MBB: Coast 2 Coast Athletic Conference

[CACsportsnut]

Yeah i agree...Catholic always seems to have that knack of reloading and just always being a pain in everyone's side (in a good way of course). The CAC will not be the same without them in it.

You are definately correct with the growth and sometimes fall of great freshman players. You can have players such as McGowan and Ray Williams who do nothing bo improve from year to year, putting up bigger numbers the more they grow. Then you can have guys like Lee who seem to hit their peak at the first year of their collegiate career. It depends on many things...transfers...injuries...how hard he works or others work, alot of "IFS." But we won't know until two or three years from now. All we know now is that he is showing tremendous upside, and he has the ability to be the next great player at York College. Lets just hope he keeps his head on straight and learns from playing alongside Mcgowan and against great players like Fumai.

So whats the prediction for the Mary Wash - Catholic game? I got Catholic by 11, to big inside

[ycp]

Interesting conversation about ROY. Obviously, I believe Nick is having a very solid year and will garner some consideration for the award.
However, unlike previous years, there are not many freshmen making an impact on the league. If you get a chance, look through the conference stats. Very, very few freshman are among the league leaders in any categories. Usually, the league is stacked with significant freshman contributors but this year it seems like the conference is being driven by juniors and seniors with a few quality sophomores sprinkled in (Jughans, Hale, Witworth, Lankford, Gray, Mowl ect.). I believe, the last time I looked at the stats, Brady was just one of three freshman (Stokes of UMW and Jackson of GAL) that are even ranked in the CAC. That is certainly unusual for the conference.
Good luck today for the Spartans, they have their work cut out for them but if they want to climb back into the race, they need a big road win today.

[mwgoonie]

Wow, yeah I'd say some good first posts. Well, at least they struck up a conversation.

I do like all the bulletin board fodder everyone is posting about Mike Lee. Should get him going. But you do have to know some history of his team to understand his career. When he was a freshman, the Eagles were fresh off the previous year's trip to the NCAA tourney and the loss of high caliber players. He did however have MW's best PG ever playing, Evan Fowler and the big offensive of Jon Hurd too. Often, Lee and Fitzgerald would come off the bench and light it up. Lee's 2nd year, without those ties to the NCAA team, and the loss of Wilson and Ian Summers (very good soph/jrs) he lead the team on his shoulders. You'll see some 40 point games in the schedule from that year. Now, the past two years he's had a balanced team, the emergence of Baker and Fitzgerald, Pierce and this year, Hale. In my opinion, this years team could be as dangerous as his freshman year team, which went 20-8 and were the regular season champs.

And CUA by 11? At Wash? The Goonies? One of the first home games? Last home game against CUA? By 11? I'll take that as your rookie mistake. A mulligan.

[cugrad]

I am a Catholic fan, though I have to agree with mwgoonie. Winning at Mary Wash is a very difficult task for anybody. Catholic is a competitive team, and one of the best in the CAC, but they are much too inconsistent. Matt is correct when he says that the Cards are playing at a much higher level now than they were before the break. The emergence of Wheeler is the big reason for that. However, the home losses to Goucher and Hood make it very difficult for the Cards to win the regular season. They have put themselves in a position where they must win at Mary Wash. The Cards also face tough challenges at St. Mary's, at York, at Hood, and at Goucher - a team that has already won at Catholic. Catholic will dominate in the paint at Mary Wash, but to win, they must figure out a way to stop Mary Wash from draining too many threes. At Salisbury, I believe Catholic made 19 of 49 shots. That won't do it at Mary Wash. It certainly is possible that Catholic can win at Mary wash, or anywhere else, but I seriously doubt that they cal win by 11 down there.

GO CARDS!!!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Matt... one major concern with your arguements... you can't just ignore the past during a season.

Something we talk about - practically preach - on Hoopsville each week is the fact that some teams are left out of the NCAA Tourney EVERY year because of a bad loss in November or December. So, those games have to be used to compare a team. If CUA is up for a Pool C bid at the end of this season, that loss at home to Goucher is going to be a glaring error... and one that could keep them out of the tournament - especially since it was at home, Goucher came from pretty far back, etc. So... comparing December and the entire season... is completely fair... and HAS to be used when comparing teams... and can not be simply ignored. Sorry Matt... you can't just ignore what you want and just move on. If that was the case... can I ignore all the games Goucher has played except the win over CUA... and say they are the best in the conference? (Extreme, I know!)

