MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[usee]

indeed Urbane Dunlap and CJ Goldthree may merit consideration for All name All CCIW, but they pale in comparison to a fellow being discussed in the GSAC room... truly an All Name All American...   Prettyboi Knuckles.....   

Holy nomenclature...................WOW.

[Titan Q]

D3hoops.com preseason Top 25...

http://www.d3hoops.com/top25/

#4 IWU
#5 Carthage
#24 Augustana

Receiving votes: Wheaton

[Titan Q]

2010-11 CCIW preseason coaches poll:

1.) Carthage - 46 (4 first place votes);
2.) Illinois Wesleyan - 45 (4 first place votes);
3.) Augustana - 37;
4.) Wheaton - 32;
5.) North Park - 22;
6.) North Central - 19;
7.) Elmhurst - 15;
8.) Millikin - 8.

[AndOne]

For my money, as far as an "on paper" favorite, I'll give the 1st place nod to Wesleyan.
I believe they have more weapons that have more experience than does Carthage. Of course CC has All World Stevie D who is worth a ton just by himself. However, I like IWU's overall depth and experience over the Redmen, err Red Men. As good as he is, I think Wesleyan will be able to replace Zimmer more easily that it would be possible for Carthage to replace one it its starters. CC is however, certainly very capable of repeating last year's regular season top finish. I think they may even have a stronger team than at the end of last year when, for whatever reason(s) I can't figure out, Cody Hilton was starting over Malcolm Kelly.

Likewise, if things come down to a battle between Wheaton and North Park for 4th place, as predicted, I'll take NPU. While the Thunder can bring the fabulous Tim McCrary, NP does not have as bright a star in its lineup. However, I just think the eastern Vikings squad is faster, more athletic, deeper and tougher as a whole. The "toughness" factor may be the telling virtue in the rough and tumble CCIW.

Additionally, there was some previous speculation that Elmhurst would merit more consideration than North Central. I believe that this was primarily due to the addition of former York HS players Sean Fendley, booted out of Carthage, and Steve Crane, ineffective at D2 Lewis. It seems NCC's nod over EC is due to a combination of a healthy dose of a stronger Derek Raridon, the D3Hoops national freshman of the year, plus a strong crop of high potential newcomers, coupled with the realization that Fendley spent last year away from the game and Crane spent the majority of his time watching basketball as opposed to playing basketball

[Gregory Sager]

Also, the Big Blue won't have a lot of size; the 6'6 Taylor and 6'7 freshman Urbane Dunlap (my new favorite CCIW name) are the only players listed who are taller than 6'4. That's nothing new for Millikin, of course; over the past dozen seasons the Big Blue have had a tendency to be pretty small by CCIW standards. But it'll make for a really interesting dynamic when MU faces Augie.

Greg----

I'd like to nominate NCC frosh C.J. Goldthree as a possible contender for your favorite name status. The name might be especially appealing if he turns out to be a good marksman from downtown.

That's a very good one, although I don't think anybody's gonna top Prettyboi Knuckles.

Additional observations----

As far as I'm concerned, the less I see of Emanuel Crosby the better. I thought he was terrific last year. Phil is is a good player, but sometimes he tries to do to much and plays outside of his comfort zone. As such, he is more prone to mistakes/TOs than is Crosby who knows his bread and butter is to establish good low position, call for the ball, relentlessly back his defender down, and then lay it up and in having cleared the way like an out of control bulldozer.

The biggest problem that Schniedermeier has had, aside from the obvious problem that he hasn't been able to stay healthy, is that he has tended to rush his layups. He would go up and release it prematurely, or force it up there, and it resulted in a lot of blown chances at an easy deuce. He's worked hard at slowing down his release and polishing his technique since being cleared to play this summer. He looks much better now; in fact, I'd go so far as to say that he's turned into a pretty strong finisher. I don't think that the Vikings are going to suffer at all when Crosby comes out of the game and Schniedermeier comes in.

I think Boyd's chances will be hurt by the fact he won't be able to showcase his talents as much as history shows us Fendley will no doubt take a substantial number of the shots that would have been Boyd's. When Fendley is on the floor, its shoot first and everything else is an afterthought.

