MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

Hopefan has been maintaining a very simple player ratings chart for each conference game. I will reveal hopefans all conference team thru every four games. This Saturday is the 8 th game, so up to date ratings will be out Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Woohoo!!!

Also, just so you all know where I stand, Go Steelers!!

[hopefan]

Just heard Fontbonne's DeLine has back problems. Also informed he is a Frosh eligibility wise, making that potential 4 year class all the stronger. Find a pure point and a little bulk/size.

[Greek Tragedy]

Hopefan has been maintaining a very simple player ratings chart for each conference game. I will reveal hopefans all conference team thru every four games. This Saturday is the 8 th game, so up to date ratings will be out Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Woohoo!!!

Also, just so you all know where I stand, Go Steelers!!

I can't wait! Maybe I'll come up with a too-obvious All Fantasy Team. LOL

[hopefan]

Not a particularly exciting schedule tomorrow in the SLIAC as far as matchups go... still, that means opportunity for upsets!!!

the best matchup would seem to be Blackburn at Webster... I picture this to be a defensive struggle, perhaps a game with finishing scores in the 60's... BC's tough nosed defense may frustrate the not ready for prime time Gorlocks, and Webster's zone may keep BC away from the hoop.. where BC shoots a pretty meager 34.4% from the arc...this may come down to a battle of the big men... BCs Malcome Scott vs Webster's Nigel Wilcox...I like Scott's extra size at his stage... hope it will be a close game to the finish...This is a big game in the standings... the loser will fall out of a top 4 position

The rest of the games.. wow..
Spalding at Greenville... despite Spalding's wins over Webster and Blackburn, I don't have any confidence that they'll be able to handle the constant pressure of Greenville's system... people who haven't seen the Greenville system think of it mainly as an offense generator... I look at it differently.. it is one heck of a fun defense to watch, constant full court on the ball pressure...I just don't think Spalding will handle it...

Iowa Wesleyan at Eureka... Brock Butler vs Shea Feehan will be great fun to watch and is a pretty even matchup, but everywhere else on the court, Eureka with the advantage, Drey or no Drey...can't see an upset here...

Fontbonne at Principia... a little more of an upset possibility here, as you never know what kind of foul trouble might leave Prin shorthanded... if Luke DeLine not up to par, it puts a big crimp in Fontbonne's game... You know, the matchups here are not too lopsided, I just see Prin being the more mature team at this stage, but inconsistancies can hurt them...I'm wavering a little... nah, Prin SHOULD win double digits...

MacMurray at Westmin... if I were Mac, I'd be getting the ball in Brent Long's hands every time down the court... I just don't see any other way they can stay in this game...

[hopefan]

IF this was a real discussion board, here would be some great topics...

1) what can Prin do to get more players on the roster.. Beautful campus, great facility, good fans and kids, I'd hate to see these guys disappear...
2) how can SLIAC level talent hope to Beat the Greenville system if Greenville continues to bring in reasonably talented players..
3) the youth of Webster and Fontbonne... will this become a St. Louis loaded conference as soon as next year...
4) Butler, Feehan. Kobe Wands or Micah Paulson.... or maybe even Dix.... who's the best guard in the league?  It's a great year to be a SLIAC fan... these guys are fun to watch....
5) Bad behavior at Eureka... on the court, on the bench, in the stands... right or wrong, funny or over the line?
6) Kendall Davis, Mac... what has gone wrong?
7) Injury status... is anyone (mainly Kobe Wands, Payton Sellers) coming back... is Luke eLDine going to be out?
8) A very good Freshman class in the conference, I count 17 who are making contributions already... can the SLIAC keep them in the conference?
9) Iowa Wesleyan... how are the international recruits adjusting, progressing?   Why the on again off again status of Mitch Drey..
10) WOTS says Coach Barber considering a career change... right or wrong?  if so, how will that affect the 'SYSTEM"?  Will the very positive California recruiting connection stay alive?

[hopefan]

So I just watched the video of Prin-Greenville.. I come away with one thought... Trevon Goodman... the good and the bad.. 2 tremendous passes in the last 2 minutes, leading to layups...2 awful turnovers in the last 30 seconds leading to the loss......
Besides those 2 turnovers, Greenville really won it.. some huge 3 point shots in the last two minutes..

readers who don't see these games, you don't know what you are missing.....

[Former Devil 40]

I'm an avid reader part time (at best) poster but I'll take a stab at some of your questions to see if it generates any additional conversation:

1 - I don't think there's a whole lot that Prin can do to get additional quality players on the roster due to the fact the school is associated with the Christian Scientology church.  From what I hear this is the best Prin squad they've had in 10 years I've been associated with the SLIAC and it's sad they only have  9 guys on the roster.  Maybe Todd laces them up and plays during practice so they can at least go up and down.

2.  I think this is the second or third year of Greenville running the system...and I've seen them play Eureka twice.   If a team has quality guards that can take care of the ball it seems the system is fairly easy to beat.  The game I watched this year Greenville shot the ball at a horrendous rate.   In order for Greenville to be successful against the top tier of the SLIAC, I think they need to bring in a few more quality shooters.  I just don't know who would ever want to play on a team that runs this....not me

4.  Haven't seen anyone other than Feehan yet this year but I hear Paulson is a ton at Prin.  In regards to Shea, he is super smooth with his handle and has such a quick pull-up game he is tough to guard.  I know what I would do to try and stop him so I won't give away any secrets.  Anyone that can go 50-40-90 and score 30ppg has to be an All-American candidate right?

