MBB: Liberty League

[Greek Tragedy]

Slug fest?

[stlawus]

Yep, good catch on the typo.  I guess I was going with either slog or slug fest and came up with an erroneous idiom in the confusion.

[stlawus]

A nightmare offensive performance earns SLU its first loss.  You're not going to win a lot of games missing 8 free throws and giving your opponent 12 extra possessions on top of missing numerous open layups.   Clarkson surprisingly plays Skidmore close.   Biggest result by far is Vassar beating Ithaca.   The trip to Poughkeepsie has bitten many Liberty League teams over the years.

[stlawus]

Perhaps Vassar is significantly better than I expected.  An impressive sweep of Ithaca and Hobart.  We knew Ithaca and Hobart would be down a bit but I did not think they would be that down.  Still very early for both of them to right the ship, however. 

Very good win for SLU today.   Things looked pretty dire after they went down 16 in the 2nd half but they finally started hitting shots while Skidmore cooled down.   Stormed back to win by 1 in a place they have lost many games in recent years.  Really good bounce back after yesterday's game, especially while having to play without Luke Hicks who remains injured.

RPI cruising at this point.   They are a complete team in all facets of the game.  The Engineers are poised to make a pretty good run in the NCAA tournament if all things hold.

[Ice Bear]

Ice Bear was very pleased with the Dutchmen victory over Clarkson yesterday in Shocktown. Clarkson seems to be really down this year but the Dutchmen were opportunistic, moved the ball well, and made plays both in the paint and behind the arc.

Ice was impressed with the play of Dutchmen Soph Edward Baptiste. Ice says the kid was quick and made some nice plays while on the court. Ice is looking forward to watching more Union basketball this season. Let's go U!

Ice also wanted to mention that he was impressed with the play and shooting of Shen (Clifton Park, NY) grad Sr Chris Hulbert for the Golden Knights. Ice says he made a couple beautiful, and Ice may add, highly contested threes that were just beautiful.

[stlawus]

Vassar improves to 3-0 in league play with wins against Hobart, Ithaca and Union just as we all expected.   Zach Johnson solidifying himself as one of, if not the best rebounder in the Liberty League.

Ithaca probably quite disappointed dropping tonight's game against UR.  Led most of the game only to lose in OT.  Despite having a size disadvantage at every position IC was too quick for UR most of the night and forced a lot of turnovers.   Some bad shots in the end cost them.  Having a hard time figuring Ithaca out. 

[Caz Bombers]

Vassar, good at men's basketball? What in the name of Lawrence Avitabile is going on around here?

[stlawus]

RPI with an expected 30 point win over Bard tonight to move to 7-0.

SLU has to grind it out against Clarkson to move to 6-1.   I thought Clarkson was better than their record when they played Oswego relatively tight in Oswego, and that proved true tonight.  SLU still hurting a bit offensively with Luke Hicks still out with an injury, but the route 11 rivalry game is frequently a tight matchup.

[Ice Bear]

RPI with an expected 30 point win over Bard tonight to move to 7-0.

SLU has to grind it out against Clarkson to move to 6-1.   I thought Clarkson was better than their record when they played Oswego relatively tight in Oswego, and that proved true tonight.  SLU still hurting a bit offensively with Luke Hicks still out with an injury, but the route 11 rivalry game is frequently a tight matchup.

Ice Bear saw some bright spots for the Golden Nights in their game against Union as well. Ice says they certainly have some kids who can compete.

Ice is really hoping the U plays Williams tough tonight and pulls the upset. Ice Bear says with the loss to what really seems to be a quality Vassar team this game could get the Dutch some momentum moving forward having a win on the road against a very quality opponent. Let's ****ing go U!

[stlawus]

RPI with an expected 30 point win over Bard tonight to move to 7-0.

SLU has to grind it out against Clarkson to move to 6-1.   I thought Clarkson was better than their record when they played Oswego relatively tight in Oswego, and that proved true tonight.  SLU still hurting a bit offensively with Luke Hicks still out with an injury, but the route 11 rivalry game is frequently a tight matchup.

Ice Bear saw some bright spots for the Golden Nights in their game against Union as well. Ice says they certainly have some kids who can compete.

Ice is really hoping the U plays Williams tough tonight and pulls the upset. Ice Bear says with the loss to what really seems to be a quality Vassar team this game could get the Dutch some momentum moving forward having a win on the road against a very quality opponent. Let's ****ing go U!

Every time I've watched Union the last 3 or 4 years I've come away very impressed.  Maybe it's just because the Dutchmen have had SLU's number during that time span, but I've always thought this current crop of Union players could beat anyone.   A win tonight would put some serious respect on the Liberty League.

[Ice Bear]

Ice Bear says Union getting thumped down 20 at half...Ice says they're lucky they were even able to whittle it down to that. Ice Bear says Williams shooting daggers from 3 and exploiting Union's Swiss cheese D (Ice thanks Clyde for that). Ice says Union just really struggled shooting the ball and fell too ****ing far behind. Ice appreciates their fight though and the Dutchmen have not given up. Ice says with that being said this one is pretty much in the books. Ice is quite impressed with Williams.

[Ice Bear]

Ice Bear says Union loses by 22 to a much better shooting team in Williams. Ice Bear says the Ephs have some talented players who are both tough in the paint and behind the arc. Ice says congrats to Williams on the win and the 8-0 record. Ice is proud of the heart Union showed never giving up.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

For some programs, the start to the 2021-22 season has been better than expected. For others, it has been recording breaking.

On Sunday's edition of Hoopsville, we chat with coaches of programs whose teams are off to strong starts. Some of those starts might have been expected, but not all of them.

We chat with Heidelberg and RPI men's basketball program plus York (Pa.) and No. 7 Trine women's programs.

You can watch the show LIVE (or on demand) here: https://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2021-22/dec9

We are also simulcasting on our Facebook Live page (www.facebook.com/Hoopsville)

Guests List (order subject to change):
- Heidelberg men's coach Andy Bucheit
- York (Pa.) women's coach Betsy Witman
- #7 Trine women's coach Andy Rang
- RPI men's coach Mark Gilbride

Hoopsville is hosted by Dave McHugh from the NABC Studios. It is presented by D3hoops.com and thanks to our partners at the WBCA and BlueFrame Technology.

If you have questions, ideas, or want to interact with the show, feel free to send them to hoopsville@d3sports.com or use any of the social media options available.

If you enjoy the show via the podcasts, choose your favorite avenue to listen and/or subscribe via the the following four avenues (click on the images when necessary):
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville


 
   
We also have the podcast now on Tune-In and others coming. We will update them once we have better abilities to do so.

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Website: www.d3hoopsville.com
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Email: hoopsville@d3sports.com
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[Ice Bear]

Ice Bear already wishing his beloved Garnet had at least one more game to watch before the 30th...

[deiscanton]

Tweet just sent out from Brandeis Athletics at 11:47 AM Eastern Monday, December 27--

Due to a number of positive COVID-19 tests, this Thursday's Union game at Brandeis will not take place as scheduled on that day.  As of now, the game has been postponed to a future date to be determined.

Union has updated their men's basketball schedule to reflect the postponement of the Brandeis game:  unionathletics.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/2021-22