MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Hoops_lover]

stag44 and Bigcat your SPOT ON with your assessments.  Agree that Chapman's 1st half offensively was BAD.  Nice adjustment by Chapman in the second half to "liven up" offensively.  James and especially Hamasaki are very good ballhandlers, unselfish and make good decisions.  Why not within the structure of the offense let them freelance, meaning run your play but have an option, which I'll comment on shortly.  I think they were able to comeback because they did not go into the post as much.  It seemed that Joyce was upset he wasn't getting the ball.  He's a BIG upgrade from the post player they had last year, but it's a TEAM GAME and Joyce WILL have his opportunities just not in this game.  Justin Young and Nick Dragovich understand their roles as Lund and Lane do for CMS.  I thought Chapman did a good job defensively on Gaffaney and he had the task to guard Hamasaki.  He's should be a lock for SCIAC POY.  Lund, Pinson and Grodahl played really well for CMC and I felt Davis Dragovich helped sparked the comeback for Chapman in the second half.
Hamasaki clanking a breakaway lay-up after stealing a pass and CMC poor free throw shooting kept this game close. stag44 talked about the play with 16 seconds left and Chapman having the ball.  After seeing them play several times, I had a feeling that Hamasaki was going to handle the ball, but the play was going to go to someone else, likely Zavrsnick, to drain the shot.  I'm good with that EXCEPT when you have a very good ball handler in Hamasaki, why not give him a second option to shoot OR have James bring it up, which could spread the court out more for Hamasaki, Zavrsnick or someone else.  This takes Gaffaney's size advantage away guarding Hamasaki and when Hamasaki gets the ball, he's crafty enough to get penetration and dish.  Bigcat commented on the out of bounds play.  You're right, it took to long to set-up with the amount of time left.  Also when I saw that Dragovich was taking it out, we were in trouble because decision making to inbound the ball is not his forte.  Again I've seen this team play several times and I've seen him make bad choices when inbounding the ball against a press.  With less than 5 seconds left in the game and a chance to win, why not let James or Rider throw the ball in???  I will say this, Coach Bokosky and his staff has done a very good job in making adjustments/changes.  The team's defensive effort against CMC was much better.       
I should quit prognosticating basketball games. I was 1 for 4, with La Verne winning.  Chapman did all four things I said they needed to do to win by 6-10 points, but the lost.  I like the Seahawks in a shootout to win the Super Bowl.  i'll comment later about tomorrow's games.

[Bigcat]

Didn't catch the game but Chapman fell to Redlands at home. Anyone have an eyewitness? Seems like inconsistency and poor defense continue to plague this team. Now appears to be 5 teams competing for 1 final playoff spot.

[olddog]

Saw the UR/CU game. Redlands shot very well, took the ball inside well and ran some good sets where they could post up.  UR was to long for CU, CU took a lot of rushed or double pumped shots. Good ball game both teams played real hard.

[WoostAr]

Fun quote from Coach Newhall about Laurence Lee and Caltech:  "Lee is going to be a very good player for four years in the SCIAC," Newhall said. "This Caltech program just keeps getting better and better. They are competitive with every SCIAC school and can beat anyone on any given night. They have no seniors on their roster and Dr. Oliver Eslinger deserves a lot of credit for the job he's doing over there."

Lee is finally coming into his own...the impetus for this comment was a 22 point 7 rebound 2 block night against Oxy...I think it takes bigs a little longer to adjust to the physicality and speed of the college game.   

I agree with the second half of Newhall's comment except in the case of Cal Lu.  Next up for Caltech, Cal Lu...at Cal Lu...I don't anticipate this game going well for Caltech, but I do expect Caltech to be right there for the rest of the games on their schedule: I actually think Caltech matches up well against CMS (not in the first game this year, however).  Caltech has a bye going in and has an extra chance to scout and prepare for this game. Following the CMS game, none of the remaining teams on Caltech's schedule have winning records. 

[OxyBob]

Fun quote from Coach Newhall about Laurence Lee and Caltech

At least Newhall is consistent.

December 4, 2013:  "Coach Oliver Eslinger has done a remarkable job upgrading the talent on his team. The 10 first-year players you saw tonight are going to win a lot of games over the next four years."

January 9, 2013: "Too often, I have to remind my players and others that this isn't the same Caltech team of the past. They're going to fight."

January 6, 2011: "They are very good and can beat anybody in the conference."

OxyBob

P.S. On Sunday Oxy beat UC Santa Cruz 86-82 in overtime. Kris Montoya 20 (11 in OT), Andrew Johnson 20, Joe Compagno 17, Kory Hamane and Chad Tanioka 11 each.

