MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[badgerwarhawk]

Good luck Vikings

Thanks, BW!

Greg, how do you know he wasn't talkin' about Augie? 

Because nobody wishes Augie good luck unless it's really, really necessary.

NPU, baby

[Viking Blue]

OK North Park faithful, I'll leave it up to you. 20 years of following these guys, 15 years of announcing. I take this year off, and the only game I attend they lose by 40.

Am I allowed to drive to Naperville on Saturday?

Furthermore, am I ever permitted to attend another game?

I am sure there will be a nice video stream of the game for you

ROTFL!

TD, if I see you set one foot in the airplane hangar next Saturday, I'm gonna sic Luke Johnson on you.

Eh...I'm not afraid of a slap hitter 

[Titan Q]

Dennie Bridges Court will be dedicated Saturday...

http://www.iwusports.com/news/2015/2/16/MBB_0216150336.aspx

[Mr. Ypsi]

Bryce Dolan has (deservedly) gotten the accolades for IWU in last night's game, but Mike Marietti has (undeservedly) been completely ignored.  He merely went 7 of 8 from the field - I was 'shocked' when he finally missed one, halfway thru the 2nd.

Marietti did a great job of finishing around the basket, for which he deserves kudos. But a 6'8, 245 center who only pulls down two rebounds in 25 minutes of playing time against drastically smaller opponents has something to answer for in that regard, too.

Oh, I totally agree - and that criticism could go for nearly all the Titans.  (For the #1 rebounding team to be outrebounded badly by the #8 team is a total team disgrace.)  Just didn't want his 7 for 8 to go totally overlooked.  (Earlier this season - can't recall which game right now - he had a perfect night shooting: IIRC, he was 6-6 from the field plus 4-4 from the line.  Haven't checked, but I'd guess he's on track for a top ten all-time in FG%.)

[Titan Q]

(For the #1 rebounding team to be outrebounded badly by the #8 team is a total team disgrace.) 

I don't think the Titans were the CCIW's #1 rebounding team before that NPU game, were they?  IWU has been a so-so at best rebounding team all season long as far as I've seen.

[Naperick]

Dennie Bridges Court will be dedicated Saturday...

http://www.iwusports.com/news/2015/2/16/MBB_0216150336.aspx

Awesome!  Coach Bridges deserves it!

[iwumichigander]

(For the #1 rebounding team to be outrebounded badly by the #8 team is a total team disgrace.) 

I don't think the Titans were the CCIW's #1 rebounding team before that NPU game, were they?  IWU has been a so-so at best rebounding team all season long as far as I've seen.

may have been defense (trails Elmhurst by 6 total) but certainly not offense.  Elmhurst currently holds both after last weekend.

[sac]

In conference play IWU was 3rd and is 3rd in rebounding margin, well behind Augustana and Elmhurst.

[AppletonRocks]

Dennie Bridges Court will be dedicated Saturday...

http://www.iwusports.com/news/2015/2/16/MBB_0216150336.aspx

Commemorative doilies and wheelchair seat covers will be given to all season ticket holders. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

(For the #1 rebounding team to be outrebounded badly by the #8 team is a total team disgrace.) 

I don't think the Titans were the CCIW's #1 rebounding team before that NPU game, were they?  IWU has been a so-so at best rebounding team all season long as far as I've seen.

may have been defense (trails Elmhurst by 6 total) but certainly not offense.  Elmhurst currently holds both after last weekend.

In conference play IWU was 3rd and is 3rd in rebounding margin, well behind Augustana and Elmhurst.

My bad.  I had read or heard somewhere that IWU was #1, but I should have checked.

The point remains that for a bigger, older team to be outrebounded 42-27 by the underclass 'midgets' from NPU was a total team breakdown (AND a great performance by the Vikings).

[veterancciwfan]

I think 2 wins over Elmhurst will elevate IWU to a Pool C bid assuming 80% (?) of current Pool A teams, like Augie, win their conf. tournament. Shades of 2010, when IWU needed to beat Wheaton in the conf. tournament in order to make the D3 tournament. They did and they did and once in, played Stevens Point on the road for the right to go to Salem, the first of five successive IWU teams to make the D3 tournament and go a collective 14-5 with 2 Final 4 appearances (2 of last 3 years). Ron's record speaks loudly for his coaching ability and personnel decisions. Final comment: Ron made a lineup change for the aforementioned Wheaton game in 2010. Perhaps he's considering one for the Elmhurst game on Senior Night? I have no idea. Just playing with IWU/Ron Rose history. 

