MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Cornell lost to Wartburg by 8 and 17 points. Wartburg beat IWU by 13. Minnesota Morris lost to Cornell by 4 and to IWU by 1. Looks like a wash.

Close game but you have to take the home team.

[hopefan]

Hoping GU1999 is right!!!  Let's get an IWU win!

[ecreddevils]

i'll take cornell easily by double digits. no way they lose at home to a really, really bad iwu team.

[Greek Tragedy]

Another guy (NAIA) scores 100 points in a game.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/28271209/wayland-baptist-jj-culver-2nd-naia-player-100-point-game

[hopefan]

Cornell wins.....

[hopefan]

Tonight Mac vs Augie... what if?? .........   Nahhhh, it ain't gonna happen....

[GU1999]

Cornell wins.....

I was most hopeful with IWU up 5 at half (43 - 38). 

Didn't see a minute of the second half, but it looks like IWU went cold.  Any by cold, I mean Antarctic winter season cold.  The kind of cold that makes the penguins huddle up against one another cold.  Actually, they were soooo cold in the second half that an Earthly reference just can not be cold enough.  Let's go with Boomerang Nebula cold.  And that is Cold Cold.  -272 (yes, one degree above absolute zero). 

They were 6 for 33 from the floor for 18.2%
They were 1 for 17 from 3 for 5.9%. 

They did shoot it almost 90% from the line, but the real story is that they made 6 baskets in the second half.   

[WUPHF]

If you are from St. Louis, simply saying that they were Mount Pleasant, Iowa cold is sufficient. 

[Greek Tragedy]

Cornell wins.....

I was most hopeful with IWU up 5 at half (43 - 38). 

Didn't see a minute of the second half, but it looks like IWU went cold.  Any by cold, I mean Antarctic winter season cold.  The kind of cold that makes the penguins huddle up against one another cold.  Actually, they were soooo cold in the second half that an Earthly reference just can not be cold enough.  Let's go with Boomerang Nebula cold.  And that is Cold Cold.  -272 (yes, one degree above absolute zero). 

They were 6 for 33 from the floor for 18.2%
They were 1 for 17 from 3 for 5.9%. 

They did shoot it almost 90% from the line, but the real story is that they made 6 baskets in the second half.

Well, they would've beaten Stevens Point. They scored 46 points, at home. They were 1-20 from 3-pt land. Their 32% 2nd half shooting actually improved from their 30% opening half. They scored 22 points in the 2nd half. Oh yeah, and the Pointers' are ranked 18th.

[GU1999]

December 12, 2019

MacMurray at Augie - Augie -38.5

I just hate to set the line at such an unflattering number, but...  Here, I think that 38.5 is being potentially too generous to our good friends at Mac.  I think that Augie holds Mac to less than 40 pts.
Mac will be forced to rely on shooting a ton of contested 3s as their best shot.  Interior D of Augie is impenetrable for Mac.  Also, Mac, even when taking those long contested 3's, will be hard pressed to get any offensive boards  due to Augie's size.  Mac's ball security will be an issue.  The long and contested 3's as well as the turnovers will lead to early run outs and easy transition baskets for Augie.  I suspect Augie will be more methodical offensively in the second half and will also get reps for some of their younger players, like the big kid from Colorado who has not played since the first two games of the year.  For these reasons, I think the margin stays below 40.  Keeping in mind that Augie beat Loras (7-1) by 29, so anything under 40, even if it is the byproduct of Augie being merciful, will be a decent outcome for Mac. 

I do remember just two years ago GU had Augie down 17 in the NCAA tourney game.  Finally relinquishing their lead at the under 10 mark in the second half.  The only way this happened was GU did not agree to fight Goliath in a manner for which they were familiar.  Mac will be fighting Augie in a manner with which they are very familiar and thereby forfeiting any ability to reasonably compete. 

[GU1999]

Mac scores more than 40 but doesn't cover. I am stunned that they got 11 offensive rebounds.  Was this a good 40+ point loss? 

[hopefan]

Mac scores more than 40 but doesn't cover. I am stunned that they got 11 offensive rebounds.  Was this a good 40+ point loss?

If we're looking for another tidbit of the positive, check Logan Dorethy's performance... 8 for 11, 17 points against the big boys, only playing 21 minutes...
Remember this kid is only a sophomore... still, wish we would see 7 or 8 rebounds per game out of him....

