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MAC Quarterfinals and thoughts on the All-MAC Team
by Mike Breese on Mar 11, 2010 7:47 AM CST
in Basketball
1 comment
Today's Lineup:
- No. 2 Central Michigan vs. No. 7 Western Michigan at 11 a.m.
- No. 3 Akron vs. No. 6 Eastern Michigan at 1:30 p.m.
- No. 1 Kent State vs. No. 9 Ohio at 6 p.m.
- 4 Miami vs. No. 5 Buffalo at 8:30 p.m.
My predictions: CMU, Akron, Kent State & I'll have to go with Miami who plays a Buffalo team that is pretty much on the road.
All games will be broadcast on FS Ohio and ESPN360.
All-MAC First Team
Jimmy Conyers, Akron
Rodney Pierce, Buffalo
Kenny Hayes, Miami
David Kool, Western Michigan
Chris Singletary, Kent StateAll-MAC Second Team
Jordan Bitzer, Central Michigan
Robbie Harman, Central Michigan
Carlos Medlock, Eastern Michigan
Brandon Bowdry, Eastern Michigan (Junior)
Justin Greene, Kent State (Sophomore)
That is a LOT of seniors that will be graduating that have been playing forever for their respective teams. Kenny Hayes, Chris Singletary, Robbie Harman & Carlos Medlock all played point guard, which is essentially the quarterback for your offense. Kool was MAC player of the year, so that will kill WMU and CMU loses their wondertwins who shoot 3-pointers in Bitzer and Harman. With all these guards graduating, I'm assuming the big focus in the conference will be front-court play next year with guys like 6'6" Brandon Bowdry (16.1 ppg, 9.8 rpg) and 6'8" Justin Greene (13.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg) returning (hello Nate Rucker).
All-MAC Honorable Mention
Chris McKnight, Akron
Brett McKnight, Akron (Junior)
Jarrod Jones, Ball State (Sophomore)
Scott Thomas, Bowling Green (Sophomore)
Calvin Betts, Buffalo
Justin Dobbins, Eastern Michigan
Julian Mavunga, Miami (Sophomore)
Xavier Silas, Northern Illinois (Junior)
D.J. Cooper, Ohio (Freshman)
Armon Bassett, Ohio (Junior)
Hey we have a Xavier Silas sighting for HM! Just going on which teams lose the least amount of talent, I'd have to peg Ball State as the favorites next year in the West and Ohio or Akron as favorites in the East. The depth just won't be there next year in the conference and Northern Illinois may actually be able to have a successful season.
All-Freshman Team
Zeke Marshall, Akron
Jauwan Scaife, Ball State
D.J. Cooper, Ohio
Jake Barnett, Toledo
Nate Hutcheson, Western Michigan
As we all know because of the DiNunno incident, All-Freshman Team in the MAC doesn't mean squat. Still, for Illinois native D.J. Cooper to get HM as well after an amazing freshman year is impressive. Just goes to show you how important a point guard is to your squad (hello Kyree Jones).
1 comment | 0 recs |
A Recent Timeline of NIU Basketball
by Mike Breese on Mar 9, 2010 2:12 AM CST
in Basketball
0 comments
6-22, 10-20, 10-20. Those are the records of Ricardo Patton's 1st three years as head of the Northern Illinois basketball program. That fact is that this team isn't any fun to watch at all. It's a different type of suffering than back in the Judson days. These Patton teams have a lot more talent and athleticism than a lot of the teams preceding them. The fact is that this team just does not play up to their potential that they're capable of. Now this can lay blame on the coaching staff or the players themselves, or both. I'm going to just put a slight weight on how the coaches didn't prepare this team for the 2009-10 season.
NIU lost one player (ONE) in Sean Smith this past off-season. This team was supposed to be leaps and bound better than last year. NIU basketball was supposed to be back! What happened??? I HAVE NO IDEA. That's the frustrating part. The defense was the same mediocre defense like last years, but the offense actually regressed from last year. I would have been fine with the Huskies shooting the lights out of the ball and winning a few offensive shootouts, but that never happened.
Regressing from a 223rd ranked Effective FG% to 310th? 3-pt shooting down from 34.4% to 30.0%?? Jake Anderson would disappear one game and Xavier Silas was never a savior like he was so hyped up to be. Mike DiNunno came out missing threes at the point and would never stop. Sean Kowal was a nice surprise in the middle, but what the heck happened to Michael Fakuade? Tyler Storm? Najul Ervin? I just don't get it and I don't think anybody watching does.
