MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[y_jack_lok]

That game did not hit my agenda... a little far to travel to see Westmin or Spalding play a so-so nonconference opponent.... Flood Water is supposed to crest tonight, but has to go down 15 feet if I am to get out of my subdivision for Saturday conference games... some schools within the conference may face travel problems, kids not getting back for practice etc.... Main route to Principia will be under, Westmin may have problems...don't know if Blackburn or Mac would be impacted.... some individual players may have difficult time getting out....

I'm planning on going to Carlinville Saturday for Webster vs Blackburn. If there is flooding that keeps me from getting there, so be it. Guess I'll turn around and come home.

[y_jack_lok]

Monday... Jan. 4.... Eureka at Webster... I'll sit next to YJack and other Webster fans, but will quietly root for underdog Eureka (let's get everyone to .500 as soon as possible)

You don't do anything quietly. Might want to think about sitting somewhere else. 

[hopefan]

Printing loudly  :

Spalding beats Oglethorpe  77-69... Brandon Goeing gets it going (haha).. goes 8 for 15 from 3's, 29 points... Great to see... hoping this means Spalding is on its way up to challenging to be a member of that 10 way tie I'm looking for!!

[hopefan]

Prin scheduled to play at Mo-Rolla today... hard to imagine they can get over there with all the flooding....

[hopefan]

Good news is that Prin is playing their game at Rolla..

Bad news is that Prin is playing their game at Rolla


Prin down 16 at half, 48-32

[hopefan]

Prin loses at Rolla, 97 - 70....  Only 7 play for Prin, wondering if additional bench players were unable to get to game due to flooding...  Anumu 23 pts, Ball 20 points, Davidson 19 pts..... Anumu and Davidson play 40 minutes, Ball 38, Ross 37.... tough to do....

[hopefan]

Full conference slate tomorrow.... AND....  I'm no longer flooded in...

So..

I'm staying local and seeing Westminster coming to Fontbonne... Westmin is the surprise early leader of the conference at 3-0.. AND.. they haven't played the perceived weaker teams in the league, beating Spalding, Greenville, and Iowa Wesleyan... how?  I Don't know... that's why I'm anxious to see them tomorrow... they had a horrible showing several days ago vs Oglethorpe, can they get it turned back on back in conference?  Fontbonne (1-2) should be higher than ever after giving Wash U a solid game, but are there still issues as to who is getting court time?  Are the two big guys a big enough positive to give minutes to, or is Fontbonne better with Greenlee, Kissing and 3 guards?  And how do the guard minutes get distributed in a 4 or 5 guard rotation....What is the best distribution of minutes for the Griffs?  Gotta root for the Griffs here to squeeze those standings!!!   I think they'll do it, as the Jays come back to earth!!

Webster at Blackburn.... It's never easy playing in the tight confines of Blackburn, but Webster's Zone is likely to give the Beavers fits -- BC is at its best in an up tempo game, I don't see Webster allowing it.  As long as the Gorlocks don't beat themselves with turnovers and/or poor shot selection, they should come away with the win...

Greenville at Spalding... I'm losing the faith in the system for Greenville this year.. they just don't have any shooters... I haven't seen Spalding yet, but my thought is that they know how to go to the basket... that's all they have to do to get the win....

Mac at Eureka... I've seen everyone but Spalding this year, and these two teams have played with the most intensity of anyone... Mac Should win based on the Long/Johnson duo, no one on Eureka matches up with them... BUT, Mac doesn't always use that to their full advantage... if 3 pointers by Mac start going up with regularity, Eureka could win this one.. I'll go with Mac though

Prin at IWC... I can't see Prin matching Iowa Wesleyan's pace for 40 minutes.... Please Jeff Ross, find 10-15 shots, going to the hole... you could make a huge difference....

