MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[WooMix]

For the past two games, Wooster has been using an eight-men rooster.  The only other times they used more than that was the blowout win vs Cabrini and in the Mount Union game when Craig Elam saw only five minutes of action.  To those close to the action, what is the reason for the inactivity on the Wooster bench?  The Wooster Daily Record during the weeks leading to the season ran a number of stories, even going as far as quoting Coach Moore, claiming that some of the new guys were ready to contribute.  What then is going on?  Did Coach Moore recruit some decent ballers just to beef up the practice squad?  Maybe the previous point is a stretch but I am wondering.  This bench situation makes me wonder what will become if one of the key players gets a knock, God forbid that happens?

Either way, they are playing well and I couldn't be more happier.

[kiltedbryan]

For the past two games, Wooster has been using an eight-men rooster.  The only other times they used more than that was the blowout win vs Cabrini and in the Mount Union game when Craig Elam saw only five minutes of action.  To those close to the action, what is the reason for the inactivity on the Wooster bench?

The radio broadcast mentioned something about Elam nursing a knee injury, I think.  I didn't catch too many details, but it sounded like they were being extra careful and didn't feel a need to rush him back to full action.

[ScotsFan]

My impressions of this game was that it was a game of runs for about 3/4ths of the game.  Wooster made a small run early in the game, and then Georgetown came back with one of their own.  And then Wooster made what was IMO the decisive run putting together a pretty impressive 15-2 run to end the half on much like their 19-0 run against Walsh on Saturday. Once again, the decisive run was highlighted by timely shooting and some stifling defense.  G'town came out of the break with a 9-0 run, but Wooster responded on something like a 10-2 run of their own and from there on, the game was never much in doubt. 

There isn't much this team could improve on from last year, but I  think where I have seen the most improvement over last season is on the defensive end of the floor.  They held a much bigger Georgetown team to just 40% from the field?!  That shouldn't happen when the Tigers could have and should have been having their way inside with their size advantage.  And not only that, but Wooster outrebounded G'town by a pretty significant margin.  One other area that seems to be much improved over last year is ft shooting.  Wooster goes 21-23 from the line, and you could argue that this game was basically won at the line as G'town went on a stretch of missing something like 6 consecutive ft's in the 2nd half.  For the season Wooster is shooting a very impressive 85%.  At this time last season I think the Scots were barely cracking 60% if I remember correctly.

Moving on, just when I thought I couldn't be more impressed with this team, and more specifically Timmy V, he goes and puts up a double double in what was his second outstanding performance against a team that was loaded with size!  After my questioning as to why Tom Port was left off of the D3hoops preseason AA team, I'm beginning to think my argument should have been made in favor of the Dark Lord!  He should be going into that Wittenberg game a week from Saturday with a TON of confidence after the performances that he has put up against Walsh's and G'town's bigs!  And I will echo the sentiments of praise being thrown to Devin Fulk.  This guy would be the star player of many an NCAC team and he's not even starting for Wooster!  Yet, he's embraced his role and, as he has been described, has become instant offense this year for the Scots!  Maybe that should be his nickname???

One last bit of amusement to be passed on from the game.  After the game was pretty much over, the Wooster student section began the chant, "We want Louisville, We want Louisville..."  I thought that was pretty good!

[WoosterFAN]

DC - As usual you hit it right on the head.  I was listening to the game and tracking the live stats as I was working on a term paper.  You get out of school and I go in!!

Anyway, I saw the large number of WOO turnovers, the droughts of scoring by both teams and lack of fouls committed in the first half by the SCOTS and thought that 'aggressiveness' might have been an issue.

Thanks for the observations from Timken because I am glad to see that it was a hard fought game by two quality opponents.  These are the kinds of games that Wooster would drop in the past.  An intense game against an unfamiliar quality opponent early in the season (I point back to Kalamazoo, SCAD, Edinboro, and Texas Lutheran).   

It seems that defensive intensity and rebounding have become the focus this year and what is most pleasant is that when Cooper is not scoring 'Darth' Vandervaart is taking over inside as defenses concentrate on the perimeter.  The NCAC should be very very afraid. 

Now the next issue is that the SCOTS are definitely the number 1 team in country.  Do we want that ranking?  And can we keep it?

[ScotsFan]

It seems that defensive intensity and rebounding have become the focus this year and what is most pleasant is that when Cooper is not scoring 'Darth' Vandervaart is taking over inside as defenses concentrate on the perimeter.  The NCAC should be very very afraid. 

