Empire 8

[rjcarter8]

Hmmmm...interesting list however how can you have ray bryant over danny mac or justin beigl...bryant is good do not get me wrong however he has never beaten fisher and to my recollection has not really played well against them...Yes i know when it is all said and done he might have some decent numbers but the games i watched last year he didnt do anything until the game was pretty much decided...i think the jury should be out on him until his utica team can actually win a game against fisher

Just because someone may be the best player, doesn't mean he can singlehandedly beat a team. You say he hasn't done much against Fisher, but hasn't Fisher had a more talented team overall than Utica. If Fisher has been able to key on Bryant, effectively shutting him down, and the other guys didn't step up then Fisher should win the game.

I know the argument will be out there that the best players find ways to step up in key situations and big games, but that isn't always the case.

To hold a guy back because he hasn't done anything against one team in the league -- albeit the best team in the league in the last few years -- is kind of crazy in my opinion.

[FisherDynasty]

Idk RJ, I usually think like that too, I hate when people hold someone down bc of one acheilies heal or whatever.  But, in this situation where the E8 has been  a pretty bad league besides Utica & Fisher and sometimes RIT, when you play bad against the only solid team on your schedule 4 times it should be held against you.  Who cant drop 20 and 10 against hartwick and utica night in and night out, hell even naz who doesnt play D or ithaca which had lack of height the past few years.  So idk its a tough call, and utica last year had cichon who i think was keyed on just as much if not more than ray bryant. 

[dmcclintock]

rj...similar to what fisherdynasty said...the E8 has been weak aside for possibly the top two teams every year for the past couple of years...therefore if your number 2 and you are being considered to be the best player than you should have atleast one w against the number one team...Also, sure fisher had talent but herring as a frosh was good...Cichon...in my mind top player throughout his career, and willie lucas is a pretty solid starting lineup that takes a lot of attention away from bryant...plus they had somewhat of a solid bench...Brian Collier is solid....anyways there should have been maybe one victory against the #1 team...hes a good player but until he gets it done atleast once (which he has a good chance of doing this year) hes debatable...

[FisherDynasty]

I could see the argument that Fisher was better and Utica as a team maybe could not have beat them, and if Ray had a very good single effort to make the game close but he did not look much other than a role player in any of the games played against fisher. Therefore, it can be held against him.

Anyways, He is a good player and like dmc said, can overcome that debate this year.

[UCgrad45]

Ray is probably the only player in the league that can play all 5 positions well.

Last year, after Lighthall went out with injury, Utica had exactly zero big men on the roster. Ray was forced to play the 4/5 spot when he is 2/3 man. Of course he didn't have as good a game as he normally would playing center against a team with legit big men. In one of the other games, he picked up 2 quick rochester friendly fouls and was forced to sit almost the entire half.

Whoever said he didn't do much until the games were already decided, none of the games were decided until less than 2 minutes left, so I am not buying it.

That being said, he still managed to score 14, 13, 20, and 19 in the games against fisher, even with all the other scoring options on the team.


He could go for 30 any night, but he is a true team player. There is not a player in the conference even close to him. The coaches know it, and that is why he draws a triple team nearly every time he even starts to go to the hoop this season.

[FisherDynasty]

good points, he is very versatile, however most of his points against fisher were when the game was out of hand.  Also, i have not seen him play yet this year. That being said, I still think he is probably the best player in the league, I never said he wasn't.  I kind of just think he is a little over hyped, but maybe not, this year he seems to be doing some serious damage.

[ICbombers06]

I also don't see how you can leave Jeff Bostic off the list either...Yes I am an Ithaca fan, but he could be the most athletic player in the conference and is putting up pretty big numbers (13.5 pts and 7.3 boards). Also worth mentioning is that he is second on the Bombers in assists. This is just my opinion curious as to what the other posters feel about this.

Also, will finally get to see them play this weekend as I will be in town.  Interesting to see how they will play.  So far this year they have seemed to take care of business when they should've and vice versa.  This will really test there endurance having two tough games in two days. Obviously winning two would be a big step toward qualifying for the E8 tourney, which is always Mullins goal, but a split is necesary since all three of these teams will most likely be competing for the 3 and 4 seeds.

