MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[OurHouse]

I believe labeling NCC's victory over Wheaton as "insignificant" overlooks the effect the loss may have had on the collective Wheaton psyche. Rather than going into next Saturday's game on an eight game winning streak with the highest possible degree of confidence, the Wheaties must now spend the next week operating under the increased pressure brought on by last night's failure.

Maybe.  But since we have no idea how to determine if the psychological implications of Wheaton's loss at NCC will hurt (or help) the Thunder, I'm looking at it pretty simply - if IWU beats NPU Wednesday, the IWU @ Wheaton game will determine who hosts the conference tournament (just as it would have if Wheaton had won at NCC).

NCC did not inflict the damage to Wheaton that this tweet from Saturday afternoon (retweeted by @NCCBasketball) would suggest:

Max Ishikawa ‏@AS1AN_SENSATI0N 
Big game tonight vs Wheaton! It's a redout. Let's get a ton of people in Merner at 7! Let's end Wheaton's chance at winning the CCIW!

Wheaton still "controls it's own destiny", and the big game vs IWU is at King Arena.

This is the 20th year of IWU's Shirk Center (honestly, hard for me to believe).  For fun, I put together my personal IWU all-Shirk team.  I've tried to stay true to positions as best as possible - each team has a PG, 2 other perimeter players, and 2 posts. 

1st Team
G - Adam Dauksas ('06) - CCIW 1st Team '05 & '06, CCIW M.O.P. '05, 1st Team All-American '05 & '06
G - Korey Coon ('00) - CCIW 1st Team '98, '99, '00, CCIW M.O.P. '99 & '00, 1st Team All-American '00, Division III Josten's winner '00
F - Bryan Crabtree ('97) - CCIW 1st Team '97, CCIW M.O.P. '97, 1st Team All-American '97, D3 Player of the Year '97
F - Zach Freeman ('07) - CCIW 1st Team '07, 1st Team All-American '07
C - Chris Simich ('96) - CCIW 1st Team '95 & '96, 1st Team All-American '95 & '96

2nd Team
G - Dylan Overstreet ('15) - CCIW 1st Team '13
G - Sean Johnson ('11) - CCIW 2nd Team '10 & '11
F - Keelan Amelianovich ('06) - CCIW 1st Team '04, '05, '06, CCIW M.O.P. '04, 1st Team All-American '06
F - Brent Niebrugge ('98) - CCIW 1st Team '98, CCIW M.O.P. '98, 3rd Team All-American '98
C - Luke Kasten ('03) - CCIW 1st Team '01, '02, '03, 3rd Team All-American '03

3rd Team
G - Chad Hutson ('95) - CCIW 2nd Team '95
G - Nathan Hubbard ('99) - CCIW 2nd Team '98 & '99
F - Jordan Zimmer ('12) - CCIW 1st Team '12, 3rd Team All-American '12
F - Andrew Ziemnik ('14) - CCIW 1st Team '13
C - Doug Sexauer ('11) - CCIW 1st Team '10 & '11


Behind these guys and many others, the Titans have made 11 trips to the Sweet 16 (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013) and 5 trips to the Final 4 in Salem, VA (1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2012) in the Shirk Center era.

In these 20 years, IWU has been fortunate to have 3 very good, and very different, head coaches - Dennie Bridge, Scott Trost, and Ron Rose.  All 3 coached the Titans to Salem.

Out of all of the many images in my mind of IWU games at the Shirk Center, my favorite is the one depicted here - http://www.iwuhoops.com/kids.jpg.  Korey Coon started the tradition of the kids lining the baseline back in about 1999, and I've always loved that part of the game night at the Shirk Center.

It's been a real pleasure watching IWU play at the Shirk Center.  I'm looking forward to many more great games to come - including those the rest of the way here in 2013-14.[/color]

Sorry, Kent Raymond trumps them all although he was from Wheaton - best payer ever!

[izzy stradlin]

I believe labeling NCC's victory over Wheaton as "insignificant" overlooks the effect the loss may have had on the collective Wheaton psyche. Rather than going into next Saturday's game on an eight game winning streak with the highest possible degree of confidence, the Wheaties must now spend the next week operating under the increased pressure brought on by last night's failure.

Maybe.  But since we have no idea how to determine if the psychological implications of Wheaton's loss at NCC will hurt (or help) the Thunder, I'm looking at it pretty simply - if IWU beats NPU Wednesday, the IWU @ Wheaton game will determine who hosts the conference tournament (just as it would have if Wheaton had won at NCC).

NCC did not inflict the damage to Wheaton that this tweet from Saturday afternoon (retweeted by @NCCBasketball) would suggest:

Max Ishikawa ‏@AS1AN_SENSATI0N 
Big game tonight vs Wheaton! It's a redout. Let's get a ton of people in Merner at 7! Let's end Wheaton's chance at winning the CCIW!

