MBB: MAC Freedom League

[ColonelJohn4Life]

Gonna try to commute up for the Wilkes / King's rematch on Feb 18th.  It'll be the last home game, making it Senior Day.  Figure it's only fitting I see Eddie that day.

Heard (most of) the game on the ESPN Williamsport simulcast. Brilliant broadcast. Professionally done - the whole 9 yards.  Favorite moment of the broadcast, Matt Mullins hits his 9th 3 pointer.  Play-by-play guy, "That's one off the Wilkes all-time record!" I chuckle to myself, and go, "Ah, Chad Fabian, 1999.  Hit 10 in a win over Del Val."

[naismith]

CJ,

Should have been at the Marts this afternoon.
HOF inductees:
1995-96 team (28-2 Final 8)
Dave Januzzi

You would have been in your Colonelonian glory. 

Naismith

[ColonelJohn4Life]

Naismith,

With a liiiiiittle more warning, I would have been.

Jannuzzi is Jannuzzi.  Best to ever don a Wilkes jersey, or the number 44. (Yes, that includes Jerry West, John Riggins, and Hank Aaron.)  I'm sure in the bio, they got everything right, including being named Jostens National of the Year in 2001?  Final Four in 1998, and the best player in the 570 area code in 2001 - something easier said than done with players named Chandler at Misericordia, and Dickerson at King's - all 3 of which who broke 2000 points career.

That said, the 1995 / 1996 teams that went to the Elite Eight always held a special place for me. Show of hands, who here owns a signed Matt LaBuda picture? Anyone else? OK.    You scarcely needed to remind me the team was 28-2 in 1996.  First loss was in a BRUTAL snowstorm, in front of like 12 people (yes, I was one of them), to Mike Barrouk and whatever upstate NY school he came from (St John Fisher?).  Second loss was a hose job - not the game itself, but the fact this was against Franklin & Marshall, AT Franklin & Marshall.  How does a team at 26-1 NOT get home court advantage (#1 seed) in their quadrant of the NCAA's?!  In between, it was 3 wins over Scranton, 2 over King's (who was irrelevant), and 2 over Lycoming (who wasn't).

In the end, this batch of Colonels moves to 13-3, and 6-0 in conference, eh? Not too shabby.

[r.w. mcnickels]

Second loss was a hose job - not the game itself, but the fact this was against Franklin & Marshall, AT Franklin & Marshall.  How does a team at 26-1 NOT get home court advantage (#1 seed) in their quadrant of the NCAA's?!

When another team had the same record. That was a great Wilkes team but F&M was also 27-1 and had more wins over ranked teams. The NCAA couldn't send one team to another bracket because of the regional system back then. Today, both teams would probably be #1 seeds in different brackets.

[naismith]

CJ,

Did a search on Ebay and not a signed LaBuda to be found.     

The HOF induction was done post game but all inductees announced at halftime.
From what I understand, Saturday's format was the first time the event was held in this manner.
Wilkes doesn't really promote the HOF events all that well.

Present team plays well together. No individual egos and good chemistry. Wilson first rate at the point. Mullins can score and Huch/Hinze a tough combo inside. Huch, in particular, presents a matchup problem. Breznitsky has been excellent off the bench.
Wilkes has been playing a bunch of freshman and sophomores off the bench for limited minutes.

As to Saturday, the team built up huge lead with some tough man to man and excellent shooting. They really played lackadaisical in the 2nd half and Coach JR had to re-insert the starters as a 25 point plus lead shrunk to 10. The last 15 minutes was the worst defense they have played all year. Think FDU shot near 60% in the 2nd half. 
As you know, nothing gets handed to you  in this league. Eastern should be interesting games. They have some talent in Nelson and Soaries.

Naismith

[cold_case]

Naismith,

With a liiiiiittle more warning, I would have been.

