MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[stag44]

CMS went to Concordia to finish up their game from a couple weeks ago and were beaten up. Concordia may have the best denial and guard defense year in and year out I've ever seen. Even when I watch the Concorida APU games, it amazes me how they can create 6-10 points a gaime on simply pressuring the point guard into steals/TOs etc.

CMS now stands at 2-4 heading into tail end of the semester, with the daunting task of facing Whitworth on the 19th. That will be another stiff challenge for the Stags, and there is a strong possibility of them entering SCIAC with a record of 4-6. At the end of the day though, given their adjustments without Blees, this isn't terrible. It ends up becoming a 16 game season for them, whereas, with Blees they had a shot of an at-large bid and making a serious run in the NCAAs.

After watching them in St. Louis, I was very impressed with their grit and fight. Scali's teams are usually defined by their rugged defense, will, and perseverence. The last couple years, the Stags offensive explosiveness and talent allowed the defense to be slightly down, but this year they have tightened the bolts again. Against a bigger and more talented Franklin and Marshall team, the Stags held the Diplomats without a field goal the last 4:30 of the game, and only allowed 2 fts on a questionable foul at the end of the game. This bodes well for them come SCIAC season if they can rely on their defense to get stops down the stretch.

It will now be a team scoring by committee, which should be good as you can't key on one player, but bad as come crunch time there isn't anyone yet who is "the man". Lacey will be a load on the block, Anderson is a pogo stick and the best rebounder in the SCIAC, Heidrich is a dead eye shooter, Pinson is a lead guard who loves the bright lights. Off the bench, Davis, Sullivan and Mivshek will provide the scoring punch. I'm excited to see how the Stags continue to respond to adversity!

[CrashDavisD3]

Chapman is now 8-1 and 6-0 vs SCIAC so far with 65-54 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday. Will SCIAC vote Chapman into the SCIAC ? I guess we will find out in April 2011.

http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/1211

[oldchap]

Chapman is now 8-1 and 6-0 vs SCIAC so far with 65-54 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday. Will SCIAC vote Chapman into the SCIAC ? I guess we will find out in April 2011.

http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/1211

Chapman is every bit as good, if not better than last year. They gained a true point guard, who thinks assist before scoring, but is still dead accurate (13-24 3 pt shooting so far in 9 games); they also gained a very agile guard/small forward, who can score from 3 pts, and a duo of post players who are more versatile in terms of shooting range and agility. And they kept their two star players, now seniors, who both have a chance at making All-Independent MVP. Coaching is very consistent and as good as ever. If they stay healthy and focused, they're a shoe in for another Pool B post-season.

Even though it makes complete sense, looking at the success they've had in the past several years against SCIAC teams, you would think no SCIAC coach would be very thrilled about welcoming Chapman in their Conference. We'll see...

[Gray Fox]

How come we have more Chapman posters on this board than SCIAC posters?

[West Coast Bias]

Chapman is now 8-1 and 6-0 vs SCIAC so far with 65-54 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday. Will SCIAC vote Chapman into the SCIAC ? I guess we will find out in April 2011.

http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/1211

Even though it makes complete sense, looking at the success they've had in the past several years against SCIAC teams, you would think no SCIAC coach would be very thrilled about welcoming Chapman in their Conference. We'll see...

Complete sense for Chapman?  Absolutely.  For the SCIAC?  I can't think of one reason why adding Chapman benefits the SCIAC.

Chapman is not as good as last year.  The SCIAC is down. 

Gray,  I think the reason there are no SCIAC posters on this board right now is because everyone is trying to figure out who is on their team.  There are a lot of new faces running around the SCIAC. 

Claremont went from being the run away favorite to just another team with the loss of Blees.
Cal Lu is trying to find their identity without Knudsen and Meyer.
Oxy has a nice 3 man show going with McCoy Hanley and the new guy.  But last I checked you played with 5.
PP doesnt have 1 player on their roster that I remember playing last year.
UR has probably the most veteran team, but can they put it together?
Whittier was one of the most talented teams going into the season, but the loss of Menez and Deane puts them at square 1
ULV has a lot of pieces back but are still trying to put them all together
Cal Tech is better, much better, but I am guessing their posters are on a different board.


