MBB: City University of New York Athletic Conference

[topoftheworld]

coach, you can't let these posters get to you.  as i've always been taught on the court, you let your game do the talking.  in this instance, come back next year and prove that person wrong. 

in my long time in division 3 basketball, formerly a player, now a fan, you can't let what some poster is writing on a message board affect you.  for all you know that poster has some kind of grudge against you from the past because you didn't give him playing time, or something.  he/she could also be a few drinks deep and letting go some of that persons pain on a message board where no one knows them. 

also you chose this profession.  on a smaller level you are in the spotlight just like all the d1 coaches.  you don't see mike krzyzewski on the message boards, or in press conferences taking shots at people that call them out.  these guys get second guessed constantly, and on a smaller level so are you.  rick pitino gets the woman's name chanted during an away big east game he cheated on his wife with.  now if that isn't getting personal, i don't know what is. 

most of all, like i said, let your game do the talking.

[swingO]

     Your right Top of the World, the teacher in me just doesn't tolerate hate well, and the SJFisher loss still fresh in my team's heart and mind just made it worse. My Catholic guilt tells me you're right, the 20hr. days,24/7 got to me at the wrong time. The Coach K analogy you made is not completely  true however, I recommend you find a book called "Blue BLood" by Art Chansky, the story of the Duke-NC rivalry. I was amazed at some of the things Coach K did to control the media and bloggers when he went down in the 1995 season, and more recently in the past decade. If you get a chance read it, a basketball guy like you would really appreciate it. Thanks Again

[Queens]

There's so many things i want to say about your post i want to make sure I don't leave anything out.  First off i want to know what i said that was venom? Are you upset because i posted your record on a public forum(108-192)?  Are you upset that you would have never won a championship if RJB didnt come to Brooklyn?  What else did i say that was so hurtful?  That i predicted your team was going to lose on the road at the # 22 St John Fisher?  You are WAY too sensitive.  TOPoftheworld said it right, do division 1 coaches call up espn after they are criticized? I want to know what i said that was so hurtful?

Next, do you normally refer to yourself in the third person? Because you were raving about how you don't hide your identity on the board, so i was just wondering why on your previous posts before i called  you out, you referred to yourself in the third person?  Interesting to say the least. 

"I think you should restrict your remarks to players and not take shots at programs."-Steve Podias

So let me get this straight Steve, you would rather me bash your players then bash you and your program?  Interesting.

"So, should I be nasty and say Rankis is 1-3 in CUNY title games,in over 30 years, or St. John is 3-8  In CUNY FInals, while I'm 2-0 in the 11 years I was allowed to play in the tourney?"- Steve Podias

While saying you weren't going to be nasty you were nasty by even mentioning it.  Leave Rankis and St. John out of it.  What do they have to do with your record pre-baptiste?  And they are both Full time because they are athletic directors at the school.  There not full time basketball coaches at York and at Baruch.  They are part time coaches just like you and full time athletic directors.  All coaches have obstacles and reasons why teams and programs are not successful.  Every coach that loses has a laundry list of reasons why they weren't successful.  Either a kid failed off or a kid got hurt or someone decided to transfer, no one is going to feel sorry for you.  The Bottom line is if baptiste didn't come to brooklyn you would be 0-0 in championship games.

Nothing i said was based out of hate.  We are talking about division three basketball, the purest form of the game.  Everything i said was my opinion, i'm shocked at how personally you took it and the fact that you came on here several times to defend yourself.  Not very professional.  Do you think any other of the head coaches would come on here and post.  I've criticized Plevritis several times on here, i didnt see him come on here and say anything.  Also, before you bravely outed yourself you commented on how my York education must have failed me?

"But since you are not big on facts, and maybe you can't read, perhaps that York education of yours failed you once again." -Steve Podias

Another interesting comment.  Very unprofessional.

Lastly, why should i be removed from the board?  Because i stated my opinion on your team and your program? What did i say that constituted hate? I just stated my opinion. 

Prove me wrong Coach.  Win next year, without Baptiste. 

Congrats on the two titles, it was impressive.

[Zak]

Congrats to Baruch and York for making it an All-CUNY ECAC final and to Baruch on a great performance in the win. Second straight year the ECAC title stays in NYC, but next year we hope to see similar results in the NCAAs...the 2010-11 season has begun...at least the recruiting and reloading portion. Good luck to all our teams!

