MBB: Landmark Conference

hoopit123 · December 23, 2009, 02:45:25 AM

and BC, obviously, there are more teams in the landmark than SU....if Su has not sufficiently stopped him witht he weapons that are necessary, apparently others team have (scranton). again, the fact was not him vs. SU, its JB vs. the general public, and especially those teams that expose his weakness. which i have yet to hear a counter for. he plays as a center, and thats it, and he is not a center. i dont know how else to explain! as a small forward, he could be even MORE dangerous if he expanded his horizons.

hoopit123 · December 23, 2009, 02:56:12 AM

OH, also....you mention his offensive numbers. what about defense? i have yet to be sold on his offense, also. it appears they are a much more 'team' oriented defensive team that 'team' oriented offensive team!

i mean i dont mean to be such a critic, but in previous conversation and discussions sake, i feel these are valid points!

and to not dwell, i am now moving on from this point, i honestly feel usmma will not be stopped in the landmark this year, unfortunately. they have taken their dose in the playoffs in the past and are now ready. with the core they have back, its hard to not favor them. they have everything from PG to C returning, and all solid, quality players. tom izzo will give banzhaf a run for POY, it will come down to which team does better.

susiddad · December 23, 2009, 09:21:38 AM

The kid is a player. No one can argue you that. CUA, where did the other guys go? I'd love to check up on them. To be clear, again JB is the best player in the league this year and most likely next IMO.

I think if any team in the league took 5 fr. soph. played them 3 years in a row and said we will just improve every year with them they could. I would imagine it is not an easy thing to do. It seems at SU they play more as freshman and sophs then they do as juniors and seniors.

any insight on that?

NEPAFAN · December 23, 2009, 09:40:29 AM

Quote from: ronk on December 22, 2009, 05:10:22 PM
susiddad,
It's 9 players in d3; the 72 is across all 3 divisions - 63 are from D1 & D2.

NEPA,
from Kevin Southard's announcement:

The 72 finalists will be narrowed down to 20 by January 1, 10 by February 1 and five by March 1. The eventual winner of the 2010 Bob Cousy Award will be honored at the Hall of Fame's Class Announcement in Indianapolis as part of NCAA Final Four weekend on Monday, April 5.

Thanks Ronk. I was looking at the website and it appeared that they do have public voting at some point, which prompted my question. A great accomplishment for Ashworth!!

susiddad · December 23, 2009, 09:57:34 AM

The unofficial d3 hoops semi-preseason tiered landmark poll:

tier A: - potential league champs with a chance to win a tourney game

1. USMMMA
2. Catholic
3. Susquehanna

tier B: over .500 record, but unlikely champ

4. Scranton
5. Juniata

tier c - .500 record end of season range out of conference or in conference.

- blank

tier d - losing conference record and losing out of conference record.

6. Drew
7. Moravian
8. Goucher

kate · December 23, 2009, 10:10:39 AM

In response to Nepa Fans comment that "we are a conference of like minded institutions", i still say diversity is what keeps things interesting. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! You all do seem to be enjoying your new conference, especially conversing with the old MAC Commonwealth teams. i will say both the Freedom & Commonwealth sites have been rather sparse since your departure.

Matt Letourneau · December 23, 2009, 10:38:57 AM

hoopit...to answer your question (how many people in the country score 18-20 ppg?), Jason was 35th in the nation in scoring last year, 47th in field goal percentage.

I think your argument boils down to the fact that every single aspect of his game is not elite, and he had a bad game against Scranton in the playoffs. I can't argue with either of those contentions, though I will leave you with a thought--generally speaking, basketball players that are plus in every aspect of the game aren't playing division 3 hoops. (I don't think Jason's a poor defender, but yeah, he's average). As far as his performances against Scranton, he's had one very good game against them, 1 very bad game, and 3 so-so games (and in those so-so games, he was still in double figures).

Also, as long as Jason's field goal percentage and free throw percentage are high, what exactly was the problem with his being the primary scoring option? Yeah, a lot of the offense ran through him, but he was effective and the team won 18 games, so...?

