Empire 8

[FROMAFAR]

NYU is big but not strong. The guards can be pressured into mistakes. , but they can shoot.  I am not so sure how good Hurley is. This is his first recruiting class, as the sophomores were recruited by Loeffler. They need some leadership and they need a purpose on offense. Too many different combinations can caused confusion. I can see Higgan's Greco and Masone providing a sound base for the freshman to learn from. All 3 are gutsy players not afraid to make decisions, and that's what the younger players need. But they need to be given a rythm together, and I truly believe they can make the conference tourney... hopefully not at RIT's expense.
All 3 need to play 25+ a game....and get that rythm....believe me this will help the freshman and sophomores mature. It will keep the morale of the team up as well.   hey way to go Elmira, Utica and Hartwick....the league may be better than I thought, BUT what do I know

[Caz Bombers]

Ithaca leads Hobart 88-81 with 6:30 to go...Jordan Marcus already has 41 points!!!

[sjfcards]

We should get an idea about Elmira if they can knock off Cortland tomorrow. That would be two impressive wins for a team that really struggled last year. Not that C-State and Fredonia are world beaters, but they are better than a few in the Sunyac.

I wonder which is the best conference in upstate NY this year? If you had to rank the E8, LL, and Sunyac, how would it go? We should get some insight on this as IC plays Hobart. You never know with Hobart. Sometimes they can make life very difficult, sometimes they can just fade away. I will take IC in that one.

[sjfcards]

Ithaca leads Hobart 88-81 with 6:30 to go...Jordan Marcus already has 41 points!!!

And IC continues to put up huge numbers on offense. I didn't think they would score nearly as much as last year with all that they lost. They will most likely get over 100 tonight.

[Caz Bombers]

Marcus finishes with 45, Bombers win 108-93.  Freshman point guard Sean Rossi with 16 points and 12 assists in his college debut.  The Pistol Pete nephew Eli Maravich had 10 in his first game.  IC started 4 underclassmen, has only 2 seniors on the roster and most of what did the damage tonight are freshmen and sophomores.  Mark me down as officially intrigued.

[bombersquadron]

After hearing some things about the Bombers early season ups and downs this weekend, I was surprised to see them win by such a large margin. Haven't seen the box score yet, but seems like when Ithaca shoots it well they can play with any team. Congratulations to Jordan Marcus.

[sjfcards]

rediculous how much IC can fill it up when they shoot well. They drop 100 like other teams hit 80. The key for them this year will be to play night in and night out with the intensity needed to win at this level.

[Cyclone0205]

Good evening my e8 friends, sorry for such a delay but I'm back in action now.


Took in the NYU/Stevens contest and I have much to say about that. FROMAFAR, what's going on buddy, glad to see someone talked some Ducks until I could get here.

For my take, an 83-59 score is about what I expected from the Ducks.  The consensus from anyone you talk to associated with the Stevens team is that this team is 2 years away from being worth mentioning.  They have young talent in Thompson and Jones (think Ozell Franklin) that should be good building blocks, along with Simon Smith, for an e8 run in future years, but there is one glaring hole on this team:  They have no playmakers.

I really mean zero.  No one that can penetrate and make plays for other people.

Double F, I know you are a huge Greco fan, and I think he is a very solid point guard.  However, he has never been a playmaker, and I don't think that's the best part of his game.  Sunday he played 16 minutes (about 13 too few), but only had 1 assist.  In his only full season as a starter (07-08) he averaged roughly 24 minutes and under 3 assists per night.  And that was on a team with Farid, Gray, Passalacqua, and Williams.  By comparison, the kid Morris (06-07), who I know was a much different style of player and is the school's all time assist leader, played 30 games with the same group, minus Williams, and had 142 assists.  I truly believe Greco's game suffers when he tries to become a distributer, because he is a good offensive player and a very good shooter.  However, when he tries to become a playmaker he looks passive and doesn't score.  So when Thompson goes in and does score, he stays on the court.  

Given the fact that Stevens is going to have trouble scoring all season consistently, whichever player is going to put more pressure on a defense between Greco or Thompson is the one that is going to get the bulk of the minutes.  And I think that Greco has it in him to easily be a 12-14 point a night guy, but he has to play like it.  Unlike in the past, there are no other options.

Greco, Higgins, and Masone are extremely tough kids who have worked hard and improved tremendously from their freshman years.The problem is on this team I think all 3 are going to have to play above and beyond anything we've seen from them, because the team is extremely young and I just don't put a lot of faith in freshman.

Lastly, as has always been noted with Stevens, interior defense is non-existant.  If you play against the Ducks and have anyone on your team who posted up once in high school, put him in the paint and throw him the ball.  I am assured he will score at least 10 points.  Even on their good teams interior defense hasn't been a strength, and I don't see anyone on the roster that is going to give them that presence.


I hope this doesn't come across too negative, just trying to give a prospective of what I saw.  Last years group was 13-13 overall and I think, looking at their schedule, this years Ducks will be around 11-15.  Of course, I know the e8 lost a lot so it depends how some of the other teams look, but I think Stevens is just in a rebuilding year.    

[JQV]

What do we know about Hobart?  Did IC just catch an early cupcake or did they just hang 108 on a decent to good team on the road?

