MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[sac]

For Wheaton:
Standard 24 pts, 13 rebs
Raymond 23 pts, 2 missed FT's!

I found that amusing..........what a garbage FT shooter.

[Pat Coleman]

Jim, I'm totally right there with you on the NCC pbp cast... its very quality. Has Pat ever used a student broadcaster though? Bob will, I assume, be doing the women's games. I'll do it... lol... kidding!

When there were quality student broadcasters at WETN we used them.

[AndOne]

Looking at Augustana and their team this year, I think I am most happy for Drew Wessels.  As we have discussed before, he is an underrated, excellent ball player.  I think when Augie graduated their big stars last year, there was some uncertainty with Drew and what this year's group was going to have. Saturday's games.

NC @Augie  going to be tough for the Cardinals to win at the Carver Center, especially with a large contingent of Alumni.   NC needs a win

Wheaton @ Elmhurst   Now this is the game to decide 2nd/3rd place for the CCIW Tournament.  Elmhurst will not win this game if they shoot 38% from the floor again.  However, Elmhurst has shown the tenacity to rebound after a loss, with a great game.  I think keeping Raymond on the outside is going to be a big key.  Wiele and Fiddler have to be contributing also.

Last year during Augie games the spotlight was focused mainly on Harrigan and McAdams-Thornton. With their graduation, the spotlight fell, in large part, on   Wessels. His overall combination of skills in both running the offense and playing in your face defense became even more apparent as he stepped up and delivered time after time.

Augie currently occupies the number 9 spot in the land so the NCC Cardinals are fully expecting a very tough battle Sat night. However, in their last 2 games the Cards have knocked off the number 15 and number 12 ranked teams in the country, both of whom won the season's first round of games between the teams.
IF North Central plays the way they have in the last 2 games, especially against Elmhurst, the number 9 team will meet a similiar fate.

Wheaton/Elmhurst---Playing to decide 2nd and 3rd in the CCIW. However, they finish, they will apparently be meeting again soon in the conference tourney as 2 will play 3. As such, the biggest prize they will be playing for Sat is MOMENTUM going into the conference tourney.

[AndOne]

For Wheaton:
Standard 24 pts, 13 rebs
Raymond 23 pts, 2 missed FT's!

I found that amusing..........what a garbage FT shooter.

Good one, SAC   

[diehardfan]

For Wheaton:
Standard 24 pts, 13 rebs

Puts a nice exclamation point on the reality that whole Wheaton has a lot of other great players thing, doesn't it? 39 fantasy points for me... woo! Thanks Johnnie.

Jim, I'm totally right there with you on the NCC pbp cast... its very quality. Has Pat ever used a student broadcaster though? Bob will, I assume, be doing the women's games. I'll do it... lol... kidding!

When there were quality student broadcasters at WETN we used them.

Good point. And I believe you even used Owen for the Carthage playoff games back in the day if I'm not mistaken. Whoops.

Now guys, lets remember that it would be pretty unnecessary for d3hoops.com to call the games, wouldn't it? I'm sure there are other conference tournaments that don't already have broadcasters in place... All the CCIW teams left in contention have their own broadcast. I do hope that our NCC friend is not a senior though.

Does anyone know if the league is planning on doing the high quality webcasts again this year? Didn't Bob and someone else do the webcasts for those last year?

[Gregory Sager]

In fact, aside from Big Jack's 54-spot against the Redmen, there's only been seven other 40-point performances in a CCIW game in the trey era:

8. 49, Kirk Anderson, Augustana (vs. North Park), 1992
36t. 42, Korey Coon, Ill. Wesleyan (vs. North Central), 2000
36t. 42, Alonzo Alexander, North Central (vs. Augustana), 1992
36t. 42, Mike Bohannon, North Central (vs. Augustana), 1987
47t. 41, Mike Owens, Augustana (vs. Elmhurst), 1987
53t. 40, Bryan Crabtree, Ill. Wesleyan (vs. Millikin), 1996
53t. 40, Shannon Cloyd, Millikin (vs. Elmhurst), 1992

Former Millikin great Leon Gobczynski broke the 40-point barrier in 15 CCIW games during his storied career back in the mid-'70s. That blows my mind.

43            Jason Wiertel vs. Wheaton (Ill.) on Feb. 13, 1999

Carthage and Wheaton are still in the CCIW right??

That one's not listed on the CCIW men's basketball site, either. They really need to update that page. That game was eight years ago!

[Gregory Sager]

Sager, did NP shoot exceptionally well in the first half? Maybe that's what Bosko meant when NP jumped out to such a large lead. Not positive that's what he was implying, just a guess on my part.

