MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Ah, got it. Thanks!

[kenoshamark]

Carthage up 39 to 20 at half.  Beloit can't deal with the size Carthage has on the floor.  Carthage started out with a 9 - 0 lead and then stalled for a bit.  Actually looked better after the started subbing. Bulatovic looks to be the real deal leading them with 9 points at half on a couple nice drives to the rim.  Looks very comfortable on the floor as a freshman. 

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage up 39 to 20 at half.  Beloit can't deal with the size Carthage has on the floor.  Carthage started out with a 9 - 0 lead and then stalled for a bit.  Actually looked better after the started subbing. Bulatovic looks to be the real deal leading them with 9 points at half on a couple nice drives to the rim.  Looks very comfortable on the floor as a freshman.

I watched it briefly, as well as the Blackburn @ IWU game, while I was trying to figure out how to get the UWO @ NCC game on. Couldn't watch either one, as neither game is at all competitive. But Bulatovic did look impressive in the brief window in which I watched that one.

No John Weiser tonight ... just some kid who won't do anything but echo the P.A. announcements.

[Titan Q]

IWU 89
Blackburn 65

https://www.iwusports.com/boxscore.aspx?id=7243&path=mbball

* Grant Wolfe: 16 pts (7-10 FG), 5 assists
* Keondre Schumacher: 15 pts (5-6 FG, 4-5 3-point), 4 assists
* Pete Lambesis: 12 pts, 3 reb, 3 assists
* Luke Yoder: 11 pts (5-5 FG)
* Doug Wallen: 9 pts, 4 reb
* Cody Mitchell: 8 pts, 5 reb
* Charlie Bair: 7 pts, 11 reb

IWU: 25 assists; 54% FG; 43% 3-point; +20 rebounds

Blackburn's head coach is the grandson of legendary Lincoln HS coach Neil Alexander, and tonight the Beavers played that 1-2-2 zone Lincoln was so well known for.

The Titans are a really hard team to zone because of how quick they are on the perimeter, how well they pass it, and how many shooters they have.  IWU did a nice job all night beating the zone and getting great shots. 

Really balanced effort from IWU.  Lots of positives from this one for the Titans.  My main takeaways from game one are, 1) how quick IWU is on the perimeter, 2) how well the perimeter players move the ball, and 3) how unselfish the Titans play. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

NCC just missed too many shots.  Oshkosh is very good - looking much better than vs Augie the other night.  They're going to be very hard to beat.  NCC proved they could hang - a very talented, experienced team in their own right.  They're going to run a lot of people off the floor this year.

[Gregory Sager]

UW-Oshkosh 76
North Central 66

This is what I typically call an "answer game": One team gets up early, and every time that the trailing team looks like it's going to start a run, the leading team answers. In UWO's case, the Titans seemed to have an immediately effective response every time that the Cardinals made a big play under the basket or made a big three. It was clearly a frustrating positiion to be in for the Cardinals, and when the Titans finally went cold from the field for a long stretch in the second half, the Cardinals in turn went cold -- and stayed that way.

NCC's Clausel and Cappelletti did an outstanding job on UWO monster Jack Flynn, keeping him out of his comfort zone on the blocks and forcing him into a bad shooting night. But the Titans have a lot more firepower on hand than Flynn. Adam Fravert had a really good night, and sophomore Eric Peterson is a superstar waiting to happen.

Right now there's a noticeable gap between these two teams. It may not be there in February, especially once the newcomers to the NCC rotation settle in, but it's definitely there now.

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage 87
Beloit 64

The Bulatovic kid can ball -- 19 points and 7 rebounds, albeit against a pretty weak team. Kienen Baltimore had 17 points on 6-8 shooting from the field and contributed a 7:2 a:to floor performance. I think that he is a serious contender for All-American honors this season. Preston Laketa scored 14 in only 14 minutes on the floor, and Jordan Kedrowski contributed 12. Sean Johnson had 10 boards.

[iwu70]

Was able to attend the IWU-Blackburn game tonight.  Basically agree with Q's points assessing the game.  A good start for the Titans, with lots of interesting options and talent.

Very impressed with Grant Wolfe's court vision.  I see why many are very high on Yoder and Mitchell.  They are going to be very good.  Bair had a good game as did Lambesis.  The speed on the perimeter is impressive and this group seems pretty defense-oriented.  It all looks very promising.

Tougher competition to come.  Coach Rose has so many interesting combinations with this many talented players. 

'70

[Greek Tragedy]

Definitley impressed with Oshkosh the first two games. NCC looks like they have their starting 5 back (Chang back in, Koth, who filled in, graduated), I thought they would be considered the more "veteran" team. Oshkosh loses both guards including AA Ben Boots and replaces them with two sophomore guards. Granted, Peterson played all 32 games last year and averaged 20 minutes a game, so he's on spring chicken. The other guard, Petrie, averaged less than five minutes a game last year.

