MBB: Commonwealth Conference

[rollingthunda]

Final from Etown tonight

Etown 83
Bible Thumpers 69

SusQ defeated Juniata.  So Juniata is out of the playoffs.  An Etown win or a SusQ loss on Saturday puts the Jays in the playoffs.  If SusQ wins and Etown would lose to Moravian on Saturday, what would be the tie-breaker.  SusQ swept Etown this year.  Both teams split with Widener.  SusQ was swept by Messiah and Albright, while Etown split with both of those teams.  I would imagine that head-to-head is the first tie-breaker and that would put SusQ in and leave Etown on the outside looking in.  That is all a moot point if the Jays take care of business at Moravian this weekend.  Good win fellas.  Now regroup and spank Moravian to have a little momentum going into the conference tourney.

[rollingthunda]

rollingthunda:

What do you gain from insulting Don Hohenwaerter and Messiah?

Its all playful banter Warren.  Nothing personal.  In fact, I happen to think Messiah is a very good basketball team and has as good a chance as anyone at winning the conference.  I had a feeling the Jays were gonna bring their A game last night and they did and handled Messiah.

As for Don...I was not insulting him.  Forgive the mispelling on the last name.  Haven't seen it in awhile.  That was my point.  Just that all you guys have disappeared circa the exit of JDB.

[thereiis]

Widener....another W. Officially winning the regular season.

Thunda, I really have nothing to respond to. All your points are correct. You just suggested myself and other posters were "afraid" to post because your team won a couple games. Which is entirely false. In regard to the Clarkson and freshman year comment, your right, it was their (mine - I no longer play however), freshman years. Now they all have matured. I mean I cant sit here and say they are going to win the conference, but if i was betting on it, especially with home court advantage (i believe) and the fact the school is now pulling in a lot more people (ask anyone who plays for albright what happened last game here), i think its pretty good odds for Widener. But we'll see, and I'll definitely be sure to "holler at you" playboy. lol

[rollingthunda]

thereiis:

Having played for Duda I'd be curious to hear your take on him as a coach and a recruiter.

And my point was more about talking ish on here.  You guys were making Etown sound like a junior high team before that game.  I was just saying since then, the Widener posters have refined there postings to comments about Widener.

Times must have changed at Widener.  Are you saying they draw bigger crowds now?  Everytime I was there for an Etown game, I'm pretty sure Etown had more fans than Widener did.  The Pioneers will definitely be a tough team to beat given how well they have been playing and especially having home court through the playoffs.  However, given the recent history of the matchup vs. Etown, my guess is that Duda and the rest of the gang would probably like to see someone else walk into their gym come playoff time.  Your prayers may get answered in the first round though.

[Coach C]

rt -

Duda flat out recruits.  You can't fault him there.  And look at his records.  He wins lots of games.

What is your problem with the guy?

C 

[rollingthunda]

rt -

Duda flat out recruits. You can't fault him there. And look at his records. He wins lots of games.

What is your problem with the guy?

C

I don't have a problem with him.  If you look back on my posts, the only negative thing I have said about him is that in recent years he has underacheived with the level of talent that has been there.  Its quite obvious that he knows how to get very athletic players to commit to Widener.  I was just curious to hear what a former player thought.  From being around Etown, I knew Casey Stitzel and I know he was not happy at Widener during his time there.  My last post was out of curiosity to see what someone that had been involved in the program had to say.  I don't see how that correlates to me having a problem with him.

[saratoga]

Not so many years ago Coach K did in fact have a disgruntled player or two...one being from the Lehigh Valley who transferred to Vanderbilt. A few years later that player  stated that was the hardest decision he ever made...and the best.

[Coach C]

In a one on one game Casey Stitzel would complain about playing time

C

[thereiis]

Wow, many opinions and statements since I last checked in. Where to begin....for starters, Widener will be playing Etown at Widener I was told, so to hoopsto and Rt, your more then welcome to come in the student section lol. Ill be on the floor hammered as hell, I wont mind a opposing fan there, I think it would make it interesting. Although i cant say that for my fellow fans, so its probably a bad idea.

Anyway, my opinions on widener bball. well for starters, based on Coachs C's comments, what connection do you have to Widener? It seems you have some form of biased opinions based on your responses. Just curious.

