MBB: Skyline Conference

skylinestar · February 23, 2009, 09:24:04 PM

congratulations oxybob, u beat 2 of the worst teams to ever play college basketball, u would lose by 40 if u played st joes or farmingdale

bball12 · February 23, 2009, 09:30:29 PM

I was just browsing the boards and was reading the post on the skyline.

"There is definitely a lot of work to do but Coach Wood has done a tremendous job recruiting (there is no give to the 1400 and 3.5 GPA requirements for admissions) considering the schools he goes up against in recruiting battles, i.e. Williams, Amherst, Ithaca, Vassar, Skidmore, etc. etc. All these schools have bigger budgets, better facilities, athletic tradition, and obviously this makes it a tough task to recruit against them. It is nice to come on here and say START RECRUITING but it is a little tougher to actually go do that. Not to be an elitist and I have nothing against the schools in the conference but Bard in the Skyline with no give in the admissions process is like Princeton trying to compete year in and year out in the NEC or MAAC. It is tough to go out and get the same caliber athlete and player when the pool of players you have to get is limited by grades and most of those kids aren't going to like a liberal arts school like Bard over a place like Amherst."

You need to join a different league or stop complaining about requirements. This is the league Bard decided to join. It was your choice. Also i think it is funny putting those schools in the same paragraph as Bard. It will be a long time,if ever, before Bard starts winning the recruiting battles with those schools. Nothing against Coach Wood because i have no clue about the actual players on the team but he has a long way to go.

skylinestar · February 23, 2009, 10:08:06 PM

raptor...the argument for best big in the conference starts and ends with JJ Walsh....campbell is good, but not as good as walsh, walsh can do everything and is prob the best finisher in the conference...and keep forrest alvarez out of this debate

Raptormania! · February 23, 2009, 10:33:51 PM

You need to join a different league or stop complaining about requirements. This is the league Bard decided to join.

For what it's worth, I think this is a great point, and complaining about Bard's academic requirements obscures the large leaps forward Bard has made despite this. In 2007-2008, Bard was in the playoff hunt in its first Skyline campaign, finishing 8-17, 5-13. Remember- this was a program that in 2000-2001, finished 1-19-playing in the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference, and non-conference foes like Cooper Union and Webb Institute.

But Bard has done remarkably well in Skyline athletics across the board. Only time will tell, of course, but I believe this season will be the aberration, not last season.

raptor31 · February 23, 2009, 11:19:37 PM

In terms of my points about the academic requirements I was only responding to a post in the last few days regarding how Bard needs to "start recruiting." For now Bard is in a transition phase trying to find a league that fits the school best. We have been in 3 leagues in 5 years and could be moving again soon. I am by no means saying we didn't choose to be here or say that is the only factor in a 1-24 season. I was simply saying it is tough to kill the recruiting situation when there are things out of the control of the coaching staff and athletic department. I don't know if you read what I said but I completely agree with your statement about Bard not being in the class of those schools. That was actually a part of my point as to why it is tough for Bard to recruit when the kids they are recruiting are choosing between those great academic (and athletic) schools and Bard.

OxyBob, you don't see much Division III basketball on the east coast obviously. I was on the bench for that loss to Cal Tech and I was utterly shocked by how good Cal Tech was. The Cal Tech team I saw had 2 guards that could play, 2 bigs with size and moves and two other solid players. They did have the 5 token little asian guys on the end of the bench but coming into that game I think we all thought that would be the make up of the team. Cal Tech was one of the top 5 teams we played that year. Well coached group that played together and I think on the east coast (in some of the bad D3 leagues, which there are many) the team I saw would get between 8-15 wins every year depending on which league they were in. West Coast and Mid West D3 basketball is typically stronger because there are less teams so the talent is not watered down the way it is amongst the lower level d3s on the east coast. There also aren't as many d2 schools out that way so you get a lot of kids that could play higher level on the east coast that stay closer to home in Wisc, Iowa, Washington, Cali, etc. Great Bball out there. My Junior year we played UC Santa Cruz (they came into the game 3-10) and got blown away!

They would have been an solid team in a lot of east coast leagues. If you remember the year before Bard lost to CIT, Rivier had to hit a buzzer beater to win at Cal Tech. That was the same Rivier team that a year later (with no changes to roster) won their league and went to the NCAA tournament. Take the point for what it is worth but Cal Tech is better than advertised and wouldn't lose to St. Joes or Farmingdale by 40!! Bard only lost to Farmingdale by 13 with a 6 man roster and missing 2 starters and I don't know how Bard does this year against CalTech but I bet it wouldn't be much better than Poly did.

Skylinestar, I will keep Forrest out but can I throw Chris Niblock in?? Former 1,000 pt scorer for the BBP Phantoms?? Maybe you have heard of him? Boxed Jason Frazier out of bounds until he took off Niblocks headband and threw it into the crowd?? Well I am going to put him in the talk.

