MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[petemcb]

While everyone is excited about Pflederer, how much of a difference is he likely to make next year?  Honest queston.  Wheaton was pretty much already running a 3 guard offense.  It's the new big guys I'd be curious to hear more about from anyone in the Wheaton know. 

[Titan Q]

This may be extremely premature, but is it possible for Wheaton to go all the way next year (win the CCIW and the NCAA's)?
Since Raymond is returning, their starting lineup is back, all they lost was a single bench player, and Wheaton has what seems to be a good recruiting class (Pflederer and others)...
I guess everything is possible, especially with Raymond, but how good of a chance does Wheaton have?

Wheaton should be very good next year, but they'll have questions to answer.  Afterall, last year - with Kent Raymond and the nucleus that will be on the floor next year - Wheaton lost 5 games in the CCIW and then bowed out in the 1st round of the conference tournament. 

Wheaton's biggest problems in '07-08, in my opinion, were:

1) They were a 3-man team offensively in most games - Raymond, Wiele, and Panner seemed to be the only reliable scoring threats.  The Thunder seemed to always have two players on the floor who couldn't score.

2) The bench was vey weak - they just didn't have much there at all.


Wheaton needs a couple freshmen, or JV players, to step in and contribute...preferably at the frontcourt spots.  The Thunder need at least two more legitimate CCIW players at the 3, 4, and 5.  I expect Jahns to become a player, and that should give the Thunder another scoring...but he is another perimeter scorer.

I don't see Wheaton as the favorite to the win the CCIW -- in fact, I think they'll be picked 3rd, behind Augie and Elmhurst.  And I believe co-2nd place team IWU, which went 3-0 vs Wheaton, will be improved in '08-09, and I suspect a few other teams will get better as well.  Bottom line, Wheaton's going to have to improve from last year to win the CCIW...let alone think about winning a national title.

[Titan Q]

While everyone is excited about Pflederer, how much of a difference is he likely to make next year?  Honest queston.  Wheaton was pretty much already running a 3 guard offense.  It's the new big guys I'd be curious to hear more about from anyone in the Wheaton know. 

Jeremy Pfederer is going to be a good player at Wheaton someday, but I honestly don't see him making a big impact next season.  I can see him playing 10 minutes per game in the guard rotation, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he is primarily a JV player. 

6-1 guard Pflederer is not the answer next year...again, the Thunder need some big guys to step in who can play.

[HopeConvert]

Future Carthage student tries a different type of "senior" prank.

One of the "bananas" is going to Calvin.

So, fighting gets a five-day suspension.  Running in funny costumes gets a seven-day suspension and threats of dire further consequences in order to squelch dissent (I believe that could easily be construed as 'extortion').

Methinks that principal is in serious need of "priorities-adjustment" (and buying a sense of humor might help, too).

Amen.

It's a world turned upside down.

[Titan Q]

Here is an e-mail from CCIW commish Chris Martin.  This is great news for those of us out-of-towners...

----------
Bob:

Hope this message finds you well...although I understand that you have moved away from Bloomington and IWU.  I wanted to update you on some exciting news.

The CCIW has purchased software to enable all CCIW schools to provide live in-game stats in football and men's and women's basketball home contests starting this fall.  This has been an issue that Mike and I have worked diligently towards achieving in 2008-09 so we are both pretty excited to have all eight CCIW schools on board starting this season.  I figure that you can pass this news along to the folks that need to know.

Look forward to seeing you...even if you are out of CCIW territory.

Best wishes.

Chris Martin
Commissioner
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW)

[Pat Coleman]

This is indeed good news -- I hope the league, which I know has been considering using Presto for scoreboard services, does so. The live stats will update the conference and D3.com scoreboards in real time, not requiring any additional in-game input from the SIDs. That's true for football, baseball and soccer as well.

[izzy stradlin]

This may be extremely premature, but is it possible for Wheaton to go all the way next year (win the CCIW and the NCAA's)?
Since Raymond is returning, their starting lineup is back, all they lost was a single bench player, and Wheaton has what seems to be a good recruiting class (Pflederer and others)...
I guess everything is possible, especially with Raymond, but how good of a chance does Wheaton have?

Wheaton should be very good next year, but they'll have questions to answer.  Afterall, last year - with Kent Raymond and the nucleus that will be on the floor next year - Wheaton lost 5 games in the CCIW and then bowed out in the 1st round of the conference tournament. 

