MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[titanhammer]

Hello all.  We broadcast some of the Oxy games on the internet.  We'll be doing the Occidental/IWU game this Saturday at 7.30 PST.   You can get it at www.oxybroadcast.com.  Hope you'll join us.  Happy Holidays.

That's a very considerate offer, but I think most Titan fans will be listening to Titan Q...since he bothered to make the trip.

Q, a drive by of the Playboy Mansion does not count...unless there were bunnies on the lawn...and I ain't talkin' about Buggs....

Happy Holidays to everyone.

[dlawrenz]

Wheaton defeats LaVerne tonight, 60-45. 

[Titan Q]

Occidental 88
IWU 67

http://www.oxyathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2007-08/stats/1229iwu.htm

The Titans got beat by a better team tonight...the Tigers may be the best team the Titans have faced this year.  6-1 guard Connor Whitman is a legit 1st Team All-American candidate and Oxy has a ton of size, including 6-10/240 freshman transfer Sean Anderson from UC-Riverside.

IWU point-guard Travis Rosenkranz was in foul trouble the entire game and only played 14 minutes.  Sean Dwyer, just back from that year-long injury and playing in his third game, was forced into 30 minutes of action.  Not an ideal way for Sean to get back into things.

The Titans couldn't buy a 3-pointer tonight - 2-16 from beyond the arc.  The perimeter guys were all off tonight it seemed. 

Another solid game out of the big guys - Gant with 14 & 10, Chamernik with 16 & 7, and Sexauer with 8 points.  As the freshmen guards continue to settle in and play more consistently, the Titans will improve.

Bottom line tonight though was just Occidental was just too much.  That's a very good team.  The Tiger fans I spoke with after the game all felt like that was their team's best performance of the year so maybe I saw them at their best, but that seems like a team that could do a little damage in the NCAA tournament this year.

[mr_b]

North Park defeated UC Santa Cruz 78-60 for their second win at the Cal State East Bay Holiday Classic in Hayward, California.  The Vikings trailed 40-38 after a see-saw first half, but following the break they broke out for a 33-10 run to seal the victory.  Joe Capalbo led the Vikes with 19 points (4-for-6 from beyond the arc), Nick Williams added 16, and Dan Oziminski and Ed Whitaker each chipped in with 10.

[mr_b]

The Vikings host Knox College on Saturday, January 5th at 2 PM.  That's a make-up game for the contest that was cancelled earlier due to weather.

[tjcummingsfan]

Anyone know why Bruce Durham didn't play?

[Late nite]

Q---From the scores of the Titan games, it appears that the current group is very similar to past teams---Try to outscore the other team and don't worry too much about the defensive end---Is this true?---The least amount of points given up in a game has been 66 points---That may lead to some success in non-conference games, but may be a problem in the CCIW---Youth has something to do with it, but surrendering 80 plus points to any opponent is more scheme and execution---Your thoughts?

Occidental 88
IWU 67

http://www.oxyathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2007-08/stats/1229iwu.htm

The Titans got beat by a better team tonight...the Tigers may be the best team the Titans have faced this year.  6-1 guard Connor Whitman is a legit 1st Team All-American candidate and Oxy has a ton of size, including 6-10/240 freshman transfer Sean Anderson from UC-Riverside.

IWU point-guard Travis Rosenkranz was in foul trouble the entire game and only played 14 minutes.  Sean Dwyer, just back from that year-long injury and playing in his third game, was forced into 30 minutes of action.  Not an ideal way for Sean to get back into things.

The Titans couldn't buy a 3-pointer tonight - 2-16 from beyond the arc.  The perimeter guys were all off tonight it seemed. 

Another solid game out of the big guys - Gant with 14 & 10, Chamernik with 16 & 7, and Sexauer with 8 points.  As the freshmen guards continue to settle in and play more consistently, the Titans will improve.

Bottom line tonight though was just Occidental was just too much.  That's a very good team.  The Tiger fans I spoke with after the game all felt like that was their team's best performance of the year so maybe I saw them at their best, but that seems like a team that could do a little damage in the NCAA tournament this year.

