Empire 8

[sjfcards]

One piece of data from last season that seems pertinent to this weekend's RIT/Fisher matchup:

In the E8 tourney (@ Fisher) Tim Bacon lit up Fisher's interior players to the tune of 23 points and 8 rebounds.  That resulted in an OT thriller that Fisher barely escaped from (SOB hit a last second jumper).  If he continues that this weekend RIT may start the E8 season with a win.

Wow...big time stat...I had not thought of that, but then again I may have blocked that out of my mind...

Although that may be a key to the game, I think the Big Men for Fisher are improved this year...if nothing else they are clearly much more of the focus...Last year it was about guard play. O'brien and the rest of the gang. Hopefully McSweeny and Beigle can play well, and the guard play can produce big shots when called upon.
I take Fisher by 4...

[fisheralum91]

FisherDyn-
You are killing me.
Just cuz you got my irish up one day doesnt mean that i have it in for you.
Remember- I love Fisher too

[postup101]

I get the sense that many Fisher fans are a little bit more nervous about this year's squad. Fisher in the past couple of seasons have clearly been the most talented team in the E8 conference. However, it is very difficult to stay on top for long periods of time. I always expect Fisher to play strong Catholic basketball, although I don't think they will be as strong as in years past (Villanova University is in a similar situation). The basketball talent at Fisher is never at jeopardy, however, other E8 teams have figured out ways to recruit players away from Fisher more easily. I think this season will unravel this theory.

As for post season play, I think Fisher will make the E8 Tourney no problem. However, the jury is still out on the NCAA Tourney.

Lastly, I expect Fisher to give Elmira/Alfred trouble this season. While games against Hartwick/Ithaca/Naz/RIT/Utica will be more closely fought than in years past.

[fisheralum91]

could someone explain "catholic basketball"?

[FisherDynasty]

Totally agree Post up.  Definatly not as good as past Fisher teams but still can beat good teams if guards play above their norm.  Also, with less options it forces the big guys to play better then in recent years.  I dont really think its that E8 teams have figured out how to recruit players away from fisher more easily, just the Fisher is young, this is one of the better classes of frosh Fisher has had in 4 years.

[JQV]

Fisher in the past couple of seasons have clearly been the most talented team in the E8 conference.

I dont really think its that E8 teams have figured out how to recruit players away from fisher more easily, just the Fisher is young, this is one of the better classes of frosh Fisher has had in 4 years.

In a sense, I think I agree with FisherDinosaurBrain here.  I don't think E8 recruiting patterns have changed all that much over the past 7 or 8 seasons.  But, I suppose FisherDelusionary and I would disagree as to what that pattern has been.  I don't Fisher gets the top recruits in the league now or at any other point.  Kornaker's teams are full of good solid players but few are superstars.  He is a good coach and knows which kind of role players will fit his system well.  He gets those kids and puts them in a place to succeed.  Sine Kornaker arrived five years ago I would say Naz has gotten the highest number of superstar type recruits, followed closely by Ithaca.  In that time however, Kornaker has dominated the league by targeting the kids he wants.

[slickyquick]

Another thing that Kornacker has done is establish a survival of the fittest reputation for recruiting in his program. They normally bring in a lot of recruits and a only a few end up being on varsity and contributing their freshmen year. By their senior year there might be 3 or 4 kids that end up doing well for them.

I'm not saying anything is wrong with that, usually that philosophy brings out competition and people have to compete everyday in practice to get playing time. One problem other coaches might have with that is that some kids at Fisher are probably good enough to play elsewhere and aren't even playing college basketball.

Kornacker has been successful using his survival of the fittest (whether he calls it that or not) philosophy to win.

[JQV]

Another thing that Kornacker has done is establish a survival of the fittest reputation for recruiting in his program. They normally bring in a lot of recruits and a only a few end up being on varsity and contributing their freshmen year. By their senior year there might be 3 or 4 kids that end up doing well for them.

I'm not saying anything is wrong with that, usually that philosophy brings out competition and people have to compete everyday in practice to get playing time. One problem other coaches might have with that is that some kids at Fisher are probably good enough to play elsewhere and aren't even playing college basketball.

