MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[ecreddevils]

The one thing that concerns me is Lessen only attempting 5 fg's in 32min.  He is one of if not the largest post player in the league.  If I were coach Wilde I would make it a point to get my big man going early and often.  Typically the inside game opens up the outside game for shooters.  It will be interesting to see if this happens at all during the season.

Yeah, agree, but if you look at that Windsor team they have size:

Lien 6' 8" Senior  25 min. 16/14
Matthews 6' 9" Junior 21 min. 10/8
Christie 6' 7" Junior 17 min. 4/4
Serferagic 6' 7" Frosh 13 min. 94

and factor in Osuntola as a 6' 5" guard...That's a big team and a tough order for Mark being the only true 5.  That won't happen in the SLIAC.  High/low game should be very effective for EC this year in conference, especially with the slashers and shooters that we have.

[hopefan]

It's my opinion Mark Lesen should dominate in the SLIAC, but has not yet really done so on a consistant basis...  He seems bigger, stronger, more agile around the basket than any of the other true post players returning.. meaning Huskey of Webster, Whitlock of Mac, or Brashear of Spalding (though that is a tossup) and probably any frosh that comes in the league...   I think I'd be going to him or through him OFTEN...  the more of a threat he is, the more the defense collapses, and as former guy points out, that opens the perimeter.  Last Year, however, there were times he never saw the ball... that's exactly why I also made a point of the 5 FGA.....I was surprised when he made first team All conf last season  because I thought he could have been better....I thought Whitlock made a bigger difference...

Just saw red devils note... interesting.. didn't know that Windsor was so big....

[hopefan]

Red Devil and Former.... this is great... I love having discussions of this nature..... Wish we could get it going with many of the teams.....

[ecreddevils]

It's my opinion Mark Lesen should dominate in the SLIAC, but has not yet really done so on a consistant basis...  He seems bigger, stronger, more agile around the basket than any of the other true post players returning.. meaning Huskey of Webster, Whitlock of Mac, or Brashear of Spalding (though that is a tossup) and probably any frosh that comes in the league...   I think I'd be going to him or through him OFTEN...  the more of a threat he is, the more the defense collapses, and as former guy points out, that opens the perimeter.  Last Year, however, there were times he never saw the ball... that's exactly why I also made a point of the 5 FGA.....I was surprised when he made first team All conf last season  because I thought he could have been better....I thought Whitlock made a bigger difference...

Just saw red devils note... interesting.. didn't know that Windsor was so big....

Agree, but in an up-tempo offense it's harder to run high/low sets.  Lessen has improved his offensive game dramatically in four years, and should be able to control many games and create opportunities on the perimeter when the team runs sets.  The three guys you mentioned are really the only three in the conf. who have a chance at slowing him down.

[hopefan]

Eureka wins the final game of their exhibition series in Canada over St Clair, 78-57, to take 2 of 3 games on the trip...  no stats on the game, though the article mentions Dustin Fritsch was leading scorer with 19.....

[hopefan]

Come on SLIAC readers... work with me... what's happening in practices...  any standout new faces...  Coaches.. if you're reading, send me an E-mail who has you excited?
Who's MIA that was expected back?

There is at least one scrimmage this weekend involving a SLIAC team... I'm going to try to catch it....

[Dutch32]

Eureka wins the final game of their exhibition series in Canada over St Clair, 78-57, to take 2 of 3 games on the trip...  no stats on the game, though the article mentions Dustin Fritsch was leading scorer with 19.....

St. Clair box score: http://eurekareddevils.com/documents/2012/10/23/stclairbox.html?id=88

[hopefan]

Eureka wins the final game of their exhibition series in Canada over St Clair, 78-57, to take 2 of 3 games on the trip...  no stats on the game, though the article mentions Dustin Fritsch was leading scorer with 19.....

St. Clair box score: http://eurekareddevils.com/documents/2012/10/23/stclairbox.html?id=88

Thanks ECRD83....  haven't seen that format  before?  but it does have the data.. a few more things stand out.. Chuck Miuraca has another good game and cements his position as the logical choice for 6th man once Jordan Kindred comes back..  Lessen again seems underutilized  8 shot attempts... but has another strong game on the boards with 10 rebounds.. again unfortunately, even though the new faces got a lot more minutes, no one seemed to stand out..  and the turnovers pop up again.. 28 turnovers.. that has to get reduced, cut in half, when league games start.....

[MObball41]

How does a team win a game by 21 if they had 28 turnovers??? I guess St. Clair having  27 of them helped the cause. Also, it looks like St. Clair was jacking the 3-ball and missing... 4-25.   Sounds like a pretty sloppy, early season game.

I don't have too much news to report from Westminster. Sorry Hope. Joe Prophet is back from his knee injury and practicing with the team. With Prophet and the returning core of players, I expect good things from the Blue Jays this year.

I noticed three players missing from the roster posted on the Westminster webpage... Chris Jacobs and Jurmain McDonald I believe have left the team. Not sure why... AC Slater, any info??? Tony Woods has knee injury, and will redshirt.

