He said, we said
Some times you read a quote and you just want to say, "Hey, but ..." And sometimes you are so hurting for fresh content for a morning update, that you'll try almost anything.
When those two situations coincide, they come together like vodka and olives for a little feature we are calling "He said, we said."
We begin down in the Lehigh Valley, where according to one column we read, a guy who was desperate enough for his 15 minutes of pseudo fame that he came to the game sans shirt, with an E painted on his chest (presumably along with five other local cable-celeb wannabes known a L, H, I, G and E's other brother H).
According to the reports, the guy was holding a sign that said:
Especially since Lafayette holds a 132-69 edge in the series between the two rivals. Sorta makes us wonder if E's daddy is also his uncle.
Then there was Lehigh guard Joe Knight.
After Lehigh's sophomore center Jason Mgebroff scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds against Lafayette, Knight was positively gushing:
Up on the tundra in Hamilton, Colgate coach Emmett Davis was not to thrilled with the officiating in the Raiders loss to Bucknell:
Go strong or go home 'Gate.
Annapolis is our favorite places to visit in the league. The climate is better than in Hamilton, and so are the bars (just ask Matt over at the Patriot League blog if you don't believe me).
That doesn't mean we won't have fun with first-year Navy coach Billy Lange, who said after losing to American Wednesday:
Billy also said:
Ralph Willard on Holy Cross' outstanding sixth-man, Keith Simmons:
Besides, two of the three starting guards for Holy Cross are underclassmen. Simmons comes off the bench because Willard thinks his team is better when he does that. Deference to the seniors has nothing to do with it. Ralph would dress and start team manager Chelsea Severson if he thought it would get the 'Saders a win.
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When those two situations coincide, they come together like vodka and olives for a little feature we are calling "He said, we said."
We begin down in the Lehigh Valley, where according to one column we read, a guy who was desperate enough for his 15 minutes of pseudo fame that he came to the game sans shirt, with an E painted on his chest (presumably along with five other local cable-celeb wannabes known a L, H, I, G and E's other brother H).
According to the reports, the guy was holding a sign that said:
Pedro says: Lehigh is Lafayette's Daddy.Given the fact that the whole "Yankees are my daddy" thing flew out of the ballpark when Johnny Damon's grand salami did the same in Game 7, we have to wonder what E was thinking.
Especially since Lafayette holds a 132-69 edge in the series between the two rivals. Sorta makes us wonder if E's daddy is also his uncle.
Then there was Lehigh guard Joe Knight.
After Lehigh's sophomore center Jason Mgebroff scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds against Lafayette, Knight was positively gushing:
"He was spectacular. If he plays like that he's capable of putting up 15 (points) and 10 (rebounds) every night."Actually, according to the box score, if he plays like that he is capable of 13 points and 7 rebounds. And besides, the problem is, Mgebroff does not play like that every night. That is why he is only averaging 3.9 rebounds and 8.7 points per game.
Up on the tundra in Hamilton, Colgate coach Emmett Davis was not to thrilled with the officiating in the Raiders loss to Bucknell:
"We outrebounded them (29-25) and we were playing zone defense and they still took more free throws," Davis said. "They were more aggressive than they were in the first half (when Colgate failed to get to the foul line even once), but (the fouls) didn't change that much in the second half, either."Quit your whining Emmett. Almost half your points came on threes. You jacked up 26 of them (making 11). When is the last you saw a jump-shooting team get to the line as often as one who has an inside attack? Colgate's slight rebounding edge came at the offensive end, which is not uncommon when you shoot a lot of threes, which are likely to result in longer caroms that are chased down by perimeter guys, not yanked down in a box-out battle under the tin.
Go strong or go home 'Gate.
Annapolis is our favorite places to visit in the league. The climate is better than in Hamilton, and so are the bars (just ask Matt over at the Patriot League blog if you don't believe me).
That doesn't mean we won't have fun with first-year Navy coach Billy Lange, who said after losing to American Wednesday:
"This team is improving."Well maybe Billy, but in the midst of a four game losing streak, part of a stretch where you lost 8 of 9, could you be getting worse? Especially since one of the 8 losses came at home against a D-3 team that wouldn't be one game over .500 if not for your gracious hospitality.
Billy also said:
"We executed the game plan, we just chose not to make our shots."We confess; we are a little confused how you can execute the game plan and choose to not make shots at the same time. We always just took it for granted that making shots would be a part of any game plan, thus failing to do so, by choice or otherwise, would seem to us to, by default, to mean you failed to execute the game plan. Heck, had we known not making shots could be a part of the game plan, we would have been much better at coaching 13-year-old girls last summer.
Ralph Willard on Holy Cross' outstanding sixth-man, Keith Simmons:
"Keith could obviously be a starter. But he's such an unselfish player. At the beginning of the season, he said 'This is the seniors' year.' He's been great for us."Does anybody seriously think that if Ralph thought the Crusaders were a better team with Simmons starting, he would worry about what Simmons feels about the seniors? It's not like Simmons is giving up his playing time so Michael Smiley or Dan Brault get off the bench more.
Besides, two of the three starting guards for Holy Cross are underclassmen. Simmons comes off the bench because Willard thinks his team is better when he does that. Deference to the seniors has nothing to do with it. Ralph would dress and start team manager Chelsea Severson if he thought it would get the 'Saders a win.
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Held over by popular demand
NOTE: We posted this one late yesterday afternoon, so we thought we'd keep it around today for those who might have missed it.
Game 31 of Kyle Whelliston's 100-game project over at Mid-Majority.com was game 201 of the Lafayette-Lehigh basketball rivalry. Patriot League fans, no matter your team, will want to read this one.
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Game 31 of Kyle Whelliston's 100-game project over at Mid-Majority.com was game 201 of the Lafayette-Lehigh basketball rivalry. Patriot League fans, no matter your team, will want to read this one.
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Wednesday night results
Last updated at 3:14 p.m.
Lehigh 63, Lafayette 57: In a back and forth affair with four ties and eight lead changes, Lehigh's defense carried the day in the end.
From Corky Blake's story in the Express-Times:
Bucknell 71, Colgate 69: This is a perfect example of how the three-pointer gives every team a shooters shot of pulling an upset. Colgate hit 11 treys in the game, isx in the second half after Bucknell had pulled out to a 21-point lead. Fortunately for the Bison, the Raiders were 0-for-5 outside the arc in the last two minutes after a Kyle Roemer trey has cut the Bison lead to 2.
AP Story | Bucknell recap| Box Score
UPDATE: Colgate always lists the Utica paper as one of its media outlets. But after checking it often early in the season and finding no coverage of the Raiders, we had quit even looking. Lucky for us, Bucknell SID (and former Hoop Time correspondent back in the print days) Jon Terry knew they were at the game last night. Jon found the story and sent us this link.
Bucknell women 67, Colgate 65: We don't usually cover the women here, simply because stories from the ladies' games are hard to find outside of the school's official sites. But since A) We get a lot of Bucknell alums visiting here, B) Nobody bothered going to Hamilton to cover the men's game, C) We have three daughters who are huge Bucknell women's fans (two have attended Kathy Fedorjaka's camp and the third swears she is going to lie about her age so she can go this summer) and they always yell at me about not including the girls' games, here is a link to Tom Housenick's story on the Bison's upset of the preseason conference favorites.
This might also be a good place to sneak in an official Hoop Time congratulations to Kathy's husband, our old noon-ball buddy Frank Fedorjaka, on being named BU's next men's lacrosse coach.
Holy Cross 66, Army 29: The story in the Times Herald- Record is barely longer than a brief. But the first two paragraphs tell you all you need to know about the state of West Point hoops:
Is it any wonder Crews was upset. Holy Cross broke open an already not close game with a 40-point second half. Army scored 15 points in the first half, and couldn't do better in the second even with all the garbage time.
