MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton head coach Mike Schauer really called out Aston Francis publicly in the post-game show for lack of effort/intensity on the defensive end.

This is nothing new. Mike made it a point to mention Francis's poor defense in at least a couple of post-game interviews that I watched last year, and he did so again after the Chicago game the other night.

Francis is the eighth wonder of the world on offense, but he continues to be a liability at the other end of the floor -- and his coach is going to keep publicly calling him out for it until he puts some effort into his D.

[izzy stradlin]

Wheaton head coach Mike Schauer really called out Aston Francis publicly in the post-game show for lack of effort/intensity on the defensive end.

This is nothing new. Mike made it a point to mention Francis's poor defense in at least a couple of post-game interviews that I watched last year, and he did so again after the Chicago game the other night.

Francis is the eighth wonder of the world on offense, but he continues to be a liability at the other end of the floor -- and his coach is going to keep publicly calling him out for it until he puts some effort into his D.

I've heard Schauer say this before but was still a little surprised that it was the topic he went straight to in his post-game after this particular game.  IWU had around 20 offensive rebounds.  The 3 to win the game came on an extra possession from an offensive rebound.  That seemed like the difference to me.  IWU shot just 43% from the field.  It wasn't like they were getting a bunch of uncontested layups.  Other the the rebounding disparity both teams played well overall.

I don't think anybody can deny the fact that Francis showing up on campus as a transfer has led to Schauer keeping his job.  I think he might be the best offensive player I've seen at Wheaton.  He's an excellent passer aside for his ability to score.  Without him these last two years Wheaton is probably still near the very bottom of the CCIW. It's true that he can probably play better on-the-ball defense but that was certainly not my first takeaway after watching that game.   

[GoPerry]

Massey had it right – IWU by 3 over Wheaton.

Big 3ptr by Beasely (and another one with about a minute left) to win it.  Superb game by Rose as well.  More balanced offense for IWU became more obvious down the stretch.

Wheaton -18 rebounding (-11 offense); very tough to overcome against an average team much less a good team like the visitors.  The Thunder did well to come back and go up by 4 after being down as much as 10 in the first half.

Tip of the hat to the green team – made the big plays.  Needed a win and got it.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton head coach Mike Schauer really called out Aston Francis publicly in the post-game show for lack of effort/intensity on the defensive end.

This is nothing new. Mike made it a point to mention Francis's poor defense in at least a couple of post-game interviews that I watched last year, and he did so again after the Chicago game the other night.

Francis is the eighth wonder of the world on offense, but he continues to be a liability at the other end of the floor -- and his coach is going to keep publicly calling him out for it until he puts some effort into his D.

I've heard Schauer say this before but was still a little surprised that it was the topic he went straight to in his post-game after this particular game.

Some of it is because the Wheaton student broadcasters keep giving him the opening. They do so much oohing-and-aahing over Francis's offensive heroics during a game -- and, honestly, who can blame them? -- that they tend to lead off their comments (they're not really questions per se) in the post-game interviews with the head coach by waxing rhapsodic over the marvel that is Aston Francis, Scorer Deluxe. And, naturally, given that his star player is a defensive liability and that he himself is a defensive-minded coach who recognizes the unheralded work of people such as Luke Peters at that end of the floor (and since he knows full well that defense isn't something that the average spectator keys upon while watching a game), Mike is going to take that opening and run with it. It suits his needs to do so. I saw him sit Francis on the bench and lecture him in-game a couple of times last year because of his sloppy defense. That didn't seem to work, so perhaps we can consider this a ratcheting-up of his strategy to light a fire under his superstar.

IWU had around 20 offensive rebounds.  The 3 to win the game came on an extra possession from an offensive rebound.  That seemed like the difference to me.  IWU shot just 43% from the field.  It wasn't like they were getting a bunch of uncontested layups.  Other the the rebounding disparity both teams played well overall.

I don't think anybody can deny the fact that Francis showing up on campus as a transfer has led to Schauer keeping his job.

