My comment about shutting down Oglethorpes offense came from the fact that Trinity held them 15 points below their season average.  I guess you could say Findley had a decent game because she had 12 points but she shot only 36% from the field compared to a season average of almost 44%.  Kulavic had only 8 points and had 7 turnovers, this is well below her season average in points and well above her turnover average. 

The point of my post was that I don't see why everyone is overlooking Trinity and just assuming Oglethorpe will play DePauw in the finals. 

DPU, I just had to throw my name in the hat at this exciting time of year.  The stat sheet might not show that Oglethorpe played well but it was more due to Trinity's defense than an inept Oglethorpe offense.  All of Oglethorpes misses were contested and Trinity did a good job of not letting them get many easy break opportunities.  Trinity also forced Kulavic into at least 4 or 5 traveling calls if I remember correctly.  There is no question that Trinity has had a dissapointing year thus far but they have the talent to win the tournament.

Just to throw my opinion in the hat...I don't understand why everyone is predicting Oglethorpe to make it to the final (granted, there was one person who said Trinity could win if Richmann and Brooks don't play).  In their one matchup this year, Trinity was clearly the better team.  The game was at at Home and Trinity only won by 5 points but they led by 9 points or so for the last few minutes of the game.  Richmann hit 2 fade away bank three pointers at the end to cut the deficit to 5.  Oglethorpe had no answer for Prato Matthews or Scholbe in the post as they both had double doubles and Trinity shut down Kuvalic and Findley, Findley spent more time crying than she did actually playing basketball. 

One more comment unrelated to the tournament, I got a chance to see Tori Huggins play for the first time last weekend and although different looking, her shot is one of the most consistent I've seen in a long time.  I was impressed with her ability to get her shot off around the basket for someone of her size. 

If you are referring to sources about how much the president of Trinity gets paid, I was told that at a budget meeting for students while I was at Trinity.  This was 2 years ago so things could have changed but at that point he was one of the 5 highest paid professors at Trinity. 

I think the difference between Trinity and Amherst/Williams is that Trinity is only regionally known as a fine instituion while Amherst and Williams are nationally known.  Don't get me wrong, I think Trinity is a great school but it's only recently that people have begun to put it on par with schools like Amherst and Williams.  Trinity attracts the students in the south who want a top notch education while amherst attracts the students from around the country who want a first class education.  This gives them a bigger pool of students to choose from. 

In the past few years, Trinity has been raising tuition and giving less money to students.  About 5 years ago Trinity ended a program where they would guarantee any student who got in the finances to go to Trinity whether it was through grants or financial aid, they said if you can get in, we'll make sure you can pay for it.  This is no longer the case.  Trinity has also raised their academic standards over the past 5 years and is losing many athletes, especially football/basketball to schools like southwestern, UMHB, and TLU. 

An interesting tidbit of information, Trinity's President, John Brazil is one of the highest paid presidents in the country.  I've heard he might even be the third highest paid president in the country.  This may explain where all the endowment money is going.....

Trinity defeated Georgetown College 73-70 last night.  Georgetown is ranked 16th in NAIA D1 currently and led most of the game.  Trinity didn't lead until late in the second half.  This was a ugly game but a good win for the Tigers. 

Trinity is a completely different team now than they were when they played HPU and HSU.  Not only were they working people into the lineup who hadn't played much in previous seasons, they were without Lauren Andrews because she was still playing soccer.  She has been an integral part of the team since her return.  I think if Trinity were to play HPU or HSU today it would be a completely different result.  I'm not saying I think Trinity would win but I think the games would be close games all the way to the end. 

I also don't think you can say that DePauw is that much better than Trinity.  If you remember last years games, Trinity played DePauw close both games.  If I recall correctly the game was either tied or a 1 point game in the last minute last year during the conference tournament before depauw won by 3 or 5.  As I believe DePauw is better this year I also think Trinity has improved greatly.  Trinity only lost 1 senior off last year's team and they added Lauren Andrews who missed last year with an injury.  They have also been receiving contributions from a couple freshman. 

Trinity won both of their games this weekend in Colorado Springs against DuBuque and Colorado College.  Trinity was without senior Jennifer Wieman who is out for a while with an injury.  Trinity player very sloppy Saturday against DuBuque and won 75-68.  Although they didn't play up to their potential, it was good to see them win a game that was ugly and sloppy.  They hit some big shots down the stretch when they really needed them.  4 Tiger players scored in double figures. 

