MBB: Landmark Conference

[Matt Letourneau]

Yes, I've been up almost that far, I just slipped on the name.  I have some relatives in Maine and in Canada.

In any event, Isle means Island, its a curious name either way unless you're French-Canadian, which half of me is...presque isle means, I believe penninsula, or something like that, which is where the town got its name, I think.   If I'm completely wrong on that, sorry, Mainers...

Whatever the case, their basketball team is not very good.  Catholic killed them, 80-38, shooting 66% in the second half after a slow start.   Freshman Jason Banzhof continued to impress, scoring 18.  13 (!!!) players scored for Catholic--Coach Howes got all his kids some time today.

Up next for Catholic....GOUCHER! Just like old times.  Wed. night at 7:30, the first Landmark Conference game for both teams.

Are you coming done to see history being made, D-Mac?  I'm going to try to get there if I don't have to work late.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Matt... I am seriously thinking about it. To be honest, it depends on when a funeral for a former co-worker is. I would love to be there, but a Wednesday doesn't make it easier.

Pat - want to call the game for old-times sake, and for history ! LOL!

[Matt Letourneau]

Well, I hope you can make it.   You won't really recognize things--new floor (which looks AWESOME by the way) and, well, pretty much a whole new team!

[saratoga]

Scranton gets thumped in their Landmark HOME opener by a very impressive (at least for this game) Moravian team. The Royals were beaten in every phase of the game...especially on defense. They outhustled, out shot, out rebounded & out ran the Royals into submission. The game, especially in the second half, was not as close as the final score indicates. The Royals were never able to get into a flow offensively & on the defensive end, they were just plain bad. Moravian passed the ball with a precision that would make an Indiana high school coach proud as they time & again caught Scranton flat footed with their passes around the perimiter that found teammates wide, real wide, & very very wide open. So wide open in fact that the Greyhounds shot a blistering 69% from the field in the first half & an incredable 55% from 3 point land. Two straight losses in the Region & a Swiss cheese defense...the Royals have quite a bit of work ahead of them if they have any asperations of playing beyond the last game on the regular season schedule. Some bright spots for the Royals...the all-around play of freshman Zach Ashworth & the the hustle off the bench of Brendan Fuller. Some real good things are still possible for the Royals...but, the defensive intensity has to improve significantly.

[NEPAFAN]

From the ScrantonTimes

For as well as Moravian shot the ball, however, Scranton was sluggish on defense. The Greyhounds repeatedly were able to beat the Royals in transition, often leading to easy layups.

This from a Scranton team that has ranked in the top 20 in scoring defense in NCAA Division III each of the last three seasons.

"That is a concern, especially when you work on it all the time," Royals coach Carl Danzig said. "I thought we were well-prepared; we had them down pat. Basically, it comes down to effort. I don't think our effort was there."

Hopefully they got it out of their system. Where is the inside game? Scranton was the bigger team ...a couple of 6'8s and 6'6 ...to the Hounds 6'3 and 6'5 inside players....

[Pat Coleman]

Sorry, can't make it. Wish it were Tuesday.

[Matt Letourneau]

Wow.

This is going to be a very interesting year.

I think Catholic will definitely compete, particularly in the second half of the season when they've got their rotations figured out and the freshman get their legs.  They should have the talent to play with anybody.

Perhaps Goucher can avoid overtime...for once!  Of course, I'm hoping the Gophers will be on the losing end of regulation, but frankly, for a while, anyway, I think pretty much every Cardinal game is going to be close.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Matt... something to take into consideration about the Gophers that you haven't witnessed in YEARS. Goucher has a young squad who in most of the games I have seen this year, won't quit.

They came from 23 down on Greensboro... who is head and shoulders better than most teams I have seen in the Mid-Atlantic. Their problem right now is finding what group of guys plays best with one another and who is best off the bench, etc. They also have their best point-guard, in terms of experience, on the bench with a stubburd ankle injury.

I am not saying Goucher is going to win the conference, but I am saying that I wouldn't take this team lightly this year. They are going to win more than their fair share... as long as they don't go to overtime!

Speaking of that, Matt, you sure you want me at the game. Remember, five of the last nine games I have been at... have reached OT.

[Pat Coleman]

Doesn't matter much being head and shoulders ahead of the Mid-Atlantic.

[TheGrove]

Susquehanna's Frank Marcinek is going for his 250th career win tomorrow night against Misericordia. Where can I find all-time numbers on how many coaches have hit this mark? I checked D3Hoops' "Milestones" section but that lists year-by-year who hit what.  Pat? Dave? We've been googling around and not having much luck.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Well, I wasn't able to make tonight's game at the DuFour Center... but I see the Gophers started their Landmark experience with a big win over a rival - Catholic.

