MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[hopefan]

FC  funny you should mention that you wondered about discussion of "suitable facilities"

In the last 4 days, I have had discussions in person and via email with ADs and coaches from the 3 other participating men's teams in this years tourney (besides Blackburn) - driving at exactly that point  - something in the conference manual should say, " the conference champion has earned the right  to host the conference tourney, providing their facility meets a set of minimal standards."
Those standards should deal with safety, seating availability, lighting, locker facilities, press facilities, quality of the court (ie regulation specs, adequate space around the perimeter, lighting etc.)

2  facts came out of these discussions
     1)   There is no set of standards established currently, therefore substandard facilities can be used to host various championship events

      2)  The coaches and AD's that responded to me unanimously supported Blackburn's right to host, with no questions asked.  One AD did admit however that it was an issue that should be addressed.

In serious answer to your question about seating, the Commissioner told me that one possibility (probability), is that the gym would be cleared between games  -  I am very negative about that.  If I'm going to Carlinville on Semifinal night, I want to see two games, not 1 or 3/4 of one and then leave to get a spot in line for the second game.

ugh, i feel my blood pressure going up again....

This neutral fan will be "quietly" pulling for Westminster tomorrow....

[dynasty22]

Not too sure how the Crazies will be tomorrow. I know some of the leaders will be in Champagin for the State Wrestling Finals.
But we will have to manage without. I am going home tonight but will be back early tomorrow for the game.
Hope-Thanks for the props, it is greatly appreciated. We really didn't mean to offend anyone before the Senior presentations, we had no idea, but like you said, we immediately went back to our seats.
If I see you tomorrow Hope I'll be sure to come introduce myself!

[Pat Coleman]

I'm just curious if it was pre discussed, before the tournament was brought back, what is suitable facilities to host. Like a NCAA first round game your seating has to be 1200. Not 120.

We have seen first-round games in the NCAA Tournament in buildings seating as few as 500 -- if the court is 94 feet, of course.

[20eagle31]

i enjoy reading everyone's comments (negative) about having the conference tournament at blackburn. it doesn't matter how much you complain the sliac tourney will be at the beaver dome. bc will take care of business the rest of the way out. i was a bit shocked when i heard about the maryville thumpin. well, learn from it and move on boys. that loss should just about eat a hole through your stomach. i mean you are the number one team in the conference playing maryville and you don't show up....come on. never the less, i will be grinnin from ear to ear when i see everyone tryin to file into the beaver dome knowin that it just chaps everyone to be in there. and don't count anyone out of making a post season run. that's why we play the game, ya just never know. i believe that you are goin to see the beavers MAN UP the rest of the way out.

[Mac Attack]

Time to make the picks for today. Crucial games for MacMurray and Westminster, with the #4 spot still up for grabs. I think Mac and Westy will be playing Tuesday night with the play-offs up for grabs. Here we go:

Fontbonne at Webster - Webster finishes strong and gets it done.
Principia at Greenville - Greenvile gets back on the winning track.
Westminster at Blackburn - Beavers bounce back with big win at home.
Maryville at MacMurray - With its back to the wall, Highlanders get their biggest win of the season.

Good luck to all. Hope all games are injury-free, fan and player ejection-free, and everyone has a safe trip to and from the games. Go Mac!!!!

[20eagle31]

congrats to blackburn on another win. looked very solid defensively early in the 1st half. got stuck on 18 for awhile and wc ended up taking a 5 point lead at half. waters was very clutch in this game. did a good job of handlin the ball and hitting big shots. bmoc again.second half was dominated by bc's D. and by the way i like the way outsideinfluence thinks. one more game and then ya'll are comin to the beaver dome.

[hopefan]

No one's looking to condemn Blackburn , influence, just saying it would be a better experience for everyone to have the conference tourney at a reasonably sized facility that can seat all those fans who'd like to see it - without the fans crowding the court.   But I'll tell you what, if the fan base is not important as you say, then YOU don't show up  -  I get first dibs on  'Influence's' Seat

Seriously, Blackburn looked great in the second half  -  Allen and Lucas reappeared, and Waters played well the whole game.  Unless Fontbonne scores 2 upsets in a row, it'll be Webster and MU in game 1, and BC vs WC in game 2

[Pat Coleman]

Oh and you can't possibly tell me you ACTUALLY think the BC court is too small, there are standards and regulations people. 

