MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

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petemcb

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure this is a different YouTube than was posted earlier when Colin Lake first committed to NPU.  Even if it's not, it's worth a look.  (Just be sure you mute the sound -  the sound track is incredibly annoying.  This guy should be fun to watch.  If he was paired up with Henry, they would have to be the smallest, but perhaps most exciting, backcourt in the CCIW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPhYmn-aqsA

Gregory Sager

#37996
Quote from: AndOne on November 17, 2014, 09:04:50 PM
Quote from: Gotberg on November 17, 2014, 08:16:55 PM
Greg Sager,

NPU roster was released last week and since then, several names already disappeared - any news?

Among others, JayQuan Lee, and Ryan "I'm within sight of the gym, can I shoot now" Hym.

You're mistaking Garrett Gatz for Ryan Hyrn. Gatz is the one who never saw a 25-footer he didn't like. Hyrn was a more conventional three-point specialist.

Quote from: Gotberg on November 18, 2014, 09:40:57 AM
I don't think Ryan H. was listed on the roster last week, but I think JayQuan Lee was...

Nope, other way around. JayQuan Lee didn't come back this season -- which is too bad, because he definitely had a future. Unfortunately, after being handed the starting PG job at the beginning of last season, he regressed to the point where he fell behind T.J. Cobbs on the depth chart by season's end. With Cam Burnett back and Colin Lake the big news on the recruiting trail for NPU last spring, Lee was clearly going to have to fight for varsity playing time, and he chose not to do so. But regressions don't have to be permanent, and neither do demotions. I wish he'd stuck around.

Ryan Hyrn simply packed it in last week, mostly because he saw the handwriting on the wall in terms of his impending loss of playing time this coming season. He had his moments during his two-year career, but in the long run he's not that big of a loss. This league is not kind to 5'11 shooting guards who don't have handles and aren't particularly quick. He was very effective at knocking down open treys, but everybody in this league knew that, like his roommates Jon Bogaard and Reggie McGee before him, he was a one-trick pony in that regard -- and he thus stopped getting any open looks at all last January and February. A fourth resident of their apartment, Swedish-bred guard David Johanson, also left the team last week, in his case because he was looking at spending another season serving JV duty only while freshmen moved ahead of him on the depth chart. I'm sure that Hyrn, Bogaard, McGee, and Johanson will form the core of a pretty decent team in the NPU intramural league this winter.

Quote from: Gotberg on November 18, 2014, 09:40:57 AMThere was also a 6'6'' post player and a 6'5'' forward both gone.  Although I think the 6'5'' forward may have been the player that broke his leg.

Yes, Corey Griffin -- he of the broken leg -- has been taken off of the roster. The 6'6 casualty is sophomore Justin Mack, who has been unsuccessfully battling knee problems for both years that he's been at NPU. Griffin was a catastrophic loss for the Park, but Mack was not slated to be anything but a JV player this season.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

Quote from: petemcb on November 18, 2014, 12:39:24 PM
I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure this is a different YouTube than was posted earlier when Colin Lake first committed to NPU.  Even if it's not, it's worth a look.  (Just be sure you mute the sound -  the sound track is incredibly annoying.  This guy should be fun to watch.  If he was paired up with Henry, they would have to be the smallest, but perhaps most exciting, backcourt in the CCIW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPhYmn-aqsA

Yep, that's a different YouTube video. This one's a highlight reel, while the previous one covered one game only.

Colin Lake looks like he's going to be an impact player for North Park. He scored 15 points in last week's scrimmage win up at Lakeland, and he's much more than just a three-point shooter. The coaches really like his mental makeup; he's tough, confident, smart, and fearless. The other freshman to watch for NPU is Jordan Robinson, who had 31 points and 14 rebounds against Lakeland. Robinson is going to make quite a splash at Foster & Kedzie.

