MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[titanhammer]

Absolutely bizarre -- and very disappointing. I didn't think that NPU had a great shot at winning this game, but it would've been nice to see what would've happened if the Vikes had had Russell and Cooper there from the very beginning.

It's tough to say what would have happened, with IWU playing so many guys in the first half that haven't seen much action.

Perhaps, but Ron Rose has made it a point to play a very deep rotation this year -- and it didn't appear in the PBP that there were any unusual names cropping up on the IWU side of the ledger in the first half. Russell's absence, on the other hand, was catastrophic for the Vikings -- there's just nobody else on the NPU team besides Russell who can run the point except for Cahill, and Cahill sat out again with his thigh injury. NPU started a 5 (Schniedermeier), two 4s (Williams and Benson), a 3 (Greer) and a 2 (McNamee) tonight.

I personaly witnessed a former fellow Railsplitter play for the first time this year...it was the first time I witnessed the only Titan heavier than me play in the first half this year...and I think you'll find that most Titan starters played much less than they usually do.  That is what I intended by my previous statement (although I didn't spell it out as well).

[Gregory Sager]

Absolutely bizarre -- and very disappointing. I didn't think that NPU had a great shot at winning this game, but it would've been nice to see what would've happened if the Vikes had had Russell and Cooper there from the very beginning.

It's tough to say what would have happened, with IWU playing so many guys in the first half that haven't seen much action.

Perhaps, but Ron Rose has made it a point to play a very deep rotation this year -- and it didn't appear in the PBP that there were any unusual names cropping up on the IWU side of the ledger in the first half. Russell's absence, on the other hand, was catastrophic for the Vikings -- there's just nobody else on the NPU team besides Russell who can run the point except for Cahill, and Cahill sat out again with his thigh injury. NPU started a 5 (Schniedermeier), two 4s (Williams and Benson), a 3 (Greer) and a 2 (McNamee) tonight.

I personaly witnessed a former fellow Railsplitter play for the first time this year...it was the first time I witnessed the only Titan heavier than me play in the first half this year...and I think you'll find that most Titan starters played much less than they usually do.  That is what I intended by my previous statement (although I didn't spell it out as well).

Oh, yeah, Connolly played in the first half. 'Tis true.

I gotta get the postmortem from the NPU coaches on tonight's unusual punishment. I wonder if Russell and Cooper each had to sit out as many minutes as they made the bus late?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Absolutely bizarre -- and very disappointing. I didn't think that NPU had a great shot at winning this game, but it would've been nice to see what would've happened if the Vikes had had Russell and Cooper there from the very beginning.

It's tough to say what would have happened, with IWU playing so many guys in the first half that haven't seen much action.

Perhaps, but Ron Rose has made it a point to play a very deep rotation this year -- and it didn't appear in the PBP that there were any unusual names cropping up on the IWU side of the ledger in the first half. Russell's absence, on the other hand, was catastrophic for the Vikings -- there's just nobody else on the NPU team besides Russell who can run the point except for Cahill, and Cahill sat out again with his thigh injury. NPU started a 5 (Schniedermeier), two 4s (Williams and Benson), a 3 (Greer) and a 2 (McNamee) tonight.

I personaly witnessed a former fellow Railsplitter play for the first time this year...it was the first time I witnessed the only Titan heavier than me play in the first half this year...and I think you'll find that most Titan starters played much less than they usually do.  That is what I intended by my previous statement (although I didn't spell it out as well).

Unless he's shrunk since that h.s. picture Q posted, I think Ryan (Big Continent) Connolly is bigger than you and Greg combined!

[titanhammer]

Unless he's shrunk since that h.s. picture Q posted, I think Ryan (Big Continent) Connolly is bigger than you and Greg combined!

In Connolly vs Titan Hammer in the weight category, it would depend on which of his posted weights you went by...and what I had for lunch....

Regardless of that, he's a great kid from the interactions I have had with him.

[andrewmp]

Grrrrrrrrr.....so very frustrating.
How many free throws/sprints does Harris make them do tomorrow?  More importantly, how will they respond against elmhurst?  Defensively, they were able to keep the two Elmhurst stars in check last year, and that was what I thought was the key to the wins.  However, they need to get better shots for their guards.  There were almost no outside shots in the second half.  Granted, several of their trips ended in missed free throws.

[voxelmhurst]

Elmhurst spend about 37 minutes of tonight's game either tied or trailing North Central.

