MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[USee]

Is that an in region win? If so that's big as Witt will compete for the NCAC title.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Is that an in region win? If so that's big as Witt will compete for the NCAC title.

Remember that ALL d3 wins are in-region if you play 70% of your games in-region (I thought it was 75%, but Greg says it is 70 - Greg is usually right on those matters).  Since conference games already put you at 56%, you'd have to play just about ALL of your non-con games out of region to not hit that mark.

[veterancciwfan]

Aurora has a lot of talent and will win their league. In regards to overall talent level, IWU's is incredible. Rossi can do it all-run the court, aggressive defender who has quick feet, can leap, a great open-shot marksman, and exploded twice to the hoop in the 1st half for lay-ups. Overstreet had a career-best 21 points and his point-guard skills are improved-so athletic. I'll quit as I know some posters get tired of IWU fans lauding this current IWU team.

[thunder38]

Great early season game between Wheaton and Wittenberg tonight. Wittenberg is a very experienced and talented team and stood toe to toe with the Thunder all night on a night where Wheaton really struggled from the field. Wittenberg has the talent to be a 20-win team this season and this is a win that will go a long way for Wheaton later in the year when Wittenberg is regionally ranked and knocks off a couple of other good teams.

On at least two occasions in the second half, Wheaton hit a three-pointer to take the lead and Wittenberg responded with a three of their own. Wheaton opened overtime with a Tyler Peters three-pointer and a four-point play by Brayden Teuscher on the first two possessions of the overtime so Wittenberg was down seven less than a minute into the overtime after neither team had led by more than five all game.

A couple or random observations:

-Tyler Peters is a beast. 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and was the best player on the floor all night. Peters hit a huge three late in regulation and then opened the overtime with another one. He really elevated his game when Wheaton needed it most.

-Caleb DeMoss is going to be a huge piece for the Thunder moving forward this season. DeMoss hit a couple of clutch threes tonight and gave Wheaton great energy and defense off the bench as well. He earned All-Tournament recognition for the Lee Pfund Classic.

-Impressive win when you factor in that Peter Smith went 0-7 from the field to highlight a rough shooting night for Smith, Michael Berg, Brayden Teuscher, Michael Kvam and Joel Smith.

[Titan Q]

Opening weekend observations and thoughts...

(in order of preseason poll)

1. Illinois Wesleyan (2-0)
The Titans looked strong in two home wins -- vs Manchester and vs Aurora.  Manchester will struggle this year, but Aurora is the favorite in the NAAC. As advertised, IWU looks very deep, talented, and experienced.  Newcomer Alex Rossi turned heads this weekend in Bloomington.  In 20.5 minutes per game off the bench, Rossi is averaging 14.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, and is 5-8 from 3 - he also looks like he has potential to be one of the best perimeter defenders in the CCIW. The Titans look to have very few weaknesses at the present time, and should get two very good players back in December - Brady Zimmer and D1 transfer Jordan Nelson.

2. Wheaton (2-0)
The Thunder blew out Blackburn and came from behind late in regulation to beat Wittenberg in OT.  Wittenberg, a perennial Division III power, had a rebuilding season of sorts last year, finishing 9-7 in the NCAC (17-10 overall) - the Tigers return most of their rotation and are picked 2nd in the NCAC this season behind Wooster.  On paper, Wheaton was probably supposed to win this game in easier fashion, but at the end of the day, this will probably turn out to be a very good win.  The Thunder appear to have the same question mark they've had for several seasons now -- depth in the low post.  Against Wittenberg, Mike Schauer played an 8-man rotation, with the subs being guards Caleb DeMoss (24 min) and Michael Kvam (23 min) and 6-6 forward Joel Smith (8 min).  For a nationally #5-ranked team, and a team picked 2nd in the physical CCIW, Wheaton is incredibly thin in the low post.  What is not is question is PG Tyler Peters, who very much looks like a 1st Team All-American.  With that new rules emphasis on less defensive contact, how do you begin to guard Tyler Peters?

3. Augustana (1-0)
A very nice opener for the Vikings, who dominated Chicago in Rock Island.  Chicago was 11-14 last year, 5-9 in the UAA, and is picked 5th in the UAA this season.  Augustana looks very deep at both the perimeter and low post positions.  6-8/282 (yikes) starting center Kevin Schlitter returned from last season's injury with a big start - 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Last year's D3hoops.com national Rookie of the Year Ben Ryan, a 6-5 PF, added 15 points and 11 rebounds and looks ready for big sophomore season.  Augie is a very much a contender for the 2014 league title - the Vikings seem to have all the right pieces.

