MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

After the first 20 minutes, wheaton 44 benedictine 30.  Still waitin' for tonight's chili to kick in.....

Here you go 

A great performance by Harve Presnell.  Having to listen to Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin sing really sank this movie.  In the stage show "I was born undering a wonderin star" is a show-stopper - Marvin made it very forgettable - too bad.

Yeah, but did that precious songbird Harve Presnell ever charge a Japanese machine gun position on the beach at Saipan? Did he play tough-guy outlaw Liberty Valance, and play him so well that he stole the movie from John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart? Did that silver-screen warbler Harve Presnell lead the Dirty Dozen or M Squad? Did he take a band of mercenaries, including Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan, across the border to rescue uber-babe Claudia Cardinale during the Mexican Revolution?

No, he did not. Lee Marvin did those things. And the one thing that Lee Marvin did wrong (aside from shacking up with Michelle Triola) was to turn down The Wild Bunch in order to star in Paint Your Wagon -- a momentary bout of career insanity that would be the rough equivalent of Chuck Norris turning down The Hitman in '91 in order to take a part in Fried Green Tomatoes.

The closest Harve Presnell ever got to playing a tough-guy role was when he was William H. Macy's greedy father-in-law in Fargo ... and got peppered full of lead in a Minneapolis parking garage by Steve Buscemi for his troubles.

Steve Buscemi, now there's a man's man for you. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=gikx3o7KcYU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0nTTrJED1o

"He's kinda funny-lookin' ... in a general kinda way."

[Gregory Sager]

North Park beat Rockford in last night's scrimmage, 66-46 (or 31-20 and 35-26, to be more precise). It's hard to glean too much from the scrimmage, given that Rockford is just not very good; the Regents are by no means Millikin-style bad, but I see them heading for a final record of 7-18 or so this year -- although it'd cheer me up when it's all said and done if I turned out to be too hard on the Regents and underestimated them. So, yeah, it's hard to glean too much ... but when has a game that was hard to read ever stopped me from trying, anyway?

First thing you'll notice when you see NPU this year is that Dylan Howard is very different in style and demeanor than his predecessor. Whereas Paul Brenegan was contemplative, largely stationary, and not likely to raise his voice much unless the wheels were falling off, Dylan Howard is always moving, always yelling, and is highly emotionally involved in what's going on in the game. And he's not simply a critical yeller, either; he's also quick to praise a player who does something right on the floor, which greatly pleased me.

Second thing you'll notice is that the Vikings are playing very hard on the defensive end of the floor. Even though NPU will be sporting a new offense this year, it's patently obvious that a serious portion of the team's practice time has been devoted to defense, in both team and individual aspects. I can't recall ever seeing NPU's six seniors work harder at the defensive end of the floor, and, although they weren't always doing things the right way on D, they were at least doing things the wrong way with a sense of urgency. Coach Howard definitely has their attention, that's for sure.

The offensive end of the floor was less encouraging. Because we only see games and not practices, we fans tend to have a difficult time showing patience with a team that's working in a new offense. All we see is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of effort and teaching that has gone into it. Now, before I say anything else, let me state for the record that I understand why the previous regime ran the kind of offense that it did; it seemed to be the style of play best suited to the type of players that the program was able to get. But it didn't work well, because it was all-too-easily defensed, and the fallout from it is that it has made the transition to the new offense even more difficult. As the name implies, the whole point of a motion offense is that the players are continuously moving; however, last night there was far too much standing still and surveying the landscape while dribbling in place, a nasty aftereffect among the seniors of three years of running one-on-one iso's. As the coaches said afterwards last night, the players understand what they're supposed to do and they do it in practice, but when there's another team there and refs and fans and a shot clock, they revert back to what they know best. This will take some time to correct.

I will say that the Vikes were genuinely unselfish with the ball, and showed more patience and less of a tendency to take bad shots than was formerly the case, and the unselfishness showed up in the scorebook: Kendell Greer was the leading scorer with 12 points, Mike Gabriel added 11, and Emanuel Crosby, Mark Holmes, and D.A. Robinson each chipped in 10. Coach Howard basically used a nine-man rotation, with the five above players joined by Ro Russell (7 pts), and Phil Schniedermeier, Christian Alsing, and Mike Rice (2 pts apiece). Rice was a bit of a surprise to me; aside from a brief cameo by Reggie McGee, he was the only freshman to see any time with the big boys, and he didn't play with the JV at all last night. He looks as though he could turn into a nice player down the road, although like most plebes he needs to become physically stronger.

