MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GRIZ_BACKER]

Gunner sounds like a very tough match-up.  What a game he had.  Seems the poor FT % was really the dagger. 

Time for some serious CCIW play, challenges now.  Titans do seem to be closer to putting it together, getting everyone back and healthy, though the rotational decisions for Coach Rose must still be a bit perplexing.  In this first phase, we have to say that Zman, Overstreet and Sodemann have played best, on offense, surely Reed always consistent and contributing.  Davis coming on a bit, but still way short of expectations.  Would love to see Zimmer and Mayberger really get on a trey and scoring streak.  Dortch always good on D, making plays, but still somewhat of a liability on offense.  Anderson, Dolan and Nelms, still can play their roles, small parts . . . perhaps Oswald, too, in certain situation.  Gotta settle down now with the focussed rotation and play harder, more consistently and shoot it better all'round, esp. at the FT line.   Here we go for the conference race.  No free evenings.

I agree with Q that this Franklin loss was pretty big, potentially damaging for Pool C prospects down the road.

IWU70

Great win for FC today over a perennial power from a great conference.  Exciting game from start to finish.  Worth the price of admission (free LOL).  Good luck to the Titans as conference play gets underway.

[kenoshamark]

Here is the full article on Malcom Kelly:

As expected, the Carthage men's basketball team will not have the services of All-CCIW guard Malcom Kelly for the second half of the 2012-13 season.

Currently not enrolled in school, Kelly said that he enlisted in the U.S. Army reserves in October and will report for a nine-week boot camp on Jan. 14 at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga.

"They couldn't send me to boot camp (in October) because I was a full-time student," the 26-year-old Kelly said. "I had no schedule for the spring term, so they gave me the January date and that's when I'm getting out of here. I didn't think it would be smart to only play half of a season."

After serving a three-year stint in the U.S. Navy, the 2004 Reuther graduate enrolled at Carthage and was a major contributor for the Red Men.

He averaged a team-high 19.4 points and earned first-team All-CCIW honors last season after being named second-team All-CCIW as a sophomore. As a freshman, he played in all 30 games (13 starts) and helped the Red Men capture the CCIW title and reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Plans on returning
Kelly ranks 25th on Carthage's career scoring list with 1,045 points. He is also third in both 3-point field goals made (174) and attempted (453). His 72 3-pointers are the third-most in a single season by a Carthage player.

Upon returning to Kenosha at the beginning of April, Kelly has plans to take some classes. He said that he fully intends to play his senior season for the Red Men next year.

"As soon as I get back, I'll be working out with Jon Palmen at Athletic Republic," he said, "so I'll be in basketball shape and getting ready for the start of the season."

A member of the Reuther boys coaching staff this season, Kelly has been in attendance at Carthage home games.

Does he miss it?

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I played for three years. It's kind of hard to go from playing basketball every day to not playing."

Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic said that Kelly would be welcomed back.

"As things have unfolded this season, we sure as heck could've used him," Djurickovic said. "He's an awfully good player. I don't have any problem with Malcom whatsoever. He's not a difficult guy to coach. He's a very talented player. Like everybody else, he has to take care of his personal business.

"I'm most interested in the kids and sometimes I'm most interested in the kids who don't have it easy. I wasn't a poor kid by any stretch, but I was a city kid. I didn't have everything and I appreciate when people can get through doing it the hard way. Malcom Kelly is not your normal 18-year-old recruit whose family has a lot of money and everything is easy for him. He's a non-traditional student — let alone a non-traditional college basketball player. Guys like that are to be admired."

Backcourt steps up
The Red Men (4-6) close out a brutal non-conference schedule when they host Benedictine University (3-9) 7:30 tonight at Tarble Arena.

In Kelly's absence, the sophomore backcourt of Donte Logan and Reese Herth has stepped up this season.

"Our guard play has hardly been the problem," Djurickovic said. "Logan has been an exceptional player. My goodness is he going to be a good point guard in our league.

"He is really a good distributor. He is a very good defender. He's become a pretty good rebounder. If anything, we've asked him to take too much on. And, Herth is a guy with limitless potential.

"Having said that, anytime that you can add a quality player like Malcom Kelly to the mix, that just gives you more flexibility."

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks, K-Mark.

