MBB: MAC Freedom League

[Greek Tragedy]

I think the 1st baseball national title from Pennsylvania?? I thought I read something like that.

[lefty2]

Yes, first D-III champion from PA.

https://www.d3baseball.com/playoffs/all-time

[Stretch4]

A few surprises and observations for MAC Freedom fans on the 24-25 rosters that may be of interest.
- Arcadia roster shows All-Conference guard Nas Johnson and starting guard Darius Isaac as "INJ". I assume this means they are out for the season. If that is the case, Arcadia will likely struggle to score with their two leading returning scorers down. These injuries may significantly impact their placement in the standings.
- DeSales is loaded with newcomers. 9 freshman and 4 junior transfers. The question of whether or not any of their seniors from last year who still had eligibility would return appears to have been answered - none of them returned. 3 junior transfers are from D2 Kutztown U, so I assume the expectations are high for these 3. How fast they all gel, and who takes on what roles, are questions we will see answered in the non-conference portion of the schedule.
- Stevens lost last season's conference rookie of the year Xander Singh as he transferred out and is apparently no longer playing college basketball. However, Stevens did add two grad transfers who will make a certain impact and do return another two year starter grad student along with their all-region, 2x DPOY and 2x first team all conference big man.
- Misericordia returns all-region and 2x first team all conference wing Lazdowsky. He was rumored to have been in the transfer portal. I'm sure coach Chandler is thrilled to have him back as they basically lost all of their other key players from last year. A lot of opportunities here for some younger players to step up.
- Kings returns 4 out of 5 starters and all key guys from their bench. I am sure expectations are high as they look to challenge for a conference playoff berth.
- Maybe not a surprise, but Del Val appears to have turned over a significant portion of their roster again. Freshman leading scorer Dearry is no longer with the team, which is a huge blow for them. Several transfers and many new faces.

Looking forward to the season and wishing for a healthy and prosperous season for all.

[jmcozenlaw]

A few surprises and observations for MAC Freedom fans on the 24-25 rosters that may be of interest.
- Arcadia roster shows All-Conference guard Nas Johnson and starting guard Darius Isaac as "INJ". I assume this means they are out for the season. If that is the case, Arcadia will likely struggle to score with their two leading returning scorers down. These injuries may significantly impact their placement in the standings.
- DeSales is loaded with newcomers. 9 freshman and 4 junior transfers. The question of whether or not any of their seniors from last year who still had eligibility would return appears to have been answered - none of them returned. 3 junior transfers are from D2 Kutztown U, so I assume the expectations are high for these 3. How fast they all gel, and who takes on what roles, are questions we will see answered in the non-conference portion of the schedule.
- Stevens lost last season's conference rookie of the year Xander Singh as he transferred out and is apparently no longer playing college basketball. However, Stevens did add two grad transfers who will make a certain impact and do return another two year starter grad student along with their all-region, 2x DPOY and 2x first team all conference big man.
- Misericordia returns all-region and 2x first team all conference wing Lazdowsky. He was rumored to have been in the transfer portal. I'm sure coach Chandler is thrilled to have him back as they basically lost all of their other key players from last year. A lot of opportunities here for some younger players to step up.
- Kings returns 4 out of 5 starters and all key guys from their bench. I am sure expectations are high as they look to challenge for a conference playoff berth.
- Maybe not a surprise, but Del Val appears to have turned over a significant portion of their roster again. Freshman leading scorer Dearry is no longer with the team, which is a huge blow for them. Several transfers and many new faces.

Looking forward to the season and wishing for a healthy and prosperous season for all.

Nobody has cornered the market on D2 transfers over the pat 15 years like Coval and DeSales. They should win the MAC this year going away. We say that every year.........and then come the MAC Playoffs!

[Greek Tragedy]

https://gomacsports.com/news/2024/10/21/stevens-picked-as-favorite-in-mac-freedom-mens-basketball-coaches-preseason-poll.aspx

Coaches have Stevens.

[d3hoopstories]

Congratulations to Jack Spellman of Stevens on scoring his 1000th point in an impressive win over Scranton last night. Mike Goodall led the way with a career high 30 points.

