MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[BunchTime]

Daryl, how are you doing good buddy?  I suspect that you are referring to Roberts, huh?  Basilio is out of eligibility, so that leaves only 1 player that is possible to make a return.  I have not heard anything about the situation other than Roberts is still attending Webster but decided not to play basketball because he is involved in 1,000 activities/campus organizations.  Will see if anything surfaces!

[Beaver_SID]

Will be interesting to compare Fontbonne performance against Fisk to Webster performance against the same.

Also BeaverSID strangely quiet on the suddenly struggling Beavers - anxious to hear whether the poor performances are just a little pothole in the road to success.....

hopefan-
I think BC lost two games that were well within the guys of being good games but overall they new they were going to b outmatched. The Rose-Hulman boys came in and shot the lights out of the Beaver Dome, which is very surprising not to many people do that. Wash U was a clear long shot for the guys and eveyone knew it. The guys have a couple games coming up that they should be favored in, having a nice 2 home games, and then take to the road. I think BC will have a slight edge with the shortest break in the confrence, maybe it will help em out knowing they have a medium rated ending schedule theyll throw it all out against Webster and the other toughies. I wouldnt say these last 2 games ae speed bumps at all, they did what any team in the SLIAC would have been able to do against Wash U. and just didnt shoot well against Rose-Hulman. I think when they get going with the crazies in the corner it will be a whole different team. I would like to see Hammond get hot on the outside, just to see him and Allan play like they did last year. I think Howard could take Hammonds place in this gameplan and have zeb play under the boards to get the kind of OFF rbs they did last season. 

[hopefan]

Very entertaining game at Fontbonne  -  Fisk wins 83-80.  Close game most of the way, Fontbonne basicly has it won  with 2 minutes left up 8, but turn it over  two or three times and miss a layup to give Fisk a one point lead. Fontbonne comes down, misses two good shots and has to foul - Fisk converts for up 3 with 18 seconds left  -  Fontbonne comes down and gets a wide open 3, just off, and Fisk has the win.

BUT  -  people, Fontbonne is the new darkhorse pick in the SLIAC race  -  Wilburt was sandbagging as expected, whether he knew it or not, because Fisk was good.  If Fontbonne had pushed the ball inside in the 1st half like they did in the second, I think they win.  They need to take better care of the ball, but that will come with time.  The 3 frosh are real - Parker quick, strong to the basket, Branch a good shooter and more than just a 3 point shooter, and White a very mobile 6'5" frosh.  I already knew Storant and Fogerty were good SLIAC big men.  and McCoy - well sorry, if he doesn't get under control, he hurts them.  I liked Forney off the bench too.

Good to talk with superfan FCnews, a good basketball head  -  sat with Coach Bunch during the 2nd half and enjoyed chatting hoops with him.  Webster has their work cut out for them tomorrow. Fisk is so quick and athletic

What a shame this community doesn't recognize d3 hoops - it was really a fun game to watch tonight.

[fcnews]

Hopefan - Good to see ya tonite. I told you it would be entertaining.

Hope did a good job filling you all in. I'll just add some stats.
Fisked started four seniors and a junior against the Griffin's. Fisk was led by Glaze with 18, Patton 14, Hinton and Pillow 13. This was a very good jump shooting team.
Fontbonne was lead by Parker 20, Branch 16 (4-7 3's),Fogerty 14 and White 12. Storandt had a good game on the boards with 11. Fontbonne won the battle of the boards 39-37. This was another good learning experince.

Good luck tommorrow nite Gorlocks!

[fcnews]

Strange quote from Beaver SID "Rose Hulman boys came in and shot the lights of the Beaver Dome".

Am I the only one to get the joke?

[Mac Attack]

From this morning's Bloomington (Il) Pantagraph:

"Eureka College senior Chris Tarpley has been chosen as the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 20-26.

Tarpley, a 6-foot-7 forward from Pekin, lifted the Red Devils to an 83-78 win in their home opener versus Knox College with 22 points and 11 rebounds. It was his second double-double in just three games this season. He increased his shooting percentage for the season to 57.9 by making 10-of 15 attempts against Knox."

Not sure how this award is determined week in and week out - but MacMurray's Jerel Ronertson had better numbers than Tarpley. Maybe the difference was Eureka won their game and MacMurray didn't.

Fontbonne's showing last night should be a wake-up call for the rest of the SLIAC. Nice to see fcnews posting at 2:37 a.m. this morning. This board has to lead the league in the early riser (or late to bed) category.

[wilburt]

BUT  -  people, Fontbonne is the new darkhorse pick in the SLIAC race  -  Wilburt was sandbagging as expected, whether he knew it or not, because Fisk was good.... Fisk is so quick and athletic

If you think this year's FISK team was quick and athletic you should have seen last year's team!  I wasn't sandbagging my friend, this IS REALLY a mediocre FISK basketball team compared to FISK teams in years past.

As an aside playing D1 schools is no big deal if you don't get hung up on the other teams' jerseys and just play basketball and execute your offense and play defense.  I guess that is why FISK is the only D3 school ever to beat a D1 school (Tennessee State) two consecutive years (2003 & 2004 seasons)! Also, it (playing D1 schools) can really prepare you for playing a D3 schedule.  At least I hope it does this season!

