MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[woosterbooster]

  Sorry did not mean to embarrass anyone.  I will stop posting and just read the board.

Please don't stop posting.  But, geeze.

Wooster had a very good ball club last year, no doubt.  I still feel, though, that they overachieved somewhat, thanks not only to having the good fortune of hosting the sectionals but also of having some very skilled and determined seniors on that squad.  Without them, they never get by Whitworth and have the chance to produce that remarkable comeback against Williams down in Salem.

Those three guys are gone, and Wooster will miss them dearly.  Bryan Wickliffe played his heart out in every game for four years.  Nathan Balch did the same for three.  And Ian Franks, well, there were many games that he just took over, period.

Wooster has but two returning starters.  Justin Hallowell is a very nice player who can shoot the bejesus out of the ball.  He's become a solid rebounder and a decent defender, too.  Matt Fegan can also shoot, and he's experienced, but he's really not too much better than an average DIII guard.  Of course Claytor, Mays, Warnes, Snyder, Thorpe, and a few of the freshmen give the Scots another chance to be a good squad.  But they're untested; they've yet to even scrimmage another team.  Their number nine rank on the DIII poll is generous, and based on tradition rather than much else.

I'd probably have them about fifteen slots lower.  Let's allow them to show us what they have before reserving seats for the Final Four.

[ScotsFan]

I haven't seen the Wittenberg Tiger 2011-2012 squad in person yet, but keep in mind we won't see their full potential until December when football is over and McKee and Cooper get into the mix. That being said, I am willing to challenge that Wooster is far ahead and above every other team. Wittenberg lost Sullivan who will hurt and be hard to replace but return a heck of a lot of scoring. I'd actually prefer to keep the under the radar label.

Not too happy to see a WEDNESDAY? night Wooster/Wittenberg matchup in the second week of December with the conference schedule this year. Definitely will be a different atmosphere as I don't see a big Witt crowd making that drive mid-week.

I'm not one who believes Wooster is far ahead of every other team and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find many Wooster fans who think differently. 

It will be interesting to see if Witt can find someone who can shoot even remotely as well as Sullivan did from deep though.  With his threat from deep, opposing defenses always had to beware of him lurking beyond the arc so that limited how much they could double down on Black.  If Witt can't find someone who is a legit deep threat, that could make things a little more difficult for Black to get easy looks down low as opposing defenses will focus on trying to stop him.

And yes, what was the NCAC thinking scheduling a Witt/Woo game on a freaking Wednesday?   

[David Collinge]

OWU Basketball Blog, including a brief overview of the team from the student newspaper and contributions from new assistant coach Scott Cooper (Allegheny '02 and former Gators assistant) and players Andy Winters (jr.) and Nick Felhaber (fr.) Mike DeWitt returns almost the entire '10-'11 squad, including five players who started at least 15 games, and now has three-count-'em-three assistant coaches. (I know I say this every year, but) watch out for the Bishops this season.

[smedindy]

I haven't seen the Wittenberg Tiger 2011-2012 squad in person yet, but keep in mind we won't see their full potential until December when football is over and McKee and Cooper get into the mix. That being said, I am willing to challenge that Wooster is far ahead and above every other team. Wittenberg lost Sullivan who will hurt and be hard to replace but return a heck of a lot of scoring. I'd actually prefer to keep the under the radar label.

Not too happy to see a WEDNESDAY? night Wooster/Wittenberg matchup in the second week of December with the conference schedule this year. Definitely will be a different atmosphere as I don't see a big Witt crowd making that drive mid-week.

I'm not one who believes Wooster is far ahead of every other team and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find many Wooster fans who think differently. 

It will be interesting to see if Witt can find someone who can shoot even remotely as well as Sullivan did from deep though.  With his threat from deep, opposing defenses always had to beware of him lurking beyond the arc so that limited how much they could double down on Black.  If Witt can't find someone who is a legit deep threat, that could make things a little more difficult for Black to get easy looks down low as opposing defenses will focus on trying to stop him.

And yes, what was the NCAC thinking scheduling a Witt/Woo game on a freaking Wednesday?   

