MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

WU FAN · February 09, 2014, 09:50:39 PM

Something that hasn't really been mentioned from yesterday's WU vs MC game was the outstanding performance by Aaron Griffin. He was overshadowed by Smith's outburst but Griffin finally looked like the guy who we all saw at the beginning of last season. Without his discipline in terms of fouls in the last 5 minutes Webster would have been in a real pickle. Both Miller and Huskey had fouled out and Griffin's play was somewhat limited, up until that time, by 3 fouls in the 1st half. While everyone raves about the scoring of Smith, many of which were fast break points, an argument can be made that without Griffin at the end of the game the outcome would have been far different.

Denny McKinney · February 09, 2014, 11:38:20 PM

I agree WU Fan. Aaron Griffin has the skill level and length to be unstoppable. Great 10' jump shooter and long on the Defensive end. Watch for him to come up big in the remainder of the season.

hopefan · February 10, 2014, 05:57:38 AM

Speaking of Big men... a face in the crowd on Saturday pointed out to me by YJack was Darren Hoggit, former Webster Post player.... When Darrin played, I was still a Maryville fan.. will never forget 2 early performances in his career when he just dominated a very good Maryville team... smooth quiet.. as a Maryville fan I came away shaking my head saying "WHO WAS THAT GUY?" What a sweet 12-15 jump shot he had....

y_jack_lok · February 10, 2014, 08:15:38 AM

WU FAN is absoutely right about Griffin. I'm not sure I've ever seen someone score 20 points so quietly -- 6 of seven from the free throw line, 7 boards.

Quote from: hopefan on February 10, 2014, 05:57:38 AM
Speaking of Big men... a face in the crowd on Saturday pointed out to me by YJack was Darren Hoggit, former Webster Post player.... When Darrin played, I was still a Maryville fan.. will never forget 2 early performances in his career when he just dominated a very good Maryville team... smooth quiet.. as a Maryville fan I came away shaking my head saying "WHO WAS THAT GUY?" What a sweet 12-15 jump shot he had....

As for Darrin Hoggat, he is #3 on Webster's all time scoring list. In his early years, when he dominated Maryville a couple of times, he was primarily a back-to-the-basket post up player who scored from within 5-6 feet, but he extended his range as a junior and senior.

And hopefan, you are retired. You should not be up posting stuff before 5 a.m. central time.

hopefan · February 10, 2014, 08:53:27 AM

YJACK old habits die hard

hopefan · February 10, 2014, 09:35:39 PM

gotta come to play EVERY night IWC 32 WU 31 half

Denny McKinney · February 10, 2014, 09:38:28 PM

Wow!!!

Has anyone noticed that Spalding's Will Barber hasn't played lately? Basically since the Webster contest. This would be a big post season Loss for SU. Did I miss something?

hopefan · February 11, 2014, 12:16:53 AM

Quote from: Denny McKinney on February 10, 2014, 09:38:28 PM
Wow!!!

Has anyone noticed that Spalding's Will Barber hasn't played lately? Basically since the Webster contest. This would be a big post season Loss for SU. Did I miss something?

I'll find out about Barber on Saturday... counting on going over to Louisville for Webster-Spalding

Also note the return of Spalding forward Dominique Sangester, whom I heard sat out the first 2.5 months of the season saving his last semester of eligibility for now... he was a regular in the rotation last year.

ecreddevils · February 11, 2014, 02:06:41 PM

Quote from: hopefan on February 10, 2014, 09:35:39 PM
gotta come to play EVERY night IWC 32 WU 31 half

They showed up at least half the night--40-19 in the second half, yikes.

Speaking of missing players, what's happened to Whitlock at Mac? Minutes and production have fallen off considerably. Simply a result of coming off injury?

hopefan · February 11, 2014, 08:46:40 PM

ecred... not sure about Whitlock.... he doesn't appear to be favoring a sore leg.. but perhaps Coach Creal is just bringing him along slowly... on the other hand, as I mentioned before, he doesn't appear to be fitting in with Mac's quick aggressive pressure defense... Cole Busch, on the other hand, has relatively quick feet for a big man and is working out nicely getting most of Whitlock's minutes...

hopefan · February 12, 2014, 10:34:44 AM

Big game tonight Webster at Greenville

A Greenville win would put great pressure on Westmin, as it would be the only win vs a top 3 team for either Gville or Westmin... Westmin would need to do the same to keep pace with Gville for the 4th and final spot in the Conference tourney..

Webster has to win to keep their chances alive for the conference championship and hosting the tourney... a loss at Greenville pretty much locks them in at 3rd place, with a possibility of 2nd. A win at Greenville sets up the huge matchup with Spalding on Saturday.

