MBB: MAC Freedom League

[ColonelJohn4Life]

I was watching the Live Stats from the good people at GoWilkesU.com - everything cut out at 52-49 Wilkes with 4 seconds left.

We did hang on to beat Manhattanville, right?  If so, HUGE win for the Colonels.

Back to UNC - Duke. 

[wilkes72]

CJ, the score was 54-49

[lefty2]

Speaking of FDU's Adam Katz, has anyone else noticed a resemblance to a certain Freedom SID?

http://fdudevils.com/mbasketball/images/2008-09%20Headshots/KATZ,-Adam--01.gif

[chairman]

OH boy... this is messy now. I should have taken the blue pill.

[PBR...]

big win for del val over eastern last night to move into a tie for the final playoff slot...great games this weekend dvc vs. kings and alvernia vs. wilkes

[jumpball]

agreed this weekends games should be very interesting.  big win for kings last nite v tough and deep desales team.  character builder for 2010 as they have dropped 5-6 games this season just like that one.  if kings gets some big man help for conroy, look out for this bunch next season as they are very young and play hard - just outgunned most nites.  mcgowan all season would have made big difference but.....coulda' woulda' shoulda'
could not understand why desales left their sharpshooters on the bench facing a zone all game - especially when they had early success when they did put their long distance guns in the game in 1st half - played right into kings' hands.  desales is a very good team, but they'd better bring their A game to playoffs or they'll go down as competition in this league is that tight.  braswell terrific raw skills but has a lot of trouble finishing plays at the glass and from the line.  desales still the pick, but it'll be dicey.  i think eastern and dval could each give them problems early before the manhatanville matchup     

[BJ - DSU SID]

braswell terrific raw skills but has a lot of trouble finishing plays at the glass and from the line.     

Mr. Stackhouse...tough to judge a kid on the two games you've seen him play (assuming you were at our place for the first match-up).  Not too many players I'd pick over Braswell to take a final shot and I am pretty sure King's felt the same way seeing as they double/triple teamed him with 7 seconds left and played box-and-one (or something to that effect) on him for portions of last night's game.

With that being said...terrific effort displayed by King's last night.  Not too many last place teams (in fact probably none) that give that kind of effort this late in the season.  Credit to the head coach.

[jumpball]

don't misread me - he's an excellent player, only saying that once he finishes his initial hard work he'll be that much better.  yes, I was there to see the first encounter, and he had essentially the same game - except he converted his free throws then.  He is as athletic as anyone, and gets his own shot whenever/wherever he wants.  he's a real handful for sure, just will be even more of a load once he finishes those drives to the hoop - I doubt you'll disagree with that.  ...and yes, kings did box/one him the second half at times to show the level of respect he commands, thats true.

[MACfan08]

I was in the house for the King's vs. DeSales game and mad what a game it was. DeSales played a decent first half missing two foul shot attempts they got that half and yes i would agree they played right into Andrejko's hands. They just moved the ball around the outside until about 10 seconds on the shot clock and then either forced a three or took a bad off balance shot driving to the basket. Also, DeSales could not really make an outside shot in the second half but i think all of this credit goes to King's and their coaching staff.

There is no other team in the league that i see being 2-10 and playing the way they do. They take a playoff team in alvernia to the wire, they take a team in wilkes right down to the end, the beat miseri and pretty much ended their hopes, they took a FDU team right down to the wire all in the second half of the year. I can say this much if i was Del Val or Eastern i would not want to see them on my schedule right now especially Eastern because they have to travel to King's and who knows what the playoff positions will look like then. I give all the credit in the world the the big guy that runs that **** though and that is Andrejko he will just not let his kids fold and he is already making a statement for next year and getting these kids to realize they can compete.

On another note to all DeSales fans arent you glad King's isn't in the playoffs?? Because i tell you what they just have your number. Year in and year out they come up with a way to beat you guys in an important part of the year. I think Coval got out coached like he has in many situations against Andrejko and i think it is a trent to get use to. Desales walked out of that gym on Main Street with one thing in their mind and that was thank God we do not have to come back here or see that team again because we all know what has happened the past three times they faced off in the playoffs.

So with that said looks like we are going to have a good final two weeks and a lot could be determined this saturday. With an Alvernia win over wilkes and a del val win over kigns looks like the boys down on south river street are fighting for their lives. My predictions...

#1 seed: Manhattanville
#2 seed: DeSales
#3 seed: Eastern
#4 seed: Del Val
#5 seed: Wilkes

Playin: Wilkes loses to Del Val on the road

1st Round: DeSales beats Del Val, Manhattanville beats Eastern

Championship: DeSales watches another team cut the nets down and prays the selection people like them. If not off to the ECAC's for the bulldogs.   

[Jon]

I hate to do this to ya MACfan08, but I'm gonna have to level off that Karma for you referring to Alvernia as a playoff team and then leaving the Crusaders on the outside for your postseason prediction.

