It's Black Monday in the NFL as numerous head coaches have been handed their walking papers and a dozen teams get to continue their quest for a Super Bowl title. And with the NFL season complete, so is the 2018 Pigskin Pick 'Em contest.
In the final week, I took five of seven games from Adam, but I'd already clinched the column title. It was the overall group title that was still in doubt. I didn't go through the exact number of disputed games between me and our group leader, but Adam did. I had eight disputed games with Jen, our group leader through Week 16. Down seven, I needed to sweep the week. I got everything, save one: Green Bay got shut out at home by Detroit, and that gave Jen, apparently now referred to as the football goddess, the group victory. See the standings after the jump.
On a micro level, I took three of five disputed games from Adam last week, not that I needed the extra game as I clinched the column title already. But for Week 17, I wanted to open the forum to the remainder of the coalition, so I invited everyone to send in their picks ahead of time this week. Adam and I were able to recruit our wives this week, while Geoffrey Clark also agreed to send in his picks.
To the group, thank you all for a good season, and good luck! With five people, it's easier to say where there's agreement, and amazingly, we found common ground on two of them. Let's get to the picks!
Game Summary
This one didn't start all that auspiciously as the Cardinals (10-1) lost the opening tip, but did get the opening bucket about a minute in. The Blueboys (3-9), meanwhile, answered back quickly and turned the game into quite the back and forth affair. Illinois College took control fairly quickly though, pushing their lead as high as six late in the half before the Cardinals reasserted control with a 15-5 run to close the half leading 35-31. Early in the second half it looked like the Cardinals were going to assert dominance and pull away as they managed to push the lead as high as seven, but a 12-2 Blueboy run turned it back into a dogfight. The Cardinals answered that with a 7-0 run of their own capped by a Jack Bronec dunk, and while IC managed to come back and tie it, the Cardinals managed to regain the lead pretty quickly and were up as many as nine with about eight minutes to go. But again, the Blueboys refused to go quietly, getting a huge layup off a steal to pull within two with just under a minute to go. Another turnover gave the Blueboys a chance to tie or take the lead, but Blaise Meredith came up with the block of his life on a would-be tying layup and Matt Cappelletti came up with the rebound and was fouled in the process. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, but somehow got his own rebound, was fouled again, and this time iced the game away.
Key Players
Connor Raridon (NCC): 9-16 FG (1-4 3PT), 5-6 FT; 24 pts, 6 reb (2 off), 5 ast, 2 stl. After joining the 1,000 Point Club a week prior at Wheaton, Connor has continued to play well, and really did so here. He was able to get into the paint for his favored fadeaway jumper, while also hitting from midrange and the one time from deep, plus distributing the ball. He also played some solid defense as now the undisputed leader of the team. A solid two-way performance helped key a win here.
Jack Bronec (NCC): 3-3 FG, 2-2 FT; 8 pts, 4 reb (2 off), 1 blk, 1 stl. With no true elite big this season, Bronec has stepped into a starting spot, but his role hasn't changed much. He's logging more minutes a year than he did his first three, but he's still really only counted on for playing solid interior defense, getting some rebounds, and making one or two plays at the offensive end. He did that and more yesterday with a perfect shooting night, including a thunderous dunk that I gave a little more oomph on the call for just because I didn't expect it.
Kane Wildermuth (IC): 6-7 FG; 12 pts, 3 reb (1 off), 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl. Wildermuth played a few games for the Cardinals last season and has played fairly well getting regular minutes for the Blueboys this season. He had a good offensive game in this one, but was in serious foul trouble, seeing just ten first half minutes with three fouls, and played sparingly in the second half due to said trouble before fouling out late. All in all though, it was a good return to Naperville for the senior.
Key Stats
NCC: Outrebounded IC 35-26. I already brought up the no true center thing for North Central, but the Cardinals are still outrebounding opponents by five a game so far this season. It helped especially in this one with a hot shooting Blueboys team, as 13 of the Cardinal boards came on the offensive glass, leading to 21 second chances points; Illinois College, by contrast, had nine.
IC: 9-24 3PT (37.5%). That number is about on par for the season for the Blueboys, although maybe a tad lower. But in the first half they went 7-16 from beyond the arc, and that heat check is what had them in control for a large chunk of the opening 20 minutes. Even though they cooled off in the second half, their deep shooting kept them in the game longer than I'd anticipated going in, and they deserve credit for going toe-to-toe with a solid Cardinal team.
Final Thoughts
This was a fun one, as it marked the return of former North Central assistant coach Steve Schweer to Gregory Arena. Schweer was Raridon's top lieutenant for the past two seasons, and Illinois College gave him his first shot as a head coach. It was good to see him again, and it's clear he knew how to game plan for this Cardinal team. It helped, again, that his guys shot extremely well in this game. They gave the Cardinals fits.
