MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[TitansIWU]

I am not going to post anything further about this subject except to say that I certainly accept your good natured ribbing as such, my last comment was also in jest.... as can be seen by my use of the  at the end of it!

I was there, I saved my ticket stubs for my scrapbook, and I have now filed them under...

"the night that the NCC defense shut down, dominated, and completely locked down Sean Johnson, and yet even during this total and complete lock down, Coach Rose saw fit to play Sean for 43 minutes"

[AndOne]

Living in TX, I will preface my comments to fully acknowledge I am not able to watch many Titan games - a couple live streamed games here or there.  I absolutely admit I have little first hand experience this year to base my opinions on, moreso relying on newspaper reports and posters to formulate my take on what is happening with the Titans.  I have truly given Ron Rose the benefit of the doubt since he's been at my beloved alma mater.  That being said, at what point do we start questioning where and when will his tremendous recruiting success turn into more success on the court?

I do know we were a win from the Final Four last year.  At this point though, that's starting to feel a little more like the exception, not the rule in the Rose era.  I'm not going all OurHouse here, I really do like Coach Rose and want him to succeed.  Perhaps attending IWU during the Simich/Crabtree/Neibrugge/etc. era has overly inflated my expectations for IWU basketball, but consistently fighting to merely make the CCIW conference tournament is not what most Titan fans expect from this program. 

This is not meant as a rant, and perhaps it's just a little frustration, but I guess I'm just asking what others think.  Anyone else getting the same feelings as me?

Devil---

This is a question probably best left to your fellow Wesleyan fans.

However, I think fans of the other conference teams take, especially at this time, a little extra delight in a Wesleyan loss and/or their having to fight just to make the conference tournament because of multiple past postings by certain Wesleyan supporters that at least seemed to almost promise multiple conference championships, continual lofty rankings, and even some national championships over the last few years including this one when Ron Rose's first group of recruits are seniors.  
Interesting to hear others take on your question.

[iwumichigander]

This senior class at IWU reminds me of the season with Dauksas, Amelianovich, Jones brothers, etc that didn't perform up to expectations and were lucky to get in the tournament and then made a run.  While this group is not as talented as that group, I think they could make a run if they could somehow get into the tournament.  It is going to be tough.  Having been at the game tonight, I would agree about Johnson having some good looks.

Illinois Wesleyan doesn't look like a tournament team. In fact, I don't think the Titans have looked like a Top 25 team at all this year, and I've said that on d3boards.com (although not in this room) dating back for quite some time. (I've said the same thing about Carthage.) Nevertheless, since this is essentially the same IWU team that made it to the Elite Eight last season, the potential is there.

I'd take some exception with the Top 25 comment, however, agree this season's Titans have not consistently looked like a tournament team.  What stands out to me is this group seems to lack a true post presence that consistently defends and rebounds in the paint (Cory Jones, Brent Neibrugge, or Darius Gant from past teams).  

You don't win many games when you get out rebounded while shooting 3 for 19 treys as Titans did against the Cardinals who grabbed 27 defensive rebounds.  Whether perimeter defense or shots not falling, a team can't shoot 15.7% 3's and win if they don't aggressively rebound on offensive end to create opportunities for 2nd chance shots.

[AndOne]

I think last night's NCC win is a nice demonstration of exactly how far this team has come. From the beginning of the year when the Cardinals lost their 1st 4 games, and then others, to teams that aren't exactly powerhouses. Their ascent is even more noteworthy considering they feature a lineup where of the usual current rotation of 9 players (only 8 played last night because Chris Smith is currently on the injured list), 6 of the nine are first year players at NCC--5 freshmen and a soph transfer, and another (Derek Raridon) is just a soph. Additionally, should NCC employ a 10th man in game action, it would likely be yet another freshman who has seen meaningful time this season including making some starts. There is no doubt NCC still has to improve in some areas. They are by no means a complete team as yet. The NCC recruiters, under the direction of top assistant coach Todd Kelly who has done a terrific job this year, are working on filling the remaining gaps and fine tuning the Cardinal attack.
Additionally, if you ask the Cards, I'm sure they would say they are disappointed in their effort against the surging Carthage RedMed, oops Red Men, the other evening when they didn't show up until late in the first half. This is just one illustration of the fact that they still have a way to go if they aspire to be in a position to continue to progress to the point of contenting for future conference championships on a consistent basis.

[AndOne]

Last nights NCC-Wesleyan game drew quite a collection of area coaches.
Both head coach Giovanine and assistant coach Jesse of Augie were there scouting the 2 teams left on their schedule.
Additionally, among the others in attendance were former NCC player Frank Janczak, now an assistant at neighboring Benedictine, and fellow Benedictine ass't coach Steve Schafer, a former Augie player and a former North Park asst coach.
Also, Scott Trost, former Wesleyan head coach, and now head man at D2 Lewis.

[A Lover of the Game]

I fully understand what some of you are saying about going with experienced players. But, what's to be said or better yet what do you do when the experienced players take an 18 point lead, to give an example, and squander it in two-three minutes? 