What were Judson's records like? 12-16, 17-14, 10-20, 11-17, 17-11, 7-23. The obscure fact that we won the MAC West in 2006 is completely irrelevant considering we went down in the 1st round of the tournament that year. NIU is now 0-11 in the MAC tourney since re-joining the MAC. The drought in the MAC tourney dates all the way back to 1982 when we won the whole darn thing.
How did this all come about? Let's take a look:
The Downfall
3/15/96 - NIU's last NCAA Tournament appearance, a 73-74 loss to Texas Tech
1997 - NIU re-joins the MAC
3/6/01 - Rob Judson hired as head coach
2006-07 - Mike DiNunno commits to play for NIU, Darion "Jake" Anderson redshirts his freshman year
3/10/07 - Rob Judson fired after compiling a 74-101 record over seven years
Patton's 1st Year
3/19/07 - Ricardo Patton is hired as head coach
4/9/07 - Patton completes his coaching staff
5/11/07 - Patton inks Najul Ervin (3 yrs) and Sean Smith (2 yrs)
2007 - Other additions: Jeremy Landers, Michael Patton, Sean Kowal (transfer, 3 yrs) Lee Fisher (redshirts) & Michael Fakuade (redshirts)
11/15/07 - Mike DiNunno, Bryan Hall & Tyler Storm sign with the Huskies
11/30/07 -
Dominique Johnson signs with the Huskies,never enrolls.
Patton's 2nd Year
4/17/08 -
Jerwin Callaway, Keith Smith & Xavier Silas (transfer, 2 yrs) sign with the Huskies5/16/08 - Ante Dzepina (2 yrs) signs with the Huskies
Patton's 3rd Year
11/13/08 - Tony Nixon signs with the Huskies
11/11/09 - Nate Rucker signs with the Huskies
2/21/10 - Kyree Jones signs with the Huskies
I think it's interesting to note that 10 out of the 14 players on NIU's roster that see regular playing time were recruited before Patton even had a chance to get his feet wet. He completely demolished what was left of Judson's roster, keeping the week-old leftovers of Jake Anderson & Mike DiNunno. It just seems like those two guys are in their own world for majority of games.
His 2nd year wasn't impressive either. A couple backups and Xavier Silas, who played for Patton at Colorado.
Seeing Patton's last 3 recruits gives me hope for the future. Tony Nixon was really good at certain points as a freshman. Nate Rucker is owning everybody in Tennessee and Kyree Jones sounds like he'll be a winner at the point. Maybe Patton's recruiting is really coming around?
Isn't that exactly what we need? An extra dominant big man and someone better to run this offense at point?
We'll find out soon enough, but will that be enough for Patton to keep his job?
0 comments | 0 recs |
Breaking News: Me'co Brown withdraws from NIU
by Jerry Burnes on Mar 8, 2010 2:56 PM CST
10 comments
No speculation this time, Me'co Brown is no longer a Huskie, but left on his own accord.
NIU head coach Jerry Kill said in a press release today that Brown has withdrawn from school for personal reasons. The junior back was earlier speculated to have been kicked off the team by Kill, but those reports were unfounded.
Brown was on the team as of Jan. 12 despite missing the International Bowl for family reasons.
In two seasons, Brown gained 1,155 rushing yards on 258 carries , and started14 games for the Huskies. He was second on the 2009 team with 645 rushing yards on 148 carries and four touchdowns.
More to come on the impact of Brown's departure, filling the void, and any other information that comes available.
10 comments | 0 recs
MAC Tourney Rd. I Game Thread: NIU @ Eastern Michigan
by Mike Breese on Mar 7, 2010 3:37 AM CST
in Basketball
3 comments
Northern Illinois Huskies (10-19, 6-10) vs. the Eastern Michigan Eagles (16-14, 8-8)
Tipoff: 1 PM
The [Evil] Convocation Center, Ypsilanti, MI
TV: EMUEagles.com ($) Radio: WSCR (if they feel like it) / WEMU
It's win or go home for the Huskies. The defense has been there lately, it's only a matter of coming together as an offense and being efficient. A run in this tourney can make a huge footprint and spin a lot of momentum going into the offseason. A loss here would just be more of the same old Huskies that have burning our retinas for years now.
Take it away X:
OM NOM NOM NOM. GET HUNGRY HUSKIES!!!!!
