MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[titanfan]

This sounds remarkably like the description we previously heard about 5'9" Eliud Gonzalez when he committed to Wesleyan.
With Rosenkranz & Johnson having another year, plus the other guards already on the Wesleyan roster, it looks like there is a good chance Gonzalez will never see any meaningful playing time, and Mr. LaTulip won't be playing much until his senior year, if then.

While I have no idea what next year will bring, it seems to me like Eliud Gonzalez would currently fall third on the Titan depth chart at the Point Guard position.  With Sean Dwyer graduating after this season, and Travis graduating the following year, Eliud should have plenty of opportunity to earn meaningful playing time over the next two years.

[Titan Q]

This sounds remarkably like the description we previously heard about 5'9" Eliud Gonzalez when he committed to Wesleyan.
With Rosenkranz & Johnson having another year, plus the other guards already on the Wesleyan roster, it looks like there is a good chance Gonzalez will never see any meaningful playing time, and Mr. LaTulip won't be playing much until his senior year, if then.

While I have no idea what next year will bring, it seems to me like Eliud Gonzalez would currently fall third on the Titan depth chart at the Point Guard position.  With Sean Dwyer graduating after this season, and Travis graduating the following year, Eliud should have plenty of opportunity to earn meaningful playing time over the next two years.

Gonzalez is, without question, the third PG on the roster, titanfan.  Some consider him the best on-ball defender on the team...and that includes Sean Dwyer.  He will have every opportunity to win Dwyer's current role next year, as a junior.

For someone to suggest here during his sophomore year that he won't see meaningful time is just plain silly.

[Titan Q]

IWU also recently added Stephen Rudnicki.  A 6-3 combo guard from an Evanston team that took third in the class 4A state tournament.

I've seen Rudnicki play a couple of times. He's a smart, heady player, although he's not what I would characterize as a great athlete. He has a chance to be a solid CCIW player as an upperclassman.

As an upperclassman it will no doubt have to be.

Realistically, where is he gonna play for the first 2 if not 3 years? Certainly not in the guard/perimeter rotation of Rosenkranz, Johnson, and Dwyer. Nor on the wing with Morris, Lawson, and Schick. I'm probably even leaving out some additional players who will see minutes at the guard and wing positions ahead of him. And, thats not including the incoming freshman flash from the small school who TQ has already told us is a future all-conference player (Jordan Zimmer).

Lastly, as a stick at 6'3" and 165 lbs, he is really going to have to add some weight/muscle to avoid ending up as kindling wood in the CCIW fireplace.

From the standpoint of playing time on the basketball court, his choice seems odd, especially given the other schools he was considering.

Rudnicki (sophomore), 19 minutes last night in a big CCIW game vs Carthage...

http://www.iwusports.com/custompages/MBB/MBB2010/HTML/iwmbb13.htm

[AndOne]

This sounds remarkably like the description we previously heard about 5'9" Eliud Gonzalez when he committed to Wesleyan.
With Rosenkranz & Johnson having another year, plus the other guards already on the Wesleyan roster, it looks like there is a good chance Gonzalez will never see any meaningful playing time, and Mr. LaTulip won't be playing much until his senior year, if then.

Also, speaking of playing time, what has become of Duncan Lawson's playing time in the Wesleyan rotation? Coming out of high school Lawson was probably the best ball handling & passing big man many recruiters saw that year. He was also a very good 3 point shooter who the Green Machine touted as someone who would present huge match up problems for a usually much shorter defender. However, Lawson has played sparingly his 1st 2 years, and his time seems to be diminishing even more with the return of Dan Schouten to the Titan lineup. With only one season left after this one, it appears this highly recruited kid will be another victim of the Wesleyan numbers game.

So, are you a proponent of the opposite of the numbers game...ala, what's going on at North Central right now with an extreme lack of depth across the board?  I'm always confused by your posts on this topic.

Every kid on IWU's roster made his decision knowing who else was in the mix.  If a kid decides to go somewhere where he will have to compete and beat out other good players to see varsity time, I think that says a lot about their character.  We all know that a lot of recruits nowadays demand immediate playing time...I'd rather have the kid who knows he will have to win a job.  Great programs are loaded with kids like this - in the CCIW, just look at Augustana in recent years.

