Empire 8

[sjfcards]

Interesting stuff...thank Bamm.

Any word on what Fisher's starting 5 are going to be? I know they have a lot of guards to choose from, but who is going to play the inside positions. Going small is one thing, but you have to stop somebody inside/Score easy buckets from time to time.

[bombersquadron]

Big Weekend for the Ithaca Bombers sports teams just down the road in Cortland, NY. The football teams play the famous rivalry game at 12 (8-1 at 9-0, you can't ask for anything better than that). Then the basketball teams open up at Cortland's Gym at 7. As of now I am 95% going to be there but the football tickets have been cold out and finding enough for everyone who wants to go is almost impossible.  I expect a good first game from both teams who have high expectations. Ithaca beat up on SUNY Morrisville back on Halloween weekend.

I expect to see Bostic, Leahy, Rogers and Burton start, however the 5th starter I am not sure about. I hear a lot of good things about frosh Jordan Marcus and I am excited to see him play. Met him last year when he visited the school and was a very level headed and smart kid. Last year I saw Phil Barera and Chris Cruz play a few times and I think both will be very important for the Bomber's to repeat and improve on last year. Still wondering how the Bombers will handle adversity and who will step up and be a leader for this team. Losing Kail hurt a lot. He was the team's emotional leader on the court and also vocal leader off the court and his leadership will be missed this season, especially turning the tough start to the season on the road. Overall, I think the Bomber's first semester schedule is very competitive and made even tougher with all of the road trips. I hope to see it stimulate them to unify as a team and use the road trips to prepare for a tough season of conference play.

[FROMAFAR]

Nice post BAMM.......  Bomber you pretty much hit the nail on the head. I think you guys have enough to get it done. Naz will be tough, and Fisher always tough at home. Stevens is a wild card. If they have their big 4 (Grey, Greco, Passalaqua, and Baker) working on all cylinders, and can get some inside help ( albeit young in there), they should be tough at home. They can't afford any injuries or foul trouble from those 4 or they are in trouble. I am going to their tourney this weekend, I should get a good read. My guys RIT ....one senior, Carson, and 4 jrs. are young.... But I think gritty enough to make a run at top 4.... It will take some luck however. They open at a tournament at Drew next week. I am not down so I will miss that in person.  Hopefully I can see on internet.   We're almost there........    

[MHoops]

Empire 8 preseason coaches poll:  (http://www.empire8.com/News/20081110-1.shtml)

2008 Empire 8 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
1.   Ithaca College (7 first-place votes)                     63 points
2.   Nazareth College (1)                                         56
3.   Utica College (1)                                              48
4.   St. John Fisher College                                      41
5.   Stevens Institute of Technology                         36
6.   Rochester Institute of Technology                      35
7.   Hartwick College                                              20
8.   Elmira College                                                  16
9.   Alfred University                                                9

[Cyclone0205]

Fromafar -


I caught the Stevens scrimmage last weekend and Greco has been taken out of the starting lineup.  I asked someone in a Stevens t-shirt (I'm assuming a parent) and was informed that Greco didn't start either scrimmage, and is losing some of his playing time to some incoming freshman they're high on.


The starting lineup for tomorrow night (if form holds like the scrimmages)


Gray, Passalacqua, Baker, Higgins, Franklin



...Greco was very effective on the NCAA team coming off the bench.  Albeit they had a 4 year starter in front of him, but he seemed to excel in the sparkplug role.  Think the new coach is trying to bring that back out?

[e8bballfan]

Fromafar -


I caught the Stevens scrimmage last weekend and Greco has been taken out of the starting lineup.  I asked someone in a Stevens t-shirt (I'm assuming a parent) and was informed that Greco didn't start either scrimmage, and is losing some of his playing time to some incoming freshman they're high on.


The starting lineup for tomorrow night (if form holds like the scrimmages)


Gray, Passalacqua, Baker, Higgins, Franklin



...Greco was very effective on the NCAA team coming off the bench.  Albeit they had a 4 year starter in front of him, but he seemed to excel in the sparkplug role.  Think the new coach is trying to bring that back out?

...whoa whoa whoa. Greco isn't starting? But I thought some people here talk about him like he's the best PG in the league? I certainly know Burton, Herring or C. McAdams wouldn't lose their starting PG role to a freshie.

About the sparkplug role? eh, possibly. But that's a tough role to switch back to after starting for 2 seasons and being used to being in the game from the tip off. Tough transition there, let's see how he handles the 'demotion.' However, I firmly believe it doesn't matter who starts a game, it's who is in there at the end when the game is tight - will it be Greco or the fresh?

[Cyclone0205]

e8bball-


Couple corrections.  Greco only started 1 season (last year).  The year before he was sitting behind Floyd Morris, a senior who graduated as the school's career leader in assists.  So Greco has 1 year starting, 1 year sitting.


