MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[frank_ezelle]

Post #2 regarding player of the year.  I think Edrick Montgomery is a great player and I know he is a really good guy, so I'm glad to see that others think he should have won the player of the year.

However, I've been following the SCAC since the late 90's and the general trend is that the POTY goes to a player on the league winning team, assuming that the team has an outstanding player.  Matt Nestheide is certainly an outstanding player and I have no problems that he won the award in a very close vote.  I suspect that if Millsaps had won over DePauw and/or Trinity in those two close games towards the end of the year then the coaches would have voted Edrick as the POTY. 

As a Millsaps fan, I'd also like to congratulate Rodney Rogan on his 2nd team selection and Allen Odum and Lorenzo Bailey for their honorable mention recognition.  All four of these juniors are really great guys and I hope they and the remaining Millsaps players can bring home an SCAC title next season.  With all of the great underclassmen throughout the league this year, next year should be just as competitive as this season.

[frank_ezelle]

And last but not least, I want to give credit where credit is due.

When Millsaps was returning to the visitor's locker room yesterday after their game they passed by the Trinity team that was waiting to take the court.  The Trinity players as a group were very classy in applauding the Millsaps players and congratulating them on a great season and a great effort.  I thought it was a nice show of respect for their fellow SCAC athletes and I was impressed by their actions.

All in all, the athletes in the SCAC are a really good group of young adults.  When the games are being played I certainly want the Millsaps teams to win but I don't see the logic in anyone being negative towards another team in their cheering or in their feelings about players on other teams.  My guess is that I would like at least 85-90% of the basketball players in the SCAC if I got to know them.  The fact that they play somewhere else and I don't get to know them doesn't negate the fact that they are good people.  The SCAC is a great conference and it is the strongest when there is both a spirit of competition and an atmosphere of support between the schools.

Good luck to the SCAC teams in the NCAA's.

[DPU3619]

OK, DPUs, what happens if Trinity pulls another rabbit today?  You guys be the judge.  Who will be dancing then?

If Trinity wins, I do think all 3 are a possibility.

DePauw's a lot more on the bubble than they've been at any point in the past couple of weeks.  They've still got the good regional record and region win percentage.  I think that should be enough to get them in despite having a host of Pool C contenders right in the same area on the QoWI.  Pat Coleman also has DePauw in with his field projections.

If Centre loses today, I run a new QoWI index of 209/21 for a 9.952.  That would put them about 32nd or so.  Their region record would be 16-5, which is also pretty good, but the RWP isn't as good as DePauw's (.762 w/ a loss today).  I still think that's a pretty good case to get in... better than DePauw's.  I'll be pulling for Centre today, because if Trinity wins, Centre will take one DePauw's potential Pool C bids. 

Interesting to see that he moved Centre to the Great Lakes and left DePauw in the south.

I'll be a lot more antsy about the whole thing if Trinity wins today.  That might leave DePauw outsde.  It's going to be pretty close.  Ought to be an interesting Sunday afternoon even if nobody cashes in a 60 footer at the buzzer.

[DPU3619]

Congrats to Coach Mason and Centre.  They played the best ball of anybody in the last month including the tourney.  They'll play well next weekend, I think.

Pat has DPU as the last team in.  I'll keep those fingers crossed.

[etg]

(El Tea Gray---re: Trinity Basketball vs. Millsaps)


frank,
You failed to mention that Trinity won all four of their games against Millsaps this basketball season; two Men's games and two Women's games.  This kind of sweep is never/ever an easy task, but I do certainly agree with you that both teams have a lot of classy student-athletes and just the type of young adults that we all can be very proud of. I am now going to have my blood glucose level checked; I think it may be running a bit "sweet". Just a health suggestion?

                                                                           

[pbrooks3]

Kudos to Pat Cunningham and his Tigers.  They gave an excellent accounting and just ran up against a better team in Centre today.  The Colonels were extremely team-oriented in their approach & performance in winning the SCAC tournament.  Nestheide really showed his stuff with eight 3's and played a wonderful offensive game.  Good luck to the Colonels as they move on.

[pbrooks3]

Congrats DPU.  You're dancing!

[Stripes]

Congrats DPU.  You're dancing!

Ditto to just about all of the previous posts. The officiating was so-so in Memphis, but favored no single team. That's OK. Trinity is a good team with a great coach. Pat's team just outplayed DPU and took the game. DePauw wasn't ready to play and (I think) was looking beyond Trinity to Centre. Big mistake.

Milsaps: This is the team to beat next year. They're fun to watch and as athletic as any team I've seen in the SCAC. Being young, this just wasn't their year. But look out next year.

DePauw is dancing because of their play earlier in the year. If that team shows up, they're hard to beat. If the other DPU team takes the floor, it's up for grabs. I like their odds against any team that hasn't seen them play before.  This is a schizo team. No apologies or excuses. They can be great or they can stink it up. They just need to decide to be great.

Centre: They're the best in the conference, that's not under dispute. I'm very impressed with their team play, skills, and coaching. Can their fans find a way to support their team without chants that malign a player as a person? Show us some class.... The team and coaching staff bring their best to every game. It detracts from that when we see the kind of warped fan support that Centre seems to feel is necessary. Not every call against Centre is wrong.

