MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[DPU_radio_guy]

WGRE has announced that it will again carry 13 of the 14 games of the SCAC tournament.  Ten will air on its webstream and 3 on Free Teamline.  WMHD of Rose-Hulman will carry their women's contest with Oglethorpe. 

The link to all the information (including game previews) and the broadcast schedule can be accessed at www.depauw.edu/univ/wgre/scac.asp.  This is also the link to access the webstream this weekend. 

Please email wgresports@depauw.edu with any questions or feedback.

[DPU_radio_guy]

Also, to save space, I've picked the exact same bracket as BfB above.  There's a more comprehensive diatribe about each game on the website the post above.

[Dirty_South]

DPU Radio Guy,

Fantastic site, I love the previews. Looking forward to listening to your broadcasts as I will not be able to make it to Memphis.

My $.02 on the bracket:

Trinity over Rhodes
Oglethorpe over Southwestern (Is it an upset if the majority picks OU to win??)
DePauw over RHIT
Centre over Millsaps

DePauw over Trinity (Upset Special)
Centre over Oglethorpe

Centre over DePauw

[frank_ezelle]

Here are three of my picks:

Trinity over Rhodes--Home court is nice but the talent difference is too much.

RHIT over DePauw--RHIT has been falling but they will pull out one last hurrah before leaving the SCAC.  Munchie went 6-23 in the game last week and I doubt that will happen again on a neutral court without a lot of fan support on either side.

Southwestern over OU--This is the sexy upset pick since OU just handed SW a big loss.  Has anyone noticed that OU is 1-6 in conference road games this year, or that they were 7-4 at home this year and 5-9 away, or that they are 3-9 overall since they opened up SCAC play with a 3-0 record?  OU is dangerous when hot but they won't have enough to beat SW on the road.

And what about Centre vs. Millsaps?  Centre has earned to right to be everyone's pick to win this game but I can't pick against Millsaps.  Instead, I'll work on another post laying out what I think the keys are for a Millsaps upset of Centre. 

[frank_ezelle]

My thoughts on how Millsaps can beat Centre:

1) Millsaps has to realize that they can't win the tournament.  All of us know that only TU, SW and Centre have a shot at winning so why should a team like Millsaps take on the pressure of trying to win the tournament.  Millsaps is capable of upsetting Centre (they did beat Centre on the road) and that's all they should focus on.  If they win on Friday, then I do belive they are capable of beating the SW-OU winner on Saturday.  And yes, if they win on Saturday I think they have the talent to beat TU or whoever else is left.  Piece by piece, they can win the tournament but they don't need to even think about the big picture at this time.  Last year Millsaps opened with Trinity and Millsaps played like all the pressure was on them.  This year Millsaps needs to relax and let all the pressure be on Centre. 

2)  I could list a bunch of things here about a bunch of players, but I'm going to assume that Warren, Rogan, Bailey, Odum, LeBlanc, Oscar, etc., will continue to play like they have been playing.  They just need to relax and play their game (see #1).

3)  The X-factor is Edrick Montgomery and how many minutes he plays without being in foul trouble.  Millsaps has played 25 games, Edrick has played 28 or more minutes in only 6 of those games, most of those in pre-conference.  Edrick has played more than 28 minutes in 1 of his last 14 games. 

In the 6 games over 28 minutes of playing time, Edrick averages 19.3 ppg and 12.7 rebounds.  In his 18 other games, the numbers drop to 13.6 ppg and 6.8 rebounds.  With that in mind, I predict that Millsaps beats Centre (and anyone else in the field) if Edrick plays 28 minutes or more while staying out of significant foul trouble and they lose if he gets in early foul trouble. 

[carlweathers]

Frank, I can't tell if you are being serious or not regarding TU, SU, and Centre as being the only teams that can really win it.  No Depauw??  Wow.

[DPU_radio_guy]

RHIT has been falling but they will pull out one last hurrah before leaving the SCAC.  Munchie went 6-23 in the game last week and I doubt that will happen again on a neutral court without a lot of fan support on either side.

In defense of Saturday night at the Neal Fieldhouse, the Rose-Hulman fans that they bused in were probably louder than the DPU student section.  The only difference was the big gold Tiger at midcourt instead of that big red R.

Also, Munchie isn't exactly shooting the lights out from the floor in the past few games:

6-23 @ DePauw
2-7 against Robert Morris
4-16 @ Centre
4-14 @ Sewanee
5-21 vs. Hendrix

Those numbers bring a big smile to this Tiger fan.

