MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

Well, that was an 'exhibition', not a scrimmage. And yeah, the way MSU played, they deserved it.

(Is there a difference between an exhibition and a scrimmage in the eyes of the NCAA? )

[wooscotsfan]

Congratulations to James Cooper of Wooster on being named to the D3Hoops preseason All America First Team.  Some well deserved recognition for Cooper! 

[ScotsFan]

Tell it to Tom Izzo, smeds.  Izzo has his team dressing down in a weight room after they lost their exhibition/scrimmage to GVSU.   

You can add Thad Matta to the list as fellow D-II and GLIAC member Findlay knocked off Ohio State 70-68 in an exhibition last night!

Wooster will take on GLIAC member Ashland on Saturday in a scrimmage.

[smedindy]

The gulf between the majors and mid-majors in D-1 has diminished greatly, but now I guess the D-2 teams are getting closer as well, thanks to scholarship reductions.

[wally_wabash]

Yikes...exhibitions or not, there's no way that top half Big Ten teams can be losing to D-II schools.  This bodes ill for the Big Ten...

[smedindy]

I just thank goodness for D-3. I know our athletes aren't all boy scouts, but they seem to be relatively few problems in the NCAC in regards to athlete tomfoolery and coaches 'phoning it in' as it were.

[woosterbooster]

Wooster came out on the short end of the score over at DII Ashland on Saturday night - something in the neighborhood of 12-15 points.  After falling behind by about a dozen early they fought back to a halftime tie.  However, Ashland opened up a lead to open the second half and pretty much maintained it throughout.  Ashland shot the ball very well all night, especially from the guard positions.

Craig Elam didn't play, although he was on the bench in warmups and did shoot around before the game.  Hopefully whatever ails him is minor, because his muscle inside was definitely missed.  Will, Melick, and freshman Bryan Wickliffe worked hard in the paint, but this is where the Scots are going to live or die this season against the tougher teams.

Ashland's guards were small, but quick, and Wooster had trouble beating them off the dribble.  Still, the drive-and-kick was working, especially when Devin Fulk was on the receiving end, and he must have made 6 or 7 threes.  Although he's not polished, Wickliffe showed some ability to score inside.  All in all, though, too many turnovers and an inability to get second shots probably hurt the Scots the most.  Next up, the real thing on Friday night.

Lineup Predictions:

Starting Lineup
Point Guard - Brandon Johnson
Shooting Guard - James Cooper
Small Forward - Marty Bidwell
Post - Evan Will
Post - Rob Melick

Others in an Eight-Man Rotation
Devin Fulk, Craig Elam, and Bryan Wickliffe

Minutes played in competitive games barring foul trouble
Brandon Johnson - 33
James Cooper - 33
Evan Will - 26
Rob Melick - 24
Marty Bidwell - 29
Devin Fulk - 25
Craig Elam - 15
Bryan Wickliffe - 15

[imderekpoe]

Craig Elam didn't play, although he was on the bench in warmups and did shoot around before the game.  Hopefully whatever ails him is minor, because his muscle inside was definitely missed. 

...

Lineup Predictions:

Starting Lineup
Point Guard - Brandon Johnson
Shooting Guard - James Cooper
Small Forward - Marty Bidwell
Post - Evan Will
Post - Rob Melick

Others in an Eight-Man Rotation
Devin Fulk, Craig Elam, and Bryan Wickliffe

I heard that Elam tweaked his knee in an inter-squad scrimmage last week.  Not sure about the prognosis, but it doesn't sound like its too bad.

I would think that we'll see Dustin Geitgey again making a contribution off the bench. He played about 6 min per game last year and I would expect at least the same this year.

Has anyone heard anything about Kaleb Reed?  Now that the football season is over, is he still planning to play basketball?

Go Scots!!

