MBB: Landmark Conference

[ronk]

Babson vs Scranton at 7. Babson is a big team, and it looks like a great match up b/w their two stars and Boken and Danzig. The good news is Scranton has been rebounding a lot better since that MMA when we got all over them.

Westfield State had Babson on the ropes a bit, but faded with about 5 minutes left. Looked like a bit of team infighting from my observation of the live stream.

I am wondering if Scranton's 3 point shooting is the x factor here.

What is the scouting report on RM-CUA?

So what kind of game was Scranton-Babson? Was it really just a matter of Scranton shooting poorly? I would have liked at least 1 Landmark team to make the 2nd weekend, but it wasn't to be. I'm certainly not going to miss Ross Danzig tearing CUA up twice a season, but he was a fantastic player (probably the best this conference has ever had) and I am going to miss watching him play.

Well, the difference was Babson's good defense; the only open shots were PG Doolan's and he hit 4 3s. No one else was getting open shots or weakly-defended drives like we saw in the regular season. Babson went on a 10-0 run midway in the 1st half to go
from 4 down to 6 up. The lead was mostly 7-12 in the 2nd half before Scranton missed an open 3 in the last 2 mins that would have cut it to 2. It was a winnable game but the bar is set higher in the postseason and it becomes harder to run your offense. Boken gave them trouble on offense and Ross scored 12 in the 2nd half to spark the comeback, but you need more to advance. 

[Matt Letourneau]

a real unfortunate play. that's how kids get hurt. just a sad way for CUA to end a nice season. Coach Howes needs to explain his  behavior. bad moment for CUA.

Why?  What did Coach Howes do?  His player made a hard foul and got called for it.  The opposing coach felt the need to march down the sideline and cuss out both the opposing coach and the player.  What is Coach Howes supposed to do about it?

I respectfully disagree with NEPA fan--again, I don't think its appropriate for a coach to scream the f-word at an opposing coach or player in any circumstance, even if you feel like you've been wronged.  He's okay with that, I'm not.  Different standards, so be it.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Matt... did you have a problem when Lonergan did it? I know I did when Trevino used to do it... but did you have a problem when Lonergan used to do it?

[CardsFan]

Matt... did you have a problem when Lonergan did it? I know I did when Trevino used to do it... but did you have a problem when Lonergan used to do it?

I don't think anyone who was around during the Lonergan years would argue that he isn't an animated coach, but it didn't seem so crazy then as many CAC game were "tense" to say the least. I remember several bust-ups between he and Rod Wood at UMW, but I also admit I don't have a great sense of all those moments as I was a young kid then.

I'm against any coach making a spectacle of himself, but may I just add a qualifier for yesterday that Howes was not the instigator and was responding to what was being directed at him. Again, not in favor of the "hold me back" approach but once the adrenaline gets pumping reactions get tricky.

[NEPAFAN]

a real unfortunate play. that's how kids get hurt. just a sad way for CUA to end a nice season. Coach Howes needs to explain his  behavior. bad moment for CUA.

Why?  What did Coach Howes do?  His player made a hard foul and got called for it.  The opposing coach felt the need to march down the sideline and cuss out both the opposing coach and the player.  What is Coach Howes supposed to do about it?

I respectfully disagree with NEPA fan--again, I don't think its appropriate for a coach to scream the f-word at an opposing coach or player in any circumstance, even if you feel like you've been wronged.  He's okay with that, I'm not.  Different standards, so be it.

Matt i can only go by the video. I have no idea what the RMC coach yelled at the CUA bench. I can
See the nature of the foul in the video. I can see his reason for getting upset and understand emotions run high in the second round of the tourney.

[Pat Coleman]

Matt... did you have a problem when Lonergan did it? I know I did when Trevino used to do it... but did you have a problem when Lonergan used to do it?

We're talking about things that happened a decade ago when all of us were much younger. Perhaps those things aren't relevant for any of us.

[Matt Letourneau]

Matt... did you have a problem when Lonergan did it? I know I did when Trevino used to do it... but did you have a problem when Lonergan used to do it?

I suppose that's a fair question, and in the abstract my answer is yes. I certainly remember Lonergan getting plenty worked up with officials and with his own players, but I don't recall ever seeing him go to the other sideline and start going off on another coach.  Now, I'm sure there were plenty of things that happened when I wasn't around, and I heard stories, but I just don't remember myself ever seeing that.  I remember things got very heated down at Mary Washington in the conference tournament one year and there was certainly no love lost between Wood and Lonergan. Catholic had all kinds of incidents with Marymount over a couple of years too, but I don't remember the coaches really ever being involved.

I'm not saying it didn't happen, you guys were around before I was.  The big Goucher-Catholic battles were mostly before my time, I wasn't there for the SRC North/South era.  I do remember Trevino getting very hot at home once and getting one or two tech's, and then picking up at least one another time at Catholic, but I don't remember him ever directing it to that extent to Catholic's coaches or players either.

The context does matter--I don't think its ever okay, but its one thing when you have a history with a team and there's been consistent bad blood, its another when its a single play at the end of a well-played game between teams that I think both generally have good reputations.  I certainly agree with CardsFan--the Landmark is very tame compared to the CAC.  Maybe I'm just not conditioned to it anymore.