On Sunday, they played an injury depleted Colorado College team who only had 7 girls suited up for the game.  This was a very physical game that the officials lost control of.  Trinity has a slim lead at half as many of their key players were in foul trouble throughout the game.  They again had a balanced attack with 5 players scoring in double figures.  They won by 13 or 14 points. 

These were 2 good wins for the Tigers.  Lauren Andrews has really been a huge boost for the team and was named all tournament team.  Beth Hannon was also named to the all tournament team and Meghan Scholbe was named tournament MVP. 

Andy left around September for around 3 months overseas with the Globetrotters.  From what I heard he really enjoyed his time.  I know he was looking at playing with a pro team in portugal but that feel through so he went with the trotters.  It's most interesting to me that he, Jason Morris, and Sean Devins were working out together, preparing to try out for european squads and Bates is the only one still playing basketball.  Morris decided to give it up early into the process but Devins attended numerous camps and tournaments trying to ink a deal.   Although Bates is a good player and had a great career at Trinity, it seems to me like Devins and Morris would be more coveted professional players. 

Any thoughts on why Bates is still playing and Devins wasn't able to ink any sort of deal?

I saw Andy Bates today in the Trinity University Dining Hall with a friend.  Does this mean he is no longer traveling with the globetrotters or are they just back in the states on a break??? 

Quote from: DPU3619 on December 05, 2006, 06:15:50 PM
Making friends ain't very high on your priority list, is it?  I've got a feeling you're going to make it an awfully long season around here.

I'm just trying to give an accurate account of what I expected and then what I saw.  I don't think it helps anyone out to exagerate the quality of a team. 

I saw Trinity play Texas Lutheran last night and it was another blowout victory for the Tigers.  Although the quality of their last three opponents hasn't been on par with that of HPU and HSU, they have looked much more aggressive and confident over the last 3.  Krista Prato Matthews had a great game with 18pts and 14rbs.  It's great to see her getting things going.  It looks like the Tigers have many players who can score. 

Congratulations to Coach Cunningham!  You can really tell a great coach by the way he coaches to the strengths of his players and over the past 3 years you have seen him do a great job of this.  From the team with Devins and Murray, to last years teams with a handful of great wing players to this years young team, he always gets the most out of his talent. 

Quote from: frank_ezelle on December 05, 2006, 08:46:30 AM
I guess being called clueless is better than your description of the Millsaps women as garbage which you used on another thread.  Maybe you should just drop the "...NOT" from your name.

I think clueless and garbage go hand in hand and that's about the level of basketball I saw this weekend.  Sitting in the stands I overheard a conversation between parents of a couple Millsaps players.  They were saying the team looks totally lost, they have noone to distribute the ball, and they have a limited rotation.  After 2 30+ point losses, and the things I overheard, I think my comments made on this board are justified. 

Quote from: DPU3619 on December 04, 2006, 12:29:07 AM
Not sure "dismantle" is the right term there, champ.  Rhodes led that ballgame at halftime and then came about and made a robust 12% of their shots in the second half.  That was less of Trinity steamrolling them and more about Coach Dean's squad not being able to hit water if they fell out of a boat after the half.

DPU, if you go back and look at what I originally wrote, I said it was an HSU team that dismantled Trinity not Rhodes.  In regards to the Rhodes/TU game,  I think its pretty obvious that Rhodes got killed.  Yes, they were up at half but Trinity played a terrible first half.  In the end, they outscored Rhodes 50-12 in the second half, they forced 38 turnovers, and won by over 30 points.  Rhodes shot the ball poorly in the second half but they didn't have many open looks either.  I still think Rhodes will have a good year but on Friday Night they were overmatched.

Did anyone see Rhodes beat Southwestern?  Pretty interesting that a Rhodes team gets killed by Trinity and then goes and beats a Southwestern team that beat HSU just a few weeks before.  The same HSU team that dismantled Trinity in the first weekend of the season. 

From what I saw this weekend, Millsaps has a long way to go.  Most of their good players are younger but they looked clueless out there.  They had no inside presence today and turned the ball over 31 times.   Although the scores in San Antonio were similar, Rhodes is a much better basketball team than Millsaps.   Trinity forced 69 turnovers in 2 games this weekend!!!! It looks like they are finding their stride after a rough start.  Did anyone see the SU/Rhodes game???