MBB: Landmark Conference

[NEPAFAN]

Can we hold off on writing off the entire Royal season in early December? I am sure any potential future Royals aren't getting a warm fuzzy with all the negative vibes here.


Thanks for the holiday wishes Kate.

[hoopit123]

Su next heads to sunny shores of puerto rico for a tourament....not only are they fortunate for the obvious reason (look outside), but also because they get to go there and play another nationall recognized quality team in St. Marys of Md.  This is a chance for them to really make a statement.  was stockton a fluke? i think not. but here is their chance to prove it to everybody else.   if they go down there and bring it to st marys they will certainly begin to raise some eyebrows and at the least instill some fear in the landmark.  with such a young team outside of majors, consistency is one of my concerns.  case in point--slaughtered by bridgewater, come back and beat e-town, lose to juniata, then go on and beat stockton.   if they can go and compete against st. marys i feel it will do wonders for the team morale heading into the holiday---because who do they have next? franklin and marshall at their new years tourney.

as a sidenote, after hearing toga talk about non-conf sceduling, i have to give marcinek at SU credit for really focusing on shaping his non-conf schedule to test his team against some of the best. he has always been pretty good at that.  whether they are playing top d3 teams or traveling to play against navy or coastal carolina or other d1 teams, a value cant be placed on the experience, nor its beneficial worth come jan-feb in landmark play.

[saratoga]

Kate: I can assure you I know first hand what it's like to recruit your butt off only to lose a kid to a school you never even knew he was considering. I also know that there is not just one reason why a student may choose one school over another.
Last year we had a pretty good discussion on this board as to how the school's endowment may play a huge role in the final determination of of need & whether or not the student & family could actually afford to attend their first choice given the actual presented package.
Trust me Kate, very few of us attend games because we expect to win every night. If that were the case, many of us would have stopped attending years ago. I think we still go because we want to see young kids become good players & better people, we hope to see our kids play the best & we want them to achieve every success athletically & academically.
As I mentioned in a post from earlier in the season, I'm sure Coach Danzig recruits his tail off for the best kids he can find but, somewhere there is a disconnect & kids that need to fill a certain need are just not landing on the steps of the Long Center.
From over 20 years at the DIII level I do have a perspective of the day to day frustrations of recruiting and all the pitfalls some coaches can land in during their quest for instant gratification. To his credit, Coach Danzig has done things the right way. However, you can not compare womens basketball at DVC & the mens program at Scranton. If you ever experienced the scene of one overflow crowd after another in the 70's, 80's & 90's as the Royals marched toward a National title or Sweet 16 or Elite 8 then you'd understand the passion that remains for Royal basketball.
In many ways Scranton fans have been spoiled by the success of the mens team through the mid 90's & our womens team right through today. I nor anyone I know expect the Royals to be in the hunt each & every year however, being seriously competitive with the best in DIII should always be a reachable & attainable goal given the resources of this university.
Scranton's struggles on the national scene in mens basketball are not an indictment on our coach as an x & o person as much as it is a question of why some rather obvious holes haven't been filled. Some coaches love recruiting, many hate it & others never leave their office until time to seal the deal time arrives.
I wish every success for Coach Danzig & hope he can get each & every player he has his sights on. That said, I think discussing concerns along with what is right about any team deserves an open forum. Perhaps some day I'll be able to just go with the flow & say all is well when I know differently...just not there yet & not sure I'll ever be. As a coach,if you can't acknowledge your areas that need help, I'm not too sure you can ever truly address them.
In the mean time, I'll still pull for the Royals every night they go out & I'll continue to send my wish list to Santa. Besides the basic health, world peace, & love for all, it still includes crowds, a post presence & one very good point guard.
Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah to you as well.

[susiddad]

Whats new?  Awfully quiet from Catholic this year except they are honored to get smacked by notre dame next year.
Maybe we can get Banzhof some Big East player of the year votes too.
SU off to a wierd start with some tough loses and nice wins, but more importantly, we going to PR.
Scranton's fine.
Drew and Goucher are not.
Catholic is good, but not as good as they think they are.
Moravian ouch
Juniata well.....consistent.
USMMA good team.

playoffs:
Catholic
SU
Scranton
USMMA

Earlier predictions:
Coach of the year: USMMA
Player of the year: Banshoff
Champion: Merchant Mariners.

[tpm4286]

Jon & Kate Plus 8 Landmark Teams......Goucher lost by nearly 30 points to a Marymount team that is mediocre at best.

[susiddad]

I wonder who will be the coach at Goucher next year? 

I'm definately using that Jon and kate joke next time im at a .....

[Matt Letourneau]

Well, I've been a bit busy these days...don't worry, you'll be hearing from me more frequently soon enough.  A 7 month old and a 3 year old, 2 and a half hours commuting every day and all the rest keep me a bit busier than the old days though.

