MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Wheaton president Dr.Phil Ryken doing the color on tonight's broadcast:

http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wheaton.portal#

Wheaton fan or not, thats pretty cool!   

[iwu70]

AO, I think Wilmington is a stronger-than-usual .500 team.  I was not surprised that the game was not one of the normal 20+ point wins by the Titans.

Let's hope the Anderson injury is not too too serious and that he can rest it, get it back healthy over the Christmas break before CCIW season opens in early January.  Titans just have Hope (likely) and Franklin on Jan 2nd, before opening the CCIW run.  10-1 would be nice.  Looks to me like Augie is playing very well, North Central too.  Not convinced on WC.  After that, I'd say CC, then MU, EC and NPU in that order.  Overall pre-CCIW record is coming back up to a better level now, after some rough initial games. 

Mayberger is playing at quite a level.  When Mayberger, Sodemann, Nelson, Zimmer, Zman, Davis -- all the Titan trey shooters are on, the Titans are really hard to defend.  Paint play and rebounding now improving some too.  Seibring is a nice, tough role-player to bring off the bench, as needed, as he plays well, light on his feet, runs the floor well, and is one big body in there taking up space, getting boards.  Marietti too, but not quite to game shape as yet.  I'm greedy, still wish Rossi was there and healthy too.   

Too bad about Carthage -- seems they had the game in hand and couldn't wrap it up, let it slip away.

IWU70

[AndOne]

70---

* If Anderson had to get injured, perhaps his timing was good prior to the conference portion of the season.

* With regard to Rossi, I don't think you need him to be very successful. And remember, if Rossi is there, that means less time for someone else, and might not that someone be Mayberger? I don't know that Rossi could be doing much more.

* As everyone knows, One of Wheaton's main problems, and quite possibly their #1 problem, is bench strength. Now with Kvam dismissed from the team, that weak bench has taken another hit thats especially devastating given his propensity to be instant offense with his 3 point shot making ability.

[Titan Q]

As I expect Wesleyan to smash most teams, I am a little surprised at IWU's beating a .500 team by only 9.
Is the final outcome thought to have been influenced very much by Anderson's injury?

Wilmington seems to be inconsistent, but they are a dangerous team.  They have D3's only win in 2013-14 over a Division I team (Miami of Ohio), and they beat OAC favorite Baldwin Wallace.

As an IWU fan, I'm good with a 9-point win...especially considering the Nick Anderson situation.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

As I expect Wesleyan to smash most teams, I am a little surprised at IWU's beating a .500 team by only 9.
Is the final outcome thought to have been influenced very much by Anderson's injury?

Wilmington seems to be inconsistent, but they are a dangerous team.  They have D3's only win in 2013-14 over a Division I team (Miami of Ohio), and they beat OAC favorite Baldwin Wallace.

As an IWU fan, I'm good with a 9-point win...especially considering the Nick Anderson situation.

It will indeed be IWU and Hope tomorrow. The last two meetings have been epic ANSI expect the same tomorrow.

FWIW - when Anderson went down in the first half, they wrapped his ankle and put his shoe back on and had him test walking on it.  That was a no go. So next he was lying on the floor, foot on a chair, ankle wrapped completely with ice bags. After halftime he came back out and continued that same treatment. Hope the kid is ok.

[Titan Q]

6-10 Nick Anderson's absence presents some X's and O's problems for the Titans in terms of dealing with 6-10 Nate VanArendonk.

IWU's starting lineup will almost certainly be:

G - Dylan Overstreet, 6-3 Jr
G - Pat Sodemann, 6-3 Jr
F - Mike Mayberger, 6-6 Sr
F - Andrew Ziemnik, 6-5 Sr
F - Victor Davis, 6-5 Sr

That is a very talented and versatile lineup, but it's small (in terms of height) in the low post...and without a true 5.

IWU is a very, very deep team, but the one position they are not deep at is the 5.  6-8 freshman center Trevor Seibring could be called upon tomorrow, as could 6-8 sophomore center Mike Marietti (who is just back from injury, but not really ready to play yet).

On the flip side, Hope could have trouble defending this small IWU lineup with VanArendonk on the floor.  Victor Davis is extremely active and often steps out to shoot 3's and mid-range jumpshots.  I'm not sure VanArendonk can guard Davis (or Ziemnik).

[iwu70]

Yes, Q, I'd bet we'll see Seibring and some minutes with Marietti tomorrow, too, for a big time shoving match in the low post on  Mssr. 6-10.  Vic and Zman will be active down there too, no doubt.  Speed over size, usually.  Basketball is most often a game of foot speed and positioning.  Don't think Mssr. 6-10 will be able to guard IWU's more mobile post area players -- Dortch either. 

Should be a good one -- always seems to be -- Hope vs. IWU. 

Glad to see Mike Mayberger get to start again -- much deserved.  Remember early last season and his excellent game at Wash U in St. Louis -- when Sodemann was still injured?

Titans will need to shoot the trey a bit better in this game.

Any word on the seriousness of the Anderson injury?  Hope it's just tweak, with 1-2 weeks recovery time. 

IWU70

[iwu70]

AO, I agree the loss of Kvam to WC is big.  Maybe the starters, esp. Peters can carry them, but depth a big issue now, more than before.   My #2 spot in the league goes to Augie. 

I was just being greedy on Rossi -- as I'm sure the Titans have the horses, the depth to be very successful.  But, Rossi did add something special, with his length, good D on the top of the zone, quickness off the dribble for a guy 6'6" and tremendous range, quick release on his trey shooting.  We saw the flashes of brilliance in the 3-4 games he played, so were hoping for more, of course.  Wish him well in future endeavors and hope he gets fully healthy, can return to the Titans next season.  We have six very strong, impressive seniors graduating, so having some folks back like Musselman and Rossi would be nice, along with all the others.  Just being hopeful.  One wants to re-load, not re-build.  Titans will be flush on the perimeter, but more question marks for the post area, for the bigs. 

