MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Well, after nine ties and five lead changes, NPU (8-2) managed to stave off Lake Forest (5-3), 57-56. The Vikings did manage to hold the lead for the last seven minutes, but a rash of turnovers kept them from putting away the Foresters and almost cost them the game.

Freshman forward Nick Williams, who is really coming on strong over the past few games, led the Vikes with 15 points. Anthony Lenoir had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Antonio Stevens joined fellow plebe Williams in coming off the bench and posting a solid game, as he had 10 points and 7 boards.

NPU had fewer turnovers than the Foresters, and the Vikes outrebounded LFC, 39-29, but dreadful shooting by the Park kept the Foresters in the game. NPU shot less than 37% for the game, and only 25% from downtown. They're going to need a better effort than that to beat Coe (6-1) in the Midwest Invitational final tomorrow night. The Kohawks defeated Dominican, 72-61, in the other first-round game.

Every CCIW team plays their more than their share of cupcakes in the pre-season

Ahem. Non-conference, not preseason.

Thank you. 

[Gregory Sager]

Aw, geez, Q,

If you had crashed, I coulda had Andrew in the fantasy draft!

Did I really post that!

Chuck, please don't make me root for Jay Alexander's game to tank this season. 

[Titan Q]

IWU 85
Hanover 64

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/mbb2007/hmb-iwu.htm

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2006/12/20/sports/doc4588c3eeda38e157360582.txt


Zach and Andrew Freeman combined for 49 points and 18 rebounds last night.  Andrew had his best game since UW-Whitewater back on November 18 -- 20 of his 25 points came in the 2nd half.  He had 8 points in IWU's big 20-4 second half run that took the score from 43-40 Hanover with 16:49 to play to 60-47 IWU at 9:09.

Hanover's varsity roster consists of 8 freshmen and 4 juniors (no seniors, no sophomores).  The Panthers are a pretty good team this year and they are going to be outstanding next year.  This was a solid road win for the Titans and the best they've played in quite a few games.

[TitanBacker]

Sounds like IWU played a great second half against a pretty decent Hanover team.  There are a few things that worry me and those that are closer to the program, please feel free to comment.

It seems like the twins are all we have until Sean Dwyer comes back.  It could work but would require outstanding games from the two Freemans every night in the CCIW.  IMO you can't be great all the time. 

Also, on paper, Hanover doesn't impress me.  I will take Q's knowledge that this was a good road win and go with it.

Why did Darius Gant only play 18 minutes?  He seemed to be a non-factor in this game and he needs to step up further.  Did he get hurt, was he having an off night, etc?

The Titans have 10 days off until their next game.  Any thoughts on if this could help or hurt the Guys in Green?

[mwunder]

Well, when the next poll comes out and the Carthage/Lawrence game is actually considered, you might see that change.

Carthage beat No. 22 Hope and unranked Calvin. That's what the pollsters are looking at. It doesn't matter a whole heckuva lot what Hope and Calvin were ranked through two games and four games respectively now that we have data through six and eight.

Since you can't read tone of voice on a message board, this really is a question.  In reading the FAQ's about the Top 25, it states, "Voters receive information Monday morning and have Monday to vote. We compile the vote tally and release it by Tuesday afternoon. On occasion we are able to release the poll on Monday night, if all of the voters get their ballots in on time. It is always through Sunday's games unless noted."

Why would the Lawrence/Carthage game not be considered until next week when the poll is through games of Sunday, December 17th and the game happened on the 16th?

I do understand your point about Calvin and Hope.  They were good wins "at the time", but "at the time" is not the present.

[David Collinge]

Hanover chucked up 40 treys in 40 minutes, took 13 more FG attempts than IWU (despite being outrebounded by 18), and forced 17 turnovers, including 11 steals.  Yumpin' Yimminy!  When did they start running The System? 

