God bless it, can someone post the score of the Webster - Mac game.

It seems that I had a similar post to Mac's last rant all ready to post and I decided that the sensitivity on the board is amazing and it would fall on deaf ears.  Mac, if you do read this come back at least to give scores from the games.  I am along way from the SLIAC and the conference page is too slow to update. 


This page is one of the slowest to turn on the hole website.  Stop with the eliteist attitudes and "SLIAC Chat" might grow.



Hopefan,

Just so you know,  I refuse to wear orange because I cannot stand hope.  I wish Glen would change his tie.  It's had the same stains on it for the last 10 years.   Go Calvin....but only when they play Hope.


Wise Mr. Owl

I demand an immediate apology for hopefan and MacAttack....

I am Jewish and Merry Christmas is very offensive to me, or mabey I am Muslim, or I celebrate Kwanza.  I just won't accept a simple Merry Christmas.

actually hopefan the mature thing to do when someone says something you don't like is either open a discussion or ignore the comment.  You can call me anything you want... it really dosen't bother me anyway but to call Pat Coleman (one of the fairest people this board has ever had post) imature, is well, imature.


p.s. for those of you who cannot read tongue in cheek, I don't really want an apology.

Waaaaa, someone said something about my relegion.   

What's the big deal? Do Christian Scientists have health care?  I don't know but I sure "point guard" will write a comlun about the difficulty finding a health care provider.....

Waaaaa, get over it.

If a team is looking to get at at large bid, the only game that count are NCAA Division III in region games.  Nothing else will help their case.  The NAIA schools that are close to home may be a nice game for travel reasons but what is the ultimate goal.  If a school has the goal of becoming a contender in the region then it must play in region games.  The chances of getting an at large bid is extremely low even in the power conferences.  There are just not enough spots available.  If a team in the SLIAC wants to become a national contender the best outline to follow is Gonzaga.  Win your conference every year and make the NCAA tournament, then from there find a way to win a game, then find a way to make a run.  This is at least a 6 year plan.  It is tough to not have a down year (or someone else have a great year) for 6 years, but unless the rest of the league steps up and contends with the "Big Boys" it is the only way.

This is the same classic argument that has gone on for years.  What you are looking at is the same thing that all coaches go through.  For example what motivation does a high level division I team have for playing a solid mid-major...None!  If they lose it's horrible for the program, if they win they were supposed to.  It's a no win situation and a dangerous game to play if a coach is trying to keep his job.  What your left with is coaches that will schedule tough games against other high level division I teams or cupcakes.  There is no inbetween.  Mid-Majors cry about this all the time.  They can't get games with the big boys.  Why, because for the big-boys there is no incentive, no upside.  The CCIW treats the SLIAC like whipping boys.  The CCIW plays the SLIAC for wins, nothing else, just wins.  The SLIAC plays Moody Bible for wins.... There is nothing wrong with that.  A team cannot be up and challenged every game of a season.  A team needs nights where they don't have to play their best to win.  A good coach recognized those situations and add "Wins" in where he thinks his team will need a break.  Is it the best thing to do?  I don't know, however, in Division III coaches are being fired for losing seasons more than ever, does it pay to have a few extra wins?  FU for years has played cupcakes, Syracuse is well known for playing cupcakes.  I believe that they won a national championship.  Michigan State two years ago played a brutal schedule and lost about everyone of their tough games and yet still made a deep run in the NCAA's.   From a coaches perspective the general rule is a young team needs to win games, against anyone you can find to beat.  A veatern team needs to be challenged even if it means playing Division II teams.  There is no answer to your argument, there is no right answer.  If there was you wouldn't see the different opinions.

As for the heat on the board.... Keep it coming.  Who want's to participate in a conversation where everyone is in agreement. 

Huge win for MacMurray. Talk about stepping up and getting a big one on the road.  That is exactly what kind of win they needed.  They controled the game got down an came back in the end to make plays and win.  Before this game they believed they could be a good team,  now they know they are a good team. 

Interesting that 2 of Madonna's 3 wins have been at Olivet and at Alma


It's just a fact that Olivet is horrible!!!  If anyone has taken the time to look at the roster picture for Olivet let me know if anything strikes you as odd.  I believe the team has a slightly different look than years past.

