MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[bopol]

RE: Top 25 Poll

I've tried to do my own Top 25 poll for FBS football and I can tell you that it is hard to do that for just 120 teams.  I can't see how anyone can do a Top 25 poll for almost 400 teams in D3, where there is little regional crossover and very little of the best teams playing each other.  I think I would end up with 50 teams that I am reasonably sure could be included and probably all but 10 or so will not be obvious.  I'm sure that the CCIW has three very good teams, all may be Top 25 and, if they play well, that'll get sorted out.  That said, it doesn't make sense to get upset about the D3hoops.com poll.

Personally, I think that you can get more info out of AugieFan's work or the Massey Ratings.

[Gregory Sager]

Just some probably useless statistical data:

1) In the 9 games in which both Luke Scarlata and Bryant Voiles both started (Aaugie's first 9 games), the Vikings averaged 80 points per game and went 8-1 with a 71-68 loss to Washington U. in St. Louis. Note: I omittted the Knox game which AC won 55-53 on the road as Voiles did not play. I also omitted the first game Augie played without Scarlata as MacMurray is so bad (game won by AC 96-53).

2) In the first 2 CCIW conference games in which Scarlata was no longer on the team, Augie has averaged 63 points.

Correlation does not necessarily indicate causation.

No Aaron Garriott tonight for Wheaton vs the Big Blue.  He suffered a concussion in Saturday's game @ Elmhurst.

If there's one CCIW game for which it'd be OK to have one of your stars sit out in street clothes, it's your home game against Millikin.

This is certainly a lot of drama.

A perfect time to remember...

There ain't no good guys, there ain't no bad guys-----there's only you and me, and we just disagree.

Am I the only one who wishes that North Central and Illinois Wesleyan were playing each other tonight?

For anyone planning on attending tonight's scheduled 5 PM JV game between Elmhurst and North Central, please be advised that the game has been cancelled.

Evidently Elmhurst called late yesterday and indicated they were unable to play. No specific reason was given. One possible explanation is that the Elmhurst roster is now down to just 13 players.

In related news, which I may have previously missed, making it old news by now, North Park has also apparently also cancelled the remainder of its scheduled JV season.

Apparently the IWU-Augie JV game has been cancelled for tonight too, (at 5:15 p.m.)

Canceling JV seasons midway thru the year is becoming more and more common. Part of the reason why is because teams are finding it hard to retain large rosters throughout the entire season, but I think that another reason is that the mixed-gender doubleheader scheduling new to the CCIW is having an adverse impact upon junior varsities.

[TitansIWU]

IWU has video AND AUDIO on their broadcast now.

WOW.

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage 82
North Park 47

What a nightmare. Don't take anything away from Carthage, because the Red Men played a great game, but NPU just absolutely embarrassed itself.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton 82
Millikin 49

[Gregory Sager]

North Central 70
Elmhurst 56

[TitanPride]

Illinois Wesleyan 73
Augustana 63

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 73
Augustana 63

I watched the last ten minutes, and saw plenty of reasons why I disagree with iwu70's assessment that Augie is "one of the strongest teams in D3 hoops this season." Augie simply has too much trouble putting the ball in the basket to be given that plaudit. The Doggies had trouble knocking down treys, as per usual, but even when they got to the rim they couldn't finish. IWU definitely outplayed Augie down the stretch, but it was a case of both IWU playing well and Augie not being able to get baskets.

[bopol]

Carthage 82
North Park 47

What a nightmare. Don't take anything away from Carthage, because the Red Men played a great game, but NPU just absolutely embarrassed itself.

Hey Greg, was NP full strength or was someone hurt/missing?

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage absolutely humiliated NPU tonight. The Red Men's defense was extraordinarily sharp in the halfcourt, but the Vikings' guards simply played an atrocious game. The Vikings surrendered 21 turnovers tonight, nine of them by the point guards. They dribbled straight into sideline traps, threw away uncontested passes, telegraphed skip passes that were easily picked off, and had their pockets picked in the backcourt while being far too nonchalant about bringing the ball up the floor. It was eight different kinds of ugly.

The NPU forwards did absolutely nothing to redeem themselves, either. Mike Gabriel (0-5, three rebounds, one measly point) was de-pantsed all night by Tyler Pierce and Luke Johnson. Emanuel Crosby (1-6 shooting, two rebounds, two measly points) didn't do a good job of getting down the floor and establishing position on offense, and as a result he was kept much too far away from the basket for him to be effective; every opposing coach in the league knows that Crosby doesn't have a face-up game, so by locking him up six or seven feet away from the basket and keeping him there the Red Men made him a liability for the Park. Mark Holmes (12 points, the only Viking to reach double figures) was only intermittently successful tonight.

Just a totally embarrassing effort by North Park. The worst part about it is that I think the final score was in part reflective of the fact that the Red Men were really playing well above their usual abilities tonight, as even John Weiser and Tom Roders admitted. As good as Carthage looked, I think that the Red Men are totally capable of completely laying an egg in their next game. It wasn't as though NPU was eviscerated by a Top 25 team tonight. Nothing can atone for a 35-point loss, but it's at least marginally easier to accept if the other team is exponentially better than yours.

