Empire 8

[Bombers798891]

Bombers with a statement win against Stevens 76-63. Cruz-Rivas hits for 23, Barrera has 15 and 14 and Sean Rossi has 17 with 8 assists.

Bombers now avoid Fisher in the 1st round of the E8 playoffs. Huge win for Ithaca, which was just 5-5 on the road prior to that game.

[sjfcards]

Fisher was not great again tonight but was able to win again, by 7 over Utica. Big night for Witte and Norsen. Now they need to get ready for the E8 tourny.

I am wondering if/how much better the Fisher team would be if Ozell Franklin was still on the team.

[magicman]

RIT leads Stevens 50-44 at the half. Brendan Harder with 14 pts for RIT and Russ Thompson with 14 pts for Stevens.

[AUPepBand]

RIT leads Stevens 50-44 at the half. Brendan Harder with 14 pts for RIT and Russ Thompson with 14 pts for Stevens.

Should RIT go on to beat Stevens, then Stevens beats Elmira, giving both RIT and Stevens 10-6 league marks, who wins the tiebreaker?

[AUPepBand]

Final from McLane.....Nazareth 64, Alfred 51. Saxons pull to within 49-43 with 11 mins to go, but Flyers outscore AU 15-8 the rest of the way.

Alfred finishes season 4-12 in E8, 11-14 overall....another step in the right direction for AU.

[AUPepBand]

RIT wins at Stevens, 91-75. Ducks sinking, in a tailspin....lose three straight with Elmira still to play.

[magicman]

RIT leads Stevens 50-44 at the half. Brendan Harder with 14 pts for RIT and Russ Thompson with 14 pts for Stevens.

Should RIT go on to beat Stevens, then Stevens beats Elmira, giving both RIT and Stevens 10-6 league marks, who wins the tiebreaker?

Pep,
I believe Stevens would win the tiebreaker based on their 1-1 record against St. John Fisher, while, RIT is 0-2 against Fisher. RIT's only hope is if Elmira somehow manages to upset Stevens in Hoboken. Slim chance of that happening.

[FROMAFAR]

Correct, Stevens is in with a win against Elmira. I was at the RIT Stevens game tonight...... I am not going to blow my horn, because RIT dug a deep hole they couldn't get out of this year. In fairness to Stevens I think RIT could have beaten the Celtics tonight. Everything we threw up went in. I think we shot over 60% from the field and maybe 45% from 3's.... Everything worked for us. Stevens ran into a buzz saw.......... We had guys hitting 3's that I believe shouldn't have taken 3's..... The good news we are basically all back next year and need to build off this finish....I will try to get to game Tuesday against Elmira..     who knows..... 

[bomber3]

Yes crazier things have happened but who knows if Elmira already packed their bags for the summer.  They did just beat Utica - who I feel is an enomous disappointment.  They really took a step in the wrong direction this year.  But back to things that matter -- IC looked pretty solid against Stevens Friday.  Stevens did not impress me at all and IC played a solid overall game -- winning by15 going away.  Stevens takes wayyy too many 18-20 foot jumpshots.  If you're going to shoot from that far move back two steps and make it a 3.  Either get into the lane for a 10-15 footer or move back and take a three.

IC played solid and Cruz played one of the better games of his season.  Barera was solid and Rossi played strong down the stretch.  He gets into the lane pretty easily off the pick and roll and will only get better finishing as he matures.  He should do what McAdam does in regard to his 3 point shot -- take 2-3 a game to keep people honest.  He seemed to be most effective getting into the paint as opposed to taking long 3's. 

It looks like IC got what they wanted -- a rematch with Nazareth.  Hopefully last year's returners still have a chip on their shoulders from the E8 game @ IC last March.  GO BOMBERS!

[bomber3]

Well with playoffs around the corner that means the season awards will be coming out this week.  Here are my picks:

POY – Corey McAdam, Naz
Has to be him with the career stats he put up over the past four years.
ROY – Sean Rossi, IC
Leading the nation in assists..... as a freshman.  If IC keeps the uptempo offense he could end up in top 5 career assists all-time.  Will end up with 200+ this season (has 198 and national record is 917).
COY – Kornaker, St. John Fisher
FISHERMAN almost convinced me to present the award for the first time to an assistant coach  (Ryan Mahannah) but my gut had me go with Kornaker since Fisher won the league by 4 games.

First team
G – Corey McAdam, Naz
G – Mark Blazek, Hartwick
G – Matt Newman, SJF
F – Phil Barera, IC
F – Michael Wopperer, SJF

Second Team
G – Chris Cruz,  IC
G – Jordan Marcus, IC
F – Brendan Harder, RIT
F – Pat Goodman, UC
F – Simon Smith, Stevens

Other possible: James Patterson, Jordan Koch, Jordan Gettings, Mike Cutri, Tyshun Stephens, Scott Young, Sean Rossi, Greg Lothridge

Some of these were a shot in the dark since I haven't seen everyone play. Had to give Fisher two players since they ran away with the league.  They probably won't get two on the first team because no one average over 12ppg.  Could trade Marcus for Newman on first team very easily but Fisher did keep him in check and won both.  I think Barera undoubtedly deserves first team – 4th in scoring and leading rebounder while shooting 66% from the field. Anyone I'm missing out on?