Ralph Willard had to be happy with the defense. According to the story in the Telegram-Gazette (no link, it's a subscription site):
American 66, Navy 60: According to the Washington Post:
Navy coach Billy Lange told Kent Baker in the Baltimore Sun:
AP Story | Box Score
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Lehigh 63, Lafayette 57: In a back and forth affair with four ties and eight lead changes, Lehigh's defense carried the day in the end.
From Corky Blake's story in the Express-Times:
Lehigh held the Leopards to zero points over the final 5:05 of the first half. Then, when they were trailing 53-49 with 6:07 to go, Billy Taylor's crew handcuffed Lafayette and threw away the key.In his story in the Morning Call, Andre Williams also focused on Lehigh's defense. But near the end he slipped in a golden nugget of information:
A telling statistic was Lehigh's 43-30 advantage in rebounds, led by Earl Nurse with eight and Mgebroff with seven. Lehigh also held a 10-0 advantage in second-chance points, a factor that contributed largely to the Hawks overtaking the Leopards.Box Score | Lehigh Recap
Bucknell 71, Colgate 69: This is a perfect example of how the three-pointer gives every team a shooters shot of pulling an upset. Colgate hit 11 treys in the game, isx in the second half after Bucknell had pulled out to a 21-point lead. Fortunately for the Bison, the Raiders were 0-for-5 outside the arc in the last two minutes after a Kyle Roemer trey has cut the Bison lead to 2.
AP Story | Bucknell recap| Box Score
UPDATE: Colgate always lists the Utica paper as one of its media outlets. But after checking it often early in the season and finding no coverage of the Raiders, we had quit even looking. Lucky for us, Bucknell SID (and former Hoop Time correspondent back in the print days) Jon Terry knew they were at the game last night. Jon found the story and sent us this link.
Bucknell women 67, Colgate 65: We don't usually cover the women here, simply because stories from the ladies' games are hard to find outside of the school's official sites. But since A) We get a lot of Bucknell alums visiting here, B) Nobody bothered going to Hamilton to cover the men's game, C) We have three daughters who are huge Bucknell women's fans (two have attended Kathy Fedorjaka's camp and the third swears she is going to lie about her age so she can go this summer) and they always yell at me about not including the girls' games, here is a link to Tom Housenick's story on the Bison's upset of the preseason conference favorites.
This might also be a good place to sneak in an official Hoop Time congratulations to Kathy's husband, our old noon-ball buddy Frank Fedorjaka, on being named BU's next men's lacrosse coach.
Holy Cross 66, Army 29: The story in the Times Herald- Record is barely longer than a brief. But the first two paragraphs tell you all you need to know about the state of West Point hoops:
Army coach Jim Crews busted out of Christl Arena faster than some fans after the Black Knights' 66-29 Patriot League loss to Holy Cross last night.According to the TH-R, Crews didn't even stick around for his postgame radio interview.
As the last Holy Cross players entered the locker room following the game, Crews, wearing a long blue jacket, shuttled by, making a bee-line to a door that led to the parking lot and his personal parking space.
Is it any wonder Crews was upset. Holy Cross broke open an already not close game with a 40-point second half. Army scored 15 points in the first half, and couldn't do better in the second even with all the garbage time.
Ralph Willard had to be happy with the defense. According to the story in the Telegram-Gazette (no link, it's a subscription site):
Holy Cross outscored Army, 40-14, in the second half as the Crusaders limited the Black Knights to four field goals and 17 percent shooting . . .Justin Rodriguez, in another story in the TH-R, was impressed by Holy Cross's Keith Simmons, who hails from nearby Kingston, N.Y.:
. . . Holy Cross blocked eight Army shots and limited the Black Knights to 19 percent shooting for the night
He's the ultimate sixth man, maybe the best in the Patriot League, always providing Holy Cross with a spark off the bench.AP Story | Box Score
"No question, Keith could be the best (sixth man) in the league,' said Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard after the Crusaders defeated Army 66-29. Simmons scored 18 points, including 13 in the second half. He played 27 minutes, shooting 8-of-10 from the field."
American 66, Navy 60: According to the Washington Post:
Navy's chances for a victory were undone by poor shooting: 22 of 73 (28 percent), including 8 of 29 three-pointers (32 percent).It was 29-28 at the half and Navy actually led 38-36 with just under 15 minutes to go. Then AU went on a 19-7 run to take control.
Navy coach Billy Lange told Kent Baker in the Baltimore Sun:
"If a couple of those threes go down, we're probably sitting here a lot happier."Of course most coaches could say that after almost any loss.
AP Story | Box Score
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Not just weird, but wonderful too
Many thanks, we think, to Chad Orzel's Uncertain Principles blog for including us in his roundup of hoops blogs. According to Chad:
Where should we send the check?
By the way, Chad ranks Kyle's Mid-Majority site No.1. That's OK with us. Folks around the Patriot League get all excited just to be listed in the "others receiving votes."
Thanks Chad.
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. . . the Web contains many weird and wonderful things. Such as Hoop Time v3.0, a blog devoted to Patriot League basketball."Weird and wonderful" eh?
Where should we send the check?
By the way, Chad ranks Kyle's Mid-Majority site No.1. That's OK with us. Folks around the Patriot League get all excited just to be listed in the "others receiving votes."
Thanks Chad.
Read more!
Wednesday games
ESPN | CBS Sportsline | PennLive.com | Yahoo!
Lafayette at Lehigh, 8 p.m.: The game of the night is the 201st meeting between these two neighbors from the Lehigh Valley. The big question: will anybody watch. Andre Williams of the Morning Call suggests the schedule makers should have set this one for later in the rotation when the students from the two schools would be back from break.
The bigger question: Which Lehigh team will show up. The one that beat American on the road Saturday, or the one that lost at home to Columbia and Cornell earlier this season.
Lafayette game notes | Lehigh game notes (pdf) | USA Today matchup
Holy Cross at Army, 7 p.m.: Holy Cross should not lose to Army, no matter where the game is played. Then again, they should not have lost to the Cadets in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 or 2002; but they did each year--at Army. The lone road win over Army in that stretch for HC was by a single point (71-70) in 1998.
The Crusaders have won at West Point the last two seasons, seemingly breaking that bad habit. Still, as those five losses show, you cannot overlook anybody, especially on the road. Not even Army.
HC game notes (pdf) | Army game notes (pdf) | USA Today matchup | Gametracker | HC Radio
American at Navy, 7 p.m.: Quick, name the team with the Patriot League's worst defense? You guessed Navy didn't you? Now, name the team with the league's highest-scoring offense? Nope, not American. That is Navy, too.
Nonetheless, the shorthanded Midshipmen don't seem to be a match for the Eagles in a shootout, and they certainly don't play the kind of defense that has caused AU problems in recent games.
AU game notes (none posted as of this morning) | Navy game notes | USA Today matchup | Navy Radio
Bucknell at Colgate, 7 p.m.: A win would give Bucknell an 8-game win streak, matching its longest win streak in Pat Flannery's 11 seasons as coach of his alma mater. Only 18 Division I teams currently have win streaks of seven or more games.
The big question here is can this young Bucknell team avoid the letdown trap after three big wins in a row.
Bucknell game notes | Colgate game notes (pdf) | USA Today matchup | Gametracker | Bucknell radio | Colgate radio
BRACKETOLOGY: Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com is predicting Bucknell as a No. 13 seed, to meet UConn in Tuscon the first round of the Albuquerque regional
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More bad news for Navy
Already scuffling with a 4-9 record and a three-game losing streak in a season that has included a loss to a D-3 tea, the Mids now must do without their leading scorer and rebounder, 6-8 Laramie Mergerson, who is expected to miss at least three weeks with a broken hand. According to the story in the Annapolis Capital the injury further decimates the Navy frontcourt, which was already missing five players due to injuries or suspension ("Carlton Baldwin, the team's leading scorer and rebounder last season is suspended indefinitely for violating academy policy.")
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Upon further review
In a post yesterday we said that Lehigh's Joe Kight is the closest player in the league to joining the 1,000-points club.
