MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[fighting_scots]

Back from Delaware and hat's off to Mike DeWitt and the Bishops.  OWU played a perfect 1st half--Warnock was unstoppable--he even hit a couple of 3's that were called off because of a foul before the shot.  Woo in turn played a horrible 2nd half, scoring 18 pts in the 1st 17 min!  Woo couldn't buy a bucket for much of the 2nd half.  Port's shot at the buzzer was 1/2 way down--an unbelievable shot, as he was behind the basket as far as you can go in the corner--I thought OT was in the air, but for naught. 

I am happy for Coach DeWitt--he's a class act.  And I'm equally impressed with Andy Warnock today--he couldn't have asked for a better performance on senior day.

Tough loss for the Scots, but nothing that a few beers won't cure--We live to play another day--

It's TOURNEY TIME!

GO SCOTS!

[woosterbooster]

This afternoon a highly motivated - and highly intelligent - performance by OWU did more than reveal the obvious shortcomings of the Wooster basketball team.  OWU showed that those deficiencies, when attacked with understanding, might just be large enough to sidetrack the Scots chances to go very far in the NCAA tournament.  Or even to take their league affair, on their home court.

Wooster's major problems are two:

1) An inability to defend on the inside, not only against superior post players such as Russ, Borchers, and Torii Davis, but against merely good ones such as OWU sports. 

2) Their reliance, offensively, too much on the three-point shot.

Their liabilities are no state secret.  An opposing coach, even one lacking a prior contest against the Scots, or somehow finding himself without video, has only to immerse himself in the posts on this forum to determine Wooster's ailments.  But that's only step one.  Not every team, even knowing the situation, has the wherewithall to take advantage of this knowledge.  OWU does, and did.

Defensively they took a page from the Scots's playbook and played Wooster exactly as Wooster plays Wittenberg. Wooster, this season, has generally chosen not to help inside against Borchers and Russ, but to remain on the perimeter and take away the rest of Witt's offense.  It's worked out well, giving the Scots two wins. 

OWU, unfortunately for the Scots, had similar success.  They never gave Wooster good looks from the outside, leaving Wooster without a necessary scoring dimension.  What outside looks the Scots had were not good ones, and only Port and Witucky were even able to get those.  The other Scot players on the perimeter never seemed involved in the offense unless they had the ball.  When guarded tightly, they stood around, one of them even throwing his hands up in the air time after time, as if to say "Take it yourself, I'm out of it, I don't know how to get away from this guy." 

The first fifteen seconds of Wooster's offense, almost on every set, consisted of a pick at the top of the key, and it never amounted to anything.  The good ball movement that had been in evidence for weeks disappeared entirely.  Wooster never had a fast break, not one, due mostly to being unable to stop OWU from scoring, rebounding very poorly, and OWU making a concerted effort to get back quickly.

And when they had the ball, OWU was tenacious about sending it into the post.  Their inside players would then just back down the Wooster defenders until they too often had little 'gimme' shots.  Aside: no offensive fouls were ever called on them, and certainly some should have been.  And when the Scot defenders offered resistance, they were whistled for the indiscretion.

I'm tired, still a bit pissed about the home town officiating, and beginning to ramble.  Wooster will come back and play better in the next couple of games.  But will it be a mirage, coming against lesser opponents, or can the Scots somehow learn something from this game, somehow find a way to defend inside and to also get more movement away from the ball offensively?

[David Collinge]

COW coach Steve Moore (possibly, after OWU loss): Gentlemen, we start the war from right here. The reinforcements will have to find us wherever we are. Move inland.

I thought that was Lt. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., or possibly Henry Fonda, but I frequently get these three guys mixed up. 

Nice recap.

[imderekpoe]

Here's the updated Regional Rankings:
Great Lakes
1. Wooster 18-1 22-1
2. Baldwin-Wallace 19-2 21-2
3. Wittenberg 16-2 21-2
4. Carnegie Mellon 14-3 18-4
T5. Calvin 9-1 18-5
T5. Hope 14-2 21-2

I guess the good news for the Scots is that besides Wooster, the 2, 3, and 4 teams have also lost this week (B-W twice), and the Scots loss was the best one QOWI-wise.  Without delving into the numbers, I would think that its likely that the Scots might hold on to the #1 spot in the region. However, I would think that they will now need to win the NCAC tourney to have a chance to keep that ranking and possibly earn a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament.

