MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gotberg]

Greg,

Any updates on Mike Church's injury and when he'll be available to play?

[Gregory Sager]

I haven't heard anything about him, Gotberg, but I'll ask around. I haven't seen him at either NPU game I've attended, which worries me.

[markerickson]

Once again I see no reference to Glen Woodside in a post about NPU.  Is this guy hurt or not playing to the level as originally billed?

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Once again I see no reference to Glen Woodside in a post about NPU.  Is this guy hurt or not playing to the level as originally billed?

I don't think he played - dgp

[REDMENFAN]

Carthage plays at Carroll college tonight. Carroll was ranked preseason top 20, but is off to a 1-2 start. There are a few key players for the Red Men who have been battling some sickness, as well as some injuries that hopefully aren't too serious and all are able to participate tonight.  

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Stop the presses - Greg and I agree completely on a game we both witnessed.

I am going to butcher the names of all the NPU players and I apologize, I left my roster sheet at home - and with all the new faces, without one, everyone would be lost.

I commented to NPU football coach Scott Poethel (excuse the spelling) with seconds left in last night's game "that it sure is hard to make your living coaching a bunch of 18, 19 and 20 year olds".  "It sure is," he agreed.

Greg was right on in his comment about North Park lack of intensity - they played for long stretches like they were playing by rote.  I think team play often mirrors that of their coaches - efficiency and intensity often go hand and hand - sometimes not.  I just didn't see much elan from the North Park team and they seemed to gain no pleasure in playing in front of a home crowd for the first time - they looked indifferent.

The new NPU point guard is the real deal - I hope he develops in to a 'take charge' guy like Sonny Parker was two decades ago.  That's been sorely missed at NPU.

Anthony Lenoir really wanted the ball offensively inside and the Vikings made an effort to get him the ball - that and Gordon waking from a long offensive slumper in the final minute of the game was the difference.

Former Viking captain Al May was drooling as he watched the VIkings inept attempts at post defense and rebounding.  Just five minutes coaching a day with a player of Al May's defensive ability would really develop the talent of this rather short team that is going to need all the aids it can get under the boards this season.

Over-playing the ball and using your quickness to develop turnovers is a great game plan as long as you know how to reverse direction when you get back-doored and if you get some help around the basket defensively.  Very little of that happened last night.

There is a definite upswing in the talent level on the floor for NP - and I applaud coach Breneghan and his staff for their recruiting efforts - now its time to get the guys to play together as a unit.

One last note - I felt very sorry for Jay Alexander last night - he's a very good player - but against a zone he's just like a chicken without a head - and referree Dennie Bracco seemed to have it out for him on the defensive end (which sometimes happens).  There will be better nights.

dgp

[AndOne]

Another point that the NPU coaches made after the game, one that I really think is true, is that a team needs to learn how to win. The losing culture around North Park basketball is considerable, and the blessing in disguise to having so many new players in the rotation this year is that it means that there's a lot of guys on the floor who are completely unaffected by that losing culture. But they still have to build up the confidence in themselves and the trust in each other that comes with wininng ballgames, even ballgames such as tonight's in which they had to hang on to beat a clearly inferior team.

I understand the need to beef up the non-conference schedule and play tougher comp in order to get the team ready for January and February. But at the same time, I also see the value in teaching a team how to win and in instilling a winning attitude in them.

Many new faces not being part of the past losing culture is definately a plus. However, as with any good team, NPU will not begin to win consistently unless and until all the new players spend enough time together to learn each others strengths and weaknesses, and develop into a cohesive unit.

That involves good coaching, but also may require several of the players to "give up" a little. For example, several of the new guys may be used to always being the leading scorer, rebounder, assist leader etc on their past (HS & JC) teams. To develop that cohesiveness at the next level may, and probably will require some of the players to defer to others who are even better or more natural scorers, rebounders, passers. Often times, thats a tough order. Thats where good coaching and player maturity come in.

Additionally, many new team players frequently make mistakes/turnovers because they fail to play "within" themselves. They often feel that in order to earn more PT, they have to make a spectacular shot, pass, or rebound. They fail to understand that often the best move is to pass up a good shot for a better one, make the good/safe rather than the risky no-look pass, and rebound with two hands instead of trying to make a flashy one hand cradle type grab. I especially see this with freshmen. Master the fundamentals together first----then the "flash" will happen more naturally later.

Lastly, this applies to ANY team with lots of new players, not just NPU.     

