Empire 8

[AUKaz00]

Fisher finally looked like the team I expected them to be this year, as they pounded a decent Farmingdale team 90-51. Fisher looked great tonight, and finally got some production out of Koch and some others off the bench. If Koch can start to pick it up, and they can get enough out of Norsen inside, they may have something to say about the E8 tournament yet. I don't want to get ahead of myself after just one game, but that was a good looking performance out of the gate to start the second half of the season.

Another note, Fisher is now 4-5, but since Norsen came back they are 3-0. He seems to be the guy that makes them tick.

How long until FA91 gets roped back in only to be disappointed again?

[sjfcards]

Hopefully not long, and hopefully not too much disappointment.  Fisher looks to be on their way to another big win today. Up 27 with a few minutes left to go. All of a sudden I am excited about getting into the depths of the conference schedule.

[fisheralum91]

hey boys,
been lurking.
not sold.
sorry.
i wish em well- but Lax season comes up pretty quick

[Pat Coleman]

PC, I saw on the front page that the D3Hoops classic is in Vegas. Any reason for the choice of location? Don't get me wrong, I would take the chance to go to Vegas as well, but I am wondering if there is a more logical reason.

Well, a couple reasons. Weather is usually pretty decent (I mean, it's not Florida, but most D-III locales will take a high in the upper 50s in late December), there are plenty of direct flights from all over the place, hotel rates are usually reasonable and in our case, there's a basketball arena right in the hotel, so teams don't have to worry about getting on a bus to go to games or practice.

[magicman]

Ithaca defeats Wesley College 96-92 at the Franklin & Marshall Sponaugle New Years Tournament on Sunday afternoon. Bombers place 4 players in double figures led by Marcus Jordan with 24 points (7x14 fg, 6x12 3's, 4x7 ft). Andrei Oztemel had 21 pts with all his points coming on trifectas (7x11 fg, 7x10 3's). Chris Cruz-Rivas had 19 pts (7x14 fg, 3x6 3's, 2x4 ft) and 8 rebounds. Phil Barera added 18 points (6x10 fg, 6x6 ft) and just missed another double-double as he grabbed 9 boards.
The Bombers shot a little better than 50% from both the field, (32x62) and from 3 point land (16x30).

Ithaca will play in the championship game on Monday evening at 8 PM against the winner of D3hoops #14 Franklin & Marshall vs Old Westbury. Pretty sure that will be F&M. Hopefully Ithaca can give the Diplomats a good game. Go Bombers.

[Bombers798891]

Ithaca defeats Wesley College 96-92 at the Franklin & Marshall Sponaugle New Years Tournament on Sunday afternoon. Bombers place 4 players in double figures led by Marcus Jordan with 24 points (7x14 fg, 6x12 3's, 4x7 ft). Andrei Oztemel had 21 pts with all his points coming on trifectas (7x11 fg, 7x10 3's). Chris Cruz-Rivas had 19 pts (7x14 fg, 3x6 3's, 2x4 ft) and 8 rebounds. Phil Barera added 18 points (6x10 fg, 6x6 ft) and just missed another double-double as he grabbed 9 boards.
The Bombers shot a little better than 50% from both the field, (32x62) and from 3 point land (16x30).

Ithaca will play in the championship game on Monday evening at 8 PM against the winner of D3hoops #14 Franklin & Marshall vs Old Westbury. Pretty sure that will be F&M. Hopefully Ithaca can give the Diplomats a good game. Go Bombers.

Come on, we can't forget the obligatory Rossi assist update. We're trying to unearth a conspiracy here, and the nine assists he had should not go unmentioned...it's all worthwhile data people. 

[FROMAFAR]

Bomber 798 etc.   What I am actually tracking is the number of 3's IC makes.... That reflects the point ( no pun intended) ... I just can't get excited unless the assists are needle threaders or no look passes. Granted, he does make that first pass and they hit the 3........but look at the e-8 stats..... he leads the conf. with 10 + assists. Second point guard has 5 +      Is he really that much better than everyone in the conference?   I can't buy that.  How many T/overs does he avg.?   I really don't know.... I don't care about the ratio since I undevalue his assists. I don't want waste time on this issue however as we have gone thriough in detail to even getting input from a soccer player on assists. We did agree there was a bit of subjectiveness involved.......   Ok lets get started now...... within the next two weeks the conference will start to take some shape.......