Wheaton still "controls it's own destiny", and the big game vs IWU is at King Arena.

This is the 20th year of IWU's Shirk Center (honestly, hard for me to believe).  For fun, I put together my personal IWU all-Shirk team.  I've tried to stay true to positions as best as possible - each team has a PG, 2 other perimeter players, and 2 posts. 

1st Team
G - Adam Dauksas ('06) - CCIW 1st Team '05 & '06, CCIW M.O.P. '05, 1st Team All-American '05 & '06
G - Korey Coon ('00) - CCIW 1st Team '98, '99, '00, CCIW M.O.P. '99 & '00, 1st Team All-American '00, Division III Josten's winner '00
F - Bryan Crabtree ('97) - CCIW 1st Team '97, CCIW M.O.P. '97, 1st Team All-American '97, D3 Player of the Year '97
F - Zach Freeman ('07) - CCIW 1st Team '07, 1st Team All-American '07
C - Chris Simich ('96) - CCIW 1st Team '95 & '96, 1st Team All-American '95 & '96

2nd Team
G - Dylan Overstreet ('15) - CCIW 1st Team '13
G - Sean Johnson ('11) - CCIW 2nd Team '10 & '11
F - Keelan Amelianovich ('06) - CCIW 1st Team '04, '05, '06, CCIW M.O.P. '04, 1st Team All-American '06
F - Brent Niebrugge ('98) - CCIW 1st Team '98, CCIW M.O.P. '98, 3rd Team All-American '98
C - Luke Kasten ('03) - CCIW 1st Team '01, '02, '03, 3rd Team All-American '03

3rd Team
G - Chad Hutson ('95) - CCIW 2nd Team '95
G - Nathan Hubbard ('99) - CCIW 2nd Team '98 & '99
F - Jordan Zimmer ('12) - CCIW 1st Team '12, 3rd Team All-American '12
F - Andrew Ziemnik ('14) - CCIW 1st Team '13
C - Doug Sexauer ('11) - CCIW 1st Team '10 & '11


Behind these guys and many others, the Titans have made 11 trips to the Sweet 16 (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013) and 5 trips to the Final 4 in Salem, VA (1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2012) in the Shirk Center era.

In these 20 years, IWU has been fortunate to have 3 very good, and very different, head coaches - Dennie Bridge, Scott Trost, and Ron Rose.  All 3 coached the Titans to Salem.

Out of all of the many images in my mind of IWU games at the Shirk Center, my favorite is the one depicted here - http://www.iwuhoops.com/kids.jpg.  Korey Coon started the tradition of the kids lining the baseline back in about 1999, and I've always loved that part of the game night at the Shirk Center.

It's been a real pleasure watching IWU play at the Shirk Center.  I'm looking forward to many more great games to come - including those the rest of the way here in 2013-14.[/color]

Sorry, Kent Raymond trumps them all although he was from Wheaton - best payer ever!

Raymond's career numbers at the Shirk:   3-1,  28.0ppg.    He's got to be MOP first team All-CCIW Shirk opponents.   There's another list to make, Titan Q.

[AppletonRocks]

Is it true that The Scooter Store has an outlet at the Shirk Center?  An Augustana fan told me that last weekend but I think he may be teasing me.    He said there is a geriatric services major/minor at IWU and many of the basketball players pick up at least the minor.

[USee]

Here is who I like for All Conference:

COY: Rose/Schauer(Whomever wins Saturday)
MOP: Tyler Peters (Wheaton)

1st Team:
Malcom Kelly (Carthage)
Vince Kmiec (NCC
Dylan Overstreet (IWU)
Tyler Peters (Wheaton)
Andrew Zeimnik (IWU)

2nd Team:
Victor Davis (IWU)
Landon Gamble (NCC)
Hunter Hill (Augie)
Nathan Haynes (Wheaton)
Brayden Teuscher (Wheaton)

3rd Team
Juwan Henry (NPU)
Deavis Johnon (Millikin)
Tayvian Johnson (Augie)
Nick Sanford (Elmhurst)
Marlon Senior (Carthage)


If Wheaton beats IWU I could see Teuscher and Overstreet switching places and I could see Gamble on the 1st team w Kmiec on the 2nd team as well. That really depends on who Coach Raridon nominates. 

[AndOne]

North Central 71
Wheaton       66

19:33    PETERS,TYLER made 3-pt. jump shot   3-0      
18:50    PETERS,TYLER made dunk   5-0      
17:37    HAYNES,NATE made jump shot   7-0   -   
17:29    DEMOSS,CALEB made 3-pt. jump shot   10-0      
17:29      -   30SEC TIMEOUT by North Central (Ill.)

