Empire 8

[gobombers15]

Predictions for this weekend:

FRIDAY

Fisher over RIT, 60-55. In a slow-it-down slugfest, Fisher escapes with the win on a late 3-pointer by Dan Mueller. It will be tight throughout and should be a good matchup between Bacon and McSweeney down low. I think this game could go either way but Fisher's experience prevails in the end.

Naz over Alfred, 82-66. This game won't even be that close.

SATURDAY

Utica over Hartwick, 70-54. Not enough firepower for the Hawks to stay in this one, with or without Ray Bryant.

RIT over Alfred, 69-56. Alfred has some strength inside but RIT has more. Bacon outplays Stein and Zeinfeld has a big game from outside as the Tigers split their weekend.

Fisher over Naz, 79-76 in OT. Fisher gets their second nailbiter of their weekend and, once again, prevails. Naz will be up for this game, as they always are, and may even have more talent at most of the positions, but I'll take Kornaker and Co., over Daley every time.

[gobombers15]

By the way, we may soon be talking about Naz frosh Corey McAdam as not only the E8 ROY, but also the E8 POY. Have you looked at this kid's numbers? He's averaging 15.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals per night. That is disgusting. He put up 18 pts, 7 rebs, 13 assists against a very good Wheaton team in Naz's OT loss. Wow.

[jdex]

Saw C. McAdam in preseason scrimmage at Cortland and he was best player on the floor THEN! Have no doubt he'll leave his mark. Big bro had sidelining wrist injury. Is he ready to go? Outside-inside McAdams tough combo

[gobombers15]

Anyone want to take an early shot at the Chase Tourney seedings?

[FisherDynasty]

GoBombers, Check the Chase Tourney Seedings board.

[sjfcards]

Is there no radio call, or live stats of the Fisher RIT game tonight?

If anyone knows of one...please let me know

[FisherDynasty]

Fisher takes care of RIT on the road.  Huge final minute inbounds play leading to a Mcsweeney dunk to ice the game and put Fisher up 4.  The game was a very slow paced low scoring game that was pretty sloppy.  Neither team looked very good.  However, It is always tough to play at RIT and I can only remember 1 game in the past few years where Fisher actually looked good in that gym.  That being said, great win, Tomorrows game should be a good one.

[FisherDynasty]

Forget to mention that the 3 bigs for Fisher all played farely well, with Mcsweeney dominating at will.  Dan mueller is playing at the top of his game rate now, when he's hitting and playing at the top of his game Fisher is the team to beat in the E8.  When he is off, they could get beat by a few of the teams.  For RIT, Tim Bacon had some nice moves, zeinfeld did okay, and that freshmen i liked a lot whitmore or somthin like that was about 6'6 hitting 3's and looked pretty solid. 

In other action, Naz close one against alfred, who knows about them, they are the weirdest team ever.

Bport beat a talented Hamilton squad by 20, Bport i guess can be considered as of right now the #1 seed in the Chase.  I still would like to see a Fisher rematch I dont think Bport would get them again. 

[sjfcards]

It looks like the big men of Fisher were a big part of the success that they had tonight. However, the most important thing in my mind is Mueller and Smalt...

McSweeny and Beigle are studs inside, and they are probably going to get theirs against almost every team they play. If Fisher can get double digit points out of Mueller and Smalt like they did tonight, they become very close to unbeatable in upstate NY.

Mueller has played well in the last 4 games (double digits in all 4). When he scores the ball it gives Fisher an outside game to compliment the big men inside and creates a world of hurt for many, if not all, teams Fisher will play this year. Also, Smalt contributing close to a double double like he did tonight takes a huge weight off of McSweeny and Beigle inside. Not only does it take a scoring load off of the two big men, but also rebounding the ball as well.

If Fisher can get production out of Mueller and Smalt like they did tonight, it gives them 4 players that can produce and take some pressure off of the guard play...

[e8bballfan]

fisher wins of course a close one...sounds like it was kinda sloppy from what im hearing and wasnt decided til the final minute...this fisher lineup bouncing around is really confusing me...who is gonna emerge in crunch time??? especially guard-wise...

naz, bud says they were up big, lost lead, then wins with an and-1 with less than 2 seconds left from tyler smith...as for ryan mcadams, said hes in street clothes with a cast on his left arm. teams doing nice without him imagine if he were playing...but coreys doin well to say the least- all i hear is they let a big guy set a screen for him at the top of the key and let mcadams do what he wants....guess nobody knows how to guard a pick and roll at the top of the key? so if im coachin over at naz, im letting them do it everyyyyyyyy time town the floor until someone realizes it's their best offense and u gotta stop it...


as for tomorrow...

RIT over Alfred in a close one...
NO IDEA on this NAZ-Fisher game...guess fsher played real sloppy tonight, guess naz played ok plus who knows how naz is gonna show up...they almost beat #17 team but then struggle vs alfred??