[Kramer]

Am I the only one on here that would love to read DenisonFan's comments on their loss to Hiram yesterday?  Come on, you know it would be interesting.
Congtats to OWU, great regular season.  Hopefully they'll make some noise in the tournament.

[pennstghs]

well one thing that i gained from yesterday's upset is now witt has a tough semifinal game against a confident owu team. witt winning at owu after losing to wooster should provide us with some needed momentum going into that game.

denison has a chance to prove that they're not totally horrible if they win against witt on tuesday-chances of happeneing-none

[smedindy]

Penn -

No thoughts on Witt's loss to Wabash?

[zosobob]

I agree WOOSTER BOOSTER nothing was going the Scots' way.
They couldn't make the easy shots,box out on rebounds or move the ball enough to get the open three.(again kudos to the Bishops)

As far as the officiating, it WAS terrible (especially one ref who always called his fouls AGAINST the Scots). What was a blocking call at one end was a charge at the other.

But, all in all the Scots looked frustrated. Period. Simple as that.

One other thing, hopefully the Scots can use this game as a learning experience.
As i have noticed similarities between Kyle's freshman and senior years.

In the '02-'03 season: first loss Dec. 29th, record 9-1
In the '05-'06 season: first loss Dec. 29th, record 9-1

In the '02-'03 season: second loss Feb.15th, record 21-2
In the '05-'06 season: second loss Feb.18th, record 23-2

In the '02-'03 season: record after NCAC Tourny 26-2
In the '05-'06 season: record (could be) after NCAC Tourny 26-2

Does this mean anything? NO. But, i thought it was interesting.

[David Collinge]

I guess the good news for the Scots is that besides Wooster, the 2, 3, and 4 teams have also lost this week (B-W twice), and the Scots loss was the best one QOWI-wise.  Without delving into the numbers, I would think that its likely that the Scots might hold on to the #1 spot in the region. However, I would think that they will now need to win the NCAC tourney to have a chance to keep that ranking and possibly earn a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament.

I don't think there's any doubt that Wooster holds on to the regional #1 for another week.  Calvin is the only other top team whose numbers improved, and they're still well short of Wooster in QoWI and equivalent in win %.  Hope won both their games, but one--Tri-State--doesn't count to the NCAA, and the other--Alma--is a sub-.333 team and so hurt their QoWI.  Everyone else lost at least once.

Furthermore I think Wooster will only drop to #2 in the national poll, behind unbeaten Lawrence.  The #3 and #4 teams lost (#3 twice), and I don't see Hope making up a 128-point gap on the strength of home wins over Alma and Tri-State.

Wittenberg should end up somewhere between #3 and #5 in the region poll, and somewhere in the #6-#9 range in the national poll.  Their regional numbers are comparable to Hope (slightly lower win %, somewhat better QoWI), and it's hard to guess what happens to CMU, whose QoWI is much better, relatively speaking, than their win %.  My guess of the regional rankings, pending CMU's game today at Case, is that Witt is third and Hope 4th, with CMU tied with Hope if they win today, and 6th (behind B-W) if they don't.

[fighting_scots]

Outstanding analysis, DC--I always look forward to your thoughts.

One question--isn't the Feb. 22nd regional rankings the final one? 

I think the loss yesterday did put a lot of things in perspective for the Scots--OWU is a tough place to play, given their gym size and eccentric decor, and add senior day and you've got a problem.  I think DeWitt's quote in the DR this morning was a true reflection on the game--OWU played as well as they could, which is what it takes to beat a team like Wooster.  I still can't get over how well they played in the 1st half--

I also think that Witt will have their hands full on Friday if OWU plays as inspired as they did yesterday--assuming, of course, that the top seeds advance.

Let the games begin--

GO SCOTS!

