Quote from: FisherDynasty on March 08, 2010, 10:04:34 AM
I would take o'brien. Especially if it comes down late in the game.  Throw stats out the door, you can't compare stats when comparing a fisher player as the stats are spreadout as all 5 players are typically very good and they play well as a team.  I think burton is the most polished skills wise, McAdam is great for the stats but Ive never caught him play that great even when he put up good stats I woudl always say i didnt even notice him doing well how did he get all of those stats.  O'brien is the best to get in the lane and create, he is also probably the best defender out of the 3.  Burton is very good but is hard to compare is he much different.

O'brien strentghs:
Stongest
Best defender
Winner

Burton
Best Shooter
most fluid

McAdam
best stats
Best rebounder

It is also safe to say that if you are a Ithaca fan 99% of you are taking Burton, if you are a Naz fan 99% of you are taking McAdam, if you are a Fisher fan 99% of you are taking O'Brien. They all were great players and as FisherDynasty as they all had their individual strengths that might have topped the other two.

I happened to cross paths with all 3 of these guys. To me it all depends on the "type of show you want to run" to make your choice of which of these 3 guys you would take. They all had solid supporting casts, I think it comes down to more of the system they were in and the system you want to play if you were they guy picking .That is what makes it so tough to pick between these three because they all fit their system so perfectly and made their teams go, which is why they are the three guys that were thrown into the discussion. I have a lot of respect for O'Brien (He won the big game over and over with Fisher) and McAdam (Josten's Award Finalist) but I have to pick Burton (best skills wise in my opinion), best shooter/ scorer, still had a lot of assists, great competitor and was a solid rebounder and defender for his size and the style of play Ithaca used (even more so over Burton's last two years when he was pushing the ball up the floor for 35-40 a night).

You can pick apart any poster's argument or these three as players, the system played in and how that helped them, or how they players they played with either helped or hindered them. The only way to find an answer is to get input from fans of other teams. Does someone know how to start a poll so that we can maybe have a vote on this subject?

Tough way for my Bombers to go into Thanksgiving losing in the last few seconds. Ithaca has always had a tough battle with Oneonta. Missed the game live but looking at the box score it seems pretty simple. They couldn't keep Beckford or the other Red Dragons off the glass, lost the rebound battle 41-28. I know Coach Mullins is not happy with that. Both teams shot free throws poorly but looking at the play by play (not sure if it is accurate yet) my Bombers went 2-7 down the stretch which is not acceptable. You would think I was back at the line with a FT percentage around 50 and missing them that late in a close game. Ithaca did shot the long ball well at 43.5% for the game but it wasn't enough to carry them for the full forty.

Quote from: bomber3 on November 24, 2009, 03:05:16 PM
In other totally unrelated news, Ithaca has a new assistant on the bench as of last week when 2009 grad Peter Freidland joined the squad.  Peter brings a wealth of knowledge to the team including how to master old man post moves, how to become the d3 equivalent of Arvydas Sabonis, and mastering the art of chest shaving.

Look for the young Bomber freshman to take great strides in these areas in the future.

Bomber3 great post. Pete is a great guy and very knowledgeable. He was a tough guy to guard in the post being so crafty. He will also bring a lot to the team in practice working with the team. He may also teach the younger players to master the rubiks cube.

After hearing some things about the Bombers early season ups and downs this weekend, I was surprised to see them win by such a large margin. Haven't seen the box score yet, but seems like when Ithaca shoots it well they can play with any team. Congratulations to Jordan Marcus.

Quote from: magicman on March 02, 2009, 06:40:58 PM
Not only does Ithaca get to host and grab 1 of the four 1st round byes but if they advance to the sweet 16 they stand a great chance of hosting the Regional.

Interesting that the NCAA committee has put the top 7 teams in the country in 1 quadrant. Ithaca at #8 is the highest ranked team in their quadrant. Bomber fans have to be happy with their placement. 

I am very pumped about this news. Last time the Bombers lost they went on a tear and I expect the same this time. Haven't heard much about St. Joe's, heard a little about DeSales. I think Ithaca should overpower both and will have a week to game-plan against the slow down philosphy that Naz used.

On to Naz's game plan, here is breaking news about the Naz's coach, Coach Mike Daley. He is retiring after 23 seasons. I know a few Naz players and some really liked him as a coach and of course a couple didn't agree with his coaching choices. However, they all said he was there for the players more than any other coach, always helping them become better basketball players and also better people.