The turning point came with 7:25 to play in the second half.  North Central's Matt Roger's scored a bucket and was whistled for a foul on the same play, to give NCC a 56-47 lead.  The Jays took over from there, highlighted by huge threes from Burks and Bainter, a huge two for Childs and Burks drawing a foul on a three pointer - and hitting all three foul shots.  Elmhurst was 15-15 from the foul line in the game's final 7:25.  That might be the difference right there.   Elmhurst finishes the game on a 25-10 run, to pull out the 6 point victory, 72-66.  On WRSE's post game, Coach Scherer said Elmhurst only came to play for about 12 minutes in tonight's game.  It really did not look like it was going to be Elmhurst's night.

I am worried about Elmhurst's execution down the stretch, in spite of the win.   They had a few instances down the stretch where they either turned the ball over in the backcourt off a rebound (Ruch travelling call) or looked disorganized on rebounds off missed NCC free throws which led to NCC baskets.  It seems they really tense up late in games, and after the Augie and Millikin losses, you really start to hold your breath.  That being said, tonight was a game they came back to win late, so perhaps they have turned a corner in this regard.

Shaping up to be a great CCIW season!

[titanhammer]

I completely respect the game of Steve Djurickovic, but wouldn't he be more effective in a jersey smaller than the size of Theo Powell or Jim O? (see http://www.d3hoops.com/)

[ball]

Sure- the fact that Wheaton shot below 50% from the line may have contributed to their loss, but I think the primary reason for losing was the Wheaton Band. The band consisted of maybe 12 members. How are they supposed to get fired up with that?

Further, the Wheaton 6th Man Team was chanting "ugly" at Steve. I think that probably confused and distracted the Wheaton players because they know along with the rest of us that Steve is a wonder of nature.

[cardinalpride]

Also a big game tonight at R.A. Faganal as the Bluejays host North Central College.  It may be early to call it a big game but these two teams could be fighting it out for the last spot of the CCIW tourney in about 4 weeks.

naperick,
I think these two teams are fighting for a lot more than the last spot of a conference tournament!  Lets be clear!  The race for the conference title is wide open!  It is not a two team race!  If you believe it is, you are sadly mistaken!

[cardinalpride]

Elmhurst spend about 37 minutes of tonight's game either tied or trailing North Central.

The turning point came with 7:25 to play in the second half.  North Central's Matt Roger's scored a bucket and was whistled for a foul on the same play, to give NCC a 56-47 lead.  The Jays took over from there, highlighted by huge threes from Burks and Bainter, a huge two for Childs and Burks drawing a foul on a three pointer - and hitting all three foul shots.  Elmhurst was 15-15 from the foul line in the game's final 7:25.  That might be the difference right there.   Elmhurst finishes the game on a 25-10 run, to pull out the 6 point victory, 72-66.  On WRSE's post game, Coach Scherer said Elmhurst only came to play for about 12 minutes in tonight's game.  It really did not look like it was going to be Elmhurst's night.

I am worried about Elmhurst's execution down the stretch, in spite of the win.   They had a few instances down the stretch where they either turned the ball over in the backcourt off a rebound (Ruch travelling call) or looked disorganized on rebounds off missed NCC free throws which led to NCC baskets.  It seems they really tense up late in games, and after the Augie and Millikin losses, you really start to hold your breath.  That being said, tonight was a game they came back to win late, so perhaps they have turned a corner in this regard.

Shaping up to be a great CCIW season!

It appears the NCC loss is attributed to their big two not showing up (Chris Drennan 7pts and 5 fouls and Mtt Rogers 9pt and 4 fouls) and ft shooting (11-19)!  That type of effort will not get it done in this conference on the road or at home for that matter.

boxscore: http://www.northcentralcollege.edu/athletics/stats/basketball_m/08-09/MBK16.HTM

[Viking Blue]

Absolutely bizarre -- and very disappointing. I didn't think that NPU had a great shot at winning this game, but it would've been nice to see what would've happened if the Vikes had had Russell and Cooper there from the very beginning.

It's tough to say what would have happened, with IWU playing so many guys in the first half that haven't seen much action.

Perhaps, but Ron Rose has made it a point to play a very deep rotation this year -- and it didn't appear in the PBP that there were any unusual names cropping up on the IWU side of the ledger in the first half. Russell's absence, on the other hand, was catastrophic for the Vikings -- there's just nobody else on the NPU team besides Russell who can run the point except for Cahill, and Cahill sat out again with his thigh injury. NPU started a 5 (Schniedermeier), two 4s (Williams and Benson), a 3 (Greer) and a 2 (McNamee) tonight.

