MBB: Coast 2 Coast Athletic Conference

[cugrad]

GO CARDS!!!

[MuMu]

Great win for MW, I have mu by 7 today, Cua by 6 will make it close always hard to bounce back after the mu/cua game. Enjoy the weekend.

Pat you the man brother

[mwgoonie]

ok, so i was off on the final score but was right on the FTs at the end. Of course, YCP seems to be playing all close games. Glad to see MW get to 6-0 for the first time. Can't wait to see MW vs CUA when the time comes, I hope the senior led MW can push the issue and stay mentally tough and with luck keep on top of the league.

Go Eagles!

[ycpfinal4]

The Spartans lost because their shooting percentage was horrific.  Folland should have played more minutes after grabbing 6 boards, contributing 2 buckets, and earning 1 assist for a 3 pointer in only 4 minutes of action.  Chad McGowan played very solid.  15 points, 12 boards.  York needs to work on their shot selection.  If they begin to play together and take smarter shots,  which will both eventually happen in some form, or fashion, they will be a tough team to beat.  The CAC is wide open.  Mary Wash played a better game....good win....entertaining game to watch.

[bisonpride]

Salisbury Seagulls - 74
@ Gallaudet Bison - 60

Halftime - Seagulls led 33-32

[njlincolnlion]

Congrats to the Salisbury Seagulls!

[Matt Letourneau]

Catholic lost to Hood 79-73.

Lets call this tough love:  You don't deserve to win a game if you MISS 15 free throws.   Catholic shot 18-33 from the free throw line.   If they had shot 72%, this would have been a tied game.  54% isn't going to cut it.

Otherwise, Hood was very, very impressive until the last couple of minutes.  I truly think they are one of the best teams in the league.  They can do everything--they have great size, good quickness.  The did struggle when Catholic switched to a zone on them with a few minutes left, but in the first half they had nailed 7-10 from three so I can understand the reticence to not play man.  But they shot 50% for the game, worked very hard for good shots with a lot of patience.  Obviously very well coached.

Catholic got 27 from Fumai, but 25 of it was in the first half.  Dwyer was in foul trouble, still got 19, but other than that there wasn't any stand out performances.  Turnovers weren't as much of a problem, but interior defense was. 

The one negative for Hood is that they almost couldn't have done a WORSE job closing out the game.  They were up by 10 and should have cruised, but instead commited a series of dumb fouls, and on offense didn't work the clock AT ALL--took quick shots, etc.  That allowed Catholic to get back in it and at least make them work for it at the end.  But, God, the Cardinals had a series of open looks from 3 that they just flat out missed.  They were 2-12 from 3 in the second half, and with a couple exceptions all of them were good shots.  A few rimmed out, etc.  Ball would not fall for them. 

Still, has to be a disappointing loss for the Cardinals and an impressive one for Hood.  I'll tell you one thing I liked--unlike Goucher, they didn't act like they won the 7th game of the NBA Finals afterward, they shaked and moved on.  That's the sign of a team that expects to win more, and they will.

If Catholic had hit its free throws, and maybe had an open shot or two go in, they win.  But they didn't.  So it goes.

[mwgoonie]

wow....so much for the conference being wide open. Of course it still is, with only 3 conference games being played by the Eagles but York and CUA have had early losses in the league while MW has stayed clean, SAL has been good, and Hood is looking like it will be a good replacement for CUA in the CAC. Should point out MW beat Hood by 16 earlier in the season and won at YCP. Things are shaking up. We'll have to wait until after winter break to really see how the CAC shapes up.
Go Eagles!

[mwcsid]

It should be pointed out that UMW plays 11 of their first 12 games away from Goolrick... 5-0 on the road so far, but a few tough away games between now and when CAC play starts back up.

[Matt Letourneau]

Yeah, I think it is very safe to conclude that Mary Washington has emerged--not at all surprisingly, at least to me--as the team to beat.

Salisbury is right behind them.  After that...who knows.

There are a bunch of quality teams that need to adjust and grow.

Looks like Marymount might be spiraling out of control...they should not have lost to Goucher.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Yeah, I think it is very safe to conclude that Mary Washington has emerged--not at all surprisingly, at least to me--as the team to beat.

Salisbury is right behind them.  After that...who knows.

There are a bunch of quality teams that need to adjust and grow.

Looks like Marymount might be spiraling out of control...they should not have lost to Goucher.

Matt - I would agree with some of that,  but your comment about Goucher doesn't make sense. They beat the Cardinals in the SRC South and the Cardinals beat the Saints. That simple equation adds up to Goucher being a favorite over the Saints at the Phone Booth. Also, everyone keeps assuming the Gophers are the same team, or only slightly better, than last year's team. They aren't. They are far better and that is being shown in the results. In eight games this season, they have won more than they did in 27 last season. I said it earlier... Marymount is going to be near the bottom and Goucher will probably finish with a .500 conference record.