Fendley isn't the kind of guy who's going to create many looks for himself, so his desire to shoot a lot will be limited by the abilities of his teammates to get him the ball in a place where he's open. That's where Boyd, who isn't a three-point threat himself (only 4-19 from downtown for the entire 2009-10 season), would come in -- but with two big transfers now working the inside game for Elmhurst, Boyd could be squeezed from both sides in terms of his scoring. I still think that he'll wind up being Elmhurst's leading scorer, but I don't see him putting up All-CCIW second-team numbers. And, as I said, I think Elmhurst's going to finish far enough down in the standings that the coaches might be more inclined to just give the Bluejays a token third-team slot, anyway.

Not sure if the Bosko Healthy Eating Plan has had much of an effect yet, but this summer Pierce looked to be just a biscuit or two short of at least 250. He was certainly nowhere near the 230 he is listed as on the CC roster. If Pierce is at, or can get to his desired playing weight, he is another almost unstoppable force.

I'm pretty sure that the Red Men's dietary regimen is not built around the gyros plate at Charcoal Delights, so I wouldn't blame Pierce's weight problem upon the Bosko Healthy Eating Plan. But, yeah, Pierce's weight and game shape has to be a concern for the Red Men. One immobile low-post player in the rotation is bad enough; two would be a tough obstacle to overcome for Carthage.

2010-11 CCIW preseason coaches poll:

1.) Carthage - 46 (4 first place votes);
2.) Illinois Wesleyan - 45 (4 first place votes);
3.) Augustana - 37;
4.) Wheaton - 32;
5.) North Park - 22;
6.) North Central - 19;
7.) Elmhurst - 15;
8.) Millikin - 8.

Pretty much how I saw it playing out. I figured that Carthage and Illinois Wesleyan would be a toss-up, and a one-point difference with the eight first-place votes evenly split between them is as much of a toss-up as you can get in the preseason poll. As expected, Wheaton places ahead of North Park, although the ten-point gap between the two surprised me a bit; NPU is closer to seventh-place Elmhurst in this poll than it is to fourth-place Wheaton. As I said, more fuel for the fire.

The coaches chat was very interesting. Some comments worth highlighting:

Grey Giovanine, AC: [when asked about the toughness of this year's edition of the CCIW] "The league you coach/play in is always the toughest in America because it is really the only one you care about." [in sharp contrast, all seven of his peers waxed rhapsodic about the strength of the CCIW, this year in particular]

[in response to this two-part question: "Is there one or two of the freshman guards that is ready to step up and play some meaningful minutes? Do you feel like you'll get a lot of open perimeter looks with the quality of your interior players?"] "No. Yes."

Bosko Djurickovic, CC: [on who will take Cody Hilton's spot in the starting five] "We have six returning players who all started many games last year. Game situations and match-ups will determine who of those six will start each night."

[on where he ranks his son among the league's all-time greats] "A very tough question because he is my son. i think that it is safe to say that he is one of the better guards that have played in our league." [looks like you've just been given the Djurickovic rope-a-dope, Bob. ]

Mark Scherer, EC: "We feel that with the addition of transfers Steve Crane from Lewis and Jahbril Scott from Berea, that we have significantly improved our size and depth in the post."

Ron Rose, IWU: "Given Jordan [Zimmer] just broke his foot two days ago, we have not addressed who will fill his anticipated starting spot."

Marc Smith, MU: "We will be playing five newcomers and four of them are freshmen ..."

"This is the season to switch things up and implement a more up-tempo offense."

"[Our top newcomers are] Matt Merrigan, Nikko Robertson, and McKinley Maples."

Todd Raridon, NCC: [in response to a question as to whether Derek Raridon would play more post or more perimeter this coming season] "Probably both."

Paul Brenegan, NPU: "[6'11, 260 freshman center] Walid Mouzaoui is a very intriguing prospect. He has tremendous size, mobility, and has good hands and feet. With that being said, he has not played basketball in 5 years. He is still getting into shape and that may take him a while. However, because of his unique size and skill set, he should be a contributor for our varsity team."

"We have not established a starting 5 yet. Both players [Emanuel Crosby and Phil Schniedermeier] are working very hard in practice and there is a chance we may utilize them together." [Happy birthday, Mark Erickson! ]

Mike Schauer, WC: "Spencer Schultze is our most improved player."

"At this point I am pretty sure Tim McCrary, Andrew Jahns, and Spencer Schultze will start. After that it is still very much undecided."

"I like our freshmen class. Unfortunately, the most heavily recruited of the group (Michael Kvam) tore his ACL and will miss the season. However, I expect Jon DeMoss and Tyler Peters to contribute immediately."

