MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GoPerry]

Matt Nadelhoffer for president!

Impeachment proceedings begin tomorrow. 

Good one!

What if North Park loses its last three games, and IWU wins one?  Of course the win would be against NPU and would give both teams a record of 6-8 for the Conference. Not saying it would happen, but it could happen. It would be a tall order to be sure.  But NPU seems vulnerable even at home. And, IWU is still having struggles. 
Have some fun and try to figure out the tie breaker for 4th place.  I think it goes really, really, deep into the listed procedure.

I believe at that point, the tiebreaker goes to whichever team has the greater number of guards on its roster.

Better one!

[Gregory Sager]

The iiwwuu identity/motives thing was discussed just a few months ago...

... which I admit that I'd forgotten. Thanks for the reminder.

I think it was pretty obvious from the first moment he posted last year that this wasn't some objective IWU fan with dissenting point of views -- that it was someone with an ax to grind against Ron Rose.  Pat Coleman called him out on that and referenced the site's Terms of Service. Pat may have even booted him back at that time - I remember a post he made that disappeared (I assumed at the time Pat had finally had enough).  Either way, I thought it was sufficiently covered 3+ months ago that this was simply a guy with an agenda.  Based on that, I was surprised to read Greg's support for him as a "dissenter."  To me, a dissenter has to at least start from a position of some type of objectivity...which iiwwuu clearly did not.

How does objectivity get included into the definition of "dissenter", Bob? You're reading a connotation into that word that I did not intend, that doesn't appear in any dictionary definition of the word, and that does not exist. "Dissenter" may sound like a noble and wonderful concept to some, with an image of someone fearlessly disagreeing with the party line. Think about it, though; Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were dissenters, but so was Jefferson Davis. And so was Julius Rosenberg. Morally and ethically, "dissenter" is a neutral word. It simply means someone whose beliefs depart from the status quo, without specification of reasonability, intent, or worthiness.

Jordan Turner's dad (iiwwuu) was a dissenter. He disagreed with this room's regular IWU posters about Ron Rose and the health of the IWU men's basketball program. His reasons for doing so, while completely self-serving and totally suspect, were not the issue.

Dissenting point of views are what makes the board healthy - kind of built-in checks and balances thing that really works well.  But that is not what iiwwuu was ever here to provide.

I don't agree. It's clearly what he was here to provide. He not only had an axe to grind, he wanted other people to agree with him. Why else would he keep coming back here to dispute the points in question?

Contrary to your claim, I did not support Mr. Turner. Rather, I supported his right to post here when others were trying to run him off, which is another thing entirely. While I supported his right to post here, I repeatedly condemned the content of what he posted here. There's a vast difference between the two. It's essentially a reprise of the old saying (usually misattributed to Voltaire), "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

The whole point behind my use of the word "dissenter" was to prove that he wasn't a troll. Unfortunately, Bob, you've read stuff into "dissenter" that really isn't a part of what the word actually means.

[Gregory Sager]

Millikin 61
North Park 55

Jordan Robinson: 25 pts, 15 rebs
Juwan Henry: 14 pts, 4 stls
Michael Hutchinson: 7 rebs
T.J. Cobbs: 3 stls

T.J. Sims: 22 pts (8-12 FG, 3-4 trey)
T.J. Griffin: 17 pts, 4 stls
Tommy Pilackas: 12 pts, 6 rebs
Bryn Agnew: 7 rebs, 5 blks
Elijah Kinmon: 7 rebs

North Park played like complete and utter crap last night. Aside from thirty seconds early in the ballgame in which they led 3-2, the Vikings trailed all night, as MU had a lead as big as 13 in the first half and went into the locker room up by ten. NPU closed to within four in the final minute, but never got any closer, as the Vikes simply didn't have enough big plays in them to bring the comeback to fruition.

The Vikings were never in sync on offense, as they shot a season-low .295 from the field. Their other shooting marks (.276 from downtown, .524 from the line) were dismal as well, and go a long way to explaining how the Vikings managed to lose a game in which they took 15 more field-goal attempts and seven more free-throw attempts (due to eight more offensive rebounds and seven fewer turnovers) than did their opponents.

The offense totally broke down. You could tell from the body language and facial expressions of the Vikes how frustrated they were with themselves, which is always a bad sign that a comeback win is not in the cards. Only four Vikings scored, while the remainder of the team went 0-11 from the field. Nobody expects those guys to fill it up on a nightly basis, but they've got to knock down some open shots when they're afforded the opportunity. Millikin practically dared the players who weren't named Henry, Robinson, or Lake to shoot the ball, and it worked out nicely for the Big Blue. There are some who undoubtedly feel that as Juwan Henry goes the Vikings go, and while that's not necessarily true -- in the second Albion game, f'rinstance, he scored only 14 on 5-17 shooting from the field, and the Vikes still won the game -- he was definitely forcing it too much last night. When he does that, he has the unfortunate tendency to forget that the best weapon in his arsenal is his pull-up in the lane. He didn't take that shot at all last night, settling instead for feast-or-famine treys or drives into traffic against well-prepared help defense. The totally baffling thing, though, was his 4-12 free-throw shooting. He was sitting at 78% from the line for the season going into last night. Heck, I didn't think that Juwan could go 4-12 from the line even if he was trying to do so. It's just one of those weird, unhappy oddities of "on any given night" basketball, I guess. He's human, and he has to be allowed his off nights.

