MBB: City University of New York Athletic Conference

knight_life · December 18, 2009, 01:03:38 PM

Well that's true for every team, in every conference. You just never know who is going to make it to the second semester and who's going to have newcomers. One thing I love about the NJAC, it's like a whole new season in January, since half the teams add one like four new guys and lose a couple, completely different teams. In the CUNYAC, it seems more school's lose than add. I haven't heard any rumors around the CUNYAC yet, so it seems doubtful Hunter or anyone will have a midseason addition, I don't think there will be any Marlon Smith's showing up this year.

cunybasketball · January 04, 2010, 01:39:10 PM

HUGE WEEK FOR CUNY BASKETBALL....Anyone schools pick up any mid-season transfers?

Rhodes Scholar · January 04, 2010, 03:18:29 PM

Baruch @ Hunter on Wednesday night is the best matchup this week. The Bearcats are playing very well and are the team to beat. They have a lot of talent and experience. Their only problem might be a lack of depth. Hunter also has good talent, but they have mostly newcomers and their big men have to step up.

Queens · January 06, 2010, 11:49:25 AM

I'll be at the Baruch vs Hunter game tonight, its definately the prime time game of the week. ( Rhodes im going to be looking for you!) Should be interesting to see if Hunter can stop Baruch, Hunter is notorious for playing no defense and just trying to outscore their opponents, i dont think that will work vs Baruch. Should be a high paced, high scoring game.

Spread: Baruch -8

As for the rest of the conference, didnt see many games that caught my eye. The confence is what we expected and no one seems to be stepping up. Going to be a 4 team race. Hunter can make a big statement tonight.

Whats going on with Brooklyn 5-5? I was expecting a big season from them, anyone see them play or know whats going on with them? Lost to Manhattanville which is a team they should be able handle. Then got spanked there next game, looks like they mailed it in during the 3rd place game.

Rhodes Scholar- Feelings on Baruch not getting votes for the top 25? There 9-1 coming off a excellent season last year, after i saw they won this weekend i thouht they would be getting votes. It would be great to see a CUNY team get that kind of respect nationally. Why do you think they continue to get snubbed?

Rhodes Scholar · January 06, 2010, 01:06:58 PM

Quote from: Queens on January 06, 2010, 11:49:25 AM

Rhodes Scholar- Feelings on Baruch not getting votes for the top 25? There 9-1 coming off a excellent season last year, after i saw they won this weekend i thouht they would be getting votes. It would be great to see a CUNY team get that kind of respect nationally. Why do you think they continue to get snubbed?

Queens: Baruch is a good team but I don't believe they're Top 25 material (or even Top 50). First off, last season is irrelevant in terms of this year's rankings. Second, the Atlantic region is probably the weakest in the country and the CUNYAC is one of the weakest conferences as well. Third, outside of the Stockton victory, Baruch has no top-tier wins (although the Rutgers-Newark win is good). Fourth, even if Baruch runs the table in the CUNYAC this year (and so far they've only played one game) it would not be a strong argument for ranking them in the Top 25 given the weak nature of the conference. That said the Bearcats might get a vote or two if they keep winning and beat William Paterson in Wayne on January 18. In my opinion the only CUNY team that was a legitimate Top 25 squad (since the inception of this site) was the '98 Hunter team, which was much better than this current Baruch team.

I also noticed on the Hunter website that the Hawks have added Panagiotis Koutsoloukas, a 6-10 junior from Cyprus. If this guy can play, Hunter may have made a big impovement to their team.

Danny Weismuller · January 06, 2010, 04:21:35 PM

I also thought Baruch might have received a vote or two. To get votes coming out of the Atlantic, it looks like you have to have a tough non conference and not lose a game. Stockton has votes but lost to NJCU who lost to Brooklyn. Stockton also lost to Susquehanna. Seems like Baruch has a tough schedule coming up with games against Hunter, Brooklyn, York, William Patterson, and Stevens. Now if they ran the table against those squads, I would think they could get some representation in the polls.

