we'll know more about kings after this weekend.  DelVal did not have Beckett in the middle; a huge void, that can be exploited against kings.  that game might have been far different with him in there....FDU taking Desales was a surprise, but they have hung tough against Paterson and Stevens Tech - two very hi quality teams, so they're dangerous... wilkes is no surprise.  only that the backcourt performed so well so early.  their frontcourt is very good and will be hard to defend this season.  really think they are the team to beat, hands down.  their dispatching a good miseri team just supports that thought.  having said that, desales will want to avoid an 0-2 hole so that tilt should be interesting.  nice to see some discussion on the board.  no rhymes or poems, where is everyone?

Quote from: mailsy on November 24, 2011, 10:10:09 AM
Happy Thanksgiving MAC Freedom posters! 

Thanks Mailsy, and same to you, but it doesn't seem like anyone posts here anymore, regrettably!  Hopefully the onset of league play generates a little discussion.

Quote from: CollegeBBALLfan on November 09, 2011, 11:14:38 PM
I am a little new to the boards but i think the Freedom wiill be really competitive all the way around.  If i could redo the preseason polls for what i thought, i think i would favor Wilkes in winning the freedom and desales and mesri and also dvc  as being the two teams to lose in the playoffs... what do u guys think?

college fan:  agree with your assessment but don't know about dvc.  they lost a lot from graduation and did not have much depth last season.  who knows what frosh/transfers they might have now, so you may be right.  still think eastern is better than most think although a new coach may be cause for adjustments there.  wilkes and desales are deeper than most (if everyone is returning) and miseri has some firepower back as well.  all are well coached.  that said, it'll be a crap shoot, i don't think any one team is that much better than another on paper just yet.   

yes, i think wilkes will be very strong this season and should challenge desales and miseri for the top spot.  everyone else is kind of in the same mix.  eastern should not be rated that low, especially if soaries is playing.  manhattanville gets a lot of respect, i guess pointer will do that for you.  kings has outstanding guardline but their frontcourt is a question and will miss conroy.  do not know what fdu and delval have coming in...it'll be interesting

Agree with most of Nai's selections with one large exception.  Jones and Hunter are two tremendous players no doubt, but not having Conroy in POY discussion?  don't see that - he dealt with daily double and triple teams and was still virtually unstoppable.  Did not see either Hunter or Jones face that (and that is not to denigrate either).  I'd be surprised if the coaches don't give him more consideration as they know how much of a load he was to deal with...kings did not help his chances by being bounced out of the playoffs...also think maybe a little too much emphasis given to guys who were 3-point specialists - valuable for sure, but a couple of them do little else and don't play much or very good defense.  sometimes scorers can give up almost as many points as they generate....thats not reflected in the stats...COY is a tough one. DV coach got off to a hot start, Wilkes coach did a nice job bringing that team along, yet they had depth DV did not, so DV it is

yeah, the board is comatose this year despite unbelievable parity in the league.  where are mac fan, chiz, and the others who usually stir things up?  kudos so far to the Aggies, but i think they might come back to the pack 2nd half as depth will be a real concern for them, - kings too.  wilkes has impressed, mullins a nice addition there.  still think FDU has a couple of wins in them and look for them to bump off some teams 2nd half.  they have more talent than their record shows.   miseri has some outstanding shooters but could be vulnerable defending inside.  looks like everybody has a few warts which makes it so close.... and fun.  interested to see who prevails in the eastern/ville matchup, that should be a good one.  i like ville to right the ship in the phone booth, miseri to take FDU in a tight one, delval to win at home and kings to edge desales in a close one at home, where they usually play them tough. 

Agreed, the Freedom conference is anybodys race this season as it doesn't appear there are any dominant teams.  Makes for a lot of fun watching the games across the league.  James Jones was fantastic last night at Kings.  Was surprised his line wasn't even better as it seemed like he never missed.  don't think he even drew iron on his shots -  he was that good.  Big nights from Conroy (who was also a monster) and Stackhouse allowed Kings to prevail but he is a real force out there.  Like KIngs, looks like Del Val might be a little challenged with depth but their front-liners are all nice players....looks like every league game will be a dogfight this season and DelVal will be heard from as long as they can keep those guys out of foul trouble

looks like the league is off to a real nice start as most teams took care of biz in their respective tourneys....impressive couple of wins for kings taking out a very good bridgewater team and then beating susquehanna on their home court.  showed surprising depth, especially in the forward ranks.  hammonds a real nice addition at 2 guard.  another tough match up with albright tomorrow night.  schedule is front-loaded with some strong teams but should make them a tougher group come league play

