MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[WUPHF]

I also agree with your thoughts on final exams.  I like the approach Brandeis University has taken.  They played their last game of the semester on December 6th and do not play again until January 4th. 

I have to work until 7:00 but I may stop by afterwards.  My nephew played basketball with Nolan Zoellner and I would not mind watching him play again.  It sounds like he plays liked he played in high school: some times he is on and other days he struggles on offense.

[ec_fan14]

Put another W in the win column for EC.  I wasnt at the game but my source told me the red devils played another solid team game.  Word was starters all played well and Wagner off the bench had a really nice game.  Check for a box score on Eureka's website for more details.

Next games at Concordia.  To finish first semester at 6-3 would be nice heading into Fontbonne.  Makes the two losses to Monmouth and Concordia burn a little bit more after rolling through the last few games.

[hopefan]

Fontbonne beats Rose Hulman 75-50   -  as I watched the game, I kept on telling myself, hey Rose Hulman beat Transy - even if Transy is down this year, It makes Rose Hulman not too bad.... boy, they looked bad last night....

I left the gym really disturbed last night..... As big a fan of the SLIAC as I am, and as much as I've enjoyed getting to know Coach McKinney and his wife, it is just very difficult over the years to 'embrace' this program.... I've had problems with their parents in the past which took away from my enjoyment of the games (a problem that was partially solved with some indirect apologies and better behavior at the end of the season)....  I've had an all conference player insult me when I encouraged him to value the ball, an action for which I've never received an apology...  did I critisize that kid on occasion in these pages, yes, but did I also praise him as his game matured, yes......  I've had major disagreements  with the programs major supporter, FCnews, but we have always cleared any hurdles between us and remain friends... he loves Fontbonne hoops even more than I Love SLIAC hoops in general..

Now, last night, two things hit that 'have me disturbed'
1)  an individual has chased FC from these pages... not through posts visible to us all, but through personal messages...  FC should have gone to Pat with this - he didn't.  But I know FC enjoys these pages so much that it will hurt him not to be here....   What motivated someone to do this?  I don't get it..

2) The other is the actions of a particular player on the team....   the best player on the team...  very hard to understand... an outsider like me wonders why, wonders what the rest of the team thinks.  He played a wonderful game last night, not a single bad shot, great percentage, beeautiful moves to the hoops.... but the mannerisms, the clapping the hands for the ball, the looks of disgust, the less than enthusiastic defense, the berating of a frosh teammate when the kid disrupted his cut, the gesturing to Wash U players who were at the game.....    it just is uncomfortable trying to support this kid.  And that  takes away from my enjoyment of watching the rest of the kids.


Notes on the game

Coach McK got a lot of kids some minutes... but I have to say, I'm not yet impressed with some of the new faces that FC had high hopes for in the beginning of the year... looking good in pickup games prior to the season does not necessarily translate into fitting into a team situation and doing what Coach McKinney wants...

Sheetz, Rapp Hamilton all had very good nights...   I think Hamilton may be getting close to earning himself more minutes on a regular basis... a no frills player, he simply gets the job done...  nice shooter, patient and smart with the ball, hard worker...
Lisch didn't get as much playing time as I expected after a solid game vs Splalding... if he is big enough, would love to see him defend against Eureka's Bell.. could be a great matchup...  Two kids who work very hard going at it in a big game....

The new big man was dressed, but didn't play... likely Coach giving him more time to get acclimated... good looking kid, nice size... FC says he will be the rebounder that Fontbonne is now missing.

[hopefan]

Point to ponder...

Of 43 D3 conferences, the SLIAC ranks 41st of 43 in Win Loss record vs non conference D3 schools.

Win Loss % for The SLIAC is .294
Only the NEAC out east at .255 and the UMAC in the upper midwest at .146 are lower.

Top conference is YJaks ODAC at .809, and the UAA (Wash U) at .782.

[FrostBite]

Hope- I have not seen FU play yet this year but having seen them play many times the past couple years, I understand your statements on certain FU players. They have obvioulsy been one the most talented and best teams in the SLIAC the last couple years but it would be nice to see some maturity and sportsmanship. I by no means want to harp on this issue but its difficult for me to spend a few hours of my time watching young men with bad attitudes. None the less, the majority of these young men do compete the right way and play the game how it should be played.

Im excited to see Eureka play this year. Sounds like they are off to a good start with Bell and Zasada having very good beginnings to their year.

