MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

2.  All-American Adam Dauksas choked...plain and simple.  3 points, 4 turnovers, 39 minutes.  Was it ESPN, over-confidence, something else?  Worse game of his career came at a really bad time.


- Interesting flashback to the postgame interview with Scott Trost after IWU's win over Puget Sound...

Me: "Coach, your semifinals opponent will be Virginia Wesleyan, any thoughts about them?"

Trost: "I don't know anything about them, and I don't really care."

- Worse mistake made my Scott Trost came on one of the three opportunities IWU had in the final 16 seconds.  VWC only had 4 team fouls with 15.6 seconds left.  Knowing VWC will probably foul, our thought (Jared Rosenbaum and I) - was to have IWU pass inside right away and try to get up a shot as quickly as possible.  IWU inbounds and tries to setup offense..VWC fould with 11.2 left.  Same thing now, right?  NOPE - VWC fouls with 6.4 left.  Once again, IWU gets it in, doesn't get their best shot off, and will play the early game as a result.

Just because a player doesn't have a good game does not mean he "choked."  It can mean he was defended very well...it can mean he just didn't have his touch from the field...whatever.  To say "Adam Dauksas choked...plain and simple" sounds nice in an overly dramatic media sorta way, but overall it's a silly statement.  I've been watching Dauksas play for 4 years, and I've still never seen him "choke."  Bad games?  Sure.  Choke, no.

Not sure what your point about Trost's post-Puget Sound comment is, Pat.  Trost said the same exact thing to us on WJBC and it was pretty clear what he meant -- it was minutes after the biggest win in his coaching career and basically he was just saying, "I don't know a darn thing about Virginia Wesleyan right now and we're going to enjoy this moment until we can get home and learn about the Marlins."  By mentioning that quote it seems like you are suggesting Trost was disrespecting Virginia Wesleyan or something (otherwise, I am confused as to why you'd even mention it) and I would think it is very obviously that was not the case.

And finally, you don't think IWU wanted to get the ball inside right away on that final possession?  The Marlins knew exactly where IWU wanted to go first (inside) and they did a great job preventing the ball from going there.  Virginia Wesleyan's defense executed well...IWU's offense did not...however you want to put it.  But to suggest that Trost made a mistake and that IWU for some reason didn't want to go down low is, again, silly.

[Titan Q]

IWU vs VWC was just an amazing game.  I talked to a lot of neutral fans after the game who were still buzzing about just how good that contest was.  Both teams played incredibly well overall.  Heck, IWU shot 60% and out-rebounded the Marlins by 6...and lost.  Not a lot you can say from a Titan perspective other than Virginia Wesleyan won the game.  The Marlins hit big shot after big shot down the stretch.

Keelan Amelianovich and Zach Freeman were outstanding.  For Amelianovich to shoot the ball from the perimeter like he did on that stage, was really something. 

The dream of a national title is over, but it has been one heck of a ride with these guys.  I feel honored to get to watch them put on a Titan uniform one more time.

[Titan Q]

The boxscore and some articles...


http://www.odaconline.com/hoopchamp/06NCAA2.htm

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/03/18/sports/109583.txt

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/03/18/sports/109585.txt

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/college/wb/57233

[und63]

Patcummings, to even quote you would be a disservice to the spirit of the game of basketball, so I won't!  Remember, when you start pointing fingers there are always 3 pointing back at yourself.

I will quote Trost, who has given his guts to get his team to play a full 40 minutes of great basketball:

"It doesn't fall on Adam," countered Trost. "It doesn't fall on one player. We win or lose as a team. We lost this thing together."

I'll take last night's IWU GREAT effort against a GREAT team anytime and savor the atmosphere in the arena.  I'll also take Titan Q over you anytime to accurately report the take on any game.

[maddog]

Tough loss for the Titans last night in what sounded like a great D3 contest. Congratulations to VWC on the win and keeping their streak alive, it is pretty impressive. Also, good luck tonight and I hope the Marlins are holding the trophy when it's over. I do feel really bad for Adam, he has been a great leader and played many fantastic games for IWU over the years. Sometimes, no matter how hard you work or how much you want it, things just don't go your way, in sports or in life. Adam is an outstanding young man and I know he will bounce back and lead the Titans to one more victory this afternoon.

[und63]

Congratulations to the IWU pep band and cheerleaders for representing the university in a manner we can all say is in the best  tradition of Titan sports.

