MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin 68
North Park 59

After an egregiously sloppy first half in which the Vikings coughed up the ball 11 times and went into the locker room down by five, I thought that NPU might right the ship. The Vikes started off the second half by going on a 7-1 run to take a brief 33-32 lead, but then the wheels fell off completely. NPU was unable to make any kind of a layup or close-in shot, and it was just agonizing to watch. The Big Blue went on a 13-2 run, and were never again challenged.

Mark Holmes had 19 and 7 for NPU. TJ Griffin led Millikin with 17, Deavis Johnson had 15, and Tommy Pilackis had 11. Jaylon Owens and Johnson had eight boards apiece for MU.

NPU turned the ball over 17 times tonight, and it felt like 50. It's just plain hard to win basketball games without a point guard, but there's plenty of blame to spread around for the Park. Zach Cassita's struggles at protecting the ball and running the offense are just the tip of the iceberg. Aaron Weaver has disappeared, Mark Holmes is trying much too hard and is making it even more difficult for himself as a result, and the rest of the Vikings ... well, there's just not enough there for the rest of the Vikings to matter much. NPU is going to have to scratch and claw just to avoid an 0-14 campaign in CCIW play this year. The win over UW-LaCrosse was a mirage, because this is a very bad basketball team by CCIW standards. It was never really expected to be anything else, of course, but there you go.

I'm very impressed with the Matt Nadelhoffer Puppy Farm. The Big Blue plays young, and a good play one moment will be followed by an equally bad play a moment later. Such are the growing pains of a team whose entire rotation save for one player consists of freshmen. But they are very talented, and they really seem to buy into what their coach is asking of them. They'll win some more games this CCIW season, especially considering how dismal NPU and Elmhurst look, and by next year the Big Blue should be threatening the top-tier teams on any given night.

As I keep saying, nothing's gonna break the NPU program out of this hole except to duplicate what Nadelhoffer did last year, when he essentially put his life on hold in order to spend every waking hour working on wooing prospects. The NPU coaching staff is well aware of this, too. If Tom Slyder doesn't get the players in next year with whom he can start to rebuild, it won't be for lack of trying.

[Pat Coleman]

I'm very impressed with the Matt Nadelhoffer Puppy Farm.

+1

[Gregory Sager]

North Central really played impressively in the second half tonight. Aside from some sloppy decision-making in the last three minutes, which Wheaton could not manage to exploit -- lots of Wheaton steals followed by Wheaton misses -- and some really bad FT shooting (an ongoing problem which will come back to burn the Cardinals eventually), NCC really had its way with Wheaton. The Cards shut down Tyler Peters, who could not get to the rim and thus had to settle for lots of running floaters from the lane that rimmed out. And Aaron Tiknis was a one-man wrecking crew tonight, both in terms of his shooting and his passing. His ability to lob in passes to Landon Gamble from all sorts of angles, be they open or tight, was pretty amazing. Nate Haynes had the big double-double, and Gamble had a double-double as well, but Tiknis was the best player on the floor tonight.

A very strong win for NCC this evening over a Wheaton team that just plain looked outmanned in the second half.

[sac]

Matt Nadelhoffer Puppy Farm

This is why I read this board.  also +k

[Mr. Ypsi]

Matt Nadelhoffer Puppy Farm

This is why I read this board.  also +k

You mean it is not to get the dope on Wheaton and Carthage (and now IWU)??

[Pat Coleman]

Matt Nadelhoffer Puppy Farm

This is why I read this board.  also +k

You mean it is not to get the dope on Wheaton and Carthage (and now IWU)??

There are plenty of dopes on every board.

[CCIWchamps]

Wheaton played a great first half and made the extra plays - steals, poke aways, gathering loose balls - to get the shots they wanted and lead NCC.  But in the 2nd half they came out flat, settled for what NCC gave them, and never got back into it.  NCC played solidly throughout and put the knife in deeper with a 10 point run 1/2 way through the 2nd half, pulling away while Wheaton had to look for runs just to get back in it.  I would've liked to have seen Peters attack the rim more in the 2nd half like he did against IWU on Wednesday, but he didn't have it tonight.  NCC shares the points around and has a good inside presence that pops open looks outside.  And Tiknis was hitting them.  Great defense too, though it seemed like Haynes was the only one making the extra effort in the second half for Wheaton.

Speaking of that, I'd have loved to have seen him on the floor on Wednesday.  He's a difference maker.  The first play of the game tonight he blocked a shot off the board and got the rebound.  He brings a presence into the space down low. 

For the Freshmen playing their first game at NCC, at least they got this one out of the way and can chalk it up to experience.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton shot .288 from the floor tonight. That's not a bad batting average if you're a baseball team, but it's a horrifying shooting average if you're a men's basketball team. When's the last time Wheaton failed to crack the 30% mark from the floor?

If NCC didn't turn into Team Shaq at the charity stripe tonight, it would've been a Cardinals rout rather than merely a solid 14-point win. I mean, both teams stunk it up at the line -- Wheaton was only a little over a percentage point better than the Cards -- but the Cards got to the line 32 times to Wheaton's 19. As I said, I think that sooner or later the poor free-throw shooting is going to burn North Central unless the Cards can get that squared away.