Do we know that for sure, Iz? How much of that is conjecture and how much is insider tips? Does Wheaton have a history of firing coaches who are unsuccessful in the wins-and-losses department who nevertheless fill out their rosters with student-athletes who represent Wheaton well and live up to the school's ideals? I'm asking this question honestly, knowing full well that Wheaton tends to be good across the board in athletics, so that it doesn't come up much. (The one area in athletics in which Wheaton used to stink was the ball-and-bat sports, although that's not true anymore, and one could argue that that situation was more a case of institutional neglect than anything else.) As far as Wheaton men's basketball head coaches are concerned, Dick Helm and Bill Harbeck managed to stick around for eight years apiece in the interregnum between giants Lee Pfund and Bill Harris, and Helm and Harbeck had winning percentages of .406 and .359, respectively, in CCIW play. Even without Francis, Schauer would've still been well above .500 in the CCIW after his first eight seasons as head coach. Granted, Helm and Harbeck are ancient history now, but the point is that it's not as though Wheaton had ever descended to Millikinesque depths or anything like that under Schauer's tenure.

Then again, I'm no longer privy to insider info regarding Wheaton, so if there was rumbling afoot that Mike Schauer's job was in jeopardy prior to the arrival of Aston Francis I wouldn't have heard it.

  I think he might be the best offensive player I've seen at Wheaton.  He's an excellent passer aside for his ability to score.

I agree, although I'd still take Kent Raymond over him. Raymond gave you everything that he had, at both ends of the floor, every time that he suited up. I'm pretty sure that the only concern Bill Harris ever had about him was whether or not God was going to pull rank on Bill again and take Bill's best player away.

Without him these last two years Wheaton is probably still near the very bottom of the CCIW. It's true that he can probably play better on-the-ball defense but that was certainly not my first takeaway after watching that game.

Agreed, and I doubt that Francis's defensive indolence is ever anyone's first takeaway other than Mike Schauer's, since a) it doesn't come close to negating his offensive contributions in a plus/minus sense; and b) as I said, defense isn't typically the first thing that spectators notice. But Francis's coach notices it ... and kudos to Mike Schauer for doing his job, which not only entails getting his players to play better -- even the superstar -- but also requires him to have the psychological acumen to know just how far he can push each of them. Francis is apparently not one of those prima-donna stars who can't tolerate this type of public shaming; he must have a pretty thick skin, and his coach is taking advantage of that for the greater benefit of the team.

[AppletonRocks]

Wheaton head coach Mike Schauer really called out Aston Francis publicly in the post-game show for lack of effort/intensity on the defensive end.

This is nothing new. Mike made it a point to mention Francis's poor defense in at least a couple of post-game interviews that I watched last year, and he did so again after the Chicago game the other night.

Francis is the eighth wonder of the world on offense, but he continues to be a liability at the other end of the floor -- and his coach is going to keep publicly calling him out for it until he puts some effort into his D.

I've heard Schauer say this before but was still a little surprised that it was the topic he went straight to in his post-game after this particular game.  IWU had around 20 offensive rebounds.  The 3 to win the game came on an extra possession from an offensive rebound.  That seemed like the difference to me.  IWU shot just 43% from the field.  It wasn't like they were getting a bunch of uncontested layups.  Other the the rebounding disparity both teams played well overall.

I don't think anybody can deny the fact that Francis showing up on campus as a transfer has led to Schauer keeping his job.  I think he might be the best offensive player I've seen at Wheaton.  He's an excellent passer aside for his ability to score.  Without him these last two years Wheaton is probably still near the very bottom of the CCIW. It's true that he can probably play better on-the-ball defense but that was certainly not my first takeaway after watching that game.

Are you suggesting that a D3 liberal arts school would fire its coach if he finished in the middle of a good but often overrated league?  Hard to believe. College mission has nothing to do with hoops.  Sad if you are correct.

[AndOne]

Augie - 79
NCC — 72

A seven point loss to the #4 team in the country. On the face of things, not bad. The problem however, and I know the Augie posters will disagree, is that North Central should have won this game. The W was right there for the taking. I mean make some frickin' layups and shoot 75% from the line, and the bus ride home is a lot more lively.

Three times down the stretch, the Cardinals missed layups that they could usually make in their sleep. Finish those drives, and make 2 more FTs (to make the % 75), and board the bus to Happy Land rather than Sad Town. This is probably a bit of oversimplification, but master the fundamentals and subsequent maneuvers come a little easier.

NCC was led in scoring by Connor Raridon with 20. Mike Pollack had 12 (4 threes), and Erwin Henry 10. Alex Sorenson was the leading rebounder with 7. Augie's scoring leader was Nolan Ebel with a very quiet 18 points. After the game I was amazed he had that many, but that's often how good players operate. Chrishawn Orange had 16 (also AC's top rebounder with 7), and Brett Benning had 15 including a couple of threes from the Iowa side of the Mississippi.

