Happy to get a "W" yesterday. At this time of year, that's all that matters.  I am glad they don't give style points. York clearly had a physical advantage, but kudos to Yeshiva because we couldn't put them away.  Yeshiva had nice fan support. Very well represented.  Nice crowd considering everything. If we play the same tonight, we'll be in for a rough time. We missed a lot of defensive assignments. They shot lots of uncontested layups.

I watched Hamilton defeat Nazareth and they look tough. They are quick and big.  #24 Gilmour looks like the real deal, I imagine it will be Jason's task to slow him down. #30 and #44 took it to the hoop and created lots of points in the paint. They play in a very tough conference NESCAC, and their conference went 4-0 in the opening round.  You know that means that they've played some very tough competition this year.  It looks like they had a similar season to York.  Started 15-0, but then some tough conference losses.  I am expecting an exciting close game.

Even though I am expecting a tough game, I am also expecting York to find a way to win on their home court. I also expect our seniors to lead the way.
I've noticed that Matt seems to be taking it to the basket more, since everyone concentrates on stopping his 3pt shots, he has been able to convert some easy shots or kick it out to an open shooter if nothing opens up. Even though I love the defense that Jason plays, I hope he uses his quickness to also go to the hoop.  Create some foul trouble for their bigs.  Because of their height, I feel this might be a game that Joey P. plays a big part.

I am one who feels defense wins championships. If we do that, we win.

Let's go Spartans!


Congrats to CNU on their victory last night. Do it again tonight.

I'll start with conference selections.  Can't be disappointed with 2 guys on the first team, but I thought Matt Scamuffo was worthy.  Since I only see most players once a year, it's hard for me to say who he should have replaced.  He has had a nice season and career and it probably didn't help his chances that Dalton and Blayde were selected. Was also hoping that Coach Hunter was going to get COY, but I realize that Coach Krikorian did a great job keeping the Captains at the top of the conference after losing Marcus Carter. I'm sure Coach Hunter is okay with it, but he did a great job this year.  York is not that deep but he pushed the right buttons. Congratulations to all of the selectees.

Now about tomorrows game. We open the tournament at 1pm.  I am concerned that there will be a sparse crowd. Besides the fact that people are working, the students are on break. Normally do not need to worry about motivation in a game like this, but if there isn't much of a crowd that might give Yeshiva an edge.  Seems like an ideal time for their most emotional player, Jared Wagner to play an important role.

Yeshiva doesn't have the most impressive record but they are hot having won 12 of the last 13.  After the big win at CNU last week, this is no time for York to letdown. York has played extremely well the last 2 games and their defense has been a big reason why. Hope they keep up the defensive intensity.

Also want to wish the Captains well. We're pulling for you to represent the CAC well.

Let's go Spartans!  We're opening this tournament, Let's close it too!

So happy for the Spartans.  They will be going into the tournament on a nice roll.  I am hoping they get to host this weekend. I have to think that they have a good shot at hosting.

All 5 of the starters in double figures today.  Blayde was amazing, but I think the key to the game was Jason Bady. He went toe to toe with McFarland all afternoon and even though McFarland had 15 points, it felt like a quiet 15 to me.  He made McFarland work hard for everything and even with his outstanding defense he still managed to score 16 points of his own. I think it was extremely important that he stayed out of foul trouble.

CNU has an excellent team and I feel confident that they'll get a deserved bid. Wish the Captains well in the tournament, as long as they don't face York.

Let's go Spartans!

York came to play last night.  Wonder if the transportation problems that Salisbury ran into affected their game.  They looked a little sluggish.  York had that fire in their eyes and were not going to be denied.  Reminded me of their look earlier in the year.  I especially enjoyed their defensive intensity. Some nights the shots don't fall and you need the defense to step up.  I think it was the best defensive effort I've seen all season.  They were really pumped up on the defensive end. Held Barcikowski to 1 point.

On the offensive end they weren't forcing too many shots. It seemed like they were playing within themselves and taking what came in the flow of the game.  Even Darin Gordon got a chance to redeem himself. Haha.

I know that CNU will be really tough on their own floor. However, if York concentrates on defense and doesn't try to force things on offense, I like their chances.

Let's go Spartans!

I've been enjoying YCP basketball for many years and this season has been fun.  However, they've hit a lull at the wrong time. Early on they were playing with lots of confidence and seemed to be enjoying the game. Lately, their body language says they are playing too tight and are afraid to make mistakes. They are definitely good enough to go on a run and win the conference championship, but they can be beat in the semifinal with the way they've played lately.  If they get by the semifinal, a rematch with CNU down there will be difficult.

