MBB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[The Way]

The Way I See It,

Libero, my 4 year degree from Lakeland begs to differ that i dropped out. My post number is lacking as i find myself getting further and further away from teams in the NAC. I have only been to a handful of games and don't have the ability to listen to games online. I would love to stay more intuned, but work just doesn't allow it. I have been leaving messages though on games that i have attended this year.

I don't even get to that many Lakeland games anymore. And when i go, I find that they have been losing. So to spare us both the agony, I just have not been going. I will, however, be making the treck to Sadoff Gymnasium tonight to watch Marian and Edgewood.

I do miss my babbling counterparts on here though. It made the work day go a tad bit quicker when trying to outwit the likes of Bust'yall or some of the other WLC posters.

I will be sure to leave an update on what i see tonight. But now if you will excuse me, I am all out of Pledge and my diploma frame needs a good dusting.

[WLCALUM83]

The Way I See It,

Libero, my 4 year degree from Lakeland begs to differ that i dropped out. My post number is lacking as i find myself getting further and further away from teams in the NAC. I have only been to a handful of games and don't have the ability to listen to games online. I would love to stay more intuned, but work just doesn't allow it. I have been leaving messages though on games that i have attended this year.

I don't even get to that many Lakeland games anymore. And when i go, I find that they have been losing. So to spare us both the agony, I just have not been going. I will, however, be making the treck to Sadoff Gymnasium tonight to watch Marian and Edgewood.

I do miss my babbling counterparts on here though. It made the work day go a tad bit quicker when trying to outwit the likes of Bust'yall or some of the other WLC posters.

I will be sure to leave an update on what i see tonight. But now if you will excuse me, I am all out of Pledge and my diploma frame needs a good dusting.

Barring an extremely unusual development, sir, you may see some history. Edgewood's Charlie Averkamp is just 1 point shy of 1,000 for his career, so unless he's held scoreless, you'll see him reach and surpass that plateau. If Marian's hitting from outside, their chances will be better. I'd expect DeMarco and Averkamp to come up big scoring wise as usual and get their fair share of rebounds.

[Big_Uns]

I'm still here, reading but not posting. And by the way, what's with this trashtalking nonsense. I have no idea what you're talking about. 

[Greek Tragedy]

I miss them too...

I'm still here...

The Way I See It,

It's...it's...it's, like, 2004 all over again!  ...if you excuse me, I think I have something in my eye, and it's making it water! lol

[libero]

The Way I See It,

Libero, my 4 year degree from Lakeland begs to differ that i dropped out. My post number is lacking as i find myself getting further and further away from teams in the NAC. I have only been to a handful of games and don't have the ability to listen to games online. I would love to stay more intuned, but work just doesn't allow it. I have been leaving messages though on games that i have attended this year.

I don't even get to that many Lakeland games anymore. And when i go, I find that they have been losing. So to spare us both the agony, I just have not been going. I will, however, be making the treck to Sadoff Gymnasium tonight to watch Marian and Edgewood.

I do miss my babbling counterparts on here though. It made the work day go a tad bit quicker when trying to outwit the likes of Bust'yall or some of the other WLC posters.

I will be sure to leave an update on what i see tonight. But now if you will excuse me, I am all out of Pledge and my diploma frame needs a good dusting.

Nice post.

And nice to have you back.

Do any of the former LMC trash-talkers ever call the Jim Rome show? It seems that some of them might have some "takes" worth "racking".

[gordonmann]

Interview with Coach Lancaster of Aurora posted off the front page.

[WLCALUM83]

1/30 Men's NAthCon Finals:

Marian 60, Edgewood 57  (Marian outrebounded Edgewood 41-27 and outshot Edgewood from 3-pt range, 33% to 20% per box score off Marian's site). (Averkamp gets his 1,000th career point in a losing cause, but the loss isn't that costly from an in-conference standpoint--see below).

Lakeland 84, Concordia-Chicago 69. (Muskies had 21 points off turnovers compared to CU-Chicago's 9).

WLC 87, Aurora 82   (WLC was able to get to the FT line more often than Aurora. WLC also had 19 pts off turnovers to Aurora's 12. Two Spartan starters fouled out. (Source is box score off WLC's website.) The Warriors are still alive in the conference race, but this poster wonders how much the home losses to Dominican and Benedictine are going to cost them down the road.

Dominican 89, Maranatha Baptist 52.

Benedictine 64, Rockford College 57. (2 OT's). (Regents hit only 1 FG the entire 2nd overtime period, per Rockford College box score).

MSOE 81, Concordia-WI 77. (OT).

[WLCALUM83]

2/01/07 NAthCon Projections:

Concordia-Chicago over WLC  (Warriors are ripe to be upset themselves if they let the win over Aurora go to their heads. Hopefully, they'll remember how they barely beat these guys on the road earlier this season).

Benedictine over Concordia-WI:

Aurora over Maranatha:  (Sad thing:  The Crusaders have had a knack of catching teams immediately after those teams have been upset this season).

Dominican over Marian:  (Only because its' on the Stars' home floor). Too close to call otherwise.

