MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

What a night in the CCIW.  This is a crazy league.

[Titan Q]

North Central 77
IWU 70

As the second half played out, it sounded (I wasn't there) like NCC was just the better team by a wide margin.  The Titans couldn't stop the Cardinals, and they couldn't score on the other end. 

NCC, which swept Wheaton last year and is now 2-0, is an intriguing factor in the CCIW race.

[usee]

Not only did NCC sweep Wheaton last year, they swept them in 2006-2007. The last victory by Wheaton over an NCC team is February 5th 2005. They have been Bill Harris' achilles heel. Wheaton fans have every reason to be wary of the Cardinals.

Pretty wild night with 3 road teams winning and 3 of 4 underdogs scoring upsets. (although I consider Carthage beating Augie a mild upset). You get the feeling these kind of nights are not finished.

[all blues]

Millikin wins a conference game! Yay!  Sometimes when a program implodes, if what is left is in synch with the coach, good things can happen...other side of the coin: how does Elmhurst allow this to happen-at home...?

[Titan Q]

The IWU/NCC boxscore...

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/mbb2009/IWUMB13.HTM

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton 93, NPU 74

Roshawn Russell, 23 pts
Clayton Cahill, 16 pts
Nick Williams, 10 pts, 8 rebs

Kent Raymond, 32 pts
Tim McCrary, 16 pts, 8 rebs
Ben Panner, 15 pts
Jeremy Pflederer, 11 pts

For a half, it looked as though NPU was in the game. The Vikings came out with a lot of emotion and ran out to an 18-11 lead with ten minutes and change remaining. Wheaton made the expected run, but the Park didn't buckle and only went into the locker room down two, 35-33. In spite of the fact that Kent Raymond was running roughshod over the Vikes -- I would've given anything to see Antonio Stevens come out wearing home whites tonight -- and they weren't looking inside to Phil Schniedermeier enough, the Vikings were in the game based on sheer energy and hustle and some solid shooting by Clayton Cahill.

Then it was like a switch got turned on in the visitors locker room, while a switch got turned off in the home locker room. NPU came out and made four unforced turnovers on its first six possessions, Wheaton capitalized upon them, and before you could blink your eyes the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance was off and running. They steadily built up the lead throughout the entire second half, until Bill Harris finally emptied his bench with three minutes left and Wheaton up by 26.

NPU just fell apart, plain and simple. The Vikings got frustrated, and they got tight. And the tighter they got, the more things wrong that they did. They didn't protect the ball. They didn't box out. They took bad shots. They took quick shots. They got caught in no-man's-land when Wheaton guards leaked out to start fast breaks. And they still didn't pass the ball into the post; Schniedermeier got off a grand total of zero field goal attempts in the second half.

North Park's futility was a cascade effect, and the worse it got the more NPU got down on itself, making the whole thing spiral out of control. Wheaton, of course, is tough enough to stay with even when you're playing well. Wheaton is a machine; the boys in orange play the exact same way whether they're down by seven or ahead by twenty. They never vary, and that's one of the secrets as to why they're such a good team. When you're beating yourself, Wheaton is just going to embarrass you. And that's exactly what happened in the second half: Wheaton embarrassed NPU.

Kent Raymond played a tremendous game; forget the 32 points that he scored, he basically took Nick Williams out of the ballgame at the defensive end. Tim McCrary made Andy Wiele's absence a nonfactor, athough, again, NPU refused to make McCrary and Jake Carwell work on defense by passing the ball into the low post. I can't be too hard on Roshawn Russell about that, though; he's getting on-the-job training as a CCIW point guard, and right now like the rest of his teammates he's pressing too much. NPU fans are going to have to be patient with Russell; he has all the makings of a star in this league, but his effectiveness comes and goes.

NPU is young and has an awful lot to learn about what it takes to win games at the CCIW level. I like the young players that the Vikings have, but I think that, like a lot of young teams, they're mentally fragile. One of the dangers of losing a string of games by double figures is that the players can go into a shell and the coach could lose them. Paul Brenegan is going to have to find a way to stay positive with these guys, and that's not going to be easy -- he can't coddle them, and he has to keep drilling into their heads what they're supposed to be doing when they start to flounder on the floor like they did in the second half, but at the same time he has to pick his spots. He can't go ballistic on them too often when things start to go wrong. Plainly, the Vikings are going to have more than their share of struggles this year.

That was twenty of the most entertaining minutes I've seen all year, followed by the twenty most frustrating minutes I've seen all year.

