MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

Probably the only certainty on the men's side of the SCAC this season is that there will be very few if any "easy nights" during conference play. 

Every one of the top teams in the SCAC needs to realize the importance of doing great in the early non-conference games so they will have a shot at an at-large bid after the SCAC tournament.  Pinning your hopes entirely on going to the NCAA's by winning the AQ will be a risky thing when you consider how strong the field will be at the SCAC Tournament.

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps doesn't open their season until November 17th, but they have an exhibition game tomorrow (Tuesday, 11/6) at the University of Louisiana-Monroe.  The game starts at 7 p.m. and it looks like live stats will be available--you should be able to get to the live stats from this link:

http://www.ulmathletics.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19000&KEY=&SPID=10981&SPSID=90653

[Gus Sinski]

 Hendrix travels to Jonesboro Tuesday to play an exhibition against Arkansas State. I'm never sure what these exhibitions against D-I opponents reveal, especially one that came within a game of playing in the NCAA tournament. But I'm sure the players get a kick out of it.

Plus, the ASU faithful can look at Hendrix as an example of what to expect when an institution does away with its Native American mascot. Hopefully, ASU won't hire the same guy who produced Hendrix's Ted-Nugent-wielding-a-sword mascot.

Anyone going to this game, a quick review would be welcome. Some names of Hendrix's first-year players would also be nice, since they haven't got that on the website yet.

[warriordad]

The players really enjoy these games. They are typically played at a fast place with only blantant fouls called. It also gives some of the players an opportunity to play close to their hometowns.

[frank_ezelle]

Plus, the ASU faithful can look at Hendrix as an example of what to expect when an institution does away with its Native American mascot. Hopefully, ASU won't hire the same guy who produced Hendrix's Ted-Nugent-wielding-a-sword mascot.

Gus, I hope we'll see more posts from you this year.  Your comments are far too entertaining for you to just have 18 on the message board.

I'm not so sure what the exibitions vs. D1 teams show, but it seems to be a no win and no lose situation in most cases--not much chance of winning but that's no big deal because no one expects you to win.  I believe that Millsaps will scrimmage MS College at some point in the preseason and that will be far more telling than tonight's exhibition with U of Louisiana-Monroe.

[hendrixfan]

Hendrix also played in Jonesboro last year, and in that game ASU only beat the Warriors by 16.  Unlike most exhibition games, the Indians played their starters most of the game.

Tonight's game will be tough for Hendrix.  Coach Priest will have to fill the gaps left by Bennett & Secrease.  Hendrix only graduated four seniors - three of which played substantial minutes. 

ASU is picked to finish toward the top of their division in the Sun Belt and beat Lyon College (NAIA) 95-59 last Saturday.  Dickey Nutt usually has some of his golfing buddies as referees for these games, which makes it look more like the NBA than college!

Hopefully the Warriors, like all the SCAC schools who play D1 exhibitions, can make a good showing tonight in Jonesboro.

[Gus Sinski]

Coach Priest will have to fill the gaps left by Bennett & Secrease. 

I think that can be done, especially if we're talking about Secrease. Cal Rose and Janson Hightower both showed some touch from the outside last season, and if they evolve it may help ease the loss of Secrease.

I'm curious as to whether this team has any big man who can take some of the pressure off Andrew King. At times, teams threw everything but the Rose-Hulman elephant at him.

Not sure if tonight's scrimmage will show anything, but it should be fun and could help the Warriors defensively.
If you're a fan or parent going to the game, I highly recommend stopping at Wings-2-Go and ordering the chicken strip meal.

[hendrixfan]

Hendrix fell tonight in Jonesboro 100-61.  The game was much closer than the final score appears.  ASU made a run right before halftime to break open a three point game. 
ASU's size, depth, & athletic ability wore Hendrix down toward the end, but the team looks like they'll be able to compete in the SCAC this year.

ASU is solid & talented, but their rebounding & free throw shooting will need to improve.