However, in my book, the Augie player who stood out the most, and seemed to provide the Vikings with their biggest spark, was A.J. Dollmeyer. He was 4/5 from the field, and 2/2 from the line with all of his points seemingly "big" ones, especially his halftime buzzer beater which sent the home team to the locker room with an 8 point lead. Dollmeyer, perhaps Augie's #4 center was easily the most effective, easily surpassing the contributions of starter Micah Martin (2 absolutely stupid fouls within about 30 seconds), and fellow backups Donovan Ferguson, and Roman Youngblut, both of whom were basically invisible.

Officiating

An embarrassment to the CCIW. I see refs at many high school games who have it all over these guys. Many dismemberments, often in an open area of the court, took place before blind eyes, and many defenders whose only crime was being in the vicinity of the Carver Center were whistled for infractions. The way the game was called made it practically impossible to play any kind of interior defense. Breathe on your guy too hard and it's a foul. Two centers on each team were disqualified, and a total of 28 fouls were called on the 7 centers who saw action. NCC's starter Alex Sorenson saddled with 2 calls that were especially outrageous. Ridiculous.
And - Before you mistake my comments for a losing fan just bitching, please consider the fact that seated right behind myself and 2 other Cardinal fans were two younger senior gentlemen who are Augie fans who never miss a game, and from whose comments it is evident, know the game well. Both indicated that they have seen this officiating crew several times before, and that their work can almost always be classified as egregious. Several times during the game they both opined the call, either a call or no-call, was wrong even when it went in Augie's favor.

The Statue

Each Augie game features a group of students, I believe mostly football players whose buffoonery aptly reflects the discipline embodied in their recent record, who stand near center court and "cheer" throughout the game. Last night there were, fortunately, only 5 of them. Rather than being original, insightful, or entertaining, a majority of their comments always seem to be over the top personal attacks on the opposition. The two adult fans I referred to above with regard to the officiating PLUS several other adult Augie fans said they feel these students are usually "disruptive" rather than adding anything positive to the proceedings.
However, the really crazy thing about the group is that there is almost always an adult standing right next to the first row of these students who just stands there throughout the game, but never utters a word. This guy, evidently deaf and dumb and undoubtedly a member of the Augustana administration, just stands there like a statue. He never tells the canines to sit down, shut up, or even bark or roll over. Just stands there, in Venus de Milo mode, silent with his arms folded across his chest in a manner rendering them difficult to be seen.

* Lastly, congrats to North Central's Alex Sorenson who last night surpassed the 1,000 point mark (1,005 currently) in only his 62nd game in a Cardinal uniform.

[Hightops]

Augie - 79
NCC — 72

A seven point loss to the #4 team in the country. On the face of things, not bad. The problem however, and I know the Augie posters will disagree, is that North Central should have won this game. The W was right there for the taking. I mean make some frickin' layups and shoot 75% from the line, and the bus ride home is a lot more lively.

Three times down the stretch, the Cardinals missed layups that they could usually make in their sleep. Finish those drives, and make 2 more FTs (to make the % 75), and board the bus to Happy Land rather than Sad Town. This is probably a bit of oversimplification, but master the fundamentals and subsequent maneuvers come a little easier.

NCC was led in scoring by Connor Raridon with 20. Mike Pollack had 12 (4 threes), and Erwin Henry 10. Alex Sorenson was the leading rebounder with 7. Augie's scoring leader was Nolan Ebel with a very quiet 18 points. After the game I was amazed he had that many, but that's often how good players operate. Chrishawn Orange had 16 (also AC's top rebounder with 7), and Brett Benning had 15 including a couple of threes from the Iowa side of the Mississippi.

However, in my book, the Augie player who stood out the most, and seemed to provide the Vikings with their biggest spark, was A.J. Dollmeyer. He was 4/5 from the field, and 2/2 from the line with all of his points seemingly "big" ones, especially his halftime buzzer beater which sent the home team to the locker room with an 8 point lead. Dollmeyer, perhaps Augie's #4 center was easily the most effective, easily surpassing the contributions of starter Micah Martin (2 absolutely stupid fouls within about 30 seconds), and fellow backups Donovan Ferguson, and Roman Youngblut, both of whom were basically invisible.

