MBB: Landmark Conference

[saratoga]

Well, if the NCAA has you scratching your head with their mens Middle Atlantic selections, their womens ranking will leave you needing a case of Head & Shoulders.

[ronk]

Toga/Nepa,
  Something I picked up from the live stats play-by-play of last nite's game: What was with Travis' fouling 3 times in the last minute(one, a 3-pt shot) while protecting a lead instead of letting the clock run? I didn't get to hear Dean's audio description.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Saratoga - have less issues with the women's then the men's.

[cold_case]

Toga/Nepa,
  Something I picked up from the live stats play-by-play of last nite's game: What was with Travis' fouling 3 times in the last minute(one, a 3-pt shot) while protecting a lead instead of letting the clock run? I didn't get to hear Dean's audio description.

Maybe he had Goucher +15? 

Left today's game with a couple minutes remaining and heard the final few seconds on radio. It pained me to hear the announcers acting in disbelief that Scranton won.
I know Luke Hawk didn't play but this is a Catholic squad that Scranton has had good fortune against the past few years. Maybe these announcers should stop overrating one team and underrating their own?

[Matt Letourneau]

Good grief---when I turned the audio off to go to church, Catholic was up a couple with maybe 11-12 minutes to play and frankly it sounded like they were playing pretty well and controlling the tempo.  Talk about a sudden turnaround.  That place is a flat out house of horrors for us.

[NEPAFAN]

What a great great win for the Royals. CUA had blown out there last 4 opponents by something like an average of 20+. Obviously, added concern was seeing Hawk out of the line-up, I followed on live stats and was very pleased to see a 3 point half time deficit turn into a laugher.


Ronk-I listened last night and the only thing mentioned was a potential injury to Swaback's back. Nothing about Farrel fouling or Hawk's injury.


Cold Case-What did you have to beat the traffic out of the Long Center? Was Hawk in street clothes? How serious is the injury? Who shut down the dynamic duo of Banzhaf and Kearny?

[ronk]

  Royals clinch a playoff spot; recap says Hawk suffered a wrist injury in last nite's game.

[cugrad]

I agree that the radio announcers seemed to be in shock that Scranton beat Catholic.  Good fortune against Catholic?  During the four year history of the Landmark conference, Scranton has owned Catholic!  I think that the Cards have only won once or twice out of ten or so. 

[Matt Letourneau]

No.  At this point, for it to be a rivarly, the other side has to win once in a while.

I don't think that you can say the "dynamic duo" was shut down by anybody, considering they went for 32 and 16 combined.   

But we all know that Scranton can shoot, and nobody in the league can hang with them when they get hot.  I'm assuming from the recap that's what happened.  Catholic must have gotten down, had to get out of the gameplan which had been working, and then starting trying to shoot their way back in it which they can't do. 

Well, I think there's a pretty good chance the current standings will hold the rest of the way.   Scranton could help Catholic out by beating Susquehanna, and Catholic could help out Scranton be beating Drew at home next weekend.  The Cardinals could slip in the third spot by beating MMA, especially MMA closes with Drew and could well lose that game.

BTW--Goucher has been going in the right direction...

[saratoga]

Luke was in uniform...just at the end of the bench so you knew right away he wasn't playing. Apparently, he re-injured an old wrist problem & he'll be going for x-rays this morning. Obviously, the Royals need him down the stretch but Andrew Wynn played his butt off defensively on Kearney.
The entire complexion of the game changed around the 14 minute mark when Tim Lavelle hit a couple of 3's & Ashworth got open for some NBA range bombs & before you knew it a 5 point deficit was a 10 point lead & the Royals never looked back. One big change that aided the Royals defensively was every time Jason touched the ball he was immediately doubled up by Lavelle who, at 5'8" was sneaking in & playing havoc with his drop step move to the basket. He was kicking it back out but not too many others besides Dixon looked like they even wanted to shoot. The momentum of this game went from the Royals on the cusp of losing control any second to a switch being turned on & having them play like they are capable of when the bombs are falling.
Ashwoth awoke to probably score 90% of his points in the 2nd. half & some adjustments made by Scranton made Banzhof's life miserable in the 2nd.
Two big hero's for the Royals beside Ashwoth were Tim Lavelle & Wynn. Prior to the mid-way point in the season both got very little PT and now they have become valuable contributors.
Certainly a very nice weekend for the Royals...next up, the road trip from hell.

