SFA (12-3; 1-1) vs. Northwestern State (3-11; 0-3)

WHEN: SAT. JAN. 6; 3:30 P.M.
WHERE: Natchitoches, LA.
TV/RADIO: ELEVEN SPORTS/Q107.7

The Demons have lost 6 straight, but did lose a close one at Texas A&M CC 65-67 and McNeese State 63-72, their last two games.

SR:4
JR:4
SO:2
FR:6

Nobody over 6-8.

Jalen West has been at NSU since 2011.

What the heck is Eleven Sports? And Jalen West still hasn't received his Doctorate yet??

Doubleheader with the girls playing first. Anyone going? I'm strongly considering it.

It is on Suddenlink and one of the Dish providers. Trying to find a way to stream online because no cable at my place. Yup, I'm a cord cutter and it isn't so bad. Not as cheap as it is made out to be...

Didn't know the Southland app was available on Roku now. That is awesome.

INiedrauer said:

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No Jalan West this weekend.

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Just made my prediction...I guess I need to recalibrate it...oh wait, he has made zero difference to this team. I wish he was a superstar. It would be nice for the league, but his time has passed - albeit very slowly.

It's amazing how quickly things have fallen apart at NWST. McConathy is the all-time leader in wins in Louisiana basketball history. If it wasn't for the late Kaspar-era and Underwood teams, Northwestern was a team that could have broken through and become something bigger. Now they are just baaaad and some internal issues to boot.

McConathy is a good coach. He'll shake this off and be in the mix again soon. I'd say they'll be a contender in two years

I dunno. I thought last year was rock bottom for that program...This year seems to be way worse. Gonna be hard to recruit contenders to turn them around quickly...

I lived in the Toledo Bend Lake area for several years and listened to Coach McConathy's weekly coaches show on the radio station out of Many, LA. He is a fine, upstanding Christian man who teaches his players the game of basketball as well as how to be upstanding citizens. He is very well respected in northern LA and was even encouraged to run for a U.S. Senate position the last time it was open, which he declined to do. All that said, I agree that it's hard to get high-level recruits to join a program that's in the pits. If he is allowed to stay, which will certainly be in doubt after this disastrous season, it will take several years for the program to get back to contending for any SLC titles.

Hate to hear West's career at NSU is over. As much as I feared him in his prime, i really wanted to see him make a comeback and get his shot at the league. Maybe he still gets that shot, but it was always fun watching him play.

As for NSU as a program, I don't see them getting rid of McConathy after two bad years. He has some work to do, but he has done enough to leave on his own terms I believe. That could change, but definitely not after this year. He will get the chance to right the ship and we will see if he can get the Demons back to where they were.

The question to me is can NW St. change their identity. They have been essentially a run and gun offense for 15+ years. McConathy has had a gift for that explosiveness. I just don't see that style of play having much success in the Southland/midmajor conferences anytime soon. Pressure defenses that can limit offensive possessions are just too effective against pure offense teams right now.

Example: UCA. Howard may be a superstar, but they are never going to dominate because if you break their offensive rhythm, they're not good fundamentally. I think this is what's happening nationwide, and it's killing NW St. If you don't have the best athletes in the conference, then run and gun isn't going to beat SFA "disruption" (is this the buzzword we're calling it now?) defense.

Underwood broke the SLC with defense plus offensive efficiency. -I could talk about Kaspar's role in this, but not now- Now midmajors know that 6'5" to 6'9" two way athletes can beat high major set schemes by outworking them. It's nothing new, but with a glut of good players and training the last 10 years has seen the rise of the midmajor game. That's why they had to get rid of close guarding. There's going to be a way to defeat this system soon enough, but for now NW St. is on the outside looking in. McConathy has a hard row to hoe.

Yeah, I think his historical style takes top notch players - which he once had. With his current roster, it would be tough. This is how Kaspar changed SFA's position in the SLC. Without players, a defense first mindset evened the field more to help raise our stock. When it did raise, we could recruit better offensive players. It's an odd cycle. Sounds like from that last quote that McConathy knows much more than this armchair coach. I'm sure he'll work things out. The future will be fun to watch.

nacluth said:

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Sounds like from that last quote that McConathy knows much more than this armchair coach. I'm sure he'll work things out. The future will be fun to watch.

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Dear Armchair Coach,

Keep your day job.

(JUST KIDDING!!)

If you ever want to trade day jobs, I could be interested - especially around work trip time.

Gotta say, thanks for the kind words in regards to McConathy and our program...this is not a season I expected. After another bad football season I was really excited for basketball season, especially with Jalan getting granted another year of eligibility and getting his PhD lol...being able to pair up with Devonte Hall a lot of us thought for sure we'd be in the Top 3 or so of the SLC.

From what I was told we're essentially down to only one point guard with the loss of West, Hall and Perry. We also had another PG (Bailey Walker) quit before the season started.

I fully expect this game to be over by halftime.

Yea, whatever happened with the 3 big ones, is being kept under lock and key currently.

I was told that freshmen Czar Perry will most likely be back but nobody knows exactly when.

nacluth said:

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If you ever want to trade day jobs, I could be interested - especially around work trip time.

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No, thanks. I'll suffer through another cruise or two.

Mike is a great coach and even a better, ethical person. If he doesn't think they'll be back with the program, it makes me think something way beyond basketball happened.

Just downloaded the southland app on apple
Fire stick! Already Get ESPN3 there, but this is great to know! Thanks!

RedRiverLa said:

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Just downloaded the southland app on apple
Fire stick! Already Get ESPN3 there, but this is great to know! Thanks!

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Got it on Roku!

Game day again! Time to get above .500 in conference play, and it's a good chance to exorcise the Demons from last year. I can't imagine this game being competitive, but you never know when these two teams play. My guess is a solid half of the crowd are SFA fans.

10 points for excellent play on words!

LSU just beat #11 Texas A&M

Looks like NWST's game plan early is let Lane drive the Lane.