MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[iwu70]

Yes, Greek, thanks for pointing out what the Titans face before they get to Point, upcoming. 

Lots of basketball to be played before Christmas -- including exam week.

'70

[GoPerry]

Chicago 90, Wheaton 60

Wheaton was bad – really bad.  17 turnovers in 1st half alone.  Not much else to say.  The team got stuck in the airport on Sunday trying to make it back to Chicago from Texas and I think their game got left behind. 

[AndOne]

U of Chicago thumps Wheaton 90-60. The halftime score was 52-25 U of C.
Aston Francis with 21 points was the only Wheatie in double figures. However, he committed 7 turnovers. He was nicely supported in that category by Luke Peters with 4 TOs. WC totaled 22 TOs which is almost always going to spell disaster.
This game seems the perfect illustration of over reliance on one player. While it's much easier said than done if you can hold Francis down (and 21 is holding him down) you are likely to have a decent chance against the Orange team unless a couple of other players really go off.

[WUPHF]

Chicago had 6 players score 9 or more. They do not have a superstar that can carry them (notice the 61 point effort on Saturday), but when they are clicking...

As for Wheaton...

A Wheaton forward dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds.  That was their night in a microcosm.

[AndOne]

Hmmm, no report

Should we send out a search party?

One's already been dispatched:

Ah, that brandy was GOOD. Thanks GS. You can have the dog back!
I didn't file a report on the NCC/Finlandia game as I didn't ride to/witness the game, and didn't really feel like beating the Lions was anything that wasn't totally expected. The expedition to the far north found NCC leaving Monday, overnighting in Iron Mountain, MI, and practicing at a local high school.

[crusader_nation]

A shockingly bad loss by Wheaton tonight. They were way off their game and Chicago played a very smart game. Chicago totally disrupted Wheaton's passing lanes and forced many turnovers. They also moved the ball well, which led to Wheaton players totally losing their man, leaving Chicago players wide open for easy shots.

And nobody on Wheaton could get going. It was clear after halftime that they were trying to feed Eichelberger in the post, but it wasn't enough to dig out of the hole they were in.

Much credit to Chicago for their game plan and play tonight. They had Wheaton's number from the opening tip and played disciplined ball.

I will also say the wildly inconsistent officiating didn't help Wheaton find a rhythm, either. A lot of late whistles tonight and phantom fouls. And good luck trying to determine what's a charge any more. The explanation I heard one ref give tonight was complete gobbledygook.

Wheaton opens up conference play at North Park on Saturday. Maybe tonight is the early season wake-up call they need to get their act together. Because Wheaton sure didn't look like a top 25 team tonight, by a long shot.

[BobbyO]

Chicago 90, Wheaton 60

Wheaton was bad – really bad.  17 turnovers in 1st half alone.  Not much else to say.  The team got stuck in the airport on Sunday trying to make it back to Chicago from Texas and I think their game got left behind.

The defense used by Chicago was great. Francis was followed by one Maroon most of the game and then doubled teamed whenever he got the ball. Thunder had no idea what to do. Now can Wheaton figure this out? Reminds me of the diamond and one Angie put on Leon Gobzinski in 1974 and shut him out.

[BobbyO]

Chicago 90, Wheaton 60

Wheaton was bad – really bad.  17 turnovers in 1st half alone.  Not much else to say.  The team got stuck in the airport on Sunday trying to make it back to Chicago from Texas and I think their game got left behind.

The defense used by Chicago was great. Francis was followed by one Maroon most of the game and then doubled teamed whenever he got the ball. Thunder had no idea what to do. Now can Wheaton figure this out? Reminds me of the diamond and one Augie put on Leon Gobzinski in 1974 and shut him out.

[AndOne]

Chicago 90, Wheaton 60

Wheaton was bad – really bad.  17 turnovers in 1st half alone.  Not much else to say.  The team got stuck in the airport on Sunday trying to make it back to Chicago from Texas and I think their game got left behind.

The defense used by Chicago was great. Francis was followed by one Maroon most of the game and then doubled teamed whenever he got the ball. Thunder had no idea what to do. Now can Wheaton figure this out? Reminds me of the diamond and one Angie put on Leon Gobzinski in 1974 and shut him out.

Chicago 90, Wheaton 60

Wheaton was bad – really bad.  17 turnovers in 1st half alone.  Not much else to say.  The team got stuck in the airport on Sunday trying to make it back to Chicago from Texas and I think their game got left behind.