4. North Central (1-1)
There was conversation here a few weeks ago about NCC being significantly overrated at #6 nationally.  For now at least, that concern seems to have merit.  Against DePauw, the Cardinals trailed most of the game, and were never closer than 12 in the final 5 minutes.  DePauw was 16-10 overall last year, and 9-7 in the NCAC.  The Tigers are picked 6th in the NCAC, behind Wooster, Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan, Kenyon, and Wabash.  NCC has a lot of talent though and a great coach - you'd expect the Cards to be very good by CCIW time.

5. Carthage (0-0)
The Red Men did not play - they host the 2013 Carthage Classic next weekend.  The complete Carthage 2013-14 roster is now up...the Red Men have 8 freshmen listed and have, of course, added CCIW 1st Teamer Malcom Kelly back.  http://athletics.carthage.edu/roster.aspx?path=mbball

6. Millikin (2-0)
A 2-0 start for the Big Blue, as the #newera rebuilding movement continues.  Millikin defeated two SLIAC teams this weekend - Greenville (picked 7th) by 11 and Westminster (picked 3rd) by 8.  Elmhurst lost to these same two teams as part of the CCIW/SLIAC Challenge.  6-0 guard T.J. Griffin is averaging 25.5 points through 2 games and is 9-16 (.563) from 3.  5-9 sophomore guard Tives Gardner averaged 14.0 ppg in Millikin's two wins.  The Blue Blue host Aurora Wednesday - will be very interesting to see how Millikin fairs vs the NAAC favorite.  Unless Carthage has some good low post players I am not aware of, I see the Big Blue being the #5 team in the CCIW on paper at this point.

7. Elmhurst (0-2)
Ugly start to the John Baines era, as the Bluejays fall to Westminster by 4 and Greenville by 5.  The Westminster loss, in Fulton, Mo, didn't surprise me that much...but the Greenville loss has to be considered disappointing and surprising.  Elmhurst has quite a bit of talent on their 2013-14 roster - they returned some nice talent, and added several intriguing new pieces.  On paper, these are games that EC should not have lost.  But it's early and the Bluejays do have talent and plenty of time before CCIW season to figure it out.   

8. North Park (0-1)
The Vikings lost 101-68 to St. Norbert.  St. Norbert is a very good D3 program, having won the MWC 3 of the last 4 years and picked to do so again this season.  5-10 freshman guard Juwan Henry (Bogan H.S.) led the Vikings with 18 points, 6-6 senior guard Aaron Weaver added 13 points and 6 rebounds, and 6-0 freshman JayQuan Lee (West Aurora H.S.) had 11. 6-8 forward Mike Gabriel's departure probably ended any hopes of North Park being competitive in the CCIW this season.  It seems like NPU is a pretty clear #8 team on paper right now.

[TitanPride]

2. Wheaton (2-0)
The Thunder blew out Blackburn and came from behind late in regular to beat Wittenberg in OT.  Wittenberg, a perennial Division III power, had a rebuilding season of sorts last year, finishing 9-7 in the NCAC (17-10 overall) - the Tigers return most of their rotation and are picked 2nd in the NCAC this season behind Wooster.  On paper, Wheaton was probably supposed to win this game in easier fashion, but at the end of the day, this will probably turn out to be a very good win.  The Thunder appear to have the same question mark they've had for several seasons now -- depth in the low post.  Against Wittenberg, Mike Schauer played an 8-man rotation, with the subs being guards Caleb DeMoss (24 min) and Michael Kvam (23 min) and 6-6 forward Joel Smith (8 min).  For a nationally #5-ranked team, and a team picked 2nd in the physical CCIW, Wheaton is incredibly thin in the low post.  What is not is question is PG Tyler Peters, who very much looks like a 1st Team All-American.  With that new rules emphasis on less defensive contact, how do you begin to guard Tyler Peters?

