My tone... what are you my mother

Severe and Extreme are aimed towards a punch, not a shove... Get your eyes out of the rulebook and your calculator and watch a basketball game for once.  If every shove after a play ended in an ejection.. there would be a lot more ejections not technicals.  Just play basketball and stop contributing to the pussification of America.

I understand where you're coming from, but Kates does lean in with the elbow.  From the video you cannot tell how much of the elbow landed or maybe did Harkins push Kates that hard or was Kates selling that too?  Those are things we cant tell.   Also words were exchanged.. obviously something was said to trigger a shove.  Either way its a push... not a punch.. a push.  If Kates did it to Harkins or Harkins did it to Kates I think it is a T.  That's all.. it happens all the time in college ball, one player pushes another and gets awarded a T.  

My main issue is that didn't like is that all you described it as was a "cheap shot".  I dont know where you're from, but where im from a "cheap shot" is like a punch to the back of the head, doing something where they clearly arent looking, or a third person jumping in on a fight.  They were clearly face to face and therefore I dont think it is a cheap shot.  It was just an altercation.

Hopefully we get a good semi-final game Saturday.. It should be interesting to see how the teams react.

Not once did I say that what Harkins did "wasnt bad".  Sure he should have got a T, probably not thrown out.  And for your little video.. its pretty much how i described it.  Kates throws an elbow, the players chest up, a few comments were said (im sure none of which were nice, you think Kates is going to give him a hand.. If Kates is giving him a hand and apologizing there is no reason Harkins reacts like that), then Harkins pushes him.  Relax hugenerd, it was an elbow by one player, a shove by another, get over it.

"Im just trying to make sure the readers get the whole story"

I'm just making sure the other readers know the situation what led up to the shove.  Kates leaned in with an intentional elbow and then the players chested up with each other.. some words were exchanged, and Harkins pushed him.  I'm just trying to make sure the readers get the whole story.. not the partial hugenerd story

hugenerd,

you forgot to mention the blatant elbow Kates threw at Harkins before he got thrown to the floor

Springfield took care of business against Coast Guard.  The game was over in the first few minutes as Springfield started on a 19-0 run.  Cavalieri led the way with 20 pts, Coburn had a nice rebounding night with 12, and Harkins added 6 steals.  Nobody on CG scored in double figures.  Springfield travels to Babson Saturday.

Massd3,
Everytime Cavalieri got the ball in the post in the WPI game the near-side guard dropped and digged for a double... on the perimeter they played him one on one, and he still managed to get 17... It doesn't matter what the score was in the second half.. Harkins could not be stopped/contained.  He got to the basket every play, they didn't even run offense.  As for fouls, if you don't recall the refs being terrible, you were not watching the same game.  First of all Harkins should have been tossed for putting Ettens head into the floor about 3 times.  Second, Springfield was getting hacked.. the refs were clueless, inconistant.. no excuse for Sprignfields poor execution and play in the first half.. but still the refs were horrendous.

I'm sorry I do not agree with you that Tashman is a better player than Vayda.  Harkins shut down Kates when they met up the first time.. so do you agree with me that Harkins is a better PG than Kates?  Granted Tashman had a fantastic game 15 and 15 against Vayda.  I've seen Vayda over the course of the year.. he is a near-complete player.. He can shoot the 3, muscle you in the post, a fantastic rebounder, great from the FT line.  Tashman is strictly a post player who also is a very good rebounder, however he lacks the shooting abilities of Vayda.  Cavalieri and Vayda have had trouble scoring in the NEWMAC because they are seeing double teams against every opponent.  Springfield and Clark rely on Cavalieri and Vayda to score and teams know that so pretty much every game i've seen of each player some sort of double team scheme has been in effect for a duration during the game.  That is why their out of conf. scoring is much higher because if you play them single coverage, they will torch you.  I do think Kates will make first team over Harkins because the voters look so heavily on scoring, however i still disagree that he is a better PG.

IMO
First team - Kates, Robinson, Cavalieri POY, Vayda, Carr
Second - Harkins, Coppola, Tashman, Coburn... (James, Sowers, Nadeau last spot) 

Massd3,

When you said do I think Harkins numbers would be like this if Cavalieri was out?  I actually think they would be higher.  Harkins knows he doesn't have to be a main scorer so he focuses on finding Coburn, Cavalieri, Rankins.  If Cavalieri was out he would know he would have to be a main scorer.  He can score.... clearly you saw that 2nd half of the WPI game if you were there.  I was there.  Springfield couldn't get a call to save their lives.  So second half Springfield didn't even run offense.  Harkins took over.  Also the MIT game, it wasn't like Kates was penetrating the defense and making great assists, he was swinging the ball to Karraker who was on fire, that how he had 5 assists.  His 1-9 shooting came because he couldn't get by or get space from Harkins.