The defense used by Chicago was great. Francis was followed by one Maroon most of the game and then doubled teamed whenever he got the ball. Thunder had no idea what to do. Now can Wheaton figure this out? Reminds me of the diamond and one Augie put on Leon Gobzinski in 1974 and shut him out.

And it looks like you're double-teaming the chat board, Bobby. ⛹🏼‍♂️ ⛹🏼‍♂️ 😉

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Chicago 90, Wheaton 60

Wheaton was bad – really bad.  17 turnovers in 1st half alone.  Not much else to say.  The team got stuck in the airport on Sunday trying to make it back to Chicago from Texas and I think their game got left behind.

The defense used by Chicago was great. Francis was followed by one Maroon most of the game and then doubled teamed whenever he got the ball. Thunder had no idea what to do. Now can Wheaton figure this out? Reminds me of the diamond and one Angie put on Leon Gobzinski in 1974 and shut him out.

That was the key.  I was watching the livestats pretty closely because Francis was due for his 1500th point (which he got on his final bucket) and he only had like 2 or 3 shot attempts in the first ten minutes.  The lead was so much by then, it was virtually insurmountable.  Defense won it for Chicago.

[GoPerry]

Chicago 90, Wheaton 60

Wheaton was bad – really bad.  17 turnovers in 1st half alone.  Not much else to say.  The team got stuck in the airport on Sunday trying to make it back to Chicago from Texas and I think their game got left behind.

The defense used by Chicago was great. Francis was followed by one Maroon most of the game and then doubled teamed whenever he got the ball. Thunder had no idea what to do. Now can Wheaton figure this out? Reminds me of the diamond and one Angie put on Leon Gobzinski in 1974 and shut him out.

That was the key.  I was watching the livestats pretty closely because Francis was due for his 1500th point (which he got on his final bucket) and he only had like 2 or 3 shot attempts in the first ten minutes.  The lead was so much by then, it was virtually insurmountable.  Defense won it for Chicago.

I didn't really notice excessive double teams or anything much different defensively than how most teams defend Francis.  Not like how Carthage sometimes threw the box and one at them last season.  But I would agree that defense had something to do with it – namely the lack of much resembling defense by Wheaton.  The Maroons are always a very good and solid team offensively and defensively. They play disciplined, pass the ball well etc like a lot of teams Wheaton faces.  But Chicago had 47 pts after 15 mins gone, leading 47-12.  Thankfully they went cold in the last 5 to only lead at half 52-25.  Wide open looks, easy back door layups, giving up offensive boards, you name it. Just bad.

Chicago did play good team defense.  But the Thunder missed a bunch of wide open looks and at least half the turnovers had little to do with Chicago pressure.  Is regularly getting cross court passes picked off good D or just bad passing decisions (or the previously mentioned uncontested dribbling mistake)?   

[Titan Q]

I didn't see any of the Wheaton/Chicago game, but I'm shocked.  Not necessarily that Chicago won...but at the fact Wheaton was completely blown out...at home.

Looks like Wheaton is still the same inconsistent team they were last year.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I didn't see any of the Wheaton/Chicago game, but I'm shocked.  Not necessarily that Chicago won...but at the fact Wheaton was completely blown out...at home.

Looks like Wheaton is still the same inconsistent team they were last year.

I think it's much more than the non-Francis players weren't able to step up.  That's fixable and hopefully they now know how important it will be to fix.

[Titan Q]

It was 47-12 Chicago at the 4:59 mark of the 1st.  I mean WTF.

[duckfan41]

Q-

Last night was one of the most (if not the most) embarrassing losses I have ever witnessed the Thunder take. Compounded by the fact that it was at home. However, I think it's hasty to write off this team as "inconsistent" after literally one loss, albeit a terrible loss at home. This was the first time this season a team was able to "slow down" Aston, and literally no one else showed up to play an actual basketball yesterday for the Thunder. They got punched in the mouth, hard, and did not respond even remotely close to as well as this team is capable of.

Did they lay an egg last night? Of course, but to write them off as inconsistent "just like last year" is not fair to this years team as of right now. We'll see what happens as the conference slate gets underway with a couple non-cons sprinkled in there over the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas Break. I generally agree with most of your assessments on here, but this one just feels too hasty for me. Who knows, maybe I'll end up agreeing with you later on if the Thunder end up dropping games left and right, but I am still confident in this team's ability even after 1 home loss.