Officiating

An embarrassment to the CCIW. I see refs at many high school games who have it all over these guys. Many dismemberments, often in an open area of the court, took place before blind eyes, and many defenders whose only crime was being in the vicinity of the Carver Center were whistled for infractions. The way the game was called made it practically impossible to play any kind of interior defense. Breathe on your guy too hard and it's a foul. Two centers on each team were disqualified, and a total of 28 fouls were called on the 7 centers who saw action. NCC's starter Alex Sorenson saddled with 2 calls that were especially outrageous. Ridiculous.
And - Before you mistake my comments for a losing fan just bitching, please consider the fact that seated right behind myself and 2 other Cardinal fans were two younger senior gentlemen who are Augie fans who never miss a game, and from whose comments it is evident, know the game well. Both indicated that they have seen this officiating crew several times before, and that their work can almost always be classified as egregious. Several times during the game they both opined the call, either a call or no-call, was wrong even when it went in Augie's favor.

The officiating crew was Dotson, Kasirsky, and Gerlach.  Dotson has worked the Division III National Championship game along with some additional deep tournament runs in the past five years.  I don't recall ever seeing the other two work a game at Augustana and certainly not as a crew.  With that being said, it is surprising that the conference wouldn't put a veteran crew on this game. 

The Statue

Each Augie game features a group of students, I believe mostly football players whose buffoonery aptly reflects the discipline embodied in their recent record, who stand near center court and "cheer" throughout the game. Last night there were, fortunately, only 5 of them. Rather than being original, insightful, or entertaining, a majority of their comments always seem to be over the top personal attacks on the opposition. The two adult fans I referred to above with regard to the officiating PLUS several other adult Augie fans said they feel these students are usually "disruptive" rather than adding anything positive to the proceedings.
However, the really crazy thing about the group is that there is almost always an adult standing right next to the first row of these students who just stands there throughout the game, but never utters a word. This guy, evidently deaf and dumb and undoubtedly a member of the Augustana administration, just stands there like a statue. He never tells the canines to sit down, shut up, or even bark or roll over. Just stands there, in Venus de Milo mode, silent with his arms folded across his chest in a manner rendering them difficult to be seen.

Now you sound like a losing fan just bitching.

* Lastly, congrats to North Central's Alex Sorenson who last night surpassed the 1,000 point mark (1,005 currently) in only his 62nd game in a Cardinal uniform.

(modified by GS for formatting)

[izzy stradlin]

  I think he might be the best offensive player I've seen at Wheaton.  He's an excellent passer aside for his ability to score.

I agree, although I'd still take Kent Raymond over him. Raymond gave you everything that he had, at both ends of the floor, every time that he suited up. I'm pretty sure that the only concern Bill Harris ever had about him was whether or not God was going to pull rank on Bill again and take Bill's best player away.

No question.  As an all-around player I'd take Kent Raymond any day.

[AndOne]

Augie - 79
NCC — 72

A seven point loss to the #4 team in the country. On the face of things, not bad. The problem however, and I know the Augie posters will disagree, is that North Central should have won this game. The W was right there for the taking. I mean make some frickin' layups and shoot 75% from the line, and the bus ride home is a lot more lively.

Three times down the stretch, the Cardinals missed layups that they could usually make in their sleep. Finish those drives, and make 2 more FTs (to make the % 75), and board the bus to Happy Land rather than Sad Town. This is probably a bit of oversimplification, but master the fundamentals and subsequent maneuvers come a little easier.

NCC was led in scoring by Connor Raridon with 20. Mike Pollack had 12 (4 threes), and Erwin Henry 10. Alex Sorenson was the leading rebounder with 7. Augie's scoring leader was Nolan Ebel with a very quiet 18 points. After the game I was amazed he had that many, but that's often how good players operate. Chrishawn Orange had 16 (also AC's top rebounder with 7), and Brett Benning had 15 including a couple of threes from the Iowa side of the Mississippi.

However, in my book, the Augie player who stood out the most, and seemed to provide the Vikings with their biggest spark, was A.J. Dollmeyer. He was 4/5 from the field, and 2/2 from the line with all of his points seemingly "big" ones, especially his halftime buzzer beater which sent the home team to the locker room with an 8 point lead. Dollmeyer, perhaps Augie's #4 center was easily the most effective, easily surpassing the contributions of starter Micah Martin (2 absolutely stupid fouls within about 30 seconds), and fellow backups Donovan Ferguson, and Roman Youngblut, both of whom were basically invisible.

