MBB: Landmark Conference

[NEPAFAN]

Was Moravian in the MAC?

[saratoga]

Yes.
MAC Commonwealth.

[ronk]

 At 1 time, nearly everyone in the region was in the MAC - 4 divisions of at least 6 in each division(the current Freedom, Commonwealth and Centennial conferences.

[Reserved Seat]

Even Drexel was in the MAC for at least cross country.

[NEPAFAN]

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/01/31/bethenny-frankels-ex-arrested-after-shocking-school-run-in.html

Let's Go Royals!

[saratoga]

Thanks NEPA.

Always nice to be brought up to date on what some alumni are up to.

As for the " I will destroy you" comment...I think Jason was just repeating what he heard Coach Bessoir yell to the opposing coach's all those years.

Fun times in the Big Apple, perhaps even tweet worthy from a certain someone. 

[NEPAFAN]

Thanks NEPA.

Always nice to be brought up to date on what some alumni are up to.

As for the " I will destroy you" comment...I think Jason was just repeating what he heard Coach Bessoir yell to the opposing coach's all those years.

Fun times in the Big Apple, perhaps even tweet worthy from a certain someone. 

Hey if he can pray for Arnold and the Apprentice maybe we can get a prayer for all current and former royals. I was a bit shocked when I saw Jason Hoppy trending on Yahoo, so I had to share.

Good win last night..anyone know what is wrong with Fienberg?

[CardsFan]

I've been knocking the defense for a few weeks now, but I'll focus on the fight back for CUA today. The Cards were down 14 at halftime and couldn't have done much worse, but they played a really good 2nd half and got the win. Another great game for Louis Khouri (27 pts.), who has had an excellent senior season. He made some tough buckets when CUA was coming back in the game and hustled for a few offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive.

Nice to see Jay Howard back to his best. He hasn't looked 100% recently but he did today.

[ronk]

Preseason Poll
Team Points
1. Susquehanna 60 (4)
2. Catholic 52 (1)
2. Scranton 52 (1)
4. Juniata 41 (2)
5. Moravian 24
6. Drew 17
7. Goucher 15
8. Elizabethtown 11

Ronk's preseason projection

Susquehanna 10-4
Scranton        10-4
Catholic           9-5
Juniata            9-5
Moravian         9-5
E-town            5-9
Drew               2-12
Goucher          2-12

Essentially, the top 5 split with each other, 3 thru 5 lose 1 game each to the 6 thru 8 group, 7 & 8 split with each other and lose both to E-town.

So, after this week's  games, here are the current standings:
Susque   8-2   0.800   783   690      18-3   0.857   1694   1468   8-2   Won 2
Scranton   8-2   0.800   729   623      16-5   0.762   1530   1334   8-2   Won 5
Catholic   7-3   0.700   775   745      15-6   0.714   1580   1498   6-4   Won 2
Moravian   7-3   0.700   796   741      14-7   0.667   1752   1663   6-4   Won 1
Drew         5-5   0.500   710   721      11-10   0.524   1591   1509   6-4   Lost 1
Juniata   3-7   0.300   700   748      11-10   0.524   1500   1419   4-6   Lost 2
Elizabethtown   1-9   0.100   612   742      4-16   0.200   1278   1450   1-9   Lost 4
Goucher   1-9   0.100   638   733      4-17   0.190   1319   1521   1-9   Lost 6




In this week's games, there were 3 outcomes that differed from my preseason projection(Scranton winning @ Mor and Jun, D defeating E-town; so my revised projection:

Susque           11-3
Scranton         11-3
Moravian          9-5
Catholic           8-6
Juniata            7-7
Drew               5-9
E-town             3-11
Goucher           2-12

This week's Game of the nite:

Wed - Catholic @ Susque
Sat -   Scranton @ Catholic

[saratoga]

From the Whatever it's Worth category...

I absolutely hate this Landmark schedule.

They had it right when the league was formed...men & women both at home & you play Friday & Saturday league games.

This current configuration of having to decide which game to see & sometimes no home games for some teams in over a week is so not fan friendly.

As an example, the Lady Royals last played at home this past Wednesday.
They were on the road yesterday, they'll be on the road Wed's., they'll be on the road Sat., & they'll be on the road the following Wed's.
I'm sure the other schools have had similar gaps between home dates as well.

I know from speaking to a number of players through the early years, they enjoyed the schedule and felt it really gave them a bit of an advantage come playoff time because they were so used to the back to back games and how to both mentally & physically prepare for what awaited them in the tournament.