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin about to finish the night of upsets - up 8 w/ 9 seconds to go.

MU wins by 7.  Unless Wheaton really can keep it going, I think the CCIW winner will have at least 4 losses - the league is tough.

Easy there, big fella. You say that every year. And every year it doesn't happen.

CCIW history bears out the fact that the conference winner inevitably goes at least 11-3. Someone always breaks free and runs up the big record. You can set your watch by it.

[OurHouse]

IWU just got dominated at the Shirk Center in the 2nd half.  The Titans go from contenders to pretenders in a hurry.

Very disappointing.

Doesn't surprise me - it is broke and he needs to fix it!
Something has to change, and it is not go out and find more shooters....

Intensity, Intensity, Intensity - not there, sorry boys and girls
Everyone out for themselves - lets not play as a team this year, OMG     

[Mr. Ypsi]

Millikin about to finish the night of upsets - up 8 w/ 9 seconds to go.

MU wins by 7.  Unless Wheaton really can keep it going, I think the CCIW winner will have at least 4 losses - the league is tough.

Easy there, big fella. You say that every year. And every year it doesn't happen.

CCIW history bears out the fact that the conference winner inevitably goes at least 11-3. Someone always breaks free and runs up the big record. You can set your watch by it.

Greg, the following post from last week doesn't precisely address the issue of wins at the top, it does indicate I'm aware of CCIW history:

I have read posts from the last few days and they are awesome!  I have really enjoyed the posts on strength of schedule and how strong the CCIW is this season. 

Thanks to all who contribute.  The CCIW chat thread is always a good read.

Best wishes to all CCIW schools this season as conference play begins.  I hope no injuries occur and that 3 schools qualify for the D3 tourney.  This could be a year where everyone beats each other up so much that only two will make it.  I wouldn't be surprised if the last place team has 5 conference wins this year.

I will get to Faganal to watch my Bluejays as much as I can this year.  I know I will get to Merner fieldhouse a lot because the "hanger" is only about 3 miles from where I live.  I hope to see every school play at least once.

The conference season is about to begin!  It should be great!

While that would be a stretch (in the 62 year history of the conference, 1984 was the only year with 5 wins for the last place teams - and they played 16 games that year), there's a part of me that says the last place team may have seven wins (i.e., an eight-way tie at 7-7)!

I think it is probably safe to say that the CCIW has never had this depth - while someone will inevitably bring up the rear, there just aren't any (deservedly) 8th place teams.  Time will tell whether there are any Final Four-quality teams this year, but I'm reasonably certain that everyone is in the top one hundred (with only the possible exception of NPU if they can't stay eligible and healthy).

I covered my butt with the possibility that Wheaton would stay hot (I'll add the possibility that 3-time winner Augie or highly-ranked Elmhurst may do so (heck, I'll even add the possibility that NCC is for real, or that my Titans will now go 11-1 ).

I haven't delved deeply enough into the archives to confirm or deny that I "say that every year", but this year 'feels' different.  I cannot recall any year when the CCIW had the depth they seem to have this year.  Probably history will win out again, but I'm gonna have to go with that Nazi-sympathizer, Henry Ford: "History is bunk".  But I'll temper it with: I would not be surprised if the winner(s) has 4 losses!

[petemcb]

From what I saw, Carthage had three keys last night.  Augie often failed to recover from their double-teaming of Steve and didn't get out or rotate over to get somebody in Sean Fendley's face.  Wouldn't that be a significant part of the Augie game plan?  At least a dozen of Fendley's 18 or so points were pretty wide-open looks from the perimeter and he drained them, as he often does. 

Second, the performance of Adam Tolo on the offensive end.  He finished with 10 or 12 points at least.  They came from inside and out and at the free throw line.  He played tougher inside than I've seen him to this point.  If he can do that consistently, and provide a third regular option on the offensive end for Carthage, the Red Men should stay in the mix for a conference tournament spot at the end. 

Third, the combined defense of Tolo, Adam Stuart and Rich Williams inside last night was significant.  They controlled the paint on their defensive end and made things difficult and frustrating for Bertrand and Collins most of the night.  Collins was not a big factor in this game.  I haven't seen him much to know, but he seemed like a lot more of a leaper than a banger, and in this game he needed to be more of a banger.  Tolo, Stuart and Williams really filled and controlled the paint in a way that made it difficult for Collins to move around and get loose around the basket.  Bertrand kept trying to back the ball in underneath the basket and then spin for a hoped-for kiss off the glass.  It seemed like he missed a lot more of those than he made, although I haven't seen a stat sheet yet.  What I did notice about Augie's bigs is that once they got the ball into the paint, they almost never kicked it back out to an open Delp or Pelton or DiSimone  -  all of whom probably had a better chance of putting the ball in the hoop than their bigs last night.  It seemed like a strange offense for Augie that didn't play to their strengths. 

