MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Titans on break now, for finals etc. before game at home vs. U Chicago on the 15th.  Apparently, Molinari is back in full practice mode now, back from his concussion injury, so we may seem him work his way back into the rotation at some point and bolster the Titan perimeter, PG and 2 cast of characters.  Sodemann still rehabbing.  No word on Heyen.  Would be nice to see all the possible Greenie contributors back and healthy by late December games, in prep for CCIW openers.  Let's hope the new year gets Victor Davis untracked fully and that the new year brings a ban on the rash of Titan TOs.  Just say'in.   

NP and MU getting some wins.  Good to see.

Looks like EC may be dropping down to the lowly cellar-dwelling spot occupied in recent years by Jimmy Millikin.  Is EC really that bad?

IWU70

[Greek Tragedy]

What's the board's thoughts of Augie's trip to Stevens Point this weekend? Do they have all of their big guys back? Point, as usual, lacks height, but they do have Tillema, who can be a handful.

[Former Devil 40]

Eureka had high hopes coming into this season.  They returned all 5 starters from a squad with a winning record last year and brought in a couple pieces they thought would help this year.

Mark Lessen missed the game with what was originally thought to be a broken bone in his foot. after further tests the 2nd set of x-rays came back negative and it is just a sprain.  He was a 1st team all SLIAC player last year and was averaging over 17ppg this year before getting hurt.

Jordan Kindred has a bad case of strep throat and only played 13 min last night due to his illness.  i'm sure he wished it would have been a "flu" game like MJ had but obviously this was not the case.  When this kid is 100% he is a lot of fun to watch.  One of the most athletic 6' guards i've seen.

Dustin Fritsch is also battling some type of lower body injury (i think it may be an ankle as well).  Dustin was 1st team all SLIAC last year as well.  He put up decent numbers but usually shoots it better from the floor than he did yesterday

Chuck Misuraca didn't play due to a back injury.  I was at the game vs MacMurray when he landed directly on his tailbone.  He is a soild backup pg for Eureka.

Injuries/illness to 4 of Eureka's key 7 or 8 guys could explain why EC is struggling right now.  I know teams need to overcome adversity but in Eureka's case i dont think they have the firepower beyond their first 7 or 8 to do so.

If this team gets healthy after the new year i'd look for them to be a top team in the SLIAC and the games they lost  vs macmurray and north park IMO would have had different outcomes.

[Gregory Sager]

Eureka had high hopes coming into this season.  They returned all 5 starters from a squad with a winning record last year and brought in a couple pieces they thought would help this year.

Mark Lessen missed the game with what was originally thought to be a broken bone in his foot. after further tests the 2nd set of x-rays came back negative and it is just a sprain.  He was a 1st team all SLIAC player last year and was averaging over 17ppg this year before getting hurt.

Jordan Kindred has a bad case of strep throat and only played 13 min last night due to his illness.  i'm sure he wished it would have been a "flu" game like MJ had but obviously this was not the case.  When this kid is 100% he is a lot of fun to watch.  One of the most athletic 6' guards i've seen.

Dustin Fritsch is also battling some type of lower body injury (i think it may be an ankle as well).  Dustin was 1st team all SLIAC last year as well.  He put up decent numbers but usually shoots it better from the floor than he did yesterday

Chuck Misuraca didn't play due to a back injury.  I was at the game vs MacMurray when he landed directly on his tailbone.  He is a soild backup pg for Eureka.

Injuries/illness to 4 of Eureka's key 7 or 8 guys could explain why EC is struggling right now.  I know teams need to overcome adversity but in Eureka's case i dont think they have the firepower beyond their first 7 or 8 to do so.

If this team gets healthy after the new year i'd look for them to be a top team in the SLIAC and the games they lost  vs macmurray and north park IMO would have had different outcomes.

Eureka isn't the only team that's had to battle attrition, Former Devil 40. NPU's 6'8 center Mike Gabriel, a former D1 scholarship player, was lost to a knee injury in preseason. His backup, 6'7 Nate Rummel, has been unable to play due to knee issues as well. Even if your Red Devils had everybody healthy and ready to go, they wouldn't have beaten a Vikings team that had Gabriel and Rummel as well as the rest of the crew that played last night. And, while last night's game would've been closer if the Devils had been 100%, I strongly question your flat-out assertion that they would've beaten the Vikings.

Eurerka was clearly the inferior team despite NP playing the shortest Viking squad I can ever recall watching.

NPU has had some size-challenged teams over the past dozen years -- at one point in 2001-02 the Vikings were starting an inside combo of 6'0 Aaron Coleman and 6'2 Javier Sanchez, although 6'7 Larry Moore was coming off of the bench -- but in terms of the overall roster this is indeed the smallest NPU team that I have ever seen, and I've been around the program since 1979-80. It's disconcerting for me to walk past the layup line before the game and be eyeball-to-eyeball with almost everyone in it. But it is what it is. Among the myriad issues that are on Tom Slyder's plate this year is the need to locate, recruit, and bring in some size.

[Gregory Sager]

Looks like EC may be dropping down to the lowly cellar-dwelling spot occupied in recent years by Jimmy Millikin.

That's a seriously premature assessment.

What's the board's thoughts of Augie's trip to Stevens Point this weekend? Do they have all of their big guys back?

No, Augie doesn't have nearly as much size on a per-player basis as it did last season when it played UWSP. Three of the big men who saw the most time against the Pointers -- 6'9, 239 Luke Scarlata, 6'9, 209 Bryant Voiles, and 6'7, 217 Kameron Norton -- are no longer part of the team. In addition, 6'7, 201 George Dexter hasn't played yet this season.

