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Monday column: DeJong can't hide from the game, but he didn't mind
Posted in May 29th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3732" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
St. Louis Cardinals' Paul DeJong is tagged out at home by Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal in the seventh inning of Monday's game. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
[/caption] ST. LOUIS — The game, Paul DeJong figured, would find him. Of course it did. Fourth pitch of the game. A ground ball from Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Logan Forsythe to the St. Louis Cardinals rookie second baseman. It found him again, two batters later. A grounder from Yasmani Grandal to end the inning. The Dodgers' 5-1 win over the Cardinals on Monday at Busch Stadium was a game that kept finding DeJong, over and over again, good and bad. "Pretty exciting," he said. "A lot of firsts. Singles, doubles. First game at Busch." The day-plus DeJong has been with the Cardinals has been one of those stories that always find rookies when they get to the big-time. He didn't arrive in Colorado until after Sunday's game against the Rockies had started, and of course he hit a home run in the ninth inning. He got the start in this game, going 2-for-4. A single in the fifth inning and a double in the seventh were sandwiched by a flyout and a strikeout. DeJong is going to be in the lineup, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We don't bring him up if he doesn't have a chance to play," Matheny said in a terse, brief post-game press conference. DeJong smiled as he talked about his first home game. "Busch Stadium," he said, "was all that I expected it to be." The game was going to find him — the game, it seems, finds everyone at just the right moment, for good or bad. His first single was a bloop into right-center off Dodgers starter Rich Hill. The double came in the seventh off veteran reliever Sergio Romo. And then the game would find him again, thanks to a decision by Cardinals third-base coach Chris Maloney. Jose Martinez grounded to Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who played it wrong from the start. The ball skipped off his back-handed glove and tumbled into left field. Maloney, figuring that, with the game at 4-1, something had to happen, sent DeJong. The throw from left fielder Cody Bellinger was perfect, and DeJong was tagged out. "I knew I had a chance," DeJong said. "He made a good throw. If he doesn't, I'm probably safe." "You know, that's one I think we would like to have back, do over," Matheny said. "That's one that's got to be 100 percent. That's one you would like to do over." DeJong might be the lift the inconsistent Cardinals need. They have lost five of their last seven games, scoring just 11 runs in the last five games. Matheny's post-game media session lasted a little more than two minutes, because there wasn't much to say. The Cardinals had their chances against Hill, whose wheels seemed loose all day, yet they never fell off. He allowed just two hits in five innings — no hits through the first four, but he had thrown 86 pitches by the time he was done, 56 for strikes. Then the game got turned over to the Dodgers' bullpen, which has been full of stops in the last two weeks. Pedro Baez, Romo, Chris Hatcher and Brandon Morrow closed out the game, but once DeJong had been thrown out at the plate, the Cardinals' life in this one was sucked away. The final out was, of course, the DeJong strikeout. A game that kept finding him all day had finally concluded its search. DeJong didn't seem to mind. "I can't wait to see this place with the lights on," he said.
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Saturday blog: Royals keep sliding, and it looks like they'll be breaking up soon
Posted in May 6th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3728" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer drives in a run in the fourth inning of Sunday's game against the Cleveland Indians. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
[/caption] KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eric Hosmer is heating up. It's not going to be enough for his current team this season, just another addition to a resumé that will send him to another team, maybe as soon as late this summer, if not then than certainly next season. A hot-hitting Hosmer is about the only good news for the Kansas City Royals now, but it's going to be bad news later. Hosmer drove in Kansas City's lone run in Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium, a game that was breezing along until the Royals' bullpen had a furious cave-in. The Royals fell to 10-19 on the season. It's a couple of months from the July trading deadline, and Kansas City looks like a seller with buyers circling, looking for a deal on players like Hosmer who about to become too expensive. A franchise just two seasons removed from a World Series championship likely will undergo some sort of facelift in the offseason. Long runs are hard to sustain without all of the resources — the Royals continue to have a strong farm system, but those prospects aren't going to stay around forever because the team can't afford them when it comes time for the big contracts. Hosmer, the Royals' first baseman, is going to be a free agent. So it third baseman Mike Moustakas. Two former Burlington Bees, cogs in a machine that had such postseason fun in 2014 and 2015, but a machine that can't survive on small-market fuel for a sustained period. Keeping both is too much to ask, and maybe it's something the Royals shouldn't try. Hosmer can be inconsistent with the bat, but he is a strong defensive presence. Moustakas is still solid at the plate and in the field. The Bees' flavor in Kansas City is starting to dwindle as more time separates from the end of the player development relationship with the Royals in 2010. Six players on the current 25-man roster — Hosmer, Moustakas, second baseman Whit Merrifield, catcher Salvador Perez and pitchers Danny Duffy and Kelvin Herrera — came through Burlington in their minor-league careers. Vital parts of the recent seasons came through Community Field, but they may soon disappear to new places. Hosmer and Moustakas, likely trade pieces before they walk, may not be the only ones gone after this season. Herrera is a valuable bullpen piece for a contender, and could be shipped before the July trading deadline. The Royals appear to be well on the way to being sellers. Saturday's game was coughed up by the bullpen — Joakim Soria gave up the tying run in the eighth inning, then Herrera surrendered back-to-back home runs to Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor in the ninth. Hosmer is showing plenty of life in what could be his walk year. Hosmer has a 10-game hitting streak, his season batting average has climbed to .270, and he is hitting .414 on the current homestand. But no one is backing him up. Hosmer had a two-run home run in Friday's 3-1 victory, and on this day was the only one producing. Hosmer's fourth-inning single that drove in Lorenzo Cain was followed by a 5-4-3 double play from Perez, and the Royals would get just one baserunner in the next four innings. In the ninth, against Indians closer Cody Allen, Moustakas walked with one out, and then Cain singled to center. Hosmer bounced into a 4-6 force play before Drew Butera popped out to end the game. There were plenty of empty seats at Kauffman on Saturday — the paid attendance was 23,743 on a perfect day. The last time I was here was in 2014, on an October night when the World Series had returned for the first time since 1980. It's not going to be here again any time soon. Which is why those pieces of memories seemed destined to be broken off and sent somewhere else.
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Wednesday blog: Wayne Duke's impact was personal, and national
Posted in March 29th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3718" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Former Big Eight and Big Ten commissioner Wayne Duke, a Burlington native, died Wednesday. He was 88. (Ed Zurga/Associated Press)
[/caption] He wrote the first manual for the NCAA men's basketball tournament, and was later chairman of the men's basketball committee. He worked for the NCAA, was commissioner of the Big Eight, and then moved on to become the commissioner of the Big Ten. His influence from a 40-year career in college athletics can be found in so many different venues, so many different events. But, for Wayne Duke, it was a high school baseball field on the northwest edge of Burlington High School's campus that meant so much to him. "One of his biggest thrills," said Associated Press college basketball writer Jim O'Connell, "was when they named the field after him. He always talked about that. That meant so much to him." Duke, 88, died Wednesday. He had been in failing health for several months. "Boy, that's a shame," O'Connell said. "I lost a really good friend today. College athletics don't have a lot of people like him. I'm so lucky to have been friends with him." "He made a difference in everything he did," said Big Ten associate director Mark Rudner, who was hired by Duke in 1978 and has worked for the conference since then. "That's what we all should want in life. He did that." "We lost a good one," said Iowa athletics director Gary Barta. "There is no doubt about it." Duke's time in athletics started as a player on BHS' state championship baseball team in 1946, and his path continued on a journey through two of college athletics' biggest conferences and its biggest event. His work brought great respect. "Everything he did, he did for the right reasons," O'Connell said. "Whatever he did, it always ended with something right happening. He did so many things the right way." "I remember being around him, and he always was provided with great respect, almost a reverence," Barta said. "The amount of respect he has around the country, it's pretty amazing." Yet, Duke was always about where he grew up. "He loved Iowa, he loved Burlington," Barta said. "Every time I saw him, he would talk about his hometown, talk about Iowa. "He was a true gentleman." "Burlington's own, Iowa's own," Rudner said with a chuckle. "He meant so much to everyone."
