MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Wouldn't it be nice if teams played one game at home and one away, or have no more than 2 away games in a row during conference play? I think that kind of schedule would make the league a little more competitive. It would be hard for any team to have long stretches of road games. (NCC is opening the conference with 6 straight away games, that is almost half their games).

Thing is, Albcard, North Central's stretch-heavy CCIW schedule is of Todd Raridon's own devising. You're obviously not aware of this yet, but the CCIW schedule is constructed by the coaches themselves, not by the league office. The eight head coaches get together to set up the CCIW schedule a year ahead of time, and they do this by taking turns selecting home dates against specific opponents until each of the eight coaches has filled his quota of seven home dates. In other words, the Cards have those six straight away games at the start of the CCIW season only because Raridon chose to back-load almost all of his home dates.

I prefer this system. I'd much rather have the coaches themselves take on the responsibility for constructing their schedules than have the league office do it.

It will be interesting to see what Titan team shows up and how they respond.

I'm still trying to figure out which Wesleyan player is supposed to be the object of the "hack-a-shaq". Titans fans, any clue as to which of your players is the Big Aristotle?

The intangible factor - What does the reported loss on this chat room of Trey Bowens (34.9 min/game 16.1 PPG) do to Carthage?

It's not just "the reported loss on this chat room". The press release posted yesterday on the Carthage website by SID Steve Marovich openly stated that Bowens and freshman Bill Shemerdiak are academically ineligible. What surprises me is that nobody who posts in this room has apparently read that release yet. It also stated that center Mike Hart, who didn't play against Grinnell on Wednesday, has left school for undisclosed personal reasons. That's a catastrophic loss for the Red Men; Hart was really coming into his own at the end of last season, and although he was off to a slow start this year (only 7.7/3.7 in less than 20 minutes per game in the first ten Carthage contests), there was no question that he was going to be a (literally and figuratively) big piece of the puzzle if les hommes rouge were going to turn the ship around in January and be a force with which to be reckoned in the CCIW.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The Bowens news was on some other boards; I guess I just assumed you all knew about it.

[Gregory Sager]

Another tidbit about Carthage: Although I'm certain that coaching that game against Grinnell was about as much fun for Bosko Djurickovic as having a tooth pulled, he and the rest of the Punic faithful can at least take consolation in the erasure of a bunch of Carthage records that are better off erased. Five team records fell that night. The 135 points and 55 field goals scored by der Rotmaenner breaks the 35-year-old school records of 120 and 50 set against Milton College. Since Milton closed its doors way back in 1982, who needs to have records set against them still on the books?

Likewise, the 40 assists notched by Carthage broke the school record of 35 set in the 1999-2000 season in that sordid 117-40 win over Taylor-Ft.Wayne, an institution only one year removed at that point from its transition from a Bible college to a branch campus of a legitimate university. That's not the sort of school you want represented in your record books, either.

Grinnell seems to rewrite the record books of every opponent it plays, but in Carthage's case you could argue that David Arseneault and his Pioneers did the homestanders a favor on Wednesday night.

The Bowens news was on some other boards; I guess I just assumed you all knew about it.

We did know about it; it was posted here several days ago, as IWM alluded. But the Hart news wasn't posted until I did so a half-hour ago.

[Hoosier Titan]

Greg,
I apologize if I'm being dense, but I'm totally mystified by your "Big Aristotle" reference.  Since I always tell students "there is no such thing as a dumb question," I'll be the one to say "huh?"

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It's hack-a-Shaq; he once referred to himself as "the Big Aristotle"


I didn't check out the box score, but I can only assume the original comment had something to do with FT percentage???

[Gregory Sager]

Greg,
I apologize if I'm being dense, but I'm totally mystified by your "Big Aristotle" reference.  Since I always tell students "there is no such thing as a dumb question," I'll be the one to say "huh?"

