Empire 8

[UCgrad45]

any1 got a score on the utica game?

I had car problems. Couldn't make the game.

According to this site however, UC won 77-53.

[e8bballfan]

Concerning the Stevens-SJFC game...is Stevens THAT good, or is Fisher THAT bad?? (or a combo of both)

Also, I think an important thing that hasn't been mentioned is the fact that Stevens is new to the conference (no duh) but Stevens has no rivals, nobody to really hate and I wonder how their student/fan-base will react to that, or how their fan-base really is. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[UCgrad45]

Ithaca will challenge. They, like a lot of the new players at UC, need to learn how to win. There were many points late in the Ithaca UC game that Ithaca players took shots that were ill advised and happened to make them. When you are up 7 with about 4 minutes to play, taking 35 foot jumpers with 27 seconds on the shot clock is not knowing how to win. It worked out for them on that night, but that is more of the exception than the rule.

Can you please explain to me how this means anything other than "need to learn how to play basketball better"?

If you don't know what I mean by knowing how to win, you don't know how to win.

[UCgrad45]

Concerning the Stevens-SJFC game...is Stevens THAT good, or is Fisher THAT bad?? (or a combo of both)

Also, I think an important thing that hasn't been mentioned is the fact that Stevens is new to the conference (no duh) but Stevens has no rivals, nobody to really hate and I wonder how their student/fan-base will react to that, or how their fan-base really is. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

They might hate Munch, since he used to go there.

[bombersquadron]

UC Grad, no one hates Munch, some people have respect for him because he loves to play D. He's not good enough to be hated. He holds and flops on defense and turns the ball over and is a nonfactor on offense. He hit a game winning shot in which the opposing coach was most likely telling his team to double off of Munch on to Herring. He cannot score, he never has and never will, he also has a whopping 6 points in 5 games. No one hates him or utica, people are simply stating the facts, stop being extremely bias about how good utica is. they will NOT make the empire8 tourney.

Another big game for Ithaca tomorrow as rival Cortland heads to town. Cortland lost a lot from last year but looks to be off to a good start. Should be a good game in my opinion. Hopefully Ithaca is not looking past Cortland to their match-up with Stevens this weekend.

[UCgrad45]

UC Grad, no one hates Munch, some people have respect for him because he loves to play D. He's not good enough to be hated. He holds and flops on defense and turns the ball over and is a nonfactor on offense. He hit a game winning shot in which the opposing coach was most likely telling his team to double off of Munch on to Herring. He cannot score, he never has and never will, he also has a whopping 6 points in 5 games. No one hates him or utica, people are simply stating the facts, stop being extremely bias about how good utica is. they will NOT make the empire8 tourney.

Another big game for Ithaca tomorrow as rival Cortland heads to town. Cortland lost a lot from last year but looks to be off to a good start. Should be a good game in my opinion. Hopefully Ithaca is not looking past Cortland to their match-up with Stevens this weekend.

Once again, the guy that knows nothing of Munch other than what he has seen in a game or two pretends he knows more about him than someone that knows him personally.

Dude dropped 15-20 a game in High School. He can score if he needs to. He just happens to be the best defensive player in the conference, and possibly the region. That is what he focuses on.

You seem to have an inferiority complex. Get sick of finishing 4th every year? A simple statement that he might catch some razz from Stevens since he transfered in from there is not "talking about how good" they are. But now that you mention it, he does have more NCAA tourney experience than every player on Ithaca combined. And for kicks, he was 3 of 4 from the floor tonight for 6 points in 17 minutes. He had 1 turnover and 5 steals. Hardly the liability you like to pretend he is.

[Cyclone0205]

To e8bballfan....you gotta realize tho that most of the people in the stands for the Stevens basketball games are probably other athletes so I'd assume that the athletes from the fall sports (field hockey, soccer, etc) that have already gone through their e8 seasons have some teams that they'll get after.  Crowd was pretty good for the Fisher game...from what I've heard Stevens hasn't attracted a lot of fans to begin with so it's not like there's a distinct home court advantage anyway (except that they rarely lose at home).

