MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Speaking of Millikin, after watching the Big Blue defeat North Park on the road in an unsightly game, I am not sure if NP's defense or offense is worse.  The Vikings shot 26/87 for the game and seemed completely lost trying to guard Zach Fisher, the game's leading scorer, around the perimeter...just like other games.

On a positive note, Viking Matt Szuba had 10 rebounds, blocked four shots, passed the ball very well, and hustled mightily throughout the frustrating game.

When I think of Matt Szuba, I think two things—tough, and good. But Matt Szuba (as well as his coach) have to decide what kind of player Matt Szuba is. He came into college with the reputation of being a great rebounder, a very good defender, and an often tough inside scorer. He is 6"6, and I believe is North Park's 2nd tallest player. Then I watch him play against Wheaton, and my first thought is what the hell is he doing? Why is his coach letting him? Here is a 6'6" guy whose primary role should be an insider banger. But no, he's out there bombing away as if he is in competition with Aston Francis to see who can hoist more shots from beyond the arc. Francis took 13 threes. Szuba took 11.
I don't think that's his game, and North Park's problems aren't going away if Szuba is taking more threes than any other player instead of getting down inside and doing what he does best.

[AndOne]

New poll is out.  NebWes is still unanimously #1, but Augie has solidified their #2 spot, rising from 580 to 591 points (I would assume they got them all from Williams).  NCC doubled their points total to 42, and is now tied for 2nd place in the ORV category.  Wheaton fell from 11 to 6 points.  IWU's 7th loss was finally too much for the last hold-outs, as they were shut out of the voting.  (I would have probably already dropped them last week, but some combination of powerhouse reputation and having THE toughest SOS in D3 kept from 1-4 voters listing them on the ballot.)

And therein lies the problem. 🔩

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I hope you all tuned into to hear Chris Martin chat on Hoopsville Sunday night. He was a great guest and it was a fun chat. He will be missed not only in this conference, but in Division III (though, not sure where he may pop up in later years).

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

New poll is out.  NebWes is still unanimously #1, but Augie has solidified their #2 spot, rising from 580 to 591 points (I would assume they got them all from Williams).  NCC doubled their points total to 42, and is now tied for 2nd place in the ORV category.  Wheaton fell from 11 to 6 points.  IWU's 7th loss was finally too much for the last hold-outs, as they were shut out of the voting.  (I would have probably already dropped them last week, but some combination of powerhouse reputation and having THE toughest SOS in D3 kept from 1-4 voters listing them on the ballot.)

And therein lies the problem. 🔩

For me it wasn't so much the name on the jerseys but the fact that I've seen those guys play and know what their capable of.  It's just a little mind-boggling that they're not winning some of these games they're losing.

[Gregory Sager]

I hope you all tuned into to hear Chris Martin chat on Hoopsville Sunday night. He was a great guest and it was a fun chat. He will be missed not only in this conference, but in Division III (though, not sure where he may pop up in later years).

Chris was his usual ebullient and diplomatic self. Thanks for having him on.

He's been a good commish, and will be missed.

[Gregory Sager]

When I think of Matt Szuba, I think two things—tough, and good. But Matt Szuba (as well as his coach) have to decide what kind of player Matt Szuba is. He came into college with the reputation of being a great rebounder, a very good defender, and an often tough inside scorer.

I don't know which Matt Szuba you're talking about, Mark, but the Matt Szuba from Prospect HS who plays for North Park doesn't really match your description. North Park's Matt Szuba did come into college with the rep of being a great rebounder -- and he's become one of the CCIW's best rebounders this season as a sophomore -- but "a very good defender"? Not really. The NPU coaching staff identified that as a growth area for Szuba, and it's something he has struggled with in his first year and a half as a Viking. His defense has progressed to the point where it's good one night (as it was against Wheaton on Saturday), not so good on other nights (e.g., the previous game against Elijah Henry of Millikin). He blocks shots well, but he's not a rim protector by any means, a la Sean Johnson and the Martin/Ferguson tandem, and he still needs plenty of help in the low post against good scorers and is vulnerable if he's drawn away from the basket. He's getting there defensively, but he's not quite there yet -- and defense was not something for which he was noted in high school.

