MBB: Midwest Conference

[Gregory Sager]

At first I read that as "daily novenas," to which I was about to respond that I'm not even Catholic.

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

[The Roop]

He's just afraid that North Park might schedule Beloit in the future. Two games and both were at The Park. Come to Beloit once Vikes.

[jeffdc]

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!!

Tomorrow night, actually.

[fightingscots13]

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!!

Tomorrow night, actually.

Handle Carlson & Goedeke and it should be a piece of cake...

[scottie]

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.

Okay, I'll try this again and copy your dissertation above since you like the use of large blocks of space.  My earlier post implied that despite destroying Principia, Grinnell was still 0-2 in the MWC.  In other words, Principia stinks and that game was nothing to get excited over.  I said it in one sentence.  You created a 10-inch newspaper column out of it.  That's all. 

[The Roop]

Carlson sits with two fouls in the first half. Goedeke gets a double technical in the second. Where's the offense now ??

[Gregory Sager]

Okay, I'll try this again and copy your dissertation above since you like the use of large blocks of space.  My earlier post implied that despite destroying Principia, Grinnell was still 0-2 in the MWC.  In other words, Principia stinks and that game was nothing to get excited over.  I said it in one sentence.  You created a 10-inch newspaper column out of it.  That's all. 

OK, I'll reply, and within my reply I'll delete my original post since you have an aversion to large blocks of space. You didn't say the same thing at all that I did. I downplayed Grinnell's win by pointing out that Principia is a bottom-of-the-barrel program. You downplayed Grinnell's accomplishments by pointing out that the Pioneers were still tied with Knox and Monmouth in the MWC standings. That's not saying that "Principia stinks"  or that "that game was nothing to get excited over" at all. In fact, you don't even obliquely refer to Principia in your post. And you can't argue that we were saying the same thing by taking the tack that both of us were denigrating the Pioneers, because I wasn't necessarily doing so. As a matter of fact, I said that I was sure Grinnell looked very good last night. A blowout win over a dubious opponent doesn't necessarily mean that the winning team is no good. It doesn't imply anything at all about the winning team, which is my whole point: You can't make a case for or against Grinnell's competence, or lack thereof, based upon a massacre of a team that has tended in recent years to be epically horrible.

Also, if you have a problem with long posts, here's a bit of advice: See that long gray bar on the side of your computer screen? It's called a scroll bar. It allows you to move up and down on a computer page, past things that you don't want to read. Feel free to use it.

[scottie]

Hey everybody.  What do Gregory and Principia both have in common?  They both stink!   

[The Roop]

Here's a better topic. Thursday will mark one year since my dad passed away. Everyone is required to have a shot of the Dr.

You only need to have one but as many as you like is fine too. Dad did that a time or two. 

[OBC]

Believe me, I haven't reached Nirvana over the GC win vs Principia. I've seen a lot of Good team vs Bad team games and this one was just off the charts. It won't propel the Pioneers to the D3 championship, of course.

And I did reference their lack of skill, height and depth.

But, remember this along the way. Because of the system, Grinnell is capable of big upsets when they have the players. I believe they have the players. We're also capable of laying big eggs. Kind of the basketball equivalent of living by the sword...

And Sager, don't let any of those wannabe editors slow you down. I like the way you always back up your position with facts. Of course it's not something I plan to emulate in the near future, but always nice to read.

[bballer1280]

Believe me, I haven't reached Nirvana over the GC win vs Principia. I've seen a lot of Good team vs Bad team games and this one was just off the charts. It won't propel the Pioneers to the D3 championship, of course.

And I did reference their lack of skill, height and depth.

But, remember this along the way. Because of the system, Grinnell is capable of big upsets when they have the players. I believe they have the players. We're also capable of laying big eggs. Kind of the basketball equivalent of living by the sword...

And Sager, don't let any of those wannabe editors slow you down. I like the way you always back up your position with facts. Of course it's not something I plan to emulate in the near future, but always nice to read.

I agree with you on all counts.

[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!!

Tomorrow night, actually.

My errror.  Thanks for clarifying.

[East Beast]

Here's a better topic. Thursday will mark one year since my dad passed away. Everyone is required to have a shot of the Dr.

You only need to have one but as many as you like is fine too. Dad did that a time or two. 

Roop:

I just downed a few shots of vodka as I didn't have the Dr. on the shelf.  I am sorry for your loss.  I'm sure he was a great guy.   

[The Roop]

Pain in the you know what at times (very stubborn) but I still miss him not being around. I saw it coming but it's still a shocker when it happens.

[OBC]

To The Roop, Sr., Na Zdrowie