MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Oh, that tricky Clark Teuscher!

(Somewhere in the bowels of some building on the NCC campus, Clark is probably laughing at me until his sides hurt.)

Maybe even with one of his cats in his lap to complete the ensemble!

I always did suspect Clark of having a little Bond villain in him.

[Stertorous Thunder]

I thought the big guy from last year's Glenbard West team was going to Gonzaga, not Wheaton...

Elder brother Billy Durkin transferred to Wheaton College from Lewis University at the halfway point of last season.

Bobby Durkin is the younger brother who was part of the state championship Glenbard West team.  His college ball plans changed several times but he ended up attending IMG Academy and is now a Davidson commit.  I never heard that this was even a remote possibility but once Billy showed up at Wheaton I had this faint hope that Bobby would stop talking to all of those D1 schools with their flashy scholarships and decide to pay full tuition to join his brother and take aim at some CCIW records.

[kiko]

You're right, Pat. NCC still has the 2021-22 roster up. Know why I thought otherwise? Because North Central posted an article about being picked #2 in the coaches poll about five seconds after the league office sent out the press release. You'd think that NCC would've posted the actual team about which the article is referring before posting the article -- or anything else concerning the 2022-23 Cardinals.

Oh, that tricky Clark Teuscher!

(Somewhere in the bowels of some building on the NCC campus, Clark is probably laughing at me until his sides hurt.)

Based on your post about gamesmanship, clearly the new coaching regime wanted Ron Rose to invest some time gameplaning around Blaise in advance of their pre-Christmas matchup. 

[Gregory Sager]

That thought hadn't occurred to me. My apologies to Anthony Figueroa if I leaked part of his game plan.

[Next Man Up]

The fact the North Central 2022-2023 roster is not posted yet is nothing at all new. For the last 18 years, NCC has had 16 varsity uniforms. At the start of formal practice each season there are usually between the low 20s to somewhere in the low 30s as far the number of kids on the team. 23 has been the lowest number I can remember, and one year we had 36. There have been a few exceptions for a variety of reasons, but generally if a kid is on the team one year and is eligible to return the following year he is on the team again if he wants to be. The thing is North Central does not issue a number (read one of the 16 varsity unis) to each kid on the team. 16 have been chosen for varsity, and the remainder of the players are deemed the junior varsity. Several typically quit in season each year or do not come out again the following year. They have been listed on the roster without numbers (see  last year's roster). For their games, they wear the previous set of varsity unis. Previous basketball coaching leadership has usually taken around 2 weeks after formal practice started to determine the 16 varsity team members. Let's say 10 players were back from the previous year. That would leave 6 openings for the current season's squad. Todd Raridon usually took around 2 weeks to determine who those six would be. Then the roster would be published as described before.

NCC is now Anthony Figueroa's team, and he of course will run things as he sees fit. IDK if he will automatically have the kids from last year's team who are eligible and want to return on the team again this year. If he follows that plan, the number is 10. However, rather than 16 as in years past, I believe Anthony intends to have a varsity team comprised of only 15 players with new uniforms). That means if things pan out as described above, there are only 5 openings for new players this season. That means picking 5 out of 21 possibilities (JV kids from last year, new freshmen, and transfers). This takes time and at least partially explains why there isn't a 2022-2023 roster posted yet for NCC. But again, not having a roster up by now is nothing new for NCC.

[Gregory Sager]

The fact the North Central 2022-2023 roster is not posted yet is nothing at all new. For the last 18 years, NCC has had 16 varsity uniforms. At the start of formal practice each season there are usually between the low 20s to somewhere in the low 30s as far the number of kids on the team. 23 has been the lowest number I can remember, and one year we had 36. There have been a few exceptions for a variety of reasons, but generally if a kid is on the team one year and is eligible to return the following year he is on the team again if he wants to be. The thing is North Central does not issue a number (read one of the 16 varsity unis) to each kid on the team. 16 have been chosen for varsity, and the remainder of the players are deemed the junior varsity. Several typically quit in season each year or do not come out again the following year. They have been listed on the roster without numbers (see  last year's roster). For their games, they wear the previous set of varsity unis. Previous basketball coaching leadership has usually taken around 2 weeks after formal practice started to determine the 16 varsity team members. Let's say 10 players were back from the previous year. That would leave 6 openings for the current season's squad. Todd Raridon usually took around 2 weeks to determine who those six would be. Then the roster would be published as described before.

