MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Serious kudos to our SLIAC bottom 3... players and coaches... Mac, Prin, Iowa Wesleyan.. they could have hung it up going into the last couple of weeks.. no conference tourney to shoot for, not even close proximity to a .500 record.. yet look what they have done..

Iowa Wesleyan beats Westminster,  takes Greenville to the final minute

Prin beats Blackburn, Westminster and Eureka... a major impact on the standings above them

Mac loses in last seconds to Webster, but comes back and beats Prin and Iowa Wesleyan

Good memories for the seniors, something to build on for coaches and returning players... while I can "whisper" the word underachieving in relation to one or two SLIAC teams this year, there is NO suggestion of that when pointing at IWU, Prin, or Mac.... only, hopefully, the term rebuilding...

[Greek Tragedy]

I have Greenville at Webster as one of the 10 games in the Pick Em League this week. Championship possibly on the line!

[hopefan]

I have Greenville at Webster as one of the 10 games in the Pick Em League this week. Championship possibly on the line!

Good game for the contest... should be a tough one to pick, though I imagine the selection committee will strongly favor Greenville....

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The 2018-19 season has entered it's final weeks. For some teams, their final games are this week. For others, they are fighting to hopefully still be playing next week and maybe beyond. While others hope their season stretches into March, as long as they take care of business this week and next.

The season can really all boil down to a couple of games. While November is just as important, February games seem to have a different feel to them. Regional Rankings coming out gives everyone a new sense of where they stand if they have postseason plans. Conference tournaments getting ready to start also gives gives teams more incentive to lock up seedings or berths.

As a result: A lot of craziness and games to watch on any given night.

On Sunday's Hoopsville, Dave and guests try and take the temperature of these final few weeks. Who has turned heads, who seems to be stumbling down the stretch, and who should we be talking about while we've been distracted by the usual suspects.

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio. Sunday's show starts at 7:00 p.m. ET right here: http://bit.ly/2GkK7C6 (or video Facebook Live and Periscope simulcasts).

If you have questions about Division III basketball, feel free to send them and we will answer them on a the show. Email them to dave.mchugh@d3sports.com or use any of the social media options below.

Guests Schedule (order subject to change):
- Ashlee Rogers, Marymount women's coach
- Kristina Baugh, Mass-Boston women's coach
- Jarred Samples, UDallas men's coach and national committee member (NABC Coach's Corner)
- John Thompson, North Carolina Wesleyan men's coach
- Bob Quillman, IWUHoops.com (Central Region)
- Ryan Scott, D3hoops.com Senior Writer (Top 25 Double-Take with Quillman)

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts, choose your favorite avenue to listen and/or subscribe via the the following four avenues (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville




Don't forget you can always interact with us:
Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
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Email: hoopsville@d3hoops.com
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[hopefan]

Hopefan's Player of the week... in all deference to IWU's Jarryd Fernandez who had a solid game in 1 point loss to Mac and 51 against Greenville, assumedly many being layups at the end of the up and down the court hoops vs Greenville..

My POW is Nigel Wilcox, Webster.. two workman-like games in tough, critical Webster wins

9 for 14, 19 points, 13 rebounds vs Westmin, a 3 point win
6 for 9, 17 points, 15 rebounds vs Blackburn, a 5 point win....

[hopefan]

Eureka vs Greenville tonight.... should be fun!!!!!  Would like to see Bennington get 60!!!!!

[hopefan]

Things I wonder about... I wonder how many SLIAC players read this page... I wonder how they view it?  I've been surprised both ways in the past.. once by a first team all conference player who virtually, in a teasing way, worshipped me... but another whom I approached was not even aware of the site... I wonder if the guys who do read it have respect for it, or if they think the main writer is full of ****... only  a few times has a poster acknowledged that he had been a player in the past, and only once to my knowledge, did that player acknowledge that he had been a reader at the time he was playing (with positive vibes about the boards at that time).... so whether it's this board, or the CCIW board or the MIAA board or the NESCAC board, wherever.. I wonder what the impact on the players is?

In the same vein.. I wonder what the coaches think?   I've seen praise, I've seen anger, I've had it scoffed at as garbage...

One thing to be sure about.. I call it as I see it  (though I do admit being intimidated a little by Denny in the old days).... Yes, 99.9% of sports fans wouldn't get it, but I view D3hoops as more watchable than any other level of the game...

