Empire 8

[sjfcards]

We will see ya 91, and I can't say I blame you. So far it has just been bad for Fisher. I don't know what I am going to do this winter, but at least the lax and baseball teams gave us something to be excited about last year.

[fisheralum91]

cards-gave it a try-who knows maybe ill be back- ill def watch some lax on the puter!

[Bombers798891]

I feel like the "leaving" the bandwagon is lasting longer than being on the Bandwagon 

[magicman]

I feel like the "leaving" the bandwagon is lasting longer than being on the Bandwagon 

I just have to plus k that!

[Bengalsrule]

E-8    I don't know.......Other than NAZ who is proving there is life after McAdams, the rest seems week....This should be a very entertaining season.....E-8 wise.....       

Just curious FROMAFAR. What do you think has set Nazareth apart from the rest of the E8? In your HUMBLE Opinion, what has been the key to their success so far this season??

[FROMAFAR]

B-rule....not sure what is harder, telling why Naz has had early success, OR being Humble.........  let me try........ I am not so sure they have set themselves apart from the rest of the E-8... It's early, but they have taken care of business, and Fisher, and RIT  have not.... IC seems to be OK... they just need to be more consistent.. and not just in results but during games.   Naz has a freshman, Brad Ford who is very good...Rebounds well, can score inside and out.... could end up being premiere player in league before he graduates. Scaffidi and Corletta have experience and keep defenses honest as both can have good offensive nights. Stephens although still a little inconsistent, is dangerous.  Wallbillig, and Lothridge give good minutes as well.  I would say SO FAR their strength is defense..... The only loss was to Rochester who they came back and beat. A 5-0 Rochester team..  It just looks like they came into the season prepared, give that to the coach.... They may have to be careful at the # of minutes these guys are playing.. They could tire late in the season....  But maybe some rest in blow outs, and practice will remedy that, IF remedy is in fact needed. HUMBLY speaking what do I know....I will say this, I believe there will be a lot of unexpected results this year in Conference play... although that might be hard to predict since I don't know what to expect....      

[Ethelred the Unready]

B-rule....not sure what is harder, telling why Naz has had early success, OR being Humble.........  let me try........ I am not so sure they have set themselves apart from the rest of the E-8... It's early, but they have taken care of business, and Fisher, and RIT  have not.... IC seems to be OK... they just need to be more consistent.. and not just in results but during games.   Naz has a freshman, Brad Ford who is very good...Rebounds well, can score inside and out.... could end up being premiere player in league before he graduates. Scaffidi and Corletta have experience and keep defenses honest as both can have good offensive nights. Stephens although still a little inconsistent, is dangerous.  Wallbillig, and Lothridge give good minutes as well.  I would say SO FAR their strength is defense..... The only loss was to Rochester who they came back and beat. A 5-0 Rochester team..  It just looks like they came into the season prepared, give that to the coach.... They may have to be careful at the # of minutes these guys are playing.. They could tire late in the season....  But maybe some rest in blow outs, and practice will remedy that, IF remedy is in fact needed. HUMBLY speaking what do I know....I will say this, I believe there will be a lot of unexpected results this year in Conference play... although that might be hard to predict since I don't know what to expect....      

Slight correction:  U of R was 6-1 when they lost to Naz.  They lost the second game of the year to Babson, by 10.  Both U of R losses have come in the second game of back to back nights.  While U of R's depth has improved with the return of last year's UAA ROY DiBartolemeo, they are still really a 7 deep rotation.  While they are generally excellent shooters when the legs go, so go the %'s.  At one point this year Novosel was 30-35 from the field.  He was 8-9 against Naz in their first meeting but followed up a 6-7 night against Hobart with a 2-10 the next night against Naz. 

[FROMAFAR]

Ethelred, just to clarify, when speaking of the # of minutes these guys are playing, I was speaking about NAZ.....not UR.. which you may have understood.. just want to be clear.... Naz looks coached well, and they mix experience with talented youth... Sorry NAZ but I probably just jinx'd you guys..... 

[sjfcards]

So it looks like Naz is maybe the team to beat this year in the E8. Did anyone see that coming a few weeks ago? I sure didn't. I am hoping that Fisher will use this week of practice to regroup, and move forward with the conference season. Getting AU first should help (Sorry Pep), but if Fisher can get off to a good start in the conference, maybe they can salvage this season. 