[woosterbooster]

Yesterday was my first experience in taking in a game at OWU.  Although I wasn't happy with the result, I loved the facility.  A good-sized crowd, although definitely not a sellout, produced much more noise than I've ever heard at Wooster's Timken gym. Certainly the smaller space, and possibly the uneven configuration of the roof contributed to this.  It did seem to me that it could have been a little better lit.

I caught the last ten minutes of the women's game between Denison and OWU and was impressed with the play.  I'd only seen Wooster's women play before, DIII-wise, and didn't find them very entertaining.

My only mistake was in choosing a seat directly behind the Wooster bench.  With Coaches Cline and Moore almost constantly on their feet, I rarely had an unobstructed view at the near basket.  Still, I was able to see more than the officials...

 

[ScotsFan]

I also think that Witt will have their hands full on Friday if OWU plays as inspired as they did yesterday--assuming, of course, that the top seeds advance.

It's a good thing OWU has a game in between their possible showdown with Witt on Friday.  Against 'Gheny, they can afford a bit of a  "letdown" game, after their emotional win yesterday.  Wouldn't that be something if 'Gheny came into the Branch and pulled the upset?  It has happened before with teams coming off of huge emotional wins coming out flat and uninspired in their next contest.     Just something to ponder.

If the Bishops can avoid the "letdown" against the Gators and Witt gets by Denison, I wonder who the partisan home crowd will be cheering for on Friday in the 1st semi-final?  Will they cheer for a team that is fresh off a win over the Scots, or for the arch-rival whom the Scots have already beaten twice.  I think I'll put my OWU sweatshirt for that one.  The old cliche about how hard it is to beat a team 3 times in a season usually rings true.  And like DeWitt said, OWU probably couldn't play much better than they did yesterday, so I would take our chances with a rubber match with the Battling Bishops in the finals. 

[ScotsFan]

I think the loss yesterday did put a lot of things in perspective for the Scots--OWU is a tough place to play, given their gym size and eccentric decor, and add senior day and you've got a problem. 

Yesterday was my first experience in taking in a game at OWU. Although I wasn't happy with the result, I loved the facility. A good-sized crowd, although definitely not a sellout, produced much more noise than I've ever heard at Wooster's Timken gym. Certainly the smaller space, and possibly the uneven configuration of the roof contributed to this.

It said in the DR that is was not only Senior Day yesterday at OWU, but it was also Community Day meaning the game was free to the public.  That added even more to the frenzied atmosphere at the Branch.  It wasn't a sellout, but it was close according to the box score.  They had 2025 in attendance and the Branch holds 2300.  I'm sure that was about as loud as that place has been since they won it all back in '88. 

Speaking of Timken not being loud enough, it reminds me of an article in the DR the week following Witt/Wooster II.  It mentioned how Witt's AD was trying to quell the enthusiasm of the crowd by asking that everyone in the stands remain seated during the game.  Here is a quote from that article:

Purnell's second request was one better suited for a symphony than a basketball game featuring the fiercest rivalry in small college hoops.

He literally asked that everyone watch the game SITTING DOWN!

Thankfully, neither school's students obliged and stood for each of the game's 40 minutes.

Joe later made light of this by commenting that the exact opposite usually takes place at Timken where you usually have to encourage everyone to  STAND UP.   Hopefully the fans at Timken won't be afraid to make plenty of noise this week for the conference tournament games!!!

[David Collinge]

Outstanding analysis, DC--I always look forward to your thoughts.

One question--isn't the Feb. 22nd regional rankings the final one? 

Thank you.  I may not have many thoughts to share over the coming days, as I have the bar exam looming on Tuesday. 

The final poll that will be released to the public will be Wednesday, but there will be a final unreleased ranking done prior to the selection of Pool B and C teams, and that ranking is the only one that counts.  We can guess as to that final ranking, based on the 2/22 poll, but we'll never actually see it.

[woosterbooster]

I first attended a game at Timken about 11 years ago when I was 47.  My first impression was that the crowd seemed to consist of a high percentage of senior citizens.  It still seems that way to me, even as I'm now 58 and will soon be a bonafide member of that group (cringe).

I suspect that's one of the reasons the crowd isn't as loud.  Another might just be the size of the place, as maybe the sound doesn't funnel down towards the court as in a smaller arena.