[hopefan]

Something else to think about:

hopefan's All-SLIAC nov/dec 2015

by position
FIRST TEAM
PG   Fowler, IWC
SG   Feehan, EC
SF   Anumu, PC
PF   Johnson, Mac
C     Long, Mac

Second Team
PG   Kent, EC
SG   Davis, BC
SF    Ward, WU
PF    Kissing, FU
C      Ball, PC

3rd Team
PC   Cameron, Mac
SG   Butler, IWC
SF    Brown, GC
PF    Davidson, PC
C     Trisko, SU

Rookie of the half year    Wiegand, EC
Co-Player of the half year  Long, Mac     Fowler, IWC

[WUPHF]

Looking at the SLIAC scores as a few of the afternoon games are in the books...this conference is crazy!

[hopefan]

Dang I love the SLIAC!!!

3 games come down to final seconds, and the underdog (if there is such a thing), wins all 3... BC over Webster, Eureka over MacMurray, Fontbonne over Westminster... Everyone now has at least one loss... will write in depth later...

[ecreddevils]

Dang I love the SLIAC!!!

3 games come down to final seconds, and the underdog (if there is such a thing), wins all 3... BC over Webster, Eureka over MacMurray, Fontbonne over Westminster... Everyone now has at least one loss... will write in depth later...

EC/Mac was an intense affair for the duration.  EC controlled with the exception of the first 4 or 5 min. of the second half.  EC answered that run with a run of their own to push the lead back to 10.  The sheer hustle of everyone in the seven man rotation negated the size advantage for Mac in the post.  Feehan and Goulding were off the charts in both intensity and offensive firepower.  Mac is a very, very good team, hard-nosed defense, but EC fed off the home energy and were able to match that defensive energy the whole game.  Johnson and Long are excellent posts, but Johnson spends far too much time faced up at the top of the key, refuses to post up.  Don't get that, but helped EC in this game. 

Statement game for Eureka--efforts like this will put them in the mix.  Question is, can they do it on the road against Webster on Monday coming off of this effort?

[hopefan]

Dang I love the SLIAC!!!

3 games come down to final seconds, and the underdog (if there is such a thing), wins all 3... BC over Webster, Eureka over MacMurray, Fontbonne over Westminster... Everyone now has at least one loss... will write in depth later...

EC/Mac was an intense affair for the duration.  EC controlled with the exception of the first 4 or 5 min. of the second half.  EC answered that run with a run of their own to push the lead back to 10.  The sheer hustle of everyone in the seven man rotation negated the size advantage for Mac in the post.  Feehan and Goulding were off the charts in both intensity and offensive firepower.  Mac is a very, very good team, hard-nosed defense, but EC fed off the home energy and were able to match that defensive energy the whole game.  Johnson and Long are excellent posts, but Johnson spends far too much time faced up at the top of the key, refuses to post up.  Don't get that, but helped EC in this game. 

Statement game for Eureka--efforts like this will put them in the mix.  Question is, can they do it on the road against Webster on Monday coming off of this effort?

The answer is obvious... ANYTHING can happen!!!    Congrats to EC!!

[hopefan]

Fontbonne Westmin... game started out slowly, neither team could score, eventually Fontbonne got going as Gentry and Ettinger came in and scored...  A crazy 3 point bank shot from ROMO Tabb got Westmin going with about 5 minutes left, and a double digit margin became only a 4 point deficit at half... Westmin came out and scored the first 8 points of the 2nd half to take the lead, led by Tanner Cochrane and Romo Tabb... Fontbonne chipped away, looked to get the ball into big man Bryce Zimmerman, who scored several shovel-hooks and got to the foul line often (with limited success).. Fontbonne regained the lead with Dorhauer getting to the line often, Cocrane led the 2nd WC comeback along with a big Romo 3 and critical free throws from Jim Villabos.... Fontbonne had the ball up 3 but had a shot blocked, Cocran came down and scored to cut the lead to 1 with 49 secs left, Gentry, who had gone 3-4 from the line in 2 previous possessions, was again fouled at 25 seconds and made 1... Westmin has 25 secs to tie or win, Villagos drives and misses a pretty reasonable shot from 5 ft off the rim, Font rebounds and is fouled with 5.8 secs on clock.. Trey Watkins misses 2, Villagos comes down and shoots from the arc...the shot is at the buzzer, is partially blocked, OR, the shooter is fouled... the refs run off the court as Westmin Coach Mitchell's stands dumbfounded at the no call, and it's over.. I don't know whether the shot beat the buzzer or not, but no foul call.....

