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Messages - TitansIWU

#1
Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 12, 2019, 02:27:37 PM
Quote from: duckfan41 on March 12, 2019, 11:28:49 AM
Regarding Aston, I watched every Wheaton men's game this year and there are basically no players who surprise me when they miss a turnaround fade-away three pointer from the wing or the corner, but Aston is one of them. I saw someone on twitter call D3 basketball as a whole out because of how good Aston is, as a slight to its inferiority to D1. However, Aston has a rare work ethic that most D1 guys don't even have. The fact that he went to the practice gym after the Augie game and didn't leave until he made 100 of the shot he had just missed is a testament to how hard he works and how much he wants to win basketball games. You certainly don't luck into averaging 33.9 points per game.

What really opened my eyes to the whole Aston Francis narrative was going back and looking at his freshman season at Tyler Junior College. Again, for those of you who missed the post I made about my discovery earlier this season, Aston Francis was not some sort of teenaged basketball superstar who just happened to land at Wheaton after setting the world on fire at the juco level. Yes, Mike Schauer saw him in high school and tried to recruit him then, but he wasn't down in Texas to look at Aston Francis; he was down there to look at Trevor Gunter and stumbled upon Aston Francis by accident. But the biggest surprise is just how ordinary and easily-overlooked Francis was at TJC. He did not start for the Apaches; he came off the bench. His shooting slash was a very modest .360/.333/.750. And he averaged 4.5 ppg and 0.8 rpg, which seems astonishing when you realize that he averaged 23.9 ppg as a sophomore at Wheaton with a shooting slash of .458/.388/.781, and has had an upward offensive trajectory over his junior and senior seasons.

It's all well and good for Mike Schauer to call Aston Francis the hardest-working player he's ever seen, but the numbers he posted at TJC put into stark relief just how hard he worked to become the hardest-working player that Mike Schauer has ever seen. It fleshes out his narrative in the same way that knowing that Michael Jordan got cut from the tryout for his high school's sophomore team makes you understand what drove him to become the greatest player who ever laced up sneakers. Yes, Aston Francis is a gifted athlete, but we all know that even the D3 level is replete with gifted athletes. What sets him apart isn't mere work ethic; it's an approach to making himself a better player that has been both maniacal and methodical. I don't get the impression that he's wasted any energy in applying himself to be better. That whole I'm-going-to-perfect-the-shot-that-I-missed-against-Augie story and the fact that he spent a summer studying videos of players like Larry Bird and Steph Curry in order to break down their techniques and incorporate them into his game indicates that he harnesses his amazing drive to specific on-court purposes. And that also explains why various phases of his game have improved over the past three years. It's one thing to be driven; it's another thing to be smart about it.

But the biggest part of the story, of course, is the whole aspect of a nondescript juco benchwarmer becoming the most sensational D3 player in recent memory. Within the ordinary lies the seed of the extraordinary. I wonder how many other D3 players who have played against him have taken this to heart and have looked at Aston Francis as a role model who will inspire them to put down the Xbox and click on YouTube videos of great players of yesteryear with the intent to study their moves or their technique, or to put in extra hours in the gym and the weight room even above and beyond what they're already doing.

Quote from: duckfan41 on March 12, 2019, 11:28:49 AMIt's been awesome getting to see Aston dress in the orange and blue these last 3 years and here's to hoping he has two games of magic left in the tank.

I make no bones about the fact that I'm an Aston Francis fan, which is a very weird and uncomfortable feeling for me as a North Parker. (I had the same unpleasant "you shouldn't be a fan of this guy" sense a decade and a half ago when the CCIW player I respected the most was Wheaton center Joel Kolmodin.) I try to reconcile myself to this by remembering that one notable occasion in which Aston Francis missed the big shot at the very end of a one-possession game was in the crackerbox against NPU this past December ... and that I felt perfectly fine watching that shot clang off of the front of the rim. ;)

Nice post. I didn't know much about Aston Francis.

The other thing to consider about this young man is that sometimes you hear stories of kids not playing or playing mediocre minutes and they decide to leave their teams... what if they buckled down like this? They may not become this kind of player, but they may!

Wow. Inspiring on several levels.
#2
Wow, first North Central home game I've watched in a long time.

Kudos for having figured out such good video!

Amazingly nice!
#3
Quote from: Titan Q on January 31, 2015, 02:43:32 PM
Quote from: Naperick on January 31, 2015, 02:16:40 PM
Quote from: Titan Q on January 31, 2015, 09:01:16 AM
IWU's Jordan Nelson has a broken finger on his shooting (right) hand.  He has passed on surgery to play through it.   

Any idea how it happened?

He flashed some "3 goggles" and AndOne came out of the stands and broke his finger.

Even I had to come back after a few year posting absence to acknowledge this beautiful post.

Well done Q!
#4
Great game.

UWW was tough and IWU responded and put themselves in a position for a possible win, alas, it didn't happen.

No reason for the Titans to hang their heads. Great season!


I love the banner ad on here that makes a mock "scan" and says "we've found 3 dating sites for you!"

It makes me feel special.

#5
Quote from: AndOne on March 25, 2013, 06:03:05 PM
OK all you Wesleyan guys. Lets get it in gear.  ;)
Surprised no one has reported the Weenies first recruit, 6'3" SG Jordan Turner of Woodstock, IL.
Evidently he'll start out behind regular rotation players, sophomore Pat Sodemann, and junior Brady Zimmer, and possibly any other SGs, already on the roster.

Titan Q posted an article about this on the 22nd.

