MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[79jaybird]

Dave Ennet is very pro-Northwestern, but he does call a fairly even game.  He is indeed well known as "Mr. Cat" and a very nice person to meet in person.  Ennet has also done pre-game for the Chicago Cubs as well as cover WGN Sports Segment on the WGN 9 o'clock News.

[Titan Q]

I am actually not a Cubs-hating White Sox fan...although I may joke about being one.  Grandpa McClowry, my mom's father, is a lifelong, diehard Cubs fan who was born and raised in the heart of White Sox country.  A southside Irishmen who loves the Cubs as much as anyone I know.  My mom and her 8 siblings are all huge Cubs fans. 

I connected with the White Sox from early on, but out of respect for mom, I've never been a Cubs-hating Sox type.  So yes, I can take some Cubs talk on WGN if the show is good.

(I was raised with a Cubs fan mom and a Cardinals fan dad...interesting dynamics there.)

[knarocky22]

OurHouse, I have also seen Bayer play, and am confident in saying that any CCIW program would be more than happy to have him.  Also, to call Olivet a "lousy" team is a bit far-fetched as they have been pretty successful over the years.

[Late nite]

   Wheaton played hard, smart and good fundamental basketball---something CCIW opponents see from them on a yearly basis, even last year when they had so many new players---The result was not a surprise to me---two reasons---The Thunder has played some good basketball and already beaten some quality D3 opponents this year---Northwestern isn't the same top 10 Illini team that IWU played last year or the top 20 ranked SIU team that Augie played 2 years ago---It was a good matchup for Wheaton---They will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming conference season
   

[matblake]

Anyone care to comment on how WGN called the game?  Were they complete homers or did Wheaton get "some" credit.

WGN-AM Sports Director Dave Eanet is a member of NU's Athletic Hall of Fame. His nickname is "Mr. Cat". I've never listened to any of his NU football or basketball broadcasts, but I'm guessing that he's a homer in how he calls the game, but a fair and even-handed one in terms of describing it. Am I right?

I thought the call was good.  It was hard to get a handle on it for me because of their amazement at what was happening.  I definitely didn't sense that it was disrespect, they just didn't expect it.  They definitely gave Raymond his due and the Wheaton team for their rebounding effort, although the color guy did attribute it to lack of effort by Northwestern.

[coat]

You two are just begging the question, though: Why doesn't Wheaton get more support for its other games? Where were all of these people during the Pfund (which had a pretty good field of teams this year), or for so many CCIW games in recent years in which the Wheaton turnout has not been what it should be? Why haven't those games had "so much more meaning for Wheaton fans"? Why can all the Wheaton fans who normally travel to road games fit into two SUVs, with seats left over?

Perhaps Wheaton has a lot of fans that live in Chicago? For city dwellers, Evanston is heck of a lot easier to get to than Wheaton is!

[The Roop]

Congratulations and shame on Wheaton at the same time. D3s are supposed to make an effort then take a dive in the final 10 minutes or so. You can't make the D1 work so hard or they won't schedule D3s in the future. 

[dansand]

6-5 freshman guard Paul Bayer (Lehigh) is transfering to Olivet Nazarene.  Bayer was a big-time player at Moline H.S. -- I wonder if he considered Augustana in the transfer process??

http://www.lehighsports.com/sports/mbball/rosters/displayPlayer.asp?PLAYER_ID=2328

Q,
That's interesting news. A friend of mine and I were wondering why he was no longer listed on Lehigh's roster...now I know. He had some looks from some scholarship D1's (I think Lehigh is non-scholarship, like the Ivy league). I heard Creighton most often, but also Wyoming, Stanford and Marquette. I don't know if any of them actually made him an offer, though. I think he's better suited for small college ball.

He's 6-5 and a very good shooter who makes up for a slightly low release by getting it off quickly, with excellent range-well beyond the 19'9" line. He's not very athletic, and plays a little too upright, but is a pretty clever scorer around the basket. I think he would've been a very good CCIW player and should do well at ONU.

[OurHouse]

OurHouse, I have also seen Bayer play, and am confident in saying that any CCIW program would be more than happy to have him.  Also, to call Olivet a "lousy" team is a bit far-fetched as they have been pretty successful over the years.

Oh, I agree with you knarocky22 about any CCIW would like to have him - good shooter but slow on his feet.

I meant ONU is "lousy" this year since they had some folks leave over the past year or so....they will rebuild just like any other team in dire need for talent!

[Jim Matson]

Some quotes on the Wheaton/Northwestern game from today's Sun-Times:

If NU (6-2) could rebound better, it would make things easier on itself. Instead, coach Bill Harris' smaller but quicker Thunder ran a rebounding clinic, dominating the Wildcats 36-19 on the glass.

''Defense and rebounding will keep you in a game on a night like tonight, when we didn't shoot well,'' Harris said.

''It's just discouraging, and I don't know what to do about it,'' Carmody said. ''We do box-out drills, and it still doesn't seem to work. At one point, I pulled Scott and put [6-5 forward] Tim Doyle at center in the second half.''

The funny thing is that Wheaton will still lose to Augie on the road - they always do!

[Jim Matson]

I finally got to meet April last night at the Wheaton game.  After all these years...

