MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

A very intriguing in-region game tonight in Honolulu, as #5 Carthage takes on #16 Whitworth @ 8:00pm HST...

Carthage (2-1)
G – Steve Djurickovic, 6-3 Sr (21.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 8.3 apg)
G – Malcolm Kelly, 6-0 So (14.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg)
G – Max Cary, 6-4 Jr (10.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg)
F – Mitch Thompson, 6-6 So (10.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
C – Tyler Pierce, 6-5 So (10.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg)


Whitworth (2-0)
G - Wade Gebbers, 5-11 So (9.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
G - Clay Gebbers, 6-1 Sr (5.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
F - David Riley, 6-5 Sr (16.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg)
F - Mike Taylor, 6-8 Jr (15.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
F - Felix Friedt, 6-8 Jr (9.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg)


Whitworth finished 26-3 last year, and 16-0 in the NWC.  The Pirates advanced to the Sweet 16, falling on a neutral court to the Eastern Mennonite team that is now ranked #2, by just 3 points.  In the final D3hoops.com Top 25 poll of 2010-11, Whitworth came in #7.  The Pirates lost 3 starters from that team however, including 6-8 center Nate Montgomery.  

With Carthage only playing 4 in-region games in the non-conference season, the Red Men could really use this win.

[Titan Q]

* In-region game: Carthage (Kenosha, WI) vs Whitworth (Spokane, WA)...schools are 1734 miles apart...game played in Honolulu (2800 miles from Spokane and 4200 miles from Kenosha)

* Out-of-region game: Wheaton (Wheaton, IL) vs Calvin (Grand Rapids, MI) - 202 miles from campus to campus



Division III Philosophy
The Division III championships philosophy is to field the most competitive teams
possible while minimizing missed class time; to emphasize regional competition in
regular-season scheduling;

http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/champ_handbooks/basketball/2010/10_3_mbasketball.pdf


I understand where they tried to go with the "emphasis on regional competition" originally - I really do.  But once they added the "Administration Region rule"  that allows for in-region games like IWU @ Trinity-Tx (last year), IWU @ Cal Lutheran and Carthage vs Whitworth, the spirit of the original rule was lost.  

It's time to move towards counting all D3 vs D3 games.  Individual schools, administrators, and coaches can make the tough decisions on when and where to travel, and what's best for the student-athletes.

[devildog29]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/ncaa/11/24/skidmore.vermont.college.seven.overtimes.ap/

I hope fans brought their seat cushions. 

[Dennis_Prikkel]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/ncaa/11/24/skidmore.vermont.college.seven.overtimes.ap/

I hope fans brought their seat cushions. 

watching the highlights this morning on ESPN it looked like there were more players than fans.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

North Park vs Edgewood

I guess I have to set my North Park expectations a little lower this year.

The Vikings first five unit plays for four minutes and with a decent amount of continuity - then the substitutions and the lack of continuity begins.

When the Vikings get the ball inside to Crosby they dominate - but when Gonzalez gets the ball at the top of the key - he often looks lost - he just puts his head down and the other four guys could run down to the other end of the court.

Issa Avery hit his first two shots - then he didn't draw iron.

Edgewood played the final five minutes with the Shaq attack and North Park attempted 40 free throws.

The last ten minutes of the first half seemed like it took two days to play.

Glad North Park won - but its going to be a long season if they keep playing like their first two games.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 74
Edgewood 69

Emanuel Crosby: 17 pts
Clayton Cahill: 12 pts
Jorge Gonzalez: 12 pts, 10 rebs
Issa Avery: 10 pts

The failure of the Vikings to put away a fairly decent Edgewood team that they dominated throughout was the only aspect that marred what was otherwise a pretty good effort on the part of NPU last night. Aside from a late-second-half hiccup in which he ganked three straight layups, Emanuel Crosby was a dominant factor; although Edgewood's star center, lanky Jeff Barczak, had a very strong offensive night himself (it's pretty hard to stop a guy with a seven-footer's wingspan when his primary weapon is a hook shot that he can hit with either hand), Barczak had to constantly give ground at the other end of the floor to the far stronger Crosby.

Issa Avery made his season debut and had a fine game, making only a couple of bad shooting decisions and showing an ability to knock down shots on the move. Clayton Cahill continues to be a strong offensive force, and he made better decisions in terms of which shots to take and which shots to pass up than he did in the opener against Concordia (IL). Jorge Gonzalez made sure that the Vikings weren't going to get sucker-punched on the defensive boards the way that they were in the opener, and Kendell Greer had a solid all-around game. Nick Hoekstra snapped out of his one-game shooting slump, and while Ro Russell didn't, he continues to play an excellent floor game. In his first two games he's accomplished an 8:1 assists-to-turnovers ratio; that's a great stat for any PG, but it's a remarkable one for the floor general of a team whose style does not lend itself to a lot of assists.