Look at the Final Four teams over the last decade & it's full of teams from the NESCAC & UAA which travel far further miles between games than the Landmark would.

For example, this weekend Amherst was on the road Friday in Maine to play Bates & then had to play Tufts at home in Mass. Saturday afternoon.
By the way...they obviously won both games.

Think for a minute that even if they didn't have a really good team that being so used to the back to back concept is not yet another advantage these schools have?

Time for the Landmark administrative hierarchy to get their heads out of the sand, benchmark with these conferences and make the schedule workable for both the student athletes and their fans.

The current setup serves no one.

[Pat Coleman]

I agree with you about the NESCAC and UAA teams tending to advance deep and I also agree that a back-to-back schedule helps prepare teams for the postseason.

I wonder if, now that Merchant Marine is out of the equation, whether they might revisit the scheduling.

[Hooper42]

Toga while I do agree the Landmark Conference scheduling needs some work, with multiple teams playing 4 consecutive road games, I don't think playing back to back on the weekend is the answer. Players and Coaches I have spoke with did not like preparing for 2 teams simeltaneously during the week, and they also felt players were more injury prone in the second game of the back to back.

While it may provide a slight advtange in preparing for the NCAA tourney, I think the reason UAA and NESCAC teams are successful in tournament is due to good players as opposed to conference scheduling format.

I do believe the Landmark conference will be very strong in the coming years with the new coaches at Moravian and Goucher and Schlossers tenure at E-town winding down.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Toga while I do agree the Landmark Conference scheduling needs some work, with multiple teams playing 4 consecutive road games, I don't think playing back to back on the weekend is the answer. Players and Coaches I have spoke with did not like preparing for 2 teams simeltaneously during the week, and they also felt players were more injury prone in the second game of the back to back.

While it may provide a slight advtange in preparing for the NCAA tourney, I think the reason UAA and NESCAC teams are successful in tournament is due to good players as opposed to conference scheduling format.

I do believe the Landmark conference will be very strong in the coming years with the new coaches at Moravian and Goucher and Schlossers tenure at E-town winding down.

So this explains why the conference doesn't do well in the NCAA tournament?

It is a strawman argument to me... there are a NUMBER of conferences who play two games on a weekend and I have not seen injuries increase and play decrease. There is more than the UAA and the NESCAC. The SUNYAC, ASC, SCAC, SAA, USA South, Liberty, Empire 8, NEAC, SLIAC, MIAC (to some degree), NWC, and probably others I missed all have some kind of busy weekend.

I have always thought the Landmark did better with the conference weekend schedule. It was also nice to see the teams at home more than how it works out now (same number of games, but not same number of opportunities for the fans). It also killed the idea of seeing rivals playing any other time than a weekday (rivals being close proximity - I realize Scranton, Catholic works out on weekends). Of course the weekdays are when the crowds are most likely going to be smaller.

Can injuries occur on these trips? Sure. But they can also occur when you practice the next day from a game. They just happen.

The other argument I used to hear was that players were tired on Sunday and didn't have the energy to study... this one is also kind of a "roll your eyes" type argument for me. The UAA, NESCAC, and several of those other conferences have as good if not far higher academic standards than the Landmark and those institutions have some of the brightest student-athletes in the division. They don't seem to struggle with the academics. They adjust accordingly and many go on to All-Academic Team and other academic honors.

I very much dislike the Wednesday schedule. While others have disagreed, I have also felt it adds to the transportation costs for a school (not everyone chooses to take two buses to a double-header).

With Merchant Marine gone, I too hope that the conference reconsiders the schedule. However, I am also more than aware that sometimes the minority tends to be the loudest voice in the room and thus the right decision isn't always the one allowed to be made.

[saratoga]

Pat/Dave,

I certainly hope you're right & now that MMA is gone, the discussion could at least begin again.

I'm also pretty sure that I heard several years back that Moravian was also whining about the original setup but their issue was supposedly the cost of hotels on a near weekly basis for the men & women.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Pat/Dave,

I certainly hope you're right & now that MMA is gone, the discussion could at least begin again.

I'm also pretty sure that I heard several years back that Moravian was also whining about the original setup but their issue was supposedly the cost of hotels on a near weekly basis for the men & women.

Not sure who, but I had heard the hotel argument as well. And I get that one, but it wasn't like that was suddenly a surprise to everyone. Maybe smarter decisions have to be made, but the Wednesday schedule is not the best.