MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Denny McKinney]

I hate to beat a dead horse... but... I'm watching the NEWMAC conference finals being played at Worcester Poly... beautiful facility, seating on the side the camera is facing is likely 1500.. don't know if there is similar on the side the camera is on.. but guess what... there is a track going around that splits those bleachers, and creates a balcony overhang at both ends of the court... and wow, that balcony might come into play once a year if the inbounds man steps back and throws a baseball pass full court, and the passer releases it too high... but what annoyed me about an earlier post was the reference that Spalding's facilities were 'bush league'... I have total allegiance to the Sliac and really take exception to that statement... compare SLIAC facilities to many newer D3 facilities and our facilities don't match up, but they are the SLIAC personality, older, smaller gyms, that I have come to love.... Measure each of our facilities against many other... some are ok..Fontbonne yes, Prin yes (though short in seating), Mac is dreary but does have more seating availability... no other facilities comes close to comparing to larger modern facilities... not Webster, not Westmin, not Greenville, not Blackburn, not Eureka, not Spalding.... I would think only Fontbonne would even be considered to host an NCAA tourney game if a SLIAC team ever merited consideration... But in no matter will I ever accept anything related to SLIAC basketball being referred to as 'bush league'.....  We are at a lower level in D3... it serves a wonderful positive purpose...

You didn't attend the FU hosting Rockford women's NCAA 1st round game. The year they Upset the streak, Beat Rockford @ FU, went to #5 Millikin and won, then to St. Thomas to the sweet 16. Wow. Can't believe you missed that one SLIAC Fan

[WUPHF]

Such an obvious case in point was this year's Midwest regional ratings... Illinois Wesleyan and Wash U coming in with outstanding resumes...  the formulas favored Wash U by a hair, so Wash U each time was rated No 1 over IWU... BUT IWU CLOBBERED Wash U when they met... common sense says IWU should have been No 1, but no, the ultimate decision went with the numbers each time...

Not necessarily!  That game was played in the first week of December.  And, one of those two teams has not lost a game since (and that team is not IWU). 

Otherwise, congratulations to Webster on the big win over Spaulding.  I also hope they get to go on the road and enjoy a much deserved championship weekend experience.  I have watched way too many SLIAC teams (basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc) play at WUSTL.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

A game at the beginning of the season is weighted the same as at the end of the season, believe it or not. However, IWU actually only has the head-to-head game in their favor... Wash U has a "win" in other categories giving them the edge.

[hopefan]

We have mentioned it on Twitter a few times... 12:30 EST for the men... 2:30 EST for the women.

Is a Twitter account now a necessity to get information? 

if so, I'm definitely falling behind.......

[Denny McKinney]

On where WU will play. I went thru this 4 times with the Men's team and a couple with the women's when I Was SID. I spoke to Coach Bunch on his long bus ride home last nite. And, WU agrees. Send us someplace far and new.

I know the majority of players families are rooting for one more trip, too. Like Coach Mac said, Wash U has great facilities. No Question! But, different schools look at hosting differently. Wash U is not huge on what they do when they Host. Which I blame on how frequently and how much blame stuff going on at the same time. I went to one game of there basketball's open nite tourney, There was a huge crowd next door at the stadium. I'm not sure what stage of the women's NCAA soccer tournament was in. But there were A Ton of cars and buses and stands full. NCAA Basketball Tourney and you get a poster in the window at the front door.

St. Thomas, Millsaps, Hanover. It was a Big Deal. Every pole on campus had a NCAA Flag or Banner hanging. Your School name on the Hotel Billboard. Our Honorary Team Mgr. from one trip managed to get me reservations and about 80 people thru a Lone Star Restaurant at 10:00 pm after a game. Yes, the franchised restaurant, stayed open an hour and half late. There are so much more.

Bunchtime you got it right. A weekend on the road in March is an incredible feeling. And, the fans will get there. That was the problem @ Wheaton. Their fans looked really put out that we had a fan charter bus full, Show Up.

