MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Mac Attack]

A few stats from last night's MacMurray-Lincoln Christian game...

MacMurray
Whalum 11 pts
Hipshir 11 pts (3-3 three pt)
Robertson 16 pts (8-10 FG) has to be leading the SLIAC in FG%
Greene 11 pts, 7 reb. (has to be in top 10 conference rebounders I would think)
MacMurray 27-52 FG   6-14 3pt   11-12 FT 

Lincoln Christian
Everett 17 pts (good player)
Sickmeyer  11 pts
Bond 11 pts (3-3 three pt)

Only 24 total fouls called - 14 on Mac and 10 on LC. The refs let the kids play, which is usually a disadvantage for Mac because of their lack of size. FYI - LC has a real nice facility, interesting music, and are very gracious hosts. Not many LC students there, but a real nice place to play.

[y_jack_lok]

Just curious, for those of you who like to pick games (I don't because I don't think I know enough) -- if you could change your picks for any of Saturday's games, given Wednesday's results, would you change any, and which ones?

[pantherpride06]

No changes on my side.  I think everything looks about right.

[BunchTime]

In JV action tonight, two former Gorlok players got the opportunity to coach against one another - Ryan Good for Fontbonne and Tim McDoniel for Webster.  The Gorloks won by 5, but more importantly, there was a bench clearing scuffle.  Looks like the intensity of the Big Bend rivalry has already been extended to the younger players.  This promises to be an instense match-up for the next years; perhaps more intense than usual!

[Mac Attack]

I'm sticking with my picks, although MacMurray winning at Webster would clearly be an upset. Still not sure if Mac's one point win at Lincoln Christian was a result of the Preachers solid play or the Highlanders inconsistent performance. Probably a little bit of both. Mac will need to cut the turnovers in half and stay out of foul trouble to win Saturday. On the other hand, if Webster is looking past or underestimating the Highlanders, this game could be very, very close. Same goes for Lincoln Christian at Maryville. Let's see if the Preachers can play at the same level Saturday as they did last Wednesday night. If they do, look out. If not, it shouldn't be close. Greenville and Westminster appear to be solid favorites. Eureka at Fontbonne should be a barnburner, but only if FC plays smart, takes advantage of what the Devils give them, and hits their shots. I'm still sticking with Eureka, but this will be a good test for both teams for sure...

[hopefan]

Don't forget that Maryville hosts DePauw tonite -  DePauw almost broke into D3Hoops top 25 this week - everything points to a nasty night for the Saints tonight, because DePauw plays that solid consistent type of game not prone to offnights - I still look for Coach Rogers to pull a rabbit out of his hat and get things turned around at some point in time, but I'll be more than satisfied with better play tonite than what I've been seeing, win or lose vs DePauw, and hopefully come back to win vs Lincoln Christian tomorrow.

Note, I won't be at the MU Lincoln CC game, so anybody who might be there, it sure would be nice to post a quick blurb on the outcome tomorrow.  I'll write about the Depauw game tonight.

As previously mentioned. I'm looking forward to the Fontbonne Eureka game tomorrow - haven't ever seen Eureka, looking forward to it  -  Eureka SID, hope to meet you - I'll have my Hope hat on!!  I'm still a believer in the talent that Fontbonne has, so have to think that it will be a competitive game.  Once again, just like I said about the Geenville game, Fontbonne must overcome the mistakes that go along with inexperience and learn what needs to be done to win the close games.

LCC - Maryville  - ?   Devistating to the moral of MU and its supporters if the Saints can't get a win here.  The LCC one point lost to Mac is mystifying - either LCC is much better than I thought, or Mac much worse.

Which leads to Webster - Mac     should be a romp for Webster, but how confusing will things be if Mac came in and won!!!!

Greenville plays their weekend tourney  -  they could have a little trouble with Harris Stowe....

And Prin plays Westminster - sorry to hear about the Andrew Buxton injury  -  I like to see all teams at full strength for league games - can only hope that he can get healed over the holidays and play in January.  Anyway, I don't think that injury will impact the outcome of Saturday's game.

[Mac Attack]

I may be a million miles off, but I don't think there will be a romp at the Webster-MacMurray game tomorrow afternoon. MacMurray may lose, and they are certainly the underdog - but I don't think the Highlanders will get blown out by anybody from here on out. We'll see...

[hopefan]

"Hope" you're right Mac!!!   If you go to the game, you should try to meet up with buddy Y Jak Lock -- he's the REAL OLD GUY sitting center court top row other side from the benches... 

[Mac Attack]

I'll keep an eye out for him. Not sure I can get down there, but if so, I'll see if I can spot him.

Through four games, here are some Highlander stats (not available anyplace as far as I can tell)...