He also wasn't known as a "tough inside scorer" at Prospect. He was an inside-outside scorer. He doesn't have a back-to-the-basket game; NPU hasn't had a full-sized big man who could post up and score down in the low block since Mike Gabriel and Mark Holmes (i.e., none in the Slyder era), and that's what comes to mind when somebody says that a big man is a "tough inside scorer." If Szuba or Veggie Tangen catch a pass with their backs to the basket, it's well out on the floor, far enough to give them room to turn and attack the basket via the dribble or to spin into a midrange jumper.

Actually, even for someone whose game is strictly face-the-basket, Szuba's touch within the paint isn't yet where it needs to be. He's shooting .381 from two-point range this season, after a freshman campaign in which he shot .409 from inside the arc. Those are not good numbers for a 6'6 CCIW player. Part of it is that he doesn't have the midrange consistency of fellow 6'6 CCIWers Brett Benning or Connor Raridon, but he also needs to improve his touch around the basket. I'm hopeful that with hard work and experience he will blossom into a big scorer as an upperclassman, especially if the coaching staff is able to find a complementary big man to pair with him (Szuba and Tangen are really duplicates rather than complements in terms of position, although Szuba's a better rebounder and Tangen's a better shooter). He's already an outstanding FT shooter for a big man (.846 this season). Szuba's a useful CCIW player on offense right now as a sophomore, but he has it within him to develop into an even better one.

You also neglected to mention what Szuba was really known for in high school, and that was his superior passing ability and court vision. His rep at Prospect was that he was an uncommonly good distributor for a high school big. You can see that in Szuba's game right now; the only CCIW forwards who have more assists than Szuba this season are Raridon and the best player in this league that nobody ever talks about, Kienan Baltimore.

He is 6"6, and I believe is North Park's 2nd tallest player.

Nope. He's NPU's tallest and biggest player. There is a player on the JV team who is taller, 6'8 freshman Karsten Kerlefsen from Norway, but he has not suited up for a varsity game this season, nor is he likely to do so.

Then I watch him play against Wheaton, and my first thought is what the hell is he doing? Why is his coach letting him? Here is a 6'6" guy whose primary role should be an insider banger. But no, he's out there bombing away as if he is in competition with Aston Francis to see who can hoist more shots from beyond the arc. Francis took 13 threes. Szuba took 11.
I don't think that's his game, and North Park's problems aren't going away if Szuba is taking more threes than any other player instead of getting down inside and doing what he does best.

"What he does best" is exactly what he's doing right now, Mark -- he's grabbing rebounds, making good passes, and working as an inside-outside scorer. He is not an "inside banger." He's suited to the one-in, four-out offense that Tom Slyder runs, with Szuba and Tangen being the two players that cycle through the lane and back out to the arc again.

The percentage of shots that he's taking from within the arc is dramatically higher than it was last season. This year, 42% of his shots have been from two-point range. Last year only 28% of his shots were from inside the arc. Last year nearly half of NPU's shots as a team were from downtown; this season only about 38% of them have been from beyond the arc. Part of the reason for that is the graduation of Colin Lake, coupled with the arrival of Izaiah Sanders and Kindrel Morris and the emergence of Toby Marek and Cardell Simmons, all four of whom are drive-first, bomb-only-when-necessary types of guards. But part of the reason is that Szuba is shooting from inside more. Saturday's game was an anomaly in terms of it being a contest in which NPU was competitive and Szuba was shooting trey attempts almost exclusively.

[Gregory Sager]

Ho hum.

[duckfan41]

Ho hum.

Also added his third National Team of the Week honor if anyone cares

[AndOne]

Maybe we should add an Aston Francis board.
You know, the guy who is going to win the conference MOP Award. Or is that Nolan Ebel? 😏

[Gregory Sager]

Maybe we should add an Aston Francis board.
You know, the guy who is going to win the conference MOP Award. Or is that Nolan Ebel? 😏

Let it be said that I'm not the one who decided to go "there" today.

[Gregory Sager]

I will say, though, that the shot he made in the picture shown in the CCIW release was one of the most impressive makes I've seen in the past several seasons. Francis, who was all the way underneath the backboard to the left of the rim, launched himself backwards back into the court while managing to avoid bumping Izaiah Sanders, got full extension of his right arm with the ball in it, and somehow managed to flick it in off of the backboard on the right side of the rim. How he managed to spin the ball properly while flying through the air and contorting his body like that is anybody's guess.

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan (11-7, 4-5) at Wheaton (13-5, 6-3), 7pm...

