MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[mr_b]

Time out for a second - check out the new member of the D3sports.com family, D3soccer.com - just launched tonight.

Let's see ... d3waterpolo.com? Naaah ... uh, d3badminton.com? Naw, not enough potential. Umm ... d3equestrian.com? Hmmm ... 

I was thinking about launching d3euchre.com, but just for teams in the MIAA.

[Titan Q]

Quoting Coach Bosko Djurickovic on the Dec. 1 Hope Loss:  "I'm disappointed with the losses to Hope and Calvin but not discouraged.  I really think we're close to being very, very good again.  I like the pieces we have.  We're a well-rounded basketball team. We did a better job today of spreading around the offense.  We've had a little trouble the past years with not being able to finish games, and that's where we have to work.  We had every chance to win the Calvin game on Friday.  While we had fewer chances to beat Hope, we had opportunities to make significant runs at them but couldn't get over the hump.  This team is going to be real good.  This team could win the CCIW.  I don't know if we will, but we have a chance to be really good."


http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/mens/basketball/release.html


It seems that Carthage isn't close to being a "well-rounded" basketball team...or a team that can win the CCIW this year for that matter.  Here are their leaders in field goal attempts through 6 games (373):

Trey Bowens (6-1 2-guard): 101 (27%)
Steve Djurickovic (6-3 wing/slasher): 87 (23%)
Billy Shemerdiak (6-4 wing): 60 (16%)
Logan Derrick (6-0 combo guard): 34 (9%)
Milos Vukosavljevic (6-4 wing): 29 (8%)
Cody Hilton (5-11 guard): 18 (5%)
Neb Franciskovic (6-7 F/C): 12 (3%)

These six account for 91% of Carthage's FGA...only Neb Franciskovic is a low post player, and he only has 12 FGA on the year, and a scoring average of 1.8 per game.

As far as having "every chance to win the Calvin game", I listened to that game and this comment surprised me as I didn't remember any point where it really felt like Calvin was in big trouble.  Looking back at the running play-by-play, it confirms that game was not closer than 7 points the final 10 minutes and Calvin led by as much as 20 down the stretch.

http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/mens/basketball/calvin.htm

[sac]

I saw Calvin/Carthage and I would strongly disagree with many of those statements.   Carthage outscored Calvin 10-2 in the final 2 1/2 minutes with Calvin's bench mostly on the floor, the only starter missing for  Carthage was Djurickovic.  Against Hope Carthage left the starters on the floor again with Hope's bench and outscored them 15-3 in the final 3 minutes.  Neither of those games was as close as the final margins of 12 and 10.

Beyond Bowens, Djurickovic and Shemerdiak no one even mildly impressed me, and a team with no inside presense is not well rounded.

Perhaps by "every chance" to beat Calvin he was talking about the minute or so his team was within 1 point, but Calvin led wire to wire.  It was 46-45 with about 11 minutes left, four minutes later it was 63-49.

100% coach speak I guess.

[cardinalpride]

I heard today that North Central's Chris Drennan (18.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg) suffered a broken hand in practice yesterday and is out 8 weeks.  Any confirmation NCC fans?

NCC lost 67-58 at Lake Forest tonight without Drennan...

http://www.northcentralcollege.edu/athletics/stats/basketball_m/07-08/md0507nc.htm

TQ,
Chris Drennan did have the miss fortune of breaking his hand in practice and the cardinals missed him dearly last night.  Their inside game was invisible with Rodgers and Williams in foul trouble most of the night.  The two of them eventually fouled out with Rodgers being the last and NCC down only 5 or 6 points.

Drennan's return date is still uncertain because he may need surgery.  I'm guessing 6 to 8 weeks.  I'll keep you posted on the latest developments.

[Late nite]

Dain Swetalla had a better game last night---His shots were falling---But at 6'9" and athletic, you would hope for more than 4 rebounds in 31 minutes---It appears to me that the Vikes are going to lean heavily on the scoring from their 2/3 positions---Swetalla might not be the only player that could be affected by the loss of Drew Wessels---Jordan Delp's outside shooting has been down this year, mainly the result of not getting as many open looks as he did last year with a point guard breaking down a defense---A consistent inside game would do alot to open up the outside---But, a 5-1 start is pretty impressive considering that the two top returning players from last year haven't hit their stride yet---Hopefully, that will change---How about Rukavina?---6 rebounds in only 8 minutes---He's active

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage must have really struggled defensively last night.  Trinity International (2-10 coming in) shot 32-48 (.667) from the field, including 4-7 from 3.  Carthage was outrebounded 36-26.