[frank_ezelle]

The Hendrix story sounds like the Millsaps vs. ULM story except that Millsaps hit their first 7 shots and actually led 16-11 after 5 minutes.  In a typical D1 vs D3 matchup, the norm would be that there is a gap between the starters and an even bigger gap between the subs.  Also, the D1 team should be bigger and enjoy a comfortable size and strength advantage, and I think that was the case last night.  Here's a link to the game story:

http://www.ulmathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=90653&SPID=10981&temp_site=NO&DB_OEM_ID=19000&ATCLID=1305720

BY THE WAY, ULM is the preseason pick to finish first in the Western division of the Sun Belt Conference and they returned all 5 starters from last year's West division co-champions, so it was a tough matchup for a D3 school.

[Gus Sinski]

 Looks like the usual suspects showed up for Hendrix. King and Rose had their typical nights, which is doubly nice for Rose since I'd been told Arkansas State had shown some interest in him back in high school. I'm glad Hendrix has him.

I'm intrigued by the off-the-bench performance from frosh pivot Chris Scroggins, who had six points and five rebounds. He arrived at Hendrix in the mold of David Foley - looking to play basketball and baseball - but opted to just concentrate on hoops instead. Hopefully, he can mature into the sort of player that can give Andrew King a blow here and there. Usually though, it takes some time for players from Arkansas to adjust to the college game because the quality of high school play in the state is so poor. Cal Rose has proved an exception.

[hendrixfan]

The freshman Scroggins came in last night and did a nice job.  I hadn't heard anything of him, but he should be able to give King & Foley a breather.  Avery & Bertrand do a nice job down low for their size, but having the big guy off the bench will definitely help.
There's just no way to tell how a team is going to look after playing D1 competition.  Hendrix should get a much better read within the next week or so of how the team looks against teams in their own division.

[daBulls]

Hendrix and Rhodes did the unconventional last night and scrimmaged in Memphis.  They played pretty even in the first 10 minute period, with Hendrix "winning" the period by about six.  The last 4 or 5 (I can't remember how many they played) Rhodes beat Hendrix pretty handily, double digits most, if not all, periods.

[frank_ezelle]

Millsaps and MC scrimmage this afternoon and it was interesting to watch but it didn't tell me anything about Millsaps that all of you don't already know.  Think of last year's team with a little more depth and experience and you have a good idea of what Millsaps will be like this year. 

Keeping in mind that Millsaps was only 4-5 prior to Christmas last year, I look for Millsaps to get off to a much better start this season and to keep alive the potential for an at-large bid.  For those of you who follow all the sports here on D3, you know that Millsaps has been left just outside the playoffs in baseball and football because they didn't win the SCAC AQ and they were just shy of doing enough for an at-large bid.  This basketball team, with so many seniors, needs to be focused from the start and give themselves the best possible chance to get to the NCAA Tournament. 

(For the record regarding the scrimmage this afternoon, the teams played 3 20-minute halfs.  They didn't keep the score on the scoreboard but I had Millsaps up 33-31 in the first 20-minutes and then a 36-36 tie in the next 20-minutes.  It was a scrimmage, so take those scores with a grain of salt.)

[irion]

Sewanee scrimmaged Alabama Huntsville last night.  3-20 min halfs.  They won the first half by 12 and lost the 2 ond half by 15.  I did not stay for the last 20 min.  The defense looked better but still a ways to go

[frank_ezelle]

The SCAC preseason rankings are out and it provides some interesting numbers at the top.  Millsaps and DePauw received 4 first place votes each and Centre received the other 3.  That sounds like an even split that all three teams are about equal, but it seem like Millsaps is preceived as the weak link among the three.

Centre and DePauw each got 110 votes to split the top billing while Millsaps trailed behind at 105.  There were 11 ballots cast with a 1st place vote worth 11 points, 2nd place vote worth 10 points, ...., and an 11th place vote worth 1 point.  So in the case of Millsaps, once you take away the 44 points for the 1st place votes, that leaves 61 points from the other 7 voters--maybe 5 third place votes and 2 fourth place votes.  If they did get any second place votes then that means other ballots had them at 4th or lower. 

My guess is that DePauw and Centre are a concensus pick as two of the top three teams in the league and about half the voters feel like Millsaps is the top team and about half feel like Trinity edges Millsaps out of the top three.  It's all interesting, but the only thing that really matters is the score at the end of each game.