MBB: Liberty League

[superman57]

Unionalum is Geppetto's still open, and if they are do they still have amazing food.

[unionalum]

Of course it's still open, but I would have to say the food at Rupsis far surpasses the food at gepettos'

[superman57]

Where is Rupsis, is that on Nott street too

[unionalum]

1549 Carrie St... go pass Mohawk and it's on your left

umm, to add a bball note, just so we don't bore the rest of you guys suffering through this

If TK and Schneider switched spots, what would happen?

[bed]

My point was more directed at TK's talent.  If you put TK on RPI, he would put up better numbers, b/c he would log more minutes and would be "the guy"

Schneider had a great season and led the team b/c he had to......whereas the balance of Hamilton's offense doesnt truly show how good TK really, really is......

Also----b/c of Coach Anderson's unexplicable coaching moves, TK didnt play as much as he should have for the first half of the season.

There was a player years ago for Skidmore, I believe his name was Brian Culkin.  He was a hell of a player.  The kid could score at will.  He won a lot of games on his own----he really had to b/c they didnt have much of a supporting cast at Skidmore.   When you are "the guy" like Schneider, it's easier to put up solid numbers every game b/c you have to............

My point:  TK seems to have been overlooked by Anderson for half the season and hasn't been able to flourish as much as he would have had Coach Murphy still been coaching the team.

[shooters]

Bed,

At least we agree on a few things and that is comforting. I will not argue nor have i said that Jones is better than TK. I think when TK wants he can be the best player in league, again when he wants. Nick Jones is softer than ice cream, plain and simple. Welchons has had some god awful shooting nights so I can understand why Anderson told him to put away his gun, if you look at Hamilton's 4 losses and the amount of shots Welchons took and his percentages I think most would come to that conclusion. As for the subbing and being up 25, 3 minutes into the game the subbing started and the team was up six, so i don't think the comment about its easy to sub up 25 holds much merit. (that might have been unionalum's comment). I would ask you one question as you again lay into Anderson, does any player like change in their program? Playing for one coach and then another in a four year period has to be tough on any program. I applaud the way the team has played this season and last. My question is when does this player v. coach, who likes who and who doesn't end? Is it after this season? the next? I still haven't met Anderson but made a point to sit on the side where he was coaching and watched a lot of what went on. One of you said i was an assistant of his or something? No, I'm not in coaching, never have been. I played in the East and my sister went to Hamilton so I've been a fan for some time. I saw Utica made it into the tournament, that is questionable at best and looks like NYU played themselves out of a spot. Should be an interesting tourney, seeds come out tomorrow.

[thebear]

ECAC's

Manual says 500 or better. overall or divisional

Committee is chaired by Mike Lindberg at Ithaca

Committee includes reps from Fisher (NCAA team), Keuka (likely #1 seed) Rochester (likely team), Fredonia (SUNY rep) & Union (likely team LL rep)

Quick pass would suggest:

Keuka
Oswego
Union
Rochester
Potsdam
Brockport
Ithaca
SUNYIT

Criteria:


Quote
1. Divisional winning percentage, head–to-head results, results against common opponents;
2. Strength-of-schedule to be determined in part by results against teams selected into the
NCAA or already in the tournament; and
3. Regular season conference standings.
Note: The committee must review all criteria above in the order listed. A team may have an
excellent winning percentage; however the strength of schedule and results against teams in the
tournament also must be examined.

Others in the mix:
Alfred (divisional > .500)
RIT
SLU
Buffalo St
Hobart
Vassar (overall >.500)

Will know later today

[woot]

hamilton definately got the shaft with this bracket. amherst in the 2nd round, come on now.

[mrmike88]

Some of the Amherst fans are wondering what we did to deserve Hamilton, too.

[shea]

Noone wants to look ahead to see Amherst waiting for them in the second round, but allow me to make a few points.

1- The purpose of the tournament is to determine a national champion.  In short, to be the best you have to beat the best.  As such, one should expect to play tough teams along the way.  If the Conts are better than the Jeffs, then it shouldn't matter when they meet.  The same holds true if the Jeffs are the better team.

