MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Viking Mike]

GO AUGIE!

If Augie plays defense like they did Wed against Wheaton, they will be tough to beat.

[Titan Q]

U. of Chicago 103
#4 Emory 102

Matt Johnson hit a 25-foot bomb at the buzzer to win this game.

Johnson has scored 93 points in his last two games (44 vs Brandeis, 49 tonight)!  I have to wonder where that ranks in D3 history in terms of back-to-back games...93 is just crazy!!

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan (15-3, 6-1) vs Wheaton (14-4, 5-2)...

(CCIW-only stats)

PG
(WC) Tyler Peters, 6-4 So – 7.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.1 apg, 0.9 A:TO
(IWU) Eliud Gonzalez, 5-9 Sr – 6.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.9 A:TO

SG
(IWU) Jordan Zimmer, 6-5 Sr – 17.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 23-59 3-point (.390)
(WC) Jeremy Pflederer, 6-0 Sr – 8.0 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.1 apg, 15-43 3-point (.349)

G/F
(WC) Aaron Garriott, 6-4 Jr – 10.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 22-60 FG (.367)
(IWU) John Koschnitzky, 6-6 Sr – 5.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 14-47 FG (.298)

PF
(WC) Tim McCrary, 6-6 Sr – 21.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 55-97 FG (.567)
(IWU) Victor Davis, 6-5 So – 10.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 25-56 FG (.446)

F/C
(WC) Spencer Schultze, 6-6 Sr – 10.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 29-53 FG (.547)
(IWU) Kevin Reed, 6-7 Jr – 8.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 26-43 FG (.605)


Bench

Perimeter:
(WC) Nate Serenius, 6-3 Jr G, 16.4 min/game – 5.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg
(WC) Jon DeMoss, 6-3 So G, 12.6 min/game – 1.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg

(IWU) Stephen Rudnicki, 6-3 Sr G, 18.4 min/game – 6.3 ppg, 2.3 apg
(IWU) Eric Dortch, 6-3 So F, 13.4 min/game - 3.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg

Post:
(IWU) Andrew Ziemnik, 6-5 So PF, 18.1 min/game – 8.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg
(IWU) Nick Anderson, 6-9 So C , 10.6 min/game - 3.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg

(WC) Nathan Haynes, 6-6 So F,  14.7 min/game – 3.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg


Points per Game
IWU, 75.1
Wheaton, 70.3

Field Goal %
Wheaton, .464
IWU, .445

FT
Wheaton, .697
IWU, .695

Assist/Turnover
IWU, 96/82 (1.17)
Wheaton, 90/98 (0.92)


Points Allowed per Game
Wheaton, 64.3
IWU, 66.6

Opponent FG %
Wheaton, .411
IWU, .418

Rebound Margin
IWU, +2.1
Wheaton, -0.7

Opponent Assist/Turnover
IWU, 69/96 (0.72)
Wheaton, 88/117 (0.80)

[Titan Q]

I see the IWU/Wheaton game just like I did before the Jan. 4 game in Bloomington - two extremely evenly matched teams.  That first matchup went to OT...tonight should be another great game.  At King Arena, you probably have to favor Wheaton by about 3 points.   

IWU's John Koschnitzky, who has been playing hurt all season long but has really been struggling lately, is "questionable" for tonight's game...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/iwu-men-hope-to-put-best-foot-forward-against-wheaton/article_b049be5a-4966-11e1-a14c-001871e3ce6c.html

If Koschnitzky can't go, I assume Eric Dortch, Stephen Rudnicki, and Andrew Ziemnik would cover his 26 minutes per game at the 3.  These three have all been good off the bench for the Titans this year.  Dortch is one of the best defenders in the CCIW...Rudnicki is a steady combo guard...Ziemnik is a strong, blue-collar combo forward who can score inside or outside.  I'm not quite sure who Ron Rose would insert into the rotation - could be either freshman PG David Molinari or 6-8 freshman F/C Parker Musselman.

IWU got out-rebounded in the first game 45-43.  I think the Titans have to win the battle of the boards by 5+ tonight in order to win.

[und63]

GO AUGIE!

If Augie plays defense like they did Wed against Wheaton, they will be tough to beat.