I wish I could give advice on how to get their MOJO back. My only suggestion is to play your game and not try to force things (easier said than done). I am hoping they enjoy the ride and put together a nice run to end the season.

Let's go Spartans!

York College has a very young team this year with no seniors and only one junior.  They won their second game today, but I think they are going to take their lumps this season.  I do have 2 questions that I hope someone can answer.  What happened to Ryan Beaver?  He played opening weekend tournament, but is no longer on roster.  Why wasn't Tyler Alcid getting any minutes the first couple games?  he didn't look injured to me and seems to have given them a little spark. 

Don't want to argue about Camontae Griffin vs Nick Brady because I didn't see Griffin play enough.  I did see Nick play and improve tremendously during his career.  At the beginning of the season, I would have been happy if York played over .500 and got their young guys significant playing time.  In other words, a rebuilding year.  Because of Nick, we just missed an NCAA playoff spot.  Each and every game it looked to me that the opposing team's gameplan was to stop Nick.  What I liked most was the fact that he wasn't just a shooter. I believe that rebounding is mostly desire (although being big doesn't hurt) and Nick is a great rebounder.  If there was a loose ball anywhere in the area he got it.  He also realized how important it was to get stronger and spent lots of time in the weight room.  He made himself a much better player.  I hope his approach made an impression on the young kids and they see that hard work pays off. 

It is easy to be cautiously optimistic about York for next year.  However, replacing Nick is going to be very difficult. By all accounts he is a good kid and hopes to keep playing the game he loves.  I wish him the best and want to thank him for all he has meant to YCP basketball.  Congrats on the POY because I think it was well deserved.  It has been this  fans pleasure watching Nick play the last 4 years.  Best of luck.

Good luck to St Marys and Wesley in the tournament.  Go CAC!

York loses last night and Nick Brady and Jeremy Keefer's careers come to an end.  You have to give credit to Wesley as they shot the lights out.  They were quiker to loose balls and had numerous offensive rebounds that killed us.  We were a step behind them and they definitely deserved to win this one.  CACsportsnut hit the nail on the head when he said that they are playing great basketball lately.  If they play like that on Saturday, St. Marys will have their hands full.

York will look forward to next year, but without Nick leading the way it will be tough.  Hoping Julian Watson and Andrew Pawlyk get back to form.  Also would love to get a true center.  Didn't see enough of 6'9" Jake Markle this year to know if he can develop into one.  Wish Nick, Jeremy, Wid good luck in the future.  Thanks for a season that exceeded expectations.

On a final note, when will league awards be announced?

I believe that St Marys is a lock whether they win the tournament or not.  I think York has a chance if they make it to the final.  They'll have 20 wins and a nice regional ranking.   York has been good at home, but they will need to be on their game to beat Wesley. Because they haven't beaten many good teams on the road and were just beaten handily by St Marys on Saturday, you have to believe that St Marys would be a big favorite in the final if they both make it.  York will be rooting for Marymount tomorrow night and hope they can handle their end of the deal.  I think the season ends for York tomorrow if they lose to Wesley.  I also think the key to tomorrow nights game is Kevin Whaley.  He has been playing super lately and will take a lot of pressure off Nick Brady if that continues.

York loses to Mary Wash yesterday ending their unbeaten home court streak.  Credit must go to Mary Wash.  I may not like the way Coach Woods has a tendency to rant and rave, but he had a game plan and his team ready to play.  He slowed the game down using as much of the 35 second play clock on each possession.  It looked like he was giving it to his players if they shot early in the clock.  i do believe this through York out of their ryhthm, even though they were pushing it up the court when they had the chance.  Mary Wash started by hitting 3 pt shots took the early lead and played their game.  Kudos to them on being well prepared.

That being said, Nick didn't shoot well.  Some credit for that has to go to #5.  Good defense, although I have seen Nick beat good defense all year.  Kevin was making up for Nick's off day and kept us in the game.  Dylan's ankle injury affected our depth down the stretch and even though Jeremy K played one of his best games of the year, I have to question the last shot.  We come out of a timeout with 3 seconds left and down by 3. Coach Gamber has all of 4 of our 3 point shooters in along with Jeremy K.  Why wasn't Jeremy taking the ball out of bounds?  Instead everyone else is guarded tightly and Jeremy has ball and open look.  Can't fault him for shooting, but I wish any one of the other 4 players on the floor took that shot.
In any case the road just got more difficult.  Spartans finish regular season with 3 road games. Time to win them away.  Go Spartans!

