MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

In Mark Holmes and Mike Gabriel, North Park has 2 far superior players to anyone on either the Millikin or Elmhurst roster, and perhaps on a couple of other teams rosters as well.

There is a very good chance that Zack Cassita, and not Holmes or Gabriel, will be NPU's leading scorer this season.

Two of the main problems NPU appears to be facing are 1) who is going to get the ball to Holmes and Gabriel, and 2) can anyone provide solid relief when they need a breather, or get in foul trouble?

1) Acquaint yourself with the name "Aaron Weaver", NPU's new 6'5 point guard.
2) That's the $64,000 question. NPU should have a very good starting lineup, but not much depth at all -- especially at the big-man spots. I'm not complaining, just saying ... after all, Tom Slyder, Cordell Henry, and Sean Connor have performed a recruiting miracle just to get the Park to where it is right now in terms of talent level.

As far as Tom Slyder's comments in the Coaches Chat, I guess my question would be "What did you expect him to say"?

Mark, lots of head coaches would not be that bold. Lots of them.

[Titan Q]

There is a very good chance that Zack Cassita, and not Holmes or Gabriel, will be NPU's leading scorer this season.

Greg, what's the scoop on Zack Cassita?  Where is he from?  What year is he?  What kind of game does he have, etc?

1) Acquaint yourself with the name "Aaron Weaver", NPU's new 6'5 point guard.

And I guess the same questions about Aaron Weaver.


Thanks.

[Gregory Sager]

2nd Team
Mike Gabriel (North Park), 6-8 Sr F

Gabriel's a junior.

There is a very good chance that Zack Cassita, and not Holmes or Gabriel, will be NPU's leading scorer this season.

Greg, what's the scoop on Zack Cassita?  Where is he from?  What year is he?  What kind of game does he have, etc?

I've been holding out on talking about the Vikings, partly because I'm trying to avoid being accused of hype and partly because my firsthand observation of the Vikings this year has been pretty scanty -- not much more than a glimpse at a practice, really. Most of what I've seen from the newbies has been via old YouTube videos, and most of what I know about them is what Tom Slyder has told me. F'rinstance, the Vikings scrimmaged Dominican today in the crackerbox, and I had to miss it due to my webcasting responsibilities for NPU football.

Cassita is a 6'1 senior combo guard from the Malcom Kelly age bracket. He's 26, having been a member of the working world for the past several years after playing for a couple of D2 schools on the West Coast back during his years as a traditional-age college student. He's from the suburbs of Salt Lake City, and is probably the first Utahn that the CCIW's ever had. From what I've been told, he's the whole offensive package -- a crazy-good shooter and a very quick and strong penetrator who can take it to the rack. He'll start at shooting guard, and will probably move over to play the point when Weaver is out of the game.

1) Acquaint yourself with the name "Aaron Weaver", NPU's new 6'5 point guard.

And I guess the same questions about Aaron Weaver.


Thanks.

Weaver's a junior. He's a city kid who prepped at Crane on the West Side and played juco ball at Lake Land in downstate Mattoon. Again, I'm only going on what I've been told ... which is that, although a bit raw (as is the case with a lot of city kids who go from the Public League into the jucos), he's apparently something of a steal for this level.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

went to the North Park / Dominican scrimmage today and as general John Bell Hood said about his confederate attack on the devil's den at Gettysburg - "Didn't see much".  From what I was told North Park had three potential starters among five player dressed in sweats sitting so far at the bench the last kid was sitting next to the water fountain.

North Park couldn't shoot from the outside and had about 20 turnovers in the first two halves.  At times North Park had five guards on the floor.  Holmes and Daniels both played major minutes in both halves.

Dominican scored in the final half-minute to take the first half by one and when North Park reserve guards stop playing defense in the final ten minutes of the 2nd twenty minutes dominican one by 7.  In the final 20 minutes for the reserves with a running clock NPU won by 14.

Neither team shot the ball well at all from the outside and NPU showed only a few attempts to run anything other than a free-lance offense.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

There were several North Park alumni in attendance, three of them all-Americans and a fourth an all-conference performer: Greg Crawford 1970, Modzel Greer 1980, Mike Barach 1988, and Alex Dmitrijevic 1995.  Also in attendance was reserve Scott Stenmark (sorry Scott can't remember what year you played during the Bosko era).  Crawford, Greer and Barach combined for over 5,500 points in their careers.

I did receive some sad news over the weekend that North Park basketball alumni during the Bosko era Curt Lau and Michael Starks have died.  Lau was a reserve guard, while Starks was CCIW MOP in 1987, a three-time first team all-CCIW pick, NCAA final four MOP in 1987 and a two time All-American.

