MBB: Landmark Conference

[CCHoopster]

Alvernia is in a rebuilding mode.

I feel pretty confident when saying I know the Mac Commonwealth

Alvernia will not be a playoff team in their conference unless they get a few gifts at Christmas (transfers). They have 2 quality starters in Deyo and Clark. Clark is playing way out of position at the 1. Deyo is not an offensive skill player. He's a great offensive rebounded and has good hands to rebound and finish or finish drop off passes by guards. He is a dynamite shot blocker. Turner and Miller are not starting caliber in regards to a team looking towards the post season. Cooper is a tough nosed player with some scoring ability but needs guys around him. Without help at Christmas, I'll give them a generous 13-12.

[NEPAFAN]

Shall we read this room it's last rites?

[Reserved Seat]

a lot of the boards are gasping for air

[ronk]

Shall we read this room it's last rites?

1st full(1 team sitting out) slate of conference games tonite - optimistically we'll get some comments from the 2 Card followers and 1 each for Juniata and Susquehanna; haven't seen an Etown commentator on the MAC board in the past.

[NEPAFAN]

a lot of the boards are gasping for air

Lots of other outlets (twitter, etc) maybe we migrate to the general mid atlantic board..

[CardsFan]

Shall we read this room it's last rites?

1st full(1 team sitting out) slate of conference games tonite - optimistically we'll get some comments from the 2 Card followers and 1 each for Juniata and Susquehanna; haven't seen an Etown commentator on the MAC board in the past.

I see that the board has been quiet so far this season, I was waiting until Catholic got into conference play. Good win for the Cards tonight 65-58 over a good Susquehanna team tonight. Susquehanna got out to a ten-point lead midway through the first half but Catholic chipped away and took a lead into the half. Susquehanna went ice cold from 3 in the 2nd half (1-for-15). I was glad to see a much better defensive effort from the Cards tonight after DeSales was able to get whatever they wanted last Sunday. Big game from freshman Jay Howard (21 points, 6 boards) for the Cards.

[ronk]

Shall we read this room it's last rites?

1st full(1 team sitting out) slate of conference games tonite - optimistically we'll get some comments from the 2 Card followers and 1 each for Juniata and Susquehanna; haven't seen an Etown commentator on the MAC board in the past.

I see that the board has been quiet so far this season, I was waiting until Catholic got into conference play. Good win for the Cards tonight 65-58 over a good Susquehanna team tonight. Susquehanna got out to a ten-point lead midway through the first half but Catholic chipped away and took a lead into the half. Susquehanna went ice cold from 3 in the 2nd half (1-for-15). I was glad to see a much better defensive effort from the Cards tonight after DeSales was able to get whatever they wanted last Sunday. Big game from freshman Jay Howard (21 points, 6 boards) for the Cards.

  Susquehanna's Hedley going 0-7 on 3-pters was a big factor; he may have been pressing before his hometown fans.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

I witnessed a game I never expected last night... Goucher 102 Moravian 92. It was unreal. Both teams lead by players who scored 30 or more while several others were in double-figures. I was so surprised by the game I announced the wrong player's name on several baskets...

Not sure what to make of it... but Moravian started strong and Goucher looked as bad as they have all season with turnovers left and right. But something clicked... the Gophers got more aggressive on defense and it turned into trading baskets marathon several times during the game. Goucher even hit a half-court bomb at the halftime buzzer after Moravian and clicked off two or three straight possessions to retake the lead.

Eventually, Moravian couldn't keep up with the Gophers transitional defense and full court pressure. It was closer than a ten point game for a vast majority of the game (except the opening five minutes when Goucher was getting crushed and the last couple of minutes when Goucher pulled away slightly). Both teams have pieces in place... the question is if they can put them together consistently throughout the season. Moravian is far better then their record would indicate... Goucher is an enigma.

[saratoga]

NEPA, Ronk, et al.

I think things will pick up as the season progresses.
Still plenty of time for the coach of the Royals to drive some fans crazy.

Couple of questions......
Which Royal team advances further this year?
I'm hearing Vegas is taking a lot of high rollers banking on the Scranton women.

Will the Royal brain trust  move a certain player from the end of the bench to a vital part of the rotation after his needed minutes vs. Cabrini netted needed points?

What the hell is Dan Duquette doing to the O's this winter?

The Goucher mens team being referred to as an "enigma".......d-mac, haven't we heard that refrain for about the last 10 years?

Not being very deep...can the Royals remain healthy all season?

Let's hope so...

[ronk]

Saratoga,
   Hope that game(Cabrini) gives him the confidence to follow up; he has the physical skills; it was a change from the tentativeness previously. And loved his block of a Walton-Moss drive.
  Doolan showed well in replacing Kelly; nice to have a PG who can make FTs and limits TOs. Kelly looks promising, also. Justin's playing well and Marcus is doing better than I had hoped. All in all, this is as much depth as they've had in a while; I'm optimistic. 

[ronk]

Saratoga,
  I'm even more optimistic about the women, but we'll see if they're a top 5 team this month after playing Eastern, Tufts, and Babson.

[ronk]

I witnessed a game I never expected last night... Goucher 102 Moravian 92. It was unreal. Both teams lead by players who scored 30 or more while several others were in double-figures. I was so surprised by the game I announced the wrong player's name on several baskets...

Not sure what to make of it... but Moravian started strong and Goucher looked as bad as they have all season with turnovers left and right. But something clicked... the Gophers got more aggressive on defense and it turned into trading baskets marathon several times during the game. Goucher even hit a half-court bomb at the halftime buzzer after Moravian and clicked off two or three straight possessions to retake the lead.

Eventually, Moravian couldn't keep up with the Gophers transitional defense and full court pressure. It was closer than a ten point game for a vast majority of the game (except the opening five minutes when Goucher was getting crushed and the last couple of minutes when Goucher pulled away slightly). Both teams have pieces in place... the question is if they can put them together consistently throughout the season. Moravian is far better then their record would indicate... Goucher is an enigma.

I imagine Coach Trevino will be wanting to see if his team can reproduce the effort. A couple of years ago, I saw a dominating performance(all-time top 10 Landmark-short history that it is) by one of his players against Scranton-that player is still on his team but plays < 10 mins/game; it's hard to reconcile those 2 realities.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Pretty sure I know who you are talking about... and I am pretty sure he went off for 31 against Moravian Wednesday night

Thus... the enigma. It is the entire team.

[ronk]

Pretty sure I know who you are talking about... and I am pretty sure he went off for 31 against Moravian Wednesday night

Thus... the enigma. It is the entire team.

Not the one-think small forward(11-15 FGA, 29 pts, couldn't be stopped down low)

[NEPAFAN]

Saratoga,
   Hope that game(Cabrini) gives him the confidence to follow up; he has the physical skills; it was a change from the tentativeness previously. And loved his block of a Walton-Moss drive.
  Doolan showed well in replacing Kelly; nice to have a PG who can make FTs and limits TOs. Kelly looks promising, also. Justin's playing well and Marcus is doing better than I had hoped. All in all, this is as much depth as they've had in a while; I'm optimistic.

I wonder if Doolan has jumped over Kelly on the depth chart?