3 comments | 0 recs
It's True, DON'T MESS WITH THE DIECKHAUS
It's pronounced just like you think it is.
This would have been a lot more epic if this involved an Iowa athlete of some sort. Despite the fact they beat the crap out of the guy, this act was merely pedestrian. Just like NIU's wrestling this season.
7 days ago
Mike Breese
0 comments
0 recs
Najul Ervin & Ante Dzepina we hardly knew ye
by Mike Breese on Mar 4, 2010 8:28 AM CST
in Basketball
0 comments
Senior night tonight against the Toledo Rockets. You never know what you're going to get out of the Huskies, so let's just focus on these two seniors that will be honored tonight.
Memphis native Najul Ervin came to the Huskies after averaging one year at Kankakee CC, where he averaged 4.8 pts and 5.8 rpg for the Cavs. He was always supposed to be a defensive specialist for the Huskies. Memphis is a hotspot for Huskie recruiting where Ervin played his AAU ball. Jul's father is even an assistant coach at incoming freshman Nate Rucker's Melrose high school.
| Season | GP | MPG | PPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | APG | RPG | BPG | SPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 26 | 12.615 | 1.923 | 53.5 | 0.0 | 30.8 | 0.538 | 2.423 | 0.577 | 0.385 |
| 2008-09 | 30 | 19.1 | 3.367 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 29.7 | 1.0 | 4.467 | 0.533 | 1.233 |
| 2007-08 | 25 | 10.7 | 2.4 | 47.1 | 0.0 | 35.3 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
|
|
||||||||||
| Career | 81 | 14.4 | 2.6 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 32.1 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
His career peaked during last season, where he would see almost 20 min per game, compared to just over 10 this season. Also, his possessions have been cut way, way down for some reason.
I just can't believe that in a season that were were lacking so much defense, that Najul would sit this much on the bench. He only started 8 games this year, compared to 26 last year. It's just one of those weird things that I don't think we'll ever figure out. Most of his playing time went to former walk-ons Lee Fisher and Michael Fakuade to mixed results.
Ante Dzepina came to the Huskies by way of Highland CC in Kansas, where he averaged 6 pts and 6.1 rpg for the Cougars. Originally, he's from Kraljevica, Croatia and has continued to learn the English language better these past couple years.
| Season | GP | MPG | PPG | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | APG | RPG | BPG | SPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 23 | 6.391 | 1.13 | 29.0 | 0.0 | 42.1 | 0.304 | 1.87 | 0.261 | 0.13 |
| 2008-09 | 30 | 10.233 | 3.433 | 57.6 | 0.0 | 54.0 | 0.133 | 2.667 | 0.233 | 0.267 |
|
|
||||||||||
| Career | 53 | 8.6 | 2.4 | 48.4 | 0.0 | 50.7 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Just like Najul, Ante has seen his minutes decrease this year as well. Sean Kowal stepped up his game this year as the big man and Patton really liked smaller lineups.
Both of these seniors seeing less minutes this year is a sign that Patton is building for the future of the program. Yes, he does recruit JUCOs. He had to get more bodies in there as he was trying to recruit and develop his team. It's hard to have Ervin in there, if he's never going to see the ball on the offensive end of things. It lets defenses key on you too easily. It's hard to have Ante in there, because his big body is going to have a tough time in transition. With Silas & Nixon coming in, you knew there was going to be some changes.
It's just a shame that we weren't able to see their best years this year. Both will major in Communications.
0 comments | 0 recs |
NIU Baseball get swept by Austin Peay in heartbreaking fashion
by Mike Breese on Mar 3, 2010 9:03 AM CST
in Baseball
0 comments
In this past weekend's games nothing went the Huskies way, especially on the defensive end. It certainly didn't start off well either:
We arrived at the hotel pretty late and to top it off, none of our keys worked. So there were quite a few tired and irritated guys here. We have a 4pm game tomorrow so we have some free time to either sleep, hang out or maybe get some homework done during the day.
Game 4: Northern Illinois 4, Austin Peay 7 (Box)
-------------------------------------------
Northern Illinois... 100 000 012 - 4 9 4
Austin Peay......... 421 000 00X - 7 6 3
-------------------------------------------
"Unlucky Lefty" Chuck Lukanen (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) recovered from a shaky 1st inning in which he gave up all three of his earned runs and went on to give a solid performance. The problem is that the defense committed 4 (FOUR) errors behind Chuck. Two by 1B Dave Reynolds in the first couple innings gave 3 runs to the opposition and SS Alex Jones gave up one in the 2nd. 3B Troy White committed an error in the 5th, but after the bases got loaded up, Chuck retired the final 3 batters of the inning.
