MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Okay Jack, double or nothing (think that would be about 6 cases, correct), I'll take both Augie and Wheaton to win in the first round?

This might be the best offer of redemption that you'll ever get, Jack. Neither of the CCIW teams has a gimme in the first round. Aurora's got one of the best players in all of D3, and Lawrence is always a tough customer in March.

You'll never get those kind of odds at the dog track.

[Marty Peretz]

Wash.U. fan here...just wondering...how good of a team is Augie in the wake of their stud pg being out of their season? It sounds a lot like Wash.U. sans Wallis. I'd love if it anyone could fill me in. Thanks.

[Gregory Sager]

Wash.U. fan here...just wondering...how good of a team is Augie in the wake of their stud pg being out of their season? It sounds a lot like Wash.U. sans Wallis. I'd love if it anyone could fill me in. Thanks.

Marty, Augie's "stud pg", Drew Wessels, used up the last of his eligibility last May. This year's starting point guard (Matt Pelton) is healthy and a respectable player, but he's hardly a stud. The player who was injured early on this season, Jordan Delp, was Augie's off guard, not the point guard.

[sac]

Don't feel bad, I went to Augie for 4 years and ended up at the boats more than I should have and I still don't know how to play craps.

My visits to casino's can usually be measured in minutes.

[AndOne]

Wash.U. fan here...just wondering...how good of a team is Augie in the wake of their stud pg being out of their season? It sounds a lot like Wash.U. sans Wallis. I'd love if it anyone could fill me in. Thanks.

Marty, Augie's "stud pg", Drew Wessels, used up the last of his eligibility last May. This year's starting point guard (Matt Pelton) is healthy and a respectable player, but he's hardly a stud. The player who was injured early on this season, Jordan Delp, was Augie's off guard, not the point guard.

Marty---

Greg gave you "on the money" info re some of Augie's personnel. Whether or not he answered your question, I don't know.

If any Augie fan subsequently responds, I don't have much doubt that he will paint an exceptionally rosy picture of the Vikes as an almost unbeatable powerhouse. Of course this is entirely natural as we are basically all "homers" at heart when it comes to describing our teams.

My answer comes from someone whose favorite team isn't Augie, but another team in the CCIW. The short answer to your question is "pretty damn good." Thats why they won the conference title in one of the nation's consistently best conferences.
Initially, they were able to overcome the loss of Delp, an all conference performer.
Secondly, although Swetalla didn't have a "bad" season, I feel he did have a disappointing one when it comes to results versus expected performance (I know many will probably disagree with me on that). However, Augie was also able to overcome that obstacle. The thing that impresses me the most about Augie is its depth. They seem to be able to bring in several players and not suffer a very appreciable drop off in the level of talent on the floor. For instance, in Bertrand, they have a player I feel would be starting at the vast majority of other schools. Given their lofty ranking, I was a little surprised that they had several games that, on paper, you wouldn't think would be so close as far as the final score. While this suggests they are possibly ranked a little too high, and possibly ripe for picking, it also brings out the fact that they usually seem to find a way to get it done. Again, I think depth is the key. They are successful due to good coaching, complete TEAM play, and good defense. Also, playing at home makes taking them down that much tougher a proposition.     

[augiefan]

Augie lost a lot of offensive firepower when Delp went down. He was there most effective scorer. The team's strengths are defense depth and rebounding. They tend to struggle on offense if they have to score from the outside, but their FT shooting is usually excellent. Drew Wessels younger brother, an Iowa transfer, is their top offensive weapon and has improved since Augie played Wash U. Coach Giovanine is a bit of a hot dog on the sidelines, but is a premier coach that gets the most out of his teams.

I'd love to see a Saturday rematch, but Augie has struggled all year and won a lot of close games, so Friday night will be a challenge, particularly with the rowdiest Augie fans (the students) on Spring break.

[Gregory Sager]

Marty, I'd say that AndOne and augiefan paint a pretty accurate picture of Augustana.