Offensively, at least, Gabriel looked very solid last night. Crosby was running the floor like a Kentucky Derby thoroughbred and at one point actually got an uncontested layup on a runout, which came as a total shock to me; I've grown used to seeing him lope from one block to another over the past three years. Greer's ability to do a lot of things at both ends of the floor will be one of the keys to NPU's fortunes this season. But I'm sure that most of the people in attendance last night were checking out the new guy, Mark Holmes. He is, as advertised, a 6'6 wing with highly-polished perimeter skills to go along with a great deal of athleticism. I expect great things from him.

But ... like I said, it was only a scrimmage, and it was only Rockford. Last night was just a brief preseason snapshot. We'll see how far the Vikes have come along five days from now when they travel to Eureka for the season opener.

[dansand]

Didn't make the trip up to Platteville for last night's scrimmage with UWP, but here are some details:

Total score: Augie 77, UWP 55 (first two halves--didn't get a half-by-half breakdown)
Voiles: 23 pts (6-8 3's) in 25 minutes
Norton: 10 pts & 8 reb in 23 minutes
Kunz, Scarlata & Norton: combined 30 pts & 18 reb (10-13 from the field)
Jurgutis: 0 turnovers in 18 minutes & looks to be the front runner at the backup PG spot
Held UWP to 36% (18-50) FG shooting

[iwu70]

Very sorry to hear about Brady Zimmer.  Hope his surgery is successful and that he has a smooth recovery and rehab.

IWU70

[Titan Q]

IWU defeated Loras 87-72 this evening in Dubuque (that is the total of the two 20-minute periods).  I don't have much more than that.

Pretty solid win I think.  In looking at the Loras roster, they have a chance to be good this year...

http://www.duhawks.com/roster/0/1.php


Loras opens against Wheaton on Tuesday.

[Titan Q]

I posted my annual IWU season preview on IWUhoops.com...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/


As usual, I've taken a stab a CCIW starting lineups - many are just guesses.  But what the heck.

Enjoy.

[markerickson]

"is always moving, always yelling, and is highly emotionally involved in what's going on in the game. And he's not simply a critical yeller, either; he's also quick to praise a player who does something right on the floor."  Like the Bosco I remember. 

I'd love to see a return to the man to man defense that Bosco used at NPC.  Since I am not a student of the game, I do not know whether the deployment of a man to man defense in the three-point shot era is ineffective at its best.

[Gregory Sager]

"is always moving, always yelling, and is highly emotionally involved in what's going on in the game. And he's not simply a critical yeller, either; he's also quick to praise a player who does something right on the floor."  Like the Bosco I remember.

Except that, unlike Bosko, Dylan yells in English rather than Boskovian.

[iwu70]

Good one, Greg.  This is to say that Carthage then has a Department of Boskovian?  I wonder what we'd call Scott Trost's language type?  I'll have to consult Adam Dauksas.  Luckily, a Rose is a rose. 

IWU70

[iwu70]

Q, thanks for your Titan season review on iwuhoops.com     Very helpful. 

Glad to hear the Titans had such a pleasant trip to Loras last night.

IWU70 

[AndOne]

From Titan Q's preseason CCIW review------

North Central (15-11 overall, 11-3)

Starters Returning: (4) F Landon Gamble*, 6-6 So (14.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg), F Derek Raridon*, 6-6 Jr (13.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg), PG Kevin Gillespie, 5-11 Sr (8.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.2 apg), F Jack Burchett, 6-6 So (5.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg)

Starters Lost: (1) G Brian Evans, 6-3 (6.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.7 apg - 3rd Team All-CCIW)

Top Returning Reserve: G CJ Goldthree, 6-0 So (9.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg)

Projected Starting Lineup:

G – Kevin Gillespie, 5-11 Sr

G - CJ Goldthree, 6-0 So

F - Derek Raridon, 6-6 Jr* (2nd Team)

F - Jack Burchett, 6-6 So

F - Landon Gamble, 6-6 Fr* (1st Team, Midwest Region "Rookie of the Year")

Based on information available to an "outsider" to the NCC program, the above 5 players are certainly the logical choices to start for NCC this season.

