MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[joehakes]

Noon time hoops with the NP coaching staff.  Free shots at Bill Anderson whether you were on his team or not.  Man that was some baaaaaaaaad basketball!

[Fox 40]

Anyone have any idea who the last team was to win the CCIW conference but not have a CCIW "player of the week" as Augie did this year?  ( BTW, Congratulations to Kent Raymond).

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Noon time hoops with the NP coaching staff.  Free shots at Bill Anderson whether you were on his team or not.  Man that was some baaaaaaaaad basketball!

Actually - I believe the quote in question happed during the all-school registration process in the gym - with about 400 people in attendance.

But yes - noon time basketball was bad - especially if you had a wide open shot and Bill had the ball.

DoS

Sorry - I can only +K you once in 24 hours - I'll have to wait until tomorrow for you, TJ and Berki.

[iwumichigander]

Here's the article in the kenosha news today about Carthage's last game in the PEC. Construction is already underway for what next year will be called Tarble Arena. 

http://ksn.kenoshanews.com/view_article.php?articleNum=2588540

Now that Carthage is going to go ahead and name its gym after primary donor Newton Tarble of Snap-On Tools fame, can we start referring to the gym as "the toolbox"?

Oh, I like that!

[iwumichigander]

North Park showed a lot of heart in a game that basically didn't mean a darn thing to them

On the contrary, Bob, this game meant quite a bit to NPU. The Vikings have been pointing to this game for four weeks now, and not just for one reason but for several.

First, there's the business of what happened at the end of the IWU @ NPU game on January 26.
Second, this was the final game in the careers of Jay Alexander, Jason Gordon, and Ed Whitaker.
Lastly, there's the matter of season record.

I agree with you Greg.  In this week's pick'em I picked IWU with my heart, while my head was telling me NPU - primarily on the basis of the bitterness of the loss in the crackerbox together with wanting to post a better record than last season. 

[iwumichigander]

... As bad as everyone was playing except Gant, maybe it would have been a good idea to throw Brian Nussbaum, Kevin Bryant, and Jason Bloom in there, but the guys on the floor got the Titans to this position.  It is awfully hard to decide to go against them in a game you are losing.  (It's not like throwing those seniors in up 40 vs Millikin.)  What if you put those guys in with IWU down 2 and 10:00 to play, the game finishes the same (North Park winning) and NCC beats Augie -- now people say, "How could they put three guys who haven't played all season long in a game for the share of the title!?"  I'm not sure it is fair to Nussbaum, Bryant, and Bloom to pin that on them in their final game either. ...

Maybe, just maybe instead of a scribe writing (or other people 'saying') this : "IWU players other than Gant shot a horrendous 8 of 49 (16 percent) from the field and hit just 4 of 32 from 3-point range as the Titans closed the regular season at 15-10 overall and tied with Wheaton for second in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with at 9-5. (Source: Pantagraph 2/24/08)"

The scribe could have written or (people could be 'saying') this: IWU tried every way to find a way get a win  tonight, and offset a horrendous 8 of 49 (16 percent) from the field, including utilizing three seniors whom had seen limited action this season.  The only thing the Titans did not try was suiting up IWU alumni Korey Coon, who was honored at halftime tonight!

[Titan Q]

Stevens Point on the ropes in Round 1 of the WIAC tournament (at home vs La Crosse)...

http://livestats.internetconsult.com/uwsp/mbball/

[augiefan]

I guess some of us who support the Augie Vikings appear to be "gloating", because our 10th ranked in the nation team really does not look that impressive on the court. I would tend to agree that Augie struggled to win a lot of games this season over teams that a 10th ranked team should have beaten handily.

I would say that Augie's high preseason ranking was in part because of the presence of Jordan Delp. When they beat Wash U early in the season with Delp still healthy and a key Wash U player out, they solidified the impression that they were a top 10 program.

A couple of losses to WIAC teams (never exactly something to be ashamed of) lowered Augie's poll ranking and was followed by Delp's season ending injury. Then a 2-2 start to the CCIW season made them look vulnerable.

From that point on Augie ground out victory after victory with tough defense, team depth and many come from behind victories in a CCIW that was as competitive top to bottom as any season I can recall. Even last place Millikin nearly beat Augie twice.

