MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

The Gregory Arena floor is already smoldering.  By Saturday night the entire arena will be on fire!

I know I will be watching.  My advice to North Central on containing Ziemnik: steal the headband; the source of all his power.

LOL.   

A barber will be on duty in the visitor's locker room. 
No need for a headband or any thievery. 

[AndOne]

A post I made in the WIAC room:

Quote from: havej on Today at 10:21:17 am
Looks like lack of consistent perimeter shooting was UWW's undoing

Not quite, havej. You have it half right I think.

UWW was only 3 for 16 (a sickly 18.8%) from distance and 21 for 48 (43.8%) overall.
NCC also hit only 3 treys (of 12), but shot 53.2% overall (25 for 47).

If you ask, the NCC staff will tell you that UWW was the toughest defensive club they faced all season. They came in giving up an average of just 60 points a game, and played like it.
However, NCC came in giving up an average of only 58, and also played like it.
UWW gave up 4 points over their average, NCC, only 2.

Accordingly, it wasn't just lack of consistent perimeter shooting that was UWW's undoing. It was NCC"s tenacious overall defense that caused that lack of consistent perimeter shooting.

I sense if you asked UWW they would tell you that NCC likewise, was the toughest defensive club they faced this season.

Make no mistake, defense was the primary (with a huge assist to Brandon Williams) reason NCC won this game, and not many teams play defense better than the Cardinals.

[WUPHF]

A barber will be on duty in the visitor's locker room. 
No need for a headband or any thievery. 

Even better!

[Naperick]

I made it to Benedictine for the 2nd half of the UWW-NCC game.  That was a fantastic game!  I was listening to WONC on the way when NCC went on 8-2 run to only trail, 29-28 at the half.  I think that was the key of the game.  Coach Raridon did a masterful job of managing Gamble's foul trouble.  The Cardinals survived at least 7 minutes with him on the bench.  Just when I thought NCC had the game wrapped up, the Warhawks hit a three.  Then after an NCC score, UWW hit another three.  Great game with a great finish.  These two teams should not have met so early in the tourney.

[Naperick]

Sounds like another great game in St. Louis for the CCIW!  Congrats to the Titans!  How do they keep beating the Bears?  It should be a great game at Gregory Arena on Saturday!

[Naperick]

Congrats to Wheaton on a great season!

[Naperick]

ANDONE, any idea what caused the "near fight" in the final seconds of the game last night?  I didn't see it.  Thankfully two officials and teammates from both schools kept it from getting ugly.

[Naperick]

Anybody know what happened?


IHSA Statement on Class 2A Boys Basketball State Championship Game

March 09, 2013



The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is disappointed with and embarrassed by the actions of both Harrisburg High School and South Holland (Seton Academy) during Saturday's IHSA Class 2A Boys Basketball State Championship game.

While passion and intensity are an integral part of athletic competition, especially at the highest levels, the behaviors of both teams crossed the lines of acceptable sportsmanship.

The IHSA is in the process of reviewing the events associated with tonight's contest. Both schools will be contacted Monday.

"I am embarrassed by what took place here tonight," said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. "Interscholastic athletics are designed to teach young people important lessons about life. The lessons on display tonight were that respect and sportsmanship are not important, and that is simply not unacceptable."

The IHSA staff will be reaching out to the schools participating in next week's Class 3A and Class 4A Super-Sectionals and State Finals tournament to reinforce the expectations of sportsmanship and appropriate behavior in interscholastic contests.

[kiko]

Anybody know what happened?


IHSA Statement on Class 2A Boys Basketball State Championship Game

March 09, 2013



The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is disappointed with and embarrassed by the actions of both Harrisburg High School and South Holland (Seton Academy) during Saturday's IHSA Class 2A Boys Basketball State Championship game.

While passion and intensity are an integral part of athletic competition, especially at the highest levels, the behaviors of both teams crossed the lines of acceptable sportsmanship.

The IHSA is in the process of reviewing the events associated with tonight's contest. Both schools will be contacted Monday.

"I am embarrassed by what took place here tonight," said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. "Interscholastic athletics are designed to teach young people important lessons about life. The lessons on display tonight were that respect and sportsmanship are not important, and that is simply not unacceptable."

The IHSA staff will be reaching out to the schools participating in next week's Class 3A and Class 4A Super-Sectionals and State Finals tournament to reinforce the expectations of sportsmanship and appropriate behavior in interscholastic contests.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/ct-spt-0310-prep-bkb-2a-state-final-20130309,0,1172517.story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsMAUlT5v-o

From what I gather, the first T was sparked by something the Seton Academy player said rather than what he did.  The cause of the second is pretty obvious.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

What are you doing tonight? How about watching Hoopsville?