The holdover big men are 6'7, 205 Brandon Kunz and 6'8, 265 Kevin Schlitter, although the team's leading rebounder, freshman Ben Ryan, is a relatively pedestrian 6'5, 205. The other big man in the rotation is 6'6, 232 Nic Hoepfner, and Augie also has a couple of JV players (6'9, 187 soph Alex Dziagwa and 6'7, 195 freshman Brandon Motzel) who have seen garbage time for AC.

So, the answer to your question is: No, they don't have all of their big guys back. But Augie does have as much inside depth as anybody around, even if it's no longer the experienced and extremely imposing inside depth that it had last season.

[iwu70]

Well, Greg, 0-5 start for EC isn't exactly stellar, and not against the strongest of schedules either.  I've not seen EC play yet this year, but surely thought they'd play better than this given what they had coming back.  I have seen MU and can attest to greater strength and improvement.  EC also has some tougher games upcoming, so things may go downhill further for them. 

Call me silly, but EC looks weaker, playing more poorly than MU at this stage. 

If I was ranking the CCIW race at this point, from what we've seen to date, I'd say NCC, WC, AC, IWU, CC, NP, MU, and EC.   If Malcom returns, CC's prospects improve greatly. 

IWU70

[Greek Tragedy]

So, the answer to your question is: No, they don't have all of their big guys back. But Augie does have as much inside depth as anybody around, even if it's no longer the experienced and extremely imposing inside depth that it had last season.

I actually just meant the players for this year.  I seem to remember a few missing/injured when they played someone of note earlier this season.  They seem pretty big, regardless.  Thanks.

[WheatonFanChris]

Wheaton hosts Westminster @7:30 this evening. After what sounds like an impressive showing last night at Elmhurst by Westminster, let's hope the Thunder aren't looking forward to Wash U on Saturday already.

[Gregory Sager]

Well, Greg, 0-5 start for EC isn't exactly stellar, and not against the strongest of schedules either.  I've not seen EC play yet this year, but surely thought they'd play better than this given what they had coming back.  I have seen MU and can attest to greater strength and improvement.  EC also has some tougher games upcoming, so things may go downhill further for them. 

Call me silly, but EC looks weaker, playing more poorly than MU at this stage.

There's a humungous difference between the schedule that Elmhurst has played and the schedule that Millikin has played, Mark. According to the Massey Ratings, Elmhurst is ranked 80th in D3 in terms of strength of schedule. Millikin is 344th. Elmhurst's opponents' winning percentage is .615 (16-10). Millikin's is .200 (6-24). There's just no comparison there. As I outlined the other day, MU's three wins have come against the likes of Blackburn (0-7), Principia (0-5), and Fontbonne (1-6), three teams that are likely to finish in the lower half of one of D3's bottom-tier leagues.

Those wins are great confidence-boosters for a Big Blue team that's so young that the postgame meals are jars of Gerber. But they don't tell us much about how Millikin will stack up against CCIW competition, which is the point that the other Mark (AndOne) was making yesterday. Meanwhile, the 'jays, for all their struggles, have at least been in every game that they've played thus far, and, as I said, that's against significantly better competition than what MU has faced.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Well, Greg, 0-5 start for EC isn't exactly stellar, and not against the strongest of schedules either.  I've not seen EC play yet this year, but surely thought they'd play better than this given what they had coming back.  I have seen MU and can attest to greater strength and improvement.  EC also has some tougher games upcoming, so things may go downhill further for them. 

Call me silly, but EC looks weaker, playing more poorly than MU at this stage.

There's a humungous difference between the schedule that Elmhurst has played and the schedule that Millikin has played, Mark. According to the Massey Ratings, Elmhurst is ranked 80th in D3 in terms of strength of schedule. Millikin is 344th. Elmhurst's opponents' winning percentage is .615 (16-10). Millikin's is .200 (6-24). There's just no comparison there. As I outlined the other day, MU's three wins have come against the likes of Blackburn (0-7), Principia (0-5), and Fontbonne (1-6), three teams that are likely to finish in the lower half of one of D3's bottom-tier leagues.

Those wins are great confidence-boosters for a Big Blue team that's so young that the postgame meals are jars of Gerber. But they don't tell us much about how Millikin will stack up against CCIW competition, which is the point that the other Mark (AndOne) was making yesterday. Meanwhile, the 'jays, for all their struggles, have at least been in every game that they've played thus far, and, as I said, that's against significantly better competition than what MU has faced.

What an inspired twist on the immortal ( ) Dick Vitale's "diaper dandies"!  +k

[WheatonFanChris]

Bad news for Wheaton. According to the WETN announcers, Brayden Teuscher is having surgery tomorrow for an injury that took place against Calvin last weekend and will likely be out at least until CCIW play.

Tough timing for him as I'm sure he was looking forward to getting out there against his old teammates on Saturday.

[petemcb]

Wheaton in a dogfight with a very scrappy Westminster team. With around two minutes to go in the first half, wheaton is only up 27-25. Westminster is playing some of the toughest D Wheaton has seen this year, including the Hope game.

[Gregory Sager]

Nobody noted this today, but Augustana concluded its long-time cross-river rivalry with St. Ambrose last night with a 77-69 win.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton in a dogfight with a very scrappy Westminster team. With around two minutes to go in the first half, wheaton is only up 27-25. Westminster is playing some of the toughest D Wheaton has seen this year, including the Hope game.

From Brett Marhanka on the north sideline to the broadcasters on the south sideline, an iron curtain has descended across the King Arena court.

[sac]

SLIAC or not, people need to start giving Westminster some respect.  Westminster played Wheaton tough as well last year and gave Hope a run for their money in the NCAA's.