I think you are spot on!  But it's not just Cooper drawing out the defense away from Vandervaart.  Tom Port is also a big mismatch problem for teams.  Last night, he was drawing 6'9" Donovan Brown, usually leaving Vandervaart with someone not quite as tall  guarding him.  I think it's a matter of teams picking their poison I guess.  Do they pack it inside to try to deny Vandervaart, leaving our sharpshooters open to inflict their damage, or do the defend the perimeter trying to deny Cooper and Port leaving Vandervaart down low one on one to wield his spinning moves in the post?  I think a lot of NCAC coaches will be losing some sleep trying to come up with a plan to stop Wooster's potent attack!

Now the next issue is that the SCOTS are definitely the number 1 team in country.  Do we want that ranking?  And can we keep it?

Technically, Wooster has already been #1 according to Street & Smith.   I know you're talking about the poll that counts though.  I just can't believe how uncanny it is that every time Wooster seems to ascend to the #1 spot in the D3hoops top 25 (assuming that the untinkable doesn't happen and the EC finds a way to pull off a great upset), who is there looming on the schedule?  None other than Witt who seems to have  made it their job to knock off the Scots from their lofty perch.  How many times has this happened now?  I'm guessing that this is at least the 3rd or 4th time the Scots will have garnered the #1 postition on a week that they play Witt.  At least last season, Wooster returned the favor by beating Witt when they were #1 and Wooster was #2.  Why couldn't VA Wes wait until next week to lose their 1st game???  Oh well, I have a feeling that history won't be repeating itself a week from Saturday down in Springfield!

[ScotsFan]

hope everyone on here has a good season and we have some more diverse talking points instead of wooster/wabash chatter all season. thanks.

Hey now, it's not our faults that there aren't more Witt supporters like yourself adding to the conversation.  At least TigerFan_1973 joined us to bring in some more Witt perspective.  We've also got the Earlham regulars in here as well.  What happened to 'bishopsfan'?  I would have thought we'd have been hearing some of the happenings down in Delaware given their good start and all.  And I miss hearing from 'DenisonFan' and his critiques of how Coach Ghiloni wasn't properly utilizing his rotation by playing too many youngsters.

I too wish we had some more fans of other teams offering their perspectives, but I'm also glad we have this site even if it is Wooster dominated in Basketball and Wabash dominated in Football.

[woosterbooster]

I'm getting old, so it took me a while to figure it out.  Just what am I seeing on the court when I watch the Wooster Fighting Scots?  Not just the talent or the skills, but the hustle, toughness, intelligence, and unselfishness?  Last night it came to me.  The Wooster Fighting Scots are the New York Knicks of the early 70s.  On wheels.

Brandon Johnson is, of course, Walt Frazier.  Probably not off the court, nobody could match the Knick's point guard in cool or the threads department.  But between the lines the similarity is definitely there.  Running the offense, getting to the basket, the pull-up jumper, and the ability to pick one's pocket, sight unseen.  Yep, Brandon is Clyde all right.

James Cooper?  None other than The Pearl himself, the great Earl Monroe.  Before Michael, before the Doctor, Earl was one of the great innovators in the game.  While he didn't invent the spin move (Jimmy Walker, Providence) he quickly made it part of his game.  The stutter step, the hesitation, all were in Earl's reportoire.  And he could shoot the lights out, period.

Tom Port is cornerman Dave DeBusschere.  Long-range outside shooter who hit the boards hard.  A tough guy underneath, who was also a major league pitcher.  Port may not be that, but at least he's occasionally seen watching Pettorini's boys.

Devin Fulk?  None other than Rhodes Scholar Bill Bradley.  One of the best pure shooters ever, Bradley practically invented moving without the ball.  His all-around game became superb, as Devin's is becoming.  Kid, maybe you have a career as a U.S. senator in front you.

The Van Horn-Bidwell combination?  Gotta be the pre-Zen wildman Phil Jackson.  All elbows and knees when with the New Yorkers, Jackson played the game in a near frenzy, coming off the bench to spell DeBusschere or Bradley by wreaking havoc all over the court.  He'd pick up fouls and bruises in abundance as do Andy and Tim, but his man always knew he was in a ballgame.  Are these two guys future NBA coaches?

All right, this one is a reach, but I'm sticking with it.  Tim Vandervaart and Evan Will are, cumulatively, the great center Willis Reed.  Willis was, of course, one of the best of his era, but often, just as the two Scots posts do, had to deal with bigger players in Wilt and Russell.  He did, playing them nose to nose, and often besting them.

In what may have been the worst pregame prediction ever, I chose Georgetown to take Wooster behind the woodshed, 97-65 (or something like that).  This erroneous effort was made after watching the non-Hoyas warm up for nearly an hour.  They looked big, strong, and skilled.  How could I not pick them?  Well, at the time, I didn't realize that the Scots are those old Knicks, reincarnated, and revved up to 78 RPM. Honestly, if Wooster had had a better day shooting the ball from out, they could have won by 15.  Or more.