Here is a link to the story on the Naz website:

http://nazathletics.com/news/2009/3/2/MBB_0302093333.aspx

Ithaca goes down in round one. I thought they made a great comeback despite terrible shooting night. I think  they settled for early threes too often. They were at their best in the second half getting to the basket and getting lay-ups or getting to the line. Then they had a chance to set-up their 1-2-2 press which was working. The press really disrupted Naz's four corners game plan and forced a bunch of turnovers. When they missed the three pointers it allowed Naz to slow it down and run down the shot clock.

Ithaca also fouled too much about 80 feet from the basket. They called B Rog for a few hand checking calls in the back court. All those fouls allow Corey McAdam to get to the line too much. I thought it might work to help off set Naz holding the ball but he was about 7-8 or 9-10 down the stretch for Naz from the line which was huge for them. Once again Burton really carries them back into the game. Hit two big threes to keep it close, found Bostic for the alley-oop and kept getting in the lane and getting fouled. No one else really stepped up down the stretch. I will have to check the box score but he scored almost all the points from the five minute mark to the end of the game.

Tough loss, don't know how it will affect how many games they host. Even with this loss, they have two losses this season by an average of 4.5 points. In both games they played and shot very poorly as a team. I still think they are a level above anyone else in the east, atlantic. Maybe someone from new england region gets the sweet 16 but i doubt it.

Yup, they are very very similar. I was about to post and then it said you had posted while I was typing. But I agree with you Bombers79Etc. about it being overturned.

I'm not in Ithaca and have not talked to anyone up there since about 6:30 but I do believe it should and will be overturned. I know Cruz, he is a good kid and I don't think he meant to show-up RIT. He may have been bumped. However I know, if i caught an alley oop, versus the only team that beat me, and my gym was packed, I may have been excited and hung on the rim for a second longer. He didn't hang up there and point or hang up there and yell. I did have a few dunks in Ben Light in my days a Bomber but none nearly as great as that one. If the suspension is not over turned I would be shocked!

Quote from: e8bballfan on February 23, 2009, 09:37:47 PM

Quote from: sjfcards on February 23, 2009, 08:41:33 PM

Quote from: Michigan452 on February 20, 2009, 11:54:39 PM

WOW cant believe that fisher-UC game.  One that will go down in the record books most likely, as this is the first time that fisher has not made the e8 tourney. These guys cannot hit a free throw.  Also fisher needs to focus on making better decisions in the clutch.  This can be attributed to bad preparation by the coaching staff.  Obviously fisher does not practice situational basketball at all.  I cant believe they blew this game.  Utica did play well down the stretch with good shooting and good decisions.  This shows how much Connelly has progressed in his coaching.  I am very excited to see Utica in the next 2 years.

I would disagree with them not practicing situational basketball. Fisher has always been one of the better teams in the conference with games on the line. It would be interesting to go back and check out Fisher's record in games decided by 7 points or less in the last 6 years. I am guessing they have won a LOT more than they have lost in those games.

I think this is just a season that got away from Fisher. The played a little over their head for a team with so much young talent, and some key losses finally caught up to them. I think ultimately, they finished with the record most expected of them, they just didn't space out the losses like we thought they would. They looked great at times this year, giving a pretty down fan base something to be hopeful for. Beating U of R, beating St. Mary's, and being 14-2 everything was rolling. I will be interested to see what Fisher does next year. I think they have the personnel to win a lot of games, and be back at the top of the conference next season. I know I am biased, but they really showed flashes of brilliance at times. But, a really bad nose dive, and the season seems like it was all bad.

During the telecast of some college game on ESPN the other day, the commentator said he believed that during the course of a 30 game season a team will overachieve 5 times, underachieve 5 times, and play to their normal level the remaining 20 times. So I guess in a d-3, 25 game schedule you could say teams overachieve and underachieve 4-5 times, and play to their normal level 15-17 times.

Judging from that, I would assume Fisher overachieved the St. Mary's game, UR game, and maybe 2 others (can't think of them now) and underachieved the Alfred game and a few others.

There is no doubt the team is talented and I think will be one of the top contenders in the conference next season.

I was watching that game as well. I have thought about it for a good ten minutes and can't think of the game. I watch every UCONN game but can't remember if it was them or not. I also agree with the idea.

