MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[pennstghs]

Do we know the basis of Staley's suspension?  Did he make it rain at a Hiram gentlemen's club? 

I didn't know those existed up in Hiram-chuckle chuckle-just kidding.

Anyways, congrats to those who made the first and second team all NCAC. I don't have a problem with Steve Moore getting Coach of the Year either, as he coached the best team and there was no clear standout alternative. Port deserved POY and is a merit for the career he has had. I guess all the debating earlier in the year whether Jewett deserved his spot was mute since they included 7.

Finally, regarding the article. The author is the only one who is choking on his Cheerios, because as stated before Brown knew Wittenberg's chances were gone. Yes we did have a REALLY good resumee, but we knew the terms of the game we were playing and didn't quite play the way we needed two the last week of the year.

[BigRedAlum]

Congratulations to those players making all-conference.

I think everyone on first team should be there.  It is a very fair list.  Each player deserves to be there.  Without them their teams are a whole lot worse.  That is for sure and can be said for all the guys on all three teams.

I agree with Port as POY.  Him and Cooper are a deadly combination.  Best of luck to them in the tournament and bring it home to the NCAC!!!

[imderekpoe]

I put together a spreadsheet that has the stats for the 4 teams heading to Wooster this weekend.  You should be able to access it from the link below (I find it works best to save it to your computer and open it from there), but you'll probably need the 2003 version of Excel to read it.  If I get a chance I'll put html-ize it and publish it on my website later.  If anyone wants this and can't access it drop me a note and I'll e-mail it to you.  Also let me know if you find any errors and I'll correct them this evening.

www.jtaswell.com/D3BB/2007_Woo_Reg_Team_Stats.xls

[ScotsFan]

I just wanted to add my congratulations to all of those that made All-Conference.  Also, big props to Tom Port.  He really made it worth his while coming back garnering the Conference POY!!  I'm sure that he'd be the first to say that he would gladly hand that award off to someone else for a deep run in the tournament.  We all know that's the real reason Tom came back!

I really can't complain about the choices for 1st and 2nd team as they are all definately deserving.  It's the choices for Honorable Mention that leave me scratching my head.  First of all, how do 3 Kenyon guards make HM?  I looked up their stats and they're not all that impressive.  If those Kenyon guards make it, then where's Knapke?  He's the Newcomer of the Year and doesn't make the All-Conference team? 

I know everyone will jump on me for being a homer and all, but where was Devin Fulk's name on the All-Conference list?  I figured he was HM at the very least.  He was right there in scoring with the Kenyon guards who made it on.  The thing that stands out about Fulk is that he was the only player in the league to shoot 50% from 3-point range and he was also tied for 4th in 3-point fg's made trailing only  POY Tom Port and fellow 1st Teamer James Cooper along with Oberlin's Jordan Beard while tying with Wabash's Chase Haltom. 

I guess the NCAC powers that be felt that 4 Wooster players was more than enough, but to counter that with 4 Kenyon players???  At least put Haltom in there at HM over one of those Kenyon guards.

[pennstghs]

add Jack Hemenway to the list of left-outs-he deserved at least honorable mention for quite a senior season-what an improvment over the 4 years from him. A perfect example of the growth a collegiate athlete can garner.

Also, Wooster fans i don't want to jinx you but i did pick you to make the Final Four along with UW-Stevens Point, Amherst, Virginia Wesleyan and i picked you over the defending champs-hopefully exacting some NCAC revenge on them in the finals.

[BigRedAlum]

I agree with the scotsfan...........not seeing the Kenyon picks.

I have NO idea how the voting works.  Do the coaches vote for everyone but their team members??  Or do they vote for their guys as well.  And how many can they pick??

For newcomer I thought Savage was a shoe in.  Oh well.  That is why I don't vote.  That kid can play.

For the record you could probably make a case for having the entire Wooster team on the list but I think that might be a bit much.

[woosterbooster]

For newcomer I thought Savage was a shoe in.  Oh well.  That is why I don't vote.  That kid can play.

