MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

hopefan · November 26, 2018, 09:27:27 PM

Quote from: hopefan on November 25, 2018, 04:35:45 PM
Austin Rebel makes it easy for me... his huge game in IWU's win over Monmouth earn him Hopefan's SLIAC Player of the week. He goes for 28 and 14. Note IWU-Knox has been postponed.

Well, SLIAC.org disagrees.. they give it to Karston Hayes, who had a very good game for Blackburn in their win over Elmhurst. He goes for 23 and 6... not quite up to Austin Rebel's numbers. There is a caveat. I believe a player must be nominated for player of the week by their school. The fact that Rebel didn't even get mentioned as 'others' say to me that IWU dropped the ball and didn't input Rebel's name...

hopefan · November 28, 2018, 09:17:11 AM

Conference games begin tonight... here's a quick rundown

Webster at Fontbonne... Fontbonne is still young and inexperienced, particularly with the continued absence of Noah Coddington... Webster has played outstanding competition, fared pretty well... they should be ready for this big rivalry game..

Blackburn at Mac.... another rivalry game... Mac is totally inexperienced, Blackburn getting great play from Hayes and King, overall quicks should prevail over the Highlanders

Eureka at Greenville... Eureka so disappointing thus far, and got manhandled by the system play of Grinnell... should fare better because Greenville shooting is pretty poor... still Greenville depth and pressure generating more turnovers than ever, should run away with this one in the long run...

Iowa Wesleyan at Westminster... I just can't believe that Westmin is as bad as their record (1-4) would indicate... they've played a tough schedule... Great win for IWU over Monmouth, but it won't carry over tonight... Westmin

Spalding at Prin... Spalding has only played two games.. tough to know the talent level... I know how good Goodman and Paulson are, but Prin has been beat badly 3 in a row, the supporting cast not ready for prime time yet... tough call, I'll root for Prin, but think Spalding will win close....

y_jack_lok · November 28, 2018, 10:01:17 AM

^^^ Actually, It's Webster at Fontbonne.

hopefan · November 28, 2018, 10:07:46 AM

Quote from: y_jack_lok on November 28, 2018, 10:01:17 AM
^^^ Actually, It's Webster at Fontbonne.

Thanks. Will correct.

Greek Tragedy · November 28, 2018, 01:09:47 PM

I noticed Bennington didn't play the 2nd game over the weekend vs Cardinal Stritch. Any word if he's out tonight?

ecreddevils · November 28, 2018, 02:35:48 PM

Quote from: hopefan on November 28, 2018, 09:17:11 AM
Conference games begin tonight... here's a quick rundown

Webster at Fontbonne... Fontbonne is still young and inexperienced, particularly with the continued absence of Noah Coddington... Webster has played outstanding competition, fared pretty well... they should be ready for this big rivalry game..

Blackburn at Mac.... another rivalry game... Mac is totally inexperienced, Blackburn getting great play from Hayes and King, overall quicks should prevail over the Highlanders

Eureka at Greenville... Eureka so disappointing thus far, and got manhandled by the system play of Grinnell... should fare better because Greenville shooting is pretty poor... still Greenville depth and pressure generating more turnovers than ever, should run away with this one in the long run...

Iowa Wesleyan at Westminster... I just can't believe that Westmin is as bad as their record (1-4) would indicate... they've played a tough schedule... Great win for IWU over Monmouth, but it won't carry over tonight... Westmin

Spalding at Prin... Spalding has only played two games.. tough to know the talent level... I know how good Goodman and Paulson are, but Prin has been beat badly 3 in a row, the supporting cast not ready for prime time yet... tough call, I'll root for Prin, but think Spalding will win close....

Gotta go heart and take EC on the road in a tough environment. Non-conference schedule has been tough. This is a team trying to find its legs, tonight could be the night.

I'll take Mac close over BC. Good defensive effort against a solid Monmouth team and home court advantage add up to win.

Prin over Spalding. Spalding hard to get a read on, but statistics look abysmal.

Agree with Web and Westmin.

y_jack_lok · November 28, 2018, 11:30:59 PM

Exciting game at Fontbonne. Webster wins 75-74 in OT on a 3 pointer by freshman Kevin Anders with 4.5 seconds left. Fontbonne missed a desperation shot with under a second left. Fontbonne defense was really tough. Had to hurt to lose that game.

WUPHF · November 29, 2018, 10:34:12 AM

Fontbonne sure has a lot of Franklin County guys including three from St. Francis Borgia.

The entire McKinney clan must be especially excited.

I did not realize they had Alex Movila. My dad is a Borgia alum and he loved that guy.

Kleekamp (pronounced Claycamp) was also quite the player. He is starting as a freshman.