Well, seeing what the NCAC did to the football schedule this year, they weren't thinking.

[familyaffair]

OWU Basketball Blog, including a brief overview of the team from the student newspaper and contributions from new assistant coach Scott Cooper (Allegheny '02 and former Gators assistant) and players Andy Winters (jr.) and Nick Felhaber (fr.) Mike DeWitt returns almost the entire '10-'11 squad, including five players who started at least 15 games, and now has three-count-'em-three assistant coaches. (I know I say this every year, but) watch out for the Bishops this season.

...and they have 1 first team all conference and 2 second team all conference players returning, more than any other team. 

[David Collinge]

The coaches have tabbed Wooster a slight favorite ahead of Wittenberg, with OWU a solid third, in the poll released today. Wabash and DePauw are separated by a single point in 4th/5th. Denison is the favorite for first place in the second division, as it were, with a substantial margin on Hiram. Allegheny, Kenyon, and Oberlin bring up the rear.

Coaches' Poll (.pdf).

[wooscotsfan]

Wooster has posted their season preview on the website.   The article discusses the 8 returning letterwinners (Hallowell, Fegan, Warnes, Snyder, Claytor, Mays, Evans, Thorpe) and two other potential contributors as Gideon Mabeny and Scott Purcell.

Only 6 freshmen are discussed in this preview as competing for playing time.  In the backcourt, the 4 freshmen noted are Xavier Brown, Zach Baker, Jalen Goodwin and Evan Pannell.  In the frontcourt, the 2 freshmen cited are Kenny Deboer and Kendal Sherrod.

Here is the link to the season preview: http://www.woosterathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2011-12/releases/201111037izs08

[WAlum]

This is going to be a fun year in the NCAC!  Can the W's finish where the coaches picked them or will DePauw or Denison slide into the top 4?  I see DePauw hosting a first round NCAC game.  Oberlin will once again finish at the bottom - any new recruits that could help them become more competitive? 

[smedindy]

Can you imagine a first round NCAC game between Wabash and DPU? Oh...my....

When they play in the regular season at Chadwick you really can't hear yourself breathe. Just imagine if it's a tournament game for the right to advance to the NCAC final four?

[nuscottsfan]

A humble opined breakdown-

#4-Wabash with #'s 5-10 being left to those fans who know them better than I.

NCAC's 2011-12 top 1-3 (These are the teams that are usually in the mix so I keep up with how they've done and who they're returning this year)-Who gets off to the best start may very well be key in determining the League champs:

Witteneberg-Black is an unstoppable force in the paint. With a usually forgotten Alex Brandt helping, WU just may dominate the paint in almost all their games. Bring in Cooper and McKee post football and the Tigers have 4 potent Sr's ranging the court.

OWU-2 very good Jr's in post man Morris and PG Winters have already shown they can assist potential NCAC POY Brady. For the Battling Bishops it's all going to be about how quickly they get out of the gate and with a fast start will they be able to carry on strong down the stretch?

Wooster-Graduated 3 Sr starters and 41pts/game. It's enough to knock them down from being a preseason #3 (in some's eyes) ALL the way down to a #9 lol!! (Bring  your friends I'll be here all week! ) But seriously folks....the Fighting Scots return not just 2 starters but 4 other players who saw extensive action in all 34 games....none less than 300 minutes. As for the two remaining starters Fegan is rock solid steady and Hallowell is a leader not to mention a threat from anywhere on the floor. These 2 will obviously need to pick up some of the lost PPG. Claytor showed glimpses of inside dominance last season at which he'll have to become more consistent. Mays will be solid, Snyder will only be better and Warnes is arguably the most emotionally dynamic player in the NCAC. Let's not forget Purcell, Thorpe and Evans to round out the familiar names. There's so much talent at the 1 and 2 on this team that my main question is how will the inside rotation work? Defense/points in the paint and rebounding??!! Last year we all watched the Scots knock off those guard dominant teams on their way to Salem. There hasn't been a Frosh starter since '08 but this Brown kid looks like he can be a very special player.