For North Central, this was kind of an ugly game, but you have to be able to win the ugly ones, and they did here with that key final sequence. The win gives the Cardinals ten for the year so far as they closed out the home portion of their 2018 schedule on the right foot. North Central gets a break for Christmas for a couple days, and then they're off to Las Vegas for the D3Hoops.com Classic. This will be their last non-conference tuneup before it's back to the Gauntlet.
Just two weeks remain in the NFL season as the coalition nears the end of its work for the year, and... hold on, I should let Adam introduce this week's post with his poignant text from Sunday.
Dear god we all need to be scared. Jen is 4pts up on everyone.
Adam won a week for the first time in a long time, grabbing six of our eight disputed games as regression to the mean hit me hard. That left an opening at the top, which Jen roared into as she has her first lead of the season. Considering that she knows next to nothing about football and as far as I know has just been picking at absolute random for 15 weeks... yeah, we definitely need to be scared.
Adam's win has him, at least theoretically, within striking distance of me with two weeks to play, though it would take weeks like this past one for him to vault past me. This week, we disagree on just five games out of 16. This means that I have clinched the column title over Adam (even year magic!), though the group championship is still up for grabs.
From all of us at Confessions of a Sportscaster, we wish you a Merry Christmas! Let's get to the picks!
We're coming down the home stretch of the 2018 NFL season, and the coalition continues its quest to pick games against the spread!
Once again there's a shakeup at the top of the standings as I've somehow made my way back to sole possession of first place. But it's a tenuous two game lead with Kristen looming within striking distance, and her cousin Jen just one game back of her. The lesson here, as always: you don't need to know anything about football to succeed at this contest.
Game Summary
Things did not start great in this one as the Spartans (2-4) opened the game on an absurd 11-0 run. The Cardinals (7-1) finally broke the ice about four minutes in, but the Spartans kept up their attack and that 11 point advantage. But bit by bit, the Cardinals started eating into that deficit, eventually using a 15-3 run to take the lead. They never relinquished it from that point on, pulling ahead by as many as seven before settling into intermission with a 38-33 advantage, and about two and a half minutes into the second half pushing it to double digits on a Blaise Meredith steal and breakaway dunk. The Spartans would get no closer than seven the rest of the way, leading by as many as 17 before garbage time when both teams largely emptied their benches.
Key Players
Connor Raridon (NCC): 6-11 FG (0-1 3PT), 11-12 FT; 23 pts, 9 reb (3 off), 4 ast, 2 stl. Connor will probably have to wait until Saturday to join the 1,000 point club, as he came eight points short tonight, but was pretty good in this one. He more so did little things in the first half, notching six of his points and eight rebounds then before getting to the rack and the line in the second half.
Blaise Meredith (NCC): 5-10 FG (2-3 3PT), 8-8 FT; 20 pts, 5 reb (2 off), 1 ast, 3 stl. Blaise was the dominant force in the first half for the Cardinals, especially during the comeback. He scored 11 of his 20 in the first half and was phenomenal at the line, and continued his strong game in the second half with the aforementioned breakaway dunk. He also had a beautiful tip-in off an inbounds pass in this one.
Matt Cappelletti (NCC): 4-11 FG (1-4 3PT), 2-2 FT; 11 pts, 13 reb (7 off), 3 ast. Ho hum, another double-double. Cap's outside shot continues to have its issues, though the fact that he has confidence to still take them is encouraging. Also encouraging is that he's still attacking the basket and getting his points elsewhere. In a game where North Central, amazingly enough, had a size advantage, he made the most of it tonight.
Key Stats
NCC: 24-26 FT (92.3%). This was an outstanding showing at the line that included a pair of technical free throws (see more on that below), but my dad via text compared it to a pitcher throwing a perfect game. The Cardinals hit their first 22 shots from the line before Aiden Chang "blew [it] with two outs in the (sic) 8th." Per North Park's Gregory Sager, the D-III record is held by Albany, who went 28-28 from the line in a game against Potsdam State back in 1994.
AUR: 27-54 FG, 7-14 3PT (50.0%). Four nights after getting lit up by North Park, there are still some concerns on defense for this North Central team. The Spartans shot well, especially early on to build that lead before seemingly coming back down to earth as the game went on. I say seemingly because they topped 50 percent in the second half. This wasn't just hitting threes, they also got to the basket too easily in many cases. It's a good showing for Aurora against what's supposed to be a good defensive team, though to be fair the Cardinals did make a number of nice defensive stops in this one.
