MBB: Colonial States Athletic Conference

[chizwiz]

Well, the EU players have completely disappointed me.  FT's, baby, FT's!  NO leadership, either.  Does EU even have a captain?  It seems not.  The only way EU gets into the PAC playoffs is if Neumann loses, cuz there is no way EU beats Immaculata in its present condition.  Let's say Neumann does lose (somebody figure those odds please, and does Centenary even have the brains to realize it can be a spoiler?), EU will not have a chance in the first playoff game.  Take the timer out, cuz this goose is cooked!  Good luck, PAC.  EU will miss you; we are already looking to the MAC to get beat up even more.  I think I might even become an Alvernia fan.  At least I know what to expect from the Crusaders - toughness and a winning attitude.

[chairman]

Playoffs start Thursday at Immaculata for the Eagles. All things considered, Eastern's position is better than Neumann's but not nearly as good as Cabrini.'s. The Eagles interior players will need to hit shots to beat Immaculata. Lefty... thanks for making me laugh this morning. Needed it after last night.

[lefty2]

Chairman,

No charge for the chuckle.  That's what I'm here for.

[Flyer]

Well, the EU players have completely disappointed me.  FT's, baby, FT's!  NO leadership, either.  Does EU even have a captain?  It seems not.  The only way EU gets into the PAC playoffs is if Neumann loses, cuz there is no way EU beats Immaculata in its present condition.  What a joke EU is this year.  Let's say Neumann does lose (somebody figure those odds please, and does Centenary even have the brains to realize it can be a spoiler?), EU will not have a chance in the first playoff game.  Take the timer out, cuz this goose is cooked!  Good luck, PAC.  EU will miss you; we are already looking to the MAC to get beat up even more.  I think I might even become an Alvernia fan.  At least I know what to expect from the Crusaders - toughness and a winning attitude.

At least you are a realist Chiz.    Go have a beer.     See you at the Vern.

[mailsy]

Flyer,

Eastern is the one that controls its own destiny.  If the Eagles win, they are in regardless of what Neumann does. 

If Eastern loses and Neumann wins, the Knights are in.  If they both lose, Eastern is in.

Cabrini is fifth if Eastern loses and six if Eastern wins.  The Cavs will be on the road at either Immaculata, Gwynedd-Mercy, or Misericordia on Saturday.

Jon,
Thank you again matrix guru.  You deserve a raise. 

Mailsy, I don't feel like driving to nowhere again. Reading is good enough.  Nothing against Misery but the mountains don't do anything for me.  I thought about buying some land up there but I don't think so (Carbon or Potter county) the winters are too long up there I think I would go insane. Maybe the Pa lumberjack festival up on Rte 6 would be fun though.

Pocono Raceway in the summer maybe, Knoebel's, camping or skiing and the scenery are nice but I guess it would be easy to stay focused and get a 4.0 up there.

Should bring my bow up there and get me a buck for a taxidermist or wake up a bear for some excitement.   They do have a nice Pizza place on 309 South by Harvey's Lake.  They gotta fix their potholes up there too.  

  

Flyer,

It does no one any good to insult someone's home.  You may not like the Mountain air, you don't have to.  But people in the mountains, don't like the suburban air that you or I may like. 

If you don't want to travel too far.  Hope that EU wins against IU and then you'll only have to drive a shorter distance.   If EU wins than you would have your choice of GMC(if they lose--Miseri moves to 2nd place) or IU on a coin flip.  Neither place is going to be easy.  GMC would want revenge for the Cavs beating them on their home court and IU would want to just stop the bleeding.

[Flyer]

Mailsy,

I was not trying to insult anyone or their home, just semantics.  I love the mountain air itself so crisp and clean no pollution with lots of critters in nature's natural habitat. 

[mailsy]

Mailsy,

I was not trying to insult anyone or their home, just semantics.  I love the mountain air itself so crisp and clean no pollution with lots of critters in nature's natural habitat. 

Flyer,

All in good fun.  I like it up there too, if only to visit for short periods of time.  Any longer I'd have some issues.  Are you going to travel there if that's where they end up?

[Flyer]

Mailsy,

I was not trying to insult anyone or their home, just semantics.  I love the mountain air itself so crisp and clean no pollution with lots of critters in nature's natural habitat. 