[petemcb]

Augie did not look like a top 10 team last night.  In that sentence, you can put the emphasis on "top 10" or you can put it on "team" and I'd be OK with that, based on last night.  There wasn't much flow to what they did last night.  I don't know if it was the fact of playing behind for almost the entire game, the frequent subbing, the long bus ride in bad weather, or just a bad night.

[dansand]

From what I saw, Carthage had three keys last night.  Augie often failed to recover from their double-teaming of Steve and didn't get out or rotate over to get somebody in Sean Fendley's face.  Wouldn't that be a significant part of the Augie game plan?  At least a dozen of Fendley's 18 or so points were pretty wide-open looks from the perimeter and he drained them, as he often does. 

Second, the performance of Adam Tolo on the offensive end.  He finished with 10 or 12 points at least.  They came from inside and out and at the free throw line.  He played tougher inside than I've seen him to this point.  If he can do that consistently, and provide a third regular option on the offensive end for Carthage, the Red Men should stay in the mix for a conference tournament spot at the end. 

Third, the combined defense of Tolo, Adam Stuart and Rich Williams inside last night was significant.  They controlled the paint on their defensive end and made things difficult and frustrating for Bertrand and Collins most of the night.  Collins was not a big factor in this game.  I haven't seen him much to know, but he seemed like a lot more of a leaper than a banger, and in this game he needed to be more of a banger.  Tolo, Stuart and Williams really filled and controlled the paint in a way that made it difficult for Collins to move around and get loose around the basket.  Bertrand kept trying to back the ball in underneath the basket and then spin for a hoped-for kiss off the glass.  It seemed like he missed a lot more of those than he made, although I haven't seen a stat sheet yet.  What I did notice about Augie's bigs is that once they got the ball into the paint, they almost never kicked it back out to an open Delp or Pelton or DiSimone  -  all of whom probably had a better chance of putting the ball in the hoop than their bigs last night.  It seemed like a strange offense for Augie that didn't play to their strengths. 

I think that's an excellent analysis Pete. I would say not just Fendley's success, but pretty much all of the Carthage's offense was the result of Augie scrambling to recover from early doubles on Djurickovic. I was impressed with how well all of the Red Men made the extra pass to find the open guy. Also no Carthage second half turnovers is pretty remarkable.

While Carthage did a nice job of attacking Augie's defense, I think you have to look at the other end of the floor for the primary reason Augie lost this one. They're just struggling on offense right now. Carthage's 2-3 zone really smothered Augie's inside game in the first half and Bertrand and Collins did kick out early in the game, resulting in the Vikes hitting five of their first six threes. Unfortunately, they only hit 2-of-12 the rest of the way.

Justin had a lot more success in the second half (5-9 FG, 12 points), and Chandlor did a great job on the boards with 17 rebounds including seven on the offensive glass, but just couldn't convert many of them into points. But when a team collapses in their zone like Carthage did, you need your perimeter guys to make some shots and with the exception of the early flurry of three's, Augie didn't get enough of that last night. Also, only eight Red Men turnovers meant very few if any transition opportunities for the Vikings--another reason they struggled on offense.

Augie did not look like a top 10 team last night.  In that sentence, you can put the emphasis on "top 10" or you can put it on "team" and I'd be OK with that, based on last night.  There wasn't much flow to what they did last night.  I don't know if it was the fact of playing behind for almost the entire game, the frequent subbing, the long bus ride in bad weather, or just a bad night.

I'd agree that there wasn't much flow, but I guarantee the substitution pattern didn't have anything to do with it. That's part of Coach G's system. The bus ride and weather didn't have anything to do with it either. No excuses, the Red Men just executed their game plan better than Augie did last night.

I'd be interested in hearing from Dansand about Jordan Delp's play. He just doesn't appear to have recovered from his serious injury last year. Perhaps he's lost a step, as his offenive performance since the first two games hasn't been up to his pre-injury standards. Augie really needs him to get his game back.

Jordan seems to be fine physically. He came into last night's game leading the team in minutes per game. I think he's just having a bit of a dip in confidence right now. Whether that's related to him coming back from the injury or not, I can't say, but in my opinion, he just needs to get back the "shooter's mentality" and let 'em rip.