Thank you to the fans who travel with the team, their spirit also reflects and represents those at home watching and listening to the game as told by the wonderful set of announcers and reporters.  All-in-all you have to go a long way to find a match, we intend to take "The Shirk" with us wherever we go!

I've followed the Titans over 20 years now (no match for many other Titan fans) and will rate this group of players, coaches, fans, cheerleaders, reporters, announcers, administration, etc. as the GREATEST.  Best wishes to all, we'll all do our part to make it even better.

[Pat Coleman]

Pat:

Saying Dauksas choked doesn't give VWC much credit.

[Gregory Sager]

Congratulations to the Titans on a great run. I have a different take on it than Augiefan's; yes, the fact that Illinois Wesleyan did not win the conference or the conference tourney in spite of all of the hype, all of the preseason ranking accolades, and all of the expectations was undoubtedly the mark of an underachieving team. But getting to Salem completely vindicates them. Nobody can ever ascribe the word "underachieving" to a Final Four team. Some people who expected the Titans to go all the way or to at least meet Wittenberg or Amherst in the national championship game may have overlooked the Marlins, but that's another issue entirely.

Speaking as a non-Titans fan and as someone with a longstanding interest in the D3 tournament, the big story for me is that this run by Illinois Wesleyan demonstrates the absolute necessity of a tournament that's larger than the 48-team bracket it had been for the past decade in order to ensure that all possible championship contenders make the field. It was the common consensus of all of us D3 bracketologists that Illinois Wesleyan was somewhere between the 12th and 14th team picked out of the 18 selected for Pool C bids in this year's first-ever 59-team field as based upon the five primary criteria. Think about that for a second: If this tournament had not expanded and had been held under last year's smaller format, Illinois Wesleyan would not have been in it.

Where's ole Gregory Sager been??

Ole Gregory Sager has spent just about every waking hour over the past two weeks hunting for a new place to live, as my lease was up this month and the owner just decided as of the end of February to convert my building to condos. I came onto CCIW Chat and posted a brief good-luck wish to Augie and Wesleyan before the Sweet Sixteen games began, and I think that that was the last time that I posted. Thanks for your concern, Augiedad.

(P.S. I'm signing a lease this morning for a great apartment that I'm really excited about calling my home, so all that effort paid off in the end.)

Say whatever you want about the strength of the CCIW v. the ODAC but I will always take a great team from a good conf.  against a good team from a great conf.

Don't sell your Marlins short, oldfish. They beat a great team from a great conference.

[Ralph Turner]

... It was the common consensus of all of us D3 bracketologists that Illinois Wesleyan was somewhere between the 12th and 14th team picked out of the 18 selected for Pool C bids in this year's first-ever 59-team field as based upon the five primary criteria. Think about that for a second: If this tournament had not expanded and had been held under last year's smaller format, Illinois Wesleyan would not have been in it.

And likewise for the Women and the field of 63.  Hardin-Simmons was about 17 of 21 on my list.  They pull to come back from 18 in the second half to pull within 2 with 5+ and to within 4 in the last 2 minutes.

[Greek Tragedy]

Congratulations to the IWU pep band and cheerleaders for representing the university in a manner we can all say is in the best  tradition of Titan sports.

so, did you and the John Carroll pep band get along? 

[Jim Matson]

Nice run Wesleyan!  You still have one more game to play so good luck against Amherst!

[buf]

I remember Dauksas hitting a 30 footer to extend a game versus Elmhurst earlier this year in a game they eventually won.  If he didn't hit that shot, IWU probably doesn't make the tourney.  Im sure he (and the team) would rather take a bad game in the Final Four than not make the tourney!

[Gregory Sager]

It's not a D3 or CCIW topic, but it would be remiss if nobody mentioned the passing of Ray Meyer this weekend. I'm not a DePaul fan, but I have always been a Ray Meyer fan. Nobody did more to raise the profile of college basketball in this city over the past half-century than "The Coach".

[Mr. Ypsi]

Halftime: IWU 44, Amherst 31

[emeritusprof]

Ray Meyer did much more than elevate basketball in the City of Chicago.  He created the next major development in the sport--the big post man.  Meyer made George Mikan a ball player--indeed, the first "big man" great and the greatest player of any size in the first 50 years of pro basketball.

Mikan became so drilled in fundementals under Meyer that he would have been outstanding even if he had been a foot shorter in stature.

Yes, Meyer was a Chicago institution.  However, he influenced the nation.