MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[thebear]

Agreed.

A great team wins at home and on the road.  If the 1 seed hosts, some advantage, but if the contending teams are good enough, it just adds some spice.  Important thing is to make sure that the visitors get a reasonable amount of seating.

Of course, Potsdam has a corner on that market, they won their '80-81 national title in overtime on the home court of their opponent.  Don't think that's been done since.


Peace

[bearseh]

An offensive year in SUNYAC. Here's how they stack up in league play: PF/PA

Points For:

Brockport
Buff State
Potsdam
Oswego
SUNYIT
Geneseo
Cortland
Plattsburg
New Paltz
Oneonta
Fredonia

All top 8 make the tournement.

Points Against:

Cortland
Fredonia
Plattsburg
Oswego
Oneonta
Potsdam
Geneseo
SUNYIT
New Paltz
Brockport
Buff State

2 of top 8 don't make tourney.

[Nick bigmorton]

Player of the year or not, I got a pair of Red Dragons I watched the other night that are running away with it.  In other words... It's a Two Dragon race.   Frank Ranieri and Simon Skrelja are the senior leaders and co-captains of a team that hasn't really been challenged aside from a fluke loss to Oswego.  These guys do it all.  Skrelja with the fly-overs, and Ranieri with the bi-ceps.  Wins and losses people.  These guys are winners.  I even saw them helping old women across the street after the Brockport win.  Admirable human beings that belong at the top of the voting for SUNYAC POY.

[thebear]

Agreed Ranieri and Skrelja are a big part of Cortland's success, but similar to last year, when Potsdam wins both regular season and tournament titles, POY didn't go to the Bears.

Potsdam has 4 All-SUNYAC selection, but Zera of Geneseo wins POY.  admittedly leading scorer, but his team was middle of the pack.

Unselfish teams often win the league title, but SUNYAC tends to reward scorers. 

IMHO, Taggart is the reason Cortland is 15-1 this year.  So far, no one in the conference has an answer for him.  He's the only major add to last year's team, and plugs the one hole in C-State's armor, a legitimate force in the paint.

[bearnation]

 I have to agree about Taggart for Cortland.  Very physical player similar to Hauben for Uof R.  Last year in elite 8 game Potsdam couldn't stop Hauben.  If any team wants to win SUNYAC title they have to stop Targgart in the paint.  Cortland isn't a perimeter team.  Thay don't score a lot of points but will shut you down with tough D.  That being said I still believe they can be beat because they don't have a go to guy late in a close game on a neutral court. 

Back in the day there wasn't anything like a good Potsdam vs Albany vs Buff State game at Maxcy.  A keg or 2 before the game and 3000+ fans going crazy.  When was the last time a SUNYAC team sold out their home court.  I look at the attendence on line and most school can't get more then 500 fans to watch their games.  Maybe this is why the game is played in Utica because the alumni can go to the games because of location.  Students would rather play PS2 then go watch some great D3hoops.   I will be driving 2 hours each way to watch Potsdam friday.  The new gym at Oneonta holds 4000 I believe they will have maybe 300 and most of them will be Potsdam loyal fans.

[bearseh]

Nick -

Ask the Dragons if they've been "really challenged" this year.
Two wins over a Brockport team that doesn't play defense by a total of 3 points.
2 point win over Buff State - who, by the way, typically plays less D than Brockport.
Which of those were "fluke" wins?
Plus 6 over a fair SUNYIT team - a real blowout by these standards.
Meeting both Oswego and Potsdam only once...is a big scheduling plus.

What I've enjoyed most about C'State this year is that they have been challenged and have met those challenges with disciplined, team ball. No POY here but, possibly, the SUNYAC team of the year. We'll see in about 10 days.

Re: Simon - I know he's a C'State favorite son, but, really...

[bearseh]

Who goes to the Aud?

Player's parents, relatives, friends, neighbors, girl friend or boyfriend; a handful of students from each participating school willing to burn class and who have a place to crash in Utica - or don't mind the 5 - 6 hour round trip to Brockport, Potsdam, Plattsburg; a handful of each participating school's local fans (typically retired so time off isn't an issue); half a dozen of the CNY (Syracuse) basketball cognescenti for face time; a few Utica locals. That's it. Alumni? More like alumnus.

The Aud will be empty and colorless once again for what should be the flag ship event of the basketball season.

[bearnation]

Beareh You either go to Potsdam or went to Potsdam.  When was the last time Maxcy/Jerry Welsh had a huge crowd for a regular season SUNYAC game?  How many people went to see the Cortland game this year?  I live 6 hours from Potsdam, I watch more Potsdam games then the students that attend school there.  There was once a time when the Potsdam/Cortland would've had a crowd of over 3000 for a regular season game not 500.  Cortland is a jock school and only had a crowd of 900 for a huge game vs Brockport.  Most student who now attend school in the SUNY sysytem do not attend their home schools game look at the numbers.  I believe if any school were to host the conference tournment there would not be a sell out game.

