MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Thanks. I sent the men's and women's coach an e-mail about it last week. McKinney sent a nice response back. I didn't hear back from the women's coach.

[y_jack_lok]

I certainly didn't mean to imply that d3hoops was in any way responsible for getting the Webster-Lincoln Christian score wrong. I'm well aware that you get your info from other sources, and I'm confident that you accurately report the information you get. I'm pretty sure the scoreboard was correct at the end of the game, but if the official score book showed that LC had 76 points, I have to wonder how the discrepancy occured. More likely it was just a typo when the SLIAC entered the score.

hopefan -- I sure got a laugh out of your explanation .

[fcnews]

Now that things have been confirmed, I can mention an upcoming trip for the Fontbonne University squad.

The Griff's will be departing on August 10th for London, England. Two days of sight seeing and it's a short flight to Brussells. FU will be playing games in Belgiam, Holland and Germany. This will not be an all star team. It will be an expierence for these young men. This will be Coach McKinney's third "European Vacation".

Pretty nice recruiting tool. You know any 6'8 kids out there that have a desire to see Europe!!!

This will be a nice reward for players and families. They have been through a lot of growing pains the past two years.

[fcnews]

Hey Panther - This football game looks like a FU v. GC basketball game.

[BunchTime]

FC...need an equipment manager or team enforcer to keep players in their rooms?  I need a trip!! 

[pantherpride06]

Yes, It was definately an ugly game to start with.  But, my COLTS did prevail.  Now it's time for the Panthers of GC to turn it around?  Any Webster fans making the trip of I-44 & 70 to Greenville?

[pantherpride06]

Greenville / Principia Stats...

Greenville - 35/57 (61.4) FG // 10-20 (50.0) 3FG // 16-21 (76.2) FT

Simmons - 9 pts, 5 ast, 4 stl
West - 13 pts
Hensold - 5 pts (PROBLEM)
Conquest - 27 pts, 6 ast, 2 stl, 4 reb, 2 TO (Key Stat)
Taylor - 5 pts, 5 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl

Hobbie - 21 pts (collegiate best), 4 ast
Ellis - 10 pts, 5 reb

Note:  Williams & Mutton: 16 mins, 4 pts, 3 reb

Principia 33-54 (61.1) FG // 11-18 (61.1) 3FG // 12-17 (70.6) FT
Clough - 18 pts
Watts - 26 pts, 6 reb
Aimonetti - 8 pts, 4 ast
Johnson - 13 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast
Douglas - 16 pts, 5 reb

Game Difference:  Greenville was 16-21 at the FT line, beating their opponent for the first time since the Lincoln Christian game (5 losses and 2 wins ago.)  Not a huge margin (+4).  But we won by 7 so it helped. 

Webster @ Greenville - Tuesday Night 6:00pm
This could have some implications of things.  Greenville needs to escape with a win.  As you will recall, Webster snapped Greenville's 6 gm SLIAC win streak a few weeks ago 93-76.  Greenville was in serious foul trouble, fouling out 6 of the 11 on the bench and was with our their general, George Barber.  Now with the Panthers and a little momentum, we'll see what Barber's Boys can do.  Hobbie, Ellis, Conquest and West are all off good games.  Hobbie did have 5 TO's but made up for it with the 21 pts.  Greenville has to be patient and not rush things on Tuesday.  Greenville will have the fan base behind them.  They just need to play their game and chip away at the Gorlocks of Webster!

[hopefan]

hopefan & yjak WILL be there  -  while I like the fact that a Greenville win would squeeze the standings, I think I'll have to root for Webster  -  as much as I like the Eureka team and Eureka SID, we gotta get the the conference tourney down here, and right now Webster is our best bet.

I like the little synopsis that FCnews printed earlier - will do some analysis and discuss a little later in the day.....

[Mac Attack]

hopefan quietly roots for Westminster to keep the SLIAC race tight - but now leans for Webster because he wants the conference tourney in St. Louis. Hmmmm....Sounds to me a little like selective positioning, if you know what I mean. A Webster win would be better for MacMurray, I guess, as it would push Greenville one game closer to elimination. But a win for GC would put Mac right back into the league championship picture - assuming the Highlanders can get back on the winning track this week.

Go Panthers!

[sully309]

It was good to see my Red Devils hold on to a tough road win. No disrespect to Maryville, but that was a definite trap game with MacMurray next on the schedule and Eureka making the 3+ hour trip to unfamiliar territory. Not to mention the earlier than normal (for most college students and eureka_sid's) Saturday wake up call.

I was surprised at the point spread in the Blackburn/Fontbonne game. After watching the Beavers Tuesday, I would have picked that game to be closer. I hope BC does not just pack it in for the rest of the season. I was expecting them to keep playing hard and win some games down the stretch. Webster/Greenville could be a good game, but I'm glad I get to be in Jacksonville. It was a pretty even match up the first time with Mac being the only conference home loss for EC to date. I suppose it was nice for Westminster to hand Mac their 4th loss, but EC still has to win this one because of tie-breakers. Can't wait for it to start!

BTW, congrats to your Colts, Panther. My favorite teams are the 49ers and whoever is playing the Bears, so I enjoyed the game very much, especially given that I was surrounded by Bears fans watching the game.