Finally... welcome to the new CUA poster... nice to have new people. As for ROY - I remember a year I thought Wasilenko deserved that at this point in the season... but by the end of the season... completely changed my mind.

As for Coach of the Year... could not agree with you more. That one may be completely wrapped up at this point in time.

POY - far too early. Fumai (as many CUA fans have argued), Gutekunst, Junghans, Baker, Lee, McGowan, and Williams (though, I don't think he should get it) are all fine candidates. I think we need to wait for a few more weeks of conference play before we can really get an idea of who deserves this!

[Matt Letourneau]

Well, you've done a fine job of twisting what I was actually saying, but that's part of the fun of this board.

First of all, I don't think the new poster is a CUA poster.  I don't who he's for.  I don't know who he is.   His strongest advocacy has been for a York player for ROY, if that is any indiciation.

I don't think you can ignore December losses, especially when the committee puts together its Pool C field.  But we aren't doing that here.  We were trying to figure out what is going to happen during the REST of this season.  Its a pretty pointless exercise to decide who the best team in the league is based on half the conference season, isn't it?  My point to you is that I think Catholic will finish stronger than they started because they are a better team now than they were when they picked up that bad loss to Goucher.  If I thought that loss was emblematic of the level of play we can expect from this team--in other words, if they hadn't shown improvement since then--I would never make such a statement.

As far as comparing the teams, I sort of feel like I need to point that Mary Washington has a really bad loss also, to Shenandoah.  Sure, it as on the road, but they're not a particulary good team.  Goucher, at least, has familiarity on its side--its not like Coach Trevino doesn't know CUA basketball.  Its always tougher to beat conference appointments because they know each other so well, it can act as a bit of a neutralizer.   But I feel the same way about that loss for Mary Wash--so what?

Nobody in this league was every going to go undefeated.   At the end of the day, if Catholic--AND Mary Wash & Hood, for that matter--beat the weaker teams on their schedule and trade wins with each other, they are all going to be in pretty good shape.

The difference between Goucher and Catholic is that Catholic's a good team, Goucher isn't especially.  (Sorry if that sounds harsh, but its true).   But in sports, on any given day, a bad team can beat a good team.  Mike Lonergan's Vermont team beat Boston College earlier this season.  Do you really think the Catamounts are BETTER than BC? Of course not.  BC played a lousy game, Vermont played a good game...duly noted and you move on.  It doesn't tell you much unless it keeps happening.  If Goucher had kept on winning, beating the better teams in the conference, well, that tells you something.  If Catholic had kept losing to weaker teams, that tells you something also.  That didn't happen.  So that's why it doesn't mean all that much to you.

As for the CUA-UMW prediction--yeah, I think CAC fan may have gone a bit overboard there.  I think the most reasonable thing to expect between those two teams is a split, and it is harder to win on the road.  I don't make predictions, but I think it will be a tight game.  CUA has to get past Gally first.  (Hey, don't laugh--they got us last year).

[Dan Johnson]

Wow, Matt, you made me feel real old when you said you were an old school Catholic fan and have been since '98.  That hurts...

[Dan Johnson]

OK, seriously, I know there are not a lot of Hood fans here yet, but would certainly appreciate any updates on the game!

[ycp]

Big Dan,

Halftime from Hood, York 45-Hood 36

McGowan has 15

[ycp]

From Hood,

York 55-Hood 47

14:30 left

[ycp]

Hood wins by two, I am not sure of what the score was.
York had a 13 point lead at one point time.

[ycp]

Final 80-78
The Spartans had a chance to tie at the horn.

More details when I get the box.

[mwcsid]

SMC beat UMW by three, no details yet.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Hood over York - interesting.
SMC over UMW - what?!

How about this... Marymount over Salisbury... 76-65. Salisbury is not as good as everyone thinks they are. Again I say... they play at the same level and competition level as their opponents... and that equals trouble and plenty of losses.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Oh... just to wrap up the craziness that is this day... CUA lost to GAL 55-51 today!

It's official... bad day for UMW, CUA, and YCP... and Hood proves they deserve to be on top. Also... all the POY candidates, except mine from Hood, lost today!