MBB: MAC Freedom League

[hoopzwiz]

Here's my take....
First team- Braswell(poy), Soaries, Conroy, Delprete, Kresge.

Second team- Hunter, Wagner,White,Fetzke, Jones

Honorable Mention - Pointer,Gabriel,Nelson,Slanovec,Laroche

COY-put Coval, Woodruff, Nadelhoffer in a hat. Desales took everyone's best shot and won anyway.
Nobody thought much of miseri's talent at the start..thus picking them next to last but finishing tied for second.
Eastern expected to challenge for playoffs but suffers some key personnel losses and still getting a home playoff game.

As a side note, I like the home teams Wednesday.

[chairman]

Interesting note. I was cruising through the Freedom Conference stats today (conference only), and there is one stat that so closely mirrors the league standings that it cannot be a coincidence. Scoring defense within league games has the standings nearly spot on. Misericordia is fifth and Manhattanville is fourth. All the other teams are exactly as they finish.

Good start on the list Wiz. I'm going to wait to respond until there is a little more action on this. Maybe Sam can write a poem that includes the entire list.

[lefty2]

Interesting note. I was cruising through the Freedom Conference stats today (conference only), and there is one stat that so closely mirrors the league standings that it cannot be a coincidence. Scoring defense within league games has the standings nearly spot on. Misericordia is fifth and Manhattanville is fourth. All the other teams are exactly as they finish.

Good start on the list Wiz. I'm going to wait to respond until there is a little more action on this. Maybe Sam can write a poem that includes the entire list.

I was never very good at match, but the scoring defense stat didn't seem right - it was Manhattanville and King's the flip-flopped - not Misericordia.

SCORING DEFENSE
# Team                  G   Pts Avg/G
-------------------------------------
1.DeSales............. 14   845  60.4
2.Eastern............. 14   872  62.3
3.Misericordia........ 14   903  64.5
4.Manhattanville...... 14   923  65.9
5.King's.............. 13   868  66.8
6.Delaware Valley..... 13   919  70.7
7.Wilkes.............. 14   999  71.4
8.FDU-Florham......... 14  1003  71.6

[chairman]

my bad.... even more convincing....

[Uncle Sam]

'Twas right before playoffs and all through the MAC,
Everyone was wondering- Will Uncle Sam be back?
So Sam has arrived with a message for you.
This will be his last, here on 2/22.
You can all take your shots at Del Val and Sam.
But its now time to discuss America's Program.
Years and years of losing took place along the way,
Until Coach Stitzel arrived in Doylestown, P A.
In two short years, they are built to compete.
Next years playoff run, will surely be sweet.
Your all-conference lists should include Jones and White.
As much as you all hate it, Uncle Sam is right.
So as the playoffs push on and the summer draws near,
There is one more thing that you all need to fear.
As the off-season is filled with many recruiting wars,
Coach Stitzel's recruiting class will be better than yours...

[hoopzwiz]

Uncle Sam, thats good stuff

Should the league be more worried about the summer time recruiting for Del Val or the Christmas time recruiting next December?

[naismith]

Was looking at some stats a few games back and noticed that DeSales, Miseri and Eastern were the 3 top shootng % squads. DeSales and Eastern led in 3 pt shooting % as well.  DeSales also was leading in rebounding. (total).  Four teams had more assists than turnovers (Desales, Miseri, Kings and Eastern). Makes me go hmmmmm.

Take care of the ball, hit the open man and rebound.  Simple formula.....Still works 100 years plus aafter I invented this game...lol.

Naismith


.itststeassistsd

Interesting note. I was cruising through the Freedom Conference stats today (conference only), and there is one stat that so closely mirrors the league standings that it cannot be a coincidence. Scoring defense within league games has the standings nearly spot on. Misericordia is fifth and Manhattanville is fourth. All the other teams are exactly as they finish.

Good start on the list Wiz. I'm going to wait to respond until there is a little more action on this. Maybe Sam can write a poem that includes the entire list.

I was never very good at match, but the scoring defense stat didn't seem right - it was Manhattanville and King's the flip-flopped - not Misericordia.

