MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[cardinalpride]

In the 1st half last night, Zach Freeman grabbed career rebound #800.  He is now one of 3 players in Illinois Wesleyan history with 1600+ points and 800+ rebounds...

Jack Sikma (2272 pts, 1405 reb)
Greg Yess (1833 pts, 1068 reb)
Zach Freeman (1670 pts, 806 reb)


Zach is in elite company at a school that has had some great players.  I hope all IWU fans make the trip to Naperville Tuesday evening to see one of the best Titans ever play his last game.

Zach Freeman is such an outstanding player that it wouldn't be a surprise at all if he is named to the 1ST TEAM All-American squad.

With all due respect to Zach Freeman, I believe Kent Raymond is the MOP this year hands down!.  I don't care what Z. Freeman stat line reads.  He is an outstanding player in his own right.  However, Wheaton needs Raymond to score and he's done that and then some.  He has had to put wheaton on his back most of the year and has them 1 Carthage/NCC loss away from making the conference tournament.  By the way, he's doing this after sitting out a full year away from basketball and battling through his share of injuries this season.     How good will he be next year???!!!

[ecdubb420]

Wild game at RA Faganal Hall last night.  A game where both teams played very, very poorly and as it turned out, the team who made the most mistakes down the stretch lost the game.
I don't know whether it was the late start, the halftime delay or just something in the air, but both teams looked awful. 
EC has not looked good in the two games against Wheaton, however, I would really like to see a third Wheaton-EC game as they are due to both bring their A game and provide the fans with a classic CCIW conference opener.
I wish we could see some film of the last play at between NCC-Augie.  However, as it is "very hard to beat a team three times" this may bode well for Augie that NCC beat them as they will have a six days to prepare for the game, while NCC needs to focus all their energy on IWU.
Kent Raymond has officially taken the torch from Chris Martin as the unofficial champion of drawing weak contact calls.  Raymond is a star and this years MOP (pending a CCIW Tourney birth), but he is always in the ear of the ref and I've seen some extremely questionable calls go his way.  As soon as little used Freshman Dustin Bainter came in the game, i knew we would see two things;  Very good defense from Bainter (which was the case), but also 2-3 quick touch falls (also the case as Bainter had 4 fouls in 14 minutes of play).
I'll give him credit where credit is due, he knows what the refs are looking for and does a masterful job getting the calls very few players would get.  I'm not complaining by any stretch of the imagination because the kid is working with what the refs are giving him, but I'm just saying they give him virtually the same protection that was given to Martin for three years.

Few quick tidbits worth mentioning about the game last night.  Standard and Fiddler looked afraid to shoot in the second half.  In a game that needed someone to assert themselves behind the brilliance of Raymond, they really dropped the ball. Many, many easy looks passed up in favor of making an un-necessary pass.
Nick Michael was not good. When taken out late in the first half, the Wheaton fans pleaded with Coach Scherer to keep him in as he was Wheaton's MVP.  First half stats: 0pts, 0 rebounds, 4 TO's.  Not a memorable senior night.  Coach Scherer kept going to his big man, and Michael with Ruch and Hintszche really did a masterful job keeping Wheaton to one-and-done possessions.
Pat Bacon (23 points) has found Brian Lee's missing touch and claimed it as his own.  Bacon has really worked on his outside shot and once he nails a three, the whole court opens up.  He gets to the basket as well as anyone in the conference and has really asserted himself as a man who can carry EC on his back while Burks, Lee, and Michael are struggling. 
Ryan Burks 7-28 (2-12 3's) from the floor in the last two games.  His streak of 50 straight ft's ended tonight, but made the next nine to get back on track. 
First time in school history that EC has won 8+ conference games in 3 straight seasons (now 9+ wins).  Kudos to Coach Scherer and his staff as well as every player who has suited up for the Jays over the last three seasons.