Illinois Wesleyan head coach Ron Rose joins us to talk about the "bracket of death," once again beating Wash U. in the tournament, and the pending rubber match with North Central. Show hits the air at 7 PM EST and here is how you can follow us:

Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Tonight's Show: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2012-13/march10
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com

[AndOne]

What are you doing tonight? How about watching Hoopsville?

Illinois Wesleyan head coach Ron Rose joins us to talk about the "bracket of death," once again beating Wash U. in the tournament, and the pending rubber match with North Central. Show hits the air at 7 PM EST and here is how you can follow us:

Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
Tonight's Show: www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2012-13/march10
Twitter: @d3hoopsville or #hoopsville
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Hoopsville
Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com

Blackhawks game tonight at 6, but I'll certainly want to catch the broadcast later!

By the way Dave, in the interest of equal time, and the presentation of the opposing viewpoint, I'm wondering about the possibility of having NCC Coach Todd Raridon on your next show. 
Seems fair to me. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Apparently you missed him being on the show two weeks ago...

[SevenTen]

Apparently you missed him being on the show two weeks ago...

He's been on at least twice this year I'm pretty sure.  Dave gets them all. 

[kiko]

I only caught the final seven minutes or so of the game at Benedictine last night.  That the score was still in the 40s with six minutes left was not a surprise.  It didn't seem like any of the points came easily for either team.

Couple of observations:

- These two last met in the playoffs in 1989, when Whitewater defeated the Cards 95-83 in the round of 16 en route to its second national title.  This was nice payback for that loss.

- As Naperick noted, Todd Raridon did a nice job of managing Gamble's foul situation in the waning minutes.  He picked up his fourth at the 9:34 mark and re-entered with 4:05 left, and during his absence, the Redbirds turned a one-point deficit into  a three-point lead.  When he checked back in for the stretch run, North Central basically used an offense-for-defense rotation of Gamble and Burchett for the rest of the game.  Gamble was only able to play 13 minutes and Burchett stepped up with nine boards in extended minutes.

- Tiknis and Kmiec both hit huge treys late.  Tiknis' snapped a 50-all tie and gave the Sons of Warden the lead for good with 4:14 left, and Kmiec's extended the lead to six with :56 left and made sure the Warhawks would be in chase mode for the balance of the game.

- Brandon Williams came up big with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting and six boards.  Some of the shots he made are not necessarily ones I would want him taking, but credit where credit is due.  He has taken some grief on these boards for his shooting this year, and was at 27.7% on the year coming into this game, but with Gamble on the bench for much of the evening, he was a critical source of offense when the Cards really needed it.

- The Cards outshot the Warhawks 53%-44% and outrebounded them 33-21.  Turnovers were not meaningfully different (13 for North Central and 9 for U-Dub-Dub.  What kept the Warhawks close, aside from their massive talent (they certainly were as good as advertised), was their significant advantage at the line.  Whitewater shot 15 of 19 (78%) while the quasi-hosts were just 11 of 20, and one of those was a do-over when Gamble missed both shots but got a third chance in the waning minutes due to a lane violation.

- My favorite moment came in the waning seconds.  Whitewater missed a potential game-tying three (which was  shot early in the sequence and probably was not the best look they were going to get), and Jack Burchett (in on defense lest Gamble pick up his fifth) grabbed the board with :06 left.  He had the presence of mind to quickly hot-potato the ball to Derek Raridon before Whitewater could foul him.  We all know that free throws are sort of an Adventures with Jack experience, and there was a very real chance that had he been fouled, Whitewater would have gotten a second shot at the game-tying three.  Instead, Raridon hit the back end of his two shots to seal the win.

- Derek Raridon passed Steve Hoeft last night and is now second on the North Central all-time scoring list with 1,605 points.  Bill Warden is safely at the top of the list with 2,249 points.

[kiko]

One other random thought:  Warhawks remains one of my favorite nicknames in sports.  It is unique, gender-neutral, and not likely to be at odds with indigenous populations other than, you know, peace-loving hawks.

Those qualities in and of themselves will get you the Fisher Bunnies or the Effingham Flaming Hearts, but what sets the UWW nickname (and logo) apart for me is that it is also tough and menacing.  Bunnies don't scare anyone who isn't starring opposite Glenn Close, but Warhawks?  You keep one eye on the Warhawk when it swoops into the room.