[gobombers15]

UC Grad, no one hates Munch, some people have respect for him because he loves to play D. He's not good enough to be hated. He holds and flops on defense and turns the ball over and is a nonfactor on offense. He hit a game winning shot in which the opposing coach was most likely telling his team to double off of Munch on to Herring. He cannot score, he never has and never will, he also has a whopping 6 points in 5 games. No one hates him or utica, people are simply stating the facts, stop being extremely bias about how good utica is. they will NOT make the empire8 tourney.

Another big game for Ithaca tomorrow as rival Cortland heads to town. Cortland lost a lot from last year but looks to be off to a good start. Should be a good game in my opinion. Hopefully Ithaca is not looking past Cortland to their match-up with Stevens this weekend.

Once again, the guy that knows nothing of Munch other than what he has seen in a game or two pretends he knows more about him than someone that knows him personally.

Dude dropped 15-20 a game in High School. He can score if he needs to. He just happens to be the best defensive player in the conference, and possibly the region. That is what he focuses on.

You seem to have an inferiority complex. Get sick of finishing 4th every year? A simple statement that he might catch some razz from Stevens since he transfered in from there is not "talking about how good" they are. But now that you mention it, he does have more NCAA tourney experience than every player on Ithaca combined. And for kicks, he was 3 of 4 from the floor tonight for 6 points in 17 minutes. He had 1 turnover and 5 steals. Hardly the liability you like to pretend he is.

1) "Get sick of finishing 4th every year?" Third, actually. RIT usually has 4th on lockdown. Get your facts straight.

2) "But know that you mention it, he does have more NCAA tourney experience than every player on Ithaca combined." And about half the basketball talent of most of Ithaca's starters.

[UCgrad45]

UC Grad, no one hates Munch, some people have respect for him because he loves to play D. He's not good enough to be hated. He holds and flops on defense and turns the ball over and is a nonfactor on offense. He hit a game winning shot in which the opposing coach was most likely telling his team to double off of Munch on to Herring. He cannot score, he never has and never will, he also has a whopping 6 points in 5 games. No one hates him or utica, people are simply stating the facts, stop being extremely bias about how good utica is. they will NOT make the empire8 tourney.

Another big game for Ithaca tomorrow as rival Cortland heads to town. Cortland lost a lot from last year but looks to be off to a good start. Should be a good game in my opinion. Hopefully Ithaca is not looking past Cortland to their match-up with Stevens this weekend.

Once again, the guy that knows nothing of Munch other than what he has seen in a game or two pretends he knows more about him than someone that knows him personally.

Dude dropped 15-20 a game in High School. He can score if he needs to. He just happens to be the best defensive player in the conference, and possibly the region. That is what he focuses on.

You seem to have an inferiority complex. Get sick of finishing 4th every year? A simple statement that he might catch some razz from Stevens since he transfered in from there is not "talking about how good" they are. But now that you mention it, he does have more NCAA tourney experience than every player on Ithaca combined. And for kicks, he was 3 of 4 from the floor tonight for 6 points in 17 minutes. He had 1 turnover and 5 steals. Hardly the liability you like to pretend he is.

1) "Get sick of finishing 4th every year?" Third, actually. RIT usually has 4th on lockdown. Get your facts straight.

2) "But know that you mention it, he does have more NCAA tourney experience than every player on Ithaca combined." And about half the basketball talent of most of Ithaca's starters.

I guess that is a compliment that he has as much or more talent than some of the Ithaca starters, as he comes off the bench for UC.

[JQV]

I'm not sure why UCGrad's statement is being questioned.  Is it unusual to discuss winning traits - being tough, aware, making good decisions under pressure etc. separately from atheletic skills and sport competence?   Not in my experience.

