MBB: Liberty League

shooters · January 27, 2007, 06:01:22 PM

Hamilton beats Vassar at Vassar this afternoon behind a solid performance from TK. Nick Jones did not play but he also did not tear his MCL as stated earlier. He will not miss the rest of the season and should be back in a week.

rjcarter8 · January 27, 2007, 09:15:02 PM

Clarkson and St. Lawrence both won today, defeating Skidmore and Union, respectively. St. Lawrence's win gives the LL a logjam at the top, with four teams (St.L, Union, Hamilton and Vassar) all at 5-2 in the league.

bucketsallday · January 28, 2007, 11:13:45 PM

nice win for hamilton w/out nick jones. vassar couldnt handle the press down the stretch after leadin the whole game. looks like no leads are gonna be safe against hamilton this year.

Hoaf · January 28, 2007, 11:33:46 PM

Great weekend for Hamilton Basketball. By not having Nick Jones around the team pulling out two solid wins and probably gained a lot of confidence. I'm glad TK sat out for a week of basketball. His back seemed all bettern after getting the rust off during the RPI game by rebounding with huge numbers (23 points, 14 rebounds) against Vassar. Also, Hamilton held Avitabile to 8 points. Glad to see the turn around this weekend. It tells you how much Hamilton needs TK.

b4the3isme · January 30, 2007, 02:15:09 PM

Thank God I don't have to jump on the Vassar bandwagon just yet. Who wants to root for team that touts girls with hairy legs as a recruitment factor. Union is not as bad as a thought. They have some good young guards that can get hot. I'd say after this weekend that SLU, Hamilton and probably Vassar are in. Union is in the drivers seat for the 4th spot by virtue of their close win at Clarkson, but of the teams with the 5-2 record I believe that they are the only team that come back to RPI and Clarkson. Clarkson plays good defense but their offense was anemic. Their best players seem to have loss their offensive intensity and instead seem content to pass the ball around the perimeter hoping to get open rather than wanting to get open. If Clarkson can go 5-2 in the second half and finish .500 they just might sneak into the league tournament and hence get a ECAC bid based on their strong early wins.

woot returns · January 30, 2007, 06:54:53 PM

0.01% chance that skidmore wins on friday at hamilton

Hoaf · January 30, 2007, 07:08:04 PM

I'm with you woot. There's no way Skidmore's going to walk out of the field house with win. I'd like to see Hamilton avenge there loss by pouring in 85 points and blowing them out by 40. There's no way Hamilton is going to shoot as poorly as they did the first time around.

After this coming weekend we'll be able to see more clearly who the Liberty League front runner is.

Also, speaking to the poll I created. Do you guys really think Vassar is the team to beat this year?

C'MON!!

Hoaf · January 30, 2007, 11:26:32 PM

Oh and Nick Jones sprained his MCL. He should be back soon.

rjcarter8 · January 31, 2007, 11:37:41 AM

Based on Skidmore's 41-point drubbing at the hands of Union last night (93-52), I would be shocked if Skidmore even came within 20 points of Hamilton, despite the last game between the two.

Hoaf · February 01, 2007, 02:03:48 PM

So any team news this week. The board has been rather hush hush lately.

I expect Hamilton to sweep this weekend versus Skidmore and Union. I think that Union's start this year has been rather a fluke. They lost to a lot of mediocre teams early in the season and I don't think they are the real deal.

shooters · February 01, 2007, 03:24:05 PM

this may sound a little stupid but i can't wait for the skidmore hamilton game. I think this game will set the tone for the rest of the season for Hamilton. I think they'll beat the crap out of them but if they don't then I think there are questions to be answered as to how far this team can go. I also think this game will show if Hamilton wants to show some heart and self respect and beat them like a drum.

slickyquick · February 01, 2007, 03:27:31 PM

As I do recall, I was getting hounded by almost everyone here on this board after calling Clarkson's guards inconsistent and overrated. Well, look at where we stand now, the Golden Knights are struggling big time and probably will not make the league tourney.

Everyone, please pat me on the back for my glaring observation (I hope you realize this whole post is full of sarcasm).

d3lifer · February 02, 2007, 07:09:41 AM

Well people may still feel that Union is having an unexpected run that will stop any day now....and that may happen but too say that there schedule has been mediocre I think is a little strong...

Lasell 11-7 (8-1)
Middlebury 12-7 (2-3)
Williams 10-10 ( 3-2)
D1 Wagner
Gettysburg 7-11 (5-7) agree with this one!
Randolph Macon 11-8 (6-6)
Bates 16-3 (2-3)

Those were the losses heading into the league I agree with the agree with the Gettysburg loss wasn't great however Lasell is the best in their league while not a great league, not a bad loss with basically six freshmen getting heavy minutes, and three losses to "mediocre" NESCAC teams would probably all have a chance in this years liberty league, D1 Wagner well that doesn't make sense along with the Randolph Macon team that again plays in traditionally one of the better leagues in the country at this level.

Granted their is a long way to go but I would say they played one of the stronger non-conference schedules than some of the other teams in the league and so far those experiences have paid dividends to this point in the league (6-2).

shooters · February 02, 2007, 09:55:17 AM

I don't know if I agree with any of that as far as Union goes. Since when is a team 12-7, 11-8 reflect a strong team and a solid non-conference schedule. I don't think Middlebury is that good, the only good point is Bates, otherwise I would object to much of the rest. They may get the fourth spot in the tournament but i would say it will be a quick exit for Montana and the team.

d3lifer · February 02, 2007, 11:14:27 AM

The NESCAC and ODAC are better basketball leagues top to bottom on a year to year basis than the Empire 8 and Liberty League. I am not saying that those are good records but the quality of teams is definitely different just my opinion obviously, we are not talking about them playing the any of the Wisco teams or anything but to say that it is a weak schedule is not true based on some of the other teams non conference schedules in the Liberty League. We agree to disagree. Fair enough!