However, it is entirely possible that the opening night lineup will feature, for various reasons, only Raridon and Gamble. As many as four of the players mentioned may start, with the current likelihood being that 3 of them will do so. 

[AndOne]

The North Central athletic complex will be a busy place Saturday with the annual basketball Tip Off Tourney taking place in the Merner Fieldhouse hangar featuring women's games at noon and 5:00, and men's games at 2:30 and 7:30, while the football team will host Dubuque in a 1st round playoff game next door in Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium also beginning at noon.

[Titan Q]

Got an e-mail about the North Central/Chicago scrimmage...

Chicago won the two halves by a combined score of 74-55.

Apparently returning starter Jack Burchett, a 6-6 F, is not playing basketball this year.

[Titan Q]

I count 33 freshmen from 2010-11 CCIW rosters that are not on 2011-12 rosters...

North Park (11)
Rob Robinson (5-9, De La Salle H.S.)
Mike Woolf (6-1, Leyden H.S.)
Deon Lockhart (6-1, Uplift H.S.)
Zac Boster (6-0, Huntley H.S.)
Matt  Parks (6-0, Saginaw, MI)
Mike Henley (6-8, Lincoln Park H.S.)
John Folkerts (6-3, Aplington, IA)
Ibrahim Mouzaoui (6-11 Chicago, IL)
Matt Nelson (6-2, Wheaton North H.S.)
Alphonso Battle (6-2, St. Louis, Mo)
Stephawn Woodley (6-5, Decatur Eisenhower H.S.)

Carthage (6)
Adam Voss (6-6 F, Oak Creek, WI)
Zack Akins (6-0 G, Kenosha, WI)
Chris Bauer (6-2 G, Glenbrook South H.S.)
Chris Schlitz (G, Des Plaines, IL)
Scott Suchy (6-0 G, Genoa-Kingston H.S.)
Devon Wells (6-3 F, Farmersville, CA)

North Central (4)
Brad Hallstein (6-8 F, Normal West H.S.)
Jack Burchett (6-6 F, Providence Catholic H.S.)
John Colao (6-3 G, Libertyville H.S.)
Joe Wichert (5-10 G, Seneca H.S.)

Augustana (4)
Curtis Allbaugh (6-1 G, Ferryville, WI)
Sean Finn (6-2 G, Davenport, IA)
P.J. Killean (6-3 G, Maine South H.S.)
Sam Savaglio (6-0 G, Kenosha, WI)

Illinois Wesleyan (3)
Joe LaTulip (5-10 G, Prospect H.S.)
Bobby Czarnowski (6-3 G, Naperville Central H.S.)
Trent Swigert (6-0 G, Macon-Meridian H.S.)

Wheaton (2)
Mickey DeVries (6-7 F, Lansing, MI)
Phil James (6-6 F, Durham, NC)

Millikin (2)
Urbane Dunlap (6-7 F, Century H.S.)
Jacob Shasteen (6-4 G, Macon-Meridian H.S.)

Elmhurst (1)
JP Scala (6-3 G, St. Patrick H.S.)

[iwu70]

It will be very busy around the Shirk Center, Wilder Field at Tucci Stadium this Saturday as well.  Big IWU Invitational Swim meet at Shirk that day.  Football at Noon.  Tailgaiting at IWU is usually in the lots directly east of the football field.  More parking in the SE lots, near the Stadium, with some tailgating there, too, if you come early enough.  Even more parking further south in the lots near the Theta Chi House and also the lots directly East of Hansen Student Center.  Good luck finding your way . . . it will be busy and likely quite full.  Men and women basketball teams are playing that day too, though both teams are away -- the men in Jacksonville, IL. and the women in Wisconsin.

Good luck to the Titans this coming weekend . . . football, basketball . . . and swimming!

Interesting list, Q, which seems mostly dominated by players under 6'3", guards and perimeter players who didn't make it out of JV play?  Some transfers, some folks leaving school . . . no doubt.  Tough economic times . . . and perhaps too many good guards in the CCIW?

IWU70