MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Benjy Taylor who moved on to several D1 coaching positions, somehow eventually ending up as interim head coach of U of Hawaii during the 2014-2015 season. His contract was not renewed, and now he is selling Audi automobiles on Oahu.

Playing career
1984–1987   Richmond

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1989–1991   Richmond (asst.)
1991–1992   Cornell (asst.)
1992–1995   The Citadel (asst.)
1995–2000   Northern Illinois (asst.)
2000–2001   Pepperdine (asst.)
2001–2004   North Central
2004–2005   Indiana State (asst.)
2005–2007   Tulane (asst.)
2007–2010   Chicago State
2012–2014   Hawaii (asst.)
2014–2015   Hawaii (interim)

http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SPT-UH-Hoops-398.jpg?f4fac2

Taylor, the 20th coach in UH hoops history hasn't discounted a return to the college game, but he's cited wanting to be around his kids over the next few years as a primary motivation right now, and seems pretty comfortable in the islands. He's said on more than one occasion, "I'm going to be just fine," when asked about his hoops job prospects.

I'm sure more than a few customers who drop by Audi will want to chat with Taylor about hoops — past, present and future.

[bbfan44]

I wouldn't mind being in Oahu right about now; chatting about hoops or anything else...

[Gregory Sager]

Current Massey (SoS in parentheses):

    1. Augustana (3)
    3. Elmhurst (13)
  11. North Central (2)
  26. North Park (4)
  51. Illinois Wesleyan (8)
161. Carthage (32)
162. Wheaton (6)
205. Millikin (72)

Massey sez:

@ Augustana 78, Millikin 49 (AC 99% favorite)
@ North Park 75, Illinois Wesleyan 72 (NPU 59% favorite)
@ Wheaton 72, Carthage 67 (WC 68% favorite)
@ North Central 74, Elmhurst 73 (NCC 52% favorite)

[Naperick]

I watched the final minute of regulation from last night's game three or four times today, and I'm as frustrated now as I was agonized yesterday. Yeah, I can hear the "get a life, Greg" replies already -- believe me, I hear that a lot where NPU basketball is concerned -- but that final thirty seconds was ulcer-inducing.

First of all, I should make it plain that Juwan Henry shouldn't be the scapegoat for the loss. Yeah, he missed the front end of a one-and-one with 28 seconds left that would've put the Vikings up by three, with a chance to then go up by four. But the reason why he was at the line in the first place was because he had rebounded a missed Colin Lake trey attempt from the corner in front of the North Park bench -- a trey attempt that hit both insides of the rim and then flew out. If that ball stays down, NPU leads by five with a half-minute left. That's basketball, folks.

More importantly, Juwan Henry had thirty freakin' points and eight rebounds in that game. The scoring numbers that he's putting up this season -- 23.3 ppg overall and 24.7 ppg in CCIW play, the latter of which is five points higher than second-place Jordan Robinson -- are ridiculous. They're in Stevie D. territory. A good argument could be made that Juwan's this year's MOP, and without him North Park is an eighth-place team that loses the game at Faganel before it even gets off the bus. So I'm not blaming him, and nobody else should, either.

My frustration stems more from how regulation ended. After Erik Crittenden tied the game at 79-79 with a ten-foot jumper from the baseline with eight seconds to go (a magnificent clutch fadeaway that he hit against picture-perfect defense from Darius Brown), Lake took the quick inbound pass. He worked his way up the floor and moved right, using a stinging screen from Brown that put Kyle Wuest in dreamland for about a minute afterward, and was knocked to the floor by Crittenden as he attempted what would've been the game-winning layup with one second left. It was a no-doubter of a call -- one CCIW ref who was sitting in the stands later told Tom Slyder that it was clearly a foul -- but Tom O'Neill, who was standing right there on the baseline when Lake was sent flying, refused to blow his whistle. I'm going to be called biased for bringing this up, but I'd also like to point out that there have been several other times in the past when I've said on d3boards.com that a good official is one who calls the game the same way with one second left as he does with ten minutes left. Swallowing the whistle at the end of a game is a terrible way to do your job. Anybody who argues that swallowing the whistle "lets the players decide the game" is missing the point that it lets the players decide the game by getting away with stuff that they otherwise couldn't, like knocking an opposing player to the floor when he's going in for a layup. It was a good, hard foul by Crittenden that kept Lake from getting any reasonable chance at making the layup -- and it should've been called as such, with Lake going to the line for two. But it wasn't.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda, though. NPU was only in that position because key shots didn't fall earlier in that final half-minute.

