MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[commonsense]

Doug Sexauer was held to 8 on 3/8 shooting,

Sexauer picked up foul #2 4 minutes into the game and sat the final 16 minutes of the 1st.  Listening to the game I felt like NCC was not able to take advantage of those 16 minutes the Titans did not have their #1 low-post scoring threat on the floor.  The Cardinals led by just 1 at halftime.

Doug played only 23 minutes last night.

Doug played very good defense last night on Drennan, especially the last several possessions. NC was getting it to Drennan every possession down the stretch and Doug responded.

[petemcb]

Titans Fans - Simply put, a better defensive effort is the reason the team won last night. I know it's not sexy and does not get the headlines but when WE get this, we'll be better. Last night we went a little deeper in the mix, our starters were fresher in the end and got a few stops. 

IWU is second in conference in offense averaging 77 pts/game. Last night they scored 77 pts.

IWU is seventh in conference in defense alllowing 78 pt/game. Last night they held NC to 71 pts. At home earlier this year NC scored 77 pts.

2 seasons ago the Titans were second in offense and eight in defense which did not make for a good season.

Last year the Titans were third in offense and fouth in defense making for a pretty good year.

Wesleyan did play better defense against North Central last night than they did in the game in Bloomington as evidenced by the fact NCC shot 57.8 percent in the 1st meeting, but was held to 43.1 percent last night. Despite the drop in FG accuracy, the Titans still won by only 6 points.

A larger factor in the Titans victory was the Cardinals inability to adequately defend from beyond the arc as they allowed Wesleyan to bank 10 three balls on a 3pt shooting percentage of 62.5. Thats 30 frickin points on threes. The final dagger was, when coming out of a timeout up by one with 35 seconds left in the game and only 12 left on the shot clock, the Cardinals allowed a final 3 pointer from very deep in the right corner by Sean Johnson. There you have the primary reason for the Titans victory.

Johnson scored 17 and Rosenkranz 18 for Wesleyan while North Central was led by Chris Drennan with 19 and Matt Rogers with 21 (in 21 minutes). Doug Sexauer was held to 8 on 3/8 shooting, but while the Cards interior defense was fairly effective, it left Wesleyan's long range shooters free to bomb away.

On a perhaps even more disheartening note, NCC's Dominique King suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury. Hopefully, tests will reveal a lesser degree of damage than appeared likely by the look of things as he was carried off the court by teammates.   

With any luck, maybe it'll be one of those week-and-a-half to two week high ankle sprains. 

[Titan Q]

By the way Dansand how is the Augie JV team doing this year? Not to get ahead of ourselves, but a lot of good seniors will be departing Rock Island after this season, so hopefully help is on the way. I have high hopes for Max Artis, if his competitive spirit is anything like his dad's. Elmhurst and Wheaton lose big time seniors this year too, so there will be a lot of new faces next year.

Also, is there any word on who Augie is recruiting in this year's group of high school seniors?

Kevin Senechalle (St. Charles East)...

http://basketball.dailyherald.com/story/?id=263927

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/sports/1397141,3_2_EL26_29SENECHALLE_S1.article

Nate Rogers (St. Joseph)...

http://www.mouthpiecesports.com/highschool/blog/2008/10/08/nate-rogers-picks-up-first-offer/

Luke Scarlata (Cicero Morton)...

http://www.mouthpiecesports.com/highschool/blog/2008/12/16/scarlata-has-his-priorities-in-line/

Jordan Harks (Glenbard South)


Those are a few Augie targets...at least from what I hear on the streets here in Columbia, Mo.

[Mr. Ypsi]

By the way Dansand how is the Augie JV team doing this year? Not to get ahead of ourselves, but a lot of good seniors will be departing Rock Island after this season, so hopefully help is on the way. I have high hopes for Max Artis, if his competitive spirit is anything like his dad's. Elmhurst and Wheaton lose big time seniors this year too, so there will be a lot of new faces next year.

Also, is there any word on who Augie is recruiting in this year's group of high school seniors?

Kevin Senechalle (St. Charles East)...

http://basketball.dailyherald.com/story/?id=263927

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/sports/1397141,3_2_EL26_29SENECHALLE_S1.article

Nate Rogers (St. Joseph)...

http://www.mouthpiecesports.com/highschool/blog/2008/10/08/nate-rogers-picks-up-first-offer/

Luke Scarlata (Cicero Morton)...

http://www.mouthpiecesports.com/highschool/blog/2008/12/16/scarlata-has-his-priorities-in-line/

Jordan Harks (Glenbard South)


Those are a few Augie targets...at least from what I hear on the streets here in Columbia, Mo.

