MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Dennis_Prikkel]

I was amused by Scherer who embarrassed himself by complaining to the refs too often on calls and non-calls that were not even close.  

very interesting that Scherer was animated versus North Park, but almost comatose versus Illinois Wesleyan at home.

Even my son remarked at the Sunday game how placid (almost resigned) that Scherer appeared versus the Titans.

[OurHouse]

Clutch shot at the end of the game by Sean Johnson and IWU isn't in the game if he misses that shot, but watch the clip and focus on the defense being played the last 10 seconds off the ball and how Jahn's got the rebound.

I think it is a great little snippet that shows the Dr Jekyl/Mr Hyde nature of their team.
[/quote]

These are the takeaways in what I saw through streaming video:

Saying is (if something is working, don't change it)? It was changed.
Should not of played the kid that just came back from injury
Too many minutes for Johnson - 8pts/5turnovers?
Too many minutes for Zimmer - 3pts?
Needed speed and quickness in the game at the end, not Zimmer/Connelly - johnson not but default by the 3
What happened to Shoultin?

MMW'ds
MMW'ds

[Viking Blue]

I was amused by Scherer who embarrassed himself by complaining to the refs too often on calls and non-calls that were not even close.  By contrast, the adroit Brenegan directed his vocal chords toward the refs a grand total of one time last night.  That is on par for him.  Surprisingly, I heard the NP coach counsel a player twice during the action (but not to set an offensive scheme).  NP's Collins attempted 4-5 treys from NBA range in the second half while NP held a small lead - all treys with over 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock - and missed them all. He then intentionally fouled Elmhurst with less than a minute to play...I think NP's lead was six.  Inexplicably, none of these boneheaded plays led to his removal.  Ro Russell refuses to pass to Williams, which started last year.  Joe Gonzalez, if he suited up, was a DNP.  Hoekstra got hurt early last night, and Schneidermeier is out for the year.  Excluding my first sentence, the factors cited in this post will produce a bottom four finish for the Vikings.  Painful.

I thought Elmhurst shot the ball well from two-point range in the first half, but overall I wonder if EC is more offensively challenged than Millikin.

Jorge Gonzalez has not been a part of the varsity rotation all year.

Russell is playing some of the best basketball we have seen from him in the last two years, and Williams is starting to show flashes of a desire to play team basketball, harkening back to the days of his freshman and sophomore year when he followed the leadership of a great team player, Jay Alexander.  I don't think there is much of personal thing involved in Williams not getting the ball.  NP's guards, in general, struggle with entry passes.

As far as Collins goes, he is a high risk/high reward player.  He was off a bit last night, but the fact is, he is a potent weapon to have.  He's going to miss some, and he's going to make some, but a shooter has to shoot.  (Ironically, Rob Berki brought up a point to me last night that speaks to this.  In Rick Alspach's last home game as a Viking, North Park defeated Elmhurst.  Alspach was 0 for 13 from downtown that night.  That was the last time North Park defeated the Blue Jays).

I said it before, and I will say it again.  Shaun Collins has already hit, and will hit in the future, some BIG shots for the Vikings down the stretch in CCIW games.

[Viking Blue]

As far as the Vikings finishing in the bottom four of the conference, I wonder how you make that judgment.  North Park is not a world-beater.  However, based on what I have SEEN, first hand, they are a better team than Millikin, they are a better team than Elmhurst, and according to what I've heard from trusted sources, they are a better team than North Central.  Bring Carthage to Chicago, and I favor the Vikings.  The Augustana game could be a tight one.

My point is, the team is 4-1 for the first time in forever.  Why not try to enjoy it, rather than wait for doomsday?

[Gotberg]

Sun-Times article about NP bball:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/2003136,CST-SPT-small21.article

[John Gleich]

Would you North Parkers say that NPU is playing good basketball... or are they just playing better than the teams they're playing (who aren't playing very well)?

I'm trying to decide if I should head down to Foster and Kedzie to see a game or not!

