MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Albion came into the game averaging over 40% from beyond the arc as a team, but the Britons turned into the Bricklayers tonight. They had all of the open looks from long range that you could want in a basketball game, and yet they clanked and clanked and clanked away to the tune of 5-24 (21%).

North Central ran an extremely efficient offense. The Cards' 57% shooting from the field and 42% from downtown was no accident, as they dished out 22 assists as a team. I've watched several NCC games this season, and the Napervillains were doing a better job of cutting, sealing, lobbing, screening, reversing around the perimeter, moving without the ball -- all of the building-block stuff that makes a halfcourt offense go -- better than any other time that I've seen them. Of course, it didn't hurt that Matt Cappelletti was out-of-his-mind hot as a shooter tonight.

Sounds familiar from the 1st half of Saturday's game when the Cards couldn't miss and Wheaton couldn't make.  I believe NCC came out 7-10 from 3pt with Cappalletti also being the main agent.

Cappelletti's trey shooting, first eight games: 8-32 (.250)
Cappelletti's trey shooting, last two games: 9-14 (.643)

[AndOne]

AO (or anyone with info), please give updates on A. Chang whenever you learn them.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who cares very much about his condition.  If I recall red-shirt rules correctly, I think his catastrophe occurred one game too late to apply for another season (I have no info on whether he would have been interested anyway - most D3 (esp. privates) players aren't, due to cost).  But someone like that I suspect would feel quite diminished in quality of life if he couldn't even play high-level pick-up games!  I hope he has a FULL (and speedy) recovery.

I spoke with Aiden yesterday P.M. He sends his thanks/appreciation for all the prayers and get well wishes he has received. I know he has even heard from some current members of other CCIW teams (how great is that!?) that he has competed against via social media forums which I don't dabble in. He underwent successful surgery late Sat night to repair a fractured fibula, torn ligaments, and a grossly dislocated ankle. The NCC team visited him in the hospital late Sun morning, and he was released to home care later yesterday afternoon.

Yes, the usual standard for a medical "redshirt" is 1/3 of the season or 8 games. However, I don't believe this is a definite stated rule, so we will see what developments might ensue in that regard.
If I knew Aiden's future plans, I would withhold that information at this time. It's too early for that anyway as the current focus needs to be on healing, rehab, and full recovery. Personally I wouldn't be surprised to see him around in some capacity next year. If such should prove the case, NCC would greatly benefit from having a young guy of Aiden's character and competency in the ranks in whatever capacity. Yes, I am a bit biased, but it's also the truth. I'll keep those interested updated appropriately.
Thanks for your concern.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Michigan:

North Central 77
Albion 58

For NCC:

Matt Cappelletti, 26 points, 5 rebounds
Connor Raridon, double-double of 17 points & 12 rebounds. Also 5 assists
Blaise Meredith, 9 points, 6 rebounds
Jack Bronec, 10 points, 5 rebounds
Aaron Jones started in place of Aiden Chang, and had both 7 points and a game high 7 assists!

What's noteworthy is their a:to. Raridon was 5:2, Jones was 7:2, and Will Clausel was a remarkable 6:0. Clausel must've hit Raridon on a high-low down the lane three times tonight for easy layups.

The Cards not only distributed well, they protected the ball well. Doesn't matter if you rack up gaudy assist totals if you're also giving the ball away on a regular basis.

[Pat Coleman]

I've used that term on these boards for decades, Chuck.

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Of course it's contrived!  That's what happens when you deliberately make a mascot for a team nickname that doesn't have a physical manifestation.  Prior to the Nickname change for Wheaton (Wheaton used to be called the Crusaders prior to re-naming the teams the Thunder). I wouldn't have minded a goofy looking knight called "Knighty" walking around.

Be careful what you wish for, MB. This is Calvin's Knight mascot:



Pretty dorky-looking, if you ask me. (And a lot of Calvin supporters agree with me on that.) Plus, if you called it "Knighty", the lingerie jokes would be flying fast and furious from the opposing fans.

Or if North Park or Augustana want to hire Ragnar from the Minnesota Vikings.

