MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[earlhamalum]

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

I'm wondering if the camera man will be able to keep up with SUPER MARTY this weekend... maybe with his speed he'll just look a blurrrrrr 

[smedindy]

Actually, Marty runs in slow motion with some weird sound effects playing in the background - because they made him better, stronger, faster...Wooster had the technology!

[kiltedbryan]

What I find really funny about all this Bidwell talk is that he's probably not even the fastest guy on Wooster's team!  That would be Brandon Johnson, I'd think.

In other news, very happy to hear "Darth" Vandervaart back in the line-up for Wooster.  Couldn't have come at a better time.  All the news from Wooster is positive:  Port's all-around effort and contribution seems to increase game by game (NCAC POY?, All-American?), Van Horn has found the range again, and Vandervaart's injury found Will filling his shoes nicely.

If the Scots can win the NCAC tournament title, they will be 20-2 (.909%) in-region, with a QoWI above 10.  They would be able to make a strong case to be a sectional host in the NCAAs if they win their way into the Sweet 16.

[woosterbooster]

What I find really funny about all this Bidwell talk is that he's probably not even the fastest guy on Wooster's team!  That would be Brandon Johnson, I'd think.

I'm not so sure.  My guess is that it would be pretty close, but I'd bet on Bidwell.  A two-time first team All-Ohio running back (D IV) and the 200 meter champion in his league, he's fast.  On the court, he can pretty much beat any defender to the basket, but he's one of those slashers who's usually a little out of control and still moving at full speed when he gets there.  He sees the court so well, though, that he can often find an open man for an easy shot.  When he learns to combine that quick first step with being able to harness himself for little pull-up jumpers, watch out.

[earlhamalum]

This would be my line up for POY,1st-2nd Team All NCAC.
There has been a few times where the NCAC had 6 players on 1st team and 6 players on 2nd team.  This is kind of a stretch... 7 guys on 1st team and 6 guys on 2nd team, but here it goes....

Player of the Year : 
#33 Thomas Port        *Wooster

1st Team:
#23 James Cooper       *Wooster
#41 Dan Hodgkinson  *Denison
#45 Dane Borchers     *Wittenberg
#40 Markous Jewett    *Earlham
#52 Andrew Zimmer   *Wabash
#33 Ben Chojnacki      *OWU

2nd Team:

#42Ryan Hollihan         *Gheny
#10 Brandon Johnson   *Wooster
#34 Tim Vandervaart    *Wooster
#50 Dustin Rudegeair   *OWU
#11 Greg Hill                *Wittenberg
#32 Quinton Spencer    *Oberlin   


Honorable Mention:
Earlhamalum

[goscots]

After lurking for a few days I want to comments on a few things, even a few that have died down...

First Team - In general the names of the players who are nominated for first team honors are the ones who can consistently create and make their own quality shot. Defense and intangibles are often mentioned, but the focus is really on offense.

The list by earlhamalum is a good one. I really like a list with 7-8 players, adding an asterick for the starters, because that is what a coach would want in numbers to a game. Port is definitely my pick for POY, even though I think Copper has improved over his POY play last year. Vandervaart is the top pick of the second team and had he not gotten hurt deserved more consideration for the first team.


Big 2 Liitle 8 - When I saw that article in the Daily Record, even before there were any postings on it, I thought it was junk. That fact that Wooster and Witt have been at the top for years is not news and the comments that it is because of lack of coaching stability and effort by the rest of the teams in the league is completely baseless.

I do wish the NCAC was more competitive. I really enjoyed the OWU-Wooster game last Saturday and walked away thinking "wouldn't it be great if the majority of conference games were like that". Looking to next year I think OWU, Wabash, Alleghany, and to a smaller extent Kenyon and Hiram will improve. Couple that with the feeling that Wooster and Witt will come back to the pack a bit, it could become one of the most competitive races in years (in the top half).

My rant on the QOWI - Maybe this should be on another board, but what really irks me about the QOWI is that it is too nervous of a metric. It was posted that Wooster got only 4 net point from their win last night against Earlham. Meanwhile, Earlham got 7 points for the loss. That just isn't right. Another point is that if you look at the discussion going back several pages there is speculation that Wooster will host if the Scots wins out, probably into the second weekend. On the other hand, someone posted that Wooster may not even get into the tournament if they lose to Witt because their QOWI drops to about 9.5 and their record against regionally ranked teams would be 1-3. For the outcome of one game to take a team from hosting status to 'out of the the tournament' is another indication of a bad metric. It think the NCAA needs to count all games (even out of Division), but limit the number a team can play.

[jscwittfan]

Final: Otterbein 52, Ohio Northern 51. Last second shot by OTT's Ousely goes in. The Cards advance to take on Capital for round three Friday night.

Potentially good news there for Wittenberg, considering ONU was ahead of them in the GL standings.

