MBB: MAC Freedom League

[CCHoopster]

Another 16 hour shift on a Saturday means another day of watching games and a prediction showing of 2-2 for me on my predictions. I'll keep my day job and not become a pro gambler!

DeSales with a strong road win over Eastern. The Bulldogs and Mis are starting to heat up. Could be bad news for the two teams currently atop the conference. I think the winner of Misericordia v DeSales round 2 will be the top seed. Loser the 2 seed and DVU/Eastern winner when they play next the 3 seed with the(loser taking the final seed, #4.

Misericordia trounced over Florham. See above comment.

Del Val beats Wilkes, being up 13-18 most of the second half. DVU could be really good if they had anything off of the bench. They just can not get production where other teams have guys coming off the bench and leading them in some games. Looks like DVU will be a playoff team, one and done at best most likely.

King's beats MVille behind great shooting and work off the bench.

End of season predictions:

1- Misericordia
2- DeSales
3- Eastern
4- DVU
5- FDU
6- Wilkes
7- MVille
8- Kings-

Wednesday Game/Predictions:

DeSales 82 at Manhattanville 67
FDU 69 vs Wilkes 65
DVU 77 at Kings 65
Misericordia 99 vs Eastern 82

[CCHoopster]

JM since there is no action on this board , hoping you or Dave M can stop by for some thoughts. Eastern and DVU sit at 6-2. Mis/DU sit tied at 5-3. To this point, your biggest surprise? DVU, Eastern or something else...

Player of the year?

Rookie of the year?

Coach of the year?

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]

Sorry, I should offer my own opinions first.

POY- KENNY from Mis.

ROY- HARDING from Mis

Coach- DVU (If and only if they finish top two)

Thoughts?

[gordonmann]

Kenny or Kimbrough seem like the leaders for Player of the Year. If Miseri or Del Val wins the conference, that probably seals it for one of them. Personally I like that Kimbrough has played more minutes to this point, but Miseri is a better team with Kenny back after missing a couple games.

Rookie of the Year: Yeah, definitely Harding. Top 10 in both scoring and rebounding

Coach of the Year: Assuming it's not just the head coach of whoever wins the regular season, I'd go either Seidenberg or McNelley at Eastern.

[CCHoopster]

I could see Turk being POY if Eastern finishes 1. That would be something if DVU had POY and COY after being picked 6th. And would be just as "something" (LOL) if Mis had POY and ROY. Future is BRIGHT in Dallas, PA... Kenny definitely makes Misericodia a different team.

[CCHoopster]

Eastern with a GREAT win at Misericordia. Turk with 23 and making a case for POY. Unless they crumble, Eastern coach is COY.

Del Val came back in the final 3 minutes down 8-10 to win by 3. Got lucky. Pretty impressive showinbfor the Aggies at 7-2 with a tie for first (second due to tiebreaker). Kudos to the new head coach and players.

DeSales is heating up. I believe they have won 5 of 7. Conference is tough when DU is in third and Mis in 4th. These guys can definitely win the league.

Wilkes with a much needed win at Manhattanville. If DVU can win Saturday vs Eastern, Wilkes will find themselves in the mix for that 4th spot.

Saturday Games:

Wilkes 72 MVille 66
Eastern 85 Kings 64
Mis 79 DVU 68
DeSales 77 FDU 62

[kate]

Aggie theme song should be Takin Care of Business!  Manhattanville, FDU, Eastern and DeSales left on the schedule - GOOD LUCK Men!!!

[CCHoopster]

Kate, that's a good one; Eastern could share in the theme too. This time of year is crazy for sure- DeSales is lurking with eyes on the top seed. They have the tie breaker over both DVU and Eastern being 3-0 vs those two with one game remaining, senior day at that, with DVU. It looks like Eastern, DVU and DeSales will be in the playoffs. I don't see Wilkes outlasting Mis.

