MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[URockets]

Q, thanks for your take on Heyen and the JV newbies.  As you have no doubt gathered, I'm pretty high on Brandon and like his game.  I even thought they might consider him a tweener of sorts between the 3 and 2, as he's quick, a slasher, loves to drive to the hoop etc., good range on his treyball.  We'll see.  I suppose if he puts on lbs, strength, works post moves, he could do the 3 to 4 transition.  JV is short of post players this year, so perhaps that's what they are thinking.  Thanks for the views on the others.  I'll watch them today.  Seems, from several sources, that Marietta is actually pretty close to "being ready" for varsity minutes now, but will of course want to develop, get some JV minutes too.  In this sense, perhaps he's the Musselman of this season . . . likely to see some varsity time later in the season, esp. if needed due to injuries, foul troubles, etc.  Sure is nice to have such depth.  And, who would have guessed that a transfer will likely start at the 2 and a true freshman has a real shot at starting at the PG.  We haven't had that since Kory Coon days, right?  Or, did Dauksas start as a freshman?  (Pls. forgive the spelling, as per my usual laziness of not wanting to look back at old roster records.  You know who I mean!).

Looking forward to watching the G/W scrimmage today . . . sorry Molinari and Zimmer likely still riding pine.  But first, senior day @Tucci@Wilder Field vs. the Doggies.

Have a good weekend all . . . we'll be watching for the score from NCC vs. WC to see who is ringing bells today.  I have NC by at least 2 TDs, likely more. 

IWU70

Brandon Heyen is dealing with a foot injury, and not anywhere near 100%.

[Titan Q]

Millikin scrimmaged @ Wash U today.  A tweet from @CoachJonLester...

"Today was a great day for the Big Blue!  Did very well vs a top 25 program! #newera"

[iwu70]

A few more impressions from the IWU Green/White scrimmage.  I attended the first two 20 minute sessions.  There was a third, mainly with JV players. 

Not playing:  Zimmer (back), Molinari (head), Heyen (as was mentioned, ankle, perhaps back in action next week)
Oswald and Mayberger look totally healthy, active, even with ongoing knee concerns.
Starting groups:  Green:  Dortch, Reed, Anderson, Overstreet, and Sodemann.  White:  Davis. Oswald, Nelms, Ziemnik, Musselman.
You can basically see who the starting/rotation players are now -- with perhaps a few additions, some returnees from injury in due time.
Liked the continued emphasis on, evidence of defensive intensity.  This seemingly hasn't changed from last year.
Nick Anderson has improved his post moves, quickness, rebounding, aggressiveness on offense.  He's going to score more.  Ziemnik is a ton down low, hard to stop.
Sodemann is the real deal for the 2, nice movement, very quick release and good scoring from treyville.  Overstreet also had good range, percentage on threeballs.
Overstreet could also easily play the 2, as Q mentioned earlier as well, if Nelms is playing the PG.
Nelms and Dolan are interesting . . . little energizer bunny, motoring around kind of players.  Not sure how they would handle strong CCIW perimeter D or how much they can penetrate and truly get into the lane.  But, they both have tremendous upsides, handle the ball very well, good court vision, and move around like gnats.  Interesting.
Dortch still has one of the ugliest jump shots in D3, but he can defend, slash, run, defend, run, slash and slash more.  He's flying all over the place.  Love his game.
In the second 20, was pretty clear that at times Ron Rose will experiment with Eric at the 2, at least for defensive purposes. Perhaps till Zimmer and Molinari return.
Marietta is promising, but, IMHO, not quite ready for the varsity rotation, not as ready as Musselman was last year at this same time period.
Oswald still has the range, good release, could be very very valuable in certains situations where immediate scoring, stretch the floor with trey shooting needed.
2nd 20 -- starters were:  Overstreet, Dortch (at the 2), Davis, Ziemnik and Reed.  Rotation off of this would be Nelms, Sodemann and Anderson (8 person)
Second group actually outscored/beat the "starters."
Of the newbies, impressed most with solid, good play of Coyle.  I can assure Ypsi that Q is right, there's no Keelan in that JV group of newbies, at least not yet.
Musselman has a tremendous upside if he works at it, puts his mind to it, gets more fit. 
He has a great touch from mid and long range, excellent moves around the basket and knows how to use his bulk, his balance, touches off the glass, and his seeming light-footedness, for a man 6'8" and 240 or so.  I would imagine he will also be in the regular rotation for the bigs. 
So from this:  frontcourt rotations:  Overstreet, Nelms, Molinari, Sodemann, Zimmer, perhaps Oswald and Dolan. 
Backcourt rotations:  Davis, Ziemnik, Reed, Anderson, Dortch, Musselman.  Seems Dortch is a swing man 3 or 2.  I know, sounds strange. 
Overstreet did show excellent movement, ball handling and three ball range, and good shot selection judgement.