"Unfortunately, it appears as if Aaron's [Aaron Garriott's] basketball career may be over. He has just never fully recovered from the knee issues that have bothered him for the past 2 years. I hurt for him. " [I'm sorry to hear this.]

"I love our guards. With Jeremy Pflederer back we are deep and more experienced at guard than people realize. We have a couple of freshmen who will see playing time immediately, and Nate Serenius is offensively ready to play in this league."

* * *

Thanks to CCIW SID Mike Krizman and the league office for making this possible. The coaches chat is a great new feature, and it provides plenty of conversational fodder for us.

[Gregory Sager]

I think they may even have a stronger team than at the end of last year when, for whatever reason(s) I can't figure out, Cody Hilton was starting over Malcolm Kelly.

Cody Hilton started because he was a stronger defender than Malcom Kelly, although I think that Kelly has the upside to be better at every phase of the game than Hilton was, defense included.

Likewise, if things come down to a battle between Wheaton and North Park for 4th place, as predicted, I'll take NPU. While the Thunder can bring the fabulous Tim McCrary, NP does not have as bright a star in its lineup. However, I just think the eastern Vikings squad is faster, more athletic, deeper and tougher as a whole. The "toughness" factor may be the telling virtue in the rough and tumble CCIW.

You're not helping my "more fuel for the fire" campaign on behalf of NPU, Mark.

Additionally, there was some previous speculation that Elmhurst would merit more consideration than North Central. I believe that this was primarily due to the addition of former York HS players Sean Fendley, booted out of Carthage, and Steve Crane, ineffective at D2 Lewis. It seems NCC's nod over EC is due to a combination of a healthy dose of a stronger Derek Raridon, the D3Hoops national freshman of the year, plus a strong crop of high potential newcomers, coupled with the realization that Fendley spent last year away from the game and Crane spent the majority of his time watching basketball as opposed to playing basketball.

I don't know who was speculating that Elmhurst would be picked ahead of North Central -- I didn't see it here, and I certainly didn't believe it myself -- but I think that Elmhurst should be a stronger team this year than it was last year, even if the eventual conference record of the Bluejays might not show it. It's just ridiculous to expect anything good to come out of a season in which you aren't playing anyone listed over 6'3, 190. Crane may or may not turn out to be a stiff, but if nothing else his mere physical presence should be a help. The person whom I want to know more about is Jahbril Scott, the 6'7, 235 junior transfer from Berea whom Mark Scherer mentioned by name in the chat this morning. I tried to look for online info about Scott when Elmhurst's roster was posted two weeks ago, and, unfortunately, Berea is a vacuum when it comes to data regarding its basketball team. Scott's listed as a center and Crane as a forward/center, so it's conceivable that both could play together. On the other hand, I'm inclined to think that Scherer won't simultaneously demote both his starting C (Aaron Schroeder, who's sprouted to 6'4, 200 since last spring) and starting PF (Joe Acosta) from last season. That would be a pretty drastic thing to do to two veterans at the same time.

[Titan Q]

I think they may even have a stronger team than at the end of last year when, for whatever reason(s) I can't figure out, Cody Hilton was starting over Malcolm Kelly.

Cody Hilton started because he was a stronger defender than Malcom Kelly, although I think that Kelly has the upside to be better at every phase of the game than Hilton was, defense included.

Last season each time IWU and Carthage played, Bosko seemed to start his gameplan with "stop Jordan Zimmer from beyond the arc."  Cody Hilton guarded Zimmer 4 times and did a terrific job on him each time.

Hilton also did a great job on Anderson perimeter star Ty Riddle in the NCAA tournament it sounds like (I bumped into this article a few weeks back when evaluating Anderson as a Top 25 candidate)...

http://www.anderson.edu/w/news/2010/carthage-ends-ravens-season-in-ncaa-tournament

"We just played a good team and we couldn't get any shots to fall," said Riddle. "(Defender Cody Hilton) was physical and I couldn't get any space. They didn't let me get any good looks and he's one of the best defenders I've ever played against."


Hilton was not much of a scorer (I still cannot believe that 3 he made against IWU in the final minute of the CCIW tournament game!!), but he will be missed by Carthage.

[dansand]

The person whom I want to know more about is Jahbril Scott, the 6'7, 235 junior transfer from Berea whom Mark Scherer mentioned by name in the chat this morning. I tried to look for online info about Scott when Elmhurst's roster was posted two weeks ago, and, unfortunately, Berea is a vacuum when it comes to data regarding its basketball team.