They talk Augie basketball on the streets of Columbia, Mo.?!

[Titan Q]

They talk Augie basketball on the streets of Columbia, Mo.?!

Oh, the Vikings are huge here.

[Titan Q]

A great article about former poster "Wheaton C" (Dave Lawrenz)...

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/wheatonsun/news/1415537,6_1_NA06_WSFANS_S1.article

[AndOne]

By the way Dansand how is the Augie JV team doing this year? Not to get ahead of ourselves, but a lot of good seniors will be departing Rock Island after this season, so hopefully help is on the way. I have high hopes for Max Artis, if his competitive spirit is anything like his dad's. Elmhurst and Wheaton lose big time seniors this year too, so there will be a lot of new faces next year.

Also, is there any word on who Augie is recruiting in this year's group of high school seniors?

Kevin Senechalle (St. Charles East)...

Nate Rogers (St. Joseph)...

Luke Scarlata (Cicero Morton)...

Jordan Harks (Glenbard South)

Those are a few Augie targets...at least from what I hear on the streets here in Columbia, Mo.

All of the above players are also being recruited by several other schools besides Augie, including most of the CCIW schools.

Scarlata is a superior student who has visited several Ivy League schools and could very well end up there or at Univ of Chicago.

Harks has developed into a major talent. He really opened a lot of eyes in the holiday tourneys, and continues to drew high interest.

Senechalle played on a team last summer with Derek Raridon of Neuqua Valley who has already committed to play at North Central next year. Together they would make a fabulous center-forward combination.

[Gregory Sager]

During Bosko's North Park years, he deployed a man-to-man defense a vast majority of the time.  These days preceded the three point shot.  (Maybe there was a year or two overlap.)

Three-point shot installed as an NCAA rule: 1986-87
Bosko Djurickovic's tenure as North Park head coach: 1984-85 thru 1993-94

I'd chalk this up to a "senior moment" on your part, Mark, but the problem is that I'm two years older than you.

[Gregory Sager]

I think NPU is more like the Pittsburrgh Pirates than the Cubs. A once proud franchise (Clemente, Stargell et al.), which now seems permanently in the dumper. NPU was the top team in DIII for a number of years, including their multiple championships, so they definitely are not the Cubs. For that matter no CCIW team has as sorry a history as the Cubbies.

You're forgetting that the Cubs were the dominant National League team of the first half-century of the modern era, winning 10 NL pennants from 1905 through 1945. Since 1945, of course, the Cubs have won nothing more substantial than division championships and wild-card berths.

I considered using the Pirates as the MLB template for NPU, since the last three eras of Pittsburgh's success (the Stargell/Clemente/Sanguillen teams of the late '60s and early '70s, the "We Are Family" World Series winner of '79, and the Bonds/Bonilla/Van Slyke divisional winners of the early '90s) correspond roughly to NPU's success (although the Vikings won much more consistently over that lengthy period).

However, the comparison falls apart when you talk about venues. The Wrigley Field / crackerbox analogy is an apt one, whereas the Pirates play in a beautiful, comfortable new ballpark. I highly recommend a trip to PNC Park for anyone who likes checking out ballparks.

[Gregory Sager]

A great article about former poster "Wheaton C" (Dave Lawrenz)...

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/wheatonsun/news/1415537,6_1_NA06_WSFANS_S1.article

I love the fact that in the pic accompanying the article Dave is up on his feet and yelling something, while all of the Wheaton fans surrounding him are sitting there either with their chins resting in their hands and bored looks on their faces, or turned away and talking to their neighbors.

No offense to April, who put in a yeoman effort following Wheaton around from one midwestern gym to another while she lived here, but we veteran CCIW bleacher creatures are all well aware of who Wheaton's truest diehard fan is.

[74impala]

A great article about former poster "Wheaton C" (Dave Lawrenz)...

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/wheatonsun/news/1415537,6_1_NA06_WSFANS_S1.article

I love the fact that in the pic accompanying the article Dave is up on his feet and yelling something, while all of the Wheaton fans surrounding him are sitting there either with their chins resting in their hands and bored looks on their faces, or turned away and talking to their neighbors.