It's not a dumb question if you avoid the NBA like the plague, a philosophy that a lot of basketball fans would argue has a lot of merit.

Anyway, one of Shaquille O'Neal's nicknames for himself is "the Big Aristotle". Since Stat mentioned (in jest, no doubt) that Carthage was going to employ a "hack-a-shaq" strategy against Illinois Wesleyan ("hack-a-shaq" means foul O'Neal every time that he touches the ball within five feet of the basket, since the man is both an almost automatic scorer from that close and a notoriously bad FT shooter), the logical thing to do was to ask which member of the Titans fits the Shaq role.

[Pat Coleman]

I don't think D3hoops.com is going to be taking any responsibility for lowering attendance.

In all honesty, just because this message board fulfills a vital function that some schools do not provide (i.e., reporting on games), doesn't make it responsible for the fall of civilization. Maybe other factors on the site are.

[Titan Q]

"Thing is, Albcard, North Central's stretch-heavy CCIW schedule is of Todd Raridon's own devising. You're obviously not aware of this yet, but the CCIW schedule is constructed by the coaches themselves, not by the league office."


Actually Greg, this was the first year the CCIW's league office did the scheduling.  The old "coaches' draft" is officially a thing of the past.  What creates scheduling quirks however (like NCC playing 6 of its first 7 CCIW games on the road), is that schools can choose to play women/men doubleheaders.  Like this past Wednesday -- North Central's women played the Lady Titans at 5:15, just as the Lady Reds will face the IWU women Saturday in Kenosha before the men's game.  Many of the league's A.D.'s/coaches are in favor of these while a few are not...it throws off the computerized scheduling system in a big way.

[Hoosier Titan]

It's not a dumb question if you avoid the NBA like the plague, a philosophy that a lot of basketball fans would argue has a lot of merit.

Yup, that pretty much describes me.  I did know that Shaq is a lousy foul shooter, just not about the nickname.

Once past the Illinois game, the Titans have shot free throws pretty well for most of the season.  Even in the NCC game, they shot 80% to NCC's 56%.  It's hard not to look at the 5 missed Titan free throws and think "if only."  The starters are all pretty good foul shooters.

[Gregory Sager]

I didn't realize that, Bob. Thanks for the 411.

[Stat]

Sage, you are hilarious.  Glad you snapped out of the NP demise.  NP is like the Cubs, the strongest team in the conference.  They are holding everyone else up.

Hack a Shaq, on all five..   Like the Grinnell offense, the hack a shaq will foul (vs. shoot) every opportunity we get.  Even if they kick it out, from a wide open layup, for a three,   Bosko has instructed to foul both.

Like a hockey team, changing lines every two minutes,  personnel will not be a problem.  the bench is deep.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I don't think D3hoops.com is going to be taking any responsibility for lowering attendance.

In all honesty, just because this message board fulfills a vital function that some schools do not provide (i.e., reporting on games), doesn't make it responsible for the fall of civilization. Maybe other factors on the site are.

Some of us posters can claim more credit for the 'fall of civilization' than d3hoops.com can!   Considering the state of the "civilization", may I claim first credit?!

[Brick]

Stat I highly doubt bosko told his kids to foul even on a three

[Jim Matson]

Out in California, Wheaton picked up an easy win last night against LaSierra 76-42.  Wheaton plays Whittier for the tourney championship tonight.  After the 126-123 loss to Redlands on Tuesday, I was surprised the boys could even walk, much less play on Thursday.

[True Basketball Fan]

I see that NC has Aurora tonight.  Aurora, although inconsistent this season thus far, is still dangerous.  Even though it's not a conference game, it is still a very important in region contest, in which NC is lacking with only 5 so far.

I believe, along with several other posters, that NC will eventually start to fade "as usual".  However, their performance on Wednesday has me wondering............  

IF they lose one of these upcoming road games (most likely not North Park, but you never know), it will be hard for NC to shake the past of letting it compound to several in a row.