It is clear you do not like all of the depth teams like IWU and Augustana have, Mark...you've made many a post about it over the years.  It surprises me, to be honest, that you have so little respect for the decisions these kids make (Brandon Kunz, Eliud Gonzalez, etc).

(As far as Duncan Lawson, I'd say Dan Schouten has just simply beaten him out for minutes off the bench.)

Bob--

With regard specifically to the North Central situation, its no secret that additional depth is something that the Cardinals sorely need, especially in light of last year's graduation of six seniors who played a major chunk of the available minutes.

Wesleyan is certainly a great school, and NO kid can be faulted for choosing the great education he/she will receive there. However, there are lots of other great schools both in the CCIW, and in the midwest region for that matter.
And, its not a question of not having respect for a kid's decision. In fact, I often congratulate kids I know when they make a college decision no matter what school they choose. In fact, I'm quite sure I congratulated both Duncan Lawson and Dan Schouten when they made their decision to attend Wesleyan. So that assertion is ridiculous to say the least.

However, in some cases, I have absolutely no doubt that from a basketball standpoint, some kids DO indeed make poor decisions. If you want to play basketball in college, why not go to a school where you can both have a better chance of playing sooner rather than later, if at all, and still get a great education as well? For a kid looking for a great academic experience who also loves basketball (or any other sport) and has the desire and ability to play at the next level, thats a valid
question.  

Furthermore, if you want to introduce character into the equation, consider this.
You said "Every kid on IWU's roster made his decision knowing who else was in the mix. If a kid decides to go somewhere where he will have to compete and beat out other good players to see varsity time, I think that says a lot about their character." I don't have an argument with that. However, if a kid decides to go to a school that is a little down in the standings, and might not be one of the current league favorites, in the hopes of helping lift that team's stature/standing while also establishing a winning tradition, doesn't that also speak to a kid's character? After all, its not difficult to jump on the bandwagon of a current winner. If you want to talk character, I think thats exactly one of the traits that can be used to describe a kid who chooses to  help build something up thats a little down, and to establish a new standard of excellence in so doing.

[Titan Q]

However, if a kid decides to go to a school that is a little down in the standings, and might not be one of the current league favorites, in the hopes of helping lift that team's stature/standing while also establishing a winning tradition, doesn't that also speak to a kid's character? After all, its not difficult to jump on the bandwagon of a current winner. If you want to talk character, I think thats exactly one of the traits that can be used to describe a kid who chooses to  help build something up thats a little down, and to establish a new standard of excellence in so doing.

Absolutely.  IWU has a roster full of those guys right now.  The Sexauer/Johnson/Rosenkranz class committed to IWU after a 4-10 CCIW season...Koschnitzky/Zimmer/Rudnicki/Connolly after 9-5...and Reed/Oswald after 5-9.  No player on IWU's roster was recruited during a CCIW title season.

So yes, I think that can be an indicator of character too...but a terrible example to use if you're trying to make a case for kids selecting IWU jumping on the bandwagon of a winner.  Every kid on IWU's roster is trying "to help build something up thats a little down, and to establish a new standard of excellence in so doing."

[AndOne]

Every kid on IWU's roster is trying "to help build something up thats a little down, and to establish a new standard of excellence in so doing."

You know as well as I do that I was referring to what you, foremost among all posters, have long promoted as Wesleyan's long standing basketball tradition, not a couple of recent seasons. 
Also, how is Wesleyan currently "down" with an 11-2 current record and 2-0 in the conference?

[markerickson]

After dinner last night I checked the NP website to see if the Viking game started at 7 or 7:30.  I then learned that tipoff was at 4:30.  I had guaranteed a victory for my kids, and we missed it!

[Viking Blue]

Nice win for the Vikes last night.  I don't care who it is or what the circumstances are, a CCIW win when you've gone a year without one is very, very nice.

I continue to be impressed with Emmanuel Crosby.  Joscar Demby is a heck of a defensive presence.  While all did not go well every possession for big #35, I was most impressed with the fact that getting shut down once in a while did not deter him from hitting the boards and going strong to the hoop.