If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its rear end so much!

[unanimous22]

Victor Davis is really going to have his hands full tonight, should be interesting. 

IWU's depth will certainly play a large factor tonight, even more so if KMan is out.  I see the Reed/Schultze matchup as being a huge one in this game -- McCrary is going to get his and if Schultze does as well, it could be a long night for the Titans.

Unfortunately, I ultimately see Wheaton pulling it something like 74-70.

Does Bob or someone from Wheaton know if there will be live video from Wheaton?  Thanks.

[Titan Q]

Does Bob or someone from Wheaton know if there will be live video from Wheaton?  Thanks.

Wheaton was way out in front of the video streaming revolution.  WC has been streaming all home games for maybe 5-6 years now...

http://www2.wheaton.edu/learnres/mediares/WETN/wetn_livewindow/WETN-TV.html

[unanimous22]

Does Bob or someone from Wheaton know if there will be live video from Wheaton?  Thanks.

Wheaton was way out in front of the video streaming revolution.  WC has been streaming all home games for maybe 5-6 years now...

http://www2.wheaton.edu/learnres/mediares/WETN/wetn_livewindow/WETN-TV.html

Ahh yes, thank you.  I thought they were in the lead on the technology front, and I probably could have found that with a small google search.

Look forward to watching the stream tonight.

[Titan Q]

Victor Davis is really going to have his hands full tonight, should be interesting. 

The IWU/Wheaton game from Bloomington is archived here ("On Demand")...

http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/iwu.portal#

In that first game, Ron Rose used multiple players on Tim McCrary.  Kevin Reed started on him, with Victor Davis on Schultze.  But throughout the game, Andrew Ziemnik, Nick Anderson, and Davis all guarded McCrary for stretches.  Each of those IWU post players provides a little different look defensively.  I think we'll see the same kind of thing tonight...McCrary is a load.

[Pat Coleman]

U. of Chicago 103
#4 Emory 102

Matt Johnson hit a 25-foot bomb at the buzzer to win this game.

Johnson has scored 93 points in his last two games (44 vs Brandeis, 49 tonight)!  I have to wonder where that ranks in D3 history in terms of back-to-back games...93 is just crazy!!

I don't know of anything near a comprehensive list, but Griffin Lentsch followed his 89 this season with 25 in the following game.

[Gregory Sager]

U. of Chicago 103
#4 Emory 102

Matt Johnson hit a 25-foot bomb at the buzzer to win this game.

Johnson has scored 93 points in his last two games (44 vs Brandeis, 49 tonight)!  I have to wonder where that ranks in D3 history in terms of back-to-back games...93 is just crazy!!

I don't know of anything near a comprehensive list, but Griffin Lentsch followed his 89 this season with 25 in the following game.

I think it should be assumed that all questions of this nature have an implicit "non-Grinnell" clause in them.

Greg, with key emphasis on 'at this point', no.  He leads (by a fairly wide margin) on both the 'glamor' stats: points and rebounds.

But still a long way to go, and several players (esp. Zimmer and Tiknis) are still within shouting distance.  IF Wheaton falls out of the race (GO Titans on Saturday!), his candidacy may falter if others on contenders are even close to his stats (and plenty of time for someone to even exceed his stats).

I don't think that can be your determining factor in deciding the MOP.  Tim McCrary is the best player in the conference and maybe the best big man in the country.  Statistics are not everything in determining that, but Tim McCrary is the complete package.  Considering the fact that Steve Djurkovic won the award last year when his team didn't even make the conference tounrnament, even IF Wheaton faltered, Tim McCrary should get the award. I am a firm believer in giving it to the best player in the conference given that his team finished in the top to middle.  I don't think they should give it to someone "less deserving" (for lack of a better phrase) just because their team finished a spot or two higher in conference.  That is not to take anything away from Tiknis or Zimmer at all.  They are both First Team players and playing well, but Tim McCrary is a level above right now. But that IF doesn't seem relevant because Wheaton is a contender and should be a contender all the way through to the end of the season.

I totally agree. I think that the MOP race is basically over at this point, barring some sort of unfortunate occurrence that would sideline McCrary.

