MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

I have plenty of evidence. Most of it is circumstancial and hearsay, but those are types of evidence.

Is that anything like-----"If it doesn't fit, you must aquit"   

Circumstantial & hearsay = BULL****   

[augiefan]

I too was at the Augie-NCC game, and there was minor contact on NCC's last shot, the kind that is frequent throughout any well played game. However, I have been to hundreds of basketball games in my life, and I have rarely seen officials call a foul in that situation. The refs do not want to call a foul that decides a close game, unless it is close to flagrant. The players for both teams know this and have learned to live with it.

Congrats to Augie for great win against a talented NCC team. I am not looking forward to the the Cardinals trip to RI, as they seem to be a better road team this year. In fact the road teams are winning a much higher percentage than normal this year in conference play.

I am proud of Augie gutting out a tough one in Naperville, where they had not won in several years. This team is very deep, and Coach G. is not dependent on one or two star players like last season. However,  I do admit that D. Swetalla and Wessels are a cut above the others and the keys to the team's overall success.

[wheatonfanaddict]

OurHouse,

this is exactly what I quoted you as saying to the team.

"Wheaton is NOTHING without Raymond only because they have no talented BIG guys and one smaller additional guard who cannot drive the lane but only hit 3's (anyone can do that)....if Raymond does not play, Wheaton is garbage!!"

Perhaps you could supply me with a few more acerbic quotes for when they come to your house.

ha ha ha

[tjcummingsfan]

Did you really show that to the team? 

[Gregory Sager]

Congrats to North Park and especially Coach Breneghan and his players.  What a tremendous job by that entire staff at turning around the NPU program.  Give or take a few plays NPU could have beat (and in many cases, should have beat) Elmhurst and would perhaps could have been on a 2 game winstreak.

Actually, one play -- that three-footer by Joe Capalbo with ten seconds left -- would've sufficed.

Anyway, I heartily agree that Paul Brenegan and his entire staff have done a tremendous job in turning around the NPU program. It's especially gratifying to see the Vikings have so much success with a rotation that prominently features four freshmen and a sophomore. But this is no time for Vikings fans to get all giddy; the team's only 3-3 and in fourth place in the league. There's a long way to go, both in terms of finishing the 2006-07 season successfully and (especially) in re-establishing the program as a national power. It's a long way back from oblivion, and the trip is just getting started for North Park.

[Gregory Sager]

While I laud NP's weekend effort, consistency should be the team's goal for the rest of the season.

Out of six CCIW games thus far, NPU has delivered a top-drawer effort in four of them. Three turned into victories, one was an extremely narrow loss to the #9 team in the nation. Consistency is one of the last things to come together for a team that mostly consists of freshmen and new transfers, but we're beginning to see it from this Vikings squad.

NPU won't play at peak efficiency every night, because almost no team does in college basketball. The thing against which the Vikings have to guard is having a total group collapse like the one that they had a week ago Saturday against Wheaton. In other words, if they're playing at only 85% efficiency on a given night, they might be able to get away with it (depending upon who and where they're playing). But if they play at 70% efficiency, they'll lose every time. That's just the way it is in the CCIW. The margin for error is not big in this league. Just ask Elmhurst; the Bluejays are probably the CCIW team that has the best chance of going deep into the tournament this year, and yet they came very close to going 0-2 last week.

[Gregory Sager]

With a little less than half the season left I think NP could quite possibly be part of that 4 team field.  It may be a long shot, but its still possible.

I don't think it's as much of a longshot as you think. I agree with AndOne and Rob; NPU's chance of making the CCIW tournament is actually pretty solid as long as the Vikings continue to play as well as they've played their last two games. Here's the current standings:

Augustana	5-1
Elmhurst	4-1
Wheaton	3-2
North Park	3-3
Carthage	2-3
North Central	2-3
Millikin	1-4
Illinois Wesleyan	1-4

At this juncture, NPU is in sole possession of fourth place. That's hardly a secure perch in terms of making the CCIW tournament, especially since we're not even all the way through the first round-robin, but I think it disproves the idea that the Vikings are a longshot. I agree with 79jaybird that the Vikings still have to achieve some pretty big "signature wins" in order to gain everyone's full respect, and Usee is of course speaking a truism when he says that no team in this league can take a night off. But as of the moment, NPU is right there in contention for the CCIW tourney.

I think it's going to be a real dogfight among all eight teams to make that four-team field. I think it'll be a little harder for Millikin, which is a young team that may still be a year away, and for Illinois Wesleyan, which appears to have some profound backcourt issues, than for the other six teams. But the two downstate teams are by no means out of it yet, and neither one should be either written off or considered an easy win by any stretch of the imagination. Likewise, I don't think that the two one-loss teams in the league, Elmhurst and Augustana, have anything sewed up yet -- although I admit that I'll be surprised if either one misses making the CCIW tourney field.

[usee]

With a little less than half the season left I think NP could quite possibly be part of that 4 team field.  It may be a long shot, but its still possible.

I don't think it's as much of a longshot as you think. I agree with AndOne and Rob; NPU's chance of making the CCIW tournament is actually pretty solid as long as the Vikings continue to play as well as they've played their last two games. Here's the current standings:

Augustana	5-1
Elmhurst	4-1
Wheaton	3-2
North Park	3-3
Carthage	2-3
North Central	2-3
Millikin	1-4
Illinois Wesleyan	1-4

At this juncture, NPU is in sole possession of fourth place. That's hardly a secure perch in terms of making the CCIW tournament, especially since we're not even all the way through the first round-robin, but I think it disproves the idea that the Vikings are a longshot. I agree with 79jaybird that the Vikings still have to achieve some pretty big "signature wins" in order to gain everyone's full respect, and Usee is of course speaking a truism when he says that no team in this league can take a night off. But as of the moment, NPU is right there in contention for the CCIW tourney.