No offense to April, who put in a yeoman effort following Wheaton around from one midwestern gym to another while she lived here, but we veteran CCIW bleacher creatures are all well aware of who Wheaton's truest diehard fan is.

The picture was taken while the cheerleaders were on the court.    I'm sitting next to Dave, and once the game got going I was standing too.

[Gregory Sager]

A great article about former poster "Wheaton C" (Dave Lawrenz)...

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/wheatonsun/news/1415537,6_1_NA06_WSFANS_S1.article

I love the fact that in the pic accompanying the article Dave is up on his feet and yelling something, while all of the Wheaton fans surrounding him are sitting there either with their chins resting in their hands and bored looks on their faces, or turned away and talking to their neighbors.

No offense to April, who put in a yeoman effort following Wheaton around from one midwestern gym to another while she lived here, but we veteran CCIW bleacher creatures are all well aware of who Wheaton's truest diehard fan is.

The picture was taken while the cheerleaders were on the court.    I'm sitting next to Dave, and once the game got going I was standing too.

Yeah, I saw you sitting there in the picture and decided to spare you the ignominy of singling you out in my previous post.

Is Ann aware of the fact that in the pic Dave is the only one in the crowd who is ... er, lively ... while the cheerleaders are out there doing their routine?

[coebball70]

I watched the IWU Titans defeat the NCC Cardinals last Saturday.  This was my fifth Titan game this year and, except for a holiday game against St. Xavier, there has been solid improvement in each game.  The Titans loss against Elmhurst was the best game of the year that I have seen.  On Saturday there was a different intensity on the floor.  I would not describe it in terms of defense or offense.  I would label it as improved teamwork.  Even more importantly, I saw honest support for one another.  Yes, the rotation was deeper allowing the late game legs to be more effective and this resulted in several key stops at crunch time.  The key though, was the major step forward the Titans made as a team.  It was clearly evident in the warm-ups and it increased during the game.  If Coach Rose can harness this element and I believe it is possible, the Titans will win out. 

[andrewmp]

I haven't commented on the Wheaton NPU game, so I throw few thoughts out there.
Pflederer's game was quite a treat.  His 6 of 8 shooting from outside made this by far his most impressive game.  Yes, a lot of his shots were wide open, but it is another thing to connect on them at such a high rate.  It was good to see Jahns find his outside touch as well.  Even though it was against NPU, it never the less should restore some confidence for the outside shooting of the Thunder. 
I think this type of game is also huge for Pflederer because he is a freshman.  Earlier this conference season, he seemed at times reluctant to shoot.  I don't know if he got the green light from Harris with the zone that NPU was playing, but he let it go without hesitation.
It was a more consistant game for Raymond, as opposed to the bad half/good half game against Millikin.  Wiele looked like he was able to score when he wanted to in the second half.  It was another well balanced game for the Thunder.
Also, the freshman Phil Carr saw some game time last night.  I was under the impression that he was academically ineligable.  How is he now available?  I am not sure of the story there, but he helps to add a little depth to the front lines of Wheaton with his athleticism. 
I am surprised that NPU stayed in a zone for the first half.
The game should be a good one on Wednesday with Wheaton back to full strength and Elmhurst coming off a loss they will probably feed off of.  I think Raymond's presence will be felt not only on offense, but also on defense.  He will help make sure that Childs doesn't light it up like last time.  That is where the game will be won and lost.  Will Wheaton force Elmhursts gaurds into mistakes and turnovers, or will the outside shooting open things up for Ruch inside?  Last year, I always thought that Wheaton did an adaquate job of defending Ruch (why they can defend him and not Rodgers and Drennan is still something that I can't figure out). 

[79jaybird]

ouch cough cough hickup  yuck!  Well, Elmhurst obviously ate some lemonheads after the game Saturday as they were outplayed by MU.  Credit to the Big Blue who just seem to have our number the last few years.

Elmhurst needs to find their stroke again.  Frankly, I am worried about Wednesday.    Just as I was worried about last Saturday. 
Couple of keys for Elmhurst
1) Ryan Burks- this guy is hard to figure out.  He has to be shooting effectively as does Strzemp.

2) Andy Wiele-  Elmhurst has to force Raymond to dish the ball, but cannot leave the voids inside for Wiele to dominate.

3) play with some urgency-  Elmhurst has a chance to leap ahead again  and have missed (so) many opportunities to put themselves at a distance from the rest.