MBB: MAC Freedom League

MACfan08 · November 24, 2008, 02:18:07 PM

Speaking to someone that is a wilkes fan told me one thing about this team that he notices and u sumed the game up in one word. So i asked him what would that be and he goes heart. he went on to tell me how this team just doesnt have heart they accept what is giving to them and they do not try to take anything away from anyone. As i said in my earlier post they are not a very good defensive team and when they are not able to put up 90 plus points they may lose a lot of games. Being their next game is at susquehanna and i actually made it down there this past saturday to watch them play kings i think this is going to be a tough match up for wilkes as well. They have two guards that are very quick off the dribble and can get to the basket whenever they want and also they are huge inside. To me susquhanna's bigs will keep wilkes bigs in check and its going to come down to the guard and i just dont see wilkes guard playing good enough defense on them.

Now as i said i was at the king's susquhanna game and wow thats just about all i can say. This king's team is not like any other in the past four years. They may not have all the talent in the world like JP is use to but i will tell you one thing they have heart and they play defense. King's guys diving all over the floor winning every loose ball getting 35 second shot clock violations numerous times in the game and getting big stops at the end and in overtime is what won them this game. They are now 4-0 to start the year best start in 4 years for kings and if i recall 4 years ago it was a bunch of freshman that got them to the elite eight with some help of Horgan. Its going to be interesting they will be tested on Tuesday when they play Albright at home but if King's wins this game on Tuesday this league better open their eyes and realize King's is for real and they are not going to beat you with talent but rather they will beat you with pure heart and desire with a great coach to go along with it.

Last note i saw FDU handled merchant marine pretty well and merchant marine from what i read is suppose to be very good and was picked to finish second in their conference is FDU turing things around and going to compete this year or is merchant marine not as good as they were thought to be?

timeout · November 26, 2008, 09:10:53 AM

I do not agree with you - i have been to every Wilkes game in the past 3 years and i believe this team has the most heart of any previous teams. They play together as a team (not like last year) and they want the win.
I do not know what game you were out but i though Gulla was horrible! He has 5 turnovers and could have been the hero if he didn't dribble the ball off of his foot for the win.
I believe that Wilkes will not only beat Susquehanna but the will clober them. If I remember correctly Susquehanna beat Penn College by only 10 points.

G-manWU · November 26, 2008, 10:57:16 PM

Interesting conversation guys.

Not to blow my own horn, but having worked with the program for the past four seasons, I can give some good insight about the "heart" factor you are talking about, as well as a few other tidbits.

On the game with Kean itself, the Cougars did a good job of working the game to their talents. The quick double-teams they would bring against some of the slower guards reminded me alot of the Widener game last season where we struggled a great deal. What disappointed me was a good number of wasted scoring chances and turnovers on the offensive end- even with Kean doing a good job on D, Wilkes still needs to run the offense better.

Regarding the attitude of the players, the current Colonels are a group of high-charecter kids who are great to work with. They want to win and have a tremendous work ethic, no doubt. However, I think in recent years the fans have seen an array of talented players who have had a tremendous will to win- Constantine, Cardamone, Walters, Gould, Yanello- and that talent/passion is hard to duplicate. These guys have their own identity, and a big part of that is balance. While there is nothing to really do about this in terms of coaching, I think one thing that hamstrings the current group is that they are so balanced and cooperative, that there is no dominant player to look to in the clutch. That's not a bad thing, but it creates a dynamic where there is not a dominant guy to step up and take control.

Which brings me to my final point, regarding King's and their range of freshman talent, as mentioned by MACfan08. Indeed King's is well-coached (JP is one of the best guys in the MAC outside of the Marts Center) and always can be counted upon as a factor in the MAC. However, if you look at them in 2004-05, they had a dominant superstar in Horgan to lead them to the success they enjoyed. With all respect to the current bunch at King's, I can't think of any player on the roster who is even close to Horgan's talents, at least not at this time. The freshman who played for them then were key guys, but Horgan was the unquestioned difference-maker. He's an example of the dominant player who can lead a bunch of young guys to success- I don't think King's would win the title without him that year, and I don't think I would find anyone who could provide a credible argument otherwise.

naismith · November 28, 2008, 09:47:04 AM

Quote from: timeout on November 26, 2008, 09:10:53 AM
"I do not agree with you - i have been to every Wilkes game in the past 3 years and i believe this team has the most heart of any previous teams. They play together as a team (not like last year) and they want the win.
I do not know what game you were out but i though Gulla was horrible! He has 5 turnovers and could have been the hero if he didn't dribble the ball off of his foot for the win.
I believe that Wilkes will not only beat Susquehanna but the will clober them. If I remember correctly Susquehanna beat Penn College by only 10 points. "

Timeout,

We must have been watching a different game.

Coach R tried a number of players to break the press against Kean. He settled on CG becuase he had the "handle".
As mentioned, CG had a few steals, took some charges and broke the press flawlessly.
The TO's were aggressive plays and not tentative. I find it hard to fault someone for an aggressive foul.
Yes, he needs to improve his FT shooting.

Hard for anyone to get assists when the bigs are not converting.

And for the guy who wanted CD to have the ball late in game: He did with 20 seconds to go in OT.
He tried to make a play and handed off to Kyle R for a desperation 3 with 2 seconds.