Final Thoughts
I hate to address officiating, especially after a win, but I don't think either coach was particularly pleased after this one. Both Todd Raridon and Aurora's Lance Robinson were in officials' ears all night, pleading for calls, which in and of itself isn't unusual, but both guys had complaints, and I'd say both were valid. Robinson though drew a technical foul in the second half following a loose ball situation where the Cardinals recovered and called timeout. Robinson, from the far end of the floor, didn't think they had possession, and dropped an F-bomb in his complaint to the official, earning himself the T, which he questioned as it was called even though dropping an F-bomb to an official will earn you the tech most of the time.
Game-wise, it was good to see North Central not lose composure after falling behind by so much so early, working their way back in with a balanced attack and making enough stops even though the scoring was a little high for probably a lot of people's tastes. But they followed up a tough loss with a nice home win to cap off a 3-1 homestand, which you take every time.
It gets tough this weekend though as the Cardinals head up to Wheaton to take on the Thunder. Wheaton is a little hard to figure out; they've lost some games they shouldn't have, then turn around and have Aston Francis do Aston Francis things like tonight when he dropped a career-high 54 in a win over UW-Platteville. North Central, needless to say, will need to keep him in check if they want to continue the win streak they have over the Thunder, especially in a tough King Arena.
Game Summary
The Cardinals (6-1, 2-1) got off to their usual immediate good start, winning the tip and scoring on the opening possession. But the Vikings (3-7, 2-1) recovered, hitting a three in response and thus setting off a half full of lead changes. Each team led by as many as five at one point early on before settling into a heavyweight bout of trading blows, with North Park getting a 33-32 halftime lead on a buzzer beater. The close game continued in the second half, with North Park in control early but fending off a Cardinal group right on their heels. The Cardinals actually did take a 57-54 lead with about ten and a half to go, but that was the high water mark for the half, as North Park slowly started to regain control and pull away. The Cardinals did make it interesting in the final minute, pulling within four thanks to some threes, but North Park was phenomenal at the line to put it out of reach.
Key Players
Toby Marek (NPU): 8-11 FG (1-1 3PT), 12-14 FT; 29 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk. Marek was just red hot in this one, but it was his ability to get to the line in the second half that really helped put the game out of reach. 22 of Marek's points came in the second stanza, including an 11-12 performance at the stripe.
Kindrel Morris (NPU): 3-7 FG (0-2 3PT), 9-12 FT; 15 pts, 3 reb (1 off), 3 ast. Morris had a more understated impact, but was no less of a reason why the Vikings pulled the road upset. He scored all 15 of his points after halftime, going perfect from the floor and getting all his trips to the line in then. He did have four turnovers, but only one came after halftime.
Blaise Meredith (NCC): 5-11 FG (0-2 3PT), 12-13 FT; 22 pts, 4 reb (1 off), 1 blk, 2 stl. Blaise had himself a pretty good night on the whole, especially offensively as he was able to get to the basket and thus the line almost at will. He did face some late foul trouble as his last two foul calls were questionable, and he could have gotten T'd up, but wasn't. Also not helping his cause was one of his misses, when he had a clear shot to the rack and went up for a dunk, but blew it.
Key Stats
NCC: 7-23 3PT (30.4%). I think this number is a bit of an improvement, but on a night where your opponent just can't miss, you have to shoot a little better than this. Mike Pollack bumped this up some with a few late triples, so looking at a 2-11 first half really tells the tale to some degree. I've been saying for weeks that the shots will start to fall... but they need to start to fall soon.
NPU: 29-49 FG (59.2%), 8-14 3PT (57.1%), 29-34 FT (85.3%). I had to include their entire shooting line, because this is ridiculous. The Vikings just couldn't miss tonight. They did get quite a few easy layups as part of their 62 point second half, but they also got to the line and went 4-7 from deep in each half. You're going to be almost impossible to beat on a night like that. Tip the cap.
CCIW Scoreboard Watch
MIL 77 (5-3, 1-2). @ CRL 75 (2-6, 0-3)
@ AUG 67 (7-1, 2-0), IWU 60 (7-2, 1-2)
ELM 95 (4-3, 2-0), @ CAR 79 (4-5, 1-2)
Bye: @ WHE 92 (7-2, 1-1), Olivet 81
Final Thoughts
Like the women's game, this one hurts. The Cardinals came into the night technically in first place by half a game by virtue of Augie having had the bye this past week and Elmhurst having had it a week ago. Instead, they couldn't take care of business at home against the team picked to finish last in the CCIW. To be fair, part of me looked at this game going in not knowing how it would go; this North Park team knocked off Wheaton at home last Saturday. But I didn't expect this.
A Cardinal defense that was allowing under 60 points a game for the year got lit up, especially in the second half. Some of this was North Park just hitting some ridiculous shots, and you have to tip your cap. But this is also an alarming first loss, especially with some tough games coming up. Hopefully this is just a hiccup, as the Cardinals welcome in non-conference rival Aurora on Wednesday night before wrapping up the December portion of CCIW play with a trip to Wheaton a week from tonight.
