MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[tjcummingsfan]

Now I realize I was never around to see a Bosko coached North Park team, but I was around for a couple games when Bosko coached Carthage came to North Park for games (bringing a good number of fans), '02, and '03 specifically stand out in my head.  Those were some good teams, and the Carthage fans stood behind their coach quite well, leading cheers of "Those are Bosko's" pointing to the 5 National Championship Banners hanging in the Crackerbox (hopefully meaning mostly the last two).  If Bosko was a coach who only had great teams back in the 70's and 80's, then yeah, maybe I could see saying to stop living in the past, but he had great teams less than 5 years ago, with players like McDaniel, and Powell, etc.  The man has 5 National Championship rings, he has taken 2 different teams to the NCAA tournament, and done well (not all that long ago), very well considering the CCIW in 2001 also included a National Champion IWU team (correct me if I'm wrong GS, or TQ). 

It seems to me that the Carthage faithful are anything but.  I would be more disappointed in my "fans" than my coach if I were on the Carthage basketball team right now.  It sounds like boys at Carthage need to realize who they're playing for, and learn to play as a team.  No team is going to get anywhere with a starter who may or may not want to play on a given night.  I just can't believe that only 3, maybe 4 years removed from some very good teams, the Carthage fans are ready to give up on a coach of Bosko's level, brilliant!

[ScrappyMcTavish]

I think everyone needs to quit holding Bosko responsible for the fact that his players are not executing. They have the shots, but they are just not hitting them.

Too often in socitey, parents and fans(even players... Terrell Owens)) blame the coach for all the ills of the team. Sooner or later, the players need to look in the mirror and accept responsibility.

I was not at the game last night, but I think when your team is really struggling the fans need to be even more supportive. I understand that, as a fan, you are passionate about your team, but calling for the head of one of the nation's premier coaches is a little absurd. Who are you going to get as an "upgrade" from Bosko? I am sure there are many programs in this country that would do anything they could to get him on their staff.

[advoice]

Tj,

I can not speak for the Carthage students or die hard fans because  I am not one of them. I am fan of CCIW basketball who happens to live close to Carthage. Because of that, I see a lot of Red Men games.

My observation of Carthage goes beyond basketball. For some reason, Bosko has not recruited enough good players in the last 4-5 years. Some in Kenosha blame the College itself. Five years ago, Carthage was struggling from an admissions standpoint. They choose to use athletics to boost enrollment. They had soccer teams of 60 kids.

Now that Carthage has become more desireable for the non student-athlete, the financial packages for athletes (and all students) has decreased, thus making it more difficult to recruit.

The other common opinion around Kenosha is that Bosko got complacent. I don't go to any recruiting events around the area so I don't know if he is out recruiting. I do know that I see him at a lot of Bradford HS games, where his son is a junior on the team (perhaps a reason people think he has become complacent).

People say their is talent on this team and I agree to a point, but not good enough talent to compete nationally. The talent people refer to are mostly transfers (Jeffrey, Schlemm, Imani, Johnson). If a D3 team is attempting to live off of transfers, that should tell you something.

[augie22]

Big game this weekend for Augie.

Advoice...why do you think Carthage mailed it in against NC...are they that intimidating?  I don't see how they can be that much better then Augie in Rock Island.  Traditionally Augie has been pretty tough to beat at home.  If anyone has the stats on who has the toughest home court in the CCIW in the past 5 years i would really like to see them, but my guess is if both teams play their best Augie wins by 4 at home.  Right now they are rolling, but then again i haven't seen NC play yet...


coatle

[tjcummingsfan]

Advoice,

Maybe I'm being dense, but what does having transfers "tell you."  All it tells me is that Bosko sees alot of potential CCIW talent in transfers. 

[advoice]

I did not mean to become the resident expert on this topic, nor do I claim to be, but since you asked,

Mass transfers at the D3 level many times (not all) mean that the individual recruiting classes are not working out very well. D3 sports is still an enrollment tool. Classes can be very large with some superstars and also some HS roll players. When I see mass transfers, it raises a red flag that not many hs superstars are being recruited (or retained) at the college.

As far as Carthage, without looking at their roster, Bowens was the only HS superstar that is on the roster (not with the team as of now). Hart was a HS roll player who has developed into potentially a good player (not with team as of now). Chamness from Tremper HS was a HS pretty good player that has not been retained.

If you have 2 or 3 hs superstars per class that are retained at the college and improve throughout their career, where would four more transfer kids play?

As I said before, this is not always the case. Sometimes transfers are flat out an upgrade in talent. The coach then has to make the decision if the transfer is worth possibly disrupting any team chemisty.

Transfers are risky. There is usually a reason they are leaving the institution they are at. (insert your best Schlemm story here)

[natalie]

Okay- I have read this for years and held back from posting, but the Bosko comments have pushed me over the edge. The man has 5 national championship rings. Someone start researching how many other coaches in Div. 3 are sitting on the sideline with an entire hand in rings.

