MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[scooterman]

Magic-You are right the Eagles called the dogs off too early and survived a scare. They had 20 pt lead at the half and played lackadaisical(sp) the second half. They called the dogs off too early and SUNYIT started raining 3's. The score was 91-85 with 3 seconds and the big freshman kid that had 32 for IT threw in a half courter for final margin. B-Dubs had a poor game for the Eagles and that is unusual. Hope he comes back strong this weekend. Trip to Fredonia(2 hours) and then back to Buffalo St Saturday PM. Not easy trips! Buffalo St. and B-port not friendly rivalry. I remember the Carney cell phone incident at Buffalo--Always alot of talking between players!!! Good luck Eagles--By the way, I knew it was a longshot for the upset at Potsdam.

[scooterman]

Sorry guys a little misinformation on this weekends trip.B-port goes from Fredonia to Buff St. not back home and on to Buff--My bad!!

[BBM]

Plattsburgh put on a shooting clinic last night against POtsdam - hitting something like 56% of their shots. Despite the hot shooting, POtsdam did tie the game with 6 minutes left in the 1st half and made a nice run with 4 or 5 minutes left in the game. However, every time Potsdam got close, Plattsburgh would hit the 3. Potsdam shot themselves in the foot as they missed 6 or 7 free throws in the last 5 minutes which could have cut the lead to under 5 on several occasions. Officiating: outstanding. Was the best officiated game that I have seen in a year or 2. Was refreshing to see that there are some good ones out there as Potsdam has gotten the bottom of the barrel these past few years. 

[Cards7580]

"...Was the best officiated game that I have seen in a year or 2...."

Maybe there could be a D3Hoops Referee rating service.  Have anyone who goes to the game rate each of the officials in say 5-7 different categories and overall rating.   

[thebear]

Can't say that I totally agree with BBM.  I thought once the game was out of hand, the refs let folks play.

First half, the fouls were lopsided, and several of the ones for Potsdam were of the ticky tack variety, given the war that was going on in the paint, were unneccessary.

Travis Gorham, who I think is a great player, picked up his first foul with 1 minute left in the game.  Given how rough the play was in the post, that's a bit of a joke.

Take nothing away from the Cards.  They are an excellent team, well coached, physical, and with unselfish players.  They can stop you on defense, and have the players to get points when they need them.  I wish them all the best in their drive to Salem.

The future looks bright for the 'burgh as well.  Ruiz & Daniyan are talented frosh, who will only get better.  RJ Ponesse is a 6-9 wide body, who sits because he plays behind an AA caliber center in Gorham,  Typically those folks are very good players by the time they crack the starting lineup, because they play against the best in practice every day.

Kudos as well to Bears' senior Devin Taft who got the stroke going last night with a 5-8 performance for beyond the arc, in several cases NBA range.

Cards are much the best team I've seen.  Don't know why the pollsters have Rochester ranked above them, considering the Cards beat U of R in Rochester last year.  Cards are better than last year, their bigs can play with Rochester's bigs, and I think Williams, Ruiz, & Miller are better athletes than U of R's guard trio.

[FisherDynasty]

Rochester is better.  There bigs are better, and guards besides the pg spot are better.  UofR plays better D, shoots the ball much better, and is more disciplined.  I'd take UofR by 8 anyday.  Last year UofR completely fell apart and blew a 16 pt lead. UofR is much improved from last year as well.  I don't like UofR but they should def be ranked higher then platts. at this point in time.

[jasper]

I agree UofR would beat Plattsburgh easily. Lets be honest last year Plattsburgh beat them on a prayer. UofR is simply a better team overall and play in a much better league

[airball55]

Best officiating??  I don't think either coach would agree with that, by the number of puzzled looks after whistles.  Heck, the Plattsburgh coach spent a whole TV timeout doing dance moves (of which he was correct) to show the stripes a couple of obvious travels they missed.  Other side, lots of reach ins where Potsdam was ready to move up court and got "stripped".  The outcome wasn't decided by the refs, but to give those guys (especially the grey haired guy) a grade of over a C would be an injustice.

[Bob Maxwell]

But they did beat them...  No preference either way here, just would enjoy the game between them if they do get to play somewhere down the line.

[bball12]

 Seeing both teams play U of R bigs are definitly better than Cards bigs but I do think Williams would be the best guard on the floor.  I think U of R would win but it would be a very close game.

[thebear]

Most folks haven't seen Ruiz or Daniyan play, from what I saw last night, they will be A/C or better before they're done.

[magicman]

thebear

Good to hear your comments on the Cards-Bears game last night. As always your observations are honest and to the point. It would seem like the cons outweigh the pros, regarding the officiating. One fellow must have been watching a different game.

And yes, the future looks good with those three freshman you mentioned. Ruiz and Daniyan are usually the first 2 guys off the bench and the strides they've made since the beginning of the year are amazing. Ruiz is a great shooter and plays hard end to end. He doesn't hesitate to take his shot and in the 6 games I've seen he's been instant offense as soon as he enters. Daniyan has been a force inside and while most of his scoring has been from in close he hasn't missed those opportunities when presented. Ponesse hasn't seen a lot of minutes but he's made some key contributions when called upon.

I think Plattsburgh should definitely be ranked higher than they are and if they continue to play well should crack the top ten by NCAA tourney time. The voters place a lot of emphasis on the UAA 's tough schedule, and I don't believe they'll climb above Rochester or Washington U. unless both these teams lose a few more games. It's looking good for Plattsburgh to host the SUNYAC tournament, something they have never done, and if they should be fortunate enough to win the championship, it sure would be nice to host an NCAA game, also something that's never happened here. (Are you listening NCAA)  It would be a 3rd consecutive SUNYAC championship and at some point they should get rewarded for that.

Having said that, I'm scared stiff of Brockport come SUNYAC tourney time. They will need that automatic bid more than Plattsburgh because I think we're looking pretty good even if we lose the crown. Bport on the other hand could get overlooked if they lose. They'll be hungrier, plus the revenge factor from their last 2 meetings will loom large. Just hope the Cardinals remain focused. 26-2 reg. season record just might get them the respect they deserve. And at least 16 of those games will have been on the road.

     

[BBM]

Gentlemen: I took the tape of the Potsdam-Plattsburgh game and watched the entire first half in super slow-mo and watched several of the plays over and over. I will admit that there were 3 REALLY bad calls during the half, all against Potsdam. Graney was called for a block and he must have been set for about 3 seconds at the time. Reinhardt was called for an offensive foul on a putback and it was super obvious that if there was a foul (I didn't think so) it should have been called on the Plattsburgh player and a Plattsburgh guard penetrated the lane, took 5, possibly 6 dribbles, kicked the ball out for a 3 by his teammate. Those 3 calls led directly to 7 PLattsburgh points. I will also stand by my free throw statement: Potsdam was awful at the charity stipe going 6-12 in the 1st half. Hey, take those 7 points away from Plattsburgh, make another free throw or 2 and then you'll never know......

[scooterman]

A little bit of comparative scoring--Bport played both U of R and the Burg and lost by 5 at the U or R and 3 in OT at the Burg. The U of R loss was with some very questionable calls down the stretch (if you recall)--Who is better--I dont know--its a pick 'em--I am talking about U or R or The Burg--b-port still quality club

[Jacketfan2011]

Some more comparative scoring:

After taking some time to find Plattsburgh in the Massey rankings (#41) and looking at their schedule:

Plattsburgh 74-69 over Cortland at home

UR 72-50 over Cortland at home

Comparative scoring doesn't mean diddley