Berea's a vacuum? Does that mean they suck? ...sorry. Hey, at least I refrained from making the obvious inappropriate comment about the name Prettyboi Knuckles.

Here are Scott's stats from Berea (minimal--although if accurate, he jammed a lot into one minute of playing time) and his senior season at Iowa City West:

## Player              GP-GS  Min--Avg  FG-FGA   Pct 3FG-FGA   Pct  FT-FTA   Pct  Off Def  Tot  Avg  PF   A  TO Blk Stl  Pts  Avg
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008-09 ICWHS......... 18-18            34-63   .540   0-1    .000  14-28   .500   42  47   89  4.9  48   3  29   4   6   82  4.6
2009-10 Berea.........  1-0     1 1.0    0-1    .000   0-0    .000   0-0    .000    1   1    2  2.0   0   0   1   0   1    0  0.0

[Gregory Sager]

Nice detective work, Dan!

[Titan Q]

For any interested Chicago area fans, just a reminder that #4 IWU and #10 St. Norbert scrimmage tomorrow @ Elgin Community College, 1:00pm.

The little lady and I will be in Tulsa, OK tomorrow for the annual Tulsa Run (15K) so not sure if I'll be around to get and post a recap or not.  If someone goes, please post details.

This will be IWU's first real chance to figure out what the post-Zimmer injury rotation looks like.

[AndOne]

For any interested Chicago area fans, just a reminder that #4 IWU and #10 St. Norbert scrimmage tomorrow @ Elgin Community College, 1:00pm.

The little lady and I will be in Tulsa, OK tomorrow for the annual Tulsa Run (15K) so not sure if I'll be around to get and post a recap or not.  If someone goes, please post details.

This will be IWU's first real chance to figure out what the post-Zimmer injury rotation looks like.

Bob---

Its nice that you'll be accompanying your better half to lend moral support while she tackles the 15K. 

[Titan Q]

For any interested Chicago area fans, just a reminder that #4 IWU and #10 St. Norbert scrimmage tomorrow @ Elgin Community College, 1:00pm.

The little lady and I will be in Tulsa, OK tomorrow for the annual Tulsa Run (15K) so not sure if I'll be around to get and post a recap or not.  If someone goes, please post details.

This will be IWU's first real chance to figure out what the post-Zimmer injury rotation looks like.

Bob---

Its nice that you'll be accompanying your better half to lend moral support while she tackles the 15K.  

Hey my friend, I've knocked out 3 half marathons in 2010 (Phoenix, St. Louis, Chicago) with Las Vegas scheduled on Dec 5.  9.3 miles is actually going to be somewhat enjoyable I think!

[John Gleich]

With practice starting tomorrow, my best guess at IWU's top 10 heading in is...

PG - Travis Rosenkranz, 6-0 Sr (Eliud Gonzalez, 5-9 Jr)
SG - Sean Johnson, 6-1 Sr (Stephen Rudnicki, 6-3 Jr)
SF - Jordan Zimmer, 6-5 Jr (Matt Schick, 6-4 Sr)
PF - John Koschnitzky, 6-6 Jr (Kevin Reed, 6-7 So)
C - Doug Sexauer, 6-7 Sr (Ryan Connolly, 6-9 Jr)

(I'd probably have Dan Oswald included if healthy, but he's been dealing with knee problems.)


There is a talented group of players behind these guys ready to push for spots...especially at the PG, SG, SF, and PF reserve positions.  I'm interested to see how Ron Rose's rotation looks on November 15 (opener at Benedictine), and then on January 5 (first CCIW game, vs NCC).  

IWU suffered a pretty big blow yesterday in practice.  6-5 junior G/F Jordan Zimmer, a returning starter, broke his foot.  It sounds to me like the same break the caused John Koschnitzky to miss about 2 months last year, and also the same one that cost Sean Dwyer his entire freshman season.

Zimmer averaged 9.6 ppg last year and made 54 of 132 (.409) 3's.  He was huge in NCAA tournament wins over Central and Wash U (rounds 1 & 2).  It's definitely a significant setback for the Titans.  From watching 3 practices a couple weeks ago, I really felt like Jordan Zimmer was poised for a big junior year.

The good news is that IWU still has 3 returning all-CCIW players (Sexauer, Johnson, Rosenkranz) and some good options for replacing Zimmer in the starting lineup.  My best guess is that Ron Rose will move John Koschnitzky back to the 3 (where he is very comfortable) and insert another 4 (the 4 is where IWU has the most depth).  That is completely a guess though.

