MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[kiko]

Is it time to call a Greg Sager hyperbole alert yet?

WashU shooting:

First half - 62.1%
Second half - 43.5%


Wash U turnovers:

First half - 7
Second half - 14

Whether this had anything to do with minutes played on Friday is something we'll never know, but it was pretty clear which team had the afterburners on toward the end of the game.

Wash U has a nice mix of size and shooting that is usually lethal at the D3 level.  North Park just did North Park things, which when my school was playing them, made it look like they were playing seven-on-five.

[mr_b]

WashU shooting:

First half - 62.1%
Second half - 43.5%


Wash U turnovers:

First half - 7
Second half - 14

Whether this had anything to do with minutes played on Friday is something we'll never know, but it was pretty clear which team had the afterburners on toward the end of the game.

Wash U has a nice mix of size and shooting that is usually lethal at the D3 level.  North Park just did North Park things, which when my school was playing them, made it look like they were playing seven-on-five.

I thought the Bears looked really sharp in the first half, hitting lots of shots and playing tight defense.  But North Park kept the pressure on and never gave up, even when they were down by 14.  Very gritty performance by the Vikings.  Next up for North Park: #3 Mount Union, which took it to Lancaster Bible, 90-66.  Next up for Wheaton: #4 St. Joseph (CT), which topped #14 Williams, 75-54.

[Viking Blue]

It's been many, many years since I've posted.  I will not apologize, and I am certainly not a "fairweather fan".  No one who bleeds blue and gold could ever be accused of that.  It's essentially been below zero with 40 mph winds for as long as I've been associated with North Park (goes back to 95).  I watched games, did the PA while I was a student and for years after I left.

This....this is exciting.  Admittedly, life happens.  Every year, I peek in to see how my Vikings are doing.  I always try to make a point to make it to a game.  This year, I was lucky enough to make it to both CCIW tourney games at Wheaton with both of my boys.

I left last weekend's games admiring the style of play.  That's it.  Who doesn't love a hustling, hard-nosed, bust-your-a** style of play out of a team you cheer for?

But tonight?  Tonight made me a believer that this group could just go ahead and do the thing.

Down 14 in the second half.

Big men in foul trouble.

Playing on the road when (and I'm not saying this is anyone's fault) you should have been in an absolutely electric Crackerbox.

And they chipped away.  I watched the game with my 11 year old son, andf it was awesome to explain how athletes need to navigate emotions and waves throughout a game.

At tne end of the day, an amazing show of mental toughness for MY Vikings. 

Congrats, fellas.  This alum and fellow student-athlete is proud of you.  As Hawk Harrelson would day...

"Don't stop now, boys!!"

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 75- 71 over an outstanding St Norbert squad

Tyson Cruickshank ,   26 pts, 5rebs,
TJ Askew  14 pts, 10 rebs
Nick Schiavello 12 pts 7 rebs
Nate Sock 11 pts, really good defense

Evan Glaser  19 pts
Aiden Harrington, 14 pts 5 rebs

A real grinder of a game and a gritty win for Wheaton to advance.  Cruickshank did his MOP thing and hit some big shots and driving layups.  They definitely missed  the defense of Eli Considine who might have been able to slow Glaser down.  But I thought Nate Sock and Connor Braun contributed some really good minutes.

Another sweet sixteen appearance for Coach Schauer and the Thunder. Congratulation.  Now for 27-1 St Joseph's CT, probably on their home court.  But all the games are tough this time of the year.  Glad to still be playing.

[Gregory Sager]

Just finished writing the game story and sending it back to NPU.

All the feels, folks. All the feels.

Hat tip to Wash U, which is a great team, and to their large and extremely raucous crowd, who, like the Bomb Squad during the Bears' back-to-back natties, put the lie to the perception that UAA student bodies are aloof and consider rooting for their school's basketball team to be beneath them.

As kiko said, this North Park team just keeps doing North Park things. One thing that the Vikings do is quick runs, and while a 9-0 run over 2:23 isn't particularly fast (due to the deliberate nature of Wash U's offense), the NPU defense during that stretch, which brought Wash U's ten-point lead down to one and took the crowd out of the game, was absolutely suffocating. After the game, Wash U head coach Pat Juckem, who had characterized the contest as "a game of competing runs," admitted that after the Vikings commandeered the game during that stretch in the final nine minutes, "we didn't have another run left in us."

This was every bit as much a season-defining victory as the December romp at North Central, the win over Wheaton, or the double-OT edge of Elmhurst in the broken backboard game.

Maybe -- just maybe -- people in D3 basketball circles will now start taking Sean Smith & Co. more seriously.

[duckfan41]

North Park draws a bus ride to Alliance to face Mount Union.

Wheaton draws a flight to the Atlantic Coast of Virginia.

Both teams with steep hills to climb, but are playing great basketball right now *knocks on wood*

Best of luck to North Park and hoping we can make an all CCIW Natty a reality!

[Pat Coleman]

It's been many, many years since I've posted.

Six years! Welcome back!

[markerickson]

Halftime texting with NP's second all-time leading scorer:

ME:  Coach Erickson says to tighten the man to man D and let Marquis penetrate the paint at will   7:49pm
2G:  Their big guys are killing us   7:50
ME:  Keep up the pace and their guys will tire and get 4 PFs   8:04
ME:  Right on cue. Ram that ball, they will foul again, and that stops the clock   8:12

Going forward, Mt. Union has a premier "big man."  NP will use Bulwa, Boyd and Polk for banging purposes and also to entice fouls. 