Next, I won't lie and say this years team is playing up to expectations but they have played one of the tougher schedules around the nation. They have played well in some and last night was the first game they just didn't show up in. This squad wasn't great or deep to begin with and then they lost their starting center to personal reasons, the top scorer academically (which i blame the athlete, not the coach), and their starting point guard before the conference opener. That's a lot to lose in one week. You are all lying to yourself if you predicted Carthage to play IWU to a one point game and lose two close games to both Augie and Elmhurst with all that happening.

Bosko might refer to the Wiertel/Garnes/McDaniel era, but you know what... he should. That is what you want your team to become. Everyone on here still reverts back to Bridge's teams, or past NPU champions. These guys are taking there lumps but one or two "players" from this recruiting class to fill some leadership and shooting voids and this team is going to be tough next year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I don't know the situation well enough to weigh in on either side, but even John Wooden knew when it was time to step down, and a lot of people would say it was too early.  Being a great coach doesn't mean it lasts forever.  Wooden got out before it got bad, but there are plenty of other greats who didn't.  Having rings doesn't translate into a lifetime free pass.  Now I don't know if this applies here, but its something to think about.

[natalie]

He made the tournament 3 times since the year 2000. How many other CCIW coaches have done that? 1 right. Okay I say they all resign then. 2002 doesn't seem like a long time ago

[Redmen54]

Since I actually played for Bosko for four years I will put in my two cents: They have started the cciw season without there top scorer and there top post player and have put a scare into 3 of the top 4 teams in the league. I would love to see how well IWU would do without Dauskas and Freeman or NCC would do without Simmons and Walton for example. They are going to take their lumps for a while but get them in now because next year they have almost everyone coming back and the kid who had 30 last night is only a sophomore so he is just going to get better. And Bosko talks about his previous teams so much because that is where he wants this team to get to and I would think that a team that made it to the Final four would be a good example to point to.

[cardinal20]

I saw the game last night in Carthage and I totally agree that Bosko didn't coach. I even commented during the game that the team had the same intensity as their coach. He just sat their all night and wasn't his usual self. All the talk of getting him out might be a little premature, but he did mail it in last night.

Looking ahead to Saturday, the Cards have a great shot at knocking off the Vikings. The frontcourt of Simmons, Walton, and Krumtinger have been great all year and last night Vicario was lights out (5-7 from 3). That is a lot of weapons you have to stop if they are all on. Also, it is the last game on a 7-game road trip and the biggest. If the Cards can pull it off, then they are definitely in the driver's seat with only one remaining road game this year.

[79jaybird]

Good to see Elmhurst get a victory last night, but I am worried about the Wheaton game this weekend.  After looking at the box score vs IWU, Wheaton has the pieces in place to play with the big guys step for step.  Elmhurst better be ready to play.
Bosko would Coach my team.  Everybody talks about the good ol' days.  I have heard Scherrer talk about how special the Ryan Knuppel 2001 Champ team is. 
I agree you have to live for today and not waste time looking at the past.
As always, the current players have to make things happen with hustle. 
I just think the Bosko bashing is somewhat watered down.

[augiedad]

All of the talk about the NCC/Carthage game reminds me of what Titan Q is always discussing re: the "human element" of the game.  It sounds pretty clear to me from reading posts on both sides of the game that Carthage just did not show up at all.  All of the posts after the IWU/Carthage game on both sides (IWU fans and CC fans) were about how hard Carthage competed for 40 minutes.  I assume the same can be said for the CC/Augie game.

A team like Carthage is a real wildcard in this race.  Who will they get up for and who will they lie down against?

[tjcummingsfan]

It seems kinda funny to me that a quiet Bosko is taken as a bad thing, while a quiet Coach Harris is taken as a wise veteran coach who knows when to just let his young team play...

[albcard]

Does anybody here know why Simmons didn't start last night for the Cardinals? It looks like that Drennan kid started in his place. I completely trust what coach Raridon is doing, but I am just curious to hear if anybody knows anything.  Simmons still ended up playing 32 minutes though.... I remeber when Benjy used to shuffle his starting 5 just to wake people up.

On the Bosko subject... I think that he is a good coach that deserves a lot more respect than what people are giving him. Carthage lost yesterday to a sharp cardinal team, but remember their 3 previous games. As many of you have said, Carthage could have been sitting at a 3-1 CCIW record right now. Considering the lack of experience and the loss of some good players, Carthage is not doing that bad. I just don't think it is fair to judge a coach by one bad game or even a bad season. He has the good reputation, but most importantly he also has the rings that all the other coaches in CCIW combined don't have. Anyway, I am starting to sound like a Carthage fan now, so I am going to stop. My heart is with North Central...