MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Went over to Westmin-Greenville ... it simply doesn't get any better as far as great competition, exciting plays, clutch free throws.... will provide details as time allows, but a very busy day ahead.....  Gville 103 Westmin 97 in double Ot in case you missed it.

[MacHighlander]

Don't know that "we" ever had any "moments." Enjoyed the many great discussions and debates, particularly the one involving the one I took about a week to pull together all of the offensive and defensive stats for every player in the SLIAC and came up with the Top 20 players who ranked the highest when accumulating all of the stats. I took quite a beating for that because the stats didn't take into account the "intangibles." Oh well....

Never enjoyed the "gotcha" moments either. People tracking down your ISP information, name-calling, things like that. Takes all of fun and enjoyment out of it. Guess I need to grow some harder bark.

I do the best I can to follow MacMurray, as well as the rest of the teams in the league. Coach Creal has done a wonderful job, primarily with central Illinois players. Lot of kids want to play college basketball. Just need to find the ones that want to go to class, work hard, and pay most of their own way at the D3 level. Central Illinois may not produce many D1 or D2 prospects, but there's plenty of kids who can play at the next level. IWU usually leads the way, but other schools can and do get their share.

Will try to make it over to Jacksonville in the near future. If/when you plan on making the trip, please let me know and maybe we can get together. Would love to catch up.

[Pat Coleman]

Long-time D3 fan here, particularly of the SLIAC and MacMurray. Son played for the Highlanders and was part of the team that shared the conference title with Fontbonne in 2006-2007. Was on this board quite a bit during that time, but faded away after his playing days came to an end. After reading Hopefan's plea for more posters, thought I would jump back in. Just wanted to establish my credentials and yes, I'm a Mac fan.

Scores from last night:

Greenville 103  Westminster 96 (2 OTs, defense optional)
Webster 99  Eureka 83 (where is Webster's scoring coming from all of the sudden?)
MacMurray 88  Principia 72 (Not as close as the final score would indicate)
Spalding 64  Fontbonne 61 (hmmm...)

Mac led by 25 with less than 5 minutes to play. Burton scores 21 to lead the way. 13 different players score for Mac, who shoots 53% from the field but only 13-26 from the FT line. Coach Creal better have his kids working on shots from the charity stripe. In closer games against tougher teams, missing this many free throws will be lethal.

Mac at Webster Thursday night, then Spalding in Jacksonville on Saturday.

Welcome back!

[allamericanredhead]

I like what I hear that is coming out of Fontbonne. Down to 10 players, a couple run off and a couple of semester academic failures. The new coach seems to be in it for the long run and sticking to his guns; no quick fixes and in time hopefully he will start producing four year players who graduate as oppossed to one year wonders who are just there to play basketball with a new cast every fall. I hear that institutional problems abound there and I hope he stays above mess FC is now in. It is going to take a few years to get things back to where they need to ben the Hill, but sounds like maybe things are headed in the right direction.

[hopefan]

I like what I hear that is coming out of Fontbonne. Down to 10 players, a couple run off and a couple of semester academic failures. The new coach seems to be in it for the long run and sticking to his guns; no quick fixes and in time hopefully he will start producing four year players who graduate as oppossed to one year wonders who are just there to play basketball with a new cast every fall. I hear that institutional problems abound there and I hope he stays above mess FC is now in. It is going to take a few years to get things back to where they need to ben the Hill, but sounds like maybe things are headed in the right direction.

I'm in agreement that they have gotten a fine young coach.... my only hope is that he'll stay long enough to bring the program back..  I'm hoping they'll finish with 4 or 5 league wins even already having lost to BC.

[hopefan]

Regarding The Westmin game vs Greenville... Westmin had the lead for the whole game.. Greenville finally caught them with 2 minutes left....  Westmin missed shots to win at the end of regulation and at end of 1st OT...also missed a crucial FT which would made Greenville need a 3 for the tie.. instead they got fouled and made 2 FTs to tie....
Mr. clutch... Jonas McBride makes 2 fts at end of regulation and 2 more at end of Ot to tie...4 for 4 in ultimate critical time.....  McBride and Ben Giertz did a super job of controlling the ball during the OTs until Markeith  Brown or Jordan Smith could find a good shot... Brown got a little out of controll, but had a bunch of huge plays that led to the win....  Killer for Westmin was Joe Prophet fouling out with significant time left in regulation, that's a key offensive threat sitting when he was needed... joe James had to play a lot of minutes with 4 fouls too...  Greenville goes 32 for 38 from the line, Westmin 12 for 20....

