MBB: Liberty League

[platinumondubs]

It's up now

[hopefan]

+1 platinum   I wouldn't have noticed it because the Wisconsin shot is now on the front page   -  What a great play  -  thanks a million!!!!

For anyone else, the shot that beat Hamilton is up, but not on front page  -  go to Buzzer Beater section on right hand side of front page   -  it's in there.....

[platinumondubs]

I like Hobart and SLU to win this weekend, and Hobart to win the championship.  Union are frauds, and Skidmore lives and dies by the three.

Hobart has three guys that would start for any team in the conference in Pebole, Bruce, and Llewellyn, and Thompson is no slouch either.

They could easily be 10-4, but the rook' missed a layup at the buzzer when they played RPI and they ultimately lost in OT.

[magicman]

Final NCAA Regional Rankings have been released. St John Fisher is ranked #1 for the 4th straight week. Plattsburgh St. is the biggest mover going from 6th place into 2nd. Ithaca not ranked in the last poll moves into 4th place. Stevens is the big loser as they drop out of the rankings. Medaille goes from 2nd to 5th.

East Region    In-Region Record    Overall Record
1.    St. John Fisher    20-4    21-4
2.    Plattsburgh State    17-6    18-7
3.    Oneonta State    19-5    20-5
4.    Ithaca    15-6    18-7
5.    Medaille    20-4    21-4
6.    New York University    15-8    16-8

[buck1053]

Well, the speculation is over, the Liberty League awards are out:

2010 Liberty League Player of the Year --- Josh Sharlow   St. Lawrence, Senior Guard

A unanimous choice as Liberty League Player of the Year, Sharlow led the Saints to a 10-4 record in Liberty League play and their third consecutive regular season title. He ranks second overall in the Liberty League in assists, third in assist/turnover ratio, and fourth in steals. The 2007 Liberty League Rookie of the Year, Sharlow was a second team selection in 2008, a first team selection in 2009, and is a unanimous first team selection in 2010.


2010 Liberty League Rookie of the Year --- Stefan Thompson   Hobart, Guard

Thompson was a unanimous choice as Liberty League Rookie of the Year, having broken the Hobart record for points in a season as a first-year. He ranks third overall in the Liberty League in field goal percentage and free throw percentage, fourth in scoring, sixth in assists, and 12th in steals. An eight-time selection as Liberty League Rookie of the Week, he hit double figures in scoring in 19 of Hobart's 25 games.


2010 Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year --- Izzi Metz   Hobart

Metz led the Statesmen to a 16-9 overall record, the program's best regular season record since 2004-05. The 16 wins is the third most in program history. Among those wins is a triumph over East Region #1 St. John Fisher. His Hobart squad also made the Liberty League Tournament for the first time since 2004-05, posting a 9-5 conference mark and tying for second place. The Statesmen finished second in the League in scoring offense, scoring margin, 3FG% defense, steals, turnover margin, and offensive rebounds. Metz is assisted by Russ Phillips, Dennis Pysnack, and Carl Wenzel.


2010 Liberty League First Team
G Jeff Altimar  Skidmore JR Medfield, MA
G Joey Lokitis *  Union SR Norton, MA
F Matt Pebole *  Hobart SO Little Silver, NJ
G Josh Sharlow *  St. Lawrence SR Norwood, NY
F Pat Sullivan  Hamilton SO Madison, NJ
* Unanimous Selection

2010 Liberty League Second Team
F Jon Douglas  Skidmore SR Amherst, MA
F Ricky Philatre  Rensselaer SR Randolph, MA
F Elson Pickering  Clarkson SR Brooklyn, NY
F Garrett Sharlow  St. Lawrence SO Massena, NY
G Stefan Thompson  Hobart FR Syracuse, NY


Honorable Mention: Matt Covucci F (Union), Drew Goldstein G (Union), Brandon Linton G (Clarkson), Tim Llewellyn G (Hobart), Caleb McGraw G (Vassar), Ralph Temgoua G (St. Lawrence)

[platinumondubs]

Sharlow?!?!  Unanimously?!?!?

I guess I don't have a vote for a reason.

[buck1053]

Going purely by their numbers, you could have made a case for Garrett Sharlow or Ralph Temgoua, their stats were about the same as Josh Sharlow. Garrett and Ralph had more rebounds per game, Josh had more assists, but not by that much more than Ralph and they scored the same amount of points per game. Garrett was the team's leading scorer.

Obviously they picked someone from the team with the best record, but not sure why Josh got the call over the other two. Perhaps because he's a senior.

[FISHERMAN]

I'm hoping to start up a website in a few weeks time........www.firetobinanderson.com.......hope all you disapointed Ham-Tech grads will check it out.

[magicman]

Going purely by their numbers, you could have made a case for Garrett Sharlow or Ralph Temgoua, their stats were about the same as Josh Sharlow. Garrett and Ralph had more rebounds per game, Josh had more assists, but not by that much more than Ralph and they scored the same amount of points per game. Garrett was the team's leading scorer.