[David Collinge]

[...] you could argue that this game was basically won at the line as G'town went on a stretch of missing something like 6 consecutive ft's in the 2nd half. 

Yes, I agree that this was a key part of the game.  When G'town went cold from the free throw line, it enabled the Scots to get out to the two-to-three possession lead that they held the rest of the way.  Had G'town made those tosses, it could have been a very different game.

The post-game handshake line was stalled a couple of times when Georgetown coach 'Happy' Osborne had lengthy comments for Andy Van Horn and for another Scot (my memory fails me...maybe Fulk?  Help!).  I wonder if anyone knows what was said?  Osborne had very positive things to say to Aaron Dorkson of the Daily Record, including that James Cooper is as good as any of the guards at Dayton, and that he thinks Wooster can "win it all in their division."  Link to the article.

hope everyone on here has a good season and we have some more diverse talking points instead of wooster/wabash chatter all season. thanks.

Hey now, it's not our faults that there aren't more Witt supporters like yourself adding to the conversation.  At least TigerFan_1973 joined us to bring in some more Witt perspective.  We've also got the Earlham regulars in here as well.  What happened to 'bishopsfan'?  I would have thought we'd have been hearing some of the happenings down in Delaware given their good start and all.  And I miss hearing from 'DenisonFan' and his critiques of how Coach Ghiloni wasn't properly utilizing his rotation by playing too many youngsters.

I too wish we had some more fans of other teams offering their perspectives, but I'm also glad we have this site even if it is Wooster dominated in Basketball and Wabash dominated in Football.

This is one reason why I've spent so much time in Granville lately, and plan to go to Gambier a few times later in the season.  We don't hear much from Kenyon and Denison partisans, and both are easy drives for me.  Last night's game was played in front of 2105 raucous fans, which was fun, but I also enjoy the quieter ambiance of games between less-talented players who still work hard and only draw a couple hundred fans at best.  I think they deserve support and recognition as much as the Wooster players; to me, that's what D3 is all about.

[woosterbooster]

The post-game handshake line was stalled a couple of times when Georgetown coach 'Happy' Osborne had lengthy comments for Andy Van Horn and for another Scot (my memory fails me...maybe Fulk? Help!). I wonder if anyone knows what was said?

David -

I was told one of the remarks that was said to Van Horn, and at least one of the other players, but feel that it's probably not correct to post it on here.

[David Collinge]

I'll be there no matter what because I will be working the 2 JV games and the women's varsity game beforehand, so I'll just stick around for the men's game. 

jscwittfan,
TWO JV games?  Is there a women's JV game scheduled?  According to both Wooster's and Wittenberg's sites, the women's varsity game is scheduled for 2pm, and I have a schedule that says the mens' JV game is at 5:30 (and of course the men's varsity is at 7:30).  Does that mean the womens' JV game is at noon, or has the schedule changed? 

[pennstghs]

i do agree-we need some bishopsfan and DenisonFan perspective on here-we had some interesting posts last year.

One other point of revenge---you think Wooster's JV players are looking forward to exacting revenge on witt after that half court shot that won it for us last year? 

i still think 2nd week in december is too early for a witt-wooster game.......

[David Collinge]

i still think 2nd week in december is too early for a witt-wooster game.......

Last year the first matchup was Dec. 10 at Wooster; it was a pretty good game..  Maybe this is a two-year cycle, and next year we return to a Jan/Feb rotation?

Wittenberg has posted their ticket policy for the game HERE.  It is just as jscwittfan posted earlier: all seats reserved, even for students.  Additionally, Wooster says HERE that they will have a presale of their ticket allotment from 1 to 3 this Saturday (during the women's game vs. Earlham) and, if any are left, after the men's game vs Earlham (tipoff at 3pm).

[smedindy]

I guess I'm old school, but I'd rather play all of the non-conference stuff before the conference games. But realistically, I don't think that's possible unless you want to have a long layoff at some point, then cram everything in there....

[jscwittfan]

I'll be there no matter what because I will be working the 2 JV games and the women's varsity game beforehand, so I'll just stick around for the men's game. 

jscwittfan,
TWO JV games?  Is there a women's JV game scheduled?  According to both Wooster's and Wittenberg's sites, the women's varsity game is scheduled for 2pm, and I have a schedule that says the mens' JV game is at 5:30 (and of course the men's varsity is at 7:30).  Does that mean the womens' JV game is at noon, or has the schedule changed? 

My bad.  Usually the Witt women have their JV/Alumni game before the Wooster game, but that is not the case this year since Wooster is in Springfield earlier in the season than usual.  I'm just so used to it being so that I assumed it was again this year as well.  But, that's what I get for assuming.  Sorry for the incorrect info, everybody.

[LUMAN80]

go woooster