Queens, I was looking into the Brooklyns games this weekend since you mentioned it.
Manhattanville and Susquehanna seem to be pretty good teams who took Franklin & Marshall to the wire. Also looks like Brooklyn was without Amil john for their second game of the tournament (which could be the reason why the guard on Susquehanna scored 37). I'm looking forward to seeing Brooklyn take on the north conference as well as another run in with York.

Zak · January 07, 2010, 12:00:40 AM

Happy New Year to all CUNYAC fans!
I am a little shocked by Rhodes, whose opinion I respect a great deal on this board. The Atlantic Region is a lot better than you seem to give it credit for. Yes, there was a time when NJAC schools would be in the Final Four on a regular basis, but look at last year with Stockton and Farmingdale having great runs in the NCAAs. Some of the folks voting on D3 hoops aren't giving this region enough respect. Is this year similar to last year in terms of talent? Absolutely, maybe not Stockton and Farmingdale in the same way, but there are several excellent teams. To say Baruch is not top 50 is giving a lot of other teams and regions way too much credit, some deserved and others just being there based on past reputation.
Why not Baruch and WP in 2010? or who knows who else may crash the party in late February or early March? I don't think anyone was saying last January 6th that Farmingdale was going to go so far or that they were ranked? Should they have been?
Bottom line is that teams in the Atlantic are a lot more athletic than teams are used to seeing throughout the year and that c

Zak · January 07, 2010, 12:01:26 AM

causes serious mismatches in the postseason.

Danny Weismuller · January 07, 2010, 08:34:25 AM

Queens,

I saw Baruch won by 14. Any analysis of the game? And did that new 6'11 kid play?

knight_life · January 07, 2010, 11:47:26 AM

Danny, I was waiting for a Rhodes recap as well, I'm sure he was there. As from what I can tell, not even Carpenter played, so they didn't go with a "big" lineup at all. Baruch is clearly a solid team, but that's what happens when you spend four plus year building a squad. No one else in cuny right now has a team like that, at this point the only battle is going to be for the second seed an nothing having to play baruch until the finals.

Queens · January 07, 2010, 11:50:21 AM

I couldnt agree more with you Zak. Rhodes little surprised at your response and the comments you made. " Last year means nothing in terms of rankings?" Are you kidding me? The whole poll is based on last year, know one knows whose coming back, who transfered, who got kicked out of school. The opening poll to start the season is 100 percent based on last year. Thats why so many of these teams who were very good last year, like stockton, umass darthmouth, farmingdale and others are in the top 25 and are now currently not in the poll. You have several teams with multiple loses still banging around in the top 25, its thats not bases on their reputation i dont know what is.

Baruch not in the top 50 is just a ridiculous comment, how could a team thats 10-1 not be one of the top 50 teams in the country. Who at one point this season did receive a vote for the top 25. Im not saying they should be in the top 25 but not in the top 50? Rhodes must be a Hunter alum

Zak said it right, the atlantic region plays a pressing up tempo in your face game that the rest of the regions rarely see or play against. Teams from the UAA or NESCAC play a half court style. I'll put William Patterson up against any top 25 team and theyll be in for a battle. Go watch a richard stockton lay up line and see if any of the top 25 teams can match that athletism. That being said there are more bad and even terrible teams in the atlantic region than any of the other regions which gives the region a bad rap. This being said last year atlantic region had 2 teams in the elite 8 and one team in the national title game. Not bad for the worst region in the country.

Queens · January 07, 2010, 12:03:04 PM

I was at the game last night as i told you yesterday i would be...

Baruch is just better than hunter, and like i said it would be a high scorering game final score 95-81. Not much defense being played on either side, but like knight life said Baruch is just an experienced veteran squad who have played with each other for 3 years now. Baruch was in control the whole game with Hunter making some runs to make it interesting. It was a 3 pt game at Halftime with baruch having a 14 pt lead with about 5 minutes left and hunter went on a nice run to end the half. Second half was all baruch with the lead being anywhere from 8 to 18. Hunter showed some life at the end of the game with there press but there defense is just too poor to get enough stops to over come Baruch.