I also see that Goucher didn't need to OT to do it - phew! Though, I suspect, if I had gone to the game... I bet the game would have headed into overtime... so all those at DuFour should thank me. Heck, I am thanking myself .

TheGrove - good question. I actually think I have the answer, but I need to restart my computer to get it (long answer). Be back!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

TheGrove - the best answer I can actually come up with right now is that at least 70 coaches have achieved the feat... with plenty more I can't account for.

According to the 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book - 70 coaches have won at least 275 games in Division III alone - heading into this season. But, they don't go past 70 on the list. I will continue to try and find the exact answer for you. But if someone else comes up with it, feel free to post it.

[Matt Letourneau]

Ugh.

I'm going to try to have perspective here.  When you don't score for the last 5:00 of a game, you really can't expect to win it.  But I am hopping mad about a late call, and that's the part that I'm going to try to be fair about.

Congrats to Goucher.  They showed a lot of heart to stay in this game and be in position to take advantage of the CUA meltdown.   They're cleary a better team than they were last year, and they played tough defense. 

Catholic had this game under control but then just completely...tough to describe.  This is where being young comes into play. They just went ice, and I mean ICE cold.  Rarely does something like that happen to a veteran team, but...a learning experience, I guess.  Pretty much everything that went wrong, did.  They missed wide open shots, every loose ball went to Goucher.   You've all seen it before.

D-Mac, I'm sure you'll be around the Goucher people enough to get their read on the call I'm upset about so I'm not asking you to take my word for it.  At the time, Goucher was up by 3, so I can't claim that the outcome of the game would have been different.  I'm not looking to place blame anywhere else anyway.

But...you've got just under a minute left, Gophers up 3 with the ball, and Catholic decides to foul to stop the clock.  So they do.  Or at least, you think they do...one guy gets fouled...no call...pass...that guy gets fouled...no call...another pass...THAT guy gets the usual end of game swipe, finally they call the foul.  Fine.  No big deal, the players all start to trudge to the line, whatever.  But then the ref walks toward the table with his hands up...intentional foul. 

I mean....I'm speechless.  That foul was about as routine as you will ever get.  It was not a hard foul, nobody was upset, you never would look at it twice.  The foul occured right in the area the player was holding the ball, and it was just one of those half hearted attempts to swipe at it.  To make that call...well, it was game over.  Goucher gets two free throws, two makes, gets the ball back.  CUA has to foul again, two more free throws, and we're done.

For me to claim that the outcome would have been different would be wrong.  I can't honestly do that.  But I can say that it might have made a difference.  I was about as mad as I've been at one of those games in a long, long time.  Of course that particular ref got ridden pretty hard for the remaining 45 seconds or so, but the other two officials out there knew it was a bad call and gave some leeway.

Uhh, next game Saturday.  Moving on...

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Matt - won't honestly be around anyone for awhile to chat with them about the call... but will take your description as being odd. The usual description for a intentional foul is there was no attempt for the ball... but it sounds like that might have happened. Who knows.

As for Goucher... I told you they were not the same as last season .

Matt... something to take into consideration about the Gophers that you haven't witnessed in YEARS. Goucher has a young squad who in most of the games I have seen this year, won't quit.

Matt... I wish I was there, but from your description... you saw the two polar opposites of young teams. Goucher has a very young team that is determined and won't quit, no matter what.
Catholic appears to have a young team that can struggle in tight games due to lack of experience and because they don't have that determination... yet!

Both these teams will be rising at the same time in the coming seasons... I will be very interested to see (Pat Cummings, did you read that line) where they go. Goucher shows the potential to be a very good team in this region. Curious where Catholic may end up.

[Matt Letourneau]

Right--that's been Goucher's MO this year and it showed.  They'll probably give a tough game to just about everybody. 

They're both young, but Goucher is practically a grizzled, veteran team compared to Catholic! Goucher has 3 seniors, 5 juniors, 3 sophomores, and 6 freshman on their roster.  Catholic has zero seniors, 5 juniors, 3 sophomores and 9 freshman.

Its easy to get wrapped up in the day to day, particularly after a bad loss (and it was), but Catholic's going to be fine.  These guys are physically very talented.  They've got great depth, and they have a huge height advantage (and therefore rebounding advantage) over just about everyone they've played.  It was the first collegiate game for their new big 6'8 stud, and Ryan Jones, who is really developing into a nice player, missed last night's game.

Sometimes the shots just don't fall--they had some good looks down the stretch, just didn't make the shots--and sometimes the other team makes some great plays.  You just have to tip your cap to your opponent and not let your own team get derailed. 

The difference between the really good teams and the subpar ones isn't just losing, its how you respond to it.