Lakeland over Rockford:

[Greek Tragedy]

WLC upsets Aurora 87-82

Wow.  I wish I could say I was impressed with both teams and WLC dug in deep and came out with an impressive win against a solid conference foe...but, I'd be lying.

What a mess.  Now, before I go on my rant, remember this...this is the first time I've seen Aurora play, and the first time this year I've seen WLC play.  Not to be too bias, I'll try not to compare or reference Stevens Point or Oshkosh in my opinion of this game.  For all I know, this could've been the best game WLC has ever played or the worst game Aurora has ever played. 

This site and the Aurora site had the game scheduled for 7:30, while the WLC site had the game set for 7:00.  I got there about 10 after and the game had already started.  Apparently, Aurora missed the TPS Report memo and didn't show up until 7:30 as well. 

Going in, I didn't think I was going to be impressed with WLC, considering I saw them last year against a horrible Eau Claire team...and they lost that one.  I think the first half, WLC basically played on adrenaline.  To paraphrase Swampgoon, "They didn't know where they were going, but they were getting there pretty damn quick."  They were all over the place, usually doubling the ball-handler on defense and launching shots left and right on offense.  They went up 33-22 and it looked all over for Aurora.  But, to their credit, they fought back were down just 40-39 at the break.  After the break, Aurora seemed to slow things down a little bit (or WLC ran out of gas) and they actually took a brief lead before going on a cold spell that they would never recover from.

WLC wanted this game a lot more and they showed it with emotion and hustle.  On the other hand, Aurora must have been reading too much D3hoops because it seemed like they didn't want to be there and WLC should just give them the win.  I wasn't impressed with Aurora at all.  They played literally no defense at times and you could tell coach Lancaster wasn't too happy about it.  There were several ocassions when he would yell, "Watch the back door" and guess what, back door cut = easy lay up.  The defenders rarely  had their hands up or in the face of the ball handlers, making easy passing lanes.  They were slow on help defense, lacking team defense and just overall forgot to play defense most of the time.  There were a couple of times when Aurora turned the ball over and some of the players were walking back on defense with their heads down not even looking at the ball as it flew past them!  Seriously.  Not very disciplined at all, IMO.

I think Aurora would get eaten alive by any team with a disciplined offense like Lawrence.  Any opponent with a big guy in the middle, Aurora would also have problems.  Aurora is not very big with Mike Leonard  (6'6" but thin) and Larry Welton (about the same size) their only "inside" players.  They are very guard oriented and I'm surprised WLC didn't try to pound it inside more with the likes of Nate Sorum (6'7) or Brian Hagel (6'8"), both with more meat than Leonard or Welton.  I know their only other loss was to Edgewood and they have a nice post presence in Averkamp, and a solid forward in De Marco.  Looking at that boxscore, those two ate them up, Averkamp and De Marco combining for 44 of Edgewood's 68 points.  Averkamp also had 19 rebounds!  To compare, nearly any team in the WIAC, even the mid-level ones like Stout (Jacob Nonemacher & Heisler), Platteville (Gossens & when Skemp was healthy) and even La Crosse (Werner is probably WIAC POTY) would just destroy Aurora inside. 

I think Aurora would be better suited against a more up tempo team like IWU, Carthage or Carroll, rather than trying to defend a team like Lawrence or Platteville.  But, with that said, Carthage has a stud in Schlemm...at least from what I saw on Saturday.  IWU does have Freeman, but I don't think he's a "back to the basket" post presence.  He plays more like Leonard or Welton, facing the basket, using their quickness etc, IMO. 

I wasn't impressed with Aurora's guards either.  They had trouble facing in-your-face pressure, shown by their 16 first half TOs (20 total, so they improved drastically) and Darrick Leonard tried to hard to do it all...usually running with his head down and trying to make something out of nothing.  Even without looking at the boxscore, Mike Leonard (#31) was by far the best player Aurora had tonight.  IMO, Larry Welton was nonexistent. 

Apparently trying to keep my eye on Welton and watching Mike Leonard do well underneath, I missed the fact that guard Chad Trudo had a quiet 16 points, 4 asts and only 1 TO.  5-7 FGs including 4-5 from 3.  I guess when Lambert is coughing the ball up four times (seemed like more) and Leonard and Leonard launching 26 shots combined, I missed those 7 Lambert took!  My apologies.

Anyway....that's neither here or there.  Hardly an impressive showing by Aurora.  Since nearly every WIAC team has a good to great post presence and most actually play some sort of defense, I don't think Aurora would have any shot in the WIAC.  Carthage (with Schlemm and quick guards) and IWU (with Freeman in the post) would beat Aurora, from what I saw Saturday and Lawrence (because of their style) and Carroll (with Drury and some good inside players) would also take care of Aurora.  I think Aurora would have a shot at Grinnell, simply because of the up and down pace they play, though their ball-handling skills would come into question against Grinnell's pressure defense. 

Well, this was WAY TOO LONG and I apologize.  I was probably just rambling.  Sorry.

On a side note, the famous "6th Man" was very entertaining and loud the entire game.  They had some funny moments.  There were about 50-75 of them and stood the whole game.  The boxscore said 232, but I swear, they were the only ones there.  I don't even remember the "general public" clapping or cheering, even after WLC upset the #16 team in the nation!