5.  I'd like to know your thoughts on this.  I saw the Greenville game where a large portion of the student section, including a faculty member, asked to leave the gym.  I'm not sure it was warranted.  I referee myself (not at the college level) and if you can't handle chirping from the stands (which you really shouldn't be paying attention to) then I don't think you should be reffing.  I can only imagine what is said at the D1 levels.   However if any vulgarities were being thrown the refs way then I agree he did the right thing.  Also I think it's funny that guys at the higher levels (D1 /NBA) are allowed to talk to the refs or complain about a call a heck of a lot more than we D3 guys (except the ref that turned his back on Joel Berry....that was unprofessional on his part).  I always felt like anytime I tried to talk to a ref about a call it was shut down or a T was thrown out.  I won't continue on this soapbox haha

6.  No Comment

8.  Always felt like this was an issue for the SLIAC.  They see a lot of talented young players either head for "greener" pastures or just decide not to play anymore.  I don't understand why kids think since they have a successful year as a freshman that they are better than the SLIAC.  Why not be a big fish in a small pond?  I'd rather play at a super high level for 3-4 years than go sit the bench at a D2 school or play <10min per game.  The SLIAC produces top teams that can compete with the national powerhouses every couple years and it would happen more often if these types of kids stayed.

I'll be at Eureka vs Iowa Wes on Saturday and provide a recap if I find time Sunday or Monday.  The little one keeps me awful busy these days.

[Gregory Sager]

IF this was a real discussion board, here would be some great topics...

1) what can Prin do to get more players on the roster.. Beautful campus, great facility, good fans and kids, I'd hate to see these guys disappear...

The leadership of Christian Science doesn't publish membership or attendance numbers, but estimates are that there are now fewer than 100,000 Christian Science members left in the U.S. Over the past few decades there's been a significant sell-off of churches and other properties owned by Christian Science, indicating a considerable decline in membership. Since all of the students and faculty of Principia are affiliated with Christian Science, even a school of fewer than 500 students is not going to have an easy time filling its slots from such a small demographic base; that may help explain why 20% of Principia's students come from other countries. (It's not likely that that 20% will contribute much to the men's basketball team, either.)

Money doesn't seem to be an issue, as the sources I've seen indicate that Principia's endowment is over $600m.

It appears to me that the problem facing Principia's men's basketball recruiting (and it's probably the same thing for Principia's other sports) is simple demographics.

[Gregory Sager]

I'm an avid reader part time (at best) poster but I'll take a stab at some of your questions to see if it generates any additional conversation:

1 - I don't think there's a whole lot that Prin can do to get additional quality players on the roster due to the fact the school is associated with the Christian Scientology church.

Christian Science, not Christian Scientology. Scientology's a whole 'nother religious movement.

[Greek Tragedy]

So I just watched the video of Prin-Greenville.. I come away with one thought... Trevon Goodman... the good and the bad.. 2 tremendous passes in the last 2 minutes, leading to layups...2 awful turnovers in the last 30 seconds leading to the loss......
Besides those 2 turnovers, Greenville really won it.. some huge 3 point shots in the last two minutes..

readers who don't see these games, you don't know what you are missing.....

I would actually watch this game if I knew where to find it. YouTube?

[WUPHF]

It appears to me that the problem facing Principia's men's basketball recruiting (and it's probably the same thing for Principia's other sports) is simple demographics.

They did manage to recruit more than twice a many players of the eSports squad.

I have to think that some of those guys are incredible at NBA 2K18.

It is interesting though, the teams with the bigger squads seem to have recruited more players from the Upper School.  As far as I know, that is the only Christian Science high school in the United States.

[Greek Tragedy]

Not a lot of Fantasy excitement today. The Blackburn at Webster game could be a defensive battle and there isn't anyone worth using if you have a team.

MacMurray at Westminster could be interesting. Brent Long could have a huge game as we may as well dismiss Kendall Davis the rest of the year. I wonder how long Kobe Wands will be out.

Iowa Wesleyan at Eureka will feature Brock Butler vs Shea Feehan. Both could have huge days, though Feehan has come back down to Earth with a few less-than-stellar performances.

Fontbonne at Principia really only features the usual suspects. Davidson and Goodman had 52 and 62 Fantasy points vs Greenville while Paulson had a disappointing 37. Paulson has the best chance to do that today.

Even though Spalding is playing at Greenville, no one in the Fantasy leagues picked any Golden Eagles for this weekend. Greenville, as usual, puts up the points but doesn't have that one guy to rely on for scoring. 

[hopefan]

Spalding can't beat the winter weather and does not travel to Greenville.... the makeup already rescheduled for Jan 22

So the week of Jan.22... Spalding has:
Monday, 1/22   at Greenville.......4 hours, 260 miles from Louisville

Wednesday, 1/24  at Iowa Wesleyan...  7 hours, 450 miles from Louisville

Saturday, 1/27  at Westminster... 5.5 hours, 365 miles from Louisville

I really wonder how they'll handle this... assuming classes are in session...

[y_jack_lok]

Blackburn at Webster was a great, competitive game -- all you can ask for in a college basketball game. Kudos to all the players and coaches. Webster wins 76-73 in  OT. Blackburn hit two clutch threes in the final 25 seconds of regulation to tie it and almost did the same in the OT. Webster's Josh Johnson is 16-16 from the free throw line, most of them in the final minutes of regulation and in OT.  Congrats!

[hopefan]

at Westminster... Mac 79   Westmin  72....  and Brent Long, 24 minutes, 0-1 from the field, 9 rebounds....slightly ill?  slight injury???  No way it was the Mac game plan, and I can't conceive it was Westmin defense... and Mac WINS!!??   How Bizarre.....