MBB: Landmark Conference

[Great Day to be a Royal]

I was impressed with the multiple camera angles and replays. F&M did it right.

[ronk]

 The offense for the Royals these days has been tweaked as evidenced by the 6 offensive fouls yesterday. They're taking it to the hoop. Will had 3 of them; he's needs some schooling; too valuable to be missing time because of offensive fouls. Recommendation: watch video of Matt Mancuso's footwork and moves in the paint and/or bring him for some personal coaching.                                 

[NEPAFAN]

I don't think there is anyway to follow Scranton in Puerto Rico without a subscription to Flo Sports.

That Eastern win is looking very good, Eastern is 10-2 and just beat a Widener team featuring Susquehanna Transfer Dominic Dunn.


Scranton sitting at 38 in Massey Ratings.

[saratoga]

I think most Royal fans & alum are hoping that this may be the team and the year that the Royals break out of their years long slumber and finally win the Landmark & then actually win a few games in the tournament.

However, before we get excited about what may lie ahead for the Royals, we need to travel back in time 4 years ago when this board was awash with posters thinking this class of Royals was meant for far bigger and more glorious things than simple Landmark championships.

That team had that perfect combination of veteran and rookie players that were about to embark on sights never seen under the current coaching staff.

Matt Mancuso, Logan Bailey, & Kyle DeVerna were there to mentor the next group of freshmen that would be there to take them to the next level.
Those players we all had high hopes for were Jackson Danzig, Jack Brockett, Ben Bosland, & Ryan Emms. Together, this blended group of upperclassmen & big name frosh were going to get it done.

Unfortunately, as we all now know...those teams, with all that talent, never once won the Landmark let alone made it to the NCAA's.

Although the Royals are off to a fantastic start, let's remember history has shown over a 20 year sample that the chances of them continuing at this pace are extremely low to non-existent.

In fact, in the past 20 years under the current leadership, only two of his teams were listed in the D3 Hoops final Top 25 rankings.
They were the 2002/03' team which consisted of a team full of ex coach Bessior's kids at # 22 and his only other one was in 2011/12' when they finished # 15.

Beyond those two years, the Royals have had little to no national recognition when crunch time rolled around.

If the late season swoons were the exception & not the rule, then I too would have those Happy Holiday good will feelings regarding what his teams might accomplish...unfortunately, as with most movies this time of year...I've seen this one before.

[Tim the Enchanter]

The Royals are getting some love on a few ballots this week.  Hopefully after exams they can bring that momentum to Puerto Rico.  After the good win against Eastern, I am cautiously optimistic, but with the youth on this team I'll want to see how they respond to the grind of conference play.  Where they are after that first week of January (when they play Cortland/Catholic) should be a good indication of how the balance of the season might go.

[ronk]

Informal Landmark @ Centennial challenge tomorrow with Susquehanna @ Swarthmore, Drew @ Muhlenberg, and the Royals @ F&M.

Scranton the loan victor last night. I think the Diplomats only had 4 points with about 8 minutes left in the first half. They made it interesting as F & M clawed back , much like Eastern did.

Scranton has PSU-Harrisburg on Saturday, think that Assistant Coach Jeff Frank can provide some insight into his former team?

F&M was missing their best 3-pt shooter last nite and was the 5th worse foul-shooting team in the country;   both contributed to the Royals' win. Royals have to be more careful with their dribbling and passing; allowed F&M to get back into the game.
  Now 1 of 21 undefeated men's teams; could go undefeated in the non-conference schedule like they did a few years ago; that year, Scranton was the last team in the country to have a defeat by both the men's and women's teams.

Besides Scranton, I know that the men's/women's teams are also both undefeated at CNU and NYU.  Any others?

Doesn't look like any others; NYU men @ Roanoke tourney possible next loss for the group.

And then there are 2 undefeated, after the CNU men lost to Hampden-Sydney.

[NEPAFAN]

Discussion of Scranton and some other teams...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB9V8akj2GE&t=598s

[ronk]

Discussion of Scranton and some other teams...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB9V8akj2GE&t=598s

Thanks. There's also a new 7-min interview with Dave Martin by Fitzhenry about the fall and winter teams' successes and the Royal Way being a factor.

[NEPAFAN]

Is it on Scranton website?

[ronk]

 I saw it on youtube - episode 8 of the series.

[Tim the Enchanter]

Scary moment for Scranton commit PJ Kellachan last week as he had a seizure and collapsed on the court.  Heroic efforts by the coach and athletic trainer to revive him.  I hope this young man has a swift and lasting recovery.

https://abc7ny.com/cardiac-arrest-chaminade-high-school-basketball-player-collapses-cpr/12551477/

[ronk]

 I saw this story but didn't know he was a commit.

[ronk]

 Royals' game with Lycoming tomorrow in Puerto Rico is noon(ast), 11 am(est). Video may be  a pay for; there might be online stats on the Lycoming MBB schedule. Lycoming is going all the way to Puerto Rico to play Scranton and Susquehanna; they must want to gather data on their future Landmark opponents. I'd rather play someone from another region. 

[Tim the Enchanter]

Royals played without McLoughlin (not sure why), and that definitely hurt them.  They lost on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left after giving up an offensive rebound on a missed Lyco free throw.  So now it's just NYU as the lone pair of unbeatens.

[ronk]

 Looks like Hanley was an adequate replacement for McLoughlin, but the team only shot 11 3-pters; they usually shoot that many in a half.