PS - Thanks to all the seniors and good luck to RJB in the senior All-Star game.

[Danny Weismuller]

Zakk... no love for BC?

Queens... I usually try to stay truly subjective on here but I don't like good people getting blasted undeservedly.
First off, I think you blasting coach P is unnecessary because the guy has been a pretty stand up guy... In the last ten years, have you heard any shady things about the program when it comes to BC? No.  Brooklyn has had tons of talent walk through the door but kids haven't been able to make it through the season without failing off or getting eligible. The old Core curriculum was extremely intense there. We had 2-3 starters fail off in 3 different years when I played there. I don't know if you could blame a coach for that... or maybe in your world.. you would say the coach should of "found a way" to get these kids to pass. But I must say.. the administration doesn't play that at BC.   

Baptiste fell into Podias lap? How bout he recruited him as a HS Senior but RJB opted to go to a JUCO. Did you ever think, RJB's brother playing at BC had anything to do with it? And if Podias was such a bad guy/coach, would Coach Baptiste allow his brother to come here? 

The last thing I'll say is that, it's funny how much courage people have on these blogs when you could remain anonymous. I mean.... any credibility is shot because you could say anything and no one could ever call you out or question you. It's pretty low to call for someone being fired when we all know D3 coaches don't do this for the money and you have no idea what that coach means to his players or the school.

Pretty low Queens... pretty low.

[topoftheworld]

its not low at all danny.  these boards are for the fans to express their opinions and debate basketball.  thats what everyone does at every level of sports, and i have a feeling thats one of the reason we enjoy sports so much.  so everyone is entitled to their opinion in my book.

your point that kids fail off the team points even more towards podias failing at his jobs and hurting kid's futures even.  it is a coach's job to not only get the most talented players, but also the players that can stay eligible and succeed academically at the school.  baruch, hunter and other schools in the conference are definitely on par with brooklyn.  its just part of the game.  so when you say...
"you would say the coach should of 'found a way' to get these kids to pass," i say find kids that will stay on the team.  if its such a problem with the team for 3 years or more, you have to look at the types of kids the coaching staff bring in.

your point that rjb's brother playing at brooklyn is another reason why he DID fall into brooklyn's lap.  maybe you would counter by saying podias is such a great recruiter, he knew that if his brother played at bc, he would want to come there in the future.....

no one is saying that podias is a bad guy.  queens stated facts about the program, and things got blown out of proportion because it was taken personally. 

danny as a former player, we have/had the great privilege of playing college sports.  with that privilege comes the fact that some people will like you, some will hate you, and you may never know why, and it may be for terrible reasons.  when j.j. reddick gets bo'ed his whole life, do you think its because he was a jerk?  no, who knows why.  its part of it, and if you can't handle yourself professionally when criticism comes your way, maybe this is not the profession for you.

as in 90% of sports discussions, you can only point to the results.  no matter what you, or i, or queens, or coach says, we'll see what happens next year.  then if you want, come back and say i told you so.

[topoftheworld]

oh, and taking shots at the other coaches....

that was the true low blow

[Danny Weismuller]

Just don't like the idea of calling for people to be fired when I feel it really isn't deserved...
and yeah i dont really lose sleep over this...

anyway

how bout them yankees?

[Back2Back]

I've always been an avid follower of this blog and enjoyed reading the posts, particularly the entertaining ones when people went back and forth.
However, after seeing the posts over the past few days, I decided to step up and write myself...

I am one of the returning players for next year's Brooklyn team.. although according to Queens we should all just give up because Rich is leaving us...

I am not writing this to be hateful or attack anyone, just my teammates and I got a little tired of Queens basically saying that we would have been nothing if not for Rich..

Don't get me wrong, Rich is an immensely talented player, the most talented player in the region, and one of the best in the nation. He did, as Queens said, make each and everyone of us better..

However, I assure you, and Rich will attest to this in a heartbeat that with our practices being as intense and competitive as they are, we all made him a better player as well...

Queens, being that you have never been at one of our practices, I don't think you understand how intense they are... our scrimmages in practice this year were tougher than some of our games.. and I assure you that we are the most talented team in the conference, kids on our bench would start for most, if not all of the teams in the conference...

Now I believe that you suggested that we would not have won back to back championships if not for Rich.. Obviously, that may be true, given the fact that he had such great games both years.. But let me ask you this, what team wins a championship without their best player? It doesn't happen...