PS-this RIT squad is a sleeper i think...seems like if they're hitting from 3 they can beat anyone, but i guess thats true for any team, but i think specifically for these technical nerds over at RIT...

[gobombers15]

That seems to be Naz's MO this year: jump out to a big lead, blow it in the second half then hang on for dear life and hope you come out on top. They blew a 21-point lead against #17 Wheaton in the second half. I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing happen today against Fisher.

One other score concerning an E8 team last night: Cornell routs Ithaca, 80-47. Not a huge surprise there and I'm not gonna put much stock in it.

EDIT: Another monster night from Corey McAdam: 29 pts, 5 rebs, 9 assists, 6 steals. Right now, he has to be the favorite for E8 POY with Ray Bryant in and out of the lineup.

[bamm]

Caught the game at RIT last night.  I'll say this now -- the only way Fisher is winning the E8 this year is if they manage to get the tourney at their place.  Otherwise it's not happening.  You heard it here first.  They'll finish in the top 4 in the regular season.  They are a decent team with above average big men and good coaching, but they rotate what seems like 6 to 7 freshman/sophomores in the guard spots, none of seem that much different from the other.

I was surprised to see they started Matt Newman, the guard from last year's state champion Campbell-Savona squad. 

Fouls plagued RIT last night, I think they had 10 fouls on them with 10 minutes left in the second. 

This team is finishing in the top 4.  They have a couple of good juniors who came in from CC's (Gethers, Leslie), and as another poster stated, a 6'6" freshman shooter (Young) who is going to present defensive problems for some teams. 

Fisher/RIT/Utica are getting into the tournament.  Everyone else will be fighting it out for the last spot.

[notjoshreed]

 
First my prediction for today's Naz fisher game,  Naz by 12.   

Second some thoughts on the recruiting at Fisher and other D3 schools.  I believe the schools allow and encourages the over recruiting of high schools students in all their sports.  For Kornaker and other coaches it is a windfall, having all these kids (the masses) to mold into the team of there liking over a season or even a couple of years (the few).  It's like being a Mormon and marring six wives and never having to choose your favorite.  For the colleges it commits a group of students to their schools that for the most part can afford to be their and at the same time with little to no aid from the colleges.  Most of these athletes do not have time for their studies, the sports and a part time job so the parent foot most of the college bill and the life cost as well.   These students may not sign any letters of commitment but they are committed to becoming one of the gems of their chosen sport at a well respected school.  The shame of the chase is that most of the masses end up with little time as the years go on and are relegated towards the end of the bench or off the team as the cycle repeats.  In the meantime the school wins big time as this over recruited class of athletes and their parents foot the a majority of the students bill for a solid four years of education.  Distracters might say that the student gets a good education but the college gets a committed student who might easily have gone elsewhere.  For the college it is all about marketing. There is a story a couple years ago that the Fisher Women's softball team recruited 31 athletes for two spots.  When the coach spoke some concern for disillusioning so many athletes an administrator from the college told the, your job is to get these kids here,  our job is to keep them (after they are no longer part of the team)   (If you think Basketball has a big team take a look at the football sidelines)

So in summary:
Athletes and their parents get to chase a dream of continuing their high school stardom by becoming part of the masses
Coaches get to dabble with a huge amount of athletes while they mold their team of a few
Colleges get a great crop of higher % paying students to their schools with the hope of retaining them for 4 years. 

Thus everybody wins or at least the colleges do, the coaches do and the few athletes that play and thrive into their senior years. 
The rest, well, what an education in life the get as they learn to handle frustration and disappointments. 

Good luck Mueller and Smalt and company today, hope you and the few do well today and prove my prediction wrong.  Either way my heart goes out to the masses and their families as they continue to support the program 100% hoping that their day may come, eventually.........

[sjfcards]

Just got done listening to the Fisher/Naz game...Fisher gets down double digits early...but they are able to keep it somewhat close, and their talent and depth(??) takes over and they end up winning  by 12 I think.

A couple of thoughts:
Canori from Naz is an absolute Stud of a player...30 points

Fisher was able to use the bench scoring to cover a bad game scoring wise for McSweeny. Beigle was great in the late going...

the main thought is that more than anything Naz found a way to lose. Late in the game they had no answer for Beigle (3 straight buckets late) and Naz I think turned the ball over on two straight inbound plays in the last minute and a half.

Bench Scoring Fisher 21   Naz 4

[notjoshreed]

Good win for fisher, listened to part of the game, agree with Sjfcards that no answer for Beigel at end of game.  McKeever came in and slowed down Canori who was on fire early and often, McKeever and Newman also some late game threes to build momentum.
Announcer seemed to think that fatigue in the second half doomed Nazareth as both teams had games last night as well.
Thanks for proving me wrong on my prediction.
Nice to see some bench time for Fisher and the bench performing well as fisher went 11 deep. 
Any truth in the rumor that Fisher is building a new field house so they can expand from 24 to 35 players and 6 to 10 Coaches?