MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[maddog]

Augiedad
"The game Wednesday in Bloomington becomes a "must win" for IWU as I see it.  The Titans cannot afford to lose a 3rd game or to let Augie get to 7-0. "

I agree with you, the game this Wednesday is a must win for the Titans, an Augie victory will make it really tough for IWU to claim the regular season championship. I am sure there will be close to 3000 watching this game and I hope the Titans are up to the task. I am encouraged by the fact that Trost has decided to start Jason Fisher again and give Steve Schweer more minutes. Steve brings alot of energy and does the hustle work a team needs, the TItans missed that when he was only getting 8-10 minutes a game. And nothing against Matt Arnold or Mike McGraw, but Jason is a much better overall player than either of them.  He is quicker, stronger, rebounds better and plays tougher defense so I am happy to see him starting again. I think Matt and Mike contribute more off the bench than when they start  Also, it is good to see Andrew Freeman back on the floor, he looks stong and confident. He gives Trost another good option on nights when Cory and Chris are struggling.

[Titan Q]

The game Wednesday in Bloomington should be one of the great Division III games of the year in terms of the caliber of the teams, the number of great players on both rosters, and the atmosphere in the gym. 

This will be one of those electric Shirk Center crowds from the tip and, quite frankly, IWU hasn't had one of those games yet this season.  Through 16 games, IWU has only played 5 home games this year - nice crowds for Olivet Nazarene (1950) and St. Xavier (2000), but not a ton of energy in the building for the two NAIA's.  The Hanover crowd (2500) was into it, but the students weren't on campus.  The students were also gone for North Central (2000).  The Wheaton crowd (2050) this week was OK, but not one of those high energy from the get-go types.

I think both teams will come in feeling pretty good about things.  Cory Jones explained in our postgame interview last night that the Titans seemed to start feeling better about themselves after the Wheaton game.  It sounds strange, as it was an OT win at home vs a team that will finish in the bottom half of the standings, but it seems like the players felt very good about the way they played in that game.  IWU had to make a number of big plays down the stretch to win that game against a Wheaton team that played really well.  I thought the Titans played with a lot of confidence last night from the tip...and not the kind of confidence you get from playing a struggling team and feeling you cannot lose, but the kind you get when you simply feel good about yourself.

Confidence is such a big factor in athletics.  How you get it or how you lose it really doesn't matter, but whether you have it or do not can make all the difference in the world.

[Elmhurst_Mom]

Q-  "Confidence is such a big factor in athletics.  How you get it or how you lose it really doesn't matter, but whether you have it or do not can make all the difference in the world."

Love that quote...absolutely, positively the truth!

[Titan Q]

Q, if I can't make the game, who will be your color for the Augie game?

Hammer, I am currently in negotiations with someone.  The sticking point in contract talks surrounds whether I have to buy 2 pounds of wild wings from Schooners or 3 for this candidate.  I originally thought Art Kimball would be working this game with me, but Art is now doing color for the TV...cushy retirement gig.

The Federal Communications Commission will not allow me to discuss this vacancy with you unfortunately.  Apparently they are still investigating a 1992 claim that a "Mike Thomas", while doing color for an IWU student play-by-play man on WESN for a game at Millikin University, could be heard noticeably intoxicated on the 88.1 FM airwaves.  The FCC can place a "Mike Thomas" at the Lock Stock & Barrell from the hours of 5:00pm to 7:22pm, during which time his play-by-play partner was diligently setting up equipment and preparing for the 7:30pm tip vs Shannon Cloyd, Eric Smith, and Co.  The FCC has yet been able to connect said Mike Thomas with the poster who goes only by  "Titan Hammer" on a CCIW message board, but based on the large, national webcast audience expected, I figured it best to leave you in the shadows of the Shirk Center crowd.

[tjcummingsfan]

IWUM,

I'm pretty sure Trost and his kids aren't that petty that they would be offended by a full-court press when they are down 19.  I think Brenegan was using ig (as he should) as a teaching opportunity.  We all know the Titans would be able to break a North Park press with ease, considering the ball handling ability of basically everyone on the team, but especially Adam.  There aren't going to be many times when the Vikings are up, or close with a full-court press possibly making the difference in the game, so why not give it a shot when it wasn't needed, teach the team something.  

And the comparisons GS quotes don't have anything to do with how a game this season is going to go, its hypothetical comparisons, something completey different from what you were saying.  

[Pat Coleman]

There is a nice sound clip from the game, when Harrigan drained a 3 to put Augie up, on the front page of "Posting Up". I don't know who is writing those articles right now, but you are doing an awesome job. That is a lot of basketball to keep track of and you are really staying on top of it.

Thanks. That's actually the front page of D3hoops.com, not the front page of Posting Up, of course. This site is more than a message board.

