MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

IWC women give Spalding women their first league loss... things couldn't get crazy enough that IWC men could shock Spalding men, could they?

[magicman]

I don't know how he remembers all that stuff. I leave a game and I've forgotten 99% of what happened. Maybe it's a case of CMS (Creative Memory Syndrome). 

It's his old coaching habits coming into play. That always helps out. Remember he was a coach (at one time) and he is getting old.

[hopefan]

IWC women give Spalding women their first league loss... things couldn't get crazy enough that IWC men could shock Spalding men, could they?

YES.....   What a conference!!!!   IWC 60   Spalding  51    !!??!!??  Spalding behind by double digits the whole game!!  Spalding wins the boards, only turns the ball over 7 times, but shoots poorly from everywhere to lose the game... pretty incredible that IWC has now beaten Spalding, Webster, and Fontbonne....

BC beats GC and IWC beat Spalding on consecutive nights... If Fontbonne can continue this upside down trend and whip Spalding on Saturday, and if Webster could win up at Mac, we'll have a total logjam... as it is, we have a real horserace anyway...

[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 after games of Jan 28
Spalding   +1   (Won at Mac) (won at Eureka)  (lost vs IWC)
Mac  +1  (Lost at home to Spalding) (Won at Greenville) (won at Eureka)
Greenville  (-1 )  (Won at Fontbonne) (lost at home to Mac) (lost to Blackburn)
Fontbonne( -1)   (won at Eureka) (Lost to IWC) (lost at home to Greenville)
Webster (-1)    (Lost to Iowa Wes) 
Eureka   (-3)    (Lost at home to Fontbonne) (lost at home to Mac) (lost at home to Spalding)

[CoachClarke]

Not a full-strength Spalding I see;

* Moore out.
* Cosby still out.
* Goeing plays low minutes (for him).
* Abrams first non-start.
* Lavender gets first start.
* Sellars gets first start.

3rd game in 5 days, on the road, after a day's break.

Perhaps not a surprising result in the circumstances?

[hopefan]

Not a full-strength Spalding I see;

* Moore out.
* Cosby still out.
* Goeing plays low minutes (for him).
* Abrams first non-start.
* Lavender gets first start.
* Sellars gets first start.

3rd game in 5 days, on the road, after a day's break.

Perhaps not a surprising result in the circumstances?

Regardless of these factors, my attitude is that Spalding simply would not lose to a team like IWC, so I view it as a shocker..
Some of the points you make are explainable, others are a mystery..

I have no idea why Renaldo Moore didn't play... He was solid at Eureka, a game I saw, and was particularly strong in the last 10 minutes when Spalding broke the game open... no hint of injury or illness that might have kept him out vs IWC

Goeing had a weak first half at IWC, then followed it up with a slow start in the second half.. maybe Coach just figured it wasn't his night... and they were far enough behind that a couple of Goeing bombs weren't going to make a difference... I guess just a good night to get Donnie Lewis some experience....

Abrams... a great basketball body, but the two nights I've seen him, he hasn't flowed with the rest of the team at all... seems very uptight.. Leon and Sellers both looked much better and able to help...

I can'r remember seeing Cosby play earlier in the year, but his stats show that his not playing would only impact Spalding's bench depth.. that isn't much of a problem as Coach usually gives everyone some minutes...

[hopefan]

Big day tomorrow:

Eureka at Prin... the door has opened just a crack for Eureka with GC's loss at BC... they obviously have to take care of business vs Prin... They hammered Prin in their first meeting, but this has the makings of a trap game... the individual matchups are pretty decent, but as usual, I have a concern that Prin just can't go for 40 minutes....

Greenville at Westmin... absolutely, positively must win for Greenville.... is the confidence still there?  Greenville 2-4 in last 6 games....and I'd imagine Westmin enjoyed winning their last game... watch out for this one too...

Blackburn at IWC.... both teams coming off shocking wins, neither has anything to lose... let's play to 100!!

Webster at Mac.....  performance for both of these teams has been underwhelming despite Mac's current 7 game win streak.... too many close games, wins by less than 10, when talent level says double digit wins should be the norm... Webster crushed Mac before Deavis Johnson joined Mac.. will be interesting to see if Mac offense can take advantage of the 2nd big man against Webster zone...Will Ahmad Smith be back for Webster, at 100% or 75% or at all?  Mac's defense suspect... can they hold Webster under 65?  Can Webster zone keep Mac off the offensive boards?

Fontbonne - Spalding    Tough decision to miss this one... and a tough game to call... Will Renaldo Moore be back?  If not, Fontbonne will have an advantage around the basket.... Key for Fontbonne is DEFENSE... Guards must keep Goeing from getting hot from 3's, keep Gabriel from penetrating... Eureka's Kent, Behrens could not guard Gabriel...

SEE A GAME TOMORROW.... they all should be GOOD ONES!!!!

[hopefan]

ok, off to MacMurray in a while... 

RULES TO REMEMBER

Avoid Big Birds diving at my car

Avoid Deer running across roads

Avoid State Troopers willing to stop you at 63 mph in a 55 zone on a road that no one else travels..

Don't stop at Alton Belle Casino

Yjack buys the food

Get home by 7:30 as promised to wife


Always a tough trip.....   But worth it if game is close....

[y_jack_lok]

ok, off to MacMurray in a while... 

RULES TO REMEMBER

Avoid Big Birds diving at my car

Avoid Deer running across roads

Avoid State Troopers willing to stop you at 63 mph in a 55 zone on a road that no one else travels..

Don't stop at Alton Belle Casino

Yjack buys the food

Get home by 7:30 as promised to wife


Always a tough trip.....   But worth it if game is close....

What, no smiley face there? One meal only!! I still have to work for a living while you lounge around in retirement, even though you are MUCH younger than I am. 

[SliacChamp]

When will we see the dominating performance from Hunter Ward that we saw in the 2nd half last season. He has had some hot streaks this year but we haven't seen him have a whole game where he was the best player on the floor. Time to step up Mr. Ward

[hopefan]

Ahmad Smith will not play for Webster vs Mac...  Ward better come up big if Webster is going to compete...

[SliacChamp]

Mac up 41-33 on Webster at half. Both teams played even for 14 minutes then the Webster turnovers took a toll on them. So far no Mac defender has been able to keep a Webster player in front of them. If the Gorloks stay aggressive and limit turnovers/Deavis Johnson offensive rebounds they should be able to dig themselves out of this hole.

[SliacChamp]

Well that was ugly. Blowout win for Mac. Layup after layup after layup after layup....................

[CoachClarke]

Well that was ugly. Blowout win for Mac. Layup after layup after layup after layup....................

...or beautiful, depending on your perspective!   

That hole got a lot deeper.  The suspect defense wasn't bad either.

[Denny McKinney]

I was by FU for men's halftime induction of Brian Fogarty into FU HOF. Nice convoy during half with Coach Gray. He said Moore has strep throat. Tried it in shoot around and was just to weak. And, now another player was not dressed for same.

The ten minutes I saw. Two teams very similar. Were going hard both ways. Not much scoring either way. SU is scary athletic. And extremely quick. FU works so hard defensively. Their ok when going to Greenlee. Otherwise its tough to score. I've seen Moore on feeds. Different story maybe. Coach said it had been long trip. I admire what he has done at SU.

I will say I have not seen Mac with Johnson. Otherwise you can flip a coin. Not a good year. Got someteams that have trouble shooting. Su is 0 - for two straight games from 3's.

No outcome surprises me. It's been said "The SLIAC is a big game of H O R S E."