MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Whenever the students are gone (including the band), there is significantly less energy in the Shirk Center...that is what I mean by "quiet."  There just won't be the electricity there is for a conference game or NCAA tournament game.  I think we could say that about any college basketball venue really.  Whether it's the Assembly Hall at Illinois or King Arena at Wheaton, the students provide the energy. 

IWU is fortunate enough to be one of the rare schools in Division III to be able to draw 1500 fans without any students being on campus.  The community support for Titan basketball is one of the things that makes the program special. 

IWU didn't play any games last year during Christmas break, but in 2003-04 there were two...

12/18/03 vs Hanover: 1600
12/22/03 vs Benedictine: 1500

I suggested 2000 just because I think there are a lot of casual fans who will come out for this one.

[petemcb]

There are "casual fans" in Bloomington?!

[rknuppel]

Well, I finally got my Elmhurst preview this weekend.  The Jays beat up on Olivet to win the Bluejay Classic!  Congrats Elmhurst on winning that!  Despite the win, this was an ugly game for the Jays.  Olivet was NOT a very good basketball team in my opinion.  They were athletic but just didn't have the talent/discipline to compete.  Here are some of my other thoughts:

- Michael led the way and played a great game.  He won the classic MVP and deserved it from what I saw.  He is a beast on the offensive boards.

- Martin had an off game.  Didn't shoot like we all know he can.  And just seemed to struggle a bit.  No one should worry about Chris though.  He still ended with 13 and 10.  Not bad for an "off" game.  Chris also made the all tourney team!

- The guards showed very little interest in hitting a perimeter shot.  I can see this becoming a huge problem for the jays when they get into conference play.  The CCIW knows Martin, they know Michael.  When Martin penetrates, SOMEONE is going to have to be confident and knock down the open 3.  Hopefully Gershenzon gets healthy and fills that role.  But from what I saw on Saturday, nobody was interested in even taking those shots.

- Lee and Bacon did a solid job at the point.  They may be a little undersized but they do play hard and are quick.

- Ruch and Strzemp are going to be a force in the CCIW for the next few years.  Ruch had some great post moves inside and really worked hard in the post!  Strzemp is a big, strong body who can rebound and defend.  Put a few young guards in their with them, like freshman sharp-shooter Ryan Burks (Midwest Central Class A all-stater), and you have a solid future in place.  That's exciting for Elmhurst fans.

I haven't seen other CCIW teams at all, but from what I saw, the Jays are going to rebound and play inside with anyone in the country.  But when it comes to the perimeter, they are going to have to improve to compete with the IWU's and Augies!

[iwumichigander]

There are "casual fans" in Bloomington?!

Casual in terms of IWU, Yes. 

With the IWU students on break and with neither Illinois State Men's or Women's playing, the Titans will draw local basketball fans turning out to see the contest against Hanover.  Why? Because the casual townie fan can park reasonably close, get a seat without showing up 90 minutes before the game and watch a great basketball game.  Otherwise, you would likely find those fans at Redbird Arena or at a local high school contest.

[iwumichigander]

Random thoughts...
* I don't see Hanover shooting 4-21 from 3 vs IWU.

* I think this is the kind of game that from a confidence standpoint could propel IWU to the kind of very special season I think they are going to have. 

Q - Like you, I see Hanover shooting a little closer to their 3 pt average (about 38% without the Elmhurst contest YTD).  Titans are going to need to get out on the perimeter, stay in their face and watch for Hanover inside/out game.  I think this Hanover team (when compared to prior Hanover teams) is going to have a tough time under the boards against the Titans .

IWU really need to start out against Hanover like they did at Illinois College.  Focused on offense, defensive and boards.  Really would like to also see 5 hard minutes at the beginning and end of each half from our Titans. 

I think this Hanover contest and the Puget Sound contest on 12/29 will be good indicators of where this Titan team really is and how far this team can really go.

[Titan Q]

The Scott Trost Show will be live from Cheek's on WJBC tonight at 6:00pm (Central).  For those who want to listen...

http://www.wjbc.com/

The only problem is that the show's namesake will not be there.  The skipper of the Titans is heading to Rock Island to scout the 7-0 Augie Vikings vs Lake Forest.  Coach Steinbrueck will be with us, as well as Jason Fisher and Zach Freeman.

