MBB: MAC Freedom League

[MACfan08]

Here are some early overviews of this up coming season as I see it right now.  Have spent a lot of time watching the MAC the past couple years and figured I would join the board to give my input with whatever it might be.  Really looking forward to this new league and the teams that will come in hopefully they don't hate it as much as Manhattenville does after one season and loosing like they did last year in the playoffs with a great team.  Well below are my first 5 teams I have over viewed. 

Wilkes- To me are going to be the pre-season favorites.  Return a lot of guys only loosing one player is Matt Gould who only averaged about 9 points per game and had 87 assist on the year.  He was a leader kind of guy and played great defense but I look for Gulla to take over his role as point guard and really make this team better.  Wilkes will have a great force inside and will dominate games inside the paint if they are coached right. With a lot of returners I do not really even need to ask about who they might have brought in this year as a freshman but if a freshman is getting on the court with this team then he is going to have to be a standout player.  Also, lets not forget that Cable will be joining the team this year as well and will add another deep threat to the team.  I look for Wilkes to Win the MAC but if they do not have the right mind set could loose it. 

Alvernia-  New to the MAC and coming from the PAC went 16-11 last year losing in the second round of the conference tournament.  They are not losing anyone on the team they did not have one senior last year and when looking at who they played last year that will now be in the MAC they were 6-0 so that looks pretty promising.  Alvernia is going to bring a little different style in with a lot of run and gun and a little more street ball kind of mind set.  They have an out standing player returning in Shawell who averaged 21 points and 6 rebound so an all around player that might be the best player in the league and will contend for player of the year.  Look for Alvernia to come into the MAC and make some noise plus it is a tough gym to play in they normally bring a decent crowd and it can get loud. 

DeSales-  Desales might surprise some teams this year considering they lost two main parts to their team.  Loosing Ohlson and Stricker will hurt them early in the year but I think with the coaching they have will bounce back and really be ready to contend come league play.  Ohlson was a great leader to the team and set up guys to score and Stricker was a great inside presents and always needed a double team in big situations.  But DeSales does return Braswell and Lapinski and Zwetolitz who will really be looked to lead this team.  Also, I have heard rumors that DeSales picked up a transfer from division 1. If this is true this could be the missing piece to them getting back to the championship game in the MAC.  I am looking for Braswell to have a break out year and it is really going to be his team this year and he will be given an opportunity to really open things up.  But I think this comes down to coaching and DeSales has a great staff and will really get the most out of their kids and will prepare them very well. 

King's- This was the hardest one to predict because you just do not know.  They loose 9 seniors which is pretty much their whole team.  They will be loosing 3 of 5 starters in Cousart, Scalzo, and Soboleski.  They also loose three great threats off the bench in Dwebeng, Welsh, and Nenstiel.  They will be loosing about 80 to 85 percent of their scoring and are going to need guys to step up.  Also, heard a rumor that Hacker the freshman who started last year has been suspended by the school for the first semester for off court reasons.  So they will need 4 fresh guys to start this year and will lack experience.  Look for Schule, Conroy, Brasky, and possibly Gilmartin to fill some of those missing pieces.  Also, I have heard the big recruit J.P. Landed was McGowan Chad's brother so that could be another piece that we do not know about yet.  But in the end look for Andrejko to do what he does best and that is coach.  He will coach this team to a playoff spot and will make his team compete like always.  King's will finish in the fourth spot and travel to Wilkes for the first round and you never know what can happen with that. 

Del Val- Look for the Aggies to really be a lot better this year with a new coach in there.  Stitzel is coming from a very good year at a local high school and also has experience playing and coaching at Widener. Talk to a few guys that said he was out and about this summer working very hard to recruit guys for this year and have said he got a couple good players to come and will have a competitive team this year to put on the court. This is a team that I am picking as my sleeper. 

The rest of the teams I really have not done enough research on but once I do I will put as much as I can on here for people to see and add onto it.  Should be a very interesting year in the MAC very wide open in my mind and besides possibly Wilkes everyone is going to be fighting for a playoff spot every night there are no easy games on the schedule.   