NPU shot 54% in the first half, which is better than the Vikings' CCIW average but hardly as spectacular as Bosko made it sound in the Kenosha paper. The comments he made later that appear in Steve Marovich's CC press release -- "North Park shot the ball better than they normally do, especially in the first half, and some of that was due to our lack of good defensive play" -- do clarify things a bit more, although only the "especially in the first half" clause in his statement is actually true. As I said last night, NPU didn't shoot any better for the game than is normally true for the Vikings.

[Gregory Sager]

The way I see it.  If Elmhurst wins their final 2 games and wins 1 in the CCIW tournament, I think they will be in good shape.  That would give them 21 wins.
If They lose 1 of their last 2 games, then I think Elmhurst really has to win the CCIW Tournament because with 20 wins, they might not be in the "safe zone".

I'm not sure that you quite understand how the Pool C (at-large) selection procedure works in D3 basketball, 79jb. Overall record is irrelevant, since in the eyes of the D3 selection committee Elmhurst's games against IIT, Alma, Gwynedd-Mercy, and Albion might as well have never taken place at all. It's regional record, or more precisely regional winning percentage, that matters. Elmhurst's regional record is currently 14-5, so the all-important regional winning percentage of the Bluejays is currently .737. As Bob outlined in his 10:11 post this evening, that's down towards the low end of the Pool C spectrum. The 'jays need to get seriously hot, and to stay hot until at least the CCIW tourney championship game. Otherwise, they might be left outside the door once the big dance starts.

In other words ...

Wheaton/Elmhurst---Playing to decide 2nd and 3rd in the CCIW. However, they finish, they will apparently be meeting again soon in the conference tourney as 2 will play 3. As such, the biggest prize they will be playing for Sat is MOMENTUM going into the conference tourney.

... isn't exactly true. Wheaton and Elmhurst are each playing for something more important than momentum. There's still a remote chance -- two Wheaton losses (@ Elmhurst and vs. Carthage), coupled with two Carthage wins (@ Millikin and vs. Wheaton) and two NCC wins (@ Augie and vs. Wesleyan)  -- that the Wheaties could find themselves left out of the CCIW tourney. If all three teams end up 8-6, North Central gets in ahead of Wheaton by virtue of their head-to-head sweep, and Carthage gets in ahead of Wheaton by virtue of having split with #1 Augie, who in turn swept Wheaton. So Bill Harris & Co. still have to clinch a tournament spot.

As far as Elmhurst is concerned, the 'jays are close to clinching a CCIW tourney berth. Because of their loss to NCC last night, however, the 'jays lose the tiebreaker to the Cards if both end up in a two-way tie for fourth at 8-6. The two avian-nicknamed teams split, and each would have split with Augie; however, NCC swept Wheaton while Elmhurst will have been swept by Wheaton, so North Central would win that 8-6 tiebreaker with the 'jays. If, however, Carthage, Elmhurst, and North Central all end up 8-6, the Bluejays (3-1 vs. the other two) and North Central (2-2 vs. the other two) get the nod over Carthage (1-3). So there's still a chance, however minute, that Elmhurst might not make it into the CCIW tourney.

However, given how remote the chances are of that happening, we should look to other reasons as to why Elmhurst is playing for more than momentum on Saturday. And there's a big one. As Bob and I have explained, Elmhurst's chances of getting a Pool C bid in case someone else wins the CCIW tourney are contingent upon the 'jays winning out from now until a week from Saturday. It's going to be an uphill battle for the 'jays to win the CCIW tournament in Rock Island, so they need to keep their Pool C hopes alive. Believe me, the 'jays are playing for a lot more than momentum heading into the tourney.

Hi Q---Heard Gensler was out with tonsilitis.

That's great news if you're a Carthage fan, and terrible news if you're a North Central fan. Without Drew Gensler, Millikin is seriously crippled. If Gensler's spooning Ben & Jerry's down his inflamed throat on Saturday evening rather than suiting up for the Big Blue, it'll make things much easier for Carthage to pick up an all-important W down there in the Griz.

What's the healing time on tonsillitis, anyway? I've never had any problems with mine.

Speaking of missing personnel, ECdubb mentioned that Mark Scherer wasn't present last night and that John Baines was in charge for Elmhurst. Anyone know why Scherer was absent?

[Gregory Sager]

I would give a few votes to Paul Breneghan as Coach of the Year.  I know most likely it will go to Giovanine, but I think Breneghan is doing a great job at the Park.

Your support for Paul Brenegan (no 'h') is appreciated by all of us NPU fans whose initials aren't DP , 79jb. But, alas ... as I pointed out last week, Coach of the Year is not a voting matter. It's presented automatically to the head coach of the CCIW champion. It won't "most likely" go to Grey Giovanine, it will go to Giovanine.

