MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[79jaybird]

For the first time since (IMO) the Washington upset, Elmhurst played a complete game which is/was desperately needed.  Too bad these kids didn't have it against Wheaton, which would have at least kept Elmhurst in the same zip code.    They are most certainly going to need this same effort from Burks on Wed. at NC and then in the CCIW Tournament.

Greg- while I agree NPU was undersized and outplayed, I was really impressed with Roshawn Russell.  I recall mentioning it on the air, that I thought this kid has a nice shot and has great awareness with squeezing passes inside to the Center.    For NPU's sake, I hope they can groom up their 2-3 freshies into something special.

[Mugsy]

For the first time since (IMO) the Washington upset, Elmhurst played a complete game which is/was desperately needed.  Too bad these kids didn't have it against Wheaton, which would have at least kept Elmhurst in the same zip code.    They are most certainly going to need this same effort from Burks on Wed. at NC and then in the CCIW Tournament.

Greg- while I agree NPU was undersized and outplayed, I was really impressed with Roshawn Russell.  I recall mentioning it on the air, that I thought this kid has a nice shot and has great awareness with squeezing passes inside to the Center.    For NPU's sake, I hope they can groom up their 2-3 freshies into something special.

Or stay healthy and eligible to play.

[Titan Q]

Titan Q,

what is the biggest difference between the 2008 IWU-Wheaton series and this years? Because the teams are for the most part the same, yet last year IWU went 3-0, and this year 0-2. True, Wheaton is more experienced, but most IWU starters are back, so it's not like they have a completely new team. Last year they held Raymond to less points, and even with Kent's one outburst, they still won. What's different this year?

Gant.

That is some of it, and it certainly is the easy answer, but I’m not so sure.  Darius Gant’s production last year in 3 IWU wins vs Wheaton:

1/23/08 – 9 pts (4-9 FG), 3 reb – 33 minutes
2/16/08 – 4 pts (2-4 FG), 8 reb – 34 minutes
2/29/08 – 6 pts (0-2 FG), 4 reb – 15 minutes

I was at all 3 of those games and Darius was pretty quite on both ends of the floor.  Like when matched against 6-9 Brent Ruch, Darius just could not do much vs 6-8 Andy Wiele.

6-4 Gant (12.9 ppg, 11.1 rpg, .551 FG – CCIW play) was replaced in the lineup this year with 6-7 Doug Sexauer (14.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, .570 FG – CCIW play).  Doug and Darius are totally different low-post players, but Doug commands a lot of attention in the paint too.  I’m not sure I’d buy the suggestion that Gant’s offensive presence last year was significantly more than Sexauer’s this year (in terms of opening the perimeter up, etc).

Also keep in mind, Gant's area of specialty (rebounding) is something IWU had no trouble with this year vs Wheaton.  At Wheaton, IWU out-rebounded the Thunder 37-23.  In Bloomington, the Titans had a 28-24 advantage.

I think the primary differences are three things:

1) Kent Raymond’s ability to solve the way IWU defended him.  In the first two meetings last year, IWU held Raymond to 17 points in each game, and really frustrated him.  Kent ended up with a big game in the conference tournament, but a ton of his damage came very late, with IWU already up comfortably.  At halftime of that third game, I remember feeling like IWU was holding him down once again.  This year, he has absolutely torched the Titans twice.  He seemed to learn how to match Sean Dwyer's physical style and also to take advantage of his height advantage vs IWU's guards much more effectively.

2) Wheaton’s defensive intensity on the perimeter – both the ability to disrupt the IWU offense and force turnovers, as well as the ability to contain the 3 better.  Here are IWU’s turnover totals and number of made 3’s from the 3 games last year:

1/23/08 -  13 T.O., 6 3’s
2/16/08 – 11 T.O, 6 3’s
2/29/08 – 12 T.O., 6 3’s

This year:

1/7/09 – 17 T.O., 4 3’s
2/14/09 – 19 T.O., 4 3’s

Last night, Wheaton had 20 points off turnovers...in the first meeting this year, the Thunder had 22 points off turnovers.