A rather inauspicious start for the Cardinals who, after only 2 1/2 minutes of play, slunk to the bench with their tails between their legs in anticipation of a verbal blast/wake up message from the coaching staff. Evidently, the message got through as the Cards began to limit further damage and gradually climbed back into the contest. However, with 12:40 remaining, the North DuPagers still maintained the 10 point lead at 19-9. At that point, bolstered by an amped up Senior Night crowd, went on a 13-6 run to take a 32-25 lead with 4:35 left. WC then countered with an 11-3 advantage to send the teams to the locker room tied at 36. The WC run was highlighted by 2 Tad Fisher threes.
The teams battled back and forth in the 2nd stanza until the scoreboard showed the visitors leading 59-53 with 6:27 left. The Cards then concentrated their efforts inside beginning with Pat Rourke driving to the basket off a feed from Vince Kmiec, and finishing despite being clobbered. Rourke converted the And One which was followed by 4 more consecutive in the paint baskets by Brandon Williams, Jack Burchett, Kevin Honn, and Landon Gamble to take a 64-59 lead. With the NCC advantage trimmed to two and 39 seconds left, Vince Kmiec delivered the dagger. Curling around a screen, Kmiec took a perfect chest high pass from Jack Burchett a foot or so beyond the arc almost straight out from the basket. Turning to face the basket as he caught the pass he seemingly simultaneously launched  a high arching bomb that found nothing but net to effectively seal the victory.

All eight Cards who saw action scored led in by Brandon Williams who played a superlative all around game, hitting 5 of 6 from the field and all 6 of his FTs to total 16 points for the 2nd game in a row. For good measure, Brandon added 4 assists and pulled down 4 rebounds. Burchett had 13 and a game high 8 rebounds, Kmiec added 10, and Kevin Honn came off the bench to post a strong game with 9 points (3 of 4 shooting with 2 of 2 threes) and 4 assists.
Rourke had 8, Gamble 7, and Tyler Sutton added a three. Freshman David Robinson provided 11 minutes of stellar play in relief of both Gamble and Burchett when they were sidelined with foul trouble. David added 5 points--the same number as the eventual margin of victory.         

For the game, NCC shot a great 65%, including 62.5% on threes, and out rebounded the visitors 32-23.

[iwu70]

One fabulous performance by NCC vs. Wheaton.  Thank you, North Central.

Usee, like your nominations, thinking.  So many good players so it's tough to slot them all in.  Can't really argue with Tyler Peters as MOP, though if the Titans win and finish 12-2, outright CCIW champions, some may be inclined to vote for Dylan Overstreet as the MOP.  One could make the argument.  I know his raw numbers don't match up with Peters, but he does do so much to make the overall Titan scheme and team go, the offensive system of IWU work so well.  Zman has had a few rough games of late, a bit of a slump shooting, but I think he roars back in these last games an into tournament play.  He's a big game, streaky player and will be ready when the big games, the crunch time comes. 

Pat Sodemann has had a really solid season too -- hope he has a huge breakout season next year and gets his time to be an All-CCIW player too.  He's a big part of the IWU offensive successes, running the floor, shooting the three, making FTs at a high percentage. 

If one thinks ahead, one can see how strong IWU is going to be even with this amazing six-person senior group going:

Just speculating:

PG -- Overstreet, Dolan, Nelms
SG - Sodemann, Nelson, Stempel, S. Seibring
3 - perhaps Rossi, Coyle, Heyen, Bausch
4 - T. Seibring, perhaps Musselman returning, Mahlke
5 - Marietti, T. Seibring, Scholle?

And this is before any newbies on the scene.  I have no clear idea who from the JV squad can step it up, improve and do the summer/weight work, to get to the varsity rotation and some PT for the future.  Those who have seen and followed the IWU JV games probably have a better idea.  Surely Trevor Seibring, Stempel and a few others will figure largely in the rotation in the next year or two.  That's a big group of talented freshmen and sophomores, especially all the guards, waiting for their turn to shine. Recruiting is probably focusing largely on front court players, rebounders, i.e. how to replace Zman, Davis and Dortch.  Looking at that depth chart, one might well see Nelson, Sodeman, Overstreet, T. Seibring and Marietti as the starting lineup -- in a more perimeter oriented team.  Of course if Rossi comes back at the 3, and Musselman returns, could be another very deep, talented trey shooting, hard to guard team.  Time will tell.  Of course, I have no idea about the return of Rossi or Musselman.  Just dream'in. 

First, the rest of this successful season.  First things first, beating NPU at home on Wednesday, for a share of the CCIW crown in 2013-14.  Go TITANS!