[bomber3]

Fisher is still going to win at least 8 games in conference this year.  Naz and IC appear to be the two best as of now.  IC should probably be 6-1 right now but 5-2 is a respectable record with the schedule they've had. 

[Bombers798891]

Bombers only take 18 3-pointers, and a mere 6 in the 2nd half; nice change of pace.

The Great Sean Rossi Conspiracy continues to pick up steam. We've now cajoled Elmira into giving him 11. To quote Montgomery Burns: "It's all falling into place."

So both teams picked up technicals, and there were 40 personal fouls tonight. Anyone at the game want to comment on that? Was it chippy?

[FROMAFAR]

Bomber 798... let's not get gitty over assists against Elmira........ Rossi made a layup and the stat guy gave him a basket AND an assist on the play then asked for an eraser...He didn't know which to change................JUST KIDDING........I didn't see any stats or even results on any E-8 games last night.... Busy closing out Year End issues at work............I have no input today...I know how disappointed you guys are.......... 

[Cyclone0205]

Stevens heads into E8 play with a 85-61 victory over Rutgers-Camden.  To put it in perspective, Camden is now 0-5 and easily could finish the season with only 2 or 3 wins all year, so not much to get excited about in the Ducks moving to 5-1, except that winning is always better than losing.

The Smith-Cutri-Jones trio had their best performance of the year, putting up 18, 15, and 17 respectively.  Those three, if playing well, present an interesting variety on offense.  You have your natural post in Smith, who looked MUCH better in demanding the ball and being aggressive when he got it.  Cutri is your typical shooter (3-5 from "3").  Jones is the wild card, and has continued his impressive start to the season.  When he is getting to the basket and out in transition he gives them a much needed element of athleticism.

9 points and 8 assists out of Thompson.  Other than that, just a lot of easy layups for everyone else.  Looked like the kid Max is injured, as he was in dress clothes.

Next up for the Ducks is their E8 opener on the road at Utica on Friday.  Probably their first real "test" of the year, in conference, on the road, last game of the semester.  We'll see how they stack up.

[FROMAFAR]

Thanks Cyclone... If memory serves me they pretty much destroyed this team last year as well... However they took care of business. I hate when people say "well look who they played, they should win"  well if the team DOES win they did what they were supposed to... teams should never be downplayed when they win... NOW if they lose to someone they should beat, then we have an ax to grind. Your right about Franklin, I think... he's the wild card..... I think he is tough to prepare for. He has some very unorthodox moves to the hole, which are tough to defend, and he has ups, and can occasionally hit an outside shot... How is his defense? Is Stevens still playing primarily man-man.. or mixing in a zone...They really should play a little zone, in that it will keep Smith out of foul trouble, and help Thompson who IF I RECALL, is a little slow defending some of the quicker points in the league... you would know better. ...       

[Bombers798891]

Bomber 798... let's not get gitty over assists against Elmira........ Rossi made a layup and the stat guy gave him a basket AND an assist on the play then asked for an eraser...He didn't know which to change................JUST KIDDING........I didn't see any stats or even results on any E-8 games last night.... Busy closing out Year End issues at work............I have no input today...I know how disappointed you guys are.......... 

I hear they give Rossi assists when guys make free throws off fouls set up by his passes...

My excitement simply extends to any road game where Rossi gets a boat load of assists. Elmira's horrible, so I take very little else from that game

Well, there is this: Given the frequency with which he shoots, is Phil Barera the closest thing to automatic we have in the E8? 70% from the floor on 11 shots per game? Yeah, I know he's probably been overinflated thanks to a couple big nights, and may see it go down in conference play, but man, to shoot that highly with that frequency.

Barera really gets lost what with everyone else jacking up nothing but threes, but he's astounding. One thing I've noticed though is that he doesn't get to the line much. Now, unlike some big guys *cough* Carson *cough*  Barera's actually a solid FT shooter, so maybe people don't want to foul him. Barera's also got a solid jumper, and gets a number of those per game, but it's still odd to me that he basically got three free throws a game last season, and two this season. You'd think he'd get more sort of by accident