I think it's going to be a real dogfight among all eight teams to make that four-team field. I think it'll be a little harder for Millikin, which is a young team that may still be a year away, and for Illinois Wesleyan, which appears to have some profound backcourt issues, than for the other six teams. But the two downstate teams are by no means out of it yet, and neither one should be either written off or considered an easy win by any stretch of the imagination. Likewise, I don't think that the two one-loss teams in the league, Elmhurst and Augustana, have anything sewed up yet -- although I admit that I'll be surprised if either one misses making the CCIW tourney field.

I think NPU is definately in the thick of it. we don't know a lot about some teams just yet. I think we can be most confident about Elmhurst and Augie making the CCIW tourney but the other two spots are a toss up. We all know the CCIW title is decided in how you play on the road. it is assumed you have to protect your home court. looking at it this way you have the following so far:
                 
                      Overall                H           A
Augustana           5-1                2-0         3-1
Elmhurst              4-1                2-0         2-1
Wheaton             3-2                2-2         1-0
North Park           3-3                1-2         2-1
Carthage             2-3                1-1         1-2
NCC                    2-3                0-3         2-0
Millikin                 1-4                0-2         1-2
IWU                    1-4                1-2         0-2


Based on these early returns Augie and Elmhurst have proven themselves at home and on the road. NPU has 2 big road wins. we don't know much else other than NCC is a real enigma, winning 2 road games while losing all 3 at home. There are some big road games coming up that will give us all a much clearer picture of the conference race.

[AndOne]

Generally, in any sport, your often hear "if it looks like it could go either way, take the home team." While this is a generalization, I do believe statistics actually do show the vast majority of teams do better at home than on the road. Naturally, there are always exceptions. A case in point this year would be NCC.

A review of the remaining schedule reveals the following re home vs away games remaining:

Augie              6 home----2 away
Elmhurst         5 home----4 away
Wheaton        3 home----6 away
NPU                3 home----5 away
Carthage        5 home----4 away
NCC                4 home----5 away
Millikin             5 home----4 away
IWU                4 home----5 away

If the remaining results fall in line with the theory that the chances of a victory at home exceed those of a road win, it appears Augie is in for sure and Elmhurst has an excellent chance. As GS stated above, it will be very surprising if those two don't make it. As far as the current 3-6 teams, Wheaton and NPU both have the fewest home games remaining. Does this spell trouble--not necessarily---but it does mean they will have the most pressure to notch some road wins. Carthage looks to have a little advantage with 5 home contests remaining. NCC has 4 left, but so far home games have not proven to be an advantage. Look for that record to improve. Millikin and IWU with 5 and 4 left at home are both too good to be counted out.

My intent here is not really to advance any theory--in the tough CCIW, you can most often throw conventional "wisdom" out. I just thought it might be interesting to see whats left on everyone's schedule from the point of home vs away games remaining.

[Gregory Sager]

NPU actually has four home games and four road games remaining, AO:

Wed 1/24	CARTHAGE
Sat 1/27	@ Millikin
Wed 1/31	AUGUSTANA
Sat 2/3	@ Wheaton
Wed 2/7	NORTH CENTRAL
Sat 2/10	@ Elmhurst
Wed 2/14	@ Carthage
Sat 2/17	ILLINOIS WESLEYAN

[AndOne]

The D3Hoops.com schedule shows NPU AT Augie on Tues 1/30, rather than at home vs Augie on Wed, 1/31. Check it out. Not saying you are wrong. Just taking it off the D3 schedule. Check it out.
Maybe I uncovered an error? 

[AndOne]

http://www.d3hoops.com/school_info.php?year=2007&team=mens&school=Augustana
Wed., Jan 24   7:30 pm   vs. Carthage • *           
Sat., Jan 27   7:30 pm   at Millikin • *           
Tue., Jan 30   7:30 pm   at Augustana • *           
Sat., Feb 3   7:30 pm   at Wheaton (Ill.) • *           
Wed., Feb 7   7:30 pm   vs. North Central • *           
Sat., Feb 10   7:30 pm   at Elmhurst • *           
Wed., Feb 14   7:30 pm   at Carthage • *           
Sat., Feb 17   7:30 pm   vs. Illinois Wesleyan • *

[Gregory Sager]

The D3Hoops.com schedule shows NPU AT Augie on Tues 1/30, rather than at home vs Augie on Wed, 1/31. Check it out. Not saying you are wrong. Just taking it off the D3 schedule. Check it out.
Maybe I uncovered an error? 

Yes, you did. The schedule listed on NPU's schedule page on this site mixed up the weekday women's game with the men's. The North Park women play @ Augie on Tuesday the 30th, and the men host Augie the next night.

The NPU men already played @ Augie, back on Wednesday the 3rd.

[AndOne]

The D3Hoops.com schedule shows NPU AT Augie on Tues 1/30, rather than at home vs Augie on Wed, 1/31. Check it out. Not saying you are wrong. Just taking it off the D3 schedule. Check it out.
Maybe I uncovered an error? 

Yes, you did. The schedule listed on NPU's schedule page on this site mixed up the weekday women's game with the men's. The North Park women play @ Augie on Tuesday the 30th, and the men host Augie the next night.

The NPU men already played @ Augie, back on Wednesday the 3rd.

Good. Now I can give myself +1 and go to bed! 
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Gregory Sager]

I don't think anyone's mentioned it yet on CCIW Chat, but last Thursday's "Small College Notes" column by Daryl Van Schouwen in the Sun-Times focused on NCC's Dan Walton. Really nice piece, too. Here's the link for those of you who missed it:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/215780,CST-SPT-small18.article