WBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

I concur that Lett would be very deserving as would Amanda Crockett.  I would like to see either of them recognized.
However, I suspect Madsen will win it since it just seems the title winning coach usually does.  Plus he is also deserving.

Please don't misunderstand, I was not trying to imply in my previous post that Madsen doesn't deserve it. All things being equal, I think he'd be the right choice. But my point is that all things aren't equal; Millikin finished four spots -- half of the league's standings, in other words -- higher than it had been predicted to finish. I think that that's exactly what a COY award was created to honor.

Now, the head coaches in certain CCIW sports -- I'm looking at you, head coaches of men's basketball -- believe that the only sensible recipient of this award every year is the coach of the championship team, so the COY award just gets automatically shipped off to Rock Island or Naperville or wherever the championship team resides as a sort of addendum to the main part of the package, which is the CCIW championship trophy. I think that that's wrong. I think that the COY award shouldn't be so lockstep, because there may be other coaches who deserve it more. If you take an A+ team and win the title with it, that's all well and good; there's something to be said for recruiting and building that A+ team in the first place, and, if you're defending a previous season's title and/or a preseason #1 pick, there is also the pressure of living up to expectations, a very real pressure that has to be overcome internally. So I'm not philosophically opposed to someone in Kent Madsen's situation receiving the award. There would be a lot of seasons in which I'd support someone in his shoes as the right choice for COY. But if you took a D team -- and that's what I'd call a team picked for eighth, a team that is supposed to end up with a D grade, if not a D- grade -- and you lead them to a B or B- season, then you've arguably outstripped the accomplishment of that other coach, because merit is relative to progress as well as to achievement.

I mean no offense to Kent Madsen. I just think that Olivia Lett deserves it more this year, that's all.

[RogK]

If we include recruiting as a big part of coaching, then there can be a lag of a few seasons before a coach's hard work yields maximum victories on the court.
It seems a lot of awards and rankings do not give specific instructions to the voters.
In 2009-10, I think I supported Lyndsie Long for MOP over Christina Solari because I felt Long had carried her team (Elmhurst) more than Solari had for IWU. That thinking of course punished Solari for having better teammates overall. You really couldn't go wrong with either.
For our younger readers, Long was an archetype small forward who averaged 24.3 pts/g (not bad, eh?)
Solari was a very agile 6-footer who could zip past any number of players who you'd think were quicker.
https://static.cciw.org/custompages/CCIW_Links/WBasketball/Stats/0910/CONFLDRS.HTM
Looking back now at where Christina rated so well in so many stats, I think I'd switch my vote (didn't have any vote!). Several other very good players that year.

[Gregory Sager]

If we include recruiting as a big part of coaching

It's not a big part. It's the biggest part, by far.

The team that wins is usually the team that sends better players out onto the floor for the opening tip. And, player development notwithstanding, the key to having better players than opposing coaches is to bring in better recruits than theirs.

[GoPerry]

I concur that Lett would be very deserving as would Amanda Crockett.  I would like to see either of them recognized.
However, I suspect Madsen will win it since it just seems the title winning coach usually does.  Plus he is also deserving.

Please don't misunderstand, I was not trying to imply in my previous post that Madsen doesn't deserve it. All things being equal, I think he'd be the right choice. But my point is that all things aren't equal; Millikin finished four spots -- half of the league's standings, in other words -- higher than it had been predicted to finish. I think that that's exactly what a COY award was created to honor.

Now, the head coaches in certain CCIW sports -- I'm looking at you, head coaches of men's basketball -- believe that the only sensible recipient of this award every year is the coach of the championship team, so the COY award just gets automatically shipped off to Rock Island or Naperville or wherever the championship team resides as a sort of addendum to the main part of the package, which is the CCIW championship trophy. I think that that's wrong. I think that the COY award shouldn't be so lockstep, because there may be other coaches who deserve it more. If you take an A+ team and win the title with it, that's all well and good; there's something to be said for recruiting and building that A+ team in the first place, and, if you're defending a previous season's title and/or a preseason #1 pick, there is also the pressure of living up to expectations, a very real pressure that has to be overcome internally. So I'm not philosophically opposed to someone in Kent Madsen's situation receiving the award. There would be a lot of seasons in which I'd support someone in his shoes as the right choice for COY. But if you took a D team -- and that's what I'd call a team picked for eighth, a team that is supposed to end up with a D grade, if not a D- grade -- and you lead them to a B or B- season, then you've arguably outstripped the accomplishment of that other coach, because merit is relative to progress as well as to achievement.

I mean no offense to Kent Madsen. I just think that Olivia Lett deserves it more this year, that's all.

No misunderstanding here.  I agree with all you said. I would vote for Lett for being able to take a cadre of freshman and developing them quickly enough to be major contributors.  It's tough to do this with a single freshman much less 3 in Coffman, Ratsch and Fox.

