MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[ScotsFan]

OWU is hosting Saturday as well...

[ScotsFan]

Now, it's time to start reading up on Dickinson who I know absolutely nothing about other than the fact that tonight's NCAA tournament win was their first NCAA tournament win since 1980? 

Did a little reading up on Dickinson this morning.  As mentioned, Saturday was their first NCAA Tournament win in 33 years.  Clearly Dickinson has not been a dominant program in recent years.  This year they have set their school record for wins in a season when they hit the 20 win total in the CC tournament championship game win.  Contrast that to Wooster who routinely puts up 20 wins in a season as the Scots reached the 20 win plateau this season for the 17th year in a row!   

Clearly, post season experience and also the tradition of winning basketball is on the side of the Scots for this 2nd round matchup as evidenced by Dickinson's lack of tournament wins over the last 3 decades.  Compare that to the Scots making the NCAA tournament 18 of the last 19 seasons including making it to the Final 4 three times in the last decade. 

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, the Scots are playing at home in the friendly confines of Timken where they had won 10 straight NCAA Tournament games before last year's 2 piont loss to IWU in the Sweet 16. 

But, with all that said, history and tradition don't win games and that is why the games are played on the hardwood, so anything can happen when the Red Devils come rolling into Timken Saturday night...

[ScotsFan]

Another Dickinson tidbit...

The Red Devils' head coach, Allen Seretti, is a graduate of Allegheny ('99).  He was a member of the NCAA Tournament qualifying team that won the NCAC Tournament in '99 so he will have some familiarity with Wooster and Coach Moore.

[woosterbooster]

I've attached a link to video of the Marietta-Dickinson game.  Hard to tell if Dickinson is the real deal since Marietta played defense as if they'd been nailed to the ground.  And if you want to know what student announcers sound like after drinking 42 Jolt Colas, here's your chance.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/29683578

[OldRedBuckeye]

I realize that it is NCAA tourney time. Best wishes to OWU and Wooster.

But as I watch the NCAA tourney unfold, I keep asking myself a question that I think Denison administrators need to be asking themselves right now: Does Denison care about putting a winning product on the floor in men's basketball? If the answer is no then the rest of this post is entirely moot.

I ask this question because I watch a program that flounders continually. I am not smart enough to know all the reasons but I do know as Bill Parcells once said you are what your record says you are. Under the current coaching regime, Denison has had one winning record in 11 seasons (13-12)!!!!! The current coach has a career record of 93-191 or a .327 winning percentage. Now again, I'm not smart enough to know all the reasons for this but I do know that you could count on less than one hand in all divisions of college basketball all the coaches with a record like that at one school over the same number of years that are still coaching at the same school.

I recognize that Denison is successful in other sports. I also recognize that Denison had two all-conference performers this season but couldn't muster a better record than 9-17. Denison lost seven games by more than 20 points!

At some point, someone at Denison has to have a light bulb go off and say what are we doing here? From all accounts, coach Ghiloni is a nice guy, cares about his players and is invested in the University. But and it's a big but ... somehow that hasn't been good enough especially in the NCAC with teams like Wooster, OWU, DePauw, Wabash, Witt and others who are playing for tournament bids most years.

So I hope some Denison administrators read this board and at least consider the facts. If the answer is we're not interested in winning and playing for NCAAs, then there is really no reason to change course. But if the answer is that you are not satisfied with the present course and want better, what would make you think the 12th year would be any different from the past 11 years? I don't want to see anyone lose their job. But I also know that it is well past time for Denison to decide whether or not they want to compete for NCAAs or not. Other than catching lightning in a bottle last season and making it to the NCAC championship, an NCAA bid hasn't been a real possibility for far too long at Denison.

It's your choice Denison. But make no mistake about it, there is a choice here. And the message you send to current and former players, alumni, students, prospective recruits and opponents alike will be unmistakeable.

[ohiofan1954]

I know what you are saying Old Red. When I have been too sporting events at Denison I have heard others mention the same concerns about the basketball program.(Who knows I may have spoke to you one). Basketball certainly seems to take a back seat too Lacrosse, Football and Swimming. Since I am not a grad but just a fan of Denison sports I have no idea what the thinking behind athletics at Denison is. I would love to see them do well though as I enjoy all spors at Denison. Still on the top of my list for most beautifull campus. (Kenyon, and John Carroll are pretty nice also)

[ohiofan1954]

After reading the news out of Akron today about the zips program I really know why I love d3 sports over d1. You don't have to worry about your "student" athletes getting in trouble with the law being right now the biggest reason. Akron's starting point gurard arrested and suspended from the team for drug dealing.(arrested by police recieving a shipment of 5 pounds of weed). Thank goodness this is not something we have to read about with the fine young men and women who go too d3 schools.

