MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Denny McKinney]

Thanks Hope! Also, thanks to my friend Yjak, for his well wishes.

[y_jack_lok]

I had a nice chat with the former first lady of Fontbonne men's basketball, June McKinney, at halftime of the Webster/Fontbonne women's game. Very nice lady. Denny, I hope she's right that you will be ready to get out and see a game in about three weeks.

[ecreddevils]

BC's zone gives EC some trouble in the second half, but EC uses a 4 minute run against BC's second team midway through the 2nd half to get out to a 12 point lead.  BC closed the gap and had a chance, but timely shooting by Cody Behrens and hitting free throws down the stretch pull it out.  Next 10 days are huge for EC: Mac, @FU (need to win this one), and home for SU.  EC winning when they have to and putting themselves in position for a legit shot at that four seed. Can they beat a current top 3 team at some point to break through?

[y_jack_lok]

Good win today for Webster against a tough Fontbonne team. Ahmad Smith goes down with an ankle injury about 5 minutes into the game and didn't return. He was on crutches with his ankle wrapped at the end of the game. FU was able to find Darius Rucker inside the zone enough, or he was getting offensive rebounds for them, that if he hadn't been in foul trouble most of the game and could have spent more time on the floor, it could have been a different game. FU also without Jared Greenlee due to the injury in the Greenville game. Jonathan Odjo goes 15-15 from the free throw line for Webster. He hit a three at a critical point in the game -- one of those shots that coaches probably hate to see a player take (I know I cringed when he let it go) but it went in. Some nice passing by Aaron Griffin late in the game to find open teammates driving the lane a couple of times. A nerve wracking game, but a W for the Gorloks.

[hopefan]

Heck of a game at Greenville.... Greenville minus 2 key backup guards in Stevonte Young and Jamal Daniels, and at a huge size disadvantage..   fall behind by 25 with 11 minutes left, and in an 8 minute time span, cut the lead to 3 with 3 point shots that could have tied... those shots didn't fall, and Mac wins by 6... I thought Coach Barber was giving up when he sat all starters with 10 minutes left, but wow, in 2 and a half minutes, the lead was cut to 11, and as the starters reentered, it diminished all the way to 3....a loud gym, great atmosphere.... killer possession was two slam dunk offensive rebounds by Ron Harris that both went off the rim and out.. I believe if either went in, it cut the lead to 1 or 2....Mac was 10 for 20 from the ft line in last five minutes, nearly losing it for them....kudos to Jake DeWitt, Todd Albertson, Austen Potts, 3 guys who don't get a lot of time, for starting the charge back. And to Michael Hohm after having a horrendous 1st half for playing a major role in the comeback...The three bigs played very well for Mac, sutton 15 pts, Johnson 15 points despite being in foul trouble, Whitlock 21 points... Mac just got a little too loosey goosey in final 10 minutes.. maybe learned a lesson from it....Ron Harris goes for 24 and 13...He and Deavis Johnson very similar size, body types, and bruised each other the whole game... VERY impressive....

In other games:
Prin keeps the score low, assume the tempo was to their liking, and they nip IWC.. Justin Ball leads the way with 19 and 10, Patterson, Ross and Davidson all in double figures... that's what it takes for Prin... chris Fowler 14 points 8 assists for IWC.. quickly challenging Brandon Gabriel for best point guard in the league....

Yjak tells us about the Webster win.. Fontbonne gives them a game.. Jonathon Ojoe plays after Ahmad Smith goes down, finishes with 20 points, 15 for 15 from the line!!

Chris J davis goes for 26, but its not enough for BC as Eureka nips them... Cody Behrens goes for 20 off the bench for Eureka.. I thought this kid looked good vs Greenville last week.. where was he hiding in the first half of the season?

Spalding beats Westmin 58-48 in one of the lower scoring SLIAC games that I can remember.. turnovers and poor 3 point shooting kill Westmin's chance at the upset....

[hopefan]

-1 is awarded to a top 6 team for any loss to the bottom 4, and for any loss at home to the other 5 of the top 6.
+1 is awarded for a win on the road vs a top 6

Current hopefan standings:
Spalding   +1   (Won at Mac)
Greenville  0   (Won at Fontbonne) (lost at home to Mac)
Mac      0    (Lost at home to Spalding) (Won at Greenville)
Fontbonne( -1)   (won at Eureka) (Lost to IWC) (lost at home to Greenville)
Eureka   (-1)    (Lost at home to Fontbonne)
Webster (-1)    (Lost to Iowa Wes) 

[SliacChamp]

Thought we were in for another let down by the Gorloks but they proved me wrong thankfully. I thought they recovered well once Ahmad Smith went down and did some good things. They still struggled getting some sort of offense going and also had trouble keeping Fontbonne off of the offensive glass. Granted, Rucker is a solid offensive rebounder but I thought they could have kept him off of the glass a little better. Webster needs these next 2 wins to gain confidence going into a tough road game at Mac.

Side note, saw Kevin Miller getting some shots up while Webster was in locker room in pre game. Don't know how much to read into this because he wasn't jumping but it looked like he was moving fairly well. Would love to see him come back for the stretch run but for now I won't get my hopes up.