IWU70

[iwu70]

IWU up to #4 in the new poll, with Cabrini dropping down, out of the top five, after their recent loss.  WC and AC getting some tepid love in ORVs. 

Sure hope the Titan faithful flock to King this Saturday -- for both the women's and the men's games.

IWU70

[Titan Q]

Just speculating:

PG -- Overstreet, Dolan, Nelms
SG - Sodemann, Nelson, Stempel, S. Seibring
3 - perhaps Rossi, Coyle, Heyen, Bausch
4 - T. Seibring, perhaps Musselman returning, Mahlke
5 - Marietti, T. Seibring, Scholle?

70, you really need to quit putting Parker Musselman in projections around 2014-15 - you continue to do this.  There is zero chance he will play basketball next year.

He was very good in the halftime shootout Saturday...I'm sure you can find it On Demand.  That will have to do for you.

[Titan Q]

Also 70, if Ron Rose ever plays pure power forward Alec Bausch at the 3, I will turn in my Titan gear.

[Titan Q]

Also 70, there is a real problem with your lineup featuring center Trevor Seibring starting alongside center Mike Marietti.  An opposing team featuring Scott and Steve Seibring playing the 4 and 5 would give us real problems from a quickness standpoint.

[Titan Q]

Also 70, if Max Scholle is in the varsity rotation next year, I will pay for a new building at IWU and name it after your girl Dawn Upshaw.

I have other concerns with your 2014-15 projections but that's all I care to address for now.

[shepherd]

Calling for  massive turnout Saturday night vs IWU.  Be the sixth man or first dog.  Ha!   Lets root, cheer, clap, applaud, stamp your feet to a  Thunder victory Saturday night.
No barking! 
Don't forget to wear orange if you have it.
So let the ballyhoo begin!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

TitanQ... is that rolling the boards? LOL 

[iwu70]

Q, down boy, down boy.  I was only "speculating," just "dream'in" -- so don't get all worked up.  I'm sure you have more inside info on who is who and what is what, and who might be returning or not.  I'm sorry to hear Mussleman may not ever return, but it would be nice.  Do you have any info on Rossi?  That would be big, better.  The others, the JV guys, we don't know too much.  Time will tell.  Surely the Titans have a good stable of returning players, lots of talent, much of it untested in serious varsity CCIW play.  I have high hopes and can speculate to my hearts content.  Believe it or not, you have been wrong before, shocking though it may seem.  I have too, plenty of times.  Yes, if we have Scott and Steve Seibring in the line-up, that would be a problem in many ways!!!, though I appreciate their many Titan basketball progeny.  Katy the most accomplished so far.  I do think Trevor Seibring could easily play power forward along side of Marietti at center.   I agree Scholle is unlikely to make any varsity impression next year, but they seem to have taken him on as a "project."  Time will tell. I had him at #3 in the chart after all.   He needs work and weight, no doubt.  Some initially thought Nick Anderson would never start, but he did for the Titans for almost half this current season.   Happy to move Bausch to the 4, to power forward, as a good prospect for next year and beyond, and leave Mussleman in the student fun and wacko section, along with his other drunk Sigs.  (and please please don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about!  Two or three were removed from the game the other night vs. CC).  Bless them and their libational ways.  For IWU's sake, I hope no more dead frat boys due to alcohol use and abuse. 

Would be happy to see your "speculation" on what the Titans' rotation might look like for next year -- perhaps after March Madness when the dust has settled on this very successful season. 

For the time being, it's all mute -- we have two more important games to play with our current fine squad and rotation -- to win the CCIW crown, perhaps outright, hopefully the CCIW tournament too, and going deep into a March run in the D3 dance.  I like our prospects.

Do hope the Titan nation travels well to King and that the weather cooperates for a big fan migration north on Saturday night. 

IWU70

P.S.  Would love to have a new Fine Arts Center at IWU named for Dawn Upshaw, or Dick Jenkins, or Professor Ficca, or Professor David Nott, or Frankie Faison!  That would be grand!  Shall we ask Jack Sikma to fund it?  I don't seem to have that kind of change sitting around.  Can you put a bug in Ed Rust's ear?     ms

[veterancciwfan]

Regarding an all-time Shirk Center opponents' first team, yes, Raymond would be one of the stars. But if I had to pick Kent Raymond or Chris Jeffries from Wash. U., I would probably choose Jeffries first and Raymond 2nd. Jeffries was so skilled at all aspects of the game. He only played 2 games at Shirk and Wash. U. and IWU each won one. In his 2 Shirk appearances, Jeffries averaged 22 points and 7 RBs. I know I am ignoring some other prolific stats from other opponents at Shirk. 20 years is a long time to try to remember or do the research on archived IWU stats. One thing to be thankful for: Raymond will not play Saturday.