A couple of observations... Coach Thornhill played offense/defense substitutions in the last 5 minutes... I liked it.. for the most part the right people were in at the right time... Gentry really took over the last 3 minutes... as long as he makes free throws in the clutch, the job is his, he did a great job... Fontbonne often had four guards and a forward on the floor, with success, as Westmin isn't exactly a rebounding machine....Bryce Zimmerman is the real deal... Jeff Smith never saw the floor... Greenlee missed a number of layups, I don't get it, just not strong as he was in the past...Ettinger, Gentry, Zimmerman, none started, all played well and won it for the Griffs....Westmin Cochrane couldn't be stopped penetrating to the hoop.... Watch out for Westmin Frosh Carter Wands, a frosh, very cute with the ball, he could be a good one in the SLIAC....  Amusing to me, Coach Thornhill rushing down on last play to shake Coach Mitchell's hand before anyone seemingly knew what, if any, call was made...it was bizarre as the refs seemed to have a second of indecision...

From the box scores...
BC 77 Webster 73.... what a great win for Blackburn...outstanding shooting from 3 point 9-15, beating Webster on the boards 41-32 does it.  Webster wastes a near triple double from Hunter Ward, 22 pts, 13 rebs, 8 assists... Webster shoots 35 fts vs BC only 12, but they make only 20... and lousy 3 point shooting, 3 for 17.. why resort to that?

Eureka 75  Mac 73.... speaking of lousy 3 point shooting Mac goes 4 for 22... Long gets 11 shots, Johnson 12...don't ask me??  And guards can't stop Feehan 25 (OK, he's a scorer), Goulding 24 (He has NOT been a scorer).. Hooray for Eureka, young, new, only one, maybe 2 guys that really contributed in the past, and they are COMPETING... As for Mac, given how much I think of Todd Creal, very disappointing....

Spalding 108  Greenville 85.... ok Coach, time to dump it... Daniel goes 6 for 15 from 3, the rest of the team goes 6 for 31... the system was fun to watch, for a while....

IWC 84  Prin 74.... Prin up 70-64 with a little more than 5 minutes left, but just can't last... Anumu goes for 32, I still don't understand Jeff Ross, 6'6", athletic, a player, getting 4 shots... IWC wins despite a 'subpar' performance from Chris Fowler (20 pts, 2 rbs, 6 assts, 6 steals), but IWC has 5 in double figures....

SO lokie lookie.... IWC/Webster/Westmin/ EC with 1 loss, Mac, Font, Spalding, BC 2 losses, GC 3, Prin with 4.... and Prin can beat anyone in the league, except maybe Greenville....

[Mr. Ypsi]