Webster beats Eureka handily... am I overrating Eureka (I'm not convinced yet, but I still think Depth is a problem)?  Webster outrebounds them, shoots over 50% from the field and from 3's...  Big night for Sooter and Whittingham... will Webster go winless in nonconference and undefeated in Conference??  Can that have ever happened ?  Hey only 12 more games to go...

Fontbonne at Spalding...  funny, first score posted on D3hoops had Fontbonne winning... Fontbonne gets out rebounded almost 2 to 1...with all the offensive rebounds, spalding gets 15 more field goal attempts.... despite shooting poorly, Spalding squeaks by...

Mac beats Prin... no surprise

Tonight

Fontbonne at Greenville... can't see a fontbonne win here...not enough guns

Mac at Webster....  I think the home court advantage is just enough to get a win for Webster

Westmin at Prin...  this one might not be a blowout, but Westmin wins....

BC at Spalding.... long trip for BC, longer on the way back with another loss....

[MacHighlander]

I assume the weather won't cause any of tonight's games to be called. Not good in east central Illinois. Lots of win, 2-4 inches of snow, drifting on the highways.

Greenville wins at home tonight. They're tough to beat on their home court and Fontbonne will probably come up a little short. But it might be a little closer than expected.

Westminster will need to play well. It seems like Principia always seems to pull one out its hat. But not tonight.

Spalding cruises, I would think.

Mac has played well at Webster in the past. Highlanders were full throttle against Principia a few days ago. Webster playing as well as anyone. Heart says Mac. Head says Webster. Going with the heart. Mac by seven, most of them coming from free throws in the last minute.

Good luck to all. Safe travels for those on the roads.

[MacHighlander]

Greenville 100   Fontbonne 75
Spalding 84   Blackburn 52
Webster 74   Mac 65
Westminster 74   Principia 54

Mac and Webster tied at the half, 31-31. Highlanders briefly led in the second half, then fell behind and couldn't catch up. Webster does a good job of containing Slagle (8) and Burton (9). Bradfisch (19) and Whittingham (18) lead the way for Webster. Only 5 assists for Mac. Too much one-on-one?

Webster now the clear leader in the conference clubhouse at 5-0. Scrum for the next three spots. Three teams at 3-2, one at 3-3, and one at 2-3. Game of the Day on Saturday will be Spalding at MacMurray. Highlanders need to turn it around. Should be a good one. Eureka at Fontbonne is another one to keep your eye on. Webster should cruise at home against Principia. Westy goes to BC and should leave Carlinville with a W. Greenville travels to Lincoln Christian for an out-of-conference tilt.

[MacHighlander]

In the slightly off-topic category, but still semi-SLIAC related, former Fontbonne star  Brian Fogarty scored 8 points last night for his St. Louis Phoenix team that lost to the Central Illinois Drive 106-87 in Bloomington. But the stat of this game probably belongs to Phoenix coach Floyd Irons, who arrived at the game at halftime after getting lost and enduring two flat tires. LOL. Hopefully the trip back to St. Louis for Coach Irons was less eventful.

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/basketball/professional/minor/drive/drive-overcome-late-slow-start-to-win-home-opener/article_82fe8374-3da2-11e1-8107-0019bb2963f4.html

[hopefan]

In the slightly off-topic category, but still semi-SLIAC related, former Fontbonne star  Brian Fogarty scored 8 points last night for his St. Louis Phoenix team that lost to the Central Illinois Drive 106-87 in Bloomington. But the stat of this game probably belongs to Phoenix coach Floyd Irons, who arrived at the game at halftime after getting lost and enduring two flat tires. LOL. Hopefully the trip back to St. Louis for Coach Irons was less eventful.

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/basketball/professional/minor/drive/drive-overcome-late-slow-start-to-win-home-opener/article_82fe8374-3da2-11e1-8107-0019bb2963f4.html

Floyd lost his way a long time ago....

[y_jack_lok]

Mac and Webster tied at the half, 31-31. Highlanders briefly led in the second half, then fell behind and couldn't catch up. Webster does a good job of containing Slagle (8) and Burton (9). Bradfisch (19) and Whittingham (18) lead the way for Webster. Only 5 assists for Mac. Too much one-on-one?

Not too much on-on-one. Webster opened in man-to-man but when they fell behind Bunch called timeout -- not sure exactly when since the play-by-play doesn't show the timeouts, but I think it was around the 13 minute mark of the first half with Mac up 17-8 -- and switched to zone. That seemed to hinder Macs offense the rest of the half. Mac did a better job of breaking down the zone and getting some inside shots early in the 2nd half but couldn't keep it going, as attested to by their assists stat.