(Incidentally, last week I mentioned that the CCIW men's basketball sports guide stated that the Coach of the Year award was to be given to the coach whose team was awarded the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That item in the sports guide has since been changed to reflect the fact that it's actually given to the coach of the league champion. I guess that proves that the people in the CCIW office in Naperville do in fact read CCIW Chat. )

Paul Brenegan has done a fantastic job this season, and given the youth of the Vikings I think it's pretty plain to see that the NPU program is definitely on the upswing. If Coach of the Year was a voting award, and if I had a vote, I'd cast it for Paul Brenegan. I would be remiss, though, if I didn't put in a word for Bosko Djurickovic. All seven opposing coaches picked North Park to finish dead last, true; but six of the seven non-Carthage coaches picked the Red Men to finish next-to-last, and the lone holdout only figured that Carthage would end up second-to-last. Instead, the Red Men are in extremely good shape to finish fourth and go to the CCIW tourney, and they even have an outside shot at tying for second or third. Given that the two Carthage stars, Brian Schlemm and Trey Bowens, both came into this season as question marks in the eyes of a lot of league observers, along with the fact that the Red Men really have no depth inside at all, Bosko's job with this team has been pretty remarkable.

[AndOne]

Coach Scherer was absent from the NCC/Elmhurst game Wed evening due to the death of his mom. I believe the funeral was originally scheduled to be held Tuesday, but was pushed ahead to Wed due to the snowstorm Tues.

Condolences to Coach Scherer and his family.

[cardinalpride]

As far as Elmhurst is concerned, the 'jays have already clinched a CCIW tourney berth. In spite of their loss to NCC last night, the 'jays still own the tiebreaker over the Cards (EC split with Augie, NCC was swept by Augie), so if Elmhurst and NCC both end up 8-6 the Bluejays get the nod. However, as Bob and I have explained, Elmhurst's chances of getting a Pool C bid in case someone else wins the CCIW tourney are contingent upon the 'jays winning out from now until a week from Saturday. Believe me, the 'jays are playing for a lot more than momentum heading into the tourney.

Greg, you're right.  The Jays have clinched a tourney spot.  However, they would win a tiebreaker scenario over Carthage not NCC.  There is still a chance NCC could get the 3 seed.   If NCC wins out and Wheaton loses out or if NCC and wheaton win out coupled with Elmhurst losing out.

[Gregory Sager]

Coach Scherer was absent from the NCC/Elmhurst game Sat evening due to the death of his mom. I believe the funeral was originally scheduled to be held Friday, but was pushed ahead to Sat due to Friday's snowstorm.

Condolences to Coach Scherer and his family.

My condolences to the Scherer family as well.

Greg, you're right.  The Jays have clinched a tourney spot.  However, they would win a tiebreaker scenario over Carthage not NCC.  There is still a chance NCC could get the 3 seed.   If NCC wins out and Wheaton loses out or if NCC and wheaton win out coupled with Elmhurst losing out.

My correction beat your post by 48 minutes, CP. Timing is everything.

[79jaybird]

Thank you Greg, I am not 100% fluent with how the Pool C works, so thank you for clearing that up.  Plus,  do you have a CCIW Encyclopedia in your basement?  Geez, I have never seen anybody provide as much insight, and knowledge that quickly!   

I think we will see a different team on Saturday in Elmhurst.  I think The Bluejays were embarrased at North Central and will look to accomplish 2 major things. 1) Shoot the ball better than their 38% from the floor, along with driving to the basket. 2) Avenge an earlier loss to Wheaton
OK 3 things
3) Clean up their interior defense.  North Central cut us up inside like a hot knife through butter.  There small guys won the battle in the paint vs. our big guys.  I think things will be different this Saturday.

I hope Gensler's Tonsilitis heals quickly. 

Yes Coach Scherrer's Mother passed away and the family is going through the services. Coach Scherrer is a great person on and off the court, and my sympathies/condolences are with him and his family.

[usee]

I haven't seen a lot of cciw action this year but I have seen Wheaton play several times. It seems to me the #1 key for elmhurst this saturday is the play of Brian Lee. Wheaton has been able to neutralize big guys if the other team can't get into the flow of their offense and wheaton denies the post pass as well as anyone. Lee was a non factor in the last game and if Elmhurst wants to win he is going to have to play well by getting others involved and scoring when needed. If he turns the ball over, doesn't get the ball inside and takes too much time running the offense, it will be another tough night for elmhurst in my view. IWU lost to Wheaton because of guard play. they couldn't get the ball to Zach Freeman in the second half. Augie's guard play in both games gave them the victory. I was at the U of Chicago game and the Maroon's guards won the game by getting loose and hitting open shots.

I may be wrong but Elmhurst pirmarily needs strong guard play to beat the Thunder Saturday.

[Pat Coleman]

"The final word from the NCAA's travel department...Hope to Carthage (and vice versa) is 199 miles."

Hope/Carthage is a regional game.