MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[GoPerry]

My question is why, if everyone knows NP is a pressing team, and Wheaton already played them earlier this year...why didn't Coach Schauer have a better game plan to deal with it. They tried quite unsuccessfully to dribble through double and on occasion triple teams all night long. Where was the passing?

NPU hid its midcourt traps well all night. The Vikings waited until the ballhandler had his head down and was committed to dribbling past the defender who had picked him up and face-guarded him up the floor since the inbounds pass. Because the perimeter players for NPU are so quick, they were able to blind-side the ballhandler, who was already seriously engaged by a defender whom he knew very well had quick enough hands to poke the ball away from him if he wasn't super-careful. Being super-careful was what led to NPU blind-siding him.

What Wheaton could've done better was to communicate that there was an oncoming trapper to the ballhandler.

C'mon.   Breaking a press is not splitting the atom.  Even against a team as quick as Park.  Plus, it wasn't even really a full court 1-2-2 trap but simply Jackson or Pumphrey full court challenging the ballhandler bringing the ball from the back court.  Cruickshank used his speed to bring the ball up aggressively whereas Williams and Schnyders did so more slowly and tentatively.  Wheaton had at least two 10 second violations that I can remember.

On Jan 4 at King, the Thunder committed 15 turnovers , 4 over their average (NPU 12, -3).  That won't lose you the game.  This time 25-11 and a -14.  On Jan 4, they helped in the backcourt by setting a screen or providing a 2nd pass outlet.  The few times they did this on Wed at the Crackerbox, they got the ball over the line with seconds to spare.  It's as if they didn't recall at all how they handled this 3 weeks ago.  15 turnovers at halftime and it really didn't get much better in the second 20.  Most of the time a decent ballhandler can beat an isolated defender.  But if that's clearly not working, like Wed from 4 mins into the game, then you need to give the guy some help.

The surprise is that Wheaton knew all this and still fell into it.  Schauer said as much in his postgame comments after the W at King.  In any case, if the teams meet again, I would expect Wheaton to adjust and be much better.  Playing a team a third time will make a big difference I think.  And who knows, possibly a fourth time in the sweet sixteen??!  GS would go for that I think . . .

At Carthage on Saturday where it's always a tough close game, even when the Firebirds are just a mediocre team.  Wheaton will have their hands way full.

[Gregory Sager]

My question is why, if everyone knows NP is a pressing team, and Wheaton already played them earlier this year...why didn't Coach Schauer have a better game plan to deal with it. They tried quite unsuccessfully to dribble through double and on occasion triple teams all night long. Where was the passing?

NPU hid its midcourt traps well all night. The Vikings waited until the ballhandler had his head down and was committed to dribbling past the defender who had picked him up and face-guarded him up the floor since the inbounds pass. Because the perimeter players for NPU are so quick, they were able to blind-side the ballhandler, who was already seriously engaged by a defender whom he knew very well had quick enough hands to poke the ball away from him if he wasn't super-careful. Being super-careful was what led to NPU blind-siding him.

What Wheaton could've done better was to communicate that there was an oncoming trapper to the ballhandler.

C'mon.   Breaking a press is not splitting the atom.  Even against a team as quick as Park.  Plus, it wasn't even really a full court 1-2-2 trap but simply Jackson or Pumphrey full court challenging the ballhandler bringing the ball from the back court.  Cruickshank used his speed to bring the ball up aggressively whereas Williams and Schnyders did so more slowly and tentatively.  Wheaton had at least two 10 second violations that I can remember.

On Jan 4 at King, the Thunder committed 15 turnovers , 4 over their average (NPU 12, -3).  That won't lose you the game.  This time 25-11 and a -14.  On Jan 4, they helped in the backcourt by setting a screen or providing a 2nd pass outlet.  The few times they did this on Wed at the Crackerbox, they got the ball over the line with seconds to spare.  It's as if they didn't recall at all how they handled this 3 weeks ago.  15 turnovers at halftime and it really didn't get much better in the second 20.  Most of the time a decent ballhandler can beat an isolated defender.  But if that's clearly not working, like Wed from 4 mins into the game, then you need to give the guy some help.

I'm not at all suggesting that breaking the NPU press is like splitting the atom. There have been several instances this season -- @ Marian, @ Loras, @ Benedictine, @ Wheaton, vs. Elmhurst -- when the amount of damage the Vikings did with their press (whether full or merely halfcourt traps) was minimized. And, yes, it involved screens, medium passes over the top, and off guards who had both the awareness and the willingness to fall back and help bail out the ballhandler. But it also involved communicating, which Wheaton really didn't do ... and that was a big part of my point. In no way was I suggesting that the success of the press was all about NPU. It also requires a team being unable or unwilling to do the things necessary to beat it -- and I think I made that plain. Again:

What Wheaton could've done better was to communicate that there was an oncoming trapper to the ballhandler.

Wheaton to a degree fell into the "unwilling" category on Wednesday night.

The surprise is that Wheaton knew all this and still fell into it.  Schauer said as much in his postgame comments after the W at King.  In any case, if the teams meet again, I would expect Wheaton to adjust and be much better.  Playing a team a third time will make a big difference I think.  And who knows, possibly a fourth time in the sweet sixteen??!  GS would go for that I think . . .