Brett Wessels is the best offensive player that Augie has. Alex Washington is the team's slasher. He's very athletic, and a tough wing defender. Dain Swetalla is the big muscle underneath the basket -- his health is a question mark, as he injured his wrist in the CCIW tourney semis against Elmhurst and didn't play at all in the finals against Illinois Wesleyan -- and his backup is the equally-imposing Dan Rukavina. Both go about 6'9, 240, so that's 40 minutes' worth of pure size right there between the two of them. Chandlor Collins is a highly-underrated power forward who has a knack for quietly picking up double-doubles, and the aforementioned Justin Bertrand is a very strong inside player off the bench. Augie doesn't have much firepower from outside anymore in the wake of Delp's loss, but it does get some from freshman Mike Avallone off of the bench.

Because it's a defense-first team, Augie thrives on close games. If you're in the thick of a nailbiter with Augie as the game clock is winding down, my money's on the navy blue and gold to finish you off. Winning close is what they do best.

As others have said, the best strategy -- if you want to call it a strategy -- is to pick up an early lead on Augie and force the Doggies to play from behind. Augie's offense is not 100% reliable, especially from the perimeter, so if you're lucky you may catch the Rock Islanders on a night when they're struggling to score. If you fall behind Augie, however, that defense of Grey Giovanine's becomes even tougher and you expend even more energy trying to catch up; a five-point deficit to Augie feels like a ten-point deficit, and a ten-point deficit feels like a twenty-point deficit. In an odd way, Augustana's basketball team has become sort of the hardwood equivalent of its football team. They grind it out, don't do anything fancy, wear you down, and make it tough for you to come back if they have any kind of a lead on you -- but they don't really have the capacity to score a ton of points in a hurry if you have a big lead on them late.

[Stat]

Nice correction Q, it was Gio.

Ok Mark, I get +4.5 on both teams.

[matblake]

In an odd way, Augustana's basketball team has become sort of the hardwood equivalent of its football team. They grind it out, don't do anything fancy, wear you down, and make it tough for you to come back if they have any kind of a lead on you -- but they don't really have the capacity to score a ton of points in a hurry if you have a big lead on them late.

Sagerian info at its best! +k

[markerickson]

Wheaton has one very good player who makes others seem almost average.  Hard to believe this team made the tourney.  I thought only Augie would make it.  How quickly will the two CCIW teams flame out?  Will either team win more than one game?

[Mugsy]

Wheaton has one very good player who makes others seem almost average.  Hard to believe this team made the tourney.  I thought only Augie would make it.  How quickly will the two CCIW teams flame out?  Will either team win more than one game?

Gee... from the "sound" of your post, why should either CCIW team bother showing up?  Can you be more pessimistic?

[Late nite]

Marty, I'd say that AndOne and augiefan paint a pretty accurate picture of Augustana.

Brett Wessels is the best offensive player that Augie has. Alex Washington is the team's slasher. He's very athletic, and a tough wing defender. Dain Swetalla is the big muscle underneath the basket -- his health is a question mark, as he injured his wrist in the CCIW tourney semis against Elmhurst and didn't play at all in the finals against Illinois Wesleyan -- and his backup is the equally-imposing Dan Rukavina. Both go about 6'9, 240, so that's 40 minutes' worth of pure size right there between the two of them. Chandlor Collins is a highly-underrated power forward who has a knack for quietly picking up double-doubles, and the aforementioned Justin Bertrand is a very strong inside player off the bench. Augie doesn't have much firepower from outside anymore in the wake of Delp's loss, but it does get some from freshman Mike Avallone off of the bench.

Because it's a defense-first team, Augie thrives on close games. If you're in the thick of a nailbiter with Augie as the game clock is winding down, my money's on the navy blue and gold to finish you off. Winning close is what they do best.

