MBB: Landmark Conference

[saratoga]

NEPA: I'm pretty sure the Vegas line has Catholic + 6.
They return home with 3 losses & can ill afford another & still feel comfortable about their championship asperations.
On the other hand, the Royals have certainly held their own at home & now it's time to see what life on the road will bring their way.
I'm not even attempting to get into D.C. by 5:30 on a Friday so I'll rely on the "Dean" for updates.
Certainly plan on seeing the double header vs. Goucher on Sat. though.
Should the Royals roll back into Scranton 1-1 on this trip, consider it a minor victory.
The second half they played vs. Susquehanna on Sat. was probably their best half of b-ball all year. They moved the ball exceptionally well & hit from all over the court. When they are on they can be tough...I'm just worried about the games when a few of them are having off nights & there is no place else to turn. Hopefully, on those nights their "D" will offset any offensive difficulties and keep them in the game.
Live by the 3, die by the 3...just the way it is.

[NEPAFAN]

NEPA: I'm pretty sure the Vegas line has Catholic + 6.
They return home with 3 losses & can ill afford another & still feel comfortable about their championship asperations.
On the other hand, the Royals have certainly held their own at home & now it's time to see what life on the road will bring their way.
I'm not even attempting to get into D.C. by 5:30 on a Friday so I'll rely on the "Dean" for updates.
Certainly plan on seeing the double header vs. Goucher on Sat. though.
Should the Royals roll back into Scranton 1-1 on this trip, consider it a minor victory.
The second half they played vs. Susquehanna on Sat. was probably their best half of b-ball all year. They moved the ball exceptionally well & hit from all over the court. When they are on they can be tough...I'm just worried about the games when a few of them are having off nights & there is no place else to turn. Hopefully, on those nights their "D" will offset any offensive difficulties and keep them in the game.
Live by the 3, die by the 3...just the way it is.

I don't think Scranton will cover the 6 but I will take them winning....71-69

[ronk]

  It'll be interesting to see how the Royals defend Jason B. I'd choose Tommy Morgan with backup from Wynne and O'Connell so as not to get any others in foul trouble.

Saratoga,
  You don't have to rely on Dean; Catholic videocasts so u can see for yourself.

[cold_case]

  It'll be interesting to see how the Royals defend Jason B. I'd choose Tommy Morgan with backup from Wynne and O'Connell so as not to get any others in foul trouble.

Tommy Morgan? Let me have what you're drinking.

[Matt Letourneau]

I work in DC and I'm not sure I can even get there by 5:30. 

I don't mean to keep beating this dead horse, but...it really is like this league actively doesn't want anyone involved in basketball other than the players and the coaches. 

[ronk]

  Maybe the league will make known some day who clamored for the time change and what problem it solved; I think if I were still a player, I'd prefer a consistent playing time, rather than disrupting the schedule for both the men and women.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

There is an actual way to do this and stay consistent... see the UAA... but whoever thought this up and the solution isn't great.

That being said... I have heard it might change yet again for next year... maybe even do away with travel partners and weekend games - but that is COMPLETE hear-say from no one in particular.

[cold_case]

What's NEPA's take on all this?

[NEPAFAN]

Good Morning CC,


My take on what? I would put whoever was guarding Banzhaf in the Tourny game last year. I believe that was Luke Hawk, but I have known to be wrong.


How does the UAA do their schedule?


DMac-You heard something from no one in particular??  I thought you were on Landmark insider, give us the goods...