Jannuzzi is Jannuzzi.  Best to ever don a Wilkes jersey, or the number 44. (Yes, that includes Jerry West, John Riggins, and Hank Aaron.)  I'm sure in the bio, they got everything right, including being named Jostens National of the Year in 2001?  Final Four in 1998, and the best player in the 570 area code in 2001 - something easier said than done with players named Chandler at Misericordia, and Dickerson at King's - all 3 of which who broke 2000 points career.

That said, the 1995 / 1996 teams that went to the Elite Eight always held a special place for me. Show of hands, who here owns a signed Matt LaBuda picture? Anyone else? OK.    You scarcely needed to remind me the team was 28-2 in 1996.  First loss was in a BRUTAL snowstorm, in front of like 12 people (yes, I was one of them), to Mike Barrouk and whatever upstate NY school he came from (St John Fisher?).  Second loss was a hose job - not the game itself, but the fact this was against Franklin & Marshall, AT Franklin & Marshall.  How does a team at 26-1 NOT get home court advantage (#1 seed) in their quadrant of the NCAA's?!  In between, it was 3 wins over Scranton, 2 over King's (who was irrelevant), and 2 over Lycoming (who wasn't).

In the end, this batch of Colonels moves to 13-3, and 6-0 in conference, eh? Not too shabby.

Saw the not-too-shabby Colonels against Scranton a couple weeks back. Very shabby...

[lefty2]

Naismith,

With a liiiiiittle more warning, I would have been.

Jannuzzi is Jannuzzi.  Best to ever don a Wilkes jersey, or the number 44. (Yes, that includes Jerry West, John Riggins, and Hank Aaron.)  I'm sure in the bio, they got everything right, including being named Jostens National of the Year in 2001?  Final Four in 1998, and the best player in the 570 area code in 2001 - something easier said than done with players named Chandler at Misericordia, and Dickerson at King's - all 3 of which who broke 2000 points career.

Too bad we never got to see Chandler and Januzzi on the same floor.  Chandler has only stepped into the Marts Center as an assistant coach.

[naismith]

"Saw the not-too-shabby Colonels against Scranton a couple weeks back. Very shabby..."

CC,

Wow! One of D3hoops elite posters taing the time to visit the Freedom Forum!
See you are still driving them crazy over at the landmark.   

Yes, Scranton did a number on Wilkes-Barre in the tournament.  Still SHABBY can be SHEIK .. wasn't able to attend but listened an impressive DC call on the radio.
If you recall, DC once dated my daughter many many moons ago. Always lied Dean ....real gentleman and a great radio voice.

As I recall the game, it was a bac and forth 1st half with Scranton lighting it up 2nd half. Other than Huch, it seemed the Colonels were just not ready that night. It was first game off extended break .....but the Royals were missing some key players and clearly the better team that night.
Wilkes, as you know, has not lost since. Most of the Freedom wins have been pretty 'convincing'. Games have not been that close.
Well balanced team that can hurt you inside  or out. Terrific freshman PG in Wilson. Much improved team speed and quickness.
Coach JR has the team playing together with defensive intensity and good ball movement.
Still a ways to go but a very nice squad. 

How are things going for you?  You can still cash in your dinner coupon for some bet you won years ago. 
If you still have my contact #'s give me a ring or drop me a line.

Miss the old rivalry games.

Best

Naismith

[cold_case]

"Saw the not-too-shabby Colonels against Scranton a couple weeks back. Very shabby..."

CC,

Wow! One of D3hoops elite posters taing the time to visit the Freedom Forum!
See you are still driving them crazy over at the landmark.   

Yes, Scranton did a number on Wilkes-Barre in the tournament.  Still SHABBY can be SHEIK .. wasn't able to attend but listened an impressive DC call on the radio.
If you recall, DC once dated my daughter many many moons ago. Always lied Dean ....real gentleman and a great radio voice.