[Gregory Sager]

I forgot to mention my favorite moment from the coaches chat the other day:

Comment From Roderick
What are the group's thoughts about the change in the DIII championship dates this year? Do they like the idea of playing the final game in conjunction with the DI Final Four?

Comment From Grey Giovanine
The last national exposure was a Cornell/ Beloit fiasco on espn that set our game and D3 way back. Exposure in conjunction with the D1 tourney is a great thing in spite of logistical challenges.

I can't decide what I like the best about this response by Giovanine. Is it the hyperbole ("set our game and D3 way back")? His old-school disdain for what most coaches consider to be the abomination that is Dave Arseneault's "System" style of ball at Grinnell? Or is it the fact that he called Grinnell "Cornell", which is in and of itself something that a Grinnellian would consider to be a monumental insult? At any rate, I chuckle every time I read this response. Love him or hate him, Grey Giovanine adds an awful lot of color to our league.

[Gregory Sager]

went to the North Park / Dominican scrimmage today and as general John Bell Hood said about his confederate attack on the devil's den at Gettysburg - "Didn't see much".  From what I was told North Park had three potential starters among five player dressed in sweats sitting so far at the bench the last kid was sitting next to the water fountain.

Four potential starters sat out the scrimmage due to injury, not three.

Neither team shot the ball well at all from the outside and NPU showed only a few attempts to run anything other than a free-lance offense.

This is pretty consistent with what Tom Slyder told me when I arrived back on campus late this afternoon. This NPU team's filled with guys who have bad habits that have to be broken. Tom's indicated that the team has a pretty steep learning curve between now and November 16 to get the offense down and start playing like a team instead of a bunch of guys chosen for a rec league pickup game.

There were several North Park alumni in attendance, three of them all-Americans and a fourth an all-conference performer: Greg Crawford 1970, Modzel Greer 1980, Mike Barach 1988, and Alex Dmitrijevic 1995.  Also in attendance was reserve Scott Stenmark (sorry Scott can't remember what year you played during the Bosko era).

Sten would be the first to tell you that "played" might not be the best verb to describe what happened when he wore a North Park uniform (1989-92). "Sat" or "occupied bench space" or "distributed water at timeouts" might do a better job of capturing the essence of his Vikings career, although, like a lot of other former perennial JV types, over the years Sten has dominated alumni games like nobody's business.

Crawford, Greer and Barach combined for over 5,500 points in their careers.

I did receive some sad news over the weekend that North Park basketball alumni during the Bosko era Curt Lau and Michael Starks have died.  Lau was a reserve guard, while Starks was CCIW MOP in 1987, a three-time first team all-CCIW pick, NCAA final four MOP in 1987 and a two time All-American.

Curt's story was pretty sad. He was afflicted with a slow-growth brain cancer that debilitated him for a lot of years and caused him to leave coaching (he had been an assistant at Wartburg). He also played baseball for the Park, and was a very well-liked character around campus back in his day. He was only 43. Peace to his memory.

I haven't heard anything about Michael Starks dying. That's quite a shock.

[Titan Q]

Weaver's a junior. He's a city kid who prepped at Crane on the West Side and played juco ball at Lake Land in downstate Mattoon. Again, I'm only going on what I've been told ... which is that, although a bit raw (as is the case with a lot of city kids who go from the Public League into the jucos), he's apparently something of a steal for this level.

Regarding Aaron Weaver...

2007-08 season
Senior year at Crane H.S.

Referred to as a forward in this Tribune blurb: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-01-13/sports/0801120464_1_top-performers-crane-benton

2008-09 season
Here is his Kennedy-King JC player page, when was listed as a 6-6 freshman forward...

http://www.njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?sid=4&collegeid=1301&category=Roster&slid=2&teamid=77158&athleteid=244421

He played in 30 games, averaging 3.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists.  He was 43-103 from the field (.420), 6-28 from 3-point (.210), and 23-36 from the FT line (.640). 


2009-10 season
?


2010-11 season
Here is his Lake Land JC player page for 2010-11, when he was listed as a 6-5 sophomore guard...

http://www.njcaa.org/colleges_college_player.cfm?sid=4&collegeid=1576&category=Roster&slid=2&teamid=106266&athleteid=320668

He played in 28 games, averaging 4.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game.  He was 50-110 (.450) from the field, 4-16 from 3-point (.250), and 28-60 (.470) from the FT line.

Here is a video from 2010-11 at Lake Land (he is #3) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAl4asosOak
(He looks more to me like a "slasher"-type G/F, or "3", than PG in the highlights.)



2011-12 season
?