So far, Hood has been the shocking team. I knew Coach Dickman had a solid team when I saw them twice, earlier this year. However, with the win over CUA... they have shown that they are completely ready for this conference. If no one takes them seriously, they could sneak into a top-four slot this year.

Salisbury - their result over Gallaudet pretty much confirms my feeling about them. They are a team that plays to their contenders level. Yes, they have won and will probably continue to do so. However, if they play that way the rest of the season, they are going to take some bad wins and pretty much play themselves out of a conference title and a possible tournament berth. Salisbury can be a very good team, but they need to learn how to play above the sub-par teams and put them away early. If they keep playing tight games all season long... they are going to be exhausted come playoff time.

UMW certainly looks good... and starting the season with 11 of 12 games on the road is certainly a tough, but rewarding way to start the year. If they continue to play well away from Goolrick and then return and protect the home court... they are going to have a very impressive record and will be the cream of the crop.

And to agree with another poster... things are pretty much up in the air right now... come mid-January when we are looking at the heart of conference play starting up again... we could be looking at a dog-fight.

[mwgoonie]

 

[unreallawns]

Salisbury has proven to be a strong 2nd half team.  They've had two tough road losses and the VWU game was tight up until the end.  The game at GU was close at halftime but they took care of business in the second half and won by 14.  Occasionally they might play down to competition but they always play up to it as well.  SU will take care of business and more than likely be battling Mary Wash for the conference title.  UMW is the obvious favorite and they should be.  They are undefeated.  SU is right there.

[Matt Letourneau]

D-Mac...

Frankly, because there is a substantial talent gap between Marymount and Goucher.  Marymount is far, far more talented.  We'll never know, but if you asked every coach in the league, I bet every single one of them (with the exception maybe of Coach Trevino, since its his team), would agree.

Based solely on talent, Marymount should NOT be at the bottom of the league.  Now, as a Catholic fan, I know more than anybody that the most talented team does not always win.  God knows that the 2001 Catholic Cardinals were not even close to the most talented team in Division 3.  Obviously that is the case here--and that makes two W's in a row for Goucher in which they weren't the more talented team.  So, that makes it even better for them.

Salisbury--I still haven't seen them, but at this level, who DOESN'T play down to their competition?  I mean, Catholic certainly did against Goucher, Mary Washington did against York (they are more than 3 points better, even on the road).  I'm not sure I would hold that against them so much.  We'll see, I have to withold more than that until I see them.

I think you may even be underselling Hood--"could sneak into a top four slot."  I think they ARE a top 4 team.  Who has shown that they are better than Hood, other than Mary Washington and maybe Salisbury?  In fact, as far as I'm concerned, only one of their losses really even means anything, because they played McDaniel in back to back games, and McDaniel is decent.  And their other loss was to the consensus best team in the league.

You touched on something earlier that I meant to agree with you with about St. Mary's.  Coaching is a big problem.  I'm sure Chris Harney is a nice guy, but he's all over the place during the game.  You can't have a coach getting so discouraged when something goes bad, the players see that.  He's got no control whatsoever over that team.  The only really bad team in the league should be Gallaudet (sorry Bison, nothing personal!), nobody else should be awful, but...St. Mary's is getting really close.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Just a thought... but if you want to win in college basketball and especially get to the tournament... you can't play DOWN to any team. Salisbury's habit this season of playing to every team's level has both been good and bad.

The loss to VWU was close and SAL certainly played well. That is a great example of playing UP to your competition. That could lead to a couple of good wins. However, when SAL plays DOWN to their competition, they are going to lose games they shouldn't (we can already point to a few this year).

Matt - as for your comments about Marymount and Goucher, I see what you are talking about. I agree that on paper - Marymount certainly should be better. However in the last decade of watching Saints basketball, I can say (and I bet you would agree) that Marymount has NEVER played as well as their talent would suggest. It is truely their downfall. I don't know if it is coaching to blame; the fact the men's program as Marymount is pretty much ignored; or that the "talent" they get... never figures out how to play as a team (sometimes the best talent can't figure out how to stop playing as individuals).

As for my Hood comments... I am just not convinced they are ready for the entire grind of the conference schedule. Remember, they program is only four years old and has never played in a conference at this level. They are a good team; Coach Dickman has done a very good job and shown he can coach at this level with success; and the team has size and good shooting... oh and plays defense! However, I think by the time we get into late January and February, the schedule might get to them. As we all know, playing the conference schedule in December compared to February can be like night and day. I think Hood "sneaks" into a spot because I also think some teams may not take them seriously and never consider them a threat come February.

Anyway... we shall see... it will be interesting to watch... as this season continues (HA, I kill me!!!).