[bimbo coles]

no Mims for POY?? just a consideration..

[thebear]

If you were at Potsdam the other night, you would probably say no.

He may not be the best player on his own team, Burridge is a solid force in the middle, with skilled post moves.  In addition, Mims plays with Perioli, without Nick, I'm not sure Mims would be as good as he is.

Barton really dominated Mims, Mims nearly fouled out, and was switched to guard another player, he just couldn't guard Barton in the paint.

Barton 29 pts 12 rebounds (6 O 6 D) 5 assists, 1 block, 4 steals 32 minutes

Mims 15 pts, 4 rebounds (3 O 1 D), 3 blocks, 2 steals 30 minutes.

Oswego is a good team with 3 likely all-SUNYAC players.  That being said, they may actually be underachieving this year.  As a team they are shooting poorly from the arc, which allows teams to pack it in on them.

[cstate19]

the bear fans go crazy with posts while i am away from my computer.....

my thoughts....

1)simon is an extremely valuable player to cortland....tonesetter....energy off the bench...extreme matchup problem at the 1....senior leader....etc.....POY? not top 10.....how many MVP votes does teddy bruschi get a year?

2) taggart is the reason cortland is 15-1.......any big man with size and who can walk straigh goes higher then the SUNYAC....thats why he is such a problem.......the best part about him is he gets most of his points by way of offensive rebounds......

3) cortland is not a perimeter team?? who said that? have you seen them play?? the ball is always on the perimeter waiting to get into jutton (not his best year but a very clutch player look for a big postseason play or two from him) or maggicamo's hands..... not a perimeter team.....wow

4) the fan attendanc (particularly the student body) is pathetic.......i think i gave some reasons in an earlier post.......the idea of having the entire tournament of the final four at the #1 seeds place is not to sell out or get a better environment so much as it is to reward them for being the #1 seed......as it stands now there is no advantage of being a #1 any more then a #4......#1 doenst have to travel, and plays on their court......

[thebear]

Cstate19 - no disrespect here.

I think what bearseh means is that Cortland has a couple of shooters, but relies on Ranieri, Skrelja, and Taggart, not to meantion Headley (unsung hero) for a pretty good hunk of their scoring.  Skrelja and Taggart might make a three if they get lucky, Ranieri can shoot it, but he's only made 3x10 in the conference this season, not someone you would focus on.

Maggiacomo is a great spark off the bench, and can shoot the rock. 

If you look at Potsdam, their PG, Wings, and PF are all three point shooters you have to respect - Damon Brown (23x42 .548)  , Scott Mitchell (25x49 .510), Ernst Ducena (39x85 .459), Edane Barton (11x23 .478).  In addition, the center, Brandon Siskavich has very good range for a 6'7" post. 

The point is that with Cortland you have two guys, three at most that can shoot the three.  With Potsdam, everyone except the post is a legitimate 3 point threat, if you challenge them on the perimeter it opens up the inside, and Brown and Barton are very quick athletic players who love to take it to the rack.

Brown & Mitchell are new to the lineup since Cortland played Potsdam, and they change the Bears' game from what the Dragons saw earlier.

Potsdam shooting 3 pt @ .455 for 15 SUNYAC games, while holding opponents to .296 beyond the arc.  When you talk perimeter team, that's what Bearseh means.

[bearseh]

Bearnation:

At the tender age of 61, not currently enrolled! An Oswego alumnus, class of '66.
Got hooked on SUNYAC basketball watching Ron Davis at Oswego when I was a kid and Bears basketball in the 80's for obvious reasons.

You're correct. SUNYAC students do not typically support their athletic teams with strong attendance. Lots of reasons I am sure we agree on, including too little time and so many choices. Additionally, I do believe the institutions and conference do an abysmal job promoting and marketing their sports within both their academic and larger communities and that is a significant, contributing factor to low attendance. Be glad to discuss this at length off-line - but staging the tourney at the Aud is an example.

I agree that a campus based tournamnet will not sell out - without promotion over time. But dollars to donuts, go to the 1 seed campus, or Jamesville-DeWitt high school, and it will immediately and significantly out draw the Aud. More importantly, traditions are built over time. The tradition that's been built at the Aud? It's more fun to IM, watch ESPN, or get a root canal.

[KING]

Not really sure who started the converstation about the #1 seed hosting all of the game that would have usually been played in the aud.  but i love the idea!  Cortland has the best floor/gym in the conference behind only o-state.  The lack of #'s in the seats i don't believe would be an issue in the playoffs as they can be in the reg. season here at cortland.  i used to play at randolph-macon and even as the #1 team in the country, we would have games with more empty seats than full.  Come playoff time and NCAA tourney.... we had students and adults camping outside of the area waiting for tickets.  The same could hold true here at cortland, and worst case... it would be better than playing in the 60* aud where its too cold to even work up a sweat.

[bearseh]

Did I ever suggest Cortland was or was not a perimeter team?