[WoostAr]

Regional Rankings should be coming soon, so this could be a fun discussion...only teams which could be ranked in SCIAC are CMS and PP

I'm anticipating CMS will be unranked...while undefeated in conference play, they played their usual bad non-conference schedule staying outside the NCAA for a large portion of their non-conference schedule (and laid an egg against the regional opponents they did play...35 pts against Pacific still blows my mind)...only regional non-conference wins are Willamette and Santa Cruz. 

Pomona Pitzer is the interesting question.  While they've lost a couple games in the SCIAC (CMS and Cal Lu) they have wins against st. thomas and at Trinity...4-2 in the region out of conference....of course, they could have played a couple more d3 games instead of Westmont and Biola.  I think they could get some consideration and potentially sneak into the rankings....maybe??

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Regional Rankings should be coming soon, so this could be a fun discussion...only teams which could be ranked in SCIAC are CMS and PP

I'm anticipating CMS will be unranked...while undefeated in conference play, they played their usual bad non-conference schedule staying outside the NCAA for a large portion of their non-conference schedule (and laid an egg against the regional opponents they did play...35 pts against Pacific still blows my mind)...only regional non-conference wins are Willamette and Santa Cruz. 

Pomona Pitzer is the interesting question.  While they've lost a couple games in the SCIAC (CMS and Cal Lu) they have wins against st. thomas and at Trinity...4-2 in the region out of conference....of course, they could have played a couple more d3 games instead of Westmont and Biola.  I think they could get some consideration and potentially sneak into the rankings....maybe??

February 12

[OxyBob]

Regional Rankings should be coming soon, so this could be a fun discussion

What is there to discuss? The SCIAC AQ will be fed to Whitworth. Book your reservations now.

OxyBob

[OxyBob]

A full SCIAC schedule tonight:

Redlands (8-11, 4-6 SCIAC) @ La Verne (7-12, 4-6)
Whittier (10-8, 4-5) @ Pomona-Pitzer (14-6, 9-2)
Oxy (9-10, 4-6) @ Claremont (9-0, 14-4)
Caltech (3-17, 0-11) @ Cal Lutheran (16-4, 7-4)

Oxy's last visit to Ducey Gym aka the Temple of Doom. Sorry I won't be able to make it. Hopefully Coach Scalmanini will turn up the thermostat to 90 for old times' sake. Claremont had no problem with Oxy on Jan. 11, winning 68-50. Gaffaney had 25 for CMS.

Pomona is coming off a loss to CLU, and should handle Whittier at home. The Sagehens won 83-74 @ WC on Jan. 11.

Big game for Redlands and La Verne to stay in the hunt for the 4th spot in the conference tournament. UR won 65-52 on Jan. 11.

Cal Lutheran is a solid 3rd in the conference standings. Expect the Kingsmen to play everyone in an easy win tonight.

OxyBob

[OxyBob]

Cal Lutheran is a solid 3rd in the conference standings. Expect the Kingsmen to play everyone in an easy win tonight.

Eyewitness report from Thousand Oaks:

Cal Lutheran 63, Caltech 60 OT

Well, I was wrong about that. Caltech played with energy and enthusiasm and almost pulled off a win, while CLU played a ho-hum, lackadaisical game and did just enough to avoid a loss. CLU played very similar to the way they played when I saw the Kingsmen lose to La Verne in January.

With Caltech up 55-52, Arik Smith bailed out Cal Lutheran in regulation with a game-tying 3-pointer with 33 seconds to go. Caltech had a chance to win it, but Collin Knudsen blocked Andrew Hogue's shot at the buzzer. In overtime, CIT had a 60-57 lead with 2:30 left, but CLU used its size and strength to get a couple of offensive rebounds off of misses and took the lead on Smith's layup with about a minute left. Coltrane Powdrill added a couple of FTs to make it 63-60. Caltech had a chance to tie, but Hogue missed a 3-ball at the buzzer and the Kingsmen barely escaped with a victory.

CLU: Smith 22, Quintana 12
CIT: Lango 13, Hogue 12, LeBaron 11, Emezie and Lee 10 each

Caltech outrebounded CLU 34-30. Should never happen. CLU's tepid play will cost them in the conference tournament.

In the other SCIAC games:

Claremont overwhelmed Oxy 83-60. Tyler Gaffaney had 23 pts, 8 rebs, and 8 assists for CMS.
Adrian Brandon's 3-ball broke a 48-48 tie, and Pomona went on to beat Whittier 81-76. Kyle McAndrews had 22 for Pomona.
La Verne led Redlands by 14 with 8 minutes to go, blew the lead, but the Leopards prevailed in OT, 74-70. Ronn See had 26 for ULV.

Saturday's SCIAC schedule:

Redlands (8-2, 4-7 SCIAC) @ Oxy (9-11, 4-7)
Claremont (15-4, 10-0) @ Pomona (15-6, 10-2)
Cal Lutheran (17-4, 8-4) @ La Verne (8-12, 5-6)

Nonconference:

Chapman (11-9) @ Whittier (10-9)

Caltech (3-18, 0-12) is idle.