Going only by his JC statistics, "steal for this level" may be a little strong, simply because he doesn't seem to shoot the basketball very well.  Per the video, it may be that athletically he is a D3 "steal"...but as we know, the ability to run and jump, etc doesn't necessarily equate to success on the basketball court.

In any case, it sounds like NPU has a very athletic and extremely raw new perimeter player this year.  If he does play the 1, Weaver could be a big matchup problem for the average CCIW PG.  Certainly one of the intriguing new players in the CCIW to keep an eye on in the early going.

[Titan Q]

Cassita is a 6'1 senior combo guard from the Malcom Kelly age bracket. He's 26, having been a member of the working world for the past several years after playing for a couple of D2 schools on the West Coast back during his years as a traditional-age college student. He's from the suburbs of Salt Lake City, and is probably the first Utahn that the CCIW's ever had. From what I've been told, he's the whole offensive package -- a crazy-good shooter and a very quick and strong penetrator who can take it to the rack. He'll start at shooting guard, and will probably move over to play the point when Weaver is out of the game.

And some internet digging on Zack (aka "J.R.") Cassita...

2003-04
- Senior year at Jordan H.S. in Utah

- Very successful prep player


2004-05
?


2005-06
?


2006-07
- Played at Snow Community College in Ephraim, UT

- Team MVP on a conference championship team


2007-08
- Played at NCAA D2 Cal State-Stanislaus

- Roster page, listed as 6-3/185 sophomore guard: http://www.warriorathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1316&path=mbball

- Played in 24 games, 14.3 min per game average off the bench...averaged 6.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 1.3 apg...56-123 from the field (.455), 28-75 from 3-point (.373), and 17-22 from the FT line (.773)...32 assists/36 turnovers.

- '07-08 stats page: http://www.warriorathletics.com/custompages/season_stats/mbb/0708/TEAMCUME.HTM#TEAM.IND

- Also on Track & Field roster: http://www.warriorathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=&rp_id=1535


2008-09
- Played at NCAA D2 Academy of the Art University (San Francisco, CA) in the program's first season of men's basketball.

- Media guide, listed as 6-2 junior guard: http://artuathletics.com/documents/2008/12/11/AAU_MediaGuide_Men2%20v3.pdf?id=190

- Media guide bio: high school: J.R. Cassita lettered in football, basketball, and track all three years at Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah. At his junior college (Snow College), he received MvP honors in the Delta Center and his school won the Conference Championship in 2006-07. He played at Cal State Stanislaus last year and hit a three-point game-winning shot against Santa Clara.

- Played in 18 games, started 2 (21 min/game average)...averaged 6.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists...37-137 from the field (.270), 24-80 3-point (.300), 14-19 FT (.737)...21 assists/46 turnovers.

'08-09 stats page: http://artuathletics.com/custompages/2008-9%20Men's%20Basketball/teamcume.htm#TEAM.IND



Another intriguing new perimeter player for North Park.

[Gregory Sager]

Going only by his JC statistics, "steal for this level" may be a little strong, simply because he doesn't seem to shoot the basketball very well.  Per the video, it may be that athletically he is a D3 "steal"...but as we know, the ability to run and jump, etc doesn't necessarily equate to success on the basketball court.

In any case, it sounds like NPU has a very athletic and extremely raw new perimeter player this year.  If he does play the 1, Weaver could be a big matchup problem for the average CCIW PG.  Certainly one of the intriguing new players in the CCIW to keep an eye on in the early going.

There's a big danger in putting too much stock in juco stats, Bob. One of the bedrock truths of juco ball, especially NJCAA D1 juco ball, is that it's a level filled with guys who are serving their own agendas rather than that of the team. High-level juco basketball is all about getting discovered by some D1 or D2 coach and getting a four-year scholie. That not only affects who wins and loses games, it also distorts statistics; frequently the effort to get discovered leads to games being dominated by ballhogs and chuckers.

As a result, coaches don't tend to lean much upon stats when they evaluate juco players. It's all about the eyeball test. What's his size? What's his frame? How are his fundamentals? How is his quickness? Does he have speed with the ball in his hands? What's his shooting form like? Does he appear to be tuned in during timeouts or when the coach speaks to him, or does he mentally check out? Does he talk on the floor? What's his effort like on defense?

I've already said that Weaver is raw. I think that your adjective "extremely" is unnecessary and based upon little evidence and no observation (aside from an old YouTube video). The bottom line, to me, is that Tom Slyder -- a coach with twenty years of D3 experience, seven of them as a head coach, and a lot more savvy as a talent evaluator than the likes of you or I -- considers Weaver to be a viable option as a CCIW point guard. Do I expect Weaver to be the second coming of Steve Djurickovic or Kent Raymond? No. Do I trust what Tom Slyder tells me about Weaver's potential as a CCIW point guard? Yes.