[Titan Q]

Q---From the scores of the Titan games, it appears that the current group is very similar to past teams---Try to outscore the other team and don't worry too much about the defensive end---Is this true?---The least amount of points given up in a game has been 66 points---That may lead to some success in non-conference games, but may be a problem in the CCIW---Youth has something to do with it, but surrendering 80 plus points to any opponent is more scheme and execution---Your thoughts

While Illinois Wesleyan has been an offense-oriented team as long as I've been around the program, I think the suggestion that the Titans "don't worry too much about the defensive end" is a little bit of a myth.  Here are opponent FG% numbers for IWU's four Final Four teams, for example:

2005-06: .422
2000-01: .423
1996-97: .424
1995-96: .425

Last year's CCIW leader in FG% defense was North Central (.431 in 26 games), followed by Augustana (.436 in 28 games).  North Central was also the leader in 2005-06 (.421 in 28 games), followed by Illinois Wesleyan (.422 in 32 games).

IWU certainly has never been a team built around defense, like Augustana under Coach G, but I think Dennie Bridges and Scott Trost-led Titan teams were a lot better defensively than people realize.  IWU has always been an up-tempo team, which leads to a lot of field goal attempts...field goal attempts obviously lead to points and scores in the 70's, as opposed to the 60's.

I don't think opponent FG% is the perfect and only measure of team defense, but I think just looking at opponent PPG can be misleading.

This Titan team is poor defensively right now.  From what I see, it is simply just a matter of an inexperienced group of perimeter players trying to learn how to play man-to-man defense at the college level.  IWU's 5 perimeter players in the rotation are:

Travis Rosenkranz (freshman)
Sean Johnson (freshman)
Jordan Morris (junior who started 7 games last year)
Matt Schick (freshman)
Sean Dwyer (sophomore who missed his FR year with injury)


Ron Rose has stuck with man-to-man almost exclusively, not bailing them out by trying to play zone, and I like that.  That's the only way they're going to get better...and I think they will with more experience and more muscle and strength.

[Titan Q]

The Titans practice at Pepperdine U. in Malibu today.  That should be a little more scenic than Emerson St. in Bloomington.

[David Collinge]

I don't think opponent FG% is the perfect and only measure of team defense, but I think just looking at opponent PPG can be misleading.

In recent years, Wooster has also played an offense-oriented, up tempo game.  The metric the Wooster coaches focus on to evaluate defensive performance is points per possession, which they call "defensive efficiency."  They aim to limit the opposition to 0.9 ppp.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to reconstruct this statistic from a box score.

[cawcdad]

Yesterday, North Park caught UC Sana Cruz playing one of their better games. The Slugs were even leading into the second half. Santa Cruz then started turning the ball over, both forced and unforced and the Vikings made them pay. An entertaining game. I hope the folks that made the trip to CA enjoyd themselves.

There are pictures up of the CSU East Bay game and of the UC Santa Cruz game.

[OurHouse]

Q---From the scores of the Titan games, it appears that the current group is very similar to past teams---Try to outscore the other team and don't worry too much about the defensive end---Is this true?---The least amount of points given up in a game has been 66 points---That may lead to some success in non-conference games, but may be a problem in the CCIW---Youth has something to do with it, but surrendering 80 plus points to any opponent is more scheme and execution---Your thoughts

While Illinois Wesleyan has been an offense-oriented team as long as I've been around the program, I think the suggestion that the Titans "don't worry too much about the defensive end" is a little bit of a myth.  Here are opponent FG% numbers for IWU's four Final Four teams, for example:

2005-06: .422
2000-01: .423
1996-97: .424
1995-96: .425

Last year's CCIW leader in FG% defense was North Central (.431 in 26 games), followed by Augustana (.436 in 28 games).  North Central was also the leader in 2005-06 (.421 in 28 games), followed by Illinois Wesleyan (.422 in 32 games).

