MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[West Coast Bias]

Apparently Stag44 only posts after CMS wins.

La Verne is too talented to be 1-4.  Can they make a run to the conference tourney a la Cal Lu in 2009?

I heard Oxy was going up tempo this year?  Doesn't seem to be the case as of late.

Good to see Nettles back for Cal Lu.  He gives them another weapon they desperately need.

Whittier is the real deal.  Might be the most talented team in the league (although we have said that before).

Who are all these new guys for PP?  And what happened to Moss?

[stag44]

Apparently Stag44 only posts after CMS wins.

Wanted to post, but I wasn't able to catch the whole game. In talking with some of the guys and looking at the box score, looks like the Stags were forced into turnovers and sped up at the beginning of the 2nd half. The first half, they shot the lights out and were playing at their tempo.

In the overtimes, Menez hit shot after shot and Whittier was getting to the 50/50 balls. One thing that can't be emphasized enough was Blees going 3-9 from the FT line. Pinson also missed some big fts in the 2nd OT that allowed Menez to hit the game winning 3. The Stags have always been suspect from the line and need to shore that up.

It's never easy to play in Whittier, you could sense the Stags were getting a little complacent going 15-0, and coming off the extremely emotional game vs PP, a let down was bound to happen. Even though they had 19 TOs, shot under 60% from the FT line and were out rebounded, they had chances to win the game.

Regardless, give ALL the credit to Whittier. They held serve on their home court and showed how good they can be. They are as talented as any team on the west coast, and if you allow them to play at their tempo and pace, they will burn you. Also I was impressed how they were able to contain Blees with their packed zone. They took a page out of Pomona's book by just have 2-3 bodies between Blees and the basket forcing him to either finish over 4 hands or pass to open guys. Menez hit clutch shots after clutch shots, and they were animals on the class. It will make the next 9 games very interesting.

They were dejected after the game and after going over 2 months without a loss, I'll be very interested to see how they respond in practice and against Oxy.


Good Slate of games for Wednesday:

ULV @ CalTech

ULV gets back on track - 77-51

Oxy @ CMS

CMS wins a closer than expected game - 73-66

PP @ Whittier

PP is able to tame the Poets and takes this game in a high scoring affair - 86-79

CLU @ Redlands

Redlands makes CLU's 3 hour journey miserable on the way back - 66-54

[Pat Coleman]

On Hoopsville on Sunday night, I asked the coach of Mount St. Mary for his take on Claremont. Here's his response:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19947129/highlight/235355

[etule]

I think the Poet's win again! They are very good this year. CMS is fortunate that they didn't lose two in a row. I think they are still the class of the league. I think they may smack Occidental tomorrow!

[OxyBob]

Who are all these new guys for PP?  And what happened to Moss?

Xavry Moss was studying abroad in China. He was supposed to rejoin the team in December. He's no longer on the Pomona roster.

I heard Oxy was going up tempo this year?  Doesn't seem to be the case as of late.

Oxy better be up tempo tonight in the Temple of Doom, or they'll get eaten up by Claremont like chilled monkey brains.

---------------------------------------------

Wednesday night wrap up...

Claremont 75 Oxy 64: Claremont led 40-34 at halftime. The Stags scored 7 straight to start the second half, led 47-34 at 17:00, and were never in danger, though Oxy got it under 10 a couple of times. For Oxy, Deshun McCoy scored 21, and Jack Hanley had 13. For Claremont, Tyler Gaffaney and Chris Blees each scored 14, and Mani Maceira had 11. Not a lot of defense: Claremont shot 61% from the floor, Oxy 53%.

Pomona 66 Whittier 57: WC jumped out to a 12-0 lead, but Pomona came right back with 15 straight, and the teams see-sawed back and forth. Whittier led 34-32 at halftime. After the Poets took a 40-36 lead, the Sagehens went on an 12-1 run and led 48-41 with 11 minutes left, and WC never caught up after that. For Pomona, Michael Cohen scored 23, Jack Klukas had 13, and Kyle McAndrews and John Weiss each scored 10. For Whittier, Nate Eaterman scored 23, and Greg Preer had 13.

