MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[David Collinge]

BTW, it never occurred to me that Wheaton College's possession of the wardrobe that supposedly gave C.S. Lewis so much inspiration was an obscure fact.  It is, however, not an undisputed fact: Westmont College in Santa Barbara also claims it has possession of 'the' wardrobe.

Wheaton and Westmont also each claim to have the Holy Grail in their archival collections. Unfortunately, all we have at NPU is a Grail-shaped beacon.

...and a whole bunch of virgins, I trust. 

[buck14]

Millikin was down 15 with about 4 minutes to go and made a quick come back by hitting shots and RMC missed 8 free throws down the stretch. The convention Center seats around 8000, probably 300 of those seats were filled. Corley Lee led the eagles with 23 pts and i beleive that Gavic led Millikin with 20 pts. Millikin went 8/11 from beyond the arc. Those are just a few stats that i know off the top of my head.

[Scots4]

Great week to be a Midwest Central High School graduate.

'04 Grads- 6'3 guard Andy Battey with 10 pts in a 94-91 win over Millikin for RMCS, 6'5 guard Blaise Rogers with 13 pts in an 83-81 win over nationally ranked Carroll College for Monmouth, 6'7 center Jesse Haskett was also in uniform for this game but did not log any minutes.

'05 Grad- 6'4 guard Ryan Burks with 21 pts and the game winner against nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh.

Good luck the rest of the season fellas.

[ecdubb420]

Pre-season rankings are garbage.  The first poll should occur maybe a month into the season when people have some idea what is going on. 

Moving on, and note that comment wasn't to slam Oshkosh and their #14 ranking, lets examine the impressive win by the BlueJays last night.

The reason the game was low scoring was simple.  2-3 zone.  Oshkosh went to this with about 8 minutes in the half and this caused EC to go deep into the shot clock on virtually every possession.  I'd rather have a team shoot in the mid 40% and wait for the good shot than stick to a game plan of running and playing a high scoring game.  Scherer's troops struggled mightily against the zone at time, but adjusted very well and made enough big shots to pull this game off.

The zone is also a reason Michael did seemingly nothing on the offensive end.  The fact was, yes he was invisible for the majority of this game, but that cannot take away from the tremendous job he did on the defensive end playing solid ball against supersized Gibson.

The Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde inside-outside game continued for the BlueJays as we are still waiting for that one night where one inside guy and one outside guy has their offensive games going on.  Then again, if they stay to form, we can expect 30 out of the Burks/Lee one night and then 30 from Michael/Ruch the next.  Either way, EC will have a chance to win.

The rotation was perplexing, but I'm thinking it has something to do with the fact that Sayre and Bacon are coming off injury.  Sayre has had a noticable limp at times during the last two games and Scherer may just be playing it safe with those guys knowing that Strzemp could miss the season.  As for Bulldog Brizzolara, Mark Aloisio is doing what the Bulldog did a few seasons back. Solid defense, great ball movement and just enough offense to make the other team honest (though they shouldn't be).  Ryder was afraid to shoot in this game as him and Michael had a nice inside outside game going for a few possessions, but Ryder wouldn't pull the trigger.  As for Childs, he is a guy who you won't hear much of in the game and thats good for a freshman at the end of the bench because it means he isn't getting killed by the other team.
Burks bounced back with a great game (and two badly missed free throws to start the contest).  The team did a wonderful job getting him the ball and Oshkosh decided they were going to allow him to beat them instead of allowing EC to go inside to take their chances against Gibson.  Big time mistake, this kid is a great player and a tremendous competitor.

Hopefully this team won't look past Alma (and towards finals and 9 days without a game) and roll into the BlueJay classic on a 5 game winning streak.  Speaking of that BlueJay classic, if you're in the area on Sat/Sun Dec 16-17 there should be some exciting basketball with Grinnell, Whitewater, and Kalamazoo visiting.

[Stat]

I agree, preseason rankings are weak, particularly at the D3 level.  The obscure group does its best throughout the season.

Hell, they can't get the BCS correct at the D1 level!

But all pub is good for D3.  If only more money flowed down, so they could get out of the Salem warehouse and VFW banquet center.   

Smileys for Stat, what has this come to?

[AUGsportsFAN]

I took a look from last year's top 25 rankings and Augie was not ranked as high as they are now until week 6.  Their one loss from a year ago before CCIW play was to UW Stout, a much better team than St. Ambrose.  I would say as of now they are for sure a top 25 team, but number 11 seems a little high.

[ac_fan]

Just got back from the Augie JV game tonight against a highly touted Highland Community College team. Augie lost by ten but I will have to agree with knarocky22 that Alex Washington can create some scores and is a very smooth player. He seemed to be on a different level than some of the other JV players tonight against a really good Highland team.

[David Collinge]

Pre-season rankings are garbage.  The first poll should occur maybe a month into the season when people have some idea what is going on. 

Last year's Final Four teams were ranked #1, #5, #10, and #11 in the preseason poll.  Seven of the teams in the preseason Top 10 were ranked #16 or higher in the final pre-tournament poll.  That's a pretty high class of garbage. 

[WahooThunder]

Wheaton 112, Principia 52

Raymond - 10 pts. 5 ast. - only played nine minutes

Dave Noell - 22 points (6-8 3PT)

Brad Smith - 19 pts. 11 reb.

David Eseke - 17 points (5-5 3PT)

[Gregory Sager]

BTW, it never occurred to me that Wheaton College's possession of the wardrobe that supposedly gave C.S. Lewis so much inspiration was an obscure fact.  It is, however, not an undisputed fact: Westmont College in Santa Barbara also claims it has possession of 'the' wardrobe.