Ducks head to NJCU on Wednesday night. Knights shot 58 free throws (not a typo) in last night's home win over DelVal, which was called for 39 fouls. In 40 minutes. Absurd. I know their gym has always been overly friendly to the home team, but come on...

[d3hoopstories]

Misericordia picked up a good win over Swarthmore last night. Prociak and Lazdowsky were dominant, getting to the foul line repeatedly, especially in the second half. Swarthmore could not get closer than 8 points, despite hitting 10 3's in the game.

If Misericordia gets a bit of help from its backcourt, it can compete with the best teams in the league. Weise has been particularly impressive, averaging 6 rebounds and 5 assists on top of his 6.6 ppg. The Cougars are holding opponents to just 40% shooting from INSIDE the arc.

I suspect they will beat Alvernia at home this Saturday. The game at CNU on 12/29 will provide a very good barometer.

[Stretch4]

Misericordia has indeed been a bit of a surprise so far. With 4 starters and their first guy off the bench all graduated, I expected a significant step back from them. Credit to Coach Chandler and his team for embracing the opportunity. I loved the win over Swat. As Centennial Conference fans know all too well, Kosmalski is one arrogant guy. So, seeing his team go down to a "lowly" MAC Freedom team was just enjoyable. Favorite part of the broadcast was hearing the Mis announcer call him "Larry" instead of Landry.

[d3hoopstories]

Tough day for the league yesterday, with MACF teams going 1-7.

The biggest surprise was Lebanon Valley losing a home game to Stevenson. The Dutchmen committed 19 turnovers and shot just 34%. Still, they led by 3 with under seven minutes to play. Evan Smith was subbed out with the score knotted at 42 and 5:17 to play and LVC promptly gave up a 13-7 run.

DeSales lost a tough one to Hood, just three days after dropping a two-point game to Widener. The Bulldogs led by 7 with 2:34 left but went 0-3 with 3 turnovers the rest of the way. They hit 14 3's, usually enough to win, but committed 17 turnovers. Their margin for error to contend for an at-large bid is gone. They will need to go 3-0 against solid opponents (Mary Wash, Gettysburg and TCNJ) between Dec 28 and Jan 4.

Preseason favorite Stevens dominated Widener, keyed by a 21-6 run to open the second half. The Ducks have a ton of weapons surrounding all-American Jack Spellman, who is averaging 13 & 13, with 4 blocks per game. Maddison and Goodall are 46-90 from deep in 8 games, so defenses will have to pick their poison. Their only two losses are to Catholic and Middlebury, which would both be NCAA tourney teams if the season ended today.

As of now, Massey Ratings has this as a two-horse race between Stevens and DeSales, with Lebanon Valley, Misericordia and Arcadia battling for the other spots in the conference semi-finals. One other note - as of this morning, only Stevens is above 53 in the NPI, so there would be no bonus attached to any win against a conference opponent for the Ducks. They'll be pulling for MACF teams to do well in their remaining out-of-conference games.

[Stretch4]

Great basketball this past Friday and Saturday at the Stevens Holiday tournament in Hoboken that seemed to fly a bit under the radar with the D3 basketball "experts". Four great teams and several All-American level players . All four teams (Hamilton, Stevens, York PA, and Oswego) are teams you can certainly see playing in the NCAA tournament this year. What I found very interesting is that of the four, Oswego clearly gets the most respect on a national level given their success over the past 15 years and particularly over the last 3 years. However, based on what I watched, Oswego was without question the number 4 team in this group right now (they will probably win something like 14 of the next 16 and take the SUNYAC given I just said this).

Hamilton is a really good team with great experience, size and a much stronger bench than they get credit for. Their team and their star player Hank Morgan definitely deserve a bit more respect than they get from the NESCAC posters on these boards. Morgan was extremely impressive. Plays with tremendous confidence and can really score the ball. I'm sure they may drop a few games playing the brutal NESCAC schedule, but I expect this team to be right there with the NESCAC elite come the end of the season.

