Empire 8

[WICB Sports]

Radio coverage of tonight's Ithaca-Cortland basketball games starts at 6 p.m. on 92 WICB (www.wicb.org) as the Ithaca women's team takes on the 24th-ranked Red Dragons.

On VIC Radio (www.vicradio.org), coverage of the men's game starts with Bombers Shootaround at 7:40 p.m. followed by tip-off of the men's game at 8 p.m.

[bombersquadron]

UC Grad, its sad to say i do not have inferiority complex and the only thing i am sick of is your love for Munch's non-exist offensive game and his flops on defense. After this post i am done discussing Utica until 2008 when they face Ithaca again.

I want to bring to light the fact that everyone who moves on to play basketball in college was a scorer in H.S. They are typically their high schools top player, or within the top three as a senior and expected to score double digits in HS every night. So to say Munch could be a scorer in college because he scored 15-20 points a game in H.S. means nothing at the college level. I know guys on the Ithaca team who dropped 25 or more a night in H.S. In fact one player Louis Kail dropped 67 in a game back in high school but that doesn't mean he will be a scorer for Ithaca. He plays his role as does Munch, which is what happens in college when you have 12 -15 good players on a team. Munch's stats vs. Caz last night don't impress me either, Ithaca players such as Will Gaskins or Luke Robinson would come off the bench and have a field day with Caz.

GB15, i would take Ruff over Munch. I don't think that is being biased towards Ithaca either. Ruff may not be as renowned for his D (which is not based on flopping like Munch) but everyone on Ithaca loves him for the job he does. He might not be as good on the ball as Munch, but he is a great off the ball defender, as is Brendan Rogers and those two combine to hold people, like CoCo from Hartwick or Joe Canori of Naz to 10 points under their season average and change the game. Keeping the ball out of the other players best offensive guard or wing. Ruff also has improved his offensive ability and can knock the three down this year, something Munch cannot do EVER.

I don't think Munch would break the rotation in Ithaca, he comes off the bench already on a weaker team. UC Grad i know that i don't know Munch and his offensive prowess from his days at West Babylon H.S. but from watching him in his time in Utica, and watching Ithaca's team evolve into the team we have now, i don't see him taking anyone's spot for 10 minutes a game.

[bamm]

RIT v. Naz tonight @ Clark Gymnasium. 

I hope to have a recap and some thoughts, but with this weather nothing is guaranteed.

[gobombers15]

RIT v. Naz tonight @ Clark Gymnasium. 

I hope to have a recap and some thoughts, but with this weather nothing is guaranteed.

Bamm, did you not attend the Fisher/RIT game? I figured you'd be there.

[UCgrad45]

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?

Show me a single coach that thinks 35 foot jumpers with 20 or more seconds on the shot clock with less than 5 to go in a close game is a team that knows how to win, and I will show you a coach who either has already been or will soon be fired. To their credit, even the Ithaca coaches were angry with the shots, as evident by some of the comments they made as they were put up.

In fact, if UC hadn't missed 3 of the layups they got off the missed shots in those situations, you were looking at a 2 point game with a few minutes to play. Just because they got lucky and pulled it out despite making poor decisions, doesn't mean they did the right thing.

Great, Ithaca has a championship from before the tournament started. Since then UC or Fisher has eliminated them every year, which is why those two teams get everyones best shot, while Ithaca gets the same old "they are a decent team that you have to watch out for, but if you play your game you should be fine".

[UCgrad45]

UC Grad, its sad to say i do not have inferiority complex and the only thing i am sick of is your love for Munch's non-exist offensive game and his flops on defense. After this post i am done discussing Utica until 2008 when they face Ithaca again.

I want to bring to light the fact that everyone who moves on to play basketball in college was a scorer in H.S. They are typically their high schools top player, or within the top three as a senior and expected to score double digits in HS every night. So to say Munch could be a scorer in college because he scored 15-20 points a game in H.S. means nothing at the college level. I know guys on the Ithaca team who dropped 25 or more a night in H.S. In fact one player Louis Kail dropped 67 in a game back in high school but that doesn't mean he will be a scorer for Ithaca. He plays his role as does Munch, which is what happens in college when you have 12 -15 good players on a team. Munch's stats vs. Caz last night don't impress me either, Ithaca players such as Will Gaskins or Luke Robinson would come off the bench and have a field day with Caz.

GB15, i would take Ruff over Munch. I don't think that is being biased towards Ithaca either. Ruff may not be as renowned for his D (which is not based on flopping like Munch) but everyone on Ithaca loves him for the job he does. He might not be as good on the ball as Munch, but he is a great off the ball defender, as is Brendan Rogers and those two combine to hold people, like CoCo from Hartwick or Joe Canori of Naz to 10 points under their season average and change the game. Keeping the ball out of the other players best offensive guard or wing. Ruff also has improved his offensive ability and can knock the three down this year, something Munch cannot do EVER.

I don't think Munch would break the rotation in Ithaca, he comes off the bench already on a weaker team. UC Grad i know that i don't know Munch and his offensive prowess from his days at West Babylon H.S. but from watching him in his time in Utica, and watching Ithaca's team evolve into the team we have now, i don't see him taking anyone's spot for 10 minutes a game.