If Greenville and Westmin finish tied, and all conference results are the same for both, and if the Technical foul situation is the same, the next tie breaker is strength of schedule... not certain how this works, but here are the non conference D3 teams that each played :

Westmin
Beat Elmhurst (13-7)
Lost to Millikin (14-7)
Lost to Milwaukee Engineering (19-4)
Lost to Edgewood (11-11)
Beat Simpson (1-15)
Beat Coe (6-12)

Greenville
Beat Elmhurst (13-7)
Lost to Millikin (14-7)
Beat Dominican (4-19)
Lost to Loras (11-10)

Which is better? How does the calc work? If it is simply playing the more difficult schedule, it appears Westminster has the edge with MSOE on the schedule....

ecreddevils · February 12, 2014, 04:15:43 PM

I don't know, Hope, I'd say better to respond to this post with any detail late tonight or tomorrow since Web should be a pretty big road favorite over GC.

I know GC is tough at home, still, Web has been pouring it on lately, and with the exception of the road loss at EC (ancient history) they've been so solid in-conference. I'm going with Web by at least 10, quite possibly more.

Denny McKinney · February 13, 2014, 12:59:21 AM

Good call EC. WU by 9. Looks like EC played much better tonite. All the games looked to be competitive.

hopefan · February 13, 2014, 09:45:24 AM

Good game at Greenville... 58-58 with 8:30 left, Greenville doesn't get a field goal for 5 minutes while Ward, Smith and Etter score down the stretch, and it's 70-59 with 3:30 left, and it's over....Greenville gives critical minutes to bench players, and they're not coming through.. I don't see practice, I know the coaching staff has game plans, but that's my observation.

Webster on the other hand, gets everything they need from the bench and then more... Jarrod Huskey shows more energy splitting minutes with Griffith and Miller, Jonathon Odjo speeds the game up at the right times, Adam Etter plays a cerebral game, sure handed with the ball, and has begun to think of scoring.. crucial 3's last night and big free throws down the stretch... and CJ Moore will be very good as he earns more time....

Ahmad Smith goes for 34... but my old school mentality gets down on him for disrupting the flow of the offense at times, careless with the ball, not hustling back after a missed layup... still, tough to turn your nose up at 34 points...
Hunter Ward another super game.. a Willie Trimble like dunk on a base line drive... I'd love to see Hunter display an intermediate range jump shot.. he's either shooting the three or going all the way to the hole.. would like to see him be a threat off the dribble more often from the wing.. would take some of the scoring load off Ahmad, and draw bigs away from Griffith and Miller.. Hollis Edwards, Mr Steady... unselfish, he's a big key... but wow, no worries when he graduates.. Odjo and Etter are GOOD....

The Webster win sets up the big game on Saturday vs Spalding....
Also keeps Greenville and Westmin deadlocked, as neither have beaten any of the big three or lost to the bottom 5.

ecreddevils · February 13, 2014, 09:56:52 AM

Quote from: hopefan on February 13, 2014, 09:45:24 AM
Good game at Greenville... 58-58 with 8:30 left, Greenville doesn't get a field goal for 5 minutes while Ward, Smith and Etter score down the stretch, and it's 70-59 with 3:30 left, and it's over....Greenville gives critical minutes to bench players, and they're not coming through.. I don't see practice, I know the coaching staff has game plans, but that's my observation.

Webster on the other hand, gets everything they need from the bench and then more... Jarrod Huskey shows more energy splitting minutes with Griffith and Miller, Jonathon Odjo speeds the game up at the right times, Adam Etter plays a cerebral game, sure handed with the ball, and has begun to think of scoring.. crucial 3's last night and big free throws down the stretch... and CJ Moore will be very good as he earns more time....

Ahmad Smith goes for 34... but my old school mentality gets down on him for disrupting the flow of the offense at times, careless with the ball, not hustling back after a missed layup... still, tough to turn your nose up at 34 points...
Hunter Ward another super game.. a Willie Trimble like dunk on a base line drive... I'd love to see Hunter display an intermediate range jump shot.. he's either shooting the three or going all the way to the hole.. would like to see him be a threat off the dribble more often from the wing.. would take some of the scoring load off Ahmad, and draw bigs away from Griffith and Miller.. Hollis Edwards, Mr Steady... unselfish, he's a big key... but wow, no worries when he graduates.. Odjo and Etter are GOOD....

The Webster win sets up the big game on Saturday vs Spalding....
Also keeps Greenville and Westmin deadlocked, as neither have beaten any of the big three or lost to the bottom 5.

Good synopses here--looks like the SLIAC bottom feeders showed up to play last night, competition all around. You did fail to mention that on Tuesday Prin avenged a tough early season loss against the Eutectics of St. L Pharma. That one should have made Sporscenter just for the philosophical irony of the matchup alone.

Web vs. SU on Saturday should be a preview of the SLIAC championship game, if the seeds hold.