The league race is a marathon, not a sprint, and there's a long way to go. The next step for Augie is Wednesday at Wheaton.

[titan2000]

I saw Carthage get beat by UW Platteville at the St. Norbert tournament and felt they should be a major factor in the CCIW this year, despite the loss that night.  Platteville played clampdown defense and I have never seen a CCIW team play anywhere close to that kind of defense in the past-- focusing on offense first.  The Jr. Bosko can fill it up and they can run too if they have too.

[markerickson]

Wheaton's 23-5 run to start the second half was textbook ball.  Making the extra pass or two, playing good defense, and shooting very well proved too much for the Vikes who didn't make the extra pass, shot too quickly, and couldn't defend.  Wheaton couldn't miss from what I recall, but the stats reveal they shot only 65% from inside the arc in the second half.  I swear my eyes saw a higher shooting percentage.  NP looked completely lost on defense in the second half, unlike the first.  Wheaton's passing and spacing led to open shot after open shot.

As usual, Raymond shined on offense and defense.  My only knock on the All-American pertains to his penchant to complain to the refs about non-calls after his misses.  At one point in the second half a ref sternly advised Raymond to "be quiet."

NP needs to get the ball low to Phil S.  Period.  His intense play doesn't appear in the scorebook.  If Jones ever returns, I would expect some very good results from the front line.

[Gregory Sager]

I haven't delved deeply enough into the archives to confirm or deny that I "say that every year"

Perhaps it's not "every year", but I can distinctly remember at least one occasion over the past two or three years when you recited that "I'll bet that the champ winds up with four losses" mantra and Bob basically refuted you with a post pretty identical to mine.

but this year 'feels' different.

After only two full nights of conference play?

DS is right, Chuck: The conference race is a marathon, not a sprint. You don't decide what sort of a race it's going to be after only forty yards.

I cannot recall any year when the CCIW had the depth they seem to have this year.

That's depth relative to the rest of D3, not internal depth. I think that over the next few weeks we'll gradually see a pecking order established that at least roughly parallels pecking orders of past seasons in terms of teams being on distinct levels within the league itself. I think that you're leaping to a conclusion based only upon one particular night in which there happened to be three upsets. Nights like that happen. I just don't think that you can prejudge the league as a whole when one of those strange nights occurs in early January -- because by the end of February it may very well be apparent that in retrospect some of last night's results won't have turned out to have been upsets after all. Plus, you have to remember that, prior to last night, all five of the CCIW games that had been played pretty much went according to form.

Probably history will win out again, but I'm gonna have to go with that Nazi-sympathizer, Henry Ford: "History is bunk".

This, from a man who thought that Illinois Wesleyan was going to beat Wheaton this past Wednesday because the Titans had beaten Wheaton three times last year.

How does a Michigander badmouth Henry Ford without getting run out of the state on a rail?

As usual, Raymond shined on offense and defense.  My only knock on the All-American pertains to his penchant to complain to the refs about non-calls after his misses.  At one point in the second half a ref sternly advised Raymond to "be quiet."

Kent Raymond is a whiner. I can't tell you how many times I've seen him flapping his gums to complain about a non-call (with regard to his opponent) or a call (on him), and he seems to be doing it more and more as his career goes along. Refs are getting tired of his complaining, and I've seen him get scolded for it by refs more than once, last night included. But you know what? That's part of his competitive edge. He's working the refs the same way that coaches do -- and as long as he's not getting T'ed up for it, he's not hurting the team. I daresay that he's helping it, because he gets calls in his favor that other players don't get.

Of course, some of that might be due to the "Jordan effect" as well; the officials in this league all know how good he is, and tend to give him the benefit of the doubt when they blow (or don't blow) the whistle. Raymond is aware of that as well, and works that to his advantage, too. There were several instances last night in which he was clearly guilty of offensive fouls (he spent much of the night hooking his arm around NPU defenders Kendall Greer and Sean McNamee when he was driving to the basket, or pushing off of them with his forearm), and he got away with it. Like a lot of great CCIW guards who have made driving to the basket a central part of their game (Korey Coon, Drew Carstens, Rick Harrigan, and now Steve Djurickovic as well), Raymond has a very good feel for just how much he can get away with on any given night with any given crew of officials. In fact, his being able to do that made NPU's young defenders even more frustrated by Raymond than they already were. That's just plain good basketball on Raymond's part.

Raymond is as annoying to watch as he is impressive. But he's all about winning. If you're going to guard him you have to be mentally tough as well as physically gifted and fundamentally sound.