MBB: City University of New York Athletic Conference

[TheBeast]

Coach ag rhodes scholar got a point njac man handle the cuny this yr but look at the region ranking york is up there with the best of them they are rank 4 and should move up to 2nd by the end of the year if they keep on handling there businessok iam done with that now to cuny. york is now 10-1 and it looks like the are goin to be the number 1 seed in the cunyac tournment. they are 15-8 matching the win total from last year. york beat medger last night boone is hands down the player of the yr he finished with 30pts while echols had his third double double in row with 19pts and 12 rebs arron wilson looks like he broke his slump with 16pts. they play CSI wed at staten island echols is makeing his return trip back ther and should make out for a good game but the way york is ballin right all favor york college in the one. baruch lost and hunter lost 7str games i told u they where in trouble. and they makes it obvious the Coach st john will and should be the coach of the yr win ws the last that the player of the yr and the coach of the yr were form the same school?

[xalva66]

Havent posted in a while. Hunter is in a complete decline since losing Chris Bernard. Life without him has been extremely difficult but look at the schedule of these losses. The six losses (I feel) are a bit misleading. Two of the four losses were to CCNY (in CCNY) by 2 and to Lehman (in Lehman) by 4. These were competitive games. and all of the other  losses were to very quality teams in NYU, Stevens tech, York and Baruch. In my opinion, when losing your best player right before the toughest stretch of your schedule will be very difficult to handle for anybody. I agree that Jeffrey Boone should be MVP of CUNY, hands down. At this rate, York should easily win the CUNY tournament and move onto the NCAAs.

[BaruchFan]

York is the best team with the best coach and player in 2006-07. CUNY could save themselves lots of trouble and get the plaques engraved now for those awards.

Can't wait for the tournament. I hear CCNY made some nice changes to the nat holman gym and that should make for a nice experience to watch what should be a great tournament.

[Coach AG]

In my opinion Coach St. John is not the Coach of the Year.  Just by watching his teams in the past which always have the most size, I don't believe he manages games well.  He just always has the talent.  For example this year CUNY 1st teamer Denis Elchols just happens to land in his lap for his senior year.  I don't know how this was possible knowing first hand he left CSI being unelgible.  But some how he is playing at York.  My point is he has the talent but does he really coach them well enough to the point where they can make noise nationally?
      I believe a team like Baruch, Hunter, CCNY, or CSI should have the Coach of the Year after completely losing the bulk of their team from the previous year and having to play with sophmores and freshmen.

[TheBeast]

did u coach at csi last yr how do you know all of that about echols and i feel that the coach of the yr should go to the coach he has the best record that yr i agree he got luck landing echols this any school would have been luck to get a player of that caliber but that dont take nothing away from the team they played with every top rank team they play they never had a double digit loss to any rank team so i think they can play with the best out there. so coach ag if u really dont know the storie about the echols situtaion i feel we leave it alone and we shouldnt speak about it he is playing and the NCAA knows it so if its ok with them it ok with cuny. so i say give it to st john he earned it this yr. his team is the in cuny possible the region they are rank 4 in that field

[xalva66]

The coach of the year should go to the coach that makes it to the finals to play against York. Thats just my opinion. I agree with coach AG to a point that he has the two best players in CUNY with Echols and lets be honest, just because you are winning and have the best record always doesnt mean you have the coach of the year. It will be interesting. I think Ray Rankis may be up there again because Baruch has been able to jump back to the top of the division even with Kunkel out. St John is up there because York is ranked regionally. Plevritis at Hunter has a tremendous chance to win coach of the year with the huge turnaround the program has had since last year although it will all depend on how they finish the season and what they do in the playoffs. and then I like petosa from CSI and Stampfel from CCNY. But like I said, it all comes down to what happens in the playoffs and who steps up.

