MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[David Collinge]

I see no relevance in this key play whatsoever, unless maybe it is too downgrade Jewett's ability or call him a thug in some way. But, the lesson as always, don't touch a Wooster player or you become A.) a player who deserves to be suspended from North Coast Athletic Conference competition for life (as was the case with the Hiram kid last year) or B.) a lesser player in the eyes of the experts who browse this forum.

I see no reason for the word "expert," as it is employed in this context, to be used in the plural. 

[woosterbooster]

Still, one play from last night sticks in my mind.  Near half court, while being guarded by Tom Port, Jewett lost control of the ball behind him.  Port began a move to the floor to get it, but the super fast Marty Bidwell, coming from probably fifteen feet away, beat both Port and Jewett to the ball.  Jewett dove on top of him.  As usual, no foul was called, even though Jewett decided that a forearm pushed into Bidwell's neck was in order.  I don't think Markous quite realized how close he came to being embarrassed by the man he thought he had down

I see no relevance in this key play whatsoever, unless maybe it is too downgrade Jewett's ability or call him a thug in some way. But, the lesson as always, don't touch a Wooster player or you become A.) a player who deserves to be suspended from North Coast Athletic Conference competition for life (as was the case with the Hiram kid last year) or B.) a lesser player in the eyes of the experts who browse this forum.

Really, again, why exactly would a player having the ball stolen from him stand out as something spectacular and in what way was Jewett about to be embarrassed?

And, from now on, I am going to refer to all abilities of Wooster players as super in a not so subtle attempt to have my opinions on basketball validated.

Bidwell blew by both Port and Jewett as if they were standing still.  That's not meant to downgrade the playing abilities of either, just pointing out a matter of fact, that Marty Bidwell is fast as hell.

Jewett's reaction to being beaten to the ball was a bit thuggish, since you ask.  Without any call to do so, he placed his forearm across Bidwell's upper chest or neck in a threatening or at least condescending way.  How was he possibly going to be embarrassed?  I suspect if he had followed through in his gesture he would have gotten his ass kicked.

Your buddy is a good basketball player.  I said so as much in my other post.  I didn't like what I saw from him on that one play and I'll stand by it whether you like it or not.

[TigerFan_1973]

The Wooster basketball web site says both games will be on free video Friday night.

http://athletics.wooster.edu/mb/schedule.php

Karma to Wooster on this one, if I only could, I would.

GO TIGERS!

[David Collinge]

I posted the following over on the Pool C board in the multi-region area.  QoWI is just one of the five primary selection/ranking criteria, and it will change a lot over the rest of this week, but looking at it as of this moment, Wittenberg is in a very, very precarious Pool C situation if they don't win the tournament. 

Here's the top 67 teams (QoWI 9.3 and up) with conference and presumptive pool added.  I am not predicting A's, I am not attempting to identify who is leading a conference for the A, I'm merely picking the first-listed team in each conference and awarding the A on that basis (disclaimers required because of endless confused misunderstanding on this subject last year.)  The B's and C's are bolded and numbered (C1-C32 and B1-B4.)  There will be 3 B and 19 C bids awarded.

