Empire 8

[FisherDynasty]

i also forgot to mention it could help ithaca fix up some kinks in their game that havnt been exposed but also could go the other way in having them lose some confidence and identity.  I think they will get to the sweet 16 this year but think they need to do well as stated in the ncaa.  Most other great teams usually have 2-3 years of success in the ncaa's to go along withthe great record.  I think ithaca would be considered a much better team in my opinion if these guys won the league title a few times or atleast made the ncaa's during their 1st 3 years of their college careers. Not to take away from their great season especially since it hasnt ended but theyre are not many sr laden teams this year, so i think ithaca met expectations not quite exceeded them so far.  I hope they do great and rep. the e8 well in the tourny as i dont think rit will do much, but who knows.

[mrhoopfan]

People gotta give RIT some credit.....a night after torching Ithaca for 29 pts and 8 assists....RIT holds Corey McAdam to 15 points on 5-15 shooting with 6 turnovers....The Tigers ARE a solid team, much more than they've been given credit for

[bamm]

Congrats to the Tigers.  It's been quite a couple of weeks for them.  Most of the folks on the board had given them little chance of winning the tournament (reasonably, in my view) after the way they had played the last couple of weeks.  An impressive weekend.

[gobombers15]

People gotta give RIT some credit.....a night after torching Ithaca for 29 pts and 8 assists....RIT holds Corey McAdam to 15 points on 5-15 shooting with 6 turnovers....The Tigers ARE a solid team, much more than they've been given credit for

Revisionist history. Everyone gave them a lot of credit all year...until they lost four of their last five games, two of which were to teams not in the E8 Tourney. Sorry if we weren't bowing down to a team that limped to the finish.

[RITFAN]

It has been a roller coaster for the Tigers.  They looked dead after being trounced by Ithaca last weekend.  It is interesting to see how a team responds to adversity.

Kudos to the McAdams brothers - 169 minutes of court time in < 24 hours.  Eighty points between them, along with controlling the tempo in the face of an increasingly desparate Ithaca team (Kudos also to Jeff Bostic, who guarded Corey McAdams very effectively).  Jeff Dehimer - 18/18 from the field for the weekend -can't do much better then that.  I hope the Naz player who missed the foul shots at the end of the RIT game puts it behind him - there were other fouls shots missed in the game - any one of them would have made the difference.

Congrats to RIT for digging dowen and finding they were still strong.  Everyone played great, and the team showed a lot of character

[FROMAFAR]

Mr. Hoopfan, Gobombers is correct, we limped in....I'm happy winning the E8 when we weren't even picked to be in the tourney.. feels pretty good...no matter what the route... Of course we are going to get greedy and be very disappointed when we lose in tourney.... but hey everyone in the Tourney loses their last game except one team, so we can handle that....... remember Villanova Limped in.. in 1985,  and look what happened........Normally I would say it can't happen, but that's what I said when the E 8  Tourney started... But what do i know

[larry_u]

Can someone post your NCAA team's profiles in here:

http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=6299.0

[magicman]

Not only does Ithaca get to host and grab 1 of the four 1st round byes but if they advance to the sweet 16 they stand a great chance of hosting the Regional.

Interesting that the NCAA committee has put the top 7 teams in the country in 1 quadrant. Ithaca at #8 is the highest ranked team in their quadrant. Bomber fans have to be happy with their placement. 

[Bombers798891]

Not only does Ithaca get to host and grab 1 of the four 1st round byes but if they advance to the sweet 16 they stand a great chance of hosting the Regional.

Interesting that the NCAA committee has put the top 7 teams in the country in 1 quadrant. Ithaca at #8 is the highest ranked team in their quadrant. Bomber fans have to be happy with their placement. 

Talked with someone in the know and he said that St. Joes could present some matchup problems with IC due to their athleticism. It is still an excellent placement for the Bombers and they can make a decent run if the shots are falling

[bombersquadron]

Not only does Ithaca get to host and grab 1 of the four 1st round byes but if they advance to the sweet 16 they stand a great chance of hosting the Regional.

Interesting that the NCAA committee has put the top 7 teams in the country in 1 quadrant. Ithaca at #8 is the highest ranked team in their quadrant. Bomber fans have to be happy with their placement. 