Wheaton's biggest problems in '07-08, in my opinion, were:

1) They were a 3-man team offensively in most games - Raymond, Wiele, and Panner seemed to be the only reliable scoring threats.  The Thunder seemed to always have two players on the floor who couldn't score.

2) The bench was vey weak - they just didn't have much there at all.


Wheaton needs a couple freshmen, or JV players, to step in and contribute...preferably at the frontcourt spots.  The Thunder need at least two more legitimate CCIW players at the 3, 4, and 5.  I expect Jahns to become a player, and that should give the Thunder another scoring...but he is another perimeter scorer.

I don't see Wheaton as the favorite to the win the CCIW -- in fact, I think they'll be picked 3rd, behind Augie and Elmhurst.  And I believe co-2nd place team IWU, which went 3-0 vs Wheaton, will be improved in '08-09, and I suspect a few other teams will get better as well.  Bottom line, Wheaton's going to have to improve from last year to win the CCIW...let alone think about winning a national title.

After finishing ahead of Elmhurst in the CCIW standings, following that up with an elite eight run – and then returning all five starters, three of which were underclassmen (two in their first year with the program), no chance Wheaton gets picked behind Elmhurst.

That said, I could see Wheaton, Augie, Elmhurst or IWU winning the 14-game CCIW slate next year.
I think it's almost safe to say the every team in the CCIW will be better next year- --should be a lot of fun.

[Gregory Sager]

This is particularly great news for North Park, which hasn't budgeted money to the athletic department to acquire either live scoreboard update software or websteaming broadcast software. Those who follow the Vikings from afar -- and as a school whose resident student population mostly consists of out-of-staters, NPU has an alumni base that's more widely scattered than most of its institutional peers -- will now be able to do so in real time. On behalf of the NPU fan base, I'd like to thank the league for purchasing this software and making it available to all eight schools.

I also like the fact that the software won't require any additional work on the part of those who work in the football press box or at the basketball scorer's table.

[thundermike11]

This may be extremely premature, but is it possible for Wheaton to go all the way next year (win the CCIW and the NCAA's)?
Since Raymond is returning, their starting lineup is back, all they lost was a single bench player, and Wheaton has what seems to be a good recruiting class (Pflederer and others)...
I guess everything is possible, especially with Raymond, but how good of a chance does Wheaton have?

Wheaton should be very good next year, but they'll have questions to answer.  Afterall, last year - with Kent Raymond and the nucleus that will be on the floor next year - Wheaton lost 5 games in the CCIW and then bowed out in the 1st round of the conference tournament. 

Wheaton's biggest problems in '07-08, in my opinion, were:

1) They were a 3-man team offensively in most games - Raymond, Wiele, and Panner seemed to be the only reliable scoring threats.  The Thunder seemed to always have two players on the floor who couldn't score.

2) The bench was vey weak - they just didn't have much there at all.


Wheaton needs a couple freshmen, or JV players, to step in and contribute...preferably at the frontcourt spots.  The Thunder need at least two more legitimate CCIW players at the 3, 4, and 5.  I expect Jahns to become a player, and that should give the Thunder another scoring...but he is another perimeter scorer.

I don't see Wheaton as the favorite to the win the CCIW -- in fact, I think they'll be picked 3rd, behind Augie and Elmhurst.  And I believe co-2nd place team IWU, which went 3-0 vs Wheaton, will be improved in '08-09, and I suspect a few other teams will get better as well.  Bottom line, Wheaton's going to have to improve from last year to win the CCIW...let alone think about winning a national title.

After finishing ahead of Elmhurst in the CCIW standings, following that up with an elite eight run – and then returning all five starters, three of which were underclassmen (two in their first year with the program), no chance Wheaton gets picked behind Elmhurst.

That said, I could see Wheaton, Augie, Elmhurst or IWU winning the 14-game CCIW slate next year.
I think it's almost safe to say the every team in the CCIW will be better next year- --should be a lot of fun.

I agree. Wheaton has to be picked ahead of Elmhurst. They beat the Blue Jays twice (convincingly the second time) and they return there whole team along with some talented freshmen.

I disagree with the idea that Wheaton was a 3-man offensive team. Andrew Jahns is as good of a scorer as Panner at the guard spot, which he proved during the tournament. And Jake Carwell really picked it up at the end of the season, especially during the tournament. True, these guys are not prolific scorers, but I do not think any CCIW team have five guys who can light it up night in and night out. The think that made this Wheaton team successful was the ability of multiple guys to step up.

