MBB: MAC Freedom League

[Pat Coleman]

* BTW what exactly is a "heart of hearts"?

If the philosophy professor doesn't have that answer, how would us mere mortals?

[ljk]

Wilkes with a big win over Kings in the Freedom Conference opener at the Colonels home away from home, (3rd game in a row at Kings gym, nice scheduling).  Wilkes came out smoking and built a 10 point lead mostly from the outside.  In the 2nd half, Wilkes started driving to the basket beating Kings guys off the driibble, and either converting or getting fouled.  They also set up Kline down low and with his nice inside moves, he became almost a "point center",  driving to the hoop or dishing off to his team mates.  For Kings, Scalzo hit two big 3's and gave the Monarchs their first lead at about the 7 minute mark of the game.  However, with Wilkes employing its 3 guard offense, the Colonels answered every time at crunch time.  Some nice freshmen play from Kings Hacker and Conroy and Wilkes DeRojas.  As Raft would say the kid DeRojas has "onions", totally unafraid to launch, nailing a big basket in the waning moments.  It was a great game with both teams shooting lights out for the most part. (Wilkes 57%, Kings 49%).   Kresge had 21 and DeRojas 16 points to lead Wilkes.  Cousart had excellent game with 24 points including 12-12 from the free throw line for Kings.   Wilkes now 5-5 overall and Kings at 7-5.

[ColonelJohn4Life]

Old Colonels never disappear, they just fade away.

Wilkes 80, King's 70.

Wilkes goes man-to-man on D for the better part of the game.  For the first 10 minutes, a Senior-heavy King's squad was mystified by it.  Wilkes up by 10 early.  By halftime, King's brought it back to a one-possession game.

2nd half, it was a one-possession game throughout.  Tied at 66 with 2:30 to play, Matt Gould made a couple clutch shots, and before you knew it King's was fouling with time winding down.  Wilkes puts the game away with prowess from the charity stripe.

The smart half of Wilkes-Barre slept well last night.

[naismith]

Think LJ and CJ summed up the game last night.
A nailbiter all the way....

My thinking is this:

Wilkes seems to have adopted the persona of its Coach JR.
They play determined, tough and gritty.

Wilkes has also adopted Coach JR's style of play.
They play smart, patient and control the tempo.

From my vantage point, that combination paid dividends Tuesday night.

Wilkes had an early lead but everyone knew Kings would make a run. The Monarchs chipped away and were down 3 at the half.

Wilkes barely sustained the lead and when a Scalzo three put Kings ahead, the Colonels could have folded. Instead, Tom Kresge (an all around force) made a statement. His  "power move" was a play to behold. A combination of Skill and Will ....a determined drive to the hoop through a double team and 1.

With a 1 pt Colonel lead and the shot clock winding down, Chris Gulla then drained a critical corner trey right in Fonz's Face (inside joke) upping the lead to 4.  A short jumper by DeRojas among the giants sealed the deal and FT's ensued.

Thought Scalzo and Cousart played effectively. Wilkes seemed to really be concentating on neutralizing VS.  The Kings frosh played well. Nensteil didn't break out offensively and Kofi was neutralized. Jimmy W dnp although was cleared to go (I was told) having recovered from recent shoulder injury. Monarchs missed him as his 3pt shooting and steady play has hurt Wilkes in the past. Think Kings also misses the presence of Sobocinski (graduation) who gave them a lot of defense, rebounding and hustle last year.

that's my thoughts for now.....

Naismith

[old ends]

I know that this is a big in town matchup and the bragging rites, in any of the sports the compete against, goes on and on. Do you think that since Wilkes got great court time and scouting with the two day tourney at Kings it may have helped them at Kings last night?? After all they played against the same opponents.

[Warren Thompson]

* BTW what exactly is a "heart of hearts"?

If the philosophy professor doesn't have that answer, how would us mere mortals?

+++++++++++++++++

We who assay to teach about philosophy can go only so far; the students have to do the rest of it, whatever it might be ....

[Pat Coleman]

Old Colonels never disappear, they just fade away.

How are disappear and fade away different?

[Warren Thompson]

Old Colonels never disappear, they just fade away.

How are disappear and fade away different?

They're "different" because things are done differently in the Coal Regions .... 

[old ends]

Old Colonels never disappear, they just fade away.

How are disappear and fade away different?

The Spelling??

[naismith]

I know that this is a big in town matchup and the bragging rites, in any of the sports the compete against, goes on and on. Do you think that since Wilkes got great court time and scouting with the two day tourney at Kings it may have helped them at Kings last night?? After all they played against the same opponents.

Dear John Mackey, Mark Bavaro and Bob Tucker,

No

[naismith]

Nice article on F&M and Wilkes on D3 today.

They kind of make it sound as if these teams have totally disappeared:

Wilkes was 23-3 in 01.....
Wilkes made conference finals in 04 and 06 losing both....

Last year was a disaster to some............but they were still over .500

Wilkes has been decent in recent years ......but the mid-90's to early 2000 run is tough to match.

I guess I still remember when Wilkes didn't have a basketball program.
That ended around 16 years ago when Coach JR arrived.

Nuff said

Naismith

[Pat Coleman]

2001 was seven years ago now. Nobody on the roster played on that team or was recruited by that team. That's a long time ago.

And again, I think we clearly reference their days as tournament powerhouses.

[naismith]

A little touchy there Pat....lol

I liked the article and understood it completely.

For u youngsters, 2001 is a long time ago....for us graybeards.....it is like yesterday!!!!

The fifties was a long time ago for us....

http://oldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm

Naismith

[cold_case]

And again, I think we clearly reference their days as tournament powerhouses.

Who are "we?"
I admit Wilkes is not the team it once was but a supposed more stringent academic policy along with a few other items (I won't mention some higher ups at the school don't like Rickrode.....oh, I just did) might be another reason for the decline.

[Pat Coleman]

We as in D3hoops.com.