Thisclose. Thisclose. 

Greg,

I made it to Elmhurst for the 2nd half of last night's EC-NPU game.  I agree that Lake was fouled on his last second shot attempt.  I also thought the 'Jays got a few breaks in the last 5 minutes of the game.  I'll take the win but I do understand your frustration.

I was amazed at the 1-2 punch the Vikings have in Henry & Robinson.  They get my vote for CCIW MOP after 3 weeks of games.  I'd split my vote.  I can't pick one.  I have only seen them play twice this season but I have a hard time believing anyone else has played better.  But a lot could change in the next 4 to 5 weeks.

The rematch on February 10th should be a good one.

Clearly, you have not seen the young Raridon play yet?

I've clearly seen him play 5 times this season.  Three non-conference games and 2 CCIW games.  He gets better every game and seems to have made the adjustment from high school to college basketball.  He does many things well and not just what is in the box score.  As I said before, a lot could change in the next 4 to 5 weeks.

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan (9-8, 3-3) at North Park (11-6, 3-3), 7:00pm...

Illinois Wesleyan (9-8, 3-3)
G - Joel Pennington, 6-0/180 Sr.  (9.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg)
G - Bryce Dolan, 6-1/165 Sr.  (14.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.4 apg)
G - Andy Stempel, 6-4/192 Jr.  (9.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.5 apg)
F - Ryan Coyle, 6-6/210 Sr.  (9.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
F - Trevor Seibring, 6-8/235 Jr.  (15.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg, .631 FG)

North Park (11-6, 3-3)
G - Juwan Henry, 5-10/165 Jr.  (23.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.1 apg)
G - Colin Lake, 5-7/145 So.  (12.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G - T.J. Cobbs, 5-10/165 Jr.  (7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg)
F - Jordan Robinson, 6-3/205 So. (22.2 ppg, 11.2 rpg)
F - Darius Brown, 6-3/180 Jr. (2.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg)


Pantagraph - http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/north-park-dynamic-duo-to-test-iwu/article_30fc3037-65c2-502c-b76c-a93a5e0ecae0.html

Live Video - http://athletics.northpark.edu/sports/2016/1/21/MBB_0121162904.aspx

Live Stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/nparku/mbball/

WJBC Radio - http://portal.stretchinternet.com/wjbc/

[Titan Q]

Still a very long way to go, but as most of us guessed coming into the conference season, it looks like the 4th CCIW tournament spot is going to come down to North Park and IWU.  This obviously means that both IWU/NPU games are big.  A sweep would be extremely hard to overcome.

The Titans vs Vikings is as intriguing of an Xs and Os matchup as you'll see.  IWU has no ability to chase NPU's guys around the perimeter or stay with them off dribble drive.  NPU is giving up a crazy amount of size to IWU in the low post.  The say these are teams with contrasting styles would be quite an understatement.

[Gregory Sager]

Not to give away any of the pregame analysis that my partner Aaron Coleman and I will be offering on tonight's webcast, but I think that tonight's IWU @ NPU contest could come down to these factors:

1. Turnovers vs. rebounds. Wesleyan is surprisingly underwater in CCIW play in the rebounding department at -1.0 rpg, but undersized North Park, to nobody's surprise, is well down the CCIW rebounding list at -5.7 rpg. (The real surprise, I think, is that Carthage and Wheaton are even worse.) Since IWU should be able to use its size to come out on top on the boards, can NPU compensate in the turnover department? The Vikings lead the league in steals by a huge margin (6.5 per game in CCIW play), and are second only to Augie in turnover margin at +2.83. Illinois Wesleyan, which does not protect the ball well at all, is seventh in turnover margin at -3.00. This game could come down to the number of shots each team's able to take, which is where the turnovers-vs.-rebounds conflict comes into play.