We've come a long way in a few years in getting 2 teams from the SCAC in the tourney. Congrats to Centre and DePauw. Best of luck to both.

[pbrooks3]

1st teamer York is a good player.  However, several of his offensive moves were flops that turned into Centre fouls.  That combined with an abundance of Centre supporters resulted in the harangues against Trinity during the game that ticked you off.  I hope Centre has that kind of support during the D3 action ahead! 

[TeeItHigh]

Montgomery hosed for player of the year???  After the weekend of basketball that I witnessed from Matt Nestheide from Centre, he should feel hosed that he was not picked by all the other coaches in the league!  He was absolutely brilliant this weekend!  31 points today including 55 footer at the end of the first half to put Centre back up 12 (this following a 7-0 run by Trinity to cut it to nine).  He went 6 of 7 from the three point line on Friday versus Southwestern, in the first half!  He is no question the Most Outstanding Player in this league, as no other player is more valuable to their team than he is to his. 

Congrats to DePauw for making the NCAA's and to Trinity for getting to the finals.  Congratulations also to all the teams for a great weekend of basketball!  Now we wait for the pairings...

[frank_ezelle]

(El Tea Gray---re: Trinity Basketball vs. Millsaps)


frank,
You failed to mention that Trinity won all four of their games against Millsaps this basketball season; two Men's games and two Women's games. 
                                                                           

Did you really need to bring that up?   I guess it was good for Trinity to sweep after the results of the football season.

But for a more serious reply to your comment, Millsaps lost to Trinity(twice), DePauw, and Centre this year and I think the one common thing there is the size of those 3 teams.  Edrick Montgomery is better suited to play the 4 and Rodney Rogan would do great at the 3 spot but they have to serve as our two big men.  That works against most teams but it doesn't work as well against the really big teams.  If Millsaps could find a player for the 5 spot next year (maybe a juco player) to move Montgomery and Rogan to their natural positions then I think Millsaps could have their best team ever next year.

As for the women, we have a long way to go to catch up with the league but our coach shouldn't be judged by her first season.  Our last coach left last May or June and the new coach was hired in the summer.  There was very little experience among the returning players and no chance to recruit new players.  In a lot of ways it was like the situation Coach Wise inherited with the men's team a few years ago and I hope the women's team can move up the ranks just as the men have done in the last few years.

And just a quick response to TeeItHigh--as I said before, I have no problem with Matt Nestheide winning player of the year and he was great this weekend but don't think that Edrick Montgomery was anything less of a player or was any less valuable to the Millsaps team.  There are many very good players in this league and the pool of talent is getting deeper every season.  With so many underclassmen on the 3 All-SCAC teams, I think the competition for POTY next year will be full of legitimate contenders.

[pbrooks3]

RE: frank_ezelle's note on Mr. Montgomery, TeeItHigh isn't dissing him as a most valuable player to his team, he's simply saying Nestheide earned his stripes as POTY.  I agree with Tee on this one.

[DPU3619]

Montgomery hosed for player of the year???  After the weekend of basketball that I witnessed from Matt Nestheide from Centre, he should feel hosed that he was not picked by all the other coaches in the league!  He was absolutely brilliant this weekend!  31 points today including 55 footer at the end of the first half to put Centre back up 12 (this following a 7-0 run by Trinity to cut it to nine). 

I obviously said that...before that happened...

Your folks' thoughts on going to Wooster?

[frank_ezelle]

There's not really isn't much of a disagreement here on POTY.  As I posted on Saturday, I think Matt got the award because Centre tied for the top in the regular season and I think Edrick would have gotten the award if Millsaps had won the regular season.  Both are great players and my only point is that both are great players.  TeeItHigh was basically indicating that it was a no-brainer to pick Matt over Edrick and I would disagree with that.

On the point of Matt having a great tournament, that goes without dispute.  His game yesterday was almost as good as the game Edrick played last year when matched up head-to-head with 2006 POTY Reggie Magnusson.

[JJFlash]

I left Memphis right after the game ended yesterday to make the long drive back to Texas so I haven't had a chance to weigh in on the final game.

First of all Centre played an extraordinary game and deserved the victory without question.  They clearly were the better team.  I hope they continue to play this well in the NCAA.  If they do, they should acquit themseleves well and represent the SCAC admirably.  CONGRATULATIONS!

The game may have been epitomized by the very first possession.  Centre won the tip and went to work against the Trinity zone.  This was the same zone that gave Depauw such trouble the night before.  The Tigers were working extremely hard on defense and showing the same grit as the night before.  Matt Jacobson hit a contested 3-pointer as the shot clock sounded.  This happened at least 3 times in the game not counting the desparation shot at the half time buzzer.  

Although the disappointment runs deep at Trinity, they have to feel pretty good about the way the team developed over the year.  Credit has to be given to Coach C and his staff for getting the team to play its best basketball at just the right time.

As I mentioned a number of times here, a large number of young players saw significant playing time throughout the year and made substantial contributions.  They will lose only 3 players to graduation so it's my opinion that the program is in pretty good shape after all!