Empire 8

[thebear]

Slicky - if I remember the game last year correctly, Pburgh did seem any quicker than UofR.  And while Pburgh returns their nucleus, so does UofR.  They lost a starting guard in Brackney and Snyder, a post off the bench.  Chmielowiec's and Juron's injuries have allowed other guards, including a freshman, to get great experience.  So I don't think quickness will be an issue if the two teams play again.  Rather, Onyiriuka making a better percentage of shots (6-15 last year, mostly on 4 foot bunnies), better handling of pressure and defending that half-court buzzer beater this time would be a good idea.   

Plattsburgh is also better.  They added 6'4 Wing Chris Ruiz from St. Agnes in the Bronx, 6'6" Errol Daniyan, an athletic big, and 6'9" 260 RJ Ponnesse, who gives them a wide body to lean on U of R's bigs.

Gorham and Williams have both been named SUNYAC player of the week.  Gorham is averaging a double, double, and Williams is averaging 24ppg, and still isn't shooting well.

Plattsburgh (now 6-0, avg margin +20) in their opener, beat Greensboro 92-59 (+33) a week later, Greensboro beat Guilford (ranked #6 in the polls) 71-66.  Don't know who's voting in the polls, but Plattsburgh isn't getting the respect they deserve for sure.

If Brockport continues to play well, the NCAA may leave them in Rochester for the tournament, and they should be much quicker than U of R, plus Mychal Wilkes has emerged as a force this first semester, making the Eagles that much tougher to defend.  With a lineup of Harris, Harris, Wilkes, Williams, and Parish, with Maldonado coming off the bench they have 6 players who can score 20+ any night.

[thebear]

They are assigned by the ECAC Office.  I believe legendary D-I Ref Jim Burr is the assigner for Upstate NY.

In general they are assigned within regions, although you can get a crew from an adjoining region. 

When Potsdam played at Oswego, last month, the crew was out of Rochester, not Syracuse.  Potsdam gets crews from Syracuse, the North Country, & the Upper Hudson Valley, and the Utica Area. 
It's not unusual to see Albany/Glens Falls refs do Plattsburgh games. 

For example, for a Rochester/Brockport game, don't be surprised if you get a Buffalo crew that, and that crew may include some D-I officials that do Niagara or Canisius games.

Back when Potsdam was constantly contending for national titles, in the '80's, we often had such top refs as Rich Paparo, Jim Burr, John & Din Cahill, all of whom have done the D-I Final Four, doing our games in Potsdam.

[slickyquick]

Jacketfan: To answer your question, there are no conference officials. It's the same as D1. In the NY area you will see the same refs doing SUNYAC, Liberty, Empire, and UAA games. Some of those same refs also do high school and junior college games as well.  In D1 they will do Big East and then MAAC, Patriot League, or Atlantic 10 games when there is no Big East games, but they aren't officially assigned to the Big East.

Mike Kitts, a Syracuse native, does all types of games. You'll see him do an ACC one day and then a Big East the next. Same thing goes for Jim Burr or Ted Valentine.

[bamm]

Onyiruka was in foul trouble for a good part of the 2nd half.  There was no doubt that he was the best player on the floor.  Way too strong and athletic for RIT's bigs.  Ndubizu played a decent game, #34 (UofR) off the bench played much better than anticipated.  RIT's bigs didn't play as well as they did against Fisher.

Onyiriuka, in the years I've watched him, doesn't have much of a offensive game when he's facing the basket.  He's also never impressed me with his passing.  In years past, UR bigs have had a nice high-low game and could tear apart defenses with passing from the high-post.  Maybe he has improved here and I haven't seen it in my limited viewing.

He is very strong, rebounds well, and has a nice little hook with his back to the basket.

[formerbant10]

Not much reason for him to face up.  He had great position sealing his guys pretty much all night. 

[FisherDynasty]

He's definatly no seth hauben, and can be neutrilized if you keep him off the boards.  But like Forbant said, theres not much need for him to have a great post finess game, he is a freak of an athlete for the D3 level.