WJBC color commentator Joel Swanson pointed out several times last night that Wheaton was pushing IWU’s guards out 30 feet from the basket as they tried to initiate the offense.  That definitely did not happen last year.  The same IWU perimeter players (Rosenkranz, Johnson, Dwyer) had a lot more trouble this season vs the same Wheaton players.

3) Wheaton’s balance and depth this year.  Last season Wheaton had 3 guys who could beat you (Raymond, Panner, Wiele) and absolutely no bench.  6-6 Tim McCrary gives Wheaton another offensive weapon, and he also gives them great size at the 3.  Last year Wheaton started 3 guards.  And while they still are not a terribly deep team, the bench this year is so much better.


To suggest that Darius Gant's absence this year is the primary reason for the difference in outcomes is discounting the fact that a) Wheaton is a better team in 2008-09 than they were in 2007-08, and b) Wheaton made significant adjustments, either in gameplan or execution, in the way they attacked IWU.

[Late nite]

Titan Q-

I remember that 2005-06 Titan team.  Augie beat them twice during the regular season en route to their run but then had to face them in the first round ot the inaugural CCIW tourney in Rock Island.  They beat the Vikes and though they lost to NC in the final, they made the NCAA tourney.   I remember how lucky we were to beat them twice that year and knew that they were a quality team.   I believe they went on to the Final Four and finished 3rd in the country.  I'm hoping for a similar outcome for Augie as they have really struggled through the regular season.  They have looked unbeatable at times, esp at home.  On the road they have not been able to put teams away and then have defensive lapses such as last night's game.  I'm hoping the Vikes can put it all together before it's too late.

Another scenario I came up with involves Wheaton beating Carthage and losing to North Central at home.
Elmhurst would lose to NC AND Carthage at home.  Augie beats IWU.

1)North Central
2)Wheaton
3)Augie
4)Elmhurst wins tiebreaker against Carthage (2-2 vs Wheaton/NC)

Again would not want to face the Thunder in the first round.  I think this is less likely. Wheaton is the best team in the conference and I see them winning it.  North Central/Elmhurst/Augie are the other top three teams in my eyes.

Agreed that there were defensive lapses in the 2nd half---But, you have to give credit to NCC for putting players on the floor who step up and make big shots when they get them---IMO, the defensive lapses aren't the only problem in close games---It's also been the inability to withstand the run of the other team by knocking down some clutch outside shots---There have been a few, but no consistency in this area

[Gregory Sager]

Greg- while I agree NPU was undersized and outplayed, I was really impressed with Roshawn Russell.  I recall mentioning it on the air, that I thought this kid has a nice shot and has great awareness with squeezing passes inside to the Center.    For NPU's sake, I hope they can groom up their 2-3 freshies into something special.

There's a lot more than "two or three freshies" in the NPU rotation.

Here's the Vikings who've played in at least ten CCIW games this season, by class and CCIW mpg:

Roshawn Russell	34.2	FR
Nick Williams	32.2	JR
Phil Schniedermeier	24.2	SO
D.J. Cooper	24.1	FR
Kendall Greer	21.3	SO
Sean McNamee*	18.4	SO
Ryan Beigie*	15.9	FR
Emmanuel Crosby	12.4	FR
Joel Benson	11.3	FR
Mike Ventura	10.8	SR
Issa Avery	7.4	FR

* Did not play last night

Of course, this list excludes two players who haven't gotten into the requisite number of games (freshmen Dawon Mitchell and Caleb Anderson), three players who are injured and out for the season (sophomores Clayton Cahill and Nick Hoekstra and freshman Josh Hurst), and four players who're sitting the year out for non-injury reasons (juniors Antonio Stevens and Chris Brown, sophomore Jorge Gonzalez, and freshman Clint Mixon).

Or stay healthy and eligible to play.

From what I've been told, this freshman class is very good academically -- therefore, the eligibility thing should not be a problem. As for health, nobody really has any control over that. The flurry of injuries that have forced Hoekstra, Hurst, Schniedermeier, Greer, and Cahill to miss at least ten games apiece ... well, that's just one of those things, I guess.

