MBB: Coast 2 Coast Athletic Conference

[mwgoonie]

Agreed, February is classic CAC basketball. As another poster says, Hood might not be able to handle the schedule come that time. We know they've been fairing well as a team but has anyone seen them enough to give us a scouting report on position play? We seem to know the other rosters fairly well but I've heard nothing on individual play on Hood.

[sunny]

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.

I'll second that.  They should have dominated the league with Crawley and company (including one semi-frequent poster on this board). 

[Matt Letourneau]

Agreed, February is classic CAC basketball. As another poster says, Hood might not be able to handle the schedule come that time. We know they've been fairing well as a team but has anyone seen them enough to give us a scouting report on position play? We seem to know the other rosters fairly well but I've heard nothing on individual play on Hood.

Ok, well since I have now seen them play, what I saw was that they like to get the ball inside to #55, Gutekunst, who is a bit of a monster--he had a substantial size advantage against both Dwyer and Wheeler and used it.  Basically just backed down, pushed his substantial butt out and got close to the basket for easy scores.  Key is to pressure him and keep him away from the basket.  His backup is Uzoukwu, #45, who also has really good size and unlike Gutekunst, moves pretty well.  I don't know that he's a great scorer, but a good rebounder and certainly more than adequate for a backup Center at this level.

Jughans is their three point threat, but Robine, who plays forward and his good size, can also hit from 3.  That presents matchup problems.  Between Scott, Edmonds, Legrand and Bennett, they put a lot of pressure on the ball.  The guards have to really, really work to get the ball up the court.  All those guys are very quick.  I don't really think they can shoot, but they don't have to.

So overall they have a lot of balance and they can do just about everything.

They put a lot of pressure on the

[MuMu]

Wow Hood college. Big Win at Mu for Cua but to be the best you must play every night. How wa sthe crowd at the game?

Whats MaryWash doing better then the other teams in the CAC, have not been able to see them play yet.

[mwgoonie]

MW is a better TEAM and they don't make mental mistakes. It doesn't hurt that they have at least three (Lee, Baker, and Fitzgerald) players that could/can be THE guy. Throw Pierce in the mix too. However, like many other good but not "great" MW teams, they rely on the 3-ball. When they went to the NCAA tourney a few years back, they had two guys that could really play inside: Dan Dupras and Cris Hairston (now an asst. coach with them). Not sure if they have the size this year to maintain their inside presence. They certainly haven't been hitting the charity stripe, which you'll see in good inside teams (see CUA). This team is especially athletic, however. they also have a strong core group of starters with good bench help.

Oh, and let's not get started on the coaching.....ha.

[kitchenrat]

(I'm) Not sure if they have the size this year to maintain their inside presence.

I was surprised when I saw their lack of size that York didn't try and take it inside against them. There were a few points in Friday's game where they were giving up 3 or 4 inches at all five spots on the floor.

[Matt Letourneau]

Yeah, that's one reason why I think CUA has a shot against them.  Dwyer/Wheeler should be able to pound the ball inside, and Fumai presents matchup problems.

But if Mary Washington is firing on all cylinders, they're still going to be hard to beat.

I thought they'd be really good just based on the fact that they were good last year and lost the least out of anybody.

It was a pretty good crowd for an early season game.  In fact, there has been a noticeable uptick in attendence at Catholic games so far this season.  I'm not around the campus enough to know why.  They are now charging for admission for everybody--can't get in without a ticket, which allows them to track attendence.  Through the first two games, CUA is averaging over 1,500 fans a game which is pretty good, especially for Nov/December.  Maybe its a little below York, but I bet that's probably good for second in the league at least.  Attendence wasn't listed for the Hood game for some reason.

Come February, the place will be packed and really loud, that's for sure. 

[ex_mu14]

I agree, but the CAC was a lot stronger back then.  Every night on the road was a dog fight.  We always had problems with players failing out after one semster. You can have all the talent in the world but you still have to play as a team.  It would take us until the CAC playoffs every year before we started playing good basketball. I remember some big wins on the road in the CAC playoffs to reach the finals. In 2002 we were 19-9 and one lost was to Georgetown. 

Like I posted earlier, MU Men's basketball program will always be second as long as coach Finney is there.

[muchacho]

Matt...You remember before the season when I said Catholic's problem would be the absence of a 3rd scorer.
For the year so far Fumai is putting up 20.6, Dwyer at 15.1, and then your next option is Wasilenko at just 8.8.
Then take a look at Mary Wash with 6 players averaging double figures, but not one guy over 13.5. They have also had 5 different players lead their team in scoring in just 6 games. There is a reason that UMW is looking like the team to beat right now.
While Fumai and Dwyer are great players, there just isn't the depth at Catholic that the program is used to playing with.

[Matt Letourneau]

Well, it either isn't there, or it hasn't developed consistantly.

See, in the games that they've won, it HAS been there.  Was has been over 10 points, they've gotten major contributions from some freshman, etc.

But the key here is Papageorge.  He was hurt, missed the first few games, and just has been a total non-factor thus far.  That's what has to change.  There's no reason in the world he can't break double digits consistantly.  He's a quality player and a good shooter--even a clutch shooter.  But so far he hasn't found any kind of rhythm at all, and CUA has been involved in some real dogfights where they need their best five on the floor as much as possible, so they haven't had the luxury of letting him work it out.  But Papageorge is the key to the entire offense.

What they have is a bunch of a young players.  The season is long enough that with so many freshman, you don't neccesarily end up with what you started with.   So far, Reinhold, Sparrow, Hager and Quinn have all shown flashes here or there.   The question is how much they can progress, and can Papageorge reestablish himself.  Olivero hit the two biggest shots of the Marymount game--he's mostly known for his defense, but he can score too.

A team like Mary Washington has a huge advantage because they're starting at a different place--ahead of the game.  They have a lot less far to go to get to a consistantly good level.

Its no surprise that the season has started like this, but it doesn't have to fortell the way it ends. 

[TheGrove]

Like I posted earlier, MU Men's basketball program will always be second as long as coach Finney is there.

I think the problem with Finney is that his success as the women's basketball coach (and let's face it, the man can coach) overshadows his shortcomings as AD. No one in the administration will see the lack of attention given to other teams, they'll just see the string of CAC titles, NCAA tournament appearances, and so on by the women's team.

[MuMu]

mwgoonie what happend to the one kid you had that just blocked shots he started as a freshman.

Coach Finney program n past years have been strong, if the men's was like that they would be up there to.Coach Finney is a mastermind

Use CUA for example the mens team has to get more love then the womens team because they winnnn

[mwgoonie]

Mumu, what year was he a freshman?
I believe your thinking of Josh Wilson? He was really athletic, he was the Truth. But he hasnt been on the roster for a year or so, we need Clint to clarify that one.
We could use him around now....he'd be a senior with Lee and Fitz.

[ycp]

The live stats link for tonight's York - Juniata Game

http://faculty.ycp.edu/~sguise/mbb/xlive.htm

Dave, I made sure to include the ycp.edu part!

[MuMu]

Yeah that's the kids name, I think that would have solved any inside problems. The kid from york and him would be a great macthup to wacth.

Hood college just blows my mind.. Any one coming into the CAC for their first year and do this is out of state out of mind. Who do they have?