MBB: Landmark Conference

saratoga · February 23, 2013, 09:59:25 AM

Totally a non-issuue at this point...however, as I indicated last week, had the Royals just made it to the Landmark championship game, I firmly believe they were in.
Naturally, there are always going to be upsets along the way that can change the dynamic of the Pool C allowable space.
However, given the rather consistent nature of upsets each year, when it all washes out this weekend I think two things will become fairly clear...the Royals would have made the field and they were their own worst enemy.
Sales of Coach Danzig's CD "Push" have been discontinued.
Please see AD for partial reimbursement.

Matt Letourneau · February 23, 2013, 11:23:57 PM

What a fantastic basketball game tonight. Juniata played very well, got hot and led Catholic most of the way. They got their 2nd half lead up to 8, then Catholic made a run to get up 4. However, the Cardinals expended a lot of energy and seemed to get fatigued after they got up and promptly lost the lead again. Back and forth it went the rest of the way, until Shawn Holmes channeled Will Morley in '01 (only Shawn had a tougher shot) to win it with 3 seconds left.

Very happy for Coach Howes and the three seniors in particular. All of them really stepped up this year. Holmes had a huge second half with 3 massive clutch shots. Great atmosphere at DuFour, lots of fun. I'm hoping it won't be the last home game.

Congratulations also to the CUA women for their 20 point win over Scranton. A really special year for CUA basketball...a combined 50-4 record.

ronk · February 23, 2013, 11:53:09 PM

Matt,
Congrats to the Cards for the double win. I was there for the women's game which was great til the 10-min mark.

Then the seniors made some big plays for the Cards.
Left the men's game when I saw my friend wasn't one of the refs, but caught the video of the last 5 mins. Good luck in the NCAAs-you should probably host at least 2 rounds.

Matt Letourneau · February 26, 2013, 02:44:26 PM

Thanks Ronk. Well, we're hosting one round anyway...

Congrats to Coach Steve Howes and his staff for winning Coaching Staff of the Year. Steve has had a program I have been proud off since he took over for Mike Lonergan. He had huge shoes to fill but this is much deserved and he did a lot with a roster that I think surprised a few people this year.

Congratulations also to Chris Kearney for winning POY--without any lobbying from me! He also won Defensive Player of the Year. He made a huge leap this year as a senior and was a difference maker on both ends. Senior Shawn Holmes and Sophomore Steve Limberiou also were named to the All Conference team.

Finally, for those that haven't seen it, here's the video of Shawn Holmes' game winner. He made an incredibly tough shot against two defenders, both of whom actually defended it quite well. Just an example of a player that was determined not to lose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V14gztRXwo

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · February 26, 2013, 02:53:17 PM

Glad they reset the clock! Wow... a whole second did tick off after that went through!

Pat Coleman · February 27, 2013, 02:11:27 PM

As a heads-up for those who don't already know, the Bracket Challenge is out! Our friends at d3photography.com manage our official picks contests:

http://d3photography.com/bracket_challenge/

Playing for pride, which means student-athletes and department personnel can participate.

Matt Letourneau · March 03, 2013, 12:00:26 AM

Hard fought win tonight for Catholic against Staten Island. It was pretty much worse case scenario as Chris Kearney got into foul trouble early and ended up only playing 20 minutes. To top it off, Steve Limberiou also had 4 early and barely played in the second half. In fact, Limberiou left the game with 16 minutes to go, Kearney picked up his 3rd and 4th within 30 seconds of each other and went out with 12:29 left in the 2nd. To be honest, at that point I was worried--depth has not exactly been this team's strongest suit this year.

But you know what--dealing with adversity is what separates teams and this one is special. Without a doubt, the player of the game was freshman Kevin Phanord, who in the 2nd half was sent in to guard Staten Island's John Chadwick-Myers. Chadwick-Myers was killing Catholic in the first half--he had 16 in the 1st half. He had 5 the rest of the way. Kevin was all over him and completely bothered him. In fact things got a little chippy and the two had to be separated at one point. But that's exactly what he was sent in to do--Chadwick-Myers got very frustrated he was being shut down by a freshman and was way off his game. The most underrated aspect of this Catholic team is that every single second of playing time at the point guard position is being played by freshman.

Nate Koening stood out amongst the group of seniors for really stepping up and being aggressive when they needed him the most. Staten Island didn't exactly help themselves by missing a whole bunch of free throws and I didn't think they had a ton of composure. This was a tough, physical game--not the kind of game we've seen in the Landmark this year. If this game had the officiating crew from last weeks' conference title game than those guys would have had a stroke and blown the whistle 50 times. This crew let them play, except for the Center's (Staten Island's went out with 4 early as well.)

Great atmosphere, considering the students were on spring break. The crowd wasn't quite as loud as last week but the place was still packed. Coach Lonergan and at least five members of the Championship team as well as other basketball alumni were there. Great to see that kind of support. Win or lose next weekend, this team embodies what those guys were about more than any Catholic team since them.

