MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[4samuy]

Like to see Ricky Samuleson on the D3 team of the week with stat line like this over first 3 games.
16/20 from 3 pt, averaging over 30 pts game in first 3 games.

http://wheaton_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/mbball/mbbarchivedstats/2018/plyr_22.htm

I second the nomination! ⛹ 🏀
Saw him hit 8 of 9 threes in the first game of the season. Awesome.
He's currently 17 of 22 from downtown Wheaton.

Yeah,  Wheaton is really flying under the radar.  Their one loss was on the road at Calvin, which is a tough place to play.  The win against Baldwin Wallace, who had beat River Falls The night before really caught my attention.  Samuelson and All American Aston Francis can cause any team fits.  They will be a big factor in the CCIW.

[GoPerry]

Like to see Ricky Samuleson on the D3 team of the week with stat line like this over first 3 games.
16/20 from 3 pt, averaging over 30 pts game in first 3 games.

http://wheaton_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/mbball/mbbarchivedstats/2018/plyr_22.htm

And, fwiw, leading the country in 3pt FG% @ 77.3%, 10th in scoring, and a mere 18th in overall FG% @ 70.4%

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d3/current/individual/143

Interesting that 27 out of the top 30 scoring leaders are guards.  Or maybe not so unusual with the 3pt shot and more 3 guard rotations in D3?

[all blues]

Millikin fans were treated to a whistle concert by the Zebra Trio, with 52 fouls called.  Millikin won 80-76.  They were down 11 at the half, as RHIT was 8-9 on 3s at one point, and Millikin missed what seemed like 10 shots from inside 2 feet.  The Blue stayed disciplined, though, and, at 47-36, RHIT was arrested by the law of averages; the Blue going on a 16-0 run, and held the resulting lead to the finish.  Millikin got 11 more rebounds, all offensive (from the missed 2-footers?), and turned the ball over 10 times less than RHIT.

[HAMBO]

Nice posting "all blues".  RHUT got tired in the second half because of Millikin's pressure defense and RHUT's plan to press full-court -- a mistake I think.  Fatigue is a big factor in shooting accuracy. Based on that game alone I would say that (1) Millikin plays in your face defense, (2) rebounds well and (3) is quick with both hands and feet.  They did not shoot well and they missed some critical free throws.

While there is some optimism with 4 wins. 1 more than last year already, none of the 4 victories was against at team with a winning record.  Also, they only played 1 senior in their 9 man rotation.

The upcoming game against Wheaton will be a real test of progress.

[HAMBO]

I meant RHIT not RHUT ... Sorry Rose.

[Pat Coleman]

I meant RHIT not RHUT ... Sorry Rose.

After you make a few more posts, you'll get editing privileges on your posts, so you can go back and fix those sorts of things. (If you fix typos in the first two minutes, it doesn't even tell the world that you've edited.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I meant RHIT not RHUT ... Sorry Rose.

RHUT RHO LOL

[all blues]

Nice posting "all blues".  RHUT got tired in the second half because of Millikin's pressure defense and RHUT's plan to press full-court -- a mistake I think.  Fatigue is a big factor in shooting accuracy. Based on that game alone I would say that (1) Millikin plays in your face defense, (2) rebounds well and (3) is quick with both hands and feet.  They did not shoot well and they missed some critical free throws.

While there is some optimism with 4 wins. 1 more than last year already, none of the 4 victories was against at team with a winning record.  Also, they only played 1 senior in their 9 man rotation.

The upcoming game against Wheaton will be a real test of progress.

Agree with all you say, Hambo-very perceptive.  At least 2 players IIRC came away empty on 2-shot fouls in the final minutes. BUT-props to last year's leading scorer, Zach Fisher, for sticking 4 of 4 FT in the final minute, and transfer Michael Beaty (who's been very active) for 2 of 2 with :01 left to preclude the "miracle 3" loss or tie.

[wheels81]

Like to see Ricky Samuleson on the D3 team of the week with stat line like this over first 3 games.
16/20 from 3 pt, averaging over 30 pts game in first 3 games.

http://wheaton_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/mbball/mbbarchivedstats/2018/plyr_22.htm

I second the nomination! ⛹ 🏀
Saw him hit 8 of 9 threes in the first game of the season. Awesome.
He's currently 17 of 22 from downtown Wheaton.

With the your second he made it! thanks +1

[AndOne]

Highly doubtful my recommendation had anything at all to do with it, but it was certainly deserved.
Ricky has been ridiculous. 

[(509)Rat]

I mean it makes sense that a program like Rochester can lose it's top 3 scorers from last years team, still be ranked 16th, but losing that 4th senior would have been the nail in the coffin for their pre-season poll hopes. Whitewater lost 4 starters...

Traditionally strong programs not from the west coast have lost a majority of their scoring and or players and not been dropped off the face of the d3 earth, from a polls standpoint. I would have thought Whitworth would be afforded the same luxury. They were not. That's all.

Sorry to circle back on this, but your comparison irked me even if I did read it days later.