[Dennis_Prikkel]

I was amused by Scherer who embarrassed himself by complaining to the refs too often on calls and non-calls that were not even close.  By contrast, the adroit Brenegan directed his vocal chords toward the refs a grand total of one time last night.  That is on par for him.  Surprisingly, I heard the NP coach counsel a player twice during the action (but not to set an offensive scheme).  NP's Collins attempted 4-5 treys from NBA range in the second half while NP held a small lead - all treys with over 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock - and missed them all. He then intentionally fouled Elmhurst with less than a minute to play...I think NP's lead was six.  Inexplicably, none of these boneheaded plays led to his removal.  Ro Russell refuses to pass to Williams, which started last year.  Joe Gonzalez, if he suited up, was a DNP.  Hoekstra got hurt early last night, and Schneidermeier is out for the year.  Excluding my first sentence, the factors cited in this post will produce a bottom four finish for the Vikings.  Painful.

I thought Elmhurst shot the ball well from two-point range in the first half, but overall I wonder if EC is more offensively challenged than Millikin.

Jorge Gonzalez has not been a part of the varsity rotation all year.

Russell is playing some of the best basketball we have seen from him in the last two years, and Williams is starting to show flashes of a desire to play team basketball, harkening back to the days of his freshman and sophomore year when he followed the leadership of a great team player, Jay Alexander.  I don't think there is much of personal thing involved in Williams not getting the ball.  NP's guards, in general, struggle with entry passes.

As far as Collins goes, he is a high risk/high reward player.  He was off a bit last night, but the fact is, he is a potent weapon to have.  He's going to miss some, and he's going to make some, but a shooter has to shoot.  (Ironically, Rob Berki brought up a point to me last night that speaks to this.  In Rick Alspach's last home game as a Viking, North Park defeated Elmhurst.  Alspach was 0 for 13 from downtown that night.  That was the last time North Park defeated the Blue Jays).

I said it before, and I will say it again.  Shaun Collins has already hit, and will hit in the future, some BIG shots for the Vikings down the stretch in CCIW games.

North Park lost that game to Elmhurst 60-56 when Rick Alspach was 0 for 13.

[Viking Blue]

I was amused by Scherer who embarrassed himself by complaining to the refs too often on calls and non-calls that were not even close.  By contrast, the adroit Brenegan directed his vocal chords toward the refs a grand total of one time last night.  That is on par for him.  Surprisingly, I heard the NP coach counsel a player twice during the action (but not to set an offensive scheme).  NP's Collins attempted 4-5 treys from NBA range in the second half while NP held a small lead - all treys with over 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock - and missed them all. He then intentionally fouled Elmhurst with less than a minute to play...I think NP's lead was six.  Inexplicably, none of these boneheaded plays led to his removal.  Ro Russell refuses to pass to Williams, which started last year.  Joe Gonzalez, if he suited up, was a DNP.  Hoekstra got hurt early last night, and Schneidermeier is out for the year.  Excluding my first sentence, the factors cited in this post will produce a bottom four finish for the Vikings.  Painful.

I thought Elmhurst shot the ball well from two-point range in the first half, but overall I wonder if EC is more offensively challenged than Millikin.

Jorge Gonzalez has not been a part of the varsity rotation all year.

Russell is playing some of the best basketball we have seen from him in the last two years, and Williams is starting to show flashes of a desire to play team basketball, harkening back to the days of his freshman and sophomore year when he followed the leadership of a great team player, Jay Alexander.  I don't think there is much of personal thing involved in Williams not getting the ball.  NP's guards, in general, struggle with entry passes.

As far as Collins goes, he is a high risk/high reward player.  He was off a bit last night, but the fact is, he is a potent weapon to have.  He's going to miss some, and he's going to make some, but a shooter has to shoot.  (Ironically, Rob Berki brought up a point to me last night that speaks to this.  In Rick Alspach's last home game as a Viking, North Park defeated Elmhurst.  Alspach was 0 for 13 from downtown that night.  That was the last time North Park defeated the Blue Jays).