We found that nugget of information in the league's official weekly report.
This is going to shock you: the league report is wrong.
Credit a faithful reader with an assist for noting in an e-mail:
Nonetheless, it still puts Bettencourt 29 points ahead of Knight.
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We found that nugget of information in the league's official weekly report.
This is going to shock you: the league report is wrong.
Credit a faithful reader with an assist for noting in an e-mail:
Hey Chris, I saw from yours and the Patriot League'sOf course right about now, Bucknell math profs are reading that and praying the guy is a fan, not an alum. 930+17=947, not 957. (make that an assist and a turnover)
sites that say Joe Knight (Lehigh) is the only player
in the league closest to 1,000 points.
In the famous words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast my
friend!"
Bettencourt had 930 career points going into the Holy
Cross Game (177 this year)...add in his 17 and that
gives him 957 career and 194 this year (confirmed
looking at the statistics from BU's offical site)
If my math serves me correctly he only needs 43 points
to eclipse the 1,000 point plateau...less than the 82
Knight needs.
I know..I'm nit-picking a bit...trying to give the man
his due "respect".
Regards,
BreakinBison
Nonetheless, it still puts Bettencourt 29 points ahead of Knight.
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Under the radar
Talk about a scratch-your-head-and-say-who? moment. We were surfing around looking for some Patriot League news when we stumbled across this headlineBrault knows his role at Holy Cross with a link to a story in the Portsmouth N.H. paper.
Don't feel bad if you don't recognize that name. Even if you are a Holy Cross diehard. We covered the Crusaders six games last season and one so far this year, and we had to pull out the media guide to figure out who Brault was. Brault's profile explained why we were unfamiliar with the 6-1 senior guard from York, Maine. A walk-on who spent two years on Holy Cross's jayvee team before getting a varsity uni last season as a junior, Brault played four games last season, getting a total of three minutes of playing time. Since only one of those games, at Navy, was one we covered, it is probably understandable how we failed ro remember him. It's nice to see his hometwon paper didn't make the same mistake.
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Don't feel bad if you don't recognize that name. Even if you are a Holy Cross diehard. We covered the Crusaders six games last season and one so far this year, and we had to pull out the media guide to figure out who Brault was. Brault's profile explained why we were unfamiliar with the 6-1 senior guard from York, Maine. A walk-on who spent two years on Holy Cross's jayvee team before getting a varsity uni last season as a junior, Brault played four games last season, getting a total of three minutes of playing time. Since only one of those games, at Navy, was one we covered, it is probably understandable how we failed ro remember him. It's nice to see his hometwon paper didn't make the same mistake.
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Hot and Cold Eagles down Yale
If we have learned anything about American so far, it is the fact that when their shots are falling, they are pretty darned good.
Last night in New Haven, the Eagles shots were falling. At least in the first half.
From the New Haven Register (user name: hooptime, password: hooptime will get you in):
Like in the second half last night, when they nearly squandered that 22-point halftime lead.
After their scorching first half, the Eagles shot 5-for-20 from the field in the second half, 0-for-5 from three-point range. For good measure, they turned the ball over 11 times, after only giving it up 4 times in the first half. Luckily for AU, nobody can get a hand in your face at the foul line. The Eagles were 12-for-15 there in the second half, including 6-for-6 in the final 30 seconds..
AU Game recap | Box Score|Yale Photo Gallery
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Last night in New Haven, the Eagles shots were falling. At least in the first half.
From the New Haven Register (user name: hooptime, password: hooptime will get you in):
American, one of the top 20 teams in Division I in 3-point percentage (41 percent), made three 3-pointers in the first 2:12 and led 11-3 just 3 minutes into the game.According to the Register, and Yale coach James Jones (who is related to Columbia's coach Jones but is not related to American's coach Jeff Jones), Yale contributed to the Eagles cause by playing poorly the first 20 minutes.:
Yale (4-8), which had won two straight and played well in four straight, was woeful for the first 20 minutes, and American couldn’t miss, making 54.6 percent of its attempts to build a 47-25 halftime lead.What we have also learned about American is when the shots are not dropping, when folks get a hand in the jump-shooters faces, they have looked very ordinary.
"I’m upset with our effort and our intensity for the entire 20 minutes to start the basketball game. There is no reason they should have wide-open looks to start a basketball game," Jones said.
Like in the second half last night, when they nearly squandered that 22-point halftime lead.
After their scorching first half, the Eagles shot 5-for-20 from the field in the second half, 0-for-5 from three-point range. For good measure, they turned the ball over 11 times, after only giving it up 4 times in the first half. Luckily for AU, nobody can get a hand in your face at the foul line. The Eagles were 12-for-15 there in the second half, including 6-for-6 in the final 30 seconds..
AU Game recap | Box Score|Yale Photo Gallery
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News and notes (it's official)
A few tidbits from Monday's weekly hoops report (pdf) from the home office in the little town of Bethlehem.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: KEVIN BETTENCOURT, Bucknell -- Jr.,G
Bettencourt earns Player of the Week honors after leading Bucknell to a 59-43 win over Holy Cross in the Bison’s only game last week,which also represented the PL opener for both schools. In a game televised nationally by College Sports TV, the junior guard from Peabody, Mass., scored a team-high 17 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line. He also tallied a career-best six steals as part of BU’s dominant defensive effort. Bettencourt, who was third in the nation in free throw percentage in the latest NCAA rankings, is the player of the week for the second time this season. Bucknell has won seven in a row.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: BILAL ABDULLAH, Lafayette -- Fr., G
For the second consecutive week and the third time overall in 2004-05, Abdullah is the Patriot League’s Rookie of the Week. The freshman guard from Anchorage, Alaska averaged 11.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals during a 1-1 week for the Leopards that included a 90-80 win over Navy at Kirby Sports Center in the Patriot
League opener for both schools. Abdullah scored 15 points, pulled down five rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals in the victory over the Midshipmen. For the season, he is second on the team in scoring with 9.8 points per game, and leads the club with 39 total assists
Joe Knight, who leads Lehigh in minutes played, steals and assists, is the closest player in the League to 1,000 career points. He needs just 82 more to reach the milestone.
American has now lost their last four against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
Army ranks third in the nation in free throw percentage at 79.0 percent. Against Colgate, Army connected on 11-of-13 free throws, or 84.6 percent. Away from the line, though, Army’s offense registered just 35.8 percent field goal accuracy against the Raiders.
Holy Cross' Kevin Hamilton ranks 22nd in the country with 2.8 steals per
game. He is also the Crusaders’ leading scorer at 13.8 points per game.
Lehigh improved to 3-0 in League openers and 3-0 in League
road openers under Billy Taylor with a 56-53 win at American.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: KEVIN BETTENCOURT, Bucknell -- Jr.,G
Bettencourt earns Player of the Week honors after leading Bucknell to a 59-43 win over Holy Cross in the Bison’s only game last week,which also represented the PL opener for both schools. In a game televised nationally by College Sports TV, the junior guard from Peabody, Mass., scored a team-high 17 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line. He also tallied a career-best six steals as part of BU’s dominant defensive effort. Bettencourt, who was third in the nation in free throw percentage in the latest NCAA rankings, is the player of the week for the second time this season. Bucknell has won seven in a row.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: BILAL ABDULLAH, Lafayette -- Fr., G
For the second consecutive week and the third time overall in 2004-05, Abdullah is the Patriot League’s Rookie of the Week. The freshman guard from Anchorage, Alaska averaged 11.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals during a 1-1 week for the Leopards that included a 90-80 win over Navy at Kirby Sports Center in the Patriot
League opener for both schools. Abdullah scored 15 points, pulled down five rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals in the victory over the Midshipmen. For the season, he is second on the team in scoring with 9.8 points per game, and leads the club with 39 total assists
game. He is also the Crusaders’ leading scorer at 13.8 points per game.
road openers under Billy Taylor with a 56-53 win at American.
