in this game compared to 43% for Wabash and they lost this game?  54% shooting should be good enough to win the game if you hit the boards, play tough defense and limit your mistakes....however,

IMO, Three Key Factors contributed to the loss by Wooster today:
1.  20 Turnovers by Wooster compared to only 14 by Wabash is a net 6 more shots for the Little Giants.  For the game, Wabash had 8 more shot attempts than the Scots.  You can't give the ball away against good teams!

2.  "Box Out" was not in Wooster's vocabulary today as they gave up 11 Offensive Boards to Wabash and the Little Giants turned several of these into second chance points.

3.  Wooster also did not defend the arc well giving up 8 three pointers (a couple were open looks by Aaron Zinnerman who made 4 three pointers for Wabash).  This was not a surprise as Zinnerman is the #2 scorer for Wabash and he is also #2 in three pointers made for their team.  This was a 5 point swing in Wabash's favor as Wooster only made 3 three pointers compared to 8 for the Little Giants.

One final point - Wooster started playing ferocious defense with ~4 minutes left in regulation when they trailed 62-55.  Where was this same defensive effort during the rest of the game when Wabash built a lead?

Hopefuly, the Scots learned today that they need a stronger effort for the whole game, not just the last 4-5 minutes.

[WAlum]

1. Wooster 11-1, 20-1
2. Wittenberg 11-1, 15-5
3. Ohio Wesleyan 9-3, 13-8
4. Wabash 9-4, 17-4
5. Hiram 4-8, 10-11
6. Kenyon 4-8, 8-12
7. Denison 5-8, 8-14
8. Allegheny 2-11, 5-16
9. Oberlin 1-12, 2-20

[David Collinge]

Kenyon Coach Dan Priest discusses the Wittenberg situation in a little more depth, and then makes an outstanding point about how this mare's nest is distracting from some of the great stories around our league.  This is a must-listen, at least the first half (the second half is mostly devoted to the upcoming Kenyon/Denison backyard rivalry game.)

The Dan Priest Show

[Pat Coleman]

Good, coherent, timely communication, either from the schools involved or the conference office, could have spared us some of the drama.

[Pat Coleman]

In non-Kenyon/Wittenberg news, Mac Petty today announced his retirement.

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2011/02/wabash-coach-to-retire