Look forward to the Hope-IWU clash -- a good test for the Titans on Hope's home floor, scenes of some incredibly great games over the years.

Merry Christmas to all the CCIW fans and chatsters.

IWU70

[iwu70]

Congrats to Zman on a really great game vs. Wilmington.  17 and 12. 

'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

I've only seen one game live (2012 second round NCAA), but not sure Van Arondonk can guard anyone.  He is HUGE, but seems a liability.  But maybe it was just that one game.   And, of course, that was more than one season ago.

[AO]

Came here to check on my squads game at Wheaton tonight only to become very confused when I see that iwu70 is responding to me.   I've clearly been hacked.

A close game at the half, but the scoring dried up in the second frame as the Thunder extract a little revenge.  Hopefully we can keep Wheaton on the schedule in the future.

[AndOne]

In CCIW action in Florida today....................

* In somewhat of a shock Donte Logan of Carthage, the conference leader in assist/turnover ratio, had 10 turnovers (4 assists) today vs Buffalo State.

* North Central's Vince Kmiec topped the 20 point mark for the 3rd time in the last 4 games. However, his most significant achievement, after garnering 5 steals, was to take sole possession of the NCC career steals record with 138.

[iwu70]

Agree with you Ypsi, as I think Van Arondonk is the least of IWU's worries when it comes to playing, defending Hope tomorrow.  Others have been contributing more, playing better. 

Let's hope Nick Anderson's injury is not serious.  I've seen a lot of Trevor Seibring over the years -- at the Shirk in high school etc. -- and very much like what I see.  He's going to be a good contributor, a very solid CCIW player as time goes by.  With all the senior graduating after this year, he and Marietti will have to step up at the 5 . . very likely.  Hard to replace a front line of Zman, Vic Davis and Nick Anderson -- so much size, skill and experience.   Hope Rossi and Musselman come back from their sabbaticals, health-related or otherwise. 

IWU70

[petemcb]

Chicago 89
North Park 66

Juwan Henry: 22 pts
Aaron Weaver: 17 pts, 10 rebs
Jay'Quan Lee: 5:0 a:to

Another ugly night in the crackerbox. The Maroons came out of the gate flying, and the Vikings were playing catch-up all night. They did manage to whittle the Chicago lead down to ten at 66-56 with 9:18 to play, but a series of collective brain cramps on the part of NPU, along with some good opportunistic play by the Maroons to take advantage of them, allowed the South Siders to pull away.

Juwan Henry and Jay'Quan Lee continue to look like they're going to be really fine CCIW players down the road, and freshman big man Joe Biko came off the bench tonight and gave NPU a bit of a lift. But it was all just straw in the wind, really, because the Vikings just don't do enough things well for enough minutes of the game for it to matter. It's just hard to dig up any positives for the Vikings right now.

Chicago played three CCIW teams earlier this season and lost by 20, 23, and 19. Tonight the Maroons beat NPU by 23. While I don't believe in the transitive property in terms of basketball scores, I can still read the tea leaves from those results -- and I don't like what I foresee.

So Greg, where's the plug/link for tonight's broadcast?  I'm not sure whether I can make it in so I was figuring I'd commiserate with you online.

Same place as always, Pete. Just click on the NPU men's basketball page and go to Watch Live! on the dropdown menu. (You missed a fun broadcast, dreary game aside. Rob forced me to name my all-time NPU and CCIW fives. If he asks me again in January, I might name ten completely different players, just to keep him on his toes. )

Actually, I was looking more for the typically entertaining plug than the actual link.  Unfortunately, I had no computer access - just an iPad - rendering me frustratingly broadcastless.  I'm not hi-tech enough to figure that one out.

[Titan Q]

#3 Illinois Wesleyan (8-1) @ Hope (3-4) - 3:00pm EST/2:00pm CST

Illinois Wesleyan (8-1)
G - Dylan Overstreet, 6-3/180 Jr (10.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.2 apg)
G - Pat Sodemann, 6-3/195 Jr (10.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg)
F - Mike Mayberger, 6-6/205 Sr (8.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
F - Andrew Ziemnik, 6-5/220 Sr (12.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.6 apg)
F - Victor Davis, 6-5/235 Sr (12.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg)

G - Jordan Nelson, 6-1/170 Jr (9.5 ppg)
G - Bryce Dolan, 6-0/160 So (5.9 ppg, 2.1 apg)
F - Eric Dortch, 6-4/210 Sr (4.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
C - Trevor Seibring, 6-8/235 Fr
C - Mike Marietti, 6-8/245 So

Hope (3-4)
G - Ben Gardner, 6-0/165 So (12.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.4 apg)
G - Alex Eidson, 6-2/190 So (9.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
F - Grant Neil, 6-3/205 Sr (4.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
F - Harrison Blackledge, 6-6/210 Fr (6.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg)
C - Nate VanArendonk, 6-10/255 Sr (10.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg)

C - Brock Benson, 6-8/230 So (8.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg)
G - Corey McMahon, 6-1/175 Jr  (7.3 ppg)
F - Sam Otto, 6-3/170 So (5.0 ppg)
G - Chad Carlson, 5-7/155 Fr (2.0 ppg)
F - Caleb Byers, 6-5/220 Sr (1.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg)


WJBC radio - http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wjbc.portal#

92.7 The Van radio - http://927thevan.com/listen-live/

Live stats - http://livestats.hope.edu/bs2/