MBB: Coast 2 Coast Athletic Conference

[bbald eagle]

goonie- it's nice to see you have upgraded your photo 

[Matt Letourneau]

Well, Goonie, I'm just responding to demands!  (And we got a conversation going, at least).

Truth is, I think its rather pointless to spend TOO much energy arguing about who is better at this stage simply because we're all going to know soon enough.  These things usually get decided on the court, and in this case, we have two head to head games to see what happens. 

At the end of the year, I think Catholic will be right there.  MW probably will be too.  As far as non-conference, its true that MW has been away from home a lot, but CUA's best win (Scranton) was on the road. 

[Salem, VA]

For everyone who loves parity the league is great this year.  After two years of York domination, there is at least 6 teams who could win league.  Yea I am a Yorkie and believe they will turn it around but I really like Catholic right now.  They still have to come to Grumbacher and so does Hood. 

To be Honest I do not want to see Catholic win this because they are leaving us for a mediocre at best conference.  Everyone knows the CAC is the best conference in America baby, lol. 

Looking forward to the strecth run.  Will the Spartans be dethrown, big test on Saturday.

[Matt Letourneau]

Ha--yeah, the CAC with CATHOLIC is the best conference!

[andre james smith]

It looks like MWGoonie could use some back up in here, so I think its time to chime in.

Went to the game at Goucher last night and its only the second game i have been able to make it to this year, but the Eagles can really light it up from downtown when they are hot.  They had some trouble in the first half defending Jones (who I think was a junior when I graduated like 2 and a half years ago....) but once they realized that the only two scoring options on the whole team were him and Russo, they really keyed in defensively on those two guys and I think Goucher had 7 points in the second half with 4 to go in the game. 
Wash has some great young outside shooters to compliment Baker, Pierce, AJ, and Mike.  AJ has really picked up his shooting througout his career, and I think Justin Baker may be the most underrated player in the conference.  If you look at the box score, he always ends up with about 13 pts, 10 reb, 5 ast, 4 stls, and 3 blks.  Goonie had posted last week about seeing a great game from Mike Lee.  This kid was lights out as a fresh off the bench and as a sophomore was one of the best in the conference.  His shots werent off by much last night, but they just arent falling like they used to.   You have to hope as a Wash fan that he'll starting knocking them down like the old days real soon. 
The only other teams  I have seen this year are Marymount and Goucher, both of which are clearly not the class of the conference.  If Mary Wash can keep up this great outside shooting and rebound a little better defensively, they are going to be a tough team to handle this year.
Also, I know we all agree that the refs are terrible, etc.... but last night the ref knocked the ball out of Russo's hands and then gave the ball to UMW... Hilarious

[MuMu]

YCP,
You always have a freind in pa.haha
Thanks for the update, I can only see stats. So the game was much closer then what the scores shows.

Predictions
Mu by 4
CUA 7

Cant do the rest still a rookie and it seems like people live and die by thre predictions on this board. haha

[mwgoonie]

Ok, weekend predictions.

YCP @ HOOD = HOOD by 4          *GAME OF THE WEEKEND*
UMW  @ SMC = MW by 10
SAL @ MU = SAL by 6
GAL @ CUA = CUA BY 12

Looking forward to see how things shape up, especially teams that might be looking towards Tuesday's main event.......

[bbsquared]

You're right d-mac, Goucher going from 1 point down to 5 points down did not determine the outcome, the 3 point barrage did. I'm sure the 4 point swing had no effect on the Goucher players at half since they did tie it up a couple of times in the second half. I'm sorry my analysis was not as precise as it should have been. The ultimatre point was that the "T" arrived at a time that could effect the pyche of the team going into the second half against a physically superior team.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

You're right d-mac, Goucher going from 1 point down to 5 points down did not determine the outcome, the 3 point barrage did. I'm sure the 4 point swing had no effect on the Goucher players at half since they did tie it up a couple of times in the second half. I'm sorry my analysis was not as precise as it should have been. The ultimatre point was that the "T" arrived at a time that could effect the pyche of the team going into the second half against a physically superior team.

The air of sarcasm is THICK!
Anyway... no! If you knew the Goucher team... you would know that a tech from their coach is not something that would really affect them. No disrespect to Coach Trevino or the players, but it's not like he doesn't get techs rarely... or that the team isn't familiar with those techs. I will tell you as someone who has followed this team for over 11 years now... the tech meant nothing. A one or four point game in basketball with 21 minutes to play... is ridiculous to say swayed a team. If it went from one to four points in the final minute... you would have a more valid point!