Quote from: Titan Q on March 22, 2013, 03:47:29 PM
Article about a HS senior who has verbally committed to IWU...

http://www.mchenrycountysports.com/articles/2013/03/21/eea4bde5717c4af4997f4bf7403e00e7/index.xml

http://www.mchenrycountysports.com/articles/2013/03/15/57d20aaa1ff845a7a07108d72fc29677/index.xml

http://www.csnchicago.com/preps/turner-sparks-woodstocks-turnaround
#6
What a weird game, even weirder ending.

Raridon looked so tentative like he didn't want the ball.

He was pretty well defended, but from my armchair player standpoint, sure looked like he needed to find a way, and didn't.

Just didn't seem like himself.
#7
Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 22, 2013, 09:56:41 PM
They just did it again.

Guys, the Colonial States Athletic Conference is Cabrini's league. North Central's in a completely different time zone.

Despite that, this is a pretty good pair of broadcasters.

They did four games today.

They are probably just all confused.

#8
Quote from: Gregory Sager on March 21, 2013, 05:55:42 PM
Quote from: Rafi on March 18, 2013, 09:00:29 PMAnd, D-3 Watcher, your offer to keep your hotel rooms for NCC fans to take was a great gesture......I know that you sent the same offer to the NCC coaches.  I have to be honest.....I'm not sure that would have been my first thought if NCC had lost.

I would have taken you up on your offer, but I think the rooms you had were too far from the team hotel.  But, thanks anyway.

... not to mention the fact that the hotel rooms he reserved include beds that have too much space between the headboard and the wall. ;)

nice one.  ;D
#9
Quote from: A Lover of the Game on March 18, 2013, 10:35:40 PM
Nice picture of Dortch and Raridon having a discussion about offense and defense:   ;D  :) http://www.pantagraph.com/gallery/sports/college/illinois-wesleyan/photos-iwu-vs-north-central-ncaa-d-iii-third-round/collection_e4eef972-8eac-11e2-8030-001a4bcf887a.html#2


Wishing NCC good luck in Salem.  Represent the CCIW well!!!!!!

Some really great pictures, my favorite being the photo of Ziemnik with his hair straight up. If he were to use some hairspray and just freeze it like that, he could legitimately go 7 feet 2.  ;D ;D
#10
Congratulations to the NCC coaches, players and fans!!!!! Well deserved win!

Great year for the Titans!
#11
Quote from: Kovo on March 16, 2013, 06:21:30 PM
Quote from: D-3 watcher on March 16, 2013, 05:22:54 PM
Sac,

It was kinda of a slap to the NCAA, you know a joke. I'll try and figure out the smiley face thing next time.

And my wine, I'll take some 07' Silver Oak   Napa

Sorry D-3---I'm bringing the cheese.  But, I am always amenable to helping empty a bottle!


Typically the Carthage fans bring the cheese, but I believe they are home this weekend.
#12
Quote from: D-3 watcher on March 16, 2013, 01:44:58 PM
First let me say, I know IWU can win tonight, and I think they will. But I also know that it might not go that way.
Either way, I won't use the fact that the court's setup is not in line with all the other courts that teams in the NCCA play on, as an excuse for not winning.
The fact that there has not been an argument from any NCC posters, prove that indeed the layout does not fit into the guidelines in which the court should be laid out. Would the NCCA do anything if the rims were only 9ft. 10 in. 

My issue isn't with NCC, it's more with the NCCA. They write rule books bigger than most novels. The NCCA has a rule about everything. They make it a point to let the host school know  that they are in charge, it's their gym.

I just don't think the NCCA really cares. The D-3 tourney cost them money, but they should still make sure that all schools that wish to host an event has a court that is set up like it is supposed to be. What they are saying is, some rules do not matter, and that's not right.

NCC deserves to host, no argument here on that, but if they want to host, they should get their gym set up like it says in the rule book. They have a good program going now, maybe they like it different from all the rest of the courts, maybe they like the advantage of the other team not being used to all the extra room behind the backboard, but just maybe they shouldn't be able to host a NCCA tourney either.

Looking toward to watching the game tonight, I'm betting the players couldn't care less about the gym or the seating. These two teams just like banging on each other.

I bet the IWU players do care about the gym when it comes to shooting, but they also know they have no choice.

May the best team in green win!
#13
Quote from: D-3 watcher on March 16, 2013, 01:06:07 PM
As far as eating inside the Hanger, there is a lot of extra room between the backboard and the baseline

Now that is funny!  ;D
#14
Quote from: AndOne on March 14, 2013, 07:55:41 PM
NCC/IWU seating update.........

IWU will have 4 bleacher sections at the east end (the usual NCC student section) of the arena. In addition to the bleacher seating in this area, 3 rows of folding chairs have been added in front of the bleachers. IWU will also have the eastern 1/3 of the balcony seats.
NCC will have the folding seats along the north side of the court, the bleachers at the west end, and the western 2/3s of the balcony.

Sounds like I will need a compass just to get seated.   ;D
#15
Quote from: AndOne on March 14, 2013, 07:32:02 PM
Quote from: joehakes on March 13, 2013, 08:34:55 PM
Prickle and I are probably the only ones on the board who would remember NPU student Greg leading the crowd chants from his spot in the metal bleachers at the end of the court. That was when the Crackerbox was full of crackers every night. Best atmosphere I have ever been a part of. I have locked GS into that time in what is left of my mind.

I'm picturing "NPU student Greg" as a real wild man during his college days. Leading the crowd in chants, running amok around campus, and causing a general state of havoc on the otherwise pristine campus.  :o 
Scary!  ;)

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