Jordan Robinson was astounding, though. He really did everything in his power to get the Vikings back into the game, even though Millikin kept coming up with answer basket after answer basket and held the Vikings at bay until very late in the game. That 25 and 15 represents his eleventh double-double of the season, a category in which he ranks in the top twenty in the nation.

It wasn't just a case of the Park being in an offensive funk all by themselves. A lot of their struggles had to do with Millikin playing ferocious defense. The Big Blue, which gave NPU plenty of trouble down in Decatur in a Vikings win that wasn't settled until the final minute, represent a matchup problem for North Park in that their quickness allows them to negate the bread-and-butter attribute of the Vikings. The Vikes aren't used to dealing with players as quick as they are, and it really seems to bother them. But, more than that, Millikin really played with poise and a sense of purpose last night. The Big Blue are also playing smarter; Matt Nadelhoffer has told them to take the air out of the ball in their halfcourt offense, reasoning that with Griffin and Sims he's got two playmakers who can create shots either for themselves or for teammates with the shot clock running down. With the score kept low, Millikin's got a better chance of hanging in there against better teams than it would in a normal-paced game with a score in the 70s or 80s. It worked against Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday, and my guess is that that success brought about a total buy-in from his players that likewise paid dividends last night. The obvious question is why Nadelhoffer didn't turn to this strategy earlier, as the Big Blue had given up 77, 87, 96, 94, and 85 in their five most recent losses prior to Wednesday night.

Offensively, T.J. Sims was on fire last night. Given his personal circumstances, I don't think he'll be an All-CCIW player this season, but he's certainly capable of playing like a first-teamer when he's in the mood. Last night, unfortunately, he was in the mood. The galling aspect of it was that a number of his makes were pull-ups in the lane, aka the Juwan Henry Special. It was as though the Vikings got a dose of their own medicine.

NPU's just got to shake off this nightmare of a game and get ready for Elmhurst on Wednesday.

[iwumichigander]

Interesting observations Greg about Big Blue adjustments by Nadelhoffer. Painfully watching Millikin defeating IWU Wednesday, I told Mrs IWUMich that if Millikin played like that against NPU, it had a chance to upset.  Why? Exactly as you note, two guys who could keep up with Henry and Robinson.

Something tells me three coaches won't ignore this game replay video.  As granddaughter Natalie says "oh NO, Rose has a week to work on a game plan" 

[sac]

North Park played like complete and utter crap last night.

+1  most of us would have stopped there.

[AndOne]

NCC 89
IWU 69

The North Central Cardinals completed a season sweep of Illinois Wesleyan in strong fashion with a 20 point thumping of the visitors on Senior Night in Naperville. Trailing 14-13 midway through the first period, the Cardinals reeled off 15 unanswered points on their way to building a 20 point lead. A late jumper by IWU's Bryce Dolan followed by an 80 foot heave by Trevor Seibring at the buzzer, left NCC up 40-25 at the half. The Cardinals shot a blistering 62% in the first half.
Trailing by 16 with 11:29 left in the 2nd, IWU outscored their hosts 15-4 over the next four and a half minutes to narrow the gap to 6 points. At that point, the Cardinals came out of their funk to respond with a 10-0 run of their own, restoring the 16 point advantage with 3:56 remaining. NCC then led by at least 12 the rest of the way. The Senior Night festivities were fittingly capped when little used Cardinal senior Brian Harvey drained a long, nothing-but-net, trey with 15 seconds left for evening's final points.

Seniors Jayme Moten, Kevin Honn, Brian Harvey, and Geoff Godwin were recognized in a pre-game ceremony.

NCC:

* Alex Sorenson with a double-double of 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting, and a game high 11 rebounds.
* Super 6th man, senior Kevin Honn, off the bench with a perfect 4 of 4 from the field and 7 of 7 from the line for 16 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes. Kevin has 17 rebounds and 45 points in his last 51 minutes of PT over the last 3 games.
* Senior Jayme Moten with 13 points, 4 rebounds, and strong defense on IWU's primary perimeter scorer, Bryce Dolan, forcing Dolan into 2 of 9 from the field for only 5 points.
* Jagger Anderson & Connor Raridon both with 10 points. Raridon also had a game high 7 assists.
* Aiden Chang off the bench with 9 points.