2. How does NPU choose to defend? The Vikings are adept at forcing turnovers via the press, but the short bench keeps the Park from using it too much. Therefore, the big question here is how NPU chooses to defend the halfcourt. Does Tom Slyder take a page out of Todd Raridon's book by playing the Titans straight up, allowing Trevor Seibring to go one-on-one down in the blocks, or does he have the Vikes double down? Seibring had a big night against NCC last Saturday, and that was against a center (Alex Sorenson) who has the combination of size and mobility that NPU doesn't have in any one post player -- so this could be a recipe for a career night for Seibring. On the other hand, by playing the Titans honest, it would put even more pressure on the IWU ballhandlers than the considerable stress they'll already be under from facing ballhawks like T.J. Cobbs, Colin Lake, and Juwan Henry, and it could reduce IWU's perimeter sharpshooting the way it did for the Cardinals (although the Cards have bigger guards than NPU and can thus in theory force more shooter hesitation).

3. How will IWU play Juwan Henry? Various teams have tried to trap Henry every time that he touches the ball, in order to get it out of his hands. Does Ron Rose go that route tonight, knowing that he doesn't have guards who have the mobility to stay in front of Henry? If he does, it puts the onus on the other Vikings guards to make IWU pay for it -- which means that the game could come down to Colin Lake's perimeter shooting, f'rinstance.

4. How will IWU play Jordan Robinson? NPU's other superstar is a different kettle of fish entirely. The two teams that have had the most success against the Vikings in CCIW play thus far, North Central and Augustana, played bumper cars with #24 all night. While NCC didn't slow Robinson down (the Cardinals merely frustrated him), enough other things went right for the Cards so that it ultimately didn't matter that he had 26 and 9 against them. But Augie had great success banging and buffeting Robinson, and it definitely affected both Robinson's individual ability and NPU's collective ability to hang tough with the Doggies. While IWU does not have the rep for the brass-knuckles defense of an Augie or a North Central, it does have a couple of guys in Alec Bausch and Ryan Coyle who bring a lot more size to the party at power forward than does Robinson. Let's see if they try to use it on him defensively. Problem is, can their playing Robinson physically when he's inside offset his ability to score off of screen rolls or via the trey or dribble-drive when he moves away from the basket on offense?

5. The X factor. For North Park, that's T.J. Cobbs. The Park's ace defender can do a lot more than just play good D. When he's on his game, he's also adept at scoring off the dribble, keeping teams honest by making a jumpshot or two, getting offensive rebounds, and distributing the ball. His offensive contributions -- or lack thereof -- could be a key to tonight's game. For Illinois Wesleyan, the guy who really intrigues me is Jaylen Beasley. He saw a lot of minutes early in the season, but he's played relatively sparingly in league play. He's got the combination of length and quickness that has really bothered North Park in other games this season. I wonder if Ron Rose thinks that this might be the night to stop keeping Beasley under wraps.

[cardinalpride]

Benjy Taylor who moved on to several D1 coaching positions, somehow eventually ending up as interim head coach of U of Hawaii during the 2014-2015 season. His contract was not renewed, and now he is selling Audi automobiles on Oahu.

Playing career
1984–1987   Richmond

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1989–1991   Richmond (asst.)
1991–1992   Cornell (asst.)
1992–1995   The Citadel (asst.)
1995–2000   Northern Illinois (asst.)
2000–2001   Pepperdine (asst.)
2001–2004   North Central
2004–2005   Indiana State (asst.)
2005–2007   Tulane (asst.)
2007–2010   Chicago State
2012–2014   Hawaii (asst.)
2014–2015   Hawaii (interim)

http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SPT-UH-Hoops-398.jpg?f4fac2

Taylor, the 20th coach in UH hoops history hasn't discounted a return to the college game, but he's cited wanting to be around his kids over the next few years as a primary motivation right now, and seems pretty comfortable in the islands. He's said on more than one occasion, "I'm going to be just fine," when asked about his hoops job prospects.