[REDMENFAN]

Bowens scored 18 for Carthage, as did Schlemm, who also pulled down a team high 11 boards. Milos had 15 (all 3 pointers), Fendley who is a great jump shooting freshman had 12, and Freshman point guard Joe Higgins from Kenosha St. Joes dished out 7 assists. Hopefully the Redmen don't look past Marietta and their 3-5 record and come home with 2 victories from Vegas (after some fun times and late nights of course!)

[79jaybird]

AndOne--  good points.  I have come to realize that Top 25 polls (at any level) are just that- a poll which is synonym to "opinion".
All that matters in essence is how the team(s) play on gameday.  I agree with Mr. Ypsi that the 2 WIAC wins (for EC) are great, St. Norby was good, but blah blah blah wins over Rockford, IIT (can't believe we played them). 
I agree that if Elmhurst takes care of business in this RDV Sportsplex Tourn. and then gives Augie a good fight (hopefully a win    )  then they will get more votes to be in the 25 shuffle.

Just like Football, the CCIW BBall Season is going to be a marathon with every game being a close, dogfight.  Makes for exciting basketball and the eventual champ well conditioned for post-season.

[Pat Coleman]

Well, when the next poll comes out and the Carthage/Lawrence game is actually considered, you might see that change.

Carthage beat No. 22 Hope and unranked Calvin. That's what the pollsters are looking at. It doesn't matter a whole heckuva lot what Hope and Calvin were ranked through two games and four games respectively now that we have data through six and eight.

Since you can't read tone of voice on a message board, this really is a question.  In reading the FAQ's about the Top 25, it states, "Voters receive information Monday morning and have Monday to vote. We compile the vote tally and release it by Tuesday afternoon. On occasion we are able to release the poll on Monday night, if all of the voters get their ballots in on time. It is always through Sunday's games unless noted."

Why would the Lawrence/Carthage game not be considered until next week when the poll is through games of Sunday, December 17th and the game happened on the 16th?

I do understand your point about Calvin and Hope.  They were good wins "at the time", but "at the time" is not the present.

Sorry -- had that game crossed up in my mind with Lawrence/UW-Oshkosh, which took place on Monday.

[Late nite]

   Why would a team throw up 40 treys against a team with very questionable front court depth?---Hanover played right into IWU's hand---Wouldn't you try to get their talented front line in foul trouble?---Just a thought
   

Hanover chucked up 40 treys in 40 minutes, took 13 more FG attempts than IWU (despite being outrebounded by 18), and forced 17 turnovers, including 11 steals.  Yumpin' Yimminy!  When did they start running The System? 

[mwunder]

Is this being broadcast via the web?  I keep getting a connection failure with allinbroadcasting.com

[Late nite]

The cream will rise to the top---I believe a team with 3 or less losses will be the champ---Road victories will be precious---There seems to be great parity from 1-8 in the conference---As for the rankings---As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see if some of the "quality" victories were against legitimate contenders or against teams that were overrated at the beginning of the season (Whitewater?, Lawrence?, Carroll?, Coe?, Wash U?)---

Speaking of pounding on each other--------

I'm starting to get the distinct feeling that this year's CCIW regular season champ could very well finish 9-5 in the conference, or possibly 10-4 at best.

We have many many people who post on this board who have a wealth of knowledge about D3 college basketball in general and about the CCIW in particular.

Ladies/Gentlemen-----What are your thoughts on this possibliity?

[AndOne]

AndOne--  good points.  I have come to realize that Top 25 polls (at any level) are just that- a poll which is synonym to "opinion".
All that matters in essence is how the team(s) play on gameday.  I agree with Mr. Ypsi that the 2 WIAC wins (for EC) are great, St. Norby was good, but blah blah blah wins over Rockford, IIT (can't believe we played them). 
I agree that if Elmhurst takes care of business in this RDV Sportsplex Tourn. and then gives Augie a good fight (hopefully a win    )  then they will get more votes to be in the 25 shuffle.

Just like Football, the CCIW BBall Season is going to be a marathon with every game being a close, dogfight.  Makes for exciting basketball and the eventual champ well conditioned for post-season.