Redlands 72 Cal Lutheran 56: The Bulldogs pulled away in the second half and got an easy win at home. UR: Tristan Kirk 17, Mychal Estrada 13, Brian Kuklok 12, Matt Calhoun 10. CLU: Aaron Van Klaveren 17 and 13 rebs, Mike Harris 15, Xavier Walton 12.

La Verne 75 Caltech 66: Game was tied 34-34 at halftime. In the second half, CIT led 45-42 at 15:00, but ULV outscored Caltech 17-2 over 5 minutes for a 59-47 lead, and the Leopards weren't headed after that. ULV: Austin Napolitano 29 pts and 11 rebs, Trevor Woodland 21. Caltech: Bryan Joel and Andrew Hogue each scored 16, Mike Edwards 15, Alex Runkel 14 rebs.

At the turn of the conference schedule there's a clear division between the top 4 and bottom 4 teams, and that's not likely to change after this Saturday's games:

La Verne (5-12, 2-4 SCIAC) @ Redlands (9-8, 4-2)
Pomona (10-6, 5-1) @ Oxy (7-10, 2-4)
Cal Lutheran (6-10, 2-4) @ Claremont (16-1, 5-1)
Caltech (5-12, 0-6) @ Whittier (12-5, 4-2)

Look for Redlands and Claremont to get home wins, Whittier scores 100+ in a blowout win, and Pomona gets a road win.

OxyBob

[WoostAr]

Saw the 2nd half of the Caltech game live:

While they lost this game, it was actually a game.  Caltech's energy and passion were back...they played hard instead of just going through the motions.  They moved the ball well and got good shots....not that they went in: Edwards was 4/15 from the field and Hogue was 6/15 and the team was 11/29 from three....sounds obvious, but if Caltech can score more points they could start winning again.

Napolitano scored 29 and woodland 18 (or 21 if you look at la verne's website) to combine for 47 (50) out of La Verne's 75 points...clearly in the rematch against this team Caltech will need to find a defensive answer for those two.

Looking forward for Caltech, highly athletic teams are hard on this team (Hamline for example)....playing at Whittier will be a big test for them....hoping they can carry some momentum from this game into the next.

[stag44]

Early Saturday Morning here in NYC - time to preview the games tonight!

CLU @ CMS
This is always a great, rugged, physical game. To be honest, I am glad the Stags have this matchup when they do. In SCIAC games they have been getting out-rebounded and sometimes out-physicaled. This is very unlike Scali-teams, and especially with a team that was +14 during non-conference in the rebounding category. This game should bring them back to the smashmouth, swarming defense that made took them to 15-0.

CLU has had its lumps this year. They are very very young, but can rely on a double double from Van Klaveran and senior leadership from Walton. They have been getting some great production out of Harris, Nettles, Knudsen, but just haven't produced enough offense to win games this year. While they slow the pace and really pound you inside, they they have yet to score over 64pts in SCIAC play.

CMS has not been impressive in SCIAC this year. I think some of that is a testament to the conference being stronger, but some of it has has also been due to a lapse in their defense. They are giving up (ex Caltech) over 65pp in Conference which is almost 10ppg higher than their non-conference level. This along with their poor-rebounding has prevented them from getting in transition and gapping teams on 12-2 or 20-6 runs that change games. I look for them to really rebound tonight and really test CLU's feet for 94 feet. They will be swarming the ball and active tonight, looking to show the last 5 games weren't how they really can play.

Offensively, I think CMS will get back to their non-conference style of pushing tempo, getting on the break and finding the open man in the half court. They have to run the motion with purpose the first 20 seconds of the clock rather than just wait for Blees to bail them out at the end of clock. With CLU's slow feet urge to physically get over screens, I expect CMS to get alot of curl cuts to the hoop where guards will have to make plays in the key. Also, expect them to test Van Klaveran's feet. I suspect they will play him on Blees, or possibly Maciera, but in either case there is a HUGE quickness advantage.

Maybe I am hopelessly optimistic, but I think CMS lays a beatdown on CLU - 76-52. 


ULV @ Redlands
Both of these teams have been a surprise this year, UR positive and ULV negative. If you had told me that one would be 4-2 and the other 2-4 in SCIAC thus far, I would have gotten the teams wrong. I think that is somewhat a testament to the coaching as well as the cohesion among the teammates. In any case, I still think ULV is up there with Whittier as the 2 most EXPLOSIVE teams in conference and with Woodland and Napolitano you really cannot count them out of any game.