I think IWU showed a glimpse into how they'll do it during last night's game against Aurora -- a 3-2 zone.  North Central went zone against Wheaton in the CCIW tournament last year and held Peters and Wheaton to 50 points for the game.  Putting a 6-5 mobile Alex Rossi on top of the zone flanked by 6-3 Dylan Overstreet and 6-4 Andrew Zeimnik slows down dribble penetration.  It did last night against Aurora, and NCC showed it can work against Wheaton too. 

Can't wait for the conference season to begin.  Should be fun, intriguing matchups every night.

[Titan Q]

I think IWU showed a glimpse into how they'll do it during last night's game against Aurora -- a 3-2 zone.  North Central went zone against Wheaton in the CCIW tournament last year and held Peters and Wheaton to 50 points for the game.  Putting a 6-5 mobile Alex Rossi on top of the zone flanked by 6-3 Dylan Overstreet and 6-4 Andrew Zeimnik slows down dribble penetration.  It did last night against Aurora, and NCC showed it can work against Wheaton too. 

That is a very good possibility, but I do think it is dangerous to zone Wheaton - they have so many good shooters.  I do agree it's worth a shot though - if you can somehow shut off Tyler Peters' ability to get into the lane, it significantly hurts Wheaton's offensive scheme.

While watching Alex Rossi for the first time Friday night, I couldn't help but think that he's a great fit to guard Tyler Peters for stretches of time.  Last year IWU used 6-5 forward Andrew Ziemnik on Peters, as well as 6-4 F Eric Dortch.  Rossi, who I think has a chance to be one of the elite defenders in the CCIW, has the length and lateral quickness to at least make it difficult on Peters.  Peters is as tough of a perimeter matchup as we've seen in the CCIW since Steve Djurickovic.

[izzy stradlin]

I think IWU showed a glimpse into how they'll do it during last night's game against Aurora -- a 3-2 zone.  North Central went zone against Wheaton in the CCIW tournament last year and held Peters and Wheaton to 50 points for the game.  Putting a 6-5 mobile Alex Rossi on top of the zone flanked by 6-3 Dylan Overstreet and 6-4 Andrew Zeimnik slows down dribble penetration.  It did last night against Aurora, and NCC showed it can work against Wheaton too. 

That is a very good possibility, but I do think it is dangerous to zone Wheaton - they have so many good shooters.  I do agree it's worth a shot though - if you can somehow shut off Tyler Peters' ability to get into the lane, it significantly hurts Wheaton's offensive scheme.

While watching Alex Rossi for the first time Friday night, I couldn't help but think that he's a great fit to guard Tyler Peters for stretches of time.  Last year IWU used 6-5 forward Andrew Ziemnik on Peters, as well as 6-4 F Eric Dortch.  Rossi, who I think has a chance to be one of the elite defenders in the CCIW, has the length and lateral quickness to at least make it difficult on Peters.  Peters is as tough of a perimeter matchup as we've seen in the CCIW since Steve Djurickovic.

I get nervous whenever teams go zone against Wheaton and I think we'll see it a lot this year.  It's definitely not a bad idea in trying to limit Peters who looks bigger, stronger and faster again this year.  You're right that with their shooters it should be dangerous for opponents to go zone but Wheaton seems to slow things down way too much when this happens and they don't have confidence in how they are going to attack.  Last night was a good example.  I wonder if it is because of Mike Schauer's militantly anti-zone defensive philosophy and that they don't ever get to practice against a truly effective zone?

Regarding low-post depth, Wheaton went with Peter Smith at the 4 and Nate Haynes at the 5 with either Caleb Demoss or Kvam as the third guard most of the night.   While that might have given them their best 5 last night, Joel Smith and Michael Berg are going to have to be on the floor more against IWU, Augie, etc.  I am still hopeful that those two sophomores will step up.   

[John Gleich]

I think IWU showed a glimpse into how they'll do it during last night's game against Aurora -- a 3-2 zone.  North Central went zone against Wheaton in the CCIW tournament last year and held Peters and Wheaton to 50 points for the game.  Putting a 6-5 mobile Alex Rossi on top of the zone flanked by 6-3 Dylan Overstreet and 6-4 Andrew Zeimnik slows down dribble penetration.  It did last night against Aurora, and NCC showed it can work against Wheaton too. 

That is a very good possibility, but I do think it is dangerous to zone Wheaton - they have so many good shooters.  I do agree it's worth a shot though - if you can somehow shut off Tyler Peters' ability to get into the lane, it significantly hurts Wheaton's offensive scheme.

