MBB: St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[buncheriffic]

I was fortunate enough to run into Coach Bunch last night. My brief interaction inspired the following ditty (sung to the Beatles Hey Jude):

Hey, Bunch, you are the man
Took a good team and made them better
Remember to let Gorloks into your heart
Then you can start to make them better

Hey, Bunch, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get 1st
The minute you beat Fontbonne again
Then you begin to make them better.

And any time you feel the pain, hey, Bunch, refrain
Don't carry the SLIAC upon your shoulders
Well don't you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making the SLIAC a little colder

Hey, Bunch! Don't let us down
You have beat the Red Devils, now go get the Panthers
Remember, to let Gorloks into your heart
Then you can start to make it better.

So let it out and let it in, hey, Bunch, begin
You're waiting for someone else to beat
And don't you know that they'll all lose, hey, Bunch,
You'll do, the movement you need is on the court

Hey, Bunch, you are the man
Took a good team and made them better
Remember to let Gorloks into your heart
Then you can start to make them better


There Eureka, I brought your squad into the discussion.

[right_guard]

Any updates on any players who were expected to return and actually arent?  I had heard that Davis from Westminster wasn't coming back, and that one of the guards from Greenville also wasn't returning. 
I would have to say that fontbonne has to be the favorite this year.  They only lost one player from last years team, Webster second, Westminster third.  4th place is tossup between Greenville and Maryville.  Blackburn, Eureka and Mac all lost a majority of their scoring from last year, depending on who can step up for these 3 will depend on how well they will compete.  BC would be the choice to recover fastest this year since they have had a season under their new coach, while Eureka and Mac both lost quality coaches along with several players from last year

[FU Fan]

WOW ! Don't quit your day gig. I thought Webster was the communication center of the universe. That brings poetry and music to a new level.
Sub-Basement.
Art for Art's sake. Poetry for Pete's sake

[woody-paige]

Lions, tigers, and bears oh my!!!!  I just finished watching Wizard of Oz and listening to the Pink Floyd album together and smoking my peace pipe.  Well not much has happened on Macs campus I hear they  have a man child in the closet.  6"7 290 lb. beast he will be newcomer of the year in the SLIAC, you heard it hear first.  Has soft hands, nice shot, and a BIIIG BODY.  Practices have been grueling. players hae been battling.  Also Wes Littrell is going to contribute significantly, newcomer from Warrensburg.

The Highlanders will compete in conference.  Pre-conference schedule is absolutely top tier.  Millikin, Albion, Lakeland, Elmhurst, Robert Morris-Springfield, Arkansas State, and I believe Adrian.   No one in conference can boast that schedule.  That will get them ready for conference.  This will be a young hard working bunch of guys that will compete in the SLIAC, mark my words. 

As I said before Fontbonne, Webster,  will lead the conference after that maybe Westminster and Grenneville will be there.  Davis was kicked off of the team because of internal chemistry problems, Conquest not coming back takes some scoring away from Greenville, they wil both struggle but be in the top half.  Maryville a year older, may make some noise.  Watch out for Lincoln Christian I hear they have a team that is still in tact from last year they could be somewhere in the middle of the pack. We will see.  That is all for now.  Remember to keep your pets spayed and neutered.

[Gregory Sager]

Lions, tigers, and bears oh my!!!!  I just finished watching Wizard of Oz and listening to the Pink Floyd album together and smoking my peace pipe.  Well not much has happened on Macs campus I hear they  have a man child in the closet.  6"7 290 lb. beast he will be newcomer of the year in the SLIAC, you heard it hear first.  Has soft hands, nice shot, and a BIIIG BODY.  Practices have been grueling. players hae been battling.  Also Wes Littrell is going to contribute significantly, newcomer from Warrensburg.

That'll make the MacMurray @ Millikin game on December 1 all the more interesting, since Wes Littrell is a sophomore transfer from Millikin and his father, former long-time Millikin head coach Tim Littrell, was just fired from that position a few months ago.

As regards this "6'7, 290 lb. beast" MacMurray supposedly has, there doesn't appear to be anyone on the team's 2007-08 roster who fits that description. While the MacMurray site doesn't list weights, the tallest player on the roster is 6'5 freshman Travis Albright from Danville HS. That height appears to be accurate since, according to a cached PJStar.com article, Albright enrolled at (but apparently didn't play for) Illinois Valley Community College two years ago and was listed at 6'5 at the time. Also, as this picture of Albright from his Danville HS days demonstrates, the kid must've really let himself go with the Twinkies and the Doritos if he's now tipping the scale at almost three bills:

http://www.iphotonews.com/cgi-bin/ImageFolio4/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=Archives/Basketball&image=03centbbvdan03_RT8.jpg&img=140&tt=

[y_jack_lok]

So if Millikin fired Coach Littrell, then his assistant, now coaching MacMurray, must have been a casualty of that situation also. And that would be the likely explanation for why Littrell's son transferred to Mac.