Rochester had a team that was on the doorstep of the final four, looked incredible last year, and did return some key parts from that unit. Whitworth did not even look close to as good last year as everyone is accustomed and lost 4 starters to a team that Whitman beat three times and CMS beat in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Whitworth returned 41% of their scoring, 36% of their rebounding. Whitworth was 21st in last year's final ranking and lost a ton.

Rochester returned 45% of scoring and 60% of rebounding from a team, again, that nearly made the final four. Rochester was 6th in the final ranking and lost quite a bit.

You just aren't making a fair comparison.

Whitworth is on my radar, but nothing with their first five games convinced me to vote for them this poll.

IWU - I might have missed on. I was desperately looking around for another team to vote for and I discounted IWU. That said, I discounted a LOT of teams based on a lot who are undefeated played basically no one. IWU probably deserved to be on my ballot as much as two or three others. I'm still watching.

And Whitewater?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

What about Whitewater... on my ballot... I like what they have beyond the four they lost.

[mwunder]

Carthage and their lack of success with teams that have some sort of relation to water in their title continued last evening with a poor showing against #10 River Falls.  15 turnovers, 25% shooting from outside the arch, and shooting 15 fewer FT's doomed the Red Men.  You can't win games where you rely on the three (as evidence by their only shooting 10 FTs) and only hit 1 of every 4.

I was only able to see the first ten minutes of the second half on video.  In that time, Carthage cut an 11 pt halftime deficit to 6, allowed it to balloon back to 10 and then cut it to 2 in the first 10 minutes.  They didn't score again for 4 minutes until the Falcons stretched the lead to 14.  Another 2 minute drought and the lead was 17 with 4:25 to go.  Defensive pressure narrowed the gap, but not enough.

Perry had 7, and rarely touched the ball in the second half.  Carthage half-court offense lacked movement.  Multiple possessions where Thomas was forced to throw up an end-of-shot-clock-three as the rest of the team stood around and watched him dribble at the top of the key.

They need to find a way to get the ball inside to their bigs or to get to the free throw line more.

[Gregory Sager]

UW-Oshkosh 71
North Park 58

Colin Lake: 29 pts, 5 stls
Billy Kirby: 10 pts
Matt Szuba: 4:0 a:to

The Vikings managed to hang around with the #18-ranked Titans into the seventh or eighth minute of the second half, when UWO suddenly went white-hot from beyond the arc. That, and an increased effort on the boards by the visitors at that point to take away the glass from the smaller Vikings, basically spelled the outcome. NPU just doesn't shoot well enough to keep pace over forty minutes with a team as versatile and skilled as the Titans, but the Vikes showed no quit and did manage to keep UWO from pulling away into blowout territory.

Colin Lake played a fantastic game, but it's not a good sign when he scores half of the team's points. He needs more help at the offensive end.  It was almost comical to see UWO run a pair of guys who are six to eight inches taller than Colin at him every time he got the ball in the halfcourt. Sometimes he waded in among three or four Titans to get a layup or toss in a teardrop scoop shot. It was like watching a pack of Dobermans trying to catch a Jack Russell.

The upside is that this is a very promising NPU freshman class -- I think it's the best one that Tom Slyder has recruited thus far at NPU. I don't see an All-American in it, a la the Henry/Cobbs class or the Robinson/Lake class, but the talent is spread out over more players; there's a half-dozen freshmen who span the entire spectrum of positions who have CCIW potential, which is better for the program in the long run than bringing in a superstar and a bunch of guys who will never progress beyond JV. Although they're inconsistent and need to improve their defense (as is the case with almost all freshmen), Matt Mohr, Matt Szuba, and Aaron Reed are already good enough to play in the CCIW. Scott Olsen, Toby Marek, and Antonio Gardner look like they could eventually get there as well. The downside is that these freshmen are going to take their lumps this season. This will be a campaign that requires patience on the part of Vikings fans. Look for incremental progress on the part of the kiddie corps, and hope that the Vikes can sneak in an upset, a la Chicago, here or there.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Carthage and their lack of success with teams that have some sort of relation to water in their title continued last evening with a poor showing against #10 River Falls.  15 turnovers, 25% shooting from outside the arch, and shooting 15 fewer FT's doomed the Red Men.  You can't win games where you rely on the three (as evidence by their only shooting 10 FTs) and only hit 1 of every 4.

I was only able to see the first ten minutes of the second half on video.  In that time, Carthage cut an 11 pt halftime deficit to 6, allowed it to balloon back to 10 and then cut it to 2 in the first 10 minutes.  They didn't score again for 4 minutes until the Falcons stretched the lead to 14.  Another 2 minute drought and the lead was 17 with 4:25 to go.  Defensive pressure narrowed the gap, but not enough.

Perry had 7, and rarely touched the ball in the second half.  Carthage half-court offense lacked movement.  Multiple possessions where Thomas was forced to throw up an end-of-shot-clock-three as the rest of the team stood around and watched him dribble at the top of the key.

They need to find a way to get the ball inside to their bigs or to get to the free throw line more.

Carthage showed promise, but also that they've got a long way to go.  I thought part of the problem was trying to push the ball inside too much - RF was ready for them almost every time.  Carthage will also have to step it up on defense, but there's a lot of build on, for sure.  I think they could compete with anyone, the question will be whether they can do it consistently.  I'm still a little skeptical.