The old tradition at North Park was to get some Scandinavian-looking male student, dress him up in the stereotypical fur-and-leather costume with the horned helmet, give him a sword, and have him function as the mascot. It was a logical approach to mascotry and a well-received one, because, instead of some cartoony Disney World costume that hid the identity of the person inside the suit, you knew exactly who was the Viking, a la Ragnar:



... except that the NPC Viking was almost always a blonde guy (except for a couple of years in the irony-laden '80s when we had an African-American cross-country athlete function as the Viking mascot; he was actually the most enthusiastic and crowd-rousing mascot we'd ever had since I came to NPC).

Unfortunately, there was a lull of a few years in which none of the hundreds of Nordic-looking guys on campus deigned to wear the fur suit and the helmet. Then the AD at the time -- who was a real nincompoop, but that's another story -- bought a full-on Disneyesque mascot costume, complete with cartoon Viking head. My feelings towards this costume were roughly the same as MB's are about Snuffleupagus, Jr. over there at Wheaton. Instead of a big, blonde, burly, genuine Viking dude, North Park now had one of the Seven Dwarves as a mascot.

The cartoon Viking lasted for a couple of years in the mid-'90s. After the AD left, a member of the athletic department staff took the costume out to the parking lot at Foster & Kedzie, poured gasoline on it, and burned it.

Mugsy, I feel your pain on being called a Wheatie.  But that seems a lot less than being called a Green Weenie!

We gotta come up with some really 'nasty' nicknames for all those freeloaders on the board!

Love it!  +k!!  Green Weenie definitely wins! 

Mugsy and I are negotiating what NCC partisans should henceforth be called.

Cardinals did not make the top 100!

I've always preferred to call them the Napervillains.

[Gregory Sager]

Nicely done, Pat!

[iwu70]

IWU drops out of the top 25, to ORV at 26th.  I'm surprised NCC is not getting more votes, even in the top 25 given recent results.

Augie the only top 25 team now from the CCIW.

'70

[Mr. Ypsi]

I've used that term on these boards for decades, Chuck.

Sorry, I just never noticed.  It seems so obvious that I guess I independently re-invented it in 2013.  But from now on I will know that you are the true creator.

[Gregory Sager]

Manchester 67
Elmhurst 66

[voxelmhurst]

Manchester 67
Elmhurst 66

Elmhurst got a last second shot off after a great catch and turn from Dotlich, but it fell short amidst a massive appeal for a foul. The normally mild-mannered Coach Baines ran out to center court to argue with the referee after time expired. Elmhurst shouldn't feel too hard done by. They shot the ball just 38% from the field and were dreadful from the foul line (11-21), including 3 missed free throws when they had the lead in the final minute. Up by 1 with 15 seconds left, Elmhurst was not prepared to defend Manchester's full-court break out, which led to Manchester taking the lead on an easy layup that ultimately won them the game. Rhode had 22 for the Jays and also led the team with 8 rebounds, to go with 3 assists and 3 steals. Dotlich with 13. Marakis with 7. Ireland with 6.

Manchester was led by Adrian Johnson who had 21 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Cornell Hampton had 19. Keiton Hall had 11.

I realize budgets can be tight, but Manchester's live feed could really use an upgrade. There was no sound, the camera did not pan smoothly, and often cut off the player with the ball.

[Gregory Sager]

The Bluejays came out on the wrong end of a rousing contest of Let's Miss The Layup tonight. After a listless first fifteen minutes in which the 'jays found themselves down by 11 to a spirited but not particularly competent Spartans squad -- fifteen minutes in which Jake Rhode was frequently the only player in a blue uniform who was in motion when the 'jays had the ball -- they got fired up, closed the gap, and went ahead at the half. But, despite leading for most of the second half, Elmhurst couldn't pull away because the 'jays shot so wretchedly. Their shooting line for the night -- .381/.301/.524 -- only scratches at the surface of how off they were, because it's not as though Man U was playing great defense to cause that bad shooting.