The problem was that an otherwise strong defensive effort broke down late in the second half; Edgewood went 9-13 from the field in the last six minutes and change, and I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how a team can score nine points in 34 seconds, which was what the Eagles did in the final minute of the game. Putting away a team isn't necessarily about going on a scoring binge; it's just as soundly accomplished by clamping down on the defensive end and thus answering the late-in-the-game, we're-playing-from-behind rally you're likely to see from a veteran outfit like the Eagles. NPU should've won this game in double figures. The fact that the Vikes only won by five is, I hope, merely evidence of a team that's still finding itself.

The bottom line is that it's a win, and the Vikings can move on to the Fontbonne game on Saturday having staved off the sense of panic and failure that filled the gym in the aftermath of the opening night debacle.

[Gregory Sager]

In spite of having two starters injured, the North Park JV won fairly easily against their counterparts from Edgewood, 71-56, as the baby Vikings upped their record to 3-0. Haris Habibovic led the attack with 16 points, while Rob Robinson contributed 14 and Deon Lockhart and Josh McNaughton had 13 apiece.

The NPU junior varsity is a lot of fun to watch. There's several guys on the squad who look like they're going to be major contributors down the road for the North Park program.

[Titan Q]

Last night IWU's Travis Rosenkranz moved into 8th place on IWU's all-time assist list.

Up next for Travis, the A.D.'s son at 348, his head coach at 356, and then Paul Petersen at 377.  (I wasn't around IWU basketball in 1988...if someone who saw Pete play could e-mail me and let me know how he registered 377 assists I'd appreciate it.  I've played some 3-on-3 with and against Pete at the Shirk and don't remember him dropping any dimes at all.)


1. 584 Adam Dauksas - 2002-06

2. 524 Brian Martin - 1989-93

3. 449 Chad Hutson - 1991-95

4. 407 Brad Gregurich - 1979-83

5. 377 Paul Petersen - 1984-88

6. 356 Ron Rose - 1984-88

7. 348 Eric Bridges - 1983-87

8. 337 Travis Rosenkranz - 2007 - present

9. 335 Nathan Hubbard - 1995-99

10. 326 David Kunka - 1988-91,92-93

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Honolulu:

Whitworth 81
Carthage 69

[Gregory Sager]

John Weiser had some choice words to say about the way that Whitworth muscled up the Red Men tonight, particularly the way they bodied Stevie D.

Carthage had its only lead at halftime, 35-33. It was 62-60 late, but the Pirates went on a run to end the game.

Whitworth outrebounded Carthage, 36-20, and shot 61% from the field for the game. Those are huge stats, as was Carthage's 14-25 performance at the FT line, 7-14 in the second half.

Bosko: "We're a scuffling basketball team right now."

[Titan Q]

John Weiser had some choice words to say about the way that Whitworth muscled up the Red Men tonight, particularly the way they bodied Stevie D.

I like John a lot, and think he's a very good play-by-play broadcaster, but I have to take this with a grain of salt based on a lot of things I've heard him say along these lines in the past.  

As we all know, a lot of Steve Djurickovic's game revolves around his ability to initiate contact with defenders, and get to the FT line.  Every time I have listened to Carthage play a team that tries to "push back", so to speak, and play SD physically, John seems to take issue with it.  For example, he had choice words for IWU's Sean Dwyer (who would guard SD every minute he was on the floor for the Titans)  many times over Sean's career.  I don't think Sean was ever called a "goon", but I remember a lot of, "Steve is getting absolutely mugged by Dwyer" and "Dwyer's trying to turn this into a wrestling match" kind of stuff, said very emphatically.  Augustana defenders get the same thing - actually, they get it worse than Dwyer did.  The reality is that Dwyer and the Augie perimeter defenders getting called out are just blue collar, hard-nosed defenders trying to work their butts off to stop one of the best players in CCIW history.  They're not dirty.

Carthage doesn't seem to like a physical game.  On numerous occasions, I've heard/read   Bosko say things like:"There were very few fouls called, and that kind of physical game doesn't really help us, since we're more of a finesse-type team." (After IWU game in NCAA tournament last year.)  I think a lot of people associated with the program, including John, almost take exception when an opponent plays Carthage physically (which, honestly, is almost something you have to do to beat them).  And at the same time they have very little appreciation for how many whistles Djurickovic gets by initiating contact, and how much of a competitive advantage that is for the Red Men.

I obviously wasn't in Honolulu last night (unfortunately!), and I don't know if Whitworth did anything dirty or not, but again, based on things I've heard on the air in the past, I think John can be too protective of Stevie D at times.  I'm sure I did the same thing with Adam Dauksas or Keelan Amelianovich, etc.  