[Late nite]

Typical classy response from AndOne---Ranks right up there with His "NewsFlash" post to ECDubb---Augie game was decided long before the final call of the game---NCC did everything right and dictated the game to Augie---NCC deserved to win---When an team shoots 71% from the floor, over 90% from the foul line and receives more than their share of favorable whistles throughout the entire game, you're probably in for a rough night---A hungry and desperate team did what they had to do---Although Simmons and Smith had good games, I thought that Lawrence was the difference in the game---He contolled tempo, didn't turn the ball over and made shots---He gave them a very positive game---Everybody starts fresh this Friday---I look forward to a rematch---Are both teams going to play the same game that they played last night?---Time will tell

[usee]

It seems we were all a little off in our estimation of what it would take to win at elmhurst last night. I thought Brian Lee had to play big and he wasn't much of a factor (9pts and 1 assist in 35 min). Jbird was thinking the fouls might be a big factor (25 FT a piece. fouls 21-19). Pat Bacon coming off the bench and scoring 23 was a huge factor in the game (kind of BLee lite if you will) but the biggest factor to me (and difference from the first meeting) was the complete disappearance of the 5 position for Wheaton. between Wiele and Denham the stat line is resembles the fire drill (3 pts, 1 A, 3 TO, 5 Rebs, 0 blocks, 0 steals). Pretty bad production compared the first meeting. tough to win with 1 spot not a factor.

Hopefully wheaton will win on wednesday in Kenosha and get a rematch w Elmhurst next Friday in RI.

[79jaybird]

Usee. congratulations on your 2000th post!!! 
I too, think the greatest difference from the first W/EC meeting and yesterday was the non-factor in the 2nd half of Fiddler, Standard, and Wiele.  These 3 were driving hard at Wheaton and drawing fouls.  Yesterday the only one who was really "digging in" to the bucket was Raymond.  He can't do it all.

Raymond gets a lot of "touchy" calls, but that is the ref's call and that's not going to change.  What bothered me last night about Raymond was that when he felt a call should have been made and/or wasn't, he was yapping right in the officials ear.  My take on it, is let the officials call the game, and you (Kent) concentrate on playing the game.

I thought the fire drill disrupted both teams mindset and rhythm.

If Elmhurst can win @ Millikin on Wed. that will give them 20+ wins for (I believe) only the 2nd time in school history.  Here's a look at EC's resume as they are definitely a bubble team right now.

Beat UW Oshkosh that was ranked at the time
Beat UW Whitewater that was ranked earlier and #26 at the time
Won the RDV Sportsplex Tournament in Orlando, FL (12/20-22)
Won the Bluejay Backers Tournament
Beat Augie when they were ranked
Beat Carthage when they were ranked
Swept IWU for the first time (ever probably), first win in Bloomington since 1989 and first ever win at the Shirk Center
Won 14 straight games and 15 of 16.
These are the positives, here are the negatives

Loss at Simpson on opening day won't look that good
Loss at Millikin  this is the killer that I hate to think about.  Really cost EC a chance at the CCIW co-championship

Hopefully getting 20 wins and playing a quality CCIW opening round game will be enough to have a Pool C shot, but the Jays have a couple of big hurdles to climb. 

[79jaybird]

Sounds like the NC/Augie game was a photo finish with a questionable call deciding the game.  I have been around sports long enough to know that any time there is a whistle on the last play of the game, 1 team is not going to be happy.  This time the call favored the Cardinals, perhaps the next call might favor the Vikings.  I think when you look back, it all evens out in the long run.

Sportsmanship, well I have been to every building and seen every team.  Going team to team
Augustana- There are a group of Vikings that aren't always the most cordial, but overall I think they are true fans out to support their team
Carthage-- Surprisingly, the Redmen have "cleaned up" their act and have been good sports the last few years.
Elmhurst- Hard to say, because too many of our guys are FAIR WEATHER FANS! 
IWU-- Great fans, they can get a little rowdy, but I love the Shirk's atmosphere
Millikin-- Decent fans, I have never had a problem with them
North Park--Very loyal fans at the Park
North Central-- Well, all I will say is that I don't prefer to come to Gregory Arena to watch a College Basketball Game.
Wheaton- Now I love going to King Arena as the fans, pep band, etc. are all very gracious and the arena is loud!
These are just my opinions and experiences.  I still think sportsmanship needs to be held high, and obscene gestures/crowd raisers aren't necessary.

[AndOne]

Typical classy response from AndOne---Ranks right up there with His "NewsFlash" post to ECDubb---Augie game was decided long before the final call of the game---NCC did everything right and dictated the game to Augie---NCC deserved to win---When an team shoots 71% from the floor, over 90% from the foul line and receives more than their share of favorable whistles throughout the entire game, you're probably in for a rough night---A hungry and desperate team did what they had to do---Although Simmons and Smith had good games, I thought that Lawrence was the difference in the game---He contolled tempo, didn't turn the ball over and made shots---He gave them a very positive game---Everybody starts fresh this Friday---I look forward to a rematch---Are both teams going to play the same game that they played last night?---Time will tell

Late---

With which of my typical classy responses did you have a problem? 