[Bombers798891]

Bomber 798 etc.   What I am actually tracking is the number of 3's IC makes.... That reflects the point ( no pun intended) ... I just can't get excited unless the assists are needle threaders or no look passes. Granted, he does make that first pass and they hit the 3........but look at the e-8 stats..... he leads the conf. with 10 + assists. Second point guard has 5 +      Is he really that much better than everyone in the conference?   I can't buy that.  How many T/overs does he avg.?   I really don't know.... I don't care about the ratio since I undevalue his assists. I don't want waste time on this issue however as we have gone thriough in detail to even getting input from a soccer player on assists. We did agree there was a bit of subjectiveness involved.......   Ok lets get started now...... within the next two weeks the conference will start to take some shape.......

Yeah, I know, I forgot, this is swimming and there's degrees of difficulty.

If a running back takes a handoff and runs straight ahead through a giant hole untouched to the end zone do you say, "Yeah but he didn't have to make a move or break a tackle, so those yards don't mean anything?" Should a breakaway layup count as much as an off-balance 19-footer with a defender draped on you? Does a rebound count the same if you don't have to fight someone for it and it comes right to you? Is it still a stolen base if the catcher makes a crappy throw but a good throw might have had the runner or the pitch is in the dirt?

You should publish your "Rules on when statistics actually count" so we know what we're allowed to be excited about.

[FROMAFAR]

Bomber 789, you are 100% correct,  my point is it is subjective and some places give the easy pass, sometimes behind you, for a 3, an assist. I have absolutely no problem with that, what I do have a problem with is it is not so everywhere. Probably only because those keeping the stats don't know the definition, hey neither of us knew it when we started this conversation. However I knew it was not consistent... Like running for 30 yards regardless how easy it is, etc. etc. The rule is the rule, so you make my point...Don't take his assists away, just give everyone the same benefit............. look it is what it is and I have always considered stats a crutch anyway........I have seen 60 % shooters shoot 20% in big games and vice a versa.   I am dropping the sword, because it is probably becoming boring or already has. I really have nothing against Rossi, he is probably a nice kid, and shouldn't be subject to this, so I will move on.

[FROMAFAR]

Oh yea by the way, swimming deosn't have a degree of difficulty, just like basketball...... you win or lose......

[Bombers798891]

Oh yea by the way, swimming deosn't have a degree of difficulty, just like basketball...... you win or lose......

Ahhh, true, it's diving that does...good call

[Bombers798891]

Bomber 789, you are 100% correct,  my point is it is subjective and some places give the easy pass, sometimes behind you, for a 3, an assist. I have absolutely no problem with that, what I do have a problem with is it is not so everywhere. Probably only because those keeping the stats don't know the definition, hey neither of us knew it when we started this conversation. However I knew it was not consistent... Don't take his assists away, just give everyone the same benefit.

I'm curious to what you "know" about Rossi's assist totals that make you think it's not applied equally. I've found this idea to be kind of fascinating because I'm not sure how many of Rossi's games you've seen over the years. And even if you watched the games, wouldn't you need to know the shots where he was awarded an assist to know if they were "easy" or not? You spend a lot of time at the Sports Info tables during games?

And further, since I've proven with a little thing called "statistics" (Otherwise known as "facts") that Rossi's assist numbers are virtually the same on the road and in neutral site games when you account for team FG differences, I'm curious as to what these "places" are that award him easy assists. Right now, Rossi is averaging 8.4 assists per game. Let's take a look at the "places" where he's recorded 8 or more assists in a game:

Hobart
Amherst
Case Western
Elmira
RIT
Nazareth
Hartwick
Stevens
St. John Fisher (E8 Tourney, so I'm not sure who scored it)
Brockport (ECAC Champ. so see above)
Penn State Behrend
Cortland
Franklin and Marshall

Man, that's a lot of places that give out easy assists. By my count he's picked up 8 or more assists (roughly his career average) in 13 non-Ithaca places. For his career, he's played in 18 non-ithaca places.

So if 13 of the 18 non-Ithaca places he's played in are giving him his career average number of assists, it seems like he's been the receiving pretty standard treatment whatever gym he goes in to. Do these all count as "easy" places? 72% of the gyms he's played in for the course of his career?

Clearly, this goes above and beyond Ithaca sports information. This has got to be an administrative level conspiracy. Ithaca's AD has clearly compiled a list of gyms that give out "easy" assists and scheduled road games only in those gyms for the sole purpose of creating a high assist total for Rossi. This plot gets better every week. I am going to look for this list the next time I am on IC's campus.

[Bombers798891]

First play of the game, Rossi drives and when the defender commits to him, passes it around him inside for a layup. Does this count as a real assist? Can we get a ruling?

[Bombers798891]

Bombers hitting their shots, up 21-11 with 13:49 left in the first. A very surprising start indeed

[Bombers798891]

30-22 Bombers 9:47 to go in first half. Cruz with 10 pts already, but I like that Barera also has 10...he's less likely to go cold in the 2nd half, although the Bombers may go away from him...