It is not unusual.  That doesn't make it relevant.  With the exception of decisionmaking ability under pressure, everything else is just cliche used to fill a space where a coach can't think of an objective evaluation point.  "He has a lot of heart."  "We are going to out tough them."  etc.  That is unimaginative cliche in the same way "not knowing how to win" is unimaginative cliche. 

I know this because the statement that Ithaca "does not know how to win" was made about a game that Ithaca won.  How interesting.  This is akin to saying "After watching you count to 10 it is clear to me that you do not know how to count to ten."

You seem to have an inferiority complex. Get sick of finishing 4th every year?

Not for nothing...Empire 8 Titles:  Ithaca 1
                                                     Utica 0

So I guess the question really is, get sick of looking at that hole in your trophy case your good teams could have filled?

[Cyclone0205]

This isn't my "fight" if you will, but the statement "needs to learn how to win" can be made about a game you win.  I've seen it before where a team is up 30, lets a team come all the way back to within 1(or take the lead) and then pulls it out in the win.  Sure, they won, but the statement being made is that the game shouldn't have been close...it speaks more to the decision making than the actually "winning".


To use your own analogy, it's not saying "you don't know how to count to 10."  It's saying, "Instead of counting to 10 1,2,3,4....you went 1,2,2.5,3,3.5,4...."  Sure, you'll get to 10, but you aren't doing it in the best manner.



I didn't see the game, but from a statement that they are up 7 shooting 35 footers with 4 minutes to go, I'd assume his point is that at that point there is no reason to rush the shot clock.  Now, if these are wide open jumpers and that is the style you play then so be it, but this is around the time in the game (coaches "cliche" or not, everyone does this) where most coaches tell their guys to work some clock, get it in to the big, etc etc.  I didn't see the game and don't know enough about this particular Ithaca team to know if that was the case, but I think that would be why he says they need to learn how to win.  Just because you pulled it out this game doesn't mean it'll happen the next.  You can study the morning of a test and get a 90 the first time, but that doesn't mean you don't still need to learn better studying methods, because next time you might not do as well.

[gobombers15]

UC Grad, no one hates Munch, some people have respect for him because he loves to play D. He's not good enough to be hated. He holds and flops on defense and turns the ball over and is a nonfactor on offense. He hit a game winning shot in which the opposing coach was most likely telling his team to double off of Munch on to Herring. He cannot score, he never has and never will, he also has a whopping 6 points in 5 games. No one hates him or utica, people are simply stating the facts, stop being extremely bias about how good utica is. they will NOT make the empire8 tourney.

Another big game for Ithaca tomorrow as rival Cortland heads to town. Cortland lost a lot from last year but looks to be off to a good start. Should be a good game in my opinion. Hopefully Ithaca is not looking past Cortland to their match-up with Stevens this weekend.

Once again, the guy that knows nothing of Munch other than what he has seen in a game or two pretends he knows more about him than someone that knows him personally.

Dude dropped 15-20 a game in High School. He can score if he needs to. He just happens to be the best defensive player in the conference, and possibly the region. That is what he focuses on.

You seem to have an inferiority complex. Get sick of finishing 4th every year? A simple statement that he might catch some razz from Stevens since he transfered in from there is not "talking about how good" they are. But now that you mention it, he does have more NCAA tourney experience than every player on Ithaca combined. And for kicks, he was 3 of 4 from the floor tonight for 6 points in 17 minutes. He had 1 turnover and 5 steals. Hardly the liability you like to pretend he is.

1) "Get sick of finishing 4th every year?" Third, actually. RIT usually has 4th on lockdown. Get your facts straight.

2) "But know that you mention it, he does have more NCAA tourney experience than every player on Ithaca combined." And about half the basketball talent of most of Ithaca's starters.

I guess that is a compliment that he has as much or more talent than some of the Ithaca starters, as he comes off the bench for UC.

He may be better than Ruffrage who, by all accounts, is about our 7th best player but still starts. Best five guys don't always start. More important who finishes the game, not starts.

