MBB: MAC Freedom League

[CCHoopster]

Thanks Ronk!

I am going to stick w Kings for the upset. Although a  tall task it is.

[CCHoopster]

Wilkes was an easy call. They had three sophomores as their three leading scorers- talk about talented youth! Early, but this could be your #2 seed behind Miseri or top seed. Definitely a top 3 team(long way to go I know). Really well coached team who won't beat themselves and have two dominant guards. Maybe the best 2 in the league (as a tandem).

Del Val with the loss as expected. Looking at the box score, as JMCozen said earlier, they can not shoot at all. Their next four are at Stockton, Moravian, TCNJ then Neumann. WOW, good luck with that schedule. Next win may not come for a little bit. Today's loss will hurt them for a few games and those opponents are a really tough lineup.

Kings with the tough L at Scranton. Really were not in it after the 12 minute mark in the first half. Think they rebound with a really good performance vs Marywood tomorrow. Unlike DVU (credit to DVU for a 3-0 start), Kings has an experienced coach who can get them on track where as DVU's coach is still finding who and what type of players he has. I would rather be in King's shoes than DVU's- better team and better schedule, better coach for now too. 

After two weeks, my updated predictions are:

1-Miseri
2-DeSales
3-Wilkes (almost put them as #2)
4-Kings
5-Eastern
6-DVU
7-Manhattanville
8-FDU

I don't think DVU, MVILLE, FDU can come close to the playoffs. Was more optimistic on DVU/Eastern earlier than I am right now but don't see it for them. Got to be able to shoot it at some point. Long season and I am just sitting here wasting time at work.

Please don't take the above as matter of fact.... Just killing time for "The Man".

Have a great night!

[ronk]

 Kings cut a 15-pt deficit to 3 in the last 4 mins, then had 2 baskets waved off for player control fouls. I think they were the right calls but they could easily have gone Kings' way. JP was visibly upset.

[saratoga]

"JP was visibly upset"....I'm pretty sure that happens about 15 times a game or on most fouls called against them.
He's involved in the game, that's for sure.

[gordonmann]

This week's Around the Atlantic column focuses on Misericordia

http://www.d3hoops.com/columns/around-the-region/atlantic/2016-17/miseri-fields-danger

[CCHoopster]

Very good win for DeSales. Arcadia's record is not indicitive of their ability. DeSales seem to of played their best game of the year without their  transfer. Laird was great! Love his game.

Del Val losing three straight. I don't see them winning either game next week. (@TCNJ/Neumann). They just can not shoot. They scored 94 points and shot about 50% from ft and 30% from three. They haf a player with 37points.

Wilkes with a loss to Drew. I watched a little. Wilkes could not hit shots and get stops at the same time. Wilkes is a good team. They will bounce back.

[CCHoopster]

A 22 point effort from Turk provided Eastern with their third win in a row and a win over a Hamilton team Who was 4-1 coming into the game. I definitely thought Eastern would be a strong team this year getting a playoff bid.  Possibly hitting their stride a little bit now. Misericordia and Wilkes will be locks  for the playoffs and I have a hard time seeing DeSales missing out.  I really think that last spot is Eastern's if they want it.  Delaware Valley University's schedule Is partly to blame for their three game skid but also they are probably revealing their true colors. A team with individual talent that possibly are not good enough to play as a team.  I just don't think Kings can make a playoff run and do not see anybody else outside of those six teams jumping in. Kings has a few really good pieces but just don't think they have enough firepower to take over a playoff spot.

[CCHoopster]

Back to posting to myself  Hoping all had a very nice holiday season.

After the first week of games we sit as follows in the freedom:

DeSales: 2-0
Miseri: 1-1
Wilkes: 1-1
DVU: 1-1
Eastern: 1-1
MVille: 1-1
FDU: 1-1
Kings: 0-2

Yesterday provided some really good games... I was fortunate to be solo at work and had the chance to watch a decent amount of games from the Freedom (and some of the cwealth).

Eastern 75 Kings 64.