Hugenerd,
Your acting like I don't think Kates is a good player.  Of course he is a good player but you give him too much credit sometimes.  IMO the players the best three players in this league are Robinson, Cavalieri, and Vayda.  Obviously Clarks record diminishes Vayda's chances of winning POY, but I still think he is an excellent player, and top 3 in the league no matter what team he is on.  In your first argument for Kates you were bouncing around between conf. stats and non-conf. stats so it was a bit confusing.  It comes down to this Harkins is a better passer, ball-handler, and defensive player,  Kates is a better scorer and shooter... IMO Harkins is a better point guard.  Everyones got there opinion.. Feb 19th we'll see how it plays out.

I'm not sure where you are getting your facts...

A/TO - AKA the most important PG stat
Harkins - 1.74 - NEWMAC LEADER
Kates - 1.67

Steals
Harkins - 3.05 s/g - NEWMAC LEADER
Kates - 2.15 s/g

Assists
Harkins 5.32 p/g - 101 on the year - NEWMAC LEADER
Kates 4.85 p/g - 97 on the year

Rebounds
Kates 3.3 p/g
Harkins 2.8 p/g

FG %
Harkins - 54%
Kates - 50%

FT%
Harkins 78%
Kates 76%

3 point %
Kates 38%
Harkins 30%

Meanwhile when they met head to head, Harkins locked down Kates.  Kates looked lost on the court going 1-9 from the field and 2-4 from the line for a total of 4 points.  In addition, MIT REQUIRES Kates to be the main scorer where Springfield does not need Harkins as a main scorer in their system.  Also, since conference play has started Harkins has been dominating every PG in the NEWMAC.  Harkins is averaging 13.7 ppg in the NEWMAC.  Does it occur to you that MIT plays the worst out of conference schedule in the league, while Springfield has a difficult out of conference schedule filled with NESCAC's.  When it comes down to it, yes Kates is a better scorer, however he is not a better and more complete point guard than Harkins.

toooldtoplay,

I agree with you POY has come down to a 2 horse race... But its Cavalieri and Robinson, not Robinson and Kates.  It would be difficult for Kates to win POY when he isn't even the best PG in the NEWMAC

Saturday Springfield dominated Wheaton 86-71.  The game wasn't even as close as 15 points as the Springfield bench was cleared at the 6:00 min. mark when Springfield was up 30...(76-46).  Congratulations to Senior Matt Cavalieri who hit the 1,000 point mark for Springfield.  He needed only 15 and had 21 going into the half.  Cavalieri ended up with 28 pts on 11-15 shooting.  Jordan Rote had a great game for the Pride off the bench with 16 pts.  Rote locked down Coppola and frustrated him the entire game it wasn't until after the 6:00 mark where Rote came out and Coppola took advantage of the Pride's bench to end up with 17 on the game.  As for Wheaton, Grossman stroked it from range going 5-6 from 3, and ended up with 17 pts.  Wheaton travels to Clark on Wed., while Springfield travels to Coast Guard.  Also Congrats to Cavalieri for NEWMAC player of the week.

Springfield beats Clark 75-72.  Point Guard Billy Harkins has an awesome game with 17 points, 8 assists, 7 steals, 5 rebounds, and only 1 turnover.

Springfield played a very poor game offensively vs. MIT tonight.  MIT did an excellent job of maintaining long possessions and executing offensively.  Both MIT and Springfield's most productive players all had poor games.  Cavalieri went 3-12 from the field and only had 8 pts., however he did have 9 rebs.  Mitch Kates went 1-9 from the floor for 4 pts. 2 rebs. 5 asts. 2 to's.  Tashman also shot poorly going 1-7, and finished with 6 pts. an 4 rebs.  As for players that played well, for MIT, Karraker torched the pride putting up 18 pts. on 6-9 shooting and 5-7 from range.  For SC, Coburn had a decent game with 10 pts. 8 rebs. and 6 blocks.  The game got close at 54-50 with two minutes left, until a intentional foul really put the dagger in the Pride.  Springfield travels to WPI on Saturday, while MIT travels to Wheaton.

Springfield beats Coast Guard 67-60.  Really chippy game, referees were poor for both sides.  Really slowed down the game and had no flow.  Billy Harkins had a great game for the Pride with 16 pts.  Darvis Rankins also chipped in with 14.  Pride now 2-0 in the NEWMAC and will face off against Wheaton on Wed.