[Titan Q]

CCIW Pick 'em participants,

Per CCIW.org, there is one additional game Tuesday...the make-up of the snowed out Millikin @ Eureka contest (7:00pm).  Please go to the pick 'em board and use the "modify" feature to add that game to your original picks. 

[iwufan32]

i would bet anyone money that wesleyan goes to the title this year and wins it easliy just like the Illinois College Students I wonder if they even knew they were gonna get creamed i mean come on they were chanting over rated and the only fans they have there are their 30 students.... i love IWU fans

GO TITANS BEAT HANOVER HAHAH GO KEELAN

[John Gleich]

The Illinois College students won a title?

[robberki]

that didn't make a whole lot of sense.....

[iwufan32]

no i didnt mean it like the icc students won something they cant even win a game... but yea sorry for the mis understanding.... but yea
GO TITANS CREAM THOSE HANOVER PLAYERS

[dansand]

IWUFan32 writes the way I talk after many scotches.

[augiefan]

Augie beat Lake Forest 64-45 tonight. 16 points each for Harrigan and McAdams Thornton. Dain Swetalla and Joe Caricato are both still not able to play. Shaun Rose was back on the court but only played a few minutes.

A typical sluggish effort after too much time off, but Augie led all the way in an ugly low scoring game that was only 26-15 at the half. Hopefully, everyone will be back on the court for the Stout tourney.

[augiefan]

Carthage also pounded Concordia (WI) 102-59 tonight.

[John Gleich]

...they cant even win a game...

If you're still referring to the Illinois College students, they can win just as many games as any other student section in the country.

If you're referring to the IC basketball team, they've already won 4, so...

Cabs,

I know about the Shirk... I've even been inside.  I walked through when I was in high school (I think the women were playing at the time).  It's a beautiful facility.  I just thought the comment about a "quiet" 2000 was intriguing (thus the "I guess it's relative" qualifier).  I know all about crowds during the Christmas break... UWSP pulled in 500 for a game against Edgewood right before school started last January, and Point was #4 in the country at a shade under 2000 per game last year. 

I'm envious of the student support at private schools.  I know these are extremes... but the student support at IWU and Gustavus Adolphus (at least two years ago) is outstanding.  From what I've heard about lots of schools in the CCIW (and, again, what I saw at GAC) was an organized student community.  The game two years ago at Gustavus was the most nuts I've ever seen a crowd.  Personally, I thought they were more raucus than even Duke, 'cause there wasn't a table separating the students from the floor.

UWSP has 8700 kids.  On a "good" night, we might get 500 students at the game... but most of them are too busy talking on their cell phones or to their friends to really seem to care about the game.  Now, we have amazing community support.  Remember, I said we averaged  just under 2000 last year (and we were under 1500 just twice all year).  Point gets mostly families, but a large number of professors and other people involved with the university come too.  I just wish the students would be more oranized, but there isn't too much of a sense of community at Point.  Kids are required to stay in the dorms for two years, but most switch between the first and the second years, and even the ones who show up seem more interested in which bar they're going to after the game than the game itself.

I firmly stand by the fact that someone who is involved will have more fun.  If a fan is INVOLVED in the game (watching, cheering, REACTING to what's going on during the game) then they'll have more fun.  The Point students don't even stand up during the game (usually, the rest of the crowd rises BEFORE the students).  And you know how good Point was the last two+ seasons.  And heck, they're good this year too (people may not believe me yet, but they're for real, even though they're young). 

I've wondered how schools get their students interested.  I mean, I'm not just talking at the D-3 level (like I said most of the private schools are much smaller and closer knit... there's a real sense of community).  I'm even talking D-1, like, big public schools (Big 10, ACC, etc).  Maybe it's just a pipe dream, but I've had visions of Quandt being a sea of purple, not unlike Assembly Hall during "Color the Hall Orange" nights (heck, it's usually mostly orange anyway!).  I just wanna hear an original cheer from our students (other than the B.S. cheer, or the generic "Defense" cheer, though that one is quite applicable for Point, who in the past has been one of the, if not the best defensive team in the country). 

I don't know if the university has to do something to promote it (heck, the games are already free for students), but I know at U of I that the Orange Crush is a huge student organization, run by the students and funded by fund raisers.  I mean, we're not talking about a D-1 school here, but do you think it would be possible?