[hopefan]

Thought we were in for another let down by the Gorloks but they proved me wrong thankfully. I thought they recovered well once Ahmad Smith went down and did some good things. They still struggled getting some sort of offense going and also had trouble keeping Fontbonne off of the offensive glass. Granted, Rucker is a solid offensive rebounder but I thought they could have kept him off of the glass a little better. Webster needs these next 2 wins to gain confidence going into a tough road game at Mac.

Side note, saw Kevin Miller getting some shots up while Webster was in locker room in pre game. Don't know how much to read into this because he wasn't jumping but it looked like he was moving fairly well. Would love to see him come back for the stretch run but for now I won't get my hopes up.

Putting up a couple of shots surely isn't running the court on very sore knees... let me know when you see him running some suicides or full court sprints.. then I'll get excited

[Denny McKinney]

Yjak. My Mom enjoyed her convo with you. Hope your wife his doing well. I didn't know. She enjoyed the women's game. Except the final score. It was her first time seeing FU coach Maureen Roberts- Sias's team. Maureen was the 3pt threat on FU's 2001 team. That team beat #1 Wash U. Then #5 Millikin in the 2nd rd of NCAA Tourney. After graduating she was an asst. coach for 8 yrs. under HC Quigley. She's like family. Mom said her team was young but plays hard for her.

As for my seeing a game. I'm getting close to the end of this "Long and winding road". I have my final surgery Jan. 30th. This started last Sept 4 th. It will be great when I'm all reconected and Cancer Free. My goal is to see Coach Barber's GC bunch in the post season tourney.

Amusing side note: Mom spent time with Coach Bunch. Her and Dad attended Chris's wedding and were very close. She told me she told Coach he needed to have his wife put some "Just for Men" to his beard. Haha! Only The First Lady can get away with that

[y_jack_lok]

Thought we were in for another let down by the Gorloks but they proved me wrong thankfully. I thought they recovered well once Ahmad Smith went down and did some good things. They still struggled getting some sort of offense going and also had trouble keeping Fontbonne off of the offensive glass. Granted, Rucker is a solid offensive rebounder but I thought they could have kept him off of the glass a little better. Webster needs these next 2 wins to gain confidence going into a tough road game at Mac.

Side note, saw Kevin Miller getting some shots up while Webster was in locker room in pre game. Don't know how much to read into this because he wasn't jumping but it looked like he was moving fairly well. Would love to see him come back for the stretch run but for now I won't get my hopes up.

I've seen a few FU games at FU against teams other than Webster the past few seasons and Rucker just seems to have a knack for getting offensive rebounds and putting the ball back up. I have to wonder if him being a smaller guy makes him harder to locate and box out. As long as Greenlee is out Rucker will probably see more time on the court. Heck, he should probably be seeing more time anyway.

[Denny McKinney]

I watched the FU/WU game on streaming yesterday. It is tougher to rebound out of a zone defense. It takes different skill set and mental understanding. Man defense you have someone checking Rucker. Putting a body on him is much easier. His man has one responsibility. In zone you have different players to box about every time down the floor.

That being said, what Rucker continues to do as a 6'2+ PF can't be taught. They just have the built in desire to "Ball Hawk". They just go get it.

The lopsided rebounding in yesterday's game, tells me WU needs to find a Hawk. FU got 18 more attempts then WU. But, they just don't shoot it well 31%. Someone needs to step up for WU to help Griffin. I know WU also shot a ton of FT's.

[hopefan]

Who is the best point guard in the conference?   Here are some stats, conference games only:

                                       PPG             APG           TOPG            A to TO Ratio

Kent   EC                          6.1               4.1             2.7                   1.7

Dorhauer  FU                    5.8                3.1             1.5                   2.1

Ehresman  GC                   8.8                3.6             1.8                   2.1

Fowler  IWC                      11.1              4.0             3.6                   1.1

Koeltner   Mac                   5.9                3.5              1.0                  3.5

Patterson   Prin                 11.0              3.6              3.2                   1.1

Gabriel     Spalding             14.0             3.1               1.8                  1.8

Etter         WU                     4.9               3.8               0.8                 5.0

Moore        WC                    11.8             0.8               2.6                  0.3


I may try to give some comparative stats for 2-3 position players and 4-5 position players in the future..

I'd like to see the Coaches make an All Conference team by position with a split like that, rather than simply voting for the highest scorers, which has been pretty much the trend in the past.. a point guard should be on the first team all conference, high scorer or not....           

[Denny McKinney]

Hope am I reading Gabriel with 14 apg? I think program moved some of collums.

[hopefan]

Denny perhaps on your view. Mine is ok   That is ppg.  Order is ppg, apg,topg, a per to

[Denny McKinney]

Your right Hope. No problems with laptop.

All conference voting took a turn for the worst. Internet voting is Useless. In the day coaches sat in the same room. Face to face. Round Robin. You put your player (if you have one) up for 1 st Team. Then defend your pick with facts. You used to see the coaches vote in a pretty much Guard, Wing and Post.

I truly think Storandt got the shaft. For 2 years he was by for the best true Post. He avg 10 plus rebounds (maybe more but teammate Fogerty avg 10). His Blks totals and steals were top 3. At true 6'8+, large wingspan and the body to go up vs anybody. Hopefan I think you agree. If Dad was in the room to debate it. He would be easy choice.

Today you vote thru email. Nobody knows your vote. Or, reasoning. I really question how much thought is put into getting a true all conference TEAM.