MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[fcnews]

Unfortunately this year RHIT is not considered a good HCAC team. A win or loss and we'll see Greg right on here that RHIT was picked to finish last in the HCAC. Plus, in the scope of all things, how important is it really. I know alot of family and players view this site, and I don't want to put any pressure on a young man in this situation. As we all know. It's all about making the top four, then anything is possible in a two game tourney.

Hope we will agree to disagree.

[FU Fan]

FU's effort against William Penn had plenty of holes in their perimeter defense. They looked to start and turn the game to the paint after the half but, only for a few minutes.
I believe had they been able to do just that they may have turned it their way.
Man alive Number five ! That kid played great. (starter ?)Branch also looks to be hard at it and is on the move. I still think  if this team could reduce turnovers to about 14-15 a game they would be on a winning track. They can score and out play most in the paint.
Allowing that many basically unopposed shots from the outside by one player is poor defense. This team is smarter than that. Defense has to be a priorty improvement for the wide open floor.
Moody Bible has some good players but did lack some size in that match up.
It was over early.
Crown didn't stand any chance against William Penn in the final game of the tournament

[oldschool32]

Greenville has some good returning players despite the loss of Conquest.  Their perimeter game last year matched up with the better teams in the conference.

Interesting that new faces played leading roles in their opener.  Of course, Greenville's downfall last year was a distinct lack of size and rebounding power  -  no presence whatsoever in the middle.   If this problem has been addressed with new faces, Greenville should be a contender for a SLIAC playoff position.

Thanks for the writeup, Oldschool....

Hope- They still have perimeter game, even with the loss of Conquest, one player, the perimeter game is still there.  Okay, no presence in the middle, true they aren't tall to play so they may have to relay on pressing majority of the times in games or have their strong players contend with the big guys.  If you can play good D and have strength to match up towards a big man, you can compete.  Trust, I know this myself.

[BunchTime]

Well, after the Gorloks fast start and a 2-0 record, things do not get easier this weekend, in fact, they get much more difficult with games against Wisconsin-Platteville and Augustana College this weekend.  Should be another test and indicator of exactly where the Gorloks stand playing some of the nation's elite.  I am sure Bunch and Company are welcoming the challenge and will be ready to play!

[Gregory Sager]

A win or loss and we'll see Greg right on here that RHIT was picked to finish last in the HCAC.

Au contrere, mon frere. I put much more stock in actual results than I do in preseason polls. In other words, Rose-Hulman's win over Montclair State is a lot more relevant in my eyes than is the fact that the Engineers were picked to finish last in the HCAC.

It wouldn't be like a tourney win or anything, but this would certainly be a win worth noting for Fontbonne if the Griffins can achieve it.

[fcnews]

Thank you for the nice comments Greg. FU will give a big effort.

Hope - Do you know if yjak or anyone will be at the MU v. WU game?

[sully309]

By the looks of it, NPU played some more ugly ball last night. Eureka, which I suspect isn't nearly as good as it was last season (when the Red Devils were only one bad overtime away from representing the SLIAC in the tourney), actually led by as many as nine midway through the first half. It took a Bruce Durham trey with seven seconds left to put the Park in front at the intermission, 36-34.

Equally troubling was NPU's inability to put the Red Devils away. Although the Vikings led for the entire second half, they didn't put the lead into double digits until almost ten minutes had gone by, and they never got the lead up beyond 16. Coupled with the fact that MSOE lost to UWW by a whopping 31 points, this failure to bury a markedly inferior team makes the first weekend of the season a troubling one for NPU. This is not the way to begin a season that seemed to hold a lot of promise. Fortunately, it's only the first weekend. There's an entire season ahead for the Park to work hard and figure it all out.

Nick Williams scored 20 points in only 21 minutes of action last night. Bruce Durham added 14 points, Jay Alexander chipped in 11, and Antonio Stevens had a 10 and 8 night. Jorge Gonzalez hauled in 13 rebounds, including 8 at the offensive end. Man, I can't remember the last time a North Park player had 8 offensive boards. Jason Gordon was once again conspicuous in his relative lack of both minutes and production.

I certainly hope that North Park puts on a better performance against Eureka when the Red Devils appear at the crackerbox on Tuesday evening.

Found this on the CCIW board. Interesting comments from someone that wasn't at the game.

"Markedly inferior team?" I'd be interested to know how you know this Sager. Eureka got blown out by Whitewater. NPU lost to a team that got blown out by Whitewater. Only 2 games are in the books. Maybe Eureka IS a markedly inferior team. Tuesday's game could end up proving that, but I don't see how you can make that conclusion based on what's happened so far. How would anyone know at this point without seeing both teams? Are you just going off preseason polls? You know, the ones you just dismissed earlier on this board?

It seems our venerable guest is talking out both sides of his mouth. Please explain.

[right_guard]

Results from Blackburns game....Blackburn lost by 14, 66-52.  Blackburn had too many turnovers.  If BC could cut down their turnovers down a little, they would have been within 5 pts in both games this year.  IF they can't, it will be a very long season for the Beavers.  Also...Millikin will be having a very tough time in the CCIW this year.  THey like to jump the passing lanes, and I have a feeling the majority of the CCIW will be able to handle it better then the Beavers did last night. 