Stevens is the MAC Freedom favorite and is also a really tough team with great defense, balanced scoring and an interior defender and rebounder in Jack Spellman that is probably second to none in the country (I was shocked to see four different Hamilton players at 6'7" or taller not even attempt a shot from inside five feet when he was anywhere near them). They lost to Hamilton by 11 but the game was much closer than that as Hamilton used a 3 minute period during the middle of the second half with Spellman on the bench to outscore Stevens 11-2. Stevens then turned around and dominated Oswego in a game that was much more lopsided than the 15 point victory indicated.

York PA is also a very good team who should without question make a strong run for the MAC Commonwealth title and NCAA berth. A bit undersized but they are well coached, very aggressive and really play well as a collective unit. Rugged 6'4" Kai Cipalla is an absolute force on the floor. He gets anywhere he wants to go on the floor and defends taller players very effectively.

Great weekend of basketball in Hoboken. Congrats to Hamilton on winning the tournament, and kudos to Stevens for putting on a great event.

[stlawus]

Great basketball this past Friday and Saturday at the Stevens Holiday tournament in Hoboken that seemed to fly a bit under the radar with the D3 basketball "experts". Four great teams and several All-American level players . All four teams (Hamilton, Stevens, York PA, and Oswego) are teams you can certainly see playing in the NCAA tournament this year. What I found very interesting is that of the four, Oswego clearly gets the most respect on a national level given their success over the past 15 years and particularly over the last 3 years. However, based on what I watched, Oswego was without question the number 4 team in this group right now (they will probably win something like 14 of the next 16 and take the SUNYAC given I just said this).

Hamilton is a really good team with great experience, size and a much stronger bench than they get credit for. Their team and their star player Hank Morgan definitely deserve a bit more respect than they get from the NESCAC posters on these boards. Morgan was extremely impressive. Plays with tremendous confidence and can really score the ball. I'm sure they may drop a few games playing the brutal NESCAC schedule, but I expect this team to be right there with the NESCAC elite come the end of the season.

Stevens is the MAC Freedom favorite and is also a really tough team with great defense, balanced scoring and an interior defender and rebounder in Jack Spellman that is probably second to none in the country (I was shocked to see four different Hamilton players at 6'7" or taller not even attempt a shot from inside five feet when he was anywhere near them). They lost to Hamilton by 11 but the game was much closer than that as Hamilton used a 3 minute period during the middle of the second half with Spellman on the bench to outscore Stevens 11-2. Stevens then turned around and dominated Oswego in a game that was much more lopsided than the 15 point victory indicated.

York PA is also a very good team who should without question make a strong run for the MAC Commonwealth title and NCAA berth. A bit undersized but they are well coached, very aggressive and really play well as a collective unit. Rugged 6'4" Kai Cipalla is an absolute force on the floor. He gets anywhere he wants to go on the floor and defends taller players very effectively.

Great weekend of basketball in Hoboken. Congrats to Hamilton on winning the tournament, and kudos to Stevens for putting on a great event.

Oswego got the most national attention because they are 87-9 post covid and 55-2 in league play.  A sweet 16 and elite 8 appearance (one possession away from the final 4) in that time period.  None of the other programs in that tournament have matched that.   Oswego was most assuredly the lesser of the teams performance wise this past weekend.  Didn't help that their sole returning starter from last year was injured most of the weekend, but they had to replace a ton of 5th years from last year's squad that played together for most of their career. I wouldn't expect them to blaze through everyone this year in non-conference play. 

York looked like a team that could beat anyone.  They beat Stockton earlier in the year and pretty much dominated Oswego for 40 minutes.  Stevens has the size to compete with anyone, and Hamilton has very excellent coaching. I fully agree that it was a very good weekend of high level and entertaining basketball.

[jmcozenlaw]

Misericordia picked up a good win over Swarthmore last night. Prociak and Lazdowsky were dominant, getting to the foul line repeatedly, especially in the second half. Swarthmore could not get closer than 8 points, despite hitting 10 3's in the game.

If Misericordia gets a bit of help from its backcourt, it can compete with the best teams in the league. Weise has been particularly impressive, averaging 6 rebounds and 5 assists on top of his 6.6 ppg. The Cougars are holding opponents to just 40% shooting from INSIDE the arc.