In reality Augie without Delp, without a single conference player of the week and with most likely only one CCIW all conference 1st and 2nd team performer (Wessels) went 11-3 in the conference. This Augie team overcame adversity and a lack of real offensive firepower to win it's 3rd straight regular season title. So yes, this is not a great Augie team, which is why we are so proud of them.

[Titan Q]

Q - could the CCIW get three teams into the tournament with this scenario - Elmhurst wins the AQ, defeating Wheaton in the final.  Augie gets a Pool C bid.  I think Wheaton would be in the running for a Pool C.  Lot of good - but not great teams this year.  The difference between those in the tournament and those looking on will be very small.

As I see it, that would be the only scenario where the CCIW could get 3, Martin...and even then, I think Wheaton would be on the Pool C bubble at best.

[Fox 40]

Here is an excerpt from Augustana's press release detailing there accomplishment and backgound on other teams who have also won three straight conference titles:   
                                                                                                                                                                        10th ranked Vikings make history by clinching third straight outright CCIW championship with 63-59 win at North Central
23 Feb 2008
NAPERVILLE, Illinois - It was an historic evening in Naperville, Illinois for the Augustana Vikings men's basketball team on Saturday, February 23. The Vikings of head coach Grey Giovanine defeated North Central 63-59, erasing a six point deficit in the game's final 3:28 and outscoring the home team 12-2 during that time.

The come-from-behind victory gave 10th ranked Augustana its third straight outright title in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin and put the Vikings in some elite company. The last team to win three straight outright crowns was the Michael Harper-led North Park teams of 1978-79-80. During that time frame North Park also won three straight national titles. Illinois Wesleyan, led by future NBA All-Star Jack Sikma won three straight from 1975-76-77 and Augustana, under the direction of legendary head coach Jim Borcherding won three straight outright crowns from 1972-73-74.

Now, this Augustana team can take its place among the legends of the storied CCIW and once again it was defense and poise down the stretch that did the trick.

[Titan Q]

Here is an excerpt from Augustana's press release detailing there accomplishment and backgound on other teams who have also won three straight conference titles:   

Three straight outright conference titles.  The teams that have won three straight are...

Augustana: 2006-2008
Illinois Wesleyan: 2003-05
North Park: 1978-80
Illinois Wesleyan: 1975-77
Augustana: 1972-74
Illinois Wesleyan: 1964-67 (4 in a row)
Illinois Wesleyan: 1960-62
Wheaton: 1956-59 (4 in a row...all 14-0)
Millikin: 1950-52

[thundermike11]

From http://athletics.wheaton.edu:

"Wheaton, Ill. – Wheaton's Kent Raymond has been selected as the CCIW "Player of the Week" for men's basketball for the week ending February 24, 2008. This week's selection marks Raymond's second recognition as the league's "Player of the Week" this season, and the seventh time he has received the award in his stellar career.

Raymond helped lead Wheaton to a pair of victories last week as the Thunder posted a 2-0 record and secured a spot in the CCIW Tournament. Raymond averaged 31 points per game, with five rebounds and three steals per game last week. He shot 50% (20-40) from the field, with 46.2% (6-13) from three-point range. The 2007-08 preseason All-American scored 25 points, with six rebounds and three steals in a 65-56 win at Millikin last Wednesday to secure Wheaton's spot in the upcoming CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament. On Saturday Raymond tied his season-high with 37 points, with five three-pointers and three steals against Elmhurst.

During last Saturday's 78-69 win against Elmhurst, Raymond moved into 11th place on Wheaton's all-time scoring list with 1,504 career points. He passed five Wheaton all-time greats during the game: Luke Moo (1997-01); Clyde Glass (1976-80); Steve Clum (1970-74); Don Anderson (1955-59) and Rob Hamann (1995-99).

In addition to his placement on the career scoring list, his 20.3 points per game career scoring average is the second-highest of any player in school history. He is tied for fifth on Wheaton's all-time free throws list with 400 and his 162 career three-pointers is tied for the seventh-highest total in the program's history."


Congrats Kent.

[Gregory Sager]

In reality Augie without Delp, without a single conference player of the week and with most likely only one CCIW all conference 1st and 2nd team performer (Wessels) went 11-3 in the conference. This Augie team overcame adversity and a lack of real offensive firepower to win it's 3rd straight regular season title. So yes, this is not a great Augie team, which is why we are so proud of them.

