Happy New Year to everyone from St. Louis! Yesterday was the first day of classes in the spring semester. While you’d think most students dread going back to class, the first day of class is the best. Most professors only hand out a syllabus and give a brief introduction to the course–all typically followed by letting everyone out early!! Yesterday both my Advanced Accounting Problems and Israeli Politics courses got out early so I’m in a good mood heading to practice.

A lot has happened since I last checked in. We topped Fontbonne, who was then undefeated and playing well, and then beat another SLIAC team in Eureka. We took on Elmhurst in the championship of their tournament and lost our first game of the season. They played a great game and did everything they needed to do to win. We did a great job limiting Brent Ruch inside, but just his presence opened up the perimeter for their shooters. It was a pick your poison type day as they shot 50% from three and escaped with a close victory. I know they’ve lost two close games in the CCIW already, but I’m sure they’re not an easy match-up for anyone they’ll play.

While we took the loss on the chin, I’d be looking forward to get another crack at them in March. Pretty crazy we were 3-1 against Illinois Wesleyan, Augustana, Elmhurst & North Park—four of the teams I figured would be near the top of the conference—but they are a combined 2-8 in conference play so far—I guess it’s a long season.

We got a nice week-long winter break and went back to campus December 29, two full weeks before regular students got back. Being alone on campus is actually really fun and relaxing. We do a lot of lounging and TV watching. This year a few of us started watching Sopranos from season one on DVD, while others caught up on the last Entourage season they missed. We tried to find different ways of keeping ourselves entertained—including mastering Super Smash Brothers on N64 (Pikachu is my character), dressing up classy for a New Years Eve Party with the women’s basketball team, and growing out intriguing facial fair (see picture of Zach Kelly at bottom of blog).

We got back in action with a win at Webster to start off 2009 on a good note. This past weekend we traveled through the snow to Chicago for our conference opener. Talking to Matt Corning, their go-to-guy, before the game I realized how frustrating it must be to go through what they’ve been through the past few months. Coming off a UAA title and only losing a few pieces, I figured they’d be a little down from last year—but the coaches still picked them to finish SECOND in the conference. Moral of the story: they are the most talented 0-12 team in NCAA History, any division, any gender—seriously. Am I saying they should be 10-2? No. But how they’ve escaped the W column I’m at a loss for words. Anyway, they kept it close for the first half but we slowly pulled away with some good execution in the second half.

Overall, things are going great for us. We’re first in the country as a team in assist-to- turnover ratio and second in assists per game (which is practically first since it is behind GRINELL!!!). I don’t think it is a coincidence either—our offense puts us in great positions to have everyone be successful. I think the special thing about our team is that we really “get it”. We know what we need on certain possessions and know who is capable of doing what. We have a lot of depth off the bench and are two-deep at almost every spot without losing much. Most importantly: we’re 11-1 and haven’t played our best basketball yet.

Looking forward to more conference play in the next few weeks!

Take care,
Sean

P.S. BASKETBALL TRIVIA QUESTION: I don’t know the right answer but was hoping this would be the place to get it–so please respond with your thoughts–It may take a referee to answer it. One of our players bounced in a ball from half court in a shoot around and we had a good 15-minute debate:

Wash U is down two with a second left and a Wash U player catches the ball off a Chicago FT miss at one end of the court and fires a one handed baseball pass high in the air the full length of the court. While the ball is in the air, the buzzer for the end of the game goes off. The ball then bounces inside the three-point line (untouched by anyone else since the full court throw) and then into the basket.

1) Would the basket count since the ball hit the ground after the buzzer went off but was shot before the buzzer went off?
2) If it counts (or even if it didn’t), would it be considered a three-pointer since the player’s feet were clearly behind the line when it was thrown, or would it be a two- pointer since it bounced inside the three point line before it went in?

Zach's really cool facial hair.