Obviously they picked someone from the team with the best record, but not sure why Josh got the call over the other two. Perhaps because he's a senior.

buck,
I agree with you, but also because of his 4 year record of excellence. The SLU offense has been run by him for the past 3 years. In his years at St. Lawrence, the Saints have always had a number of scoring options, so he wasn't going to have a conference topping points per game average. He beat you in a number of ways, but his leadership, hustle, and hard nosed play went a long way in making the Saints winners over the past 3 years.
Congratulations to him, to all the players on the LL honors list, and Coach Metz for their well deserved awards.

[buck1053]

Going purely by their numbers, you could have made a case for Garrett Sharlow or Ralph Temgoua, their stats were about the same as Josh Sharlow. Garrett and Ralph had more rebounds per game, Josh had more assists, but not by that much more than Ralph and they scored the same amount of points per game. Garrett was the team's leading scorer.

Obviously they picked someone from the team with the best record, but not sure why Josh got the call over the other two. Perhaps because he's a senior.

buck,
I agree with you, but also because of his 4 year record of excellence. The SLU offense has been run by him for the past 3 years. In his years at St. Lawrence, the Saints have always had a number of scoring options, so he wasn't going to have a conference topping points per game average. He beat you in a number of ways, but his leadership, hustle, and hard nosed play went a long way in making the Saints winners over the past 3 years.
Congratulations to him, to all the players on the LL honors list, and Coach Metz for their well deserved awards.

Magic, I understand what you're saying, but shouldn't the Player of the Year be based on the efforts of the current year. Not saying that his abilities this season should preclude him, but this year's award shouldn't be based on what he's done in the past three seasons. I don't really have a problem with him winning it, I just hope it was based on what he's meant to St. Lawrence this season not in the past.

As for the coach pick, I really am scratching my head about this one. Yes, Hobart had a good season, an improvement over last year's squad and Metz has done a good job in his time at Hobart. But Skidmore had the bigger turnaround from last season and they have identical record to Hobart (both conference and overall).

Hobart, in the last three years was 7-7 LL, 12-13 overall (2007-08 season, tied for fourth but missed playoffs due to tiebreaker); 5-9 LL, 8-17 overall (2008-09 season, tied for sixth) and 9-5 LL, 16-9 overall this season.

Skidmore was 1-13 LL, 6-19 overall (2007-08 season, finished last); 3-11 LL, 8-17 overall (2008-09 season, finished last), and 9-5 LL, 16-9 overall this season, the same as Hobart.

The only difference this season is Skidmore is seeded second, by virtue of tiebreaker, and Hobart is the third seed. They split this season, Skidmore winning by 15 at home and Hobart winning by 6 at home.

I don't know, it just seems like Skidmore's guy deserved it more

[with age came?]

I always liked Sharlow as a point guard and I am happy to see him get the award.  I think he has been the engine for that SLU team for years. Pushes the ball on the break, playing lock down defense, truly providing the intangibles (and non-stat sheet things that make a winning team go).  That being said too often people think they can decide who is the POY from league statistics and I for one am glad that those who voted did not.  I do question Metz over Flockerzi but my guess is that Hobart's strong finish (they have won 8 of their last nine games) and their early season win over #22 St John Fisher on Fisher's home court may have tipped the scales.  ROY seems to have been a foregone conclusion and justified also.  Thompson was a tremendous force. My congratulations to all recipients.

[magicman]

Tough call on Saturday afternoon's game pitting St. Lawrence against Hobart. I picked the Saints to win the conference at the beginning of the year and I'm going to stick with them to the end. After starting the season 4-8 and losing a lot of close games they have finished 11-3 and in the process have learned how to win those close ones. It took a while for this team to get it together with all the changes the starting line-up went through after losing the talent they did from last year. Hobart has also finished well winning 8 of their last 9 but that one loss was to the Saints and I think the home court will provibe the Scarlet and Brown with the edge. Saints win in a thriller 78-75.  

[with age came?]

I also would like to see the Saints win but boy in recent years their luck at home in championship & tournament games against teams they should beat has not been to good.  (see Clarkson & RPI) That being said SLU over Hobart in a barn burner 82-82 in ot!

[magicman]

I also would like to see the Saints win but boy in recent years their luck at home in championship & tournament games against teams they should beat has not been to good.  (see Clarkson & RPI) That being said SLU over Hobart in a barn burner 82-82 in ot!

Third times a charm?   Three strikes and you're out? I think Josh Sharlow wants to go out with a Liberty League Championship to go along with his Player of the Year award. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

with age , Is that a hedge on your part?   82-82 Or was the barn burner so hot it burned down the barn before the final tie breaking shot could take place?

[magicman]

buck,
No big deal and it didn't really make a difference because they played at SLU but   Hobart was the #2 seed and Skidmore was the #3 seed this year. And just maybe that Coach of the Year voting was justified last night when Hobart took the rubber match from Skidmore on a neutral court. Just a thought as I don't have an allegiance to either team. As "with age" stated Hobart was the better finishing team and the victory over Fisher, the region's top ranked team all season long, and the only East team to crack the D3Hoops Top 25 poll (currently #22) certainly helped. Skidmore on several occassions had the opportunity to seize control of 1st place in the standings and failed to do so. Most notably back to back home losses to SLU and Clarkson after starting out 3-0 in league play and then back to back road losses to Hamilton and Hobart two weeks later after they again had moved back into the lead. Hobart, on the other hand had to overcome a poor 2-4 start, that didn't leave them much wiggle room to make the conference tourney and to their credit they did so.