MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[NCF]

When is the all-conference team announced? And does evey team get a player on one of the teams or does the honor go to the players who have truly earned it? I don't know any players but just curious as to how it works.

[iwu70]

NewCard, later this week I think.  Usually who deserves it.  Can't imagine MU getting anyone on this year. 

McCrary seems to be the unanimous pick by almost all posters for MOP.  NCC Coach likely Coach of the Year.  Seems logical. 

My hope is that Eliud Gonzalez gets first team, or at least second team All-CCIW.

Soon all shall be revealed.

IWU70

P.S.  Congrats to Aaron Tiknis, CCIW Player of the Week again this week.  ms

[Titan Q]

For me, no changes since I first posted this a weeks or so ago.  My all-CCIW team...

1st
Tim McCrary (Sr), Wheaton (Most Outstanding Player)
Jordan Zimmer (Sr), Illinois Wesleyan
Aaron Tiknis (Jr), North Central
Malcolm Kelly (Jr), Carthage
Derek Raridon (Jr), North Central

2nd
Mark Holmes (Jr), North Park
Landon Gamble (So), North Central
Bryant Voiles (Sr), Augustana
Eliud Gonzalez (Sr), Illinois Wesleyan
Zack Boyd (Sr), Elmhurst

3rd
Aaron Garriott (Jr), Wheaton
Nick Sanford (So), Elmhurst
Troy Rorer (Sr), Augustana
Mike Gabriel (So), North Park
Spencer Schultze (Sr), Wheaton

[NCF]

Thanks for the info guys. it sure seems to make more sense than football. Hope the CCIW gets three in the Dance. Might have to check out the championship game after the track meet on Saturday.

[AndOne]

NewCard, later this week I think.  Usually who deserves it.  Can't imagine MU getting anyone on this year. 

McCrary seems to be the unanimous pick by almost all posters for MOP.  NCC Coach likely Coach of the Year.  Seems logical. 

My hope is that Eliud Gonzalez gets first team, or at least second team All-CCIW.

Soon all shall be revealed.

IWU70

P.S.  Congrats to Aaron Tiknis, CCIW Player of the Week again this week.  ms

IWU--

You can be assured Todd Raridon will be the Coach of the Year. In basketball, the coach of the conference winner automatically gets COY. No 2 ways about it, the automatic designation is just plain stupid. Last year North Central and Augie tied for the conference championship. Accordingly, the award was shared by Todd Raridon and Grey Giovanine. The difference was that Augie was picked to finish 1st, and NCC 6th. So, I think you could say that while Augie met expectations, NCC exceeded them. Raridon should have been the sole winner. If Elmhurst would have finished 2nd this year or Millikin 3rd, shouldn't their coaches have merited COY consideration? The system for awarding COY should be changed, pure and simple.

I do think Todd deserves it this year. He took a team to the championship that, despite being voted #2 in the coaches' poll, many doubted. This doubt was due to no less than four primary factors-1)-the player who was the leader of last year's team and the "glue" that held the team together graduated, 2) their youth, 3) the fact that 2 freshmen that were in the rotation last year (one a starter) did not return, and 4) a lack of much experienced depth. Despite these "limitations" Todd molded a cohesive unit that played together, he substituted adroitly, and he and the Cardinals made a lot of their own breaks, and took advantage of most of the openings opponents afforded them. This year, as certainly has happened in other years, the coach of the 1st place finisher deserves the award. Never the less, the process still needs fixing.

[iwu70]

AndOne, I agree with you on both accounts -- the process should change and Coach Raridon deserves COY this year.  And, I was one of the doubters of NCC, as you know.  Coach Raridon and the NCC players proved me wrong.

Q's All-CCIW slate looks pretty good to me . . . can't imagine the final listing will vary too too much from his proposed squads. 

Good luck to all the teams this weekend at NCC.  Should be a great two-day challenge for the CCIW AQ.  (I'll be at The Shirk cheering on the Titan women!).  Would love to see the CCIW get 2-3 teams in the DIII men's tourney.   

IWU70

[AndOne]

My hope is that Eliud Gonzalez gets first team, or at least second team All-CCIW.

IWU70

P.S.  Congrats to Aaron Tiknis, CCIW Player of the Week again this week.  ms

IWU---

Please see TQ's all conference picks. If you believe believe Eliud Gonzalez should be 1st team all conference, who among TQ's picks would you remove?
Gonzalez had a nice year. Possibly even one worthy of all conference recognition. However, an argument could certainly be made that Kevin Gillespie deserves to be all conference just as much as Eliud. I'm not going into specific reasons because chances are very slim and none that any one team is going to get 4 players on the all conference team, and Tiknis, Gamble, and Raridon should be locks.