If those early innings don't happen, the Huskies win this game. RF Jordin Hood (3-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) hit his a 2-run home run in the 9th to put the Huskies somewhat in this one. DH Joe Etcheverry (1-3, 2B, 2 BB, 1 SO) had a nice game getting on base while getting that XBH. Reynolds (3-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB) played pretty well, but didn't come close to making up for the errors. NIU's LOB was 12 compared to Peay's 7.
Kyle Glancy made his debut this year in the bullpen and Tom Barry bounced back from getting destroyed by ASU to finish the game. Neither surrendered a run.
Game 5: Northern Illinois 3, Austin Peay 4 (Box)
-------------------------------------------
Northern Illinois... 000 001 002 - 3 4 3
Austin Peay......... 002 110 00X - 4 5 1
-------------------------------------------
Zach Oates (7.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) pitched the game of his life, entrenching him in one of the top starting spots on this squad. But the Huskies still couldn't win because of a lack of defense again. Jayme Wells made his first start at 2B and made two critical errors giving up 2 runs in the 3rd and the 5th innings. Cory Krupp made his first start in LF and also dropped a crucial ball in the 3rd inning as well. Tom Zelasko pitched one scoreless inning to end it.
The leadoff man Krupp (0-2, 3 BB, 1 RBI, 1 SB) was our best threat getting on base even though he didn't get a hit. Jordin Hood (1-4, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 SO) racked up some pretty decent stats. We had a high LOB again with 10 compared to Peay's 3. The Huskies also struck out 15 times compared to only 6 K's dealt to Peay.
Game 6: Northern Illinois 8, Austin Peay 9 (Box)
----------------------------------------------
Northern Illinois... 000 040 013 00 - 8 10 7
Austin Peay......... 102 010 220 01 - 9 8 1
----------------------------------------------
In keeping with the theme of the weekend, 1B Dave Reynolds, 3B Troy White, RF Jake Hermsen (twice), C Brett Frantini and SS Alex Jones (twice) all had errors in this game! That's 6 runs given up on 7 errors!!!!
Jeremy Gonzales (5.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 BB, 1 SO) had a solid start, despite struggling with finding the strike zone. Glancy (1.1 IP), Zelasko (0.2 IP), Andy Dean (0.2 IP) and Barry (3.0 IP) all didn't give up a single earned run in relief.
The offense finally started to get going spearheaded by Joe Etcheverry (3-4, HR, 4 RBI, 1 R, 2 BB) and his 3-run home run in the 9th inning to tie the game at 8 a-piece. Troy White (1-5, 1 RBI, 2 R, HBP) is finally starting to get hot these past couple games and I believe that he can be the catalyst for the offense.
What to take from the weekend:
Our pitching is good, very good. Except our defense is bad, very bad. The errors will begin to disappear as the Huskies experience more games on the diamond. It also seems like the offense came around against a MAC-calibur team like Austin Peay. I'd be a lot more worried if our pitchers were getting shelled, but defense we can fix as the conference nears.
Up next the Huskies are goin' back to Cali:
The Huskies will get back to action next weekend as they head to California for their nine-game spring break trip starting with a noon CDT contest against Cal State Bakersfield on Friday, March 5th. NIU will also face Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara during the break.
0 comments | 0 recs |
The 2010 NIU Football Schedule is a mixed bag
by Mike Breese on Mar 1, 2010 11:30 PM CST
in Football
11 comments
| Date | Opponent / Event | Location | Time |
 |
|||
| 09/02/10 (Thurs) |
at Iowa State | Ames, Iowa | TBA |
| 09/11/10 | vs. North Dakota | DeKalb, Ill. | TBA |
| 09/18/10 | at Illinois | Champaign, Ill. | TBA |
| 09/25/10 | at Minnesota | Minneapolis, Minn. | TBA |
| 10/02/10 | at Akron # | Akron, Ohio | TBA |
| 10/09/10 | vs. Temple # | DeKalb, Ill. | TBA |
| 10/16/10 | vs. Buffalo # | DeKalb, Ill. | TBA |
| 10/23/10 | vs. Central Michigan # | DeKalb, Ill. | TBA |
| 10/30/10 | at Western Michigan # | Kalamazoo, Mich. | TBA |
| 11/09/10 (Tues) |
vs. Toledo #  (ESPN2) |
DeKalb, Ill. | 6:00 p.m. CT |
| 11/20/10 | at Ball State # | Muncie, Ind. | TBA |
| 11/26/10 (Fri) |
at Eastern Michigan # (ESPNU) |
Ypsilanti, Mich. | TBA |
Initial Thoughts
We'll go in to more detail about the non-conference part of the schedule later this week, but here's a summary: We already know how to beat Iowa State, the Fighting Illini are a program in shambles and Minnesota is beating on Ron Zook's door to become part of the Big 10 cellar. North Dakota is a nice home re-tooling game to give us have to get us through three straight road games. Also, we don't have to travel very far to any of our OOC sites.