[Gregory Sager]

What a mess.  Now, before I go on my rant, remember this...this is the first time I've seen Aurora play, and the first time this year I've seen WLC play.  Not to be too bias, I'll try not to compare or reference Stevens Point or Oshkosh in my opinion of this game.  For all I know, this could've been the best game WLC has ever played or the worst game Aurora has ever played.

Problem is, OS, you've dragged just about every team you've seen this season besides UWSP and UWO into your post for purposes of comparison. You probably would've been better off sticking with the Pointers and the Titans as points of reference, since you're much more familiar with those teams (via repeated viewings) than you are with, say, Carthage or Illinois Wesleyan or Edgewood.

I think Aurora would get eaten alive by any team with a disciplined offense like Lawrence.  Any opponent with a big guy in the middle, Aurora would also have problems.  Aurora is not very big with Mike Leonard  (6'6" but thin) and Larry Welton (about the same size) their only "inside" players.  They are very guard oriented and I'm surprised WLC didn't try to pound it inside more with the likes of Nate Sorum (6'7) or Brian Hagel (6'8"), both with more meat than Leonard or Welton.  I know their only other loss was to Edgewood and they have a nice post presence in Averkamp, and a solid forward in De Marco.  Looking at that boxscore, those two ate them up, Averkamp and De Marco combining for 44 of Edgewood's 68 points.  Averkamp also had 19 rebounds!  To compare, nearly any team in the WIAC, even the mid-level ones like Stout (Jacob Nonemacher & Heisler), Platteville (Gossens & when Skemp was healthy) and even La Crosse (Werner is probably WIAC POTY) would just destroy Aurora inside.

Then please explain why Aurora demolished North Central by 16 points in NCC's gym. North Central's team strength by far lies in its front line -- 6'6, 225 senior Anthony Simmons (12.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg), 6'7, 220 senior Adam Krumtinger (7.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg), and 6'5, 200 senior Dan Walton (18.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg) -- and that was even more true back in November when the Spartans put the wood to NCC than it is now.

IWU does have Freeman, but I don't think he's a "back to the basket" post presence.  He plays more like Leonard or Welton, facing the basket, using their quickness etc, IMO. 

Boy, are you completely off with that one! Zach Freeman is an outstanding post-up player. He can back his man in with the best of 'em in D3.

I'm not trying to bust y'all , OS, but I get the distinct feeling that you're putting too much weight on what appears to be an anomalously bad night for the Spartans. I doubt that Aurora is a national championship contender, but I also doubt that the Spartans got to 17-1 coming into tonight with smoke and mirrors. Some nights a team just doesn't bring it -- and when it's a night that they're facing a really keyed-up opponent in that opponent's gym it can turn into an upset, especially if it's a conference tilt. The trick is to recognize those types of games as outliers when the overall record seems to indicate that ... and in Aurora's case, I'd definitely say that tonight's debacle in Brewtown was an outlier.

As you said, for all you know this could've been Aurora's worst game of the season. Based upon the Spartans' record to date, that definitely appears to be the case. It just looks as though you didn't heed your own advice about limited-evidence bias in the rest of your post.

It made the work day go a tad bit quicker when trying to outwit the likes of Bust'yall

Yeah, that was usually a mentally intense five seconds for me as well.

[Greek Tragedy]

Not a problem Gregory,

You are always welcome to drag me down! lol.  Reminding everyone that this was the first time I've seen Aurora and noted that this might have been the worst time they've played and all that.  I used those as qualifiers and based the post on that viewing alone. 

I've seen Platteville twice, off the top of my head.  And I really didn't want to use Point or Oshkosh as a reference because the casual viewer would counter, "of course Point and Oshkosh are better" argument!  And yeah, I can't explain Aurora destroying NCC!  I know ZACH is a great inside presence, but from seeing him Saturday AND last year, he seemed to get the ball with his back to the basket, but basically turn around and face it right away...using his quickness, rather than backing into the post.  Maybe the matchups, like Titan Q said. 

So, get off my back! lol. 

[Big_Uns]

Old School,

I'd say your assessment of Aurora is pretty accurate. I'm surprised more teams don't try to pound it inside against them. Sure, they'd pick up their fair share of blocks due to Leonard and Welton's leaping ability, but Leonard fouled out both time Lakeland played them after the Muskies continuously went to Rogers in the post. Leonard only played 19 minutes last week due to foul trouble and Welton reached four fouls in that game.

If you're smart about approaching that team, you can turn their aggressiveness against them, no doubt.

[libero]

The Dominican/Maranatha game was not notable except for one thing. Early in the first half, freshman Mike Knepp took his man to the hole off the dribble along the right baseline and executed one the nastiest dunks I have ever seen in D3 basketball. I think he dunked over at least three Stars, including the tallest guy on the floor. It would make a great youtube video if anyone has it on tape.

[WLCALUM83]

Who is most likely to win the Northern Athletics Conference POY award?

[Greek Tragedy]

I'm guessing Welton.  He won it last year in the NIIC, I think.