NPU has had about three or four games this year in which the Vikings have not done a single blessed thing right. This was one of them.

[Gregory Sager]

A programming note for readers of this page who serve as P.A. announcers or broadcasters: The name of the NPU head coach is pronounced DYE-len Howard, not DILL-un Howard. People behind the mics in opposing CCIW gyms keep getting it wrong. Perhaps it's because "Dylan" is a common name so nobody thinks to ask about the pronunciation, but by this point in the season it should be common knowledge.

[bopol]

RE: Carthage

The full-court press they used against Millikin worked well again tonight.  It'll be interesting to see how the formula Carthage used against Millikin and NP works against the better CCIW teams. 

[Titan Q]

Illinois Wesleyan 73
Augustana 63

http://www.iwusports.com/custompages/MBB/MBB2012/HTML/iwmbb14.htm

* John Koschnitzky: 14 pts
* Jordan Zimmer: 12 pts, 4 reb
* Kevin Reed: 11 pts, 3 reb
* Eliud Gonzalez: 10 pts, 4 reb

* Troy Rorer: 13 pts, 2 reb
* Kevin Schlitter: 11 pts, 4 reb


The late Art Kimball would have called this one "a real meat grinder, folks."  This was about as physical a D3 game as I've ever seen.  I know I was watching online and all, but I don't think you had to be at the Shirk Center to identify just how how much bumping and banging was going on in that one.

John Koschnitzky had a strong game for the Titans, providing offense early when good looks were hard to come by for IWU.  Jordan Zimmer was hounded all night long by Augie's talented perimeter defenders, who did an outstanding job on IWU's leading scorer, but Zimmer hit some huge shots in the 2nd half for the Titans.

There were 3 big 3-pointers by IWU reserve big men that really stood out to me as game-changers.  6-7 freshman Parker Musselman, who Ron Rose said in the postgame show has been told to "be ready" for a couple weeks now after dominating offensively at the JV level, knocked down a big 3 at 12:28 to put IWU up 1.  Then 6-5 sophomore Andrew Ziemnik hit one at 10:23 to break a tie, and at 9:17 made another to stretch a 3-point IWU lead to 6.  Musselman played 13 minutes, all in the 2nd half, and had 8 big points.  Ziemnik played 21 minutes, finishing with 8.  The decision by Ron Rose to throw Musselman into the fire for the first time, against Augie, ended up being a good one.

I can't say enough about the job IWU's small forward combo of Koschnitzky and Eric Dortch did on Augie stud Bryant Voiles.  They held him to 1-9 FG (1-5 3-point), and 8 points, in 30 minutes. 

IWU came into this game a +10 per game rebounding team, and got out rebounded by 15!  Augie just dominated the boards.

In November I would never have guessed that this IWU team could win this type of halfcourt, physical, grind 'em out game.  I would have told you that the Titans needed an up-and-down-the-floor, transition kind of game to beat a really good team.  The Titans have come a really long way in a short time.

A game you have win, since it was at home, but I thought this was another big test passed for IWU.  Once again, I was really impressed with how hard the Titans play for 40 minutes, and how every guy who gets throw in there contributes something.

[Gregory Sager]

I can't believe that I'm still picking over the bones of this disheartening loss by NPU tonight, but I have to complain about this line from Steve Marovich's postgame press release:

The two North Park "Carlson Crazies" who were escorted out of Tarble Arena by security in the opening minutes missed the Red Men pulling away to a 22-point lead at halftime, 42-20.

First of all, that was the opening line of the second paragraph. It wasn't the lede, but it's so close to the top that it's not far off from being the lede. How does this feature so prominently into what happened on the court tonight? Did it have anything to do with the game or with the outcome at all?

Second, how did Marovich know that these were even NPU students, let alone Carlson Crazies? They were obviously rooting for NPU, because John Weiser said on the air that these two people were sitting behind the Carthage band and were harassing them (which is why they were escorted out), and they smacked hands with an embarrassed-looking Kendell Greer on their way out of the building, but unless someone checked their IDs there's no proof that they were NPU students. They probably were, but, then again, they may not have been. They might've simply been Kendell's friends. Heck, NPU's still on break ... there aren't any North Park students who are going to Vikings games at the crackerbox at the moment, let alone attending them out of town.

Third, this smacks of something that was simply inserted into the top of the story in order to make North Park look bad. There's no call for that on Marovich's part. It's not as though there was a student riot, or any extracurricular fan-related activity on the floor at all, or even fisticuffs in the stands. It was simply a couple of loudmouths who were bothering the band who were subsequently tossed out of the Toolshed, that's all. No big deal. That sort of thing happens all the time. Not that I'm apologizing for those two people in any way, shape, or form, or stating that NPU fans always act like angels. Far from it, and anyone who's been around the CCIW for a few decades knows that I can personally attest that North Park fans are not always gracious in their comportment towards opponents. But, as I said, this was just a routine action by Tarble Arena security. It was not worth mentioning in the press release under any circumstances, let alone worth putting it practically in the lede. It really does look as though Steve Marovich was deliberately trying to make North Park and its fans look bad.

