MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Nobody got all hot under the collar. Nobody felt the need to insult the other person.

Those are the best kinds of discussions!

[Gregory Sager]

Nobody got all hot under the collar. Nobody felt the need to insult the other person.

Those are the best kinds of discussions!

Be careful what you wish for, Patrick. Those are words that can come back to haunt a moderator.

[Denny McKinney]

Hopefan - +1K on your work on Greenville. The thing I would look for is a few of last years transfers not to appear on next years roster. Not that they don't have what is needed to play at this level, just don't have the intangibles to fit Coach Barbers system. It takes major personal responsibility to wear the Panther Orange. It seems he has got some kids coming in this year that will fit in nicely.

This is not a knock on GC or the players. It's just being willing to do it the Panther way.

[Gregory Sager]

So ... which teams do you have left to cover, hopefan?

[hopefan]

The two locals, Webster and Fontbonne, along with Principia and Blackburn are left....  Any of those 4 you're partial to, Mr. Sager?

[Denny McKinney]

I would like to hear your take on WU. I might add, the last time I talked to the GriffIn kid he thought he had gotten his business in order to return next year.

[Gregory Sager]

Fine with me. Let's hear about Webster, hopefan.

[hopefan]

Webster it will be, though probably not until this weekend...seems the old hopefan has to go through a minor medical procedure at the end of the week........

[GC Panther 01]

Pat, thanks for the explanation on teams entering D3.  Makes sense.

[jaybird44]

Hello folks!

I'm involved in the "Call of the Year" contest conducted by Stretch Internet.  I am hoping to become a finalist, and if you wish, you can have a hand in getting me there.

Go here ( http://bit.ly/YmvliM ) to listen to the audio clip, and then click on "Love It" to cast a vote.  You may vote once per day through May 30th.  Fans will decide the top 10 and top 5 finalists, and Stretch personnel will decide the winner.

Thank you very much for your consideration!

Jay Murry

[y_jack_lok]

Hello folks!

I'm involved in the "Call of the Year" contest conducted by Stretch Internet.  I am hoping to become a finalist, and if you wish, you can have a hand in getting me there.

Go here ( http://bit.ly/YmvliM ) to listen to the audio clip, and then click on "Love It" to cast a vote.  You may vote once per day through May 30th.  Fans will decide the top 10 and top 5 finalists, and Stretch personnel will decide the winner.

Thank you very much for your consideration!

Jay Murry

Nice job. But I don't want FB "Contests" accessing my public profile so I canceled my vote.

[Denny McKinney]

I am thinking about Hopefan's medical procedure, he mentioned. Hope everything went well.

[Gregory Sager]

I didn't realize that Hopefan was having medical issues. I hope he's doing alright.

[hopefan]

Thanks guys... nothing major at all...just the once every 10 years "flush".....

[hopefan]

Webster... the Gorlocks made the conference tournament by the skin of their teeth last yeat, and they lose a number of key players to graduation... still Chris Bunch rotated enough players in his substitution scheme that a solid nucleus returns for the 2013-14 season...  There seems to be no question though, that there are some holes to fill on the bench with new faces, or else only 6 or 7 guys will see the majority of minutes...

Lost to graduation are:
Roman Robinson  6'3" 1st team All Conf; All Defense; 14.6 ppg, 6 rpg....  a little out of control, but a do everything player
Cody Badfisch  6'1"  10.2 ppg, 3 rpg...  admirably filled the 6th man role after starting in his jr year; solid leader
Dietrich Sooter  5'10"   8.6 ppg   Tied for lead in Assists.... had some big moments, but woefully inconsistant
Jurgan Rama, and Derrell Lee.....   off the bench

Returning are
Ahmad Smith  6'2"  2nd team all conference   14.6 ppg..   he has to become the go to guy this year... no one else is close... must step up the intensity...  has shown he can score...
Hollis Edwards   5'10"  All Defense....   if the All Conference Team was strictly by position, Edwards may have been my Point Guard... great quickness, nothing fancy, good penetration... other assist leader on the team... he needs to double up that 4 ppg average.
Jarrod Huskey 6'6"... 7.3 PPG, 6 rpg...  messing with soccer last fall put him WAY behind with hoops at the start of the season... really had a solid 2nd half of the year... started to score like he did in his Frosh year...  I look at Jarrod as the guy who could make or break this coming season... if he can come all the way back and be a double digit scorer, it will be a major upside...
Danny Zehner  6'2"  8.2 ppg, 4 rpg...  started the season off superbly, his playing level and intensity a huge surprise, but seemed to run out of gas in the 2nd half of the year... still, got far more experience than expected as a soph, should be a valuable contributor as a junior.... has to cut the turnovers and fouls if the bench is short, and find that early season shooting touch again....  I love the aggressiveness....
Taylor Walton... 6'3"  ... coach Bunch used him at some important times in his frosh year, so the confidence should be there.  Kind of mirrors how Zehner plays.. aggressive, goes to the basket... but he was playing not to screw up as a frosh, he needs to flow with the action this year

The wild card is Aaron Griffin 6'6".... it is still uncertain, until this semester grades are finalized, as to whether he'll be back... Had a great 1st semester last year out of the clear blue sky...  10.6 ppg, 9.2 rpg...  but my attitude is, if the hoops and academics are too much together, then academics must come first....  If he is able to return, I'm hoping Coach can find a way to have both Huskey and Griffin on the floor at the same time, meaning Griffin would move out of the middle most of the time.

There is really nothing else... and thats only 5 players + the Griffin wild card... Jordan Roland who came in last season with some pretty decent HS credentials, hardly played, and is likely not to return...   the rest of the guys returning spent last year on the bench.. never playing except at mop up....  don't know who of them will return or if there is some hidden talent there... Bunch has been known to present a surprise...

So it seems like Webster has a solid nucleus, but may be woefully short of talent on the bench, especially if Aaron Griffin is unable to return to the floor.  Webster needs to have a great recruiting year... I don't see how they make top 4 without a little more depth... But Aaron Griffin's return could be the ticket to the tourney.