[kenoshamark]

Just a few more notes on the Carthage game....besides that stats that Greg posted, I wanted to note that Bulatovic went 8 - 10 from the field and also had 4 assists and 4 steals to go along with his 19 points and 7 rebounds in his 28 minutes.  No question that Beloit isn't a CCIW caliber program, but this was an impressive game for him, nonetheless.   He's as good a looking freshman as I have seen step on the floor for Carthage in sometime.  I really believe he needs to be starting (he was the first sub in the game in both halves). 

I'm not a fan of the twin tower lineup they went with.   They had much better flow and scoring when Bulatovic and Laketa were in the game.  I have to give Perry the benefit of just being back after missing a year, but he just didn't look good.  He had four points and they came late and he had a 5 to 6 inch height advantage all night.  He missed terribly on two bunnies before he finally scored.   I just think bringing him off the bench allows Carthage to be more athletic with Bulatovic in the game.  We shall see how this plays out going forward.

[Ultimate Titan Fan]

I saw the game on the internet. Hope to get to this weekend's games in person. IWU seemed happy to trade 3s with Blackburn, and they had the height to dominate in the paint. But that match up is rare. Greater tests to come.

[devildog29]

I saw the game on the internet. Hope to get to this weekend's games in person. IWU seemed happy to trade 3s with Blackburn, and they had the height to dominate in the paint. But that match up is rare. Greater tests to come.

The first 3-4 minutes of the game, it looked like they were gonna be happy to live and die by the 3 against that zone, which kept the game close given the poor early shooting.  Once they started penetrating successfully and utilizing the high-low game a bit better, they started getting easier buckets and shooting better from the perimeter.  With a smaller, quicker lineup than in years past, will be interesting (imperative even?) how they develop a balance to their game instead of generating everything from the perimeter. 

Edit to clarify:  by generating everything from the perimeter, I mean relying on the outside shot too much over penetration and post play.

[GU1999]

Great get for Carthage.  Fil will be a very nice CCIW player.  Started his senior season like he did his Jr. year playing on the wing.  He has the handle and shooting ability to do this at an all-conf level in the CSC.  Midway through the season Coach Lav needed him to primarily play inside to out and he and ultimately his team flourished.  This was a sacrificial move for Fil, but he is a team first guy.  Fil's success was in the a CSC conference that was no slouch last year.  Evanston, New Trier, and MS all spent time on the Power 25.  Again great get for Carthage and great opprutunity for Fil.       

I have to double down on this regarding Fil. 

I am looking forward to seeing both Maine South guys this weekend against Greenville.  Track meet time.  This game will be an adjustment for any player, but for a kid from Maine South, playing a system team will be like playing golf on the moon.  Just last year the halftime score for the Regional Final between Maine South and Loyola was 12 - 12.      Halftime in Kenosha on Saturday will likely be in the 60's, per team.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Just to clarify the conversation - I talked to Grey today about something unrelated and Micah Martin came up.  He said Micah's not in violation of any code of conduct or requirement of the school itself "but our program has higher standards."  I don't have more specifics than that, but it's clearly a team issue, so he'll be back when he's back, I guess.

[mwunder]

Carthage opens up tonight against the Beloit College Buccaneers.  Both teams finished 8-17 last season.


Beloit vs Carthage, 7pm Tuesday 11/12 at the Tarble Areana

Beloit (8-17 last year)  Guesses
G - Darin Empereur, 6-0/175 Sr.
G -Mylan Walters, 5-11/165 So.
F - Andrew Walters, 6-2/190 Jr.
F - Tristan Shoup, 6-5/225 Sr.
F - Dan Baab, 6-4/205 Sr.

Carthage (8-17 last year)
G - Jordan Kedrowski, 6-4/190 Sr.
G - TJ Best, 6-0/170 Jr.
F - Kienan Baltimore, 6-5/200 Sr.
F - Preston Laketa, 6-5/235 Sr.
C - Sean Johnson, 6-11/220 Jr.

It'll be interesting to see if Perry is just a name on the roster or if he's ready to go.  The guard rotation outside of Kedrowski is also something to watch.  From what I can see, Beloit doesn't have a lot of height and I do see a few games where they started 5 guards last season in games that were not against Grinnell.  Carthage won this match-up last season, 84-67 at Beloit.

I was 5 for 5 with starters from Beloit, but only 3 for 5 on the local team starters...not a good start to the season for me!

I am however, looking forward to the Bulatovic era starting in K-town.

After 1 game, I'll take a little credit for saying this....knock on wood that it stays that way through 4 seasons!


KMark mentioned the two bigs as starters for the Red and Black.  It's certainly something that I've wanted to see since Johnson showed up two seasons ago.  I agree that they looked a bit sluggish with that lineup, but I think once Perry gets his legs back under him, he can get those buckets close to the hoop that we may need in a tight game.

Baltimore certainly looks like he's in better condition this season.  He's smart and can get to the line with anyone not named Djurickovic.

I think Carthage will live and die by the play of their guards.  Hopefully Kedrowski can bring that senior leadership to the back court.

Hope to see you on Saturday night KMark.  Wear your track shoes!