MBB: American Southwest Conference

[kid nice]

Also, it is a dream of a lot of kids to play D1 athletics.  They go to these schools or JUCO to try and make it.  If they are not getting the playing time or just not quite good enough, or big enough,  they will transfer to the smaller schools to get playing time there last couple of years.

[Ralph Turner]

Also, it is a dream of a lot of kids to play D1 athletics.  They go to these schools or JUCO to try and make it.  If they are not getting the playing time or just not quite good enough, or big enough,  they will transfer to the smaller schools to get playing time there last couple of years.

MissColl gets plenty of kids from JUCO's who have tried to catch the eye of a D1 coach.  They end up at MissColl when Coaches Jones and Lofton see them.

For McMurry, it is the other way around for the D1's, D2's and Scholarship NAIA kids.  These kids weren't getting the playing time, or did not like/match with the system/chemistry, etc.  Coach Holmes has seen them.  They know the system and the McMurry success.  They come for playing time and the education.


My philosophy about intercollegiate athletics is that you should play at the level at which you can most succeed.  As kidnice said, aim high! 

1)  If you have a real chance at playing in the NFL or the NBA, then do play D1.
2)  Or, if you can get decent to good playing time at any place that gives you a full athletic scholarship, and the coach honors your needs to study for the degree, then do it.  The NCAA has specific guidelines about practice time and studying, but we all know what that means.
3)  In the absence of #1 or #2, then play D3.  Be a student-athlete.  If your athletic scholarship is not "paying enough", both in grants and the value of that specific degree for the efforts that you are giving, then move someplace else.  (It is a "job", and there is compensation for services.  The NCAA just doesn't have to withhold income tax or pay the employer's contribution to FICA/Social Security.)  That is why I really enjoy D3, for its principles and its quality of amateur competition.

Sorry about misspelling Moskosky's last name.   Wasn't he Pre-Vet at HSU?

(Hey, they beat McMurry!)  A benchmark...  /dsc

As for playing HSU, I just want to make sure that we defeat HSU the last time that we play them each year! 

[gccfan]

Well, after a horrendous roadtrip out west.  LETU bounced back last night and looked pretty good at ETBU.  I know the Tigers are not as good as they have been, but it is a rivalry game for us and any win on the road is a good one.  ETBU really had no answer for Dusty Evers who scored at will and finished with 29 points.  A key for the Jackets has been Jayme Bradley, when he is hitting his three's they are tough to guard, when he is cold they really struggle.  I do have to say that the Jackets have been horrible at the foul line this year.  They haven't shot better than 67 percent in any game this year.  It could haunt them at some point.

Has anybody seen Ozarks play yet?  I know they lost to Austin College early on, but since then they have played pretty well despite losing to HSU last night.

[HSUats]

Ralph, it wasn't moskosky's last name throwing me off it was the first. i personally knew matt, real nice kid and great athlete. last i heard he was was at ATM vet school, so guess that means hes a smart kid too.

As far as transfers are concerned i had heard that its hard to get these players to stick around, is there any truth to that?

[Ralph Turner]

Because I cannot give the facts to the accuracy that I demand of myself, I won't comment on graduation rates.  I have known several of the transfers to graduate and move on with their lives.

[Ralph Turner]

I noticed something that baseball is doing differently from basketball.

They are not counting games versus inter-divisional opponents towards the divisional races.  I really like that for these reasons.

A basketball coach should have the chance to work with his players thru several games to see which combination will work best.

The double round-robin format of intra-divisional games is the fairest possible, and it gives 12 games on the East and 14 games on the West to determine standings for the conference tourney.

It takes the variable of the single round robin inter-divisional play out of the schedule.  The geographic disparities of the conference are tough enough.  Not very road trip is equivalent.  I would rank the Abilene trip the toughest, because of the teams.  Second is SRSU/HPU because of the travel.  UMHB-CUA may be harder than TLU-Schreiner, even though there is more mileage in the latter.  On the East, MissColl/LaColl may be the hardest.   UT-D/UT-T may be next.  LeTU/ETBU is probably 3rd, and then UOzarks is the odd team here.  Those are just not symmetrical.

The intra-divisional only format eliminates most of the "fall semester bias".  Any edge that a team got from playing with a specific player in the fall is miinimized.

A team can get off to a rocky start and still pull the season together 12 games into it.  It keeps hope in the season. Lack of hope is a great disincentive to equity of play.

I am glad that we play a full schedule for the sake of "in-region" games for the NCAA Regional Rankings and tourney sake.

I just wish the coaches would adopt the intra-divisional game standard for determining divisional winners.

(Now for you fans who are wondering if this is a pro-McMurry bias, you are wrong.  Currently HSU has a loss to ETBU and McMurry has not played the Lions.)

[McM Blue Devil]

According to the Ozarks website today's game with McMurry was cancelled, any idea why?

[McM Blue Devil]

Initial word is that the game was cancelled due to lack of officials.

[Ralph Turner]

Initial word is that the game was cancelled due to lack of officials.

That is a very expensive mistake! Nine plus hours by bus one way, with meals and lodging!  The weekend before finals!  A game posted officially on the conference webiste!

[sethhpu]

HPU 39 Wayland Baptist 33 Half

[mcmfan]

But who pays for it?  Does Ozarks forfeit?  If it was the responsibility of the NCAA to provide the refs, do they reimburse McM for the travel costs?

[dballa]

HPU 80 WBU 87

Tough loss for the Jackets.  They played one heck of a game against a team that lost by one point to the #1 team in NAIA.  Webb for Wayland scored 40 pts.  He is one of the best players i've ever seen play at the coliseum.

[Ralph Turner]

But who pays for it?  Does Ozarks forfeit?  If it was the responsibility of the NCAA to provide the refs, do they reimburse McM for the travel costs?

I think that the conference office and the AD's get to work that one out.

[Ralph Turner]

UTD 118, CUA 112 (2OT)  UT-D's Martin Salinas had 38 points.

[Ralph Turner]

Univ New Orleans 76 UT-T 52