Kornacker has been successful using his survival of the fittest (whether he calls it that or not) philosophy to win.

I'm not sure how unique that is to Kornaker.  I can think of a few other DIII schools that use a similar system in recruiting.  However, it isn't as dishonest as it may sound.  Because recruits don't sign letters or intent, no one is locked in to come to a school until they show up for the first day of classes.  The tradeoff is coaches aren't limited by scholarship numbers.  As a result, coaches don't want to be left holding the bag because the only PG they recruited ends up giving up his deposit and heading to another school so, they recruit five PGs every year.  It is just the nature of the beat in non-scholarship athletics.

[FisherDynasty]

haha those names are actually kind of funny, I thought I was going to end up agreeing with your post but I don't.  Yes Kornacker gets the kids he wants to fit his system but I do beleive Fisher does get the best kids with the best talent.  Naz over the years has had great talent in the Jim Evans and lawrence maroney era, however, besides that, Fishers players are 100 times better then the others in the leauge especially ithaca, I dont think one player on ithaca would have craced the starting line-up for fisher the past 4 years since ty shultz (Yes i considered bellis).  The reason why fishers players are superstars is because 1)they are team players 2) there are 4-5 on the court so a different one steps up everygame (until this year with 3 solids back). if you put anyone of the fisher players from their top 5 starters and even first 2 bench players they avg. 15+ on any other team.

[postup101]

I think survival of the fittest recruiting is absolutely necessary in this day in age. Student athletes in todays society are much more apt to quit easier or transfer when things aren't going well (academically/financially/athletically. There are much more choices available out there in today's day in age and transferring has become socially acceptable. Coaches are being forced to use survival of the fittest strategies in order to ensure there talent pool is primed.

In regards to Fisher, it also helps having a JV and a financial aid office giving out exceptional packages compared to other E8 institutions.

If Hartwick still had Eddie McAdoo, Sterling Green, Greg Betancourt, Anthony Brown, Jeff Dills in the line up they would be MUCH more of a power this year and probably be contending for E8 Title. It is a shame that Paul Culpo lost there guys, however, he obviously is doing some write seeing that he has a solid group of players back this season.

[JQV]

I think survival of the fittest recruiting is absolutely necessary in this day in age. Student athletes in todays society are much more apt to quit easier or transfer when things aren't going well (academically/financially/athletically. There are much more choices available out there in today's day in age and transferring has become socially acceptable. Coaches are being forced to use survival of the fittest strategies in order to ensure there talent pool is primed.

In regards to Fisher, it also helps having a JV and a financial aid office giving out exceptional packages compared to other E8 institutions.

If Hartwick still had Eddie McAdoo, Sterling Green, Greg Betancourt, Anthony Brown, Jeff Dills in the line up they would be MUCH more of a power this year and probably be contending for E8 Title. It is a shame that Paul Culpo lost there guys, however, he obviously is doing some write seeing that he has a solid group of players back this season.

I don't think student athletes are any more apt to quit or transfer today than at any previous time in history.  I just think that is the nature of the DIII game.  Division III really fosters an environment where kids are encouraged to be true student-athletes.  This means athletics, while involved, are an extracurricular activity and not a job.  The downside to this is, there is always the possibility that a player's other extracurricular (or curricular) activities will outweigh the importance of athletics.  The ease with which players can walk away is one of the beuties of the DIII game in my opinion.  Players on scholarship are locked into remaining with the team for fear of losing their money.  Kids should be allowed to make the most of their college experience, wheter or not that involves a full athletic career.

[FisherDynasty]

On a further note, many coaches in DIII are required or have incentives to attract kids to their respective colleges, therefore, if they are recruiting a kid from out of state, if the kid is good enough to make the team or not, it makes the school look better thus encourages the coach to recruit or show interest in a number of kids.  Also, when recruiting, in my opinion, you should always over recruit because you never know how many kids are going to chose your school, be as good as you though, etc. 

[fisheralum91]

Fisherdyn- we both know that "incentives" are not allowed....

[FisherDynasty]

$ incentives are not allowed but overall incentives as in keeping your job and your employer happy always exist

[fisheralum91]

understood- i was speaking about $.