[cardinalpride]

Wheaton (9-3) - @ Carthage, vs North Central
Elmhurst (8-4) - @ North Central, vs Carthage
North Central (8-4) - vs Elmhurst, @ Wheaton
Augustana (8-5) - @ IWU
Carthage (7-5) - vs Wheaton, @ Elmhurst


Here is how I see this.  Let me know if I am missing something...

* Wheaton: Cannot clinch Wednesday @ Carthage, no matter what happens in other games.  The Elmhurst/NCC winner will still be very much alive for the 10-4 tie-breaker.  Wheaton loses 10-4 tie-breakers with Elmhurst and NCC because of the loss @ NCC earlier.  Based on what happens in Naperville Wednesday, either Elmhurst will own a sweep of NCC (tie-breaker over Wheaton), or NCC will come to Wheaton with a chance to sweep Wheaton (which would obviously be the tie-breaker over Wheaton).  To be the #1 seed, Wheaton has to win out. 

* Elmhurst: To be the #1 seed, has to win out, and hope Wheaton loses one more game.   For Elmhurst, 2-0 vs NCC would provide the tie-breaker vs Wheaton (which has already lost once to NCC).

* North Central: Controls its down destiny in terms of being the #1 seed - needs to win out. A sweep over Wheaton would win the 10-4 tie-breaker.

* Augustana: mathmatically eliminated from #1 seed and does not control own destiny to make tournament...has to win @IWU and hope Carthage loses one more game.  The sweep at the hands of Wheaton loses all tie-breakers.  Most likely scenario is #4 seed, facing the host on Friday night of conference tourney.  Augie loses an 8-6 tie-breaker with Carthage.

* Carthage: to be guaranteed spot in tournament, has to win out (vs Wheaton, @ Elmhurst)...9-5 gets them in. [/b] But, would win 8-6 tie-breaker over Augustana, which plays at IWU in finale.

TQ,
The one scenario that has not been mentioned is a five way tie at 9-5!  Which is possible but not probable!  I believe Carthage would be the team left out of the Conf. Tournament in a 5 way tie!  Here is what that scenario would look like:

Wheaton loses to Carthage and NCC!  Falls to 9-5
 
Elmhurst wins at NCC and loses at Carthage!  Falls to 9-5

NCC loses to Elmhurst and wins at Wheaton!  Imroves to 9-5

Augie beats IWU!  Improves to 9-5

Carthage beats Wheaton and Elmhurst!  Improves to 9-5

I believe the tie breaker with multiple teams boils down to the better records amongst the tied teams!  In that case, Wheaton would have a 4-4 record against the other four teams, Elmhurst would have a 5-3 record against the other four teams, NCC would have a 5-3 record against the other four, Augie would be 3-5 against the other 4, and Carthage would be 3-5 against the other 4!  Whew!  Correct me if I'm wrong anyone but the teams with worst record amongst the five would be eliminated from the regular season title.  Essentially elimnating Carthage, Augie, and Wheaton!  Elmhurst and NCC would remain tied with Elmhurst winning the tie breaker over NCC by virtue of their sweep of NCC!  If this scenario plays out, Elmhurst would host, NCC would be second, Wheaton third, and Augie would be fourth!  Augie would win a 9-5 tie breaker over Carthage due to its split with NCC!  Since Augie and Carthage split this year the tie breaker would start with 1st place EC! Both would have split with EC so the tie breaker would be determined by second place NCC!  Carthage was swept by NCC and therefore would be the odd team out (no pun intended-5th team)!

I know this may be confusing to some and it should be in a 5 way tie!  Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!  However, like I said earlier in this post, that scenario is possible but not so much probable!

[USee]

Q,

that's a good assessment but I believe underestimates some of the changes to this years Wheaton squad. Last year Wheaton played Phil Denham and Jeremy Burnsten off the bench with Carwell and Jahns starting alongside Wiele, Raymond and Panner. Now we have McCarary and Pflederer which are both enormous upgrades over Denham and Burnsten. In addition, for whatever reason, Carwell is a completely different player for the Thunder. His contributions defensively and his toughness are improved by a multipe over last year. Also, with McCrary as an option offensively, IWU hasnt' gotten away with keeping 2 guys on Raymond coming off the picks. They scored a number of baskets last night with McCrary or Wiele slipping to the basket off the picks set for Raymond.