[saratoga]

I've also heard the whispers that the Landmark may opt for Wednesday/Saturday games with no travel partner and the elimination of their current unbalanced home/travel setup.
Not sure a mid week trip to Juniata or DC will be the easiest thing for a 5:30 start for many schools nor can I believe heading to the MMA will be an easy commute from the DC area mid week. Realistically, Catholic & Goucher would more than likely miss an entire day of classes by the time they head up 95 & attempt to move on the LIE out to MMA.
If they do add a mid-week game Scranton, for example, would have no problem playing Moravian, Drew, Susquehanna or MMA. The tough ones would be Catholic, Goucher & Juniata. Conversely, the Baltimore/DC schools will have the longer mid-week trips since most of the schools obviously are not in their metro area.
The other consideration is the travel. As it currently stands the bus leaves Scranton on Fri. to play Catholic & after the game it heads for Towson, stay over & play Goucher on Sat. then head home. Seems fairly simple...to add a mid week game now creates two trips which seems to me to be adding additional cost. Whether or not the schools have looked at this & feel the extra trip will be offset by the potential reduction in hotel costs is unclear.
What is scary is the actual attendance at the mens 5:30 games...they are all horrible. I believe I saw there were 55 people at a recent MMA game??? I, for one, feel this most noble of gestures needs to end. As for breaking up the current weekend setup, let the debate begin.

[NEPAFAN]

Matt- In addition to the lost of Kearny, what happened to the transfer from Williams he was averaging 8 ppg in early season but I don't see him on the roster anymore?

[cold_case]

Or, or, how 'bout this setup?
Bring in more "mind-like" schools and have a Landmark Conference North/South divisional setup like the old MAC?
Back then, schools of both divisions never met during the year or in the conference playoffs, unless they saw each other in the NCAA's. Of course both divisional champs had automatic bids.
Only difference now would be the two division champs would face each other for the overall title and the automatic bid and hope the loser would get an at-large.
Could be done and it would cut down on loads of travel.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The UAA makes it simple... women play the early game on the first day and the late game on the second day. Could easily work here.

For example... women play at 5:30 on Friday and 7:30 on Saturday. Men the opposite. But this week I have two games to announce at Goucher at 5:30 both days with the women playing both games following them. That doesn't make much sense to me - especially considering NEXT weekend both men's games are at 7:30.

I also agree that playing mid-week games in this conference makes no sense in terms of missing class time. The whole idea was that schools would miss as little class time as possible by having travel partners and traveling on the weekend. And YES it would save money as well!!!

Adding more schools, sounds like a nice idea, but I don't know of any programs interested in joining, unless E-Town is in the discussions. However, they have also been known for trying to be in the CAC as well.

I have also heard rumors that MMA is not pleased with things and has thought about leaving the Landmark. I have NOT had the opportunity to research this information and find out if it were true. They usually complain about their class schedules being affected (thus the Saturday/Sunday exception once a year in the schedule), but I don't see how the Wednesday/Saturday would benefit MMA. (I also argue that MMA isn't going to be happy about missed class time in any conference they would join, even if it was close by, since they will have to miss time on Wednesdays for away games).

There is certainly a lot in flux and I find that instead of anybody just putting their foot down (like a conference president) and saying this is how it is going to be done... there is a lot of, "okay, let's try that... oops, this isn't working... any other ideas?" mentality. I realize that the conference is young and changes will happen as they figure things out... but this year's experiment with start times is ridiculous.

[Matt Letourneau]

Matt- In addition to the lost of Kearny, what happened to the transfer from Williams he was averaging 8 ppg in early season but I don't see him on the roster anymore?

Yes, missing DiVietri has been a big loss.  Unfortunately things didn't work out (not basketball related) with him.  He would have really helped. 

I think they need to find a way to get away from weekends.  I've seen enough to where I really think its killing competition, its killing community/fan involvement, and even the quality of the play is suffering.  Its very hard to get any momentum, its harder to prepare, and nobody but diehards are going to go to two games on back to back days.  I mean, look---if I'm having a hard time following my team, there's no way casual fans are going to get involved at this point.  The start time experiment certainly doesn't help--that's just pure nonsense.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Matt - I wouldn't agree with that sentiment at all... every other conference that runs weekend type schedules doesn't seem to have problems with die-hards or fans. And I have no idea how adding a game on Wednesday would make it better for fans from DC traveling to NYC area for a game - especially for casual fans. Plus the fact... you might as well be ready to play Friday/Saturday in post-season tournament action!