MBB: Liberty League

[Bartman]

I will not be sorry to see Lescoe go after this year.   One of the smoothest strokes I've seen from a LL player in recent years.   I thought we were finally rid of a Statesmen sniper when Drescher graduated, little did I know.

I don't blame you, when Tucker feels it there is no place on the court that he won't chuck one up, like last night when quite a few were 10 feet beyond the arc with the same smooth stroke followed by a mighty swish...Hobart's all time mega distance chucker........good luck to the Saints in the tournament...you just need a three game win streak to the NCAAs...you never know

[footballfan911]

Love watching Lescoe and Thompson from Ithaca in warmups and then during the game. They both have seemingly unlimited range. Fun to watch.

[jmcozenlaw]

Love watching Lescoe and Thompson from Ithaca in warmups and then during the game. They both have seemingly unlimited range. Fun to watch.

Thompson has a green light starting around 30 feet...................like Curry, Lillard and Trae Young. I'm guessing First Team All Liberty with an outside shot at Player of the Year. Nobody on the planet would have called that when he stepped on to campus a few years ago.

[Caz Bombers]

RPI cracks the poll at #24 directly behind Brockport. 1 vote for Hobart.

[Bartman]

RPI cracks the poll at #24 directly behind Brockport. 1 vote for Hobart.

Congrats to RPI......expecting wins by Ithaca and Union tonight setting up a very competitive tournament this weekend

[D3RetiredHooper]

Hobart should be rooting hard for Ithaca tonight! 

If Hobart does happen to lose in the LL finals to RPI but beats Ithaca for a 3rd time on the way there, Ithaca being regionally ranked greatly enhances Hobart's resume.  Hobart's resume looks a lot better 4-4 Results v RRO's as opposed to 1-4 Results v RRO's (depending if Ithaca ends up being regionally ranked in the final rankings of the East).

They will probably need that added boost to help their low SOS when it comes to having a Pool C opportunity (.508 according to Matt Snyder's page prior to conference tourney play this week).

[Ithaca798891]

Hobart should be rooting hard for Ithaca tonight! 

If Hobart does happen to lose in the LL finals to RPI but beats Ithaca for a 3rd time on the way there, Ithaca being regionally ranked greatly enhances Hobart's resume.  Hobart's resume looks a lot better 4-4 Results v RRO's as opposed to 1-4 Results v RRO's (depending if Ithaca ends up being regionally ranked in the final rankings of the East).

They will probably need that added boost to help their low SOS when it comes to having a Pool C opportunity (.508 according to Matt Snyder's page prior to conference tourney play this week).

I don't know if Ithaca stays regionally ranked if they lose again to Hobart. They were 8th in the last go round, and playing Vassar (11-14, probably 11-15), Bard (0-24), and St. Lawrence (8-17 if they lose to IC) will drag down their SOS.

[Bartman]

Hobart should be rooting hard for Ithaca tonight! 

If Hobart does happen to lose in the LL finals to RPI but beats Ithaca for a 3rd time on the way there, Ithaca being regionally ranked greatly enhances Hobart's resume.  Hobart's resume looks a lot better 4-4 Results v RRO's as opposed to 1-4 Results v RRO's (depending if Ithaca ends up being regionally ranked in the final rankings of the East).

They will probably need that added boost to help their low SOS when it comes to having a Pool C opportunity (.508 according to Matt Snyder's page prior to conference tourney play this week).

I don't know if Ithaca stays regionally ranked if they lose again to Hobart. They were 8th in the last go round, and playing Vassar (11-14, probably 11-15), Bard (0-24), and St. Lawrence (8-17 if they lose to IC) will drag down their SOS.

Agree, I think Hobart and Ithaca need to win the tournament to get in. I'm thinking the LL has one ticket in, although Hobart and Ithaca are worthy of a slot based on talent, just not based on the RRO,SOS,bla bla bla stuff. Makes the tournament even more meaningful. Let's face it, the LL is a fun league and the top four teams are solid, but getting to a final four is really not in the cards. Winning the LL would be awesome enough for me.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The Week 3 men's regional rankings are out: https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2020/02/men-regional-rankings-third

[UfanBill]

Union opens the LL playoffs tonight versus Vassar at home. This is significant because the Dutchmen have been a much better home team(9-2) than road team(6-7) this season. The Brewers shocked Union in Poughkeepsie 60-55 on Valentine's Day after Union had completely dominated them earlier 99-73 in Schenectady. The difference?...Simple...shooting. The Dutchmen shoot much better at home. Look for Union to hit their 3's tonight and move on to face RPI Saturday.