A path to tremendous influence
Duke, a graduate of BHS and the University of Iowa, worked as a sports information director at Northern Iowa and Colorado before moving on to the NCAA. He was commissioner of the Big Eight from 1963-71, and then moved to the Big Ten, where he worked until his retirement in 1989. "I think Wayne put the Big Ten on the right track in so many ways," Rudner said. "He was always about student-athlete welfare." Rudner said Duke helped the conference move forward in such issues as the growth of women's sports, affirmative action, limits on athletic grants-in-aid, and improving academic standards and graduation rates. "He took a fresh perspective, a progressive look, at college sports," Rudner said. "I think should be remembered as a man who saw the intrinsic value of academics with college athletics. I think he saw that all fitting together. "Wayne was a giant in the world of college athletics administration during times of great change," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement. "He was a champion of the student, and was responsible for many of the academic, athletic and social initiatives that our students today benefit from. His mantra was 'performance commands respect', and his performance and dedication throughout his college athletics career earned him the respect of countless administrators, coaches, media and fans across the country." "He always started with the foundation of academics," Barta said. "I wasn't here when he was commissioner, but over the years, I've realized the impact he had. He saw the big picture." Duke presided over the Big Ten during a time when it had some of its more volatile coaches — Michigan's Bo Schembechler and Ohio State's Woody Hayes in football and Indiana's Bob Knight in basketball. Duke suspended Knight after a 1985 incident when Knight tossed a chair across the court during a Big Ten game against Purdue. "He was one of the few who stood up to Bob Knight," said Joe Mitch, executive director of the United States Basketball Writers Association, an organization Duke helped found. Mitch was once a student at Michigan State University, and remembered calling Duke while working as a writer on the college newspaper. "He was so nice to me," said Mitch, who went on to be assistant commissioner, and then associate commissioner, of the Missouri Valley Conference. "Always very gracious. I was so excited to talk to him. I knew his background, I knew what he had accomplished. It helped me think about a career in college athletics. "He had an influence on a lot of people." Rudner said preserving the Big Ten's relationship with the Rose Bowl was always one of Duke's priorities. "When he took over, only one team could go to a bowl game," Rudner said. "He had a profound impact on our bowl arrangements. He was also instrumental in overturning some of our archaic rules, like where teams couldn't go to the Rose Bowl in back-to-back years, things like that. It wasn't very popular, but it was important in the conference's growth." "He so loved (the Big Ten)," O'Connell said. "The Big Ten was his life."
The NCAA tournament
Duke was the first full-time employee hired by Walter Byers, the first executive director of the NCAA, in 1952, and got to work on building the men's basketball tournament. "Communication was a lot different in those days," Duke said in a 2010 interview. "You didn't have the computer and so on. I would figure out the shooting percentages of games that happened in regions. I did the program. I did the administrative work and ran the press conferences, did all the management details of the tournament." Duke served on the NCAA men's basketball committee from 1975-81. The tournament expanded from 32 teams to 40, and then to 48, during his time. That allowed teams other than conference champions to get into the field. Under Duke, teams were seeded in the tournament beginning in 1979. And he was on the committee that helped negotiate NBC's television deal — the first big television contract for the tournament — and then CBS' first rights deal beginning with the 1982 tournament. Duke's death comes three days before the NCAA Final Four in Glendale, Ariz., the culmination of a 68-team tournament that Rudner described as Duke's "baby." "That tournament grew because of the strategies he had," Rudner said. "The brackets, the media rights, things like that. He made sure the NCAA tournament was accessible to the media. "He was Mr. NCAA Tournament." "I think Wayne was huge in the growth of the NCAA tournament," O'Connell said. "He and Walter Byers took it to a high level, and it has just kept growing." Duke was chairman of the men's basketball committee in 1981, when he had to decide whether to play the championship game hours after President Ronald Reagan was shot. "I made the declaration as the chair, 'We are not going to have the television interests in this discussion. I don't want to come out of here and have somebody say we let television dictate whether or not we were going to do it,'" Duke said in 2010. "We were going to make this decision whether it's right or wrong. "I made that decision myself, of which I am very proud. I think that's the only time I really did things." The game went on, with Knight's Indiana team defeating North Carolina. Duke and the committee were criticized for the going ahead with the game. "(Sportscaster) Dick Enberg to this day — who is a good friend and a good guy — thought we were wrong," Duke said in 2010. "But we were on the Eastern seaboard. We were in a political environment, Philadelphia, Washington, New York, and we got crucified by some of the politicians for playing the game."
Retirement days
Duke stayed connected to college athletics even after his retirement in 1989. "He always had a lot of pride (in the USBWA)," Mitch said. "When he would come to the Final Four, he would always come to our awards breakfast. He wanted to be a part of it." Duke established the Maui Invitational basketball tournament in Hawaii — the tournament championship trophy is named after him. "When he would call schools to play in the tournament, they would accept," O'Connell said. "You didn't turn down Wayne Duke." Duke is in the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and he has been considered for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. His impact, though, has often been personal. "I've told people that everything good in my life — and I've had a lot of good things happen — I owe to Wayne Duke, and I hope that I've been able to repay him," Rudner said. "He took a chance on me, and I will be forever grateful for that." "I always admired his strength," Mitch said. "I'm so lucky to have been friends with him," O'Connell said. "And I think a lot of people would say that."
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Friday column: Disterhoft's climb to the top ends with a fall-down layup
Posted in March 17th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3714" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Iowa guard Ally Disterhoft became the school's all-time leading scorer on Thursday night. (Nam Y. Huh/AP file photo)
[/caption] IOWA CITY — History hung on the rim. Twice, and then rolled off. Ally Disterhoft was at 19 points. One more point, and she would become Iowa's all-time leading scorer. So, with eight minutes left in Iowa's 95-74 WNIT first-round win over Missouri State on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the senior guard had a clear path to the basket — and her layup rolled off. Twenty-four seconds later, another layup. It, too, hung there before falling away. "I biffed it a few times," Disterhoft said, smiling. "I knew it. I would miss, and the crowd would go, 'Ohhhhhh.' I'm like, 'Sorry, guys, I'll get the next one. I promise.'" She did. Layups, like records, find a way to fall. Another path would open. Disterhoft found it with 4:06 to play. She bulled down the right side of the lane, and as she fell to the court from the collision with Missouri State's Danielle Gitzen, she tossed the ball toward the basket. This time, the shot barely glanced the rim, falling through so easily the net barely snapped. Disterhoft was alone at the top, 21 points for the game, 2,061 for her career, two points better than Cindy Haugejorde's record that had stood for 37 years. The 9-year-old who was once pictured on an Iowa basketball poster next to the words "Dream Big" is now in the final days of her career, having climbed over the program's biggest names with a steady, unselfish run that coach Lisa Bluder called, "a perfect storm." "You have to come in and you really have to stay healthy and you have to start all four years in order to accomplish a goal like that," Bluder said. "And not all the time does all that happen, right? And then you have to be pretty good scorer on top of it. So, Ally just, obviously, had a good opportunity, she stayed healthy, and she was a very good basketball player." Disterhoft has played in all 134 games of her college career, started 115, and has averaged more than 32 minutes per game. The point totals have been consistent — 474 as a freshman, 503 as a sophomore, 565 as a junior, and now 519 as a senior. When that final layup rolled through, Disterhoft — who missed the ensuing free throw, by the way — took a knee as she tried to get up, a crowd of 3,226 sounding much louder than the number. "Relief was probably the biggest emotion at that time," Disterhoft said. The game was decided long before that point. The Hawkeyes led by 30 points on that layup, and a couple of minutes before that Bluder asked Disterhoft if she wanted to exit the game and break the record in Saturday's second-round game against South Dakota here, or finish it in this game. "She said, 'Tonight,'" Bluder said. Finish it. Don't let it linger. "It's always been in the back of my mind this was possible," Disterhoft said. "It has been weighing on me, subconsciously." It's why she appreciated senior Hailey Schneden coming up to her before the game and saying, "Ally, don't put too much pressure on yourself." "I think," Disterhoft said, "I just needed to hear that from her." Disterhoft had eight first-quarter points, 13 at halftime, but could have had more. She had two assists on Megan Gustafson baskets inside, passed up two fast-break opportunities by zipping passes to teammates. Nothing was forced. Like in the first half, when Disterhoft was wedged by a double-team. Seven points from history, five feet from the basket, two Missouri State roadblocks in her path, three seconds left in the first half. She could have tossed up a shot, but that's not Disterhoft. Never has been, isn't going to be, especially now. Suddenly, freshman guard Kathleen Doyle flashed to Disterhoft's right. Disterhoft handed her the ball, and Doyle drove the baseline easy layup as the buzzer sounded. The record was waiting, and it could wait a little longer. "It crossed my mind, in the first half, there was a fast-break opportunity, I thought she should have gotten to the basket, and she dished," Missouri State coach Kellie Harper said. "And I'm thinking, 'This kid's going to try to break a record and she's passing the ball.'" Disterhoft's pursuit of points could be seen on the video scoreboards above each basket. She tried not to look. "It was a little difficult, just because (the scoreboards are) so big with all these renovations now," Disterhoft joked. "But like I said, I think I've always played my best basketball when I've taken the focus off myself and I think that that can be said for anyone on our team, because our style of basketball is you pass up a good shot for a great shot, you work to get your teammates involved. And like I said before, when you focus on the team, those individual successes will fall in line." Bluder, sitting next to her, nodded. Disterhoft wiped away a tear as she left the court a few seconds after the final layup, the first hug coming from Bluder. "I got a little emotional because I was so happy for Ally to get this record," Bluder said. She smiled, recalling the choice of Disterhoft for the poster a long time ago. "I think," she said, "it shows I can identify talent at eight years old." How long Disterhoft's record stands could be up to the player who sat two seats to her left in the post-game press conference. Gustafson, the sophomore center who set an Iowa single-season record of 307 rebounds with 10 in this game, is at 916 points and, as a double-double machine, is poised to keep producing over the next two seasons. But there is still one more game for Disterhoft, at least. Her body is worn — she rides an exercise bike before games to get her knees loose — and when the Hawkeyes' season ends, her basketball time is over. A two-time Academic All-America of the Year with a 4.03 GPA, Disterhoft will head to New York City to work for an investment bank. The record has fallen. But Disterhoft is OK with playing as many games as possible, not to add to the mark, but to keep winning in the postseason. She made sure to put history behind her first.