I have never seen it. I'm just pointing out what the NCAA requires. Believe it or not, there are courts that are played on that are shorter than 94 feet. They're allowed to, just not in NCAA Tournament play.

As recently as last season, Hope played its home games on a less-than-94 foot floor. Grinnell was in the same boat. Emmanuel couldn't host games at its home floor on its run to the Final Four a few years back for the same reason.

So no, I don't ACTUALLY think Blackburn's court is less than 94 feet. However, it wouldn't be the first one.

[hopefan]

Incidently, while I was at Blackburn today, i did a quick analysis of the seating.  There are, as yjackloc said previously. 6 rows of bleachers  -- the bleachers actually have 7 rows, but they aren't pulled out all the way bcause the first row would then be on the court.  Consequently, usage of the fifth row is avoided, as there is a large drop off for those sitting in it.  Anyway, there are 4 sections of bleachers, and 10 adults fit reasonably into a row in a section.  So 6x10 =60 per section.  sqeeze 1 more per row and you have 66 per section or 264 in the main bleachers.  There is a section of bleachers at each end, that can't be pulled out, but people can climb to the top or sit at the bottom, so that's 20 more in each section..  Standing at the ends, if allowed, and in the corners, could put in another ahhhh, 50.  (Thanks, I hope I wouldn't be one of those 50).   So you can "easily" accomodate 354 fans.  Oh, by the way, the scoreboard went off, as did the shotclock, but hey, it was fixed in a manner of minutes.  Oh, and while I praised the "crazies' for their fun antics in a prior post, evidently one of the refs didn't find them too funny today as some one down in the corner was threatened with ejection.  They were also admonished to move back away from the court at least once.

But hey, fans don't matter - nothing substandard here  -  and it's presenting the student athletes, and their families, and the four schools personnel and the fans with the best possible experience by having the Tournament at the dome over any other place in Carlinville or nearby -----    yeah, right.

IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE SLIAC, NOT IF YOU WANt TO ATTRACT PEOPLE TO YOUR MARQUIS EVENT OF THE YEAR.

[Mac Attack]

Maryville 76   MacMurray 70

Tale of two halves. Mac fell behind by as many as 18 in the first half under a torrent of three point shots by Maryville. I don't think I've ever seen a team shoot so well. They spread the floor, would go inside, then kick it back out, and rotate the ball to the open shooter - and BAM. Looked like a total rout. But Mac made some terrific halftime adjustments on defense, Maryville cooled off, and it was a two point game with less than a minute to play. Maryville hit four free throws in the last ten seconds to put it away. Mac played without Jerrell Robertson, their super freshmen. He would have made a difference inside, but that's not where the game was won or lost. Cunningham played the game of his life for Mac, and Eberhart was also terrific. Kowa played his heart out, and the second half defense was much tougher. But the deficit was just too great to overcome. I thought the officating was brutal, primarily on the "no calls." Both teams had five or six no-calls go against them. Lots of pushing, shoving, and hacking. And at one crucial time in the game, one of the referees gave Maryville a time-out when no one had called for one. One of the strangest calls I've ever seen.

Maryville has a nice team, but in my opinion, there's not that much difference between Mac and the top of the conference - except Mac lost several close games that kept them out of the post season. Mac has lost a total of nine games by six points or less. Need to turn those numbers around next year.

Coach DeNeve deserves a lot of credit for keeping the ship afloat this season after so much turmoil. His top two scorers and a tough post player didn't return. His best three-point shooter and three of his top freshmen didn't make it past the first semester. His back-up point guard quit with a month left in the season. He flushed the "system" about a third of the way into the season and went to a more traditional offense and player rotation. And when the smoke cleared, they had a shot at the post-season in the last week of play. Pretty good job.

