Empire 8

the bird man · January 28, 2006, 11:36:41 AM

Thank you Superman57...somebody had to say it...

Fisher is still the class of the conference, and I don't see that changing. Utica losses came to what turns out to be a very average Union team and to FISHER...which says to me they are not the best team in the conference. Clear would have you think they are the top choice for #1 in the country.

The way I see it, Utica is at a point that Fisher was at a few years ago, having a great year, but still just not quite there with the elite in the nation. Fisher had some years where they dominated the empire 8 but they just didn't have enough against elite teams in the rgion(u of r is the best example).
I dout Utica would beat a Rochester, or even a Lake Erie on the road. So for now lets just take Utica's season for what it is, a great run, and a good chance to do something special. I still don't think they are there with Fisher, which I think we all can agree has made it to the elite level...

GO CARDS...

rjcarter8 · January 28, 2006, 11:43:52 AM

Fisher has had a tremendous amount of success over the past few years, but I still think they have a little bit further to go to be called elite. I guess it depends on how people would define elite.

The first step, in my opinion, is for the team to make it to the Final Four, or even the Elite 8. Last year the Cards got whomped in the Sweet 16, not far enough for them to be called elite in my opinion.

If they played in a good conference maybe I could excuse the Sweet 16 blip, but the Empire 8 is not even in the top 2 conferences in the East Region, so that won't work.

Fisher is really good, and they even beat U of R in the Chase, but I still can't put them in the same class as the Yellowjackets. Maybe this will be the year Fisher attains elite status, but they're not quite there yet.

As for Utica, I agree with Superman (though not with his writing skills) that Utica fans can't start crowing about how UC is the best team in the conference and will blow everyone out by 20 when they can't beat the best team in the weak league -- Fisher.

ricco1 · January 28, 2006, 12:44:43 PM

Fisher-Ithaca game live vidiocast on web.www.ictv.org/sections/webcast/livewebcast.php @4:00pm.

AUPepBand · January 28, 2006, 03:55:36 PM

Quote from: gobombers15 on January 28, 2006, 01:03:08 AM
Ray Bryant is not the best player in the conference, he's not even the best player in the conference with that last name. For my money, I'd take Quentin Bryant of Alfred any day of the week. That kid is filthy. He was hitting step-back 3's with two guys in his face at big moments in the game tonight. Alfred's offense should be "give it to Quentin, everyone else just get out of the way." Kid is dirty. That said, I think Canori should win POY but may get punished by the fact he's only a sophomore, we will see.

Quentin "Q" Bryant is top notch when he brings his "A" game. Saw him against Naz at McLane. Don't know what the problem was that game, he finished with 10 points, all in last 5 minutes after game had been decided. I know what he can do, and AU has a lot of talent. They work hard. But from my observation, the Saxons are all work, no play. I'm no D3 basketball coach, but from my observation they aren't really enjoying the game. Some folks forget that IT'S A GAME! At 1-5 in E8 (hopefully 2-5 after today), in a year when AU was actually picked to finish in top four of E8, hoping Saxons can turn it around.

FishAluminNC · January 28, 2006, 05:46:23 PM

65-53 Fisher with about a minute to go. Ithaca shooting 12.5% from the 3 point line.

FishAluminNC · January 28, 2006, 05:50:14 PM

68-55 final goes to Fisher.

UCgrad45 · January 28, 2006, 05:59:40 PM

Utica decides to miss an insane number of FT and blow a wide open dunk to beat themselves.

Two league losses for Utica, and in both of them they beat themselves from the foul line. Very disappointing.

lileyes · January 28, 2006, 06:12:50 PM

Hartwick beats Naz.....

owen · January 28, 2006, 06:19:07 PM

Let's keep all this trivial data on Fisher, Ithaca, and Utica off the board. I'm awaiting important news of the 'Hartwick Empire.'

Oh my gosh!! The news has arrived. Can that be correct? Hartwick beats Naz? Really?

gobombers15 · January 28, 2006, 06:22:03 PM

Hartwick over Naz. Everyone turn off your computers because we'll be hearing from MadHawk. That is, of course, unless he is unconscious because he hit his head on his dorm ceiling after following the gamecast for the last two hours.