[Rhodes Scholar]

The best team is York--hands down. The best player and the MVP (there is a difference) is Boone. Coach of the Year is not nearly as obvious, but I'd have to say St. John is the leading candidate. Why? Look at his team's record. Yes, he has the most talent, but his team's getting it done on the court. However, winning the Coach of the Year does not mean he's the best coach. The best coach is the coach who gets the most out of his players' talent level and experience.

I think Rankis, Schulman, Petosa and St. John are all good coaches. They've all had varying degrees of success over the years.  Plevritis had an excellent shot at coach of the year, but Hunter completely fell apart after Bernard's departure. I don't know if the Hawks have it in them to turn it around now.

[TheBeast]

yea are right Rhode S i agree with you with Boone being MVP and Echols is right up there with him in my eyes they both make york what they are but we also have to look at york record last they are much improve then last yr team how is that not an impact that what am wondering Coach AG yes gettting Echols Was A major plus for york. If echols would have stay at CSI i could only imagine how good they would have been if they had there whole team bac from last they would have knocked off york in my eyes with Echols and luna on there roster but there not and york got echols and john jay  got luna and both made major impacts on there team this yr

[Chcuk Taylor]

Not sure how realistic post-season hopes are for CUNY teams in general and York specifically. If they get the right match-ups in the first or second rounds they could win a game or two. But the overall weakness of the conference has really hurt even the very good teams from the past few seasons. Case in point is Baruch last season. They played outstanding ball for most of the year, played a fairly compettitve schedule, handled William Patterson in the regular season, lost to York in the conference championship game, and then got whacked in the NCAA's by a decent team. All of the early games against good teams meant very little down the stretch after a steady diet of CUNY opponents. That Patterson team ended up going all the way to the final 8 thanks to the grind of the NJAC.
Hunter used to play a very competitive out of conference schedule, but losing close games to good teams never seemed to do them much good. Now they have completely downgraded their out of conference schedule (dropped teams such as Jersey City, William Patterson, Conecticut College, Western Connecticut, Trinity, Old Westbury for the likes of St. Joe's of Brooklyn, Centenary, Maritime...you get the idea). If they played that schedule this year they would have another 4 or 5 losses.
Other teams fattened up the win total against some of the worst teams in the country. Don't take my word for it, look at he D3 power ratings and check out the CUNY conference strength of schedule.
Until the overall conference play improves the conference champ will always struggle in the NCAAs. When was the last time a CUNY team won an NCAA game?
To refer to close/competitive losses to teams like CCNY and Lehman as an indication that a team is OK is just plain unrealistic. What are their combined records? And to use York's 10-1 conference record and a couple of early wins against quality opponents as a basis for hope is equally unrealistic. Look at their loss to NYU as more representative of their play against a good, well-rounded team.
The bottom line is, CUNY just can't compete. Part-time coaches,  crazy player turn-over at most of the programs, rosters that seem to change at the drop of a hat, no crowds...etc. I'm not hatin', I'm just stating the obvious. Until the conference can at least get close to the Skyline level of play, the regular season is going to continue kill the one or 2 decent teams that manage to emerge from the muck.

[xalva66]

I believe the last time CUNY did any damage was when Hunter went to the elite eight. Many feel that team was the greatest CUNY team of all time.

[TheBeast]

york is at csi tonight  this is a very big game for york and csi. csi can take sole possesion of second place this is goin to be a very good game york better come to play bc i would hate for them to lose this battle Dennis return bac staten island i wonder how the crowd is goin to react to this. but dennis played well at the csi gym last yr so i think him and boone are goin to go to work but we just have to wait and see. Lets get ready to rumble!

[Rhodes Scholar]

I agree with most of Chcuk Taylor's post. CUNY is one of the weakest conferences in the country. I don't know if that will ever change. Last year's Baruch team was the strongest CUNY team since the '98 Hunter team. They hosted a tournament game and lost decisively to Villa Julie, one of the weakest teams in the entire field. To say the least, it was a very disappointing performance.