The last 43 seconds of the game were a comic-opera display of bad basketball:

* Derek Dotlich split a pair of FTs to put Elmhurst up, 66-63.
* A Spartan airballed a trey at 00:26, only to have a Bluejay touch the ball before it went out of bounds.
* After a Spartans timeout, Rhode committed his fourth foul at 00:15 trying to stop Man U's ageless wonder Adrian Johnson from making a layup. Johnson made both FTs to make it 66-65 in favor of Elmhurst.
* The 'jays got the inbound to Jeremy Ireland, who was immediately fouled at 00:14. Big man or not, Ireland was an ideal candidate to catch the inbound, as he was 13-16 (.813) from the charity stripe coming into tonight.
* Ireland proceeded to miss both FTs.
* MU's Abdul Ogunnaike grabbed the rebound off of the second Ireland miss and called a timeout at 00:12, with the Mancunians still trailing at 66-65.
* After the timeout, Johnson quickly broke down the Elmhurst defense and slipped an interior pass to Ogunnaike, who made a layup that put MU in the lead, 67-66, with six seconds remaining.
* The ball was inbounded to EC freshman forward Jay Militello -- you'd have to ask John Baines what Militello was doing on the floor at that point in the game -- who proceeded to dribble the ball up the floor into the forecourt and then straight into a pocket of no less than three Spartans, where Johnson stole the ball from him.
* Left with no other choice, Rhode grabbed the nearest Spartan (Ogunnaike) and fouled him with three ticks left on the clock. Thus, Elmhurst's best and quickest offensive threat was disqualified with his fifth foul.
* Ogunnaike missed both free throws.
* Derek Dotlich grabbed the defensive rebound off of Ogunnaike's second miss and called timeout with two seconds left.
* Coming out of the timeout, EC guard Nick Perry slipped into the spot right in front of the baseline mark where Pavlos Marakis was going to inbound the ball. Basketball 101 says that if you're the team defending the inbound, you get one of your big men to that spot first, so that he can disrupt the inbounder's field of vision. Instead, the Spartan big man, Michael Koza, was stuck behind Perry, giving Marakis a much easier look down the court. Unfortunately, it also meant that Marakis had to throw the ball into a 3-on-4 situation rather than a 4-on-4 situation. He didn't want to risk it, so he called a timeout.
* The Manchester coach huddled with all of his players during the timeout ... except Koza. He made Koza go stand in front of the inbound spot throughout the entire timeout. He looked like a six-year-old forced to stand in the corner by his dad as punishment.
* Marakis, to his great credit, threw a perfect baseball pass down the floor to Dotlich, who caught it in the paint about twelve feet from the basket with a straight-on look.
* Dotlich airballed it. Buzzer. Game.

Lest it seem like I'm being a bit too harsh towards Elmhurst, keep in mind that the Bluejays utterly wiped out my Vikings by thirty points just 48 hours ago. And that's what kills me. But it just goes to show that consistency is at a premium in this league this year. Right now, we've got Augustana and eight flawed teams. Some are more flawed than others, but they're still flawed.

[WUPHF]

That is high quality sports writing right there.  Time to write that book on Division III basketball...

[WUPHF]

I just meant anyone who knows anything about Augie could have made the same prediction. I was saying I can't take much credit. That result was easy to see coming.

I know some things about Augustana.

There is no way I could have predicted a 26 point win.

[4samuy]

Yeah. Felt as if I was listening to a radio broadcast.  Although a tough loss, nicely done Sager!

[voxelmhurst]

The Bluejays came out on the wrong end of a rousing contest of Let's Miss The Layup tonight. After a listless first fifteen minutes in which the 'jays found themselves down by 11 to a spirited but not particularly competent Spartans squad -- fifteen minutes in which Jake Rhode was frequently the only player in a blue uniform who was in motion when the 'jays had the ball -- they got fired up, closed the gap, and went ahead at the half. But, despite leading for most of the second half, Elmhurst couldn't pull away because the 'jays shot so wretchedly. Their shooting line for the night -- .381/.301/.524 -- only scratches at the surface of how off they were, because it's not as though Man U was playing great defense to cause that bad shooting.