Would York have won back to back championships without Jeff Boone, who by happy coincidence was a JUCO transfer himself? I don't think so...

How about this year....
Is York in the championship game without Marcel?
Does Baruch make it to the semi's without Hilaire?
Hunter without Rubino?

Each team needs their # 1 guy, thats a given... In fact, take the best player off each team in the conference, I think we win the championship rather easily...

You also said previously, that other than Rich & Amil, you're not sold on the rest of our team... Now I'm not quite sure how many times you saw us play this year...The leadership of DC & Tommy has been instrumental for our team over the past 2 seasons...Maybe you weren't at the semi-final game last month when DC dominated Baruch over the last 5 minutes of that game.. I doubt you were at the Widener game when Tommy hit the buzzer beater to win the game... Perhaps you weren't there when last year at the championship, went DC went on a 9-0 run by himself to extend our lead going into the half when Rich was in foul trouble... Probably failed to notice that AJ had 11 points and 4 assists off the bench that game..  Hardly anyone ever outside of Bedford Ave ever notices or appreciates the blue collar effort put forth by Darnell each and everytime he steps onto the floor for us. And I suppose you could have missed the efforts put forth by Tyshawn and Enes off the bench in the championship game this year.. When they checked in to the game, the whole game changed..Simple as that..

While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I have to assume you're just not watching closely enough.. If you were, you would see all of this..  We were 2nd in the nation in steals... took all 14 of us, everyday in practice working on our press to do that... We led the conference in Assist-Turnover ratio.. took all of us believing in each other to do that...

What really separates us from the other teams is that we are a TEAM in every sense of the word.... When one person isn't having a good day, there are 2 more people there waiting to pick up the slack.. We have great leadership on our team..  The atmosphere and attitude put forth by our coaches has also been a huge part of our success... We're 66-20 over the past 3 years, 38-8 in Cuny play.. An example of what separates us from other teams could be seen in the championship game a few weeks ago.. When things started going wrong for York, they all started arguing with each other... Not us.. Countless times over these past few seasons we've been down big to teams.. Just see the semi-final and final game from this year, where we were down double digits in both games.. However, we never once lost our heads... The bond that we have as teammates, the love that we have for each other has resonated through our play, and that has been the biggest part of our winning back to back championships...

[Back2Back]

Another thing that neither I or my teammates liked seeing on this board were some of the comments made towards our Coach. Now as I said earlier Queens, you are entitled to your opinion.... And I can see that maybe some things you said were taken out of context..

However, some of the things you did say certainly hit home with us and were not at all appreciated...

Firstly, you're saying "'I'm amazed Podias lasted that long as Head Coach with a record like that" & "Podias will go back to his usual ways, which is losing".. Those statements were unnecessary and unwarranted... To infer that Coach P should be out of a job that he cherishes is completely wrong o you... You  went on to post his record pre-Rich.. Coach's record that you see there is not at all indicative of the kind of coach he is nor the kind of man he is. Coach P means everything to us.. He puts in insane hours each and everyweek, as do all the coaches in CUNY.. He does a great job preparing us for not only basketball games, but for life... He and our other assistant coaches put together this specific teams, finding the right combination of talented players and character rich players.. Winning back to back championships has to put us in the conversation for best CUNY teams ever, and Coach P made that happen.. Yeah some may say Brooklyn got lucky with DC & Rich transferring, but as everyone knows, the most talented teams do not always win championships.. Coach P put us in a position to make sure we did... He also has been able to keep us together, whereas other teams in the conference have crazy roster turnover year in and year out.. We have 10 returning players next year... 3 are heading into their 4th year on the team, 6 heading into their 3rd year.. and 1 heading into his 2nd.. Our coaches have provided the family atmosphere that I believe sets us apart from all the other teams spoken about on this board...

Without being around our program, you can't possibly know what goes on.. You are just stating your opinion, which you are entitled to. I only ask that when you do so, keep it positive. We all know what we are losing in our 4 seniors... We know how tough it will be to win a 3rd straight championship.. But I assure you that we will be ready to defend our titles.. We will be prepared to be to do whatever it takes to win every game on our schedule.. And that preparation, that confidence.. Starts with our coaches... Particularly Coach Podias..