How can you say the outcome of the Augie/NCC game was "decided long before" the final play when Augie has just made a fabulous comeback from being something like 17 points down, and the score was tied? 
As the score was indeed, tied, I'd say, as I think most people would, that the outcome was highly in doubt!

Raymond Lawrence did have a good game (4 for 4). but your statement that "he didn't turn the ball over" is kind of a stuner in light of the fact the stat sheet shows he had 4, rather than the zero you imply,  turnovers.   
If you asked Raymond what part of his game last night could have used the most improvement, he would say it would have been to cut down on the turnovers.

So----a game that was tied with less than ONE second left was a game that had been "decided long before" and Mr. Lawrence who "didn't turn the ball over" officially had 4 turnovers. Veryyyyyyyy interesting. 

[79jaybird]

Undy32-- What do you mean by the "Luck" runs out on Augustana?
Ah, last I checked Augie is back to back CCIW Champs and most likely will get a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, and has proven to be just a little bit better than the other 7 schools this year?  I think you mean they have a Lucky Charm or are eating their Lucky Charms for breakfast!
Winning back to back CCIW Championships is not lucky, rather the Vikings are playing skilled and consistent ball.

[Titan Q]

If Elmhurst can win @ Millikin on Wed. that will give them 20+ wins for (I believe) only the 2nd time in school history.  Here's a look at EC's resume as they are definitely a bubble team right now.

Beat UW Oshkosh that was ranked at the time
Beat UW Whitewater that was ranked earlier and #26 at the time
Won the RDV Sportsplex Tournament in Orlando, FL (12/20-22)
Won the Bluejay Backers Tournament
Beat Augie when they were ranked
Beat Carthage when they were ranked
Swept IWU for the first time (ever probably), first win in Bloomington since 1989 and first ever win at the Shirk Center
Won 14 straight games and 15 of 16.
These are the positives, here are the negatives

Loss at Simpson on opening day won't look that good
Loss at Millikin  this is the killer that I hate to think about.  Really cost EC a chance at the CCIW co-championship

Hopefully getting 20 wins and playing a quality CCIW opening round game will be enough to have a Pool C shot, but the Jays have a couple of big hurdles to climb. 

As far as resumes go, there are only five things that matter:

* Win-loss percentage against regional opponents
* Quality of wins index (regional games only)
* In-region head-to-head competition
* In-region results vs common regional opponents
* In-region results vs regionally ranked teams

2007 Division III Men's Basketball Championship Hanbook (pages 16-17)

[Titan Q]

1. Augustana 11-3 
2. Elmhurst 9-4 (@Millikin Wed.)

? Wheaton 8-5 (@ Carthage Wed.)
? North Central  7-6 (vs IWU Tues.)
? Carthage 6-6 (@ Millikin today at 4:00pm, vs Wheaton Wed.) 

The #1 and 2 seeds have been decided (Elmhurst owns the tie-breaker over Wheaton via the split with Augie...Wheaton was swept by the Vikings). 

Huge game starting right now in Decatur.  A Big Blue win over Carthage locks both Wheaton and North Central into the conference tournament field.  Wheaton for obvious reasons...North Central because even with a Cardinals loss to IWU Tuesday and a Carthage win over Wheaton Wednesday - both 7-7 - NCC wins the tie-breaker.  NCC and Carthage split the head-to-head series and both split with #1Augie, but North Central split with #2 Elmhurst while Carthage was swept. 

With a Carthage win, we're still totally up in the air with Wheaton, North Central, and Carthage fighting for 2 spots.

Carthage leading scorer and rebounder Brian Schlemm (18.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg) is in street clothes per John Wiser on WRJN.  I gotta believe Millikin is favored in this one if Drew Gensler (tonsilitis) is OK...he is not in the starting lineup but expected to play.  We may know the 4-team field by 6:00pm.


http://www.millikin.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm

http://www.broadcastmonsters.com/

[theseguysaregood]

1. Augustana 11-3 
2. Elmhurst 9-4 (@Millikin Wed.)

? Wheaton 8-5 (@ Carthage Wed.)
? North Central  7-6 (vs IWU Tues.)
? Carthage 6-6 (@ Millikin today at 4:00pm, vs Wheaton Wed.) 

