WBB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[pbrooks3]

Good win for DePauw.  Actually I was surprised the score was this close, though a 3rd win over a strong opponent in a single year is impressive.  Well, can this team repeat last year's record breaking year?

[pbrooks3]

Congratulations to DePauw, Oglethorpe and Trinity for their D3 bids tonight.

[FlightofthePetrel]

Go Stormy Petrels!!!  ya'll left it all out on the court today and I couldn't be more proud of you ladies.  I know you'll do well in the tournament and I hope I can make it out to see at least one of your games.

Good luck to Depauw and Trinity... represent the SCAC well, we're all pulling for eachother now.

[spfan22]

Womens Tourney set: 

Depauw hosts Denison.. i would suspect a win there for Depauw.. that may set up a Depauw/Wilmington match up in the second round.. bet that would be a good game to see

Trinity travels to Mcmurry in which should be a pretty good game.. 3 of the 4 losses for Mcmurry came at the hands of powerhouse Howard Payne so I would suspect that they are a very good team

OU travels to KY to play in-state rival Piedmont.. rematch of an early season game in which OU won by 19.. OU has played well against Piedmont the last few years.. I hope this game won't be any different.. although I would suspect a much closer game.. a win would set up a game at host Thomas More on Sat..

Good luck to all SCAC teams.. hopefully OU can grab their first NCAA tourney victory

[FlightofthePetrel]

Just a thought... since the NCAA is fairly concerned over money... Would it be reasonable for Oglethorpe and Piedmont to play in Georgia then bus the winner to KY.  Since these two schools are so close it would save on the cost of an extra bus.  I assume this could be done with other schools that are in the tournament as well...

Thomas More is just south of Cincy, for future reference.  Well within the 400 miles.

Future reference came sooner than expected... I may be making the trip.

[spfan22]

So Flight:  which game should I plan on coimng to?? no way I can make both.. but I dont know if I want to risk missing the Friday game because they have to win Friday before they can play on Saturday..

any suggestions?? are u gonna make both games or just one of them?? maybe we can carpool up if you are going to just one game??

[DPU3619]

Just a thought... since the NCAA is fairly concerned over money... Would it be reasonable for Oglethorpe and Piedmont to play in Georgia then bus the winner to KY.  Since these two schools are so close it would save on the cost of an extra bus.  I assume this could be done with other schools that are in the tournament as well...

Well, sure, in theory.  But, what day are you going to play it?  Can't play it on Friday at Dorough and then expect to play Saturday at the Connor Convocation Center, can you?

You certainly can't play it before that.  You'd have a distinct advantage over every other team in the tournament by having 2 or 3 more days to prepare for your opponent.  Seems a little unfair that you'd have those extra days of practice to get ready Thomas More while everybody else is still practicing for their first round game.

In the long run, these four team pods save not only money, but also time for all the schools involved.  This is just one unfortunate example where it does not.

[OUfan22]

I guess the voters thought despite her TOs, kulavic was STILL the best player in the SCAC...im not sure why thats so confusing...the petrels wouldnt be the team they are without her...and her other stats, especially her 58.5fg% (keep in mind, shes's a gaurd) stick out like a sore thumb as well...the 4 or 5 possesions a game she turns the ball over might as well be missed shots, of which she has less than any other player...and she IS averaging less than 5pg, its 4.9 

[FlightofthePetrel]

I see what you're saying Wes... I guess the only way it would work would be if they were playing a Friday/Sunday schedule like we do in conference and Saturday could be used as a travel day.  Guess my plan wouldn't work as well as I thought...

SPfan...   We're playing tennis at Maryville on Friday and then I'm thinking about making the drive up for the game on Saturday... I've already got one passenger, the more the merrier and the cheaper the hotel/trip.  Call me

[vozdelospetrels]

I would just like to comment about Kulavic's TO's. If you haven't seen her play in person, then you might not understand her TO's. There are some games where she has her fair share of typical TO's (errant passes or having her pocket picked, or traveling violations), however, a lot of her TO's come on offensive fouls, and passes that her teammates can't hang on to, not errant passes but passes that hit them in the hands. She probably averages a little over 1 offensive fouls per game, and I would bet there is on the average 1 or 2 passes per game that her teammates can't hang on to or they aren't ready for. I've seen plenty of amazing passes from Kulavic this season go on the stat sheet as TO's because her teammates weren't ready for the pass or couldn't hang on to them. I really don't think her TO's are as big a deal as many make them out to be. Additionally, with OU's style of play they are asked to push the ball upcourt; the fastest way to move the ball is with the pass and a lot of those full court passes go long. OU does not play possession basketball, therefore, their TO's can not be analyzed like other teams'.