I personaly witnessed a former fellow Railsplitter play for the first time this year...it was the first time I witnessed the only Titan heavier than me play in the first half this year...and I think you'll find that most Titan starters played much less than they usually do.  That is what I intended by my previous statement (although I didn't spell it out as well).

Oh, yeah, Connolly played in the first half. 'Tis true.

I gotta get the postmortem from the NPU coaches on tonight's unusual punishment. I wonder if Russell and Cooper each had to sit out as many minutes as they made the bus late?

Yuck.  What a mess at North Park.  When does baseball season start?

[Viking Blue]

I must say, however, that if Greg's assessment of the situation is correct, and this was a disciplinary action, that I applaud the coaching staff for sitting these guys.

To be honest, they showed more heart than I probably would have had.  I don't think they ever would have seen the floor. 

Let's face it....it's obviously not in the cards for the Vikings this year, so why not start teaching some lessons in preparation for next year.  It certainly can't hurt, can it?

That being said, I don't really understand what in the world is going on with the use/misuse/non-use of Phil Schniedermeier.  From what I've been told, there wasn't a guy around who worked harder than he did on his game while he was out and injured.  It seemed to have impressed the coaching staff a great deal.  True, he has work to do on his game, but....isn't this the time to do it?

[Gregory Sager]

I must say, however, that if Greg's assessment of the situation is correct, and this was a disciplinary action, that I applaud the coaching staff for sitting these guys.

I'm actually going off of thirdhand information with regard to that assessment (the NPU coaches told IWU assistant coach Dave Steinbrueck that Russell -- and possibly Cooper, too? -- was disciplined for missing the team bus deadline, Stein passed that on to Q over the phone, and then Q posted it here). I haven't spoken to the NPU coaches yet.

But, yeah, this is exactly what you're supposed to do as a coach in terms of discipline, even if it sabotages your chances to win the game. It's a young team, and you have to establish precedents in terms of what is expected of them and their accountability to everybody else in the program. The fact that it was Russell, who has been NPU's star this season and was the only healthy and viable PG the team had last night, amplifies that.

Let's face it....it's obviously not in the cards for the Vikings this year, so why not start teaching some lessons in preparation for next year.  It certainly can't hurt, can it?

My thoughts exactly.

That being said, I don't really understand what in the world is going on with the use/misuse/non-use of Phil Schniedermeier.  From what I've been told, there wasn't a guy around who worked harder than he did on his game while he was out and injured.  It seemed to have impressed the coaching staff a great deal.  True, he has work to do on his game, but....isn't this the time to do it?

As I said last night, Schniedermeier vanished from the game completely shortly after the second half began. I hope that he didn't get hurt. I'll try to get an update on that as well.

[OurHouse]

SCOTT TROST - Scott can turn programs around pretty quick!

In two seasons at Lewis, Trost has re-established the Flyers as one of the top teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Flyers finished the 2007-08 season 20-11, reaching the 20-win plateau for just the 14th time in program history. Trost led Lewis to the GLVC Championship game and an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 2003-04.

In his first season at Lewis, Trost guided the Flyers to a respectable 15-13 overall record which inlcuded a 10-9 mark in the GLVC. The Flyers qualified for the GLVC tournament for the first time since 2004, bowing out to top-seeded Southern Indiana in the first round.

Prio to arriving at Lewis, Trost enjoyed a highly successful tenure at Illinois Wesleyan, posting a 101-37 (.732) overall record and a 50-20 (.714) mark in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) during his five seasons as the helm. The Titans captured three consecutive CCIW titles (2003-05) and made four successive NCAA Division III Championship tournament appearances (2003-06) under his guidance.

The 2005-06 Titans were 25-7 and finished third in the nation, beating Amherst 71-68 in the NCAA tournament consolation game after being edged 81-79 by eventual national champion Virginia Wesleyan in the semifinals. Trost led Illinois Wesleyan to the Division III round of 16 in 2003 and 2004.

Trost was named CCIW Coach of the Year in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Division III Coach of the Year the past four seasons. He coached two CCIW Most Outstanding Players, Keelan Amelianovich (2004) and Adam Dauksas (2005).

[mr_b]

When does [the North Park] baseball season start?

February 28-29, with a four-game weekend set in Louisville and Chillicothe, OH.
Click here for the schedule.