Who would have thought that when Alma hired an assistant coach (although he was only the director of basketball operations) from Flordia, that we would all long for the Seth Stapleton days of past...

Congrats to Coach Hettinga and the rest of Mac on the first win of the season.  I know that Mac will have a very good game plan against the Gorlocks.  In order to beat Webster, Mac simply outworking them will not be enough.  Webster will play extremely hard all game and they will not beat themselves.  Mac will be able to compete with effort, but in order to win, they must begin to play like a team.  It's time for Mac to learn how to win.... and Webster is a tough team to learn how to do that against.  I hope for Mac's sake that they either take the game in the final 3 minutes or they get blow out.  It's sometime easier to take a blow out loss, and chalk it up to a bad night, then to lose another close game and have doubt start creeping into the back of their minds...

Bunchtime

I am not trying to downplay Coach Bunch.  I don't know him and I have never seen him coach, but as you know Webster was coming off of a 2 win season, +12 wins was one of the largest turn arounds in the NCAA's that year.  Coach Randall built the program to the level of conference contenders.  Kano and Bunch have maintained the level that it was build to.  Neither one of them has taken the team to the next level.  It takes very good coaches to maintain a top tear program (ask the Tar Heels about that), but what has not occured at Webster since Randall's departure is the "Next Step".  It is much easier to recruit to a team that has a history, however brief, of winning.  I believe that if Randall were to have stayed at Webster he would have taken the next step.  Consistantly being at the top of the SLIAC is an accomplishment, no doubt.  However, Webster has not, as of yet, taken that next step without Randall.

As for Hettinga... he like Randall took over a poor team with only 5 wins.  The next year they jumped to 16.  +11 is not a bad turn around either.  If you have ever stepped foot on Olivet's campus or walked into their gym you would understand exactly how difficult Olivet is to recruit to.  It could be, quite possibly, the worst campus in D III.  Despite the recruiting difficulties he always brought in exceptional talent.  During Hettinga's tenure at Olivet he had the most wins in school history for a 7 year span.  Again, there is no 7 year span in school history where their team had either more wins or a higher winning percentage.  I believe that Hettinga left olivet with the highest winning percentage in school history.  He did not ever win a conference regular season or conference tourny, that honor usually went to Calvin, Hope, or Albion.  While Hettinga was at Olivet they were usually just below the top teir teams.  If fact since Soderberg took over at Olivet his  cumulative record is 18-39.  To do what he did at olivet he qualifies as having the "it" factor. 

Lance Randall left Webster to coach a professional team overseas.  He left, like so many Division III coaches, in pursuit of moving up the coaching ladder.  He then came back to the States as Director of basketball operations for SLU.  Last year Lance's father died and he left SLU in the middle of the season to take over his fathers high school team.  I believe that they won a state championship last year and Lance is still coaching there today.  Lance's father was a legend in Wisconsin high school sports where he ran a highley sucessful program for decades.

To directly answer you question, Lance had the "IT" factor. He had the ability to recruit above the name on the uniform or the league in which it played. If you remember his first team had players from all over the country.  The talent in his second year was ever stronger, and I believe that if he would have stayed Webster eventually could have competed with anyone in the country.   Coach Cano was also from the Beloit school of coaching and he did a great job.  Cano is an excellent coach (obviously he took them to the tournament), however, the ability to convince a kid to come to a small school in a small conference where he is overqualified for the level the league plays at is a special talent.  Lance Randall has it. Steve Hettinga has it. 

The goal of any SLIAC team is to get to the NCAA tournament.  The talent level is just not there to take a team deep or even to win a single game once they get there. There is nothing wrong with that, it will just take time to develop that type of program.  Webster was on the right track until Lance Randall left.  Webster is still at the top of the league but they are definatley not headed down the road of national contender.  MacMurry, with the recruiting potential that Coach Hettinga brings to the table is the next likley candidit.  I will predict that in the next two years Mac will have the talent to compete against anyone in any league.  Hettinga has done it before.  He is an exceptional recruiter and it won't be long until that becomes very apparent to the rest of the SLIAC. 

I don't think that I can remember a time when the league was 12-22.  The only team above .500 is Tri-State?  What's going on in the MIAA?