MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Green Beer]

[/quote]

Does anybody have a hookup for holy water or a shaman or something?

Anyone who pays even scant attention to CCIW basketball knows that North Central's won-loss record doesn't paint a particularly accurate picture of their ability.  I know it's of little consolation, but this year's CCIW cellar-dweller would handily beat every other conference last place team in the country, and probably have their benchers playing before the midpoint of the second half against most of them.

From up here in Wheaton I'm supposed to enjoy watching the struggles of my Naperville neighbor rivals, but I don't.  I sincerely hope those young men stay positive and motivated to put in the offseason work, knowing that once in a while, a string of bad luck will happen and that next year will likely be someone else's turn at the bottom.

They've taken almost every team to the limit. (beating the Titans as all know) Next year, they lose only one senior. They've going to be battling for lead in the CCIW.

[GusD]

IWU over Wheaton @Shirk, 82-71.  (Yes, a little more than 78 tonight).

Wheaton tried fiercely and aggressively to double Noah Cleveland tonight.  They got a few TOs out of it, but also a steady stream of open threes when he passed out of it . . . IWU making 17 treys, with Casen Lawrence having a feast with 8 for 12.

Casen Lawrence must be getting an untold multitude of open looks this season. Otherwise, even though he is a superlative 3 point shooter, there is no earthly explanation for his lofty three point shooting totals. Even though the quickest way to die in current day basketball is often to surrender a high number of successful shots from behind the arc, teams must be concentrating on trying to stop IWU's other weapons—- of which they have many which is why they're a top tier team. But while the Greenies can beat you in several ways, letting Mr. Lawrence hit 8 threes shouldn't be one of them. If a team realizes Casen, although a great three shooter, is really a one dimensional player, that's half the battle in stopping him. Shooting threes is basically all he does. This is evidenced by the fact that out of 163 shots he's taken so far this season, 151 of them have been from distance. Additionally, he's only 5'10, and doesn't seem to possess either great quickness or superior ball handling ability. Accordingly, I'd venture a large percentage of his shots are catch and shoot off open looks rather than being created off the dribble. Put a good defender on him and tell that defender never to leave him, and you're likely going to be able to severely curtail his effectiveness. NCC adhered to this strategy in both of their games vs IWU this season. In the first game (that NCC surprisingly won) he went 1 of 5 from three, and in the second he was 1 for 4.
Casen is currently the #4 three point percentage shooter in the CCIW. He is the conference leader in made three point shots per game. He is one of the most potent offensive weapons, probably in all of D3, and capable of inflicting quick death by many cuts. You need to stick to him like glue. If so, I think you can at least somewhat limit his effectiveness.

[GusD]

Does anybody have a hookup for holy water or a shaman or something?

Anyone who pays even scant attention to CCIW basketball knows that North Central's won-loss record doesn't paint a particularly accurate picture of their ability.  I know it's of little consolation, but this year's CCIW cellar-dweller would handily beat every other conference last place team in the country, and probably have their benchers playing before the midpoint of the second half against most of them.

From up here in Wheaton I'm supposed to enjoy watching the struggles of my Naperville neighbor rivals, but I don't.  I sincerely hope those young men stay positive and motivated to put in the offseason work, knowing that once in a while, a string of bad luck will happen and that next year will likely be someone else's turn at the bottom.

They've taken almost every team to the limit. (beating the Titans as all know) Next year, they lose only one senior. They've going to be battling for lead in the CCIW.
[/quote]

I need to begin with the fact I'm biased, but I think Green Beer makes a valid point. I won't go into details, and it's not an excuse, but the Cardinals currently have 2 starters out and another who is limited. A couple others would probably say they haven't been as effective as they're capable of. Despite their misfortunes, they've been in all but about 2 games all year. They took the #2 team in the country to OT, and beat the #10 team. Take out the game where they were disemboweled by IWU, and they've lost all their other games by an average of only 5.6 ppg. Two of their losses were on the last play of the game. Yes, the current state is one of discouragement, but they've battled and remained competitive to the end of just about every game. With only one senior and hopefully a couple of good additions, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel.

[GusD]

Moral of the story: Experience matters. The Firebirds have it, and they demonstrated it last night.

Other morals of the story.

Win games you're 'supposed to win'. (Experience helps)
Protect the home court.
Crash the Boards.
Take better shots or go to the rim. (1-13 from 3 in 2nd half, ouch)
Free throws are free points. 64% for the game.

AJ Johnson was $$$ last season from the FT line (90%), this season, he's at 72%.  Not sure how a shooter as good as he is, drops almost 20% over the course of a year.

Fun game to watch. NCC battled to stay in it throughout the contest.  Bullock played a heck of a game for the Cardinals.

James is rapidly becoming a force in the CCIW in his sophomore season. It wouldn't be at all surprising to see him eventually earn a spot on the All-Conference team.