MBB: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Gregory Sager]

Oh My God, I just read this: http://d3hoops.com/releases.php?release=46789

Whittier did not deserve to win that game.  If that Caltech center woulda made his other free throw or perhaps Caltech's two best players would not have fouled out with 3 min left in regulation, then Caltech might have won.  Wow, I was sure rooting for Carlson and Ivy to get this win and I am kind of dissapointed they will probably graduate without a SCIAC win, they are two hard working basketball players and deserve respect.  Carlson should make one of the all-SCIAC teams, but its a shame to see that Caltech might not have as good of a chance to win next year without their two best players,

Sigh. The prince married an ugly stepsister and left Cinderella languishing at home. Snow White was not resuscitated in time. Santa Claus was shot down by a NORAD surface-to-air missile.

Sometimes you just can't buy a happy ending.

[dj_hyphen]

Additionally, consider this: the stags beat the sagehens twice, the first being with a fairly large margin. they lost to oxy the first timeby four points, that is true. but then they came back the next game and beat them by seven points, with mani maceira dunking in sam betty's and another defender's face.

man, i got no beef with you...but you sound like you're in 7th grade here.  First off, the idea of saying 'yeah we lost by 4, but then we beat them by 7!!!!" is fairly asinine...games decided by less than 10 are generally pretty close, and often skewed at the end by game extending free throws...the fact that you came out a measely plus 3 in point differential really doesn't prove anything, so calm down.  And tossing in the fact that maceira put two tigers on a poster means absolutely nothing in terms of the overall abilities of the team...that's something that a middle schooler would say

"we only one by 7, but we had huge DUNKS!  yaaaaaay!  that should be worth more points!"

perhaps I read that part wrong, but that's the general vibe i got from it  

[Gregory Sager]

Pat -

What is Oxy's chance at still getting a bid to the tournament?

I don't know if Pat will get around to this room tonight, so I'll try to answer your question. Oxy is in serious trouble as far as a Pool C bid is concerned. There's never a good time of year to go on a three-game losing streak, but doing it at the end of the season, when you're playing nothing but regional games, is the worst possible timing.

Oxy came into this seven-day ranking period in great shape. Even though they were tied with CMS for the SCIAC lead, they were ranked first in the West Region due to a very good QOWI and an 11-1 (.917) regional record that far outstripped anyone else's in the WR. Now, however, they've slipped dramatically in both of those important categories. Coming into tonight's game at Pomona-Pitzer the Tigers had slipped to 26th in the nation in QOWI (10.071). After tonight's loss their QOWI dips to 9.867, which would put them 40th in the nation. That's bubble territory. What's worse is that their remaining game is at home against hapless Caltech. Even a win can only damage the Tigers' QOWI further, because a home win over Caltech is worth only eight QOWI points. That would reduce Oxy's QOWI to a final total of 9.750. By current national QOWI standards, that'd put them in 44th place. Playing Caltech, in other words, becomes a lose-lose contest for the Tigers.

Regional rankings only cover games thru Sunday, so this loss to Pomona-Pitzer won't be reflected in the West Region rankings that'll come out on Wednesday. But the Tigers lost two games in that last ranking period, and only two West Region ranked teams (Wartburg and UW-LaCrosse) lost a game -- they each went 1-1 for the week. Look for Oxy to wind up fourth or fifth in this week's ranking, and then to drop further in the final ranking that only the committee sees on Selection Monday. They may be seventh or eighth in that ranking, or they may even drop out entirely, depending upon how Whitworth or Willamette fares in the NWC tourney.

My guess is that Oxy is not yet out of the Pool C running, but their prospects are dire.

[OxyFan21]

Besides being an Oxy Alum, I am also a Maryland native.  See the connection, at least in most years (and how I like to think of it in my mind). 

PP                 Duke
CMS              UNC
Oxy               MD


Oh, the bubble.  I think playing Caltech in our final game hurts, but who knows, maybe everyone that is supposed to win their conferences will...(How about a SCIAC tournament.  Oh, I'm dreaming). 

[OXY Oswald]

I don't know if Pat will get around to this room tonight, so I'll try to answer your question.

Thannks. Great run down, but it sounds bleek for the Tigers tournament chances.

[dj_hyphen]

dj_hyphen:

>>And tossing in the fact that maceira put two tigers on a poster means absolutely nothing in terms of the overall abilities of the team...that's something that a middle schooler would say<<

The best shot of the night was one by Taylor. He drove the baseline righthanded, but was too far under the basket to shoot, so while in the air he switched hands and spun the ball in lefthanded.

OxyBob

sounds awesome, i'll give him 10 points for that one

[WestCoastWhiner]

Another interesting year in the SCIAC.  Stags came out of nowhere, with inner turmoil and early season losses, to pull it together and play like Champions.  Great job by their staff.  Let's hope they lose the one-and-done-itis that plagues our conference.  If our 3rd best team can spank Amherst, maybe the Stags won't be as fearful.  

