MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[GU1999]

Over the weekend I had a chance to watch a good amount of basketball ranging from the SLIAC to 2nd grade.  I would like to zoom way in on one possession I observed from a highly competitive major basketball market HS game.  I watched a team take 96 seconds off the clock in a very close game (both team ended under 30 in a 3 point game).  The offensive team, who was primarily running a 5 out, pass and cut offense (although at some points in the possession they would flash a big to the HP), was challenged all possession by the pressure applying defensive man-to-man which did a nice job helping, recovering and not ceding shots.  The offensive was more than comfortable working the ball around the perimeter, not setting screen/roll or trying to get down hill to the basket until the defense was beginning to show signs of fatigue in the 80+ second mark of the possession.  I know that this is good basketball strategy.  It was good and successful.  It, however, is boring and banal and most certainly aesthetically displeasing.  Again, good coaching within the confines of the rules, but wow, painful.

You may ask why I am mentioning a HS game, and in particular one possession from a HS game on a college message board. 

Firstly, it's because I want to thank God for a shot clock in the college game and that I am hopeful to see one in the HS game in my jurisdiction in the future.   

Secondly, it gives me a chance to introduce what may be a trending in SLIAC hoops.  After two games in conference the pace of play is at warp speed.  Only two teams in the league is averaging less than 81 points a game.  The top 6 teams are averaging 89 or more.  Three are averaging more than 100. 

GU - 115
Westmin - 110
Eureka - 101.5
Fontbonne - 99.5
Blackburn - 94.5
Prin - 89
IWU - 81.5
Webster - 81.5
Mac - 74.5
Spaulding - 53
   
A few thoughts on the above:

- We obviously have a sample size issue here, but this is just for fun.
- Only two of the above teams benefit from the we played GU bump and Webster, who has, is still 7th. 
- GU had the 4th most points in their game on Saturday (less than EU, Blackburn and Fontbonne), with Webster and Prin in the mid-90s.
- In 2018-19 for SLIAC play only two teams averaged more than 83.4 PPG.  It appears that the league has decided that it is time to just play FAST!
- But Why? 
Have SLIAC coaches suddenly decided that playing shot clock milking possessions is not en vogue anymore?  Are the types of players which the league can recruit more in line with fast play?  That would fly in the face of the old adage which says if you have the "better athletes, more possessions."  Is there an effort to recruit kids that will better compete against GU and EU and thereby the league is just getting faster.

I am not sure any of this is relevant.  I am glad that when I tune into a SLIAC game, I am not watching any 96 second possessions. 

[GU1999]

In light of the SLIAC Sportsmanship Policy and the severe penalties associated with violation of the 14 technical limit, I will attempt to keep a record of the seasons technical fouls (team and player).

Season totals (as of 12/3/2019):

It was a great week of sporting basketball in the SLIAC with no new Class A T's during the first round of conference play.

Fontbonne 3 Ts (.428 T's per game):
CJ Purcell
Dominic Doolin
Caden Clark

Iowa Wesleyan - 3 T's (.428 T's per game)
Cresswell - 2
Team - 1

Principia - 3 Ts (.428 T's per game)
Goodman - 2
Team - 1

MacMurry - 2 T's: (.33 T's per game)
Ian Smith
Tanner Payton

Westminster - 1 (.16 T's per game)
Spriggs

Blackburn 1T: (.16 T's per game)
Karson Hayes

Spaulding 1 T: (.14 T's per game)
Brian Tribble

Currently, NO teams pacing to be excluded from the tournament for being above the .56 T's per game threshold.  GU was removed from the report as they only had "Class B Technical Infractions" and not "Class A Unsportsmanlike Ts".

Principia's Goodman and IWU's Cresswell continue to be individually pacing for a one game suspension punishment(s) on personal aggregated Ts.

[ecreddevils]

   
A few thoughts on the above:

- We obviously have a sample size issue here, but this is just for fun.
- Only two of the above teams benefit from the we played GU bump and Webster, who has, is still 7th. 
- GU had the 4th most points in their game on Saturday (less than EU, Blackburn and Fontbonne), with Webster and Prin in the mid-90s.
- In 2018-19 for SLIAC play only two teams averaged more than 83.4 PPG.  It appears that the league has decided that it is time to just play FAST!
- But Why? 
Have SLIAC coaches suddenly decided that playing shot clock milking possessions is not en vogue anymore?  Are the types of players which the league can recruit more in line with fast play?  That would fly in the face of the old adage which says if you have the "better athletes, more possessions."  Is there an effort to recruit kids that will better compete against GU and EU and thereby the league is just getting faster.