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MANIC MONDAY: The Leathernecks had been waiting for this day
Posted in March 14th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3709" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Western Illinois University's players and fans celebrate their appearance on the bracket during Monday's NCAA women's tournament selection show. (Scott Holland/McDonough County Voice)
[/caption] MACOMB, Ill. — They knew their name would be called. They were one of the teams in the 64-team NCAA women's basketball tournament field that had an automatic bid. Still, there is that anticipation on Selection Monday. Where are they going? Who are they playing? Will it be close enough for family and friends to get there? They had read the mock brackets since the previous Tuesday, when they needed a 3-pointer at the end of the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime in the conference tournament championship game, when they dominated those five extra minutes, when they dribbled out the final seconds of the clock and fired the ball toward the ceiling in a South Dakota arena where for three games they added to their winning streak and brought home a big trophy and made history. They knew their name would be called. So they sat in their chairs at 6 p.m. on a Monday night and watched the tournament's selection show on ESPN. The first name called was Connecticut, the behemoth that has a triple-digit winning streak and is going for another national title. The second name called was Albany, a 16 seed, and there was some applause from the fans sitting in the bleachers, a thank-God-that-wasn't-us soft clap. Fourteen more names would be called, none of them theirs, and then there was more debate on the TV and then commercials. The next region was revealed. Ten names had been called when the next pairing was shown. The 3 seed in the Stockton Regional was Florida State. The No. 14 seed on the board said, simply, "W.Illinois." It was 6:23 p.m. The players and coaches at Western Illinois knew. Finally. The players — seated in folding chairs in front of a crowd packed into the middle section of the grandstands on the north side of Western Hall — jumped up and began cheering. Coach J.D. Gravina let them savor the moment, then walked down the line, hugging every player. A little more than four hours earlier, his final words to the team after practice had echoed through the empty arena. "You worked hard for this," Gravina said. "Let's enjoy tonight." "When you grow up as a little girl, this is what your dream is," junior guard Emily Clemens said. A long Monday ended a long wait.
1 p.m.
The Leathernecks won the Summit League tournament almost a week ago, a 77-69 victory over IUPUI in overtime on March 7. They knew they had won the league's automatic bid, but it would be a long time before they knew the destination and the opponent. It would be only the second NCAA trip in the program's history, the first since 1995. Gravina stalked the court as the team began practice. The video boards at each end of the arena were showing ESPN's continuous breakdown of the men's bracket, which had been released the day before. Those 68 teams knew where they were going. Soon, the Leathernecks would know. "I would say it's like Christmas morning," Gravina said. "But I'm way more excited than Christmas morning." It had been six days since Gravina looked down at the court as the final seconds melted away in Sioux Falls, S.D. The emotions of what was happening, what had happened, had gotten too much. He remembers hugging assistant coach and friend Seth Minter. The rest is a little foggy, Gravina said, but he remembers the feeling, at least. "Jubilation," he said. Six days later? "It really is beyond words," Gravina said. "I feel like, usually, when something really great happens to you, it doesn't make you as happy as you thought it would, or it wears off faster. This has actually been the opposite. I actually watched the replay of the whole game yesterday, and I teared up two or three times. Just noticed all of the small plays. "It really is a dream come true." You usually can't rewind dreams, but the Leathernecks have. "Way too many (times) to count," said junior guard Taylor Hanneman, whose 3-pointer at the end of the fourth quarter sent the game to overtime. "Twice," said Clemens, who dribbled away the final seconds of the win and got to fling the ball in celebration. "I haven't watched the whole game too many times," said sophomore guard Taylor Higginbotham, laughing. "But the fourth quarter and overtime? Probably six or seven times." It's a fast-paced hour-long workout. Gravina points out how the Leathernecks allowed just six offensive rebounds to IUPUI. Do it again in the NCAA tournament, he said, "And that can help us shock the world the next couple of games." As the Leathernecks practice, it is clear why Gravina chose Hanneman, who has averaged one 3-pointer per game this season, to take the game-tying shot back in Sioux Falls. She is taking contested threes, all but one snapping the net. "We have so many people capable of hitting that shot," Clemens would say later. "You saw today, Taylor hits that shot in practice every day, multiple times. If anyone can hit a tough shot, it's her." Gravina thinks back to that moment — 2.2 seconds left on the clock, Western Illinois down 64-61. He considers the options. "You have Morgan (Blumer), who had six (3-pointers) the day before. Taylor Higginbotham can hit threes. Emily can hit 3-pointers," he said. But there were intangibles, and the main one is, something can always go wrong. "The main thing about Taylor is, if things break down, she can get a decent shot off," Gravina said. "She hits shots like that, tough shots like that, tough shots from three every day in practice. I don't want to say she's the only person who can do that, but she's the best I've coached at doing that. So that was a thought." Hanneman hadn't played yet the fourth quarter, had missed her last two shots in the third quarter. She was, in the one word she thought, "Cold." So, when Gravina told her the shot was going to be hers? "I was like, 'Holy smack,'" she said. "He's like, 'T-Mac, you're going to shoot it.' And I'm like, 'I'm what?'" "As we broke the huddle, I told Taylor, 'We have 2.2 seconds. You have plenty of time to shot-fake, take a dribble, knock it down,'" Gravina said. She did all of that. "I was like, I'm hoping it hits the rim," Hanneman said. "I'm expecting to get hacked, get fouled. It went in, I was in disbelief." "We ran the play perfectly," Gravina said. Higginbotham, who delivered the inbounds pass, had the best look. "I was standing right behind her," she said. "Right at the top of the key, T-Mac is so good at that shot. As soon as she let it go, I saw the flight of it. "It was perfect." "There's a picture of her holding me (after the shot went in)," Hanneman said. "If she wouldn't have been holding me at that moment, I would have been on the ground. My legs were like noodles. It was nuts." Five more minutes were ahead. The Leathernecks would score 13 points, nine in the first 2 ½ minutes on 3-pointers from Higginbotham, Hanneman, and Blumer. "When (Hanneman) made the shot, it felt … I'm not a huge believer in fate or destiny, and even if those things exist, I don't think they would interfere in a basketball game," Gravina said. "But it felt that way." "Coach keeps saying, 'It's in our destiny,'" Clemens said. "It's a cliché thing, but everything happens for a reason. She went into that game to hit that shot." Watch the final seconds. As Clemens dribbles, other than a few claps from Blumer, no one celebrates until the buzzer. "I'm trying to be a little bit calm," Higginbotham said. "I'm like, 'I can't celebrate yet.' As soon as the buzzer went off, and Emily threw the ball up … it was insane." "I teared up, looked down, and I thought, 'I can't believe this is happening,'" Gravina said. The Leathernecks wrapped up their Monday practice just after 2 p.m. They had three hours to themselves before being back for the pre-show party. "Each one of us have watched the selection show before," said Hanneman, who played one season at Mercer before transferring to Western Illinois to be closer to her home in Glasford, Ill. "We've been like, 'Man, will we ever be one of the teams there? Will we ever have the opportunity to put our team on there?' The fact that we get to do this is a blessing, and honor." "It's going to be surreal," Clemens said. "The suspicion of where you're going, who you're going to play. It's still going to be a great feeling to see your name on the board. It's going to be a great feeling, wherever they take us." "Since we were little, our dream was to play Division I basketball," Higginbotham said. "And once you get that, the biggest dream is to win your (conference) championship, your conference tournament, and then get to the NCAA tournament." "Tonight," she said, "is going to be so much fun."
5 p.m., Western Hall
The highlight video from three wins in four days in Sioux Falls kept repeating on the video boards. Every few minutes, the same radio call from the championship game played over Hanneman's shot.
"Hanneman to tie it up … SHE GOT IT. SHE GOT IT. We're going to overtime."
