MBB: Liberty League

[unbearable]

Although I usually stay on the SUNYAC board, I thought I'd throw in the fact that RPI is now 4-1 after dropping their opener in an away tournament at Muhlenburg by two, and has wins over both Williams and Middlebury.  If they beat Connecticut College tomorrow, there's a good chance they make it to January with a record of 7-1.

Also, Clarkson is still undefeated.  Knock their guards all you want; they hit 7 threes in a row in just a few minutes to beat Potsdam the other night.

Should be an interesting year in the Liberty League.

[slickyquick]

Fisher Dynasty, I like your rankings except for the end. St. Lawrence is better than Clarkson. SLU beat Clarkson both times last year and both teams return about the same amount of players. Clarkson lost Vitallo, which might help with chemistry but I wouldn't say they are top 10 in the region just yet. I still think their guards are shaky until proven otherwise.

[d3bballfollower]

slickyquick- you say that clarkson is still unproven, i would have to disagree with you slightly because they have beaten potsdam twice, potsdam is down this year, but still talented and their guards have been shooting the ball very well...harrison, vigansky and salanger will be a tough trio to stop...we will know more about clarkson once conference play starts because of their weak non-conference schedule...i think clarkson has a great shot of finishing in the top 3 in the leauge...after hamilton it's a shoot-out between clarkson, st. lawrence, and a much improved vassar team...whichever team has the best record against each other between those 3 teams will most likely finish 2nd in the league barring a major continental collapse

[slickyquick]

I understand were you are coming from when you talk about Clarkson's guards but at the same time aren't those 3 players the same guys that couldn't throw it in the ocean last season during certain times. They could just be playing well. We also must remember that they played Potsdam twice. You know Clarkson and Potsdam players both get up for that game because it is such a big rivalry. I still don't see them finishing in the top 3. What about RPI, they did beat two NESCAC schools. Conference play will only tell...

[met_fan]

I don't know about RPI - Middlebury may not win a NESCAC game this year and Williams is not the Williams of a few years ago.  I think St. Lawrence will definitely challenge Hamilton this year.

[Hoaf]

I have to agree with the idea that St. Lawrence is better than Clarkson. St. Lawrence has always fielded a quality team with experienced guards. Unless Clarkson has an amazing Freshman class that I haven't heard about. SLU is a better team. Besides that I agree with your rankings.

[d3bballfollower]

clarkson doesn't have an exellent freshman class...as of yet...but big boy elson pickering has been stepping up big time for the golden knights...18 and 11 in 20+ minutes the other night...the winner of the match up between pickering and vonnek could be the difference in who wins between clarkson and st. lawrence

[FisherDynasty]

I havn't seen either team play, just have been reading posts and lookin at the stats.  Looks like RPI may be able to get in their too with there win over Williams.  But all in all, its always tough to tell 1st semester.  Either way, it looks like this season should be interesting as their are no extremely dominate teams like in the past.  It looks like all the upstate leagues are pretty descent. 

[Hoaf]

If RPI beat Williams. It'd look mighty bad if Hamilton loses to them when they play them away on 1/23/07.

[d3bballfollower]

somehow i just don't think tk and nick jones will let that happen...tk is playing too well to hang an L to a sub-par williams team and jones will definitely step up after having 2 bad games the previous 2 years including 1 where he didn't score at all...but again i have been wrong and hamilton/ williams is always a great game

[UCAAHoops21]

RPI beat Williams at williams...even if williams is down this year as it seems to be, still a huge win for anybody on the road.  Hamilton should be able to get that win too.  SLU certainly is in the discussion with Hamilton at the top, RPI seems to be much improved over last year...Union looks young...those were the top 4 last year.  I don't know about clarkson and skidmore, but I think Vassar and hobart may slip into the discussion of who wins the LL tourney...

for discussion's sake...
1.  Hamilton
2.  SLU
3.  RPI
4.  Union
5.  Hobart
6.  Vassar
7.  Clarkson
8.  Skidmore

[BBM]

Interesting how it was mentioned that Clarkson gets up when they play Potsdam and how the Clarkson guards shot so well against Potsdam. This past Saturday Clarkson was extremely lucky to beat a hustling Elmira College team at Clarkson. Actually, EC led the entire game until the final minute. EC's guards totally negated those from Clarkson. Clarkson really stuggled from the outside but their size advantage down low wore EC down. If the guards play like this again against teams from their league, it will be a stuggle all year.

[FisherDynasty]

That is interesting.  Elmira could be the worst college team ever assembled, they have been god awful the past few years.  However, I have noticed already, and consistent with the past, Sunyac teams are very streaky, and ya never know what kind of team your going to get on any given day.

[slickyquick]

So while Clarkson struggled against Elmira, I was proud of my response about Clarkson guards. They must do it every night to prove to me that will play tough when league play roles around...but a win is a win.

[Hoaf]

What do you guys think about how the conference will fair against games against the Empire 8? Does anyone play St. Johns Fisher? Are they as good as last year?