Agreed on both counts. Just as mid-game adjustments affect outcomes (I mentioned a couple that Sean Smith made), so, too, does the opportunity to break down game film and make assessments. After eighty minutes of basketball against each other, there's a lot of film with which to work for both coaching staffs. I expect both NPU and Wheaton to try to adjust to things that haven't worked as well as to accent things that did work, despite the familiarity the two teams now have with each other.

And I'd take that fourth meeting in either the Sweet Sixteen or the Elite Eight. And who knows? Perhaps some year the bracket will be set up favorably in such a way that a CCIW team gets sent east to play Region 7 teams while another CCIW team stays local and plays Region 8 teams, with the two sections slotted on opposing sides of the bracket ... and the CCIW could take advantage of the opportunity to get two teams into the Final Four the way that the NESCAC did in 2014.

At Carthage on Saturday where it's always a tough close game, even when the Firebirds are just a mediocre team.  Wheaton will have their hands way full.

In the wake of that three-game CCIW losing streak Carthage suffered prior to Wednesday's win over Carroll, the backs of the Firebirds are against the wall in terms of their hopes to garner at least a share of the CCIW title and a tourney bye, if not the top seed. Of course, Wheaton's plenty motivated as well now that Schauer's boys have a rival at the top of the standings with which to keep pace, but we'll see if Carthage appears even hungrier tomorrow afternoon. The big question to me is whether or not Fillip Bulatovic will be at or close to 100% despite his thigh bruise. Carthage could, and did, beat Carroll without him, but I doubt that the Firebirds could do the same against Wheaton.

[WUPHF]

Another potential Carroll hire: Bryan Joel at UChicago.

[GoPerry]

Wheaton 76
Carthage  60

Tyson Cruickshank  35 pts, 6 rebs  13/19 FG 68%, 7/12 58% three point
Andrew Williams   18 pts, 7 rebs, 7/10 FG
Nick Schiavello,  11 and 7

Julian Campbell 16 pts, 11 rebs
Antuan Nesbitt 14 pts
Fillip Bulatovic    10 pts, 6 rebs

Cruickshank had an incredible game and Carthage simply couldn't answer.  That plus playing really tough defense made everything tough on the Firebirds.  It is concerning that the Thunder were playing without starter Eddie Scott but Andrew Williams was equally good.

This is an important bounceback win for Wheaton.  They beat a tough opponent, the third place team, and on the road.  Plus, this gives them the season sweep on Carthage in addition to IWU, the third and fourth place teams, which could have tie break implications later since NPU already has a loss to the Firebirds.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Van Male:

North Park 73
Carroll 54

Shamar Pumphrey: 13 pts (3-6 trey), 5:2 a:to, 3 stls
Jalen Boyd: 11 pts (3-5 trey)
Marquise Jackson: 10 pts, 7 rebs, 4 stls
Jordan Boyd: 10 pts, 3 stls

Justin Steinike: 16 pts (4-7 trey)
Kobe Simpson: 7 rebs
Aaron Wafford: 5 stls

This game had a bizarre feel to it. NPU played by far the worst ten minutes of its season to start the game, as Carroll came out of the gate red-hot, hitting eight of its first nine shots and scoring the game's first eight points. The Vikings were very careless with the ball, couldn't hit a shot to save their lives, and generally looked like a team that was ticketed for a big upset, as the Pios built an eye-opening 27-10 lead with 11 minutes to go in the half.

At that point the Vikings defense buckled down, and, although they really didn't shoot any better in the halfcourt, they began to pile up enough takeaways to get easy runout baskets. They trimmed the Pios lead to 29-25 before Carroll got one last bucket right before the half.

In the second half the game turned into a nature documentary, with the Vikings cast as the lions and the Pioneers cast as whatever four-legged creatures happened to be dinner that day at the water hole. Within the first 39 seconds of the half the Vikings had stolen the ball twice and turned both into Shamar Pumphrey treys to immediately tie the game. It didn't stop there; the Vikings went on an astonishing 21-0 run in the first four minutes of the closing stanza. It may have been the most impressive four-minute stretch I've ever seen in a CCIW game, and I've been watching CCIW basketball for almost four and a half decades. Over that 3:57 span the Vikings nabbed four steals and were the recipients of six Carroll turnovers, and collected four rebounds to Carroll's zero. In the blink of an eye the game was in the bag, and the Pioneers looked absolutely demoralized. The Vikings were up by 26 when Sean Smith started to put in his JV players with about five minutes to go.

As per usual, the shooting volume disparity in NPU's favor was impressive: 72 FG attempts to Carroll's 48. The Vikings were +8 on the offensive glass and +14 in turnovers, with 20 of Carroll's 29 turnovers coming courtesy of North Park steals.

I could've done without the ugly opening ten minutes, but, all in all, a satisfying road victory for the Park, which keeps pace with Wheaton by moving to 16-4, 9-2.