Minter, walking across the court to join the party, stopped to watch. "You feel the same thing," he said, looking up to see the celebration one more time from the championship game. "You get goosebumps." The fans had filled the section behind the players as athletics director Matt Tanney addressed the crowd. "Did everyone bring their dancing shoes?" Tanney asked, and he got cheers in response. Then Gravina spoke, introducing the players by class. When he got to Hanneman, he pointed out that she had a new nickname. "We used to call her 'T-Mac,'" Gravina said. "Now she's 'T-Clutch.'" Gravina glances at the video board. It's almost 6 p.m. "Let's enjoy the show," he said. The Bridgeport Region is unveiled, and every double-digit seed announced that isn't the Leathernecks draws a few claps, because those games are in Connecticut, Los Angeles, Durham, N.C., and College Park, Md. Too far to travel. The 16 seed in the Stockton Regional is UNC-Asheville, and that team is going to Columbia, S.C. The 12th seed is Quinnipiac, going to Miami. There is a silence, because one mock bracket had the Leathernecks as a 13 seed, going to Miami. But it's not them, it's Florida Gulf Coast, Blumer's former school. Moments later, the Leathernecks' destination and opponent are announced. The cheering doesn't stop for a few minutes. The 14th seed was maybe a little low — the 26-6 Leathernecks had won 11 consecutive games, and had an RPI of 59. Gravina had seen the bracketologists' opinions. "You see us being a 13 seed, and maybe moving up to be a 12," he said in the afternoon. "If we're a 12 seed, I'm going to be so excited. There is that pipedream of getting the 12th seed, but if we're 13, 14 or 15, I wouldn't be surprised." His mood after the selection hadn't changed. "I just have so much belief in this team," he said. "I can't turn off the thought that, not only can we win a game, but we can be the team that makes a run to the Sweet 16. It's much more rare on the women's side than on the men's side, but there is that part of me that can't turn off that dream." No one wanted to turn off the dream just yet. "I don't know what to expect," Higginbotham said. "I've never done this whole thing before." The Leathernecks headed to a local restaurant for another celebration, then headed home early. They still didn't know when they would be leaving for their Friday game against the Seminoles. Gravina and his staff went to work. There were travel plans to make, Florida State game film to watch. It was 2 a.m. when they decided to stop work for the night. Selection Monday had turned into the day after. The film was shut off. The dream was still playing.
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on MANIC MONDAY: The Leathernecks had been waiting for this day
THE MONDAY TIPOFF: Hawkeyes' resumé is about to be put under a microscope
Posted in March 6th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3703" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery reacts to a call in the first half of Sunday's game against Penn State. (Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press)
[/caption] Nothing needed to be said after Iowa's 70-66 home loss to Illinois on Feb. 18. The Hawkeyes' record told the story. "We're sitting at 14-13, that's a clear message in itself," forward Nicholas Baer said on Sunday after Iowa's 90-79 home win over Penn State, the Hawkeyes' fourth consecutive victory to end the regular season. An 18-13 record — 10-8 in the Big Ten — certainly looks better heading into this week's Big Ten Tournament in Washington, D.C. But how does it look to the NCAA tournament selection committee? Two wins in this current streak — road victories over Maryland and Wisconsin — have sparked some hope among those within the program and fans that this team could get into the field of 68. But there is work to do, and the Hawkeyes know that. "I think we deserve to be in," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. "But I think what you have to do is not focus on thinking about it and talking about it." We'll talk about it today. let's take a look at the Hawkeyes' resumé heading into this weekend, but first, let's get some things clear. First,
That means wins and losses in December are looked at the same as wins in January and February. You can't dismiss a home loss to Omaha as the result of a young team that is learning to find itself, and then boast about a win over Iowa State a few days later in the same location with the same roster. Second,
The committee does not take the highest 36 teams in the RPI after the 32 automatic bids are decided. The RPI is a way to rank teams to help the selection committee. I'm going to go against the media narrative — I actually like the RPI. It rewards road and neutral-court wins, it punishes home losses, and it rewards playing a challenging schedule. That's what the committee wants. And, everybody starts at zero to open the season — there are no preseason rankings. For those who think the Sagarin or KenPom ratings would be different, consider that Iowa is 72nd in the RPI today, but is 62nd in Sagarin and 65th in KenPom. The difference is negligible. When the selection committee meets this week, the bracket will be empty when they get in the room. And, again,
[caption id="attachment_3704" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
The team sheet of the Iowa basketball team that the NCAA tournament selection committee would see today.
[/caption] So, now let's look at Iowa's resumé.
Strength of schedule:
Strength of opponents' schedule:
Big Ten record:
Average RPI win:
Average RPI loss:
Road record:
Neutral court record:
Vs. RPI Top 50:
Vs. RPI Top 100:
Wins over Top 50:
Purdue (18 RPI), at Maryland (25), Iowa State (27), at Wisconsin (38), Michigan (47)
Wins over RPI 51-100:
Ohio State (78), Indiana (81), Nebraska (97), Penn State (99)
Losses to RPI 101 or below:
Memphis (110) on neutral court, Omaha (128). If you put all of that together, you will see that is a bubble resumé, but we know that. What will happen, when the committee makes its initial vote upon arrival in the selection room, is that the Hawkeyes likely will get the two votes necessary to be on the board of teams to be considered. After that, it's up to Iowa to stay there, and it starts Thursday against Indiana. The best scenario for the Hawkeyes is to win four games in four days to win the tournament and get the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, and keep their fate out of the committee's hands. But every win in Washington keeps them in the selection committee's conversation. "We can do what we have to do to get in," McCaffery said. "We've got to win the next game. Then we've got to win the game after that. Got to win the game after that. If you win the one after that, you're automatically in, so…"
Dale Jones held the ball as the final seconds ticked away in Iowa's win on Sunday. He looked over at the bench, asking if it was OK to shoot the 3-pointer. "He was dying to shoot that last one, too, with six seconds," McCaffery said. "But that's not who we are." So Jones held the ball as time ran out, on the game and perhaps on his career with the Hawkeyes. The senior forward's two years with the Hawkeyes have been marked by injuries — a knee injury that sidelined him for most of last season and a broken wrist that kept in out of the most of the first half of this season. And when he came back, occasional knee soreness plus a deep rotation kept him from any significant playing time. So, when he got the start on Senior Day, Jones took the first opportunity he had to shoot and buried a 3-pointer for his only points of the season. "It felt good to be on the floor with the guys," Jones said. "Everybody knows and has been aware of what I've been through, stuff like that. Just to get a three made in (Carver-Hawkeye Arena) is a great feeling." "That was an unbelievable feeling for me to see," McCaffery said. "I just knew he was going to make one. I mean, he's just too good a shooter." Jones was told on Saturday he was going to start. "It was a great feeling, man," he said. "What I've been through, to be in the starting lineup, to hear my name called, hear the crowd erupt. It was a great feeling. "Felt like home." Jones has been granted an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA, but whether he stays at Iowa is unclear. He will graduate from Iowa in May, which means he can transfer to another school and play right away. Or he could try to play professionally somewhere. "I still have to talk to the coaching staff," Jones said. "Those guys, they've been nothing but great to me. The team has been nothing but great to me. If the opportunity presents itself, yeah, it's an option. "Oh, yeah. I've got a lot of basketball left." But he understands his options with the Hawkeyes might be limited on a full roster with only one senior next season. That means Jones will look at any path. "I know Fran has two guys coming in, and the team is pretty stacked," Jones said. "And most of the guys are young. He probably wants to get those guys rolling. If the opportunity presents itself to go somewhere, if someone wants me to come in and immediately be a guy for them who's going to score the ball, that's something I'm willing to do. "It's not going to stop here, whether I go here or somewhere else."
I took in the Friday session of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament — it is one of my favorite tournaments. Some observations: • Wichita State won the tournament, and once again brought a large fan base to St. Louis. But as the Shockers were rolling to the title, the ominous cloud of a possible departure — the rumor was Wichita State was considering going the AAC — hung over the tournament. The Valley lost Creighton a few years ago to the Big East, and losing the Shockers would be another blow. What doesn't help is there aren't a lot of quality options to replace Wichita State. Saint Louis would be a solid choice — the league's offices are in the city — but the Billikens are 11-20 this season, 6-12 in the Atlantic 10, and have plenty of rebuilding to do. Outside of that, there aren't a lot of schools in the Midwest footprint that could make an impact. The Valley is a great conference, run by great people. A loss of Wichita State could be a deep wound. • Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson is one of the best. In Friday's win over Loyola, SIU's Sean Lloyd made a diving grab of a loose ball and immediately called timeout. Hinson was so excited he charged the 6-foot-5 Lloyd to give him a chest bump — actually, it was more of a collision between Hinson's face and Lloyd's chest. "I just wanted to win," Lloyd said of the play. "You got to make winning plays in order to win." "That's a good answer," Hinson responded. "I know I get passionate," Hinson said. "I know I get excited. Shoot, I ran out there like I was coming out of a Pentecostal tent revival. I was fired up. I was fired up for the Lord and fired up for Sean Lloyd. But that was a huge, huge play. "When your guys are willing to do that and if you just sit over there and go, hey, nice dive, that isn't going to work. They give me all they got, and I give them all I got." • It will be curious to see how the NCAA selection committee treats Illinois State. The Redbirds went 27-6 overall, 17-1 in a top-heavy Valley. They have an RPI of 30, but went 1-2 against the RPI top 50 and 2-4 against the top 100. Illinois State will now have to wait through the week to see what happens on Selection Sunday. "We can't control that right now," coach Dan Muller said. "If they go based on one game they saw -- probably don't watch as many games of ours as they watch other teams, but hopefully they'll look at the full body of work we have, and obviously, we want to be in."
