Congrats to York and UMW on the Sweet 16. York dominated a very good Juniata team (don't let the 9 point margin fool you, it was a 19 point game when York subbed out the starters). York averaged 88 points per game in their last two games and shot 66% against Juniata. Those battles with Mary Washington during the CAC season has served the Spartans well during the NCAA Tournament. Now on to Amherst for the Spartans and a date with the #1 Lord Jeffs.
Good luck to both squads in the Sweet 16.

BigMac,

I don't think you are alone in thinking that one of the Eagles' big two should have earned the Player of the Year. I think there was some surprise from people around the league that Jenna or Katie did not win the Player of the Year. However, I am a little surprised that you feel it was wrong for York to receive four all-conference players. In looking at the numbers, it appears that a case could be made for all four Spartans on the team. UMW revolves around two great players and they are surrounded by a strong core of players that provide them with great depth and ability. That is what makes them a great team. The York squad (if you analyze playing time) is basically the five starters so they are going to accumulate a bulk of the statistics. One of the reasons UMW beat York three times was that tremendous depth that allowed the Eagles to wear down the Spartans over the course of the game. I think you would agree in seeing the three games between the two teams, that depth was the difference in each Eagle victory. That and the great senior play of McRae and Wimmer.
I would be interested to hear who you would remove from the team and who you would replace them with. In analyzing the teams, I think there would be a few players you would remove before you got to any of the four York players. Their statistics are higher because they had to be. Don't penalize them because they had to play major minutes in order for the team to win 22 games. I also don't think you should penalize the UMW players because they didn't need to play (either by blow out or because of depth) as many minutes. However, you are never sure what is important to each voting coach.
I think anyone that has watched any CAC women's basketball this year, it was obvious how good UMW was this year. They accomplished a perfect regular season and a CAC Tournament championship and I congratulate them for that. It was an incredible season.
Good luck to the Eagles in the NCAA Tournament. They have a great chance for a deep run.
GO SPARTANS!

Spartan head coach Jeff Gamber has announced that he will retire concluding the 2011-12 season. Full release available here: http://www.ycpspartans.com/sports/mbkb/2011-12/releases/20111102krj4l2

Good luck to St. Mary's this weekend. Certainly getting to play at home where they haven't lost all season is a huge edge. Good luck and represent the CAC!

The York College-Salisbury University doubleheader is now going to be played on Monday evening. The women's game kicks off the action at 6:00 pm followed by the men's game at eight. Both games will play large roles in determining playoff seedings for the upcoming CAC tournament. Also, all CAC games scheduled for Wednesday, February 10 will now be played on Thursday, February 11 as announced by the conference office earlier today.

Congrats to York College senior Chanel Perez for scoring her 1,000th career point in the victory at McDaniel. Chanel reached the milestone with a jumper with 5:57 left in the second half. She is the 12th York College player to reach the milestone and the third in the last three years (Kristen Daly in 2007, Keli Ward in 2008)

Congrats Chanel on a job well done!

Congrats to the Seahawks on a great run in the tournament. Alex Franz had a great performance in the loss on Friday night.

Only eight months from today until we tip off 2008-09.

Also, I neglected earlier, congrats to Chad McGowan on his second straight CAC Player of the Year award. He is just one of four players in the history of the conference to achieve this award two years in a row.

Matt,

You drove them away during the Habel days

Matt,

There's not too much love lost for Widener. They knocked you guys out two years ago and then closed out Wolf Gym with a win over the Spartans. Even though we lost, it was one of the most exciting college basketball games I have had the chance to witness.

St. Mary's has a ton of talent and certainly could make a run in the tournament. It will be a very interesting game tonight.

Congrats to the Seahawks on their HUGE win in the opening round over Guilford.

A very impressive victory. Good luck against Widener.

No

First, congrats to St. Mary's and good luck in the tournament. You have a ton of talent and the ability to well represent the CAC.

Matt, you point about a post player vs. a guard are spot on. It is easier for a guard to "take over" than a post player who relies on his perimeter players to get him the ball. There is no question that the end of the season was disappointing but to call Chad's season disapointing is a little harsh and not completely accurate.