Matt... I can't agree CUA is better... Massy ratings, be damned.
- UMW have and will play 13 of its first 15 games on the road... and are 11-2 (in Division III) right now (one game to go - and not counting Emory-Biddle game). CUA will play 9 of its 15 at home... and are 12-2, so far. One win (that counts) difference.
(UMW has 6 of their last 9 at home and CUA has 6 of their last on the road - and their opponents record is pretty much identical.)
- Catholic lost at home to a Goucher team they pretty much had on the ropes... maybe already on one knee... but couldn't put away! UMW took on the same intensity on the road... and dismantled the Gophers with an entire team effort... and a ton of threes.
- CUA lost to a Hood team, again at home, that while good... was beaten easily by UMW.
- Neither team has a steller out of conference schedule. CUA may have the win over Scranton to lean on... but UMW has a good win over Messiah.

All and all... I still think UMW is the better team. They have more weapons and players who can beat you. CUA only has a handful. However... we will have a face-to-face opportunity to decide Tuesday... amazingly AT Mary Washington!

[Matt Letourneau]

Right---so I won't belabor the point, except to just say that yes, both teams have had a couple of bad losses---really one for each, but other than that they've played well.  I think where we may disagree is that you are viewing the season as static, and I think its dynamic.  My overarching point lately has been that the Catholic team that lost to Goucher in December is gone.  Doesn't exist anymore.  Same uniforms, same gym, completely different team.  I think you have to look at how the teams have been playing and what they are doing.  Catholic's changed quite a bit, their rotations are different, the personnel is being used differently, and it has made a huge difference.

Frankly, other than the fact that its hurting Catholic in terms of conference standings, I'm not so interested in what happened back then.   I care a lot more about what has happened this month, and I love what I'm seeing.  I think if you had been in the stands for the York game, for instance, you might have been surprised.

But we'll see.  I'm not doing anything dumb like guaranteeing a win against the Eagles--but I feel a heck of a lot better about it now than I did when the season started.  There is no doubt that Mary Washington started out as the better team--and the BEST team in the league--but I think there's a good chance that Catholic has caught up.   Passed? We'll see.

[mwgoonie]

A dynamic season? In the CAC? No way?!

D-Mac, always level headed.  MW has home court advantage for the end of the season, importantly during CAC play. However, CUA and MW square off in their last games of the season at CUA, which certainly will play a roll in how things play out.

Matt, its very helpful to forget the past, especially when there are losses there! Thats the way a season is supposed to work, good teams get better as the season goes on, so CUA shouldn't have an advantage. They might be better, but so will the competition.

For all of MW's offensive prowess, their defense has picked up in CAC play, having allowed the fewest points of any team in conference play. Also, I wonder when teams will begin to leave the low post open as they over compensate for MW's perimeter attack? It'd be nice to really start distributing the ball to keep the offense off balance and get some better looks. Depending on the coach, opposing teams seem to be taking the percentages that an outside shooting team will have bad nights and keep letting them shoot there way to a loss.

Going back to what Andre said, Justin Baker IS the most underrated player in the league, or at least by this board. Everyone gets distracted by shiny PPG stats and fail to see how well rounded Baker is. Matt Hale, MW's deadly 3 point ace is one of the best in the league. Love to see a 2nd stringer averaging double digit ppgs and shooting 49% from beyond the arc!

[CACsportsnut]

hey guys...been reading along here for a bit, havent said anything yet, but wanted to have a little bit of fun.

I know you were all debating who is going to win the conference and player of the year and so forth, but im going to take it a step further, should get a bunch of replies and opinions on this....

I'm going to give my pick for Conference MVP, Freshman Of The Year, and Coach of the Year....then my 1st Team All-CAC-Conference and 2nd Team All-CAC-Conference...just like the CAC hands out at the finish of each season. Im sure there will be some who agree, and many who disagree, but hey, thats the fun in it all right?

MVP - I think the MVP has to go to the player who makes his team what it is. So it has to be a team with atleast a winning record in my mind. The guy must be indispensible and an absolute terror for the other team they are playing. I dont think you can think of any other players the Fumai and McGowan. This is where it gets tough...

Catholic is argueably, and I argue in there favor, the best all-around team in the conference....and Fumai is their best player. However, Catholic has Dwyer, and Wheeler, who have been playing exceptionally well, and you begin to wonder if Catholic could not still hold their own without Fumai in the lineup....but then you have to remember the big shots and the versatility that Fumai brings to the table, possibily making Dwyer and Wheeler the players they are?

York is obviously not as talented as it has been in the past couple years, but still they have a great mix of guys, mostly younger, and you can see that the talent is coming up through the ranks in the coming years. However, this is this year, and without McGowan, i wouldn't see York as a team that exceeds greatly past the .500 mark. 21 points and 9 rebounds a game is hard to pass up...