I have not heard when Zimmer is expected back, but having seen this same kind of injury several times, I'd guess mid-January.  The problem, though, is that it takes a long time to get back in shape and into the flow after something like this.  John Koschnitzky was really never quite right last season after he returned.

I've been thinking the last few days as I've processed this... could there be something about the Shirk's floor that makes players more prone to foot and ankle injuries?

Maybe I'm off base, but it seems like IWU has had its share of these types of injuries over the years.

And maybe it's just pure coincidence... and I don't know that there's any way to prove it conclusively either way (unless 4 or 5 guys end up going down).  Never having had the chance to play there, I'm not going off of any past experience or anything... but it just seems like there has been a higher-than-average occurance of these (and they typically seem to be of the season-ending variety).

[Gregory Sager]

With practice starting tomorrow, my best guess at IWU's top 10 heading in is...

PG - Travis Rosenkranz, 6-0 Sr (Eliud Gonzalez, 5-9 Jr)
SG - Sean Johnson, 6-1 Sr (Stephen Rudnicki, 6-3 Jr)
SF - Jordan Zimmer, 6-5 Jr (Matt Schick, 6-4 Sr)
PF - John Koschnitzky, 6-6 Jr (Kevin Reed, 6-7 So)
C - Doug Sexauer, 6-7 Sr (Ryan Connolly, 6-9 Jr)

(I'd probably have Dan Oswald included if healthy, but he's been dealing with knee problems.)


There is a talented group of players behind these guys ready to push for spots...especially at the PG, SG, SF, and PF reserve positions.  I'm interested to see how Ron Rose's rotation looks on November 15 (opener at Benedictine), and then on January 5 (first CCIW game, vs NCC).  

IWU suffered a pretty big blow yesterday in practice.  6-5 junior G/F Jordan Zimmer, a returning starter, broke his foot.  It sounds to me like the same break the caused John Koschnitzky to miss about 2 months last year, and also the same one that cost Sean Dwyer his entire freshman season.

Zimmer averaged 9.6 ppg last year and made 54 of 132 (.409) 3's.  He was huge in NCAA tournament wins over Central and Wash U (rounds 1 & 2).  It's definitely a significant setback for the Titans.  From watching 3 practices a couple weeks ago, I really felt like Jordan Zimmer was poised for a big junior year.

The good news is that IWU still has 3 returning all-CCIW players (Sexauer, Johnson, Rosenkranz) and some good options for replacing Zimmer in the starting lineup.  My best guess is that Ron Rose will move John Koschnitzky back to the 3 (where he is very comfortable) and insert another 4 (the 4 is where IWU has the most depth).  That is completely a guess though.

I have not heard when Zimmer is expected back, but having seen this same kind of injury several times, I'd guess mid-January.  The problem, though, is that it takes a long time to get back in shape and into the flow after something like this.  John Koschnitzky was really never quite right last season after he returned.

I've been thinking the last few days as I've processed this... could there be something about the Shirk's floor that makes players more prone to foot and ankle injuries?

Maybe I'm off base, but it seems like IWU has had its share of these types of injuries over the years.

And maybe it's just pure coincidence... and I don't know that there's any way to prove it conclusively either way (unless 4 or 5 guys end up going down).  Never having had the chance to play there, I'm not going off of any past experience or anything... but it just seems like there has been a higher-than-average occurance of these (and they typically seem to be of the season-ending variety).

I think it's pure coincidence. I can think of other schools -- NPU and Augie come to mind -- that have been afflicted by similar rashes of foot, ankle, and knee injuries in recent years in their men's and women's basketball programs that were suffered on their home floors. Over the past three years, for instance, NPU has had three ACL tears among the men and two among the women, along with at least two broken feet and who knows how many sprained ankles, all taking place on the floor of the crackerbox. Sometimes these things seem to come and go in waves, for whatever reason.

[AndOne]

The coaches chat was very interesting. Some comments worth highlighting:

Todd Raridon, NCC: [in response to a question as to whether Derek Raridon would play more post or more perimeter this coming season] "Probably both."

I would have liked to hear his response to the question as to whether Derek would score as many points this year as last. Pretty sure it would have been something on the order of "Hopefully not." NCC will have a very nice number of players this year whose primary strength may well be the ability to score--both on the interior and from the perimeter.