[wooscotsfan]

Other regional scores of interest:

John Carroll 102  Wilmington 88
Capital 82  Muskingum 60
Baldwin-Wallace 95  Heidelberg 82
Hope 89  Alma 49

OAC Tourney Semis are:
B-W vs. JCU
CAP vs. OTT

[wooscotsfan]

The best part of Wooster's win last night vs. Earlham was Tim Vandervaart's solid play (10 points, 8 boards in limited minutes) after returning from his injury.    Welcome back Tim!

If Vandervaart can play close to his usual high level of effectiveness, Wooster has a real chance to make a run in the NCAA tournament.

GO SCOTS!

[Pat Coleman]

After lurking for a few days I want to comments on a few things, even a few that have died down...

First Team - In general the names of the players who are nominated for first team honors are the ones who can consistently create and make their own quality shot. Defense and intangibles are often mentioned, but the focus is really on offense.

The list by earlhamalum is a good one. I really like a list with 7-8 players, adding an asterick for the starters, because that is what a coach would want in numbers to a game. Port is definitely my pick for POY, even though I think Copper has improved over his POY play last year. Vandervaart is the top pick of the second team and had he not gotten hurt deserved more consideration for the first team.


Big 2 Liitle 8 - When I saw that article in the Daily Record, even before there were any postings on it, I thought it was junk. That fact that Wooster and Witt have been at the top for years is not news and the comments that it is because of lack of coaching stability and effort by the rest of the teams in the league is completely baseless.

I do wish the NCAC was more competitive. I really enjoyed the OWU-Wooster game last Saturday and walked away thinking "wouldn't it be great if the majority of conference games were like that". Looking to next year I think OWU, Wabash, Alleghany, and to a smaller extent Kenyon and Hiram will improve. Couple that with the feeling that Wooster and Witt will come back to the pack a bit, it could become one of the most competitive races in years (in the top half).

My rant on the QOWI - Maybe this should be on another board, but what really irks me about the QOWI is that it is too nervous of a metric. It was posted that Wooster got only 4 net point from their win last night against Earlham. Meanwhile, Earlham got 7 points for the loss. That just isn't right. Another point is that if you look at the discussion going back several pages there is speculation that Wooster will host if the Scots wins out, probably into the second weekend. On the other hand, someone posted that Wooster may not even get into the tournament if they lose to Witt because their QOWI drops to about 9.5 and their record against regionally ranked teams would be 1-3. For the outcome of one game to take a team from hosting status to 'out of the the tournament' is another indication of a bad metric. It think the NCAA needs to count all games (even out of Division), but limit the number a team can play.

Wooster got eight points for beating Earlham, not four. Unless you mean something else by "net points" which I'm not understanding.

[pufin]

With tonight's win the Scots' QOWI drops from 10.316 to 10.000.  If Allegheny comes back against Wabash the Scots' rating falls to 9.800!

Most of that QoWI damage comes from the fact that the loss makes Earlham a sub. 333 team in-region, right?  So Wooster gains 8 points (at home, below .333 team) and loses 4 of those because of the drop in the opponent they beat.  So a nice 4 point QoWI win for the Scots tonight.   

The "net points" comes from the fact that the loss dropped Earlham into a lower percentage category.

[kiltedbryan]

Pat, we were just trying to make all the adjustments at once.  Since Wooster's defeat of Earlham made Earlham sub. 333 in-region, Wooster gained 8 pts for the win, but lost 4 pts from the two conference games against Earlham when Earlham was a .333-.500 team.  Wittenberg also lost those 4 points because Earlham slid into the lowest category.

[roadtrip]

A couple of questions for the Woosterites.....I'm going to make the "roadtrip" to Wooster from Chicago to check out the Wabash upset....Will I have any problems getting a stub for the game?? Are there any traffic problems (detours) to be aware of?? This will be my first trip to the Wooster area.

Will this be a doubleheader or two single games?

[David Collinge]

Here's a preview of the weekend, including links to ticket information and coverage (audio/video/LiveStats):

Link

roadtrip, no detours that I know of.  Get off the Turnpike at Milan and just take US 250 all the way to Wooster.  Drive safely!

[David Collinge]

It looks like Tim Vandervaart wasn't the only all-conference performer to make his comeback in the quarterfinals:

The Bishops have overcome a significant injury down the stretch, as their top player, Ben Chojnacki, went down with a serious knee injury Jan. 31. He didn't play the rest of the regular season and was limited to just three minutes in the Kenyon game.

[emphasis added]

Chojnacki's comeback game may not have been as impressive as Vandervaart's, but it's still got to be an unpleasant sight for Witt.

OWU/Kenyon boxscore

Jeez, I wish we could scare up a regular OWU poster.  Where have you gone, Barry Robinson?  A nation turns its lonely eyes to you...woo woo woo...woo woo woo.