This is how tough the selection committee will have it this week. It was hard to distinguish the teams at the bottom of the poll, so you know that finding the last few teams into the tournament is going to be agony. Here is the poll, with actual rankings in parentheses. 1. Kansas (1) 2. Villanova (2) 3. UCLA (3) 4. Gonzaga (4) 5. North Carolina (6) 6. Arizona (7) 7. Oregon (5) 8. Baylor (9) 9. Kentucky (8) 10. Louisville (10) 11. West Virginia (11) 12. Duke (14) 13. Purdue (13) 14. Florida State (16) 15. Butler (18) 16. SMU (12) 17. Notre Dame (22) 18. Cincinnati (15) 19. Saint Mary's (19) 20. Florida (17) 21. Wichita State (20) 22. Virginia (21) 23. Wisconsin (24) 24. Iowa State (23) 25. Maryland (25)
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on THE MONDAY TIPOFF: Hawkeyes' resumé is about to be put under a microscope
THE MONDAY TIPOFF: Leathernecks enjoying the moment after Summit League crown
Posted in February 27th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3700" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Western Illinois guard Emily Clemens is hugged by teammate Morgan Blumer (12) as the rest of the Leathernecks celebrate Saturday's win over South Dakota and the clinching of the outright Summit League women's basketball title. (Scott Holland/McDonough County Voice)
[/caption] JD Gravina tried to slip into the Macomb downtown coaches luncheon on Monday, but it wasn't long before the crowd noticed the Western Illinois women's basketball coach and assistant coach Seth Minter and began to applaud. "Is this for the Y league title we won last night?" Gravina quipped. Such is life for Gravina and the Leathernecks these days after Saturday's clinching of the Summit League regular-season title, the first for Gravina in his six seasons at Western Illinois and the first for the program since 2006. This was a title that was earned by the Leathernecks — they won eight consecutive games to close the regular season to win the crown by one game over IUPUI and South Dakota State. This was a team that was picked sixth in the preseason poll. This was a team that lost an exhibition game to William Jewell. And this was a team that, after a 76-72 loss to IUPUI on Jan. 25, had a lot of work to do to get a conference title. The Leathernecks, who at 23-6 have tied the program record for victories in a season, haven't lost since. Four of the first five wins in this current winning streak were on the road, setting up a three-game home run in which Western Illinois vanquished South Dakota State and South Dakota, teams the Leathernecks needed to beat to win the title, teams that were rattled in the closing minutes in an intense atmosphere that hasn't been seen around Western Hall in a while. It's a run that had a difficulty that Gravina said his players appreciate. "They realized," he said, "how tough it is to do that." "We knew," said point guard Emily Clemens, who seems on her way to being the conference's player of the year, "that we were capable of this." On Saturday, in the moments after the 81-75 win over South Dakota, Gravina said this team has given him an education. "I'm the eternal pessimist, the eternal skeptic," he said. "Believe it or not, this team changed me." Gravina talked about a calm he had between the Wednesday win over Fort Wayne that clinched a share of the title and Saturday's game. No sleepless nights, no worries. "I had so much faith in these kids," he said. "This is probably the best attitude/personality team I've ever coached." That faith never wavered even after the Leathernecks fell down 12 points to the Coyotes early in Saturday's game. When Clemens picked up two fouls in the first quarter, Gravina kept her on the court, knowing she isn't foul-prone — she had committed just 51 all season. Clemens would pick up two more, but those came late as the Leathernecks were putting the game away. She finished with 24 points and 10 assists, the last assist coming after a weave through the South Dakota pressure defense before a pass to Olivia Braun for a layup that led to a furious fist pump from Gravina. "Our girls never freaked out," Gravina said. "It's a confidence I've never seen in a team before." The Leathernecks have been on a steady rise under Gravina, and the coach hasn't forgotten that. Every player and coach got to cut a strand of the net in Saturday's post-game celebration. Gravina kept the rest of the net, and every player who has been a part of the program since his hiring in 2011 will get a piece of it and a thank-you note. "They were part of this," he said. The Leathernecks had Monday off — "We're taking the day to reflect," Gravina said — and then the preparation for the future begins. There is still work left with this week's conference tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D. The regular-season title gives the Leathernecks at least an automatic bid into the WNIT, but a Summit League tournament title would bring an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. It's not going to be easy — the tournament will feel like a home game for the Dakota schools. "Our mentality is going to be good, I promise you that," Gravina said. That goes without saying.
It's interesting, considering the ups and downs of the Iowa basketball team this season, to consider the Hawkeyes' margin of error. Iowa, at 16-13, isn't really a lock yet for the NIT. The Hawkeyes are No. 94 in the RPI, with a road game against Wisconsin (RPI: 32) and a home game against Penn State (RPI: 81) left in the regular season, and at least one game in the Big Ten Tournament. Split those two games this week, and the Hawkeyes will finish 9-9 in the Big Ten, a decent mark considering the unpredictability of the conference this season. Consider Iowa's resumé. The Hawkeyes are 4-8 against RPI top-50 teams, with seven wins over top-100 teams. In the end, it could be argued that three losses —the Dec. 3 home defeat to Omaha, the Jan. 5 double-overtime defeat at Nebraska, and the double-overtime loss at Minnesota on Feb. 9 — could prove to make a big difference in the season. The losses to Nebraska and Minnesota, both on the road, were games in which the Hawkeyes had chances to win in the closing seconds and failed (we can debate the officiating in the Minnesota game another day). The defeat to Omaha, early in the season when the young Hawkeyes were trying to find an identity, is the biggest blemish on the resumé. Win even two of those three, and the Hawkeyes' postseason outlook would be clearer. Instead, Iowa has work to do in the next two weeks.
THE WEEK AHEAD Iowa at Wisconsin (Thursday, 8:05 p.m., ESPN) —
The Hawkeyes had an impressive win at Maryland on Saturday. The Badgers have lost four of their last five, and need wins this week to have a chance at the conference title.
Iowa State at West Virginia (Friday, 6 p.m., ESPN2) —
This could determine the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Tournament.
UNI vs. Missouri State (Friday, 8:30 p.m., FSN Midwest) —
The Panthers fought to get the third seed in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, but have lost their last three games, averaging just 48.3 points.