Flyer,

All in good fun.  I like it up there too, if only to visit for short periods of time.  Any longer I'd have some issues.  Are you going to travel there if that's where they end up?

Absolutely and I am bringing a secret weapon.   The fans up there are classy though and are not ignorant or obnoxious like some places I have been over the years.  They win with class and lose with class.   I am only joking as well the mountains are a beautiful place and the potholes were from the snow and salt on the ground.  They get real snow up there.

Just don't feel like getting an oil change yet but if I have to drive up there I will have to get one to be honest. 

[Jon]

I was hoping to be able to craft my own draft of an All-PAC team, but i think it will be more efficient to start with chairman #200 and work from there.

1st team:
POTY- Shawell... Seen him play twice in person. First time he looked mortal. The second time he hit tough shot after tough shot. Can't dispute the winning. If he is not unanimous there is some big time chicanery going on.

Baumunk... Misericordia 57% shooting and 16 and 6.5. Can only speak for what I've seen, but he has been very impressive in the two times I've seen him. Misericordia is right n the thick of things, and he is a huge part of what they do.

Finklea--Immac.... Looked special in the one game I saw him. Good passer and scorer. He can take over a game.

Washington-- CAB--Truly a special offensive talent. Defensive is a little suspicious at times, but the scoring is brilliant.

The Fifth spot is tough.... Go with Talley from GMC, but might be persuaded to go other directions if things move this week. He is the most dynamic scorer on a team that has battled back to earn a playoff spot.

Shawell (POY) is spot on.  Scores often and late, which is the better measure of the player.  I'll take Talley and Finklea as well.  Talley went a bit nuts against the Vern the first time around in the PEC this year.  He made everything he looked at in the first half. 

I won't necessarily line up my all-conference teams by position, but I do like to think about the five of them on the floor at the same time.  With Finklea creating and having Shawell and Talley as options I like my chances already.  Baumunk gives me three juniors who are over 1,000 points for their careers, and I like the effort I get from him, along with the 16.5 and 6.5.

I'll take King over Washington for my fifth spot.  The scoring numbers are comparable, but King is a better rebounder and trails only Baker in defensive boards.  For someone who leads the conference in FT% (Washington, .831), I would like to see him at the line more than just three times per game.  Especially considering he was in that 88-foul festival down in Radnor in the early season.

2nd team:

King- Alvernia I moved him on to the second team only because I've not seen him create his own shot. Great range at the offensive end and  he does great work on the defensive boards.
Reid-- Very difficult to stop in the post.
Patrick-- Neumann-- I hate myself for this, but you can't argue with his talent, and when he decides he wants to play he can single-handedly win games. I'd rather vote for E. Hitchens, but Patrick does score nearly 17 per game.
Smith--Somewhat of a quiet year, but the rebounding numbers are good and he is a steady scorer.
Finish with Baker from Centenary-- Don't like to put a kid on a non-copntending team on the list, but the producitve numbers are there, and he can't be blamed for the huge ball-handling issues in the Cyclone backcourt.

Washington then starts my second team for the reasons listed above and his teammate Reid joins him here.  I feel like he's been the steadying factor at Cabrini in its recent turmoil and he both deserves the spot and has earned it.

I don't know why, but I feel like I'm slighting Smith by putting him on the second team.  I don't know who he would bump off the first team, but I watch him rebound and work in the post and feel like he averages 18 and 10.  He appears to be the most polished post player, but this league seems to have a longer history of face-up than back-to the basket.

I liked Baker too the first (and only) time I saw him.  He's worthy of a second team spot.

The final second team spot and subsequent HMs are tough to juggle.  I find myself looking for statistical reasons not to also go with Patrick here.  He's second in the league in scoring, he makes free throws and gets to the line.  Other players I would consider here, who will likely fill out the HMs, are Hyman (probably my choice to replace Patrick if I do), Eli Hitchens, Bradley (I recognize and reward effort), and Linton (we couldn't stay in front of him at home).

COY-- TBD
ROY-- Washington in a landslide
POY-- Shawell.

COY - If we're still waiting for games to be played for this, then it's gotta be the Misericordia/GMC game.  I lean toward Woodruff at this point.  The Cougars neither blow out nor get blown out.  They are 7-1 at home in conference games and still have an eye on a first-round bye.

ROY - I'll second the Washington vote

POY - See above.