I was thinking about this last night. Maybe the best way to say what I wanted to regarding Chad boils down to this. Without Chad, this is a .500 team. To win 18 games with eight losses, to me, shows the value of his play. Having watched this team all season, I guess I would not say that we were any more talented than a number of other teams in the CAC. I think the perception that we were so much more talented than anybody else in the upper reaches of the league wasn't true.

Unfortuanately, I would guess with Saturday's results that the Spartans won't get a chance to add to those 18 wins this year.

Good luck to SMC in the tournament.

Live stats link for UMW/SMC

I had trouble pulling Dave's link up:

http://livestats.prestosports.com/umw/

I guess my question would be, why would the expectations for York be so high? I understand that returning an All-American raises one's expectations but I am not sure those are always valid expectations.

This team was not close to the two NCAA tournament teams of 2004-05 and 2005-06. That team played so well together and was much, much deeper than this team. This is not to demean the abilities of this year's squad but I thought to get to 18 wins was a success. Could it have gotten to 20, I think so but I don't see the season as a failure. It is a disappointment to lose when you don't feel like you should have but the fact of the matter is that they were the best team in the CAC in the regular season regardless of the strength of the league.

I agree with your assessment of the CAC. I thought it would be a bit stronger and there are teams that have continued to underachieve. I don't think York was one of those teams but I am also biased in that assessment. We won a number of close games and winning is the idea. We didn't blow people out and I think you are looking at that fact as a weakness. The name of the game is to win. Maybe that should be an argument on why your expectations were not realistic.

I guess my problem with your opinion is that you did not see any of our games this year. It is a necessary evil to go off results and box scores but if you haven't seen us play, how do you evaluate a player's performance as disappointing? I wonder what you think Chad's stats should have been. Should he have averaged 30 and 15 and shot 60% from the floor?

I am really proud of how Chad handled this season. Everyone was gunning for him and he represented himself and his school with class and dignity.

Dave, I don't agree with your opinion but I respect your dedication to DIII basketball. I just think that your are wrong in this situation. I, too, will stand by that

D-Mac,

WHAT???

Are you kidding me? First, did you even see us play this year? I am really disappointed that someone who has a respected point of view would comment like that when you didn't even see him play this year. He had a great year. He should be the POY of the conference again and should be an All-American again. The only area where he did not perform was at the free throw line. Everything else was better than last year.

Ask Salisbury what their strategy was in the quarterfinals. Throw three guys at Chad whenever he got the ball and he still scored 24. When he was triple teamed he kicked the ball out to the shooters who missed their shots. Not Chad's fault but he certainly did his job. Very rarely did Chad get single coverage all year. That is what you should do to an All-American in the post but he responded to all the things thrown at him all year long, including a number of schools with very classless fans. (Speaking of classless fans, there is an excellent article in this week's Sports Illustrated regarding the boorish fan behavior in college hoops)

The problems with York had nothing to do with Chad or any situation regarding Chad. The problem with the Spartans is that they started the season having to replace their two starting guards and trying to integrate two new starters and two other key newcomers. The Spartans played a tough schedule during the year and had some very good wins and some disappointing losses. Prior to losing to Marymount at the end of the regular season and to Salisbury in the tournament, York won nine straight and 14 of 16. While the bitter taste of the last two games linger, this team was playing well heading down the stretch.

I think everyone forgets this team won 18 games and won their third regular season conference in the last four years. I know everyone wants to focus on the tournament but winning the regular season is the better indicator of who the best team in the conference is over the course of three months. Unfortunately, York has not been good in the tournament the last three years but that does not diminish the 87 wins over the last four years.

D-Mac, what were your expecations of Chad? He led the conference in scoring and rebounding. He was second in the CAC in field goal percentage and also played good defense. He did not foul out this year and blocked 34 shots for the year. Offensively, a post player needs a little help from his shooters. At times he got that, and at times he didn't. Your example of him "carrying" the team doesn't hold any water. If you would have seen the Salisbury game, you would have noticed that when Chad got the ball, he scored or was fouled. We had segments in the game where he didn't get his hands on the ball. Certainly not the fault of Chad but simply a matter of fact in the game. I have a really hard time with your statements that you were disappointed with him. Also, throwing something that happened in the offseason in is total bunk. You should be better than that. Chad wasn't distracted at all. He was great all year.

While I think it is unlikely that the Spartans will get into the tournament, it was still a successful season. Congrats to Chad and Chris for their outstanding four years in the green and white.