[hopefan]

Incidentally... in my All Conference spreadsheet, the SLIAC Player of the Year had turned into a 3 man race... it has been great fun watching the overall list change with each game's performances....Also a very good 2 man race for Frosh of the Year...and I think, one of the better Freshman classes the conference has seen.....

[GU1999]

Regarding the hopeful 60 for Dakota Bennington tonight, I would typically regard such hope as fancy, but given Eureka's willingness to have their guards attempt 3's with GU and not settle for the end of press break layups/dunks, it is possible.  I recall that Shea had a career night last year in a sub 100 pt team effort while shooting 14 3's.  Two years ago Hank Thomas went for 40+ in both games and is averaging 33 in his last 5 v. GU.  If anyone gets 60 tonight, I think its Hank T. 

Since the inception of the system, GU leads the series 5 - 2, and that includes the Fehan run.  I do think that GU has the strong advantage tonight. 

[GU1999]

As for the GU game on Saturday at IWU, I thought that the crowd sounded great on the video.  They were really into it and that clearly propelled them throughout the game.  One of the strengths was the IWU rebounding.  They disallowed GU to get off on the offensive boards (a key component of the system).   GU needed a gritty performance to pull out the W and they did just enough.  A very evenly played game. 

I wonder if the long trip to Iowa on Saturday morning, compounded with the long trip to KY on Wednesday and coming off all the 200pt game craziness was wearing on the GU guys a bit. 

Tonight is also a road trip to Eureka, but its not quite as far as the last two. 

 

[GU1999]

Interesting scheduling note, GU has three games this week culminating with the potential battle of 2 loss teams on Saturday at Webster.  Webster on the other hand chose to make this a two game week with their make-up game coming next Monday against Prin.  It will be interesting to see Websters scheduling strategy helps come Saturday. 

[GU1999]

Closer than expected but Greenville over IWU, Webster over Blackburn, UNBELIEVABLE Prin over Westmin, Eureka over Fontbonne, Spalding ove Mac


So how is the race shaping up...

Webster and Greenville tied at 13-2... Webster has home and away with Prin, home with Greenville.. Prin showed they're learning to win, be careful Webster

Greenville has  at Eureka... Westmin at home... before the matchup with Webster...    who knows, you think of Greenville as winners over all, but Westmin beat them, it could happen again...leading into the Webster matchup. Eureka put it together vs Fontbonne... Greenville can't look ahead to Webster..

Spalding is at 10-6...has at Blackburn, at Fontbonne... two tough games on the road.. They need one to clinch a spot, both for certain 3rd place and a neutral court game in the first round of the conference tourney

Westmin at 9-7 now and the shocking loss to Prin just kills them... they have at Greenville, and Mac ... If they lose to Greenville, they'll finish with 8 losses, and a possible tie with Blackburn...

What does this mean vis-a-vis the the potential tie break between GU and Webster for the top spot. Previously, we were thinking that Webster had the upper hand as it held the tie break based on beating Westmin 2x, but now we may have to think about Blackburn which GU beat 2x and Webster did not.  It likely will not come to this, but its something to stir the mind.

So Blackburn's dream comes true, they see Westmin lose to Prin...
Blackburn at 8-8 has  home to Spalding, and Prin... .. If they win those two, they'll likely finish tied with Westminster, and because they swept Westmin, would have the tiebreaker

Eureka at 7-8 ... if they win their remaining 3 games...  they could finish in a 3 way tie with Blackburn and Westm...but would still finish behind Blackburn in the tie breaker...

[hopefan]

Interesting scheduling note, GU has three games this week culminating with the potential battle of 2 loss teams on Saturday at Webster.  Webster on the other hand chose to make this a two game week with their make-up game coming next Monday against Prin.  It will be interesting to see Websters scheduling strategy helps come Saturday.

Great point.....

[Greek Tragedy]

Interesting scheduling note, GU has three games this week culminating with the potential battle of 2 loss teams on Saturday at Webster.  Webster on the other hand chose to make this a two game week with their make-up game coming next Monday against Prin.  It will be interesting to see Websters scheduling strategy helps come Saturday.

Great point.....

Probably not a choice. Can't reschedule for Monday because Principia plays Tuesday and can't reschedule for Thursday because Webster plays Wednesday.

[GU1999]

Good point.