Actual ranking in parentheses. 1. Kansas (1) 2. Villanova (2) 3. UCLA (3) 4. Gonzaga (4) 5. North Carolina (5) 6. Arizona (7) 7. Oregon (6) 8. Louisville (8) 9. Kentucky (9) 10. West Virginia (10) 11. Baylor (11) 12. Butler (13) 13. Florida State (15) 14. Florida (12) 15. Duke (17) 16. Notre Dame (19) 17. SMU (14) 18. Cincinnati (18) 19. Saint Mary's (20) 20. Purdue (16) 21. Iowa State (24) 22. Wisconsin (22) 23. Virginia (23) 24. Wichita State (21) 25. Oklahoma State (NR)
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on THE MONDAY TIPOFF: Leathernecks enjoying the moment after Summit League crown
THE MONDAY TIPOFF: Leathernecks survive and advance, and put themselves into position to battle for conference title
Posted in February 13th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3695" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Morgan Blumer, who was named the Summit League women's basketball player of the week on Monday, and Western Illinois play South Dakota State on Wednesday, with the conference lead on the line. (Scott Holland/McDonough County Voice)
[/caption] The choice, JD Gravina said, was either a tough practice or Jim Valvano and the 1983 North Carolina State basketball team. Gravina's Western Illinois women's basketball team was coming off a 76-72 home loss to IUPUI on Jan. 25. The Leathernecks' Summit League title hopes were damaged. They could be repaired, but it was going to take some work. So Gravina said he had a decision — either put the Leathernecks through a tough workout, or try to find some sort of psychological edge. After watching the IUPUI game, Gravina realized the Leathernecks really hadn't played a bad game. So he thought of something different — show the ESPN "30 for 30" documentary on North Carolina State's run to the 1983 national championship. The Wolfpack had the classic story of surviving and advancing, and Gravina figured his team needed to hear that. It worked. Western Illinois has won five consecutive games, four on the road, and is now tied for the conference lead with South Dakota State heading into Wednesday's game against the Jackrabbits at Western Hall. Western Illinois closes the regular season with three consecutive home games, which also includes the regular-season finale against South Dakota, one game behind the Leathernecks and South Dakota State in the standings. South Dakota State was No. 3 and South Dakota was No. 6 in the last College Insider.com mid-major poll. "It's huge," Gravina said. "The main thing is, for a couple of weeks now, we've been looking to put ourselves into position where these games matter for a conference championship. To arrive here, it's bigger than big. Then you look at the task ahead of you which is larger — to knock off two of best mid-majors in the nation. To get them at home, our girls are excited." Gravina sold a big picture to his players after the loss to IUPUI, which is rare in a one-game-at-a-time world that college basketball coaches live in during the season. "We have a really mature team," Gravina said. "And it's the way our staff is — we're not the overly optimistic, always-selling-the-dream type staff. When you do that in limited doses, it can be effective. "It was kind of like, now it was the time to make a somewhat of a miraculous run toward the conference championship. Playing and grinding through wasn't going to do it. So it was a kind of an all-or-nothing proposition." What has been impressive is how the Leathernecks have put together this current streak, starting with an 86-78 win at South Dakota, snapping the Coyotes' 24-game home winning streak, at the time the third-longest home streak for an NCAA Division I team. Last week's two wins over North Dakota State and Denver came on what was the worst travel trip of the year for the Leathernecks. They flew to Fargo and played the Bison on Wednesday, then left early Thursday morning and spent three days in Denver before flying home Sunday. Gravina let his team have some relaxing moments after a Friday morning practice — he and a couple of his assistants went skiing while the players went to a nearby mall, then went to a University of Denver hockey game. Sunday's return to campus was a little harder than Gravina expected, so the Leathernecks had a light day of work on Monday. Wednesday's game is the only one of the week for Western Illinois, and Gravina was out on Monday trying to get the community to pack Western Hall for the game. The Leathernecks have lost 19 consecutive games to the Jackrabbits, including a 73-58 road defeat earlier this season. Wednesday, though, can't be all-or-nothing. One game separates first place from fourth place in the Summit League. "Right now, we're not looking at scenarios, because we're so focused on winning all three games," Gravina said. "We're not like, 'If we beat South Dakota State but lose to South Dakota, this or that…' We've got a chance to win the conference championship, we've got a pretty good chance to finish third or fourth. "Honestly, with our kids, it's let's just follow the dream and win all three games."
• Iowa's second bye of the Big Ten men's basketball schedule couldn't have come at a better time. The double-overtime loss at Minnesota led to the Hawkeyes looking tired in the second half of Saturday's defeat at Michigan State. That, combined with Peter Jok's sore knee, means a chance to get some rest before Saturday's home game against Illinois is important. • Northern Iowa has won eight of its last nine games to move into third place in the Missouri Valley Conference. That's another impressive run for the Panthers in conference play, which could make the conference tournament in St. Louis quite interesting. • Iowa's women's basketball team got itself back into NCAA tournament consideration with Thursday's home win over Michigan State, but squandered a chance to add to its resumé with Sunday's loss at Ohio State. The Hawkeyes' RPI is 47 heading into Thursday's home game against Northwestern (51 RPI). • Drake's women's basketball team entered the Associated Press poll at No. 25, the first time the Bulldogs have been ranked since the 2001-02 season.
THE WEEK AHEAD • Western Illinois vs. Denver (Tuesday, 7 p.m., ESPN3) —
The Leathernecks are in good shape to get to the Summit League tournament. They're tied for sixth place, just two games behind third-place Denver.
• Iowa State at Kansas State (Wednesday, 6 p.m., ESPN2) —
The Cyclones have had some big road wins in Big 12 play this season.
• Western Illinois women vs. South Dakota State (Wednesday, 7 p.m., ESPN3) —
See above.
• UNI at Wichita State (Saturday, 11 a.m., ESPN2) —
Panthers can make a statement in the toughest place to play in the Valley.
• Illinois at Iowa (Saturday, 1 p.m., BTN) —
First of back-to-back home games for the Hawkeyes, who get fading Indiana next Tuesday.
Actual rankings in parentheses. Gonzaga (1) Villanova (2) Kansas (3) Baylor (4) Arizona (5) UCLA (6) Louisville (8) Oregon (7) West Virginia (9) Duke (12) North Carolina (10) Wisconsin (11) Virginia (14) Florida (15) Kentucky (13) Cincinnati (18) Purdue (16) Florida State (17) SMU (19) Saint Mary's (22) Creighton (20) South Carolina (21) Butler (24) Xavier (NR) Maryland (23)
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on THE MONDAY TIPOFF: Leathernecks survive and advance, and put themselves into position to battle for conference title
THE MONDAY TIPOFF: Hawkeyes' lessons learned can be seen in the numbers
Posted in February 6th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3687" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon reacts after making a 3-pointer in the second half of Sunday's 81-70 win over Nebraska. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
[/caption] There was motivation, Tyler Cook said on Sunday after Iowa's 81-70 win over Nebraska at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes were angry that they lost to the Huskers in double overtime back in early January. "We didn't want them to sweep us," Cook said. The Hawkeyes have played three opponents this season, and they've been better each time. Iowa lost to Purdue by 22 points to start Big Ten play, and then won by five in the rematch. The Hawkeyes won by six at home over Rutgers, and then won by 20 on the road. And then came Sunday, when the Hawkeyes avenged the 93-90 loss in Lincoln. The measurement of the progress of the team this season is how it learns its lessons. Go back to that loss at Purdue. Four days later, Iowa won in overtime over Michigan. The loss to Nebraska was followed by wins over Rutgers and Purdue. A three-game losing streak was followed by the current three-game winning streak. "We have to be better," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said last week, when talking about how the Hawkeyes had bounced back from their recent skid. "We've been better. We want to continue to be better. You want to be better individually. What can we do to help each guy be better? What can we do better as coaches? What can we do better collectively with different lineups or different defenses? "You just hope that when you struggle, which we did, that you learn and commit to one another to being better and figuring it out, and keep believing that you are better than that. I think we all can agree that we were better than that. But that's what the journey is." "I just think we're a young team," said third-year sophomore guard Brady Ellingson, who has been quietly efficient in this current winning streak with 13 assists and no turnovers. "We just have to keep learning." What has impressed McCaffery is how the Hawkeyes have done that. They are, at times, their own teachers. "As individuals they want to learn and get better," he said. "They accept coaching. They're in the gym. They study film. They try to help one another. "It's funny, because at times they almost talk too much to each other and stop listening. But it's only because they're trying to help each other and communicate on the floor. As we all know, communication on the floor is incredibly valuable." The Hawkeyes find motivation everywhere. In December, when the team was struggling defensively, they talked among themselves and resolved to get better. And each defeat seems to fuel a win. "We were just more focused today," said senior guard Peter Jok after Sunday's win. McCaffery thought the Hawkeyes' best game might have come in the rematch that wasn't about revenge. McCaffery thought the Rutgers game, which wasn't a revenge matchup, may have been the biggest game for Iowa in its current run. "The key game I think in that stretch was going to Rutgers, who obviously played really well against us here," McCaffery said. "They played really well against Wisconsin in Madison Square Garden the Saturday before our game. We just had to show we had the maturity to go on the road and put a game together like we did that night. All of those steps were big steps for us." Iowa gets another rematch soon — the Hawkeyes get Illinois at home on Feb. 18 with a chance to avenge a 12-point loss earlier in conference play. Before that, Iowa plays at Minnesota and Michigan State. More lessons await for a team that is getting a season full of education.
"One game at a time" is always a coach's cliche. But Western Illinois women's coach JD Gravina doesn't mind that the Leathernecks are taking a long view about contending for a Summit League title. Western Illinois is 18-6 overall, 8-3 in conference play and just one game behind South Dakota State. And with two road games coming up this week at North Dakota State and Denver, followed by three home games against South Dakota State, Fort Wayne and South Dakota to close the regular season, Gravina wants the Leathernecks to think about what they can accomplish. The Leathernecks are tied with South Dakota for second place, one game behind South Dakota State for the lead. So, if they can sweep this week's road games against North Dakota State (5-18, 3-7) and Denver (6-17, 3-7), they will be set up with all home games to chase the conference crown. Gravina understands taking that "one game" approach. "But you also want to see that goal, to see where it can take you," he said.