I said it before, and I will say it again.  Shaun Collins has already hit, and will hit in the future, some BIG shots for the Vikings down the stretch in CCIW games.

North Park lost that game to Elmhurst when Rick Alspach was 0 for 13.

Just reporting what I had heard.

The point is this:  Alspach was a shooter.  One of the most prolific in conference history.  A shooter does not stop shooting if he starts out 0 for 2.

[Gregory Sager]

I was amused by Scherer who embarrassed himself by complaining to the refs too often on calls and non-calls that were not even close.  By contrast, the adroit Brenegan directed his vocal chords toward the refs a grand total of one time last night.  That is on par for him.  Surprisingly, I heard the NP coach counsel a player twice during the action (but not to set an offensive scheme).  NP's Collins attempted 4-5 treys from NBA range in the second half while NP held a small lead - all treys with over 10 seconds remaining on the shot clock - and missed them all. He then intentionally fouled Elmhurst with less than a minute to play...I think NP's lead was six.  Inexplicably, none of these boneheaded plays led to his removal.  Ro Russell refuses to pass to Williams, which started last year.  Joe Gonzalez, if he suited up, was a DNP.  Hoekstra got hurt early last night, and Schneidermeier is out for the year.  Excluding my first sentence, the factors cited in this post will produce a bottom four finish for the Vikings.  Painful.

I thought Elmhurst shot the ball well from two-point range in the first half, but overall I wonder if EC is more offensively challenged than Millikin.

Jorge Gonzalez has not been a part of the varsity rotation all year.

Russell is playing some of the best basketball we have seen from him in the last two years, and Williams is starting to show flashes of a desire to play team basketball, harkening back to the days of his freshman and sophomore year when he followed the leadership of a great team player, Jay Alexander.  I don't think there is much of personal thing involved in Williams not getting the ball.  NP's guards, in general, struggle with entry passes.

As far as Collins goes, he is a high risk/high reward player.  He was off a bit last night, but the fact is, he is a potent weapon to have.  He's going to miss some, and he's going to make some, but a shooter has to shoot.  (Ironically, Rob Berki brought up a point to me last night that speaks to this.  In Rick Alspach's last home game as a Viking, North Park defeated Elmhurst.  Alspach was 0 for 13 from downtown that night.  That was the last time North Park defeated the Blue Jays).

I said it before, and I will say it again.  Shaun Collins has already hit, and will hit in the future, some BIG shots for the Vikings down the stretch in CCIW games.

Excellent post, TD. I agree with all of your points.

Jorge Gonzalez is tearing it up on the JV level. He had 26 points and 24 rebounds last night against Elmhurst's junior varsity -- which, incidentally, features a considerably bigger lineup than the EC varsity, something you don't see too often -- and he even played some point guard in the process (David Williams's full-time promotion to the varsity has left NPU without a PG on the junior varsity). But he's still a raw and untutored commodity. NPU's coaching staff is trying to find a way to fit his freakish athletic ability and his intensity into the team format. You don't want to mess with team chemistry, especially when the team is on a roll. But perhaps if Nick Hoekstra has to miss some time we'll start to see Jorge play some varsity ball.

(Christian Alsing also played for the JV team last night, his first appearance in uniform after missing a handful of games to a sprained ankle. It was good to see him out on the floor again. He, too, might see some of Hoekstra's minutes if Paul Brenegan decides he doesn't want to shorten up the rotation.)

I have no problems with the job that Ro Russell is doing right now. He earned his CCIW Player of the Week award last week. He's become a better distributor instead of being merely a shoot-first PG, as the NPU coaching staff has demanded of him. He has a 2.21:1 assists-to-turnovers ratio for the season, third-best in the league among CCIW floor generals after Steve Djurickovic and Travis Rosenkrantz. In CCIW play his ratio is 2.4:1. Entry passes are tough for him because he's so small, but I don't think that there's anybody in this league not named Djurickovic who is better at driving and dishing. And he has such amazing body control that he somehow manages to hang in midair and make all sorts of over-the-head or behind-the-head layups amidst the trees. A couple of his drives to the hole last night were YouTube material.

