MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

I see NCC only losing maybe 2 or 3 games in the conference. Don't forget Chris Drennen will only miss the first 2 of NCC conference games and NCC should eather win both or split

GET----

Optimism is great, but the original estimate for Chris' return was 8 weeks. The orthopedic surgeon advised that if everything went as well as possible, it might be more like 6 weeks. That would be 1/18 which would mean he would miss 3 conference games at the very minimum. The 4th conference game is scheduled for 1/19 so thats another likely miss. Accordingly, the most likely return in light of the surgeon's most optimistic estimate would be for the 1/23 game at Carthage which would mean Chris would return with 10 games left. With the information I have, I think any return before that would be a "little miracle." OR---has the doctor (hopefully) revised his estimate? The sooner the Cards can get a player with the ability Chris has (19 ppg at the time of injury, 8 rpg, + his leadership) back, the better!

[robberki]

Does anyone actually have information regarding Bruce Durham, and why he hasn't played in Cali?

Also, wondering why Brian Nussbaum didn't see any PT in the 21 point loss to Occidental?  Seems like that would be a good start at working the senior back into the rotation.

tj - talk to me on Thursday when I'm back on campus.

[Greek Tragedy]

Here is the Elmhurst/Anderson boxscore...

http://elmhurst.edu/~athletic/Home/M-Basket/stats/2007-2008/melm08.htm

The Bluejays had 26 turnovers vs Anderson (4-6).

Elmhurst shot the ball 24 less times from the field than Anderson did...that is amazing.

What's amazing is that with those kinds of stats, I was expecting to see an Elmhurst loss, not win.

[Viking Blue]

Who are these crazy young North Parkers going back and forth? Leave your personal problems at College Life.  Come on now...

Here's a question that I have not had an answer to in my readings:  How good is Millikin?  Not much about them, and they're 7-2.....

And another question, even more important:  I've seen North Park come out strong with great guard play for YEARS.  Can they really beat Elmhurst?  Or anyone else in the conference with a solid post presence?

[Titan Q]

It was 71 degrees and sunny yesterday at tip-off time of the IWU/CMS game in Claremont, CA.  I landed in Bloomington this evening and was met by a -15 wind chill.  Talk about a reality check.

I wonder if IWU could get into the SCIAC and play all of its conference games on the road?

[Mr. Ypsi]

It was 71 degrees and sunny yesterday at tip-off time of the IWU/CMS game in Claremont, CA.  I landed in Bloomington this evening and was met by a -15 wind chill.  Talk about a reality check.

I wonder if IWU could get into the SCIAC and play all of its conference games on the road?

Does State Farm have a branch office in SoCal with your position?  Or are you willing to commute?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Viking Blue,

Re Millikin: because of their schedule it is hard to say.  Their make-up game against Illinois College should help some, since IC lost to IWU by 13, but beat NCC by 9.  But beware of putting too much stock in any one game.

[devildog29]

It was 71 degrees and sunny yesterday at tip-off time of the IWU/CMS game in Claremont, CA.  I landed in Bloomington this evening and was met by a -15 wind chill.  Talk about a reality check.

I wonder if IWU could get into the SCIAC and play all of its conference games on the road?

Now you know why many of us have fled the midwest in search of warmer climes'.  We have to sacrifice most all CCIW action, save for the occasional west coast trip, but I never have to scrape ice off my windshield.  True story, I still had an ice scraper in my trunk when I first moved out here, and a local friend from out here looked at it and had absolutely no clue what it even was. 

Q, pleasure to meet you out here.  A couple observational questions about the two games I saw.  I can't quite place my finger on it so I don't know if I was really seeing correctly, but does Darius Gant seem to play in a kind of crouch position?  For already being a couple inches undersized in the post, it seemed like he tends to make himself smaller instead of making himself bigger.  Don't know if that makes any sense, but something just looked different about his play.  He has great athleticism so he seemed to be getting his shots off ok, but I wonder if that is ever a problem?

Also, our entry passes to the post certainly need a lot of work.  I'm sure most of that is a function of being so young on the perimeter, but we seemed to throw the ball away too often trying to get it into the post. 