The last 43 seconds of the game were a comic-opera display of bad basketball:

* Derek Dotlich split a pair of FTs to put Elmhurst up, 66-63.
* A Spartan airballed a trey at 00:26, only to have a Bluejay touch the ball before it went out of bounds.
* After a Spartans timeout, Rhode committed his fourth foul at 00:15 trying to stop Man U's ageless wonder Adrian Johnson from making a layup. Johnson made both FTs to make it 66-65 in favor of Elmhurst.
* The 'jays got the inbound to Jeremy Ireland, who was immediately fouled at 00:14. Big man or not, Ireland was an ideal candidate to catch the inbound, as he was 13-16 (.813) from the charity stripe coming into tonight.
* Ireland proceeded to miss both FTs.
* MU's Abdul Ogunnaike grabbed the rebound off of the second Ireland miss and called a timeout at 00:12, with the Mancunians still trailing at 66-65.
* After the timeout, Johnson quickly broke down the Elmhurst defense and slipped an interior pass to Ogunnaike, who made a layup that put MU in the lead, 67-66, with six seconds remaining.
* The ball was inbounded to EC freshman forward Jay Militello -- you'd have to ask John Baines what Militello was doing on the floor at that point in the game -- who proceeded to dribble the ball up the floor into the forecourt and then straight into a pocket of no less than three Spartans, where Johnson stole the ball from him.
* Left with no other choice, Rhode grabbed the nearest Spartan (Ogunnaike) and fouled him with three ticks left on the clock. Thus, Elmhurst's best and quickest offensive threat was disqualified with his fifth foul.
* Ogunnaike missed both free throws.
* Derek Dotlich grabbed the defensive rebound off of Ogunnaike's second miss and called timeout with two seconds left.
* Coming out of the timeout, EC guard Nick Perry slipped into the spot right in front of the baseline mark where Pavlos Marakis was going to inbound the ball. Basketball 101 says that if you're the team defending the inbound, you get one of your big men to that spot first, so that he can disrupt the inbounder's field of vision. Instead, the Spartan big man, Michael Koza, was stuck behind Perry, giving Marakis a much easier look down the court. Unfortunately, it also meant that Marakis had to throw the ball into a 3-on-4 situation rather than a 4-on-4 situation. He didn't want to risk it, so he called a timeout.
* The Manchester coach huddled with all of his players during the timeout ... except Koza. He made Koza go stand in front of the inbound spot throughout the entire timeout. He looked like a six-year-old forced to stand in the corner by his dad as punishment.
* Marakis, to his great credit, threw a perfect baseball pass down the floor to Dotlich, who caught it in the paint about twelve feet from the basket with a straight-on look.
* Dotlich airballed it. Buzzer. Game.

Lest it seem like I'm being a bit too harsh towards Elmhurst, keep in mind that the Bluejays utterly wiped out my Vikings by thirty points just 48 hours ago. And that's what kills me. But it just goes to show that consistency is at a premium in this league this year. Right now, we've got Augustana and eight flawed teams. Some are more flawed than others, but they're still flawed.

Hard to tell with the low-budget camera setup but I'd be interested to hear if anyone else thought Dotlich was fouled. Elmhurt's coaches and players and normally very soft spoken but they were all livid after the final whistle. I'm not one to blame one call for an entire loss but i just wish there could have at least been a different camera angle so the fans could judge for themselves whether the no-call was correct.

Blown call or not Elmhurst lost this one from the foul line and by shooting poorly. I also don't know why Ireland received relatively limited touches of the ball when he had 25 points on Saturday. I feel like Elmhurst would do better by slowing down and letting Ireland draw a double team leaving Dotlich/Rhode/Patton open for 3s.

[augie77]

Augustana thumped Centre to the tune of 90-64 down in Memphis. Nolan Ebel led the way with 23 points, while Chrishawn Orange had 13 and six boards (plus five assists to only two turnovers) and Pierson Wofford also chipped in 13. Brett Benning added 10, and Lucas Simon played a very nice floor game, dishing out five assists without giving up a turnover. Augie shot 65% from the field, including 55% from downtown, while limiting the Colonels to only 36% from the field.

[/b]

I could have predicted an Augustana win, but not by a 26 point margin.  If Coach G could dial up these shooting percentages on a regular basis he'd have several national championships under his belt.