You didn't mean Jimmy Savage of Allegheny, did you?  He's a senior.

[smedindy]

Basically, the coaches nominate their players but cannot vote on them.

Savage would have been a newcomer last year, since I think he just joined the team as a junior. He was an impressive two-sport athlete.

[woosterbooster]

cmhschots -

Thanks lots for putting together the stats comparison.  <Disclaimer>Some interesting conclusions can be drawn, although they might not necessarily be correct.</Disclaimer>  

1. Despite playing at a pace that certainly produced more possessions in their games than those of Transy, Cap, and Centre, Wooster still had the fewest turnovers/game.

2. Wooster's opponents attempted the most threes.  Again, certainly due at least somewhat to the number of possessions/game, but also maybe an indicator of Wooster's improved interior defense.

3. Centre was able to hold their opponents to the lowest FG percentage among the four teams while still committing, by far, the fewest fouls.  I'm not sure what this means, whether their opponents were lame, Centre's defense is very good, or they're just not too physical.

4. Wooster took down .552 of the available rebounds in their games.  Centre .535, Capital .523,  and Transy, actually getting outrebounded, only .474.

Wooster is currently ranked 3rd on Massey.  Centre is 7th, Capital 17th, and Transylvania 29th.  Capital has the best SOS of the four teams at 3.01, followed by Wooster at 0.72, Transy at -0.17, and Centre at -3.86.

[BigRedAlum]

I am sorry.
Looking at a roster would help.

I meant Mike Staley from Hiram.  I really liked watching that kid play.  He is going to be a good one.

[wally_wabash]

Is there anyplace that tracks possessions/game for D-III teams?  Tempo-corrected stats can be far more informative than than the raw numbers. 

[woosterbooster]

I've played Friday's games at Wooster using the AtR Excel basketball game.  Both Centre and Wooster actually had easy games, Centre downing Capital 84-66 and Wooster handling Transy 96-77.  The boxscores are here:

http://arkski.com/~jwood/centre_(0)_vs_capital_(66).html

http://arkski.com/~jwood/transylvania_(0)_at_wooster_(96).html

[ScotsFan]

2. Wooster's opponents attempted the most threes.  Again, certainly due at least somewhat to the number of possessions/game, but also maybe an indicator of Wooster's improved interior defense.

It also could be attributed to the large leads Wooster would build up.  A lot of teams just revert to chucking up 3's in an attempt to get back into the game.  This past weekend's NCAC Tournament games are a perfect example of that as Wabash fell behind at the end of the 1st half and even further to start the 2nd half and ended up taking 17 attempts from beyond the arc in the 2nd half alone!  Likewise, OWU fell behind the Scots early and they ended up taking 13 2nd half 3-point attempts.  The reason Wabash was able to make the score look respectable is that they made 9 of those 17 attempts (most against Wooster's JV's) while OWU was only able to connect on 2 of them.

[woosterbooster]

2. Wooster's opponents attempted the most threes.  Again, certainly due at least somewhat to the number of possessions/game, but also maybe an indicator of Wooster's improved interior defense.

It also could be attributed to the large leads Wooster would build up.  A lot of teams just revert to chucking up 3's in an attempt to get back into the game.  This past weekend's NCAC Tournament games are a perfect example of that as Wabash fell behind at the end of the 1st half and even further to start the 2nd half and ended up taking 17 attempts from beyond the arc in the 2nd half alone!  Likewise, OWU fell behind the Scots early and they ended up taking 13 2nd half 3-point attempts.  The reason Wabash was able to make the score look respectable is that they made 9 of those 17 attempts (most against Wooster's JV's) while OWU was only able to connect on 2 of them.

Good point.  And I suspect that Wooster's freshmen are still in the process of running laps as a result of that game.  Or filling and unfilling the arch with snow. 

[WooMix]

Speaking of filling the arch, the story made the Washington Post's Express newspaper in the Eye Openers section.  We, Woo folks in the area, had quite a chuckle out of the story and the accompanying picture.