My point was the same you described on the men's side - the title coach often receives the COY and so Madsen will probably get it.  But I also didn't want to imply that I thought he'd just be a ceremonial selection because that's "how it's always given" which is why I said he'd be deserving too.

[RogK]

Natalie Snyder is another Millikin freshman to keep an eye on. She has made 25 of 39 two-point FG attempts.
On a whim, I decided to check for CCIW players who have at least 25 steals and 25 blocks this season, whether they've played all 25 games or not. Admittedly, taller players are most likely to reach both.
                          steals   blocks
Riley Brovelli          42        39
Hannah Frazier       35        50
Abby Ratsch           45        25
Catie Eck               25        29
With 9 teams, you'd think there'd be more players in this group. I guess some coaches advise players not to risk accumulating fouls, trying to block shots.
Incidentally, the only other one with 20+ is Elizabeth Behrndt (20 and 26).

[Gregory Sager]

A few statistical notes:

* Alexis Jones of Augustana, who repeated as the CCIW's rebounding champ this season, finished CCIW play with 201 rebounds to her credit. That's the most since Rachel Pearson Bernero of North Park collected 231 caroms back in the 1990-91 season, and it ties Chris Jisa of Carroll's 201 (1988-89) for the third-most in league history, behind Lynn Dusold of Carroll's 234 in 1986-87 (the first season of CCIW play) and Bernero's 231. Nobody else has ever broken the 200 mark.

* Jayla Johnson of North Park was the CCIW's FG percentage champ, but her .518 mark in league play represents the lowest percentage to win the league title since Aja Terrier of Elmhurst won it with .516 in 2005-06. To be fair to Jayla, FG shooting champions tend to be bigs who take all, or nearly all, of their shots within five feet of the basket; Jayla, on the other hand, actually attempts more midrange jumpers than layups, so her .518 is pretty solid.

* Autumn Kalis and Sammie Woodward of Carthage finished 1-2 in the league in treys made per game, at 3.4 and 2.6, respectively. Two surprises accompany that stat: Carthage didn't win the team trey percentage title (Augustana did, with a .360 mark to second-place Carthage's .355), and, for as much as it may have seemed that the Lady Reds lived and died by the three, they actually shot a pretty modest 318 of them, which comes out to fewer than 20 3FGA per game in league play. Five other CCIW teams attempted more treys in CCIW games than did Carthage.

* Just Like Her Dad Dept.: The CCIW's FT percentage champion was Allison Pearson of North Central, who knocked 'em down at a .925 clip, eclipsing by a country mile runners-up Kalis (.882) and Woodward (.854). The apple didn't fall far from the tree, as her father, former North Park PG Jeff Pearson, ranks ninth in career FT percentage for the NPU men's program at .792, and had the seventh-best FT% season in Vikings history with an .848 mark in 1991-92.

* Not At All Like Her Dad Dept.: Lauren Hall of Augustana is this season's trey percentage champ at .511 -- far beyond the three CCIW players who finished in the low .400s, Kirsten Madsen of Wheaton, Kalis, and Emily Czuhajewski of North Park -- which is in marked contrast to her father Henry Hall, who was Jeff Pearson's counterpart as the Augustana men's team's PG back in the early '90s. Henry certainly wasn't shy about shooting treys, but he wasn't particularly notable when it came to making them. Of course, his daughter, who is an inside-outside forward, is a very different player than her dad was. She's 5'9, and I'm pretty sure that she can look her dad straight in the eye, 'cause he was pretty small by CCIW men's player standards. (Allison Pearson's pretty close to her dad's height as well, although I think she's a tad shorter than her old man.)

* While I'm convinced that Hannah Frazier of Wheaton is going to repeat as the CCIW's MOP when the awards are announced (presumably tomorrow morning), you could make a good case for Jayla Johnson based upon league play. She finished third in scoring (Frazier was fourth); second in rebounding (Frazier was seventh); first in FG percentage (Frazier was fourth); seventh in FT percentage (Frazier did edge her out there, finishing fourth); and first in steals (Frazier didn't make the leaderboard; Sydney Shanks of Illinois Wesleyan, who missed three league contests to mononucleosis, actually edged out Johnson as the steals per game leader). On the other hand, Frazier did make the leaderboards, albeit not prominently, in two categories in which Johnson didn't rank: trey percentage (fifteenth) and assists (eleventh), and Frazier also led the league in blocked shots, way ahead of Johnson (23rd).

As for the other contenders, scoring champion Kendall Sosa of Illinois Wesleyan also did well in several categories. She didn't rank in rebounding, but her excellent shooting numbers garnered her second place behind Johnson in FG percentage, fifth place in trey percentage, and fifth place in FT percentage (just behind Frazier). She was also eighth in both assists and a:to, and thirteenth in steals. Alexis Jones was sixth in scoring, behind Sosa, Kalis, Johnson, Frazier, and Woodward; first in rebounding (by a ridiculous 12.6-to-8.7 margin over runner-up Johnson); third in FG percentage (behind Johnson and Sosa and ahead of Frazier, Kalis, and Woodward); tenth in FT percentage; fifth in both assists and a:to; 21st in blocked shots, and tied with Shanks for second in steals behind Johnson (third in steals per game). The only thing that Jones doesn't do well on the basketball court is shoot treys; she's actually pretty hideous at that, as she went 7-49  (.143) from beyond the arc this season, including 5-28 (.179) in league play. Considering what a remarkable player she is, I suspect that Augustana fans can forgive her for that.

