Empire 8

[not_josh_reed]

Dirk I am with you, your post is right on, I came on the board this morning to dust off my password and comment on the very same thing.   Superman you may respect Kornacker for what he has done, but I am not sure I do.  I would like to leave the kudos to Dan Mueller who has had a fantastic year and to McSweeney and Biegel.  It is obvious that Kornacker leaves way to many causalities on his road to victory.  Shame on him for his treatment of Adrian Fenyn.  Some how Fenyn got on Kornacker's **** list and remained there the entire year.  He took this talented senior and relegated him to the very end of the bench and didn't even have the courtesy to start him on Senior Night.  Congrats to Fenyn who came in and showed what he was capable of, scoring 19 points in 21 minutes.  Certainly not COY material to be so spiteful to waste such talent for the entire season.

As a freshman on this club I would be questioning myself if I am going to be the Dan Mueller of the future, finally in my junior and senior year given the opportunity to showcase my talent.   Are the chances greater that I will I be relegated to the ranks of McKiever, Coyne,and Kiernan,  or even Fenyn, or worse yet Casey and Huetter.  Once again congrats to Feneyn for a great game.
 
Oh well congrats to Fisher for climbing back into the hunt and hosting the E8's.  I hope you win it all

[sjfcards]

I don't post much at all but I think I have alot of knowledge about basketball and Fisher since I go to school there.  And to be honest with you, Coach Kornaker should not recieve coach of the year.  (Yes Superman, there is a "not" in that sentence).  Here are my reasons...

1)  I know they won the league but seriously, Utica choked.  So in my eyes, Utica gave Fisher the league title.  And I know Fisher had a "down" year (talent wise) but many teams would love to have the down year that Fisher had.  With that, I can really only see Fisher having that first loss to Utica.  They had two returning all-conference players and Dan Mueller got a lot of time last year.  That leads me to my second point...

2)  The thing that perplexes me about Kornaker is that he has alot of sophomores and juniors on the bench that don't play.  A good coach to me  works everyone into the system so when they are a junior they can greatly contribute to the team.  I'm not taking anything away from Newman, but I know for a fact that McKeaver and Coyne and Kiernan and the late Kevin Casey could be easily doing what Newman is.  Adrian Fenyn should win the award of most God-given talent that doesn't play.  He dropped 19 tonight but, to me, Kornaker has his favorites and sticks with them.  Personally, I think Kornaker has a few favorites and in my book that isn't the sign of a good coach.  I wouldn't be surprised if half of the 9321 freshman transfer.

3) I'm friends with about 90% of the team and I can say that about 99% of them have a bone to pick with the guy.  How can a coach be COY if he doesn't have the respect of his players.

4)  Watch his actions on the sideline!!!  I laugh at the comments that say he could coach at the next level right now.  THe D1 refs would T him up before he even stepped off of the bus.  He has something to whine about every call, even if it goes for Fisher.  I watch Goodemote and the guy is a gentleman.  He respects the officials and only coaches.  That is a coach.

5)  I'm sorry but a COY should not have 62 people on his bench.  Step up to the plate and let some people go. 

6)  I don't like to focus on the past seasons but look at the two previous years.  The 28-0 year he might not have coached all but 21 seconds.  Then comes Potsdam and Fisher loses by over 25.  Next year...  they barely beat Utica in the Sweet 16 then the Elite 8 was a close game.  I know that Potsdam and Amherst were better then Fisher... but Phi Slamma Jamma was better then NC State.  What I'm getting at is he hasn't had to do any coaching really.  I saw from the stands this year that the assistant drew up the play that beat RIT at RIT during the regular season.  Throw him in the same league and Amherst or the UofR and they might not beat the women's team.

Personally, just watching the games and talking with friends on the team I get the vibe that he isn't a "player's coach"  I can see that though because it seems like he is never happy with anything.

I don't know who really should win COY.  I can't see Goodemote now with the weekend they had.  I might have to agree with GB15 and Mullins?

Good luck to the teams next weekend.

130-35...That is Kornakers record since he took over as the head coach...that 35 losses includes a 13-13 season his first year. I think some players can handle him not being a "players coach". I have known a lot of college athletes, and was one myself, and it seems to me that a lot of players that can not get off the bench for one reason or another, tend to have a problem with the coach. Kornaker may have his favorites, and it may not be the most talented players, but with a record like that I think it is kind of obvious that he knows how to put a team on the floor.

Mullins may be a great choice for COY...Ithaca has done a great job this year, and has made itself a huge threat to win the E8 tourny. But, lets not trash Kornaker because some players have a problem with him. Show me a coach who does not have a few players that disagree with him.

