MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[y_jack_lok]

I still haven't seen any news out of the big recruit from CA. Any insight?

He is suited up and on the bench for the varsity games but hasn't played yet.

Before the game with Ozarks there was a jv game against Forest Park CC. I caught most of the overtime. The interesting thing to me was how short the Webster players were. Forest Park wasn't really big, but they probaly had at least a 3-4 inch height advantage over each Webster player. Forest Park won by a few points.

[y_jack_lok]

I just noticed in the sports section of the P-D that they had the box score of the Webster jv game. Looks like the freshman from California (Richard Ogunsalu, although they spelled his name Ogunsaw) played in the game --  must have been the first half only as he was suited up for the varsity game and waiting to enter the gym when the jv game was over. He scored 10 points.

[fcnews]

Thanks for that information Yjak. +1

[BLA]

That's not entirely accurate Y jak.  Richard played and fouled out of the JV game. He sat there until the end of the game.  Word out on Richard is that he needs to learn how to work a little harder on a daily basis. A common thing among players making the transition from high school where the game might come a little easier.  But if he figures it out he will be an explosive player in years to come. I hope he figures it out before the end of the season though.  He could be an impact player this season if he dedicated himself.

As for the two games this weekend I would have to agree with everything Y jak has written. NWU executed their offense for layups...OFTEN!!! Give all the credit to NWU who is a solid team and played a solid game.

As for Saturday, the one thing that sticks out from this game is that Luke Niebrugge refused to lose. He played an amazing all around game. Big shots late by Turk and better post play (Miller and Ortwerth combined for 20 pts) aided the Gorloks to stay close and eventually grab/keep the lead.

As much praise that a player like Fournie (well deserved!!!) received on this board in recent years I hope that Luke gets the same praise this season.  He never takes a play off and his intensity is infectious. Luke, who's brother John played for Blackburn, is a coaches dream and plays so hard that you look at everyone else on the team and wonder why can't they play like that.

Side note....the JV guys played their hearts out against Forest Park and had a chance to win in regulation if a free throw would have fallen with 2.2 seconds remaining.  But watching those kids leave their hearts out on the floor the way they do is inspiring. 

[y_jack_lok]

That's not entirely accurate Y jak.  Richard played and fouled out of the JV game.

Obviously a bad guess on my part as to what actually happened, given that I came in during the overtime. I like my fictional version better, though. Play a quick 20 minutes, score ten, then head to the locker room to suit up with the varsity. 

I saw from the jv box score that the freshman from Hawaii scored 20+ points. He made a very impressive play during the OT, driving the lane past guys way taller than him and making a smooth layup. He is listed as 5' 9" but I think that may be a bit generous -- either that or the guys from Forest Park were taller than they looked.

[y_jack_lok]

When it was crunch time the last 5-6 minutes of the game Webster had its most experienced, and I think its best five players on the floor for much of those minutes -- and 3 of them didn't start last night or today.

Yjak - I like that comment. Fits my philosophy also, play your best players.

I should say that it is only my opinion that those guys are the five best players. I'm not a coach, after all. However I wouldn't change the comment about them being the most experienced. And there is one other player with lots of experience who wasn't in the game at that time -- but you can only have 5 guys on the floor at once.

[fcnews]

I'll second BLA's comments on Niebrugge. The one guy I definately thought should of got more minutes last year. He is a better scorer then Fournie, but I think Chad was a better shut down defender. Both play the game the way you wish every kid did. Luke could easily play 30+ minutes a game and why not. Reward a kid for doing his part to get into great condition. Five minutes a half used correctly is plenty of rest for guys this age.

Great thing he didn't follow his brother. I just can't understand what happened to the BC program. A lot of tradition up there, Coach Chandler is just not getting the same intensity out of the Beavers as in the past. But, when your the AD who is going to Frown upon you but yourself. (Just my opinion as a fan. Seems like a nice guy)

[depew24]

I have yet to see Luke Niebrugge play in college but knowing the high school that he came from and his coach in high school I already know the type of player he is. His coach was Ken Crawford for the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes. If there ever was a Bobby Knight of high school basketball this was the guy. I have known him for 15 years and one of the greatest coaches I have ever been around. My father did the radio play by play for them for years and I grew up around the program. This is a man that REQUIRES you to play with fire on the defensive end of the floor and then relys on a team game. Post game interviews, he would never mention points scored by a player but the work that they would put out on the defensive end of the court. Along with this, he would speak about at least one positive thing each player did that night.

[fcnews]

Bright spot for the future. Fontbonne beat McKendree in JV action last night.

[buncheriffic]

Why didn't anyone tell me that FCNEWS came out of retirement and returned to the board? Last I knew you were hanging it up for good.

I must have missed the press conference. I'm glad they didn't make you switch names, it was always weird seeing Jordan in #45. It really made me think about life when you called it quits - I too had wasted many hours trying to affect meaningful dialogue on SLIAC hoops through the board.