With Pflederer you get a chance to rest Panner and Raymond with not much of a significant dropoff in defensive intensity. He and McCrary have made this a much better defensive team than last year in my opinion.

So Gant and the IWU changes are only part of the story. Wheaton is better at the 1,2, and 5 by virtue of those players becoming seniors and getting to the final 8. The biggest difference is the vast improvement at the 3 and 4 with McCrary and Carwell adding their defensive intensity.

[augiefan]

Part of our family was in Naperville last night, but we did not get AndOne's post as we were in chicago earlier in the day. From reading AndOne's posts I'm sure meeting him would have been a pleasure. However, since my wife and I were trying to keep tabs on our 8 and 5 year old grandsons, he may be lucky we did not see his post.

A disappointing night for Augie, but I feared the worst when NCC closed the gap to 4 points at the half. I still believe Wheaton would be undefeated had Raymond and Wiele been healthy all year, but right now NCC seems to be the clear number 2 team in the CCIW. A very nice win for them last night.

I do feel Augie suffered a slight disadvantage in conference play since they were the only CCIW tourney contender that had to play Wheaton with a healthy Raymond in both games. I know he played half the game at NCC, but he was not fully recovered for that game, and Carthage and Elmhurst did not face him at all in their wins at Wheaton. Sort of like playing the Bulls in their prime without Michael Jordan. Also Wiele was back at full strength for the ritical in at Rck Island and had a monster game on the boards.

The bottom line is Augie does not deserve a CCIW berth if they cannot win next Saturday. Usually the team with something at stake wins this type f match up, but IWU is loadec with talent. Hopefully, Augie's experience will get them the critical road win.

[Darryl Nester]

The one scenario that has not been mentioned is a five way tie at 9-5 [between Wheaton, Elmhurst, NCC, Augie, and Carthage]

I believe the tie breaker with multiple teams boils down to the better records amongst the tied teams!  In that case, Wheaton would have a 4-4 record against the other four teams, Elmhurst would have a 5-3 record against the other four teams, NCC would have a 5-3 record against the other four, Augie would be 3-5 against the other 4, and Carthage would be 3-5 against the other 4!  ...

I agree with your interpretation of the tie-breaker, but I think Augie gets left out.  Specifically, under that scenario, my program (which applies the tie-breaker rule as you described it) has #1 Elmhurst, #2 NCC, #3 Carthage, and #4 Wheaton.  I think you switched Wheaton's and Carthage's records against the others in this group:

• Carthage would be 4-4 (2-0 over Wheaton, 1-1 vs. Augie and Elmhurst, and 0-2 vs. NCC)
  
• Wheaton would be 3-5 (2-0 over Augie, 1-1 vs. Elmhurst, and 0-2 vs. NCC and Carthage)

If we drop Augie and Wheaton as weakest of that five-way tie, then we compare Augie and Wheaton head-to-head to break that two-way tie, Augie falls to #5.

[cardinalpride]

The one scenario that has not been mentioned is a five way tie at 9-5 [between Wheaton, Elmhurst, NCC, Augie, and Carthage]

I believe the tie breaker with multiple teams boils down to the better records amongst the tied teams!  In that case, Wheaton would have a 4-4 record against the other four teams, Elmhurst would have a 5-3 record against the other four teams, NCC would have a 5-3 record against the other four, Augie would be 3-5 against the other 4, and Carthage would be 3-5 against the other 4!  ...

I agree with your interpretation of the tie-breaker, but I think Augie gets left out.  Specifically, under that scenario, my program (which applies the tie-breaker rule as you described it) has #1 Elmhurst, #2 NCC, #3 Carthage, and #4 Wheaton.  I think you switched Wheaton's and Carthage's records against the others in this group:

• Carthage would be 4-4 (2-0 over Wheaton, 1-1 vs. Augie and Elmhurst, and 0-2 vs. NCC)
  
• Wheaton would be 3-5 (2-0 over Augie, 1-1 vs. Elmhurst, and 0-2 vs. NCC and Carthage)

If we drop Augie and Wheaton as weakest of that five-way tie, then we compare Augie and Wheaton head-to-head to break that two-way tie, Augie falls to #5.

