MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

IWU 72-68 over ECC, but the Titans really do not play well, do not play smart.

Give some credit to Elmhurst. The 'jays showed a lot of fight tonight. It's not easy to trail the entire game, get the lead down to 3 or 5, and then have it pop back out to 8 or 10 again. EC is clearly outmanned, but they don't go down quietly.

Sean Fendley, who played tonight for the first time since December, looked like he was moving alright on his bad knee. He made some huge treys for the 'jays tonight. It was the other Sean, though, Sean Johnson, who ended up making the difference. Even though he had only scored two points heading into crunch time, he got down underneath the basket and made the big rebounds after key Elmhurst misses in the final two minutes that led to his getting fouled and subsequently going 8-8 from the line. That's what a senior captain is supposed to do -- pull his team's chestnuts out of the fire when everything is on the line.

[AndOne]

Final from the Toolshed:

Wheaton 80
Carthage 60

McCrary with 26-12-6, Djurickovic with 27 points, and -- get this -- zero assists.

This one was never close. Wheaton played inspired, Carthage exhibited no interior defense whatsoever.

Very nice win for Wheaton. They really stepped up with the pressure on. Surprising how they could play as poorly as they did against NCC, then turn around and evidently play so well in a 20 point win over Carthage.

[AndOne]

[

Final from the Toolshed:

Wheaton 80
Carthage 60

McCrary with 26-12-6, Djurickovic with 27 points, and -- get this -- zero assists.

This one was never close. Wheaton played inspired, Carthage exhibited no interior defense whatsoever.

Wow!  This is one that I'm glad to see in double digits as well!  Whatever Coach Schauer said/did to them since Saturday must have worked.  I hope it will continue to work, too.  

How was Wheaton's interior defense compared to the game against NCC?

I'd say better, but not great. Wheaton did a great job of holding down Pierce (four pts), but he only took three shots and spent a lot of time out on the perimeter distributing the ball in Carthage's triangle offense. And Bauch (five points on five shots) was a non-factor. But Thompson did score 13 points, all of them coming around the basket.

Having Pierce anywhere other than down near the basket is nuts. Stupid actually. Against NCC, he was virtually unstoppable receiving the ball right in front of the basket and flipping up a baby hook or posting low on the block and bulling his way to the hoop.
Having the Round Mound doing anything out on the perimeter effectively negates his chief value to Carthage. I hope he has developed a real fondness for his new position.







   
   

[AndOne]

Greg, I wasn't thinking about Cody on the perimeter.  I was thinking about how successful he was when Bosko dropped him down into the paint to double any big man who needed doubling.  That might have been his greatest, unmeasured value his last year or two.  He was a significant part of Carthage's interior defense that is missing this year.  IMHO.

That's true, but: a) you can only double down on one big man at a time, and, as Bob pointed out, Carthage has made multiple big men look good in their last two games; and b) doubling down is a gamble, especially against a team that passes the ball well, and if you're forced to gamble because your interior defenders are so woefully inadequate one-on-one, then you're already behind the eight ball as a coach.

I think a team like Wheaton is probably a team where that might have been the preferred gamble.  I'd take my chances with Schultze and certainly Haynes at this point of his career, if it gave me a big plus Hilton making life more difficult for McCrary.  Particularly this year where, although I haven't looked up the stats, Wheaton, other than Jahns, doesn't appear to be an established killer team from the perimeter.  I'd take my chances with most of their other perimeter players being open if it helped me deny McCrary the type of performance he had tonight.  IWU might have too many offensive weapons for this to be a good option but I would have taken my chances against Wheaton with it.

Indeed. If you are going to double against IWU, the most likely target would likely be Doug Sexauer. However, he passes out of the double too well, and Wesleyan has too many shooters. No guarantees, but the best defense against the Titans is to go one on one against Sexauer, never leave Sean Johnson, remember when Johnson takes the ball out under his own basket, a screen will be set on his defender as he steps back in bounds after passing the ball in, force Rosenkranz to take the outside shots, and to rebound.

[Gregory Sager]

[

Final from the Toolshed:

Wheaton 80
Carthage 60

McCrary with 26-12-6, Djurickovic with 27 points, and -- get this -- zero assists.

This one was never close. Wheaton played inspired, Carthage exhibited no interior defense whatsoever.

Wow!  This is one that I'm glad to see in double digits as well!  Whatever Coach Schauer said/did to them since Saturday must have worked.  I hope it will continue to work, too.  

How was Wheaton's interior defense compared to the game against NCC?

I'd say better, but not great. Wheaton did a great job of holding down Pierce (four pts), but he only took three shots and spent a lot of time out on the perimeter distributing the ball in Carthage's triangle offense. And Bauch (five points on five shots) was a non-factor. But Thompson did score 13 points, all of them coming around the basket.

Having Pierce anywhere other than down near the basket is nuts. Stupid actually. Against NCC, he was virtually unstoppable receiving the ball right in front of the basket and flipping up a baby hook or posting low on the block and bulling his way to the hoop.
Having the Round Mound doing anything out on the perimeter effectively negates his chief value to Carthage. I hope he has developed a real fondness for his new position.