[AUPepBand]

Carson went for 17pts despite is 3-11 performance from the FT line. Nice to see he's back to his old form there.

Looks like McVean is doing what he usually does, which is play a ton of different guys. 9 players over 10+ minutes (although this is less than normal for him) with only Carson playing more than 26 minutes. Pretty balanced as it usually is with RIT as 4 players score in double figures and S. Young chipping in with 9pts.

Hopefully RIT can finally get over the hump vs. Fisher this year, they typically play them close and find a way to lose late.

TF2, I was going to make the joke last night that it looked like Carson is filling Bacon's shoes beautifully, right down to the fact that they put up the same type of numbers while both being utterly awful at the FT line. I figured that I'd save it for you and Bamm. Is this kid's form that bad? It's been the subject of a few conversations on here. I'm interested to see it.

I've put my revised conference predictions below. Disclaimer: Fisher fans, I'm not trying to pile on. It just seems like this season is turning into the perfect storm for all the other teams with respect to how they match up with Fisher. The Cards seem a little "down" this year, while most of the other teams seem primed to have good conference seasons. With that said, I'm still of the opinion that Fisher can make the E8 Tourney if their young guys can step up a little more and Smalt can give them as big of a lift as FD thinks he can (not a knock). The hole may be too deep, though, by the time he gets back (I have no knowledge re: his expected return...Fisher guys, know anything?).

1) Stevens (14-2)
T-2) Ithaca (11-5)
T-2) RIT (11-5)
4) Nazareth (10-6)
T-5) Utica (9-7)
T-5) Fisher (9-7)
7) Hartwick (7-9)
8 ) Alfred (2-14)
9) Elmira (0-16)

So based on these predictions, should Pep expect that the Saxons will beat Elmira this season?

AU, to use the inverse of a sports cliche, is once again rebuilding, not reloading.

[FisherDynasty]

haha

[JQV]

Carson went for 17pts despite is 3-11 performance from the FT line. Nice to see he's back to his old form there.

Looks like McVean is doing what he usually does, which is play a ton of different guys. 9 players over 10+ minutes (although this is less than normal for him) with only Carson playing more than 26 minutes. Pretty balanced as it usually is with RIT as 4 players score in double figures and S. Young chipping in with 9pts.

Hopefully RIT can finally get over the hump vs. Fisher this year, they typically play them close and find a way to lose late.

TF2, I was going to make the joke last night that it looked like Carson is filling Bacon's shoes beautifully, right down to the fact that they put up the same type of numbers while both being utterly awful at the FT line. I figured that I'd save it for you and Bamm. Is this kid's form that bad? It's been the subject of a few conversations on here. I'm interested to see it.

I've put my revised conference predictions below. Disclaimer: Fisher fans, I'm not trying to pile on. It just seems like this season is turning into the perfect storm for all the other teams with respect to how they match up with Fisher. The Cards seem a little "down" this year, while most of the other teams seem primed to have good conference seasons. With that said, I'm still of the opinion that Fisher can make the E8 Tourney if their young guys can step up a little more and Smalt can give them as big of a lift as FD thinks he can (not a knock). The hole may be too deep, though, by the time he gets back (I have no knowledge re: his expected return...Fisher guys, know anything?).

1) Stevens (14-2)
T-2) Ithaca (11-5)
T-2) RIT (11-5)
4) Nazareth (10-6)
T-5) Utica (9-7)
T-5) Fisher (9-7)
7) Hartwick (7-9)
8 ) Alfred (2-14)
9) Elmira (0-16)

So based on these predictions, should Pep expect that the Saxons will beat Elmira this season?

AU, to use the inverse of a sports cliche, is once again rebuilding, not reloading.

Pep surprised to see you talking hoop on what appears to be a cold wintry day on the AU webcams.  Go get King Alfred a half, scarf, and cup of coffee.  He's gotta be freezing.

It's 70 and sunny here.