[Gregory Sager]

So if Millikin fired Coach Littrell, then his assistant, now coaching MacMurray, must have been a casualty of that situation also. And that would be the likely explanation for why Littrell's son transferred to Mac.

Correct on both counts, YJL.

[HCACBBALL]

Woody,

You must be a insider at Mac?  I can not wait to see this beast in action. 

[hopefan]

Between work and an out of town wedding next week, I'll likely miss out on any scrimmages in St Louis - are any scheduled for MU, FU or WU ? -   would love to read any impressions of how our locals look, but unfortunately I probably won't get to any hoops untill Nov 16.

Of course also more than anxious to hear how all others are doing  -  really miss all the knowledge we used to get from Panther re: Greenville and from Mac Attack re: Mac.

Mac Attack   -   Yjak and I were chatting - seriously - hope all is ok with you and family....

[fcnews]

Hope - FU has thier FU v. FC (Alumni) game at 10pm on the 9th and Oakland City at Ind. on the 10th.

From the FU practice floor: This team has a great attitude and have developed some confidence. Fogerty is even stronger around the basket this year. It has been layed down as a season challenge who will lead us in rebounding Storandt or Lovette. If FU is not ranked in team rebounding it will be cause of an injury between those two colliding. John Dressler has pushed all post players with his size and shot blocking on the defensive side. McCoy and Branch are playing very well together and shooting lights out. Parker has a gimpy ankle right now, but will prevent any team from pressing. Chad Fournie would be starting on everyother SLIAC team!!!!!!

As for newcomers, look for Frank Sheets (Fr. Vianney) to see time. Sheets is good size (6'5), great hops and a very nice shot. Plays great defense. Also was coached by former Griffin Kevin Walsh. Ben Rapp (Ft. Z. West) is getting time at the pt. with first squad. Quentin Gordon 6'2 (Gateway Tech '06) can play 1,2 or 3 and is "the" best athlete on the team. Aby Abozin (Ladue '06) can flat fill it. FU tried recruiting him out of HS. He was all tourney at the Fontbonne Classic.

Fontbonne will get tested early by a Wm Penn team that will have two tournaments and a few others under their belt before we meet them.

Look for FU to show you two basic looks. Big - Storandt, Fogerty and Lovette or Bombs - McCoy, Branch and Parker. Looking at the size in the SLIAC this year, you will have to stop the Griffins in the paint to beat them.

Bunchtime or Yjak - Do you know what happened to the 6'8 kid from Trinty HS ? He was at WU last year and is not in school their this year.

Hope - Have you heard anything out of the Bears camp?

There you go guys!!! Bash it, Trash it, or read it.

[y_jack_lok]

fc, I took a look at Webster's 2006-2007 roster. There is no one on it from a Trinity H.S., nor is there anyone listed as tall as 6'8". Kuhn was the tlalest player on the roster at 6'7" last year.

[juniormint]

It's about that time again!  Pre-conference is not as fun as conference but its worth seeing the teams and at least who they'll have on the floor in the first couple months.  Hopefully everyone stays healthy and eligible thru December.   

As for Westminster they should be pretty good, on paper anyway.  They have a large part of their core back.  From what I know Davis had one semester left of eligibility, captains voted it would not be positive for the team to have him play for that one semester.  Whether it was him not meshing with the squad as reported earlier, that I cannot say. 

Good luck to all the teams who are starting their seasons this week, even if it is preseason!

[hopefan]

jrmint  -  welcome to the board  -  and your first post contains a piece of info some of us had been wondering about  -  if Davis had only a semester left, his dismissal makes more sense and is 'prettier' than if he had been let go for his whole sr season.  I've seen him have good games and bad games, but when he was good, he was the best big man in the conference as he was a hulk inside AND a very good perimeter shooter.  Trouble was, you never knew if he was coming to play on any given night....  Westminster has a stable of very good guards, but do they have the big men inside necessary to compete with Webster and Fontbonne?

Juniormint - hope you'll be WC's rep on the board - we've been looking for someone!!!!

[BeastMaster]

Just to clarify Coach Creal's situation for going to Mac.  He was not a casualty in the firing process at MU.  Being a Millikin alum, I know that Coach Creal was asked to stay on as the assistant coach for Marc Smith.   However, Coach Creal did not feel that it would be right to work for someone at Millikin besides Coach Littrell.  He was never fired from Millikin.  He left on his own terms and is a very loyal person.

Mac also opens up the exhibition schedule tonight at D2 juco national runner-up Lewis & Clark where Coach Creal played some ball back in the 90's.  Go Highlanders!!!  I hear Coach Creal has his kilt ironed and ready to go!!

[Titan Q]

FYI, MacMurray scrimmages at Illinois Wesleyan on Friday, November 9.