[Jacketfan2011]

While that may be true about JO, I think the difference this year is that Ndubizu has become a force on offense.  Add to that the play of Millbrand and UR has a three man rotation at the 4-5 that is hard to stop.  At least so far.

[bamm]

Not much reason for him to face up.  He had great position sealing his guys pretty much all night. 

Again, that's great.  But he was playing RIT, and undersized squad with no one close to him in terms of strength and size.

The reason I said "it would be hard to convince me UR is truly the best team in the country" is because there are good teams with the size and strength to keep him out of position, to make him face the basket.

I like watching UR, and I'll cheer for them in the NCAA's.  But I don't see the #1 team in the country when I watch them.

[FisherDynasty]

I dont think there the #1 either, however, they havn't lost yet so I hope they get the respect until they go down.  Nice to see an East region team at the #1.  Bamm don't forget they are playing with out Chimelowitz however u spell it and Juron both key contributers.  I think dominiak and chimelowitz provide great threats from the wings, Juron a 4 year starting pg in a great system and 2 experienced bigs provides for a very solid team.  But, I think the non- Seth Hauben type of player is lacking, which is why I don't see them as the #1. 

[bamm]

I dont think there the #1 either, however, they havn't lost yet so I hope they get the respect until they go down.  Nice to see an East region team at the #1.  Bamm don't forget they are playing with out Chimelowitz however u spell it and Juron both key contributers.  I think dominiak and chimelowitz provide great threats from the wings, Juron a 4 year starting pg in a great system and 2 experienced bigs provides for a very solid team.  But, I think the non- Seth Hauben type of player is lacking, which is why I don't see them as the #1. 

Juron played in the RIT game, but not very impressively.  He looked rusty, and RIT's defensive pressure forced a few turnovers out of him in the limited time he was on the floor.

[Jacketfan2011]

Onyiriuka, in the years I've watched him, doesn't have much of a offensive game when he's facing the basket.  He's also never impressed me with his passing.  In years past, UR bigs have had a nice high-low game and could tear apart defenses with passing from the high-post.  Maybe he has improved here and I haven't seen it in my limited viewing.

OK this is the main difficulty with posting rather than face to face conversation.  I really do not intend for this to sound "pissy", but I am interested in your response.  Would it surprise you to know that Onyiriuka is second on the UR team with 19 assists?  That is a number comparable to Gethers' 20, which leads RIT.  What I think is impressive about the number is that they come from the high post from a player that everyone knows won't take the foul line shot and thus pack it in agaist Ndubizu/Millbrand. 

Just my two cents....

[bamm]

OK this is the main difficulty with posting rather than face to face conversation.  I really do not intend for this to sound "pissy", but I am interested in your response.  Would it surprise you to know that Onyiriuka is second on the UR team with 19 assists?  That is a number comparable to Gethers' 20, which leads RIT.  What I think is impressive about the number is that they come from the high post from a player that everyone knows won't take the foul line shot and thus pack it in agaist Ndubizu/Millbrand. 

Just my two cents....

That is interesting and a nice number for him.  Kind of silly to compare him to Gethers -- totally different players.

I did notice that he quickly identifies when the defense collapses on him and he kicks it back out immediately -- and the UR guards are deadly from 20 feet.  Those passes will be there all season for him.

[Jacketfan2011]

Agree, but I wasn't actually comparing the two players.  Simply pointing out that his numbers were comparable to RIT's leader.  And I only used RIT because it was the last game

[FisherDynasty]

I dont think its too out of the ordinary, like you said UofR usually has excellent passers from the high post.  Although Onyrika in my opinion is not a good passer, the offense is structured in such a way that a lot of assists are inevitable.  UofR uses the high post with the low post key pushing the defender up for the lob pass better than anyone around here. Also, im sure some teams try to pressure onyreka at the high post to make his passes harder, leaving the low post more vulnerable.  If they dont come up and pressure, the passes come easy if if good angles arent there.

[bports]

Early CHASE seedings anyone?

1 U of R
2 Geneseo
3 Brockport
4 Naz
5 RIT SJF ??
6 SJF RIT ??
7 Roberts
8 Keuka (just cant seem to get out of the 8 hole year after year)