MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[mr_b]

Final score: Valparaiso 78, North Park 47.  The Vikings were led by Phil Schniedermeier (12 points) and Clayton Cahill (11).

[tjcummingsfan]

78-47 Valpo over NP. 

I'm not sure what to think of my first chance to see NP play this year.  First of all, aside from Ventura, who had a pretty decent game on the boards, there wasn't an upperclassman who saw the court tonight.  To some degree it was what would have been the NP JV team that matched up against the Crusaders tonight.  With that said, there were some high points.  Phil Schniedermeier had a great game 12 and 9.  I was very impressed with the way he was able to work down in the post against these D1 post players.  (Anyone know/remember how Ruch fared in their pre-season look at Valpo?)  The story of the game was really the turnovers, NP had too many, period.  Really curious to figure out what happened to stephano, nick, etc tonight.

[Titan Q]

How bout these two huge MWC wins tonight...

St. Norbert 70
#1 UW-Platteville 68
(at St. Norbert)

Carroll 85
#5 UW-Stevens Point 71
(at Stevens Point)

And the other ranked WIAC team falls as well...

Mary Hardin-Baylor 73
#6 UW-Whitewater 67
(at M H-B)

[Jim Matson]

Not that it is quite relevant yet, but does UST hop over Wheaton for #1?  You'd think they would based on their schedule versus Wheaton's.

[augiefan]

Augie beats Coe 68-41, although the trailed 23-20 at the end of another lackluster first half. And Wheaton should be the No. 1.

[sac]

Looks like a solid team. Wheaton better be ready to play

Taylor is 7-10 on the season now, they lost to Purdue-Calumet (2-10).  Solid ? ? ?

[Titan Q]

Here are the boxscores from the CCIW games today...


http://www.augustana.edu/athletics/mbasketball/stats/2008-09/09mbb11.htm

http://www.carthage.edu/athleticspages/mens/basketball/scholas.htm

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/mbb2009/IWUMBB10.HTM

http://www4.wittenberg.edu/news/athletics/mbasketball/kiwanis08/zimm4.htm

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbb/2008-2009/BoxScores/mb13-npu.htm

[thundermike11]

Looks like a solid team. Wheaton better be ready to play

Taylor is 7-10 on the season now, they lost to Purdue-Calumet (2-10).  Solid ? ? ?

Go ahead and make whatever you want out of that comment. If you look at Taylor's stats, they are solid; not great, not terrble.

[usee]

It appears Wheaton's defense is much better than it was last year. I am not sure how much firepower they have faced though. I would think Grinnell's system will be a good test for their defensive prowess. I am more concerned with how wheaton will find points against the defenses they will face beginning next week.  I don't think they have faced a defensive team like they will face vs IWU and Augie over the next 2 weeks. That will be the key to the conference slate I would think.

[thundermike11]

I am more concerned with how wheaton will find points against the defenses they will face beginning next week.  I don't think they have faced a defensive team like they will face vs IWU and Augie over the next 2 weeks. That will be the key to the conference slate I would think.

A valid concern, but honestly I don't think scoring will be an issue. I think they are balanced enough.

[usee]

Well that's comforting to know.

[dansand]

Augie shakes off a miserable offensive first half to take care of Coe tonight, 68-41. They got good shots the entire half, but just couldn't convert numerous point blank shots and open jumpers. They had 11 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes but could only turn them into six second-chance points. Coe led 23-20 at the break.

Second half was obviously much, much better. Excellent offensive efficiency (55% FG, 5-7 3's, only 3 TO's) and stifling defense. The Kohawks went without a field goal for the first 10 1/2 minutes of the second half. After making a three-pointer in the game's first minute, they missed their last 18 three attempts. For the game, the Vikes held Coe to just 30% FG and forced 20 turnovers.

Overall, a good way to enter the CCIW season. The first half struggles were, for the most part, just the result of plain ol' cold shooting and they couldn't have played a much better second half. The real fun starts Saturday.

It appears Wheaton's defense is much better than it was last year. I am not sure how much firepower they have faced though. I would think Grinnell's system will be a good test for their defensive prowess. I am more concerned with how wheaton will find points against the defenses they will face beginning next week.  I don't think they have faced a defensive team like they will face vs IWU and Augie over the next 2 weeks. That will be the key to the conference slate I would think.

