MBB: Landmark Conference

[saratoga]

NEPAFAN: Wow! 17 turnovers vs. PSU Hazleton...not quite the classic tuneup one would expect this time of year right before you head into a tough weekend on the road. I guess it's safe to say the Royals are not peaking too soon. I guess the larger question yet to be answered is...will they ever?
  Another question re: the Royals. Remember back not too many years ago when Scranton would put 2,000 in the stands for a game against the bottom feeders of the MAC & absolutely pack the Long Center for the big games? What the heck has happened over the last 6-7 years? If they draw 500 it's a good crowd these days & most doubleheaders the Lady Royals have the larger student & local fan support...what has gone wrong with this program and the support from all sections? I'm not sure there is just one right answer...just wondering what others thoughts are & if other schools are seeing a similar wane in support...prior to playoff action anyway.

[ronk]

   I would attribute attendance problems to (1) no more "big" games like Kings(men and women) and to a lesser degree, Desales(men/women) and Wilkes men and (2) intersession in the prime of the season. What % of the student body goes to intersession?
   It also helps to have players that leave it all on the court like the Kates(P and Doc), Erin Healy, Matt/Mellody, Brian O'Donnell, Bicknell, etc.

[NEPAFAN]

The only time Scranton had 2,000 + in recent history was their run to the Sweet Sixteen during Danzig's first season. So I think that is a bit of an exaggeration. Nevertheless, no reason why they shouldn't be getting a few more fans. I do think that fans show up in Feb and especially come playoff time.


I think you would see those numbers during the regular season if you get Wilkes or Kings to return to the Long Center. (Is that ever going to happen??)

[old ends]

Thanks again Ronk

set it up but messed it up but will correct next time

[ronk]

  Royals struggle but victorious over Goucher. Eli with several strong inside moves despite foul trouble; Zach with several strong drives to the hoop; Ryan 4-7 3-ptr in 1st half; Dan O'Connell with 4 big foul shots in last 2 minutes, rebounds, tie-ups, and loose ball peskiness. Luke leads with 11 rebounds; Paul Hawk hits floor hard and doesn't return.

[saratoga]

NEPAFAN: You are exactly right, the Royals last Sweet 16 team led by Bess' last recruiting class of seniors Dan Loftus, Derek Elphik, Bryant Smith & Jeff Kane were the last to play in front of what was then considered a "typical' Scranton crowd of 1,200 to 2,000 per home game. It was right after that season that it certainly seems the bottem fell out. If you remember, the very next season I believe the Royals won only 3 or 4 games all year with the first semester coming to an abrupt end with Marywood beating the Royals in the Long Center on a last second 3 point bank shot from about 40' out. It was all down hill after that game & with each additional loss it appeared less & less students & former regulars showed up.
  Since Coach Danzig's first season at the helm, I have not seen another game at the Long Center even when they played Wilkes & Kings that had the atmosphere of previous years. I am not in any way suggesting the decline in Royal attendance is to be attributed to him...just that Bess had the very real luxury of having his kids embraced by the students and locals & I've just not seen that in the last 6 or 7 years.
  The last game at the Long Center that had a somewhat respectable crowd was 3 years ago when the Royals played Wilkes for the MAC championship in Scranton's last year in that conference...good win by the way.
  One thing the Royals have done this year for the first time in many years is schedule a few Sat. games in the evening once 2nd. semester starts & I think if they are still winning, this will certainly help. Bess hardly ever played Sat. afternoon games (except Kings) as he wanted the students fired up & ready to support his kids. I guess we'll know soon enough & hopefully this years team can at least catch a little glimpse of what it was once like to play in front of a real Long Center crowd.

[NEPAFAN]

  Royals struggle but victorious over Goucher. Eli with several strong inside moves despite foul trouble; Zach with several strong drives to the hoop; Ryan 4-7 3-ptr in 1st half; Dan O'Connell with 4 big foul shots in last 2 minutes, rebounds, tie-ups, and loose ball peskiness. Luke leads with 11 rebounds; Paul Hawk hits floor hard and doesn't return.

Ronk,

Any status on Paul Hawk? I think they need him this afternoon vs. Banzhaf.

[ronk]

Nepa,
   I won't know about Paul until I get to the game; hopefully, Dean will be able to let you know on the broadcast. Guessing that they would see how he did overnite.

[Pat Coleman]

That game also has live video, if you're interested. Links to audio, video and live stats for games on the front page where we have them.

[Matt Letourneau]

Catholic over Scranton 64-59.

Outstanding game--tough, physical and close the whole way.  I'll post up some details and thoughts on both teams, but the thing that stood out to me was how hard the Cardinals battled, which is reflected in rebounds.  Catholic came into this game with a massive height disadvantage and frankly not much interior depth, especially compared to Scranton--and managed to outrebound Scranton by 10.  That was hustle.

I'll try to get some additional thoughts up tonight. 

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Quick note from Goucher:

Moravian 12
Goucher 32

Goucher sets a team and Sports and Recreation Center record for the least amount of points allowed by a team in any half.

Moravian show 4-26 (.154) from the floor and 1-8 (.125) from the free throw line.
Could have been worse, Goucher shot 9-18 (.500) from the free throw line. Though, that is about average - so that is about as good as it gets some nights!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Goucher gets its first Landmark win of the season, 76-53 over Moravian. A sloppy, foul-filled second half of basketball.