Overall, nothing too surprising, with alot of work still to do on timing, shooting, FTs, defensive sets, inbounds plays etc.
Much of what we saw last night we've seen before.
Titans have every opportunity, talent and depth to have an outstanding season.

IWU70

[newCCIWfan]

Got a chance to sneak away from the family this afternoon and check out the Millikin v WashU scrimmage today. To say that Matt Nadelhoffer has a young team might be an understatement. Clark was the lone upperclassman to start, but even he saw significantly fewer minutes that I was expecting.  It appeared to me that 9 of the 10 in MU's rotation were all freshman.

Early on it was clear that MU's youngsters were not used to the speed, strength and overall flow of play. At the midway point of the first half however, Millikin settled down significantly.

Scoring breakdown went roughly like this:
1st 10 minutes - WashU by 10
2nd 10 minutes - WashU by 2
3rd 10 minutes - Millikin by 1
4th 10 minutes -WashU by 1

While varsity was playing on one court, JV was playing similar style scrimmage on the side court. After the first 40 minutes both JV squads joined the varsity squad and played a 10 minute period with both teams using a mix of JV and Varsity players in the last segment.

[iwu70]

Looks like major improvement coming in Decatur . . . with all the newbies, all the freshies.  I wish Coach Nadelhoffer all the best.  Long way to come back, but sounds like he has some fresh horses ready to bring new respectability to the Big Blue program. 

IWU70

[Mr. Ypsi]

Looks like major improvement coming in Decatur . . . with all the newbies, all the freshies.  I wish Coach Nadelhoffer all the best.  Long way to come back, but sounds like he has some fresh horses ready to bring new respectability to the Big Blue program. 

IWU70

But do they have a Jesse (shudder! ) Price?

Then I would worry, big time!

But it would be great for the conference to see them become respectable again.

[iwumichigander]

I'm pretty sure Ron Rose has the pieces to have a really good season -- just a matter of putting them together.  I sense that process will take well into the non-conference season.

I doubt a 'starting lineup' will emerge much before conference.  Rose has a nice problem - loads of talent that can form into multiple combinations to compete against different opponent lineups.  The key, I think, will be to find the right four guys to build around Victor Davis.  It is not as easy as one would think.

[iwu70]

IWUmichigan, I agree, not as easy as one would think.  Rose has so many combinations, much talent with different strengths, styles, levels of current development and temperament, and could be more complicated by return of those now injured:  Molinari, Zimmer, perhaps Heyen.  Mostly Zimmer, IMHO.  Lucky to have so much good talent, all sorts of combinations to align with the situation, various opponents.  I think one key will be consistent perimeter shooting, scoring, and another will be perimeter defense.  I personally understand why Rose is toying with the idea of Dortch at the 2 in some situations.  I liked the D intensity I saw in the G/W scimmage, but Overstreet, Nelms, Zimmer, and Sodemann don't strike me as the toughest of perimeter defenders, though I'm sure they are improving, working on it with great encouragement from the coaching staff.  Nelms has potential to be an Eliud type of player, defender, with a little better overall offensive skill set.  Perhaps Dolan too.  If Nelms indeed plays a major part at PG, then Overstreet and Zimmer may well share more time at the 2.  Oswald always ready.  Lots of questions on playing time, rotational and situational choice.  The IWU bigs are pretty well set, and can move in and out with very little change of skill level, scoring potential and rebounding strength:  Davis, Zman (yes, taking over for Kman), Reed, Anderson, Dortch (shall we call him D-man?), and Mussel-man.  I actually like to think of a combination on the floor of Davis, Anderson, and Musselman.  Having six such talented bigs is going to be great in reducing wear and tear, spreading out the energies and playing time of these guys, and keeping guys energized and fresh to put in maximum effort when they get their floor-time . . . being able to go with the best combination, the "hot hands" down the stretch of many games.   Again, IMHO.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow, everyone!