   1   11.652   1   UW-Stevens Point   0.957 (22-1)   23-2 WIAC A   
   2   11.625   1   Amherst   0.958 (23-1)   24-1 NESCAC A   
   3   10.950   2   Trinity (Conn.)   0.850 (17-3)   21-3 NESCAC C1   
   4   10.810   3   Worcester Polytech   0.905 (19-2)   21-2 NEWMAC A   
   5   10.708   4   Salem State   0.920 (23-2)   23-2 MASCAC A   
   6   10.696   1   Chicago   0.818 (18-4)   20-4 UAA A   
   7   10.667   1   Mississippi College   0.952 (20-1)   22-2 ASC A   
   8   10.640   2   St. Thomas   0.880 (22-3)   22-3 MIAC A   
   9   10.600   1   Lake Erie   0.950 (19-1)   23-2 AMCC A   
   10   10.520   5   Rhode Island College   0.880 (22-3)   22-3 LEC A   
   11   10.400   1   Brockport State   0.840 (21-4)   22-4 SUNYAC A   
   12   10.381   2   Washington U.   0.810 (17-4)   19-4 UAA C2   
   13   10.375   2   Virginia Wesleyan   0.875 (21-3)   22-3 ODAC A   
   14   10.333   3   Aurora   0.913 (21-2)   23-2 NathCon B1   
   15   10.318   3   St. John's   0.864 (19-3)   19-6 MIAC C3   
   16   10.292   2   St. Lawrence   0.792 (19-5)   20-5 LL A   
   17   10.261   1   Ramapo   0.783 (18-5)   19-7 NJAC A   
   18   10.250   4   Occidental   0.813 (13-3)   18-5 SCIAC A   
   19   10.250   4   Augustana   0.833 (20-4)   20-5 CCIW A   
   20   10.238   3   DePauw   0.900 (18-2)   21-4 SCAC A   
   21   10.217   3   Rochester   0.739 (17-6)   17-7 UAA C4   
   22   10.217   6   Keene State   0.826 (19-4)   22-4 LEC C4   
   23   10.208   4   St. John Fisher   0.792 (19-5)   20-5 E8 A   
   24   10.174   5   UW-Oshkosh   0.783 (18-5)   21-5 WIAC C6   
   25   10.174   1   Johns Hopkins   0.864 (19-3)   21-4 Centennial A   
   26   10.136   2   John Carroll   0.727 (16-6)   17-8 OAC A   
   27   10.125   7   Brandeis   0.750 (18-6)   18-6 UAA C7   
   28   10.105   2   Messiah   0.842 (16-3)   19-5 MACC A   
   29   10.038   2   Stevens   0.808 (21-5)   21-5 SKY A   
   30   10.000   4   Guilford   0.870 (20-3)   21-3 ODAC C8   
   31   10.000   5   Averett   0.800 (16-4)   18-6 USASAC A   
   32   10.000   3   Catholic   0.792 (19-5)   20-5 CAC A   
   33   10.000   4   Lincoln   0.786 (11-3)   17-7 Ind B2   
   34   10.000   3   Wooster   0.900 (18-2)   23-3 NCAC A   
   35   9.960   6   Mary Hardin-Baylor   0.840 (21-4)   21-4 ASC C9   
   36   9.909   6   Whitworth   0.864 (19-3)   22-3 NWC A   
   37   9.905   7   Loras   0.810 (17-4)   19-6 IIAC A   
   38   9.900   4   Ohio Northern   0.700 (14-6)   19-6 OAC C10   
   39   9.875   5   Hood   0.792 (19-5)   20-6 CAC C11   
   40   9.870   5   New York University   0.783 (18-5)   19-5 UAA C12   
   41   9.870   6   Scranton   0.739 (17-6)   19-6 MACF A   
   42   9.864   8   UW-La Crosse   0.727 (16-6)   18-7 WIAC C13   
   43   9.800   3   Manhattanville   0.800 (20-5)   21-5 SKY C14   
   44   9.792   8   Bates   0.708 (17-7)   18-7 NESCAC C15   
   45   9.778   7   Centre   0.778 (14-4)   20-4 SCAC C16   
   46   9.773   8   Maryville (Tenn.)   0.864 (19-3)   19-6 GSAC B3   
   47   9.765   5   Hope   0.824 (14-3)   21-3 MIAA A   
   48   9.762   6   Hamilton   0.714 (15-6)   18-6 LL C17   
   49   9.739   7   Alvernia   0.913 (21-2)   22-4 PennaAC A   
   50   9.737   6   Westminster (Pa.)   0.842 (16-3)   18-7 PresAC B4/C18   
   51   9.708   9   Husson   0.875 (21-3)   21-5 NAC A   
   52   9.652   4   New Jersey City   0.696 (16-7)   17-8 NJAC C19   
   53   9.650   5   Elmhurst   0.750 (15-5)   19-5 CCIW C20   
   54   9.636   9   McMurry   0.818 (18-4)   19-6 ASC C21   
   55   9.625   8   King's   0.708 (17-7)   17-8 MACF C22   
   56   9.529   9   Lewis and Clark   0.765 (13-4)   18-6 NWC C23   
   57   9.500   6   Carthage   0.650 (13-7)   16-8 CCIW C24   
   58   9.500   7   Capital   0.667 (16-8)   16-8 OAC C24   
   59   9.476   8   Wittenberg   0.810 (17-4)   22-4 NCAC C26   
   60   9.409   7   Grinnell   0.727 (16-6)   17-6 MWC A   
   61   9.364   9   FDU-Florham   0.636 (14-8)   17-8 MACF C27   
   62   9.360   10   Tufts   0.600 (15-10)   15-10 NESCAC C28   
   63   9.348   7   Utica   0.739 (17-6)   18-6 E8 C29   
   64   9.346   11   Western New England   0.731 (19-7)   19-7 GNAC A   
   65   9.318   10   DeSales   0.727 (16-6)   18-7 MACF C30   
   66   9.316   8   Wheaton (Ill.)   0.632 (12-7)   16-8 CCIW C31   
   67   9.300   5   Rowan   0.750 (15-5)   20-5 NJAC C32   

[pennstghs]

wooster players are great, they always get jobbed by the refs even when it is going the opposite-yada yada yada

[TigerFan_1973]

FINALLY (OK, a day late, but still) I've finished my Smed Power Rating Amalgamation for the regular season.

Out of 403 teams.

2. Wooster
12. Wittenberg

85. Ohio Wesleyan

Where does Lake Erie come in?

Please describe your system a little bit.

Thanks.

[Li'l Giant]

Jumping on this a bit late but, then again, I've driven 800 miles in the last 24 hours. Congrats to Wabash on the win. I think it was mentioned above to make the weekday trip to Gheny then pull out a win is impressive.

I think that shows tremendous growth and development of this team during the course of the season. I hope this season isn't over yet. 

Wabash Always Fights!

[smedindy]

Basically, it's the Massey (using MOV) and Wolfe power ratings, with a SOS factor and my own factor to measure if you WON the game, and I weight the factors accordingly.

