MBB: Liberty League

[WPI89]

Hey folks - looks like WPI v Vassar.  WPI had a really strong regular season and I was personally hoping for an "easier" matchup than a hot Vassar team.  WPI is a super disciplined, good inside-out game.  When they hit 3s they can beat anyone (not earth-shattering news there), tenacious 3/4 court D, 7 deep can score double figures.  But they can go into offensive lulls.

Good luck - let me know if you need any recommendations in Worcester if you are going.  I will be there Saturday if we are fortunate enough to get by Vassar. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Is Lowther going to be back?  Big difference maker for WPI one way or the other.

[WPI89]

Yes, Ryan - coach B used him semi-sparingly in the conference championship - he had 23 against Emmerson.  I do not believe any setbacks - he should be good to go - if not the full 40 - a significant portion.

[stlawus]

I feel like Kevin Ryan Mee and the Vassar coaching staff got shafted.   In a vacuum it makes sense that RPI's staff gets the COY honors due to being regular season champs, but those were the expectations for that team.  Absolutely no one thought Vassar would finish 3rd in the league coming off an 11-15 season in 19-20. 

[SpringSt7]

Ryan Mee got shafted too.

[stlawus]

Wow what a flub on my part.  Was reading up Williams on another tab and had Kevin App on the brain apparently 

At least, that's the excuse I'm rolling with.

[stlawus]

Liberty League 1 for 2 in the first round.  Vassar was just outmatched at every position.  WPI completely neutralized their inside out game.   

RPI had a very good win by holding a 90 PPG Nichols to 58.  And this is still all without Mahoney. 

[stlawus]

Great win tonight for RPI in a hostile environment.  That was a textbook RPI performance.  Shut down Wesleyan's center and forced a ton of turnovers.   Way to represent the Liberty League.

[Bartman]

Great win tonight for RPI in a hostile environment.  That was a textbook RPI performance.  Shut down Wesleyan's center and forced a ton of turnovers.   Way to represent the Liberty League.

+k for recognizing RPI on this fairly inactive board. I'm checking in as a disappointed Hobart fan that is still stuck on the win over Springfield before the disappointing Covid shutdown. Having watched all of the LL teams this year, RPI plays very well as a"team" that deserved a slot despite not winning the LL tournament. I think they have a good chance to get past WPI. Go LL.

[thebear]

+k for recognizing RPI on this fairly inactive board. I'm checking in as a disappointed Hobart fan that is still stuck on the win over Springfield before the disappointing Covid shutdown. Having watched all of the LL teams this year, RPI plays very well as a"team" that deserved a slot despite not winning the LL tournament. I think they have a good chance to get past WPI. Go LL.
[/quote]

Interesting factoid - WPI lost at Wesleyan [one of two losses] in November by 24 giving up 80 points. They also beat Vassar, which won RPI's league; by 19 in the tournament.  RPI defense is ranked #3.  Sound defense usually travels well in the tournament.  That being said; the prize for winning the third round game is #1 Randolph-Macon on their home court.

[stlawus]

Great win tonight for RPI in a hostile environment.  That was a textbook RPI performance.  Shut down Wesleyan's center and forced a ton of turnovers.   Way to represent the Liberty League.

+k for recognizing RPI on this fairly inactive board. I'm checking in as a disappointed Hobart fan that is still stuck on the win over Springfield before the disappointing Covid shutdown. Having watched all of the LL teams this year, RPI plays very well as a"team" that deserved a slot despite not winning the LL tournament. I think they have a good chance to get past WPI. Go LL.

This board used to be fairly active.  Even just 3 years ago there was a good amount of posting from various folks on here.  I wonder why it stalled so much.  It had slowed down quite a bit the season before the pandemic hit.   

[stlawus]

Great effort from RPI but they fall short a point.  Ran a good inbounds play for the final shot that would have given them a great look but the pass was broken up.    Excellent season for the Engineers and represented the league well.   

[Bartman]

Great effort from RPI but they fall short a point.  Ran a good inbounds play for the final shot that would have given them a great look but the pass was broken up.    Excellent season for the Engineers and represented the league well.

Great RPI season and effort yesterday. The college with the most draconian Covid shutdown rules had the best Football and Basketball seasons. Perhaps isolating the teams brought them together more....

[stlawus]

I've seen lots of discussion of other leagues with regard to returning players, so I figure I'll do the same with the LL. 

RPI loses Mahoney, Memmelar, and Black.  That's a lot of firepower and defense.  This is assuming Black and Memmelar do indeed graduate, you can't be sure at this point.  The few players that stepped in at the end in Mahoney's absence played well, and they are extremely well coached.  That's a lot to replace, but I see no reason to believe RPI won't be battling for a top 4 spot.

Ithaca loses 2 of their starting guards along with leading scorer Radovich.  They have a couple young contributors returning, but losing Sinon and Radovich will hurt.

Vassar returns all 5 starters.   It will be interesting to see if there will be any regression next year or if they will take another step. 

SLU loses Hicks who started off and on throughout the season, mainly due to injury.  He came on at the end of the year and shot the ball well.  SLU played 5 first year/freshmen this past season, and the Macaulay twins improved significantly by the end of the year.  Adamson and Engelhardt will be the senior leaders from a scoring standpoint, and Miles Davis will be the #1 defensive option as he's dramatically improved since his first year.   I expect SLU to be competing for a Liberty League regular season title next year.

Skidmore loses one starter.  They could be very dangerous next year.  Skoric has improved every single year and they have several high volume scorers returning.  They had the biggest team in the league last year and can score from everywhere on the court.  Skidmore will likely be competing for a regular season title.

Hobart loses 2 starters including a multi year starter in Lesure.  But they bring back a lot of firepower including Meshanic.  They will likely greatly improve on their record next year as they bring back the LL ROY.

I have no idea about Union.  They have been very inconsistent the last few years.  Losing Manley and Noone will hurt.  If Concannon comes back next year that will help, but I am not going to assume he will yet. 

RIT returns mostly everyone including their top scorers.  Kevin Ryan has developed into a scoring threat in the post, but RIT was very poor defensively last year.   They were the 2nd best offense but worst defense.  Their scoring kept them in some games like @Ithaca, but defense was their downfall.  Unless there is dramatic defensive improvement they will be battling for the last playoff spot.

Bard returns basically everyone.  They have some good shooters and their coach seems decent enough, but until they prove otherwise I don't see them in the upper half of the conference. 

I said all year that Clarkson was much better than their record showed.  They lost several close games and beat Ithaca.  If Swedberg was healthy all year I think they win a few more games.   They will be hurt with Hulbert graduating (assuming he does indeed graduate) but return a nice core with Gearhardt and Fravel.  Fravel can hang with any big in the league.   Clarkson could be able to compete for the last playoff spot.

Again, please keep in mind most of this is tentative, as there is no way to know if the players I mentioned are actually graduating or taking a 5th year. 

[Greek Tragedy]

Good work, stlawus +1