And, the restaurants get better when the NCAA is paying.

I'm still holding out hope for a trip east/southeast!!!!

[BunchTime]

Was curious to see the results of all SLIAC reps in the NCAA tourney.  Anyone know if and where this info is available at?

[JWJ]

Was curious to see the results of all SLIAC reps in the NCAA tourney.  Anyone know if and where this info is available at?

Bunch time...it's included in the Tournament program posted online....http://static.psbin.com/b/z/zrx6yjkacuqo30/mbbtourn14.pdf (pg 11)

[hopefan]

Was curious to see the results of all SLIAC reps in the NCAA tourney.  Anyone know if and where this info is available at?

Go to D3hoops.com front page... hit 'news', and under it 'playoff history'.. that shows you the champion each year ... hit the champion, and it goes to all tourney results from that year... unfortunately you have to go thru year by year...

[BunchTime]

Thanks guys!

[hopefan]

wow... the tourney program has it in one easy  shot.... though the D3 history is always fun to study...

[BunchTime]

Yeah, I looked at both, hope.  Man, sure hope Webster can finally compete in a tourney game. In its 3 appearances, we have got beat by 25, 25, and 30.  Looks like Fontbonne came the closest wifh a 3 point loss.

[hopefan]

AND Buncher.. notice it's when we got sent south... a huge question in my mind has always been how much more competitive would the SLIAC be if we were anywhere but the midwest....

[BunchTime]

Good point.  Well, we'll all know soon enough where the Gorloks are headed.

[Denny McKinney]

Bunchtime - That was a tie game with 14 seconds left. They hit a 28 footer with 7 seconds.

BUT> IT NEVER SHOULD OF BEEN TIED. I'm asking ya. Have you ever seen a player going from halfcourt, in for a uncontested lay up and no one chasing. Before Fournie takes last dribble to go up....... There is a whistle!!!!!!!! The Mr. Referee (you know the guys we're suppose to trust unconditionally) was running behind the play and heard something from MH-B bench. A heated discussion between The Mr. Referee and the Head Coach.  Chad finished the play lay up good. He thought maybe crowd noise. After the Mr. Referee got done. Here it is!!! He walked to the table an officially gives the BENCH A WARNING and FU the ball out of bounce in the corner. My Dad went 30% on the Beohiem Scale.  After another Mr. Referee tells Dad, " It's ok Coach, It's Ok. We're going to huddle." Then we get the rarest of sites. One referee refusing to talk to the other two. This Cat just keeps walking, "I made the call." Bunchtime I was stunned. Time Warp. Car wreck slo motion feeling. We finished the possession having a shot swatted by their 7 footer. That was with about 3 minutes to go. But "THE TWO PTS. THAT NEVER HAPPENED." The other two Tenn. Refs raised their hands to Dad. Like, "He's all yours Coach." Dad went 50% Beohiem on him and there was NO WAY the other two refs would T Him. And MR. REFEREE from LA. just realized he had made an Ass of Himself. But he wasn't changing the call or calling a T on either bench. And, Dad never in 50 years, used a curse word to a Ref. That made the zebras more frustrated, at times. He always said of the F - word, "It shows a lack of vocabulary. If you can not use another word to express yourself." 

The MH-B Coach came to town with an Attitude Anyway. They were #1 seed and had to travel 400 miles to a Neutral Site. That play didn't win them the Game. (That's what your suppose to say now to stay PC). But, that nite was as Hard a Loss I took in All 50 years. That was Chad Fournies last Game. Chad and Dean, Two brothers separated by 18 yrs and Both Dad's Captains. It was just like we had won and the score board was wrong. It was still a Great Nite. The Millsaps Family fans up in the stands started rooting for our Kids, up behind our parents and families. We were regionally ranked that year and caught a #1 on a neutral court. Best you could hope for. Memories!!!!

[BunchTime]

Wow, didn't know that's how it went down, Denny.  Tough, tough loss for sure.  Thanks for sharing!