I am not sure any of this is relevant.  I am glad that when I tune into a SLIAC game, I am not watching any 96 second possessions.

-more and more college teams are playing fast tempo, it's harder and harder to slow the game down as a strategy.

-sliac teams invariably play teams who are superior to them in non-conference.  they are often at the mercy of the tempo of those teams.  that might be skewing numbers early. 

-most of the metrics say up tempo is a superior way to play.  "shoot it before you turn it over"  this philosophy is trickling down to all levels of the game.

[Greek Tragedy]

Wisconsin doesn't have shot clocks in high school yet, but they may have a rule where you have to make an offensive move towards the basket in a certain amount of time? Not sure. I do realize there I lots of money, and more importantly, training involved.

[y_jack_lok]

GU1999 -- just to clarify for anyone who might think otherwise, your average points scored is for SLIAC games only, correct?

[GU1999]

Correct.  Just the conf games to date. 

[GU1999]

December 9, 2019:

Millikin @ Blackburn - Millikin by 5

Blackburn will push tempo.  Millikin will try to resist.  I am not sure they will be able to slow it down, but It likely not matter.  Expect a Millikin season high in points for the season tonight.  Millikin is not great (being generous here), but they get it done in Carlinville tonight. 

[hopefan]

Hopefan's outlook for Fontbonne-Wash U...... Font will play hard, especially after disappointing performance vs Blackburn, but Wash U will pull away to + 20 point win

Good call by GU1999 on Millikin-BC...I likely would have gone with Blackburn.....

[hopefan]

Some numbers I hate to see...

Currently the SLIAC ranks dead last among all D3 conferences (45th out of 45) in winning % against D3 non conference teams... this does not include games against non D3 teams, and obviously not games vs SLIAC conference teams.

The SLIAC's record against non-conference D3 teams now stands at 9-35 for a .205 winning %

Next to last is the CSAC (the Colonial States Conference) at 13-40, a .245%

A quick glimpse of the SLIAC's remaining games vs non conference D3 teams show 12 games, lets say a possible 4-8 record, which would put the SLIAC at 13-43 .232.... if they were to go 2-10 (possible), they would finish at 11-45, .197...

We'd better root for the CSAC to keep losing!!!

I've tracked this record for several years now... The SLIAC has come close to last, but never finished dead last in a season I've monitored.

Unfortunately, with all the player losses from last year, from graduation to Did not return, the SLIAC is a very weak conference this year..

The did not return category is a major disappointment... we could EASILY put together a starting 5 of Did Not Return players (guys that could be playing this year) that would be "better" than any All Conference team selected from this year's players....

well s..t happens, it's a real bummer for SLIAC fans....

[hopefan]

Wash U 40 Font 15 at half..... Laughable....

[Greek Tragedy]

Some numbers I hate to see...

Currently the SLIAC ranks dead last among all D3 conferences (45th out of 45) in winning % against D3 non conference teams... this does not include games against non D3 teams, and obviously not games vs SLIAC conference teams.

The SLIAC's record against non-conference D3 teams now stands at 9-35 for a .205 winning %

Next to last is the CSAC (the Colonial States Conference) at 13-40, a .245%

A quick glimpse of the SLIAC's remaining games vs non conference D3 teams show 12 games, lets say a possible 4-8 record, which would put the SLIAC at 13-43 .232.... if they were to go 2-10 (possible), they would finish at 11-45, .197...

We'd better root for the CSAC to keep losing!!!

I've tracked this record for several years now... The SLIAC has come close to last, but never finished dead last in a season I've monitored.

Unfortunately, with all the player losses from last year, from graduation to Did not return, the SLIAC is a very weak conference this year..

The did not return category is a major disappointment... we could EASILY put together a starting 5 of Did Not Return players (guys that could be playing this year) that would be "better" than any All Conference team selected from this year's players....

well s..t happens, it's a real bummer for SLIAC fans....