Unfortunately, in most cases freshmen are a thin reed to lean upon in this league. What makes it worse is that the loss of Corey Griffin means that NPU is, again, looking at having no inside game at either end of the floor for the third straight year. I think we'll see Tom Slyder simply go with an ultra-small lineup most of the time in the hope that quickness on offense will get the Vikings open looks while ball pressure on defense will serve to keep opposing big men from getting touches. That's a serious roll of the dice, of course, and I can't say that I have much confidence that it'll work. I do not expect the W-L record to be very pretty for the Park this season.

In the meantime, NPU goes into tonight's opener up at St. Norbert without the services of Juwan Henry, who will serve the first game of his NCAA-mandated two-game suspension tonight for incurring a Class A technical in last season's finale. Without Henry, and with the team forced to rely upon a pair of freshmen, the St. Norbert and Eureka games could get really ugly. I can't say that I'm really looking forward to watching tonight's contest. I suppose that NPU could have a puncher's chance if Robinson and Lake play as well against SNC as they did against Lakeland, but SNC is not Lakeland.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

St. Norbert 76
North Park 65

Jordan Robinson: 20 pts
Colin Lake: 17 pts
T.J. Cobbs: 10 pts
Michael Hutchinson: 8 rebs
Garrett Gatz: 4:0 a:to
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

AndOne


Gregory Sager

This game wasn't nearly as hideous as I thought it'd be, and I give Tom Slyder a lot of credit for that. The Vikings were absolutely overwhelmed in the first half, going into the locker room down by a score of 39-19 and making me wonder if this was going to be an epic blowout. But the NPU coach had his players take the air out of the ball in the second half, using both weave plays and a lot of hold-the-ball-up-top plays, while running a press after every made basket. It really took St. Norbert out of its rhythm, and the Vikings cut the SNC lead down to as much as six in the waning minutes, although they were unable to get over the top.

The strong point of the game for the Vikings was free-throw shooting. Until Michael Hutchinson missed one in the game's last few seconds, the Vikings were a perfect 13-13 from the line. The weak point was the defense. The issue at hand tonight wasn't so much that SNC was a lot bigger and more experienced, although the Green Knights did crush the Vikings on the boards, 32-21. The more obvious problem was that NPU was playing defense with hands instead of feet, as the Vikings failed to stay with cutters and ended up having to grab at SNC players rushing by them.

Jordan Robinson had a really nice start to his career. He's easily NPU's most effective scorer inside, and I can't help but wonder what he's capable of doing if he has a legitimate big man to work off of down low. Colin Lake struggled with his shot tonight, but he showed flashes of why the NPU coaches are so excited about having him in royal blue and gold. Michael Hutchinson is definitely the team's most improved player. He shoots the ball much better now and makes much better decisions with the ball. His defense, though, still needs work -- as does the defense of all of his teammates.

For a night when the Vikings were without Juwan Henry, this could've been much, much worse. The Vikings competed hard, didn't quit on themselves, and made a good showing in a tough situation. There's some nice pieces to this team. But the inescapable truth is that there's still some pieces missing as well.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

AndOne

#38001
Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 18, 2014, 09:43:06 PM
St. Norbert 76
North Park 65

Jordan Robinson: 20 pts
Colin Lake: 17 pts
T.J. Cobbs: 10 pts
Michael Hutchinson: 8 rebs
Garrett Gatz: 4:0 a:to

Greg,

I see NPU won the 2nd half by 9 points! However, they were down 20 at half. What accounted for the slow start?

Oops, we posted about the same time. Maybe the answer is they didn't employ the same strategy in the opening half.

Gregory Sager

Quote from: AndOne on November 18, 2014, 09:54:45 PM
Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 18, 2014, 09:43:06 PM
St. Norbert 76
North Park 65

Jordan Robinson: 20 pts
Colin Lake: 17 pts
T.J. Cobbs: 10 pts
Michael Hutchinson: 8 rebs
Garrett Gatz: 4:0 a:to

Greg,

I see NPU won the 2nd half by 9 points! However, they were down 20 at half. What accounted for the slow start?

