MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[thundermike11]

and they showed against a very poor Lake Forest team that they are just not very good.

So which U of C will show up? Just because they played bad against LF doesn't mean they are a bad team. I would think they are very capable of competing with Wheaton on their home floor.

Im sorry. I just dont see how any team that gets blown out by this year's version of LFC can be a good team.

How do you explain a one-point loss to Augie then? I'm not going to say the LFC loss isn't a bad one, but if it were not for Jordan Delp's shot with 2 seconds left, they would have beaten Augie. Wednesday will be a tough game for the Thunder on the road.

[Naperick]

North Central pummeled Aurora tonight in a game that was not even as close as the final 83-65 score. NCC was up by 30 with 9:11 left, at which time the Cards substituted liberally with 15 players seeing action. During that time, Aurora cut the lead from 30 to the final difference of 18.

NCC was led by Mitch Raridon who hit for a career high 20 pts (6/12, (6/9 3s), 2/2).
Reid Barringer was close behind with 19 (7/13, (5/9), and Chris Drennan had 14 on 4/7 + 6/7. PG Dean Prince dished out 9 assists without a TO! The Cards shot 46% for the game, but 52.2% from beyond the arc.

As usual, AndOne is right on.  I only got to see the 2nd half but NCC had total control and could have won by 35+ if they wanted.  Aurora is just not very good right now but it's early.

Something I have not seen in a long time is the officials actually took points off the board after it was discovered that the total fouls for Aurora had been counted incorrectly.  NCC made two free throws and they were not in the bonus.  It really didn't matter.  After the two points were deducted from NCC's total, the Cardinals lead was 63-37.

[AndOne]

and they showed against a very poor Lake Forest team that they are just not very good.

So which U of C will show up? Just because they played bad against LF doesn't mean they are a bad team. I would think they are very capable of competing with Wheaton on their home floor.

If they had ONLY played badly against Lake Forest (a team the #22 ranked pre-season team should certainly beat) that would be one thing which could be dismissed. However, U of Chi has also lost to Edgewood, who is not exactly a powerhouse, and to ILLINOIS TECH Yes, Illinois Tech!!! Actually, Chicago's troubles were brought to light in a preseason scrimmage, in which they lost both the 1st and 2nd halves, against North Central. It appears they have yet to correct the deficiencies that were evident during the scrimmage.

[petemcb]

I couldn't be at the game last night, but it sounds like another dominating performance by the Thunder. The balanced scoring is very good to see, especially coming from McCrary and Pflederer. This team is much more difficult to defend due to the amount of scorers in the lineup. Andy Wiele has been as good as advertised so far, but has yet to face anyone remotely his size/strength. But he has been playing outstanding basketball.

Thundermike, the starter in the post for Loras last night was 6'6" and probably 215, and the other two guys making Wiele work for what he got each checked in at 6'7" and probably 225 to 235.  The two 6'7" guys were quite physical and seemed like they were rotated in and out to tire Wiele out.  They were playing him close and tight, and I thought this was as physical a game as Wiele is likely to have to play this season.  The three-headed monster from Loras gave Wiele the roughest 40 minutes he'll see for awhile.  The Loras offense didn't seem to involve the big men much, but they were a physical load on the defensive end.  Wiele looked gassed when he came out.  I though it was a good game to prepare Wiele for the CCIW season.  In the first half, he struggled, going 3-8 from the field and no trips to the free throw line.  No offensive boards either.  He seemed to be starting out too far from the basket and had trouble getting in close where he could be more effective.  He seemed to figure that out in the second half and went 6-6 and picked up 9 boards in the half, finishing with 18 and 14 along with three assists.  All in all, a good game to prep him for the season. 

What made this win by the Thunder more impressive than the final score was the fact that Ben Panner went an uncharacteristic 1-5 from the field, 0-0 from the charity stripe, and had one board in 23 minutes of action.  If he had a typical Panner night, this game would have been more lop-sided than it already was. 