I am very pumped about this news. Last time the Bombers lost they went on a tear and I expect the same this time. Haven't heard much about St. Joe's, heard a little about DeSales. I think Ithaca should overpower both and will have a week to game-plan against the slow down philosphy that Naz used.

On to Naz's game plan, here is breaking news about the Naz's coach, Coach Mike Daley. He is retiring after 23 seasons. I know a few Naz players and some really liked him as a coach and of course a couple didn't agree with his coaching choices. However, they all said he was there for the players more than any other coach, always helping them become better basketball players and also better people.

Here is a link to the story on the Naz website:

http://nazathletics.com/news/2009/3/2/MBB_0302093333.aspx

[FisherDynasty]

wow after looking at the bracket Ithaca cannot be happier.  they are in perfect position to advancing to the final 4.  They are the top seeded on the whole 2 brackets leading to the final 4.  I cannot believe how they stacked the other west region brackets, Lawrence is 27-0 and didnt even get a bye, I feel really bad for bport as they have no chance over there.   Ithaca should atleast be able to make it to the sweet 16 playing a wpi team that is a little down over the past few years as well, typically they only have 2-3 losses by now vs 5. then in the elite 8 game they will play a team with a min. of 5 losses as well.  They cannot look past the 2nd round though and have to take one game at a time but wow what a great position. 

[Cyclone0205]

Alright boys and girls, now that it's officially dance time the e8 can all put aside team loyalties and root for the Bombers and Tigers to run shop in the tourney.  As the most metro of our group, I have seen St. Joes-LI probably 10 times in the past 2 years, so I figured it was my duty to break them down in case they do make it to the Bombers.

First, they indeed are a "dangerous" matchup for the Bombers.  Not dangerous in that they are better, but if Ithaca shoots poorly and St. Joes plays a smart game, they have the offense to stay with the Bombers and a go to guy that could potentially be the best athlete Ithaca has seen all year.  These teams are basically carbon copies of each other in a way that I hope to explain.

*They run a 3 guard lineup similar to Stevens, so I'll list them as such.


Point Guard - David Acree - 6'0, Senior
2008-2009:  1st Team All-Skyline, 17.7 ppg, 3.8 apg,  74/220 from 3's on the year (almost 8 attempts a game)


David is a fast point guard, but he is definitely shoot first, shoot second.  He will pull up on the break, but mostly shoots his 3's off kickouts from Walsh and Niblock.  He's not terribly strong, but is a pesky defender that will make Burton work.  Plays roughly 34 minutes a game.  If I had to give an edge, naturally it'd be to Burton, but this kid is good and very confident (as seen from 8 three point attempts per contest).


Shooting Guard - Chris Jimenez - 6'0, Freshman
2008-2009:  11.8 ppg, 3.3 apg, 64/160 from 3 (best 3 point shooter on team)

For a freshman, Jimenez is an extremely heady player.  He handles the ball as much, if not more, than Acree when it comes to setting up plays, as they look to get Acree's offense going early.  Jimenez is 9th in the country in Assist-To-Turnover, so he takes care of the ball.  His offense comes mostly from set plays or kickouts, but he will look to attack the basket if he gets hot.

Guard - Matt Weeks - 6'3", Sophomore
2008-2009: 2.9 ppg

Not much to say about Weeks.  He's a tough kid, but doesn't do much, and does even less well.  Only plays 16 minutes per game and usually subs out early with Bray or Crisci coming off the bench.


Forward - J.J. Walsh - 6'5", Senior
2008-2009: 1st Team All-Skyline, 22.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg

This is their "guy".  Part of me really wants to see Joes win because the matchup between Walsh and Cruz/Bostic would be worth the price of admission.  My best comparison for Walsh is that he is a bigger, more active version of Virgil Gray from Stevens.  Walsh simply gets to the basket.  He's only taken 33 three point shots the entire season, but has taken 151 free throws.  Less than 6 a game, but that's because Walsh's greatest strength is that if he gets to the rim and you let him shoot, it's going in.  Kid shot over 58% from the field.  They use him a lot in high ball screens.  Well, enough talking about it, I'll just show you.  This is the Jimenez/Walsh ball screen showing what both like to do offensively, and what can happen if you're not careful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rnTyxw_EWw


Center - Chris Niblock - 6'4", Senior
2008-2009:  10.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg

This is a WIDE body.  Niblock is physical and takes up a ton of space down low.  He will lean on Bostic (I assume that's how they match up) and has decent moves down low.  Notorious Hot Head that can be goaded into Tech's, and he plays with a great deal of emotion.  Not athletic at all, but they cover that up because they don't play man.