Caz, I am with you.

[bomber3]

Great to see the bombers win going away against an experienced hobart team.  Marcus was unconscious and tied a single game school record  after putting up a goose egg three days earlier in the alumni scrimmage.  Although I won't say this was expected but after putting up 25 and 27(?) last year in limited minutes you could say he had the potential for going off if he got a full 40. Definitely wouldn't have expected it in the first game of the season. Great to see them open strong and hopefully they can get a couple wins this weekend in the Amherst tourney.

Couple pieces of random info about the bombers:

The Maravich kid is not the nephew of Pete Maravich.  He is related but its not as clear cut as uncle/nephew. More along the lines of second cousin.....or so I'm told.

Jordan Marcus was the national jewish high school player of the year his senior year of high school.  I don't care what the award is but if you're the national winner of anything, that's impressive.

[FROMAFAR]

Cyclone I missed you......glad to see you back... Your analysis of Stevens is very accurate and you don't sound negative at all. You are right, I am a big Greco fan...and you are correct about him being a scorer.  I loved his intensity and playing ability as a freshman. he and Higgans gave Stevens a swagger...It looks like the coaches, Loeffler and Hurley wanted him to be a pure point and not look for his shots especially early in the set. If they let him go a bit they will get that 12-15 a night and as far D goes... he shut down Becker.. completely and had two steals.. He doesn't turn the ball over either...... He also makes the coach look better, in that the team always looks organized when he is on the court. When he is out there is that "deer in the headlights" look. He does need to play 30 minutes as you state. If Hurley goes with the freshman, they will be lucky to win 8 this year. Thompson has a nice shot, but has that Pasasalaqua tendency to avoid fouls, thus allowing points. He should be used 10 minutes at the point to give Greco a blow, and then play the 2 for about 5-6 minutes. Jones should spell Higgans for about 16 minutes.. Jones can score but what do you think... a little out of Control.. looks like a freshman..Higgans is extremely aggressive and doesn't worry about fouls...With this team that's a good thing..  Masone is your true "blue collar worker", hustles all the time and bangs with the big boys. Hurley seems to be reverting to the constant substitution system, which I don't like. Higgans missed few early shots, and was never given a chance to correct... So I agree, with your analysis....I think Hurley will realize he needs these guys, don't forget Stevens is not patient with coaches.. a 15 win season would be a feather for Hurley. BUT what do I know    

[JQV]

Marcus was unconscious and tied a single game school record  after putting up a goose egg three days earlier in the alumni scrimmage.

I haven't participated in an alumni scrimmage in about five years but, unless things have changed dramatically, I can think of a few physical limitations that exist during the alumni game that usually don't exist during the regular season opener...

[FROMAFAR]

Cyclone, I looked up that year Greco started at the point... He was 20-5 as a starter... He avg. just under 3 assists..  farid had 150+assists, Greco took the second most 3's on the team... so it appears Loeffler used him as a
1 1/2... which is really what he is.  he can dish on the break as good as any. That might be what this team should be doing by the way... They were clearly quicker than NYU but they like that deliberate offense should have run more.... When I referenced Deer in the Headlights in previous post I meant when Greco was NOT on the court...Anyway.... I need to concentrate on the Tigers....... Cyclone I need you to keep us posted on Ducks..... I will try to get to Tourney at Hoboken this weekend. Friday will be tough... 4 PM game but Sunday is doable....Maybe they will make the changes we suggested

[Cyclone0205]

No worries, I should have the Ducks all cover.  I'm sure I'll be able to make a majority of the games and I think the team will really improve as the year goes.

You're right, Greco definitely is a tweener.  His mentally and offensive skill set lends itself more to the 2, but his size puts him in the 1 position.  I think what made the 06-07 team so special was that Morris could distribute from the 1, Greco could slide in at the 2 when Passalacqua wasn't playing defense (more often than not) and then Gray and Farid could focus on scoring.

This years team should be running, and running, and running.  I don't like the pace they played at with NYU because if you are going to be deliberate, you have to be efficient, and efficient teams generally aren't teams that are going to rely on jumpshooting the way the Ducks will have to this year.

I think their best lineup is probably Thompson, Greco, Jones, Higgins, and Smith.  I know it's a smallish group, but the players of size they have don't do any better rebounding/defending the post than anyone else.  Higgins and Smith have defended post more often than not, and I think those 3 guards, given time to gel, have skill sets that work well with each other.  Cutri is a heady kid and would by my 6th man, along with Masone, but neither one is going to provide enough offense on an offensively limited team.

[FROMAFAR]

Cyclone...You should be coaching...... I think you are exactly right on the Ducks, that would be the best 5 to play consistantly...You should drop Hurley a line.. he could use the advise.. That would create match-up problems for most opponents.  As long as they RUN RUN RUN.. Greco bringing it up, could dish to Jones and Higgans going to the hole, penetrate a bit and kick to Thompson, and Smith is probably quicker than most bigs out there...AND Greco shoots best off the dribble...They are not going to win a close low scoring game because they can't keep teams from scoring... They pressed a bit Sunday, but Higgans and Greco ( there I go again) are the two best at creating turnovers, were not in enough, and they should never press without them in...If you see that line up let me know...Good job..............