Sus, the only guy that I think is still playing is at Salisbury. You'll figure out who if you look at their roster. He's doing fairly well, but not spectactular---when I first saw him as a freshman, I though he had a chance to dominate but he just can't stay on the floor long enough. Sure, I'd like to still have him, but...btw former CUA pg Mike Wasilenko is down there as an assistant. Great kid.

hoopit123 · December 23, 2009, 11:27:32 AM

matt, it just comes down to how i personally like to see the game played, thats all. we shall agree to disagree.

what about the Jones kid that is playing well at juniata...isnt he a former cua product moved back closer to home?

susiddad · December 23, 2009, 01:10:22 PM

I think the SU vs. CUA game this year should be played in Jerry Jones arena.

Matt Letourneau · December 23, 2009, 02:23:15 PM

Quote from: hoopit123 on December 23, 2009, 11:27:32 AM
matt, it just comes down to how i personally like to see the game played, thats all. we shall agree to disagree.

what about the Jones kid that is playing well at juniata...isnt he a former cua product moved back closer to home?

Yup--frankly I had forgotten about him. He didn't do much at CUA. Looks like a productive bench player for Juniata--and you are right, he did want to move back home. Good for him.

Sure, if its just a matter of style, then you are certainly entitled to your opinion on Banzhaf. But I'll tell you--he's been the best underclassman I've ever seen at Catholic, and that's saying something because I started following them closely right at the start of the run of great teams. In fact, when all is said and done, he's got a shot at becoming the 3rd highest scorer in CUA history--and this program has been around a long time.

Anyway, looking forward to some real games again. Next up for Catholic is Stevenson on the 30th.

NEPAFAN · December 23, 2009, 03:21:04 PM

Quote from: kate on December 23, 2009, 10:10:39 AM
In response to Nepa Fans comment that "we are a conference of like minded institutions", i still say diversity is what keeps things interesting. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! You all do seem to be enjoying your new conference, especially conversing with the old MAC Commonwealth teams. i will say both the Freedom & Commonwealth sites have been rather sparse since your departure.

Kate,

That was written tongue (or fingers?) in cheek. I would have loved to have seen Scranton play Kings or Wilkes this year.

susiddad · December 23, 2009, 03:42:19 PM

Your all welcome for making this board enjoyable part of our day. I forbid "thegrove" to post anything else without my permission so as i do not fall asleep reading it.

Everyone else, Happy Holidays. Im done for a couple of days.

cugrad · December 24, 2009, 03:43:01 AM

Matt, have you forgotten Pat Maloney, Will Morley, and Matt Hilleary?

kate · December 24, 2009, 09:24:50 AM

Thanks for the reply, Nepafan. Maybe after the "newness" excitement of the Landmark lessens, economics will kick in & all the "old" D3 opponents will look very good again. Still miss you all, on the Women's board, as well.

Matt Letourneau · December 24, 2009, 09:51:30 AM

Quote from: cugrad on December 24, 2009, 03:43:01 AM
Matt, have you forgotten Pat Maloney, Will Morley, and Matt Hilleary?

Nope. All of them were great players. And you might have an argument on Maloney. But none of them were as developed as Jason was as underclassmen (and that's what I said--underclassmen).

As a freshman, for instance, Matt averaged 7.5 ppg as a bench player, 12.5 as sophomore (averaging 20 minutes a game.) Rebounding numbers were similar to Jason's, but Jason scored significantly more points for a higher percentage.

As a freshman, Morley averaged 10 ppg, as sophomore, 12.

And, I would argue that Jason had a much tougher job because Matt and Will were more like the 3rd/4th scoring options when they were in the game, whereas last year everybody on the court knew the ball was going to Jason and he dominated anyway.

As juniors and seniors, all three of those guys were awesome. We'll see how Jason does.

I think a lot of the old CUA/Lonergan crew that was around the team a lot back then and don't follow it as closely hold those guys up as the Holy Grail--and they should because they won a championship. They're not as familiar with Jason and they don't follow the team as closely anymore, so they find it hard to believe that Catholic has another player at that level--or, dare I say it--better. But that's the truth.