IWU70

[Titan Q]

Jim Durham, former voice of the Bulls who passed away yesterday, did some IWU games back in the day...

http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/smith_durham_110809.html?ls=iref%3Anbahpts

"In a small market, you do everything," recalled Durham. "I was a full time disc jockey. I was having the time of my life. On weekends, I (broadcast) games. You got paid $15 extra: Bloomington-Normal, Illinois Wesleyan, Illinois State. Doug (Collins) was playing then at Illinois State. It was a great learning experience, but I was just doing the sports on the side."


Impossible for me to think of those early-Jordan Bulls teams without thinking of Jim Durham's voice.

[AndOne]

I'm pretty sure Ron Rose has the pieces to have a really good season -- just a matter of putting them together.  I sense that process will take well into the non-conference season.

I doubt a 'starting lineup' will emerge much before conference.  Rose has a nice problem - loads of talent that can form into multiple combinations to compete against different opponent lineups.  The key, I think, will be to find the right four guys to build around Victor Davis.  It is not as easy as one would think.

Perhaps Rose will use the non-conference portion of the schedule to "experiment" with different lineups in order to find the best, most cohesive lineup.
North Central did this 2 years ago. The result was a 4-7 record going into the conference portion of the season for which NCC received a heavy dose of criticism from several angles. However, by using the non-conference games as a testing ground, the Cardinals were able to "surprise" many people and come up with lineup that compiled an 11-3 conference mark and became conference co-champions.

As far as finding the "right 4 guys" to go with Davis, I believe the problem is actually already half solved as it would be quite a shock if Ziemnik didn't open at the 3, and Reed at the 5. I think the key is for the Weenies to find their best PG and 2G. And, it sounds like these choices may end up being determined by injury status as much as anything else.

[AndOne]

Jim Durham, former voice of the Bulls who passed away yesterday, did some IWU games back in the day...

http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/smith_durham_110809.html?ls=iref%3Anbahpts

"In a small market, you do everything," recalled Durham. "I was a full time disc jockey. I was having the time of my life. On weekends, I (broadcast) games. You got paid $15 extra: Bloomington-Normal, Illinois Wesleyan, Illinois State. Doug (Collins) was playing then at Illinois State. It was a great learning experience, but I was just doing the sports on the side."


Impossible for me to think of those early-Jordan Bulls teams without thinking of Jim Durham's voice.

Pass out to Michael, extended free throw line left. He rises up and fires............Kaboom! Down the bottom of the net.

[AndOne]

North Central topped traditionally tough College Of DuPage in a JV scrimmage Friday night in Glen Ellyn.

Leading the way in scoring for the Cards was freshman Ben Heide with (unofficially) 23, followed by soph Tyler Every with 14, and freshman Adam Reynolds (Ben's teammate at Minooka last year) with 12. Many of the points came off feeds from freshman David Fuller who served up several fine dishes throughout the evening.

Freshman Kevin Honn had a good all around game, leading the way on the defensive side for the Cardinals, and chipping in 10 points as well.

[Titan Q]

Pass out to Michael, extended free throw line left. He rises up and fires............Kaboom! Down the bottom of the net.

"Kaboom" is the current guy, Neil Funk.

Jim Durham was "Rimming...good."

[Titan Q]

IWU's Memorial Gymnasium was dedicated on this date in 1921.

http://www.iwuhoops.com/memgym.jpg


It's now the Hansen Student Center.  Neat building.

[izzy stradlin]

Pass out to Michael, extended free throw line left. He rises up and fires............Kaboom! Down the bottom of the net.

"Kaboom" is the current guy, Neil Funk.

Jim Durham was "Rimming...good."

Or "Book-it"