MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[lmitzel]

I was talking with a coulpe others at the table last night about the North Park-Augie game and we were a little surprised, I think more so about NPU being on fire from deep and winning despite Juwan Henry not scoring as much until he was icing the game late.

That three-point shooting doesn't surprise anybody who has followed the Vikings game-by-game. To wit:

@ Chicago	12-24	.500
@ Dubuque	9-17	.529
Adrian	7-14	.500
Alma	4-24	.167
@ Augustana	11-17	.647
TOTAL	43-96	.448

NPU leads the league by a wide margin in trey shooting percentage. The next-best team, Wheaton, is at .396.

The Vikings are seriously good long-distance shooters -- and, as I told Mark Erickson a few days ago, that's not just restricted to what the Augie broadcasters call "the three-headed monster," either. Jordan Robinson's at .500, Colin Lake's at .448, and Juwan Henry's at .421, but Billy Kirby is 4-7 (.571) and Joe Biko is 4-8 (.500) as well. Jarvis Cannon is only 1-4 (.250), but he can stroke it, too; he simply hasn't had enough opportunities yet.

The comment was made in terms of your Vikings shooting significantly higher than their season average. 44.8 percent for the season might not be totally sustainable, but obviously given how most of their games have gone it's doable. But 11-17 is ridiculous (and it was higher at one point, something like 10-14). They're not going to shoot that well all season (and obviously so far, they haven't; last night was the exception and not the rule). I'm sure you know that too and thus probably enjoyed the performance. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

After laying a turd Tuesday night against Platteville, the NCC Cardinals produced a much brighter product last night in downing a previously undefeated IWU team by an 84-75 score. Victory was achieved primarily through NCC's (1) defense, and (2) interior domination.

Defensively, Cardinal defenders held Green Team starters Andy Stempel (10 pts), Jaylen Beasley (3 pts), Colin Bonnett (10 pts) and Brady Rose (13 pts) and subs Austin Amann (2), Tyler Burdine (2), and the very inappropriate Alec Bausch (8), all below their scoring averages. Only Trevor Seibring (16), IWU's usually excellent center man, and sub Nick Coleman (11) exceeded their averages. Coleman, 4 of 6, including 3 of 5 from distance with 2 assists and a steal, favorably impressed NCC players, staff, and fans.
Cardinals Jaquan "JQ" Phipps, a stalwart defender, and Aiden Chang did an especially nice job in slowing IWU's Brady Rose, who fouled out, and Andy Stempel to help control the pace of the game.
Rose looked a bit both frustrated and tired in the 2nd half before his disqualification.
The Cardinals out rebounded Wesleyan 38-30, and controlled the interior, outscoring the visitors 42-26 in the paint and banking 15 second chance points compared with the visitors 9.

NCC was led in scoring by Alex Sorenson with 25.
Connor Raridon had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Erwin Henry had an all around excellent game, registering a double-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Jagger Anderson gave the Cards what they needed off the bench with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals.

As another poster previously stated, the game was rather chippy, and the officiating, especially the short guy, was below the level I frequently see at high school games.

The lowlight of the game occurred with the outcome already assured, and with only 4 seconds remaining when the frustrated Alec Bausch, who had been acting strangely since pre-game warmups, threw the Cardinals Erwin Henry to the floor. Bausch, who received a T for his actions, then allegedly referred to Mr. Henry in feline terms. Meow! 😼 😊

The way Erwin Henry was scoring yesterday, maybe Bausch confused him with Juwan Henry and was thinking of Wednesday!

In addition to your factors one and two (and likely partially because of them), my top key to the game was IWU's collapse in the final minutes.  They LED by a point with 4:24 remaining, then suddenly forgot how to shoot or rebound.  NCC went on an 8-0 run over the next 2+ minutes and 19-6 over the next 4+; only a couple of 'too little-too late' threes at the end kept the final margin from even more misrepresenting the bulk of the game.

[iwu70]

Yup, Ypsi, a lost opportunity in just those 2-3 minutes of poor play and poor possessions.  Perhaps better next time.  NPU will be a great challenge, even at The Shirk.  They are playing very well, lighting it up from treyland.

Wishing you, your family, and all the CCIW chatsters a most happy holidays, upcoming.  I'm to Far Side tomorrow . . . my season of morning, video-streaming basketball begins after Dec. 6th.

I'll leave Trump and his minions to you . . .I only have the Chinese Communist Party to worry about.   

IWU'70

[AndOne]

Ypsi & iwu70--

I have to go back to my initial notation of NCC's interior domination. From the 4:24 point that Ypsi referenced, the Cardinals made 4 more field goals. ALL four were in the paint--3 layups and a short jumper from the middle of the lane.
And great defense down the stretch limited the Green team's chances to respond.

70--

Can you take Trump 🃏 with you? 😀

[Mr. Ypsi]

Yup, Ypsi, a lost opportunity in just those 2-3 minutes of poor play and poor possessions.  Perhaps better next time.  NPU will be a great challenge, even at The Shirk.  They are playing very well, lighting it up from treyland.

Wishing you, your family, and all the CCIW chatsters a most happy holidays, upcoming.  I'm to Far Side tomorrow . . . my season of morning, video-streaming basketball begins after Dec. 6th.

I'll leave Trump and his minions to you . . .I only have the Chinese Communist Party to worry about.  