I'm a big Steve Marovich fan, but he made a professional mistake tonight.

[iwu70]

Just back from a very pleasant evening out with the Doggies, and my beloved, hard-charging Titans.   Titans win by ten, though it was close throughout with the Titans gaining a 5-7 point lead with about 6 minutes to go in the second half, and holding on with poise, good FT shooting to win down the stretch. 

Greg, after watching the Augie team carefully tonight, I agree with you.  They do have trouble putting the ball in the basket.  Even with a +15 edge in rebounding and their normal tenacious aggressive defense, at least in the first half, they only shot 32% (worse than vs. NCC) and 23% from treyland.  IWU used a 2-3 zone on them at times tonight in the second half. AC defended Zimmer quite well, especially in the first half when Jordan had only 3 points, but they still, in the end, lost by ten.  Zimmer scratched, scrapped, and punched his way out of the tight defenses, and finished with 12 points.  IWU shot 43 % and 45% from three, 70% FTs. 

Keys to the game, only 9 IWU TOs.  And, a strong first half, at long last, by Kman, some good slashing and driving and scoring from the 3.  My wish come true.  Great game, Kman.  John had a step on his defender most of the evening, driving for layups and hitting medium range jumpers.   Also, key treys from Andrew Ziemnik who had a strong game.  Two for two from downtown for Eliud Gonzalez.  Very good and careful shot selection by Eliud tonight.   I think the mobility and agility of Kevin Reed surprised the Doggie bigs, as he had a strong game, making a number of driving layups, putbacks, putting the ball on the floor and getting to the rim etc.  The IWU bigs did outplay the Augie bigs as I had hoped. 

Game called very poorly, IMHO, with way way too many fouls, both ways, and some very dubious calls, which the crowd, both Augie and Titan fans, just couldn't believe.  Lot of yelling and booing at the refs.  It was "chippy" out there.  Guess we were watching a different game, surely from a different vantage point.  Not a game with alot of natural basketball flow, more like many games with Augie, a war of attrition.  Neither team backed down.  Eric Dotch again played tough, banging away on defense, going for blocks, commiting what I would call "good hard fouls," and making himself a total nuisance to the Doggie offense.  He often doesn't show up that much on the box score, but he's making an impact during his minutes, to be sure.  I appreciate his gritty, tough play.

Another significant development, due to the fouls by IWU's bigs (Victor Davis fouled out with about 3 minutes to go, and others had 4), was the coming out of Parker Musselman as a significant piece of the IWU varsity rotation of bigs.  He played well, tough, banged well with the Augie giants, hit a key trey, made FTs, and had an outstanding 13 minutes.  Don't know if he will take up some of Nick Anderson's minutes in the rotation now or not, but he sure does give Ron Rose another productive player with great shooting range, nice touch, strong hands, good rebounding, and a very wide and big body in the post, with great skill and poise.  Parker is a very smart player, remarkably light on his feet for 6' 8" and about 245.   Reminds me very much of how Andrew Ziemnik plays, and stretches defenses out as he can come to the top of the key, or way out on the wing, and shoot the three, just like Andrew did tonight too.  Bigtime match up problems for opposing defenses with slow-footed bigs who wish to or must stay in the post area. 

As I mentioned before, great to see Augie at 1-2 in the league this early.  Great start at 3-0 for the Titans with wins vs. WC and AC, but of course both at home in what you are supposed to do to protect and hold your home court. 

Molinari still in street clothes, sitting next to the injured Brady Zimmer.  No JV game, and Overstreet, Musselman, Mayberger and Heyen joining the varisty squad now for the 7:30 p.m. games/group. 

As expected, a toughly fought game with a great outcome for the Titans.  Good crowd of about 1800 or so, it would seem.  Not as full as could have been, but a good contingent of loud and crazy students tonight, of course chanting "Over-rated, over-rated, over-rated," by a minute left in the game and the Titans obviously in command.  A sweet sound indeed.  Perhaps AndOne, will have even more fun with the new D3hoops poll next week, after yet another loss by Augie. 

Greg, let's hope Carthage reverts to more normal form when they come into the Shirk this weekend. 

Keep it rolling Titans . . . I truly think Ron Rose could go 12-13 deep on his bench and not lose much quality, speed, or shooting abilities.  Nice to know that only four seniors out of this group graduate, so a very deep squad of freshmen and sophomores coming back after this season.  Lots of good basketball yet to come. 

Titans host Carthage on Saturday -- women at 5 p.m. for a key match-up of contenders in the women's CCIW race, and men host Carthage at 7 p.m. 

More fun to come.   

IWU70


IWU70