I see the coaches poll is out, and by the looks of it, they too see the league as essentially WIDE open.  Cannot agree that FDU will not be a factor though - I really think they will surprise and give everyone problems if they are healthy and return same bunch from last season.  their starting unit is vastly underrated IMO.  should be interesting, nearly everyone lost some significant talent, who knows what the frosh will bring...braswell is irreplaceable, wilkes losing kresge will hurt and kings lost some perimeter scoring.  eastern should be strong as long as soaries can play. miseri can score, jones will light it up for delval and desales is still desales.  time for the board to heat up....need some new poetry sam....

Tip of the cap to Desales, doing the league proud once again.  Great season.  I will miss watching Mr. Braswell.  I am hoping there is an overseas contract in his future somewhere.  Nice kid, great player.  Best of luck to him.

agreed on the teams' selections.  they were not much different than those proposed on the board.  interesting that white was not considered, i wondered how he would be handled by the coaches...still think he was the strongest inside presence without question, but a half-year is still a half-year i guess.  no complaints on those chosen, all deserving......... 

kudos to the Bulldogs...they showed why they are champions last night with a convincing win v Kings.  Braswell was his usual stellar self and the supporting cast was almost as impressive.  they shot the lights out, especially in the 2nd half, but pretty much the entire game and Kings just could not keep up with them.  very intense affair, good atmosphere and great all-around play.  Desales had an answer for every run.....Kings did not do anything wrong, this one was about Desales doing things right.  Best wishes to the 'dogs as they move on, they are deserving, and will be a tough out for miseri and/or opponents thereafter.   although i won't miss braswell kicking our tails in the future, i will miss watching him play, easily the best player i have seen in the past two years, absolute pleasure to watch.

as much as i'll pull for the visitors tonite, i think the home squads prevail.  miseri can shoot with and maybe better than anyone.   i agree, if they get off fast....look out, they can win, but eastern defends awfully well, especially at home.  cannot see braswell going down at home, although i think kings is as good or stronger man for man outside of him., (i know - HUGE conditional)  as far as i know, no one has stopped him yet, don't see why it would happen tonite.  and desales has some real snipers from deep, which should keep the kings inside advantage at bay.   i think both games are tight until last 4-5 minutes, then goes to 8-10 point spreads due to needs to foul and shoot 3's by the visiting teams, making the games look easier in the score than what traspires on the court. 
chair; myers deserves all the props i can give him, i don't care if he ever scores a point and the only matchups i ever see him in, he wins.  you might be right, hunter may be 2nd team, just not sure who to drop to HM.  hey, they're all very strong players and deserving.  there's always 18-20 guys to fit into 15 slots.......fun to read everyone's take on it.   be safe on those roads tonite, not sure when this next mess is descending on us.......at least pitchers and catchers are on the news now.

my teams look a lot like naismiths.  my only real comment is that myers has to be listed on my squad - begrudgingly HM - i want to place him on 2nd team.  he doesn't show up on the leader boards like some others but he is the most disruptive defensive force i saw on the perimeter all season and his value does not show in a boxscore.  that young man plays on any team i post, and i feel like l'm short-changing him as HM; anyone else see what I'm seeing there??  i love that kid.

COY:  Woodruff (close)
POY:  Braswell   (no one else even in the same conversation)
ROY:  Nelson 

1st Team:  Braswell, Soaries, Kresge, White, DelPrete

2nd Team: Jones, Conroy, Feske, Pointer, Slanovec

HM:  Wagner, Hunter, Laroche, Stackhouse, Myers, Nelson

Might be guilty of slighting Little - in my opinion its not accidental the four playoff teams are who they are when you look at their PGs.
and thank you uncle sam....your posts were the most fun all season....looking forward to more.

Quote from: lefty2 on February 17, 2010, 07:29:15 AM
I'm not sure that King's was disinterested.  They certainly seemed interested when they jumped out to a 10-2 lead and were up 35-31 at halftime.

They were probably interested when it was a four-point margin with 10 minutes to go.

Misericordia didn't miss many shots the rest of the way.

when every loose ball is picked up by the same team, and that same team gets offensive rebound after offensive rebound, i would agree that disinterested is a pretty good description.....