MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

An early call on SLIAC Player of the Week.... I will not be swayed by the super stats of Marcus Montgomery or Marvin Bateman in the Eureka-Spalding game.

Hopefans POW goes to Eureka's Ian Milsteadt... 18 points, 6 bounds 3 steals in win over U of Dallas, 26 points, 7 rebounds 4 assists in conference win over MacMurray... as he is a transfer, he is also transfer of the week..

Frosh of the Week goes to Prin's AJ Byrd.... 17 points 4 rebounds vs Elmhurst, 24 points 4 rebounds vs Westminster....

[hopefan]

Incidentally, happy to report that several of the players missing in action in mid December returned to play after the new year. IWU's Cresswell, EC's Dehm, Mac's Voss all back in action...

Still not there are Spalding's Bendingfield and Fontbonne's Kleekamp

New on the missing list are Greenville's Justin Cross and Chris Jackson, and Webster's Blake Ferrell.  Hoping all will be back... anyone know?

[hopefan]

Another "incidentally"...how about the performance of Greenville's Marvin Bateman and Eric Williams.. they weren't quite ready when they came back before Christmas... (I questioned whether they had practiced during their time out), but wow, they hit their stride vs Spalding... Williams goes 7 for 12, 16 points, 6 boards, 4 assists... Bateman 12/18, 10/15 from 3, 34 points, 6 bounds ...  with that kind of additional offense, GU can challenge if they can figure out how to pressure the ball on defense like last year, and reduce their own turnover count.

[hopefan]

Hmmmmmm...
After 4 games, a transfer student is currently leading vote getter for Hopefans POY...

[y_jack_lok]

Incidentally, happy to report that several of the players missing in action in mid December returned to play after the new year. IWU's Cresswell, EC's Dehm, Mac's Voss all back in action...

Still not there are Spalding's Bendingfield and Fontbonne's Kleekamp

New on the missing list are Greenville's Justin Cross and Chris Jackson, and Webster's Blake Ferrell.  Hoping all will be back... anyone know?

I wasn't at the game Saturday (walloped by a cold) but watched most of it online. Don't know why Blake Ferrell didn't play. But Josh Johnson was back in the lineup after his shoulder injury. Played 27 minutes, but his shooting was off. Hopefully he'll return to form quickly. J.R. (Wynne Brown, Jr.) had a strong first half, then Etienne and Tankins led the way in the second half.

[GU1999]

Pretty crazy weekend.  Marcus Montgomery goes for a double nickel and displaces the best two year player in conference history Jeff Ries (Webster) from the top of the single game scoring mark in the process.  He did it with more than just lay-ups too.  And as a 5'10" guy the lay-ups he did make were contested.  A great performance.

Additionally, there were two 10+ 3 pointers made games and both on better than 66%.  Bateman (10/15) and Detlinger (11/15).  Both are top ten games for 3s made in conference history per the SLIAC record book.  A quick aside that the record book is lacking as it omits that Dr. Matthew McCullough (GU) made eleven 3's in the 1995-96 season against Parks on his way to a 49 pt game.  Dr. McCullough is the father of current GU freshman ballplayer Grant McCullough. 

[Greek Tragedy]

He had 51 last year, right?

[GU1999]

He is now 1st (55) and T-3 (51) on the list of highest scoring games in conference history. 

[GU1999]

with that kind of additional offense, GU can challenge if they can figure out how to pressure the ball on defense like last year, and reduce their own turnover count.

If they can get the turnover margin to the place where it was last year I think that this team has a chance to develop into the best iteration of the system Dr. Barber has had yet.  Knowing that to do so, it would take a dramatic change in some combination of ball security and/or turnover generation.  This year they are +11.9/g (GU at 19 and opponents  at 30.9).  Last year they were +15.6  (GU had 17.8 and opponents at 33.4). 

[hopefan]

Pretty crazy weekend.  Marcus Montgomery goes for a double nickel and displaces the best two year player in conference history Jeff Ries (Webster) from the top of the single game scoring mark in the process.  He did it with more than just lay-ups too.  And as a 5'10" guy the lay-ups he did make were contested.  A great performance.

Marcus Montgomery has obviously figured out how to take advantage of the Greenville system and the numbers show it...
But
before the Greenville game, in Spalding's 2 previous games, a 27 point loss to a mediocre Ohio Northern team, and a 5 point loss to a horrible Elmira team, he was 5 for 25 from the field, 17 total points...
for the season, not counting the Greenville game, he's shooting 37% from the field, 27% from 3's, 14 ppg taking far more shots than anyone else on the team....   it's quite obvious Greenville's style of play presents totally different than normal scoring opportunities for opponents and themselves...  Marcus knows how to score against it, but overall, I label him as a one game wonder (or two game if he does it again in Greenvelle). 

[Greek Tragedy]

Might throw IWU's Jarryd Fernandes in that boat too, when it comes to playing Greenville. Last year he went for 35 and 18 in one game and then 51 and 13 with six assists. In 17-18, even with Brock Butler, Fernandes managed 29 and 13 in the first game and then 26 and 13.

[GU1999]

It is no surprise that 7 of the top 11 games (or 12 if you include the 49 pt game from 95-6 referenced yesterday) have been against a GU team playing the system.  When the press is broken it typically leads to a 1v0 or 1v1 scoring chance at the back end with a F/C taking the shot.  The huge games from guards like those from Montgomery (55, 51) and and Feehan (47) included more diverse manners of scoring including mid-range shots and 3s.  They are outliers v. the system.  The Bennington (51), Fernandes (51), Dorehty (48)and Davidson (46) games were much more of the "finish at the rim" types of games against the system.  Strategically, it is likely a better approach to beat the press and have a sure finisher at the rim.   For anyone thinking I am taking a shot at Dakota by saying he takes the ball to the rim against GU, please know that I think he is smart for taking what a team gives you and he should be commended for this.   

For reference, in 2019-20 these are the games which resulted in a player scoring 28+ pts on 80+ fg% v. GU.  Most of these guys fit the role of the F or C reaping the largess of those who did the hard work to break the press. 

Bates (Centre) 43  on 20/21 (95.2%)
Mauck (Central) 29 on 13/15 (86.6%)
Spoehr (Central) 28 on 13/15 (86.6%)
Cappelletti (NC) 47 on 22/26 (84.6%)
Johnson (Carthage) 36 on 18/19 (94.7%)
Hallstrom (Wabash) 28 on 13/16 (81.3%)
Reiter (Simpson) 38 on 18/19 (94.7)
Riordan (Simpson) 39 on 16/19 (84.2%)
Wadlington (Fontbonne) 36 on 16/17 (94.1%)

The above represents each players career high for points in a game. 

[GU1999]

January 7, 2020

Webster @ Principia (Webster -9.5)  o/u 154.5

Principia will get solid contributions from Goodson, Byrd and Sellers and will keep it close most of the way, but in the end Webster will be just too much.  I suspect this is just the kind of game to get #2 right and he'll lead the way for Webster.  I do expect Principia to dictate pace and look for a more uptempo game than Webster has been inclined to play this season. 

[hopefan]

Webster should win this one, I'll give the points

[Greek Tragedy]

Although it hasn't translated into wins, it's actually nice to see Principia spread the ball around a little. Four guys are averaging double figures with no one over 20 ppg. In conference, Goodman shockingly has a positive assist/turnover ratio.