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Poll watching
Bucknell moves up two spots to No. 22 in this week'sMid-Major Top 25 poll. In the AP Poll, the Bison somehow lost three votes by beating Holy Cross. Go figure.
My guess is that says more about how Pittsburgh's stock fell after also losing to Georgetown.
The Bison did, however, manage to still get one vote. That is one more than they got in the USA Today-ESPN poll.
Thanks, John.
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My guess is that says more about how Pittsburgh's stock fell after also losing to Georgetown.
The Bison did, however, manage to still get one vote. That is one more than they got in the USA Today-ESPN poll.
Thanks, John.
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(not so) Big Monday
One game tonight, with Yale looking to clinch the Ivy-Patriot series for the Ivy Leaguers when they host American. Beware the schedule on the Patriot League's official site, which claims a 2 p.m. start.
A month ago AU looked like it was ready to battle for the Patriot League title. With a five-game win streak that included a win over Vermont, the Eagles were on a roll. Since beating Ohio U. on Dec. 11, though, American has dropped four of its last five.
To be fair, two of those losses were on the road at Maryland and Missouri. But two of them were at home against LaSalle and Lehigh. Under any criteria, those are bad losses.
Now the Eagles go on the road to meet Yale, the "unofficial basketball king of Southern Connecticut." Yale's 4-7 record is deceptive. As the Boston Herald points out, the Bulldogs' losses include "UMass, Patriot League power Bucknell (in overtime), UNC Charlotte, and Boston College (in double OT)." The Herald forgot to mention Wake Forest and Niagara (at Niagara).
Yale game notes | USA Today Matchup | Gametracker
More AU news below
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A month ago AU looked like it was ready to battle for the Patriot League title. With a five-game win streak that included a win over Vermont, the Eagles were on a roll. Since beating Ohio U. on Dec. 11, though, American has dropped four of its last five.
To be fair, two of those losses were on the road at Maryland and Missouri. But two of them were at home against LaSalle and Lehigh. Under any criteria, those are bad losses.
Now the Eagles go on the road to meet Yale, the "unofficial basketball king of Southern Connecticut." Yale's 4-7 record is deceptive. As the Boston Herald points out, the Bulldogs' losses include "UMass, Patriot League power Bucknell (in overtime), UNC Charlotte, and Boston College (in double OT)." The Herald forgot to mention Wake Forest and Niagara (at Niagara).
Yale game notes | USA Today Matchup | Gametracker
More AU news below
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Cheer up purple people
Holy Cross fans can take heart from the predicitions posted at bracketography.com.
Historially, David Mihm has been over 98 percent accurate projecting the teams in the 64-team field and has predicted over 84 percent of their seedings within one line of their actual seed.
Of course those numbers are based on his pre-Selection Sunday final picks, not his picks in January. And his prediction of Holy Cross representing the Patriot League as a No. 14 seed was made before Saturday's loss at Bucknell.
Then again, that does not mean it will turn out wrong.
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Historially, David Mihm has been over 98 percent accurate projecting the teams in the 64-team field and has predicted over 84 percent of their seedings within one line of their actual seed.
Of course those numbers are based on his pre-Selection Sunday final picks, not his picks in January. And his prediction of Holy Cross representing the Patriot League as a No. 14 seed was made before Saturday's loss at Bucknell.
Then again, that does not mean it will turn out wrong.
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Down in the valley
Corky Blake says forget about the non-con struggles of Lehigh and Lafayette. Saturday's wins show they were ready for league play.
We will remind Corky that Lehigh beat an AU team struggling to live up to the early hype and Lafayette beat a team that has lost to a D-3.
The neighbors meet Wednesday in a game that will probably tell us more about where Lafayette is at this point than it will about Lehigh. But in all reality, the jury will be out on both these teams until the end of the month, when they both face Bucknell and Holy Cross on successive weekends.
We do, by the way, continue to agree with Fran O'Hanlon's take on his Leopards. O'Hanlon told Corky:
This is one of those times.
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We will remind Corky that Lehigh beat an AU team struggling to live up to the early hype and Lafayette beat a team that has lost to a D-3.
The neighbors meet Wednesday in a game that will probably tell us more about where Lafayette is at this point than it will about Lehigh. But in all reality, the jury will be out on both these teams until the end of the month, when they both face Bucknell and Holy Cross on successive weekends.
We do, by the way, continue to agree with Fran O'Hanlon's take on his Leopards. O'Hanlon told Corky:
"We're better now than we were in December, and we'll be better in February than we are in January."DEPARTMENT OF NO DEFENSE: From Andre Williams' hoops column in today's Morning Call:
A stale offense was the main reason the Midshipmen compiled a 23-63 record the last three seasons, but they now lead the Patriot League in scoring at 70.4 points per game.Sometimes we get the feeling there is no need for us to comment further.
That's a drastic improvement from the next-to-last 56.2 points they averaged while going just 2-12 in league play last season. The problem is Navy surrenders a league-high 77.6 points per game, seven more points than it allowed last season.
This is one of those times.
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teAm lithUania
 | Jeff Jones | |||||
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Over at the Patriot League Hoops Blog, ole Matt already has a crush on Paulius Joneliunas, the University of South Carolina kid who is transferring to American. Matt gets excited thinking about having a 6-11 guy to counter Chris McNaughton and the 7-footer Lehigh is bringing in next year. (OK, maybe just to counter McNaughton). Joneliunas not only speaks four languages (not usually an important hoops credential, but AU's roster looks like the UN. Even if he is a stiff, he can be the team's interpreter), but "He will also be the biggest player on the court for the Eagles," Matt points out.
Here at Hoop Time, we're going to take a wait and see approach. There are some things in the story in The State about his decision to switch schools that somehow seem to have activated our Neil Fingleton detectors.
Yoni, at the College Basketball Blog, picked up on this paragraph:
Joneliunas' decision means a player has left USC?s roster before completing his eligibility in each of the last four seasons. Issa Konare and Greg Taylor transferred following the 2002 season, Marcus Morrison transferred in spring 2003, and Jarod Gerald left for academic reasons following the fall semester last season.Yoni wonder if this trend says something about Dave Odom's people skills.
We think it might say more about the Gamecock's recruiters ability to judge players. Or maybe Joneliunas was one of those "you can't teach 'em to be 6-11" projects who never came to fruition. An old story from the Roanoke paper, written when he was being recruited, says not:
Division I offers aren't based on statistics or size alone.You might notice Joneliunas shrunk and inch in that story. He is 6-10 in the more recent story in The State, too, not that an inch is a big deal at that altitude.
"This guy would be a basketball player even if he wasn't 6-10," Wall (his prep school coach) said. "Somebody got him at an early age and taught him about footwork. This kid is not as athletic as some big men, but he's very skilled. He can square up to the basket and shoot it. He can pass. You don't see that with American players, as was evident in the World Championships. The foreign players are generally more fundamentally sound."
Also seemingly in a near-constant state of change is Joneliunas's weight. The high school story says 258. His his player profile page on the South Carolina site says 240. We say look at the picture in that profile. Look closely at the cheeks and the neck. Is that the look of a big, strong, low-post banger; or another long skinny three-point shooter from eastern Europe who gets pushed around in the paint?
Here's another clue: Scroll down from that picture. Read the profile:
... Framework has been a challenge, yet he has worked extremely hard at it ... Shoots the ball well facing the basket and is more comfortable inside with the defenders around ...Working to become a better one-on-one defender, a better rebounder, and a more responsible ball-handlerBut wait, it's not all bad:
Wing-span of 81 inchesLike they say, you can't teach that.
Not to pile it on, but it also says in the State:
Joneliunas’ lack of quickness prevented him from challenging for more playing time.By the way, American currently has two Lithuanians (note: Correction, they have three. Credit Matt with the assist) on the roster, though one, senior Raimondas Petrauskas, will graduate before Joneliuna suits up in the 2006=2007 season.
In the past, the Lithuanian National Team has enjoyed the patronage of the Grateful Dead, even sporting tie-dyed uniforms for the Olympic Games.