[hoopzwiz]

Thats good stuff.  Can't take umbrage with anything you said. 
I've seen Alvernia over the years - they could be very good and Shawell is as tough a matchup as there is.  To big for guards to cover, to athletic and skilled on the perimeter for bigs to check.  I would say he's the favorite for POY.

Keep an eye on their roster, they always seem to have one or two good young players that might not fit academically at other schools but can really play.

[ColonelJohn4Life]

Thank you to the scheduling gods.  Wilkes plays Susquehanna IN Selinsgrove, giving me a chance, or an excuse, to check out Selin's Grove brewery.  And Wilkes's last game is against Lebanon Valley IN Annville, the home of Pizza Summit III and the great Warren Thompson.  Great schedule for those of us down-state.

MAC Fan 08, I agree with ya on a lot of that.  Just a quick point.  What are you gonna do in 4 months when it's no longer '08??  Just puttin in out there...

[MACfan08]

Ahhhh its ok the 08 will just let us all remember the year i joined with my great input.  Does anyone have any information on the remaining teams that i did not include.

Mahantenville is just going to be impossible to predict. Like King's they lost a lot of their starters and their team in general.  I really have no clue where they get their kids from or anything since last year was their first year in the league.  I see them bringing in some good freshman to fill the voids on the team and they will compete. They also will fair well because they will win just about every home game up there in that place they call a gym but i will admit it gives the a very big advantage. 

What about... Misericordia, Eastern, Cabrini, FDU?

[hoopzwiz]

Unless something has changed....Cabrini is still one of the few teams to have remained in the CSAC(formerly the PAC).

Eastern is always tough, especially in there gym.  Tough place to play, similar to Manhattanville, its a great home court advantage.  Not a nice place.....but a tough place.

[MACfan08]

Yeah Cabrini is still in the CSAC i made a mistake there... what does eastern have coming back???

[hoopzwiz]

Don't know their roster real well but based on their website they only lost a couple guys.  Flanagan looks like a key loss.  They seem to like their recruits as well based on the story they posted on their website.

[lefty2]

Has any school ever posted a release saying they didn't like their recruiting class?

[hoopzwiz]

Touche'.

[Pat Coleman]

Has any school ever posted a release saying they didn't like their recruiting class?

[lefty2]

Touche'.

Are they D-III?

[Leo The Lion]

New coach in DelVal?  I'm going to miss Surovec calling all of his timeouts when his team's down thirty late in the second half.

Also, you heard it here first, I predict that Ian Gilmartin has saved his best for last.

MACFan08, you are a true gentleman and scholar, a compliment that I do not give out too often. 

[daman2010]

A team that will be strong in the MAC in 2008-2009 will be Manhattanville... if you seen this team last year they had this 6'6 big man always around the team but never played.Well I seen him play this summer up in NYC streetball tournaments. From what I learned he was hurt all of the 2007-2008 season. But now he is better and when I seen him play I said dame this kid is good. He can jump, he's smart also he post game is something to watch.  What he was doing to the best players in NYC was jaw dropping. I learned his name excuse me if I spell it wrong Fabrizzio Leroy but everyone was calling him Just FAB. Also they have a D1 transfer from FDU very smart point guard.

[lefty2]

daman,

I thought you might be referring to yourself, but I guess you would've been able to spell your name correctly.

[MACfan08]

Sounds like Manhattenville will be tough then we all know a good big man and point guard combo can take you a long way just look at King's last year Cousart and Soboleski carried that team down the stretch and did what they needed to do.  I just think Manhattenville has the biggest advantage in the league with the home court.  It is very likely for a team to go into Wilkes or Kings or Desales and get a W but to go up to Manhattenville and get a win the in the always loud and crazy shoe box is just going to be hard I think.  Should be interesting I just hope the coach can get the most out of his kids because I still think he needs to prove him self with the way last year ended.

Well we are less then a month away and hopefully teams are starting to really get their stuff together and should be having a lot of preseason workouts going on by now.  Going to be an interesting year in the MAC I just do not see a team running away with it this year.