Bench Notables:

Alvin Bray, 6'4" Senior...backup wing, was starter at beginning of season
Mike Crisci, 6'3" Junior...backup guard, best free throw shooter on team
Sean Hyde, 6'5" Junior...backup center, very strong, very physical kid.

All 3 of these guys average over 15 minutes a game.  The bench doesn't provide much for St. Joes, but they do bring in a good deal of size and experience. 



Team Overview:

St. Joes averaged 83.4 ppg, and held opponents to 68.6 ppg.  Only matchup of note, though I don't think it matters, is that they beat RIT by 20 the first game of the season.  Walsh put up 26 points in that one.  They are 16-1 in their last 17 games, equally good @ home (12-1) and on the road (10-1).  *Neutral they're 2-1, which gives you the 24-3 overall record*

Offensively they have 4 guys averaging double digits, but the focal point is obviously Walsh, followed by Acree.  Defensively they are a junk defense.  You see full court press on makes in man or their typical 1-3-1.  They play primarily a mix of a 2-3 matchup/1-3-1 zone in the half court, and do look to trap corners.  Of their 3 losses, 2 came to Farmingdale St. (a Pool C team this year), before Joes beat Farmingdale last week to claim to the Skyline's AQ. 


Summary  - I think Ithaca is a better team, and St. Joes will first have to get by a pretty good DeSales squad in their building.  However, if the Bombers and Eagles end up playing in round 2, Ithaca would need to play a solid (not great, but better than "good") game and they should handle St. Joes



Hope this helps.  Any questions on this team, I got you covered.  If they lose to DeSales, I just wasted my time hahaha.  Oh well, gotta love March.

[FisherDynasty]

good anaysis, im tired but Ive seen Desales play when they beat Fisher first game of the season.  From what i took from the game is that Desales is a solid very well coached team.  They didnt seem to be loaded with talent they just seemed to be solid overall, they looked to be overachieving against fisher.  They do not have a ton of size or quickness.  They shoot the ball pretty well and run there offense with great execution.  They slow the game down and run the entire shot clock (dangerous matchup for ithaca).  They are very fundamental and methodical.  When watching the game against fisher it seemed like fisher was the better team just playing very bad and should have beat them by 10.  I think this was more of the case of desales just making the game ugly by slowing the ball down so much.  They also did not turn the ball over so fishers shots attempts were limited.  From slowing down the ball and executing pretty well on the offensive end can make teams hurry shots and get out of the game.  That being said I dont think they are a great team, it was fishers first game and fisher was very very young this year.  Looks to be a good game between st joes and desales.

[magicman]

wow after looking at the bracket Ithaca cannot be happier.  they are in perfect position to advancing to the final 4.  They are the top seeded on the whole 2 brackets leading to the final 4.  I cannot believe how they stacked the other west region brackets, Lawrence is 27-0and didnt even get a bye, I feel really bad for bport as they have no chance over there.   Ithaca should atleast be able to make it to the sweet 16 playing a wpi team that is a little down over the past few years as well, typically they only have 2-3 losses by now vs 5. then in the elite 8 game they will play a team with a min. of 5 losses as well.  They cannot look past the 2nd round though and have to take one game at a time but wow what a great position. 

FisherDynasty
Lawrence is not 27-0 they are 19-6. St Thomas is 27-0. They probably didn't get a bye because they're in the West region and geography has a lot to do with the placement of teams. The NCAA  looks to keep the cost of travel down and does not want  to fly too many teams to Washington State where Puget Sound is.

Brockport seems up against it but I wouldn't say they have no chance. This is a different team from the one that started out 4-9 and they've won 7 in a row.  And we all saw what happened when No Chance Naz played Ithaca last Sunday.

[FisherDynasty]

sorry meant st thomas not lawrence.  It still sucks regardless for them.   Bport is not the same team but they also have 14 losses in a WEAK division so lets be honest they have no chance.  They are probably the lowest seed (besides Medaille) in that bracket.  I hope they do well and represent the east just dont see them getting out of the first round in this one