Iowa's Ally Disterhoft moved into second place on the school's all-time scoring list with 14 points in Sunday's 72-70 loss at Michigan. Disterhoft now has 1,910 career points, passing Lindsey Meder (1,906) for second place. Disterhoft needs 150 points to pass Cindy Haugejorde at the top of the list. Disterhoft has just seven guaranteed games left — six Big Ten regular-season and one conference tournament game — although the Hawkeyes, at 14-9, should play in a postseason tournament.
• Iowa forward Megan Gustafson is sixth in Division I play in field goal percentage at 65.5 percent. • Western Illinois center Brandon Gilbeck has moved into the top 10 nationally in blocks per game, averaging 2.82. Gilbeck is 11th with 62 blocks.
• Iowa's women's team could regret Sunday's loss to Michigan. The Hawkeyes led by as much as 15 points in the first half, but couldn't hang on. At 14-9 overall and with an RPI of 51, Iowa is clearly on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. The Hawkeyes can't afford too many more losses. • Iowa State's win at Kansas was a signature victory the Cyclones needed. The Cyclones are now 3-6 against the RPI top 50, 5-8 against the top 100. But beating the Jayhawks on the road certainly enhances a strong resumé.
THE WEEK AHEAD Iowa State at Texas (Tuesday, 8 p.m., ESPN2) —
Road wins can boost an RPI. Cyclones have done well in conference play away from Hilton Coliseum.
Western Illinois at Oral Roberts (Wednesday, 7 p.m., ESPN3) —
The Leathernecks can stay ahead of the Golden Eagles, and own the tiebreaker, in the race to get to the Summit League tournament.
Iowa at Minnesota (Wednesday, 8:06 p.m., BTN) —
Hawkeyes have won three consecutive games. Gophers have lost five of their last six.
I put Iowa State back into the top 25 after Saturday's win over Kansas. The Cyclones have three wins over RPI top-50 teams, five wins over top-50 teams in the Ken Pomeroy rankings. So, here's the ballot, with actual rankings in parentheses. 1. Gonzaga (1) 2. Villanova (2) 3. Kansas (3) 4. Louisville (4) 5. Wisconsin (7) 6. Baylor (6) 7. Oregon (5) 8. North Carolina (8) 9. Arizona (9) 10. UCLA (10) 11. Cincinnati (11) 12. Virginia (12) 13. West Virginia (13) 14. Duke (18) 15. Kentucky (15) 16. Saint Mary's (20) 17. Florida State (14) 18. South Carolina (19) 19. Purdue (16) 20. Butler (22) 21. Xavier (24) 23. Creighton (23) 24. Maryland (21) 25. Iowa State (NR)
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on THE MONDAY TIPOFF: Hawkeyes' lessons learned can be seen in the numbers
MONDAY TIPOFF: Without Jok, next year is now for Hawkeyes
Posted in January 30th, 2017
John Bohnenkamp
[caption id="attachment_3682" align="aligncenter" width="425"]
Iowa's Peter Jok smiles from the bench as the Hawkeyes cruise to a 85-72 win over Ohio State on Saturday. (Ben Roberts/The Hawk Eye)
[/caption] The talk all season around the Iowa basketball team was about the future. We've been getting glimpses of that all season, but in Saturday's 85-72 home win over Ohio State, we got a full look at what next season will look like. There was no Luka Garza or Jack Nunge, the two high school players signed for next season. But it figures that everyone on the court on Saturday will be back next season, and with senior guard Peter Jok out indefinitely with a back injury, what we're going to see out of the Hawkeyes in the coming days, and perhaps weeks, will be the team we see next season. Iowa's starting lineup against the Buckeyes consisted of three freshmen — guards Jordan Bohannon and Isaiah Moss and forward Tyler Cook — and sophomore forwards Nicholas Baer and Ahmad Wagner. The oldest player on the court for the Hawkeyes was junior forward Dom Uhl. The Hawkeyes are 12-10 overall, 4-5 in the Big Ten, and there are a lot of games — nine regular-season games, at least one Big Ten Tournament game, and maybe some postseason play — left to be played. Jok's status is "day to day," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said, but it seems like he'll be out for a couple of weeks. So what we're going to see is what the 2017-18 season is going to look like, and it will only help the Hawkeyes. McCaffery isn't thinking about next year — he wouldn't be doing his job if he did. His thoughts are about now, but that's also going to help down the road. "I go into the mindset of what can we do to win the next game?" McCaffery said on Friday. "How can I help each individual player get better? Somebody that's been a good player, hasn't had a good game or a couple bad games, OK. I take responsibility for that, like what can I do to help you? Because ultimately, it's going to help us. "You look at everybody individually, then you look at it collectively, and you try to get better, be better. Maybe it differs for each guy. Maybe it's our motion game is all bogged down. Our transition game doesn't look good. Our zone hasn't really been effective. There's any number of things at any given time. Maybe they're not understanding some things that they need to understand. So whatever we can do to help them, that's what we do." What will be interesting is seeing who steps up and fills the minutes left in Jok's absence. Take guard Brady Ellingson, who scored 17 points against Ohio State after scoring just 11 in the previous seven games. Ellingson is a third-year sophomore — he did get into seven games in his first season before a foot injury sidelined him for the rest of the season — and when he's on he can be one of the best shooters on the court. "We have consistently tried to get him to be more aggressive offensively," McCaffery said. "The thing about him is he's a very efficient person in terms of everything that he does. So if he's curl-cutting, if he's running the floor, defensively he's always in the right place, he's always talking, and if he's not open, he's not going to shoot the ball. He's going to move it on because he knows we need to move the ball side to side. "He really made a concerted effort tonight, starting with the first one he made. He came right off, bang, and kind of set the tone that that's what he was going to do tonight. I would like to see him be like that on a regular basis, just be aggressive and look for his shot. It's okay if you miss a couple but keep attacking." There's freshman forward Ryan Kriener, who didn't play much early in the season but has fought his way into the rotation. Kriener had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and added seven rebounds. "I think it speaks more to his character than it does my patience, because in all honesty he should have been playing earlier, he was just behind some guys that I felt I needed to get them going, and a lot of guys, they don't handle that well," McCaffery said. "They shut down, 'I want to transfer.' He just kept coming after it every day, and he made me play him. I think — I hope he's as proud of himself as I am of him for doing that. You watch him play, he doesn't make many mistakes, and he's also having fun out there. So that's a great feeling for a coach." What was interesting about the Hawkeyes against the Buckeyes is how relaxed they were, a crisp offense and solid defense blending into one of the best performances of the season. "Coach told us before the game to come out and just hoop," Cook said. "Don't think about it." "We always try to execute, follow the game plan," Ellingson said. "Tonight was one of the best performances of doing that." "We try to get them to have fun, you know, and it can be very businesslike when you get into conference play and you're dealing with scouting reports and you're dealing with the road, and there's a lot of stress because you've got a group of kids that want to do what you ask them to do," McCaffery said. "None of those guys are fighting us. They want to be successful. They want to make the right decision. They want to be a good teammate. And sometimes it doesn't come together. We've had a couple of those games on the road where it didn't come together. "And so that creates stress, and then you forget to enjoy why you're here. I mean, a lot of high school players would love to play in this type of atmosphere, in this league, on national TV on a regular basis. And so what we try to do was get them to say, hey, guys, this has to be fun. Yeah, it's work. Yeah, we're going to grind. But go have fun." The fun, it seems, is just beginning.
Kriener was watching Saturday's early games when he saw the Big Ten standings, so he knew the importance of Iowa's wins. "You've got all of these teams right together," he said. "We have to stay with them." The Hawkeyes are part of a five-team traffic jam at sixth place at 4-5, two games behind fourth-place Purdue but only a game ahead of three teams at 3-6. The difference between first place (Maryland and Wisconsin) and sixth place is 3 ½ games with one half of the Big Ten regular season left.
With North Dakota joining the Summit League beginning in the 2018-19 season, it means the conference will be at 10 teams. That likely will mean the return of travel partners, which will help the league's travel situation. For example, North Dakota and North Dakota State would be likely travel partners. That would mean Western Illinois would make just one trip to the state — playing at one place on a Wednesday and the other on Saturday. And, with 10, the conference should also consider inviting all of the teams to the conference tournament in Sioux Falls. It would mean just one extra day of the tournament — the men's and women's 7-10 and 8-9 games would be played on Friday, with the winners playing the top two seeds the next day.
• Western Illinois' women's basketball team snapped South Dakota's 24-game home winning streak with an 86-78 victory on Saturday. The Coyotes' streak was the third longest in NCAA Division I play. "Every time they made a run at us, we had an answer," Western Illinois coach J.D. Gravina said. The Leathernecks, 16-6 overall and 6-3 in Summit League play, are only a game out of first place. • You want a tight race? Look at the Summit League men's basketball standings. Two games are the difference between third place (a tie between Fort Wayne and Denver) and seventh place (South Dakota State, IUPUI and Oral Roberts). Western Illinois' 78-69 home win over IUPUI on Saturday was crucial for the Leathernecks, who missed last season's conference tournament by finishing ninth — the top eight teams go to Sioux Falls for the tournament. "Our younger guys are getting better with more experience," Western Illinois coach Billy Wright said. The Leathernecks play at South Dakota State this week, followed by a home game against Omaha.
