MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CCIWchamps]

Panner is 6'4" and McCrary has grown an inch since last year also.

But has McCrary added any #'s to that frame?

[Gregory Sager]

North Park looked like Sisyphus pushing the boulder uphill tonight. All you really need to know about the game is that Carroll outshot NPU from the field by 50% (32-64) to 37% (25-67) in spite of the fact that the Vikings got the majority of their shots right underneath the basket. NPU was both quicker (with the significant exception of Carroll's preseason All-American PG John Hoch) and bigger, and was able to parlay both factors into plenty of layup attempts, five-foot bunnies, putback attempts, etc.. They penetrated at will, drawing foul after foul from Carroll forwards in help defense, and the size advantage helped NPU gain 19 offensive boards and win the rebounding battle, 43-37. But the Vikes couldn't get many of those in-close shots to fall, and the mounting frustration on the North Park bench was palpable. Add to that the awful three-point shooting (5-21, .238) that came in spite of the fact that NPU was open almost every time that it attempted a trey, and you're left with the feeling that the Vikings just squandered what could've been a massive final tally.

On the defensive end, as Bob said, NPU was far south of adequate. A big part of that was Hoch, the best PG that North Park will see this season who isn't half-Serbian and half-Swedish. He's so smooth and has such great touch, he sees the court remarkably well for such a small player, he's extremely quick, and he always knows exactly what he's going to do with the ball when he drives. He was credited with eight assists tonight, most of them kickouts to an open man on the perimeter, and I think that the scorer's table must've missed a few more of them. But NPU did a poor job of guarding everyone else on the perimeter, which made Hoch's job that much easier. Carroll didn't even really try to get the ball inside to the low post, as the Pioneers' three big men had as many fouls (13) as points. They basically kept up only a token post presence most of the night (sometimes placing all five players out at the arc), played a lot of two-man ball with Hoch and either of his three sharpshooter teammates (Thompson, Becker, and Jones), and picked apart the Vikes from beyond the arc when Hoch wasn't driving through the defense unmolested for a layup. Also, as Bob indicated, NPU's transition defense was very poor.

Starting again for the injured Kendall Greer, Issa Avery had a busy night with 14 points and 11 boards; he's showing glimpses of realizing his great potential, but his decision-making and defense still need work. Ro Russell bounced back from a slow first half to record 13 points, while Davone Robinson scored 11 off the bench, Robinson also crashing the boards for nine caroms (six of them offensive; NPU's big men did a terrific job of boxing out). Nick Hoekstra and Christian Alsing both looked good in limited minutes. While Phil Schniedermeier and Emmanuel Crosby were both dominant inside, both missed plenty of point-blank layups and were thwarted by guards doubling down upon them with impugnity all night.

Carroll's freshman forward Eric Williams (17 points) is really impressive. Although the Pioneers are limited inside, I think that they have what it takes to be a very successful team in the MWC this season. They can certainly ride a long way on Hoch's back, that's for certain.

The elephant in the room for NPU is what has happened to Nick Williams. He truly looked like his mind was elsewhere tonight: 0-3 from the field, zero points, and five fouls in 13 minutes. It was an astonishingly bad game for such a good player. Coming on the heels of his subpar performance against MSOE, he now has a grand total of two rebounds in two games. He's the key; until he rights himself from his mental funk, the team is going to struggle badly.

The Vikings are just really groping for answers right now -- and on Friday night they're going to have to travel to River Forest to play a Dominican team that beat Carroll in a scrimmage last week.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg (and robberki),

I really regret that other commitments kept me from hearing your debut!  

Keep us posted on the link to listen, and I WILL check out you and that jock sidekick of yours!

[Gregory Sager]

One of the better things about confining one's comments to an Internet board is that nobody else knows which finger is doing what.

NPU is going to offer free live webcasts of all twelve home games this season. The webcasts will be archived as well, which means that everybody will be able to drive Mugsy crazy by screaming, "Look at the tape!" on CCIW Chat if there's a controversial call in a North Park game. Yours truly and Rob Berki will be the blithering idiots broadcasters for all twelve games. Tonight's 7:30 contest against Carroll will be the debut of this terrific new service for NPU and CCIW fans. Should be interesting. Click here for access.

In other words, you're going to show us now?!

No, we're staying strictly off-camera. Our instructions to the student running the camera are to keep it pointed at the floor at all times. Rob and I each have faces that are made for radio.

[AndOne]

There's probably undoubtedly a lot of blame to go around, but one thing I know for sure is that if Nick Williams scores eight points on ten shots and picks up only one rebound, the way he did on Sunday, NPU is going to lose the basketball game.

Greg---

Exactly. Here is something I posted about NPU in general and Williams in particular
back on 10/16. Among the corrections needed, I still think Williams may be the main key to whatever degree of success they have this year.

NPU is the dark horse here folks. If they can translate their athleticism and quickness into a strong defensive presence they could go a long way. They also need one other ingredient to be as successful as they might become. That is strong leadership from Nick Williams who should be one of the league's, if not the region's, premier players. I don't recall if grades or injury caused him some difficulty at one point last season. However, when he returned to action, he seemed almost disinterested. His mind didn't seem to be on the game. The look on his face told the story of a terrific player whose thoughts were elsewhere. If he has come out of last season's funk, and plays like he is capable of, NPU could take a giant step up from last season's debacle.