Thanks Darryl!  You're right! I didn't compute the records correctly!

[AndOne]

Well, the little engine that could, but wasn't supposed to be able to according to most analysts, just keeps steadily chugging uphill.

Faced with the obstacles presented by an Augie lineup that featured 4 players standing 6'6" or taller compared to their tallest player at 6'5", the North Central Cardinals overcame a mostly crappy 1st half which saw them fall behind by 10 points with 6 1/2 minutes left in the half. At that point, it frankly looked like last night's game would mirror the score in the earlier game between the 2 teams which saw Augie clobber the Cards by 17. NCC finally began to dig in, and outscored Augie by a 13-7 margin in those last 6 1/2 minutes to cut the deficit to 4 at halftime. The comeback effort was led by Chris Drennan who had 10 of his 12 points, and Matt Rogers who had 10 of his 14 in the 1st half. After his double-double (24/14) against Carthage in the previous contest, Drennan had a particularly slow start, missing his 1st 5 shots of the game. 

However, the Vikings opened the 2nd stanza with a flurry, building the lead back up to 10 within the 1st 2 mins and 21 seconds of play. That seemed to set off the alarm clocks of Mitch Raridon and Reid Barringer who, over the course of the remainder of the game, scored 29 of NCC's final 37 points. Included in the scoring barrage were 2 three point bombs from Raridon who tallied all 11 of his points in the 2nd half, and 4 from Barringer who banked 18 of his 20. At the same time, the Cardinals really dug in defensively. The combination of the of the stout defense and the offensive outburst from Barringer & Raridon hit the Vikings like a blast from a double barreled shotgun basically stopping the Vikings in their tracks. From the 17:39 mark until only 3:26 remained, the Cards outscored Augie by a whopping 24-6 differential. In the final 1:10, the Cards converted on 9 of 10 free throw attempts to seal the victory.

While the Cards were out rebounded 34-26 by the much taller Vikings as you might expect, they were able to overcome this negative by registering the following results.
1. North Central committed only 9 turnovers for the entire contest while ringing up 17 assists led by Mitch Raridon's 6 (1 TO), and Dean Prince's 5 assists (0 TOs). 
2. The Rogers/Drennan 1/2 punch frustrating Justin Bertrand and taking him completely out of his game. For the majority of his time on the floor, his primary motivation seemed to be geared toward proving he was the toughest player on the floor as opposed to just playing basketball and letting the game come to him. Rather than going around or over his defender, Bertrand seemed to be determined to go through him. His frustration boiled over when, I believe it was he that was whistled for an intentional foul, one of the 5 he committed in only 16 minutes of action.
3. The Cards hitting 84.2 percent from the FT line.
4. NCC's ability to take Augie completely out of their game plan. This was evident through observing Coach Giovanine who, while usually quite demonstrative toward the refs, actually directed as much ire at his own troops last light as he did at the zebras.     

[Late nite]

Well, the little engine that could, but wasn't supposed to be able to according to most analysts, just keeps steadily chugging uphill.

Faced with the obstacles presented by an Augie lineup that featured 4 players standing 6'6" or taller compared to their tallest player at 6'5", the North Central Cardinals overcame a mostly crappy 1st half which saw them fall behind by 10 points with 6 1/2 minutes left in the half. At that point, it frankly looked like last night's game would mirror the score in the earlier game between the 2 teams which saw Augie clobber the Cards by 17. NCC finally began to dig in, and outscored Augie by a 13-7 margin in those last 6 1/2 minutes to cut the deficit to 4 at halftime. The comeback effort was led by Chris Drennan who had 10 of his 12 points, and Matt Rogers who had 10 of his 14 in the 1st half. After his double-double (24/14) against Carthage in the previous contest, Drennan had a particularly slow start, missing his 1st 5 shots of the game. 