SCORING DEFENSE
# Team                  G   Pts Avg/G
-------------------------------------
1.DeSales............. 14   845  60.4
2.Eastern............. 14   872  62.3
3.Misericordia........ 14   903  64.5
4.Manhattanville...... 14   923  65.9
5.King's.............. 13   868  66.8
6.Delaware Valley..... 13   919  70.7
7.Wilkes.............. 14   999  71.4
8.FDU-Florham......... 14  1003  71.6

[chairman]

WIZ. If I could give multiple karma points I would.

Sam- I won't argue that White and Jones are All-Conference caliber players, but their results in league play were not spectacular, and as our friend Herman Edwards says, "you play to win the game."  There is no question about the talent of those two, or even some of the supporting cast.

I think, however,  there are legitimate questions concerning their commitment to building for the long term. To change the focus of your offense for a second semester senior transfer is not, in my opinion,  long view thinking, and the current DelVal roster has a single freshman in the top six in points or rebounds.

Beckett is a nice player, but I think we need to wait and see a recruiting 'class' before we proclaim it will "surely be sweet." Even without unexpected attrition, the Aggies lose a lot from this year's group that didn't make the playoffs. 

[lefty2]

I think Sam is more concernced with rhyme than accuracy.

With that, I gave him +1 for his effort.

[gordonmann]

Chairman:

Completely agree.  Good post.  +K to you.

And to Uncle Sam for livening up the board.

[naismith]

Adding a bit more:

One mistake in stat post above. The Aggies had positive assist to TO's and not Eastern.

DeSales led in total rebounds, shooting %, 3 pt shooting % and total assists.
The top 3 seeds are the top FG% teams in the conference.
Three of top 4 seeds hold the 1,2,3 position in total assists.
The top four seeds have the fewest turnovers.  

On the downside:

Wilkes and FDU 2 of worst FG% squads. Wilkes at 25% worst 3 pt shooting team. FDU not far behind at 28%
On the bright side, Wilkes #2 in FT % , #2 total rebounds and #1 offensive rebounds (combo of poor shooting and some talented bigs)
FDU lead league in Turnovers and Fewest Assists.

Delval and M-ville had middle of the road stats. M-ville were the top pilferers (Wilkes 2nd).
Kings top stat was assists which placed them 2nd.

After some review and from personal observations:

1st team:
Braswell, Kresge, Hunter, Jones, White
2nd team:
Soaries, Wagner, Del Prete, Little, Conroy

Honorable Mention:

Stackhouse, Slavonec, Johnson, LaRoche, Pointer, Nelson,

COY:

Trevor W.

POY:

Braswell

Naismith

[chairman]

Nais--

Your list confuses me a little. I could see arguments for Hunter or White/Jones/ Kresge in the first team, but I cannot process a systematic approach where all four make it.

I think the reason for putting Hunter (16th in scoring, 9th in steals, 4th in assists) in front of Soaries (T -4th scoring, 1st steals, 6th fg%, 5th ft%, 4th blocks, 1st minutes), Del Prete (3rd scoring, 4th steals), and Conroy (7th scoring, t5th rebounding, 5th fg %)  would be that you value winning, and he helps his team to win, and DeSales won at a much higher rate than those three did. I have no problem with that logic.

You also have three guys on the first team who put up prodigious numbers, but whose teams did not finish in the top five in an eight team league. I'm not sure you can do both.

Can you explain?

[jumpball]

my teams look a lot like naismiths.  my only real comment is that myers has to be listed on my squad - begrudgingly HM - i want to place him on 2nd team.  he doesn't show up on the leader boards like some others but he is the most disruptive defensive force i saw on the perimeter all season and his value does not show in a boxscore.  that young man plays on any team i post, and i feel like l'm short-changing him as HM; anyone else see what I'm seeing there??  i love that kid.