Shaun Collins has no conscience when it comes to any kind of an open shot from 25 feet on in. Everyone in the league knows that by now. But you know what? He's shooting .387 from downtown for the year. You know what you say to someone who's shooting .387 from three-point range? That's right: "Keep shooting!" Just as importantly, he's expanding his game. His defense is improving, and he's not hesitant to put the ball on the deck and drive to the basket. I'd like to see some of the other three-point specialists in this league try to throw down an exclamation-point dunk like the one he threw down last night.

(One correction, though, TD: NPU lost Alspach's final game, the one in which he went 0-13 from long range. That was the first loss of the now-snapped streak. The last win NPU had against Elmhurst was earlier that season at Faganel Hall, the "clean up the Dirty Corner" game in which a busload of Carlson Crazies showed up wearing aprons and carrying brooms, dustpans, a vacuum cleaner, etc., and marched around the gym chanting, "Clean up the Dirty Corner! Clean up the Dirty Corner!" The Dirty Corner was a group of Elmhurst student-athletes who named themselves that after the EC athletic director had chastised them for their off-color heckling of opposing players at basketball games.)

As far as the Vikings finishing in the bottom four of the conference, I wonder how you make that judgment.  North Park is not a world-beater.  However, based on what I have SEEN, first hand, they are a better team than Millikin, they are a better team than Elmhurst, and according to what I've heard from trusted sources, they are a better team than North Central.  Bring Carthage to Chicago, and I favor the Vikings.  The Augustana game could be a tight one.

My point is, the team is 4-1 for the first time in forever.  Why not try to enjoy it, rather than wait for doomsday?

I couldn't have said it any better, TD.

Would you North Parkers say that NPU is playing good basketball... or are they just playing better than the teams they're playing (who aren't playing very well)?

I'm trying to decide if I should head down to Foster and Kedzie to see a game or not!

If you're expecting to see a polished, high-octane attack along the lines of your Kalsow/Bennett UWSP teams, PS, save yourself the trip. If you want to see a scrappy bunch of sophomores who are really just starting to spread their wings but who sputter frequently as they try to soar, then by all means come to the crackerbox and check out the Vikings.

By all means, though, come to Foster and Kedzie next Wednesday night to see Carthage visit NPU. I don't know if you've ever seen Steve Djurickovic play or not, but he's worth the price of admission alone. It'll be a game that'll have a lot on the line for both teams, and the ongoing storyline of Bosko versus his alma mater has even more cachet than usual this season. I'm biased, of course, but I think it'll be a must-see game.

[John Gleich]

Would you North Parkers say that NPU is playing good basketball... or are they just playing better than the teams they're playing (who aren't playing very well)?

I'm trying to decide if I should head down to Foster and Kedzie to see a game or not!

If you're expecting to see a polished, high-octane attack along the lines of your Kalsow/Bennett UWSP teams, PS, save yourself the trip. If you want to see a scrappy bunch of sophomores who are really just starting to spread their wings but who sputter frequently as they try to soar, then by all means come to the crackerbox and check out the Vikings.

By all means, though, come to Foster and Kedzie next Wednesday night to see Carthage visit NPU. I don't know if you've ever seen Steve Djurickovic play or not, but he's worth the price of admission alone. It'll be a game that'll have a lot on the line for both teams, and the ongoing storyline of Bosko versus his alma mater has even more cachet than usual this season. I'm biased, of course, but I think it'll be a must-see game.

If I was waiting for a team THAT good, then I probably wouldn't step foot in a gym the rest of my life!      

I may just have to do that.  My wife and kids are being shipped to visiting my in-laws in Wisconsin next week, so I won't have the usual familial duties to attend to, so I'll be free too!