However, the Vikings opened the 2nd stanza with a flurry, building the lead back up to 10 within the 1st 2 mins and 21 seconds of play. That seemed to set off the alarm clocks of Mitch Raridon and Reid Barringer who, over the course of the remainder of the game, scored 29 of NCC's final 37 points. Included in the scoring barrage were 2 three point bombs from Raridon who tallied all 11 of his points in the 2nd half, and 4 from Barringer who banked 18 of his 20. At the same time, the Cardinals really dug in defensively. The combination of the of the stout defense and the offensive outburst from Barringer & Raridon hit the Vikings like a blast from a double barreled shotgun basically stopping the Vikings in their tracks. From the 17:39 mark until only 3:26 remained, the Cards outscored Augie by a whopping 24-6 differential. In the final 1:10, the Cards converted on 9 of 10 free throw attempts to seal the victory.

While the Cards were out rebounded 34-26 by the much taller Vikings as you might expect, they were able to overcome this negative by registering the following results.
1. North Central committed only 9 turnovers for the entire contest while ringing up 17 assists led by Mitch Raridon's 6 (1 TO), and Dean Prince's 5 assists (0 TOs). 
2. The Rogers/Drennan 1/2 punch frustrating Justin Bertrand and taking him completely out of his game. For the majority of his time on the floor, his primary motivation seemed to be geared toward proving he was the toughest player on the floor as opposed to just playing basketball and letting the game come to him. Rather than going around or over his defender, Bertrand seemed to be determined to go through him. His frustration boiled over when, I believe it was he that was whistled for an intentional foul, one of the 5 he committed in only 16 minutes of action.
3. The Cards hitting 84.2 percent from the FT line.
4. NCC's ability to take Augie completely out of their game plan. This was evident through observing Coach Giovanine who, while usually quite demonstrative toward the refs, actually directed as much ire at his own troops last light as he did at the zebras.     

AndOne---A very accurate assessment of the ballgame---Just a few comments on your 4 points:

1.  Augie never gave itself the opportunity to use it's depth---They couldn't press and trap NCC's 6 man rotation most of the 2nd half, because as you pointed out, they were outscored 24-6 over a 14 minute span---Tough to apply pressure if the other team doesn't have to take the ball out of bounds---I'll give some of the credit to the defense, but Augie had open looks and inconsistent shooting has been a season long issue

2.  What is Bertrand's game?  He's not in the top 30 in scoring or the top 20 in rebounding in conference---Energy player, but no all-star---They were a better team last night with Nelson playing

3.  84% FT's---It felt like they shot 100%---Clutch

4.  Another frustrating night in a frustrating season

[voxelmhurst]

For the first time since (IMO) the Washington upset, Elmhurst played a complete game which is/was desperately needed. 

I don't know if I would go back that far - I would say it was definately their best performance since that Carthage game, which I felt was as impressive as they come.  Either way you want to look at it, they need this pretty much from here on out and cannot afford any more slip ups.

I still believe Wheaton would be undefeated had Raymond and Wiele been healthy all year, but right now NCC seems to be the clear number 2 team in the CCIW. A very nice win for them last night.

I agree with you about Wheaton, but I also think Wheaton was made stronger by Raymond's injury and mid CCIW season slump.  There is something about a team that must take a step back and recharge itself that makes them way scarier down the stretch than the team that has been running the table all season.

I think its a bit harsh on Elmhurst to call NCC the "clear #2" team in the conference before the two teams even meet for the second time.  (Not that I am biased or anything  ) but whichever team wins the game on Wednesday night will certainly have the right to make that claim.  The two teams always seem to turn out classics when they play in Naperville and I am looking forward to this one immensely. 

[AndOne]

AndOne---A very accurate assessment of the ballgame---Just a few comments on your 4 points:

1.  Augie never gave itself the opportunity to use it's depth---They couldn't press and trap NCC's 6 man rotation most of the 2nd half, because as you pointed out, they were outscored 24-6 over a 14 minute span---Tough to apply pressure if the other team doesn't have to take the ball out of bounds---I'll give some of the credit to the defense, but Augie had open looks and inconsistent shooting has been a season long issue

2.  What is Bertrand's game?  He's not in the top 30 in scoring or the top 20 in rebounding in conference---Energy player, but no all-star---They were a better team last night with Nelson playing

3.  84% FT's---It felt like they shot 100%---Clutch

4.  Another frustrating night in a frustrating season

Late----

Exactly right on all points. Well said.