Want to give kudos to some of the other Spartans for last nights win over Salisbury.  Palmer was hitting everything last night and he has killed the Spartans through the years.  Two years ago he came to York in the CAC tournament as the #8 seed and upset the #1 seed Spartans.  It was the last game of Chad McGowan's career and left Chad just a few points short of being the all time leading scorer at YCP.  Dylan Hoffman played good prevent defense on him even though he had 25 points.  He had those points on only about 10 shots.  Dylan wasn't letting him get all of the shots he would have liked. Dylan also hit some shots and I think it was his best game that I've seen him play.  Mitch Kemp also hit a couple big threes and played some quality minutes.  Kevin's shot wouldn't fall last night but he was playing hard and hitting foul shots when we needed them down the stretch.  Paul and Jeremy were both steady.  Jeremy S didn't shoot much because they played tough defense on him and he didn't have any good looks, it was good that he didn't force.  Matt M played his usual steady game.  I'd like to feel that we should handle Gallaudet, but even when we had our really good teams a few years back, we've had some real battles down there.  If we take them for granted, we'll get beat.  Still need to prove we can win on the road.  Last night was another big one.  Go spartans!

I said once before that it is difficult picking the POY when you only see opposing players once a season, but I can't imagine anyone playing much better than Nick Brady right now.  Last night he carried us, like he has done numerous times this year.  Some of the 3 pointers he made last night were made from way beyond the arc.  If I thought his game was just shooting, that would be one thing, but he also an awesome rebounder.  The desire he shows on the court is so much fun to watch.  He usually has the other teams best defender(s) on him, but he creates his own shot and is really quick off the dribble.

I admit to YCP bias, but Nick Brady has led YCP to a much better season than I expected.  He has my vote for POY (even though it doesn't mean much). 

York wins a big one last night. They trailed most of the game and were not making many shots.  It kind of reminded me of their win over Gettysburg where they pulled out a victory at the end of the game.  With the victory, the Spartans can now look forward to another big one on saturday against Salisbury. Once again we need to defend our house. 
Nick Brady struggled with his shot last night, but came up with some huge points down the stretch.  Even though Paul had a double double and a tremendous rebound at the end, i thought that Kevin and Jeremy K were the keys to this win.  Kevin is so quick up the court when he gets a defensive rebound and creates lots of scoring chances.  He also exploits matchups as evidenced by his beatiful jumper out of the timeout late in the game that gave us a little breathing room.  He and Nick are great compliments to each other.  Jeremy K didn't miss many shots (one of the few last night) and seemed energized out of the halftime locker room.  He wanted the ball and then created nice opportunities for himself.  Jeremy S struggled with his shot. Matt Moley didn't have one of his better games.  Dylan did a solid job on defense and kept #42 in check.
Was a huge win as we fight for playoff position.  Saturday is just as big.  Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves and follow the cliche  "one game at a time"  Go Spartans!

YCP played one of their best halfs of basketball today.  Their offense was sizzling in the first half as led by Nick Brady who had 22 points and 6 three pointers at the break.  I know this sounds contradictory, but I thought #42 was playing tough defense on him too.  Nick was feeling it and no defense was going to stop him in that first half.  He cooled down in the 2nd half and finished with 30.   I always like the way Matt Moley plays and today it was outstanding.  Things were falling his way and he was capitalizing.  He didn't force anything (maybe one shot from the deep corner). He was getting some rebounds and playing good defense (like always).  Nice game.  The Jeremys, Kevin, Paul and Dylan all played well.  Kevin always seems to be in control of his game and knows how to take advantage of matchups.  Paul didn't put up big numbers and was in a bit of foul trouble, but continues to improve.  I continue to be happy that Jeremy K and Dylan are doing a good job of letting the game come to them and take what it gives you.  Dylan didn't shoot much so he wasn't forcing and Jeremy scored when opportunity was there.   Jeremy S hit some big threes especially when Hood was making a run late in the second half.  Good win today.  Defend the home court this week.  Go Spartans!

CACsportsnut.  Wish I could comment on your post, but since I only see York College home games I am not familiar enough with opposing players.  I enjoyed your commentary and based on what I know, agree with your assessments.  Should be interesting as we enter the final weeks.  York had a big win against Hood today.  They are undefeated at home this year, so if that continues they would have the inside track on getting the number 2 seed for the playoffs.  Since they have struggled a little in the conference on the road, they will be an underdog in the finale at St Marys, but would probably be favored on their other 2 road contests at Stevenson and Gallaudet (but being the favorite doesn't mean they can't lose).  They have 2 tough home games this week with Marymount and Salisbury (lost to both on the road) so if they let down to either of them, the number 2 seed could slip away.  Lots of time left, for interesting things to happen.