Maybe in the next Olympiad, they could just wear their AU unis.
By the way, American announced Sunday a fourth signing. This time it is a 6-5 kid from DeMatha, Jordan Nichols.
Wonder if Nichols plans to study International Relations.
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They're calling it Bison Mania
Last updated: 9:19 a.m.
Subplots and sidebars from Bucknell's 59-43 win over Holy Cross Saturday ...
NOTE: Our Bucknell-Holy Cross game stories were posted Saturday evening. You can scroll down for them, or jump there with a click of your mouse.
ON THE BANDWAGON: Bucknell's status as media darlings was further enhanced Saturday by the presence of a couple papers that are infrequent visitors, at best, to the Patriot League overall, let alone to Lewisburg.
Bonnie DeSimone was there stringing for the New York Times and filed this nice piece about the Bison's emergence.
Also visiting Sojka for the first time this season was David Jones, of The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News. Dave doesn't cover Bucknell regularly. He spends most of his time chronicling the struggles of Penn State or watching Big 5 ball in Philly.
But he is not unfamiliar with the Bison, or Bucknell coach Pat Flannery. His Bison Mania story helps explain how the Bucknell phenomenon has come to be.
FLU FACTOR: A flu bug hit Bucknell during the week. Charles Lee, Chris Niesz and Kevin Bettencourt each missed a couple days practice during the week.
The rest of the team was treated given some sort of medicine (it was not clear if it was actually the flu vaccine) and Flannery says the doctor tells him if there are no new outbreaks by early in the week, the rest of the team should be in the clear.
The Bison were worried beforehand about how long and hard those three would be able to go. Against a physical team like Holy Cross, there were concerns they might run out of gas in the second half.
Lee went 34 minutes, finishing with 12 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Bettencourt had 17 points and played 37 minutes.
Niesz, though, played only five minutes, well below his average of 15.
That really didn't hurt the Bison, though. If there is one spot where they have the depth to withstand illness or injury, it is at the four, where Flannery rotates what he calls his "three-headed monster" of starter John Clark, Niesz and sophomore athletic 6-6 Donald Brown.
Brown doesn't score a lot of points. He averages 3.5 a game and was right there with four Saturday. But the former starter plays well off the bench. A strong rebounder and tenacious defender, he might even be the most talented of the three.
Brown drove the nail in for Bucknell in the second half. In a one minute stretch, Brown plucked a blocked Charles lee layup attempt out of the air and put it back for Bucknell's third field goal of the half.
That, by the way, came with just 5:26 to go, after a nine-and-a-half minute stretch in which Bucknell went without a field goal. During that stretch, Bucknell's lead shrank from 11 to 1, then grew back to 9 on Brown's shot.
Brown made two possessions later, after Bucknell got a pair of stops when first Brown made a steal and then Brown blocked a Torey Thomas layup.
When Bucknell came back up the floor Brown drove the lane and ended Nate Lufkin's afternoon when the Holy Cross center tried to draw a charge and picked up his fifth foul instead.
Brown hit both free throws to put Bucknell's lead back in double digits.
Facing a 48-37 deficit, with Lufkin sitting at the far end of the bench, the proverbial wind gushed out of the Crusaders sails.
MC-OTT-(then)-ON: Bucknell's All-League center Chris McNaughton struggled offensively in the first half. Even with Lufkin playing only five minutes in the half due to foul trouble, McNaughton was scoreless at the intermission and had only taken two shots.
Part of that was because Holy Cross freshman Tim Clifford gave Willard nine strong minutes off the bench in the first half. Clifford was no offensive threat. But the 6-10, 265-pounder managed to frustrate McNaughton, doing a nice job of pushing McNaughton off the blocks. (Mysteriously, Clifford only played two garbage time minutes in the second half)
A bigger factor was Holy Cross' help defense. Every time the ball went in to McNaughton, somebody came with the double.
"That's the Patriot League for you," said McNaughton. "It's not Pitt anymore. It's not the Big East where they let me play.
They just played one-on-one on me. I mean, they've got some strong kids, but they don't double-team me. Here ... the team defense is more focused. They like to double-team on me. I didn't really respond to it as I maybe could have."
In the second half, McNaughton was more assertive, beginning with a dunk for the first points of the half. McNaughton finished with 9 points, most coming from the foul line, where he was 5-for-8.
"I thought he adjusted to it in the second half," said Flannery. "He decided he was going to be a factor and the second half, he was a factor."
TEA LEAVES: Before anybody reads too much into this game, keep in mind Bucknell won the first meeting of the two last season, at home by 10, then got it handed to them in Worcester in the second half of the season.
In the game preview package, we talked about looking at those box scores from last year. One thing we noticed, the team that got to the foul line the most won each time. We didn't mention it then because it is not an unusual occurrence.
We mention it now as a reminder more of the difference in officiating at home and on the road. Last year in Lewisburg, Bucknell shot 35 foul shots to 21 for HC. IN Worcester the difference was 40-27 with the Crusaders on top.
Willard wasn't griping about the officials in this game (who were bad pretty much both ways) when he said it. But the comment he made when asked about Bucknell's feat of beating both St. Joe's and Pitt in their buildings illustrates what we are saying.
"Let's be honest about it," Willard said. "I've been at both levels and we all know that when you go on the road -- Bucknell got a decent whistle (in the Pitt game) -- but the close calls the end of the game don't go your way. That's just a flat out truth. And they fought through that and won the game."
Willard said that says a lot about the psyche of this Bucknell team.
"To me, that shows where they are mentally as a basketball team," Willard said. "They're in a very good spot right now, mentally."
THE ART OF WAR: Nobody was expecting a Picasso and nobody was letdown. The game was exactly what everyone expected between two defense minded teams.
"It was a war out there with the kids. It was a tough game to officiate; a tough game to play, " Flannery said. "Both teams are very good defensive teams. We both know each other very well. We take away a lot of stuff from each other."
These two were meeting for the seventh time in less than three seasons, having met twice in the regular season, and in the playoffs as well each of the last two seasons.
"These are halfcourt games," said Bettencourt. "It wasn't going to be an up-and-down pretty game. You know that going against Holy Cross."
How ugly did it get: Both teams had more turnovers (19 each) than field goals (14 each).
"We played each other six times over the last two years. We know what to expect," Bettencourt said. "They sometimes know where you are going before you do."
Read more!
Subplots and sidebars from Bucknell's 59-43 win over Holy Cross Saturday ...
NOTE: Our Bucknell-Holy Cross game stories were posted Saturday evening. You can scroll down for them, or jump there with a click of your mouse.
ON THE BANDWAGON: Bucknell's status as media darlings was further enhanced Saturday by the presence of a couple papers that are infrequent visitors, at best, to the Patriot League overall, let alone to Lewisburg.
Bonnie DeSimone was there stringing for the New York Times and filed this nice piece about the Bison's emergence.
Also visiting Sojka for the first time this season was David Jones, of The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News. Dave doesn't cover Bucknell regularly. He spends most of his time chronicling the struggles of Penn State or watching Big 5 ball in Philly.
But he is not unfamiliar with the Bison, or Bucknell coach Pat Flannery. His Bison Mania story helps explain how the Bucknell phenomenon has come to be.
FLU FACTOR: A flu bug hit Bucknell during the week. Charles Lee, Chris Niesz and Kevin Bettencourt each missed a couple days practice during the week.
The rest of the team was treated given some sort of medicine (it was not clear if it was actually the flu vaccine) and Flannery says the doctor tells him if there are no new outbreaks by early in the week, the rest of the team should be in the clear.
The Bison were worried beforehand about how long and hard those three would be able to go. Against a physical team like Holy Cross, there were concerns they might run out of gas in the second half.
Lee went 34 minutes, finishing with 12 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Bettencourt had 17 points and played 37 minutes.
Niesz, though, played only five minutes, well below his average of 15.
