MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[augiefan]

Nothing major for Alex Washington. Just a bad case of the flu. Soph Brian Larson was outstanding as his relacement. A scary second half, but the Vikings excellent FT shooting saved them again.

[armywife]

"So I got to wonder, with the whistle blowing with 46 fouls!
called in this game, how in the heck did SteveD manage to only get to the line 4 times? I can figure out 29 of them."

So, obviously I haven't masterd the quote option, sorry iwumichigander, I'll work on that.

From what I heard the announcers say last night, it was because Carthage was shooting so many three's as they were making their run. Augie was taking the ball inside a lot more, and were getting fouled in the process. I didn't listen for very long, but they were amazing last night with their free throws. It's what kept them from losing the game, that and their rebounds.

[Titan Q]

Look-a-likes?

IWU's Sean Dwyer

Michigan State's Drew Neitzel

[VABBlue]

Just a little built up frustration from my struggling Big Blue. I always check the box scores, and it seems as if they turn the ball over a ton. It also seems like they have a high turnover rate among players in the program.

It's too bad.

[Titan Q]

D3hoops.com released its men's All-Decade team tonight on Hoopsville.  Congratulations to the CCIW players who made it...

1st Team
G Korey Coon (IWU '00)

2nd Team
G Antoine McDaniel (Carthage '03)

3rd Team
G Adam Dauksas (IWU '06)
C Joel Kolmodin (Wheaton '04)

4th Team
F Keelan Amelianovich (IWU '06)
F/C Jason Wiertel (Carthage '02)

Honorable Mention
G Drew Carstens (Augustana '04)


Some special players there, wow. 

The complete feature will be online sometime tomorrow I believe. 

[Gregory Sager]

I recently was in Decatur and viewed the facilities as I haven't seen them in a few years. I have to say, it is quite embarassing to see our athletic facilities. We simply cannot recruit kids who are considering IWU, Augustana, NCC, and North Park. Our facilities are about a C-.

Uh, have you ever seen NPU's gym? You'd be complaining a lot less about Millikin's facilities if you had. NCC's ancient pile of bricks isn't going to quicken the heart of any prospect, either, although North Central does have a plan in place to give it a much-needed facelift within a few years.

[Gregory Sager]

In basketball, bigger is usually better, and that was certainly the case in the crackerbox last night. NPU simply did not have the size inside to effectively hold off Andy Wiele and his Wheaton cohorts. Wheaton outrebounded North Park, 28-21; on an individual basis, Wiele's 16 points and 9 rebounds were decisive, and Wiele combined with Jacob Carwell and Phill Denham shot 13-16 from the field -- all of it within six feet of the basket. The advantage that Wheaton had down low was so obvious that the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance didn't even bother shooting treys after halftime; after a first half in which the visitors only went 2-8 from downtown, Wheaton only attempted two more treys in the second half. Instead, the Wheaton big men relentlessly shot over and muscled through North Park's shorter and skinnier forwards, and in the end it was that size advantage down low -- in the form of a Denham putback with 1:15 left -- that proved to be the crucial basket of the game.

That Denham putback put Wheaton up by four, 57-53. After Kent Raymond fouled Nick Williams on the ensuing possession, Williams made one of two FTs to bring NPU back to within three. Jason Gordon stole the ball from Wiele on the baseline with 29 seconds left, allowing the Park to either play for a last shot from behind the arc or to get a quick two and then foul. However, as happened at the end of regulation in last Saturday's game against Millikin, the Vikings came out of their final timeout and promptly turned into the Keystone Kops. Nobody seemed to know what play to run or what to do with the ball, and in the end the Vikings opted neither for the last-second trey nor the quick deuce; Williams threw up a panicked, off-balance airball from twenty feet out with eight seconds left that was rebounded by Raymond and turned into two free throws that ended the game.

North Park just goes into a deep freeze on offense down the stretch, game after game after game. It's a dreary and repetitive story. NPU only made two field goals in the last nine minutes of the game: A Jay Alexander layup with 6:53 left that put the Vikings up by five, and an Alexander trey with 3:02 left that tied the game at 53-53.

There were some positives for North Park. Ed Whitaker, who started, once again did a solid job of doing something positive with Joe Capalbo's old spot in the rotation. Clayton Cahill definitely played as though he belonged on the floor with the big boys rather than with the junior varsity. Alexander, as usual, played his butt off, and although Raymond held him in check for the first 20 minutes Williams eventually got going in the second half -- he and Alexander led the Vikes with 12 points apiece. As was true in the first go-round between the two teams, NPU did a good job on Raymond, holding him to 16 points. Ben Panner had the better night of the two Wheaton guards, as he consistently slipped inside the arc and hit midrange jumper after midrange jumper, tallying 14 points. While the Vikings have done an outstanding job on Raymond this year, Panner has now killed them twice.

