MBB: State University of New York Athletic Conference

[magicman]

Scooter- I agree that NYS gets very little respect. We do have 2 out of the four teams still in the sweet sixteen.  I've already said that I think the problem with the NY leagues (if you want to call it that) is parity. In the e-8 (or e-9) and SUNYAC the top 5 or 6 teams take turns beating each other (with the exception of the esteemed Cards of course).  In the LL the whole league is competitive with the possible exception of Skidmore.  That being said all the losses mount up while teams like Mass - Dartmouth has a bunch of league opponents that couldn't beat the elite teams in the league with a "beating machine".  Hence a gaudy record, hence a pool bid when I wouldn't be surprised if B-port, Oswego, Cortland & maybe even Geneseo could beat Mass-Dartmouth. Heck ,if I'm right ,I think Mass-Dart got beat twice by a team that lost to New Paltz!!!!

with age,
You're partially correct. Keene State was the team from the Little East Conference
that New Paltz beat and Keene St. finished 3rd in their league behind UMASS-Dartmouth and Rhode Island. Keene St lost at  Mass-Dartmouth 100-97 in OT the 1st time they played them and turned the tables on their home court winning 92-85 in OT. This same Keene St. team also beat another NCAA bound team, Lasell, who won the automatic bid from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. Three times Keene St. played Rhode Island and came up just short, losing by 4 in OT, by 4 the 2nd time they played, and by 5 in their conference tournament. I stated back in late Jan. that Mass-Dartmouth would probably finish in the middle of the pack if they played in our SUNYAC league and couldn't understand why they were being given such a lofty national ranking. Took a lot of heat at the time for saying that.  On Feb. 5th or 6th I stated on the Top 25 board that Keene St. would beat a then 20-0 Mass-Dartmouth team that was ranked #2 in the D3Hoops poll. I didn't hear much from their fans after that happened. Rhode Island then beat them twice after that. Still, going into the last week of the season they were ranked ahead of Plattsburgh at #5. Only when they lost to Rhode Island and failed to win their automatic bid did they drop behind Plattsburgh in the poll as we rose to #7 and they fell to #10. Needless to say I didn't have them winning a 1st round game when I filled out my brackets. 

[BuzzBurgh]

Regarding the the big three this weekend (Amherst, Brandeis, and Plattsburgh) and their conferences, have you had a chance to check out the computerized Massey Ratings: http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb&sub=III&mid=6
It is interesting to note that in the top 60 teams the NESCAC has 7 teams, the UAA has 6 teams, and SUNY has 3 teams.

[theBroadcaster]

Regarding the the big three this weekend (Amherst, Brandeis, and Plattsburgh) and their conferences, have you had a chance to check out the computerized Massey Ratings: http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=cb&sub=III&mid=6
It is interesting to note that in the top 60 teams the NESCAC has 7 teams, the UAA has 6 teams, and SUNY has 3 teams.

It's also interesting to note that while the UAA is the number 1 ranked conference in the Massey and the NESCAC is third, the SUNYAC is just 28th.  So while maybe the SUNYAC's top teams are legit, they just haven't faced the same quality teams day in and day out.  The depth of the NESCAC, and esp. the UAA, is where those conferences jump out.  Not to take anything away from what Plattsburgh's done this year, to win that many in a row you have to be good, but its just that the bottom teams of the NESCAC and UAA would probably still be right near the top of the SUNYAC.  I guess we'll truly answer how much of a factor the strength of schedule really is friday night....

[scooterman]

Thanks for all the commentary on the leagues--I sure hope the
Burg gets to the Final Four--If my beloved Eagles can't, then Go Burg!!!

[deputy dog]

Scooter,

Thanks for supporting the Cards! Birds of a feather - Eagles and Cards - SUNYAC!!!!!!!

[scooterman]

I am SUNYAC all the way--Spent alot of years in that conference--Good Luck
Burg--

[Bear Fan]

To all attending the games... enjoy!  To the Cards... do the SUNYAC proud and take the next step to the Final 4!  Wish I could be there.

[theBroadcaster]

For everyone who can't make it into Memorial Hall tonight, WBRS 100.1FM Waltham, the Brandeis University Radio Station, has made the trip up to Plattsburgh to broadcast the game tonight.  You can listen live online to the broadcast at www.wbrs.org

[zola]

Congratulations!

2007-08 NCAA III Sweet 16

Plattsburg State Cardinals

A Growing Tradition

[magicman]

Great game tonight at Memorial Hall in Plattsburgh. Unfortunately Plattsburgh St ended up on the short end of a 74-63 ballgame. The Cards and the Judges played a back and forth 1st half with neither team gaining much of an advantage and with 3 1/2 mins to go the score was tied at 28. Brandeis closed with an 11-2 run to grab a 39-30 lead at the break. Plattsburgh was hampered by foul problems as Anthony Williams was called for his 3rd foul with about 5 mins. left in the half and was taken out of the game. The 2nd half was more of the same with Brandeis maintaining their lead but the Cardinals slowly chipped away and finally pulled to within 2 around the 7 min. mark. Plattsburgh finally caught the Judgesat 56 apiece with 4:50 to go, but Brandeis came down and hit a 3 to re-capture the lead and were never headed. Another 3 by Joe Coppens extended their lead to 6 and they stretched it to 8 at 66-58 with 1:52 remaining. Plattsburgh cut it to 5 on a 3 pointer by Williams but would get no closer as the Judges hit their foul shots to close the game out. Brandeis was led by Andre Roberson, who came off the bench to score 20 pts. Joe Coppens knocked down 4 treys to finish with 16 pts, and Terrell Hollins chipped in with 14.
Plattsburgh State All American Williams led all scorers with 28 pts, Antwane Miller had 12 pts. and Travis Gorham added 11 to pace the Cardinals. 
Congratulations to Brandeis for their success tonight and good luck against Amherst tomorrow night. 

