Empire 8

dewcrew88 · February 17, 2006, 11:40:33 AM

Quote from: col on February 17, 2006, 11:37:31 AM
Does Hartwick still have a chance at the tournament?

I don't think they do... I think the four teams in the tourney are going to be Fisher, Utica, RIT and Ithaca, not necessarily in that order. Hartwick only has 4 conference wins, it'll take a little time, if they can get someone to complement Coco.

Short answer: No.

superman57 · February 17, 2006, 12:19:05 PM

no chance 4th place is currently 7 wins and hartwick has 3 wins right now with 3 left to play. So hartwick will win the nice boobey prize of sucking again this year. Yes they were better, but with out coco crisp coming back they are going to suck yet again GO FISHER Kick the $h1T out of naz

fisheralum91 · February 17, 2006, 12:49:25 PM

Beat Naz!

AUPepBand · February 17, 2006, 01:05:13 PM

Looks like Naz, AU, Hartwick and Elmira will be left out in the cold. Saxons were picked, with their talent, to finish in the Top Four, yet couldn't muster a winning record. Murphy's coaching trademark has been hard work and discipline....but the results have been mediocre.

tigerfan2 · February 17, 2006, 01:17:06 PM

Quote from: AUPepBand on February 17, 2006, 01:05:13 PM
Murphy's coaching trademark has been hard work and discipline....but the results have been mediocre.

Jay Murphy is the worst coach in the E8. Mike Daley may be a close second, but I don't think a coach in the league has squandered as much talent over the past few years as Murphy has. There have been some unfortunate injuries at AU, but with the talent they have, AU has consistently been a disappointment.

gobombers15 · February 17, 2006, 03:56:58 PM

Like I said, I'll get to MadHawk's post tomorrow after classes when I get a chance to catch my breath. Here are my picks for tonight's games:

RIT over Alfred, 80-71.

Fisher over NAZ, 73-63.

ELMIRA over Hartwick, 15-12 (or 67-65).

Utica over ITHACA, 73-70 (OT), followed by Clear coming in here and saying the game wasn't nearly as close as it looked despite there being 14 lead changes and 10 ties in the 2nd half alone. I'm honestly rooting for Utica to win this one because I don't think they can beat the Bombers three times in one season. Like Charles Barkley's book title says, "I could be wrong, but I doubt it."

tigerfan2 · February 17, 2006, 04:14:28 PM

Don't forget that we will be remembered that Ray Bryant is the best player in the history of the E8 and that Utica will now move on to beat SJF on the road by 20, because Utica never loses to other teams, they just beat themselves.

The prediction of UC over EC by eleventy billion will also be included, but everyone knows that.

rjcarter8 · February 17, 2006, 04:25:25 PM

Quote from: tigerfan2 on February 17, 2006, 01:17:06 PM
Quote from: AUPepBand on February 17, 2006, 01:05:13 PM
Murphy's coaching trademark has been hard work and discipline....but the results have been mediocre.

Jay Murphy is the worst coach in the E8. Mike Daley may be a close second, but I don't think a coach in the league has squandered as much talent over the past few years as Murphy has. There have been some unfortunate injuries at AU, but with the talent they have, AU has consistently been a disappointment.

Tigerfan, I couldn't agree with you more. I have no idea where the hardwork and discipline have been, but Murphy's players have not historically been the most well behaved players off the court. One guy even left for a year due to drinking issues. As for hard work, that has me in the dark. Maybe the players have worked hard, but Murphy loses out on kids in his own backyard. The most glaring one is the Smalt kid at Fisher. He played at a local high school and Murphy didn't notice him until sectionals of his senior year when it was too late to do anything. And it's not like the kid wasn't lighting everyone up in his league for the previous 2-3 years.

With an inside-outside combo like Q. Bryant and Stein, there is no reason AU shouldn't be in the top four, especially with an OK supporting cast. It's become clear that AU will amount to nothing until Jay Murphy is no longer coaching there.

gobombers15 · February 17, 2006, 09:21:40 PM

14 mins remaining in Ithaca, Utica just took their first lead of the game at 43-42. The pioneers have led for exactly :10 seconds in the game so far. Just in case Clear tried to tell you of Utica's domination.

gobombers15 · February 17, 2006, 09:42:06 PM

Utica goes on a 22-8 run to take a 60-50 lead. During that span, Jim Mullins called exactly zero timeouts. He is also playing a very offensively-deficient lineup. During the last four minutes, the only scorer he had on the floor was Bellis, who was accompanied by Brian Kern, Whetstone, Stahn, and Jeff Bostic. That's an awful crunch time lineup. Gotta love that coach.

Ithaca star PG Sean Burton is not playing this evening due to a groin injury. He will likely be held out of tomorrow's game as well. Mullins expects him to be back for the tournament.

gobombers15 · February 17, 2006, 09:48:27 PM

Ithaca responds, cutting Utica's lead to 66-62 with 2 minutes remaining. Bellis is having a huge game and is carrying Ithaca right now. He's singlehandedly keeping them in the game right now.

gobombers15 · February 17, 2006, 09:53:02 PM

Utica leads 71-66 with 38.2 seconds. Lucas hits a 3-pointer as the shot clock wound down. Dagger of a shot.

By the way, there is no doubt in my mind that Clear is in attendance at that game. Everything you need to know about Clear, I can sum up by describing the Utica fan base. You know how after most teams score the crowd applauds and cheers like normal people? Well after every Utica basket their fans go "Ooooohhhhhhh." Not like "oh that was awesome," but like "ohhhhh, snap, you just got sauced." Ghetto fans, besides Budcrew, for a ghetto team.

superman57 · February 17, 2006, 10:21:26 PM

Fisher squeaks one out tonight, Ahead 67-64 with 1 second left, naz put up a great shot that went in and out.

gobombers15 · February 17, 2006, 10:23:56 PM

Rivalry aside, why is Fisher having such a problem with Naz this year but handling Utica? That rivalry existed the last two years and Fisher was beating the snot outta Naz, what's changed this year?

tigerfan2 · February 17, 2006, 10:26:24 PM

I guess I never should have opened my mouth, as AU beats RIT by 3 tonight. AU was hot from 3 pt range throughout, I haven't seen the box score, but they had to have at least 15 3's. This was one of those games they showed the potential they have. The refs really let the teams play, but it was pretty balanced for both sides. Dillon Stein could get an Oscar for the 2 charges he drew, but he sold it, so they were good plays. I think even he knew he got away with a couple, judging by the smiles after the play.

RIT had big games from Zeinfeld (22 pts, 19 in the 1st half), Snyder, and Bacon.

Hallett from AU had a big game, he had 20+ on a number of 3's. I'm suprised he had enough time to actually play the game given all the time he spend staring into the stands. I guess you have to be pround to finish out your career with another bottom half finish in the league and no post season appearences.
Props also to the one kid on AU's bench who was a one man cheering section.

RIT should get used to this style of play, however, as Fisher is going to play the same way and shoot just as well. If they can't step up vs. AU then tomorrow may not be pretty.

Yeah, I'm bitter but AU just outplayed RIT tonight so congrats to them. I haven't looked at the standings, but if they beat Naz tomorrow, they may finish in 5th.