IWU:

* Trevor Seibring, 15 points + 7 rebounds.
* Joel Pennington, 15 points (6/12, 3/8)
* Andy Stempel off the bench with 12 points (5/6, 2/3)

Stempel (9.5 PPG) had been starting, but seems to have been replaced by freshman Colin Bonnett (4 points) who doesn't seem to do anything special, and looks a bit lost at both ends of the floor at times. Do any IWU followers find this unusual?

Several IWU fans have naturally been mentioning Dolan as an all-conference player. Did he appear to be such last evening? It may not matter because if IWU does not make the conference tournament, it's likely only their best player, Trevor Seibring, will, very deservingly, be selected.

I have always thought Alec Bausch was a solid player. Accordingly, I was surprised he saw zero minutes last night even though he was dressed and took part in warmups. He has played in 21 of 22 games with 3 starts, and averages 6.7 PPG. He also has 122 rebounds, 2nd high on the team! There must be a good reason for his absence?

[AndOne]

Don't know when regional rankings will come out. However, in talking with a well placed source, right now, Benedictine is ranked first in the region, with Augustana 2nd, and North Central 3rd.
Of course things can change quickly. We shall see.

[mwunder]

Don't know when regional rankings will come out. However, in talking with a well placed source, right now, Benedictine is ranked first in the region, with Augustana 2nd, and North Central 3rd.
Of course things can change quickly. We shall see.

As they should be...they are still undefeated.  NC at 3rd with 5 loses would be a bigger surprise in my eyes.

[mwunder]

Contrary to your claim, I did not support Mr. Turner. Rather, I supported his right to post here when others were trying to run him off, which is another thing entirely. While I supported his right to post here, I repeatedly condemned the content of what he posted here. There's a vast difference between the two. It's essentially a reprise of the old saying (usually misattributed to Voltaire), "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Exactly the way I read your post on this topic.  There was no 45 degree / 55 degree ambiguity to your defense of Mr. Turner.

[iwumichigander]

Don't know when regional rankings will come out. However, in talking with a well placed source, right now, Benedictine is ranked first in the region, with Augustana 2nd, and North Central 3rd.
Of course things can change quickly. We shall see.

As they should be...they are still undefeated.  NC at 3rd with 5 loses would be a bigger surprise in my eyes.

likely NC SOS combined with W% will keep them up in the early rankings. Their SOS very high, one of the better not only in the region but all of D3.  First rankings usually do not go all that deep behind first criteria as the components will change, the regional committees get used to the process (particularly any newbies on the committee for the first time) and NCAA will start to purify and shake out the data between the first, second and last public rankings.  The data needs to be checked and fixed before, for example, a deeper dive taken vRRO.
In short, the first blush is usually does not go too deep into the criteria. Initially emphasis on the process of the rankings.

[AndOne]

Don't know when regional rankings will come out. However, in talking with a well placed source, right now, Benedictine is ranked first in the region, with Augustana 2nd, and North Central 3rd.
Of course things can change quickly. We shall see.

As they should be...they are still undefeated.  NC at 3rd with 5 loses would be a bigger surprise in my eyes.

likely NC SOS combined with W% will keep them up in the early rankings. Their SOS very high, one of the better not only in the region but all of D3.  First rankings usually do not go all that deep behind first criteria as the components will change, the regional committees get used to the process (particularly any newbies on the committee for the first time) and NCAA will start to purify and shake out the data between the first, second and last public rankings.  The data needs to be checked and fixed before, for example, a deeper dive taken vRRO.
In short, the first blush is usually does not go too deep into the criteria. Initially emphasis on the process of the rankings.

North Central actually has 6 losses, not 5. However, all but one of the losses are to teams ranked in the top 25. NCC has lost to (current D3Hoops rankings):

2 losses to current #2 Augustana (21-1). The first by 27, and the second by 8.
Current #3 Benedictine (22-0) by 2.
Current #12 Alma (16-5) by 1.
Current #21 Chicago (14-6) by 13.
Current #30 Aurora (17-4) by 3.

North Central does not have one of the toughest D3 schedules nationally. They have the toughest D3 schedule (check the Massey ratings) of any school in the entire nation. The teams they have lost to are a combined 90-16!

[AndOne]

NEWS FLASH

A day of mourning has been declared on the IWU campus, especially within the IWU basketball family...........................

[AndOne]

iiwwuu has resigned from the D3Hoops boards. 
Que lastima? LOL!

[Gregory Sager]

Good. His kid has likely gotten on with his life since he left the IWU program and became just another student-at-large. Maybe dad is finally ready to follow in his son's footsteps.

[Pat Coleman]

iiwwuu has resigned from the D3Hoops boards. 
Que lastima? LOL!

No, I took action. I warned him about his ax-grinding after his last post and since his next post was right back onto the grindstone, I backed up my warning. Would have done it sooner but I actually did not read CCIW Chat for a few days -- sorry about that.