[ecdubb420]

Elmhurst looked sluggish at times last night, but its depth (yeah, a 10 man rotation) proved to be too much for Rockford.
Total domination on the glass, near perfection from the free throw line and an undiciplined opponent always makes a team look better than they are, but hey, after the first two games, we'll take it.
Nick Michael continues to struggle and got the ball in position to score maybe 10 times all night.  Its not as if he's getting good looks and missing them too, honestly he looks lost on the court.  I think other teams are gunning for him and making him public enemy #1.  unfortunately this is a first for him and he will have to learn how to play against the double team and with smaller quicker men on him.  Until that happens, don't expect much as he is playing with zero confidence.
On the injury front, EC got back two players (Sayre and Rider) a pair of guards with experience handling the ball and also guys who can knock down some big shots.  Scherer had these two in his top nine at the end of fall practice, so expect big minutes from them until Bacon and Strzemp (also in Scherer's top 9) return.
I must say, the power of JV games really shined last night.  When EC had Burks, Hintszche and Sayre on the court they looked as comfortable as they had all season.  Those three were great for EC in JV action last year and could form a very solid trio when Ruch, Lee, and Michael are on the bench.
As for Rider, this is a kid who the team is VERY, VERY high on.  During the game i noticed his hustle on the defensive end and was asking myself if this kid was just a smaller Brizzolara and Aloisio (all defense), but two sweet 3's later and EC may have found a player who can fill the role Evan Patchett had the last three seasons.  Give him some more minutes and he could challenge the injured Bacon for playing time come conference time.
Though my d3 experience does not go as far back as many on this board, but very few players give me the feeling that Ryan Burks does on the offensive end.  I don't know why, but everytime this kid shoots I feel the ball has a chance to go in.  He does a great job off the screen, always seems to find an open place on the court to take a shot, and on the break has had an amazing ability to find the seem and go to a place where Lee or Childs can find him.  That and he plays larger than his 6'4" height gives me the feeling that he will create loads of matchup problems for the historically small backcourts in the CCIW.  As I continue to tell EC fans, he is the key to this team as a few jumpers from him opens up the whole court for the BlueJays.
As for Strzempf and Bacon, it appears as they are a few weeks away from coming back (each with leg injuries), but no one expects that they will be out until the CCIW opener in 6 weeks.

Interesting tidbit from the game: My contingent at the game believe that  Michael was given a foul made by  Hintszche.  Thus when Michael "fouled" out, neither him, nor Coach Scherer, nor many EC fans knew it was his fifth.  I'm not saying this was done deliberately (as Michael was not good last night), but can anyone ever remember a player being given his 5th foul when it was pretty clear that he had only committed 4. 

[mr_b]

...My contingent at the game believe that  Michael was given a foul made by  Hintszche.  Thus when Michael "fouled" out, neither him, nor Coach Scherer, nor many EC fans knew it was his fifth.  I'm not saying this was done deliberately (as Michael was not good last night), but can anyone ever remember a player being given his 5th foul when it was pretty clear that he had only committed 4. 

I'm sure it happens, and it's a scorekeeper's nightmare.  If you've never kept the official book, it can be more challenging than it would first appear.  Not only does it entail careful recording of scoring (player, time, and points), fouls (player & time recorded in two places), timeouts, and possession arrow -- other scorekeepers record rebounds, assists, etc. -- but it also requires working with the refs to charge the right player with the foul.  Some refs flash hand signals so quickly (from a distance, and often screened by a player or coach) that errors are apt to occur.  It's also a good idea to double-check with both benches at the half to make sure the number of fouls and timeouts are accurate.  That might have been the case with Michael if the phantom foul in question occurred before the break.

[True Basketball Fan]

Who's this Burks guy?  He's tossing in 19 points a game in the early going.  The last time we saw a JV'er do that was..........Amelianovich, I think?  I'm not saying he's going to be as good, but....

[Stat]

Looks like the Redmen are a team of interchangable parts.  Bosko is happy with the group and early results are impressive.
Players to watch who will develop as the year progresses:
Milos Vukosavljevic, Neb Franciskovic ( think there is a foreign Bosko connection?)
Expect more from Eric Moore, however the freshman will take some time to fit in.
Scott Hood will continue to drive Bosko nuts, but will be there in the clutch.
Brain Schlemm off to a great start, will be the top scorer, and Thompson and Bowens will put up points and stabilize the back court.
The bench will prove to be the teams' strength.

[kenoshamark]

Carthage loses to Carroll 75-67.   After being down by 21 at half (41-20), Carthage was able to cut it to one at 57-56 but that was at close as they could get.   This is the third game in a row where Carthage has not played well in the first half and then put on a terrific effort in the second half only to come up short this time.

      *   Schlemm with 25 points
      *   Bowens with 20 points (17 in the second half)

[augiefan]

St. Xavier beat IWU tonight 75-73 per the St. X website. No details yet.

[augiefan]

Aurora 85 NCC 69 in Naperville. Aurora outscored NCC 56-36 in the 2nd half. AU beat up on Augie in a preseason scrimmage, so they must be pretty good.

[Gotberg]

Looks like NPU defeated Eureka 75-66 in OT