Indeed!
I really think that one reason IWU did so well in the NCAA tourney last season was the level of conference competition they faced leading up to the tourney. I think the same can always be said for any CCIW team that does well nationally. Thats probably the primary reason the CCIW is so highly regarded not only locally, but on the national scene as well! 

[Titan Q]

   Why would a team throw up 40 treys against a team with very questionable front court depth?---Hanover played right into IWU's hand---Wouldn't you try to get their talented front line in foul trouble?---Just a thought

I think Mike Bietzel's assessment of Illinois Wesleyan heading into the game was probably something like:

* Shakey ball handling/distributing team.

* Not good at defending the 3.

* Thin rotation (lack of depth).


He developed a defensive gameplan built around fullcourt, pressure defense in an effort to a) generate turnovers, and b) wear out the Titan starters.  On offense he decided his best bet was to exploit IWU's perimeter defense and try to get good 3-pt looks.  6-7/220 center Robby Brown can do a lot of damage vs smaller post players, but not against a 6-7 center as athletic as Zach Freeman.  And Brown is their only real back-to-the-basket threat....dumping it down low vs IWU wasn't really a great option.

Keep in mind, this Hanover team plays a different style than years past due to personnel.  In yesterday's Pantagraph article previewing the game, Bietzel said, "We're very small and a young ballclub. Our junior center (Robby Brown) is 6-7, but he's our only guy over 6-3."  He went on to say, "We play a little different style of basketball than the Titans are used to seeing from us.  We've been running up and down the court, shooting a lot of threes. They should like that."

Hanover's 2006-07 style and IWU-specific gameplan created a very fast pace.  They came in averaging 27 3-pt attempts per game and fired up 23 in the 1st half alone yesterday...40 total.  As someone who saw all of the IWU/Hanover games in the Adam Dauksas/Ben Lye years, I found myself shocked at the pace of last night's game.  The last three years, IWU has had to deal with Hanover's "deliberate" style -- walking the ball up the floor and running the shot clock down on every possession.  Hanover did such a good job making those Titan teams play defense for 35 seconds and also of shutting down IWU's transition game and forcing the Titans to execute in halfcourt offense.  Of any team the Dauksas/Amelianovich-era Titans faced, Hanover was the one that consistently gave them the most problems.  Last night was about as strange as going to a Grinnell game and seeing the Pioneers walk it up the floor.

Mike Bietzel's willingness to abandon his traditional style of basketball for one that suits his current personnel is impressive to me.  I think that's what great coaches/leaders do -- build on his or her team's strengths.

[TitanBacker]

Keep in mind, this Hanover team plays a different style than years past due to personnel.  In yesterday's Pantagraph article previewing the game, Bietzel said, "We're very small and a young ballclub. Our junior center (Robby Brown) is 6-7, but he's our only guy over 6-3."  He went on to say, "We play a little different style of basketball than the Titans are used to seeing from us.  We've been running up and down the court, shooting a lot of threes. They should like that."

Hanover's 2006-07 style and IWU-specific gameplan created a very fast pace.  They came in averaging 27 3-pt attempts per game and fired up 23 in the 1st half alone yesterday...40 total.  As someone who saw all of the IWU/Hanover games in the Adam Dauksas/Ben Lye years, I found myself shocked at the pace of last night's game.  The last three years, IWU has had to deal with Hanover's "deliberate" style -- walking the ball up the floor and running the shot clock down on every possession.  Hanover did such a good job making those Titan teams play defense for 35 seconds and also of shutting down IWU's transition game and forcing the Titans to execute in halfcourt offense.  Of any team the Dauksas/Amelianovich-era Titans faced, Hanover was the one that consistently gave them the most problems.  Last night was about as strange as going to a Grinnell game and seeing the Pioneers walk it up the floor.

That helps to answer alot of my questions.  I was also there for most of the Dauksas/Amelianovich era and remember those slow paced games against Hanover.