The #1 and 2 seeds have been decided (Elmhurst owns the tie-breaker over Wheaton via the split with Augie...Wheaton was swept by the Vikings). 

Huge game starting right now in Decatur.  A Big Blue win over Carthage locks both Wheaton and North Central into the conference tournament field.  Wheaton for obvious reasons...North Central because even with a Cardinals loss to IWU Tuesday and a Carthage win over Wheaton Wednesday - both 7-7 - NCC wins the tie-breaker.  Both NCC and Carthage have split with Augie, but North Central split with #2 Elmhurst while Carthage was swept. 

With a Carthage win, we're still totally up in the air with Wheaton, North Central, and Carthage fighting for 2 spots.

Carthage leading scorer and rebounder Brian Schlemm (18.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg) is in street clothes per John Wiser on WRJN.  I gotta believe Millikin is favored in this one if Drew Gensler (tonsilitis) is OK...he is not in the starting lineup but expected to play.  We may know the 4-team field by 6:00pm.


http://www.millikin.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm

http://www.broadcastmonsters.com/

Looks from the stat link that Gensler isn't starting, any word on whether he will play?

[Titan Q]

Not starting, but expected to play.

[AndOne]

Wow, where to start on this one. 85-81, North Central. I'm sure there will be plenty of back and forth over the last call, but I'll save my comments for later.

North Central played a great game. Anthony Simmons (26 pts) and, especially, Brandon Smith (22) just killed the Vikes. I haven't seen a team dissect Augie's defense like that since last year's CCIW tourney loss against IWU. The Cardinals shot 70% for the game and 83% in the second half. Tough to beat that.

Actually, the Cardinals shot 88.2% (15 of17), rather than 83% in the 2nd half.
For the game they shot 71.4%, including 66.7 % on 3 pointers, and 90.5% on FTs

AndOne,
If you check the play-by-play, they credited Joe Caricato with a 3 attempt at 2:25 of the second half. It was actually a 3 attempt by Simmons. They both wear #50 and the stat crew must've entered #50 for Augie instead of #50 for NCC. Caricato wasn't even in the game. That would make the Cardinals 30-43 (.698) for the game and 15-18 (.833) in the second half...still amazing.

I'm not surprised that you ignored the five paragraphs of my post saying NCC played great, NCC dissected Augie's defense, Augie played bad, NCC deserved to win the game, etc. and chose to dispute my description of the last play. I expected nothing less. Your inability to comprehend my shots-per-minute analysis for Pat Brusveen earlier this week shows that you're not about to let facts get in the way of objectivity. So to use the vernacular of today's young folks...whatever.

Dan---

1. I was operating from the official stat sheet handed to me by a member of the Augie athletic office when I quoted the shooting percentage. I had no reason to question the information on it. I did check the play by play as you suggested and I do see where the shot at 2:35 was credited to Carucato. So, NCC shot an amazing 83.3% in the 2nd half as opposed to an even more amazing 88.2% as indicated on the stat sheet.

2. You said you aren't surprised that I "ignored" 5 paragraphs of your post praising North Central. I'M not surprised that on one hand you "praised" North Central, but then on the other hand imply that the NC victory was tainted because of a blown call. If you are going to truly praise them, do so with no ifs, ands, or buts. You were shocked because I choose to "dispute your description of the last play." I'm shocked that you chose to dispute mine." It works both ways. Contrary to your belief, you aren't always right, even though you might like to think your are. I guess thats why you have a problem with regularly trying to twist the facts to suit your version of how something happened, even though the facts show otherwise.

[knarocky22]

"Contrary to your belief, you aren't always right, even though you might like to think your are."
-AndOne

Look in the mirror, man. 

[79jaybird]

Just my opinion here, but I think of the schools in the hunt (Augie/EC/W/NC/Car/) I think the most praise should go to Carthage as Bosko was able to get his boys playing well and dig themselves out of an early slide.  I can recall a few weeks ago some people had written Carthage out of the picture, but here the Redmen have a shot at a #3 or #4 seed.  Nice job Redmen and hopefully they can squeeze into the Tournament.