MBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[d3allstar]

"Trinity is going to win 20 or 21 games," said Carthage coach Bosko Djurikovic. "They don't play in a league that's as good as the CCIW, so when we make a trip like this, we expect to succeed. Half a loaf isn't good enough. We have a chance to finish this trip 2-0, and that's what we want."

We (SCAC Fans) should be proud of SU to have perhaps changed this guys mentality about our conference.

[petey.petrel]

To address frank and BFIB and FOP.  FOP, I would agree with you that OU has been pretty inconsistent.  I've seen them play really well and make think they might be pretty good, then the next game stink up the joint.  When they are playing well, I think they can play with the top teams in the SCAC but how often will they play that well?  I was worried with them losing all those seniors that they would be in for a tough year, but despite the inconsistencies I think they have a shot at a pretty good year so I'm more optimistic now than I was before the season.  They have some good new players especially #10.   

[JJFlash]

First, Congrats to SU for beating Carthage.  I think d3allstar is dead on when he gives props to the Pirates for "changing the Carthage coach's opinion of the SCAC.  We all like to say' "a win is a win" when the team we support wins ugly.  Of course the the flip side is, "a loss is a loss".  Trinity was coming off of a 2 week layoff in the game against Carthage and it showed.  But........"A loss is a loss".  If the Carthage coach was stating that winning 20-21 games in the SCAC (or any conference for that matter) is something less than a good accomplishment, I really have to wonder about him.  Maybe some of the long time posters here can enlighten me.  What purpose does it serve to degrade the competiton, especially when you already beat them?

[Dave84]

well, we can't blame the Carthage coach for thinking that about the SCAC to be fair.  It's not like the SCAC has sent too many teams into later rounds in the post season, i think only twice have we sent teams very deep into the tournament.  while we sit around this break waiting for our teams to pick their schedules back up, why not strike up some conversation about All-time SCAC.  Which team (single year or single class) would you say was the best in the short history of the SCAC?  I'd love to read some opinions of the more established posters on this one.  frank?

[scaccommish]

Dave,
I'd throw out the 1994-95 Millsaps team (25-3) as a candidate for the best SCAC men's team ever. They outscored their opponents by 21 points a game and advanced to the third round of the NCAA tourney before losing to eventual national champion Wisconsin-Platteville. Phillip Robinson, Don Proctor, Brad Price, John Garber, Johnny Brunini and Zack Wallace are some of the big name players that come to mind from that team.

[FlightofthePetrel]

From the few seasons I've been around te SCAC I would have to say the Trinity team from 2004-2005 was pretty darn good.

Starting 5 of:
Sean Devins
Peter Murray
Andy Bates
Chad Stroeberg
Jason Morris
and Ross Burt coming of the bench!  That team was scary the one and only time I saw them play at OU, and they lost that game.

Another team I'd like to throw out there is the 04-05 Oglethorpe team.  They might not have finished with a good record but 5 players from that team will finish with over 1,000 career points.  Churchwell, Dickinson, Burr, Tulowitzky, Shaheed.... how that talented bunch didn't win more games is beyond me.

[scaccommish]

I think you also have to mention the 2001-02 DePauw team (24-4). They made it deeper than any men's team in league history - losing to eventual national champion Otterbein in the sectional finals. Joe Nixon and Joe Ringger - both on the All-SCAC 15th anniversary team - along with Mike Howland and Jeremy Bettis. All four scored 1,000+ points in their career and Nixon and Rinnger are both in the top 10 in SCAC scoring.

A match-up between the 1994-95 Millsaps team and the 2001-02 DePauw team would be a heck of a game.

[frank_ezelle]

I was thinking that the Millsaps team would be high on the list and I must confess that I never saw them play.  I graduated from Millsaps in 1973 and have lived in Jackson ever since, but really didn't follow Millsaps athletics until my nephews played basketball and football there from about 1998-2004.  That 1994-95 team was complete with size and great outside shooting and it would be hard to put any team ahead of them.

I did see the DePauw 2001-02 team and in my biased opinion, I think the 2000-01 Millsaps teams was their equal when it came to playing inside the SCAC.  What the Millsaps team lacked, as is often the case, was the size and strength on the inside to do well in the NCAA Tournament.  DePauw certainly had that and they were a team very well suited for NCAA play.