Coach Duda is one of the best coaches in the league. He knows the game and relates to his players well and obviously can recruit amazing athletes. The issue i had, and what i have with D-3 in general, is that they can recruit and bring in as many players as they want. As in d-2 or 1, they have a set amount of scholarships and thats it. Which of course isnt a d-3 schools fault, but the amount of players you say "come here, you'll play" to is. that being said, i was in a class of 11, followed by a class of a decent amount, and then again. i believe we were carring 22 people at one point. from a player who loves the game, a fairly decent highschool career (which of course can be argued) and being very competitive, I weighed it out as, if your going to keep recruiting a ton of players each year, why would i believe you as a coaching staff that I will "earn" time eventually when Joe Smoe next year, whos more athletic, can come in and take my spot. And for the record, i believe 7 of the kids in my class arent playing or left as of now. Playing 10-20 minutes my senior year and winning a championship (if possible) didnt seem the best situation for me. To others it was or is. I guess you can say loyalty was an issue. BUT.....Can u blame the coaches? There pretty much stuck a in spot where they have to win or be fired, and be loyal at the same time. So its tough. I have no hard feelings to Coach Dude or any bball coach at all.

Ways of recruiting is an entirely different issue, I remember hearing interesting stories of how coaches got players to come to a school. But i never looked into any of it, at any of the schools mentioned.  But i will say the majority of what was told to me and others was scripted and false.

Again, I love the program and definitely am their number one bball supporter, but if I had to rechoose a school, it wouldnt be here. Well i think thats enough for me, Im sure ill be back on.

[hoopsdafin203]

Warren,

I think you misunderstood thereis' last post. He was saying that a D-3 school cannot give athletic scholarships. Therefore a coach can tell as many kids as he wants that if they come to his school that they will play right away.  When a kid is told this he most likely feels good about the situation because many college coaches are like used car salesmen. Then when he commits to the school and goes for his first day in August he finds out that the coach has brought in him and 5 other guys at his position. This is commonly known as over-recruiting and it goes on at the D-3 level in all sports.

At D-2 and D-1 schools recruits know that there are a certain number of scholarships that the school can give. If a kid is offered one of those scholarships that is telling them they truly are wanted. There is no way of knowing this at teh D-3 level, everybody pays their own way. A walk-on at a D-1 or D-2 school knows that he has no chance to ever play (with exceptions in certain situations, see Kansas' Christian Moody) because there are guys on the team that the school is paying to be there.

Hopefully this clears it up, sorry to step on your toes thereis.

[Coach C]

thereiis -

Well, opinions are SUPPOSED to be biased.  That's why they are opinions.  And I have a Master's degree from Widener.  That being said, aside from the Stitzler comment, I think I have been very even-handed in my approach to Widener.


WT -

I think that hoopsdafin203 is right.  Thereis just typed something other than what he meant.

Contrary to popular MAC opinion, Widener doesn't have an athletic scholarship program.

C

[thereiis]

Ok I apologize for any confusion. All I am saying is that in D-3, its difficult for both player and coach because of the non ability to give scholarships and yet still receive above average players to compete., all while saying loyal to the player. (If you cant comprehend that broken down version please proceed to pound your head on your keyboard until some form of fluid comes out of your skull ) Widener does not give athletic scholarships. I didnt mean that, I didnt receive any nor did anyone else. That being said, I have certain theories on what goes on at all D-3 schools for certain athletes, but I will not get into them for several reasons A) Im not positive certain events took place and B) I am going on speculation from sources several years ago.

Coach C, I agree. It just seemed with the Stitz comment you might have played or coached there. My apologies.

There I Is

[Coach C]

thereiis -

Well the NCAA did start a financial aid reporting system for SOME reason.

C

[rollingthunda]

Just to clear up any misguided notions that I have serious issue with Coach Duda or the Widener program...I do not.  My bias against Widener only stems from being an Etown fan and Widener always being amoungst the stiffest competition.  Like I said before, I was simply curious as to how a former player viewed Coach Duda, because I had my own opinions that were formed just from seeing him coach.  Hope that is cleared up.  And yes, I am an Etown alum.

thereiis:

I'm not sure that it is a lock yet that Etown will play at Widener in the first round.  I think there is a possibility that SusQ could sneak into that last spot if they beat LVC this weekend and Etown loses at Moravian depending on what the tie-breaker is.  Should Etown win this Saturday, I will most likely be in Chester on Wednesday for the playoff game, although unfortunately not wasted because I'll be coming from work.

[thereiis]

Pregame at work haha jk. Yea i think ur right, it isnt definite yet.

Coach C, going off of your name and the fact you mentioned you go to Widener grad school, where do you coach? And i wouldnt go to the NCAA with anything even if I had something concrete, not worth it to me at this point.

And again, I didnt type anything I didnt mean. I do think something goes on with D-3 schools and getting players to come there. Ill just leave it at that. I might have worded it in a way that was confusing.

There I Was