2006 Notes from the Sideline:

a.   Shocking conference performance by the Hens.  Two Ls to the Stags, enough said.
b.  Stags championship.  Brace yourself Hen fans, the balance of power among the big three just shifted across campus.
c.  Rare season where one of the Big 3 was knocked off its position.  Look for CLU to rebound next year and put Oxy back in the bottom tier.  
d.  Miles best player, hands down.
e.  Betty ties with PP's starters for biggest personal disappointment.  Strip out the Redlands game on the Road and any SCIAC coach who puts him on the 1st team only does so as an appreciation for his utter domination of Amherst.  The guy's average at best rebounding, defending and passing skills were exploited all conference long.
f.  PP's starters, 2 banners coming in to the year then two Ls to pretty much them same Stag team as last year, enough said.  
g.   Redlands W against Oxy unfortunately for all of us probably will keeps the system in tact.  Can someone please tell me why Coach Smith has Wooden status out there?
h.  Oxy guards giving up 57 to Redlands guard at home in a crucual game for the Tigers.  Yeeeouuchhh!
i.  Whittier continues to be thorn in PP's side.
j.  Oxy undefeated in 1st half of league, 4 Ls in the second half.  Thanks for giving us some national recognition boys, now give us your seat and get to the back of the bus.  
k.  With this board alive and bumping, what better time than a 3 or 4 team conference tournament!  

[bballfan2]

"Knowles three in the closing seconds of regulation was unreal.  Great shot, though I thought his foot might have been on the line"


Oxy Oswald, I hada great view and can assure you it wasn't on the line.

i.  Whittier continues to be thorn in PP's side.

Over the past 3 seasons Whittier is 1-5 against Pomona, over the past 4 they are 2-6 splitting with an injury depleted pomona team that was also affected by players going abroad in 2002-2003. I'd hardly call that a thorn in the side.

[TeeDub]

i.  Whittier continues to be thorn in PP's side.

Over the past 3 seasons Whittier is 1-5 against Pomona, over the past 4 they are 2-6 splitting with an injury depleted pomona team that was also affected by players going abroad in 2002-2003. I'd hardly call that a thorn in the side.

I hate it when facts get in the way...   

[Browneagle64]

Congrats to the stags on getting to the top.

These past 4 weeks showed us who would jump out to the top between P-P, the Stags and Oxy. All three 3 showed their best.


Btw--- I must agree with about two points that westcoast pointed out (the rest of them are just nonsense). Points A and B knocked on the door about what happen to the Hens and the stags. No doubt that both turned heads around.
However, this does not mean you have to put Oxy down. THey did everything in their power in both Offense and defense to stay at the top. (Sure oxy will need to be better i ntheir D next year). So my hats off to them.

Heres to hoping that two Sciac teams go into post-play

[WestCoastWhiner]

Any bottom tier team that takes a game from Kats is a thorn in PP's side.  His won-loss record against Wh, Red & LV is sick.  Whittier got PP once this year and almost got them on the road.  Granted, a slight exaggeration on Betty (he should get some 1st team votes because he still is a monster on O who teams have to focus on).  Maybe I was harsh on Oxy but up until mid-way through SCIAC they raised the bar so high, it is difficult not to comment on the collapse.      

[tigersports]

WCW, I am in agreement with most of what you said.  However, this was NOT the same CMS team as last year.  Didn't see CalLu play, but Maceira was the best newcomer and was a big difference maker and put them over the top.  (Sorry for the run-on).   I'd be careful with that balance of power thing, as well.  I think the league will be up for grabs with Taylor, Parsons, W-Beron and Lloyd (finally!) leaving campus. 

[tigersports]

Oxy's issue were perimter D.  Laverne shot the lights out, Whittier did, for a half, and UOR did.    CMS was just better.

As for last night, let's face it, PP got a ton of breaks last night (65% team hitting all but 3 FT's, unbelievable bounces on Knowles' 3 and Porter's FT, the tie-up that could've gone either way), not to mention picking up a Jordan-esque foul call just about every time they went to the basket.  Not to take anything away from PP"s gritty effort, and I know I'll get static from the PP faithful, but karma was on their side last night.

[Sagecock]

g.   Redlands W against Oxy unfortunately for all of us probably will keeps the system in tact.  Can someone please tell me why Coach Smith has Wooden status out there?

I'm pretty sure it has something to do with hime being the AD, I imagine a conversation like this occuring at the end of this season:

AD Smith: Coach, we need to make a change at the top.  Somthing is just not working with this system.
Coach Smith:  I disagree, did you see that you beat Oxy?
AD Smith:  That was pretty impressive...
Coach Smith:  You can say that again, Maziari is unreal!  Why if I could get in another 4 players like him we'd be SCIAC champs!
AD SMith:  Jesus, you're right!  Welcome back for another year Coach.

tigersports:  Karma being what it may, there were questionable calls in both Oxy-PP games...I've been on the end of great SCIAC officiating myself, so I say, forget playing the "well if this had happened..." game and lets just agree that SCAIC officiating is less than terrific

WestCoast:  As far as the balance of power shifting across 6th, I'd say it will definitely be interesting next year.  Hens return Knowles (best PG in the league), Porter, Haydir and Jabari Reynolds.  Reynolds didn't contribute as much as he should have this year to issues outside of his control, but look for him to provide some offensive spark that the Hens were missing this year.  True the stags get Maciera and 4 other substantial contributers back, but they lose Parsons and Taylor, two HUGE contributers.  If anything, I'd argue that next year is entirely up for grabs.

I'll be out at the Redlands-PP game on Thursday along with 30 other Pomona rowdies...hopefully we can send a great senior class out with a win.

[OXY Oswald]

"Knowles three in the closing seconds of regulation was unreal.  Great shot, though I thought his foot might have been on the line"


Oxy Oswald, I hada great view and can assure you it wasn't on the line.

I'll take your word for it, Oxy fans were on the other side of the court.  We did have a great view for the blown jump ball call towards the end of the OT period.  Zebb had control and was calling for a timeout.

Just a bounce that went PP's way.