NPU keeps finding ways to lose close ballgames. As was the case last season, the Park has been in a close game almost every night in CCIW action -- and as was the case last season, distressingly, the Park usually comes out on the short end of the scoreboard in those close games. I'm getting a little fed up with playing the "what if?" game as I rehash the contest with other downcast Vikings fans after the final buzzer sounds. Losing nailbiters night after night holds no charm whatsoever.

[tjcummingsfan]

Agreed Greg, losing close ones is indeed getting old.

I have to say though, I walked out of the Crackerbox last night more proud of a student section than I have been since my freshman year in '01-'02.  The bleachers were even near full behind the East basket.  The fact that Brenegan called his team to center court to have them applaud the crazies and other fans says it all.  The fans were there last night, and with a win, I think it would have been hard to keep them away from the Carthage game, after the loss.. who knows.

[Gregory Sager]

Absolutely true, and thanks for pointing that out. Last night's crowd was both large (requiring the stage seating to be opened up for the first time all season) and raucous. The NPU fan base was in full throat and really did itself proud. The only regret that the coaches had, aside from the obvious fact that they couldn't provide that crowd with a win, was that there was only one prospect in attendance (a couple of others planned to be there but had to cancel out). It would've been a fantastic night to showcase to potential Vikings the great home vibe that the crackerbox can have when the seats are full and the Crazies are "on".

[gordonmann]

The All-Decade team has been released.  Thanks to a couple of experts from this message board in helping us assemble the capsules.

[markerickson]

Greg said, "Nobody seemed to know what play to run or what to do with the ball."  In my humble opinion, I offer these harsh words.  "Nobody" includes the coaching staff.  King Dennis and I have repeatedly stated that four guys hanging around the trey line does not represent a true offense.  Run a play, get some motion.  I don't see these directives coming from the bench.

[robberki]

D3hoops.com released its men's All-Decade team tonight on Hoopsville.  Congratulations to the CCIW players who made it...

1st Team
G Korey Coon (IWU '00)

2nd Team
G Antoine McDaniel (Carthage '03)

3rd Team
G Adam Dauksas (IWU '06)
C Joel Kolmodin (Wheaton '04)

4th Team
F Keelan Amelianovich (IWU '06)
F/C Jason Wiertel (Carthage '02)

Honorable Mention
G Drew Carstens (Augustana '04)


Some special players there, wow. 

The complete feature will be online sometime tomorrow I believe. 

the fact that I was passed over makes this entire list a sham.

[iwumichigander]

D3hoops.com released its men's All-Decade team tonight on Hoopsville.  Congratulations to the CCIW players who made it... Some special players there, wow. 

the fact that I was passed over makes this entire list a sham.

The voters likely held you out for consideration on the All-Time list!

[Dennis_Prikkel]

Greg said, "Nobody seemed to know what play to run or what to do with the ball."  In my humble opinion, I offer these harsh words.  "Nobody" includes the coaching staff.  King Dennis and I have repeatedly stated that four guys hanging around the trey line does not represent a true offense.  Run a play, get some motion.  I don't see these directives coming from the bench.

Amen and Amen - Preach it brother !!!

"Joe Capalbo's old spot in the rotation"

What happened to Joe?  Here's arguably the best shooter on the team and North Park seems to not be able to run any plays or set solid enough screens to get him open.  It would be a shame, but understandable if he left, his time on the floor has become wasted because no one sets him up for a shot.

It's all one on one (two or three), head down and drive for the basket and throw up some kind of off-balance layup.  That's not team basketball - that's street-ball.

There's no secret why North Park continues to lose so many close games - they haven't been taught what it takes to win close games down the stretch.

DoS

[Pat Coleman]

D3hoops.com released its men's All-Decade team tonight on Hoopsville.  Congratulations to the CCIW players who made it...

1st Team
G Korey Coon (IWU '00)

2nd Team
G Antoine McDaniel (Carthage '03)

3rd Team
G Adam Dauksas (IWU '06)
C Joel Kolmodin (Wheaton '04)

4th Team
F Keelan Amelianovich (IWU '06)
F/C Jason Wiertel (Carthage '02)

Honorable Mention
G Drew Carstens (Augustana '04)


Some special players there, wow. 

The complete feature will be online sometime tomorrow I believe. 

the fact that I was passed over makes this entire list a sham.

A decade is simply not the proper time period to encapsulate your greatness.