That really didn't hurt the Bison, though. If there is one spot where they have the depth to withstand illness or injury, it is at the four, where Flannery rotates what he calls his "three-headed monster" of starter John Clark, Niesz and sophomore athletic 6-6 Donald Brown.
Brown doesn't score a lot of points. He averages 3.5 a game and was right there with four Saturday. But the former starter plays well off the bench. A strong rebounder and tenacious defender, he might even be the most talented of the three.
Brown drove the nail in for Bucknell in the second half. In a one minute stretch, Brown plucked a blocked Charles lee layup attempt out of the air and put it back for Bucknell's third field goal of the half.
That, by the way, came with just 5:26 to go, after a nine-and-a-half minute stretch in which Bucknell went without a field goal. During that stretch, Bucknell's lead shrank from 11 to 1, then grew back to 9 on Brown's shot.
Brown made two possessions later, after Bucknell got a pair of stops when first Brown made a steal and then Brown blocked a Torey Thomas layup.
When Bucknell came back up the floor Brown drove the lane and ended Nate Lufkin's afternoon when the Holy Cross center tried to draw a charge and picked up his fifth foul instead.
Brown hit both free throws to put Bucknell's lead back in double digits.
Facing a 48-37 deficit, with Lufkin sitting at the far end of the bench, the proverbial wind gushed out of the Crusaders sails.
MC-OTT-(then)-ON: Bucknell's All-League center Chris McNaughton struggled offensively in the first half. Even with Lufkin playing only five minutes in the half due to foul trouble, McNaughton was scoreless at the intermission and had only taken two shots.
Part of that was because Holy Cross freshman Tim Clifford gave Willard nine strong minutes off the bench in the first half. Clifford was no offensive threat. But the 6-10, 265-pounder managed to frustrate McNaughton, doing a nice job of pushing McNaughton off the blocks. (Mysteriously, Clifford only played two garbage time minutes in the second half)
A bigger factor was Holy Cross' help defense. Every time the ball went in to McNaughton, somebody came with the double.
"That's the Patriot League for you," said McNaughton. "It's not Pitt anymore. It's not the Big East where they let me play.
They just played one-on-one on me. I mean, they've got some strong kids, but they don't double-team me. Here ... the team defense is more focused. They like to double-team on me. I didn't really respond to it as I maybe could have."
In the second half, McNaughton was more assertive, beginning with a dunk for the first points of the half. McNaughton finished with 9 points, most coming from the foul line, where he was 5-for-8.
"I thought he adjusted to it in the second half," said Flannery. "He decided he was going to be a factor and the second half, he was a factor."
TEA LEAVES: Before anybody reads too much into this game, keep in mind Bucknell won the first meeting of the two last season, at home by 10, then got it handed to them in Worcester in the second half of the season.
In the game preview package, we talked about looking at those box scores from last year. One thing we noticed, the team that got to the foul line the most won each time. We didn't mention it then because it is not an unusual occurrence.
We mention it now as a reminder more of the difference in officiating at home and on the road. Last year in Lewisburg, Bucknell shot 35 foul shots to 21 for HC. IN Worcester the difference was 40-27 with the Crusaders on top.
Willard wasn't griping about the officials in this game (who were bad pretty much both ways) when he said it. But the comment he made when asked about Bucknell's feat of beating both St. Joe's and Pitt in their buildings illustrates what we are saying.
"Let's be honest about it," Willard said. "I've been at both levels and we all know that when you go on the road -- Bucknell got a decent whistle (in the Pitt game) -- but the close calls the end of the game don't go your way. That's just a flat out truth. And they fought through that and won the game."
Willard said that says a lot about the psyche of this Bucknell team.
"To me, that shows where they are mentally as a basketball team," Willard said. "They're in a very good spot right now, mentally."
THE ART OF WAR: Nobody was expecting a Picasso and nobody was letdown. The game was exactly what everyone expected between two defense minded teams.
"It was a war out there with the kids. It was a tough game to officiate; a tough game to play, " Flannery said. "Both teams are very good defensive teams. We both know each other very well. We take away a lot of stuff from each other."
These two were meeting for the seventh time in less than three seasons, having met twice in the regular season, and in the playoffs as well each of the last two seasons.
"These are halfcourt games," said Bettencourt. "It wasn't going to be an up-and-down pretty game. You know that going against Holy Cross."
How ugly did it get: Both teams had more turnovers (19 each) than field goals (14 each).
"We played each other six times over the last two years. We know what to expect," Bettencourt said. "They sometimes know where you are going before you do."
Read more!
Other games . . .
Last updated: 8:38 a.m.
From around the league:
The surprise game of the afternoon had to be Lehigh's 56-53 win at American. Ingram 5-for-13, Thomas 1-for-5, 21 AU turnovers while shooting only 34 percent from the field.
Matt over at the Patriot League Hoops Blog called it the ugliest game he has ever seen.
Box Score | Express-Times Game Story | AP Wrap
LAFAYETTE 90, NAVY 80: Good to see somebody played some offense on a day when nobody else scored more than 60 points in the league.
Is it just me, or are others tired of that worthless NCAA J.J. Jumper mascot?
Box Score | Express-Times game story | Morning Call game story | AP Wrap
COLGATE 60, ARMY 56: Trailing by two, Army's Cory Sinning missed a layup with 51 seconds left. It is hard work being as bad as Army.
Box Score | AP Wrap
Read more!
From around the league:
The surprise game of the afternoon had to be Lehigh's 56-53 win at American. Ingram 5-for-13, Thomas 1-for-5, 21 AU turnovers while shooting only 34 percent from the field.
Matt over at the Patriot League Hoops Blog called it the ugliest game he has ever seen.
Box Score | Express-Times Game Story | AP Wrap
LAFAYETTE 90, NAVY 80: Good to see somebody played some offense on a day when nobody else scored more than 60 points in the league.
Is it just me, or are others tired of that worthless NCAA J.J. Jumper mascot?
Box Score | Express-Times game story | Morning Call game story | AP Wrap
COLGATE 60, ARMY 56: Trailing by two, Army's Cory Sinning missed a layup with 51 seconds left. It is hard work being as bad as Army.
Box Score | AP Wrap
Read more!
Ramblin' Man
Different headline, same story.
I changed it when I edited the piece. It is obviously influenced by the Allman Brothers CD the wife gave me for Christmas, which was the soundtrack for the drive to and from Lewisburg.
Here's what this piece is: I kept running notes through the game on the old laptop ... these are those. I originally posted them completely unedited shortly after the game. They have now been cleaned up slightly. Things like spellcheck and a little formatting; no major changes.
The idea was to post a "recorded live" sort of thing. If you like it enjoy; If it sucks, that is OK too. Either way, I doubt I will do it again. It was a pain in the ass and made it hard to watch the game. This concept is best left to those who can touch type, methinks.
Anyhow, here's how it happened:
Game time ... 2 p.m. ... a surprisingly decent crowd still coming in
Surprise in the starting lineup, Griffin starting at point instead of Badmus. It was not in the pregame notes, but Badmus was sat down by Pat Flannery for what is being called a “minor violation of a team rule.” He will play, but will not start.
Does HC coaching staff suspects he is hurt. Remember he was out earlier in the season with a hip problem.
First BU possession, Torey Thomas called for a handcheck guarding Bettencourt.
After HC turnover at other end, Lufkin picks up for his first foul 1:08 into this one trying to stop Charles Lee on the break. HC does not want Lufkin in foul trouble.
Bucknell turns it over for fourth time on fifth possession. Remember last year in the tournament, Bucknell’s 28 turnovers kept the Bison from blowing it open.
Off HC’s first made shot, they press on D. Ralph has written about his dislike of full court pressure, but it worked against Bucknell in that tournament game, so why not.
At first media timeout, Bucknell leads 4-2, thanks to 4-for-4 shooting at the line, They also have 5 turnovers and have taken just one shot from the field. Holy Cross is 1-for-3 from the field with 4 turnovers.
A big crowd on hand, biggest I have seen in Sojka. Bucknell would like to play good game to bring the freebie folks back.