IWU certainly has never been a team built around defense, like Augustana under Coach G, but I think Dennie Bridges and Scott Trost-led Titan teams were a lot better defensively than people realize.  IWU has always been an up-tempo team, which leads to a lot of field goal attempts...field goal attempts obviously lead to points and scores in the 70's, as opposed to the 60's.

I don't think opponent FG% is the perfect and only measure of team defense, but I think just looking at opponent PPG can be misleading.

This Titan team is poor defensively right now.  From what I see, it is simply just a matter of an inexperienced group of perimeter players trying to learn how to play man-to-man defense at the college level.  IWU's 5 perimeter players in the rotation are:

Travis Rosenkranz (freshman)
Sean Johnson (freshman)
Jordan Morris (junior who started 7 games last year)
Matt Schick (freshman)
Sean Dwyer (sophomore who missed his FR year with injury)


Ron Rose has stuck with man-to-man almost exclusively, not bailing them out by trying to play zone, and I like that.  That's the only way they're going to get better...and I think they will with more experience and more muscle and strength.

Titan Q:

I saw the game last night and there are only a FEW players (perimeter & post) that can play defense - when you let a great shooter get into rhythm early, it is tough to stop the momentum even when others try to come in to help (mistake by Rose)

Rose will need to STOP starting Sean Johnson and or Travis Rosenkranz if he wants to win and be a contender (cannot wait to see if they develop or not)....they need to come out intense from the tipoff - here is my assessment of your list above:

1) Sean Johnson CANNOT play defense
2) Travis Rosenkranz does NOT have the athletic body to play "yet")
3) Matt Schick is too light
4) Jordan Morris has potential
5) Sean Dwyer is a great defensive player but needs to get into basketball game shape

The post players DO NOT play alot of HELP defense - they need a leader from the start of tip off - there are too many players worried about who is starting and who is not (Rose needs to play the BEST players and forget favoring those that he recruited)....if things do not change soon, I will rank Rose as ONLY a high-school coach. A great college coach needs to do what it takes to WIN and not worry about stuff around him!!!!

I still don't understand why Sean Johnson is a starter - I see him as coming in off the bench as a role player. IWU is NOT a great 3 point shooting team as compared to others I have seen so they need to get it done on defense or it will be a LONG season, PERIOD

jmho~

[devildog29]

Q---From the scores of the Titan games, it appears that the current group is very similar to past teams---Try to outscore the other team and don't worry too much about the defensive end---Is this true?---The least amount of points given up in a game has been 66 points---That may lead to some success in non-conference games, but may be a problem in the CCIW---Youth has something to do with it, but surrendering 80 plus points to any opponent is more scheme and execution---Your thoughts

While Illinois Wesleyan has been an offense-oriented team as long as I've been around the program, I think the suggestion that the Titans "don't worry too much about the defensive end" is a little bit of a myth.  Here are opponent FG% numbers for IWU's four Final Four teams, for example:

2005-06: .422
2000-01: .423
1996-97: .424
1995-96: .425

Last year's CCIW leader in FG% defense was North Central (.431 in 26 games), followed by Augustana (.436 in 28 games).  North Central was also the leader in 2005-06 (.421 in 28 games), followed by Illinois Wesleyan (.422 in 32 games).

IWU certainly has never been a team built around defense, like Augustana under Coach G, but I think Dennie Bridges and Scott Trost-led Titan teams were a lot better defensively than people realize.  IWU has always been an up-tempo team, which leads to a lot of field goal attempts...field goal attempts obviously lead to points and scores in the 70's, as opposed to the 60's.

I don't think opponent FG% is the perfect and only measure of team defense, but I think just looking at opponent PPG can be misleading.

This Titan team is poor defensively right now.  From what I see, it is simply just a matter of an inexperienced group of perimeter players trying to learn how to play man-to-man defense at the college level.  IWU's 5 perimeter players in the rotation are:

Travis Rosenkranz (freshman)
Sean Johnson (freshman)
Jordan Morris (junior who started 7 games last year)
Matt Schick (freshman)
Sean Dwyer (sophomore who missed his FR year with injury)


Ron Rose has stuck with man-to-man almost exclusively, not bailing them out by trying to play zone, and I like that.  That's the only way they're going to get better...and I think they will with more experience and more muscle and strength.