There's even more to it than that. Carthage went 21-63 from the field (33%), including 5-26 from beyond the arc. So, on a night in which Carthage shot 15 more FGAs than did TIU, the Trojans made 12 more FGs than did the Red Men. TIU turned the ball over ten more times than did Carthage, which balanced out the rebounding disparity.

That sort of diametrically opposite performance in terms of shooting efficiency is almost unheard of. I don't ever remember seeing a box score in which one team got so many more shots than did its opponent while still managing to lose by double digits. In fact, Carthage only hit one more trey than did TIU, despite launching a whopping 19 more bombs than did the hosts.

The big size disparity between the two teams obviously played a role. But, given Trinity International's 2-10 record coming into the game and what Pete has said about TIU's collective abilities, Carthage should've been much, much quicker and more athletic than the Trojans. This game looks to me like it was one of the all-time stinkers. I would not have wanted to be within ten miles of Bosko when it was over.

Time out for a second - check out the new member of the D3sports.com family, D3soccer.com - just launched tonight.

I've been on this board with you guys since the beginning and am thrilled to be able to be a part of helping the site grow.  On the other hand, am I becoming Greg Sager?     In any case, I'm still a Wheaton fan on D3hoops....

Congratulations, Jim!  I hadn't noticed the change in layout 'til you mentioned it.  Since you're still listed as the moderator for both men's and women's, I take it you're the 'big cheese'?

And what's with this "am I becoming Greg Sager?" - what d3sports board does HE moderate?!   You've hit the REAL big time - you've joined Ralph Turner!

Let's see ... d3waterpolo.com? Naaah ... uh, d3badminton.com? Naw, not enough potential. Umm ... d3equestrian.com? Hmmm ... 

I was thinking more like d3juniorvarsityhoops.com or d3summerleaguehoops.com...

You jest, but the scary thing is that d3juniorvarsityhoops.com or d3summerleaguehoops.com might actually get some traffic ... especially the latter. Never underestimate the ardor of hoops junkies!

Only 14 minutes off the bench for Andy Wiele. I wonder if they were just being cautious with him against an awful opponent.

My thought as well, especially as Bill Harris is also obviously continuing to be cautious with Andrew Jahns.

And, absolutely the best dunk I have ever seen in a D3 gym, Antonio Stevens flying over 2 defenders for an alley-oop off an in-bounds pass, amazing!

Agreed, that was nasty!!!  (The ironic thing was I'm pretty sure Park allowed a little run right after that)

Close. Tone's dunk came at the 17:28 mark and put NPU ahead by 14, 55-41. But the Vikings' high-water mark for the first ten minutes of the second half came slightly later, when a Jason Gordon trey at 16:34 put the Park up by 15, 58-43. It was at that point that the Thunder went on their five-minute, 15-5 run to bring the NPU lead down to 5.

Raymond also almost had a double double in least likely category as had 9 steals.
(then I guess if we're talking bout KR then maybe not least likely)

Don't underestimate how remarkable an achievement it is to pilfer the ball nine times in one game. Wheaton doesn't list its all-time single-game steals record (nor does the CCIW list such a category for league play), but I would not be the least bit surprised if Raymond set a new record for Wheaton last night. North Park's all-time record for steals in a single game is eight, set three times (Jimbo Clausen in 1980 against Carroll, Michael Thomas in 1981 against Carthage, and Danny James in 1990 against Bethel MN).

Dain Swetalla had a better game last night---His shots were falling---But at 6'9" and athletic, you would hope for more than 4 rebounds in 31 minutes---It appears to me that the Vikes are going to lean heavily on the scoring from their 2/3 positions---Swetalla might not be the only player that could be affected by the loss of Drew Wessels---Jordan Delp's outside shooting has been down this year, mainly the result of not getting as many open looks as he did last year with a point guard breaking down a defense---A consistent inside game would do alot to open up the outside---But, a 5-1 start is pretty impressive considering that the two top returning players from last year haven't hit their stride yet---Hopefully, that will change---How about Rukavina?---6 rebounds in only 8 minutes---He's active

From looking at Augie's box scores it seems to me that you can make the case for Chandlor Collins being the team's MVP to this point.