Officiating

An embarrassment to the CCIW. I see refs at many high school games who have it all over these guys. Many dismemberments, often in an open area of the court, took place before blind eyes, and many defenders whose only crime was being in the vicinity of the Carver Center were whistled for infractions. The way the game was called made it practically impossible to play any kind of interior defense. Breathe on your guy too hard and it's a foul. Two centers on each team were disqualified, and a total of 28 fouls were called on the 7 centers who saw action. NCC's starter Alex Sorenson saddled with 2 calls that were especially outrageous. Ridiculous.
And - Before you mistake my comments for a losing fan just bitching, please consider the fact that seated right behind myself and 2 other Cardinal fans were two younger senior gentlemen who are Augie fans who never miss a game, and from whose comments it is evident, know the game well. Both indicated that they have seen this officiating crew several times before, and that their work can almost always be classified as egregious. Several times during the game they both opined the call, either a call or no-call, was wrong even when it went in Augie's favor.

The officiating crew was Dotson, Kasirsky, and Gerlach.  Dotson has worked the Division III National Championship game along with some additional deep tournament runs in the past five years.  I don't recall ever seeing the other two work a game at Augustana and certainly not as a crew.  With that being said, it is surprising that the conference wouldn't put a veteran crew on this game. 

The Statue

Each Augie game features a group of students, I believe mostly football players whose buffoonery aptly reflects the discipline embodied in their recent record, who stand near center court and "cheer" throughout the game. Last night there were, fortunately, only 5 of them. Rather than being original, insightful, or entertaining, a majority of their comments always seem to be over the top personal attacks on the opposition. The two adult fans I referred to above with regard to the officiating PLUS several other adult Augie fans said they feel these students are usually "disruptive" rather than adding anything positive to the proceedings.
However, the really crazy thing about the group is that there is almost always an adult standing right next to the first row of these students who just stands there throughout the game, but never utters a word. This guy, evidently deaf and dumb and undoubtedly a member of the Augustana administration, just stands there like a statue. He never tells the canines to sit down, shut up, or even bark or roll over. Just stands there, in Venus de Milo mode, silent with his arms folded across his chest in a manner rendering them difficult to be seen.

Now you sound like a losing fan just bitching.

* Lastly, congrats to North Central's Alex Sorenson who last night surpassed the 1,000 point mark (1,005 currently) in only his 62nd game in a Cardinal uniform.

Hightops,

Due to where its placed, I'm not sure if your comment is in response to my entire post or just the Statue section. If it has to do with the entire post you're demonstrating your lack of reading comprehension. Again, it wasn't just NCC fans who both felt the officiating was substandard, and the student "fans" and the guy standing there doing nothing detracted from the game experience.
If you're complaining about the Statue portion, perhaps you are either one of the buffoons doing the yelling, or maybe you're the Statue personified. 

[Yogao]

I have to agree with what AndOne said. I wasn't at the game but watched it streaming like most of their games. AJ Dollmeyer stepped up big time when Augie's other bigs got into foul trouble.  In particular, he beat everybody down the court after a made NC basket, and got a layup and 1 (made) to push Augie's lead from I believe 4 back to 7 during the stretch in the 2nd half when Augie attempted but failed to pull away with the game.

Augie's announcers were also quite vocal advocating on both sides that they disagreed with some of the foul calls, and made a comment they were trying to "teach" the players since it was very early in the conference season. This is the second game in a row that foul trouble hurt Augie, and hopefully they clean it up a little while staying aggressive on the defensive end.

[4samuy]

Augie - 79
NCC — 72

A seven point loss to the #4 team in the country. On the face of things, not bad. The problem however, and I know the Augie posters will disagree, is that North Central should have won this game. The W was right there for the taking. I mean make some frickin' layups and shoot 75% from the line, and the bus ride home is a lot more lively.

Three times down the stretch, the Cardinals missed layups that they could usually make in their sleep. Finish those drives, and make 2 more FTs (to make the % 75), and board the bus to Happy Land rather than Sad Town. This is probably a bit of oversimplification, but master the fundamentals and subsequent maneuvers come a little easier.