The only two CUNY teams that could compete nationally were the Brooklyn team in the early '80s and the Hunter team in '98. Neither one was your typical CUNY team. The four best players on that Hunter team were one-year players. It was a once-in-a-decade mix of D1 and JUCO transfers grafted onto a typical CUNY team. Mike Brown pulled it off his first year at Hunter but came up short the other three years that he coached in CUNY.

[Coach AG]

INSPIRED DOLPHINS' EFFORT LEADS CSI TO FOURTH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY

The College of Staten Island Men's Basketball team (11-12 Overall, 8-4 CUNYAC) won their fourth consecutive game, using a sensational all-around team effort and defeating the York College Cardinals (15-9 Overall, 10-2 CUNYAC) by a score of 74-58 Wednesday evening at the Sports and Recreation Center in Willowbrook, NY.

The Dolphins were clicking on all cylinders against the conference's top seeded team, as CSI connected on 50% percent of their shots in the contest's opening period. The Dolphins dished 10 first half assists to the Cardinals' seven, and CSI forced nine Cardinal turnovers while only committing five of their own. As the teams headed into the locker room at halftime, the Dolphins held a 10 point advantage, 36-26. Senior guard Mike Jones put together a phenomal first half, scoring 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Jones also wowed the crowd with a four point play 7:25 into the contest, as he connected on a trey from the right corner while getting hacked by Cardinals' junior Michael Salamanca. Jones converted on the free-throw, and completed the sensational play. For York, it was senior Jeffrey Boone pacing his squad, scoring 11 points and snatching two caroms.

In the second half, the Dolphins would eventually build their lead up to 22, 61-39, with 11:18 remaining in the game. From there, York would attempt to get back into the game, putting together a 7-0 run over the ensuing three minutes to cut their deficit to 15, 61-46, with 8:22 remaining in the conest. From there, however, the Dolphins would maintain their lead, not allowing the Cardinals to cut their deficit to any lower than 15 points.

For the Dolphins, four players scored in double-figures, including Jones, who put together his second consecutive inspired performance, finishing with 26 points, three rebounds, and three steals. Sophomore center Sean Weismuller posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 caroms, and sophomore forward Gari Blackett dropped in 12 points and snatched five rebounds. For the Cardinals, it was Boone continuing his stellar senior campaign, pacing York with 22 points and five caroms. Former Dolphin Dennis Echols came alive in the second half, as he finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks.

For the game, the Dolphins connected on 46.4% of their attempts from the floor, while holding York to 42% shooting. The unselfish and motivated Dolphins also dished 18 assists to the Cardinals' 12.

With the victory, the Dolphins now control their destiny as it pertains to claiming the #2 seed in the 2007 CUNYAC Tournament, which begins for CSI on 2/18. CSI, which heads into John Jay College on Friday evening for their final conference contest of the 2006-2007 campaign, can capture the #2 slot in the tournament with a victory over the Bloodhounds, thanks to Lehman College's victory over Baruch College, 60-58, earlier Wednesday evening. CSI and John Jay tip-off Friday evening at 7pm.

[Coach AG]

CSI is looking like a completely different team now with the emergence of lone senior Mike Jones stepping up.  Jones has taken off the scoring burden of Wiesmuller and Mesjasz and is offering a viable 3rd option.  He took over the end of the game to help seal victory against Lehman, the next game dropped 29 versus Brooklyn and continued to keep ballin tonight by putting up 26 against York. Jones has struggled all year to find his stroke and these past games maybe hes just relaxing and trying to enjoy the end of his senior season.  What ever hes doing CSI sure hopes he keeps it up because it makes them that much more tougher to defend if hes drilling 3's to free up Blackett and Weismuller inside.  John Jay will be a emotional game for the Dolphins because they were knocked out by the Bloundhonds last year but CSI looks like they have the focus to make a late season run. 

[Coach AG]

CSI is in BEAST MODE!!!