Hope this starts some conversation.

Conversations started...

[chairman]

Looks like Centenary put forth a good effort, but the Eagles will have to earn their way in. If Eastern gets in all six teams in the playoffs from a nine team league will have a winning record in Conference play. Don't know what that is worth, but that is something.

Jon-- Do we really have the same ten guys on our All-PAC team? Lefty- Weigh in and we will make it official. COY is a tough one on several levels. If Misericordia beats GMC, then I give the nod to Woodruff, but it is hard to go against the job Miller and his staff have done. No players who made significant contributions to the 2006 Champions on the floor this year and losing two ALL-PAC Performers from last year and still they win the league regular season title. Got to give recognition to Coach Miller's staff for this year as well.

Finally-- Chiz, remember that 21 and 22 year old players in Division III basketball are still college students. There are players making millions of dollars who lose games on a regular basis (reference the Minnesota Timberwolves). I know that as you look back at your college career, you would see failures in all kinds of different ways. That these kids endeavor to accomplish something in front of people is no reason to bash them publicly. Root for them, expect the best for them, and hope with them.

[chizwiz]

Finally-- Chiz, remember that 21 and 22 year old players in Division III basketball are still college students. There are players making millions of dollars who lose games on a regular basis (reference the Minnesota Timberwolves). I know that as you look back at your college career, you would see failures in all kinds of different ways. That these kids endeavor to accomplish something in front of people is no reason to bash them publicly. Root for them, expect the best for them, and hope with them.

Really, how do you know that, Chairman?  I think my college career, especially my athletic career was on the opposite side of the spectrum from failure.  And you know I'm right.  In my opinion, college athletes have to take the good with the bad.  I think this is exactly the forum for "bash"ing players, but I wouldn't use that word.  Did they really play with toughness and conviction?  I don't think so.

How would you like me to "bash" them, privately?  Yeah, that has not seemed to work in the last 4 years of these seniors' careers.  And these college students are adults who can handle this.  They know who I am and know what has happened this season.  If they feel good about it, then they are being unrealistic.  If what I said in my last post bothered them, they need to grow up and deal with it.  Life is full of people who are honest and critical about one's performance.  Those people have helped me, not hurt me.

[chairman]

Chiz--

You have come so far because of your ability to take criticism. Say what you want to say.

I would agree that their performance against Cabrini was not their best performance of the year, and that the high expectations for this year and this senior class have not yet been met. On the other hand, I feel that your criticism of them has more to do with you not being able to gloat on this board than your genuine support of the coaches, players, families, and schools.

Had you been at the game, you could have spoken with a little more authority on the subject, but in a game of inches, where shots go halfway down and then pop out, where rebounds bounce off multiple players in a scrum and go out of bounds for one team and not the other, where sometimes a carry is called and sometimes it is not, there is always going to be one team that winds up short on the scoreboard-- If there isn't then they play overtime-- Eastern lost to Cabrini, Charles Bush played well, and now they have to beat Immaculata.

[lefty2]

Chair,

I've only seen teams once, so I don't feel qualified to offer an All-PAC team.

Regarding COY, I'd agree that it's easy to overlook the job that coach Miller has done at Alvernia.

However, they were picked to win the league.

Misericordia was picked in the middle of the PAC - although it's hard to tell since for some strange reason, the pre-season poll is listed in alphabetical order on the PAC website.

Man for the man, the Cougars don't compare to most teams in the league.

Other teams have more physical talent, but Coach Woodruff probably gets more mileage out of his squad.

That's a testament to him and his kids.

[Jon]

Jon-- Do we really have the same ten guys on our All-PAC team?

I think there is a pretty good feeling who the top 10-12 players are so it shouldn't be difficult to rank the same top 10.  Like I said, the picture gets the fuzziest in those 10, 11, 12 spots. 

One of our assistants and I tried to predict the final 16 games of the matrix, and when we exchanged picks we were exactly the same.  With two games left I think we're both 12-2.  Point being if you're familiar with the league to a good extent it's not too difficult to rank/predict.

[lefty2]

I'd have to agree with Chairman - there is no need to blast kids on this site.

They are playing for their own enjoyment, not ours.  We just get to go along for the ride.

Just because a team didn't meet expectations - theirs or ours - doesn't make it right to rip them.