Fontbonne Westmin... game started out slowly, neither team could score, eventually Fontbonne got going as Gentry and Ettinger came in and scored...  A crazy 3 point bank shot from ROMO Tabb got Westmin going with about 5 minutes left, and a double digit margin became only a 4 point deficit at half... Westmin came out and scored the first 8 points of the 2nd half to take the lead, led by Tanner Cochrane and Romo Tabb... Fontbonne chipped away, looked to get the ball into big man Bryce Zimmerman, who scored several shovel-hooks and got to the foul line often (with limited success).. Fontbonne regained the lead with Dorhauer getting to the line often, Cocrane led the 2nd WC comeback along with a big Romo 3 and critical free throws from Jim Villabos.... Fontbonne had the ball up 3 but had a shot blocked, Cocran came down and scored to cut the lead to 1 with 49 secs left, Gentry, who had gone 3-4 from the line in 2 previous possessions, was again fouled at 25 seconds and made 1... Westmin has 25 secs to tie or win, Villagos drives and misses a pretty reasonable shot from 5 ft off the rim, Font rebounds and is fouled with 5.8 secs on clock.. Trey Watkins misses 2, Villagos comes down and shoots from the arc...the shot is at the buzzer, is partially blocked, OR, the shooter is fouled... the refs run off the court as Westmin Coach Mitchell's stands dumbfounded at the no call, and it's over.. I don't know whether the shot beat the buzzer or not, but no foul call.....

A couple of observations... Coach Thornhill played offense/defense substitutions in the last 5 minutes... I liked it.. for the most part the right people were in at the right time... Gentry really took over the last 3 minutes... as long as he makes free throws in the clutch, the job is his, he did a great job... Fontbonne often had four guards and a forward on the floor, with success, as Westmin isn't exactly a rebounding machine....Bryce Zimmerman is the real deal... Jeff Smith never saw the floor... Greenlee missed a number of layups, I don't get it, just not strong as he was in the past...Ettinger, Gentry, Zimmerman, none started, all played well and won it for the Griffs....Westmin Cochrane couldn't be stopped penetrating to the hoop.... Watch out for Westmin Frosh Carter Wands, a frosh, very cute with the ball, he could be a good one in the SLIAC....  Amusing to me, Coach Thornhill rushing down on last play to shake Coach Mitchell's hand before anyone seemingly knew what, if any, call was made...it was bizarre as the refs seemed to have a second of indecision...

From the box scores...
BC 77 Webster 73.... what a great win for Blackburn...outstanding shooting from 3 point 9-15, beating Webster on the boards 41-32 does it.  Webster wastes a near triple double from Hunter Ward, 22 pts, 13 rebs, 8 assists... Webster shoots 35 fts vs BC only 12, but they make only 20... and lousy 3 point shooting, 3 for 17.. why resort to that?

Eureka 75  Mac 73.... speaking of lousy 3 point shooting Mac goes 4 for 22... Long gets 11 shots, Johnson 12...don't ask me??  And guards can't stop Feehan 25 (OK, he's a scorer), Goulding 24 (He has NOT been a scorer).. Hooray for Eureka, young, new, only one, maybe 2 guys that really contributed in the past, and they are COMPETING... As for Mac, given how much I think of Todd Creal, very disappointing....

Spalding 108  Greenville 85.... ok Coach, time to dump it... Daniel goes 6 for 15 from 3, the rest of the team goes 6 for 31... the system was fun to watch, for a while....

IWC 84  Prin 74.... Prin up 70-64 with a little more than 5 minutes left, but just can't last... Anumu goes for 32, I still don't understand Jeff Ross, 6'6", athletic, a player, getting 4 shots... IWC wins despite a 'subpar' performance from Chris Fowler (20 pts, 2 rbs, 6 assts, 6 steals), but IWC has 5 in double figures....

SO lokie lookie.... IWC/Webster/Westmin/ EC with 1 loss, Mac, Font, Spalding, BC 2 losses, GC 3, Prin with 4.... and Prin can beat anyone in the league, except maybe Greenville....

Or show some patience until he can recruit the right guys for it.  Greenville may be having more trouble than usual adapting to The System, but no team is instantly proficient at it.  I'm no real fan of The System, but kids seem to love it, and it seems to work pretty well against teams that don't have a HUGE advantage in talent.  Greenville will take huge lumps this year (and perhaps next year) but give 'em 'til 17-18 to judge for sure.  (Even then you need to ask 'would straight bball be any better for them?')

[y_jack_lok]

In all 5 games yesterday (1/2/16) the home team won.