[FisherDynasty]

Thought about it IC, but dont think he is that yet.  But i have not seen him play yet this year, i thought he wasnt starting tho? Last year i know he came on towards the end but was still a little timid.  Im interested in seeing him play sometime this year.

[gobombers15]

I also don't see how you can leave Jeff Bostic off the list either...Yes I am an Ithaca fan, but he could be the most athletic player in the conference and is putting up pretty big numbers (13.5 pts and 7.3 boards). Also worth mentioning is that he is second on the Bombers in assists. This is just my opinion curious as to what the other posters feel about this.

Also, will finally get to see them play this weekend as I will be in town.  Interesting to see how they will play.  So far this year they have seemed to take care of business when they should've and vice versa.  This will really test there endurance having two tough games in two days. Obviously winning two would be a big step toward qualifying for the E8 tourney, which is always Mullins goal, but a split is necesary since all three of these teams will most likely be competing for the 3 and 4 seeds.

Agreed. I've been throwing his name out there whenever the question comes up. He has pretty much the same numbers as the two other, more experienced players in the conference. When you look at how much he's progressed--from a guy who was getting DNP's until about 3/4 of the way through last conference season, to the MVP of the ECAC post-season tournament, to what he did this season even after spending all Fall on the football team and not practicing hoops--it gives IC fans even more hope for the near future. IC has one of the best young cores in Burton, Bostic and Leahy (all sophs), so I hope we see the results very soon.

He's certainly ahead of where Bacon and McSweeney were at this stage of their respective careers. I don't think that's arguable.

Whoever said he didn't do much until the games were already decided, none of the games were decided until less than 2 minutes left, so I am not buying it.

I think that's a completely erroneous statement. The first game, which was at Utica, was particularly close, but not the other three. In the second game, Utica opened up 5-0 and Fisher responded with twelve straight and led pretty comfortably all the way through. The third game, in the E8 tourney, was a blitz from the beginning and the fourth, in the Sweet 16, wasn't all that close, either. Fisher had huge leads that Utica cut into in the 2nd half, but the result was never, ever in doubt. I really wonder if you Utica guys don't think we're able to read box scores? My favorite was last year when UC beat IC by 10 and Clear came in and said the game "wasn't as close as it looked" when UC was only up 5 with like four minutes to play. C'mon guys.

[UCgrad45]

I also don't see how you can leave Jeff Bostic off the list either...Yes I am an Ithaca fan, but he could be the most athletic player in the conference and is putting up pretty big numbers (13.5 pts and 7.3 boards). Also worth mentioning is that he is second on the Bombers in assists. This is just my opinion curious as to what the other posters feel about this.

Also, will finally get to see them play this weekend as I will be in town.  Interesting to see how they will play.  So far this year they have seemed to take care of business when they should've and vice versa.  This will really test there endurance having two tough games in two days. Obviously winning two would be a big step toward qualifying for the E8 tourney, which is always Mullins goal, but a split is necesary since all three of these teams will most likely be competing for the 3 and 4 seeds.

Agreed. I've been throwing his name out there whenever the question comes up. He has pretty much the same numbers as the two other, more experienced players in the conference. When you look at how much he's progressed--from a guy who was getting DNP's until about 3/4 of the way through last conference season, to the MVP of the ECAC post-season tournament, to what he did this season even after spending all Fall on the football team and not practicing hoops--it gives IC fans even more hope for the near future. IC has one of the best young cores in Burton, Bostic and Leahy (all sophs), so I hope we see the results very soon.

He's certainly ahead of where Bacon and McSweeney were at this stage of their respective careers. I don't think that's arguable.

Whoever said he didn't do much until the games were already decided, none of the games were decided until less than 2 minutes left, so I am not buying it.