A good friend of mines, who played D3 ball, coached many b-ball games, and has a good reputation of knowing his X's & O's, watched a few IWU games. His evaluation of some of the games he watched was the Titans were out-coached.  One team ran the same play four times on the Titans and the Titans could not seem to come up with a defensive strategy.  He also stated that Coach Rose needs to tweak his rotation selection. I'm a Titans fan, period.  I don't care what players he puts in the game. I'm merely suggesting that he go with a different rotation when the current rotation is struggling.

I'm not knocking players or the coach. I'm just stating my feelings on the subject.

[A Lover of the Game]

"But for a team that sometimes has trouble playing D and rebounding and maybe not grinding out games, wouldn't it make more sense to play some guys who are a little rough around the edges and have some experience playing down the stretch?"

I couldn't agree with you more, Always.A.Titan.

[AndOne]

REMAINING GAMES FOR CCIW TEAMS WITH CURRENT 7-5 CONFERENCE RECORDS:

WHEATON---Millikin away, Elmhurst at home

CARTHAGE--North Park away, Millikin at home

WESLEYAN--North Park at home, Augie at home

With Elmhurst and Millikin occupying the bottom 2 spots in the conference standings, it would appear, on paper, that Wheaton has the "easiest" route to the conference tourney. The former Crusaders also have a spark ignited by their recent OT win over Wesleyan.
Carthage seems to have the medium degree of difficulty on their remaining schedule as they have North Park who I believe has a higher degree of probability of posting a win than does Elmhurst, the common remaining opponent of these 2 teams. Carthage is also hot right now, coming off 2 wins.
Wesleyan should be able to handle North Park, especially at home. However, with Augie remaining, the Titans have the toughest game of the remaining six among the 3 teams in contention for the last 2 tourney spots. Additionally, the Titans are on an emotional downer at present, having suffered devastating OT losses in each of their last two games. Could it be that Illinois Wesleyan, the pre-season D3 number 4 ranked team in the country, won't even make the conference tournament?      

[Jim Matson]

Great to read the posts from the past weekend! While new posters come and go, and while others lurk on forever, you can always depend on a good Wesleyan/Wheaton game, Greg describing his recent disappointment with a Vikings performance, bad behavior by an Augie coach, and a reference to corn and Manito.

And I can't forget one more...North Central winning a close one in the hanger.

[OurHouse]

"But for a team that sometimes has trouble playing D and rebounding and maybe not grinding out games, wouldn't it make more sense to play some guys who are a little rough around the edges and have some experience playing down the stretch?"

I couldn't agree with you more, Always.A.Titan.

Been like that since Trost got a stick shoved up his ass and no assistant coaches to help the confusion let alone themselves

[mr_b]

"But for a team that sometimes has trouble playing D and rebounding and maybe not grinding out games, wouldn't it make more sense to play some guys who are a little rough around the edges and have some experience playing down the stretch?"

I couldn't agree with you more, Always.A.Titan.

Been like that since Trost got a stick shoved up his ass and no assistant coaches to help the confusion let alone themselves

I don't know the first thing about the Coach Trost situation, but I can sure say that such comments are unwarranted, unwelcomed, and most unhelpful.  Just my two euros' worth.

[Mr. Ypsi]

"But for a team that sometimes has trouble playing D and rebounding and maybe not grinding out games, wouldn't it make more sense to play some guys who are a little rough around the edges and have some experience playing down the stretch?"

I couldn't agree with you more, Always.A.Titan.

Been like that since Trost got a stick shoved up his ass and no assistant coaches to help the confusion let alone themselves

I don't know the first thing about the Coach Trost situation, but I can sure say that such comments are unwarranted, unwelcomed, and most unhelpful.  Just my two euros' worth.

And (depending upon current exchange rates) that's about 275 to 280 cents!

Since I think your comment was worth FAR more than 2 cents, I concur!

[spencer1988]

It is always interesting to hear comments from family members of players who aren't playing as much as they think they should

[Naperick]

I arrived at Merner fieldhouse with about 11 minutes to go in regulation.  I really didn't care who won since I am an Elmhurst graduate.  I really enjoyed the game!  Both teams wanted it badly and played hard.  I was impressed with the effort of both clubs considering both had played 48 hours ago and the day off was Sunday.  Overtime was a fitting end to the game. 

It seems to me that a good team will be left out of the CCIW tournament.  It has been a crazy year in the CCIW.  I'm glad I didn't post any predictions because I would have been way off.

Enjoy the last week of the CCIW regular season and good luck to all of the teams.

No more injuries.....PLEASE and best wishes for a speedy recovery to Travis Rosenkranz at IWU.

[Pat Coleman]

"But for a team that sometimes has trouble playing D and rebounding and maybe not grinding out games, wouldn't it make more sense to play some guys who are a little rough around the edges and have some experience playing down the stretch?"

I couldn't agree with you more, Always.A.Titan.

Been like that since Trost

While I've removed the unnecessary and offensive portion here when I quoted, let's be honest. Nobody was going to quite measure up to the guy who was leading Division III coaches in all-time wins.