[KnightSlappy]

After reading the news out of Akron today about the zips program I really know why I love d3 sports over d1. You don't have to worry about your "student" athletes getting in trouble with the law being right now the biggest reason. Akron's starting point gurard arrested and suspended from the team for drug dealing.(arrested by police recieving a shipment of 5 pounds of weed). Thank goodness this is not something we have to read about with the fine young men and women who go too d3 schools.

You must have missed the Hamline story from earlier this year.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_22313746/hamline-suspends-basketball-coach-forfeits-game-disciplines-players

I don't think students getting into trouble is necessarily a D1 vs. D3 thing, it's more about how much exposure each division garners when the kids mess up.

[ohiofan1954]

thank you for the info and the correction.

david

[David Collinge]

Halftime scores:
Wooster 47, Dickinson 23 ... Thorpe hits 55 footer at buzzer
OWU 39, Cabrini 37 ... Spalding with 3 first-half fouls, picks up his 4th with 15:48 left and Bishops up 5.

[David Collinge]

Cabrini goes on a 10-3 run following Spalding's departure, leads 55-53 at the under-12.

Now lead is 5 with just under 10 left.

6:49 left, Cavs still up 5. Wooster leaking oil but still cruising.

OWU in real trouble now, down 8 inside 5 mins. Spalding back in.

A couple of threes bring the Bishops back to with 4 at the under-4 at 3:05.

Spalding fouls out at 2:51. Cavs by 1 at 2:03. Nailbiter!

0:35 left, OWU ball, down 3. Wooster wins 80-54, will surely host next week.

Knowles steals from Winters at 0:09, hits the fts to put OWU in a 4 point hole.

Winters hits 2 fts at 0:05, fouls, McDaniels makes 1 of 2, but Winters misses the desperation 3 and Cabrini survives 84-81. Cabrini will play Wooster next week, almost certainly at Wooster. Congratulations to the Bishops on a great season!

[woosterbooster]

Another NCAA DIII travesty at Wooster.  It has really gotten old watching the Scots' players get beaten up.  Screw Dickinson and their cheap shots, and screw the officials for doing absolutely nothing to control this event.

[seinfeld]

Excellent game by the Scots. Probably the best game they've played this year. Too many turnovers in the second half, but these came when guys try to be too unselfish, for the most part. Dickinson simply couldn't handle Wooster's athleticism. And it's clear that Wooster coaching staff was able to do more with the week to prepare than Dickinson. The Scots were all over them from the start, and had no trouble with any defense they played. Wixted was completely ineffective, and was definitely affected by the pace of the game.

It was good to see the old Xavier Brown back. The shot looked much better and he was attacking the basket.

Now if we can just get Mays to realize he doesn't need to shy away from contact on offense and stop losing the ball to guards. I have no idea about Cabrini's interior defense this year, but two years ago when these two teams met in the same round, Wooster abused them inside. Wickliffe went 10-for-11 from the field for 23 points, while Claytor came off the bench to go 5-for-5 and 15 points. But can Wooster's big men even take advantage of a weakness like this? To get at what I'm talking about with Mays, he has gone three straight games without attempting a foul shot, and if you take away a one-and-one he shot near the end of the Wittenberg game, he has gone about 100 minutes (of his playing time) since he actually drew a foul while trying to score. This is ridiculous from a guy who is 6'8" and plays around the basket. Instead of attacking the basket and forcing the defense to attempt to block his shot (and almost always foul him) he shies away from contact, even right under the basket, causing him to consistently miss shots he should either be making, or at least getting to the foul line.

This hasn't mattered the last two games, but it will matter next week.

[seinfeld]

A couple of articles on Cabrini's Mr. Everything Aaron Walton-Moss.

http://d3hoops.com/playoffs/men/2012/from-open-gym-to-salem

http://www.d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-nation/2012-13/cabrini-gets-its-stud-back

[goscots]

A question - has Wooster won 24 or 25 games? I thought I heard mid season that the NCAA counted the Sheridan game. The relevant point that is if the Scots have played 30 official games so fr this season, then when Josh Claytor steps on the court aganst Cabrini he will break Matt Fegan's NCAA record of games played in a career (125).