Now it gets interesting. In recent weeks the top seeded Engineers have struggled to prevail over LL foes, squeaking by Vassar, Union, Hobart...even Clarkson, RIT and St. Lawrence gave them all they can handle AND Ithaca ended their impressive 18 game winning streak. Did they peak too early? One things for sure their first round game against either Vassar or Union will be a dog fight. It's hard to beat anybody three times in a season.

On the other side of the bracket Ithaca should have no trouble with St. Lawrence setting up the 2 vs 3 battle with Hobart, in Troy.  The Bombers dropped both games to the Statesmen regular season BUT they will come into this neutral sight game on a 9 game winning streak.  Should be very hard fought.

This should be another great Liberty League Tournament.

[Bartman]

Union opens the LL playoffs tonight versus Vassar at home. This is significant because the Dutchmen have been a much better home team(9-2) than road team(6-7) this season. The Bears shocked Union in Poughkeepsie 60-55 on Valentine's Day after Union had completely dominated them earlier 99-73 in Schenectady. The difference?...Simple...shooting. The Dutchmen shoot much better at home. Look for Union to hit their 3's tonight and move on to face RPI Saturday.

Now it gets interesting. In recent weeks the top seeded Engineers have struggled to prevail over LL foes, squeaking by Vassar, Union, Hobart...even Clarkson, RIT and St. Lawrence gave them all they can handle AND Ithaca ended their impressive 18 game winning streak. Did they peak too early? One things for sure their first round game against either Vassar or Union will be a dog fight. It's hard to beat anybody three times in a season.

On the other side of the bracket Ithaca should have no trouble with St. Lawrence setting up the 2 vs 3 battle with Hobart, in Troy.  The Bombers dropped both games to the Statesmen regular season BUT they will come into this neutral sight game on a 9 game winning streak.  Should be very hard fought.

This should be another great Liberty League Tournament.

Ufan, good luck to the Dutchmen. I hope you don't bring that ANNOYING cannon inside the gym for every basket

[stlawus]

Union opens the LL playoffs tonight versus Vassar at home. This is significant because the Dutchmen have been a much better home team(9-2) than road team(6-7) this season. The Brewers shocked Union in Poughkeepsie 60-55 on Valentine's Day after Union had completely dominated them earlier 99-73 in Schenectady. The difference?...Simple...shooting. The Dutchmen shoot much better at home. Look for Union to hit their 3's tonight and move on to face RPI Saturday.

Now it gets interesting. In recent weeks the top seeded Engineers have struggled to prevail over LL foes, squeaking by Vassar, Union, Hobart...even Clarkson, RIT and St. Lawrence gave them all they can handle AND Ithaca ended their impressive 18 game winning streak. Did they peak too early? One things for sure their first round game against either Vassar or Union will be a dog fight. It's hard to beat anybody three times in a season.

On the other side of the bracket Ithaca should have no trouble with St. Lawrence setting up the 2 vs 3 battle with Hobart, in Troy.  The Bombers dropped both games to the Statesmen regular season BUT they will come into this neutral sight game on a 9 game winning streak.  Should be very hard fought.

This should be another great Liberty League Tournament.

SLU gave Ithaca a lot of trouble tonight.  Went down 12 and then tied it.  A couple shots thrown up toward the end of the shot clock by Ithaca went down which gave Ithaca a 4 point lead which SLU wasn't able to overcome.   Very proud of this SLU squad to hold Thompson to 1-7 shooting and not give up on the road against a tough opponent.  A young and banged up squad (existing injuries and leading scorer playing injured tonight) giving Ithaca a scare at home is not the worst way to end your season.   

[UfanBill]

Well the Liberty League's Final Four is set and it's the four best teams for sure. Union withstood some poor 1st half shooting to gradually put Vassar away late, 72-62. After going only 2/12 from behind the arc in the 1st half they hit 4/8 in the 2nd. They also made 11/13 free throws to hold off the Brewers. Mike Concannon was stellar with a career high 26 points to lead the Dutchmen.

Get the cannon ready for Saturday. 

[Bartman]

Congrats to Ithaca and Union for making the LL tournament semi's....one of the better fields in a long time. Hobart v. Ithaca will be Hobart's tough defense and deliberate offense(a few well screened Lescoe 3 balls as necessary) against a very active Ithaca offense(Riley Thompson leading) . Rebounds, turnovers and shooting accuracy will determine the outcome with Hobart having the advantage in rebounds , but if they have TO bug, it will be Ithaca advantage unless Lescoe bails them out...should be a great game. Any RPI-Union game is a natural grudge match.

[Ithaca798891]

Survive and advance. The Bombers are in win or go home mood, so there's no points for style. IC got the W, and that's all that matters to me. A 21-5 season thus far, just fantastic, NCAAs or not