THE WEEK AHEAD Iowa at Rutgers (Tuesday, 6 p.m., BTN) —
The Hawkeyes don't have a road win this season. This might be their best opportunity.
Iowa State vs. West Virginia (Tuesday, 8 p.m., ESPN2) —
The first of two ranked teams for the Cyclones this week, who could use some good wins to pad their NCAA tournament resumé.
UNI at Illinois State (Wednesday, 8 p.m., FSNMW) —
The Panthers have won five consecutive games. Illinois State is undefeated in Missouri Valley Conference play, and could move into the national rankings next week.
Iowa State at Kansas (Saturday, 1 p.m., ESPN) —
The No. 3 Jayhawks are always difficult at home. This is a great rivalry.
• There are those weeks that, when the poll comes out, you realize you probably ranked someone too high or too low. That's me this week with Maryland. I had the Terrapins at No. 24, and they came in at No. 17. I should have had them higher, but we're at that point in the season when Nos. 15-25 are starting to look alike. • Back in 2014, it was at this point in the season that I had an undefeated Wichita State at No. 1 over a Florida team that had a loss. My reasoning — at this point in the season, you have to give a lot of respect to a team that's undefeated, no matter the conference. That was my feeling with Gonzaga, a 22-0 team. You can make a case for any of five teams — Gonzaga, Kansas, Villanova, Arizona or Baylor — to be the No. 1 team. I'll go with the Bulldogs. Here's my ballot, with actual rankings in parentheses. 1. Gonzaga (1) 2. Kansas (3) 3. Villanova (4) 4. Arizona (5) 5. Baylor (2) 6. West Virginia (7) 7. Louisville (6) 8. Wisconsin (10) 9. UCLA (11) 10. Kentucky (8) 11. North Carolina (12) 12. Butler (16) 13. Virginia (9) 14. Cincinnati (14) 15. Oregon (13) 16. Saint Mary's (18) 17. Duke (21) 18. Florida State (15) 19. South Carolina (19) 20. Creighton (22) 21. Purdue (23) 22. Florida (24) 23. Notre Dame (20) 24. Maryland (17) 25. Northwestern (25)
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For this card, I attached the yellow fabric to a sheet of white cardstock using the Xyron. Then I embossed the fabric with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The fabric had a sort of brown "distress" look to it, but after embossing, I rubbed more brown ink onto it.Here is a better shot of the embossing. I printed the sentiment off the computer. I am in love with my computer-generated sentiments!
This next card also has fabric for the background. I purchased a bunch of quilting quarters at Joann Fabrics. (Don't ask why! I don't even sew!) This cranberry paisley was one of the fabrics in my stash. I used the Xyron to attach it to the background paper, then added a bunch of vintage looking items. The "ladies" were cut from some Graphic 45 paper.
I did another computer-generated sentiment.
Check out the stickpin. It's K&Company and has been in my stash for about 5 years! This card was published in the June issue of Scrapbooking.com Magazine.

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The classic DOOM titles might look like pixelated garbage by those with so much as a shred of discernment, but even though the game is at the legal drinking age in many countries, it's still played and cherished by a dedicated and active underground cult following. New maps, ports and modifications are released all the time, and one mod in particular, named Brutal Doom, stands out from the crowd.
If there was ever a reason to reinstall DOOM, Brutal Doom would be it. The gore has been upped tenfold, the weapons have been tweaked and re-balanced, the monsters are smarter and tougher and the effects are quite pretty for a game engine that's two decades old. Yet it retains the charm of the original while giving the whole affair a fresh look and feel.
It's psychotic fun, pure and simple. Doomguy can now perform sadistic fatalities such as punch the jaws off of zombies, decapitate former humans or literally tear enemies into two. It's a bit like Soldier of Fortune in that maimed enemies can lay around and cry out in pain, while the player can execute them for "cruelty bonuses". Lordy, can you imagine the controversy if this had come out 20 years ago?
Want to take it for a spin, for old time's sake? First, you'll need to make sure you have a copy of the original games. All you need are the included .wad files – DOOM.WAD, DOOM2.WAD, TNT.WAD or PLUTONIA.WAD . If you don't have them lying around somewhere, they're available on Steam and they don't cost too much. Some of these files are also included inside of DOOM 3: BFG Edition.
Next, a source port is required to play it on modern OSes. The one I personally recommend is Zandronum. It features high resolutions with widescreen support, mouselook, jumping and crouching, multiplayer over the Internet or LAN, skins and all sorts of other goodies you've come to expect from today's games. Windows, Mac and Linux users can all get in on the action.
Finally, the modification itself. You'll be able to snag it from here. Note that there's also a Doom Metal mod to be used in conjunction with Brutal Doom, which replaces the game's music with metal performances of the original soundtrack. While it's not necessary, it comes highly recommended and enhances the mood. I've prepared a handy batch file that should be run from within the Zandronum directory. Frags ahoy!


text:
Whenever he sees MTV crews in Laguna Beach, Derek Ostensen walks over and stands in front of a camera. He's not seeking stardom but rather to stop the filming -- for a few minutes at least. Ostensen, 24, who was born in Laguna the year MTV launched, believes the network is stealing his town's soul with its phenomenally popular teen reality soap, "Laguna Beach: The Real O.C."
"We are a community that has stood for solid, meaningful principles ... art, culture, the environment, quality of life, education," said Ostensen, an environmental consultant. "By contrast, MTV glorifies violence, drug abuse, the objectification of women as sexual objects, alcohol abuse, superficiality and a raft of other negative issues."
He and other critics had some initial success. After producers scouted for cast members at Laguna Beach High School in fall 2003, the school board, responding to parents' fears that the school would become more deeply involved with the show, refused to allow MTV to film on campus.
But city officials rolled out the red carpet, and "Laguna Beach," with its beautiful, rich, confused, confident, sexy, hurt and hurtful young cast members who cavort among lime-colored palms and tangerine sunsets, shop at Veronica M. and eat at Pomodoro's, now averages 3.1 million viewers nationwide, closing in on MTV's mainstay, "The Real World."


text:
Sometimes you meet someone and you just know they were born cool. Like they come from cool stock. That was the case with a flame haired beauty and her rad parents who came into our shop on a family day out and each found something they loved from House of Vintage! Meet the crew..
Above mentioned flame-haired beauty in our AMAZING 1940's velvet coat with gold buttons.
Meet the parents! He scooped some killer two tone 50's shoes and she, an antique bracelet-lock necklace.
Such a great necklace!
Coolest shoes ever!
Good stock.


text:
The Fierce Festival website has been redesigned and updated for the current year (by local agency MadeMedia) so it's time for me to start highlighting some of the rather mad events taking place.
First up, at some point in the middle of next week, is the Sky Orchestra…
Reprising their performance at Fierce! 2004 – which has become one of the most talked-about events in the festival's history – the hot air balloons of the Sky Orchestra will once again take to the skies to play a subliminal symphony as dawn breaks across Birmingham. However, this year will be their most spectacular performance yet as – instead of having a pre-recorded score broadcast through loadspeakers – this time it will be played by live musicians from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Devised by the artist Luke Jerram and developed in collaboration with composer Dan Jones and members of the CBSO, this will be the Sky Orchestra's third flight of fancy at Fierce! following their 2004 premiere and their performance for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' in Stratford-upon-Avon in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company last year.
Just in case that didn't register I'll summarise.
CBSO musicians playing live in hot air balloons at dawn.
Takes place at Summerfield Park, Edgbaston at 6am on either Tuesday 8 / Wednesday 9 / Thursday 10 May (depending on weather conditions)
Here's a map. It's on City Road on the 11 bus route (if it's running at that time) by the reservoir.
Also worth noting you can download their somewhat sexy poster as a high res jpeg suitable for desktopping.


text:
Spreading the love and doing the work
In the past few weeks I have been building myself up to get back on track with my role as Doc Lead in the Drupal community. I've been off radar for quite a while now (since last fall) and I'm finally getting my feet under me to tackle the work of docs again. In the time that I was out of it though, it was too obvious that there needed to be some changes in how I (and the Drupal community) approach this whole documentation team thing. There were a few other people out there who had expressed the same concerns to me and so I sat down with them to kick around what we need to change. We came up with two fundamental shifts in how we do things as a team: communication and coordination. I think this will take a lot of pressure off of a number of people, myself included, as well as let the community take even more ownership of documentation and play a role in the steering of the ship, even if the captain sometimes goes AWOL.