Seems like most years where the winner of the SCIAC tournament will get the bid.  And it looks like we have a dog fight for the top 4.  Should be a fun year in the SCIAC.  Here are my SCIAC predictions:

1. Redlands
2. Cal Lu
3. Oxy
4. CMS
5. ULV
6. PP
7. Whittier
8 Cal Tech

Oxy wins the SCIAC tournament behind monster performances by their Big 3.

Cal Tech breaks the streak.

With a down SCIAC, Chapman sets a new record for lowest SOS for an NCAA pool B team.

[Gray Fox]

Cal Tech ... posters are on a different board.

They fell into a black hole on their Astronomy 101 field trip.

[Hugenerd]

Can this be true? The scoreboard page has Caltech up by 32 on Eastern Nazerene with 10 minutes to play...

Final score, Caltech 87 - Eatern Nazarne 53.

2 in a row.

[Hugenerd]

Official CalTech Press Conference:

http://www.gocaltech.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/20101213psgsuu

[David Collinge]

Official CalTech Press Conference:

http://www.gocaltech.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/20101213psgsuu

Are we sure this isn't just another elaborate Caltech hoax, like their hijacking of the Rose Bowl scoreboard or the UW cheerleader's flipcards?  Do we have an eyewitness?  Sorry, Bob, I mean a trustworthy eyewitness? 

[Gosox]

Yes it is true, Cal Tech won and played well.  Watched it with my own eyes.   

[Hugenerd]

CalTech is featured on the front page of NYtimes.com right now.  Here is the link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/sports/ncaabasketball/16caltech.html?hp

[DIIIghetto]

Hey, SCIAC is the lead story!  Loving it.

With the SCIAC nowhere to be found in the Top 50 of DIII this year, we all probably should accept that this is the year of the Beavers at CalTech.  Their coach was part of the turnaround at MIT, lifting that program up from the DIII baskeball ghetto where we all reside and into a consistent national power.  CMS & Pomona, take note: being an academic powerhouse does not confine you to the basketball underworld.

I am not sure CalTech can have that success but who is to say they can't.  Eslinger is a guy with vision. 

CalTech will not only win a SCIAC game this year, but they will win more than 1 game.  It will be a great story. 

My other predictions.  I agree that Redlands and Cal Lu look like favorites, with Oxy close behind.  BUT, I go with a different order because each of those teams has holes and nobody is better at exploiting those holes than Scali & Kats.   Oxy is just too young and that means that they won't bring their best game every night.  They will drop 2 to CMS and split with a bunch of other teams.  Same probably with Redlands and Cal Lu.   

Winner: CMS
PP
Redlands
Oxy
CalLu
Whittier
LV
CT

[Hugenerd]

I think the most important part of the Caltech turnaround is nothing to do with X's and O's, its the things that happen in the offseason.  You cant win with players who cant compete at this level, and before Eslinger got there they had a roster filled mostly with guys who werent even good enough to play varsity in high school.  He learned how to recruit to a school like Caltech, while at MIT from Coach Anderson, and he if he continues to be able to recruit the guys who have the grades to get accepted to Caltech and can play, he is sure to improve the program.

Also, I like Caltech's chances in winning a few SCIAC games this year also.  They were leading UC Santa Cruz in the second half of their matchup earlier in the season on the road (before playing poorly down the stretch), and UCSC already has a win or two against your SCIAC favorites.  Caltech gets another crack at UCSC at home this Saturday, so it should be interesting to see how they do with the home court advantage!  It will also be a good gauge to see how much they really have improved.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I am totally rooting for Caltech to stop being the perennial obvious candidate for the 'winless' pool; next step, end the SCIAC losing streak.

I just watched the video that goes with the front page story.  Somehow it seems appropriate that Coach Eslinger both looks and sounds more like a 'nerdy professor' than a bball coach!  (And proves, again, that appearances can be deceiving - he is obviously a very good bball coach!)

[Hugenerd]

And the awards keep piling up for Caltech...Ryan Elmquist named SCIAC player of the week:

http://www.gocaltech.com/sports/mbkb/2010-11/releases/elmquistAOW