[Gregory Sager]

Cassita is a 6'1 senior combo guard from the Malcom Kelly age bracket. He's 26, having been a member of the working world for the past several years after playing for a couple of D2 schools on the West Coast back during his years as a traditional-age college student. He's from the suburbs of Salt Lake City, and is probably the first Utahn that the CCIW's ever had. From what I've been told, he's the whole offensive package -- a crazy-good shooter and a very quick and strong penetrator who can take it to the rack. He'll start at shooting guard, and will probably move over to play the point when Weaver is out of the game.

And some internet digging on Zack (aka "J.R.") Cassita...

The reason why Cassita's statistical background is irrelevant is because it's ancient. Bob, the guy is 26 years old. His D2 experience is now three years out of date. Zach's got a couple of full-game videos up on YouTube of big outings he had for Stanislaus State. I didn't bother linking to them because they're four years old.

Did anybody bother dredging up old stats or videos on Malcom Kelly when he came into the league? No. The older the data, the less relevant it becomes.

Again, I'm going by what the coach has told me about circa-fall-2012 Zach Cassita, not by outdated videos or yellowing box scores.

[Titan Q]

I've already said that Weaver is raw. I think that your adjective "extremely" is unnecessary and based upon little evidence and no observation (aside from an old YouTube video).

I agree that the adjective "extremely" is unnecessary. 

[Titan Q]

The reason why Cassita's statistical background is irrelevant is because it's ancient. Bob, the guy is 26 years old. His D2 experience is now three years out of date. Zach's got a couple of full-game videos up on YouTube of big outings he had for Stanislaus State. I didn't bother linking to them because they're four years old.

Did anybody bother dredging up old stats or videos on Malcom Kelly when he came into the league? No. The older the data, the less relevant it becomes.

Again, I'm going by what the coach has told me about circa-fall-2012 Zach Cassita, not by outdated videos or yellowing box scores.

I disagree here, Greg.  While Cassita's stats are a few years old, at least they give an idea of the type of player he was...which seems to provide at least a hint of the type of player he could be at North Park.

My biggest caution around his numbers is not that they're dated -- it's that they were accrued at a higher level than Division III.

[Titan Q]

Did anybody bother dredging up old stats or videos on Malcom Kelly when he came into the league? No. The older the data, the less relevant it becomes.

Remember, Malcom Kelly came into Carthage with freshman eligibility...so there was no college data to look at (as there is with Cassita).

[Gregory Sager]

The reason why Cassita's statistical background is irrelevant is because it's ancient. Bob, the guy is 26 years old. His D2 experience is now three years out of date. Zach's got a couple of full-game videos up on YouTube of big outings he had for Stanislaus State. I didn't bother linking to them because they're four years old.

Did anybody bother dredging up old stats or videos on Malcom Kelly when he came into the league? No. The older the data, the less relevant it becomes.

Again, I'm going by what the coach has told me about circa-fall-2012 Zach Cassita, not by outdated videos or yellowing box scores.

I disagree here, Greg.  While Cassita's stats are a few years old, at least they give an idea of the type of player he was...which seems to provide at least a hint of the type of player he could be at North Park.

Sketching a rough outline ... possibly. But one could argue that his height and weight do a better job of that than do his old stats. Is he guard-sized? Then he's probably going to have borne guard-type numbers at his previous level. If that's what you mean by "give an idea of the type of player he was," then I certainly agree. But if you're insisting that his shooting stats from 2007-08 or his a:to numbers from 2008-09 somehow project into telling us what type of player he is now, then I vehemently disagree.

There's just a huge difference between a 22-year-old and a 26-year-old, especially if the 26-year-old has been steadily honing his game all that time. Now, I'm not making any great unqualified claims on Zach Cassita's behalf, mind you. I did say that he might end up being NPU's leading scorer this year and that he had strong shooting and driving skills, but, again, I also made it clear that at this point I'm basically parroting what the coach has told me and that my firsthand observation of Cassita (and all of the other NPU newbies) is quite limited.

My biggest caution around his numbers is not that they're dated -- it's that they were accrued at a higher level than Division III.

That's a good point.

Did anybody bother dredging up old stats or videos on Malcom Kelly when he came into the league? No. The older the data, the less relevant it becomes.

Remember, Malcom Kelly came into Carthage with freshman eligibility...so there was no college data to look at (as there is with Cassita).

No, but he did have high school data. Since you yourself use high school data pretty frequently on CCIW Chat when assessing recruits, it certainly makes me wonder whether or not Kelly's would've been seen as relevant when he enrolled at Carthage.