Still no playoff talk? Maybe that is because the people who talk on here are two Raptor fans, Skyline players, and casual fans who don't watch skyline games!

Henri Papillon Charriere · February 23, 2009, 11:22:18 PM

Bard basketball has had a tough year to say the least, but the two times I saw them play the coaching staff and the players conducted themselves with class. They could have easily turned on each other, but I saw them put forth a valiant effort, despite losing almost every game.

Moving on, the playoffs should be interesting this year. Here are my predictions: The Purchase at Old Westbury game will be a close game with Old Westbury coming out on top. I think the homecourt advantage and Lester Prosper inside will end a nice run for Purchase this year (Remember: only 3 wins last year for Purchase, not a bad turn around). The rumble in the Bronx between Maritime and MSV will be another close one. I got a chance to see MSV three times this year and they put up a good fight against my Rams last Saturday where Joe Cooke (28pts) and Nick Dimaggio (24pts) were lights out once again. However, Mike Campbell (31pts) was too much inside for them. If MSV stays hot and does not get completely dominated on the boards, I can see them traveling to Long Island on Thursday night where they will ultimately meet their demise against a very talented St. Joe's team. Old Westbury will fall to Farmingdale on Thursday night as well, setting up a great game for Saturday.

Saturday's championship game between St. Joes and my Rams will be an instant classic. Although St Joe's is very good, my bias prediction is that Damien Santana and the Rams will be cutting down the nets once again and making a return trip to the NCAA tournament.

raptor31 · February 23, 2009, 11:22:46 PM

Keep hating Skyline coaches and players who keep posting!! At least our coaching staff and players don't have get on here and hate on everyone in the conference just because they didn't have a good season.

raptor31 · February 23, 2009, 11:29:11 PM

Couldn't agree more Henri! Will be a Farmingdale-St. Joe's final. Beating a great team like St. Joe's three times in a season is a tough task to do and I will be interested to see if Farmingdale can do this. More interesting question is if St. Joe's wins does Farmingdale get an at large?? Pat Coleman, any comments??

Conference Player of the Year has to be Campbell, 20 and 9 for the conference champs and was the guy who provided toughness game in and game out. Without him this isn't as unstoppable of a team!

HoopzFanatic · February 23, 2009, 11:43:59 PM

The best big in the conference is by no way a clear cut giveaway to JJ walsh......I have seen both farmingdale and st joes this year and i think campbell is a better player personally......Walsh is a great player but in the head to head match up walsh only put up 5 and 5......in his defense Farmingdale does have the best overall team defense in the conference and in my opinion the best defender in the conference with shannon, but i still think that campbell is tougher for defenses to cover and a better overall player

Queens · February 23, 2009, 11:59:49 PM

I'm happy to say i started this whole debate, i wish the boards were all like this! Very entertaining stuff, funny and its stayed for the most part respectful...

Most activity this board has seen all year, just in time for the playoffs...

St Joes VS Farm will be a good game, cant see farmingdale losing though....Too many weapons, hopefully farmingdale can make some noise in the NCAAS this year...

raptor31 · February 24, 2009, 01:21:19 AM

At least the assistant coaches have stopped trashing on other teams in the conference. Thats going to really help you get your next job ball!
If any team can pull an upset who is it? I am going to say MSV just because of their style. If they catch you on a bad shooting night and they keep running that D'Antoni stuff at you it can be a long night. They would need a monster night from everyone and they would have to get out early and often to frustrate their opponent. Any body else got thoughts?

raptor31 · February 24, 2009, 01:24:08 AM

By the way ball, I've seen multiple high school teams this year that would win the skyline so that comment doesn't always work. Although I watch 4 of the top teams in the country night in and night out so it might be an unfair statement. Anybody else seen St. Pats or St. Bens this year. Im going to say they both with the Skyline with relative ease.

skylineman · February 24, 2009, 02:06:05 AM

How does everyone fail to mention the skyline scoring leader Marvin Billups? Leading the turn around season for the panthers wasn't easy and he definitely had a "player of the year" caliber season. His name has to be at least up in the running.

GP-GS Min/G FG% 3PT% FT% R/G A/G STL BLK PTS/G
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Billups, Marvin..... 25-24 33.3 .516 .242 .765 5.9 1.9 55 5 23.1

skylinestar · February 24, 2009, 10:22:29 AM

I wouldnt use the head to head match up completely as the decision maker of who wis better walsh or campbell....wlash played in foul trouble the whole game and fouled out towards the end of the game. I wouldnt be so quick to crown farmingdale just yet though, st joes is a great team, and beating one team 3 times in a year is extremely tough to do!

Knightstalker · February 24, 2009, 10:59:37 AM

If St. Joes wins the conference tournament, Farmingdale will be one of the top Atlantic teams in the Pool C discussion. This also depends on who wins the Cuny and NJAC.