MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[unanimous22]

I changed my signature line this afternoon. As laudable as that Roberto Clemente quote happens to be, it doesn't seem right that I should have a quote from a Pirate as my sig tonight.

Understood - but I hope it is just for the day.  Roberto Clemente far transcended being just a Pirate hero, just like Ernie Banks went way beyond 'just' being "Mr. Cub".  Unfortunate that the THREE best teams in the NL will be reduced to only half of the NL championship series, just because they are all in the same division.

Maybe they have the best records because Milwaukee and Cincinnati were terrible.

Probably not.

[badgerwarhawk]

Pittsburgh had a losing record against Milwaukee and in games against the Central Division. 

[iiwwuu]

Hoarding is league-wide now, Badger (if possible).  IWU led the way in this, due to our five guard scheme a few years back.  Due to possible injuries, departures, various forms of player disgruntlement, academic ineligibility issues etc. etc. always good to have a huge long cohort of pine-sitters, JV players.  Plus it's good for developing your program, assuming you can schedule a decent JV season.  You never know when a JV player becomes the next CCIW MOP the next season. 

Seriously, I agree with several here that Elmhurst is very much a league and national level contender this year. 

IWU Homecoming next weekend, October 9-11  . . . and Korey Coon is being honoured as the Robert Montgomery Most Outstanding Young Alumnus.   He skipped JV and freshmen pine-sitting and went straight to the D3 national title.  Remember him?  The little engine that could -- and also bomb in a few treys.  He could make FTs too.  Warm congrats to Korey on this much-deserved honour and award. 

Looks to be a very strong basketball season for the CCIW.

IWU70

IWU70 is correct, "hoarding" is indeed led by IWU.  And when combined with statistically contradictory unbalanced playing time for the coach's son, it will cause future recruits to question playing for RR, and it annoys players in the program I'm sure.  Contrary to assertions this board, I think the players want to play basketball and don't only focus on the education.  They are recruited to play.  As to playing time from last year, the stats prove that Brady Rose received preferential playing time.  I think there are two big off court issues for IWU bball;  1) IWU's roster is far larger than the rest of the CCIW and in some case by a large margin; and 2) the presence of the coaches son receiving playing time over other more qualified players (ie. Stempl) is a dynamic that the players did not and should not have expected as part of their college basketball experience.  The reality is that this detracts from the program and provides ammunition to others in the CCIW to guide future recruits away from IWU.  This is not best for the school, the basketball program, nor for the current / future athletes imho.  Ok, RR defenders pile in and tell me why this is wrong.....

[Titan Q]

The reality is that this detracts from the program and provides ammunition to others in the CCIW to guide future recruits away from IWU. 

Yet IWU was able to bring in a very strong group of guards.
* Colin Bonnett, 6-3 SG (Benet Academy)
* Mark Falotico, 6-1 PG (St. Viator)
* Jason Gregoire, 6-4 G/F (Cary-Grove)
* Nick Coleman, 6-2 PG/SG (St. Patrick)

So you may be adding some drama to this.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm wondering who iiwwuu is.  He has made seven posts, and every single one of them has been an attack on Ron and/or Brady Rose.  Some of the posts have specifically complained that Stempel should be playing, not Brady Rose.  I conclude that iiwwuu is either a relative of Andy Stempel or else his 'handle' is deliberately misleading and he has no love whatsoever for IWU.

[Titan Q]

I'm wondering who iiwwuu is.  He has made seven posts, and every single one of them has been an attack on Ron and/or Brady Rose.  Some of the posts have specifically complained that Stempel should be playing, not Brady Rose.  I conclude that iiwwuu is either a relative of Andy Stempel or else his 'handle' is deliberately misleading and he has no love whatsoever for IWU.

iiwwuu doesn't have any ties to Andy Stempel.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I'm wondering who iiwwuu is.  He has made seven posts, and every single one of them has been an attack on Ron and/or Brady Rose.  Some of the posts have specifically complained that Stempel should be playing, not Brady Rose.  I conclude that iiwwuu is either a relative of Andy Stempel or else his 'handle' is deliberately misleading and he has no love whatsoever for IWU.

iiwwuu doesn't have any ties to Andy Stempel.

Does he have any ties to IWU?  There must be some cause for his one-topic ax-grinding.

Ron Rose is not exactly 'chopped liver' (I've never understood that phrase as liver pate is one of my favorite delicacies! ).  Over the last six years (after three years rebuilding the team where Scott Trost had left the cupboard extremely barren by Titan standards), he has won or shared the IBCA 'D3 Coach of the Year' award every year, has taken the Titans to the Dance every year, and the Final Four twice.  I would think any REAL Titan fan could trust Ron Rose not to let nepotism interfere with the good of the team.

[AndOne]

uu

The reality is that this detracts from the program and provides ammunition to others in the CCIW to guide future recruits away from IWU. 

Yet IWU was able to bring in a very strong group of guards.
* Colin Bonnett, 6-3 SG (Benet Academy)
* Mark Falotico, 6-1 PG (St. Viator)
* Jason Gregoire, 6-4 G/F (Cary-Grove)
* Nick Coleman, 6-2 PG/SG (St. Patrick)

So you may be adding some drama to this.

Yes, but only Elmhurst has a smaller number of guards on this year's recruit list than does IWU. Perhaps other prospective guard candidates noticed IWU's huge roster, and also did their homework and saw that several rostered guards over the last several seasons have seen little or no playing time.