I guess I'm just not ready to assume, from thousands of miles away, that Whitworth did anything wrong at all last night (and I don't think you're making that assumption either, Greg).  Sounds like they played smart and tough.  Seeing that they held SD to 13 pts, 2 reb, and 3 assists makes me think they found a way to do something very few teams have been able to do.

http://athletics.carthage.edu/custompages/men's%20basketball/2011%20stats/whit.htm

[Titan Q]

I posted something yesterday to the effect of, "With only 4 in-region non-conference games, Carthage needs to win this one (vs Whitworth)."  Here is what I meant...

Should Carthage need a Pool C bid (if they don't win the CCIW's AQ), their in-region record will be something like:

3-1 non-conf
11-3 CCIW
1-1 CCIW tournament

15-5 (.750)...10-4 in the CCIW would be 14-6 (.700).

.750 probably gets you in (assuming some wins over regionally ranked teams...which CC would certainly have if that scenario), but .700 most likely does not.  And both of these assume 1-1 in the CCIW tournament...losing on Friday night of the tourney would hurt the in-region record even more.

So by only playing 4 in-region non-conference games, and losing 1 of them, Carthage has kind of puts itself in position where Pool C is certainly not a given...even with a 10-4 CCIW record.  They'll have no "in-region equity" built up at all. 

Now, the Red Men went 12-2 in the league last year, and are the favorites again, so this may all be a moot point.  But it's something to remember as the season plays out.

[Titan Q]

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  No travel for Ro and I today - just staying here in Columbia, Mo.  She's going to crank up the full meal though, so bring on the bird I say.  

Safe travels to all on the road.  I'm certainly thankful for all of you bandits who post here and make this a fun place to get us all through the winter, and talk about CCIW basketball.

[Gregory Sager]

Actually, Bob, the "goon" comment had nothing at all to do with Steve D. It was directed by John Weiser at Whitworth forward John Loofburrow, who seemed to take exception to the manner in which Raul Guzman walked past the Pirates bench on the way to the Carthage bench during a timeout (Guzman may have said something John didn't hear, so we didn't get the full context of what went on in his call). A fracas of some sort ensued, leading to a technical foul on Guzman that was later rescinded -- first time I've ever heard of a ref taking back a T -- and that was when John really let loose on the air with a whole lot of invective against Whitworth. Yeah, I've heard plenty of his broadcasts during the Steve D. era in which he's taken exception to the physical way that smart teams try to guard him, so what you're saying is not news to me. But I've never heard John as vehement as he was last night, calling the Pirates a "cheap team" and sarcastically calling them "really classy." (My favorite bit was when he compared Whitworth to Augie, and he certainly didn't mean it as a compliment. And, to be fair to John Weiser, he's not the first person to use the word "Augie" during the Grey Giovanine era as a synonym for grabbing, pulling, and cheap-shot defense. Then again, there seems to be added spice to the rivalry between the CCIW's two Lutheran schools as a result of the fact that the two head coaches are most likely not on each other's Christmas card list.)

Regardless of John's vehemence, I don't assume that Whitworth did anything unduly violent to Steve D, and the reason why I don't is because Bosko basically shrugged his shoulders about it on the air afterwards. During John's interview with Bosko after the game. John asked Bosko about Whitworth's physical style, and Bosko basically dismissed it by saying something to the effect of, "Yeah, they're big and physical and they took us out of our game, but that doesn't change the fact that they're a really good team. They bodied up Steve a lot, but if I was an opposing coach that's exactly what I'd do to stop him."

I think that Bosko's extremely protective of Steve during the course of a game -- heck, he's got three good reasons to harp at the refs regarding any real or imagined roughhousing directed at Steve, as Steve is his son, a Red Man, and the team's best player. Some of his in-game politicking of the officials regarding non-calls of what he considers molestation of his point guard has been epic. But after the game he seems pretty philosophical about how other coaches and players defense Steve.

Incidentally, even though John Weiser has a tinge of homerism to his calls, it doesn't change the fact that he's pretty much my favorite college basketball play-by-play guy.

[Titan Q]

Incidentally, the fact that John Weiser has a tinge of homerism to his calls doesn't change the fact that he's pretty much my favorite college basketball play-by-play guy.

Anyone with a close tie to a school is going to have a "tinge of homerism" as a broadcaster.  I had one...you have one...John Weiser does...Dan Sand...etc.  You can have a tinge of homerism and still be a very good broadcaster.  I agree that John is really good.

By the way, the only guy I've ever heard who has a close tie to a team, but has absolutely no tinge of homerism is Vin Scully.  I have the MLB package on Direct TV and catch a few innings of the Dodgers here and there during the season, and Scully is as down-the-middle as humanly possible.