MBB: Landmark Conference

[NEPAFAN]

Surprised indeed. Catholic had a heck of a recruiting class. Watched on the TV for the first time rather than the computer, really adds to the experience. We've come a long way.

[ronk]

Surprising comeback victory on the road for the Royals after the loss 2 days earlier to the same Catholic team.

Big game left: Drew @ Catholic(Wed) after Catholic hosts Juniata the previous night

Decent probability that Scranton, Drew, and Catholic finish 6-2. Coin toss? for conference  tourney seeding?

Schedule revision: Juniata-Catholic to tomorrow from tonight & Drew-Catholic to Monday from tomorrow, probably because neither team would be in the play-in tourney game(#5 seed vs #4) Monday.

[jmcozenlaw]

Surprising comeback victory on the road for the Royals after the loss 2 days earlier to the same Catholic team.

Big game left: Drew @ Catholic(Wed) after Catholic hosts Juniata the previous night

Decent probability that Scranton, Drew, and Catholic finish 6-2. Coin toss? for conference  tourney seeding?

Schedule revision: Juniata-Catholic to tomorrow from tonight & Drew-Catholic to Monday from tomorrow, probably because neither team would be in the play-in tourney game(#5 seed vs #4) Monday.

Lancaster Bible - 67
Moravian - 57

[saratoga]

JM:
Ouch!!!
Not exactly a points winner for conference strength.
COVID has also put a damper on the Scranton vs. Sarah Lawrence & Bard games which are always riveting to the end.

NEPA:
You are right...Catholic has some unbelievable talent in their freshmen class.
Three starters & three more with serious playing time.
Their new coach has hit the ground running.
Although our freshman class is not deep or overly game ready at this point, at least we have big Zach to pound down below and score inside & out.
Oh, wait.
Never mind. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Lancaster Bible is not a terrible team this year.  They're obviously not world beaters, but they go 12 deep with a lot of seniors.  I was just telling someone the other day I'd expect them to be on par with whoever wins the Landmark this season.  That was certainly a winable game for Moravian, but I don't think it's an embarrassing loss.

[saratoga]

Ryan:
Perhaps not an embarrassing loss but, not a good look either.
I remember the days when Wilkes would go on their Bible belt tour to start their season.
They'd open up with Lancaster Bible, Baptist Bible, Valley Forge Bible & win by 40 each game.
I'm sure there is more competitiveness now than a decade ago but still the optics are not good.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Ryan:
Perhaps not an embarrassing loss but, not a good look either.
I remember the days when Wilkes would go on their Bible belt tour to start their season.
They'd open up with Lancaster Bible, Baptist Bible, Valley Forge Bible & win by 40 each game.
I'm sure there is more competitiveness now than a decade ago but still the optics are not good.

I think one thing many of us have been trying to explain for awhile now is that a lot has changed. The region and DIII landscape is not nearly the same as it has been back in the "glory days" or what many of you remember.

The fact LBC is good isn't a surprise. They showed a few years ago they were getting better and better talent.

There is also the fact that more and more talent is being diversified across a lot of schools instead of just going to one or a handful of schools as it did maybe 20 years ago.

Sure, not all schools have improved like LBC, but a number have. And we are seeing it in a lot of sports as well. Lacrosse especially has diversified that even though the Salisburys of the world are still in the national conversations, it doesn't mean they get the wealth of talent anymore.

LBC is likely going to switch to a new conference and continue to get better as their mindset as an institution has changed over the last few years. It might have been embarrassing to lose to them 20 years ago and it might still sting to suffer a loss, but they aren't a walk-over they used to be at all.

And in a coronavirus season, especially, the number of things student-athletes are distracted or focused on other than basketball are numerous. I'm just enjoying that games are being played versus the nuances of what I normally would be focused on in a normal season.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Ryan:
Perhaps not an embarrassing loss but, not a good look either.
I remember the days when Wilkes would go on their Bible belt tour to start their season.
They'd open up with Lancaster Bible, Baptist Bible, Valley Forge Bible & win by 40 each game.
I'm sure there is more competitiveness now than a decade ago but still the optics are not good.

No personal offense to any of you, but Landmark fans seem to be about a decade behind in coming to grips with the current state of basketball in the conference.  There's a history and prestige that just, frankly, isn't reflected in reality.  It's a difficult spot to be in, for sure, but perhaps the expectations for the Landmark need to be toned down a bit?

[NEPAFAN]

Ryan:
Perhaps not an embarrassing loss but, not a good look either.
I remember the days when Wilkes would go on their Bible belt tour to start their season.
They'd open up with Lancaster Bible, Baptist Bible, Valley Forge Bible & win by 40 each game.
I'm sure there is more competitiveness now than a decade ago but still the optics are not good.

No personal offense to any of you, but Landmark Scranton fans seem to be about a decade behind in coming to grips with the current state of basketball in the conference.  There's a history and prestige that just, frankly, isn't reflected in reality.  It's a difficult spot to be in, for sure, but perhaps the expectations for the Landmark Scranton need to be toned down a bit?

Fixed. There is no Landmark, only Scranton.

That being said, Scranton, Drew and Catholic would thump Lancaster Bible.

[ronk]

 Landmark fans have come to grips with the current state; it's our aspirations that haven't been toned down. Jay Howard(Catholic)was the last quality recruit in the whole conference and that was 7 years ago. So, it's been downward since at least then.
  Matt Mancuso and Brendan Boken(Scranton) did develop into quality players during this time  but they weren't quality recruits in high school.

[saratoga]

Ryan:
There are only Scranton fans on this site as NEPA has pointed out.
Therefore, I'm not sure how you jumped to the erroneous conclusion that we (collectively) think the Landmark is a power conference.
For the record, none of us think that.
The conference rarely, if ever, has two teams in the post season.
It is, for all intents, an extremely weak conference year in & year out.
As Ronk noted, it has nothing at all to do with thinking the Landmark is something special.
It has everything to do with wanting to see our school regain the prestige & prominence it once had.
That said, regardless of institutional shift at LBC that now puts an emphasis on athletics, a loss to them by any team in the Landmark is still not a good look for an established conference.

[ronk]

 Warning to the Royals as their opponent in this weekend's games, Juniata, manages a win @ Catholic. Score was 2-0 after 1st 7 mins.

[NEPAFAN]

Now Ryan Starr is off the roster. Earth to Carl, what is going on on Linden Street?

[Tim the Enchanter]

Moravian has shut down their season:  https://moraviansports.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/releases/20210225i010x0

So there will be no 4-5 game after all.  Drew will be the #1 seed with a win over Catholic or a Scranton loss in either Juniata game. 

If Scranton splits with a win tonight and Catholic beats Drew, they are both 5-3 with identical records against opponents, identical road winning percentage and no OOC games, so it would come down to a coin flip for the #2 seed...

[Tim the Enchanter]

Drew cancels the remainder of its season but has not ruled out the conference championship:

https://www.drewrangers.com/news/2021/2/27/mens-and-womens-basketball-games-canceled.aspx

If they are cleared to play, they'd be the #1 seed & Royals the 2.  If not, would the Landmark have a 2/3 game with Catholic/Juniata and the winner to play Scranton, who would move into the 1 seed by default?