Kings suffers it's second straight double digit loss. I just don;t think you can be a playoff team without any weapons. Rutecki is solid along with Callajas but not sure they are leading you to a playoff birth. EU has shown signs of a strong team with a few good wins. Turk and Duncan led the way with 24 and 18. Eastern will be in the mix for the 4th or 5th playoff spot. Nothing higher, Mville could take 5th. Eastern will host Miseri then travel to Wilkes this week.  King's will host FDU and head to MVille this week.

FDU 71 Miseri 70.

Not sure anyone saw this coming... but when you get to league play, all is possible. Kenny was his usual self with 22 but Miseri could struggle to win when they shot 5-25 from three and only get to the line 13 times. FDU was led by Davy and Loehner with 22 and 19 respectively. FDU will head to King's then host DeSales this week. Miseri will be at Eastern then host DVU this week.

DeSales 84 DVU 72.

DeSales took a 13 point halftime lead and led by as many as 15 but DVU came storming back to tie it up with about 5 left. I think DeSales is the clear favorite and would be shocked to see them with a record anything less than 10-4/11-3. (IMO). DVU may be better in league than people gave credit for in preseason especially with POY potential in Kimbrough. Bridy led DU with 21 and Kimbrough led all scorers with 22 while DVU had three of the top 4 scorers. DVU will need to find a way to make the 1st half not their Achilles heel. DeSales will host MVille and then travel to FDU this week. DVU will go to Wilkes then travel to Miseri.

MVille 61 Wilkes 58

Another one that may have surprised some folks up in Wilkes-Barre. No Tommy Bowen has hurt WU and their inside post presence. They are at their best when they can get the ball to Bowen in the post then surround him with cutters and shooters. Brunner does not fit that mold very well. I got to watch some of this game and that was evident. Mville was paced by Tuci with 17 being the only double digit scorer for the MVille. Wilkes was led by Evans and Robinson with 16 and 14 respectively. MVille will travel to DeSales and then will host King's. Wilkes will host DVU and then host Eastern this week.


Current Standings:

DeSales
Miseri
Wilkes
DVU
Eastern
MVille
FDU
King's


Wednesday predictions:

Kings 68 FDU 63

DeSales 83 MVille 59

Miseri 74 Eastern 69

DVU 77 Wilkes 68

Saturday predictions:

Miseri 84 DVU 71

Wilkes 77 Eastern  73

MVille 67 King's 60

DSU 88 vs FDU 69

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I'm reading, CCHoopster.

[CCHoopster]

Interesting night for the Freedom. I went 2-2 on predictions. Batting .500 will get you in the HOF in baseball 

Quick Recap:

DeSales another win as expected over MVille.

Del Val with a slight surprise win on the road at Wilkes.

Eastern with a BIG win at home vs Misericordia- Anyone know why Hawk and Kenny did not play?

FDU over Kings.

Current Standings:

DeSales 3-0
DVU 2-1
Eastern 2-1
FDU 2-1
Misericordia 1-2
Wilkes 1-2
MVill 1-2
Kings 0-3

Saturday's Contests Predictions:


Miseri 84 DVU 71: DVU not deep enough to play with Misericordia. Mis is coming off back to back losses and will be primed for a BIG game vs the team who knocked them out last year. Would not want to be DVU.

Wilkes 77 Eastern  73: Let down game for Eastern after a huge OT win.

MVille 67 King's 60: King's is toast if they drop this which they will.

DSU 88 vs FDU 69: I don't see DeSales losing right now to anyone. They are not perfect but compared to the league, the best by far.

[kate]

Final score from Dallas DVU 83/Misericordia 70!  Nice road win Aggies!

[CCHoopster]

Rank these surprises through 4 games:

DVU 3-1 with rookie coach
FDU 3-1
Mis 1-3

[jmcozenlaw]

Rank these surprises through 4 games:

DVU 3-1 with rookie coach
FDU 3-1
Mis 1-3

1. King's (0-4) and Wilkes (1-3) are my co-#1 surprises so far given where they were picked by the coaches. The Fazzini brothers (King's) have been vital cogs forever and are doing nothing so far, having zero to do with injuries. Wilkes returned a boatload including the best backcourt (Robinson and Evans) in the conference last year.
2. FDU at 3-1 is a very close second to what is happening up in Wilkes Barre (granted that it's only through four games)
3. The fact that DeSales has lost a game in the first four is my #3 surprise. Returned seven of our top eight scorers/players from last year (lost only Cody Deal) from the regular season #1 team. We won't lose more than 1 more in the regular season

- The Misericordia record doesn't surprise me at all as they have played two full games and a third partial game without last year's MAC Rookie of the Year and this year's leading scorer in the MAC (Kenny) as well as their lane clogging 6'10" center (Hawk). Both will be ready to come back this week some time.