It's a tough situation for the SLIAC. You criticize the scheduling and talk about playing "better competition," yet this shows it'll be hard to schedule such opponents if they can't even beat the so-called weak schedule to begin with. "You" is a generalization, so don't take it personal, hopefan. It's these results that may cause the WIAC, CCIW and the like to not even think about scheduling SLIAC opponents because there's no benefit to them. Will the game be competitive? Will this help their SOS? I like the SLIAC. It's a fun league to keep track of. They have valuable fantasy league players. I like reading board. The quality just needs to get better, a lot better. Eureka and Greenville have shown they can be competitive though, this season. It was fun watching Greenville v Wabash in Waukesha.

[hopefan]

I agree Greek... but I would say the SLIAC has upgraded their competition, and that is part of the reason for the W-L poor performance....  remember, I'm tracking just W-L vs the D3 non conference teams... I'll take a look at the records of the opponents w-l record to see if it is decent...I've looked... SLIAC D3 non conference opponents are 169-112, .600...and that does not include the 35-9 record against SLIAC teams... VERY decent...

You mentioned Greenville and Eureka... In reality, only Greenville, Eureka, and Webster have been consistent winners in recent years... because they have gone outside the box in recruiting... Greenville with out of state (mostly California) juco players, Webster with out of state true high school kids, mostly from the Southeast.... Good players for both Webster and Greenville, but some headaches with significant turnover prior to graduation....

Eureka has become consistent too, and local mid state Illinois Juco recruits have been their answer... because these guys aren't leaving their home territory to come to Eureka, there has been no negative impact of guys leaving the program...Eureka used to be a roller coaster W-L, some very good classes generating conference championships, then a major fall off due to graduation.  Now JUCOs are helping to maintain consistency.....

Others..
Mac has stayed with small school Central Illinois kids... it's not working
Iowa Wesleyan has recruited a number of foreign students... it hasn't worked
Fontbonne has has a couple of outstanding classes, but the kids aren't staying
Spalding used to be the cream of the crop, but a large number of players have left there too
BC with the coaching change will be starting over
Westminster has had a nice flow of freshmen over the years leading to success, which got interrupted by a large graduation class last year... they replenished with transfers, and may yet challenge for a conf tourney slot...
Principia of course is hampered by church related requirements... a very small base of kids to go after

[GU1999]

++ Hopefan. 

Great discussion of recruiting and how it plays into a teams ability to compete.  And as you incrementally increase your ability to compete, your ability to schedule up.  I think that it is important for coaches when recruiting (like businessmen) to attempt to find a market inequity and make the most of it.  There is a ton of talent in California. 

Since GU has begun recruiting for the system the roster has been quite SoCal Jucocentric.  I excluded the 15/16 season as that was not a full year recruiting knowing that it was going to be a system team.  Top two players that year were Daniel and Hohm, both IL 4-year guys.

2019-20 - 47% SoCal Juco

2018-19 - 45% SoCal Juco

2017-18 - 50% SoCal Juco

2016-17 - 50% SoCal Juco

Top players have not always been the SoCal guys though as evidenced by Dix and Williams.

2018-19 GU all-conf:
Dix, 2nd (Chicago - 4 year player)
Williams, 3rd (Tennessee - Juco) - As a reminder to the board, Williams on 3rd team was coaches punishing Dr. Barber for scoring too many points against Fontbonne - good luck convincing me otherwise.

2017-18 GU all-conf:
Dix, 1st (Chicago - 4 year)
Isiah Price,3rd - (LA - Juco)

2016 - 17 GU all-conf:
Shane Smith, 1st (LA)
Kenny Greene, 2nd (LA)
Elmo Smith, 3rd (LA)

[WUPHF]

Fontbonne has has a couple of outstanding classes, but the kids aren't staying

The Griffin who was certain to have an all-SLIAC senior campaign was at the game last night.

I so wanted to go ask him why he did not return.

But players have their reasons and I want to be respectful of that.

[GU1999]

December 11, 2019

Iowa Wesleyan @ Cornell - IWU -.5

Cornell is suspect.  It's the end of the semester (but isn't that always the case at Cornell).  Cornell gives up a lot of points.  I think this one will be very close, but the fighting tigers of IWU get the dub and the league gets a coveted win v. a d3 school.