The elephant in the room for NPU is what has happened to Nick Williams. He truly looked like his mind was elsewhere tonight: 0-3 from the field, zero points, and five fouls in 13 minutes. It was an astonishingly bad game for such a good player. Coming on the heels of his subpar performance against MSOE, he now has a grand total of two rebounds in two games. He's the key; until he rights himself from his mental funk, the team is going to struggle badly.

As I indicated last month, this funk that Nick Williams is in began and was noticeable last season. Its very surprising, to me at least, that he apparently still hasn't pulled out of it. Until he does, I sense high expectations for an improved NPU season will have to be severely tempered.  

[iwumichigander]

Thanks for the advice, Bob. Rob and I got a huge kick out of the line about you getting Art his Manhattan.

The game was not a pleasant one to do from a North Park fan's point of view, but Rob and I had a lot of fun with it. I suppose that we sounded pretty rough around the edges, but we got lots of positive in-game e-mails encouraging us. Thanks to everyone who did so! With NPU's far-flung alumni base, these webcasts should be a real asset in keeping Parkers linked to the program from coast to coast.

Easily the best part of the night for me was my halftime interview with the legendary Michael Harper. While the circumstances behind his being in Chicago at the moment are unfortunate (Michael's mom just passed away), it was great fun to catch up with Harps on the air and to ask him some questions about the glory days of the national championship threepeat. He's just a great ambassador for North Park basketball and for the school in general. I encourage everyone to check out the interview in the game archive.

And I'll attest Q has #s 1 & 2 ranked, from Art's perspective,  exactly right!

[Dennis_Prikkel]

horrendous - embarrassing - out-coached

paraphrasing Art from "Christmas Vacation" - they played hard - so do washing machines.

dgp

[Dennis_Prikkel]

it was nice to see Michael Harper in the building last night - its the first time I've seen him since the Portland at Chicago NBA game in 1981.  He looked great.

Also in the house last night was Arriel Gray, an all-conference defensive end, for some competitive NPC football teams in the late seventies and early eighties.  Gray is working with the Chicago Fire Department now and looks great.

Also in the building was without question the oldest triumphrate of basketball officials in the 50-year history of the building: Ken Falkner, John Hodel, Ken Maziarka. They all worked their usual great game, but there really wasn't a lot for them to do.

[Titan Q]

Olivet Nazarene lost @ Concorida (California) last night, in OT.  Concordia lost at the buzzer to UCLA by 1 and beat UC-Irvine...

http://www.cuieagles.com/schedule/7/2.php

Seems like NAIA's McKendree and Olivet Nazarene are the two best small college teams in Illinois this year.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

dennis prikkel sighting...i'm starring at him across the gym. hi dennis.

hi Rob - I told my son that they were not going to take any shots of you and Greg for fear of breaking the lens.   

Glad to see that at least technologically NPU basketball has joined the 21st Century.  Now if they could just get the team to join as well you and Greg would have a webcast worth watching and listening to.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Wow, just looked at the NPU stats...Nick Williams and zero points and 1 rebound.  He only played 13 minutes though...injury?

http://resources.northpark.edu/athletics/2009mbb/xlive.htm

Two of Williams' shots were throws at the basket.
He played less than a half-minute of the 2nd half because he picked up three quick fouls playing bump defense.

He looked totally disinterested in being there.

[clemac]

I'm afraid it's worse than an ankle for Koschinitsky. It looked like it could be a bone on the outside of his foot.

[RFMichigan]

Easily the best part of the night for me was my halftime interview with the legendary Michael Harper. While the circumstances behind his being in Chicago at the moment are unfortunate (Michael's mom just passed away), it was great fun to catch up with Harps on the air and to ask him some questions about the glory days of the national championship threepeat. He's just a great ambassador for North Park basketball and for the school in general. I encourage everyone to check out the interview in the game archive.

A few weeks back I tried to win a radio call-in contest by answering the question, "You knew you were in over your head when . . ."

My winning answer was being a 6'3" backup center playing against a dIII team (North Park, of course) that had four future NBA draft choices on it. I think the part that pushed me over the top was the description of me getting the ball in the low post, making a nice move, turning to the basket, . . . and looking straight into Michael Harper's chest. He was kind enough not to break into laughter when I took about a five step travel after which he swatted my shot onto the stage of North Park's gym.   

Believe it or not, that's a great college memory and I smile now thinking about it. Those guys were just loaded.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Easily the best part of the night for me was my halftime interview with the legendary Michael Harper. While the circumstances behind his being in Chicago at the moment are unfortunate (Michael's mom just passed away), it was great fun to catch up with Harps on the air and to ask him some questions about the glory days of the national championship threepeat. He's just a great ambassador for North Park basketball and for the school in general. I encourage everyone to check out the interview in the game archive.

A few weeks back I tried to win a radio call-in contest by answering the question, "You knew you were in over your head when . . ."

My winning answer was being a 6'3" backup center playing against a dIII team (North Park, of course) that had four future NBA draft choices on it. I think the part that pushed me over the top was the description of me getting the ball in the low post, making a nice move, turning to the basket, . . . and looking straight into Michael Harper's chest. He was kind enough not to break into laughter when I took about a five step travel after which he swatted my shot onto the stage of North Park's gym.   

Believe it or not, that's a great college memory and I smile now thinking about it. Those guys were just loaded.

Thanks for that memory.

[Hoosier Titan]

I'm afraid it's worse than an ankle for Koschinitsky. It looked like it could be a bone on the outside of his foot.

Terrible news.  Not only is John a great contributor to the Titans, he's a terrific young man.  Hope he is better soon.  Thanks for the update.