My view is simple.
The season is young. Most of these kids (and they are kids) did not have responsibility in crunch time until this year.
They are learning and improving.
The offense is much more fluid, faster and crisp.
Tommy K will eventually lose the mask, Donatoni's foot will heal (he will add speed and quickness) and Ruby and Gulla will progress.
The bigs (Gabe, Steve K, Defeo, Hinze, Huch and Tom K ) will need to adjust to teams that try to take away the Colonel inside game.

This is a very talented team.

Coach K · November 30, 2008, 12:17:31 PM

Hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Big non-league game today. DeSales gets Randolph-Macon at their gym. Any thoughts on the game. DeSales has had a good start thus far. This is definitely going to be an interesting game. Generally speaking, would we all agree that D3 down in Virginia is slightly stronger than in the Mid-Atlantic Region? If nothing else, it will be nice to see where DeSales stands with someone outside their region.

Naismith, sounds like Wilkes has the makings of a solid team this year. For some reason however, I think that Miseri, King's, Desales and Wilkes are going to be spending a lot of time beating each other up in the conference this year. It would be a lot of fun to see all four of those teams make the conference tournament this season. Top notch coaching, talented squads, and some built in rivalries there! Who else might sneak in with those four squads for the 5th spot? Manhattanville? FDU? Alvernia? There are going to be a lot of fun games to watch once conference play starts up in full force!

BJ - DSU SID · November 30, 2008, 04:53:29 PM

Bulldogs represent the Mid-Atlantic Region well today.

DeSales - 59
RMC - 57

Hunter hits a floater with 1.2 left to win the game.

Coach K · November 30, 2008, 08:25:05 PM

BJ,

I was at the game today! Not just a good win, but a GREAT win for the Bulldogs! Down 40-31 and to fight back like that... impressive!!

BJ - DSU SID · December 01, 2008, 11:14:26 AM

Coach K...it is a nice win, but only from the perspective that we proved to be able to play with almost anyone at home.

Conference games are much more important than the game yesterday in my eyes. This just gave us some confidence to be able to beat a very, very good team and also showed us that we can win even when trailing in the second half.

Hopefully a game like this will help us as the season progresses.

We still have a long way to go...but we are off to a good start.

ljk · December 01, 2008, 12:22:33 PM

Wilkes lost on the road to Susquehanna, evening their record at 2-2, as they shot just 33% from the field. Gulla and Ruby did not score one point. Kline had 2 pts. and Defeo 1 pt. , Donatoni had 4 pts. and Gabriel canned 7 points. Someone has to step up and give some support to DeRojas and Kresge. CD, TK, and Kline are the core of this team, but they need some help to be successful as a unit. The 2 guard appears to be a troubling spot, as the Colonels visit King's on Wed., for their first conference game of the season.

naismith · December 01, 2008, 12:52:27 PM

LJ,

Didn't see the game.
Apparently down big very early with Susq scoring at will.

Then, things settled with some small runs but not enough.
Some horrible shooting stats from the field and FT's.

Looked at the assists to TO's (3-15 or sometning close to that) ....must have been ugly.

You are right. The big 3 offensive threats are SK , TK and CD. (I would add Gabe to that mix as well) I am not sure what offense Wilkes ran but ......
TK apparently shot poorly (have to think that the nose and the mask are hurting him).
I really don't know why KR, CG (no shots attempted) and MD are not scoring. All 3 capable.

Am sure JR is hard at work trying to figure some things out....WEd and Kings coming fast.

Naismith

ColonelJohn4Life · December 02, 2008, 07:07:43 AM

Quote from: naismith on December 01, 2008, 12:52:27 PM

I really don't know why KR, CG (no shots attempted) and MD are not scoring. All 3 capable.

Am sure JR is hard at work trying to figure some things out....WEd and Kings coming fast.

Naismith

Nais,
You answered your own quandry. Jerry was just resting a few offensive weapons, knowing King's would be scouting. A little psych-out.

Happy Wilkes - King's Eve to everyone. As a reminder, Wilkes has won 4 of the last 7 against King's, including playoffs. Look it up.

MACfan08 · December 02, 2008, 08:25:02 PM

Well first off just want to say i saw that one coming called that one and should have went to vegas with it. I knew after seeing both wilkes and susquehanna play that susquehanna would pull out the victory that is the first point i want to make.

Now to the good stuf Kings and Wilkes play tomorrow night and i looked for it to be a very even game with wilkes having a slight advantage inside with the amount of depth in big men and kigs is very slim and small with their big men. To me i see that as the reason why kings lost to albright and i see this being a tough matchup for them in this game as well. But this is a big game and the kings guys will be ready to play and will have something to prove. Kings is going to come out and try to show this league they are not a push over and they can still win after graduating so many people. I look for this game to be close and will be determined down the stretch. What a way to kick of league play.

Jon · December 03, 2008, 03:14:19 PM

Wednesday, December 3, Women's & Men's Doubleheader
Delaware Valley @ Alvernia University | 6:00 & 8:00 p.m.

Webcast LIVE through athletics.alvernia.edu

Coach K · December 03, 2008, 03:40:27 PM

Jon,

Welcome back! Thanks for the link. How are the Crusaders and the Lady Crusaders looking this season?

Jon · December 03, 2008, 03:52:58 PM

Coach,

Good to be back, even if it is in a new location.

Ladies could be good. They have some youth in some key places, but those players will be gaining valuable experience early this season. I would anticipate that Kate's Aggies will be a good barometer.

This is a bit captain obvious, but the first six men on the floor will have to shoot well to compete. No more hand off to Shawell and watch. Wins will truly come through a team effort. I'd be awful impressed if we live up to our preseason billing (although that vote was collected without complete roster knowledge).