[clearconceit]

You could make the case that the league has teams with all the resources (like a Fisher or Ithaca) and teams with limited ones (Hartwick Elmira etc) but regardless Kornaker won the league again.  He deserves it.  Had we won I think Goodemote would win - but we didn't.  
Just in talking with people involved in the league the league is pretty divided by the type of support each institution is giving the programs.  So while Kornaker is at the top in terms of having things in place to win, so to is Ithaca's staff.  If you look overall at the total success of the athletic programs Ithaca is by far the top college within the league.  It isn't even close.  So while Coach Kornaker has alot going in his favor, so to do a few other programs in the conference.  He won and they didn't.  You can't argue with the facts.
He deserves to win it.

[superman57]

can I be Dan Hawkins right now this is DIII basketball...and you are playing at one of the better DIII programs in the land, a perrinaial top 25 team and a team that is always a threat to go deep in the playoffs...
Guys know very well how many players are on this team and they can choose to quit or transfer if they are unhappy...the fact is we are only hearing from "friends" of the players...When Kornaker stops being successful then I will be critical but until then results tell the story...

I mean come on stop all this whining about kornaker and be happy that Fisher is winning and is hosting the conference tourny in a year that was supposed to be a down year....

Isn't that the true meaning of Coach of the year doing better then you were supposed to...I mean this isn't a friends making contest...it's who gets the most wins in a season and for 4 straight years Fisher has done that...so Dirk and not josh reed do us all a favor and stop posting again....

[clearconceit]

Agree plus every single coach in the country has players that don't like them.  That is the way it is.

[superman57]

P.S. IT'S DIII Basketball!!!! IT's the Empire 8!!! It aint intermurals!!  If your unhappy with your playing time go play intermurals brother, go play intermurals

[notjoshreed]

<so Dirk and not josh reed do us all a favor and stop posting again>

Superman your getting pretty self-righteous on us this Sunday, however I think this is an open board and we are each allowed our own opinion and will post when I feel like posting. .  Happy that you want Kornacker as COY and I don't care if he gets it or not.  That fact remains that his treatment of Adrian Fenyn this year was deplorable.  Coming into the season he had similar playtime to Dan Mueller and as a Senior faced with such treatment he did not have the option to transfer to another school.  This kid was highly recruited out of high school by Kornecker and he did not do right by him. 

The successes and the minus of the Fisher program remain the same and will not change until the school stops using its athletic program as a recruiting arm of the school.

Course I thought Naz was going to be a force this year , so even I do not take this too serriously, just hate to see talent abused and Fenyn was

[superman57]

there is always more to a story....obviously Adrian did something to not get playing time...if he was good enough to play consistently then he would have

[DirkDiggler]

I don't have a bone to pick with Kornaker at all.  Everytime I see the guy he is always nice to me.  I guess I was just relaying what I heard from friends.  Either way, I don't think he or Goodemote will win.  Maybe Daly should get it for having one of the most talented teams and do nothing with them.

My ROY has to be McAdams.  I don't think Baltz or Newman from Fisher will get any consideratoin really.

POY - I don't know.  I can see both sides of the case here.  With Coco you have numbers on a not so good team.  Without him, Hartwick finishes 0-14 playing the women.  Just looking at the Fisher stats, to me there isn't anyone who has eye popping numbers.  I know last year SOB didn't have any thing that spectacular but he was more vital to that team then his numbers showed.  I guess the only one from fisher that should recieve consideration is Mueller.

Bryant and Herring are my other two top runners but with the recent slide Utica had, I'm not sure.  Any word on Bryant with his injury?

Good luck and congrats to Fisher.

[SJFF82]

<so Dirk and not josh reed do us all a favor and stop posting again>



The successes and the minus of the Fisher program remain the same and will not change until the school stops using its athletic program as a recruiting arm of the school.

huh?  The athletic dept as a recruiting tool?     Did I misunderstand that line or have you not opened a newspaper or turned on a tv since 1980?

