MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[y_jack_lok]

Y jak it looks to me like the Top 4 teams may not be as good. Next 4 may be better. Then we had speculated.

Denny, I'm assuming by the above that you mean compared to last season. Is that correct? And of course our speculation means nothing anyway. Just a little bit of fun. What's more fun is seeing the games. Also, Webster has a couple of guys, who if they are able to play come January, should help the team.

[hopefan]

Y jak it looks to me like the Top 4 teams may not be as good. Next 4 may be better. Then we had speculated.

Denny, I'm assuming by the above that you mean compared to last season. Is that correct? And of course our speculation means nothing anyway. Just a little bit of fun. What's more fun is seeing the games. Also, Webster has a couple of guys, who if they are able to play come January, should help the team.

Yjak, can you elaborate beyond Griffin?

Incidentally... I didn't mention what a great 1-2 punch Jarrod Huskey and Kevin Miller provided the other day vs Elmhurst...  25 points and 26 rebounds between the 2 as they turned to a high-low set on offense...  add Griffin to the mix and it is a VERY effective weapon strong enough to battle MacMurray's inside game...

Another observation regarding the Gorlocks... if upperclassmen don't start producing more, the 3 frosh guards are likely going to see more and more playing time... The Frosh scored critical buckets to keep Webster in the game vs Elmhurst... and so far, making few Frosh turnovers too....

[hopefan]

There are some interesting stats put up by BC players in Rockford game.
Chris Davis in 18 mins. took 17 shots had 16 rebounds, had 4 asst and 7 to's.
Jamie Moore in 20 mins took 19 shots, had 11 rebounds and 5 blocks.
WoW. Evan Wells in 7 mins went 6-11, plus 3 rebs, 5 ast and 4 blocks.

The Winner is: Tommy Ulinski from off the bench played 21 minutes. He went 7-13 fg, 4-6 3pt, 10-10 fts for 28 pts.

Blackburn takes Rockford 3 OT's. With Rockford shooting 19 more free throws. BC may be playing a different style of ball. Heck, try anything. Fontbonne needs to be ready to play.

Y jak it looks to me like the Top 4 teams may not be as good. Next 4 may be better. Then we had speculated.

Denny.. I noticed the stats for BC too.. particularly those of Evan Wells... whose numbers for 7 minutes seem other-worldly.... alas, when you add BC Boxscore minutes up, they total 152... a 3 overtime game should add to 275.... while the other stats are likely correct, the minutes for each player are grossly understated..bringing the 'stats per minute' back to earth....

When I saw that BC got Ulinski, i chatted with another Coach regarding their interest in him... it wasn't regarded by that coach as a major recuiting loss.... Well, certainly appears to be Blackburn's big gain....

[Denny McKinney]

Hopefan, the mistake in minutes at BC shouldn't surprise me. Thanks for doing the math.

Yjak- I'm just commenting on the strength of the conference this year. Not knowing anything about Mac, I would say as a whole the conference is down this year. SC still looks like they are trying to find scoring. WC is lacking size to go with the guard experience. EC is oft to early struggles. GC has been the surprise so far. IWC, BC, FU and PC are all looking for direction.

Two highlights so far. Kevin Miller, what a great story. So happy for the young man and a Huge plus on his medical out look. Kody Ettinger, I really wondered if his game could transfer to this level and if he could get to the line (like he did in HS). So far both are yes.

Heard from a friend who saw Aaron Griffin in a boot and on crutches, at a recent game. Hope he can bounce back by January.

[hopefan]

Hopefan, the mistake in minutes at BC shouldn't surprise me. Thanks for doing the math.

Yjak- I'm just commenting on the strength of the conference this year. Not knowing anything about Mac, I would say as a whole the conference is down this year. SC still looks like they are trying to find scoring. WC is lacking size to go with the guard experience. EC is oft to early struggles. GC has been the surprise so far. IWC, BC, FU and PC are all looking for direction.

Two highlights so far. Kevin Miller, what a great story. So happy for the young man and a Huge plus on his medical out look. Kody Ettinger, I really wondered if his game could transfer to this level and if he could get to the line (like he did in HS). So far both are yes.

Heard from a friend who saw Aaron Griffin in a boot and on crutches, at a recent game. Hope he can bounce back by January.

When I chatted with him at a game recently, he said he hoped to be playing mid to late December....

[y_jack_lok]

Yjak- I'm just commenting on the strength of the conference this year. Not knowing anything about Mac, I would say as a whole the conference is down this year. SC still looks like they are trying to find scoring. WC is lacking size to go with the guard experience. EC is oft to early struggles. GC has been the surprise so far. IWC, BC, FU and PC are all looking for direction.

I'd  say that sums it up pretty well.