As others have said, the best strategy -- if you want to call it a strategy -- is to pick up an early lead on Augie and force the Doggies to play from behind. Augie's offense is not 100% reliable, especially from the perimeter, so if you're lucky you may catch the Rock Islanders on a night when they're struggling to score. If you fall behind Augie, however, that defense of Grey Giovanine's becomes even tougher and you expend even more energy trying to catch up; a five-point deficit to Augie feels like a ten-point deficit, and a ten-point deficit feels like a twenty-point deficit. In an odd way, Augustana's basketball team has become sort of the hardwood equivalent of its football team. They grind it out, don't do anything fancy, wear you down, and make it tough for you to come back if they have any kind of a lead on you -- but they don't really have the capacity to score a ton of points in a hurry if you have a big lead on them late.

In total agreement with your opinion---They don't really have a reliable outside game to overcome any significant deficit---No matter what the score, they will continue to run their sets and try to get the best percentage shot and rely on their defense to get another stop---It's been very successful most of the year, but somewhere along the way in the tournament, this team is going to need to shoot their way to a victory if they plan to advance---Being at Carver will help

[WahooThunder]

Wheaton has one very good player who makes others seem almost average.  Hard to believe this team made the tourney.  I thought only Augie would make it.  How quickly will the two CCIW teams flame out?  Will either team win more than one game?

Gee... from the "sound" of your post, why should either CCIW team bother showing up?  Can you be more pessimistic?

His tone is indeed quite pessimistic, but to be honest, based on the draws I think it will be a great achievement if either team makes it past Saturday.  That said, anyone who knows how strong and competitive this league is knows that both of these teams have had to survive quite a test just to make it here, so it shouldn't come as a shock if one or even both pull it off.

Also, I would hardly consider Andy Wiele or Ben Panner to be average, even in the shadow of Kent Raymond.  I believe it is their play that will determine how much Wheaton will make of the selection committee's gift, and I am confident that both will step up tonight and lead the Thunder to victory and a very exciting matchup with Whitewater tomorrow.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

I think GS hit the nail on the head - somewhere along the tournament trail Augie will run into a team that gets its offensive mojo working from the outset - that's Augie biggest question mark IMO - whether they can play an offensive style of game when their opponent dictates an uptempo game.

I think if the score is below 70 Augustana has a good chance of winning any game in the tournament.

DoS

[Titan Q]

It won't surprise me if Augustana wins the national championship...and it won't surprise me if they lose tomorrow night (to Wash U or Wooster).  Brett Wessels is going to have to take on that "go-to guy" role in the tournament.  I agree with everything that has been said here - the biggest question surrounding Augie is whether or not they have enough offensive fire power. 

I think Wheaton is in a "pick 'em" game tonight vs MWC champ Lawrence on neutral court.  What contrasting make-ups.  Wheaton has a superstar and two other good players, but just not much at all outside of those 3 guys, including a very thin bench.  Lawrence has a legitimate 10-man rotation. 

Lawrence had trouble with IWU's big guys on both ends of the floor in the 2006 Sectional semifinal in Appleton...

http://www.iwu.edu/~iwunews/sports/mbb2006/ncaa3.htm

* Zach Freeman: 21 pts (7-9 FG), 12 reb
* Cory Jones: 9 pts, 8 reb

I'm guessing this Lawrence team does not have a ton of size down low either.  While 6-8 Andy Wiele should cause Lawrence a lot of problems, Wheaton doesn't really have that second big guy to complement him as IWU did with Cory Jones (and Chris Jones).  Lawrence may be able to throw enough bodies at Wiele to contain him...the question is, can Carwell do something offensively?  Also, IWU's 2006 big guys did it with athleticism vs LU - Freeman and Jones were leapers.  Wheaton doesn't have much athleticism and Lawrence is very fundamentally sound in terms of defensive positioning, helping in the post, boxing out, etc.  They will make it tough on Wiele, I am sure of that.

Intriguing matchup at UW-Whitewater!