[BJ - DSU SID]

I was in the house for the King's vs. DeSales game and mad what a game it was. DeSales played a decent first half missing two foul shot attempts they got that half and yes i would agree they played right into Andrejko's hands. They just moved the ball around the outside until about 10 seconds on the shot clock and then either forced a three or took a bad off balance shot driving to the basket. Also, DeSales could not really make an outside shot in the second half but i think all of this credit goes to King's and their coaching staff.

There is no other team in the league that i see being 2-10 and playing the way they do. They take a playoff team in alvernia to the wire, they take a team in wilkes right down to the end, the beat miseri and pretty much ended their hopes, they took a FDU team right down to the wire all in the second half of the year. I can say this much if i was Del Val or Eastern i would not want to see them on my schedule right now especially Eastern because they have to travel to King's and who knows what the playoff positions will look like then. I give all the credit in the world the the big guy that runs that **** though and that is Andrejko he will just not let his kids fold and he is already making a statement for next year and getting these kids to realize they can compete.

On another note to all DeSales fans arent you glad King's isn't in the playoffs?? Because i tell you what they just have your number. Year in and year out they come up with a way to beat you guys in an important part of the year. I think Coval got out coached like he has in many situations against Andrejko and i think it is a trent to get use to. Desales walked out of that gym on Main Street with one thing in their mind and that was thank God we do not have to come back here or see that team again because we all know what has happened the past three times they faced off in the playoffs.

So with that said looks like we are going to have a good final two weeks and a lot could be determined this saturday. With an Alvernia win over wilkes and a del val win over kigns looks like the boys down on south river street are fighting for their lives. My predictions...

#1 seed: Manhattanville
#2 seed: DeSales
#3 seed: Eastern
#4 seed: Del Val
#5 seed: Wilkes

Playin: Wilkes loses to Del Val on the road

1st Round: DeSales beats Del Val, Manhattanville beats Eastern

Championship: DeSales watches another team cut the nets down and prays the selection people like them. If not off to the ECAC's for the bulldogs.   

MACfan08...you should have come sat with me in the press box.  We could have exchanged opinions during the game.

Agreed...it was a terrific game.  Too bad the ball did not bounce our way or it would have been a better game in my eyes...none the less it was a good game to watch.

I am gonna have to disagree and defend another of your points however.  I have a lot of respect for the King's HEAD coach.  He seems to be a very knowledgable person about the game of basketball and he is a very personable person off the court.  I don't have a negative thing to say about him.

But for you to kill the DeSales coach and say he got out-coached (like he has many other times) is just blindly ignorant.  Here is the bottom line from the game last night from my view.  King's made shots, DeSales did not.  Maybe the King's defense had something to do with it, but to be honest...the Bulldogs had a lot of shots (three-point or otherwise) that were uncontested and they just did not go in.  King's hit a few shots that were either off-balance or long (and clanked off the backboard and in) that left me shaking my head.  It just did not look like it was going to be our night.

We also shot 7-for-15 from the free throw line and missed one late that would have given us a lead with under a minute left.  Pretty sure that's a shot that the King's defense had nothing to do with.

Both teams gave great effort, both teams played with some real emotion and guts, both teams even hit big shots...but in the end King's hit a few more.

It's unfair in my mind to say one coach outcoached another.  Both coaches made adjustments that worked in last night's game (I won't go into what they were).

As far as are the DeSales fans glad King's is not in the playoffs.  That's just a ridiculous statement, that I will leave untouched.

And for the record I walked out of the gym last night wondering what the Duke/UNC score was?  Not what you thought I was thinking.

Here's to hoping your predictions are dead wrong.

[jumpball]

i've always believed that players pretty much win the games, with some help from coaches, usually marginal.  don't know that desales was out-coached and i don't know anything about prior history.  i was just surprised his 3point shooters didn't play more, that's all - they have depth on that team that the rest of the league envies.  He DID zone kings in the 2nd half, which slowed them down some too, so he also made some good moves   hey, DeSales IS 18-4 and Kings is 11-11 so he's doing something right, and that team is high quality, without doubt.  And as much as we want to credit Kings for last nite, they HAVE lost a mess of those games this season, youth or not.  the SID is  sensitive to criticism of his squad, understandably, and took my earlier comments in a direction that wasn't intended, too.  I still think desales will win out but they'll have to earn it as this league has good players up and down each roster, and i think some talent on the sidelines as well.  but if desales comes to play, as i expect they will, i'd be surprised if anyone topples them - they're that good.  both hunter and braswell defend very well, which will help as all of the contenders have strong guard play, and desales just brings waves of fresh legs off the bench without much drop-off, and that will give them an advantage 

[chizwiz]

I hate to do this to ya MACfan08, but I'm gonna have to level off that Karma for you referring to Alvernia as a playoff team and then leaving the Crusaders on the outside for your postseason prediction.

Jon, I did the same.  Not sure where MacFan is coming from.

MacFan, how do you predict a Manhattanville win over EU?  Who won the last game between the two?

Also, I had to use a decoder ring to understand what you wrote.  Please do a little more editing next time.

[Jon]

I'd like to see people of the league petition for the next Eastern/Manhattanville game (if it occurs) to be played at a neutral site.  If the regular season games are any indication, home court means just way too much to both teams.

[Pat Coleman]

Florham.