[kiko]

At the Griz:

Millikin 73, North Central 70

After some back-and-forth for much of the game, North Central had pulled in front 64-53 with 5:47 to go, but Millikin went on a 15-1 run over the next four minutes, then held on for the win.  The Cardinals missed seven shots and turned it over twice during that run, while the Big Blue made all six of their shots.

I know I repeat myself, but: the Cardinals simply are not good at closing teams out this year.  They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Aurora, against Platteville, against Augustana, and now today.  There's too much talent on this team for it to be 10-9 overall and sub-.500 in the conference, but here we are.

Millikin:
Nate Straughter with 22, including 8 in the final 2:23
JT Welch with 12
Chase Travis with 10
Frazier Ott with 7 and 9

North Central:
Matt Helwig with 16
Mitch Lewis with 14 in 18 minutes
Ethan Helwig 13
Nick Smoldt 10

[kiko]

In the second half the game turned into a nature documentary, with the Vikings cast as the lions and the Pioneers cast as whatever four-legged creatures happened to be dinner that day at the water hole.

In my mind's eye, Marlin Perkins now has a second career doing PBP for Division III basketball games...

[Gregory Sager]

Very impressive rebound win for Wheaton this afternoon at Tarble. They made an outstanding shooting team in Carthage look absolutely stinko from the field and from beyond the arc.

[Stertorous Thunder]

Wheaton 76
Carthage  60

It is concerning that the Thunder were playing without starter Eddie Scott but Andrew Williams was equally good.

It's probably fair to note that Filip Bulatovic was not fully healthy, but today I don't think that the Firebirds with Bulatovic at 100% would have beaten the Thunder behind the red-hot shooting of Cruickshank.  It was a good win for Wheaton, who looked far more comfortable playing a traditional CCIW opponent than the chaotic attack of North Park on Wednesday.

Sophomore AJ Johnson received a lot of praise early this season but I really like the play of sophomore Antuan Nesbitt and freshman Julian Campbell for Carthage.  For anyone in Kenosha wondering what's going to happen when Bulatovic is done, I think you're in good hands.  This week I jotted down a list of potential all-conference honorees and Nesbitt ended up shockingly high on my personal rankings, in part because he is leading the conference in minutes per game and in a three-way battle for the assists title with Tyson Cruickshank and Shamar Pumphrey, who are both pretty good point guards.

[Gregory Sager]

Final from Carver:

Augustana 89
Illinois Wesleyan 80

The Titans broke out newfangled black uniforms this evening.

They should've left 'em behind in a gym bag in Bloomington.

Augie led wire-to-wire, and never let the Titans get closer than nine points over the game's final 24-plus minutes.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park and Wheaton are still tied atop the league, now at 9-2 apiece.

Everybody else in the league has at least five losses. That's some serious separation.

In the middle of the pack are five teams all bunched together with 6-5, 5-5, or 5-6 records.

[teddydetitan]

Curious to see where North Park lands in the ORV grouping. I think they are deserving to be in or right outside, but there was some big wins this week from the teams already getting votes.

[Gregory Sager]

Yes, I was thinking the same thing, Teddy. Huge wins for Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hampden-Sydney, Case Western Reserve, and Wash U this week, and the fact that current ORVs Catholic and Western Connecticut still each have only one loss apiece is going to be harder and harder for the voters to ignore.

[Stertorous Thunder]

Yes, I was thinking the same thing, Teddy. Huge wins for Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hampden-Sydney, Case Western Reserve, and Wash U this week, and the fact that current ORVs Catholic and Western Connecticut still each have only one loss apiece is going to be harder and harder for the voters to ignore.

Drew Pasteur has North Park at #28 now, so hopefully someone starts throwing some down-ballot votes in their direction. And since 1/3 of the weighting in Drew's list comes from Massey, that probably means that Pasteur and/or Matt Snyder (the other 1/3) have NPU as a Top 25 team.

[mwunder]

Tyson Cruickshank  35 pts, 6 rebs  13/19 FG 68%, 7/12 58% three point
Andrew Williams   18 pts, 7 rebs, 7/10 FG

Cruickshank had an incredible game and Carthage simply couldn't answer.  That plus playing really tough defense made everything tough on the Firebirds.  It is concerning that the Thunder were playing without starter Eddie Scott but Andrew Williams was equally good.

Simply put, this was a MasterClass in guard play from the Wheaton starters.  As a Carthage fan at the game, it was disheartening to see the guard tandem come up with every lose ball, shoot uncontested layups, grabs rebounds, control the pace, hit big shots and defend the three like these two did Saturday evening.  While Williams provided hustle and intensity at the beginning of the game, Cruickshank provided everything else until he was subbed out after this one was put to bed.  Stat line says he had three turnovers but honestly, I don't remember any of them.  He was limited to only four assists because of missed shots from teammates as he put them in position to finish often. Nesbitt guarded him effectively(?) for long stretches of time, but not until he already had 15 or so points.  Carthage briefly switched to zone, but two triples from the right arc ended that bad idea.  I don't attend a lot of games in person at Tarble, but since 2000-'01 McDaniel/Ktistou combo, I've not seen a more complete game by both guards.  They totally dominated all aspects of the game.

When was the last time a point guard led the league in scoring?