It is hard to argue that the bench was strong, but there is talent there that will emerge. The competition level in practice will certainly go up with the new wave of freshmen added to the mix.

Bottom line is, next year is going to be fun here at Wheaton. The CCIW will be as tough as ever, but the Thunder showed this year that they can compete.  Their conference losses were: by one at NCC, by 5 at Augie, by 3 at IWU, by 7 vs. NCC, by 2 vs. IWU, by 3 vs. IWU in the tourney. None of those are really "bad losses (with the exception being at home vs. NCC; the score was closer than the game). With a couple lucky bounces (esp. vs. IWU) you're looking at a much different record. My point is not to make excuses, just to point out that Wheaton was not too far from a title this year so with the same team back next year you've gotta believe they have a pretty darn good shot at winning this conference. But alas, it's April 28.

[Pat Coleman]

websteaming broadcast software.

Free download from Microsoft. Very tricky.

It's the service that would cost money.

[Pat Coleman]

I also like the fact that the software won't require any additional work on the part of those who work in the football press box or at the basketball scorer's table.

If the league goes with Presto.

[Titan Q]

A name we have already discussed...


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/sports/915065,3_2_EL25_B3LOCALS_S1.article


Burlington Central's McCurdy chooses Elmhurst College -- Mike McCurdy will follow his tremendous senior season by playing basketball at Division III Elmhurst College next year.

McCurdy, who finished the 2007-08 campaign as the area's scoring leader with 24.7 points per game, made his decision last week.

McCurdy's college stock enjoyed a meteoric rise as he went from being a role player for Burlington Central during his junior season to being the Rockets' go-to player last winter.

As Central's point guard, McCurdy rarely left the court. He drained 63 3-pointers and averaged close to six assists and four rebounds per game.

McCurdy said he narrowed his college options down to Elmhurst and Augustana before ultimately deciding to suit up for the Blue Jays.

"I got along with the coaches really well and I could see myself playing there," McCurdy said. "Everything just felt right."

McCurdy, who was a member of the Courier News' All-Area first team, said he expects to continue as a point guard at Elmhurst. The Blue Jays finished 18-8 last season under 12th-year coach Mark Scherer.

[Titan Q]

After finishing ahead of Elmhurst in the CCIW standings, following that up with an elite eight run – and then returning all five starters, three of which were underclassmen (two in their first year with the program), no chance Wheaton gets picked behind Elmhurst.

You may be right that Wheaton will be picked ahead of Elmhurst, but I don't see much separation there.  If Mike McCurdy is as good as I've heard, Elmhurst seems to have filled an immediate need.

Last year after watching Elmhurst for the third time, I told someone, "If they had Travis Rosenkranz, they might be a Final Four team."  Travis had an up and down freshman year at IWU, but he did a great job handling and distributing the basketball.  I felt like if Elmhurst just had that, they would have been great.  If McCurdy can step in as a freshman and just do what Rosenkranz did for IWU this year - just be that steady, pure point-guard - I think they will contend for the league championship.  Ruch could be a 1st Team All-American big man next year and Ryan Burks should be a 1st Team All-CCIW player. 

Again, I just think the league is going to be loaded in '08-09.

[usee]

As a wheaton fan I don't think any of the iwu games last year were as close as the score indicated. They were better in all 3 contests.

That said I think the experience of the NCAA tourney and winning on the road in tough environments is great experience for the Thunder that gives them an advantage going in to next year. I agree with Q's analysis that wheaton needs an improved forntcourt as well as more bench contribution.

The biggest deficiency I saw in wheaton's team was their defense. That just wasn't as consistent a defensive team as I have seen in past yrs. If some of the new guys can add quality defensive minutes the Thunder will be much improved and capable of winning the cciw.

[Titan Q]

What about IWU. Didn't they pick up a couple of good recruits. I know they needed a big man.

IWU landed Eric McCullough (6-9/220) from Normal - U High, who I believe is the best CCIW low-post recruit on the board so far...

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/03/26/scholastic/doc47e86e6693f6f903819761.txt


6-4 G/F Jordan Zimmer, who has a chance to be one of the best CCIW perimeter players in the Class of 2012, is IWU's other commitment...

http://www2.pjstar.com/index.php?/allstars/article/decision_was_academic1/

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/04/03/scholastic/doc47f444d38797e003908777.txt


Ron Rose is not done yet though.