MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[BigRedGrad]

Thanks DC...........
I must admit you do get around.

I have to think that when you are 0-14 everyone is pointing fingers at everyone.

As I said earlier, I think the coaches and players have done a terrific job keeping their heads up.  It certainly can not be easy for any of them.

There is still that #1 pick waitng for them.

[David Collinge]

Thanks DC...........
I must admit you do get around.

I have to think that when you are 0-14 everyone is pointing fingers at everyone.

As I said earlier, I think the coaches and players have done a terrific job keeping their heads up.  It certainly can not be easy for any of them.

There is still that #1 pick waitng for them.

Yes, there's definitely no quit in the Big Red.  And there's signs of hope.  This was never going to be a high-scoring team, even if everyone came back.  Their only hope for success was always going to be defense and rebounding.  Last night, they outrebounded Kenyon (one of the top rebounding teams in the NCAC) 35-25, and was nearly even with them on their own glass (16 def. reb. for KC, vs. 14 off. reb. for DU).  They also shut down KC's Bryan Yelvington for most of the game; Bryan ended up with 10 points (but 6 in the last 5 minutes) and just 3 rebounds, both well under his season averages.  Judging by the box score, the Big Red lost the game because a) they shot poorly (37.5%), b) they had trouble handling the ball (21 turnovers, 13 of which were KC steals), and c) they had no answer for Dave Knapke (18 pts., 12 boards).

I get around a little, but Gambier is just 45 minutes from my home, and Granville less than 1:15, so these are easy drives.  I'm heading back to Granville Saturday, when I expect to see two DU victories.

[BigRedGrad]

DC,
Take good notes I will wait your report!!  It will be a double win for both Big Red Teams.
Thanks

[billy_pilgrim]

Springfield fine dining = Mike and Rosy's.

That is all.

[wooscotsfan]

Overall record of Wooster's last 10 opponents:   72-76 (.486)
Overall record of Wittenberg's last 8 opponents: 31-82 (.274)

Wittenberg's win over Allegheny is its only win over an above .500 team this season.  Wooster counters that with wins over above .500 teams Farmingdale St., St. Thomas, Ohio Wesleyan, Walsh, Wesley and Wabash, and St. Mary's is at .500 currently.

KB - nice analysis (k+) on the statistical comparison of opponents vs. Witt.  

IMO, Wooster's two best "W's" this year are Walsh and St. Thomas.  

Walsh is now 14-2 and ranked #2 nationally in NAIA-2

St. Thomas is now 11-3, first place in the MIAC and they were ranked #23 in the D3Hoops poll last week before falling to #32 this week due to their 3rd loss.

Farmingdale is now 9-4 and tied for first in the Skyline which is a weaker conference.

GO SCOTS!

[David Collinge]

Welcome back, wsf!

[woosterbooster]

Through yesterday's games, Wooster is the best overall rebounding team in the NCAC, thanks to their ability to clear their own defensive board.  They have an overall rebounding percentage of .550, followed by Witt's .533.  The best offensive rebounding team in the league is Kenyon, who grab .372 of their available offensive rebounds.  Wabash is second in that category at .361.  See the following chart that I put together:

http://arkski.com/~jwood/ncacrebounding.htm

[wooscotsfan]

Welcome back, wsf!

Thanks DC.  My posting time is sometimes limited by chasing a 2 year old and a 5 year old!  I will catch the radio broadcast on Saturday night!  

[pennstghs]

well there's a fine cracker barrel-where i may have to reside saturday night unless i "cough cough" am sick----

one thing i found interesting-earlham was able to beat lake erie college earlier this year but wooster could not? hmmmmm i know don't play the well they beat so and so card

should be another chapter to the never ending excitement of a book

[ScotsFan]

one thing i found interesting-earlham was able to beat lake erie college earlier this year but wooster could not? hmmmmm i know don't play the well they beat so and so card

Since you wanted to play that game, do you want to talk about Benedictine???

Sorry, but I couldn't resist... 8)

[kiltedbryan]

Well, kinda a boring Friday night for me, and I simply keep thinking of the game, so I thought I'd do some more pre-game analysis:

Wittenberg counts on the offensive production of three players: Gregg Hill (18.1 ppg), Brendan Barabino (11.1 ppg) and Kevin Murray (10.6 ppg). Combined, that trio typically provides about 57% of Wittenberg's average of 68 ppg- and below them, points are spread out thinly among several players, with no one else averaging even 6 points per contest.

Barabino and Murray have both increased production nicely for Witt this season. Barabino has doubled his scoring average right along with doubling his minutes, and also leads Witt with 7.4 rebounds per contest. Murray has nearly tripled his scoring while only doubling his minutes, so he is making a much larger scoring impact for Witt this season.

Wooster counters with an offensive barrage consisting of five players averaging 10 ppg or better: James Cooper (20.5 ppg), Devin Fulk (12.3), Bryan Wickliffe (11.9), Brandon Johnson (11.9) and Marty Bidwell (10.4). Evan Will contributes 8.4 points per contest.  Wooster averages 87 points per game.

For Wooster, the clear "most improved player" this season is Bryan Wickliffe, who seems to turn into a newer, better version of himself every game, and has become a legitimate inside scoring threat. He has averaged 15.8 ppg over his past 6 contests.

Defensively, each team tends to outrebound its opponents: Witt by a +4.9 margin; Wooster by +7.3, and hold their opponents to virtually equal shooting percentages: 40% to 43%, respectively.

[David Collinge]

I think we should all get together on this now, before it gets out of hand:
The fellow's name is Bryan Wickliffe.
Just like Bryan Nelson...I hope! 

[David Collinge]

Springfield News-Sun profile on James Cooper:

Wooster's Cooper Having a Career Year

[sac]

I think we should all get together on this now, before it gets out of hand:
The fellow's name is Bryan Wickliffe.
Just like Bryan Nelson...I hope! 

.......or kiltedbryan

[kiltedbryan]

Now a follow-up post:

Keys to the game:

1) As usual: Who controls the tempo? With last year's 68-65 Wooster's victory in Springfield as the only exception, the past 16 Wooster-Wittenberg winners can be determined by asking one very simple question: "Did either side score 80 points?" If "No" is the answer, Wittenberg wins (10-0 in such games). If yes, then award Wooster the victory (5-0 in games where they score 80 or more). Other than last year, Wooster hasn't beaten Wittenberg without scoring 80 or more points since the '00-'01 season.

2) Who out-rebounds whom? Rebounding margin is a strength for each team...who wins this battle has a leg up on winning the game.

3) Turnovers.  A weakness in Wooster that Wittenberg should try to exploit. Wooster averages almost 15 a game compared to 11 for Wittenberg, though Wooster tends to cause slightly more steals (7.5 a game vs. 6.2 for Witt).  But Wooster has been careless, including 20 turnovers during the Lake Erie loss.

4) Outside shooting.  Can Wooster turn this into the advantage it looks like on paper?
Wooster has Fulk and Cooper at better than 50%, Geitgey at 50%, and Johnson and Bidwell above 40% from behind the arc and they average 9 makes per game at a team 46%.
Wittenberg has no one above 40% and only Hill and Murray seem to be threats. Witt makes 6 per game, and shoots fewer threes, but only averages 32% as a team.