Redlands has been more a win by committee team this year. With Kirk, Kuklock and Colston, they have a nice trio of players who can go for 20, but they also have Estrada and Call who can light it up. They really adapt to the team they play as opposed to imposing their pace and style on teams.

ULV will have a tough time with a ruckus Saturday night crowd at Currier and I think Redlands wins this game comfortably.

Redlands wins 74-65


PP @ Oxy
This will be an intriguing matchup. Oxy is having another down year, but always play PP tough at home. I'll be curious to see how the Tigers deal with Cohen and crew shooting the 3. As always, both teams defense is very stout and both coaches have been going after each other for 10+ years. I think the key to the game for Oxy will be how Jack Hanley plays. He is an All-SCIAC talent that has been struggling of late. If he can control the guard play and show why he was one of the most coveted SCIAC recruits a few years ago, I think Oxy has a chance to pull off the upset. McCoy and Montoya will bring it. Run the Sagehens off the 3pt line and force them to finish over 2-4 hands around the rim.

For Pomona if they play their game they should win relatively easily. While they may not strike anyone as overly talented when they step on the court, they really play well as a unit and collectively shoot the lights out. I expect more of the same from them. Somehow they seem to always bring it defensively as well. They never really force turnovers or make you uncomfortable, but are usually mistake free and rebound well. They stay in front, contest shots and force you to make tough shots and plays to win.

In an UPSET special, I think Hanley goes off this game and they win in a very close game - Oxy 58-54


Caltech @ Whittier
I hope Caltech brought their track shoes. This game could get ugly quick. If I had any advice, I would not even try to offensive rebound, check the point guard on transition and prevent Whittier from getting on the break. With regards to the Whittier press, take a 10 count over trying to make a crazy pass or save. This will at least slow the game down for them and allow them to set their defense.

Whittier in a blow out 87-53

[Gromek]

Nice call  Stag 44, you should go to Vegas.

[(509)Rat]

Very "solid" game by Caltech. Definitely one of the better teams in D3, just had an off night (and the gym was hot). If the ball would have bounced their way just once or twice during this one we could be talking about another conference win. Shot 73% from the FT line which is really impressive.Got points from 9 different players (NINE!). Whittier wins a close one...106-51

[OxyBob]

PP @ Oxy
In an UPSET special, I think Hanley goes off this game and they win in a very close game - Oxy 58-54

Oxy 64 Pomona 56

Pomona only scored 15 points in the first half on 3-for-30 FGs. 10% shooting! Yikes! The Sagehens made 3 3-pointers and 6 FTs. Oxy did better than that and led 24-15 at halftime. The Tigers outscored Pomona 10-2 to start the second half and led 34-17 at 15:00. Pomona cut the lead to 7 with 2 minutes left, but Jack Hanley was 6-for-6 on FTs in the stretch, and Oxy got the win. The Tigers outrebounded the Sagehens 38-24.

Hanley led all scorers with 16, Deshun McCoy had 12, and Conrad Leibowitz scored 10 and had 10 rebs. Evan Zahniser scored 14 for Pomona.

With the loss Pomona drops into a second place tie with Whittier and Redlands behind Claremont.

Wednesday's schedule:

Claremont (17-1, 6-1) @ La Verne (5-13, 2-5)
Whittier (13-5, 5-2) @ Cal Lutheran (6-11, 2-5)
Oxy (8-10, 3-4) @ Redlands (10-8, 5-2)
Pomona (10-7, 5-2) @ Caltech (5-13, 0-7)

OxyBob

[stag44]

New Top 25 out - CMS back upto #12 in the nation.

[etule]

Oxy is going to have to score more point if they want to beat Redlands! I hope they do!

[DoubleDomer]

Are we sure that Stags didn't inflate their average ppg to get a boost in the rankings?  (Sorry. JUST KIDDING. Couldn't resist.)

[Gray Fox]

Are we sure that Stags didn't inflate their average ppg to get a boost in the rankings?  (Sorry. JUST KIDDING. Couldn't resist.)

+k  It looks like you need it.

[etule]

I'm pretty sure it's Chapmans fault! LOL