OxyBob

[WoostAr]

Cal Lutheran is a solid 3rd in the conference standings. Expect the Kingsmen to play everyone in an easy win tonight.

Eyewitness report from Thousand Oaks:

Cal Lutheran 63, Caltech 60 OT

Well, I was wrong about that. Caltech played with energy and enthusiasm and almost pulled off a win.

I don't think anyone (other than the Caltech team) expected this game to be close. 

A few additions to OxyBob's review: Caltech's bigs were in foul trouble early and often.  KC Emezie was the only chance Caltech had at stopping Arik Smith...he was Cal Lu's only offense in the second half.  Also of note, Caltech held Coltrane Powdrill to 3 of 17 from the field and his shots were UGLY...I credit Caltech's defense (and planting him on the floor at least once) for his poor shooting...he was not getting good looks and forced shots up anyway...by the end of the night he looked pretty ragged.  Typically Cal Lu just pushes Caltech around...Caltech didn't back down this game and it ended up a dogfight...lots of fouls and lots of bumping.

Oh...and this happened! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eerjc6Mjmak&feature=youtu.be

Also of note, Luke Lango has had his legs cramp up several times this year and again last night...Caltech needs a back up point guard desperately to rest him a few minutes a game.

Caltech gets a bye this saturday (handily during their midterms, so there is no worry about them laying an egg due to midterms this year) and then goes up against CMS next wednesday...looking forward to see if they can continue their upward trend.
 

[Evolution]

Caltech's loss to Cal Lutheran in overtime...yes, overtime.

Surprise to everyone except those of us, total number could be counted on one hand, whose primary focus has been on the Beavers' progress this season.

Caltech's defense last night was their best showing to date, especially off-ball.  Even their transition defense looked good.  CIT was persistent. Perhaps this led to the unbalanced foul calling by the referees.  CIT had 26 fouls called, while home team Cal Lutheran had only 12.  Not saying the calls were bad, simply emphasizing Caltech was aggressive.

Caltech had fabulous ball movement, especially the in-out game, hence the balanced box score; four starters and the sixth man all scored in double figures. Everyone was involved on offense.  (CIT: Lango 13, Hogue 12, LeBaron 11, Emezie 10, Lee 10).

Lango, played 44 minutes of intense basketball, and despite the cramping hit the big three at the start of OT.  Excellent stop defense on the part of Cal Lutheran's senior Jeremy Sulker-Hall at the overtime buzzer to seal the win for Cal Lutheran.

My belief in CIT is steadfast. CIT's freshmen, three who were 17 when they enrolled at Caltech, played 64% of Caltech's total minutes last night, and coincidentally, scored 64% of CIT total points.  Conversely, I don't think Cal Lutheran played any freshman, and 75% of their points came from upperclassmen (Jr./Sr.). 

These CIT freshmen, with the help of three sophomores, and a two juniors, are learning to compete against much older, stronger athletes. In time, they will become upperclassmen, and will be more than prepared to compete laterally against other athletes in the SCIAC.

And an obstacle Caltech must overcome, even more so than their abundant youth, is the mere fact that every SCIAC team gives Caltech their BEST game.  No one wants to loose to Caltech.

[(509)Rat]

Oxybob,

You going to join me at Whittier this Saturday to watch the weekly non-conference matchup against Chapman? I should go to CMS v PP but dahlby is going to host my SCIAC basketball experience so I'm sticking with the Chapman game.

[Hoops_lover]

Watched the La Verne/Redlands and CLU/Cal Tech games on live stream.  Hats off to the La Verne folks for the clarity and camera placement while watching the stream.  the student play by play was not bad either.  When I saw La Verne go up by 14, I knew that Redlands still had another run or two left in them.  Redlands was down by that much because their 3's weren't falling.  But when they did, they made up ground rapidly.  Should have NOT gone into overtime as See attacked the bucket in the closing seconds but missed and La Verne missed an fairly uncontested put back.
Have to disagree with Evolution.  True nobody wants to lose to Cal Tech, but as I witnessed last night and against Chapman, and Oxy, opponents play "not to lose" which causes them to play tight.  Yeah, Chapman won by 19, but the 1st half and beginning of the 2nd half, they played tight.  Very apparent last night vs. CLU and heard it was the same vs. Oxy.
If Cal Tech had won, 3rd place would have open for the taking.  I think it still is because CLU has to play at La Verne and at Redlands, then finish up with Whittier and CMC.
Can anybody please tell me what the tiebreakers are?  Is it who beats who, then a coin flip?

[stag44]

Can anybody please tell me what the tiebreakers are?  Is it who beats who, then a coin flip?

1. Head to Head
2. Next best win (ie its between CLU and Redlands, CLU would win because they beat PP)
3. Coin toss

I believe that is the order - this was the case a couple years ago, but I'm not sure if its changed