Overall, in the couple games they played out here, I saw a lot of talent and athleticism from the Titans, but they are just a bit undersized and still make a lot of the mental mistakes you see from underclassman which should hopefully improve as they mature.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Off topic, but I recently read a marvelous book "Home and Away: Memoir of a (Chicago) Fan", by Scott Simon (NPR's Weekend Edition).  (It came out in 2000, so you may already know it, but I just discovered it.)  He knew Jack Brickhouse as 'Uncle Jack' (his father's best friend, and a close friend also of his step-father) and finally met his childhood idol, Billy Pierce, as a fellow pall-bearer.  His semi-insider stories of the Bulls, Bears, and Cubs (he seems to have mostly lost interest in the Sox, and if he ever mentioned the Blackhawks [despite growing up in the Bobby Hull/Stan Mikita era], I've forgotten) are fantastic.  Four stars.

[AndOne]

Cal Lutheran beats NCC (unranked), playing w/o Chris Drennan, in OT. They then beat #3 Stevens Point (anyone injured?) in OT. Hope springs eternal.   

[luvdahoops]

Hey, cardinalfanrochelle.

About the pic in your profile...

Is that Jon Bon Jovi, or Kristy McNichol, or you, or someone else?  Just curious.

[joehakes]

Mr Y

Home and Away is a great book especially for those of us who grew up in the Chicago area in that time frame. 

Another good book is Crazy '08, a book about the 1908 baseball season, which the author claims is the greatest season in the history of baseball.  While it is A BIT before my time, it is a wonderful account of the Cubs' last WS championship.  What major league baseball used to be makes for an awfully funny history of that year.  It was semi-organized mayhem, with substance abuse and labor/management strife at the forefront.  My, how thing (haven't) changed.

[79jaybird]

AndOne- I have seen Elmhurst play brilliantly against UW-Oshkosh and Hope, and have seen them almost give games away with inconsistency.  I feel, this team (like last year's) can beat anybody when they play the way they can.  Their achilles heel has been turnovers and inconsistency.   

I disagree with the idea of EC "steamrolling their next 3" and here's why. I agree they should be Elmhurst wins, however it is often harder to get pumped up for a game knowing the competition is not the caliber of yourself or better.  For example, Elmhurst/UW-Oshkosh the Jays were ready and were a buzzer beater away from beating the Titans.  Then against Hope Elmhurst knew the Dutch are a Final Four caliber team and rose to the occasion.  Then they had a let down against Anderson but still pulled away late. 
My point here is that momentum and emotion does play a big part of getting ready for a game.  Looking ahead, Elmhurst cannot overlook Millikin in preps for Augie, because they will find themselves on the wrong end if they do.
I think between EC/AC/WC these are 3 very even teams with no clear cut favorite. 
Ranked teams have been losing all year, so upsets of the ranked teams is nothing new.  Elmhurst is 7-1 and IMO should be ranked between 10-15, Augie around 7-10, and Wheaton 15-20.  This is just my opinion, but the CCIW is shaping up to be this 3-horse race.

[AndOne]

79jay---

Thanks for the insight. Good to  get info from someone close to the program. What you say makes sense. I agree completely about momentum and emotion. For example, NCC lost its momentum when Chris Drennam went down, and emotion alone has not been able to make up for his absence, at least not as yet.

The 2 games I was referring to re EC facing stiff competition so far were the ones you mentioned---Oshkosh and Hope. The conference games should present an overall higher level of competition. It will be interesting to see if EC's, Augie's, & WC's positions change much the next time the rankings come out.

[79jaybird]

AndOne you're welcome and I felt so bad for NC when Drennan went down.
I think Augie will stay the same as their loss to the WIAC Teams are not "bad losses".  Elmhurst and Wheaton should move up a few spots.  Elmhurst's win over Hope (IMO) should help the Jays leapfrog Wheaton (assuming EC wins their next 3 games).

Injuries are devastating and really test the depth of your roster.  I cringe and wonder where would EC be if Ruch or Burks was out for an extended period of time?  The best depth I have seen thus far has been Augie as Coach G has a bunch of guys that pick up the slack when called upon.

Looking at the conference, I think EC/AC/WC is going to get upset by one of the schools "not talked about" this year, similar to how Millikin (with only 2 wins all year) came out of nowhere to cost EC a share of the title.  Any given day, you always have to put your best effort on the court.