[notjoshreed]

sjf2  my statement by it self seems ridiculous, an add on to my rant bout Fenyn, the next is an earlier post that explains what I mean from a Jan 7th post

<<Second some thoughts on the recruiting at Fisher and other D3 schools.  I believe the schools allow and encourages the over recruiting of high schools students in all their sports.  For Kornaker and other coaches it is a windfall, having all these kids (the masses) to mold into the team of there liking over a season or even a couple of years (the few).  It's like being a Mormon and marring six wives and never having to choose your favorite.  For the colleges it commits a group of students to their schools that for the most part can afford to be there and at the same time with little to no aid from the colleges.  Most of these athletes do not have time for their studies, the sports and a part time job so the parent foot most of the college bill and the life cost as well.   These students may not sign any letters of commitment but they are committed to becoming one of the gems of their chosen sport at a well respected school.  The shame of the chase is that most of the masses end up with little time as the years go on and are relegated towards the end of the bench or off the team as the cycle repeats.  In the meantime the school wins big time as this over recruited class of athletes and their parents foot the a majority of the students bill for a solid four years of education.  Distracters might say that the student gets a good education but the college gets a committed student who might easily have gone elsewhere.  For the college it is all about marketing. There is a story a couple years ago that the Fisher Women's softball team recruited 31 athletes for two spots.  When the coach spoke some concern for disillusioning so many athletes an administrator from the college told the, your job is to get these kids here,  our job is to keep them (after they are no longer part of the team)   (If you think Basketball has a big team take a look at the football sidelines)

So in summary:
Athletes and their parents get to chase a dream of continuing their high school stardom by becoming part of the masses
Coaches get to dabble with a huge amount of athletes while they mold their team of a few
Colleges get a great crop of higher % paying students to their schools with the hope of retaining them for 4 years. 

Thus everybody wins or at least the colleges do, the coaches do and the few athletes that play and thrive into their senior years. 
The rest, well, what an education in life the get as they learn to handle frustration and disappointments.  >>>

But this being said, time to get a life and enjoy my Sunday

[SJFF82]

The over-recruiting theory seems a tad interesting and I would tend to agree that colleges and universities have morphed into corporation style enterprises as opposed to institutions of higher ed and learning however, your point fails to account for the fact that most, if  not all, of the "overrecruited" are doing what they want anyway.  There are 100+ kids on the football sideline, not because of overrecruitment, but because there are 100 kids who love and want to play football...trust me, you do not put yourself through the practices and the off-season regiment because the administrators 'overrecruited' you.  That is not to say though that the administrators are not very pleased and encouraging of the bottom-line that recruiting produces...$$$

[gobombers15]

I've never said that Kornaker should win coach of the year...I personally think Mullins from Ithaca should get it...but if Goodemote gets it then the award is a joke you shouldn't get coach of the year if you choke and give away the conference title...  But I do think Kornaker is going to get the award...also ask Texas Tech players if they like bobby knight...

you may not like Kornaker but you have to respect what he's done...he's obviosuly the most successful coach in the E8

C'mon, Super, please don't compare Kornaker and Bob Knight. I think Knight has probably forgot more basketball than Kornaker knows.

[maxpower]

Can I first say KUDOS to superman for the Hawkins reference. That was one of the greatest rants since Michael Kay comparing the plight of a big-league broadcaster to that of slaves or holocaust victims. Go play intramurals, brother. Of course it was quickly overshadowed by Tim "I ain't Gay" Hardaway.

The reason I'm commenting is I plan on braving the Fisher campus for the first time since... well i think we all know since when to see the tourney this weekend. Will anyone else be there? I have no one to go to IC sporting events with anymore. Let me know what the plans are if any other Bomber fans (or friendly non-Bomber fans) are going.

[FisherDynasty]

After reading all the comments, i misewell pitch in my two cents:

I don't think Kornacker is the best coach in the world, nore has had to do all that coaching the past few seasons due to the talent he has had.  However, if you look at the other coaches in the E8, besides goodemote, i dont think id rather play for another one.  The E8 has a pretty bad core of coaches, idk how some of those guys still have jobs.  On the note where kornacker recruits too many players, your're right.  But i dont disagree, every good program over recruits, the one thing they do that kornacker doesnt do, is make enough cuts which is why i understand where the posts come from.  However, if you look outside of the E8 or outside of the region even and look at the end of the best teams in the nations bench, their are really good players on the end of them, that would be stars in our league.  so i have no sympathy for the players that dont make it in kornackers system, most of them dont have the work ethica and dedication to make themselves good enough to earn playing time.  But again, Kornacker should have just cut them in the first place instead of giving them a chance to just disappoint themselves again.  As far as Fenyn goes, he has had some tough breaks, but pretty much took him self out of the system with all the problems with school.  Injuries also cost him, i admit he is a great talent that ended up doing absolutely nothing, but it happens.  He had a starting job for a few games and did absolutely nothing with it, so i guess kornacker has decided to go with new blood and get younger players with more potential some game experience (good coaching move in my books).  As of right now its finally starting to come together.