Best wishes, Wheaton!

[Gregory Sager]

Halftime texting with NP's second all-time leading scorer:

How did you get Juwan Henry's phone number?

[USee]

As a reminder one measure of efficiency is points per possession (Pts/FGA + (FT* .44) -OFF RB + TO). There are some slight variations to how this can be calculated. The national average number of possessions for a team is 70. Much higher than that is a team that wants to go faster and lower than that are teams that like to slow things down. Anything over 1.0 for PPP on offense is good, anything above 1.1 is very good. Defensively, below 1.0 is good and below .9 is very good. The D3 Datacast guys have the games this week as:

Mt Union -3 (60% chance of winning)
North Park  (40% chance of winning)

Mt Union is used to the speed and tempo North Park will bring as the average PPP for NPU on offense is 1.08 and defense is  .89 (75.2 total possessions). For Mt Union they are 112.7 and 89.3 (75.4 total possessions). The Purple Raiders have high level guard play which is key in a matchup against the Vikings. Mt Union is going to be difficult to rattle but I find it interesting the spread is only UMU -3 while the other CCIW game is:

Wheaton +8.5 (22%)
St Joseph        (78%)

St Joseph might be the best defensive team in the country with 79.1 ppp while scoring at 112.4 points per possession with an up tempo game (74 total possessions) while Wheaton is 112.1 and 90.7 (69 total possessions). St Joes is an elite defensive team while scoring at an exceptionally efficient rate (74 total possessions). Wheaton is more deliberate on offense (69.1 total possessions) so we will see if St Joes suffocating defense will speed up the Thunder and force them into turnovers/bad shots. Probably going to come down to Wheaton's ability to make 3's while forcing St Joseph's to take contested shots on the other end.

[WashingtonWiz99]

Anyone have any names for Carroll? Didn't seem like the job was posted very long.

[CarrollBooster]

The only name I keep hearing for the Carroll job is Kyle Jones, Head Assistant Coach at UW-Osh Kosh.  Former 1,000 point scorer at Carroll.  Long time Assistant Coach at Carroll who left two seasons ago.  Luke Duckett, another former Carroll assistant is also at UW-Osh Kosh. 

No idea - being the first year I am deeply into the Carroll basketball scene - whether they want to hire anyone with a connection to the past or start brand new.  I heard in the gossip mill up here that 60+ applicants had already applied with a week before the job closed.  I would assume Taylor Jannsen, last years interim coach, would apply. 

I am as curious as anyone if there are any names floating out there. 

They won 3 of the last 4 CCIW games last season.  I think there is some talent where they should be way better.  Maybe not a North Park leap with a new coach -- but CCIW mid pack would be a nice improvement and goal.

Would think it would be a highly coveted D3 job.  Turnaround project in the best conference in the country would seem to me to be very attractive.  No where to go but up.  Certainly not the best facilities, but like I said won three out the last 4, most all the significant minutes return for next season. 

Can't wait to hear any legitimate names surface. 

[Gregory Sager]

Any open CCIW head coaching job is a magnet for applicants. People in the basketball coaching biz know darned well how high a caliber of league this is.

While making "a North Park leap" may be unlikely, IMO it would behoove the person doing the hiring, whether it's the AD or some VP who is in the president's cablnet, to take a page out of NPU AD John Born's book by seeking the candidate who is the best fit for Carroll -- mission, values, student recruitment profile, campus sensibility -- as well as the candidate who arrives at the interview with the best-thought-out plan for how to get Carroll to the next level already in his back pocket, and going with whomever comes closest to fitting both those criteria. I'd take that guy (or woman -- the day has arrived when we have to seriously consider female head coaches for men's teams, as long as they're qualified) over longest résumé or gaudiest W-L record or highest level of coaching experience. This is especially true if Carroll is looking for someone who is going to stay around for awhile and develop a culture and some sustained success, rather than treat CU as a "springboard school," as I like to call them.

[WashingtonWiz99]

The only name I keep hearing for the Carroll job is Kyle Jones, Head Assistant Coach at UW-Osh Kosh.  Former 1,000 point scorer at Carroll.  Long time Assistant Coach at Carroll who left two seasons ago.  Luke Duckett, another former Carroll assistant is also at UW-Osh Kosh. 

No idea - being the first year I am deeply into the Carroll basketball scene - whether they want to hire anyone with a connection to the past or start brand new.  I heard in the gossip mill up here that 60+ applicants had already applied with a week before the job closed.  I would assume Taylor Jannsen, last years interim coach, would apply. 

I am as curious as anyone if there are any names floating out there. 

They won 3 of the last 4 CCIW games last season.  I think there is some talent where they should be way better.  Maybe not a North Park leap with a new coach -- but CCIW mid pack would be a nice improvement and goal.

Would think it would be a highly coveted D3 job.  Turnaround project in the best conference in the country would seem to me to be very attractive.  No where to go but up.  Certainly not the best facilities, but like I said won three out the last 4, most all the significant minutes return for next season. 

Can't wait to hear any legitimate names surface.

He's the best guy for the job.

[Aconsmu]

He is not the guy if Steve Schweer from Illinois College or Joe Fano from St. Mary is involved.