While watching Alex Rossi for the first time Friday night, I couldn't help but think that he's a great fit to guard Tyler Peters for stretches of time.  Last year IWU used 6-5 forward Andrew Ziemnik on Peters, as well as 6-4 F Eric Dortch.  Rossi, who I think has a chance to be one of the elite defenders in the CCIW, has the length and lateral quickness to at least make it difficult on Peters.  Peters is as tough of a perimeter matchup as we've seen in the CCIW since Steve Djurickovic.

Wittenberg went zone a few possessions against Wheaton last night and Wheaton moved the ball... and it left Peters wide open for a 3. Witt also left Teuscher open in the corner in OT (and clobbered him on the close out... he nailed the 3 and completed the 4 point play) and Wheaton's lead jumped to 7 points and that was pretty much the ball game.

[Titan Q]

Interesting name on that Carthage roster - Mike Kastel, 6-7/235 Jr.  http://athletics.carthage.edu/roster.aspx?rp_id=5119&path=mbball

Trying to piece this together, it looks like Kastel...

* Played basketball at St. Charles North H.S., graduating in 2008-09.  Was recruited by D3's U. of Chicago, Wash U., Wheaton, Elmhurst and others. 

* Went to prep school at Phillips Exeter Academy and played basketball during the 2009-10 season

* Ended up also playing football (DE) at Phillips Exeter in 2009-10

* Committed to Holy Cross as a football recruit (DE) in February 2010

* Something about the Holy Cross situation did not work out and he ended up back home, working for his dad's construction company and taking classes at Elgin Community College during the 2010-11 school year.

* Committed to D1 U. of Delaware as a football recruit (DE) in February 2011.

* Attended D1 U. of Delaware as a football recruit (DE) in 2011-12 -- redshirted that season

* Attended Northwest Missouri St as a football player (DE and TE) in 2012-13 - his redshirt FR season


http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/north-north-stars-(st-charles,il)/basketball-winter-08-09/roster.htm (St. Charles North 2008-09 roster)

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/1077/Prep-Profile-Phillips-Exeter-Academy.php (Oct 2009)

http://www.kcchronicle.com/2010/02/04/druley-kastels-college-path-takes-unexpected-turn/acd57vq/ (Feb 2010)

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110210/sports/702109749/print/ (Feb 2011)

http://www.newarkpostonline.com/archives/article_58560457-1e6e-5d8e-8bc8-29de70715f60.html?mode=jqm (Feb 2011)

http://www.gohens.net/roster.php?season=2011&sort=player (Delaware 2011-12 FB roster)

http://www.nwmissouri.edu/sports/football/2012/players/kastel_mike.htm (NW Missouri 2012-13 FB roster)

http://journaltimes.com/sports/college/carthage-basketball-preview-lady-reds-have-high-hopes/article_bd53d25c-4bfd-11e3-8910-001a4bcf887a.html (Carthage preview)



Quite a path to Kenosha!  In any event, it looks like Carthage has added a much needed low post talent with a bunch of size and strength.

[Gregory Sager]

Correction to Greg Sager's scores... Westminster 70 - Elmhurst 66.....    somehow Greg's score said 70-56

Sorry ... inadvertent slip of the finger and lack of late-night proofreading skills. No offense meant to John Baines and his boys.

[Gregory Sager]

Saturday evening's very unpleasant 101-68 loss to St. Norbert was an indication of something that'll probably be a trend for NPU in the early going: A bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds with no experience at playing together taking on a bunch of 20- and 21-year-olds with a lot of experience playing together. St. Norbert was not only bigger and stronger than the Vikings, it was clearly a team that had an infinitely better idea of how to operate a half-court offense, and how each player on the team fit into that offense, than did North Park.

The Vikings ran the headless-chicken offense quite a bit last night, and it was painful to watch. The one thing that worked in their favor was their quickness off the dribble, and it resulted in 35 free throws. However, they made only 21 of them, which confirms the suspicion I developed watching the Dominican and Valparaiso scrimmages that FT shooting is yet another thing that this NPU team seriously needs to work on.