Kent Raymond seemed to do whatever he wanted in the first half, going 6-9 from the field and really controling the flow of the game.  After seeing Harris get 10 or more players in the Lee Pfund last weekend, he shrunk things down to a more typical (for him) eight man rotation for most of the game until the last maybe 8-10 minutes or less.  Wheaton's two prize freshmen were clearly in that 8 man rotation.  Pflederer finished 4-4 from the field, 1-1 from the line and zero turnovers in 18 minutes of action.  McCrary was even more impressive, going 4-4 from the field, 4-4 from the line, 6 boards, 4 beautiful assists and 3 clean blocks in 30 minutes of action.  He played a great game and did not look anything like a freshman in this game.  He stayed very composed at all points of the game.  These two guys will keep Wheaton an entertaining team to watch for the next four years. 

This was not a bad Loras team that Wheaton put this beating on.  It was a very impressive performance, and given Wheaton's solid three man guard rotation of Raymond, Panner and Pflederer, it seems like 6'8" Wiele, 6'7" Carwell and 6'6" McCrary (at least the McCrary I saw last night) would be more than Augie's bigs could contend with.  Last night, Wheaton looked worth every bit of their predicted 1st place finish in the CCIW this year. 

[Gregory Sager]

and they showed against a very poor Lake Forest team that they are just not very good.

I think you're overstating the matter to call Lake Forest a "very poor" team. I suspect that the Foresters will be significantly better than "very poor" in MWC play.

[petemcb]

Bosko picks up career win number 400 as Carthage cruises 82-60 over Silver Lake College from somewhere in Wisconsin. Stevie D finished with 31 on 7-11 and 17-21 from the line.  Adam Stuart helped out with 17 points and 9 boards on 7-10 and 3-3 from the line in 32 minutes of action.  6'6" Rich Williams checked in with 10 points and Adam Tolo chipped in with 7 and 4.  Max Cary and Cody had 5 each and Steve Ideran had 4.  All numbers per the online radio broadcast.  Now a week to get ready before the big CCIW/MIAA battles at Wheaton next weekend.  That should be a great weekend.  All that on a campus with award-winning food.  What a country!

[petemcb]

and they showed against a very poor Lake Forest team that they are just not very good.

So which U of C will show up? Just because they played bad against LF doesn't mean they are a bad team. I would think they are very capable of competing with Wheaton on their home floor.

Im sorry. I just dont see how any team that gets blown out by this year's version of LFC can be a good team.

How do you explain a one-point loss to Augie then? I'm not going to say the LFC loss isn't a bad one, but if it were not for Jordan Delp's shot with 2 seconds left, they would have beaten Augie.

If it wasn't for Delp and his last second shots, a few of Augie's final results might have turned out differently......

[Gregory Sager]

and they showed against a very poor Lake Forest team that they are just not very good.

So which U of C will show up? Just because they played bad against LF doesn't mean they are a bad team. I would think they are very capable of competing with Wheaton on their home floor.

If they had ONLY played badly against Lake Forest (a team the #22 ranked pre-season team should certainly beat) that would be one thing which could be dismissed. However, U of Chi has also lost to Edgewood, who is not exactly a powerhouse, and to ILLINOIS TECH Yes, Illinois Tech!!! Actually, Chicago's troubles were brought to light in a preseason scrimmage, in which they lost both the 1st and 2nd halves, against North Central. It appears they have yet to correct the deficiencies that were evident during the scrimmage.

You've mentioned that scrimmage three times now, AO. Can we declare a moratorium on mentioning it again?

I've watched two of Chicago's games this season. Against Edgewood the Maroons couldn't defend their own shadows -- and Edgewood's one of those talented-but-young teams that can be very good one game and very poor the next. Against IIT and LFC the Maroons had the opposite problem: They couldn't throw the ball into Lake Michigan if they were standing on Navy Pier (32% from the field, 19% from downtown against the Scarlet Hawks, 33% from the field and 27% from downtown against the Foresters). As bad as the IIT loss was -- there's no getting around the fact that Illinois Tech is a dreadful basketball program -- there's at least one mitigating factor, and that's that IIT head coach Rusty Loyd is Chicago head coach Mike McGrath's former assistant. As McGrath himself admitted, Loyd knew what the Maroons were running before they even ran it. That's not an excuse -- there's no way Chicago should've lost that game -- but it is something of an explanation.

I've said before that Chicago will right the ship and go on to have a respectable season (although most likely not as good as last year's), and I'm sticking with that. The Maroons have too much talent in Jake Pancratz, Adam Machones, and Matt Corning, plus a pretty solid freshman class, to simply fold like a house of cards and wind up 8-17 for the year. But, as I also said, they will struggle early. Next Wednesday will be no exception. Wheaton is in midseason form right now; Chicago is very much a work in progress. The Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance will win the game by twenty points.