Lake Erie is #33 in my system, lower than both Massey and Wolfe, but they have an AWFUL SOS.

[smedindy]

Ah, time and again I see players, out of frustration or what, lash out because of instinct. Especially if the refs aren't doing a good job of keeping control of the game. That doesn't make the player thuggish at all. In fact, believe it or not, I've been disappointed with the reactions of Wabash players (say it isn't so!) from time to time.

[Mr. Ypsi]

David,

I haven't checked the other three primary criteria, but if regional winning % receives at least equal weighting with QOWI, you may have at least one too many 'verys' on the precariousness of Witt's pool C chances!  Several teams not very far ahead in QOWI have significantly worse %s.  Also (and there may be other examples I didn't catch), if Capital does not win the AQ, all OAC teams (and some others) will lose QOWI points because Cap will fall below .667.

Witt IS more 'bubble' than I would have guessed, but 'very, very precarious' may be a bit too strong!

And, of course, all this assumes there is not an epidemic of high-QOWI presumed-AQs who fall in their tourneys.

[jscwittfan]

Still, one play from last night sticks in my mind.  Near half court, while being guarded by Tom Port, Jewett lost control of the ball behind him.  Port began a move to the floor to get it, but the super fast Marty Bidwell, coming from probably fifteen feet away, beat both Port and Jewett to the ball.  Jewett dove on top of him.  As usual, no foul was called, even though Jewett decided that a forearm pushed into Bidwell's neck was in order.  I don't think Markous quite realized how close he came to being embarrassed by the man he thought he had down.

The more we hope things change, the more they apparantly stay the same...

[wally_wabash]

To the Tale of the Tape! 

Jewett measures out at 6-6, 210. 
Bidwell comes in at 6-4 (Bidwell didn't strike me as 6-4 when I saw him in C'ville but whatever) and 185 lbs. 

Jewett has inches and weight on Marty.  What Bidwell lacks in size he apparently makes up for with superhuman strength and speed. 

The line opens with Super Marty a 2/5 favorite (having super powers and all).  It's even money that Jewett makes out of the first round.   

[David Collinge]

David,

I haven't checked the other three primary criteria, but if regional winning % receives at least equal weighting with QOWI, you may have at least one too many 'verys' on the precariousness of Witt's pool C chances!  Several teams not very far ahead in QOWI have significantly worse %s.  Also (and there may be other examples I didn't catch), if Capital does not win the AQ, all OAC teams (and some others) will lose QOWI points because Cap will fall below .667.

Witt IS more 'bubble' than I would have guessed, but 'very, very precarious' may be a bit too strong!

And, of course, all this assumes there is not an epidemic of high-QOWI presumed-AQs who fall in their tourneys.

If Witt beats OWU and loses to Wooster, their QoWI will be 9.522.  The lowest QoWI to earn a Pool C last year was 9.542, and QoWIs look to be up across the board this year.  Last year, only 8 teams with QoWIs above the lowest failed to earn a Pool C.  Wittenberg would have to pass at least seven teams with higher QoWIs, and that assumes that the highest QoWI team in each conferences gets the A bid.  If, say, 5 of these high-QoWI teams fail to earn the A bid, that pushes the QoWI threshold up to about 9.8 or so. 

Yes, there are four other primary criteria, and Witt looks very good in one of them (regional win %), but I think "very, very precarious" is about where they stand vis-a-vis Pool C.

[Li'l Giant]

To the Tale of the Tape! 

Jewett measures out at 6-6, 210. 
Bidwell comes in at 6-4 (Bidwell didn't strike me as 6-4 when I saw him in C'ville but whatever) and 185 lbs. 

Jewett has inches and weight on Marty.  What Bidwell lacks in size he apparently makes up for with superhuman strength and speed. 

The line opens with Super Marty a 2/5 favorite (having super powers and all).  It's even money that Jewett makes out of the first round.   

I swear you must get some kind of kickback from Bodog for enabling my gambling habit.

[David Collinge]

More bad news for Witt--the new regional rankings are out:

Great Lakes Region
1. Lake Erie 23-2 19-1
2. Wooster 22-3 17-2
3. John Carroll 17-8 16-6
4. Hope 21-3 14-3
5. Ohio Northern 19-6 14-6
6. Wittenberg 21-4 16-4

http://www.d3hoops.com/dailydose/2007/02/21/final-2007-ncaa-regional-rankings

Just looking at those last two:
ONU had QoWI of 10.100 through Sunday (the period the rankings looked at) and a region win % of .700; Witt's QoWI was 9.950 and win % was .800.  The committee weighed these factors (and the other primary criteria, especially including head-to-head) and preferred ONU.

The good news is that the Tigers could be the second GL team to be considered for a C bid, if LEC, Wooster, Hope, and either JCU or ONU win their tournaments.  But Westminster (PA) must be very close to Witt in the would-be #7 spot, and another loss by Witt could slip them behind ScotsFan's alma mater.

I think the Tigers have a much better chance to win the NCAC tournament than to lose it and get a Pool C.