[GU1999]

Friday Fun:

Random zooming in on a few SLIAC stats.

Justin Cross (GU) 6'7" F (Jr)

In two conference games (westmin and webster) the big man from Simeon HS is averaging -
8.5 ppg, 6 rpg, 7.5 bpg 

That is a crazy amount of blocks.  Given the value of a rim protector at the back of the press, this is a huge development for one GU's primary shifts.  At 3.71 bpg for the season, Cross currently sits at 5th in the nation for the season.

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Dakota Bennington (EU) 6'3" G (Sr.)

This dude's line is nuts.  I know that EU plays fast so these numbers are a bit inflated compared with more traditional teams, but WOW!  Season-to-date stats.
25.6 ppg (59.5%/41.7%/74%), 6.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 3.0 spg

Scoring is huge.  Slash line is crazy for a guard.  Rebounds like a big.  Steals it like he's playing for a system team.  He has MOP chops.I'm hopeful that the low status of the league and EU's non-conference scheduling does not weigh too heavily on whether or not he gets Regional accolades.  Bennington currently sits 8th in the country is ppg. 

Here he is posterizing my Panthers last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4trg6HVUDE

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Blackburn is shooting a ton of 3's again this year.  50.6% of their field goal attempts on the season are 3s.  In conference 53% of their shots are 3s.

The three leading shot takers for BC are Hayes, Aldridge, and Kirby.

Karson Hayes takes  7.3  per game and Chanz Aldridge takes 5.7  per game. Both are sub 30% for the season with Hayes at 29.4% and Aldridge at 27.5%.

On the other hand, Bryson Kirby at 6.1 attempts per game is shooting it at 44.2% for the season and 63% during conference play.  Look for Kirby to get more and more usage. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Riley Simmons (GU) G (Sr)

Riley currently leads the nation in steals per game at 3.38. 

[Greek Tragedy]

Friday Fun:

Random zooming in on a few SLIAC stats.

Justin Cross (GU) 6'7" F (Jr)

In two conference games (westmin and webster) the big man from Simeon HS is averaging -
8.5 ppg, 6 rpg, 7.5 bpg 

That is a crazy amount of blocks.  Given the value of a rim protector at the back of the press, this is a huge development for one GU's primary shifts.  At 3.71 bpg for the season, Cross currently sits at 5th in the nation for the season.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dakota Bennington (EU) 6'3" G (Sr.)

This dude's line is nuts.  I know that EU plays fast so these numbers are a bit inflated compared with more traditional teams, but WOW!  Season-to-date stats.
25.6 ppg (59.5%/41.7%/74%), 6.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 3.0 spg

Scoring is huge.  Slash line is crazy for a guard.  Rebounds like a big.  Steals it like he's playing for a system team.  He has MOP chops.I'm hopeful that the low status of the league and EU's non-conference scheduling does not weigh too heavily on whether or not he gets Regional accolades.  Bennington currently sits 8th in the country is ppg. 

Here he is posterizing my Panthers last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4trg6HVUDE

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Blackburn is shooting a ton of 3's again this year.  50.6% of their field goal attempts on the season are 3s.  In conference 53% of their shots are 3s.

The three leading shot takers for BC are Hayes, Aldridge, and Kirby.

Karson Hayes takes  7.3  per game and Chanz Aldridge takes 5.7  per game. Both are sub 30% for the season with Hayes at 29.4% and Aldridge at 27.5%.

On the other hand, Bryson Kirby at 6.1 attempts per game is shooting it at 44.2% for the season and 63% during conference play.  Look for Kirby to get more and more usage. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Riley Simmons (GU) G (Sr)

Riley currently leads the nation in steals per game at 3.38.

I don't think his numbers are "inflated" at all. Sure, they play uptempo/fast paced, but I'd hardly consider his stats inflated. There are a lot of other players averaging big numbers that don't play in "system" teams. I mean, where do you draw the line between uptempo teams and 'traditional" teams.

[GU1999]

Greek:  Players that play more possessions have a greater opportunity to have more substantial counting stats.  Those attempting to compare the counting stats statistical performances of players on disparately styled teams should bear number of possessions played facts in mind.  Some look to per possession played stats normalization.  Others may just try to "eyeball" it.  I think most teams use Synergy or similar software which make some of the normalization stats available to the coaches. 

That said, if my praise was not effusive enough re DB, I think he is the clear front runner for MOP and should be highly considered for regional honors.