[AndOne]

In what may in the future be referred to as The Miracle in the Desert, North Central played 2 different games yesterday afternoon, and got to count only one! They lost the 1st first "game," 32-26 in a performance that appeared to have been one that followed a spirited night of sampling the various temptations available within the Las Vegas milieu. Tired legs were seemingly in abundance, and any semblance of an offensive flow was absent. Fortunately, they were able to have that dispirited display annulled at the Hardwood Chapel just down the street.
Following a break during which they must have been amply infused with intravenous fluids, the Cardinals played the 2nd "game" of the day. In an exhibition more befitting their current ranking, they withstood a ferocious outside barrage from the UW-LaCrosse team, and wore a path to the free throw line during which they ultimately set new highs in FTs attempted (38) and made (33), and put up 54 points, more than twice as many as they had scored in the 1st "game."     

North Central actually trailed until 10:40 remained on the clock. At that time. on successive possessions, Derek Raridon completed an and one  3 point play, then scored inside on a feed by Charlie Rosenberg to put the Cardinals up 50-47. Aaron Tiknis then hit 2 straight three-pointers, and Vince Kmiec drove in for a layup to put NCC in front 58-47, completing a 10-0 scoring run over a three minute span.   
NCC made 15 consecutive FTs down the stretch to stay in front and counter 5 UW-L 3 pointers (of 14 in all). Tiknis made 11 of the 15 FTs, and made 12 of 12 on his way to a game high 20 points. Raridon added 19 points, including 10 of 11 FTs, and Landon Gamble. the Cardinals' representative on the All-Classic Team, scored 18. Vince Kimec banked 6 points, and pulled down a game high 8 rebounds. UW-L, unable to sustain any type of inside attack, bombed away from beyond the arc a whopping total of 35 times, being successful on 14 (40%). North Central out rebounded UW-L by a 2-1 margin, 36-18, but the game was won at the FT line where the Cardinals outscored LaCrosse 33-12.

NCC opens the conference portion of the season Wed at Elmhurst, and then faces Wheaton in the hangar on Sat. The Crusaders must be salivating at the thought of 14 successful 3 pointers.

I would suggest the Cardinals follow the advice intoned by Archie Bell and the Drells on their 1968 hit, and do the "Tighten Up" on their perimeter defense.     

[Gregory Sager]

Last night, Carthage became the fourth and final CCIW team to sample the delights of playing a less-than-stellar 2012-13 Benedictine outfit, as the Red Men ran out to a 79-60 win over the Bennies in the Toolshed. BU's four losses to CCIW teams were by an average of 15 points this season. Tyler Pierce led the way for the Red Men with 16 points, while Reese Herth contributed 14 points, Mitch Thompson had a 13 and 9 evening, and Kevin Sykes dropped in a dozen from off the bench. Luke Johnson didn't play last night, which makes me wonder if his balky back is acting up again.

Here's Bosko's post-game comments:

"We got off to a good start and had a good finish," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurickovic. "We had some lulls in the middle. Benedictine played well, and they have two guys who can really hurt you. Our bench played well tonight. We're a different basketball team than we started out on Oct. 15, and we have to continue to adjust. We had one of the best NCAA Division III airport teams in October, but with injuries, we don't have that team anymore. We'll need to be a little bit creative in our approach to each individual ball game. We're not going to be able to just line up and play the conference schedule straight—it's going to take some imagination. We have going to have meld together and defend five-on-five. We're also moving the ball very well, and we need to do that."

I have no idea what an "airport team" is. I'm going to have to ask the Serbian Prince about that one the next time that I see him.

[ExBBaller40]

BU's four losses to CCIW teams were by an average of 15 points this season.

Interestingly enough, their best performance came against the No. 3 team in the nation, which is extremely odd. I just can't figure out my Eagles this year.

[Gregory Sager]

BU's four losses to CCIW teams were by an average of 15 points this season.

Interestingly enough, their best performance came against the No. 3 team in the nation, which is extremely odd. I just can't figure out my Eagles this year.

I wasn't going to mention that, for AndOne's benefit ... but, yeah, that is bizarre. Just one of those "any given night" things, I suppose.