Not much news on the WC side. They had a couple weeks off and will head to Chicago early next week for a couple games vs. Elmhurst & Concordia(Ill). We should get a better idea where WC stands after these two games.

[SLIAC LEGEND]

Hopefan,
Great stats. The SLIAC always has been in my mind, the worst or one of the worst conferences in D3 hands down. No men's team has ever won a playoff game.  Even the best teams in SLIAC history get pummeled in the 1st round by Wash U, IL Wesleyan, etc.  They just don't have the talent, period.  Same on the women's side.  A few high school teams in IL and MO would win the SLIAC handsdown, and they get most of their nonconference wins vs patsies.  I think it has gotten better, but not good enough.

[hopefan]

SLIAC LEGEND  thanks for the comment   -    that stat represents the bad news  -  fortunately, the good news is that year in and year out, the conference presents a relatively even field challenging for the conference tourney spots, and little is decided until the last week...  lots of fun in January and February....   and with Maryville gone, it opens up a spot in the Tourney for the team that hasn't made it in the past....   Looking at it this year for instance, Westmin and Eureka appear to be leading the pack, but ANYONE could challenge for spots 3 and 4, though I would think that Fontbonne is pretty solid too.
I'd rather have it that way than having a bunch of teams packing it in by mid January.

[Love_for_the_Game]

Those are some good stats and some pretty good statments. But we do have a big game coming up here with FU and Wash U. The past couple of years FU has given Wash U a game. Last year almost beat them. I predict a big win for...................WASH U. They will beat them by more than 25.

WHERE IS FCNEWS

[FrostBite]

ec - did you attend the Eureka - Concorida game earlier this year? WC plays
Concordia next week and I wanted to read your thoughts on Concordia's team?

[hopefan]

Lots of D3 hoops today in St Louis....

Fontbonne ladies host North Park  at 1:00

Followed by

Fontbonne hosting Wash U men  at 3:00


While over at Webster

Hendrix men play Coe at 2:00
 
followed by Webster vs Cornell at 4:00


YJAK  -  think I'll hit the Fontbonne doubleheader, then come over to Webster to see the 2nd half of the Webster-Cornell game.

[y_jack_lok]

YJAK  -  think I'll hit the Fontbonne doubleheader, then come over to Webster to see the 2nd half of the Webster-Cornell game.

Interesting choice. See you at WU.

[watchdog]

Scores of Interest:

12/19:
Washington U. 82, Fontbonne 64
Eureka 70, Dominican 67
Cornell 54, Webster 39
Hendrix 74, Coe 73

12/20:
Cornell vs. Hendrix
Coe vs. Webster

[hopefan]

A mixed bag of action with Fontbonne and Webster this past weekend....   The Fontbonne Wash U game was really better than expected.  It was obvious coming in that Wash U was going to be better man for man, even with the loss of two starters, but Fontbonne really competed.....  they simply didn't get the looks at the hoop vs Wash U's defense that they would against most of the teams they play.... Branch didn't get the number of shots that he needs, Sheetz hurried some of his and shot poorly.  Still there was a competitive fir that made the game entertaining.  Forest had his best game of the year, worked even harder than normal to try to keep the Griffs in it.  Rapp didn't back down from Wallis, he'll be fine in conference games. The bench looked good... Thomas, Fleming, Lisch, Hamilton all were steady.  No question in my mind that Fontbonne will contend for one of the 3 top spots in the SLIAC.

Saw the second half of the Webster Cornell game  -  I have never seen a Bunch team so listless, so bland - flat out awful.   Poor Coach Bunch had to bury his face in his hands too many times.  Missed Sunday with some family duties, and it appears that ooach finally lit a fire under the Gorlocks - nice distributuion of points, looked like a starting 5 was settled on and used rather than grasping at countless lineup changes  -  good to see a solid Webster win going into the conference games...

[Titan Q]

Final from Elmhurst...

Westminster 63
Elmhurst 60

* Crawford: 13
* Millard: 10
* Tolson: 9
* Gilmore: 9

The Blue Jays led most of the 2nd half, but gave it up with a couple minutes to play...Elmhurst went up 2 with about 3:00 to play, but Westminster fought back and closed it out.

Elmhurst (now 4-5) is probably going to finish about 7th in the CCIW, but this was still a solid road win for the Blue Jays.

[hopefan]

WOW  -  this is the same Elmhurst team that crushed Fontbonne just a week ago!!