- The DelVal record doesn't surprise me as the wins are over the underperforming King's and Wilkes teams........and the injured Misericordia team. Losing two players at the semester break killed them and they are basically now a 5 man team (I told you that regardless of what was found on the internet.........Paulson and Stoeckel weren't going to add much) with literally no depth. Before those two losses, I mentioned that the new coach was going to need a miraculous recruiting season come Spring and now given that those two losses were underclassmen, he has exactly three players back for next year who can play at this level. He now needs 5-6 immediate impact players for 2017-2018. It will be hard to pull that off in one recruiting class.

I've got DeSales winning the conference by 3 games. If Kenny and Hawk come back this week and stay healthy, I see Misericordia squeezing into the #2 spot. While I know that they are right there through four games, I don't see Manhattanville in the mix at the end. King's is in deep doo doo.

That leaves FDU, Eastern, Wilkes and DelVal fighting for spots three and four.

I'm going to give the #3 spot to Eastern. Size, athleticism, experience (Turk seems as if he's been around for a decade) and depth. I see them with the #4 seed at worst.

Now to the #4. Wilkes has dug a little hole for themselves but the coaches liked them and you were thinking of making them the #2 preseason. Having played FDU, it would be too easy to just hand them the #4 and walk away. I'm still not sure about them. As for DelVal, the record is very deceiving given who they've beaten..............but they did win the games. Having literally only five guys who can play and the depth issues with foul trouble and/or getting gassed, I just don't see it. I'm actually going to go with FDU.

Now, I will say this. DelVal is 3-1 with Manhattanville at home on Wednesday, followed by a tough back to back at FDU and then at Eastern. If they go 2-1 in those games and finish the first half 5-2.............with four home games in the final seven (and no MAC Freedom gym comes remotely close to rocking like James Work due to the university having both supportive football and wrestling teams as well as a supportive community, unlike most of the other MAC Freedom schools.......we hate playing meaningful games there........got lucky this year as their students were on Christmas break and the place was dead). I could see them finishing the second half at 4-3 to give them a 9-5 conference record.

If that happens (1) they might very well get the #4 seed and (2) as you remember me saying right before the season started.........if a new coach, hired in mid-July, without any chance to recruit, and losing the three studs that were coming in if not for the coaching change AND now after losing his two solid bench players after the first semester, can take this team to the playoffs........he had better be the runaway, unanimous selection for MAC Freedom Coach of the Year, as the team was picked 6th by the coaches, before they lost the only bench players on the roster. It might be the easiest COY pick in conference history! 

[CCHoopster]

I don't 100% agree but I am agreeing with 95% of this. Thanks for the input JM, some great stuff! I disagree that 9-5 gets fourth place. I can see 7-7, 8-6 as enough for fourth with tiebreakers the decision maker. DeSales will be the clear cut winner... Mis will not be able to capture the #2 seed, no chance. Mis, DVU, FDU will compete for #3 and #4. Which means Eastern looks like (in my mind) a candidate for #2. DVU is the wild card. With a 3-1 start they may be able to do enough to get in the playoffs. Yes, this guy should easily be COY if they make the playoffs.

[CCHoopster]

Additional point: Mis had Eastern beat at Eastern and let it go. Mis missed free throws in the final 12 seconds. This was without Kenny and Hawk. DVU was in control at Mis for 35 of 40 minutes. Says more of DVU than Eastern, no?

Let's say Mis gets swept by DeSales, which is possible. That's 9-5 at best and that would be them going 8-2 to finish. They have no room for error. They MUST beat Eastern, DVU, FDU, next time around.... thinking tie breakers already for them.

Last night I mentioned Eastern as the #2 in my head. I don't think DVU can get to #2... especially with NO depth and the HC having no experience in clutch games down the stretch. I should have given FDU more respect, consideration for #2.... why not?

Let's keep the chatter up!