Empire 8

[FisherDynasty]

I have my doubts as well but ill give them credit until the season starts atleast.

[gobombers15]

I have my doubts as well but ill give them credit until the season starts atleast.

Be wary. Stevens is good in many sports. Looks like they may be the school to dethrone Ithaca for the first time ever in the E8 Commissioner's Cup standings. I think they will be quality.

[sjfcards]

I personally think Stevens is going to be a solid team. One of the better teams in the league. But, I also believe that they will struggle more in the E8 then the skyline conference. I think it will be interesting to see, because we as posters, have basically nothing to go on except that they had a real good year last year. I am assuming that they will be a top level team in the league until I see otherwise

I am also really excited to see the team that Fisher will put on the floor this season. I do not see a box score from the scrimmage against Waterloo on the webpage. Was anyone at the game? Anyone know who looked good? Who got the majority of the PT? Does anyone know anything about Waterloo? Who would they be comparable to?

[FisherDynasty]

I agree sjfcards. I definatly think they will be good but will struggle a little bit more then the previous year.  Last year was the first year Stevens has made the NCAA tourny.



If you read previous posts.  Fisher is going with:

Newman pg
Baltz SG
Bearden Sf
Beigal PF
Smalt C

with Mckeever pg, wopperrer pf, Ozell frankling sg, and will coyte sf.

No one looked terrific in the scrimmage, Newman was in foul trouble early so sat most of the game.  Beigal and smalt looked very sloppy.  Bearden was solid and baltz was off.  Mckeever played well off the bench and ozell franklin did not dress do to disciplinary reasons.  With that being said, they still pulled out an 8 point win againsts a descent very big waterloo team who also could not get the outside shot to drop.  Hard to compare waterloo to other teams, they are very big and athletic but play much differently since they play by the international rules. 

[sjfcards]

Thanks for the info. Should be interesting!!

[bamm]

Bamm, what about Scott Young the 6'6 fresh they had last year?

McVean seemed to play him less as last season progressed.  He's still with the squad, and I imagine he'll have a bigger role this season.

[triplethreat]

Fishers lineup may see some changes throughout the beginning of the season.  Baltz played awful last year in the beginning of the season.  Kornaker sat him down and e saw very few minutes.  The game they beat Bport in the Chase he saw about 5 minutes.  Also, Neumann was sat down and also removed from the starting lineup a couple times.  We know that Beigal and Smalt are going to play if not in foul trouble, but the guard play is up in the air.  We could see anyone in at the 1-3 spots.

[sjfcards]

Kornaker always seem to tinker with his lineup early in the season, so I would expect that. From what I can tell, Newman and Baltz are solid in the guard spot, and Beigle will be beigle. If he stays out of foul trouble then Fisher should have 3 solid/proven players in the starting lineup. Bearden and Smalt both had up and down stretches last year, and I am not sure how they will react to being "the Guy". If Smalt plays like we have all seen him in the good strethces, Fisher will have another solid year. The other key is going to be which freshman/player who did not get much time last year, will step up and fill the blank spots.
I trust Kornaker to put a good team on the floor, and I really think while he is the coach at Fisher, they will have a good shot at making the tourny every year. The guy knows how to coach, and has proven he knows how to recruit.

[Caz Bombers]

Normally I've got my schedules all made out and well pored-over by this time but this year other things have taken up my time.  The season begins next weekend with this slate of games:

Friday, Nov. 16
Nazareth vs. Oneonta (@UR)
Hartwick vs. Lehman (@Mount St. Mary)
Ithaca vs. Potsdam (@Clarkson)
Elmira at Ferrum
Skidmore at Stevens
Alfred vs. Oglethorpe (@Gordon)
Utica vs. TBA (@SUNYIT)

Saturday, Nov. 17
Hartwick  at Mount St. Mary/vs. Briarcliffe
Nazareth vs. New Paltz (@UR)
Ithaca at Clarkson/vs. Albany College of Pharmacy
Alfred at Gordon/vs. Mount St. Vincent
Merchant Marine/Middlebury at Stevens
Utica at TBA

Neither Utica nor SUNYIT has any info on their website about those games, UC fans any help here?

What would be better for Ithaca on that 2nd day, to play what is usually a lowly Clarkson team, potentially hurting their computer numbers, or a non-D3 patsy like A.C. of P.?

Fisher's opener is Nov. 20 at home against Hobart while RIT opens that same evening at York (N.Y.)

[whatman]

From what i saw at the scrimmage on Saturday, the McKeever kid looked good coming off the bench. I believed he played the whole second half except for the first 2 or 3 of the half. Newman looked terrible. I didn't really see any solid improvement from last year. I know, i know it was the first game but.....Mckeever does many things well. He takes care of the ball, can handle the point, plays good defense and has great court vision. I look for him to see many minutes. Biegel and Smalt will be fine, the big question is who is gonna cover if and when they get in foul trouble. The big men coming off the bench are subpar. I think for Fisher to win the Empire again Baltz is gonna have to hit every game like Mueller did last year and Biegel and Smalt need to be on the floor as much as possible. The league should be very competitive

[Caz Bombers]

lets take it easy about giving fisher the title this year. The top few players in the league dont play for them. Stevens has two top notch guards. McAdam and Herring are gonna be the two best players in the league this year, not to mention burton and bostic together at ithica. mcAdam has a good supporting cast. Herrings has a D-1 junior transfer guard and the best player from fulton mongomery went there as well. Fisher is deep and has a good all around starting 5, and is obviously coached well if you watch them play, but theyll need a team effort to win this year. Its gonna be wide open. Fisher, naz, utica, stevens, and ithica could all win. Should be a good year

Welcome aboard, by your e-mail address I assume you are a Utica fan?  BTW, it's "Ithaca."  A minor spelling thing that probably only bugs us Bomber fans, but hey, if we don't do it right here at home then others outside the area will spell it wrong too.

[FisherDynasty]

I know im in disagreement on this but Ryan Mcadam Corey's older brother has potential POY as well this year.  I dont think Corey is the best pg in the league, Id take Ryan over Corey.

[gobombers15]

All, I have pasted a link below to the season preview for the Ithaca men's basketball team. Here's my favorite quote:

"You can't ever rule out [St. John] Fisher [College], they always reload. Utica always finds some late additions, and Stevens and Nazareth will be very strong. Winning the league wouldn't surprise [us], but someone else winning the league also wouldn't surprise me."

I think Mullins meant that Utica finds some players who are "later" in their lives than the average college student. Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week, tip your waitresses.

http://theithacan.org/am/publish/mbasketball/200711_Blue_and_Gold_loaded_with_offensive_talent.shtml

[FisherDynasty]

haha

[bombersquadron]

Great article in The Ithacan today about the team, a great lay out and some good insight into the team. Don't really know much about the new players as Mullins only says the freshman have been "eye-catching" at times. Also it seems The bombers have made a major change to the offensive strategy on the south hill campus. The team should be fun to watch, with the "20 more possessions a game, Burton at the point and even more exciting when Bostic returns from football duties.
The paper and quotes from the players gives me the impression the team has really come together and the nucleus of young talented players are ready to step their game to another level. The Bombers take on Morrisville State tomorrow night in a pre-cortaca scrimmage be sure to get your tickets early. I will have input from the scrimmage sometime after the aftermath of the football game.

Go Bombers!