MBB: Midwest Conference

[The Roop]

Wife went out of town a while back, she could have stayed there. So I took the opportunity to have a few beverages at a local establishment unattended and struck up a conversation with a hottie about half my age. "Hey baby, I have a Major in Anatomical Studies. Want me to prove it" ??

Didn't go over well

[jeffdc]

Took me a few hours to comprehend what I just saw at Darby Gym tonight with a 150-90 win. I realize the team they played wasn't all that good but to shoot as well as they did is still impressive. Against any team, 29 three pointers is amazing. Levin, Lentsch, Strek and Kaitz were incredible tonight. Lentsch gets about two feet off the ground on his jumper and will be force in the MWC for the next three years.

Levin impressed me with his consistency. Lentsch can knock them off quickly, which is nice for the team. I did think the ball handling was awfully sloppy a lot of the time - not that it mattered.

[scottie]

And yet they are still tied with Knox and Monmouth in the conference standings.    

[jeffdc]

And yet they are still tied with Knox and Monmouth in the conference standings.    

er....yes 

[fightingscots13]

Roop - if you're willing to take a break from the comedy act - since the feed of the Beloit-MC game wasn't any good, did you have a chance to talk to anyone who saw the game?  Anything noteworthy?  Am just curious to see what others think of the Scots...were Bucs fans saying, 'We should've beat the Scots by 25' or 'We were fortunate to win by 13'?

[The Roop]

Beloit had a 5-0 schedule to start the season with and only managed to achieve a 1-4 record. That doesn't look good on Monmouths resume'.

[fightingscots13]

Agreed...now back to the show...

[The Roop]

It's not like the Bucs have been getting their clocks cleaned but they are still managing to find how to not win. St. Norbert comes to town tomorrow and I'm not sure what to think.

[fightingscots13]

Ditto for the Scots...lose by an average of 11 to three ranked teams and then lose by 13 to a 1-4 Bucs squad?  It's those lengthy droughts where the Scots can't make anything and turn it over that put 'em in a hole...could be early in the game or late, but I've watched them enough over the last 3-4 years to know it's gonna happen and the game gets away from them.

[The Roop]

Bucs were 0-3 at the time but I get your point about The Good Guys having trouble winning. I think the talent is there, on both teams, but finishing the deal is still up in the air.

[Gregory Sager]

Grinnell beat Principia out of the SLIAC tonight, 150-90. It wasn't as close as the final score indicated. The Pioneers just overwhelmed the visitors in every facet of the game. Playing as they did tonight, they would have beaten anyone in the conference.

The press created beaucoup turnovers and Grinnell shot 51% (I believe) from the arc in the first half going out to a 94-50 lead at halftime. THAT'S RIGHT 94-50. Team effort altogether. Grinnell is long, athletic and can score from anywhere.

Principia had no size or depth, but several decent players, including Zimmerman (a graduate student) who has been tearing up the SLIAC. They are definitely no St. Norbert.

Overall a DOMINATING performance. I expected a W, but this was amazing to watch.

Easy there, big fella. This is Principia we're talking about. The Panthers are right down there with Caltech among the worst programs in all of D3. These are Principia's records over the past five seasons:

2009-10	6-19
2008-09	1-23
2007-08	5-18
2006-07	1-22
2005-06	2-22

During that span, the Panthers haven't beaten a single team that finished with a winning record. And in the three most recent seasons, four of Principia's twelve wins have come at the hands of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Like several other SLIAC schools, Principia annually schedules St. Louis Pharmacy in order to pad the final record. Contrary to rumor, the Eutectics don't actually play while wearing lab coats, but, judging by the fortunes of the program, they might as well. Another Principia win came at the hands of a team of grad students, Concordia Seminary, and another was over a Bible school, Lincoln Christian College.

The other six Principia victories during that three-year span were over the school's fellow members of the lower-tier SLIAC, all but one of whom were having dismal seasons at the time: Two wins over Fontbonne (8-17) and one over Blackburn (4-20) last season, and two wins over MacMurray (3-22) in '08. The lone semi-competent win that the current crop of Principia seniors have to their credit was an 82-76 upset over Greenville back in '08, a season in which Greenville broke even at 13-13.

Last year, which on the face of it appeared to be a banner year for the Panthers due to those six wins, Principia was beaten by 38 points on three different occasions, once each by Rhodes (10-16), Missouri Baptist (15-15), and Spalding (12-13). In conventional basketball terms, a 38-point final margin has to be seen as pretty comparable to a 60-point margin in Grinnell terms.

This year Principia is off to a 2-4 start. Not terrible, right? Well, one of those two wins is over an 0-6 Eureka team. The other win is over -- you guessed it -- St. Louis Pharmacy.

I'm sure that Grinnell looked very good last night. But you might want to dial back the euphoria a bit, because beating Principia to a pulp on the basketball court is not a major accomplishment by any stretch of the imagination.

[The Roop]

Euphoria. That's what I felt when my wife had a boyfriend on the side. I didn't have to pay her so much anymore.

[bballer1280]

I am a GC fan.  However, I completely agree with Sager on his GC analysis above.  The win against Principia was nothing to get overly excited about.  I mean, "Really."  For now, let's hope that the Pioneers are ready to protect the home court against Knox College tonight.  A win against Knox begins the drive towards getting back the MWC Tournament at the season's end.  Go, Pioneers!!

[The Roop]

Don't agree with Mr. Sager too much or we will have daily novellas on the MWC board. LMAO.

[scottie]

Gregory, I basically expressed the same reaction in one sentence.