MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Howlinwolf]

Yup, Oxy took care of business, disposing of the Ephs on a neutral court at the Cal Tech Tourney. Williams shot remarkably well in the first half, draining three's with confidence. But Oxy's inside strength began to take its toll, and the Tigers led by two at the half. It was all Oxy in half two, with the lead fluctuating from 12-17 points from about four minutes in.

Williams isn't physical strong but they are well coached and can shoot. Oxy beat a solid team from a talented conference. That makes two consecutive years of wins for Oxy over NESCAC schools during the holidays. Not bad. 

[D O.C.]

Had  to giggle at the last post across the bow of OxyBob by sciacguru.

Want to send out a get well to stoonk.

Missed all these Division III tourneys in the southland but I did get to high school ball at Chapman to find some actual players who could adapt to LINFIELD.

Happy New Year to all!

[Pat Coleman]

Yup, Oxy took care of business, disposing of the Ephs on a neutral court at the Cal Tech Tourney. Williams shot remarkably well in the first half, draining three's with confidence. But Oxy's inside strength began to take its toll, and the Tigers led by two at the half. It was all Oxy in half two, with the lead fluctuating from 12-17 points from about four minutes in.

Williams isn't physical strong but they are well coached and can shoot. Oxy beat a solid team from a talented conference. That makes two consecutive years of wins for Oxy over NESCAC schools during the holidays. Not bad. 

Not all neutral courts are the same. I don't think it's looked at as particularly neutral when one team flies all the way across the country to play on a floor it's never been to and the opponent plays at every year.

If Williams finishes in the top four of the NESCAC this year, it might be considered a bit of an upset. Beating Amherst last year was far more meaningful.

[Howlinwolf]

Agreed, familiarity with a floor can be an advantage. I referenced the neutral court because some readers may have assumed the game was played at Oxy. It wasn't.  Williams and Cal Tech tangled on Friday as game one of the tourney on the same court,  so the Ephs weren't coming into this game without some measure of court awareness and acclimation to the West Coast. And Williams "travels well," so they had a strong contigent of backers for both encounters.

I wouldn't consider this a "mild upset" even if later in the year of Williams is highly competitive in NESCAC. Oxy is the better team. I do consider a SCIAC win over a NESCAC opponent valuable and meaningful, however.   

[Pat Coleman]

No no -- I am saying that Williams finishing in the top four of the NESCAC would in and of itself be a mild upset.

[OxyFan21]

Well, a good win any way you look at it. 

It's nice to have beaten them and Amherst in consecutive years.

[Howlinwolf]

No no -- I am saying that Williams finishing in the top four of the NESCAC would in and of itself be a mild upset.
/quote]

Gotcha, Pat. I suspect that would be the case.

[Hoopsallthetime]

With Conference play upon us, what does everyone think about this years conference race. I really  believe after watching Oxy and CMS this fall, that these two teams are the front runners. With the loss of the NC-State kid, Pomona will be tough, but not tough enough to win the SCIAC Championship.  I believe the race will come down to the final game between CMS and Oxy at Ducey gym midway through the season. CMS starts with Laverne, while Oxy starts at Cal Tech. The showdown will be rocking when CMS comes to Oxy on the 13th. I think it will be a great game with two great players in the spot light. CMS Manny Maceira is an outstanding player and is putting up big numbers, and Oxy's Sam Betty will is showing his same abilities for Oxy. Look for a great game from both of these players.

What does everyone think about this season, and who will finish on top. I'm sure OXY BOB will be one-sided with Oxy on top, but can CMS repeat as SCIAC Champions? Go Stags and good luck to the rest of the SCIAC teams as well!

Here is my order of finish:
1. CMS
2. Oxy
3. Pomona
4. CLU
5. Redlands
6. Whittier
7. Laverne
8. Cal Tech

[Howlinwolf]

Stag, I concur with your pre-season assessment. I think CMS is the team to beat based on their pre-conference results and time-tested defensive intensity. But it should be a dogfight with Oxy. 

[Hoopsallthetime]

OXY Bob, I think you are right. I believe that if you can protect your home court you will have a better chance of winning the conference this year. Defense I believe will help the stags in repeating as SCIAC Champions. They are holding teams to under 50 points a game due to tough hard nose defense and tremendous intensity at the defensive end. Teams like Oxy and Pomona will have a tough time scoring against this team if they continue to play defense the way they have shown. I do believe that Oxy will test the stags with outstanding shooting from the outside with Whittman and Zebb, and  we all know Betty can score inside the paint when he wants to. I watched them play against a great team in Williams College at Cal Tech, and Oxy has a lot of potential. Great shooters will make it tough for the rest of the conference. My only question is this. Can Oxy score on a defense like the Stags? We will have to see.

[DIIIghetto]

Here is to the Tigers for once again representing the conference well outside of the Southland.  CMS scheduled soft outside of a few tough NAIA teams and that should wind up hurting them again.  With the likes of Williams, Wooster, St. Thomas, Whitman and Puget Sound travelling to the southland this winter, it is a little baffling that CMS did not find a way to try to show the nation that they deserve more respect.  As it stands, I would say that Oxy deserves more votes for being a top 20 team.  I would put CMS and Oxy neck and neck.  I'm not sure I would put CMS in front of Oxy because Oxy won 2 out of 3 very close games between them last year. 