NCC is now Anthony Figueroa's team, and he of course will run things as he sees fit. IDK if he will automatically have the kids from last year's team who are eligible and want to return on the team again this year. If he follows that plan, the number is 10. However, rather than 16 as in years past, I believe Anthony intends to have a varsity team comprised of only 15 players with new uniforms). That means if things pan out as described above, there are only 5 openings for new players this season. That means picking 5 out of 21 possibilities (JV kids from last year, new freshmen, and transfers). This takes time and at least partially explains why there isn't a 2022-2023 roster posted yet for NCC. But again, not having a roster up by now is nothing new for NCC.

Sorry, Mark, but this is a lame excuse. North Park has characteristically done the exact same thing in terms of winnowing down players who'll receive a varsity jersey, and I suspect that the story is the same at a lot of other D3 schools where, nevertheless, rosters get posted in a timely manner.

Online rosters aren't the stone tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. Players leave the team, players get added to the team at semester break, numbers change because Joey got his jersey ripped by the handsy point guard from Crosstown College, or because Tommy got mustard on his while wolfing down a hot dog at halftime. Anybody who follows D3 men's basketball closely knows that rosters are often in flux. The point in the preseason is less about uniform numbers and more about establishing who is on the team.

I don't blame Clark and his staff. This sort of thing is typically on the coach. I've been around long enough to recognize that coaches who turn in their rosters late may make the sort of transparent "I haven't figured out yet who gets a varsity jersey and who doesn't" alibi for their tardiness, but it really comes down to secrecy, alpha-male assertiveness, or, most frequently, a simple lack of concern that this is something important. After all, I'm the head coach, and I've got a million more important things to do in order to get my team ready for the season, and we're working in three new starters this year, and our motion offense is about two weeks behind where it should be at this point, and our defensive switching sucks, and me and my assistants still haven't figured out yet which of us can make it to that big opening-weekend tournament at Local High School where the can't-miss power forward we're after is going to be showcased, so why do you keep bothering me with stuff like this?

One of the things that I've observed over the years is that some coaches can be an absolute joy to have as institutional colleagues, and others can be a real trial to have to deal with on a regular basis. It bothers me that the SID and his or her staffers often have to go cap in hand to a coach's office to plead with him to get his roster in, or get his schedule in, or to agree to postgame interviews, or to do any number of things that coaches often consider to be ancillary to their jobs but which are important from an institutional point of view. I'm not indicting Anthony Figueroa here, mind you; he's a newbie at NCC, so he certainly deserves some sort of grace period. But this wasn't a good look for North Central when Raridon dragged his feet in the past, and it's not a good look now, either.

[Next Man Up]

 
Sorry Greg, but I wasn't making any excuses, nor did I need to. All I was doing was explaining how roster construction, reporting, and publication were done under Todd. You really have no beef with me, perceived or otherwise. And, things are apparently being handled in the same manner by Anthony Figueroa, at least in his first year on the job. Almost 2 full weeks of practice and no roster yet.
But again, it's his choice, not yours, mine, or anybody else's.

Additionally, why invoke Clark's name at all? He certainly isn't to blame for any delay. He can't do anything until the coach gives him the roster to publish on the basketball website.

Lastly, if you check the other conference sites, you'll find North Central is far from the only institution yet to post it's roster. 

[kiko]

but it really comes down to secrecy, alpha-male assertiveness, or, most frequently, a simple lack of concern that this is something important.

Well, maybe it actually isn't all that important.

It bothers me that the SID and his or her staffers often have to go cap in hand to a coach's office to plead with him to get his roster in, or get his schedule in, or to agree to postgame interviews, or to do any number of things that coaches often consider to be ancillary to their jobs but which are important from an institutional point of view. I'm not indicting Anthony Figueroa here, mind you; he's a newbie at NCC, so he certainly deserves some sort of grace period.

It's good that you're not indicting Anthony Figueroa for all of the postgame interviews the NCC SID has had to plead with him about.

I get that your point was general and not specific to North Central, but suggesting the new coach deserves a grace period on this paints a picture that he's been difficult for his SID to work with, and that's a rather large and evidence-free assumption.

[Gregory Sager]

Additionally, why invoke Clark's name at all? He certainly isn't to blame for any delay. He can't do anything until the coach gives him the roster to publish on the basketball website.

Because SIDs always get blamed for stuff like this, that's why. Sports information people have the most thankless jobs on campus this side of the custodial staff.

Lastly, if you check the other conference sites, you'll find North Central is far from the only institution yet to post it's roster. 

I already pointed that out yesterday:

Speaking of the Cheddar Curtain, when are Carroll and Carthage going to post their 2022-23 rosters? We're less than two weeks away from opening day, and the CCIW has already released the coaches preseason poll.