As I recall the game, it was a bac and forth 1st half with Scranton lighting it up 2nd half. Other than Huch, it seemed the Colonels were just not ready that night. It was first game off extended break .....but the Royals were missing some key players and clearly the better team that night.
Wilkes, as you know, has not lost since. Most of the Freedom wins have been pretty 'convincing'. Games have not been that close.
Well balanced team that can hurt you inside  or out. Terrific freshman PG in Wilson. Much improved team speed and quickness.
Coach JR has the team playing together with defensive intensity and good ball movement.
Still a ways to go but a very nice squad. 

How are things going for you?  You can still cash in your dinner coupon for some bet you won years ago. 
If you still have my contact #'s give me a ring or drop me a line.

Miss the old rivalry games.

Best

Naismith

What's up Nais? Scoring the ball lately? LOL. It kills the Colonel when they lose to Scranton, especially in a huge way.
No, I didn't forget dinner but it may have to be halfway between Allentown and W-B. Had to move and land employment in the Lehigh Valley thanks in part to....well, you know. Let's keep in touch.

[ColonelJohn4Life]

LOL. It kills the Colonel when they lose to Scranton, especially in a huge way.

You have no idea... but that 2006 MAC-F title game still burned worse.

So, Wilkes finally takes a conference loss... any one wanna break down Clippers / Lakers? 

[BJ - DSU SID]

CJ and others...I wasn't able to catch any of the Clippers/Lakers game last night.  And quite frankly ever since MJ left, the NBA hasn't really caught my attention.

But what I did do last night was update the matrix for this season since we reached the halfway point of the Conference season.  And since Wilkes strong start to the season has seemingly woken the Wilkes-Barre folks up on this board, I figured you'd all like to give this a quick glance.

Enjoy the second half of the year - http://athletics.desales.edu/custompages/gen/Hoops%20Matrix%20Men.pdf?

[kate]

Huge thanks this morning to Trevor Turner of ESPN radio, Williamsport for his fantastic (sorry CJ) calls of the final minutes of the DelVal/Wilkes game yesterday afternoon.  Wilkes was ahead by nine with just minutes to play when the Aggies staged an amazing comeback bolstered by 50 points total from Nathan Bollinger (an Aggie record).  We had left after the women's game, but it still gives me chills this am to listen to those calls!  THANK YOU!!!

[mailsy]

Ok Freedom posters.  What have you seen out of Eastern this year?  I see they are 13-5 and 6-2.  Rivalry game against Cabrini who is 18-1.  Will they beat Cavs at their place?  What are your thoughts? 

[chairman]

Mailsy-
The Battle of Eagle Road promises to be an interesting test for both teams. Eastern is in the midst of a killer 6-game stretch with Cabrini as the second middle game. While the home team will be riding a four-game winning streak going into Monday, they also have to be certain to be ready for a critical home contest against King's on Wednesday.

Cabrini has Rosemont on Wednesday. Therein lies the question of the night. Eastern has figured out ways to win close games in a rugged and pretty even conference. I cannot speak to the difference between the CSAC and the Freedom, but my rough calculations have Freedom teams at 9-1 against CSAC squads. Neumann beat Del Val (1-7 Freedom) for the CSAC's only win.

This is a little skewed because there are no games between Freedom teams and Cabrini, Keystone, and Gwynedd-Mercy, but I don't think the point I would make is that the top Freedom teams are better than them per se. What I would argue is that there are no gimmes for the top teams (whoever that may be) in the Freedom. There are at least a few of those in the CSAC.

Eastern has some soft teams (PSU-ABINGTON, LEHMAN) at the front of the schedule, but not many on the inside.

The other thought is that Eastern starts 5 seniors, and that they can on certain days be very good with the ball. As Cabrini averages 85 per game, I have to think they get a lot of those off turnovers and in transition. That might not be as available tomorrow.

It should be a lot of fun. There will be a live broadcast of the game at bit.ly/eagle_vision

[mailsy]

Thanks chairman!  Tomorrow should be a very good game with a very alive and entertaining crowd.  Get there early everyone or you won't get in.