[ronk]

I agree that the radio announcers seemed to be in shock that Scranton beat Catholic.  Good fortune against Catholic?  During the four year history of the Landmark conference, Scranton has owned Catholic!  I think that the Cards have only won once or twice out of ten or so. 

  I didn't hear yesterday's game, but the color guy usually is Professor Harry Dammer, who is basketball old-school, and I've enjoyed listening to him, especially for the nuances of how the game shifts in momentum and strategy. He's seen too many instances of the Royals' playing below capability in the past, usually when their effort is lacking. So he's willing to point that out or if they're lucky, or have benefitted from an official's bad call. Not a homer that one encounters on some stations. 

[cold_case]

Luke was in uniform...just at the end of the bench so you knew right away he wasn't playing. Apparently, he re-injured an old wrist problem & he'll be going for x-rays this morning. Obviously, the Royals need him down the stretch but Andrew Wynn played his butt off defensively on Kearney.
The entire complexion of the game changed around the 14 minute mark when Tim Lavelle hit a couple of 3's & Ashworth got open for some NBA range bombs & before you knew it a 5 point deficit was a 10 point lead & the Royals never looked back. One big change that aided the Royals defensively was every time Jason touched the ball he was immediately doubled up by Lavelle who, at 5'8" was sneaking in & playing havoc with his drop step move to the basket. He was kicking it back out but not too many others besides Dixon looked like they even wanted to shoot. The momentum of this game went from the Royals on the cusp of losing control any second to a switch being turned on & having them play like they are capable of when the bombs are falling.
Ashwoth awoke to probably score 90% of his points in the 2nd. half & some adjustments made by Scranton made Banzhof's life miserable in the 2nd.
Two big hero's for the Royals beside Ashwoth were Tim Lavelle & Wynn. Prior to the mid-way point in the season both got very little PT and now they have become valuable contributors.
Certainly a very nice weekend for the Royals...next up, the road trip from hell.

I think Ashworth displayed why he is the best player in the conference yesterday. The kid carried his club during that 24-2 second half run that put the game away.
And I agree that CU's big two combined to have a nice game but where were they in that infamous second half? Especially against a much smaller Scranton unit.
Regardless, both youngsters are solid performers. I'd have them on my team anyday.

And, I know I'm beating a dead horse with the announcers, but I thought they were simply "awful" despite what one poster said. I'm against homers (except Matt) but let's not act so shocked over the outcome. You're actually belittling your own team.

[NEPAFAN]

Scranton has won 9 of 10 Landmark Conference games against Catholic University.



As for the announcers, I am just glad Scranton has a radio broadcast since they are the only team in the league not to offer Live Video.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

BTW--Goucher has been going in the right direction...

WHAT?! Is that a CUA guy giving props to Goucher?! HELL HAS FROZEN OVER!!! Thanks, Matt.

And, I know I'm beating a dead horse with the announcers, but I thought they were simply "awful" despite what one poster said. I'm against homers (except Matt) but let's not act so shocked over the outcome. You're actually belittling your own team.

Kind of like cheering "over-rated" to a team that is ranked higher then your own team... means they aren't as good as they apparently are and your team isn't actually better... the other team isn't as good!

[cold_case]

BTW--Goucher has been going in the right direction...

WHAT?! Is that a CUA guy giving props to Goucher?! HELL HAS FROZEN OVER!!! Thanks, Matt.

And, I know I'm beating a dead horse with the announcers, but I thought they were simply "awful" despite what one poster said. I'm against homers (except Matt) but let's not act so shocked over the outcome. You're actually belittling your own team.

Kind of like cheering "over-rated" to a team that is ranked higher then your own team... means they aren't as good as they apparently are and your team isn't actually better... the other team isn't as good!

Um, yeah, ok, I think.
Scranton really is not that good and I once thought CU had better talent but I'm doubting that now.