NCC was led in scoring by Connor Raridon with 20. Mike Pollack had 12 (4 threes), and Erwin Henry 10. Alex Sorenson was the leading rebounder with 7. Augie's scoring leader was Nolan Ebel with a very quiet 18 points. After the game I was amazed he had that many, but that's often how good players operate. Chrishawn Orange had 16 (also AC's top rebounder with 7), and Brett Benning had 15 including a couple of threes from the Iowa side of the Mississippi.

However, in my book, the Augie player who stood out the most, and seemed to provide the Vikings with their biggest spark, was A.J. Dollmeyer. He was 4/5 from the field, and 2/2 from the line with all of his points seemingly "big" ones, especially his halftime buzzer beater which sent the home team to the locker room with an 8 point lead. Dollmeyer, perhaps Augie's #4 center was easily the most effective, easily surpassing the contributions of starter Micah Martin (2 absolutely stupid fouls within about 30 seconds), and fellow backups Donovan Ferguson, and Roman Youngblut, both of whom were basically invisible.

Officiating

An embarrassment to the CCIW. I see refs at many high school games who have it all over these guys. Many dismemberments, often in an open area of the court, took place before blind eyes, and many defenders whose only crime was being in the vicinity of the Carver Center were whistled for infractions. The way the game was called made it practically impossible to play any kind of interior defense. Breathe on your guy too hard and it's a foul. Two centers on each team were disqualified, and a total of 28 fouls were called on the 7 centers who saw action. NCC's starter Alex Sorenson saddled with 2 calls that were especially outrageous. Ridiculous.
And - Before you mistake my comments for a losing fan just bitching, please consider the fact that seated right behind myself and 2 other Cardinal fans were two younger senior gentlemen who are Augie fans who never miss a game, and from whose comments it is evident, know the game well. Both indicated that they have seen this officiating crew several times before, and that their work can almost always be classified as egregious. Several times during the game they both opined the call, either a call or no-call, was wrong even when it went in Augie's favor.

The Statue

Each Augie game features a group of students, I believe mostly football players whose buffoonery aptly reflects the discipline embodied in their recent record, who stand near center court and "cheer" throughout the game. Last night there were, fortunately, only 5 of them. Rather than being original, insightful, or entertaining, a majority of their comments always seem to be over the top personal attacks on the opposition. The two adult fans I referred to above with regard to the officiating PLUS several other adult Augie fans said they feel these students are usually "disruptive" rather than adding anything positive to the proceedings.
However, the really crazy thing about the group is that there is almost always an adult standing right next to the first row of these students who just stands there throughout the game, but never utters a word. This guy, evidently deaf and dumb and undoubtedly a member of the Augustana administration, just stands there like a statue. He never tells the canines to sit down, shut up, or even bark or roll over. Just stands there, in Venus de Milo mode, silent with his arms folded across his chest in a manner rendering them difficult to be seen.

* Lastly, congrats to North Central's Alex Sorenson who last night surpassed the 1,000 point mark (1,005 currently) in only his 62nd game in a Cardinal uniform.

Wow AndOne. Are you the one who tweeted out yesterday @NCCBasketball, and I quote "NCAA is on a mission to shutdown Sorensen. The guy can't play more than a few minutes every game. Most likely leads the country in offensive fouls.

[iwumichigander]

  I think he might be the best offensive player I've seen at Wheaton.  He's an excellent passer aside for his ability to score.

I agree, although I'd still take Kent Raymond over him. Raymond gave you everything that he had, at both ends of the floor, every time that he suited up. I'm pretty sure that the only concern Bill Harris ever had about him was whether or not God was going to pull rank on Bill again and take Bill's best player away.

I will jump in and agree with you both, at least since the three ball.  Kent Raymond learned to feed the ball to and engage his team mates early in a game would cause the opponent to usually go one on one rather than double team.  He gave 40 minutes at both ends of the court.

No question.  As an all-around player I'd take Kent Raymond any day.

(modified by GS for formatting)

[AndOne]

Augie - 79
NCC — 72

A seven point loss to the #4 team in the country. On the face of things, not bad. The problem however, and I know the Augie posters will disagree, is that North Central should have won this game. The W was right there for the taking. I mean make some frickin' layups and shoot 75% from the line, and the bus ride home is a lot more lively.

Three times down the stretch, the Cardinals missed layups that they could usually make in their sleep. Finish those drives, and make 2 more FTs (to make the % 75), and board the bus to Happy Land rather than Sad Town. This is probably a bit of oversimplification, but master the fundamentals and subsequent maneuvers come a little easier.