Hi April!

[dansand]

Some quotes on the Wheaton/Northwestern game from today's Sun-Times:

If NU (6-2) could rebound better, it would make things easier on itself. Instead, coach Bill Harris' smaller but quicker Thunder ran a rebounding clinic, dominating the Wildcats 36-19 on the glass.

''Defense and rebounding will keep you in a game on a night like tonight, when we didn't shoot well,'' Harris said.

''It's just discouraging, and I don't know what to do about it,'' Carmody said. ''We do box-out drills, and it still doesn't seem to work. At one point, I pulled Scott and put [6-5 forward] Tim Doyle at center in the second half.''

The funny thing is that Wheaton will still lose to Augie on the road - they always do!

Why is that funny? Augie is 3-2 all-time versus Northwestern. 

[formerd3db]

6-5 freshman guard Paul Bayer (Lehigh) is transfering to Olivet Nazarene.  Bayer was a big-time player at Moline H.S. -- I wonder if he considered Augustana in the transfer process??

http://www.lehighsports.com/sports/mbball/rosters/displayPlayer.asp?PLAYER_ID=2328

Q,
That's interesting news. A friend of mine and I were wondering why he was no longer listed on Lehigh's roster...now I know. He had some looks from some scholarship D1's (I think Lehigh is non-scholarship, like the Ivy league). I heard Creighton most often, but also Wyoming, Stanford and Marquette. I don't know if any of them actually made him an offer, though. I think he's better suited for small college ball.

He's 6-5 and a very good shooter who makes up for a slightly low release by getting it off quickly, with excellent range-well beyond the 19'9" line. He's not very athletic, and plays a little too upright, but is a pretty clever scorer around the basket. I think he would've been a very good CCIW player and should do well at ONU.

Quick question for you guys: Is he transferring now i.e. for Jan 2007, and if so, will he be immediately eligible due to transferring "up" to DIII (or NAIA) or will he have to sit out this year due to the enrolled student "semester rule"?

[Titan Q]

Two interesting and significant in-region games today at 3:00pm:

#25 Carthage (5-1) @ #9 Lawrence (4-1)

#23 Chicago (6-1) @ Illinois Wesleyan (5-3)


I'm looking forward to seeing the IWU/Chicago matchup -- two extremely contrasting styles.  IWU, of course, is led by the inside game of 6-7 Zach Freeman (21.1 ppg, 11.3 rpg, .663 FG).  IWU's second and third leading scores are the other two members of the frontline, Andrew Freeman (12.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg), and Darius Gant (10.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg).  67% of the Titans' FG attempts through 8 games have been 2-pointers.

Chicago, on the other hand, fires up more 3's than just about everyone but the "System" teams -- 52% of the Maroons' attempts this season are from beyond the arc.  And they not only shoot a lot of them, they shoot 'em real well.  Chicago is shooting .401 from 3-pt territory through 7 games.  The Maroons are led by guard Brandon Woodhead (16.7 ppg, 17-43 3-pt) and forward Nate Hainje (12.4 ppg, 11-33 3-pt).

Some interesting individual matchups:

http://www.iwuhoops.com/notes07.htm


This game is big for both teams, just like the game in Appleton.

[Titan Q]

Quick question for you guys: Is he transferring now i.e. for Jan 2007, and if so, will he be immediately eligible due to transferring "up" to DIII (or NAIA) or will he have to sit out this year due to the enrolled student "semester rule"?

Paul Bayer Transfers To Olivet Nazarene
December 13, 2006

6:30 P.M. CST

Paul Bayer, a 6'4 shooting guard who played his high school basketball at Moline High School in Moline, IL has decided to leave Lehigh University and transfer to Olivet Nazarene, an NAIA school in Bourbonnais, IL.  Bayer will be leaving Lehigh at the semester break.

Ultimately, Bayer's decision on where to transfer came down to Olivet or walking on at Marquette.  Golden Eagle head coach Tom Crean extended an offer for Bayer to be a "preferred walk-on', meaning that he could have possibly earned a scholarship for the class of 2008.  However, in the end, Olivet presented Bayer with an overall environment that was simply impossible to pass up.

There is no question that one considers all of the factors that went into Bayer's decision, that Olivet is a perfect fit.  Bayer is just as committed to spiritual and religious life as he is to basketball, and he will undoubtedly be able to incorporate that into both his basketball and academic life at Olivet.  In addition, the entire Bayer family thinks very highly of Olivet head coach Ralph Hodge and the fact that he has established a winning tradition as well as an outstanding track record of developing players.  Also, Paul's parents, Larry and Charla, met during their college years at a sister school to Olivet--Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, ID and as a result are quite familiar with everything that Olivet has to offer.

Since Bayer will be leaving Lehigh immediately at the semester break, he will still have four years of eligibility at Olivet beginning next fall.  He will have the opportunity to practice with the Olivet team as early as next semester.

It also goes without saying that Olivet Nazarene continues to do an outstanding job of recruiting Illinois-based players, which is a big reason why Olivet is currently an NAIA power in basketball.  In addition to Hodge, a ton of credit must also go to assistant coach Dan Voudrie, who is a tireless worker on the recruiting trail.

http://ilprepbullseye.com/index.html