COY:  Woodruff (close)
POY:  Braswell   (no one else even in the same conversation)
ROY:  Nelson 

1st Team:  Braswell, Soaries, Kresge, White, DelPrete

2nd Team: Jones, Conroy, Feske, Pointer, Slanovec

HM:  Wagner, Hunter, Laroche, Stackhouse, Myers, Nelson

Might be guilty of slighting Little - in my opinion its not accidental the four playoff teams are who they are when you look at their PGs.
and thank you uncle sam....your posts were the most fun all season....looking forward to more.

[MACfan08]

Man what a year in the MAC very very interesting in my mind. But its playoff time and I see one of the greatest match up pop up once again. King's at DeSales in the first round how can you ask for anything more.

JP will try to take his team that in my mind is one year away from being a championship caliber team into the shoe box of DeSales and get another win in the playoffs. The Monarchs have had success there in the past but that was a whole different level of team that boarded the buses when it came to the playoffs. I see the Monarchs going down there and putting up a good fight but just not being able to pull it out. Andrejko will key on Braswell big time since he is the main reason Desales won up in Wilkes-barre but it will not be enough. I say close game and good game but Desales comes out the winner by 11.

Next you have a upper class team in Eastern with a home game in the playoffs which will pay off big time in my mind. The Eagles are coming into the game I am sure feeling great about their chances. Now Misericordia is going to come down there tomorrow night and Trevor will have these kids jacked up on speed and they will be ready to go. I think this game is won in the first five minutes if you ask me. If Eastern can handle the emotions that Miseri will try to play with I feel like they have a very winnable game and should be looking at a matchup with Desales in the championship game. Inexperience in the playoffs for the Cougars will hurt them both players and coaching wise I look to see the eagles win this game and am going to make a bold prediction that it will be by 16.

Upset if I had to pick one! King's beats Desales only because of coaching. JP is capable of coming up with a game plan to win this game and like I said if I had to pick an upset I would put my money on the Monarchs before I would the cougars.

[chairman]

If DeSales is a shoebox, then what is the St. Davids Athletic and Convocation Center? A match box?

The Misericordia/ Eastern game should be interesting. The box scores from the two games between the two couldn't be more different. Game 1 where Eastern won, neither team could miss a shot. Eastern shot 75% in the second half, and Misericordia hit 58% from behind the arc.
Game 2 at Misericordia featured a 26% shooting night from the floor for Eastern and a very sub-par shooting night for the Cougars (38%) as well. That game, played on Super Bowl Sunday, never felt like it had any rhythm or flow.

I would guess that tomorrow night's game will be somewhere in the middle. Eastern will look to control tempo, and Misericordia will look to spread the floor for their shooters. An x factor for the game could be the play of sophomore reserve center Eddie Mbanda. The 6-8 Rwandan will be the biggest player on the floor when he enters the game, and he has put together several productive stretches through the final weeks of the season.

I honestly have no idea what is going to happen in the King's/ DeSales game. Having seen both teams only twice, I would make DeSales a favorite by a lot (That and the fact that they are 13-1 and haven't lost a league game at home in a long time). But, this league is about match-ups, and I think King's, for whatever reason, is a tough squad for DeSales to match up with. If Braswell is not in serious foul trouble or on a bad shooting night, I can't see how King's will be able to win, but if he is off or in foul trouble, then I think the game goes up for grabs a little more. That being said, there haven't been many of those nights this year.

Jumpball, thanks for your props to Myers. He is a tremendous leader and a great kid. I don't know that I've seen a player squeeze more out of his potential than Chris. His character and determination infect his teammates. That being said, I think HM is where he belongs. He has had some great games defensively, but he also got caught on a couple occasions in match-ups that he couldn't deal with.

He doesn't turn the ball over, he makes good decisions with the ball, and he does his part to knock down some big shots, but he is averaging 5 ppg. Would I want him on my team? Absolutely. Do I wish that every player in my program follows his example on the court and in the classroom? Without a doubt. But I think he is on the outside looking in at the first two teams.

I like your list. I think I would have to get Hunter in the second team, and I would seriously consider switching Jones and White. I felt Laroche was better than Pointer in the two games I saw Manhattnaville, but the coaches all see how they are nominated and also see at least four or five games from each team, so they can sort that out.

Safe travels to all.