Stage fright. Well, that, and the Green Knights came out executing their screens and cuts to perfection in the second ten minutes of the half. It wasn't until Tom Slyder changed the pace of the game at the start of the second half that the Park really got going, and that was more of a matter of messing up St. Norbert than it was a matter of revving up NPU.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

all blues

Aurora: 90,  Millikin: 67   painful, left at halftime 39-25  was 18-17, Aurora, when Millikin took it to another level (a lower level)

Gregory Sager

Quote from: AndOne on November 18, 2014, 09:54:45 PMMaybe the answer is they didn't employ the same strategy in the opening half.

It wasn't the strategy that Tom Slyder wanted to use going into the game. It's kind of a counterintuitive strategy for the team that North Park had on the floor tonight, because it requires an experienced and highly efficient scorer who can create for himself in a short amount of time (a la Stevie D.), and without Juwan Henry NPU doesn't really have that. It was clearly a somewhat desperate halftime adjustment employed to cross up the Green Knights and give the Vikings a fighting chance to get back into the game. It did work tonight, so Tom gets credit for making the right call as a coach.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gregory Sager

#38005
That Millikin vs. Aurora box score is pretty interesting. Like NPU, Millikin was led by freshmen tonight. Three of the Big Blue who scored in double figures tonight -- Nick Novak, T.J. Sims, and Nathan Biggs -- are plebes. But the team's two stars, junior guards T.J. Griffin and Tives Gardner, were a combined 1-14 from the field and scored six points between them. MU shot less than 33% from the field as a team.

Defiance smothered Wheaton on the boards, 35-21, and I have to think that that was instrumental in Wheaton's loss, even though the game went down to the wire. Michael Berg led Wheaton with 18 and 6, Brayden Teuscher scored 17, and Caleb DeMoss had 10 with a nice 7:2 floor game.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

izzy stradlin

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 18, 2014, 11:55:19 PM
Defiance smothered Wheaton on the boards, 35-21, and I have to think that that was instrumental in Wheaton's loss, even though the game went down to the wire. Michael Berg led Wheaton with 18 and 6, Brayden Teuscher scored 17, and Caleb DeMoss had 10 with a nice 7:2 floor game.

Lots of offensive rebounds in that 35 also. I actually thought Wheaton played pretty well overall.  The problem for the Thunder is that in their entire rotation, they have 2 "bigs" (Berg and Joel Smith).

USee

Wheaton 65
Defiance 67

Brayden Teuscher 17 pts
Michael Berg 18 pts 6 rebounds
45% from field, 42% from 3 pt line

Wheaton led by 6 with 7min to go in the game, Defiance tied it with 2 min to go. Teuscher tied it with 29 seconds left. Defiance made a bucket with 3 seconds left and Teuscher hit the rim with a 3 at the buzzer.

Tough road loss for the Thunder

toooldtohoop

Tough night for the Thunder.  Congrats to Defiance on a nice win for their program.  They hit big shots when they needed to.  Schomaker had some open looks and hurt us with threes.  And Edwards is a beast.  He will be a fun guy to watch for the Defiance fans.


Gotberg

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 18, 2014, 11:55:19 PM
That Millikin vs. Aurora box score is pretty interesting. Like NPU, Millikin was led by freshmen tonight. Three of the Big Blue who scored in double figures tonight -- Nick Novak, T.J. Sims, and Nathan Biggs -- are plebes. But the team's two stars, junior guards T.J. Griffin and Tives Gardner, were a combined 1-14 from the field and scored six points between them. MU shot less than 33% from the field as a team.

Defiance smothered Wheaton on the boards, 35-21, and I have to think that that was instrumental in Wheaton's loss, even though the game went down to the wire. Michael Berg led Wheaton with 18 and 6, Brayden Teuscher scored 17, and Caleb DeMoss had 10 with a nice 7:2 floor game.

Slyder strikes me as a really good x's and o's coach that just needs to get over the recruiting hurdle.  I listened to his pre-season chat and it seems he feels they finally have some recruiting momentum (coaching connections) and maybe that will be off for next year's team.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best