[David Collinge]

Graduation losses have ravaged Wittenberg, who returns just 41.5% of its scoring (29.4 ppg), 35.3% of its rebounding (13.0 rpg), and 41.2% of its minutes from a 22-5 squad of a season ago.  Gone are four starters, including All-American and three-time All-NCAC honoree Dane Borchers, the 2007 conference leader in rebounding and blocked shots and fourth-leading scorer.  The lone returning starter is junior guard Gregg Hill (11.6 ppg), the top three-point shooter in conference play last year (.534 in NCAC games, .429 overall).  Hill is joined by four veterans who averaged at least 11 minutes per game last season:  senior wings Brandan Barabino (6’4”, 5.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, the team’s top returning rebounder) and Brandon White (6’0”, 2.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg), 6’2” junior wing Kevin Murray (3.4 ppg), and 5’8” sophomore G/W David Nowicki (3.2 ppg, 1.5 apg, 1.8 A/TO) who is, aside from Hill, the only returnee to have started any games last season (5 starts).

Consistent with Bill Brown’s usual practice, the balance of the varsity roster is not expected to be released until the last possible moment before the season starts.  Witt4ever has posted a couple of articles from the Springfield News-Sun that list the program recruits and suggest two to watch are 6’7”/205 forward Lewis Buzzard (Columbus/Franklin Heights) and 5’10”/160 guard Derrick Hannon (Shawnee). 

While it seems on paper that Wittenberg has considerable rebuilding to do, it should be noted that this is the most successful program in D3 history, one that has won at least 18 games every year under Bill Brown and has not suffered a losing season in over a half-century (8-12 in 1955-56).  I wouldn’t be too hasty in writing them off just yet.

The varsity roster is now up.  Four first-years made the varsity:  Buzzard and Hannon, as anticipated above, as well as Jeff Lee, a 6'7"/195 forward out of Groveport Madison, and Kyle Peterson, a 6'1"/170 wing from Caledonia River Valley.

The Tigers open the season Friday at Wheaton (IL) College's Pfund Classic, facing Benedictine (12-14 last year).  On Saturday they'll face either Kalamazoo (5-19) or the host Thunder (17-9).  Facing Wheaton on their home court would be a good early-season test for the rebuilding/reloading Tiger squad.

[woosterbooster]

I think that the better part of Geitgey's minutes last year were obtained in bench-clearing sessions and I suspect that that will again be the case.

[smedindy]

BTW - Wabash now lists Andy Root as a sophomore. I guess his first year, when he left Wabash to go to IU (for a GIRL, if I heard right...yeesh...) didn't count.

[David Collinge]

Zach Bollinger of the Wooster Daily Record previews the Scots:
   Team of the 2000s, Scots Look to Continue Success
and the conference race:
   NCAC Preview: Even Without Port, Scots will be Tough to Beat
in today's paper.

In the conference preview article, which features a capsule look at each team, he mentions the following regarding Wittenberg:

Trent Schwaub (sic) is the most intriguing newcomer. Schaub (sic), the twin brother of four-time first-team NCAC selection Travis Schwaub (sic) (Ohio Wesleyan, 2001-04), decided against college right out of high school but will suit up for the Tigers this season.

Schwab does not appear on Witt's varsity roster and is not listed or mentioned in the season outlook, so I'm not sure what to think.  Too bad if it turns out to be inaccurate; it'd be a great story!

[seinfeld]

DC,

I see a name on the Wittenberg roster that is familiar. Tim Beck, a junior forward. If my memory serves me correctly, he was a fairly strong recruit of Wittenberg's two years ago. I guess he left school, and now he is back. Here is a little note about him from the Daily Dose two years ago:

http://www.d3hoops.com/dailydose/2005/06/25/the-latest-on-the-recruiting-trail/

Interesting how a bogus twin brother of Schwab appears in the season outlook, but not a real big man named Beck (who I also believe may be related to a Beck that played at Earlham in the past).

[David Collinge]

Schwab's twin brother is indeed bogus, as I have confirmed with my source in Springfield.  It was intended as a joke, but Zach Bollinger evidently fell for it and somehow was unable to find out the truth of the matter. 

[ScotsFan]

When I first read that article, my first thought was why hadn't we heard of Schwab's twin brother before now?  And my second thought was if he was even half the player that Travis was, how could DeWitt not have landed both of them.  They really would have made for a formidable front-court. 

But, now I know why we had never heard of this twin brother before now.  Because he never exhisted!

So, was Travis the one to leak this info about his 'mythical' twin brother?  And was it done as merely a joke, or was it more of a psychological ploy to psyche out the rest of the league to think that coach Brown and the Tigers were holding an ace or two up their sleeves???