[hopefan]

I'll go along with Denny's positive thoughts on Blackburn if they can compete with Millikin today... having seen Millikin this year, I think they're better than the middle pack of SLIAC schools... If BC can play them relatively close, it's a good sign that they'll be able to compete with many of their league opponents... and why not... at this stage we have 4 winless teams and 3 more with only one win, my top team in the conference, Mac,  with a loss to a poor Calumet team, Greenville and Webster winning with many new faces playing lead roles...

outsiders can snub us, but I look at it as... it should be a heck of a conference race....

Can't wait until Wednesday when league matchups get underway...

[Denny McKinney]

I am in no way forecasting future fortunes of BC. They have been a mystery to me for about six years now. A once very good program, has been decimated over the past five years. Hard to figure what is going on in Carlinville. Just seems like they may have improved their scoring chances this year.

[y_jack_lok]

Millikin over Blackburn 93-77. Good shooting by Blackburn, but not much bench production. I'm thinking Blackburn will make the SLIAC race even more competitive than initially perceived.

Greenville no match for WIU, losing 76-49. Ditto for IWC 36 vs Neb-Omaha 86.

[Denny McKinney]

Yjak - With the struggles of some teams to put points on the board, BC seems like they have the ability to score. It's also coming from 3-4-5 different guys. That is the type of team that CAN win games at Home when they catch a visitor cold. It will also make teams play well when they come in. Not to say they will win a lot of road games. Just that teams will need to be ready.

I would like to see this group make a move up the 10 step ladder. I do believe Losing is a disease. And the Beaver Dome needs a good dose of Antibiotics. This season could be the first small dose. I'm just saying,

[y_jack_lok]

Yjak - With the struggles of some teams to put points on the board, BC seems like they have the ability to score. It's also coming from 3-4-5 different guys. That is the type of team that CAN win games at Home when they catch a visitor cold. It will also make teams play well when they come in. Not to say they will win a lot of road games. Just that teams will need to be ready.

I would like to see this group make a move up the 10 step ladder. I do believe Losing is a disease. And the Beaver Dome needs a good dose of Antibiotics. This season could be the first small dose. I'm just saying,

Denny, I just looked at BC's stats through five games on the SLIAC site. Three guys averaging double figure scoring. I didn't realize how young the team is. No seniors, two juniors, the rest sophs & frosh. With experience the pieces are there for them to do what you would like to see happen.

[Denny McKinney]

Yep Yjak. I would just like to see the program become competitive again. Would be good for the conference. I don't know this coach. But, I hope he is there to see it through. They have had some shaky situations.

[GC Panther 01]

GC v WIU was a better game than the final indicated on Saturday.  It was 35-25 at the half and was really a 10-12 point game for much of the way.  Was still 41-29 with 16 to go.   The stretch that killed them was from about the 10 to 5 min remaining in the second half where WIU opened it up to about a 20 point lead.  Most of that was due to superior size on and dominating the boards thru that stretch.  GC played without Alex Mumphard who was at home due to the death of a family member, the team had attended the funeral and left from there to attend the game.

Jake Dewitt filled in at the point and I thought did a nice job running things and getting the ball to open spots as well as keeping his man in front of him defensively, should have a nice year out of him in league play.  Would have been very nice to have seen Alex in this game, he had 19 against WIU last year.

Was impressed with Harris in the post, especially defensively, was outsized by about 4" and 50 lbs but held his own much of the night and did a decent job of holding the WIU center at bay, despite a very conscious effort to feed him in the first half. 

  Also had a very nice game out of Frosh center Nick Triscko who really showed no fear in competing on the blocks against a bigger front line, he did have several TO
s trying to force the issue a few times when it wasn't there but also gave them a few extra chances on the offensive glass.  If he keeps working and gets stronger conditioning wise he can be a very big presence in the future.

Overall I was pretty pleased with how the game turned out, WIU not nearly as strong as they were last year and GC looks a lot better then they did last year.

[hopefan]

GC looks a lot better then they did last year.

Agree 100%

I look at Wednesday's game with Webster as a huge one in determining the SLIAC pecking order.... more important to Webster, they need to win at home.....A Greenville win would establish them as a real threat to Mac.....

[ecreddevils]

Oh krikey, conference play is here...a couple week's worth of predictions...

Millikin 88 Prin 51  the streak continues...and continues...

WC 67 IW 65
BC 72 FU 68  upset special...
EC 86 Mac 84 heart vs. head...
GC 78 WU 73

Spalding 75 IW 60 
GC 85 BC 72  is the beaver hype for real?? not so fast.
WU 68 FU 63
Mac 90 Prin 64
Simpson 73 WC 59

Central Mo. 93 Mac 70 total guess...
MO S & T  90 WU 68  total guess II...
EC 88  LC 78