I've only seen Catholic play once this year, though I'm followed them and know what's going on...to answer a previous question about Banzhof's numbers being a bit down, I think frankly things are still getting sorted out a little bit.  They're still pretty young---younger than people think when you look at who is getting minutes.  They've got 4 freshman getting major minutes right now--2 of them have started, and another one is running the show with the 2nd team offense. 

It seems to me that they're trying hard to develop options other than Banzhof.  Their scoring is unbelieveably spread out--they've got 7 guys who are averaging between 4.5-7.0.   I think Jason could potentially be getting more points--and I wouldn't be surprised to see that start happening--but its in their long term interst to spread things around a little bit more and see if Kearney can pick up some of the load underneath.  They didn't have anybody like him on the roster last year. 

Holmes--the backup PG--is probably the fastest player in the Landmark.  Certainly the fastest Catholic player I've ever seen.  He does have a shot, though right now that's not his focus.

Anyway--I think there's a lot of potential with Catholic this year--I'd be surprised if the team in February looks like they did in November.  But when you are meshing together a lot of new parts, sometimes that are some bumps in the road.  On the other hand, by beating DeSales and hanging with York to OT, they've shown what they can be.  Looking forward to conference play, but first a non-conference game against Carniege Mellon.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

tpm4286 - took you awhile to post, didn't it! For starters, I wouldn't say Marymount is mediocre at best. They do have plenty of talent, their defense is better then I have seen it in years, and their offense actually seemed to make sense for the first time in a long time. So, let's not take anything away from the Saints... they were better then I expected.

As for the Gophers... there are three major things missing from this team (and recent teams): heart, pride, and leadership. I talked with a few people who I know disagree with me, but when you as player, no matter the circumstances of the team, program, or game, can't show any heart or pride and someone can't show any leadership, it doesn't matter how good you are as individuals, you will never succeed as a team. In the last few years, it has been hard to find any heart, pride, or leadership on this program... and speaking as one who experienced an 0-17 season in soccer (where we had plent of heart, pride, and leadership and fought hard in each and everyone of those games), it is disappointing.

That all being said... I still support this team and wish only the best for them. I want them to find the missing link(s) and start succeeding. They have lots of young talent that I am impressive with and could be something to really build on for the future... but if the young talent is going to follow in the footsteps of those leading them right now (upper classmen), then they will never figure out how to be a winning team. The Juniors and Seniors need to show how to win, the Freshmen and Sophomores have to step-up and take over this team. I think it can be done... I am now just waiting.

[ronk]

Matt,
  The Cards have been videocasting their home games, if you can't spend the time to go to Dufour. I saw some of the DeSales game that way.

[susiddad]

Cardinals are young for the 5th straight year.  I guess thats what happens when the entire team transfers. 

Goucher is hopeless.....Sorry, just hopeless. They have not been competitve in league play yet. 

[tpm4286]

"tpm4286 - took you awhile to post, didn't it! For starters, I wouldn't say Marymount is mediocre at best. They do have plenty of talent, their defense is better then I have seen it in years, and their offense actually seemed to make sense for the first time in a long time. So, let's not take anything away from the Saints... they were better then I expected."

Well there 'd-mac' wonder why "their defense looked better and their offense actually seemed to make sense". They have a brand new COACH this year. Maybe the Gophers should try the same because we know that the talent is there, it just has to be channeled correctly with NEW energy, ideas, tactics, motivation etc. Ya feel me 

[susiddad]

Lets not get too carried away with the "talent" for the gophers.  I am not sure they would beat the undefeated jv team at Susquehanna.

[Matt Letourneau]

Ahh, so I take it nobody has ever transferred from Susquehanna?  That's interesting.

Obviously, Catholic's not "young" for the 5th consecutive year.  They weren't young 3 years ago when they won the CAC.  They were young the last 2 years.  They lost a couple of kids along the way that would have helped, sure, but that's what happens when you have a $30k college and a recession hits.  Nevertheless, all I said is that they needed time to mesh, and that's happening.  They graduated their starting point guard and their 2 guard last year after all.

D-Mac--I hate to say it, and I would refrain in most circumstances--and frankly I understand why you can't really say it--but Trevino has to go.  At a certain point, its up to the coach to change all of what you describe around the team.  Ultimately, the coach is the one bringing in the kids that aren't playing with pride, and the coaching staff has to find a way to get those kids to play with pride.  I've been watching Goucher for quite a few years now as you know and its been steadily downhill every since the mid-90s.  At some point you have to make a change.

[Pat Coleman]

susiddad -- I see you have returned to grind the same axes as last year.

Your act is tired, and this is your official warning. Continuing to grind your axe will result in your removal from the site of competition, so to speak.

[TheGrove]

Lets not get too carried away with the "talent" for the gophers.  I am not sure they would beat the undefeated jv team at Susquehanna.

Seriously, dude, stop it. You're embarrassing.