NCC was led in scoring by Connor Raridon with 20. Mike Pollack had 12 (4 threes), and Erwin Henry 10. Alex Sorenson was the leading rebounder with 7. Augie's scoring leader was Nolan Ebel with a very quiet 18 points. After the game I was amazed he had that many, but that's often how good players operate. Chrishawn Orange had 16 (also AC's top rebounder with 7), and Brett Benning had 15 including a couple of threes from the Iowa side of the Mississippi.

However, in my book, the Augie player who stood out the most, and seemed to provide the Vikings with their biggest spark, was A.J. Dollmeyer. He was 4/5 from the field, and 2/2 from the line with all of his points seemingly "big" ones, especially his halftime buzzer beater which sent the home team to the locker room with an 8 point lead. Dollmeyer, perhaps Augie's #4 center was easily the most effective, easily surpassing the contributions of starter Micah Martin (2 absolutely stupid fouls within about 30 seconds), and fellow backups Donovan Ferguson, and Roman Youngblut, both of whom were basically invisible.

Officiating

An embarrassment to the CCIW. I see refs at many high school games who have it all over these guys. Many dismemberments, often in an open area of the court, took place before blind eyes, and many defenders whose only crime was being in the vicinity of the Carver Center were whistled for infractions. The way the game was called made it practically impossible to play any kind of interior defense. Breathe on your guy too hard and it's a foul. Two centers on each team were disqualified, and a total of 28 fouls were called on the 7 centers who saw action. NCC's starter Alex Sorenson saddled with 2 calls that were especially outrageous. Ridiculous.
And - Before you mistake my comments for a losing fan just bitching, please consider the fact that seated right behind myself and 2 other Cardinal fans were two younger senior gentlemen who are Augie fans who never miss a game, and from whose comments it is evident, know the game well. Both indicated that they have seen this officiating crew several times before, and that their work can almost always be classified as egregious. Several times during the game they both opined the call, either a call or no-call, was wrong even when it went in Augie's favor.

The Statue

Each Augie game features a group of students, I believe mostly football players whose buffoonery aptly reflects the discipline embodied in their recent record, who stand near center court and "cheer" throughout the game. Last night there were, fortunately, only 5 of them. Rather than being original, insightful, or entertaining, a majority of their comments always seem to be over the top personal attacks on the opposition. The two adult fans I referred to above with regard to the officiating PLUS several other adult Augie fans said they feel these students are usually "disruptive" rather than adding anything positive to the proceedings.
However, the really crazy thing about the group is that there is almost always an adult standing right next to the first row of these students who just stands there throughout the game, but never utters a word. This guy, evidently deaf and dumb and undoubtedly a member of the Augustana administration, just stands there like a statue. He never tells the canines to sit down, shut up, or even bark or roll over. Just stands there, in Venus de Milo mode, silent with his arms folded across his chest in a manner rendering them difficult to be seen.

* Lastly, congrats to North Central's Alex Sorenson who last night surpassed the 1,000 point mark (1,005 currently) in only his 62nd game in a Cardinal uniform.

Wow AndOne. Are you the one who tweeted out yesterday @NCCBasketball, and I quote "NCAA is on a mission to shutdown Sorensen. The guy can't play more than a few minutes every game. Most likely leads the country in offensive fouls.

ABSOLUTELY NOT, 4samuy. That was definitely NOT me.
I have NEVER tweeted anything. I am not even on Twitter and never have been.
I have no idea who @NCCBasketball is. I do know it's NOT me.
And if I did tweet, I would never say anything like that anyway. But if I did, I'd spell SorensOn correctly!
Thank you, in advance, for your apology. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

This was my response to that tweet. :-)

https://twitter.com/d3hoopsville/status/938597277450604545

Comment back was he was getting the "Landon Gamble" treatment.

My perspective will always be, players, coaches, and teams have to adjust. The game is being called tighter to allow for more flow. Complaining about it isn't going to work. It isn't changing. Rules committee is made up of at least half coaches. They are asking for a freer game with less battling especially in the post. Players have to adjust. Coaches have to help them adjust. Fans need to adjust.

With a new national coordinator of officials... this is going to start being more of a focus. Those areas where they are ignoring the mandate will be forced to start calling it more often. Those who maybe have gone too far will be pulled back. (Or call something else incorrectly will be adjusted.)