Titan Q:

I saw the game last night and there are only a FEW players (perimeter & post) that can play defense - when you let a great shooter get into rhythm early, it is tough to stop the momentum even when others try to come in to help (mistake by Rose)

Rose will need to STOP starting Sean Johnson and or Travis Rosenkranz if he wants to win and be a contender (cannot wait to see if they develop or not)....they need to come out intense from the tipoff - here is my assessment of your list above:

1) Sean Johnson CANNOT play defense
2) Travis Rosenkranz does NOT have the athletic body to play "yet")
3) Matt Schick is too light
4) Jordan Morris has potential
5) Sean Dwyer is a great defensive player but needs to get into basketball game shape

The post players DO NOT play alot of HELP defense - they need a leader from the start of tip off - there are too many players worried about who is starting and who is not (Rose needs to play the BEST players and forget favoring those that he recruited)....if things do not change soon, I will rank Rose as ONLY a high-school coach. A great college coach needs to do what it takes to WIN and not worry about stuff around him!!!!

I still don't understand why Sean Johnson is a starter - I see him as coming in off the bench as a role player. IWU is NOT a great 3 point shooting team as compared to others I have seen so they need to get it done on defense or it will be a LONG season, PERIOD

jmho~

House,

I had similar feelings about last nights game as well.  The help D in the post obviously needs a lot of work.  I also felt Sean Johnson should not have been playing as much as he did, but I'm assuming that was a result of Rosenkranz being on the bench in foul trouble most of the game.  I'd like to give Coach Rose the benefit of the doubt that nepotism had nothing to do with it.  I didn't see the boxscore, but it seemed like Johnson had more turnovers than points and he was jacking up way too many 3 point shots, many of them contested, on a night when they couldn't hit the proverbial broad side of a barn.

That being said, I think the Titans certainly do have a lot of talent.  Last night struck me as a game typical of a bunch of 18 year old freshmen playing 2000 miles away from home for the first time in their lives against a very good opponent -- a lot of bad "freshmen" type decisions that led to a lot of bad turnovers.  Too many mental errors to beat a team like Oxy.

As for Oxy, wow, that Whitman kid was just a outright stud last night.  I honestly don't think I've ever seen a D3 guard shoot so amazingly lights out like he did last night.  Dwyer was right in his face on a couple of those and he was still burying them.  You can only tip your hat to the kid and say that's one helluva game. 

Their big freshman also had great touch on the perimeter.  You usually don't see a kid that big with such a smooth stroke in D3.  If he can develop a post game to go with that shot, he's gonna do a lot of damage in the SCIAC over the next 4 years.

Looking forward to see the Titans can turn it around at Claremont tomorrow.  Hopefully last night was some travel jitters that have worn off today.

[markerickson]

Several years ago "us" posters discussed beautiful and butt-ugly college settings.  I do believe Pepperdine ranks in the top three for the former.  Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

What does the IC/NC score reflect?  A good team from Jacksonville?  That might be a first.  A Cardinal squad having trouble finding an identity?

How do you rate the CA teams beaten by the Chicago Vikings?

[Mr. Ypsi]

I would think NCC has to be rather concerned about the game, since IWU beat IC by 13 3 weeks ago.  For the first 26 minutes the game was very even (if either team ever led by more than 4, I missed it in the play-by-play), but IC went on a 15-2 run in the middle of the second half and NCC never seriously threatened again.  The Cards actually won the rebounding battle 40-30, but shot just under 40% to IC's just over 50%.  Otherwise, the box score didn't reveal much (to me, at least) - does anyone have a first-hand account?

BTW, Millikin was to play in Jacksonville on the 8th, but it was postponed due to weather.  Anyone know when (if at all) it has been re-scheduled?  (I couldn't find anything about it on the IC, MU, or CCIW websites - with conference action about to heat up, did they simply drop it?)