[hopefan]

How does a team win a game by 21 if they had 28 turnovers??? I guess St. Clair having  27 of them helped the cause. Also, it looks like St. Clair was jacking the 3-ball and missing... 4-25.   Sounds like a pretty sloppy, early season game.

I don't have too much news to report from Westminster. Sorry Hope. Joe Prophet is back from his knee injury and practicing with the team. With Prophet and the returning core of players, I expect good things from the Blue Jays this year.

I noticed three players missing from the roster posted on the Westminster webpage... Chris Jacobs and Jurmain McDonald I believe have left the team. Not sure why... AC Slater, any info??? Tony Woods has knee injury, and will redshirt.

Leroy Valandra?  Mookie's twin brother?

of course McDonald and Jacobs hardly saw varsity time last year... I assume they were JV players.

A lot of Freshmen!!!! 

[MObball41]

...Or his alter ego?

With the experience coming back, it may be hard for Freshmen to find minutes. We'll see what type of talent they have...

WC is small... No one over 6-4 except the Freshmen, Brondel.. 6-6... Not a huge difference from recent years. They have tended to be pretty guard heavy.

[hopefan]

Webster scrimmages 'Merrimac' Community college last night, which, as I understand it is really St Louis Community college now with the merge of the 3 locations to one team...

Webster was short 3 returning players... Cody Bradfisch recovering from this summer's hip surgery, will be cleared to practice this next week, Jarrod Huskey is the backup goalie on the soccer team, and Lawrence Williams was out sick....  It was a good opportunity for new faces and guys competing for time to show their stuff...

Webster fell behind early, then romped to take the first session by double digits.... Merrimac led the second session by 6 with two minutes left, but a spirited comeback gave Webster the chance to win it, but a turnover in the last 10 seconds killed it...  Didn't stay for much of the 3rd session.. Dexter called...

As expected, Roman Robinson dominated for Webster... he's going to have to pick up for the loss of Stefon whittingham to D2, and he looks ready to take on the challenge... a little out of control at times, but clearly the go-to guy.  The bright surprise of the evening was the maturing of sophs Ahmad Smith and Danny Zehner, from limited role playing Frosh to critical players for this year's gorlocks... Smith did a little of everything, almost a duplicate of roman Robinson size and ability wise, just a little calmer take on the game... He will be a very good player, likely even this year.  Danny Zehner all of a sudden looks more like he knows what he's doing, not running around in circles like he appeared to be last year, and shot lights out... several 3's, nice form, worked hard on defense... he'll get a lot of minutes this year, conceivably as the first 2-3 man off the bench.  Hollis Edwards was solid at point.. though not much of an offensive threat, he gets things started, and his defense disrupts the other team's offense.  Dietrich sooter played some point as well as on the Wing   some good, some bad... he's gonna drive coach Bunch nuts with the out of control through the middle and ill advised 3 point shots... yet, he makes some of them...3 new faces appear to have the capability to help right off the bat.. Aaron Griffin started in the middle with Huskey and Williams absent.. showed some pretty decent offensive moves that will generate scoring, though his build is slight and he was manhandled by the VERY large Merrimac post man...  he won't face that in the SLIAC, and should see some time on the court.  Frosh Taylor Walton from Okawville looked good on the wing, smart player, took care of the ball, nice looking shooter and went to the basket pretty strong... he's learning.   Frosh Jordan Roland saw time at the point... again looked well schooled, fundamentally sound,  may have the opportunity to back up Hollis Edwards.  Add our 3 missing players, and you have a nice mix of vets with new faces that could show some pretty respectable depth...  Not sure about Huskey and soccer.. think his game would be better served working in the weight room and leading the team in practice... And how will cody Bradfisch be impacted by this surgery...  his game is firey, on the floor for loose balls etc... can he still do it safely?

Still, I came away a tad bit more optimistic that Webster could still end up making the conference tourney....

[hopefan]

I heard at Webster's scrimmage that the SLIAC coaches have already had their preseason meeting... one of the things they do is have a preseason Coach's Poll...   with new faces being critical to many of the teams, it will be interesting how the Coaches vote...  Hard to imagine though, that Eureka, Spalding, Westminster and Mac won't be top 4 (Not necessarily in that order), Greenville and Webster 5 & 6 (Not necessarily in that order), Fontbonne 7, Blackburn 8, and Prin 9.    Howevever, if there is discussion amongst the coaches prior to the vote and they each come clean, there could be movement due to info that we are not privy to....I'd imagine the results will be posted on the SLIAC.org page in the near future....

Anyone aware of any scrimmages taking place prior to the exhibition games that are on schedules?

[ecreddevils]

Anyone aware of any scrimmages taking place prior to the exhibition games that are on schedules?

EC went up and apparently manhandled Sauk Valley CC on Saturday by 20+.  Incidentally, Dustin Fritsch's brother is a 6' 5" F on the Sauk squad.

[hopefan]

Anyone aware of any scrimmages taking place prior to the exhibition games that are on schedules?

EC went up and apparently manhandled Sauk Valley CC on Saturday by 20+.  Incidentally, Dustin Fritsch's brother is a 6' 5" F on the Sauk squad.

Let's hope that bodes well for another possible Eureka recruit... We'll have to follow Sauk Valley this year!!!!