Its an even coin flip to me, until you look at the head to head match up, where McGowan had 14 points, 3 rebounds...and Fumai had 22 points and 7 rebounds....and I would say that 10-12 of those points for Fumai were back breakers to York

Advantage...........Fumai...As of now, he is my Conference Player Of The Year

Freshman of the Year I think must go to the Freshman who has made the biggest impact on his new team.

I think the pick has to go to Nick Brady of York....He's averaging a hair above 9 points per outing, 4 rebounds, and leads all freshman in scoring per game, offensive rebounds, FG% and 3-pointers made. That is a key addition to Yorks team who lost 4 key members of their rotation from last years squad.

You can argue maybe Jonathan Valencia of Gallaudet and even Johnny Jackson of Gallaudet, but Valencia has appeared in only 8 games this year, and Johnny Jackson is a solid all around contributer on the glass and scoring column, but there record isn't helping them and it dosen't seem that Jackson and Valencia's contributions have been able to help Gallaudet get into the winners circle very often

My winner...Nick Brady....Conference Freshman Of The Year

Coach Of The Year is an obvious call...Tom Dickman of Hood College

It is only their 4th year as a program at Hood College, and their first in the CAC Conference, and he already has the team in first place. Of course the transfer of super-sophomore Ryan Junghans is a plus, but knowing how to squeeze him in and getting this still young team to mesh is a talent he seems to stand above the rest in. He lost a player in Provanzano to graduation who averaged nearly 23 points per game last year, and still has his team leading the way for the stacked conference of the CAC.

My pick, with EASE!!! ..... Tom Dickman....Conference Coach Of The Year

CAC Conference 1st Team:

Scott Fumai
Chad McGowan
Ryan Junghans
Ray Williams
Jesse Gutekunst

CAC Conference 2nd Team:

James Russo
Sekoe White
Justin Baker
Segun Odumeru
Patrick Dwyer

Oh yeah...I'm sure everyone would like to here my picks...Regular Season champs - Hood College, CAC Tournament Champs - Mary Washington

[Matt Letourneau]

Great first post.  Glad you joined the conversation.

I think your analysis is pretty spot on.  I'm not neccesarily sold on the Freshman of the Year picks only because there's so much of the season left to play, and of all the spots, that's the least settled as players develop.  But your argument makes sense. 

The only part you're going to get an argument on from me is the team picks of Hood and Mary Wash.  But, we've kind of covered that.   With the three top teams bunched up, its impossible to tell what will happen.  I can say that I'd like York to do both Catholic and Mary Wash a favor and knock off Hood though!  Go get 'em Gambers!

[CACsportsnut]

thanks for the confidance builder, Im more likely to post more now that I know mine was enjoyed...

Freshman Of The Year was hard to pick, because you do not here much about them, but Brady is the only one getting alot of buzz from people I talk to, I checked the box scores, stat wise he seems to be the best, even though it is more then statistics..but still he, and other freshman are so young. Plus, I noticed that your icon shows your a Catholic fan right? Well, I heard about the York game down there, and saw the box score, so if that is the only time you have seen him play, then I can agree. I'm yet to see him play though, heard some bad and some good, guess only time will tell. He seems to have a bright career ahead of him, but then again playing along side McGowan you can afford to make freshman mistakes and still look good!

York and Hood should be a good game, I wouldn't mind seeing Salisbury come back and claim some respect either, should be an interesting year!

Let me hear some comments, opinions, picks on the topic I started, see what others think...

[Matt Letourneau]

Yes, I'm a Catholic fan!  I guess you could say I'm an old school one...been watching CUA since '98...Been a great run with Mike Lonergan, and there has been no drop off with Steve Howes.  I've seen almost every other team in the league rise up and fall back down, but Catholic's always there at the top.

I wasn't disagreeing with your pick, just saying that unlike the other awards, somebody could emerge that we're not focused on yet simply because there's so much season left and it takes a while for freshman to crack the rotation.

Its funny, though--I've seem some great freshmen in this league that I thought would be superstars and just never took it to the next level.  He's a very nice player, but Mike Lee of Mary Wash comes to mind---when I first saw him play, I thought he'd be an absolutely superstar by his senior year.  Well, he's good, but...not a superstar.  Fumai, on the other hand, didn't neccesarily look like he'd turn into what he's become.  In fact, he barely played at all his freshman year (granted, deeper teams).  Then you have a player like Stephen Wheeler--Catholic fans waited the better part of 3 and a half years for him to develop an offensive game, and then, wham, all of a sudden he's 12-15 and driving on McGowan like he's not even there.  Go figure.