Titans (11-7, 4-5)
G - Brady Rose, 6-3/185 Sr.  21.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.9 apg
G - Colin Bonnett, 6-4/190 Sr.  11.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.7 apg
G - Jason Gregoire, 6-4/205 Sr.  9.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.5 apg
F - Doug Wallen, 6-5/210 So. 7.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg
F - Danny Baker, 6-6/210 Sr.  2.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg

Thunder (13-5, 6-3)
G - Luke Peters, 6-4/185 Sr.  7.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.2 apg
G - Aston Francis, 6-1/195 Sr.  32.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.7 apg
G - Kobe Eichelberber, 6-5/200 Sr.  7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.2 apg
F - Anajuwon Spencer, 6-8/195 Jr.  6.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg
F - Spencer Peterson, 6-6/230 Jr.  6.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg

Pantagraph - https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/bair-back-on-track-as-iwu-heads-to-wheaton/article_1ef9b628-037c-5ecb-abd8-365d0c536926.html

Video - https://livestream.com/WheatonThunder

Stats - https://athletics.wheaton.edu/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

[Mr. Ypsi]

Frustrating day today.  I started bowling with a 174, which was 19 pins higher than last week when I finished with a 614 series (3rd game was a 252, which was my first time EVER breaking the 250 barrier), but it was sharply downhill from there: 150, then 116).  Then went to the grocery store to get stuff for our party this Saturday, not yet knowing that it ain't gonna happen!

I got home to discover my wife had faced a flood from the dishwasher (not even running) when the cheap-sh!t plastic solenoid valve shattered in the cold and the intake ran like gangbusters. (This had already happened last winter during an extreme cold spell, so the valve that shattered was less than a year old - Maytag parts are garbage.)  The damage was enough that we filed an insurance claim, and now have to deal with dampness-mitigation (the bank of dehumidifiers sounds like a 747 next door from everywhere in the house) - 3 to 5 days - followed by who knows how much reconstruction from the company who rebuild after the damage.  Virtually no kitchen for AT LEAST a week, probably 2.

Location of the party had already been moved to two of the guests for a different reason, but we were still the 'hosts' in terms of main dish.  Now have to decide what that will be.  It ain't likely to be my 'world-famous' lasagna!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Frustrating day today.  I started bowling with a 174, which was 19 pins higher than last week when I finished with a 614 series (3rd game was a 252, which was my first time EVER breaking the 250 barrier), but it was sharply downhill from there: 150, then 116).  Then went to the grocery store to get stuff for our party this Saturday, not yet knowing that it ain't gonna happen!

I got home to discover my wife had faced a flood from the dishwasher (not even running) when the cheap-sh!t plastic solenoid valve shattered in the cold and the intake ran like gangbusters. (This had already happened last winter during an extreme cold spell, so the valve that shattered was less than a year old - Maytag parts are garbage.)  The damage was enough that we filed an insurance claim, and now have to deal with dampness-mitigation (the bank of dehumidifiers sounds like a 747 next door from everywhere in the house) - 3 to 5 days - followed by who knows how much reconstruction from the company who rebuild after the damage.  Virtually no kitchen for AT LEAST a week, probably 2.

Location of the party had already been moved to two of the guests for a different reason, but we were still the 'hosts' in terms of main dish.  Now have to decide what that will be.  It ain't likely to be my 'world-famous' lasagna!

Sorry sir ... we've experienced three major water damage problems in our townhouse. Two were the two outside water bibs BOTH breaking inside the house because the stupid plumber who installed the frost-free bibs ... installed them incorrectly (instead of it have a downhill run to the outside so water can flow out, he/she installed them with a downslope back INTO the house and the cutoff point). The third has happened twice, actually... the water line to the refrigerator coming apart.

So the humidifiers, torn up walls, floors, and ceilings, is something I am very familiar with. Three insurance claims on it (we decided to suck up the fourth one). It is a pain in the ass. I also have PTSD whenever I hear water running quietly somewhere even when it should be running.

[Mr. Ypsi]

D-mac, at least you had an idiot plumber to blame; we've just got a faceless 'highly-respected' corporation - Maytag.  (If the Maytag repairman is truly the loneliest man in town (old commercial), it must be because they refuse to pick up the phone!)  Unless you have excellent insulation, their cheap-sh!t plastic solenoid valve WILL shatter during any cold spell (ours was only TWO nights of below zero during a mild winter).  One way or another, we WILL get our kitchen insulation upgraded before next winter, and we will replace this garbage dishwasher, and Maytag will not be among our top 200 choices for the new one!