MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[fcnews]

I mean Thursday night. I still can't get a grip on this new scheduling. Why are the men playing first on Tuesday and Thursday? Why are they playing first on any night?

[pantherpride06]

Oh absoutely.  Webster/Greenville has always been a good game.  We have actually dropped... eight of the last 10 v. Webster (last two wins during the 19-8 season).  Panthers need a big week.  If we can come out on the plus side, you have to feel good about the Panthers chances.  Here is your series notes for Tuesday's game...

Greenville v. Webster
Greenville 18 - Webster 14
Total Games Played: 32

Greenville won the first 14 of 17 games of the series, but has only won four games since the 1999 season v. Webster.

SLIAC Records
Greenville 11 - Webster 11

Largest Webster Win: 26 in 2002-03 (95-69)
Largest Greenville Win: 31 in 1984-85 (98-67) *First Game of Series*

History says no win for Greenville.  But Antonio, Christopher, Phonso and the boys are ready for another big game on Throwdown Tuesday!

TUESDAY fcnews, TUESDAY! 

[fcnews]

Pride - Tell the boys good luck and maybe they can soften them up for us on Thursday. We need all the help we can get.

[Mac Attack]

The horse is not dead. Mac Attack is back.

Week #9 Pick 'em Games:

Tuesday, January 16  
Greenville @ Webster * 6:00 PM
Principia @ Blackburn * 6:00 PM
Westminster @ Fontbonne * 6:00 PM
MacMurray @ Eureka * 6:00 PM
  
Thursday, January 18  
Maryville @ Westminster * 6:00 PM
Webster @ Fontbonne * 6:00 PM
Lincoln Christian @ Principia * 6:00 PM
Blackburn @ MacMurray * 6:00 PM
  
Saturday, January 20  
MacMurray @ Maryville * 3:00 PM
Greenville @ Eureka * 3:00 PM
Principia @ Webster * 3:00 PM
Westminster @ Blackburn * 3:00 PM
Fontbonne @ Lincoln Christian * 3:00 PM

Picks need to be in by noon Tuesday. Time to get back in the game fcnews.

Scattered thoughts....

Greenville - Great place to play. Super fans. Great atmosphere. MacMurray looked great for 3/4s the game, but hit the wall the last five minutes. Greene and Robertson, Mac's two best defenders, fouled out, and GC pretty much scored at will after that. We'll see if the Panthers have the same magic on the road against the other top tier teams. If so, pencil them in for the Final Four.

Fontbonne - Extremely nice facilities. Very well coached team. Probably the most balanced team, inside and out, we've seen. Hard to see them losing many more if they play like they did last Saturday. Tough on the boards, and dead-eye shooters. They should get better as conference plays moves on. They're a legitimate Final Four team. Editorial side note - as nice as the facilities were, there were about a dozen fans who berated the officials and the MacMurray players throughout the game. I understand a little barking here and there - but this was way over the top. We were shocked, given the beautiful place and the extremely pleasent staff. Uncalled for. Had I been a Fontbonne administrator, I would have escourted them to the door. End of editorial side note.

MacMurray - Blew a 20 point lead at Greenville and lost a heartbreaker. Foul trouble and poor team defense, coupled with eye-popping GC shooting down the stretch, proved fatal. Highlanders came back the next afternoon and quickly fell behind by 15 at Fontbonne. It looked the bottom was going to fall out - but it didn't. Highlanders led by five halfway throught the second half and had a shot to tie with 40 seconds left. Very, very proud of this undersized, young team, coming back from such a heartbreaking defeat just a few hours earlier. Whalum and Coleman were terrific in their play, but when Robertson and Greene go to the bench, MacMurray loses a lot, and that happened twice last week-end. When they're on the floor, Mac has a chance to compete with anyone. Don't be surprised if MC doesn't add a player or two very soon. That will help. Tough, tough assignment for Mac tomorrow night at Eureka. Good news Mac is getting most of the tougher road games out of the way now - and will look at the second half of the league schedule with quite a few games in Jacksonville. Need to steal one or two more on the road first.

Picks for Week #9

1/16
Webster
Blackburn
Fontbonne
MacMurray
1/18
Westminster
Fontbonne
Lincoln Christian
MacMurray
1/20
MacMurray
Eureka
Webster
Westminster
Fontbonne

We'll find out this week if GC is for real - or if it's going to be a six team horse race right down to the last week of the season.

[fcnews]

Mac Attack - Nice to see you back. Your right, FU had several chances to put the game on ice in the first half but couldn't. Mac may have the two quickest guards in the conference ( while Parker is sidelined for FU ) and they caused havoc while on offense.

I would like to appologize for what you described as bad behavior on our fans part. I was at the game and didn't see the group. With FU students on break, I thought most of the fans were parents and families along with a sprinkling of Alumni. I will pay closer attention tomorrow nite.

Would you agree that the game was the worst refereed game you've seen. And I mean both ways. That crew did not work well together at all. Plus, both the FU and Mac T's were the cheapest I've seen all year.

[Mac Attack]

Gracious apology, fcnews. I try to focus on the wonderful game of basketball and the terrific kids who are doing their best. At the D3 level, my appreciation level goes up about tenfold Really dedicated kids, coaches, and support staff. I've grown to really admire what they accomplish, on and off the floor. Given that MacMurray is so undersized, and not very deep on their bench, any game that isn't closely, consistantly, and professionally officiated is an immediate and often fatal set of circumstances. That being said, players have to learn and adjust to what the officials are and aren't calling. It's one thing to have a consistantly poor officiating crew - players and coaches can and should adjust to that. It's the "inconsistantly" poorly called games that keeps everyone off balance. If you're going to call flops as charges, call them that way the entire game at both ends. If you're going to call handchecking, call it all night, not just here and there. If you're going to call moving screens, call them at both ends and call them all night. If you're going to let them play, let them play. Even though it's a very fast-paced game, it's really not that complicated, especially when you have a three-man crew.