You hit the nail on the head, augiefan. The last three teams that won three straight outright CCIW titles were the North Park national-championship threepeat teams of '78-'79-'80, the IWU Sikma teams of '75-'76'-'77, and the Augie teams led by John Laing, Bruce Hamming, and Mark Brooks that won three straight in '72-'73-'74, and which included the CCIW's last undefeated season in 1972-73. I was only around to see the last leg of that North Park threepeat, but I can tell you unequivocally that this year's Augie team couldn't hold a candle to the NPC teams that included Michael Harper, Bud Greer, and Michael Thomas. From everything I've heard from CCIW graybeards, the IWU teams of the mid-seventies and the Augie teams of the early seventies were also vastly superior to anything that Grey Giovanine's put on the court over the past three seasons. And you know what? That makes what Augie has done over the past three seasons all the more remarkable.

It's not as though the CCIW has been in a down period, the way it was back in the mid- to late nineties. The CCIW has had lots of good players, and lots of good teams, over the past three seasons. Somehow, someway, Augie teams that weren't world-beaters by any stretch of the imagination have managed to come out on top over that three-year period. To me, that's a bigger accomplishment than it would've been had Augie been absolutely loaded with talent over that period. So kudos to Augie and to Grey Giovanine for what they've accomplished.

[Gregory Sager]

From http://athletics.wheaton.edu:

"Wheaton, Ill. – Wheaton's Kent Raymond has been selected as the CCIW "Player of the Week" for men's basketball for the week ending February 24, 2008. This week's selection marks Raymond's second recognition as the league's "Player of the Week" this season, and the seventh time he has received the award in his stellar career.

Raymond helped lead Wheaton to a pair of victories last week as the Thunder posted a 2-0 record and secured a spot in the CCIW Tournament. Raymond averaged 31 points per game, with five rebounds and three steals per game last week. He shot 50% (20-40) from the field, with 46.2% (6-13) from three-point range. The 2007-08 preseason All-American scored 25 points, with six rebounds and three steals in a 65-56 win at Millikin last Wednesday to secure Wheaton's spot in the upcoming CCIW Men's Basketball Tournament. On Saturday Raymond tied his season-high with 37 points, with five three-pointers and three steals against Elmhurst.

During last Saturday's 78-69 win against Elmhurst, Raymond moved into 11th place on Wheaton's all-time scoring list with 1,504 career points. He passed five Wheaton all-time greats during the game: Luke Moo (1997-01); Clyde Glass (1976-80); Steve Clum (1970-74); Don Anderson (1955-59) and Rob Hamann (1995-99).

In addition to his placement on the career scoring list, his 20.3 points per game career scoring average is the second-highest of any player in school history. He is tied for fifth on Wheaton's all-time free throws list with 400 and his 162 career three-pointers is tied for the seventh-highest total in the program's history."


Congrats Kent.

Yes, congratulations to Kent Raymond upon an illustrious career at Wheaton. However, I'm pretty sure that his three-year career at Wheaton will end either this coming weekend, or, if Wheaton makes the tourney, whenever Wheaton loses in March. I just don't see him coming back next season. Of course, as someone said the other day, Raymond has confounded the expectations of league followers before, and he could do so again. But his valedictory performance on Saturday night appears to have been his King Arena swan song. Don't expect to see Kent Raymond in orange and blue again next season.

[Gregory Sager]

Noon time hoops with the NP coaching staff.  Free shots at Bill Anderson whether you were on his team or not.  Man that was some baaaaaaaaad basketball!

You don't know the meaning of playing basketball against Bill "Goose" Anderson until you've played him and the rest of the faculty/staff team in an intramural game the way that me and my baseline-bleacher peers did during our EP & B days. Our third year as EP & B, when we were "Beyond the Valley of EP & B", we made the game against the faculty/staff team "Cologne Night". Each of us EP & B players brought whatever jumbo bottles of cheap cologne we could get our hands on to the crackerbox the night that we were scheduled to play Goose & Co., and before the game started we all went out into the hallway and poured all of the cologne over each other's heads. The moment we walked into the gym, all of the faculty and staff players started moaning and holding their noses. We must've smelled like the inside of a whale. It turned out to be a sound strategy, because Goose and his compatriots were notorious for throwing random elbows and for shoving opponents into the cinderblock wall -- but none of them wanted to get close enough to us to do any bodily harm to us that night.