Badmus checks in at the first TV timeout.
Donald Brown in for the Bison, picks up two very quick fouls.
BU’s first field goal comes on nice post move by Darren Mastropaolo at the 13:57 mark, giving Bison a 6-4 lead.
13 minute mark, two teams combine 13 turnovers (HC-7), just 10 points.
12:03 Lee for three, bring first obligatory T-shirt toss.
11:31, Lee running the break after nifty outlet pass from McNaughton, lays in in and draws Lufkin’s second personal. Willard has to sit Lufkin. 30 seconds later, Thomas gets his second, trying to drive through three BU defenders, bringing freshman Pat Doherty off the bench.
At the other end, Bettencourt drains a three. BU now on 9-0 run, two treys sandwiched around old fashioned three-point play by Lee. BU 15-6.
Doherty’s first foul, at 7:38, puts BU in the bonus. Willard is going with both freshman, Clifford and Doherty on the floor. Bucknell is not pulling away but they are getting guys some rest. This Bucknell team has the depth to do that, which helps wear people down in the second half and also is probably a factor in why they are winning tight games at the end.
Badmus hits front end, misses the second, BU 21-13, then schools Doherty, picking the freshman’s pocket near midcourt and taking it in for a layup and a 10-point lead.
So far, Clifford appears better than advertised. He is holding his own against McNaughton on the defensive end. The kid is 6-10, and he also checks in at a defensive-end-like 265 pounds. Despite Lufkin on the bench for almost eight minutes so far, at the TV timeout with 3:42 to go first half, McNaughton (0-2) still has not scored. BU up, 24-16.
37.7 to go, Hamilton on a breakaway, Badmus comes from behind, blocks the layup, is called for the most incredibly bogus flagrant foul ever called. Who is this ref? It is a horrible call. Horrible. Hamilton makes both, then before HC can inbound the ball, John Hurley gets hit with a technical after shoving McNaughton with his elbow while jockeying for position before officials even handed the ball to HC to inbound.
HC gets ball back ... plays for one shot, down by 12, why? They can’t get a shot off ... Shot clock violation gives BU the ball with 2.7 seconds to go in the half.
McNaughton’s heave from just inside the halfcourt like draws glass and nothing else.
At the half, Bucknell up 30-18.
In the media room at the half, the discussion over chicken wings and pizza revolves around that intentional foul call. The consensus: it was about the worst intentional foul call anyone has seen. Some even argue it was the worst call they have ever seen, period.
The ref who made the call is a guy named David Walker. There are some guys here who see a lot of games: John Feinstein, Dave Jones of The Patriot-News, Tom Housenick of the Sunbury paper … none of us have ever seen this guy before. The guess is he is a rookie.
Second half:
HC is going inside, First two buckets come from Lufkin and Hurley
In between, a reverse dunk by McNaughton, his first bucket of the game, at the 18:16 mark.
15:30 to go, Badmus going in for a layup is hammered. No intentional call this time by Walker, though the contact was certainly harder than on the one he called on Badmus. It is, though, the right call.
At the first TV timeout, HC has crawled within 8, 32-24. Lufkin has 4 of the 6 points for the Crusaders.
14:48, Lufkin picks up his third foul, just after a Hamilton trey cuts BU lead to 33-27. Darren Mastropaolo makes both to push it back to 8. An HC turnover and a Bettencourt three later, the lead is back in double digits.
Walker calls a travel on Chris Niesz on what looks like a decent jump stop.
12:36 Lufkin looks like he got all ball blocking Lee’s shot. Official disagrees and Lufkin sits with four fouls.
At the other end Thomas looks like he walked, Walker says no, Niesz fouled him. Fans are all over Walker now.
11:48, media timeout: HC within six again, 38-32.
Kevin Hyland gets a little runner to go over McNaughton, 38-34.
A steal off the press at midcourt leads to a Hamilton trey, 38-37 and Flannery quick calls a timeout with 11:12 to play.
11:02McNaughton hammered from behind going to the hole. Walker calls foul, but no intentional. Flannery can be heard pleading “They foul us every time we shoot a layup.”
9:23 Walker calls a foul on Badmus as Thomas appears to walk. Boos cascade through Sojka.
8:38 McNaughton hits 1 of 2, Bucknell lead back to 6, 43-37, even though they have no field goals in recent memory.
Lufkin back in unnoticed around the 8 min mark.
6:18, Lee drives, is hammered, but LeBranch calls him for a charge. Says one reporter of the refs: "This is northern tier league stuff."
The Northern Tier, for those not familiar with Pa., is the wooded areas at the top of the state of Pa where deer outnumber humans.
Less anyone think we’re bashing Northern Tier hoops, the area did produce Maryland and NBA player turned politician Tom McMillan and a kid named Phil Hickey who played for Notre Dame a few years ago. They play some decent ball for small, country schools, but they are seldom seen deep in the state playoffs.
Regardless, it was not meant as a compliment.
4:39 Lufkin tries to draw a charge on Donald Brown and fouls out. Brown has just made three big plays in a row: First and athletic follow on a blocked Charles Lee shot for a 46-37 lead, BU’s first field goal in a long time. At the other end he blocks a layup, then comes down and draws Lufkin's fifth and hits both free throws to push BU lead back to double digits, 48-37.
The New York Times has a stringer here to do a story. They won’t drive to uptown Manhattan for a Columbia game, but they found Lewisburg somehow.
3:56, with both in the bonus, this is looking like a free throw shooting contest down the stretch.
The announced crowd of 3,897 is the largest in Bucknell history. Hard to tell if it is the free admission or the win over Pittsburgh that brought them out. Having grown up nearby, I am betting on the free admission.
Despite no tickets, that is probably a pretty accurate number. Bucknell had folks with clickers at the entrances as folks came in.
2:05, Does not look like HC has a miracle comeback in them. Bucknell is too good at the line and HC doesn't have the offensive firepower.
1:48 Clifford’s first appearance of the second half. The kid played well in the first half and it is surprising he got no more minutes than this in the second half.
1:10, Badmus layup is blocked below the rim, Walker calls goaltending from midcourt as he tries to catch up with the play. May be the cherry on Walker’s dreadful officiating sundae.
Holy Cross shooting below 30 percent. Noting that here in case a couple garbage buckets push them above.
:15 Bettencourt stands at midcourt and dribbles out the clock.
Final: Bucknell 59-43
Read more!
I changed it when I edited the piece. It is obviously influenced by the Allman Brothers CD the wife gave me for Christmas, which was the soundtrack for the drive to and from Lewisburg.
Here's what this piece is: I kept running notes through the game on the old laptop ... these are those. I originally posted them completely unedited shortly after the game. They have now been cleaned up slightly. Things like spellcheck and a little formatting; no major changes.
The idea was to post a "recorded live" sort of thing. If you like it enjoy; If it sucks, that is OK too. Either way, I doubt I will do it again. It was a pain in the ass and made it hard to watch the game. This concept is best left to those who can touch type, methinks.
Anyhow, here's how it happened:
Game time ... 2 p.m. ... a surprisingly decent crowd still coming in
Surprise in the starting lineup, Griffin starting at point instead of Badmus. It was not in the pregame notes, but Badmus was sat down by Pat Flannery for what is being called a “minor violation of a team rule.” He will play, but will not start.
Does HC coaching staff suspects he is hurt. Remember he was out earlier in the season with a hip problem.
First BU possession, Torey Thomas called for a handcheck guarding Bettencourt.
After HC turnover at other end, Lufkin picks up for his first foul 1:08 into this one trying to stop Charles Lee on the break. HC does not want Lufkin in foul trouble.
Bucknell turns it over for fourth time on fifth possession. Remember last year in the tournament, Bucknell’s 28 turnovers kept the Bison from blowing it open.
Off HC’s first made shot, they press on D. Ralph has written about his dislike of full court pressure, but it worked against Bucknell in that tournament game, so why not.