My playoff prediction:

1- Eastern
2- DeSales
3- DVU
4- Mis

A few thoughts on the league:

-Del Val ends the season with Eastern and DeSales which is the toughest ending of any team (toughest of final two games).
-I don't think they can go 3-1 or 4-0 which they would need to do to get a home playoff game
-Eastern is the real deal this year and that coach is doing a great job! Coach of the year?
-DVU coach has been a miracle worker, legit miracle worker- coach of the year? NO BENCH, limited experience of starting 5 returning only two guys who saw double digit minutes on average last season and having lost 2 of top 7 players at semester break along with taking over a program with super high expectations. Should be COY in my opinion.
-DeSales seems to be ready to get to form at the right time winning 4 of 6. They need to make a run since they lose so much this year having 6 seniors, 4 of whom are impact players (Laird, Bridy, Callahan, Slanger)... Changing of the guard at DU
-Mis is falling apart. While it's great to score the ball, you have to be able to defend, which they do not do a great job of. They can definitely score it, but you got to stop it too. They return everyone but Hawk and Sponaugle and Rivera is better than Hawk so they will be fine for the next few years.
-Wilkes is the best of the bottom 4 teams. I just don't see them winning more games than Mis having DeSales, Mis and Eastern left.

What do I know, I am usually only 50/50 on my predictions. Got to love D3Hoops and this time of year!

[kate]

Aggie Men lose by five tonight up at Purchase.  Manhattanville 75 - Del Val 70.  Playing FDU on Saturday at home, Eastern Tuesday night at home, and the final regular season game with DeSales at Center Valley.  Should be a wild finish.

[lefty2]

CC,

Did you catch either of the Luzerne County thrillers last night - King's at Misericordia or DeSales at Wilkes?

I think I figured out which team your nephew plays (dresses) for.

[CCHoopster]

Unfortunately I did not. Both great contests all the way to the end. Kings has been playing so well and Wilkes probably had a hard time sleeping last night. Teams like DeSales always find ways to win.

Congrats to Eastern and DVU for clinching playoff spots. Impressive for the DVU first year HC to take this team to the playoffs. Also, congrats to the Eatern coach in his first year without the interim tag - smart hires by both.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The focus of Division III basketball now turns towards the second Regional Rankings. At the same time, conference regular seasons are wrapping up and the pressure of conference tournaments is increasing.

Teams are still trying to jockey themselves for the chance to keep playing in March, but sometimes focusing on March causes teams to lose focus of the next game. Upsets and trip-ups seem to happen often once Regional Rankings start coming out.

On Sunday night's Hoopsville, Dave chats with teams who are hoping to remain on top of their conference standings and thus eventually punch their ticket automatically to the NCAA tournament. But what about the distractions? What about the pressures? Or has it become somewhat routine for some teams?

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio starting at 7:00 PM ET LIVE. You can watch the show on the official show page here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2016-17/feb12 ... or you can watch the live simulcast on Facebook Live. If you miss the show, you can catch-up on Demand or listen to the podcasts (which will be uploaded at the conclusion of the show).

A reminder the Sunday edition of Hoopsville primarily covers the Northeast, Atlantic, South, and Central regions, but we will answer any questions about all of Division III throughout the show. You can also send your questions to the show and have them featured on the Hoopsville Mailbag segment. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com.

And please consider helping Hoopsville stay on the air like you might help your public television station. The annual fundraising campaign has less than three weeks remaining, but we are no where close to reaching our goal. Click here for more information: Hoopsville Fundraising Page

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Mark Edwards, No. 5 Washington Univ. men's coach
- Mitch Oliver, Albertus Magnus men's coach
- Judy Blinstrub, Babson women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Darrin Travillian, Maryville (Tenn.) women's coach
- Eric McNelley, Eastern men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
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[kate]

Tie for first place in the MAC Freedom!  For the Aggies there's one regular season game left, with DeSales on Saturday afternoon.  If they win that one, they'll have home court advantage in the play-offs!!!  The double header starts at 1 in Center Valley and the guys play at 3.  Great win over Eastern last night, Men - solid way to celebrate Senior night!

[kate]

Home court advantage for the Aggies in the play-offs starting Wednesday night.  Our opponent is - DeSales!  Check the website for the starting time.  Nice win to end the regular season today, Aggies!!!  Congratulations!!! One game at a time!!!

[CCHoopster]

Shocked that DVU pulled off the #1 seed. Could it be a magician season?

Playoff predictions:

DeSalles 79 DVU 73
Mis 88 Eastern 79

Mis 91 DeSales 77

Mis to the dance. Offensive firepower can get it done  this time of year and that's what Mis has.