[Mac Attack]

I agree with Wilburt. I'm pretty sure this year's game against Western Illinois was MacMurray's first ever game against a D1 opponent and it was a pretty darn good basketball game. Mac held its on for 3/4s the game - but it was a nine minute stretch in the first half that was X-Rated and that was the difference. It was a great atmosphere and the Mac players gave it their best shot. I think it is 100% true that most teams will "play up" to the level of competition. The tough job for any coach is try and get that same kind of effort throughout the season, regardless of the opponent. Bottom line is if you can hang with a D1 team for 20 minutes, you should be a D3 conference contender. Hopefully MacMurray will play WIU again next season, and I would trade a game against Grinnell for a game against Illinois State, Eastern Illinois, or Northern Illinois in a hearbeat.

[wilburt]

Mac Attack:

Don't forget the nice guarantees that a D3 program will get for playing at a D1 site!  Some people "poo poo" the idea of D3s playing D1s but it can work out for a D3 program on many different levels (team confidence, financial revenue and the experience/memory of playing in a big-time D1 facility).   

It can be a win-win, and help a D3 program down the stretch come February when they look back at those early D1 games they played.

I predict a Webster victory over FISK this evening barring a miracle.   

[Mac Attack]

I wonder what the financial guarantee is? I would assume WIU paid the travel and meal expense, but beyond that, is additional $$ paid to the visiting school? Would be interesting to know how much, and whether or not those funds are earmarked for the men's basketball program (since that was the team that made the trip) or if the $$ goes into the general athletic account for distribution at the AD's discretion. Anyone know how your school may handle this?

On another subject, MacMurray recently really cleaned house within its athletic department. Let go the head football coach and one assistant, the head baseball coach (who was also the SID), the men's and women's golf coach, and eliminated the wrestling program. According to the AD, who is doing a terrific job, MacMurray wants to have head coaches with Master's degrees who can teach at least nine hours a semester. Although I hate to see good people lose their jobs, a school the size of MacMurray must have coaches who can also teach. Simple economics. We're not at the level where we can hire people to only coach. That's a price we can't afford to pay right now. The wrestling program was led by a terrific coach and a lot of kids participated. Hate to see it go, but tough times require tough choices. MacMurray will be hiring a new President for the next school year, and although our current President has done a solid job the past 10 years, my sense is the Board of Trustees will want to bring in a younger administrator who has a track record of both academic achievement and fundrasing success. I look for MacMurray to really grow and expand its student opportunities in the coming years. It's tough to have another D3 school (Illinois College) two miles down the road. In a town the size of Jacksonville, this makes the competition for media coverage, fan base, contributions, and general community/corporate support very, very difficult. Hopefully better days are ahead.

Back to SLIAC men's basketball....

[hopefan]

Wilburt, your display of lack of confidence in Fisk must be reflective of your lack of knowledge of the SLIAC  -  remember, what is mediocre in your eyes when compared to previous Fisk teams COULD still be pretty darned good when compared to one of the weaker D3 conferences in the country.  Tonite's game intrigues me because of contrasting styles - Webster indeed could have 2 or 3 more wins this year, but they don't come close to matching Fisk's quickness and explosiveness - they do have good experience all around and strength in the middle - wish I could be there.  I'm sure Y jack lok or bunchtime will give us a full report.

[wilburt]

Wilburt, your display of lack of confidence in Fisk must be reflective of your lack of knowledge of the SLIAC  -  remember, what is mediocre in your eyes when compared to previous Fisk teams COULD still be pretty darned good when compared to one of the weaker D3 conferences in the country.  Tonite's game intrigues me because of contrasting styles - Webster indeed could have 2 or 3 more wins this year, but they don't come close to matching Fisk's quickness and explosiveness - they do have good experience all around and strength in the middle - wish I could be there.  I'm sure Y jack lok or bunchtime will give us a full report.

1. You are correct.  I don't have much exposure to the SLIAC.

2. The guarantees depend on what the schools can negotiate.  It could be hotel costs and food in lieu of $$$ or both.  For Fisk they play 3 of the 4 D1 schools in Nashville so it is just a 15 minute drive from the Fisk campus at the most. So there is no cost for hotel and food  etc. so it's just the $$$.

[pantherpride06]

We played Butler, Eastern Kentucky, and Morehead State in the last few years.  They do give the program money.  At Greenville, the money went into the MBB account.  That money was used to pay for the travel.  So, say we recieved 2,000 to go to Western Illinois, that went into our account then we payed for the travel.  Really, any money that is given to the program ontop of what is budged for us is a blessing because we usually run right at or over budget each year just with wear & tear of equipment or most likely, travel.  We get "sandbagged" (used a few times lately) on travel budget. 

Just to clear that up.  I don't feel comfortable about using the exact numbers that we made from those games, but they were a big help to the program for two years.

[fcnews]

Wow! From the talk you'd think Fontbonne got beat by St. Louis Christian last night. Fisk may very well be down from last year, but when 188 of 200 total minutes is played by 5 seniors and 2 juniors, I wouldn't call that a true rebuilding year. Fontbonne's inexperience has cost them two games now against quality opponents. These kids will mature.

Webster's maturity will help them in tonites match up. This will be the quickest team WU will face from here on out.

On the guarantee side yes it helps. FU's women had OCU and SIU-E, men will have two counting U of Tampa. Next year we add SLU. I know that FU received travel and a very nice steak dinner plus a check, to go to OCU. If you win it's even sweeter.

[pantherpride06]

I'm sure the steak dinner was alot nicer w/ a win!   Being a Hoosier, I know that we are very gracious!  We do what we can to hook people up...  I don't know if that was the case at Oakland City.  I'm just blowing smoke.  lol

Live updated by me from the Logan/Greenville game, however it should be a landslide by Greenville.  Game time in 2 hours!