Secondly, I maybe wasn't clear.  Greco didn't lose his starting spot to a freshman.  Neither Greco nor the freshman started the scrimmages.  And chances are neither will finish the games, though if I had to chose (or what I think is smart), Greco will be finishing the games for Stevens.  If not, then it'll be Gray and Baker sharing the point guard responsibilities (same thing they did at the end of last season).

[UCgrad45]

UC beats Caz 91-68 to open their season.

[gobombers15]

Bombers rip rival Cortland, 80-56. Determined to beat the Red Dragons by more than the Ithaca football team defeated Cortland in the earlier Cortaca Jug game, Ithaca took control early. The Bombers took the lead for good 3 minutes into the game and never looked back. But for 26 seconds, Ithaca led by double-digits for the last 27 minutes of the game.

Ithaca was led by sophomore Chris Cruz who scored 22 points and added 7 rebounds. Sean Burton had a tough shooting night (4-16), but filled the box score with 13-6-6. Bostic takes only 5 shots and finishes with 6 pts and 8 rebs. Brendan Rogers with 13 pts and Scott Ruffrage chips in with 8 pts off the bench. Freshman Jordan Marcus has 5 steals in 16 minutes.

Great statement win by the Bombers. Ithaca owned Cortland today on the gridiron and the hardcourt.

[Caz Bombers]

Excellent news, GB15, elsewhere around E8 Opening Day/Night:

Utica rips Cazenovia 91-68 as UCGrad45 said, Doug Herring with 16 points and 7 assists to lead 5 in double figures.

Elmira loses 76-53 to Geneseo - Bobby DiPiazza with 15 for EC.  Elmira was eaten alive by Jeff Howe (27 and 15) and Scott Morton (22 and 9), Geneseo may be a team to look out for in the 'YAC.

Alfred beats Wells in Dale Wellman debut 71-64 - Pat Smithgall 13 and 13 double-double.

A bad day all around to be a Fisher fan, Cards lose 56-50 at home to DeSales.  Ozell Franklin leads with 11 points.

Stevens smashes pitiful Polytechnic 91-54 - Passalacqua (22), Gray (21) and Higgins (11/13) tied Poly by themselves.  Ducks will play Manhattanville to try to win their own tip off tournament tomorrow.

[Cyclone0205]

Interesting development down in Hoboken!



George Greco, last year's starting point guard, is no longer on the 2008-2009 roster, and did not play last night.  This means 1 of 2 things:  injury or quit.  If anyone is going to the game tonight against Manhattanville, try to find out.  I'm out of town but I'll see if I can get in touch with some of my people over there and figure out the story.

[bombersquadron]

Before I get into the Bombers game from last night, I spoke to a friend of mine who is a graduate assistant coach at Manhattanville. I asked him if he knew why Greco didn't play and he said "I don't know what happened, he is not on the team."

[bombersquadron]

Great game from the Bombers last night. Some players had slow starts and it was good to see others pick up the slack. Big first halves from Brendan Rogers and Chris Cruz who was the fifth starter. Then, Burton and Leahy picked up their games in the second half and really put it on the Red Dragons. The Bombers used four guys off their bench and everyone contributed.  Ruffrage, Brown, Marcus and Barera were the four off the bench. Marcus played great defense but seemed a little nervous in his first game. He played with confidence in himself which I liked and I think he is going to be a big contributor for the Bombers this year (6 Steals). Brown and Barera were big on the boards for the Bombers. Seemed like Bostic was off to a slow start once again but I think he will pick it up going into next weekend. He picked up two quick fouls to start the second half and had to sit down with three total fouls.

I was not impressed with a highly ranked Cortland team, their perimeter players looked very bad last night. They got nothing from Coston or Niehoff, also a poor showing from Mike Lewis. The Bombers perimeter players shut everyone down except for some hot shooting from Ron Evans to end the first half. The Bombers rebounded well (50 -35) and the only thing they could have done better was interior defense against Paul Oliver who scored mostly on lay-ups and a few put-backs.

I might not get to another game first semester but I do expect the Bombers to continue to play well if they play with the energy and confidence they had last night. I also expect that they will have a huge game versus Hobart on Tuesday, who they lost to last year. 

[sjfcards]

Does anyone have a report on the Fisher game yesterday? It looked like a close game the entire way, but I am just getting that from the website. I did see a lot of new names on the write up. Any help?

[Caz Bombers]

Gray and Higgins combine for 35 points as Stevens torches Manhattanville 76-54.  Virgil Gray tournament MVP.

One game Monday and 5 Tuesday including interesting matchups in Hartwick-Oneonta, Cortland-Utica and Hobart-Ithaca.