As a former high school coach on the freshman and sophomore level I have noticed the same decline of back to the basket moves you describe. Many of the better 'bigs' are encouraged to work on the face up game, especially if they have their goals at the lower levels of college basketball (DI and DII). Another factor that I have seen is the fact that many of the offenses used at the high school level do not include a strong post presence, especially at the smaller schools. Those schools cannot guarantee having a 'big' year after year, due to the fluctuations in school populations (I work at a school of over 800 students and we haven't have a basketball player over 6'3" in 5 years, although we have a wrestler that's 6'6"). One more cause in the decline is the tendency for the better basketball players to spend time on the AAU circuit in the offseason. I have watched entire AAU games in which a post entry pass was not even attempted. It is a very drive and kick oriented offensive game in the summer. Many of these post players learn that it's wasted energy to post up when they aren't getting the ball and their 'coach' yells at them for clogging the lane!

Excellent points, Pylorus.

[Pat Coleman]

Perhaps, but the NCAA won't track them that way.

[Gregory Sager]

Rob and I will be back on the air tonight at 7 pm, as NPU hosts Elmhurst:

http://athletics.northpark.edu/index.aspx?path=mbball&tab=basketball

For those of you in the Chicago area who want to stop by earlier than that for a fun afternoon, check out North Park's Rick Alspach Memorial Alumni Game that will be held in the crackerbox at 1 pm. There will be plenty of vintage Vikings on hand to show us what they've still got, or what they think they still have but they've lost. It's the perfect opportunity to see the Berki Theory put to the test. The Berki Theory is that slow-moving big men get better with age on the basketball court, because everyone whose game was predicated upon speed and/or quickness when they were younger slows down, while slow-moving big men can't possibly get any slower than they already were.

[iwu70]

Plus, slow moving big men love to lurk at the three point line and stay far away from the lane where they know, at their advanced and wise age, they might get hurt.  The only slow moving big men I know who still play the post area are the ones so big and rotund that they can't be easily guarded and who have developed a soft little baby hook shot, almost impossible to stop.   You have to run around them to guard them!  The late great David Nott, on the Shirk Center pickup courts, was one such example.  I personally played several times per week well into my early 50s, and followed this precept, lurking at the three point line and the wing and seldom venturing into the block area where I used to hold court and score big, especially in Hong Kong where I was considered a giant, almost of Kareem Abdul Jabar proportions, on the hardwoods of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.  Had to change my game when the knees went . . . so then thought of myself as a "safe" perimeter player.  Two knee and one foot surgeries ended my bball career, but I got much more than my share, playing "take no prisoners," full-court basketball for over 45 years.  Knew it was time to quit when some of the new players started calling me "Sir!"  . . . and when the younger, above the rim players had not respect at all for my favorite T-Shirt, "Age and stealth will always overcome youth and skill."  I do miss it, and also miss all the comradery of the United College, CUHK group of guys and gals who played every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. 

Good luck to all the returning alums for the NPU alumni game.  Hope there are no injuries -- egos or otherwise. 

Big game at King in a few hours.  Looks again like a very close matchup, two great teams trading punches.  Do hope the Titans play big and nasty and win the rebounding battle, shoot a good percentage and give the home Thunder a run for their home court money.  We, the Green Weenies, need to steal one tonight.

Big game.  Go Titans!!!

IWU70

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Rob and I will be back on the air tonight at 7 pm, as NPU hosts Elmhurst:

http://athletics.northpark.edu/index.aspx?path=mbball&tab=basketball

For those of you in the Chicago area who want to stop by earlier than that for a fun afternoon, check out North Park's Rick Alspach Memorial Alumni Game that will be held in the crackerbox at 1 pm. There will be plenty of vintage Vikings on hand to show us what they've still got, or what they think they still have but they've lost. It's the perfect opportunity to see the Berki Theory put to the test. The Berki Theory is that slow-moving big men get better with age on the basketball court, because everyone whose game was predicated upon speed and/or quickness when they were younger slows down, while slow-moving big men can't possibly get any slower than they already were.

except when he shuffled his feet, berki was the slowest of them all - can only think of a couple of "near-Berki" slower Viking starters: center Rich Swanson in 1970 and guard Dan Hill.