I've taken a mild interest in tracking BU's season because of Michael Woolf, a 6'2 sophomore shooting guard out of Leyden Township HS. He was one of Chris Edquist's more highly-touted recruits for NPU a couple of years ago, but he decided during the preseason that he didn't want to play college basketball after all. He then transferred to Benedictine and had a change of heart about playing. He's now leading the Eagles with a 14.4 ppg scoring average and is hitting 20-43 (.465) from downtown this season.

[ExBBaller40]

BU's four losses to CCIW teams were by an average of 15 points this season.

Interestingly enough, their best performance came against the No. 3 team in the nation, which is extremely odd. I just can't figure out my Eagles this year.

I wasn't going to mention that, for AndOne's benefit ... but, yeah, that is bizarre. Just one of those "any given night" things, I suppose.

I've taken a mild interest in tracking BU's season because of Michael Woolf, a 6'2 sophomore shooting guard out of Leyden Township HS. He was one of Chris Edquist's more highly-touted recruits for NPU a couple of years ago, but he decided during the preseason that he didn't want to play college basketball after all. He then transferred to Benedictine and had a change of heart about playing. He's now leading the Eagles with a 14.4 ppg scoring average and is hitting 20-43 (.465) from downtown this season.

Yeah, Mike showed up to BenU my senior season there, he transferred second semester I do believe. And I know that our coaches told us that he was going to play the next season...I don't know but I wonder how influential former NPU assistant Steve Schafer was in persuading him to BenU and playing.

[Gregory Sager]

The CCIW has concluded the regular-season portion of the non-conference slate with a 57-31 (.648) record. To put that in perspective, here's how the CCIW has performed in the post-Carroll era, in terms of overall non-con wins and losses as well as postseason play in particular (postseason CCIW vs. CCIW games not counted):

1992-93	55-38 (.591)	5-1 (1 team)
1993-94	50-39 (.562)	1-1 (1 team)
1994-95	54-38 (.587)	3-2 (2 teams)
1995-96	53-41 (.564)	6-2 (2 teams)
1996-97	45-37 (.548)	6-0 (1 team)
1997-98	46-44 (.511)	1-1 (1 team)
1998-99	59-34 (.634)	1-2 (2 teams)
1999-00	63-26 (.708)	0-1 (1 team)
2000-01	75-25 (.750)	8-2 (3 teams)
2001-02	60-33 (.645)	4-1 (1 team)
2002-03	61-30 (.670)	2-1 (1 team)
2003-04	62-28 (.678)	2-1 (1 team)
2004-05	63-27 (.700)	0-2 (2 teams)
2005-06	63-34 (.649)	7-3 (3 teams)
2006-07	66-23 (.741)	0-1 (1 team)
2007-08	66-28 (.702)	4-2 (2 teams)
2008-09	73-19 (.793)	2-2 (2 teams)
2009-10	60-35 (.632)	5-2 (3 teams)
2010-11	56-37 (.602)	4-2 (2 teams)
2011-12	59-40 (.596)	8-3 (3 teams)
2012-13	57-31 (.648)	?

Here's how the CCIW has done head-to-head against other D3 leagues this season:
ASC: 1-0
CSAC: 1-0
HCAC: 0-4
IIAC: 6-4
MIAA: 8-5
MIAC: 0-1
MWC: 7-3
NAthC: 7-3
NCAC: 2-0
NESCAC: 1-0
NJAC: 1-0
OAC: 2-0
SLIAC: 8-1
UAA: 4-2
UMAC: 1-1
WIAC: 5-3

For some reason the HCAC had our number this season.

[Gregory Sager]

BU's four losses to CCIW teams were by an average of 15 points this season.

Interestingly enough, their best performance came against the No. 3 team in the nation, which is extremely odd. I just can't figure out my Eagles this year.

I wasn't going to mention that, for AndOne's benefit ... but, yeah, that is bizarre. Just one of those "any given night" things, I suppose.

I've taken a mild interest in tracking BU's season because of Michael Woolf, a 6'2 sophomore shooting guard out of Leyden Township HS. He was one of Chris Edquist's more highly-touted recruits for NPU a couple of years ago, but he decided during the preseason that he didn't want to play college basketball after all. He then transferred to Benedictine and had a change of heart about playing. He's now leading the Eagles with a 14.4 ppg scoring average and is hitting 20-43 (.465) from downtown this season.