[veterancciwfan]

Talking to one of my rabid U. of IL fans who never misses a game at State Farm Hall (SFH). We were discussing IWU and U. of I. basketball and the pending D1 and D3 tournaments. I mentioned that Ron Rose had taken IWU to the Final 4 in 2 of the last 3 years. His response: If John Groce did that, there would be a 50 ft. statue of him near the SFH entrance! I laughed and he said, I am serious. There would be more than one big donor who would gladly pay for it! 

[iwu70]

Congrats to Dennie Bridges.  I'm delighted the University has made this decision to honor him in this way.  I've been saying this for a number of years already.  Should be quite an emotional half-time with all the players back, including Sikma and, I'm sure, many many more.  Now we'll have games on the Dennie Bridges Court, at The Shirk Center for Athletics and Recreation, near Tucci Stadium at Wilder Field, near Horenberger Baseball Field, just off Horenberger Drive in Bloomington.  Now we only need to find the proper honoree and/or donor to name the Softball Field.  Or the track?   Yes, for those of you who are real IWU historians, we have the Beadles Tennis Courts -- do you know who Beadles was at IWU? 

Go TITANS -- need a big win on Saturday vs. IWU alum John Baines, and his Elmhurst squad.  Sorry John, you have enough wins already for the tournament.  Let's  hope Saturday is the Titans' night, in every way.

Again, warm congrats to Dennie Bridges on his long and successful tenure as an IWU player, coach and AD. 

IWU70

[iiwwuu]

Both Greg and Titan Q have been very kind to iiwwuu, who seems to have joined in the last week and whose first two posts are highly critical of--one could say an attack on--Ron Rose.  The idea that a DIII coach--or ANY coach--could "hoard" players in the current higher education environment is absolutely absurd.  DIII players are not on athletic scholarships (and those are limited even at DI and DII).  All small colleges, including IWU, are finding it extremely difficult to cover the financial needs of their students and balance the books (and let's not even start on faculty compensation!).  Combine that with demanding admission requirements and the job of recruiting becomes even tougher.

With respect I'm going to counter your point above with the premise that the 'hoarding' of players actually benefits IWU.  Here's why... If the IWU basketball roster has 7-9 additional players who are recruited, and lacking the offer to play IWU basketball I am assuming that almost all of them would go to another college.  If we assume that 1 of the 7-9 would have gone to IWU anyway, and if you assume financial assistance of $13k of the $48k it costs to go to IWU, you still have 6-8 players who pay $35k/year to attend.  The result is an extra $210k-280k per year of extra income for IWU.

Is IWU's roster larger and is 'hoarding' occurring?  Look at the MBB rosters for other CCIW schools -- Augustana 19 / NCC 16 / Carthage 21 / Elmhurst 21 / Wheaton 18 (source: each schools web site).  At 27, IWU's roster is significantly larger.  And in the AAU circuit, and backed by the figures above, it would seem to indicate that IWU's roster is in fact bloated - to the benefit of IWU, to the benefit of the basketball program, and to the detriment of the players imho.  I'm simply pointing out a trend that I see developing, and one that I don't think is in the best interest of IWU or the players.  Its a fair discussion.  And one that impacts the success of the program. 

[CCIW >]

Both Greg and Titan Q have been very kind to iiwwuu, who seems to have joined in the last week and whose first two posts are highly critical of--one could say an attack on--Ron Rose.  The idea that a DIII coach--or ANY coach--could "hoard" players in the current higher education environment is absolutely absurd.  DIII players are not on athletic scholarships (and those are limited even at DI and DII).  All small colleges, including IWU, are finding it extremely difficult to cover the financial needs of their students and balance the books (and let's not even start on faculty compensation!).  Combine that with demanding admission requirements and the job of recruiting becomes even tougher.

Is IWU's roster larger and is 'hoarding' occurring?  Look at the MBB rosters for other CCIW schools -- Augustana 19 / NCC 16 / Carthage 21 / Elmhurst 21 / Wheaton 18 (source: each schools web site).  At 27, IWU's roster is significantly larger.  And in the AAU circuit, and backed by the figures above, it would seem to indicate that IWU's roster is in fact bloated - to the benefit of IWU, to the benefit of the basketball program, and to the detriment of the players imho.  I'm simply pointing out a trend that I see developing, and one that I don't think is in the best interest of IWU or the players.  Its a fair discussion.  And one that impacts the success of the program.

Providing a new spin on the recruiting talk...  As someone who knows many of the guys who played at IWU over the last 4-5 years, the decision to take IWU over the other CCIW schools is an easy one.  Why?  It isn't money or the coach..  Yes those are factors, but it is the ability to be in Bloomington and virtually on the same campus as Illinois State...  These guys get to play D3 basketball during the day and have the D1 party school at night. No other school offers that, especially since ISU is known for being quite a wild time. I am sure this may sound childish to the older gentleman in this chat, but it is more of a factor than you would think..