I tend to agree with you. If you're Tyler Pierce, going outside to set a screen for Steve Djurickovic is one thing; going out there and handling the ball is quite another. It had me scratching my head as well. Then again, I don't own five national championship rings, so I recognize my limitations with regard to how much I'm willing to second-guess the guy who runs Carthage basketball.

[CCIWchamps]

Then again, I don't own five national championship rings, so I recognize my limitations with regard to how much I'm willing to second-guess the guy who runs Carthage basketball.

Good point!

[CCIWchamps]

Final from the Toolshed:

Wheaton 80
Carthage 60

McCrary with 26-12-6, Djurickovic with 27 points, and -- get this -- zero assists.

This one was never close. Wheaton played inspired, Carthage exhibited no interior defense whatsoever.

Very nice win for Wheaton. They really stepped up with the pressure on. Surprising how they could play as poorly as they did against NCC, then turn around and evidently play so well in a 20 point win over Carthage.

This gives me hope that if they can hang on long enough to make the CCIW tourney, maybe they can continue to step up when the pressure is on.

[Titan Q]

Home win = +0
Road win = +1
Home loss = -1
Road loss = +0


+/- Standings through 2/4
Augustana +3
North Central +3
Illinois Wesleyan +2
Wheaton +1
Carthage -1
North Park -1
Millikin -3
Elmhurst -4

(Usually takes +4 to win the title)

Next Games
North Central @ Millikin (Sat)
Wheaton @ North Park (Sat)
Carthage @ Augustana (Sat)

[Titan Q]

Standings (through 2/4)
Augustana 9-0
North Central 6-2
Illinois Wesleyan 6-3
Wheaton 5-4
Carthage 4-5
North Park 3-6
Elmhurst 2-7
Millikin 0-8

[Titan Q]

Spots 2-4 outlook...


North Central (6-2)
@ Millikin
vs North Park
vs Carthage
vs Illinois Wesleyan
@ Elmhurst
vs Augustana

Illinois Wesleyan (6-3)
vs Millikin
@ Wheaton
@ North Central
vs North Park
vs Augustana

Wheaton (5-4)
@ North Park
vs Augustana
vs Illinois Wesleyan
@ Millikin
vs Elmhurst

Carthage (4-5)
@ Augustana
vs Elmhurst
@ North Central
@ North Park
vs Millikin

North Park (3-6)
vs Wheaton
@ North Central
vs Elmhurst
vs Carthage
@ Illinois Wesleyan


Two big games tonight in the conference tournament race...

* Wheaton @ North Park - realistically, this has to feel like a "must win" for both teams...Wheaton cannot afford to pick up loss #5 with 4 to play (including games vs Augustana and IWU - pretty good odds of losing at least one of these)...loss #7 would basically eliminate North Park...the Vikings are a longshot, but they can legitimately tell themselves that they are still in it heading into this home game.  

* Carthage @ Augustana - a win tonight would really change Carthage's conference tournament outlook...I don't think it is a huge stretch to think that Carthage could win out after this game, but 6 losses may be one too many (especially considering the fact Carthage loses a tie with Wheaton), so realistically, Carthage has to feel like this is a "must win"...based on this season's play, I have a hard time envisioning the Red Men winning this one, but with 1st Team All-American Steve Djurickovic in the mix they always have a chance.

[Gregory Sager]

For those of you who can't make it to the crackerbox tonight, you can watch the Wheaton @ North Park game live, as Rob and I will be on the air shortly before the 7:30 pm tipoff. For those of you who will be at NPU, come to the gym early to catch the always-entertaining Rick Alspach Memorial Alumni Game, which starts at 2 pm, prior to the WC @ NPU women's basketball contest.

[Gregory Sager]

Thursday night was only the second time in Steve Djurickovic's career that he has been held without an assist. The other occasion was back on December 11, 2007, early in his freshman year, in a game against Olivet Nazarene.

[74impala]

Can someone tell be the possibility of finding parking at North Park for tonight's game?  I'm afraid to drive in from Wheaton and find all the parking spots filled with snow.

[AndOne]

Can someone tell be the possibility of finding parking at North Park for tonight's game?  I'm afraid to drive in from Wheaton and find all the parking spots filled with snow.

Impala----

No problem. Go for the NPU parking lot at the SE corner of Foster & Kedzie. The gym entrance is directly across Kedzie from the lot. As an added bonus, Charcoal Delights is the building immediately east of the lot. Go through the gate at the NE corner of the lot.

[Titan Q]

Wabash beat #1 Wooster today in OT, at Wooster.  

I am one of the two voters with Augustana #1...the Vikings have a chance to pick up a bunch more #1 votes on Monday (assuming a win over Carthage tonight).  The #1 votes for the current week...

#1 Wooster (20)
#2 Whitworth (3)
#3 Augustana (2)

The Whitworth vs Augustana vote should be very close.

For what it's worth, the Massey computer poll has Whitworth #1...

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb&yr=2011&sub=NCAA%20III&mid=1