[hopefan]

I have a tendancy to always think along the lines that the best players on a team should get the most shots... and that the offense used is designed to get them those shots... In Mac's case last night, that wasn't happening....  I would think Mac wants Burton and Slagle to get a maximum amount of scoring opportunities... in the first half, Slagle had 1 shot attempt... not until Mac put him in the middle in the 2nd half did he get any real scoring chances... Burton, whether it's the offense or his seeming lack of intensity, was invisible.  He gets his one spectacular allyoop dunk per game, and stands around alot.   Clayton Whitlock, the big frosh, can catch turn and shoot... I'd go to him every time down the floor until collapsing defense opened the perimeter... but he got only 4 or 5 shots, missing only one.....  Mac's performance, to me, (and I was quietly rooting for Mac as I love to see the standings squeezed), was disappointing... the intensity of Coach Creole really didn't seem to funnel down to the players.....

[y_jack_lok]

I have a tendancy to always think along the lines that the best players on a team should get the most shots... and that the offense used is designed to get them those shots... In Mac's case last night, that wasn't happening....  I would think Mac wants Burton and Slagle to get a maximum amount of scoring opportunities... in the first half, Slagle had 1 shot attempt... not until Mac put him in the middle in the 2nd half did he get any real scoring chances... Burton, whether it's the offense or his seeming lack of intensity, was invisible.  He gets his one spectacular allyoop dunk per game, and stands around alot.   Clayton Whitlock, the big frosh, can catch turn and shoot... I'd go to him every time down the floor until collapsing defense opened the perimeter... but he got only 4 or 5 shots, missing only one.....  Mac's performance, to me, (and I was quietly rooting for Mac as I love to see the standings squeezed), was disappointing... the intensity of Coach Creole really didn't seem to funnel down to the players.....

I have to wonder if you intentionally misspell Coach Creal's name because you like giving it a Cajun flavor. 

[hopefan]

For Webster, Cody Bradfisch had what i consider his best game of the year... because he wasn't simply standing on the perimeter shooting 3 pointers....  he's very effective going to the middle with the ball and 'shoveling' the ball at the basket... very soft touch and good body control without much leaping ability....  and of course it was nice to see him also hitting 3 3pointers in a row...
And Stefon whittingham... just playing well.. good shots, good boards, leadership.... this from a kid who was just learning the system last year....  amazing progress....
I like the rotation of Hollis Edwards and Dietrich Sooter at point... they have very different skill sets, but there are various game situations where one or the other fit in extremely well...Coach does a great job of matching them up...
Finally, the situation described at point may work very well in the middle too... Lawrence Williams is becoming more and more prominent when he's on the floor, and I can see a nice duo of Jarrod  Huskey and Williams developing to keep that position healthy over the next 2 and a half years....

other results last night were as expected... Greenville over Font, Westmin over Prin, Spalding beats BC by 32......    nothing unusual in box scores except....
Julian Lott doesn't start and gets limited playing time for BC... injury, illness, .... or another problem?  Most of the kids playing on this team are seniors, and two new faces that were very good appear to be gone.... nobody told rookie coach Jason Baribeau it would be easy, but I certainly didn't expect a disintegrating situation like this to hit him in the face midseason... and unless he has a super recruiting season, it's going to be preety tough next year.....

[hopefan]

I have a tendancy to always think along the lines that the best players on a team should get the most shots... and that the offense used is designed to get them those shots... In Mac's case last night, that wasn't happening....  I would think Mac wants Burton and Slagle to get a maximum amount of scoring opportunities... in the first half, Slagle had 1 shot attempt... not until Mac put him in the middle in the 2nd half did he get any real scoring chances... Burton, whether it's the offense or his seeming lack of intensity, was invisible.  He gets his one spectacular allyoop dunk per game, and stands around alot.   Clayton Whitlock, the big frosh, can catch turn and shoot... I'd go to him every time down the floor until collapsing defense opened the perimeter... but he got only 4 or 5 shots, missing only one.....  Mac's performance, to me, (and I was quietly rooting for Mac as I love to see the standings squeezed), was disappointing... the intensity of Coach Creole really didn't seem to funnel down to the players.....

I have to wonder if you intentionally misspell Coach Creal's name because you like giving it a Cajun flavor. 

well, it's one for the money 2 for the show 3 to get ready..go King Creole!!!!!!