I think Gregoire has historically been a SG, and Coleman a PG in HS, and that is how they were previously listed on the recruit list. Coleman functioned primarily as a PG this summer at Elmhurst. For having no college level experience, he did a pretty nice job.
However, baring injury, a major determining factor as to whether either any of the new guard recruits or returning guards will see much PT over the next three years will be where Ron Rose decides to play his son, Brady.
As far as I know, he has primarily been a SG, but Titan Q has advised he might well see extended time at PG. Wherever Rose elects to play his son will mean that there will likely be little PT available at that position over the next three years no matter the skill level of any other player who might play the same position.

I don't think iiwwuu is adding any additional drama. The drama meter is already stuck in the full position. The drama concerns whether Brady Rose is a SG or a PG? When his position has been determined, will any meaningful minutes be available to anyone else who plays that position no matter how talented they might be? Time will tell. And Brady Rose might put any drama to rest by turning in an outstanding performance. We shall see.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I think this conversation is getting totally ridiculous and borderline libelous.  The innuendo is that Brady plays ONLY because his daddy is the coach, when 'daddy' has taken the Titans to the postseason 6 straight years and the FF twice.  I've watched plenty of games - Brady is damned good.  Todd Raridon doesn't get this crap about his sons; neither did Bosko (for rather obvious reasons) - I'm not saying that Brady Rose is yet Derek Raridon or Steve Djurickovic, but I DO think he is a future CCIW first-teamer, conceivably even a POY.  I'm wondering what the agenda is?

[Pat Coleman]

"iiwwuu" reps a former IWU guard who appears to no longer be on the IWU roster. To me, this conversation is not particularly a page turner -- iiwwuu, just note that your ax-grinding isn't welcome and under the Terms of Service I can force you to stop.

[Titan Q]

"iiwwuu" reps a former IWU guard who appears to no longer be on the IWU roster. To me, this conversation is not particularly a page turner -- iiwwuu, just note that your ax-grinding isn't welcome and under the Terms of Service I can force you to stop.

Correct.

And here is why his agenda-driven, ax-grinding is just really, really crappy my opinion...

1) There is absolutely zero - none - evidence to suggest that Ron Rose played Brady 12 minutes a game last year in CCIW play simply because Brady is his son.  That is just ridiculously unfair on so many levels.  But a few things:

* If Rose was so desperate to play his son, why was Joel Pennington (who plays the same exact position - the 1/2) playing 16 minutes per game in CCIW play?  Why not give some or all of those minutes to Brady?  Especially considering that Brady averaged 4.6 points in his 12 minutes, shooting .407 from 3...and Pennington averaged 4.4 points in his 16, shooting .290 from 3.  If the objective was to just play Brady, why the heck wouldn't Rose have given a bunch of Pennington's minutes to his son? That decision would have been so justifiable that no one would have blinked.

* As I posted last year when iiwwuu first showed up here, it's a silly argument to suggest that Brady was taking minutes from Andy Stempel - as if they have identical skill sets.  Brady is a 6-1 PG/SG who is a very strong defender on a ball-handler.  When he was in, he always guarded the other team's quickest, most athletic guard.  Stempel is a long, 6-4 wing player - a 2/3, who is probably more 3 (probably IWU's starting 3 this season).  He is very talented, but not a guy you are going to ask to guard a quick/athletic PG or SG. Just apples and oranges - completely different players.

* Brady Rose is a really, really talented player.  He was a high-level D3 recruit - a kid with NCAA D2 scholarship offers and a campus visit to Eastern Illinois.  Brady was a 1st Team all-area player, IBCA all-state, and played in the 3A/4A IBCA all-state game.  He is neck-and-neck with Bryce Dolan as IWU's best pure shooter, and he can do a lot of things off the dribble.  IIwwuu would have us believe that Rose is some random, intramural caliber kid who happens to be the coach's son.  Anyone who watched IWU play last year, with an unbiased eye, would agree that Brady Rose looked very much like he belonged on the floor in those 12 minutes per game in league play.

* Ron Rose has a really strong and consistent track record at IWU of playing who he feels gives his teams the best chance to win...and has been very successful doing so.


2) This is an example of an adult taking to a message board, anonymously, taking cheap shots at not only another adult (Ron Rose), but a kid (Brady).  Ron Rose is a college basketball coach and I'm sure he is used to being second guessed - so whatever.  Where this gets really crappy, though, is dragging Brady through this - for no reason - in a public forum.  It is cowardly and immature.

[Greek Tragedy]

Reminds me of Mike Gundy's "I'm a man, and I'm 40. Come after me" rant. Leave the kids out of it.

[CCIW >]

You guys crack me up with the IWU "Hoarding Guards" talk...

The way i look at it, Rose/Stempel would not start or have much, if any, playing time at NCC (And some other CCIW teams)... So if they are the starters, IWU is most certainly not hoarding guards. JV Guards? Maybe. But why are we concerned about that? Haha.
NCC has three first year players that are all superior to the IWU guard players (You may not beleive me, but it is true). Add on Moten and the other helpers from last year... NCC is the one hoarding guards! Damn you Todd Raridon

[robberki]

A wise man once told me that the toughest job in sports is coaching your own children. They need to either clearly be your best player or your worst. Other than that, it's a pain in the rear.

[izzy stradlin]

I though Brady Rose should've played more and that he was kept on the bench unfairly because his dad is the coach.  Common Ron Rose.