[woosterbooster]

The fortune, or fate, of this 2011-12 Wooster team is very difficult for me to grasp.  There just aren't many handles on the product.  I really feel that a lot of people are underestimating the value of the seniors that Wooster lost to graduation.  I know that, for a long time, I did so even while they were here.  But I don't anymore, not after seeing what they accomplished last season.

Nathan Balch, by his senior season, was an excellent, athletic, guard.  When he arrived as a sophomore, he had to learn to play without the ball.  Always a hustler and a three-point shooter, by his junior year he'd added an old-school mid-range game.  Last year, he become a terrific defender, a man who took pride in being able to shut down his opponent.

Bryan Wickliffe, who showed steady improvement for four years, was a warrior on the floor.  Night after night he competed, almost always against players that were bigger if not stronger than he was.  No Wooster player ever played harder.  He hustled for rebounds and loose balls, and took Wittenberg and Wabash scalps.  There were nights when he could score, but even on those nights when he didn't, he very rarely took bad shots.

In baseball, they'd call Ian Franks a five-tool player.  Translated to hoops, that means he could handle the ball, shoot from deep, penetrate, rebound, and defend.  He wasn't just a guy who could create his own shot, he was the man who could take over a game, and he did it often.

What I didn't understand at first, and even for a long time after that, was the toughness that these three guys brought to the court.  They really, really, wanted to win, and so they almost always did.

I just don't see how you can remove that package from a team and declare them to be in the preseason top ten.  There is potential there, but right now, that's all it is, potential.  The returning players, and the new guys, have a lot of growing to do.  I hope they do it, but I'm far from seeing it as a given that they do.

I'm wide open on predictions this year.  I can see Wooster being, when all is said and done, NCAC champs again and making a run deep into the NCAA's.  But my vision is vague enough to see an alternate possibility, that of them losing ten or twelve games.  I'll be there, though, rooting for the former, and being ruff on the refs, as usual.   

[David Collinge]

I agree with Booster. It seems to me that the only compelling reason to tab Wooster for your national top 10 or as your conference favorite is that it always seems to work out that way. As I remarked to someone else the other day, if Wooster wins 20 games they'll probably be a Top 10 team, and the last time Wooster didn't win 20 games we were all children (and some of us still are!) We can debate how good Fegan and Snyder really are, whether Mays & Claytor will live up to their ballyhooed potential, how much impact Brown will have, whether Hallowell will thrive or wilt under pressure, and so forth, but for me it all comes down to the guys with the neckties at the end of the bench. Steve, Doug, & co. have gone through class after class after class and they have always found a way to win, whether with dominant post play or up-tempo with hot shooters or anything in between. I'd be loath to bet against them now, even if on paper they look like perhaps the third best team in their own conference.

It sure looks like it might be an interesting season, though, with any of five squads a legitimate threat to win the regular season crown. And when was the last time you could say that about the NCAC?

[smedindy]

It's no longer Witt and Wooster and then the others, that's for sure.

[wooscotsfan]

Great post David k+ -- you nailed the key point which is the excellent Wooster coaching staff.  Doug Cline and Bruce Martin could easily be head coaches at other programs but instead they provide incredible coaching depth for the Scots.  Steve Moore has one of the highest win %'s in Division III.

Wooster's current streaks:
- 7 NCAC regular season titles in a row
- 9 Years in a row in the NCAA tourney
- 15 consecutive 20 win seasons

Tremendous players graduate in 4 years so the common thread in these impressive streaks is the Wooster coaching staff.

As others have noted, it should be a very competitive race in NCAC this season but I believe that Wooster is still the favorite based on their excellent coaching staff.  Of course, I might have a slight bias.

Wooster's roster was posted today and Sam Runner, Jimmy Orie, Dylan Roe and Jon West have left the team which is not surprising given the preseason roster had 24 players and some players have risen above others in the rotation.
Here is the link to the Scots roster:  http://www.woosterathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2011-12/roster

[pennstghs]

It's no longer Witt and Wooster and then the others, that's for sure.

my only thought though is that we try to make this argument year after year after year and it always still ends up being Witt and Wooster in the end.