Quote from: sjfcards on February 23, 2009, 08:43:03 PM
By the way, I don't care if it was a technical or not, that Cruz dunk was filthy. That is probably the best dunk I have seen since that Lawrence Maroney dunk against RIT a few years back.

The dunk is one of the best I have seen in a while too. Last one I can remember was Jason Boone of NYU dunking on Dan McSweeney during the 2006 Empire State Games in RIT's gym. If someone got dunked on by Cruz it would have been awesome.

Quote from: e8bballfan on February 23, 2009, 08:14:54 PM

Yeah, that was definitely technical-worthy. Not to mention an impressive dunk. I also cannot stand when the officials let the coaches/players make the calls for them, but that was certainly a technical.

I did not see the dunk live as the ICTV site link from the Bombers web page wasn't working for me. I do agree he did hang on the rim and no one was under him, just a tad too long and thats why he got the Tech. From the guy I talked to who works at the scorers table for IC, McVean was not yelling at the refs for a tech, but was yelling at them for timeout. I agree he is looking at them and calling for a timeout. I believe he is mad but at his team not the refs. I don't think he was fishing for the technical and thats what I have been told by the scorers table who is right there front row view.

Here is a link to watch the Cruz alley oop dunk, wanted to post so everyone can see it and judge it for themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mXBEUMK0qI

UCgrad, don't know you or GoBombers personally but I do believe you are wrong with your impression on Ithaca. They have more than one thing going for them. I thought that they would lack mental toughness after watching almost every game last season but they have proven me wrong all-season. Also, not only can they score and run teams off the floor, but when a team changes the tempo (Hartwick) or when it is close at the end they step their play up. They have stepped up big in the closing minutes of close games.

Even the RIT game, they made it close down the stretch and got themselves in that position after a bad performance for the majority of the game. They also rebounded from that fluke loss, the call that was clearly wrong but to keep going and playing well after that shows toughness. I know when I played that may have snowballed into a losing streak. Lastly, Burton is playing at a top notch level every game and when one player has a off night, someone else steps it up big.

Ithaca wins 75-66. Which reminds me, besides having a great offense they can also hit free throws, which makes them so close in tough games. I have to say Bostic playing tonight makes a huge difference and he was noticeably limping all game. It was really bad after a fast break lay-up off a great baseball pass from Burton in the closing minutes.

I think Ithaca is very tough and even though the offensive fire power makes it seem like they only have one thing going, the also have few more things: 1A- Play well in the end of close games. 1B- shoot free throws well. 2- Have mental toughness 3- Have solid 8-9 man rotation.

Burton makes a cross court pass to a wide open Leahy for three. Then next time down the run the clock down and five with seconds left on the shot clock Brendan Rogers drives and gets an and one, hits the free throw, to put Ithaca up 71-62 with a minute left.

St. John Fisher, either have the play by play people give them time more often or point the camera at the scoreboard during time-outs. About six minutes left, a Fisher player (Jordan Gettings) just hit a shot to put them up 1-point.

Burton just hit a deep three, now Ithaca is up four. I think the Fisher female annoucer has a crush on Burton.

2:30 left, IC up three.

A nice drive and reverse lay-up by Rogers brings Ithaca within 1 point with about 12 left to play. Burton got hot to start the second half but cooled off. A lot of three pointers being shot by both teams.

Bostic sprained his ankle in practice Thursday I believe.

Watching the IC game at Fisher on the web. When I got it on they were down 28-21. I saw the lead jump to ten at one point but Ithaca made a run in the last three minutes or so (can't see the time that well) and have tied it at the half. Looks like Fisher started strong and had a good lead, but IC has got it going. Bostic still suffering from a bad ankle injury, you can see him hobbling around and not running down on the fast breaks.

Just got back from two very exciting games in Hoboken. The girls game came down to the wire as well as Stevens missed a lay-up at the buzzer to force overtime. I think Stevens gave Ithaca their best shot. As some people have said kids who normally shoot 20% we knocking down shots, they were pumped to play Ithaca and fight for their season. Stevens only has 3 maybe 4 players, the rest can't cut it for them. I agree with GoBombers, Bostic could score at will on their post defense and did for short stretchs in the game. A very balanced attack for the Bombers points were spread around very evenly and a great game off teh bench for Jordan Marcus once again. Jeff Bostic also set the all-time school record for blocks in the game and had a couple of real nice blocks. A lot of other Ithaca Alumni at the game too. I won't be at another game until Fisher travels to Ithaca in Mid-February.