[markerickson]

I don't care if you're a high risk/high reward shooter.  When a game unfolds like the one last night, you don't shoot NBA distance treys with so much time left on the clock.  Gonzalez' ability to penetrate, create, and finish would have caused the undersized Bluejays fits.  He has appeared and played in a varsity uniform this year, VB.  I simply can't understand why he's not playing significant varsity minutes.

[iwumichigander]

Would you North Parkers say that NPU is playing good basketball... or are they just playing better than the teams they're playing (who aren't playing very well)?

I'm trying to decide if I should head down to Foster and Kedzie to see a game or not!

Point - You should go to Foster and Kedzie just so you can say you've had the experience if you've not already. 

[John Gleich]

Would you North Parkers say that NPU is playing good basketball... or are they just playing better than the teams they're playing (who aren't playing very well)?

I'm trying to decide if I should head down to Foster and Kedzie to see a game or not!

Point - You should go to Foster and Kedzie just so you can say you've had the experience if you've not already. 

That would raise the number of CCIW gyms I've seen D-III basketball games in to 5 (unless Centenial and King gym at Wheaton count as two).

I still have yet to see games at Augie, Carthage, Milikin, and North Park (and haven't seen a men's game at IWU, but I have seen part of a women's game).

[iwumichigander]

Would you North Parkers say that NPU is playing good basketball... or are they just playing better than the teams they're playing (who aren't playing very well)?

I'm trying to decide if I should head down to Foster and Kedzie to see a game or not!

Point - You should go to Foster and Kedzie just so you can say you've had the experience if you've not already. 

That would raise the number of CCIW gyms I've seen D-III basketball games in to 5 (unless Centenial and King gym at Wheaton count as two).

I still have yet to see games at Augie, Carthage, Milikin, and North Park (and haven't seen a men's game at IWU, but I have seen part of a women's game).

Feb 20th might be a good date --- IWU @ NPU.  It doesn't seem to matter how well the Titans are playing this contest at Foster & Kedzie always seems to go down to the wire and generally well attended.  And, it is possible a lot could be riding on that date. Greg may have other suggestions.

[Gregory Sager]

Would you North Parkers say that NPU is playing good basketball... or are they just playing better than the teams they're playing (who aren't playing very well)?

I'm trying to decide if I should head down to Foster and Kedzie to see a game or not!

Point - You should go to Foster and Kedzie just so you can say you've had the experience if you've not already.  

That would raise the number of CCIW gyms I've seen D-III basketball games in to 5 (unless Centenial and King gym at Wheaton count as two).

Why would it count as two? It's the same gym, only with a different name, newer bleachers, and the court realigned from north-south to east-west.

Feb 20th might be a good date --- IWU @ NPU.  It doesn't seem to matter how well the Titans are playing this contest at Foster & Kedzie always seems to go down to the wire and generally well attended.  And, it is possible a lot could be riding on that date. Greg may have other suggestions.

That should be a good one, and it's also the only home Saturday date left at the crackerbox. It'll be Senior Night, but since Nick Williams is the only senior on the team it's not as though the pregame ceremony is going to hold up the action for very long.   As I mentioned earlier, next Wednesday's Carthage @ NPU game should be epic and is highly recommended. The other really big home game left on the slate for the Park -- big in the sense of it being against a top-tier team that should bring a healthy crowd of its own -- is the one against Augustana a week from next Wednesday.

Of course, if you go to a game at the crackerbox you have to make it a point to eat your pre- or post-game meal at Charcoal Delights (aka "the Pit"), next to the NPU parking lot across Kedzie Avenue from the gym. It's the CCIW's unofficial eatery of choice -- it comes recommended by such worthies as Bosko Djurickovic, Bill Harris, Joe Hakes, and Bob Quillman. Rumor has it that Dennis Prikkel is going to forego a casket when he passes on to his final reward, and will instead be lowered into the ground wrapped in a large Charcoal Delights pita roll as a tribute to the excellence of the Charcoal Delights gyros plate.