2- Hamilton has had a good run this year and their few losses have often come either on the road or without their full roster.  BUT, Hamilton hasn't beaten any quality teams and I can understand why the committee wouldn't give the Continentals a cakewalk to the sweet sixteen. 

3- One shouldn't look past any team when it comes time to dance.  People have been griping about Amherst in round 2, but Hamilton still has to get the job done at home vs. Plattsburgh.  Conts should win, but I bet Anderson isn't talking to his team about Amherst.

4- Lastly, a question.  Does anyone know anything about how Plattsburgh and Hamilton match up?

[Knightstalker]

ECAC Selections

[JeffRookie2]

Hey, I'm an Amherst fan coming over from my typical home on the NESCAC boards. Wondering what type of team the Continentals are, who to look out for. How does it work, by the way, that Hamilton is in the NESCAC in football but not in basketball?

For those who may be curious about Amherst, our premier player is John Bedford who plays either the 2 or 3, likes to get in the lane and also has a nice jumper. Also dangerous are power forward Dan Wheeler and point guard Andrew Olson. Pretty much everyone on the team can hit the three, which from what I understand, is very similar to Hamilton. Our biggest weakness, in my opinion, is defending against interior post-up players. Our bench is very deep, we have a d1 transfer who is the third guy off the bench in most games, but can be a big scoring threat once he gets in.

I would really appreciate any scouting you could give me on Hamilton.

Best of luck with Cortland.

[shea]

Welcome to the LL board, JeffRookie.

Hamilton played a full NESCAC schedule until a few years ago when they became an inaugural member of the UCAA (now the Liberty League).  There were a number of factors for this, but in my opinion the primary one was the fact that Hamilton lacked a travel partner in the NESCAC.  This meant that the Continentals used to travel up to Maine, let's say, and play Colby on Friday night while the Bowdoin coach rested his players and attended the game to scout out the team.  Then the rested Bowdoin team would play Hamilton the next day.  This scenario happened week in and week out for the basketball team and to a lesser extent some of the other teams as well.  I don't think Hamilton wanted to lose its affiliation with the NESCAC because 1- it was a founding member of that league, and 2- it is stronger both athletically and academically than the LL.  If I had my druthers, I'd find a way to keep Hamilton an all-sport NESCAC school, but I'm neither fully informed nor have the power to influence any decision.

In terms of scouting Hamilton, here are a few pointers.  The Continentals start two freshmen, Henry Ciocca and Ryan Cafferty.  Ciocca has excellent hands (strong turnover/assist ratio).  He can't shoot the three, but for a little guy he will surprise you by taking it right to the hoop.  Cafferty is strong on defense in the paint and at 6-7 can consistently put it in if he gets the ball near the paint and doesn't have to dribble.  Keep him boxed out and you'll negate his offensive power.  Jeff Bernardi and Rob Toste are their main shooting guards...Bernardi is deadly from the corners.  Giorgi Chavleishvili plays a lot of minutes as the big man on the floor.  Fairly athletic, nice touch, but can't go left.  Fast for a big guy, he gets a lot of easy buckets via backdoor cuts when Hamilton spreads the defense.  They also have a fairly deep bench, and Welchons, Peck, and Ngobeni will see a bunch of minutes as they rest the starters or if someone gets into foul trouble.

I hope all this info is helpful as you prepare to (hopefully) host the Continentals.  Hamilton has to get by Plattsburgh (not Cortland) first.

[JeffRookie2]

Thanks, sorry about the Plattsburgh/Cortland mixup.

[thumbsup]

I don't quite understand this Hamilton schedule thing.  Granted the Liberty League is way down, but lets take a look at their schedule.  Endicott is in the tournament again, a team they beat.  Messiah is in the tournament, a team they beat.  Utica is in and that was a game where they had an excuse (players out) but a tourny team nontheless.  Brockport was a team picked high in their league and in the ECAC.  Sunyit made it to the final, and they are in the ECAC.  They beat Union three times (ecac team), played a non leaguer against Williams, they seem to do pretty well LOL.  Also, Middlebury was undefeated when they played earlier in the year.  Once again, the league was bad, but I think they played a much tougher schedule then say, St. John Fisher.  Do people even look at these things??