MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Denny McKinney]

Mucho Thanks, FD40. Time to Finish.

[Former Devil 40]

EC 55-51. Mark lessen playing like a man.

[Former Devil 40]

Winner winner. Less POY Fritsch 2nd tram

[hopefan]

1st team.  Lessen.  Whitlock.  MaAfee.  Robinson.  Prophet.  2nd team Fritsch.  Brasheer.  Smith.  James.  Lee

[hopefan]

half. SU 32. WU 25. could be worse

[hopefan]

14 min. tied 37

[hopefan]

48 39SU

[hopefan]

51. 41. su.  7 min

[hopefan]

61. 45. su. 4min.over

[hopefan]

70 56. su. final

[hopefan]

2 best big men in the conference took control when they had to and led their teams to wins... Lessen for Eureka couldn't be stopped the whole night but I said they needed something extra from someone else, and thet got it from Niko riviera.. 7 for 8 from the field, 18 points...  Jametrius Brasheer dominated the inside game after Webster tied it at 37, and  spalding ran away from Webster.. Brasheer finishes with 14...

Should be a great matchup tpmorrow night... it's the one I was looking forward to...

[hopefan]

Motel nights... how do guys that travel do it?  VERY restless night..

Lots of oneway streets in Louisville, some of them not very well marked.. reminded me of St Louis

Spalding did actually have some fans.. at least they outnumbered Webster, Eureka, Westmin...

Spalding really is good.. well coached...UNSELFISH.... here's a team that runs away with the conference and gets only their two obvious guys on the 3 All Conference teams.. why?  Because someone different does it every night.. guys like Sangester, Cutsinger, Gabriel, Barber, Blakemore are all GOOD players.. they could start for any team in the conference, but with Spalding's talent, one night they'll have 15, the next night 3.. ie will Barber.. played super the last two times I saw him, gets shut out last night..  Spalding really is good.  I agree with Denny, this team, if they win tonight, and if they get a reasonable draw in the tourney, coild get a win next week...

Not to overlook Eureka... but I do not have the confidence in their ability to take care of the ball....  16 turnovers tonight = Loss... Spalding will take advantage...  and Mark Lessen gave so much effort last night... does he have it him to go that far tonight?... One thing could win it for EC tonight, and I feel it's critical for Jordan Kindred to have one last huge night... he passed up shots last night dishing the ball.. my attitude is follow through to the paint, get the shot get the foul...

To me, Eureka's play is at the level of the 'typical' SLIAC champ... Spalding may just be a level beyond that....

One statement I won't back away from by the way.. this Spalding TEAM looks better without Dewhon McAfee than with him.. sure it was great to go to Dewhon in crunch time, but they would stand and watch as Dewhon got any jump shot he wanted.... NOW, with great ball movement, they're getting BETTER shots from a number of people, all who can make them.... Spalding undefeated since losing McAfee....BUT.. tonight is the real test....

and Lessen vs Brasheer...  I'll go to Denny, who unfortunately chose not to watch much SLIAC the last two years.. but what other SLIAC post men in the last twenty years match these guys... my time is limited to 8 or 9 years, and my memory is poor, but I can't think of anyone..  Lessen big and mobile, Brasheer STRONG...

All Conf... obviously, from my paragraph above, I would have preferred Brasheer make 1st team....

Question that nobody will answer... if the first team was by position... a point, a shooting 2, a small 3, a rebounding 4, a post... who would be first team?

Lessen post   (over Brasheer, Whitlock)
Robinson or Prophet 4   (they are really 3's, but play 4's for their teams)  (over Fritsch who disappeared too often)
Smith or James 3...  James 3 is silly, but that's the role you have to assign him at Westmin.. if Kindred had played more...
McAfee 2
Point.. geesh.. a real crap shot.. Best, but he missed too many games... Edwards great D, no offense.. Mumphard didn't get his team wins... Gentry - good some times horrible others....Gabriel.. Spalding rotation cuts his minutes....
Miseraca not for me...Tough call...

[hopefan]

VERY tough room. 

[RFMichigan]

Loved your summary of Spaulding's play and players. I do appreciate a TEAM effort, but also appreciate individual effort such as Lessen must have had last night to carry the Red Devils.

[Former Devil 40]

Here are my thoughts on the conference tourney after last night assuming it stays at 4 teams:

There needs to be a permanent location for the tournament. I don't care if it is a neutral site or at one of the STL schools. The location should be in the STL area. This way parents fans and teams that don't make the tournament can still plan a weekend and come watch. Have the semi finals on Saturday and the championship Sunday afternoon so people don't have to take off work or skip class on Friday.

As far as door money goes you can split it between the school hosting the event and whichever team takes 1st in te regular season.

This to me would allow for a better turnout because last nights atmosphere in the gym was terrible.

Sorry for the rant.