I suspect they will beat Alvernia at home this Saturday. The game at CNU on 12/29 will provide a very good barometer.

I don't know if last night was a one off, but DelVal had a shocking win at a much hyped Misericordia. Pair was a beast with 19 boards and Redding went 8-9 from three......an insane percentage. Maybe, just maybe, the team picked near the bottom of the conference can battle for the 4th playoff spot. Losing Dearry was a blow indeed, as well as losing Savage to Gwynedd Mercy, but ya never know. I know that I can't stand the transfer portal and this grad student situation with playing down a level for a year stinks to high heaven. I really thought that the portal would really only affect D1, but it's stench is firmly interwoven at the D3 level as well. See Stevens this year in the MACF and the national champs, North Central, in football. I wish that Pandora's Box was never opened!!

[Stretch4]

The grad student vs non-grad student advantage is not always what it is perceived. In the MACF lets take Stevens and Del Val. Stevens has 3 23 year old grad students on their team all who are HS class of 2020. One has been at Stevens since day one, another transferred this season from Colby, and a third transferred this season from Vassar. Two played zero games and one played three games during the 20-21 season. So, all legitimately using the COVID year. By comparison Del Val has no grad students listed on the roster. However, they have a 5th year soon to be 24 year old senior who spent two years at two different jucos, and now in his third year at Del Val, another 23 year old 5th year senior who has been at Del Val since 2020 (who played 10 games for Del Val during the 20-21 season), two 22 year old juniors HS class of 2021 on their third and fourth schools respectively, and finally a 23 year old junior HS class of 2020 on his third school. From an age and playing experience perspective, the grad school option is not providing any advantage here when you look at these two rosters.

[jmcozenlaw]

The grad student vs non-grad student advantage is not always what it is perceived. In the MACF lets take Stevens and Del Val. Stevens has 3 23 year old grad students on their team all who are HS class of 2020. One has been at Stevens since day one, another transferred this season from Colby, and a third transferred this season from Vassar. Two played zero games and one played three games during the 20-21 season. So, all legitimately using the COVID year. By comparison Del Val has no grad students listed on the roster. However, they have a 5th year soon to be 24 year old senior who spent two years at two different jucos, and now in his third year at Del Val, another 23 year old 5th year senior who has been at Del Val since 2020 (who played 10 games for Del Val during the 20-21 season), two 22 year old juniors HS class of 2021 on their third and fourth schools respectively, and finally a 23 year old junior HS class of 2020 on his third school. From an age and playing experience perspective, the grad school option is not providing any advantage here when you look at these two rosters.

Although, I will take the grad student and their basketball track record over most similarly aged, much traveled, players 8 or 9 times out of 10. Stevens had a grad transfer from Scranton last year, Stephen Braunstein, who was a stud at Scranton and was a freshman in 2019. My guess is that he was at least 23 years old in his 5th season and was a quality player from the time he stepped on to the court at Scranton.

Stretch, you seemed to have a feel for Misericordia. Was the home game against DelVal simply a one off, given how Misericordia beat two teams (Centenary and Rosemont) by 30+ points, that DelVal barely beat..............in addition to beating Swat by double digits, or does DelVal have a prayer to compete for the 4th seed (giving the top 3 to Stevens, Arcadia and DeSales/Miser)?

[Stretch4]

To me Misericordia is very interesting. They had 5 5th year guys move on after last season and I expected them to take a significant step back this season (of course they still have POY Lazdowsky). However, from what I have watched this year they seem to be playing more cohesive than last year. So I was honestly surprised by their non-conference results. I don't put too much stock into the Centenary and Rosemont games. But I did watch their win over Swat and without question Mis was the better team that night. Depth may be a concern for Mis. They probably can't afford to have either Lazdowsky or Prociak have an off night. I do think Del Val has a chance to compete for a playoff spot. With a lot of mystery around their roster, I feel the coaches poll probably underrated Del Val a bit. Pair, Redding, Herrin, Gombs are all tough players who will continue to gain confidence if they perform a bit more consistently and rattle off a few more conference wins. I believe their next three games are all at home, so there is definitely an opportunity for them to make an early statement in the conference.