WBB: Empire 8

[superman57]

PK... not coaching tonight...had a heart attack I think

[JQV]

Just scanned the capsules from this weekend.  The Bombers have a freshman (I don't have to say freshperson or first year do I?) post player that made the all tournament team.  Upon further examination, Jeanine Burke is 6'1".  Without looking, she has to be one of the bigger players in the E8 right?  Her numbers over the two games weren't really anything stellar though.  Coach Raymond really has done a good job bringing in talent though.

[superman57]

fisher has a new girl 6'1 a lot of freshman...should be real tough in a year or two

[JQV]

fisher has a new girl 6'1 a lot of freshman...should be real tough in a year or two

Dang, to freshman girls over 6'?  That has to be an E8 first.

[Caz Bombers]

Looks like the E8 women's teams went 7-3 on opening weekend, although none of the wins were over good competition and at least 2 of the 3 losses were red flags, Alfred lost by about 500 points at powerhouse NYU and Ithaca lost to perenially lousy Skidmore.  2 games on Saturday will show a lot of where the ladies side of the league is at this year: up-and-coming Utica visits LL top contender Union while Ithaca entertains a 14th-ranked UR team that just blew out #1 Scranton.

[JQV]

Looks like the E8 women's teams went 7-3 on opening weekend, although none of the wins were over good competition and at least 2 of the 3 losses were red flags, Alfred lost by about 500 points at powerhouse NYU and Ithaca lost to perenially lousy Skidmore.  2 games on Saturday will show a lot of where the ladies side of the league is at this year: up-and-coming Utica visits LL top contender Union while Ithaca entertains a 14th-ranked UR team that just blew out #1 Scranton.

Give them a few games to figure it out Zach.  They are so young and you want to judge the season based on their performance against a team that just knocked off #1?

[Caz Bombers]

I didn't say I was judging Ithaca's season on the outcome of the UR game; I said I was judging the E8's strength as a whole.  If a mid-pack E8 squad like I expect IC to be can hang in with UR or hopefully even beat them, that says good things about where the league is at.  If UR rolls the Bombers, then the Empire 8 is probably not on the level that produced at-large bids for Ithaca and Fisher in recent years.

[JQV]

I didn't say I was judging Ithaca's season on the outcome of the UR game; I said I was judging the E8's strength as a whole.  If a mid-pack E8 squad like I expect IC to be can hang in with UR or hopefully even beat them, that says good things about where the league is at.  If UR rolls the Bombers, then the Empire 8 is probably not on the level that produced at-large bids for Ithaca and Fisher in recent years.

I tried to give you +k for evaluating the strength of women's hoops conferences but apparently, I have already done so in the past 24 hours so +imaginary k to you.

[maxpower]

T minus one minute til tipoff of IC-UR... interesting test starts now.

[Caz Bombers]

UR won 69-58.  Ithaca actually had a seven-point lead late in the first half but 14th-ranked Rochester went on a 20-1 run and finished it off from there.

The E8 women's teams are off to a pretty decent start as IC at 1-2 is the only sub-.500 team...worth noting that UR is far better than anybody faced by the Bombers' seven colleagues.

[sotier]

Thanks for the UR-Ithaca update. UR-Elmira on tuesday night gives the E8 another chance to measure up against a  true quality opponent. Elmira coach Donahue must find the proper combination of players to improve their scoring. So far the loss of point guard to graduation (Cote) has not been resolved. Shooting at less than 30% will not win them many games. Interesting to see if Elmira will try to work through with the current lineup, or use these early non-league games to experiment some.Elmira is a great example of the importance of chemistry.Take away the point from a otherwise intact starting lineup  can lead to reshuffling. We will see.

[sotier]

UR-Elmira.....It was a game for a half,and not much of one for the other.  UR comes out at the break playing like they realized  some better efffort was needed, and shot the ball extremely well ( the three  pointers  were killers). Elmira needs to find someone at the guard position who can score. Plus for Elmira was the defensive effort was there, and they hung with what is now the #4 team nationally. Build on it!!

[JQV]

Another L for the IC women's hoop team but, I think a sign of life for this young team.  Always good when you see a young group rally to erase a big second half deficit.  Raymond will have them firing on all cylinders once the E8 schedule begins...

[sotier]

Was able to see Elmira play at their tounament this past weekend. They easily won both games. First game vs. Penn Tech was a blowout,second against Buffalo State slightly more competative. Elmira showed a smothering defense,and a long bench. They are very quick, athletic players. However,they seemed to have trouble finishing at the basket.They need more  chances on offense to score. They get them by forcing turnovers,I believe 40 with Penn Tech. In short, Elmira has yet to make me a believer, despit their 6-2 start. The starting schedule has been weak(other than Rochester of course)

[sotier]

Ok, so the preseason games are in the bag and time for conference play. All the fans of the empire eight teams let us know how your team is shaping up. Who is the player to watch. Who is the  newcommer who is going to put your team in a better position to win. What are your predictions for the season. Step up posters and fill us in!!!