[kenoshamark]

Didn't see the Trinity International game (thankfully) but there has to be some concern with a growing pattern of non-production from anyone but Bowens, Shemerdiak and Djurickovic.   What makes matters worse is Bowens, after a terrific first three games, has shot 2 for 16 against Hope and 2 for 13 against Trinity.   Besides Fendley still being out, I noticed Logan Derrick didn't see any action either.  He at least looks to score so there was one less option offensively last night. 

Even I have to admit that the term well-rounded is a stretch at this point.  I have only seen the game against East-West and despite the length of a few of their players, that game was more suited to a perimeter type of team so Carthage had no problems with post play.   I'll have to see a few more games in person to make further judgement but unless we find somebody to work the post more effectively, we aren't going to contend for any conference title.  I know Neb has the ability to be an 8 to 10 point a game scorer and he may still be working his way back from an early season injury but he has to look for a shot once in awhile and the rest of the team has to feed the post to open up some uncontested perimeter shots.  Zero points from your point guard and your center is not a good sign especially when one of the top three has an off night.

[AndOne]

I heard today that North Central's Chris Drennan (18.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg) suffered a broken hand in practice yesterday and is out 8 weeks.  Any confirmation NCC fans?

NCC lost 67-58 at Lake Forest tonight without Drennan...

http://www.northcentralcollege.edu/athletics/stats/basketball_m/07-08/md0507nc.htm

TQ-----

News sure travels fast on the State Farm grapevine!

Chris will have outpatient surgery at Edward Hospital Fri morning, 12/7,  at 9:00.
He will be in a molded fiberglass cast for 4 weeks, and then receive a removable cast that will be able to be removed at his PT sessions. 

The ortho surgeon's feeling is that if the surgical site heals well and then responds to the prescribed course of PT, Chris could be ready to return to action in 6 weeks, or around 1/18-19.

[Gregory Sager]

Is it his shooting hand or his non-shooting hand? The mention on the NCC website (which is how I found about about Drennan's injury) didn't say.

[cardinalpride]

Is it his shooting hand or his non-shooting hand? The mention on the NCC website (which is how I found about about Drennan's injury) didn't say.

GS,
Shooting hand.

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks, CP.

[Titan Q]

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/12/07/sports/doc4758d06e12731603922385.txt

A breakout junior season for North Central forward Chris Drennan has been interrupted by a broken hand.

Cardinals coach Todd Raridon said Thursday the Normal Community High School graduate will miss about six weeks after breaking his right (shooting) hand in practice earlier this week.

"He's supposed to have surgery (today). He's having a pin put in it," said Raridon. "At first, they were talking eight weeks, so I guess it's good news we'll get him back quicker than we thought hopefully."

The 6-foot-5 Drennan was averaging 18.8 points, the second highest North Central output, and a team-leading 8.0 rebounds.

"Physically, he is so much stronger than he's been the last couple years. He's been playing with a lot more confidence," Raridon said. "He's doing good things not only offensively but defensively. He's shooting from 15 to 18 feet yet going inside for us. Obviously, it's a huge loss."

Drennan appears likely to miss the Jan. 9 game against Illinois Wesleyan at Shirk Center.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Raymond also almost had a double double in least likely category as had 9 steals.
(then I guess if we're talking bout KR then maybe not least likely)

9 steals two games after giving up 12 turnovers is quite the turnaround.

[mr_b]

Final from the Crackerbox: North Park 83, Judson 66

[Titan Q]

Here is the Pantagraph's article on the IWU/Wash U game Saturday...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/12/07/sports/doc4759f14b0762e702133795.txt

And a blog entry I made today...

http://iwuhoops.blogspot.com/

The really tough matchup for IWU (and I guess most D3 teams) is 6-7 wing Tyler Nading (21.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg).  IWU starts 3 guards, with 6-3 Jordan Morris at the 3...Jordan is giving up 4 inches to Nading, who can shoot the 3, penetrate, or post-up.

It will be interesting to see if the Titans can compete with the Bears.