Bombers play a horrid 1st half, but you have to give Fisher credit. I talked to a buddy of mine at the game and he's seen every E8 team this year except Elmira and he said Fisher is by far the class of the league. He said there are more athletic teams(Utica) and teams with better shooters (Naz) but Fisher is so well-coached has such a high team basketball IQ that there's just nobody really close right now. As he said, "If Fisher plays their game, there's nobody in this league on their best day that could beat them." I tend to agree with him.

UCgrad, when was this missed dunk you speak of? It better have been within the last two minutes if you're trying to convince us it affected the game. Free throws are a part of the game, no excuses there. Good teams make their FT's.

tigerfan2 · January 28, 2006, 06:27:28 PM

"We will rock RIT tomorrow"
- Clearconceipt

Good call. Turns out Utica can't beat RIT on the road once again, this time going down 71-62. Fran Snyder has another big game, with 22 pts today, Zeinfeld with 19. RIT shoots over 50% from the field for the second straight game.

And spare me the "we beat ourselves" routine. To win against good teams on the road, you need to be solid from the FT line, it appears Utica doesn't perform well from the line in the clutch. Utica lost, deal with it.

RIT, IC, and UC now in a 3 way tie for second place behind SJF.

gobombers15 · January 28, 2006, 06:31:00 PM

RIT beats Utica, continuing the Pioneers' struggles in Rochester, by a score of 71-62. RIT led most of the way in this and pulled away in the last five minutes. Utica cut the lead to 4 with 5mins remaining, but RIT quickly built the lead up to 10 and coasted to the victory from there.

UCgrad, cool it with the excuses. Utica's FT shooting wasn't atrocious or anything. In fact, RIT's wasn't a ton better.

Utica: 21-32
RIT: 23-31

And from the looks of it, one missed dunk meant absolutely nothing in the result of that game. Instead of blaming your FT shooters or a missed dunk, why don't you throw some fault at the fact Utica allowed RIT to shoot over 50% from the field and 50% from 3's. That probably cost the Pioneers more than any missed dunk/missed FT's/referee(I know you didn't say anything about the refs, I was just pre-emptively dismissing that excuse).

RIT was the better team TODAY(not saying they're the better team, overall, but they were today). The most nauseating excuse in sports is "they didn't win, we lost." What the hell does that mean, anyways?? Do you guys have that bad of inferiority complexes that you can't admit you're beatable? Show some class and move on.

I can't wait to see MadHawk's next post. Who's ready to hear the law of syllogism:

Hartwick beat Naz
Naz beat Fisher
Therefore, Hartwick can beat Fisher(until Fisher bludgeons them by 35 when they play in Rochester)

dewcrew88 · January 28, 2006, 06:43:55 PM

Did I sleep through the apocalypse? Hartwick actually beat Nazareth... holy crap.. GB15, you better be careful, Wick is only halfway from your "I'll never post again" total of 4 wins... what a joke.

tigerfan2 · January 28, 2006, 06:47:18 PM

Pretty disappointing week for Naz. After beating Fisher @Fisher, they drop 3 straight. @RIT and vs. Utica are understandable losses, but losing at home to Hartwick shouldn't happen to a team with that much talent.

Quality win for Hartwick, especially since they bounced back from taking a 27 point beating @RIT on Friday. Coach Daley will need to do something fast to turn their season around.

But if MadHawk is calling for Hartwick to be a 4 pt. favorite at home vs. RIT after losing by 27, they must be about a 30 point favorite vs. Naz.

gobombers15 · January 28, 2006, 07:02:54 PM

Quote from: budcrew08 on January 28, 2006, 06:43:55 PM
Did I sleep through the apocalypse? Hartwick actually beat Nazareth... holy crap.. GB15, you better be careful, Wick is only halfway from your "I'll never post again" total of 4 wins... what a joke.

Still not worried. Hartwick has a total of two winnable games left on their schedule: @Elmira, vs Naz. I don't think they'll win both. Even if they do get to four games, which they won't, I can't be held to never posting again. Unilateral contracts are not enforceable in the state of Louisiana. I love law school! I'm kidding, I won't post again, but I'm still pretty safe.