[Gregory Sager]

Now a week to get ready before the big CCIW/MIAA battles at Wheaton next weekend.  That should be a great weekend.  All that on a campus with award-winning food.

Let's just hope that the bomb squad from that crackerjack Wheaton Police Department that I saw in all its glory last season is on hand to ensure that King Arena is an ordnance-free zone for the CCIW/MIAA Classic. I wouldn't want all of the visitors from the other side of the lake to get the wrong idea and think that DuPage County is the Wild West, where the law flows from the barrel of a ... er, trashcan.

[petemcb]

Now a week to get ready before the big CCIW/MIAA battles at Wheaton next weekend.  That should be a great weekend.  All that on a campus with award-winning food.

Let's just hope that the bomb squad from that crackerjack Wheaton Police Department that I saw in all its glory last season is on hand to ensure that King Arena is an ordnance-free zone for the CCIW/MIAA Classic. I wouldn't want all of the visitors from the other side of the lake to get the wrong idea and think that DuPage County is the Wild West, where the law flows from the barrel of a ... er, trashcan.

Might wanna remind the local gendarmes what a crazy place those hallowed grounds can become.  Last night, I saw one security guard the whole night, and he was so busy on his cell phone that he didn't even have time to shine the single bullet that he probably had in his shirt pocket.  (Any other Barney Fife fans out there?)

[Mr. Ypsi]

Now a week to get ready before the big CCIW/MIAA battles at Wheaton next weekend.  That should be a great weekend.  All that on a campus with award-winning food.

Let's just hope that the bomb squad from that crackerjack Wheaton Police Department that I saw in all its glory last season is on hand to ensure that King Arena is an ordnance-free zone for the CCIW/MIAA Classic. I wouldn't want all of the visitors from the other side of the lake to get the wrong idea and think that DuPage County is the Wild West, where the law flows from the barrel of a ... er, trashcan.

Might wanna remind the local gendarmes what a crazy place those hallowed grounds can become.  Last night, I saw one security guard the whole night, and he was so busy on his cell phone that he didn't even have time to shine the single bullet that he probably had in his shirt pocket.  (Any other Barney Fife fans out there?)

Wait ... Barney Fife had a cell phone?!

[petemcb]

Not sure about that, but this guy did have that sort of I'm-perty-sweet-on-you-Thelm Lou glow on his face.

[Gregory Sager]

Not sure about that, but this guy did have that sort of I'm-perty-sweet-on-you-Thelm Lou glow on his face.

Never fear, gentlemen. I'm sure that Andy will have Goober and Gomer and Otis and Ernest T. Bass and Floyd "the Philosopher-King" Lawson all up and deputized in time for when the folks from the big city come a-calling on February 7 at King Arena for the NPU @ Wheaton game, just like he did last year.

[petemcb]

Not sure about that, but this guy did have that sort of I'm-perty-sweet-on-you-Thelm Lou glow on his face.

Never fear, gentlemen. I'm sure that Andy will have Goober and Gomer and Otis and Ernest T. Bass and Floyd "the Philosopher-King" Lawson all up and deputized in time for when the folks from the big city come a-calling on February 7 at King Arena for the NPU @ Wheaton game, just like he did last year.

I heard the Carlson Crazies disguised as the Darlin' brothers might put in an appearance  as the half time entertainment.  Can you confirm that, Greg?

[Gregory Sager]

Not sure about that, but this guy did have that sort of I'm-perty-sweet-on-you-Thelm Lou glow on his face.

Never fear, gentlemen. I'm sure that Andy will have Goober and Gomer and Otis and Ernest T. Bass and Floyd "the Philosopher-King" Lawson all up and deputized in time for when the folks from the big city come a-calling on February 7 at King Arena for the NPU @ Wheaton game, just like he did last year.

I heard the Carlson Crazies disguised as the Darlin' brothers might put in an appearance  as the half time entertainment.  Can you confirm that, Greg?

Depends upon whether or not the Crazies can find the necessary musical equipment. You can't play "Whoa, Mule" or "Bile 'em Cabbage Down" without a good, solid ceramic moonshine jug, you know.