I've heard coaches (some from our conference) say Munch would see minutes on D1 team. I've seen munch shut down the "best" players in our league. I've seen Munch shut down the best player on a WPI team that was supposed to blow us away when we beat them by around 20 on their home court to go to the Sweet 16.

Is Munch the most talented player? No. Is there a team in the conference he woudln't get significant minutes on? No.

[gobombers15]

I've heard it all now. Despite never being one of the top 20 players in this league, Dennis Munch would see minutes for a D1 team.  Ithaca dominated the 2nd half of that game on Friday night. Enough with the excuses, the better team won. You should focus on hoping your team qualifies for the E8 Tourney. And, with all due respect, I don't think Ithaca circles the games against Utica on their schedule. Utica has ALWAYS played second fiddle to Fisher and I can pretty much guarantee that, if given the choice, the Bombers would rather beat Cortland than Utica in a given year.

[UCgrad45]

I've heard it all now. Despite never being one of the top 20 players in this league, Dennis Munch would see minutes for a D1 team.  Ithaca dominated the 2nd half of that game on Friday night. Enough with the excuses, the better team won. You should focus on hoping your team qualifies for the E8 Tourney. And, with all due respect, I don't think Ithaca circles the games against Utica on their schedule. Utica has ALWAYS played second fiddle to Fisher and I can pretty much guarantee that, if given the choice, the Bombers would rather beat Cortland than Utica in a given year.

Ahhh I edited it wrong before posting. It was supposed to say that he would make a D1 team just for his D and intensity.

What excuses are you talking about? I am pretty sure that none have been given.

If UC is second fiddle, does that mean that Ithaca is 3rd of 4th chair, or do they go straight to flute?

[gobombers15]

I've heard it all now. Despite never being one of the top 20 players in this league, Dennis Munch would see minutes for a D1 team.  Ithaca dominated the 2nd half of that game on Friday night. Enough with the excuses, the better team won. You should focus on hoping your team qualifies for the E8 Tourney. And, with all due respect, I don't think Ithaca circles the games against Utica on their schedule. Utica has ALWAYS played second fiddle to Fisher and I can pretty much guarantee that, if given the choice, the Bombers would rather beat Cortland than Utica in a given year.

Ahhh I edited it wrong before posting. It was supposed to say that he would make a D1 team just for his D and intensity.

What excuses are you talking about? I am pretty sure that none have been given.

If UC is second fiddle, does that mean that Ithaca is 3rd of 4th chair, or do they go straight to flute?

I'll be passing through Utica between Christmas and New Year's. Maybe we can meet up and you can show me all the trophies you get for being a 2-seed and the runners-up at the E8 Tourney.

[bball05]

does any1 kno wut ithaca did?

[gobombers15]

In more relevant news, Ithaca knocks off rival Cortland (5-2, 1-0) by a score of 62-53. Neither team shoots very well (IC-32%, C-State 35%), but the Bombers made their FT's (95%). Burton leads with 19 pts, Leahy adds 10, and Tom Brown chips in 13pts and 6 rebs. The Red Dragons led by Will Coston's 15 pts. Ithaca plays next on Sunday at Stevens which will be a big test.

[bball05]

i dnt like how people r making bostic 2 be so good nd he was 2/12 fromt he field with 4 points

[gobombers15]

i dnt like how people r making bostic 2 be so good nd he was 2/12 fromt he field with 4 points

Seriously. Can you believe those people?? I mean, look at that, he was 2/12 in one game! Kick him off the team! Bench him! He had a bad shooting night! Not acceptable. He should no longer be considered a 1st team E8 player. While you're at it, get ridda Leahy, too. He was 3/13. The nerve of those two!

[bombersquadron]

A big win for the Bombers tonight, protecting their home floor in front of another big crowd. The game was very physical and hard fought by both teams. A very close game from start to finish. It was a story of two halves as well. Cortland came out and wanted it more than Ithaca, Cortland pushed Ithaca around and made it tough for them to run their offense and get the shots they wanted. Cortland also slowed the tempo of the game down a lot, evident by Ithaca's low in points in a game.

Ithaca battled back with big defensive stops and owned the battle of the boards. Cortland also went inside a lot in the first half but they didn't get any easy looks in the second half and their shooting percentage dropped from 50% to 22%. Overall a solid job by the Bombers and they showed they knew how to win down the stretch, running the clock down, getting great ball movement and having a wide open shot with 15-10 seconds left on the shot clock.

Bostic had a tough match-up with Cortland's bigs. He didn't play well and had a tough time with the inside presence Cortland had, his jump shot was also off, along with Leahy's. Bostic and Leahy still gave great effort on defense and on the glass and as a team they kept battling and wanted it more down the stretch. Great play off the bench again, which has been a great part of the Bomber success so far this season. They gave the Bombers a spark kept them in the game. Big win, but now its on to the match-up with Stevens on Sunday.

[Caz Bombers]

i dnt like how people r making bostic 2 be so good nd he was 2/12 fromt he field with 4 points

Seriously. Can you believe those people?? I mean, look at that, he was 2/12 in one game! Kick him off the team! Bench him! He had a bad shooting night! Not acceptable. He should no longer be considered a 1st team E8 player. While you're at it, get ridda Leahy, too. He was 3/13. The nerve of those two!

Hey GB15, I can't see too well, is that Bill Shakespeare over there?