[hopefan]

FC - Yjak has been out of town - doubtful he'll head over to Maryville, though maybe he'll join us at Fontbonne....  most likely he'll enjoy lounging at home

Ecstatic that Webster doubleheader is Saturday afternoon while Mizzou game at night!!!!

[hopefan]

Fontbonne comes back from 5 down in the last minute, Justin Storandt scores the winning hoop with two seconds left, and Fontbonne beats Rose Hulman by 1.  A night that should have ended with smiles on Fontbonne fan's faces, instead ended with confusion and disappointment, as Fontbonne's best player stormed out of huddle during a timeout with a minute left and into the locker room violently slamming the door - it was ugly.   Senior citizen Coach Mckinney, an all around good guy and a credit to his profession, does not deserve this kind of action  -  whether the student needs help or discipline, I hope somebody does something.  Lo and behold, after this show, Fontbonne came back and won.

Rose, a gritty scrappy team enticed Fontbonne to play their half court game, not allowing Fontbonne to get a running game going - and Fonbonne for the most part could not hit from the perimeter in the first 30 minutes of the game  -  worse yet Fogarty and Storandt rarely saw the ball around the basket where they had a size and strength advantage.  Branch finally heated up from 3, and several inside hoops by Storandt and an amazing offbalance tipin by Dressler keyed the comeback effort.

Having seen both Webster and Fontbonne, Webster looks ahead at this point - getting better shots with far fewer turnovers on offense, and getting alot better play off the bench.  Fontbonne needs to go to work and raise their level of play in the next two weeks in preparation for the early season meeting with the Gorlocks.

A great comeback, the Griffs could have quit, but didn't.

[fcnews]

Hopefan beat me by seconds. One correction to his post. The player was kicked off the bench. Which resulted to his behavior leaving the floor. Everything else was facts.

And Hope lets just call him Coach McKinney. You and I both aren't far from social security and niether of us will want to be refered to that way. Have a good holiday Hope.

Fontbonne beats RHIT 66-65 on a shot with 1 second on the clock by Justin Storandt. Parker goes to the line with 8 seconds on the clock makes the first and misses the second. Lovette and Storandt hit the offensive boards and get a tie up. Possesion arrow to FU. This sets up Storandt big shot.

It was a very ugly game by both teams. I think me and Hopefan could of shot a better percentage in the first half then either team.

FU was down by as many as 9 in the second half and fought back. Can't fault the effort.

[hopefan]

Also out there on the scoreboard, Maryville gets beat by Wash U by around 20 - was hoping for a closer result after a very decent showing by the Saints up in Wisconsin.   

[hopefan]

I see you lurking Furbug  -  We need your literary contributions!!!!    Though no poetry please!!!

[Gregory Sager]

By the looks of it, NPU played some more ugly ball last night. Eureka, which I suspect isn't nearly as good as it was last season (when the Red Devils were only one bad overtime away from representing the SLIAC in the tourney), actually led by as many as nine midway through the first half. It took a Bruce Durham trey with seven seconds left to put the Park in front at the intermission, 36-34.

Equally troubling was NPU's inability to put the Red Devils away. Although the Vikings led for the entire second half, they didn't put the lead into double digits until almost ten minutes had gone by, and they never got the lead up beyond 16. Coupled with the fact that MSOE lost to UWW by a whopping 31 points, this failure to bury a markedly inferior team makes the first weekend of the season a troubling one for NPU. This is not the way to begin a season that seemed to hold a lot of promise. Fortunately, it's only the first weekend. There's an entire season ahead for the Park to work hard and figure it all out.

Nick Williams scored 20 points in only 21 minutes of action last night. Bruce Durham added 14 points, Jay Alexander chipped in 11, and Antonio Stevens had a 10 and 8 night. Jorge Gonzalez hauled in 13 rebounds, including 8 at the offensive end. Man, I can't remember the last time a North Park player had 8 offensive boards. Jason Gordon was once again conspicuous in his relative lack of both minutes and production.

I certainly hope that North Park puts on a better performance against Eureka when the Red Devils appear at the crackerbox on Tuesday evening.

Found this on the CCIW board. Interesting comments from someone that wasn't at the game.

"Markedly inferior team?" I'd be interested to know how you know this Sager. Eureka got blown out by Whitewater. NPU lost to a team that got blown out by Whitewater. Only 2 games are in the books. Maybe Eureka IS a markedly inferior team. Tuesday's game could end up proving that, but I don't see how you can make that conclusion based on what's happened so far. How would anyone know at this point without seeing both teams? Are you just going off preseason polls? You know, the ones you just dismissed earlier on this board?

It seems our venerable guest is talking out both sides of his mouth. Please explain.

No ventriloquism act here, ESID. I simply took a look at who NPU had coming back and who Eureka had coming back, and put two and two together. And I can tell you from having spoken to them that the Vikings players and coaches were almost as upset by the fact that they only beat Eureka by 13 on Saturday as they were by the loss to MSOE on Friday.

At any rate, NPU beat the Red Devils tonight by 27 in a game that they could've won by forty if they weren't uncharacteristically clanking free throws and wide-open treys all night. Eureka is, most definitely, the markedly inferior team to North Park that I said they were. Sorry if that bothers you. I didn't intend for it to sound mean-spirited. Good luck to your Red Devils the rest of the way.

[BunchTime]

I just thought that I would say that I appreciate Sagers DIII knowledge and also is candor.  Seriously, thanks for posting on this board!