Empire 8

[FisherDynasty]

just pointing out the facts  8)! haha

[superman57]

My only opionion on this subject is that Fisher should automaticly be 1 or 2 untill they prove that they aren't the best

[bamm]

just pointing out the facts  8)! haha

What facts were you pointing out?  I'm pretty sure there's no way a 2007-2008 prediction, under any circumstances, is a fact.

Bamm im not trying to be a jerk here, but stop being silly.  If fisher is not the E8 favorite next year then something is wrong with whoever is making the votes. 

I said "Ithaca could be the favorites".  Yeah, I'm completely shocked this offended you.  What does "being silly" mean? 

I'd take Burton, Leahy, and Bostic over Newman, Beigal, and Baltz all day.  And under what set of "facts" am I supposed to be impressed by Isiah Smalt?  Is he going to guard Bostic?  That should be fun.

I'm not saying Fisher won't contend.  I just like Ithaca's players a bit more.  We have a long time to wait and see.

[FisherDynasty]

I was just being stupid with the facts comment.  I like Ithaca's players too, Leahy if he adds some weight and muscle could be nasty by the time he is a jr or senior and bostic was much improved and im sure will be even much better next year along with burton, however, they will need to find 2 more players to become a step above role players, which they may have so we'll see.  Smalt is very good, and it will show next year when he has more pressure on him and gets the minutes needed.  Beigal and Smalt are the best big man combo in the league. (I would say i like tyler smith and deheimer but naz does not get them the ball enough).  Baltz has been really impressive second half of the season, it would surprise me if he has a few 35+ pt games next year.  NCAA tourny experience is huge, getting to the sweet 16 helps turn boys into men.  It helps you put in to realization what it takes to win.  Mark Bearden who finally got some gametime minutes can be an excellent 3 man in the league.  Also, the transition to fresh to soph year is huge, 1 or 2 freshmen bigs for fisher most likely will start getting some minutes and have the talent to dominate, there are some big boys at the end of the bench that got to practice with beigal smalt and mcsweeny all year. But we will see again it should be very interesting, Fishers loss of Mueller and Mcsweeney their two best players will definatly hurt, and adrien fenyn who carried them in the  post season will also hurt.  next years Fisher team will be even more vulnerable.

[gobombers15]

Ithaca returns their entire starting five. While the "big three" are the most notable, they also return starting SG Brian Ruffrage who was either at the top or near it in steals/game in conference play. He doesn't shoot often which, as I've mentioned before, allows Ithaca's scorers to take more shots (this is a good thing). Also, Ithaca will return starting center Tom Brown who was a freshman this past year. Brown played great in the middle of the season during the first round through conference play and somewhat hit a wall down the stretch. That said, I expect significant improvement from him coming into next year; he's a hard worker and I think he'll be pushed by the fact that his sister was one of the best players in Ithaca history and, if he's male, he'll want to represent himself well (nobody likes to hear about how much better of a player your sister was).

I digress. Mullins usually tries to break in a few freshmen every other year. Next year will be that year. I think we'll see two impact freshmen coming off the bench for the Bombers, in addition to current role players Brendan Rogers and Louis Kail. Do I think they should be favored ahead of Fisher? Probably not. But I do think they should beat Fisher in Ithaca next season. In all likelihood, they'll have the conference's preseason POY (Bostic) to go with Burton and Leahy. The team will have high expectations next season.

[FisherDynasty]

Although its a little early for all this, and especially predictions for whos going to be who when and where, since the non-conf game do help in the predictions.  But I agree GoBombers, I do think Ithaca will have a great chance at beating Fisher in Ithaca next year.  I think next year, whichever teams can play better on the road will win the conference.

[gobombers15]

Re: Syracuse. Yes, it was a joke that they were snubbed (cue Caz Bombers for his strong dissent from the forthcoming opinion). I think Syracuse was better than Illinois, Stanford, Texas Tech, Arkansas, and Georgia Tech. In general, it's obvious that the ACC was overrated and the Big East was underrated. I mean, giving Duke and Notre Dame the exact same seed? Are you kidding me?! Including conference tourney play, here are the numbers:

Notre Dame
12-6 in conference play (4th of 16)
4-3 vs other Big East teams that made NCAA Tourney (plus, 2-0 vs Syracuse should make this 6-3)
Record since February 1: 6-3
**played G'town to the wire in the BE Tourney and lost when Russell Carter missed a wide-open three at buzzer (did the committee even watch this game, especially since they purported to take conference tourneys more seriously than ever before?)

Duke
8-9 in conference play (T-6th of 12)
3-7 vs other ACC teams that made the NCAA Tourney (two of the wins were against BC playing without Sean Williams)
0-6 vs Maryland, UNC, Va Tech, UVa (way to win against the quality of your conference)
Record since Feb 1: 4-7

I'm not even being biased here, but to compare the way these two teams have played over the last month would be ludicrous. Notre Dame should have been about a #4 seed and Duke should have been an #8 or #9. Also, how is Ga Tech's resume better than Syracuse's. I'm sick of hearing about the RPI, a statistic that once had Clemson at #1 and had Souther Illinois in the top 5 all season. As Boeheim said, if 10 wins in the Big East isn't enough to make the NCAA Tournament then I'm not sure what Syracuse has to do (cue "play someone out of conference" argument from Caz Bombers, to hell with the fact that OK State, Wichita State, Drexel, and Hofstra were all picked in their respective conference preseason polls to be in the top five of those conferences...can't really control how those teams end up). Syracuse has played that type of schedule for 31 years and it never was used as a crutch like it is now. Cuse was peaking at the right time and they were snubbed for teams like Illinois (only quality wins were against Indiana!) and Stanford. Unbelievable.