I'm sure more than a few customers who drop by Audi will want to chat with Taylor about hoops — past, present and future.

Andone,
Actually Benjy Taylor's coaching resume just got a bit longer. He accepted an assistant coaching position at southwest Missouri state university this week. 😊

[cardinalpride]

By the way,
Hello again fellow D3 posters!

[AndOne]

Still a very long way to go, but as most of us guessed coming into the conference season, it looks like the 4th CCIW tournament spot is going to come down to North Park and IWU.  This obviously means that both IWU/NPU games are big.  A sweep would be extremely hard to overcome.

The Titans vs Vikings is as intriguing of an Xs and Os matchup as you'll see.  IWU has no ability to chase NPU's guys around the perimeter or stay with them off dribble drive. NPU is giving up a crazy amount of size to IWU in the low post.  The say these are teams with contrasting styles would be quite an understatement.

It seems that the key to chasing NPU's guys around the perimeter and/or staying with them off the dribble drive is to counter speed with speed. NPU has 3 guys that are quicker than either Pennington or Dolan. Perhaps Ron Rose might consider adding a little speed to his rotation. He has it sitting on his bench. He may not know its down there at the other end of the bench, but I doubt if IWU has anyone any quicker than Derrick Streety. While nobody is likely going to be able to stay with Juwan Henry, Streety has the quickness to stay with Cobbs or, even more so, Lake. He certainly has more quickness than Mr. Dolan or Mr. Pennington. I'm not sure why Streety hasn't played more since his arrival in Bloomington. In HS, he was terrific in running a good Elgin Larkin team, with one of his primary assets being his speed/quickness which, as we all know, kills. Recently, Rose seems to favor bringing in Mark Falotico in relief of Pennington/Dolan. However, in his last game against Augie, he committed 4 fouls in 18 minutes of PT. In the prior game against North Central, he had 5 fouls, fouling out in only 14 minutes! Given these recent results, it would appear his ability to render any help against the quickness NPU has, is seriously in question. Offensively, Falotico went 0 for 2 against NCC, and 0 for 5 against Augie, so his offensive contribution contribution certainly hasn't countered his lack of defense.

Accordingly, why not get inventive and try another option? Isn't that one of the marks of a good coach? Given recent past performance, it doesn't appear doing so will hurt anything, and it might even help. Sure, with its inside domination, both offensively and defensively, IWU might not need a great defensive effort on the perimeter. But, if they do, given that the recent perimeter defensive rotation/help hasn't been much help, it sure seems it might be worth a try. JMHO 

[AndOne]

Benjy Taylor who moved on to several D1 coaching positions, somehow eventually ending up as interim head coach of U of Hawaii during the 2014-2015 season. His contract was not renewed, and now he is selling Audi automobiles on Oahu.

Playing career
1984–1987   Richmond

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1989–1991   Richmond (asst.)
1991–1992   Cornell (asst.)
1992–1995   The Citadel (asst.)
1995–2000   Northern Illinois (asst.)
2000–2001   Pepperdine (asst.)
2001–2004   North Central
2004–2005   Indiana State (asst.)
2005–2007   Tulane (asst.)
2007–2010   Chicago State
2012–2014   Hawaii (asst.)
2014–2015   Hawaii (interim)

http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SPT-UH-Hoops-398.jpg?f4fac2

Taylor, the 20th coach in UH hoops history hasn't discounted a return to the college game, but he's cited wanting to be around his kids over the next few years as a primary motivation right now, and seems pretty comfortable in the islands. He's said on more than one occasion, "I'm going to be just fine," when asked about his hoops job prospects.

I'm sure more than a few customers who drop by Audi will want to chat with Taylor about hoops — past, present and future.