On another note, I didn't get to touch on this with my first post.. Saying something along the lines that Rich got kicked off the team at Farmingdale was foolish.. Were you there at Farmingdale during that time? Do you know exactly what happened? You don't. There was alot that went into it, and what you stated is certainly not what actually occurred. You can't always rely on what you hear.. Thats not fair to the readers on the board, its not fair to the people you are talking about either.

As you and topoftheworld both said, it is not at all wrong of you guys to come on here and share your opinions.. In fact, as I said earlier, I rather enjoy reading this board and keeping up with the times as they say... All that we could ask is that you not demean the roles that we all play... We're all college athletes here, we're simply trying to have some fun while obtaining our degrees and going out into the real world.. Sometimes I think people forget that.. 98% of us are never going to play a "meaningful"game after our college eligibilty is up.. We're just in it for the love of the game..

I do hope that I was able to get my points across here succinctly and without offending anyone...

Some of my teammates and I just felt a little perturbed by some of the things said on this board of late.. While we do understand that some things may have been taken out of context..

The simple fact of the matter is this... If you are not fortunate enough to be around our program, you can not possibly know what goes on there for certain... Know this.. We are a tightknit group.. And if you asked anyone around our program, we would not have won either championship without each specific person who was on the team.. We all play vital roles in our program, we all bring specific, necessary things to the table.. You'll just never be able to imagine how important everyone is to our success.. All you guys see, all most sports fans see.. Is the player who makes the shot, never the person who made the pass that led to the pass... or the person who took the charge... or the key substitution the coach made at a specific point in the game... These things are always unseen and therefore cannot be fully appreciated...

Anyone who has been around our program these last few years can attest to this.. It has been special.. Yes, we've had a special player in Rich...But as I stated above, what most people think about Rich is that he's this talented player, a great scorer.. Nobody knows the sacrifices he's made for us as a team, nobody knows how great a leader he's been.. And that goes for every single person on our team 1 through 14..  We've all made sacrifices and contributions to our team... We all have given our blood,sweat and tears to this program...

In these past few years, we've only lost 1 player to grades... We've made a commitment to each other as a team, that we won't let each other down... We will maintain our grades so that we can all be there at the end. In fact, 3 of us are Dean's List Students... And 1 is graduating early.....

All of those other things that are spoken about on here.. "this program does this to get kids eligible" or "this program does that".. That is of absolutely no concern to us.. At the end of the day, we at Brooklyn are a family..  A family that was started by Coach P... We all stand by him through anything and everything, and we know that as long as he is at the helm, that we will be ready to play our style of basketball...

We will be ready to 3peat next year...
I'll have to think of a more creative name to post with for next year.. But for now, Back2Back will have to do...

In the meantime, I hope to never post again, and to find wholesome, goodnatured posts on the board from this point forward... Just let us players play, let the coaches coach... Be fans, and enjoy the game.

[Zak]

Nicely said Back2Back and congrats on seeing the big picture! I am proud of your team and coach Podias - keep up the great work.

[topoftheworld]

in my opinion, it is inappropriate for players, and coaches to post comments on this board.  It just sounds very immature.  People are obviously getting very defensive about comments that have been made.  like i said before, just come back next year and prove everyone wrong. 

like it was previously stated, you don't see the hunter coach coming on the boards and taking shots at posters after people said equally if not more harsh words about him.  players and coaches have been bashed and praised.  of course its a team game, and certain guys have made plays throughout the season.  if you think queens assumes baptiste made every play for this team, i think you are belittling his intelligence, as your coach already has.

you sound like a player who wishes he got more attention for his hard work throughout his time at brooklyn college.  i'm not saying that you are, but when you come on the board and complain that someone gives rjb all the credit, thats what you sound like.

[sludge]

Youse guys could all just get a grip, maybe.

[Zak]

Congratulations to Marcel Esonwune (York) and Richard Jean-Baptiste (Brooklyn) on being named D3 All-Americans!!!

[Real Ballin]

all though i maybe late i had to put 2 scents, too me it seems like the good people over at york are a bunch of SOAR LOSERS!! two years ago when they lost to john jay they never once gave them credit for out playing them and working harder than them. The only thing they were saying was that they beat themselves!!  it was all over the paper in queens and on the websites that york just played bad and they beat themselves and john jay was just lucky to have played them that day!! which is funny cuz i do believe that john jay is the only team in along time to have even won a ncaa game!.. york are a bunch of sore losers, with an average age of 28! it is evident that brooklyn has had the better team in cuny the past 2 years and kudos to them!