The Trinity 2004-05 team was very talented and they did well in the NCAA Tournament, but I saw them split with a very young Millsaps team that finished 9-16 in 2004-05 so I can't say that I would rank them at the top. 

Based on games that I actually saw over the years, I would rank the Millsaps 2000-01 and DePauw 2001-02 at the top with the Trinity 2004-05 team third.  Based on what I believe but didn't see with my own eyes, I would put the Millsaps 1994-95 team as the best in SCAC history.  I certainly expect that others would have a difference of opinion.

[vozdelospetrels]

To second SCACSID's pick; that 2001-2002 DePauw team was awesome. As a high school senior, I watched almost every SCAC team play at Oglethorpe that season and DePauw was the best. They were physically a very imposing team. Even though the OU team they were playing that season wasn't a good team, I was absoulutely impressed with DePauw.

Flightofthepetrel,
The 2004-2005 Oglethorpe team was a very streaky team and proved that they could compete with anybody in the SCAC on any given night, however, they didn't have a true physical presence. They were a shoot-em from deep, full court pressing team, that dropped back into an active 2-3 zone. They could shock a team once (especially at home in Dorough), but twice was too much for that team.

[carlweathers]

I will issue the correction for SCACSID.

The Depauw 2001-2002 team did not make it farther than SCAC men's team in league history.  Trinity 04-05 also made it to the sectional finals and lost to two-time eventual national champion UW-Stevens Point on the road. 

Stevens Point won their tourney games that year by 34, 18, 6, 23, and 24 (Pat Coleman, your site is an unbelievable thing and I thank you).  Anybody who saw that Stevens Point team in 04-05 or the year before knows how ridiculous they were.  Trinity was the second best team in the country that year.  They went through the regular season on relative cruise control (hence the loss to Millsaps, among others) but turned around to win the conference tourney games by 15, 19, and 19. 

People who saw the Millsaps teams in the mid 90's always say that they were pretty nasty. 

[scaccommish]

Good catch Carl...I had not added the 2004-05 Trinity team to my record book page for finishing in the Top 10 and overlooked that fact. There is no doubt that team is one of the best in conference history.

thanks for the correction.

[hendrixfan]

Merry Christmas to all SCAC players, parents, and fans!

Let's all hope the new year brings safe travel, good sportsmanship, and an exciting conference basketball season.

[JJFlash]

Good Call, Hendrixfan!  The same to you and yours!

[petey.petrel]

I think vozdelospetrels has a more realistic view of that 04-05 team.  You have to remember that the Shaheed of 04-05 was not the Shaheed of 06-07 or 07-08.  I didn't remember him even playing on that team so I checked out his stats.  While he did play a few minutes, he was 10-44 (23%) for the year.  When a post shoots 23%, that's pretty awful.  He's obviously developed nicely since then, but he was a nonfactor that year.  Tulowitzky also was not the 1st team player he later became that year.  He was a young sophomore that averaged 7 pts and shot 43%.

The 04-05 team was probably the smallest college basketball team I've seen.  Four guys 6' or smaller with a natural SF forced to play center and no bench whatsoever.  Most all HS teams are bigger.  Four of the guys mentioned from Trinity were  I believe 6'6 or taller, including a 6'8 and 6'11.  Only Churchwell would have even started for Trinity that year.  Only Churchwell would have scored 1000 points had they each gone to Trinity.  The OU guys have benefited from playing in a fast break type offense as opposed to a half court style so although they are all quality players, there stats are a little skewed because of style of play and the fact that they didnt have to sit for a year or two before playing.

That OU team was undersized in every game they played that year, but they were scrappy, could shoot the three, and could score in bunches so had a punchers chance every night out.  But like vozdelospetrels said they lacked size and an inside presence.

[FlightofthePetrel]

I definitely wasn't saying the the 04-05 OU team would rank up with the greatest SCAC teams of all time... just noting that all 5 starters would end up scoring over 1,000 points by the end of their careers.  I think Burr would have started for Trinity, remember he did set the SCAC record for 3's in a career- only playing 3.5 seasons.  Tulowitzky had always been a scorer, but he wasn't needed to score on that team (see what he did his final 2 seasons).  I will agree with you that Shaheed was a non factor that year, but that wasn't my point.  Seems like you and VOZ seem to share a bunch of the same opinions... but like to analyze mine and point out any wrong in mine...   Maybe that's why you have 5 posts and a -1 karma?  and it wasn't from me.