Millikin's head coach seems to have been doing a great job bringing some respect back to that program, but I was very puzzled by his game management in the waning moments of last night's game.  It appeared to me that there were a couple of times he should have called a time out and tried to set up some sort of offensive game plan, but decided not to.  In the end, he took two timeouts into the locker room with him.  Wondering if anyone else who was at the game had a similar feeling....

[Viking Blue]

Oh...one more question:

Does anyone have an answer as to why David Williams did not play at all in the first half, and Russell saw only a couple of minutes in the second half?  Was Russell hurt?

[Titan Q]

What are the odds??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1o2lOrhdAE

[sac]

What are the odds??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1o2lOrhdAE

nice find

[Gregory Sager]

Spencer Shultze started in place of Jake Carwell, which was odd. Jake played and appeared fine. I wonder why the change?

The report I heard is that Carwell has a broken rib and is fighting through the pain in order to play. Schauer would obviously like to minimize his minutes, but the thinness of Wheaton's roster really makes that difficult.

[Gregory Sager]

Amazingly, Steve Djurickovic became the Carthage all-time assist leader last night...just 13 games into his junior year.  He passed Stan Kapka (357 from 1983-86).

He'll own every Carthage record there is before he's done.

Sometime within the next two games Steve D. is going to pass Ron Meyer and move into the top ten on Carthage's all-time scorers list. At his current ppg average, assuming that Carthage's season stops at 25 games, he'll end his junior year in third place somewhere in the 1,800 range, ahead of Dave Rosenbalm and just behind Jack Lutz. Barring injury or other unforeseen circumstances, if he continues to put up his current numbers -- and Steve D. has been nothing if not consistent throughout his career -- he'll pass Jason Wiertel and become Carthage's all-time leading scorer sometime in the middle of the 2010-11 season.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg,

It was reported in the Kenosha News today that Max Cary has mono.

Thanks, K-Mark. That's very bad news for Carthage; mono can shut down a player for an extended period of time.

[Gregory Sager]

Nice win for the Vikes last night.  I don't care who it is or what the circumstances are, a CCIW win when you've gone a year without one is very, very nice.

I continue to be impressed with Emmanuel Crosby.  Joscar Demby is a heck of a defensive presence.  While all did not go well every possession for big #35, I was most impressed with the fact that getting shut down once in a while did not deter him from hitting the boards and going strong to the hoop.

I agree. Crosby is a very steady player who doesn't get flustered. I was wondering how he would react after his foul-plagued and practically invisible outing against Augie, and he didn't respond by pressing or trying to do too much when the game started yesterday. He stayed within himself and simply worked hard. Part of it may be the fact that he knows he's now the man in the middle for NPU, with no real varsity-ready center left besides him now that Schniedermeier's on the shelf. But I think it's also just Crosby's nature to be even-keeled.

Millikin's head coach seems to have been doing a great job bringing some respect back to that program, but I was very puzzled by his game management in the waning moments of last night's game.  It appeared to me that there were a couple of times he should have called a time out and tried to set up some sort of offensive game plan, but decided not to.  In the end, he took two timeouts into the locker room with him.  Wondering if anyone else who was at the game had a similar feeling....

I was wondering about that, too. I understand that Millikin has limited options in a trailing end-game situation because the team is so bereft of three-point shooters, but Marc Smith really didn't seem to want to deviate at all from the game plan of force the turnover or hit the defensive boards hard and then get down the floor as quickly as possible to attempt a layup.

Oh...one more question:

Does anyone have an answer as to why David Williams did not play at all in the first half, and Russell saw only a couple of minutes in the second half?  Was Russell hurt?

No, I saw Ro after the game and he was fine. I think it was just a midgame adjustment by Paul Brenegan. It had to do with the fact that David Williams is an exceptional ballhawk who could do a better job of putting pressure upon Millikin ballhandlers Rodney Clark and Justin Thompson than Russell could; plus, Davone Robinson was doing such an outstanding job of running the offense that it made Russell a bit superfluous. Russell needs the ball in his hands in order to be effective, and Millikin took away his ability to drive to the basket. In terms of getting to the rim against the Big Blue, Robinson's physical strength proved to be more effective than Russell's relative quickness advantage over Robinson.