Hunters whole team is Rubino, hes real good player, probably the best guard in the conference. That being said Hilaire the pg from Baruch stayed with him step for step and even outscored him ( 23 to 22). Rubino final stat line 22 pts 8 assists 6 rebounds. Was not impressed with Dubios who took alot of bad shots and was in foul trouble the whole game. One of the players on Baruch crossed him making him fall then hit a three in his face. Crowd really got into it at that point. Kunkle had his usual 20 which is expected from a first team all conference player.

It was an entertaining game with a nice crowd but from watching that game Hunter, as i said on this board, is a one maybe two steps behind Baruch.

Rhodes Scholar · January 07, 2010, 01:05:40 PM

Zak: I believe the Atlantic region is the weakest in the country not because there are no good teams in the region, but because all of the other regions are stronger. I base some of this view on the fact that the Atlantic region teams tend not to perform very well against teams from the other regions. At this point in the season, I don't believe that any of the Atlantic region teams belong in the Top 25. Stockton is weaker than last year and Farmingdale is not even close to last year. William Paterson has a good record (but not a strong schedule) and is on a lot of people's radar. Baruch, like I said, has a nice win against Stockton and a good one over Rutgers-Newark but has a disappointing loss to Westfield State as well. For the Bearcats to merit more attention from the voters they must keep winning (comfortably) in conference and beat Paterson as well. Plus, teams in the #26-#50 range must appear less palatable to the voters.

Queens: I love the way that you stir the pot. (Hopefully it will help get this board more active.) Obviously the prior year plays a part in the opening poll, but it should play no roll at this point in the year. And just because a team has a 10-1 record does not mean it's one of the top teams in the country. It matters who you beat and where, and, to a lesser extent, by how much. I agree with both you and Zak that the Atlantic region teams are often more athletic than others around the country, but that does not always translate into victories.

Rhodes Scholar · January 07, 2010, 01:37:53 PM

knight_life: I was there and wasn't particularly surprised by the result. As you said, Baruch keeps guys around for four years, plus they have good talent, good coaching and good chemistry. Hunter has good talent, but little chemistry. For the Hawks, it's all about Rubino, DuBois or Klingsberg taking their man and shooting. I think Rubino can provide leadership but he needs some help. Plus, Hunter has no one who posts up, which limits their options on offense. If they had a guy down low, it would help free up Rubino, Klingsberg and Courtien for open outside shots. Anyway I'm interested in seeing the new 6-10 kid play (he was sitting on the bench), when he becomes eligible, which I assume will be pretty soon.

Queens: What's your take on Klingsberg? He's the best freshman in the conference and is averaging 16 points a game, yet for some reason, you fail to even mention his name.

P.S. I'm not holding my breath awaiting a response.

Queens · January 07, 2010, 06:59:22 PM

Klingsberg is a really good player, who gets over shadowed by Rubino and Dubios. I'm not a huge fan of his game because he looks disinterested and lacks effort at times(I've only seen him play 3 times but thats my opinion) His 16 a game average is impressive for a freshmen and he played a nice game yesterday. Anyone that scores 39 in a game is pretty good in my book.

The 6'10 kid is suppose to be a project according to my sources

I wish Millian from last years team was still eligible for Hunter he is exactly what this years team is missing. His toughness and inside scoring would be a scarey combination with Rubino, Dubios and Klingsberg (another mention Rhodes)

Monday- Huge Matchup- Potential Finals Preview- Baruch @ York

Anyone know why Nick Hamilton Lopez didnt play yesterday vs Medgar? Hes averaging 21 a game and is was one of the most explosive scorers in the conference.

P.S. Love the sarcasm Rhodes