So maybe I can't be Jordan coming out of retirement or Lance Armstrong for that matter, but I'm back too.

So FCNEWS, how about a box score from the annual Moody Bible matchup? Couldn't find one online. Saw you handled Lincoln Christian tonight. Can you break it down for us?

I have come to realize how many hours, days and weeks I have wasted on here. Reading useless garbage, defending myself to people I could care less about and simply wasting precious time.

[fcnews]

Due to a request from someone I respect I'm back on a limited bases.

You can find the MBI boxscore on the SLIAC website.

Tonites game served the purpose it was scheduled for. Ben Rapp played 22 mins scoed 7 pts, 6 assists and 5 rebs. Nolan Zoellner played 19 mins. Frank Scheetz played 12 mins 7pts and 5 rebs. Mike Riva played 14 mins of solid ball. These guys needed game experience and build confidence.

T. Lovette also played 4 mins. pain free. After his ankle injury in the APSU game.

Hope this answered your questions. Good to see ya back.

[BLA]

I would think having these guys play JV games would serve as a better tool to get the younger guys game experience. 

Too schedule a varsity game just for the young guys to play then why not start them and let them play thirty minutes.  I feel that if this is a sole purpose to schedule Lincoln Christian then they should play more than just 15 minutes of mop up time.  The real experience comes from playing in close games and figuring out the little things you need to do to achieve victory. 

You see this game takes up a spot on the schedule that could serve a better purpose.  Instead of preparing your young guys with mop up time why not schedule a tougher game against a team that made the tourney last year. A team comparable to a team that you may face in the NCAA tourney would be more valuable than young guys getting mop up minutes.

But there are different philosophies.  Just seems like a nice cover by saying its for the young guys when you have already said that FU has 15 or JV games scheduled.

[fcnews]

Well for one thing, Rapp, Sheetz, Riva and Zoellner will never play a JV game
because they will play in every varsity game. Every game played counts as one against your allowed 25. And, these four guys weren't playing mop up minutes.

And, I knew this would come up sooner or later, it has the past two years.

FU plays a weak schedule and FU only has five players (no depth). Well all I can say to that is FU has been the only SLIAC team still playing in March, during this time. That's my 2 cents on that subject. You prepare your team the way you see fit and we'll meet up at the end of Feb. and the best team goes on.

[BunchTime]

FC, as you know, we disagree a bit on scheduling.  However, I am with you, we continue to beat a dead horse on this scheduling issue.  Fontbonne has different scheduling philosophy than Webster.  Everyone knows how I feel on this issue.  We have talked about it for a couple of years now.  With that said, Fontbonne has been uneffected by their pre-season schedule the last couple of years during the SLIAC tourney -- and that is all that matters in this conference.  Now, we could theorize that if Fontbonne played a tougher non-conference schedule, they would have a greater shot at winning an NCAA tourney game, but that is nothing more then speculation.  History has shown that no matter what kind of schedule the SLIAC rep has played, it is very difficult task to win in the NCAA tourney game.

[fcnews]

Bunchtime - You are so right. I know you and I have discussed this topic at length one-on-one. There are a number of philosophies on this subject. They run the gambit from Jim Boehiem's 10 straight years of refusing to play an away non-conference games (not including nuetral sites) to some of to days coaches that put together as tough as they can get.

Coaches also value different accomplishments. Chris Bunch has proved he can put together a team that can win the games over the  long grind. Eviident by his run of conference titles. FU focuses their season on thoese last two games of february. Each coach has been successful in their own rights.

At the first practice of the year all you will hear is " To make it to the tournament you got to......." . FU does have purpose games. Call them cupcake or call them what you will. A game that allows players that are young or new to the program need games for confidence. Games where different combinations can be explored. Where individuals can get time at different positions. All these games prepare  FU for those 80 minutesin February. More people remember who went to the NCAA Tournament then who one the conference. And you can't win a NCAA game unless you get there. And Fontbonne had one slip away last year. They have come the closes of any team yet and MH-B was preseason #10 this year.

Fontbonne has a league best 16-7 record in Tournament play. And won the most titles with four.
'94 Champs #! seed (last to do it), 3-0
'95 Lost in semi finals #1 seed (after going 14-0 in Conference). 1-1
'96 Champs #2 seed. 3-0
'98 Lost in title game #7 seed ( the year Brian Kennedy past away during   practice Dec. 17th. Starting Point) 2-1
'07 Champs #4seed ( beat #1 and #2 with soph and freshmen), 2-0
'08 Champs #3 seed. 2-0
It's all about getting there and we'll be tough to beat. They have won 9 of last 11 tournament games played in.

So this year started with the MBI tourney. And, the purpose of this event has been discussed. MBI went out and got the best team they could because a good opening test was requested.

Theres a purpose to this schedule and if it gets Fontbonne a win or two in the post season, then it was a well planned schedule, And, you can disagree with this philosophy, that is what this board if for. So this is the last time I wiLL defend this topic.

Thanks for the space.