MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

Some early D1 games were foul fests, causing an over-reaction. I'm sure it'll normalize soon.

[Urban For Prez]

Wittenberg up 49-28 on Capital at halftime. Masin has been strong down low and Fultz has shot the ball very well. Capital seems down, but this Wittenberg team could be fun to watch this year.

[ScotsFan]

Wittenberg up 49-28 on Capital at halftime. Masin has been strong down low and Fultz has shot the ball very well. Capital seems down, but this Wittenberg team could be fun to watch this year.

Bill Brown picked up career win #500 with Witt's win over Cap last night.  Congrats to Coach Brown on becoming the 14th active DIII coach to reach the 500 win plateau.

[pennstghs]

Hello everybody! Sorry for being missing for so long! ScotsFan beat me to it but congratulations to Coach Brown on career win number 500! Quite an accomplishment.

I unfortunately won't be able to physically see a lot of games this year due to my officiating, but will definitely keep my inputs current and observations.

I was able to attend the game vs Capital last night until halftime and that's all I really needed to see as the game was in hand early. Wittenberg has a veteran starting 5 and I'm not sure what the issue was but Capital could not get a stop at all. Wittenberg had lots of open 3 point shots and I didn't see the final numbers but completely out-mannded Capital on the boards, mostly offensive. Lots of new faces on the Wittenberg depth chart so I wish I could have seen more to get an idea of what talent is to come!

Also, I did watch online the tournament game from past weekend vs Wheaton. Great game, Witt actually had control in the second half but once overtime hit they just could not get anything going. Still an impressive showing; I'll be interested to see how Wooster compares vs them.

Good luck to the Witt football team in their playoff game this weekend!

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:  Wooster 39  Baldwin Wallace 38

Tight game between two strong teams.  Wooster is being led by Xavier Brown with 15 points and freshman Dan Fanelly with 11 points.

Kyle Payne is leading the Yellow Jackets with 10 points.

[ohiofan1954]

Let's see. Should I go to Springfield to watch the Wittenberg football game or Granville to watch the Marietta-Denison basketball game? Tough choice.

[wooscotsfan]

Final: Wooster 76  Baldwin Wallace 71 

Scots get a big win over a strong OAC team!  Wooster was led tonight by Xavier Brown with 31 points, Doug Thorpe with 18 points and freshman Dan Fanelly with 13 points.

Wooster is now 2-0.  Scots face Wheaton (IL) in the Al Van Wie tourney championship game tomorrow.

[zander]

Let's see. Should I go to Springfield to watch the Wittenberg football game or Granville to watch the Marietta-Denison basketball game? Tough choice.
[/so?? where you going?quote]

[GoRed]

Witt is up 14-3 on Lebanon Valley right now.  If it's a blowout, he can leave early and make the whole game in Granville. 

If not, he can make the second half in Granville.  (Check the score before leaving, though, to make sure it's not over by then).

[kiltedbryan]

Really wish I could see Wheaton vs. Wooster tonight but unfortunately won't be able to. It's probably the best game on Wooster's schedule this year. Even though its so early, the winner of this one could have a leg up all the way until postseason selection time, since you're looking at two teams that are likely to be ranked in their regions at some point.

My only critique with how the Scots played last night was that the offense, especially in the second half, felt stagnant. Ball movement suffered as guards tended to go a bit too much one-on-one and I think the Scots' 9 assists on 28 made baskets is testimony to that.

Even though Brown dropped 31 points, I think he was clearly the biggest offender in terms of missing opportunities to use his offensive skills (and defensive attention) to free up shots for his teammates (his zero assists on the night agree with me). I dislike seeing him try to create but then pulling back or settling for semi-contested 16-18 footers. Much better would be to see him try to a) continue the drive and look for an inside pass to the post or b) a kick out for an open three, or c) feed the player rolling off the pick on the high pick and roll. I remember times last night where all of these options looked available but instead Brown seemed to choose to force up a tough shot. Several times he was bailed out by getting foul calls (and credit is due for him going 11-11 on FTs)...but I'm not convinced that's always going to happen.

Also, continuing a theme from last year, the Scots didn't seem to handle B-W's 2-3 zone very well for the limited time that the Yellow Jackets ran it.

Just some issues to monitor with the Scots offense early this year.

[woosterbooster]

Really wish I could see Wheaton vs. Wooster tonight but unfortunately won't be able to. It's probably the best game on Wooster's schedule this year. Even though its so early, the winner of this one could have a leg up all the way until postseason selection time, since you're looking at two teams that are likely to be ranked in their regions at some point.