[4samuy]

Augie - 79
NCC — 72

A seven point loss to the #4 team in the country. On the face of things, not bad. The problem however, and I know the Augie posters will disagree, is that North Central should have won this game. The W was right there for the taking. I mean make some frickin' layups and shoot 75% from the line, and the bus ride home is a lot more lively.

Three times down the stretch, the Cardinals missed layups that they could usually make in their sleep. Finish those drives, and make 2 more FTs (to make the % 75), and board the bus to Happy Land rather than Sad Town. This is probably a bit of oversimplification, but master the fundamentals and subsequent maneuvers come a little easier.

NCC was led in scoring by Connor Raridon with 20. Mike Pollack had 12 (4 threes), and Erwin Henry 10. Alex Sorenson was the leading rebounder with 7. Augie's scoring leader was Nolan Ebel with a very quiet 18 points. After the game I was amazed he had that many, but that's often how good players operate. Chrishawn Orange had 16 (also AC's top rebounder with 7), and Brett Benning had 15 including a couple of threes from the Iowa side of the Mississippi.

However, in my book, the Augie player who stood out the most, and seemed to provide the Vikings with their biggest spark, was A.J. Dollmeyer. He was 4/5 from the field, and 2/2 from the line with all of his points seemingly "big" ones, especially his halftime buzzer beater which sent the home team to the locker room with an 8 point lead. Dollmeyer, perhaps Augie's #4 center was easily the most effective, easily surpassing the contributions of starter Micah Martin (2 absolutely stupid fouls within about 30 seconds), and fellow backups Donovan Ferguson, and Roman Youngblut, both of whom were basically invisible.

Officiating

An embarrassment to the CCIW. I see refs at many high school games who have it all over these guys. Many dismemberments, often in an open area of the court, took place before blind eyes, and many defenders whose only crime was being in the vicinity of the Carver Center were whistled for infractions. The way the game was called made it practically impossible to play any kind of interior defense. Breathe on your guy too hard and it's a foul. Two centers on each team were disqualified, and a total of 28 fouls were called on the 7 centers who saw action. NCC's starter Alex Sorenson saddled with 2 calls that were especially outrageous. Ridiculous.
And - Before you mistake my comments for a losing fan just bitching, please consider the fact that seated right behind myself and 2 other Cardinal fans were two younger senior gentlemen who are Augie fans who never miss a game, and from whose comments it is evident, know the game well. Both indicated that they have seen this officiating crew several times before, and that their work can almost always be classified as egregious. Several times during the game they both opined the call, either a call or no-call, was wrong even when it went in Augie's favor.

The Statue

Each Augie game features a group of students, I believe mostly football players whose buffoonery aptly reflects the discipline embodied in their recent record, who stand near center court and "cheer" throughout the game. Last night there were, fortunately, only 5 of them. Rather than being original, insightful, or entertaining, a majority of their comments always seem to be over the top personal attacks on the opposition. The two adult fans I referred to above with regard to the officiating PLUS several other adult Augie fans said they feel these students are usually "disruptive" rather than adding anything positive to the proceedings.
However, the really crazy thing about the group is that there is almost always an adult standing right next to the first row of these students who just stands there throughout the game, but never utters a word. This guy, evidently deaf and dumb and undoubtedly a member of the Augustana administration, just stands there like a statue. He never tells the canines to sit down, shut up, or even bark or roll over. Just stands there, in Venus de Milo mode, silent with his arms folded across his chest in a manner rendering them difficult to be seen.

* Lastly, congrats to North Central's Alex Sorenson who last night surpassed the 1,000 point mark (1,005 currently) in only his 62nd game in a Cardinal uniform.

Wow AndOne. Are you the one who tweeted out yesterday @NCCBasketball, and I quote "NCAA is on a mission to shutdown Sorensen. The guy can't play more than a few minutes every game. Most likely leads the country in offensive fouls.

ABSOLUTELY NOT, 4samuy. That was definitely NOT me.
I have NEVER tweeted anything. I am not even on Twitter and never have been.
I have no idea who @NCCBasketball is. I do know it's NOT me.
And if I did tweet, I would never say anything like that anyway. But if I did, I'd spell SorensOn correctly!
Thank you, in advance, for your apology. 

I was just asking not accusing.  It even got a response from D-Mac.😀