Wheaton and Westmont also each claim to have the Holy Grail in their archival collections. Unfortunately, all we have at NPU is a Grail-shaped beacon.

...and a whole bunch of virgins, I trust. 

Yes, North Park has eightscore young blondes, all between sixteen and nineteen-and-a-half, cut off on that campus, with no one to protect them. Oh, it is a lonely life ... bathing ... dressing ... undressing ... making exciting underwear ... they are just not used to handsome knights.

The zone is also a reason Michael did seemingly nothing on the offensive end.  The fact was, yes he was invisible for the majority of this game, but that cannot take away from the tremendous job he did on the defensive end playing solid ball against supersized Gibson.

There's more to it than that. Brent Ruch was caught in the middle of that same 2-3 zone last night, and yet he managed to string together a series of good shots in the low post in the second half that carried the Bluejays for awhile.

I agree that Michael played good defense against Gibson, but part of Gibson's problem is that he doesn't play as big as he is. By that I mean that he looks like one of those players who has always had an easy time scoring because he's so much taller than everyone else, but when he is physically challenged he backs down. There were several occasions last night where he might've scored down in the blocks if he'd put some muscle into it.

As for Bulldog Brizzolara, Mark Aloisio is doing what the Bulldog did a few seasons back.

That doesn't answer the question about Brizzolara's absence. Is he hurt? Sick? In the doghouse? Left the team? Why didn't he play last night?

Hopefully this team won't look past Alma

The Scots appear to be struggling as usual, as they're 1-4 and can claim an overtime win over mighty Grace Bible College as their sole victory. It'll take a pretty serious case of looking past a team for the 'jays to blow Thursday's game, even on the road.

Wheaton 112, Principia 52

Raymond - 10 pts. 5 ast. - only played nine minutes

Dave Noell - 22 points (6-8 3PT)

Brad Smith - 19 pts. 11 reb.

David Eseke - 17 points (5-5 3PT)

What in the wide, wide world of sports made Bill Harris schedule a game against Principia? I sure hope that he was filling a late cancellation. The Panthers are coming off of a 2-22 season in which their only wins came over Lincoln Christian College and St. Louis College of Pharmacy. They haven't beaten a D3 team since February, 2005. This year they're 0-5 and the only opponent who hasn't humiliated them by at least 39 points is -- yes -- the mighty Eutectics of St. Louis College of Pharmacy, who beat the Panthers by eight (probably because the Eutectics' lab coats keep getting in the way when they dribble). Bill could've suited up Nate Frank, Owen Handy, and any three random members of the Wheaton pep band, and they still would've beaten Principia in a walkover.

At least none of Wheaton's starters played double-digit minutes in this absurd game. Coach Harris could give Lincoln's Coach Yuille a tutorial on how to gracefully conduct a blowout.

[Pat Coleman]

But all pub is good for D3.  If only more money flowed down, so they could get out of the Salem warehouse and VFW banquet center.   

Sorry you didn't have a good time but Salem has done a great job hosting the Final Four.

[AndOne]

What in the wide, wide world of sports made Bill Harris schedule a game against Principia? I sure hope that he was filling a late cancellation. The Panthers are coming off of a 2-22 season in which their only wins came over Lincoln Christian College and St. Louis College of Pharmacy. They haven't beaten a D3 team since February, 2005. This year they're 0-5 and the only opponent who hasn't humiliated them by at least 39 points is -- yes -- the mighty Eutectics of St. Louis College of Pharmacy, who beat the Panthers by eight (probably because the Eutectics' lab coats keep getting in the way when they dribble). Bill could've suited up Nate Frank, Owen Handy, and any three random members of the Wheaton pep band, and they still would've beaten Principia in a walkover.

At least none of Wheaton's starters played double-digit minutes in this absurd game. Coach Harris could give Lincoln's Coach Yuille a tutorial on how to gracefully conduct a blowout.

From what I can tell, just about EVERY good team has at least a few cupcakes on its schedule. I'm sure the scheduling of all average or above average non conference teams within a reasonable distance can be difficult. But hey, the best D1 teams usually schedule several non-conference cupcakes every year. Why should D3 be any different? You need those wins to qualify for the Big Dance.
Alas, ours is not to question why---ours is to do or die.

Also----You're right Greg. At least Coach Harris showed class by playing his least used players for the majority of the game. Not like Yuille and the Lincoln mess.

[Gregory Sager]

From what I can tell, just about EVERY good team has at least a few cupcakes on its schedule. I'm sure the scheduling of all average or above average non conference teams within a reasonable distance can be difficult. But hey, the best D1 teams usually schedule several non-conference cupcakes every year. Why should D3 be any different?

Well, there's cupcakes and then there's cupcakes. As cupcakes go, Principia's more like a three-feet-in-diameter, three-tiered job with little statues of a bride and a groom on the top. 

You need those wins to qualify for the Big Dance.

This win will be counterproductive for Wheaton in that regard, since it'll drag down the QOWI for the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance. As a Pool C contender, you're always looking to get your QOWI up over 10, but this win will invariably end up being worth a grade of only 8 (i.e., a home win over a regional foe whose regional winning percentage is lower than .333) come the end of the season.

[AndOne]

Thanks for the reminder about the QOWI. I remember reading a little about it somewhere, but must admit I am not really aware of how its determined, and what factor it plays in tournament selection. Am I alone in my ignorance of the subject?

[Pat Coleman]

There's a fair amount of that type of information in our FAQ. Not sure where the FAQ is? Look at the bottom of my post.