Andone,
Actually Benjy Taylor's coaching resume just got a bit longer. He accepted an assistant coaching position at southwest Missouri state university this week. 😊

More lives than Felix the Cat! 🐱 😏

[Gregory Sager]

Benjy Taylor who moved on to several D1 coaching positions, somehow eventually ending up as interim head coach of U of Hawaii during the 2014-2015 season. His contract was not renewed, and now he is selling Audi automobiles on Oahu.


Playing career
1984–1987   Richmond

Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1989–1991   Richmond (asst.)
1991–1992   Cornell (asst.)
1992–1995   The Citadel (asst.)
1995–2000   Northern Illinois (asst.)
2000–2001   Pepperdine (asst.)
2001–2004   North Central
2004–2005   Indiana State (asst.)
2005–2007   Tulane (asst.)
2007–2010   Chicago State
2012–2014   Hawaii (asst.)
2014–2015   Hawaii (interim)

http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/SPT-UH-Hoops-398.jpg?f4fac2

Taylor, the 20th coach in UH hoops history hasn't discounted a return to the college game, but he's cited wanting to be around his kids over the next few years as a primary motivation right now, and seems pretty comfortable in the islands. He's said on more than one occasion, "I'm going to be just fine," when asked about his hoops job prospects.

I'm sure more than a few customers who drop by Audi will want to chat with Taylor about hoops — past, present and future.

Andone,
Actually Benjy Taylor's coaching resume just got a bit longer. He accepted an assistant coaching position at southwest Missouri state university this week. 😊

I guess that Honolulu is not a good market for Audi dealers right now.

[cardinalpride]

Still a very long way to go, but as most of us guessed coming into the conference season, it looks like the 4th CCIW tournament spot is going to come down to North Park and IWU.  This obviously means that both IWU/NPU games are big.  A sweep would be extremely hard to overcome.

The Titans vs Vikings is as intriguing of an Xs and Os matchup as you'll see.  IWU has no ability to chase NPU's guys around the perimeter or stay with them off dribble drive. NPU is giving up a crazy amount of size to IWU in the low post.  The say these are teams with contrasting styles would be quite an understatement.

Uh oh! Shots fired!!!

It seems that the key to chasing NPU's guys around the perimeter and/or staying with them off the dribble drive is to counter speed with speed. NPU has 3 guys that are quicker than either Pennington or Dolan. Perhaps Ron Rose might consider adding a little speed to his rotation. He has it sitting on his bench. He may not know its down there at the other end of the bench, but I doubt if IWU has anyone any quicker than Derrick Streety. While nobody is likely going to be able to stay with Juwan Henry, Streety has the quickness to stay with Cobbs or, even more so, Lake. He certainly has more quickness than Mr. Dolan or Mr. Pennington. I'm not sure why Streety hasn't played more since his arrival in Bloomington. In HS, he was terrific in running a good Elgin Larkin team, with one of his primary assets being his speed/quickness which, as we all know, kills. Recently, Rose seems to favor bringing in Mark Falotico in relief of Pennington/Dolan. However, in his last game against Augie, he committed 4 fouls in 18 minutes of PT. In the prior game against North Central, he had 5 fouls, fouling out in only 14 minutes! Given these recent results, it would appear his ability to render any help against the quickness NPU has, is seriously in question. Offensively, Falotico went 0 for 2 against NCC, and 0 for 5 against Augie, so his offensive contribution contribution certainly hasn't countered his lack of defense.

Accordingly, why not get inventive and try another option? Isn't that one of the marks of a good coach? Given recent past performance, it doesn't appear doing so will hurt anything, and it might even help. Sure, with its inside domination, both offensively and defensively, IWU might not need a great defensive effort on the perimeter. But, if they do, given that the recent perimeter defensive rotation/help hasn't been much help, it sure seems it might be worth a try. JMHO 

(modified by GS, because in cardinalpride's long absence he apparently forgot how to properly use the quote function )

[AndOne]

By the way,
Hello again fellow D3 posters!

Yikes! CP comes out of hibernation in mid winter!
There must be a $2.00 beer special at Bar Louie! 

[cardinalpride]

My apologies. Thanks Greg! Andone, the last time beer was $2 at bar Louie was during the Benjy Taylor era at NCC! 😀