I think that's a completely erroneous statement. The first game, which was at Utica, was particularly close, but not the other three. In the second game, Utica opened up 5-0 and Fisher responded with twelve straight and led pretty comfortably all the way through. The third game, in the E8 tourney, was a blitz from the beginning and the fourth, in the Sweet 16, wasn't all that close, either. Fisher had huge leads that Utica cut into in the 2nd half, but the result was never, ever in doubt. I really wonder if you Utica guys don't think we're able to read box scores? My favorite was last year when UC beat IC by 10 and Clear came in and said the game "wasn't as close as it looked" when UC was only up 5 with like four minutes to play. C'mon guys.

Actually being at all 4 games, I have to disagree. Of the 3 that you mentioned were "never in doubt", one was the game where he sat pretty much the entire half. The sweet 16 Utica had the lead with about 13 minutes to go and at the end the gym was rocking with amherst and tufts fans going crazy for Utica because they came back from being down big to having the game still be a toss up with about 2 minutes to go.

I find it hard to believe that you are seriously telling people who were there every step of the way that you know more about how it went from reading the box score.

[UCgrad45]

I also don't see how you can leave Jeff Bostic off the list either...Yes I am an Ithaca fan, but he could be the most athletic player in the conference and is putting up pretty big numbers (13.5 pts and 7.3 boards). Also worth mentioning is that he is second on the Bombers in assists. This is just my opinion curious as to what the other posters feel about this.

Also, will finally get to see them play this weekend as I will be in town.  Interesting to see how they will play.  So far this year they have seemed to take care of business when they should've and vice versa.  This will really test there endurance having two tough games in two days. Obviously winning two would be a big step toward qualifying for the E8 tourney, which is always Mullins goal, but a split is necesary since all three of these teams will most likely be competing for the 3 and 4 seeds.

Bostic is a great athlete. Fun to watch.

[dmcclintock]

hmmm...utica having the lead with 12 to play...not sure bout that one....i was at the game...and pretty sure fisher pulled up by 20....sure utica may have gotten it down 2 8 or 10 with 2 mins to play but still...game was out of reach for them...the only close game was at utica where they had a legit shot at winning in the final 2 mins...rays a good player and im not taking anything away from him for that...however....he seemed to get his points when utica was down big...we all know its easier to score when the games not on the line as much then when it is....ray would get his points against fisher when his team was down 10 or more and was just trading baskets...that being said....this is a new year and last year was his first year in the E8...he has his work cut out for him but we shall see his true test against fisher

[sjfcards]

I kind of agree Dmc, but mcsweeney has not played well as of late, so I put bryant above him.  If i were putting together a starting 5 this would be the line up..

PG. Doug Herrig
SG. Joe Canori
Sf. Ray Ray (league lacks this position)
Pf. Bacon/Beigal
C. Mcsweeney

This line-up could almost beat Fisher the last few years.  haha Sorry had to say it to piss people off.

HAHA...good stuff Fisherdynasty. It is a funny line, but seriously you could probably take a all star team for the last 5 years, and put them up against a all star team from Fisher the last 5 years and it would probably be a better game then you would think.

I am pretty sure a team of Sean O'brien, Nick Bennet, Mike Mcgee, Jeff Sydney, and maybe McSweeny could hang with most teams people could put together.

[Caz Bombers]

Ithaca completes the sweep of D3 newbies Morrisville with the 80-67 win on the road.  Sean Leahy scores career-high 21 points helped by 5 for 9 from distance, Jeff Bostic adds 16.  Sean Burton is third Bomber in double figures with 12.  Two-man team of Adebowale Olasokan (20 pts, 4 assists, 4 steals) and Davon Williams (17 pts, 8 rebounds) leads Mustangs.  IC only up by 3 at the half but steadily pulled away in the second half.

Elmira put up a good fight but fell 68-66 to Hobart tonight at home.  No box score available yet but I'd be interested to see how this one ended.

[superman57]

since were talking fisher all star teams

I would say the best fisher teams in the past couple of years

1)05 fisher 28-1 sweet 16
2)06  fisher 26-4 elite 8
3)03 Fisher 21-5 lost to hamilton 1st round
4)04 fisher 22-7 lost to UofR second round