[DPU3619]

I've seen plenty of amazing passes from Kulavic this season go on the stat sheet as TO's because her teammates weren't ready for the pass or couldn't hang on to them. I really don't think her TO's are as big a deal as many make them out to be.

First, let me say I'm not upset she won the award.  For my money, she's the most important player to her team on any team in this league.  Take her out, and OU is in bigger trouble than DPU or TU if you take their leading scorer away. 

But, that being said, I refuse to buy into any argument about turnovers that attempts to shed a positive light on them.  Turnovers are inherently bad.  I don't care how you commit them.  She (or anyone else) should not be considered as a better candidate because they have "better turnovers than it appears."  I  don't think such a concept exists.  If somebody fumbles a Kulavic pass, then she probably shouldn't throw it 30 more times during the course of a season.  That, or your statistician shouldn't punish her for teammates that can't catch.  I also don't care that some high percentage of her turnovers may come on offensive fouls.  She still turned the basketball over.  It counts just the same as dribbling it off your foot or throwing it right to a player on the other team.  If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.  Turnover is a turnover, and no one is any better than any other.

Now, does she do enough in other facets of the game to make up for her turnovers?  I say she certainly does.  Maybe other fans of teams in this league say she does not.  She obviously scores.  Best shooter in our league.  Still had the 7th most assists in the league this year.  Good on the ball defender.  She's a great player.  The first time I saw her play, I had a feeling she'd win at least one of those before she got out of there.  But, there are no "good" turnovers.  Her turnovers weren't better turnovers than anybody else's.  There's just no such thing.

[vozdelospetrels]

Wes,

I never called them good TO's but it's not as if she throwing passes in the stands. I agree that no TO is good, but having few TO's is not necessary for her to be a great player. Think about this for a second, some players only average 2 or 3 rebounds, should they be considered lesser of players because we think they should have averaged 4 or 5 rebounds. We just say that that person doesn't rebound, who knows how many possessions they have cost their team for not going after rebounds. The way she plays she is going to have TO's, the way the team plays they are going to have a lot of TO's. As a fan I wish they would cut them down, but that's their style of play. You take the bad with the good as long as the good outways the bad. In her case, the good trumps the bad. I just don't think that it fair for people to say she not have won POTY because of her TO's.

Kulavic at 4.75 TO's/game accounted for 21.11% of her teams TO's, Pruzin for example, while only averaging 2.82 TO's/game accounted for 17.79% of her teams TO's. When you break it down like that I don't think the TO's are that much different. To me it comes down to difference in style of play between the teams.

[Ralph Turner]

Trinity fans, a basketball expert whom I greatly respect really enjoyed the TU-McM game.  S/he commented about how disciplined and well-coached you were.  The contrast in basketball styles made for a enjoyable game for the serious basketball fan.

Good luck, and thanks!

[FlightofthePetrel]

I keep reading about all the snow that's falling near Danville on over on the mens board.  I'm planning on driving to Thomas More for the second round game, that is if we beat Piedmont.  Does anyone from that area have any advice for traveling, what to expect or even if the trip is possible.  I'll be leaving from Chattanooga Saturday morning...

[DPU3619]

I keep reading about all the snow that's falling near Danville on over on the mens board.  I'm planning on driving to Thomas More for the second round game, that is if we beat Piedmont.  Does anyone from that area have any advice for traveling, what to expect or even if the trip is possible.  I'll be leaving from Chattanooga Saturday morning...

Cincy's calling for about 8 or 9 inches a foot of snow between now and tomorrow afternoon, I believe.  It's currently snowing pretty heavily here in Indy.  (Working at a TV station is at least good for something.  I've always got the forecast.)

I would expect the main roads and interstates to be pretty good by the time you get through there tomorrow.  The first 300 miles or so of your journey won't be too bad. 

However, I'd be a little concerned with the last 4 or 5 miles once you get to town and start having to navigate those city streets.  Having seen Crestview Hills, KY once before, it doesn't exactly scream "we've got a great public works department" to me.  The Chili's is good, though.  Right off 275, if I recall. 

Guess I don't really have advice for you, partner.  Depends how comfortable you are driving on a nice heavy snowpack.  Not calling for any ice or feezing stuff, so as long as you take 'er nice and easy, you should be OK.