[Gregory Sager]

My guess at tomorrow's announcement:

MOP: Hannah Frazier, Wheaton
NOY: Abby Ratsch, Millikin
COY: Kent Madsen, Wheaton

FIRST TEAM:

*Hannah Frazier, Wheaton	Sr.
*Jayla Johnson, North Park	So.
*Alexis Jones, Augustana	Sr.
*Autumn Kalis, Carthage	Sr.
*Kendall Sosa, Illinois Wesleyan	Jr.
Jordan Hildebrand, Millikin	Jr.
Hannah Williams, Wheaton	Jr.
Sammie Woodward, Carthage	Sr.

SECOND TEAM:

Riley Brovelli, Illinois Wesleyan	Jr.
Sierra Grubor, Carroll	So.
Kween Jean, Elmhurst	So.
Kirsten Madsen, Wheaton	So.
Zakiya Newsome, North Park	Jr.
Abby Ratsch, Millikin	Fr.
Allison Pearson, North Central	So.
Sydney Shanks, Illinois Wesleyan	Sr.

[GoPerry]

Here's my take - pretty close to Greg's

First
Autumn Kalis, Carthage*
Jayla Johnson, North Park*
Hannah Frazier, Wheaton*
Kendall Sosa, Illinois Wesleyan*
Alexis Jones, Augustana*
Sydney Shanks, Illinois Wesleyan
Jordan Hildebrand, Millikin
Hannah Williams, Wheaton

Second:
Riley Brovelli, Illinois Wesleyan
Sammie Woodward, Carthage
Kirsten Madsen, Wheaton
Abby Ratsch, Millikin
Kween Jean, Elmhurst
Allison Pearson, North Central
Lauren Hall, Augustana
Alyssa Cruz, Carroll

*Unanimous

CCIW Newcomer of the Year:  Abby Ratsch, Millikin
Lori Kerans Most Outstanding Player:  Hannah Frazier, Wheaton
Beth Baker Coach of the Year:  Kent Madsen, Wheaton
   .
*Sammie Woodward is equally deserving of first team but I'm not sure coaches go for the 7th place team getting two first teamers.  So Shanks instead.

[RogK]

this would be my grouping (not a forecast, though) :
1st : Hannah Frazier, Jayla Johnson, Alexis Jones, Kendall Sosa, Autumn Kalis, Sydney Shanks, Hannah Williams, Jordan Hildebrand.
2nd : Sammie Woodward, Zakiya Newsome, Lauren Hall, Riley Brovelli, Abby Ratsch, Allison Pearson, Kirsten Madsen, Kelly Weyhrich.
I have no Carroll player, but Alyssa Cruz might edge out Sierra Grubor.
I'll go with Kent Madsen as MOP, Hannah Frazier as Newcomer and Abby Ratsch as Coach of the Year. 

[Gregory Sager]

.
*Sammie Woodward is equally deserving of first team but I'm not sure coaches go for the 7th place team getting two first teamers.  So Shanks instead.

I considered that as well, but Woodward's numbers and impact really do merit inclusion on the first team, in spite of her team's poor season. It's hard to keep a player who averaged 16 ppg and led the league in FT percentage off of the first team. But I can see it going either way.

[GoPerry]

.
*Sammie Woodward is equally deserving of first team but I'm not sure coaches go for the 7th place team getting two first teamers.  So Shanks instead.

I considered that as well, but Woodward's numbers and impact really do merit inclusion on the first team, in spite of her team's poor season. It's hard to keep a player who averaged 16 ppg and led the league in FT percentage off of the first team. But I can see it going either way.

It's at least one of them on the first team if not both.  I'm thinking that if Kalis is not unanimous, then I would attribute that to Woodward getting some votes for the one Carthage spot on the first team - basically splitting the Lady Red vote.

[RogK]

3FG shooting during the last four seasons for this trio of Lady Reds :
Sammie Woodward  155/443  .350  = .525 2FG shooting
Madie Kaelber          162/461  .351  = .527 2FG
Autumn Kalis           224/546  .410  = .615 2FG
all very good, and of course that was only a part of their contributions

[RogK]

Congrats to the new CCIW Player of the Week, Sydney Shanks !

[Mr. Ypsi]

Congrats to the new CCIW Player of the Week, Sydney Shanks !

Since she is the THIRD Titan to win PoW, while Wheaton only has had one, shouldn't the conference tourney be in B'town?

[RogK]

A reasonable person could certainly reach that conclusion, but you're forgetting the Three Hannah rule, which favors Wheaton.