[hopefan]

Mac  you know I'll root for Mac if and when it keeps ME from having to go all the way up to Eureka for the conf tourney.

I am STILL very much in favor of having the conference tourney in a neutral, geographic central location.  While the conference is not as far spread as the SCAC, I wish they would mirror the SCAC's tourney format - a central location, All qualifying teams men's and womens - playing at the same place - the SCAC plays at Conference member's Rhodes college in Memphis.

Fontbonne has such a nice facility, the tourney should be there every year - does it give Fontbonne an edge? only a very minimal one.  Would it be the best basketball environment for any combination of the 6 teams that are still vying for the men's conference tourney  -  YOU BET!!   Yes Eureka would travel and Westminster would travel, but no team would have to go 5-6 hours (the Eureka Westminster trip).  With the tourney in the St Louis area, all teams would be able to find comfortable overnight arrangements in whatever price range, and the same would go for eating arrangements. I even would push Greenville as an every year site - again, just to geographicly centralize it.

If total court neutrality is mandated, there are a variety of JC floors available with planned upfront scheduling - ie Merrimac, Lewis and Clark, Forest Park ....

I have to think that last year's tourney would have been better attended if it had not been hosted at Blackburn - sure it didn't sell out, but that's because the seating limitations and location likely scared people away.  Blackburn has a bunch of great caring people, but the facility is not one that rewards the teams that qualified with the best possible experience.

Last year my protestations fell on deaf ears - The conference leader deserves home court, I kept on hearing.   I disagree totally - I look at it as each of the qualifiers deserve an equal chance to show their best at the conference tourney.  A team that had a homecourt advantage all year with a substandard court should not be further rewarded with tournament home court. 

I know Sliaccommish disagrees with me - but if the poor attendance that was demonstrated last year (particularly in the championship game after BC was eliminated in the semis) is to be improved, just maybe we need to try something different.

Also to be addressed might be the expansion to 6 qualifiers given a 10 team conference. - I would note that other 10 team conferences have 8 team tourneys.


Wow - didn't think I'd be getting into this for another week or two.!  What do others think about this? 

[Mac Attack]

Glad we got that cleared up, hopefan. There is a difference between a down-to-the-wire finish and personal driving discomfort.

Speaking of personal driving discomfort, the trip to Westminster is a doozy. Wouldn't it be nice if Illinois College and _______ were to join the SLIAC and have two, six team divisions. IC is in a conference with Iowa and Wisconsin schools, and I would think the SLIAC would make much more sense for them on a number of levels - and now that MacMurray, Greenville, Principia, and Blackburn are joiing the SLIAC football conference, IC would fit right in. In basketball, play everyone in your division home and home, and the teams in the other division once, rotating every other year home/away. Sounds like a plan to me - get on that hopefan.

My opinion would be to expand the play-offs to six teams, give the #1 and #2 seeds a first round bye, and play it a neutral site that is centrally located. Should not be hosted by a league school for several obvious reasons. A St. Louis-based site would be a real advantage for the St. Louis area schools and I'm not sure how centrally located a St. Louis site would be for Eureka, LCC, MacMurray, and Blackburn. Makes all the sense in the world for the other schools - but it wouldn't be a "central" site and certainly not neutral. Not sure if such a site exists, but my suggestion would be the Prairie Capitol Convention Center in Springfield, Illinois. Nice facility, players would love it, lots of good seating, plenty of lodging/restaurant options, not a SLIAC town/host school, semi-centrally located for most schools,and available. Just a thought.

[hopefan]

Mac  -  I wonder if you and I carry enough weight to push the expanded playoff system format???  (that question is in jest)  As I said, last year when I pushed a little, I got ripped pretty badly.....  Several of the coaches responded to me in one way or another totally supporting the conference winner hosting - despite the fact that it had been established by then that it would be Blackburn.  They all felt that the first place team earned it.  To me, being seeded first is enough of a reward - the games should be neutral site.  While you push Springfield and I push St. Louis, I agree with the concept.  I obviously don't want to drive to Springfield nor you to St Louis, but either is better than having it at one of the conference's remotely located small towns - particularly on a Thursday night.

Somehow tho, I don't think this is where a fan's voice will be heard.....  Maybe I should apply for SLIACcommish's position when he retires......

[Mac Attack]

hopefan - I have plenty of weight, but zero when it comes to pushing anything. Seems pretty simple to me. First and second place teams get a first round bye, #3 plays #6 and #4 plays #5. #1 plays the winner of 3/6 and #2 plays the winner of 4/5. Without any data to base this on, I would think a lot of conferences do it this way - at a neutral site. A first round by and then a game against a lower/much lower seed is a nice reward for a successful conference season. Adding a home court advantage into the equation is certainly a big pay off for the host school - but not sure that's truly what a post season conference should be all about. Just my opinion...

[fcnews]

Hopefan - You got as much a chance of seeing FU's coach retiring as you do the commish. These guys don't retire, their wives would work them to hard at home. Plus, it is a very thankless position. I would bet he hears more compliments on here then he does all year. Although, if it was not for the leg troubles, we might be seeing him on the Senior Tennis Tour.