[buck1053]

Final from McLane.....Nazareth 64, Alfred 51. Saxons pull to within 49-43 with 11 mins to go, but Flyers outscore AU 15-8 the rest of the way.

Alfred finishes season 4-12 in E8, 11-14 overall....another step in the right direction for AU.

I guess technically it's an improvement (last year they were 3-13 and 8-17), but the league wins were against Utica (2 wins by a total of 7 points), Elmira (1 win by 19 points at home) and Hartwick ( 1 win by 2 points at home). The only reason the Saxons finished 7th, 3 games behind Hartwick, was because Elmira (2-13, soon to be 14, in the E8, 4-20 overall) and Utica (2-14 E8, 7-18 overall) are also in the Empire Eight.

Alfred also beat the Keuka (8-15 overall), Penn State-York (11-14), Hilbert (3-22), Cazenovia (2-22), Penn State-Abington (5-19) and Penn State-Wilkes Barre (15-10).

Let's recap, a win against 1 team with a winning record.

Last season they beat a a 14-14 Wells College, a 15-12 Hartwick and a 17-10 St. John Fisher, among their eight wins, so two teams with winning records and one at .500.

So, yeah, technically an improvement, but you may be the only believer. The bottom line is that Murphy damaged that program so much that it's going to take a long time for it to recover. And a guy that was out of basketball before getting this job (Wellman had no job, not even at the last school he was at, and Paulsen hadn't offered to bring him along from Williams to Bucknell) isn't going to be the one to do it.

[FISHERMAN]

Well with playoffs around the corner that means the season awards will be coming out this week.  Here are my picks:

POY – Corey McAdam, Naz
Has to be him with the career stats he put up over the past four years.
ROY – Sean Rossi, IC
Leading the nation in assists..... as a freshman.  If IC keeps the uptempo offense he could end up in top 5 career assists all-time.  Will end up with 200+ this season (has 198 and national record is 917).
COY – Kornaker, St. John Fisher
FISHERMAN almost convinced me to present the award for the first time to an assistant coach  (Ryan Mahannah) but my gut had me go with Kornaker since Fisher won the league by 4 games.

First team
G – Corey McAdam, Naz
G – Mark Blazek, Hartwick
G – Matt Newman, SJF
F – Phil Barera, IC
F – Michael Wopperer, SJF

Second Team
G – Chris Cruz,  IC
G – Jordan Marcus, IC
F – Brendan Harder, RIT
F – Pat Goodman, UC
F – Simon Smith, Stevens

Other possible: James Patterson, Jordan Koch, Jordan Gettings, Mike Cutri, Tyshun Stephens, Scott Young, Sean Rossi, Greg Lothridge

Some of these were a shot in the dark since I haven't seen everyone play. Had to give Fisher two players since they ran away with the league.  They probably won't get two on the first team because no one average over 12ppg.  Could trade Marcus for Newman on first team very easily but Fisher did keep him in check and won both.  I think Barera undoubtedly deserves first team – 4th in scoring and leading rebounder while shooting 66% from the field. Anyone I'm missing out on?

Bomber3 -

Good job on these predictions. Although I'm sure the 1st and 2nd teams won't shake out exactly as you have them (they are impossible to predict precisely) I don't disagree with any of your predictions. McAdam has been a pleasure to watch and will deservedly get MVP. Personally, I don't particularly like Rossi as much as most people but there is no denying he can play a little and his stats, as you pointed out, are tough to argue against. In terms of the coach of the year, you have to go with Kornaker. I don't think acknowledging him to be the best coach is really a decision that needs to be decided by your gut, rather common sense. Also, as a side note, my post earlier about "the best two coaches in the league" was meant to mean the best two coaches together on one bench. I didn't make the point clearly, my bad. I did appreciate your substantive post arguing against my post though. It refreshing compared to a lot of the overly-sensitive, fake outrage responses it got from the politically correct crowd on this board. As a biased observer of the league, I do think it's a shame Fisher will probably only get two 1st and 2nd teamers. It's the curse of being a "team" I suppose.

VIVA LA CARDS!!!!

[AUPepBand]

So, yeah, technically an improvement, but you may be the only believer. The bottom line is that Murphy damaged that program so much that it's going to take a long time for it to recover. And a guy that was out of basketball before getting this job (Wellman had no job, not even at the last school he was at, and Paulsen hadn't offered to bring him along from Williams to Bucknell) isn't going to be the one to do it.

Pep would argue it's a bit early to select a jury much less a jury declare a verdict on Wellman at AU. Wellman did an admirable recruiting job and will likely continue to build on that. Please remember that Wellman inherited the AU team in 2008-09 without the benefit of recruiting. His 2009-2010 included his first-ever recruits...Pep is confident that the Saxons will continue to mature and improve.

On Saxon Warriors!

[sjfcards]

I do think it's a shame Fisher will probably only get two 1st and 2nd teamers. It's the curse of being a "team" I suppose.

Would not be the first time Fisher won the league by a few games, and did not have more than one or two players on the first team. I would much rather have the league title. The undefeated team from a few years ago only had 1 I think, and they probably could have had all 5. It is really not that big a deal.

Fisher has always been a deep team with a lot of top talent. Not having it "recognized" has never caused any trouble winning the league.

[mrhoopfan]

As for All league predictions, Anthony Terry(RIT) should definitely be on the squad. Probably the most explosive guard in the league