I get that your point was general and not specific to North Central, but suggesting the new coach deserves a grace period on this paints a picture that he's been difficult for his SID to work with, and that's a rather large and evidence-free assumption.

No, I just wouldn't want anybody to jump to any conclusions about a new coach, just as I don't like it when people point their fingers at the SID and his/her staff when something is actually the fault of an uncooperative coach.

[Next Man Up]

Additionally, why invoke Clark's name at all? He certainly isn't to blame for any delay. He can't do anything until the coach gives him the roster to publish on the basketball website.

Because SIDs always get blamed for stuff like this, that's why. Sports information people have the most thankless jobs on campus this side of the custodial staff.

But it was in comments directed to me that you brought up Clark's name when you said "I don't blame Clark and his staff." Since you were responding directly to me, you opened the possibility that someone could infer that I DO blame him for something regarding this situation when such is absolutely not truthful in any way, shape, or form.

[Gregory Sager]

I don't see it that way. You're an NCC program insider, and everyone knows that. The exacting detail in your original post confirms it even more. The natural reading of your post is that, like a lot of your posts, you were relaying something that Raridon had said to you. I was therefore responding to Raridon's excuse, not to you. I'm sorry if you interpreted that as a "kill the messenger" post on my part.

[Gregory Sager]

Watched the first half and part of the second half of North Park's scrimmage against IIT down at Keating this morning before I had to leave to go call a volleyball match up here on the North Side this afternoon. The Vikings were up by 15 when I left. My opinions are mixed; they are a long way away from being ready to face a CCIW opponent (the Vikes couldn't hit a shot in the paint to save their lives, which I hope is a fluke and not a trend), but there's something there. The Vikings are certainly not bereft of talent, and I like their energy and the way that they attack the boards.

I'm still not going to say anything definitive, other than that I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do once the bright lights come on in a couple of weeks.

[Gregory Sager]

Talked to Jordan Boyd after the volleyball match, as the basketball team showed up for the tail end of it. He said that NPU ended up beating the Scarlet Hawks by a score of 90-60, so apparently whatever the Vikings were doing wrong they started doing right, or whatever they were doing right they did more of, or both.

[iwu70]

Impressions of the Green/White Scrimmage at IWU:

Not quite sure what to make of this either . . .  a strange set up of short quarters, half-court sets. etc.  Not a full scrimmage or game. 

Several of IWU's big men on the injured list still -- Wilmsen, Mitchell and Hardy, so not really a full contingent for this event.  (Yipsi, could have easily been the IWU "five guards" set up with all the 6' to 6'3" guys running around on the court most of the time).  This is a work in progress in terms of many things for this Titan team so far this year.   Hope it all gels, comes together in time for Yeshiva on November 12th, at the Shirk, for the Sikma Invitational -- games Saturday and Sunday.   Exhibition with Bradley next Wednesday, 11/2.

On offense, only Sroka and Heflen looked decent, in early season form.   Roper moving well, but not hitting shots too well just yet.  I think when it all comes down to it, we'll still see a starting line-up of Heflen, Sroka, Roper, Mitchell and Wilmsen -- if the injuries get sorted out.

I was impressed with the tenacity, the banging and rebounding of Schneider.  He's a blue-collar, working class kind of player.  I think he gets minutes for sure.  Also quite impressed with Marko Anderson, a 6'6" forward, and the pure shooter, Pankay.  The one who surprised me the most was the 6'10" Nathan Boldt, a freshmen.  He moves well, runs the floor, had some nice moves off the dribble, and even took a trey and looked comfortable with it.   He could surely be a good back-up, a very good CCIW player in future, perhaps backing up Wilmsen and Mitchell this year . . . we'll see.   I was surprised how polished he was, what a good impact he made.  Connor Heaton is likely going to play a part in the rotation. 

Heflen is going to be very good at PG.  Maybe not as fast, or as good at ball-handling as Yoder was/is, but he's a better three-point shooter, very strong, and bulked up some, and is the kind of guard who posts up smaller defensive players.   He's a big key to the success of IWU this year.     

Again, just first impressions and not at all the complete picture . . . much to be sorted out, and more on the defensive identity of this team to be developed, to be known.   

Coach Rose has many talented pieces to think about and to work out how best to put them all together for a successful season.   

IMHO.

'70

[Gotberg]

Talked to Jordan Boyd after the volleyball match, as the basketball team showed up for the tail end of it. He said that NPU ended up beating the Scarlet Hawks by a score of 90-60, so apparently whatever the Vikings were doing wrong they started doing right, or whatever they were doing right they did more of, or both.

Thanks Greg, I appreciate the updates in advance of the season.  Looking forward to seeing the new NPU team.