[Matt Letourneau]

Some additional thoughts on the Catholic-Scranton game:

The way this game played out all added up to a very unlikely win for the Cardinals.  They were cold from 3 and shot just 4-19, allowing Scranton to pack in a tough zone and double Jason Banzhaf.   As a result, Catholic had just 12 points in the paint--so if you combine subpar outside shooting with relatively little production inside, it generally doesn't add up to a win.   The game was EXTREMELY tightly officiated, which should have benefited Scranton because they had so much more interior depth.  And sure enough, Banzhaf picked up his 4th foul at 15:09 with Catholic up 9.

Almost as soon as Banzhaf was out of the game, Scranton went on a run and took a 47-46 lead less than 5:00 later.  All the while, Scranton's big men were racking up fouls inside, but Catholic is much more reliant on Banzhaf who is by far their best player, and he ended up sitting until 7:06 with his team down 2.

For all of Scranton's size, though, it amazes me how little they did with it offensively.  They had major matchup advantages all night yet almost never posted anybody up.  Now I realize the "other" Hawk didn't play, but I'm still puzzled why Scranton took so many jump shots and LONG 3's (granted, they made some of them quite impressively).  They looked like a European team.

Even without Banzhaf, Catholic still kept trying to get the ball inside and that got them to the line.   Scranton never did--and while they certainly had a lot of free throw attempts, too, it wasn't as much simply because you aren't as likely to get fouled when you are standing there jacking up shots.

The other key for Catholic was totally shutting down Zack Ashworth.  A number of guys were on him including Evin Yarborough who did a great job.  Ashworth was 1-8 for 5 points.

I mentioned the rebounding number and that still astounds me.  Just a testament to lots of hustle and hard work underneath.

I see that Coach Danzig's antics haven't changed.  In the first half, the foul situation was virtually even--I think Scranton maybe had one more team foul, but it wasn't much of a discrepancy.  To start the second, Catholic comes out with a quick little burst to take the lead, and virtually the first foul that's called, he's up yelling at the refs "here we go...its the same thing every time down here" like he's getting screwed.  It was bizarre.  As I said before, the tightly officiated game should have played to his advantage because he had much more depth to work with, and sure enough, Catholic's best player ended up sitting for a major part of the 2nd half with 4 fouls.  I don't mind a coach working the refs, but that's kind of a stunning accusation to make in a game which had been called quite evenly.  To top it off, he ends up arguing a foul in which Reed was mauled that was probably the most obvious call the entire game. 

In any event, I still think Scranton is physically the most talented team in the league.  They've got size, they can shoot the ball and at least tonight they didn't turn it over.  Of course, that doesn't neccesarily equate to being the best team, and that remains to be seen.   Scranton led by 1 with 58 seconds left and had two opportunities to win the game--and got nothing on either trip.  Frankly, it looked like nobody wanted to take the shot.  On their last posession, Fuller had a fairly wide open look at a 3, didn't take it, badly faked out the defender which gave him a wide open jump shot--and didn't take that either.  Instead he dribbled the ball right into traffic and turned it over.  Now I don't know his range and what kind of shooter he is, but...he should have taken the shot.  Contrast that on the other end, when Dixon freed himself for a split second just inside the 3 point line and still took--and made the shot that basically won the game. 

Great win for the Cardinals to build on.  Winning in Scranton will be extremely tough, so getting this one at home was big.  They were pretty much on the ropes twice tonight--once early, and once late--and with a young team you just don't know how they are going to respond.  There may well be a 3rd battle between these two teams, and where it will be played is important so this is going to be an interesting stretch run. 

[saratoga]

Matt: Good breakdown of the game...hard to believe in many ways Scranton did not win this...but, certainly seemed like the Royals were out hustled. We were not able to make this trip this year but a good friend & his wife were there & he called with about 14 minutes left in the second half during a time out wondering why the "hell aren't Scranton's guards driving to the hoop when the refs are calling all these touch fouls"? Once again the Royals settle in as a one dimensional team firing away & using very little creativity. Talking to him after the game he stated that this was a very winnable game it's just that Scranton made zero adjustments to the situation on the floor. I think this is starting to become the basketball version of Groundhog Day...same stuff year after year. From your discription, it sounds like you witnessed the same things by the Royals...bomb, bomb & more bombs...just like the final score should you be a Royals fan.
  PS. Hope your trip home tonight was a little less stressful than a few weeks ago!

[ronk]

   Agree that Catholic outhustled the Royals(3rd road game in 4 days) as evidenced by 14-6 advantage in offensive rebounds, Royals' below average foul-shooting,  and Zach beating his man for the lead on a drive to the hoop in the final minute but coming up short on his leap(no spring) at the basket.
  Game was tightly officiated by 2 refs(including my friend, naturally) but overly officiated by the 3rd who called many fouls in the paint with little contact, no advantage/disadvantage, generally without the offended player having possession of the ball, then with game on the line in the final seconds, he swallows his whistle on a non call that resulted in Fuller turning it over. We'll never know if the outcome would have been different, but he injected himself into the game instead of letting the players decide.
   Jason was impressive in the paint, but at least he could blame himself for his absence in the second half with those 2 dumb fouls(running into a 3-pt shooter(#3) and getting ball-faked on the baseline(#4)
   Jump-shooting vs non-shooting maneuvering inside had nothing to do with the fouls that shouldn't been called .