[keystonelight]

It pains me to see everyone on espn putting georgetown in the elite 8 when just a month ago i watched syracuse handle them in the dome. It was electric there and you could really see how rautins and the bigs were really starting to play well towards the end of the season. That bizarre loss to villanova at the end i think is what did them in. All i can think of is they have been an early exit the last couple of years. But if you are deciding who gets in and who doesn't based on last season then why are half of those teams there? really a rediculous point to be making i know.

[bamm]

My biggest problem is with Stanford.  They finished 18-12.  They did not have a single significant conference road win.  They finished the regular season by going 4-7 (Cuse went 7-3).  Syracuse was the only team to beat Georgetown (and blow them out) in their final 16 games.

Furthermore, if there is one "black and white" rule that should apply to an at-large selection for the NCAA tournament it is this:  If you can't finish .500 in your league, you don't deserve a bid.  Freaking Arkansas even played in a crappy league -- the SEC West.

Any observer could see Syracuse was playing their best ball towards the end of the season.  They are simply better than Stanford, Arkansas, and Purdue.  If the objective is to get the best 34 teams into those slots, the NCAA committee did not do it. 

I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but I firmly believe they had other objectives this season.  It makes no sense otherwise.

[keystonelight]

And whatever jacka$$ was insulting SMALT not smaltz on the board earlier (bamm) doesn't know anything about what he's been doing for the past 3 years. As a freshman he practiced every day with dan mcsweeney, charlie zahn, beigel and corie hepburn. The following year with mcsweeney, beigel and bennet. And this year he's been banging with mcsweeney (could have been an allamerican selection if he kept up his play all season) all season again and some big tough freshmen. He can come off the bench and get 6 points and 4 boards before you have a chance to blink and i am just itching in my seat to see what he'll be able to accomplish next year in a starting 5 man position. Look for Matt Haley if he returns to get some quality time next year (most athletic kid on the team)

[keystonelight]

My biggest problem is with Stanford.  They finished 18-12.  They did not have a single significant conference road win.  They finished the regular season by going 4-7 (Cuse went 7-3).  Syracuse was the only team to beat Georgetown (and blow them out) in their final 16 games.

Furthermore, if there is one "black and white" rule that should apply to an at-large selection for the NCAA tournament it is this:  If you can't finish .500 in your league, you don't deserve a bid.  Freaking Arkansas even played in a crappy league -- the SEC West.

Any observer could see Syracuse was playing their best ball towards the end of the season.  They are simply better than Stanford, Arkansas, and Purdue.  If the objective is to get the best 34 teams into those slots, the NCAA committee did not do it. 

I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but I firmly believe they had other objectives this season.  It makes no sense otherwise.

now this is something you are making sense on... i agree completely

[bamm]

And whatever jacka$$ was insulting SMALT not smaltz on the board earlier (bamm) doesn't know anything about what he's been doing for the past 3 years. As a freshman he practiced every day with dan mcsweeney, charlie zahn, beigel and corie hepburn. The following year with mcsweeney, beigel and bennet. And this year he's been banging with mcsweeney (could have been an allamerican selection if he kept up his play all season) all season again and some big tough freshmen. He can come off the bench and get 6 points and 4 boards before you have a chance to blink and i am just itching in my seat to see what he'll be able to accomplish next year in a starting 5 man position. Look for Matt Haley if he returns to get some quality time next year (most athletic kid on the team)

1 -- Read my post.  Did I type "Smaltz"?  No.  So what are you talking about?

2 -- I didn't insult him either.  I asked how I was supposed to be impressed by him.  I did this because FisherDynasty used his name as part of an argument that Fisher would be better than Ithaca next year.  Now, Fisher may fair better than Ithaca, but Smalt is a 3 year player who has never started and never averaged more than a handful of minutes a game.  He's been an OK player off the bench for them, but nobody's screaming "sixth man of the year" here.

I understand he may be your friend, you know him, whatever.  But grow up, dude.  We're having an honest discussion here, and if you think Isiah Smalt is going to be decent next season you could probably say it without calling me a "jacka$$".  Just realize that no one else is "itching in" their seats to see what he can do.  If he fills in admirably, great. 

3 -- Dan McSweeney was not going to be an All-American.  Not even close.

[JQV]

(could have been an allamerican selection if _________ )

There are about 1000 players in America saying the same thing about themselves.

[keystonelight]

i was addressing several people in that post... i realize you do not refer to him as smaltz and i'm sorry i thought when you were askign why you were supposed to be impressed that was insulting his ability to play the game.

[DirkDiggler]

I heard Syracuse scheduled Hartwick and Alfred for next year.  That should help their strength of schedule.  But it is at the Dome though.