[CCIWchamps]

Also, I enjoyed watching Peter's passing in the 1st half when he was essentially running the offense out of the low post.  He made a few difficult passes that seemed simple.  But there was no such rhythm in the 2nd half as it seemed they had trouble breaking inside the 3 point line (aside from Haynes).   

[Titan Q]

IWU 80
Elmhurst 51

Ron Rose postgame: http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=711&c=3911&f=943101

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/titan-men-take-care-of-cold-elmhurst/article_864089b8-57b6-11e2-817e-0019bb2963f4.html

http://www.iwusports.com/boxscore.aspx?id=1814&path=

* Pat Sodemann: 15 pts, 7 reb (5-7 3-point)
* Brady Zimmer: 14 pts (4-5 FG, 1-2 3-point, 5-6 FT)
* Kevin Reed: 10 pts, 4 reb, 3 assists
* Dylan Overstreet: 7 assists

Elmhurst: 7 assists/22 turnovers, 33.3% FG


IWU led by 13 at halftime and quickly pushed it to 20 in the second half. 

In the preseason and throughout most of the non-conference, I felt IWU's biggest question was the backcourt. At the time, Brady Zimmer and Pat Sodemann were both out with injury, and Dylan Overstreet was learning how to play PG at the varsity level.  Things have changed dramatically.  Overstreet is becoming a solid CCIW PG who does a lot of things well, and in Pat Sodemann and Brady Zimmer the Titans have two really good SGs.  Not only is the backcourt no longer a concern for the Titans, it's becoming a strength.

IWU is now a pretty complete team - strong on the perimeter, strong down low, great bench.  The Titans should be in the middle of this title race until the end.

[iwu70]

Fully enjoyable evening @ The Shirk tonight with IWU putting a pasting on both Elmhurst's men and women's teams.  (I'll post on the women's board about game #1).  On the men's side, the Titans dominated, shot it well, had good scoring from the perimeter again from Zimmer and Sodemann.  Overstreet played very very well and the Titan bigs had a strong outing.  Coach Rose is still using the full 10 man rotation, including Musselman tonight, as Victor Davis was in foul trouble with 4 fouls reasonably early in the second half.  Rose also used the three-guard set again some tonight with Sodemann, Zimmer and Overstreet on the floor at the same time.  IWU depth is such an asset.   Lots and lots of folks contributed to this big win . . . and a very fine 2-0 start to the CCIW season.   A nice crowd tonight too.

Can't really emphasize enough what it means to have Zimmer, Mayberger and Sodemann (Overstreet, too) on the perimeter able to light it up from three, also slash and move, making the IWU bigs even more effective.  As usual, Kevin Reed had an excellent game tonight, rebounding, scoring, passing and running the floor, making steals, blocking shots.  He was all over the place.  Great to see.  He's an under-estimated part of the IWU set-up, IMHO.

Augie comes next -- Wednesday @The Shirk.  I hear a JV game may be played this Wednesday too.  Seems Molinari has pretty much disappeared from the IWU team picture. 

The five guys past the first 10 rotation got to play about 4+ minutes tonight, due to the blow-out.

IWU70

[Titan Q]

+/- standings through Saturday, January 5
Augustana +1
Illinois Wesleyan +1
Millikin +1
Elmhurst +0
Elmhurst +0
Carthage -1
North Park -1
Wheaton -1

Wednesday, January 9
Augustana @ Illinois Wesleyan
North Central @ Carthage
Elmhurst @ Millikin
North Park @ Wheaton

[Titan Q]

Too bad we don't have any Augustana posters.  Pretty good story coming out of Rock Island this year - 12-1 overall/2-0 CCIW, all kinds of young talent - but we've barely had a post all year.

Oh well.

[Titan Q]

Disappointed IWU did not video stream the game tonight.  I assume this had something to do with students not being on campus, but games @ North Park, Carthage, and North Central were all streamed today.

It's one thing to miss a non-conference game, but a lot of out-of-town alums count on being able to watch conference games nowadays.  Someone should have figured out how to get it done.

[Titan Q]

CCIW NEWS

1. It seems that 6'8" 265 lb. Augie center Kevin Schlitter has sustained a torn ACL, and is subsequently lost for the remainder of the season.

2. There had been recent speculation that Luke Johnson's recent absence from the Carthage lineup might be due to an injury, most likely involving his back. However, rather than injury, it seems there is a good chance that the true reason is ineligibility.

I need to mention that there is still some question regarding the above. Sources I spoke with were not absolutely 100% sure of the information, but indicated that to the best of their knowledge, it would be surprising if the information ultimately proved not to be true. At this moment, it appears the information regarding Schlitter is slightly more solid than that regarding Johnson, but the odds heavily favor both being factual.

http://qctimes.com/sports/college/augustana/augie-moves-on-after-injury-bug/article_4fcbb410-54a6-11e2-9a51-0019bb2963f4.html

Kevin Schlitter, the starting center for coach Grey Giovanine's 22nd-rated team, will miss the remainder of the season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament.


http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2013/1/5/Mens_Basketball_0105132106.aspx

Center Luke Johnson (So., Naperville, Ill./West Chicago-Wheaton Academy, 13.0 points per game, 6.6 rebounds) left the team in early-January and is no longer enrolled at Carthage.