My only critique with how the Scots played last night was that the offense, especially in the second half, felt stagnant. Ball movement suffered as guards tended to go a bit too much one-on-one and I think the Scots' 9 assists on 28 made baskets is testimony to that.

Even though Brown dropped 31 points, I think he was clearly the biggest offender in terms of missing opportunities to use his offensive skills (and defensive attention) to free up shots for his teammates (his zero assists on the night agree with me). I dislike seeing him try to create but then pulling back or settling for semi-contested 16-18 footers. Much better would be to see him try to a) continue the drive and look for an inside pass to the post or b) a kick out for an open three, or c) feed the player rolling off the pick on the high pick and roll. I remember times last night where all of these options looked available but instead Brown seemed to choose to force up a tough shot. Several times he was bailed out by getting foul calls (and credit is due for him going 11-11 on FTs)...but I'm not convinced that's always going to happen.

Also, continuing a theme from last year, the Scots didn't seem to handle B-W's 2-3 zone very well for the limited time that the Yellow Jackets ran it.

Just some issues to monitor with the Scots offense early this year.

I think XB is what he is.  It's not selfishness, he just doesn't see the court that well, and that hasn't really changed in two years.  His one-on-one skill set is very high, but that kind of thing works much better against a man-to-man.

I thought the level of the Scots play really dropped when they went to their bench.  Ball movement seemed to have no purpose.  Kipfer was a McHale-like black hole without Kevin's skills.  When the ball went in, it wasn't coming out, and he struggled to score.  He needs to see the floor when he has the ball down low.

Fanelli was impressive inside despite his looks-more-like-a-wing body.  He has a nose for the ball and seems to be able to finish.  He was the victim of some rough calls last night, especially the last one, but that will happen.

Doug Thorpe is one of my favorite players to have come through the Wooster system.  Even beyond his very credible skills, he's super focused in the clutch and has a heck of a heart.  The Scots will miss him when he's gone.

Tonight will be an interesting match-up.  Number 50 for Wheaton, Nate Haynes, is one heck of an athlete.  His downfall last night was the inability to finish.  Hopefully that's the norm for him, but who knows?  Wooster will also need to cut off Wheaton's penetration, but the Scots are pretty good at that.

[woolax]

I see Wooster beat #5 Wheaton tonight 77-73. What did people think of the game? How was Wooster's post play?

[wooscotsfan]

Back from Timken where I saw Wooster knock off a strong Wheaton team.

Wheaton's starting lineup is 6'3" and 6'4" guards and a front line that is 6'6", 6'6", 6'6".  They are a tall team by D3 standards.

I was concerned that Wooster would lose the battle of the boards but their quickness and overall team hustle offset Wheaton's height advantage.

Wooster's post players are not very deep this year especially because Alex LaLonde is missing this season due to shoulder surgery.  Freshman Dan Fanelly is a great talent and very mobile at 6'6" but he only played 10 minutes tonight because he was in foul trouble.  6'6" Josh Kipfer was a warrior playing 30 minutes with Fanelly on the bench and Kipfer with 7 boards held his own against Wheaton's big front line.   Kenny DeBoer at 6'5" was also a force inside and once again, he will be a key player for the Scots this year.  After Fanelly, Kipfer and DeBoer, the next biggest player who has seen minutes this year is DeVaughn Wingard who is 6'4".  Wingard nailed 3 three pointers tonight and played good defense, along with DeBoer, against Tyler Peters who is Wheaton's best player and a big guard at 6'4".

Wooster won this top 10 matchup game tonight for 3 reasons:
1. Scots matched Wheaton on the boards and it was a 28-28 draw
2. Wooster's guards (Doug Thorpe, Xavier Brown) were too quick for the Thunder.  Scots also made 13 three pointers and several made by Thorpe were huge shots in the last 5 minutes of the game
3. Wooster took care of the ball with only 8 turnovers while Wheaton had 18 TO's

Another big OAC opponent is next as Wooster plays at Marietta next Wednesday.

GO SCOTS!

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton's very thin up front, too, wooscotsfan, and "tall team" is a relative term. Wheaton probably is a tall team when the over 400 teams in D3 are considered as a whole, particularly in terms of the backcourt; but by their own competitive standards (i.e., the CCIW), Wheaton is not notably tall.

[ohiofan1954]

Wooster beat team picked to win OAC. Considering it was another OAC team that beat Miami it really was a good win for Wooster.