IWU'70

Hmmm ... that's a tough call!

(End of political comment for the year!)

[Gregory Sager]

The comment was made in terms of your Vikings shooting significantly higher than their season average. 44.8 percent for the season might not be totally sustainable, but obviously given how most of their games have gone it's doable. But 11-17 is ridiculous (and it was higher at one point, something like 10-14). They're not going to shoot that well all season (and obviously so far, they haven't; last night was the exception and not the rule). I'm sure you know that too and thus probably enjoyed the performance. 

I understand that. The point I that was making is that a phenomenal shooting night like that typically isn't some sort of random occurrence. It's much more likely that a team that has some serious collective shooting skills is going to have a night like that than a team with more ordinary collective shooting talents. For NPU, the putrid 4-24 night from beyond the arc against Alma is more of an aberration than the 11-17 night it had at Augie.

BTW, the 12 assists that Jordan Robinson had last night marks only the second time in the last 27 years that a Viking has dished out that many dimes. Juwan Henry had 12 assists against Illinois College in a late November game two seasons ago.

(End of political comment for the year!)

Yes, please.

[markerickson]

I'm good with North Park having a "three-headed monster" from trey point territory as long as they are not overly reliant on the shot.  Keep in mind that not only do these guys run a great fast break (along with defensive specialist TJ Cobbs who is probably the fastest guy in the CCIW) for an easy bucket, but as Greg noted Mr. Henry has always been able to hit the pull-up jumper.  Mr. Robinson is a throwback who actually uses a pivot foot (both feet!) down low with his back to the basket as well as a pump fake.  In the win against Alma, Mr. Lake made several teardrop shots.  I wish I had seen the victory against Augie.  I'd wager that Coach Slyder instructed Mr. Robinson to dish often when the trees collapsed. 

[bbfan44]

Four Wheaton players foul out....what's up with that?  And they still won !

[Mr. Ypsi]

Relax, Greg.  That may have been the ONLY political comment I've ever made on CCIW Chat, and was directly in response to the comments of iwu70 and AndOne.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm good with North Park having a "three-headed monster" from trey point territory as long as they are not overly reliant on the shot.

Not to worry. NPU averages about 19 trey attempts per game, and the only other CCIW team that attempts fewer than that is North Central. The third team on the fewest-treys-attemped list, Carroll, hoists up 22 of them per game.

Keep in mind that not only do these guys run a great fast break (along with defensive specialist TJ Cobbs who is probably the fastest guy in the CCIW) for an easy bucket, but as Greg noted Mr. Henry has always been able to hit the pull-up jumper.  Mr. Robinson is a throwback who actually uses a pivot foot (both feet!) down low with his back to the basket as well as a pump fake.  In the win against Alma, Mr. Lake made several teardrop shots.  I wish I had seen the victory against Augie.

You can still watch it any time you like, Mark. Just click on the "On Demand" tab: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/augustana/

[AndOne]

Four Wheaton players foul out....what's up with that?  And they still won !

The refs are obviously prejudiced against Wheaton? 

Actually, that 4 Wheaties fouled out and they still won is more of a statement about Elmhurst than it is about either Wheaton or the officiating. Think about it. 

[AndOne]

Yup, Ypsi, a lost opportunity in just those 2-3 minutes of poor play and poor possessions.  Perhaps better next time.  NPU will be a great challenge, even at The Shirk.  They are playing very well, lighting it up from treyland.

Wishing you, your family, and all the CCIW chatsters a most happy holidays, upcoming.  I'm to Far Side tomorrow . . . my season of morning, video-streaming basketball begins after Dec. 6th.

I'll leave Trump and his minions to you . . .I only have the Chinese Communist Party to worry about.  

IWU'70

Hmmm ... that's a tough call!

(End of political comment for the year!)

So, in just 28 days, you can begin anew! 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Yup, Ypsi, a lost opportunity in just those 2-3 minutes of poor play and poor possessions.  Perhaps better next time.  NPU will be a great challenge, even at The Shirk.  They are playing very well, lighting it up from treyland.

Wishing you, your family, and all the CCIW chatsters a most happy holidays, upcoming.  I'm to Far Side tomorrow . . . my season of morning, video-streaming basketball begins after Dec. 6th.

I'll leave Trump and his minions to you . . .I only have the Chinese Communist Party to worry about.  

IWU'70

Hmmm ... that's a tough call!

(End of political comment for the year!)

So, in just 28 days, you can begin anew! 

Yeah, soon after posting I realized I shoulda left off 'for the year'.   Hasn't happened before; not likely to happen again.

[Gregory Sager]

Four Wheaton players foul out....what's up with that?  And they still won !

The refs are obviously prejudiced against Wheaton? 

Actually, that 4 Wheaties fouled out and they still won is more of a statement about Elmhurst than it is about either Wheaton or the officiating. Think about it. 

Very true.

[GoPerry]

Four Wheaton players foul out....what's up with that?  And they still won !

The refs are obviously prejudiced against Wheaton? 

Actually, that 4 Wheaties fouled out and they still won is more of a statement about Elmhurst than it is about either Wheaton or the officiating. Think about it. 

None of that.  I think final fouls were 32 for Wheaton, 27 for EC.  If you watch the last 10 mins on video, you'll see how the refs simply could not swallow their whistles.  For those of us in the gym, we were wincing at each other as to how excruciating it was.