Obviously Luke Deline is having a season, scoring 30 points, but 3-14 from the perimeter. Yikes.

hopefan · November 29, 2018, 10:46:52 AM

I could write volumes... VOLUMES... about the first night of SLIAC action... but I'll keep it short

I attended Greenville - Eureka....words can't express how much fun this game was to watch... Eureka never quit, got to 122-120 with 3 minutes left, GC's Rakim Murphy sticks back to back 3's to put the game out of reach... incredible atmosphere, incredible play by the kids on both teams...

Yjack told you about the Fontbonne Webster finish... Kevin Anders, a stringbean frosh who had hardly played in previous games, steps up and sticks the game winner in OT

Mac destroys Blackburn...ecreddevils called it, I never saw it coming...Todd Creal is a happy man.. Conner Vincent, Logan Dorehty shoot lights out....a credit to the enthusiasm a guy like Creal can create....

Westmin nips IWU... as I said, IWU's performance vs Monmouth serves notice to the SLIAC that they are for real...This game was TIED with 17 seconds left, Collin Caywood the hero sinking 3 free throws at that point...

Dang I love SLIAC hoops

and yes... I'm heading over to Principia tonight to see what I think will be a close game between Prin and Spalding

Greek Tragedy · November 29, 2018, 11:01:06 AM

Man, super jealous. Greenville v Eureka one night and Principia the next?

Hank Thomas with a great performance in a losing effort. 34 points, 4-7 from 3, 6 boards, 8 dimes and 4 pick pockets. Maybe you'll start giving him some love!

ecreddevils · November 29, 2018, 11:30:19 AM

Quote from: hopefan on November 29, 2018, 10:46:52 AM

I attended Greenville - Eureka....words can't express how much fun this game was to watch... Eureka never quit, got to 122-120 with 3 minutes left, GC's Rakim Murphy sticks back to back 3's to put the game out of reach... incredible atmosphere, incredible play by the kids on both teams...

Mac destroys Blackburn...ecreddevils called it, I never saw it coming...Todd Creal is a happy man.. Conner Vincent, Logan Dorehty shoot lights out....a credit to the enthusiasm a guy like Creal can create....

Great effort from the Red Devils. You mentioned the pivot point--122-120, layup, then the inbounds pass is turned over leading to a quick 3, now it's 127-120 in the span of 20 seconds. Still, a performance to build off of, Bennington and Thomas with great efforts and a nice game from Kyle Henderson. Throw the record out and get ready for that long trip to Louisville.

I won't gloat...one word about Mac. Watch out for Logan Dorethy. Skilled and efficient 6' 7" who played at small school West Hancock for a legendary coach. Players can kinda get lost out there in "forgottonia" western Illinois, but the kid can really play and has the height and length to develop into a top SLIAC player.

hopefan · November 29, 2018, 11:57:17 AM

Ecred... I liked the big freshman on your team!!! Got thrown into the fire for several minutes and played with poise. He'll be good.

ecreddevils · November 29, 2018, 12:04:43 PM

Quote from: hopefan on November 29, 2018, 11:57:17 AM
Ecred... I liked the big freshman on your team!!! Got thrown into the fire for several minutes and played with poise. He'll be good.

Drew Yonker. Another one to watch out for. Remember, he prepped at Normal West behind 6' 10" Francis Okoro, now at U of Oregon.

hopefan · November 29, 2018, 01:39:03 PM

The 2 previous posts bring up the age old question- which recruit will be more likely to have a positive impact on a D3 team.... a small school all star, or a large school role player or backup from an outstanding program?

ecreddevils · November 29, 2018, 03:29:05 PM

Quote from: hopefan on November 29, 2018, 01:39:03 PM
The 2 previous posts bring up the age old question- which recruit will be more likely to have a positive impact on a D3 team.... a small school all star, or a large school role player or backup from an outstanding program?

From an EC perspective, it doesn't matter. Coach Wilde has shown you can compete at a high level in this conference with a mix of big and small school players from Central Illinois. I would call this area a basketball hotbed, most players are well-coached and face good competition no matter the level. Four of the current starting five are from 3A (big school in IL) conferences from Peoria, all very good high school players but not DI or DII recruits. Bennington and Feehan are/were NAIA and DII transfers so not in the same category. Feehan (to me) clearly was a low-level D1 recruit out of high school but did not get offers. He is currently proving me right.

Wilde's four SLIAC players of the year:

Chris Tarpley: 3A Pekin (I'm not sure he played high school basketball)
Michael Zasada: 3A McHenry
Mark Lessen: 1A Delavan (136 students)
Shea Feehan: 3A Notre Dame

Jordan Kindred, 1000 point scorer and maybe the best pure athlete in Wilde's tenure was from a school with 100 students.

That my long way of saying it doesn't matter much.