[deputy dog]

From a Cardinal Fan!!

My hats off to Brandeis for a great game. Roberson was terrific throughout the first half and the remainder of the contest. It seemed that Plattsburgh tied the game at 56-56 then ran out of gas. Olson's trey after the Cards had used up a lot of energy to tie the game was huge. Even bigger was "Big Shot Joe's" Coppens three after a wild scramble.

A tough call on Williams in the first half really hurt Plattsburgh. After he went out of the game the Judges went on a 16-4 run to close out the half. 39-30 at the break.

The Cards came out and played terrific defense earlier in the second half but could not convert.

Brandeis spectator bus was a big boost to their team. They were vocal and in to the game throughout. To bad there were some empty seats in their section that some one from Plattburgh could have sat in. Reportedly no one rooting for Plattsburgh was allowed to sit behind the Brandeis bench? Someone stated that it was an NCAA rule? Who knew. The only people that I noticed that were not from Brandeis were some coaches and players from Trinity. They seemed to be pulling for Brandeis. 

Should be a good game tomorrow night. Two really well coached teams going head to head.

Great job by the Cards this year!! They have nothing to be ashamed of at all. They are part of history. Some say one of the best teams ever in Plattsburgh. The 1976 team went to the Final Four but these guys have to rate right up there. Thanks senior class for a memorable four years. You have set a terrific standard for Plattsburgh Basketball!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cards7580]

"...Reportedly no one rooting for Plattsburgh was allowed to sit behind the Brandeis bench? Someone stated that it was an NCAA rule? Who knew..."

IF you were sitting behind the Plattsburgh bench near a guy with a red polo shirt on that was me.
I only said what the NCAA Regional Committee Chairman told me, and repeated by Scott the softball coach at Plattsburgh who was facilities mgr.     If they stopped selling tickets and had as many unsold tickets as empty seats in the gym, that was terrible. This was the smallest crowd in the past three weeks in that gym. Considering the baseball team (25+) had already left for games, and it was break time, the student section was pretty good (and loud).    The NCAA has some funky odd ball rules for these tournaments.

One final comment about officials.  I know and respect that doing that job is difficult under any circumstances, but if any of you officials "lurk" on these boards, please understand something.  You are their to officiate NOT to insert yourselves and you bias into the game.  To the few who payed more attention to the crowd than the game for the past couple of weeks during Plattsburgh games.  Get over yourselves.   If you don't like the comments, do your job better, learn to get position or admit you missed a call.  Don't "make up" or "guess" what happened. To the extremely biased MR, R who used to actually PLAY  one time at LeMoyne;  you have got to be the most laughable excuse for a fair minded person I have ever witnessed.  IF you have a problem with people who don't look like you, then you seriously need to find a new profession.  It's pretty sad when you take out your hangups on 18-21 year old young men.  Your smarmy attitude makes the job more difficult for the others in your profession who actually try to do a fair minded job.

I am talking about 3-4 officials out of about 24 different ones.

[deputy dog]

Plattsburgh State Softball Coach and Facility manager's name is Sean. Sean Cotter! You were right about the attendance Cards 7580. I know a lot of people that wanted to attended this game from the community but were shut out because of NCAA policy. Definitely the smallest crowd that Plattsburgh has played in front of in some time. Even with the baseball team in Florida and other students on spring break the student section was still loud. Brandeis student section was great. Amherst section was mostly parents and alumni. Richard Stockton section was non existent. I hope they (Stockton) were not alloted 200 tickets with their showing of support? If they were why doesn't the NCAA let these teams return their unsold tickets and they can be sold at the dooor?

Hats off to the guy dressed as the referee!!!!!!! He remained limber throughout with his stretching and sprints. He came out of the bleachers from right behind were the Amherst players were sitting. I could see they all had huge grins on their faces when "The referee" went in to his act. The referee's were also grinning ear to ear!!

I thought the officials did a fairly good job during this sectional. The first crew was an Albany based trio. I noticed one guy from the second grouping was from the Syracuse area but not sure about the other two.

[bearnation]

Congrats to the SUNY Plattsburgh Mens Basketball Team on a great season.  Undefeated in the conference is an Awesome achievement.  You represented your school, conference, and Northern New York well.
Northern New York is a great place. If you have a chance, go to the Frozen Four at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid next weekend.  I plan on attending because there is no sports complex in the United States with more history then the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Center(Herb Brooks Arena). Its a great place to watch a game and when you go inside it still feels like 1980 and Yes it is being hosted by a great SUNYAC institution.
One Northern New York basketball team left.  Its off to Glens Falls to see if the Chateaugay Bulldogs can be the first team to bring a state title to Section 10 and Northern New York.

[deputy dog]

Congrats to the SUNY Plattsburgh Mens Basketball Team on a great season.  Undefeated in the conference is an Awesome achievement.  You represented your school, conference, and Northern New York well.
Northern New York is a great place. If you have a chance, go to the Frozen Four at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid next weekend.  I plan on attending because there is no sports complex in the United States with more history then the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Center(Herb Brooks Arena). Its a great place to watch a game and when you go inside it still feels like 1980 and Yes it is being hosted by a great SUNYAC institution.
One Northern New York basketball team left.  Its off to Glens Falls to see if the Chateaugay Bulldogs can be the first team to bring a state title to Section 10 and Northern New York.

Bearnation!

Thanks for the kudo!! Plattsburgh had a great season!!

P.S.

If you hear from John Guida tell him we miss his post at D-3hoops.com!!! Back in the day - 90's, Guida and I use to have a lot of fun on this sight. That was before everyone had to identify who they were!! That was a blast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!