One game left at Westminster - then the focus is immediately on next year. Both point guards graduate and they must be replaced. That has to be priority number one. With Eberhart graduating, a rugged post player ( or two) must be recruited. And if Deneve can get Long, Birch, Sanders, and Greene back - to go with Hipshir, Compton, Huff, Robertson, and Kowa - Mac could be tough. It will all depend on who DeNeve can bring in, and play right away at two critical positions - the point and the post. Should be interesting.

[pantherpride]

Greenville, Illinois - Senior Day

Greenville 93 - Principia 48.

It was all Greenville from the get go.  Greenville jumped to an early 14-3 run and lead by 32 at one point in the first half.  Greenville led 53-21 at half.  Greenville shot 20-33 from the field while Prin shot 4-17.

Greenville continued to pour it on in the second half.  Bryson Taylor (Lone Senior) picked up his second career double-double (Second in three games)  with 12 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assist, and 5 steals in his final game in HJ.

Leading the way, however was AJ Turner, off the bench, with 17.  Chris Watts was the high man for Prin with 29.  Other than Swiderski with 8, no one else has more than 2.

Great final game in HJ for Bryson Taylor and the Lady Panther's Seniors (Jessica Thompson, Erin Leigh, and Stacey Murfin).  They also picked up a win.  I also have to say a bit about it.  It was my final game at HJ as well as I will Graduate in May.    Great Times in Greenville.  Ending the season on positive notes!

[hopefan]

FCnews, where are you   -  still celebrating I'll bet.   Would be interested in hearing the specifics as to how regulation and OT ended in the big upset over Webster.  Were there heros or goats?

Funny thing is with all my disdain for Blackburn's gym, it might now be necessary for me to go there AGAIN on Tuesday, to see if Font can rescue the SLIAC from a weekend in Carlinville.  FC, wanna go?   I'll drive!!  Don't think I need to see MU at Prin, Webster at GC, or Mac at Westmin.  I'm torn as to how I think the FC - BC game will go.  On one hand, Maryville crushed BC on the boards, and Font  is capable of doing the same.  On the other hand, Fontbonne didn't use their size vs Maryville until they were too far behind to catch up - have they learned their lesson?  Other question, can Font keep up with BC's quickness, their ability to penetrate one on one and dish for open perimeter shots by good shooters like Hammond.

Yjack, any chance you'd be interested in a Tuesday trip to Carlinville  -  Ahhh FC, Yjack,  and Hopefan on a roadtrip  --  the stories we would tell!!!!  Heck, Darryl, if you're around, you're invited too

I now really do wonder how tickets and seating will be handled for the tourney, given they won't know for a fact that it will be in Carlinville until Tuesday results are in.  I wonder if

[yjacklok]

No heros or goats in the Webster-FU game yesterday. Just a good, competitive game which, believe it or not, was well officiated. I don't even consider it a big upset. Although Fontbonne is perhaps the youngest team in the conference, people don't seem to realize that Webster is pretty young, too. After tinkering with a starting lineup much of the season Coach Bunch now starts one senior, one junior, and three sophomores. Only one of those sophomores had significant playing time last year. Fontbonn'e young players have imrpoved siginificantly this year, as have Webster's. Webster has only one senior, so the subs are one junior, then sophomores and freshmen. Look for Fontbonne and Webster to have strong teams the next two to three years.

[pantherpride]

Young Teams:  I think we might have the youngest team.

Taylor - 2nd Year/Senior
Hensold - 2nd Year/Soph - 1st season with alot of playing time
Reams - 1st Year/Soph - 1st season since 2004
Greene - 1st Year/Frosh
Williams - 1st Year/Soph - Played little JUCO

Key Bench Players

Turner - 2nd Year/Soph
Simmons - 2nd Year/Soph - Played little NAIA
Mutton - 1st Year/Soph - 1st season since 2004

Seniors - 1
Juniors - 2
Soph - 7
Frosh - 2

[yjacklok]

Looks like G'ville & Webster are similar. On the roster for conference play this year Webster has 1 senior, 2 juniors, 6 sophomores, 5 freshmen. There are a few more freshmen and sophomores listed on the roster that did not suit up during the conference season for a variety of reasons. But I think Fontbonne is even younger. Maryville graduates 6 seniors this year, so they will be young next year.