Yeah, Mike showed up to BenU my senior season there, he transferred second semester I do believe. And I know that our coaches told us that he was going to play the next season...I don't know but I wonder how influential former NPU assistant Steve Schafer was in persuading him to BenU and playing.

He would've had to wait until Woolf actually left NPU, because otherwise it would've been tampering.

[ExBBaller40]

BU's four losses to CCIW teams were by an average of 15 points this season.

Interestingly enough, their best performance came against the No. 3 team in the nation, which is extremely odd. I just can't figure out my Eagles this year.

I wasn't going to mention that, for AndOne's benefit ... but, yeah, that is bizarre. Just one of those "any given night" things, I suppose.

I've taken a mild interest in tracking BU's season because of Michael Woolf, a 6'2 sophomore shooting guard out of Leyden Township HS. He was one of Chris Edquist's more highly-touted recruits for NPU a couple of years ago, but he decided during the preseason that he didn't want to play college basketball after all. He then transferred to Benedictine and had a change of heart about playing. He's now leading the Eagles with a 14.4 ppg scoring average and is hitting 20-43 (.465) from downtown this season.

Yeah, Mike showed up to BenU my senior season there, he transferred second semester I do believe. And I know that our coaches told us that he was going to play the next season...I don't know but I wonder how influential former NPU assistant Steve Schafer was in persuading him to BenU and playing.

He would've had to wait until Woolf actually left NPU, because otherwise it would've been tampering.

But of course

[AndOne]

BU's four losses to CCIW teams were by an average of 15 points this season.

Interestingly enough, their best performance came against the No. 3 team in the nation, which is extremely odd. I just can't figure out my Eagles this year.

I wasn't going to mention that, for AndOne's benefit ... but, yeah, that is bizarre. Just one of those "any given night" things, I suppose.

And on that "given night" the Cardinals played probably their overall worst game of the year. If it hadn't been for NCC sub guard Pat Rourke, who hadn't really played much before the BU game, but scored 10 points that evening,  the Cards could have easily gone down. After the game, I told Frank Janczak that they came very close to taking the game from us.
Often times the mark of a good team is one that does just enough to win. On that night NCC did just barely enough to win.

[D-3 watcher]

All airport team----meaning we look great to everybody, big, athletic, tall. But now we don't look so good. 

[AndOne]

Franklin 67
IWU 66

* Andrew Ziemnik: 18 pts, 9 reb, 4 assists
* Kevin Reed: 11 pts, 4 reb, 4 assists
* Pat Sodemann: 11 pts 3 reb
* Victor Davis: 9 pts, 6 reb

After trailing most of the 2nd half, IWU battled back to take the lead with 6.4 seconds to play on two Andrew Ziemnik FTs, but Franklin's Gunner Erwin scored with less than a second to play to win the game.

IWU just could not stop Franklin's 6-5 5-man, Gunner Erwin.  Erwin had 29 points and was 5-10 from beyond the arc.  Ron Rose tried several defenders on him (Reed/Anderson, Ziemnik, Dortch) and nothing worked.  Down the stretch Erwin made two long 3's as the shot clock expired in huge situations, with IWU within a basket.  And, of course, he scored the game winner.  Having to defend a mobile, 3-point shooting 5 was just a very bad matchup for IWU based on IWU's personnel.

Ron Rose knows his personnel better than anyone else. However, it seems there is a possibility that asking any of the trio of Reed, Anderson, or Ziemnik to attempt to go outside (10 shots from three) and stick with quick, mobile, and good 3 point shooter, would be an exercise in futility, and a tactical error.

Quick and mobile don't really describe the defensive talents of either Reed, Anderson, or Ziemnik. On the other had, from what I know of Dortch, I view him as a superior defender who would have a much better chance of stopping a player with the physical make up and shooting talent of Erwin. Also, if Dortch needs a rest, is there perhaps a better defender that might be available off the bench to give him a blow for a few minutes, especially considering Dortch usually doesn't contribute a great deal offensively? Just inquiring.

[AndOne]

All airport team----meaning we look great to everybody, big, athletic, tall. But now we don't look so good.

"All airport" team---------One capable of competing well in the "hangar."