[AndOne]

An announcement was made after the NCC/Millikin game Sat that the conference tourney games would be played at 5 and 7 PM although the CCIW web site showed 6 and 8:00.

It has now been confirmed that the games will indeed be at 5 and 7:00.

The link regarding the tournament is below. Included in the link is information on how the 2,3, and 4 seeds will be determined in the event of an Augie win at Wheaton tomorrow night which would result in Augie, Wheaton, and Wesleyan all finishing at 10-4, tied for 2nd behind North Central's 12-2.

There was previously a great deal of speculation regarding the 2.3, & 4 seeds depending on whether Augie or Wheaton won. This should clear things up.

http://www.cciw.org/news/2012/2/18/MBB_0218123925.aspx

[NCF]

An announcement was made after the NCC/Millikin game Sat that the conference tourney games would be played at 5 and 7 PM although the CCIW web site showed 6 and 8:00.

It has now been confirmed that the games will indeed be at 5 and 7:00.

The link regarding the tournament is below. Included in the link is information on how the 2,3, and 4 seeds will be determined in the event of an Augie win at Wheaton tomorrow night which would result in Augie, Wheaton, and Wesleyan all finishing at 10-4, tied for 2nd behind North Central's 12-2.

There was previously a great deal of speculation regarding the 2.3, & 4 seeds depending on whether Augie or Wheaton won. This should clear things up.

http://www.cciw.org/news/2012/2/18/MBB_0218123925.aspx

thanks for the info on the time and all conf. picks. A  7:00 start is good. how much to get in?

[AndOne]

Not sure about the admission price. This is set by the conference as opposed to North Central. I believe more details will be forthcoming on Wed.

[bopol]

Four of the eight CCIW teams finished the season with losing overall records this year. That's the first time that that's happened since 2001-02, and only the second time in the past fifteen seasons.

Not a good year for the league.

The programs at North Central, Wheaton, IWU, and Augustana are in great shape.  Hopefully the bottom of the league - especially North Park and Millikin - can get its stuff together.

Send a rebounder to Carthage and they'll be fine next year.  Just one.

bopol---

I'm interested in your take on this question. Here is mine---

I think what CC needs most is a pure shooter/scorer to take some of the scoring load off Malcom Kelly. Why? Because they should already HAVE 2 rebounders.
Mitch Thompson was a tremendous rebounder, shot blocker, defender early in his career. However, since then, his brain seems to have short circuited and told him he is a scorer. He seems to have gone away from what he does best. While he may have the ability to have some big scoring games, I don't see this happening on a consistent basis. I think some of the fault here is Bosko's in that he seems to have forgotten to remind Mitch where he can make his biggest contribution to team success on the most consistent basis.
Luke Johnson got D1 looks coming out of high school. I think this had mostly to do with his height and the fact that, in part, he was able to dominate in high school due to a combination of his height and several weak opponents. The primary knock on Mr Johnson was that he was a bit "soft" in that he wasn't really fond of playing under the basket and  banging down low. I saw this when CC played NCC this season. He seemed to enjoy hanging out at the 3 point line on offense, and taking a position in the middle of the paint on defense. At 6'9" he should primarily be playing down low on both ends of the floor. That way, it seems his defensive rebounding stats would improve, and his offensive board work would definitely improve. He needs to toughen up and play when he can do his team the most good overall. With his height and shooting touch, the points will come. His rebounding numbers may be good, but they should be bettter.
JMHO. 

In my opinion,

1) Mitch Thompson is a fine player, but never was a particularly good rebounder.  He is a good shotblocker, but he doesn't do a good job keeping the player from getting good deep position and is poor at blocking out.  His shot selection is fine as he mostly takes shots that are well within his ability.  He is what he is; an above average power forward in the CCIW, likely to hang out in All-CCIW honorable mention (if there is such a thing).

2) Donte Logan can become the good shooter too.  He shot 44% from the field and more than half of his shots were from 3 point land where he shot 41%.  The thing I noticed is that he is too set in the pass first role and doesn't identify that the best opportunity to score might be that Donte Logan takes the shot instead of passing off to someone else.  If he can adjust his game to take advantage of the opportunities that the opponent's defense gives him while obsessing on Kelly, that'll be a big plus.  If he can get into the paint and learn to finish or draw a foul, that'd be awesome too (mostly he gets to the paint and then dribbles back out).

3) Carthage also has Reese Herth (who takes some wild shots and could stand to settle down a touch) and Kevin Sykes Jr, who can shoot too.  Carthage needs some set plays to get them shots as well instead of totally leaning on Kelly.