Road Trippin'
The hardest part of the schedule is the 3-game road trip to Illinois, Minnesota & Akron. These three games will shape the season for the Huskies. It's scary because even though the first two opponents are exciting to play, the third game is the only one that matters in the entire scheme of things. Akron has a new coach and everything, but MAC road games are always tough. If we beat Illinois, Minnesota could be a trap game. If we beat Minnesota, Akron could be a trap game. Here's hoping to go at least 2-1 with that loss not being to the Zips.
One cool thing for the team and Huskie Road Crew members is that they get to visit two brand new stadiums in Minnesota's TCF Bank and Akron's InfoCision.
Seeing Triple
The biggest eyesore on the schedule is the 3-game homestand against Temple, Buffalo & Central Michigan. It's the same thing they did in 2008 with the Toledo homecoming beatdown sandwiched in between Miami and BGSU. It not only lessens the aura of homecoming (which will likely be Buffalo), three games in a row at home is just overkill for fans. It's basically a pick and choose one or two to attend if you work weekends or have prior commitments.
Temple will be hugely attended not only because they will be a great team next year, but also the fact that not seeing the Huskies play live for three straight weeks is like delaying an orgasm. UB will get a boost because of homecoming...CMU gets by on name recognition alone, despite the fact LeFevour and friends have passed on to greener pastures.
The season will come down to...
Early season: MAC East favorites Temple at home.
Late season: Toledo at home, on a Tues on ESPN2. I'm actually scared what might happen to the Rockets in this one. Kill owns the Rockets at home, despite the small sample size (1-0).
Surrounding that Toledo game is a whole mess of off-days for the Huskies so that they can heal up for their last two road games and the MAC Championship. But then again if the MAC West is wrapped up by then, we'll have nothing to worry about.
This is the schedule of a MAC Champion
I'm not saying the Huskies will win the MAC in 2010 (even though I think they will), but judging by schedule alone they have a winner. Their toughest few games will be in Huskie Stadium: Temple, Buffalo, Toledo and even a deconstructed Central Michigan who we usually own anyways. Akron, WMU and Ball State will be tricky opponents on the road, but these teams will be nothing like the Toledo's and the Bowling Green's of 2002-04.
The non-conference schedule is just mediocre enough for the Huskies to find that mid-range of getting enough experience for conference, while also not getting to beat up on the football field.
I speak for every fan when I say it's about time the Huskies get their sh*t together and win the MAC for once. This schedule gives the Huskies their best chance since the 2004 season. Hey, we played Iowa State that season as well. Hmm...and we only had 5 home games that year too.
What do you guys think about the schedule?
11 comments | 0 recs |
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Mid-American Conference Standings
(updated 3.8.2010 at 1:53 AM CST)
| East | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| Kent St. Golden Flashes | 13 | 3 | 23 | 8 |
| Akron Zips | 12 | 4 | 22 | 9 |
| Buffalo Bulls | 9 | 7 | 18 | 11 |
| Miami (Ohio) RedHawks | 9 | 7 | 13 | 17 |
| Ohio Bobcats | 7 | 9 | 18 | 14 |
| Bowling Green Falcons | 6 | 10 | 14 | 16 |
| West | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| Central Michigan Chippewas | 9 | 7 | 15 | 14 |
| Eastern Michigan Eagles | 8 | 8 | 17 | 14 |
| Western Michigan Broncos | 8 | 8 | 17 | 14 |
| Ball St. Cardinals | 8 | 8 | 15 | 15 |
Northern Illinois Huskies
|
6 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| Toledo Rockets | 1 | 15 | 4 | 28 |
Weather in Dekalb
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