Pomona will also be in it, if only because nobody prepares better for conference foes than Kats.  PP could easily split with both Oxy and CMS.  Besides, CMS sweeping PP two years in a row would be like Redlands holding someone to under 50 points in a game. 

[scandihoovian]

I haven't had a chance to watch many teams outside of CLU.  Based on last year's play and the early results this year I concur with what most of you have said thus far - so I too will go with the popular top four of:
1) CMS
2) Oxy
3) PP
4) CLU

I give CMS a slight edge based on their overall toughness.  Oxy was obviously a strong team last year and they have many folks back - please tell me Betty's a senior this year    Should be fun to watch them duke it out.  PP is always tough of course, but my sense right now is that they'll have a hard time splitting with both Oxy and CMS - which they'll have to do in order to challenge for the title.

I'd love to see the Kingsmen finish higher than fourth but I think they're a year away at this point.  I've enjoyed watching the youngsters play, and I think the future is bright.  CLU could play a big role in the conference race by challenging the top three at home in the new Gilbert center, I just wish all three games weren't so close together.

[Hoopsallthetime]

Here is to the Tigers for once again representing the conference well outside of the Southland.  CMS scheduled soft outside of a few tough NAIA teams and that should wind up hurting them again.  With the likes of Williams, Wooster, St. Thomas, Whitman and Puget Sound travelling to the southland this winter, it is a little baffling that CMS did not find a way to try to show the nation that they deserve more respect.

I guess games against Concordia, Westmont, and Point Loma are considered soft teams to the likes of teams around the SCIAC. If I remember right, when CMS played Westmont they were ranked 14th in the Nation, and Concordia ranked 10th.  I understand that Oxy played the likes of Williams and St. Thomas, and they are great games to get Oxy ready for the conference as well as give them national exposure. CMS does it a different way. Yes, it may not seem conventional to everyone else because they are not playing division 3 opponents, but the GSAC Conference is a very tough conference year in and year out, and really provided the stags with the toughness they need to prepare for conference play. I would like to see the Stags play more division 3 opponents, but Coach Scalmanini likes playing GSAC schools, because it prepares his team in a different way. Why do you think the stag defense is so tough year in and year out. It's because of the level of play that the GSAC offers, with games being more physical.

Let me also remind you that if CMS wouldn't have gotten screwed with having to play Oxy in the first round at Oxy, the 2 out of 3 games probably would have been different outcomes, with CMS playing at home where they didn't lose during conference play. I know last year is over, but let's not forget CMS defeated Oxy and everyone else at home to win the conference championship last year. 13-1 in conference play in tough to do.

[DIIIghetto]

Stag, you have to let that stuff from last year go.  Your boys did not get the home game because they did not earn it outside of the conference and Oxy did last year.  I don't think that Oxy's pre-season performances would get them the same result this year (notably the St. Thomas game in the tent would hurt them there), but it may (depending on how Williams does).  If CMS doesn't want that even to be a consideration, they should not run from the DIII teams that come out for the holidays.  LaVerne & Whittier don't.  Oxy never has.  And PP stepped up to the plate in a big way this year.  Short of running to Salem, the only way to garner national respect for your program is to schedule some of those games and win some of them.  This year, with so many quality DIII teams in LA (might add that I missed Mississippi College & J Hopkins also made it out this winter), it must have been a huge disappointment to CMS fans to see so many of CMS's rivals step up to the plate and take those games. 

On your GSAC comment.  Knowledgeable folks agree that it is a tough, tough conference.  Wooster clearly just found that out.  The SCIAC has been scheduling games with that conference for years; mostly because it is convenient, cost-effective scheduling.   Smarter folks than me can comment on those games but I don't think that a W against a Westmont would turn any heads outside of the SCIAC, whereas a W against a Wooster or St. Thomas would.     

Good luck against Chapman.  The SCIAC needs you to win that game, one of your few non-conference decent DIII games this year. 

[David Collinge]

On your GSAC comment.  Knowledgeable folks agree that it is a tough, tough conference.  Wooster clearly just found that out.  The SCIAC has been scheduling games with that conference for years; mostly because it is convenient, cost-effective scheduling.   Smarter folks than me can comment on those games but I don't think that a W against a Westmont would turn any heads outside of the SCIAC, whereas a W against a Wooster or St. Thomas would.

A win against Westmont may not turn many heads outside the SCIAC, but it would turn many of the right ones.  The real problem is that it doesn't turn any heads in Indianapolis; but then again, with the current regional definitions, wins against the likes of Wooster, Williams, Johns Hopkins, or Mississippi College count the same as wins against Westmont, Biola, or Asuzu Pacific.  [St. Thomas, however, is another story, as that is an in-region game for the entire SCIAC.]

As far as Wooster learning about the GSAC, I think I can assure you that the Scots' coaches are well aware of the toughness of that conference.  Cal Baptist is the fourth NAIA team in Wooster's schedule, and the others were all ranked at the time Wooster played them.  Wooster clearly has learned of the virtues of playing tough, athletic NAIA squads, and I'm certain that's why Cal Baptist appeared on the schedule instead of, say, Redlands.