NEPA--I'm okay with the R-MC coach getting upset.  I totally understand it.  But...stay on your own sideline and direct your profanities and/or thoughts to the officials and your own team.   

[saratoga]

Talk about deceiving.....
Under the header, Sweet 16 Hosts Announced...
"Babson packed em' in this weekend".
Really?
You mean all 600 that gym holds?
Pretty bad when as the game is about to begin, maintenance is carrying bleachers in to be placed on an overhead running track.
Whatever happened to minimum requirements schools must meet in regard to seating?
Then, to top it off, Babson gets the nod for the next round?
I hope the college promised additional seating would be in place prior to tipoff.

[ronk]

Talk about deceiving.....
Under the header, Sweet 16 Hosts Announced...
"Babson packed em' in this weekend".
Really?
You mean all 600 that gym holds?
Pretty bad when as the game is about to begin, maintenance is carrying bleachers in to be placed on an overhead running track.
Whatever happened to minimum requirements schools must meet in regard to seating?
Then, to top it off, Babson gets the nod for the next round?
I hope the college promised additional seating would be in place prior to tipoff.

The 1000 seat minimum is only for the sectional rounds, not the regional 1st weekend rounds.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Well to be honest, there is a minimum for the first weekend it just isn't written down. Thus why many feel the reason schools like Albertus Magnus will never host in the NCAA tournament a pod of games - just too small. Babson apparently fits in with everything the NCAA requires in a host including seating - and temp seating is nothing new for any location (why it was being delivered at the last minute is up to opinion and maybe factors we don't know). Apparently Babson did a good enough job this past weekend to host again this weekend or the tourney most likely would have been at Trinity (Bates is further than 500 miles to Johns Hopkins) which I am pretty sure is plenty big.

[Pat Coleman]

Talk about deceiving.....
Under the header, Sweet 16 Hosts Announced...
"Babson packed em' in this weekend".
Really?
You mean all 600 that gym holds?
Pretty bad when as the game is about to begin, maintenance is carrying bleachers in to be placed on an overhead running track.
Whatever happened to minimum requirements schools must meet in regard to seating?
Then, to top it off, Babson gets the nod for the next round?
I hope the college promised additional seating would be in place prior to tipoff.

My contacts in New England, who have seen sectional play elsewhere, didn't think it was out of line for Babson to host a sectional.

They listed 1250 as the attendance for Saturday, but that is a round number so I doubt it is the official, NCAA-recognized attendance. They claim 650 permanent seating but 1,500 with temporary seating and SRO. Hopefully the fire marshall agrees.

[saratoga]

Ronk:
I've certainly heard of certain schools being passed over for first round games in the past due to their gym's 8th. grade seating capacity.
Beyond that, how can they host a sectional where teams actually travel with a fan & alumni base?
Trinity hosted the NESCAC tournament & is a far better option.

[ronk]

Well to be honest, there is a minimum for the first weekend it just isn't written down. Thus why many feel the reason schools like Albertus Magnus will never host in the NCAA tournament a pod of games - just too small. Babson apparently fits in with everything the NCAA requires in a host including seating - and temp seating is nothing new for any location (why it was being delivered at the last minute is up to opinion and maybe factors we don't know). Apparently Babson did a good enough job this past weekend to host again this weekend or the tourney most likely would have been at Trinity (Bates is further than 500 miles to Johns Hopkins) which I am pretty sure is plenty big.

It is written down and the criteria is regulation court, not minimum capacity.

[Pat Coleman]

Well to be honest, there is a minimum for the first weekend it just isn't written down. Thus why many feel the reason schools like Albertus Magnus will never host in the NCAA tournament a pod of games - just too small. Babson apparently fits in with everything the NCAA requires in a host including seating - and temp seating is nothing new for any location (why it was being delivered at the last minute is up to opinion and maybe factors we don't know). Apparently Babson did a good enough job this past weekend to host again this weekend or the tourney most likely would have been at Trinity (Bates is further than 500 miles to Johns Hopkins) which I am pretty sure is plenty big.

It is written down and the criteria is regulation court, not minimum capacity.

Right, so as was said, not a criterion for seating capacity the first weekend.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

ronk - as Pat said, it isn't a criterion, but please understand there is a minimum the NCAA isn't going to go under in terms of seating for the first weekend of games... that number just isn't written down. Otherwise, places like AMC, Wesley, and others with very small gyms would be able to host... but we know they are not (at least for a pod of game). Also, it doesn't come down to a regulation court because teams wouldn't be allowed to play on their courts during the regular season in the first place.

saratoga - they aren't going to take away a hosting opportunity from a school because a visiting school might have a huge number of alumni and fans who want to be at the game. They are also not going to start bracketing and sending teams to particular places for the very same reasons. If a school meets or exceeds the minimum criteria (and are ranked high enough), they get to host and if fans are shut-out - well I hate to say it, it won't be the first nor will it be the last time.

I vividly remember calling games at Centre College a number of years ago where they didn't have enough room for their own students to be in the gym (it was a very popular regional). They made sure to have video of the game on TVs around campus, including the cafe right outside the gym, so fans could see it. We taped in my audio that game - I believe that was my first audio/video broadcast in what was very new thinking at the time. That gym hasn't changed and they are worthy of hosting in the future as well.