(modified by GS for formatting)

[OurHouse]

Titan Q,

what is the biggest difference between the 2008 IWU-Wheaton series and this years? Because the teams are for the most part the same, yet last year IWU went 3-0, and this year 0-2. True, Wheaton is more experienced, but most IWU starters are back, so it's not like they have a completely new team. Last year they held Raymond to less points, and even with Kent's one outburst, they still won. What's different this year?

Gant.

That is some of it, and it certainly is the easy answer, but I’m not so sure.  Darius Gant’s production last year in 3 IWU wins vs Wheaton:

1/23/08 – 9 pts (4-9 FG), 3 reb – 33 minutes
2/16/08 – 4 pts (2-4 FG), 8 reb – 34 minutes
2/29/08 – 6 pts (0-2 FG), 4 reb – 15 minutes

I was at all 3 of those games and Darius was pretty quite on both ends of the floor.  Like when matched against 6-9 Brent Ruch, Darius just could not do much vs 6-8 Andy Wiele.

6-4 Gant (12.9 ppg, 11.1 rpg, .551 FG – CCIW play) was replaced in the lineup this year with 6-7 Doug Sexauer (14.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, .570 FG – CCIW play).  Doug and Darius are totally different low-post players, but Doug commands a lot of attention in the paint too.  I’m not sure I’d buy the suggestion that Gant’s offensive presence last year was significantly more than Sexauer’s this year (in terms of opening the perimeter up, etc).

Also keep in mind, Gant's area of specialty (rebounding) is something IWU had no trouble with this year vs Wheaton.  At Wheaton, IWU out-rebounded the Thunder 37-23.  In Bloomington, the Titans had a 28-24 advantage.

I think the primary differences are three things:

1) Kent Raymond’s ability to solve the way IWU defended him.  In the first two meetings last year, IWU held Raymond to 17 points in each game, and really frustrated him.  Kent ended up with a big game in the conference tournament, but a ton of his damage came very late, with IWU already up comfortably.  At halftime of that third game, I remember feeling like IWU was holding him down once again.  This year, he has absolutely torched the Titans twice.  He seemed to learn how to match Sean Dwyer's physical style and also to take advantage of his height advantage vs IWU's guards much more effectively.

2) Wheaton’s defensive intensity on the perimeter – both the ability to disrupt the IWU offense and force turnovers, as well as the ability to contain the 3 better.  Here are IWU’s turnover totals and number of made 3’s from the 3 games last year:

1/23/08 -  13 T.O., 6 3’s
2/16/08 – 11 T.O, 6 3’s
2/29/08 – 12 T.O., 6 3’s

This year:

1/7/09 – 17 T.O., 4 3’s
2/14/09 – 19 T.O., 4 3’s

Last night, Wheaton had 20 points off turnovers...in the first meeting this year, the Thunder had 22 points off turnovers.

WJBC color commentator Joel Swanson pointed out several times last night that Wheaton was pushing IWU’s guards out 30 feet from the basket as they tried to initiate the offense.  That definitely did not happen last year.  The same IWU perimeter players (Rosenkranz, Johnson, Dwyer) had a lot more trouble this season vs the same Wheaton players.

3) Wheaton’s balance and depth this year.  Last season Wheaton had 3 guys who could beat you (Raymond, Panner, Wiele) and absolutely no bench.  6-6 Tim McCrary gives Wheaton another offensive weapon, and he also gives them great size at the 3.  Last year Wheaton started 3 guards.  And while they still are not a terribly deep team, the bench this year is so much better.


To suggest that Darius Gant's absence this year is the primary reason for the difference in outcomes is discounting the fact that a) Wheaton is a better team in 2008-09 than they were in 2007-08, and b) Wheaton made significant adjustments, either in gameplan or execution, in the way they attacked IWU.

DISAGREE - the only impact player to leave from last year is Darius Gant so it is MUCH MORE than that. IWU had a losing season and lost twice to Wheaton because of:

LACK OF INTENSITY
LACK OF FOCUS
LACK OF WORK ETHIC
LACK OF OVERALL LEADERSHIP
The LACK of knowledge ON WHO TO PLAY at what positions

That Mr. Q, is the difference!!