[carlweathers]

For the record, the emoticon use in my previous post was totally unintentional.  Sorry about that.  I try and not use them.  I may even report myself to the moderator.  Who knew if you put three question marks in a row that you would get that? 

[Ron Boerger]

That's OK Carl  - I was using my company's IM tool this AM.  I was doing a list (a) .... (b) .... (c) and the (b) came out looking like a mug of beer!!

[frank_ezelle]

I guess I was too subtle in my comments.  If you read my entire statement you'll see that I can see the possiblity of Millsaps winning each of their individual games which therefore means that I see the possibility of them winning the tournament.  But, for anyone seeded 4-8 in this tournament, I think the best route to take is to look at yourself as a spoiler and don't start out the tournament trying to calculate your chances of winning it all. 

Henry Ford said, "Nothing is particular hard if you divide it into small jobs."  While that might be somewhat of an understatement, teams like Millsaps need to focus on the "small job" of winning one game at a time instead of looking at the big picture of having to pull off 3 upsets in a row.

Regarding the Munchie numbers from the last few games, maybe the 6 for 23 will be the thing that convinces RHIT that it has to be a team game plan on the offensive end or else they will be one and out.  I do think DePauw is the better team and the more likely winner, but I had to have an upset winner since I wasn't going with OU over SW.  Picking Millsaps over Centre is not an upset if Montgomery plays most of the game without foul trouble, but that is a big IF.  For the record, Edrick only played 20 minutes against Centre in the first game (12 pts, 4 rebs) so Millsaps can win with a smaller lineup if everyone else plays well.

[Rose Basketball]

It's no secret that Rose-Hulman plays well when they are passing the ball and playing as a team. A cohesive unit. Unfortunately, it appears that has gone by the wayside in recent contests and it's obvious by the results of the game.

The Engineers do have other weapons offensively and defensively other than Muskeyvalley.

6-7 Senior Brennan Dunville has shown the ability to be one of the better post players in the league this season, but when he doesn't get the ball in the post often, it's hard for him to be a successful piece of the offense. Junior Guard Jason Bednarko is 2nd on the team in 3-pt. field goals, but he rarely gets enough shots to make a huge difference. He was 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the loss to DePauw.

Others players like Lorenzo Rice, who is very athletic but can also step out and hit the three, are still trying to find their roles on this club. Unfortunately, here we are at the end of the season and it hasn't happened yet. But, Rice is only a freshman, so he should be much more comfortable and have a better idea in the season's to come. He is a talented player who will be counted on by Jim Shaw to provide scoring in the next three years. The final starter, Jared Moore, is really more of a do-it-all type player, especially on the defensive end. His job to is guard the opposition's top scorer. He can score when needed, and is a great rebounder from the guard spot.

So, Rose definitely has some other options on the court besides Munchie Muskeyvalley. Will they be able to utilize them this weekend or will the 2005-2006 campaign be cut short early?

[scaccommish]

I'm sure most of you who frequent this board already have this link, but in case you can't be in Memphis, you can find links to all the audio broadcasts plus game stories, box scores and much more as it all plays out:
http://www.scac-online.org/bballtourney

And if you are going to Memphis, there are directions to both Rhodes and to St. Benedict (Friday women's site) on the site (tournament information)

Looking forward to a great tournament.

[carlweathers]

Can we get some all SCAC picks?  I believe it will be announced on Saturday during the semi-finals?  Anybody have any thoughts?

Frank and others have seen more than a few games this year.  What do you think? 

I have a bias but I would think that Bates/Burt should be Co-POY.  Hard to go one over the other.  Who else is in the mix? 

[Herb]

The pool of potential first teamers is probably something like this:

Dickinson, OU
Bowser/Cates, SU
Garcia, UOS
Magnusson, CC
Stewart, DU
Bates/Burt, TU
Montgomery, MC
Muskeyvalley, RHIT

That is ten guys.  It looks like I am a little perimeter heavy, but here is my try.

First Team
G-Burt, TU
G-Dickinson, OU
F-Cates, SU
F-Bates, TU
C-Magnusson, CC

Second Team
G-Bowser, SU
G-Muskeyvalley, RHIT
G-Garcia, UOS
G-Stewart, DU
F-Montgomery, MC

POY-Burt (More consistent than Bates)

Obviously there are other guys that could get in there.

[Herb]

Just finalized the hotel arrangements for Memphis.  I can't wait for another great tourney. 

Carl,
Can't wait to see you. 

Should be a lot of fun.