Both technical fouls during the MC-FU game, in my opinion, should not have been called. The FU player apparently said something under his breath, and unless it was something profane (which it didn't appear to be the case), it wasn't a big deal. The MC coach got nailed for complaining about a double-dribble. It wasn't personal and it wasn't hysterical. And the referee on the other side of the floor, 100 feet from the play, called the technical. My personal opinion is referees would be much better off focusing on the game, being consistant in their calls, and keep their ears out of both coaching boxes.

All that being said, I have rarely seen the outcome of a game at any level in any sport decided by poor officiating. All of us can point to calls here and there that we believe caused victory or defeat. But my view has always been well prepared teams with poise and character more often than not can overcome a tough call. Not always, but most of the time.

MacMurray lost to better teams Friday and Saturday night - or at least GC and FU were better when they had to be, and that's all that matters. Kind of like Tony LaRussa's quote when he was asked if the Cardinals were the best major league team in 2006. His answer - "The last three weeks we were." That's all that matters.

[fcnews]

Very nicely put Mac Attack. Also, I saw game tape of the MC v. Grinnel game. The new curtain at Mac is a great improvement. Makes it a little more intimate.

[BunchTime]

Fc, I completely agree with your frustration with the schedule!  I also do not know why the girls would play first on any given night!  Even with the scarce following the SLIAC gets, the mens game naturally has a bigger following among the students!  I think it is another weak attempt at equality, and in my opinion, simple logic should trump equality between the mens and womens teams!

[pantherpride06]

Week #9 Pick 'em Games:

Tuesday, January 16  
Greenville
Blackburn
Fontbonne (Could Be a good game w/ Westminster)
MacMurray (Another good game)
 
Thursday, January 18  
Westminster
Webster
Lincoln Christian (Game of the Week v. Prin... lol)
MacMurray
 
Saturday, January 20  
MacMurray
Greenville
Webster
Westminster
Fontbonne

So Mac got mad at me for picking against MacMurray last week.  Then, he picks against me this week.  He sends the Pathers in an 0-3 tailspin.  Mac, was you at the game?  Why didn't you come down and say hello?  I was the nut at the scorers table announcing and running around HJ like a nut!  I may try to get to STL to see a game Thursday night.

[pantherpride06]

As the the Men playing first on Week Nights...  I think I understood that one of the women's coaches a few years ago wanted it alternated (format we have now.)  I know for Greenville, we have a much larger crowd at Girls games when they play first.  With this new format, our girls never have much of a crowd.  I would vote to make it back to the old way.  Our coaches at Greenville liked the old format by what I understand.  oh well.  I vote to change back!

[fcnews]

Bunchtime very correct. This change was pushed through by a Webster womens coach who is no longer even in the league. I think if you were to survey the conferences womens coaches, other then maybe MU, all would say they prefer playing first.

Bunchtime, now that your back, can you comment on a very puzzling start by a seasoned Gorlock squad.

[Mac Attack]

Pride - I never get mad. A lifetime of scar tissue pretty much numbs me to the small stuff. You picked the teams that you thought could get the job done on that given date - and you were right. My logic is the same, but after seeing GC play, they easily could prove me wrong - and I hope they do.  I would love to see MacMurray and Greenville in the championship finals. Wouldn't that be something! But lots of basketball to be played between now and then. Still need to steal one or two more on the road - and win out at home. That will be tough for any team.

I saw you at the game. Terrific energy! My sense is the NCAA rules against electronic noisemakers might apply to a PA announcer using a microphone to lead cheers for the home team - but I thought you did a wonderful job displaying school spirit. The Greenville students and fans deserve a LOT of credit for their team's success. And everyone of them did it in a positive, cheerful way. I didn't hear one person take a verbal swipe at a referee or player throughout the entire game. Each and everyone of you should be commended. Wish we could kidnap you and bring you to Highlander Land!

[y_jack_lok]

Interesting the question about who plays first the women (please, let's not use "girls"-- unless you're going to use "boys" instead of men) or men. Elsewhere on this website I posted the following regarding charging to attend games:

"In St. Louis all SLIAC games are free. Also, Wash U's games are free. On the other hand, last year when I went to see women's/men's double headers at Randolph-Macon, since I got there for the women's game first I got in free and got my hand stamped so I could leave and come back in for the men's game free as well. The people who came only for the men's game had to pay $5.00. This year the R-MC women were on the road while the men were at home, so I had to pay to get in. I found it very odd last year that I could get in free to see the women, who had been the national runners-up the year before, but would have had to pay just for the men. Obviously gender equity has not fully arrived at R-MC basketball. I would have gladly paid to see the women play and then been allowed to stay and see the men play without having to pay again."

I imagine it's hard to get everyone to agree on whether the men or women should play first, or wheter it should alternate. I wonder what the players think, or if they care???

[hopefan]

I would definitely think the kids care, because the routine of the day has to be screwed up for whomever has to play early   -  a nice routine would be classes, a pregame meal at 4 or 4:30, to the gym to get a little feeling, a little excitement while watching the first game, and play at 8.   The team that pays the early game may have to miss a class to eat early, or wolf down a meal an hour and a half or 2 hours before the game, then come into warm up in an empty gym, as most people won't arrive till 6 or later.   Of course with the normal rotation, the other team has to play the unattractive 1:00 game on Saturdays, which may be even more difficult.

However fair is fair  -last year the guys got the 8:00 game during the week and the 1:00 Saturday  -  this year it's reversed except for the Friday we just had.

[Mac Attack]

Godfather - want to pick up where fcnews left off in the Pick 'em contest? Would help to have a fourth player?