Thirteen of the 22 players on the roster are freshmen. Two others are transfers, two of the three sophomores were only with the team for the second half of last season, and Aaron Weaver is the lone senior. This is a team that's extremely light on experience, and which for the most part consists of guys who are for all practical purposes still learning each other's names. For most of the SNC game the Vikings had either four freshmen or three freshmen and a transfer on the floor. That sort of problem could get ironed out with simple accumulated practice and game time. But the one insurmountable problem with the roster as it's currently constructed is the lack of effective size, as 6'7, 245 junior Nate Rummel is a non-scoring role player and 6'6, 250 freshman Matt McNamara is just plain overmatched right now and could really use some developmental time on the JV team. However the perimeter game of this young team develops -- and the Vikings have some really exciting young perimeter players -- the only thing that'll keep the Vikings from getting stomped on a nightly basis in January and February is the sudden appearance of a couple of CCIW-ready 6'7 transfers at semester break. And, as Tom Slyder will attest and Bosko Djurickovic will confirm, CCIW-ready 6'7 transfers who can show up on your campus in December with transcripts in hand don't grow on trees.

[iwu70]

Q, thanks for the good summaries, assessments of where we are in the CCIW after the first weekend.

The thing that impressed me about the Titans vs. Aurora Saturday night is that night-in and night-out, someone else can step up and hurt the opponent.  First night, a great game by Sodemann, second night he is quiet and Zman steps up, and Overstreet (also relatively quiet on the first night -- though playing well in orchestration) has a monster night scoring, rebounding and dishing.  Pretty clear this team is going to be a great rebounding team, but also perhaps one of the best three-point shooting teams in IWU history -- in volume if not in percentage terms, though they are at 46% from treyville after two games.  Zman had a great first half vs. Aurora.  Great to see Vic Davis and Nick Anderson playing so strongly in the low post early on this season. 

Really looking forward to the IWU game vs. Wash U @The Shirk on December 7th.  That will be a great test, to measure where both teams are in the national picture.  I'll be watching from Hong Kong, but surely with the same interest as if @The Shirk.

Power back on the IWU campus.  My heart goes out to all the folks in the Pekin, Peoria and Washington, IL. areas who have lost their homes, lost loved ones. 

IWU70

[AppletonRocks]

Saturday evening's very unpleasant 101-68 loss to St. Norbert was an indication of something that'll probably be a trend for NPU in the early going: A bunch of 18- and 19-year-olds with no experience at playing together taking on a bunch of 20- and 21-year-olds with a lot of experience playing together. St. Norbert was not only bigger and stronger than the Vikings, it was clearly a team that had an infinitely better idea of how to operate a half-court offense, and how each player on the team fit into that offense, than did North Park.

The Vikings ran the headless-chicken offense quite a bit last night, and it was painful to watch. The one thing that worked in their favor was their quickness off the dribble, and it resulted in 35 free throws. However, they made only 21 of them, which confirms the suspicion I developed watching the Dominican and Valparaiso scrimmages that FT shooting is yet another thing that this NPU team seriously needs to work on.

Thirteen of the 22 players on the roster are freshmen. Two others are transfers, two of the three sophomores were only with the team for the second half of last season, and Aaron Weaver is the lone senior. This is a team that's extremely light on experience, and which for the most part consists of guys who are for all practical purposes still learning each other's names. For most of the SNC game the Vikings had either four freshmen or three freshmen and a transfer on the floor. That sort of problem could get ironed out with simple accumulated practice and game time. But the one insurmountable problem with the roster as it's currently constructed is the lack of effective size, as 6'7, 245 junior Nate Rummel is a non-scoring role player and 6'6, 250 freshman Matt McNamara is just plain overmatched right now and could really use some developmental time on the JV team. However the perimeter game of this young team develops -- and the Vikings have some really exciting young perimeter players -- the only thing that'll keep the Vikings from getting stomped on a nightly basis in January and February is the sudden appearance of a couple of CCIW-ready 6'7 transfers at semester break. And, as Tom Slyder will attest and Bosko Djurickovic will confirm, CCIW-ready 6'7 transfers who can show up on your campus in December with transcripts in hand don't grow on trees.

SNC is pretty good--I know most of your rant is about the shortcomings of NP, but as a measuring stick, SNC is very experienced and very talented, with both recruited experienced as well as a D-1 transfer.  Does not mean I like them. 

[Dennis_Prikkel]

What Greg said.  Nothing to add, though it was nice to sit with the Rube and Lee Horten.  Three old farts.

dgp