Just to clarify, WONC is the North Central broadcast, and to get a call that good and enthusiastic out of a shot from the opponent is rare indeed. That's why I thought I would spotlight it.

[Johnny Augie]

Great game at Augie last night.  I was very impressed with the NCC team.  Simmons is a very talented player and kept NCC in the game toward the end.  Harrigan had a rough first half with his shooting, but had a great second half and hit some real big shots to get the crowd going.

I'm out of town for the IWU/Augie game but I look forward to watching the game and listening to Titan Q on the web.

[cardinal20]

Great game last night in Rock Island. I came out really impressed by Harrigan. The Cards had pretty good defense most of the night, but lost him at times through the maze of screens. No mention of double teams on the broadcast because there were none. I really thought this was a situation where the Cards miss Pat Flanagan. He did nice job on defense last year on the opponent's number one scorer.

Coach Raridon after the game mentioned the Cards really collapsed in the final two minutes. Down the stretch the shot selection was questionable at best and too many turnovers. Two stats that proved crucial were 16 TO's to 6 and Augie had 10 more shot attempts (28-52 for NCC and 28-62 for Augie). Look for the Cards to bounce back at home. I don't seeing them lose this one at home, especially since it is their first conference home game.

Oh and the enthusiasm on the call is a result of the game. Make no mistake where the allegiance lies. It pained me to see all those Augie fans going crazy. Almost sick to my stomach.

[iwumichigander]

IWUM,  I'm pretty sure Trost and his kids aren't that petty that they would be offended by a full-court press when they are down 19.  I think Brenegan was using ig (as he should) as a teaching opportunity.  We all know the Titans would be able to break a North Park press with ease, considering the ball handling ability of basically everyone on the team, but especially Adam. ...

I am petty sure IWU was up (not down) by more than 19 as IWU pulled its starters (as shown with time stamps and score)!     SUB OUT: Fisher, Jason 13:02  35-57  V 22
TIMEOUT TEAM 11:31  35-61  V 26 SUB OUT: Amelianovich, Keelan; Dauksas, Adam;
SUB OUT: Freeman, Zach 10:52  37-61  V 24; SUB OUT: Jones, Cory 08:23  38-69  V 31

And, I did not write the Titans were offended by the full court press (those are your words) nor by North Park putting their starters back in at the 04:46 mark 47-76  V 29 (SUB IN : WHITAKER, ED SUB IN : VENTURA, MICHAEL SUB IN : WILLERT, KEITH) with Mathison still on the court ( 01:09 SUB OUT: MATHISEN, BRETT)

I'm pretty sure a full court press against reserves or putting your starters back in at 4:46 were not offsensive. Likewise, I am petty sure the IWU coaching staff found a way to find enough humor to call a 03:25 TIMEOUT TEAM and reinsert reserves SUB IN : Schweer, Steve; Jones, Chris; Arnold, Matt; and, counter the strategic NP teaching tool with one of their own.

No, if the Titans were offended, my guess is it would have been by: having the lights turned out on their moms, dads, relatives and fans only at their end of the court while IWU players were still coming out of the locker room. 

[markerickson]

NP's website listed attendance at 1,000.  How accurate is that?  Did IWU bring more fans than those who bothered to show up for the host school?  Does the IWU t-shirt squad continue to exist?

[True Basketball Fan]

So many times in basketball games, the starters are pulled too early, thus ruining a great performance by lackluster play from the reserves.   Yes, nobody wants to risk injury.  That's what the Colts, Bears, and Bengals did and look where they are at right now.

Keep the starters in at least to the 5 min mark to keep them sharp.  That still allows plenty of time for the reserves.  And if you're losing, scratch and claw to get every point until the buzzer, no matter who it is against.

[armywife]

Thanks for the correction Pat, sorry about that, laziness on my part. I thought it was someone from Augie because he sounded excited about the shot. Again, sloppy research. It's been a long day.

Wednesday game will be a barn burner. I know Augie will come in expecting the place to be rocking. Shaun used to love playing in gyms like that. Even when the energy was coming from the opposing teams crowd, he liked the atmosphere.

[The Roop]

GS,

If you're out there your presence has been requested on the MWC board a few times now.

[Cardsfan4life]

Last night showed that NC doesn't have a big time player that can step up from them down the stretch and win them a ball game.  Nice job by Augie and looking forward to the Augie and IWU game.

[iwumichigander]

NP's website listed attendance at 1,000.  How accurate is that?  Did IWU bring more fans than those who bothered to show up for the host school?  Does the IWU t-shirt squad continue to exist?

Generousbut if it were accurate best guess would be IWU 850 NP 150.  Not a lot of students from either school.  The Titan Nation in green and the students will out in force Wednesday night as Titan Q posted earlier.  Expect a capacity crowd in the Shirk