4) Whereas Donte Logan was too settled in his role (pass, dribble and play pressure D), it seemed to me that Luke Johnson didn't have a clear role.  What was his job?  Where should he be on offense?  On defense?  He's got a nice outside touch, but, like the old North Stars from circa 1986, he didn't seem to like to mix it up in the paint.  Fact is: Tyler Pierce in the game is fighting his man to get the ball in the paint and I'm often not sure where Johnson is on the court.  Bosko needs to get Johnson a clear role on offense and defense and work on him to get the skills and attitude needed to be as successful as possible in that role.  Hopefully, it'll include rebounding.  Oh, and his free throw shooting is bad.

So that's my thoughts.  Against FWIW.

[AndOne]

New Top 25 poll out:

Augustana-----18th
Wheaton-------22nd
North Central--27th
Wesleyan------29th

Not a whole lot of separation.

[iwu70]

When it comes to Augie's place in the poll, seems voters are still lazy and ill-informed.  Just say'in.

AndOne, I hear you on Gonzalez being first team, not very likely.  But, just feel guys who play good onball defense, who lead the league in assists, make steals and stir the entire offensive pot, well, should get more recognition.  I think these attributes are just as important as the big scorers, bangers, and rebounders.  Plus, guys that play his style of game with his degree of energy, heart and dedication, well, again, they are pretty rare.  Q's recommendations are probably right, follow the form, but I just like to think outside the box a bit on who, what is valuable for successful team play, and a successful CCIW season. 

New poll is not terribly surprising, though seems to me Augie is not put in the right place or the right order.  Most of us here seem to agree that the ranking of CCIW just now is probably NCC, WC/IWU, then Augie.  At least that is my humble opinion.  Guess the game tomorrow will sort out where AC and WC are just now, prior to the weekend.  Any of these four teams could win the AQ this weekend.  I would think NCC has to be the favorite on recent form and home court. 

IWU70

[Gregory Sager]

I still think a starting lineup with a front court of Crosby, Gabriel, and Holmes along with Russell and whoever in the back court would have been worth trying. Rummel could have been used to give one of the starters a breather for a couple of minutes at a time. If this resulted in increased PT for him, maybe it would have aided his development, and possible added contribution next year. After all, the lineup that was employed didn't exactly result in a plethora of victories. What did they have to lose? Seems like it would have been worth a try. 

Again, Mark, it's not about who starts and who doesn't, it's about the minutes. Dylan Howard clearly understood who his competent players were, and those are the players who got the most minutes. He did put Crosby, Gabriel, and Holmes together on the floor at selected moments in CCIW games when he felt that it was possible to get away with it, but, as I said, for the most part he was forced to use them as his three-man rotation at the two big spots.

I don't think that you realize just how far Nate Rummel needs to go in order to be a legitimate CCIW varsity player. I like Nate, and I think that he has promise, but he was/is not ready for varsity time at all. He ended up playing fairly steady minutes in the last six games of the season only because the Vikings had lost Kendell Greer for the year, meaning that Dylan Howard had simply run out of other available players who are bigger than 6'2, 170. Prior to that, the only time Nate had been on the floor for double-digit minutes in a varsity game was the 33-point blowout loss at UW-LaCrosse in December, a game in which Gabriel, hobbled by a sprained ankle suffered earlier in practice that week, was only able to limp up and down the floor for three minutes before taking a seat on the bench for good.

Lots of big men need two, even three, years to come into form, and Nate's one of them. He's in good company as far as NPU basketball history is concerned; it took Lars Anderson and Dan Mulkerin two years apiece of cringe-inducing clumsiness on the JV team before either one was ready for the varsity, and they ended up being two of the CCIW's best centers in the entire decade of the 1980s. (When I first learned from one of the Vikings in the fall of 1986 that Bosko was playing Mulkerin, now a junior, with the first team in preseason practice and had moved superstar center Michael Starks over to power forward, I blurted out, "Did Bosko have a lobotomy in the off-season?") Not that Nate Rummel is the next Lars Anderson or Dan Mulkerin, but you see my point. Like many other Vikings, Nate badly needed for 2011-12 to be a year of steady junior varsity minutes for him. But, like several of his teammates who also aren't ready for prime time, the chance for Nate to hone his skills on the junior varsity this season was unfortunately denied to him because NPU couldn't field a JV team due to roster attrition.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

FYI - for anyone who cares... Augie came out of my Top 25... but I couldn't put NCC in. I placed Wheaton there due to their wins over NCC (in other words, I have Wheaton and NCC even in my mind and Wheaton gets the edge with their wins against NCC).