I'm not sure you'll be able to gauge too much about Wheaton's defense by what Grinnell does. The way they play is so unconventional, it's almost like a different game altogether. The Thunder will give up a lot of points (and that's not necessarily an indication of a bad defensive effort against Grinnell), but I think they'll score a lot more. Look for one or more of your bigs, Carwell, McCrary or Wiele, if he plays, to put up huge numbers.

Not that it is quite relevant yet, but does UST hop over Wheaton for #1?  You'd think they would based on their schedule versus Wheaton's.

I don't see St. Thomas jumping Wheaton in the poll. The Thunder are only three points behing UWP in the current poll and 41 ahead of St. Thomas.

[thundermike11]

Well that's comforting to know.

Yes, because I know everything there is to know 

[wheatonfanaddict]

I have had the pleasure to enjoy the tournament hosted by Wittenburg in Springfield, Ohio because both my fiance and myself have family in Central Ohio that we are spending the week visiting. I have been following Wheaton Basketball since my sophmore year in 02. The team this season is by far the most balanced offensively AND defensively that I have seen, even with Wiele sitting. Hang on everyone, we are all in for a wild run.

[Gregory Sager]

All I could think about during tonight's drubbing in Valparaiso was: Where in the world is Nick Williams? He was not on the bench at all, in street clothes or in uniform. Given the already-ominous backlog of key NPU players who have disappeared from the lineup and not yet reappeared, the absence of Williams set off alarm bells for all the North Park faithful.

His presence wouldn't have made any difference, of course. NPU was hopelessly outclassed tonight, as expected, by an opponent that is significantly better than any D3 outfit. The Valpo guards were bigger, quicker, and stronger than NPU's, and Clayton Cahill and Ro Russell didn't get an open look inside of 25 feet all night. Russell didn't even score until there were only six and a half minutes left in the game -- and it was telling that his first two points were also the first two free throws of the game for the Vikings. Valpo's speed and size advantage on the perimeter took away what the Vikings do best -- drive and either get to the rim or kick it out -- firmly and effectively.

For all that, NPU did shoot decently for a team facing such daunting physical obstacles (45% from the field, 35% from downtown), in part because the Vikings are a much better shooting team than they've been in recent years, and in part because the return of Phil Schniedermeier (12 points and 9 rebounds) opened up the game inside somewhat. This was Schniedermeier's first game of the season after suffering a broken right hand during fall practice, and he looked as though he hadn't missed a day. He's the inside presence that the team has desperately needed since Stephano Jones disappeared inside the Bermuda Triangle -- and he has much more upside than Steph ever had, as solid as Jones was. Schniedermeier was the lone absentee to return to action tonight, and NPU fans should at least be grateful for that. Other players who shot well in limited action were Issa Avery, Sean McNamee, and Joel Benson.

What turned a manageable deficit at halftime into a second-half rout was turnovers. NPU committed 26 of them, and I'd be lying if I attributed them all to Valpo's size and quickness. Many of the turnovers were simply youthful mistakes: Passing the ball one way while the receiver was moving the other way; dropped passes; dribbling into sideline traps; telegraphed cross-backcourt passes; trying to dribble between two shoulder-to-shoulder defenders in the lane; etc. NPU put one senior (Mike Ventura), three sophomores (Cahill, Schniedermeier, and McNamee), and seven freshmen (Russell, Avery, Benson, D.J. Cooper, Ryan Beigie -- who played the game's first six minutes and then promptly vanished into the ether for the rest of the evening -- Emmanuel Crosby, and, in his first cameo appearance of the year, Dawon Mitchell) on the floor tonight. That's a recipe for a lot of mistakes, no matter who the opponent happens to be.

All in all, the night went pretty much according to what I had expected in terms of how the game was played and the final outcome. But the absence of Nick Williams hung like a pall over the arena for everyone rooting for the royal blue and gold -- just as do the ongoing absences of Stephano Jones, Antonio Stevens, Chris Brown, and the should-be-healed-by-now Kendall Greer.

It seems as though there's more question marks hanging over the NPU program right now than anyone can count.