Catholic plays Williams next, who squeaked by with a 1 point win over Wesley. Site TBD...hoping for the best. I will say that the Catholic staff did a tremendous job hosting this weekend. It was really first class all the way and I hope the NCAA was noticing.

Charles · March 03, 2013, 07:01:40 AM

Quote from: Matt Letourneau on March 03, 2013, 12:00:26 AM
Hard fought win tonight for Catholic against Staten Island. It was pretty much worse case scenario as Chris Kearney got into foul trouble early and ended up only playing 20 minutes. To top it off, Steve Limberiou also had 4 early and barely played in the second half. In fact, Limberiou left the game with 16 minutes to go, Kearney picked up his 3rd and 4th within 30 seconds of each other and went out with 12:29 left in the 2nd. To be honest, at that point I was worried--depth has not exactly been this team's strongest suit this year.

But you know what--dealing with adversity is what separates teams and this one is special. Without a doubt, the player of the game was freshman Kevin Phanord, who in the 2nd half was sent in to guard Staten Island's John Chadwick-Myers. Chadwick-Myers was killing Catholic in the first half--he had 16 in the 1st half. He had 5 the rest of the way. Kevin was all over him and completely bothered him. In fact things got a little chippy and the two had to be separated at one point. But that's exactly what he was sent in to do--Chadwick-Myers got very frustrated he was being shut down by a freshman and was way off his game. The most underrated aspect of this Catholic team is that every single second of playing time at the point guard position is being played by freshman.

Nate Koening stood out amongst the group of seniors for really stepping up and being aggressive when they needed him the most. Staten Island didn't exactly help themselves by missing a whole bunch of free throws and I didn't think they had a ton of composure. This was a tough, physical game--not the kind of game we've seen in the Landmark this year. If this game had the officiating crew from last weeks' conference title game than those guys would have had a stroke and blown the whistle 50 times. This crew let them play, except for the Center's (Staten Island's went out with 4 early as well.)

Great atmosphere, considering the students were on spring break. The crowd wasn't quite as loud as last week but the place was still packed. Coach Lonergan and at least five members of the Championship team as well as other basketball alumni were there. Great to see that kind of support. Win or lose next weekend, this team embodies what those guys were about more than any Catholic team since them.

Catholic plays Williams next, who squeaked by with a 1 point win over Wesley. Site TBD...hoping for the best. I will say that the Catholic staff did a tremendous job hosting this weekend. It was really first class all the way and I hope the NCAA was noticing.

Looks like Coach Howes plays 4 freshman in his rotation, led by 3 seniors.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · March 03, 2013, 12:05:41 PM

He does have four freshmen in the rotation including the starting point guard (for all games this season) along with twins who come in with one offensive threat and the other a defensive threat. They have gotten more and more deep as the season has progressed.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · March 03, 2013, 01:29:23 PM

CUA heads to Williams on Saturday.

Charles · March 03, 2013, 07:42:56 PM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 03, 2013, 01:29:23 PM
CUA heads to Williams on Saturday.

How come? Wasn't CUA high ranked regionally?

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh · March 03, 2013, 09:48:56 PM

CUA was higher regionally ranked (#2 vs. #3), but Williams criteria info was better than CUA's. CUA despite their record was #2 in the MA because of their SOS... Williams SOS is better and their criteria is better... so not surprised that CUA is having to travel.

Matt Letourneau · March 04, 2013, 12:31:43 AM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 03, 2013, 09:48:56 PM
CUA was higher regionally ranked (#2 vs. #3), but Williams criteria info was better than CUA's. CUA despite their record was #2 in the MA because of their SOS... Williams SOS is better and their criteria is better... so not surprised that CUA is having to travel.

It sounds like you would not have been surprised either way. I'm not either, but it really wasn't fair to either team. I understand why this tournament is the way it is, but the bottom line is that both of these teams are among the top 16, which means both should be at home...and they shouldn't even be playing each other. They aren't the only two schools that shouldn't be meeting this early--I also understand that--but it doesn't make it stink any less.

Charles · March 04, 2013, 07:55:37 AM

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 03, 2013, 09:48:56 PM
CUA was higher regionally ranked (#2 vs. #3), but Williams criteria info was better than CUA's. CUA despite their record was #2 in the MA because of their SOS... Williams SOS is better and their criteria is better... so not surprised that CUA is having to travel.

wondering what you mean by criteria? $:-\$

ronk · March 04, 2013, 10:03:30 AM

Quote from: Charles on March 04, 2013, 07:55:37 AM
Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on March 03, 2013, 09:48:56 PM
CUA was higher regionally ranked (#2 vs. #3), but Williams criteria info was better than CUA's. CUA despite their record was #2 in the MA because of their SOS... Williams SOS is better and their criteria is better... so not surprised that CUA is having to travel.

wondering what you mean by criteria? $:-\$

Dave could have said other criteria since SOS is part of the primary criteria that the NCAA uses to make their ranking/hosting decisions.