Whalum 12.2 ppg, 15-16 FTs
Robertson 18.2 ppg, 71.4 FG%
Coleman 10.5 ppg, juco transfer has really helped us
Hipshir 4.2 ppg, senior, had a strong game against LC.
Compton 9.7 ppg, good defender, strong rebounder
Long 6.0 ppg, excellent long range shooter..
Schmidt 5.2 ppg, one tough hombre
Greene 10.5 ppg, 7 reb pg, 15-17 FTs

Team stats
PPG 87.5  OPP 96.7 (still suffering from a Grinnell hangover)
FG% 52.8%   OPP 46%
3PT%  38%   OPP 37.5%
FT%  65%   OPP 65%

With Kowa gone and Huff not playing much, MacMurray's depth chart has been sliced and diced. Pretty solid eight, but could go nine or team deep with Huff and freshman Adam Poulson. Foul trouble would be lethal, but Mac can play good defense without fouling. Just depends on whether or not the refs call it tight or not on both ends of the floor. Bet on this - Mac is VERY well coached and their kids play extremely hard. We'll see how much that's worth tomorrow.

[y_jack_lok]

Hopefan, you're going to blow my cover!!! Yikes. Fortunately there are a bunch of old men who sit in that area, so I expect all of them will deny being me, including me.

I love the unpredictability of these games, and hope for an exciting contest tomorrow.

Hopefan, call me from Fontbonne.

[Mike Owl]

Congrats to Coach Hettinga and the rest of Mac on the first win of the season.  I know that Mac will have a very good game plan against the Gorlocks.  In order to beat Webster, Mac simply outworking them will not be enough.  Webster will play extremely hard all game and they will not beat themselves.  Mac will be able to compete with effort, but in order to win, they must begin to play like a team.  It's time for Mac to learn how to win.... and Webster is a tough team to learn how to do that against.  I hope for Mac's sake that they either take the game in the final 3 minutes or they get blow out.  It's sometime easier to take a blow out loss, and chalk it up to a bad night, then to lose another close game and have doubt start creeping into the back of their minds...

[Mac Attack]

Here's two specific things to look for from MacMurray tomorrow. Through their first four games, they have averaged nearly 25 turnovers a game. They won't beat anybody worth a plug nickel - let alone Websiter - unless they can get that number under 15. If Mac turns the ball over early and often, they'll be in a hole that will be very, very difficult to climb out of. The other thing to look for is whether or not their offense can avoid going 6-8 minutes without scoring in the first half. In Mac's first three games - all losses - they seemed to hit the wall on offense, going long stretches without a field goal. Against LC, they seemed to find their offensive legs for 40 minutes. The Highlanders need to play a solid 40 minutes at both ends of the floor, something they are capable of doing. Which team will show up tomorrow? Mac's FG percentage is above 50% - but too many times they turn the ball over before ever getting a shot. That issue must be corrected. If/when it does, Mac's chances of success will vastly improve.

[Beaver_SID]

As to my posting of Meckfessel's E-mail-

I must apologize for the leak of a pesonal e-mail, which actually was made public by the BC administration by e-mailing it to me, but anyways, I just thought that the statments by our commish were extremly uncalled for and showed the conference's obvious favoritism ,or lack there of, of certain teams. I am sure that some of the smaller and poorer schools in the conference will agree. Again I apologize to the BC administration for taking such an action,  it wasn't the best way to discuss the issue.

Back to Basketball,

I am really starting to wonder what is wong with BC. They defenitly don't have a lack of talent. They may be oversized at times but they have the capability to get around that. The main problem I am seeing is the lack of successful shooting. ALthough Leotis is scoring 16-20 pts a game hes taking enough shoots to score 30. Zeb has been ice cold since the start of the season and has shown a lack of defense. Zak Allan has continued to be a big player but has shown more of a attitude to pass the ball than to take that big shoot himself. I wouldnt say this is an coaching problem, it would be more of a unfamiliarity within the players on the floor. With Howard stepping into Hammonds spot as the 3pt shooter, Allan moving to Waters spot as the passer, and Hammon, Waters, and Lamsargis left to fill roles they havent commited themselves to yet. Hopefully they can turn things around by the swing of the season.

I would also like to hear any comments from opponents on what they think BC's major problems are, to see if Im anywhere close on the problem here.

[hopefan]

Maryville loses by 20 to Depauw tonight, but plays better, and that's what I was looking for.   Down big in the early minutes , they played their best ball of the season for a run of about 7 minutes late in the first half, cutting a 20 point defeceit to 7, before Depauw took a double digit lead right at half.  A couple of new faces played pretty well tonight - and minutes in the 2nd half went to people who earned them in the first half - I liked that.   I'm predicting a win for the saints tomorrow......

[hopefan]

ouch - just noticed Greenville lost to Robert Morris springfield  90-80 ...  sorry Panther...  get 'em tomorrow.