At first media timeout, Bucknell leads 4-2, thanks to 4-for-4 shooting at the line, They also have 5 turnovers and have taken just one shot from the field. Holy Cross is 1-for-3 from the field with 4 turnovers.
A big crowd on hand, biggest I have seen in Sojka. Bucknell would like to play good game to bring the freebie folks back.
Badmus checks in at the first TV timeout.
Donald Brown in for the Bison, picks up two very quick fouls.
BU’s first field goal comes on nice post move by Darren Mastropaolo at the 13:57 mark, giving Bison a 6-4 lead.
13 minute mark, two teams combine 13 turnovers (HC-7), just 10 points.
12:03 Lee for three, bring first obligatory T-shirt toss.
11:31, Lee running the break after nifty outlet pass from McNaughton, lays in in and draws Lufkin’s second personal. Willard has to sit Lufkin. 30 seconds later, Thomas gets his second, trying to drive through three BU defenders, bringing freshman Pat Doherty off the bench.
At the other end, Bettencourt drains a three. BU now on 9-0 run, two treys sandwiched around old fashioned three-point play by Lee. BU 15-6.
Doherty’s first foul, at 7:38, puts BU in the bonus. Willard is going with both freshman, Clifford and Doherty on the floor. Bucknell is not pulling away but they are getting guys some rest. This Bucknell team has the depth to do that, which helps wear people down in the second half and also is probably a factor in why they are winning tight games at the end.
Badmus hits front end, misses the second, BU 21-13, then schools Doherty, picking the freshman’s pocket near midcourt and taking it in for a layup and a 10-point lead.
So far, Clifford appears better than advertised. He is holding his own against McNaughton on the defensive end. The kid is 6-10, and he also checks in at a defensive-end-like 265 pounds. Despite Lufkin on the bench for almost eight minutes so far, at the TV timeout with 3:42 to go first half, McNaughton (0-2) still has not scored. BU up, 24-16.
37.7 to go, Hamilton on a breakaway, Badmus comes from behind, blocks the layup, is called for the most incredibly bogus flagrant foul ever called. Who is this ref? It is a horrible call. Horrible. Hamilton makes both, then before HC can inbound the ball, John Hurley gets hit with a technical after shoving McNaughton with his elbow while jockeying for position before officials even handed the ball to HC to inbound.
HC gets ball back ... plays for one shot, down by 12, why? They can’t get a shot off ... Shot clock violation gives BU the ball with 2.7 seconds to go in the half.
McNaughton’s heave from just inside the halfcourt like draws glass and nothing else.
At the half, Bucknell up 30-18.
In the media room at the half, the discussion over chicken wings and pizza revolves around that intentional foul call. The consensus: it was about the worst intentional foul call anyone has seen. Some even argue it was the worst call they have ever seen, period.
The ref who made the call is a guy named David Walker. There are some guys here who see a lot of games: John Feinstein, Dave Jones of The Patriot-News, Tom Housenick of the Sunbury paper … none of us have ever seen this guy before. The guess is he is a rookie.
Second half:
HC is going inside, First two buckets come from Lufkin and Hurley
In between, a reverse dunk by McNaughton, his first bucket of the game, at the 18:16 mark.
15:30 to go, Badmus going in for a layup is hammered. No intentional call this time by Walker, though the contact was certainly harder than on the one he called on Badmus. It is, though, the right call.
At the first TV timeout, HC has crawled within 8, 32-24. Lufkin has 4 of the 6 points for the Crusaders.
14:48, Lufkin picks up his third foul, just after a Hamilton trey cuts BU lead to 33-27. Darren Mastropaolo makes both to push it back to 8. An HC turnover and a Bettencourt three later, the lead is back in double digits.
Walker calls a travel on Chris Niesz on what looks like a decent jump stop.
12:36 Lufkin looks like he got all ball blocking Lee’s shot. Official disagrees and Lufkin sits with four fouls.
At the other end Thomas looks like he walked, Walker says no, Niesz fouled him. Fans are all over Walker now.
11:48, media timeout: HC within six again, 38-32.
Kevin Hyland gets a little runner to go over McNaughton, 38-34.
A steal off the press at midcourt leads to a Hamilton trey, 38-37 and Flannery quick calls a timeout with 11:12 to play.
11:02McNaughton hammered from behind going to the hole. Walker calls foul, but no intentional. Flannery can be heard pleading “They foul us every time we shoot a layup.”
9:23 Walker calls a foul on Badmus as Thomas appears to walk. Boos cascade through Sojka.
8:38 McNaughton hits 1 of 2, Bucknell lead back to 6, 43-37, even though they have no field goals in recent memory.
Lufkin back in unnoticed around the 8 min mark.
6:18, Lee drives, is hammered, but LeBranch calls him for a charge. Says one reporter of the refs: "This is northern tier league stuff."
The Northern Tier, for those not familiar with Pa., is the wooded areas at the top of the state of Pa where deer outnumber humans.
Less anyone think we’re bashing Northern Tier hoops, the area did produce Maryland and NBA player turned politician Tom McMillan and a kid named Phil Hickey who played for Notre Dame a few years ago. They play some decent ball for small, country schools, but they are seldom seen deep in the state playoffs.
Regardless, it was not meant as a compliment.
4:39 Lufkin tries to draw a charge on Donald Brown and fouls out. Brown has just made three big plays in a row: First and athletic follow on a blocked Charles Lee shot for a 46-37 lead, BU’s first field goal in a long time. At the other end he blocks a layup, then comes down and draws Lufkin's fifth and hits both free throws to push BU lead back to double digits, 48-37.
The New York Times has a stringer here to do a story. They won’t drive to uptown Manhattan for a Columbia game, but they found Lewisburg somehow.
3:56, with both in the bonus, this is looking like a free throw shooting contest down the stretch.
The announced crowd of 3,897 is the largest in Bucknell history. Hard to tell if it is the free admission or the win over Pittsburgh that brought them out. Having grown up nearby, I am betting on the free admission.
Despite no tickets, that is probably a pretty accurate number. Bucknell had folks with clickers at the entrances as folks came in.
2:05, Does not look like HC has a miracle comeback in them. Bucknell is too good at the line and HC doesn't have the offensive firepower.
1:48 Clifford’s first appearance of the second half. The kid played well in the first half and it is surprising he got no more minutes than this in the second half.
1:10, Badmus layup is blocked below the rim, Walker calls goaltending from midcourt as he tries to catch up with the play. May be the cherry on Walker’s dreadful officiating sundae.
Holy Cross shooting below 30 percent. Noting that here in case a couple garbage buckets push them above.
:15 Bettencourt stands at midcourt and dribbles out the clock.
Final: Bucknell 59-43
Read more!
Bucknell 59, Holy Cross 43 (Telegram-Gazette version)
Here's my game story for the Worcester Telegram-Gazette
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Special to the Telegram-Gazette
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Holy Cross came into its Patriot League opener at Bucknell with a simple three-part game plan.
The Crusaders went 0-for-3 on that checklist and the result was a 59-43 loss (box score) at the hands of the preseason league-favorite Bison and an 0-1 start in conference play.
“Our game plan was to go inside and go right at them and I think we threw the ball inside four times in the first half,” said Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard. “We had two things defensively we had to do: get back in transition and not put them at the free throw line. In the first half, they had 18 points in transition and 10 from the free throw line.”
The result was a 30-18 halftime deficit that the Crusaders (8-5, 0-1) were unable to overcome.
“Out of 30 points they had 28 from the two things we said we weren’t going to let them do,” said Willard. “We laid an egg. They made an omelet.”
Actually, it would have been hard to make an omelet out of that egg. You probably would have needed to scrape the broken egg off the floor first. If it didn’t make a mess clanging off the rim – Holy Cross was 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) from the field in the first half – it certainly would have shattered on the floor from one of the Crusaders 11 first half turnovers (19 total).
The second half was not much prettier. The Crusaders did manage to cut the Bucknell lead to one about midway through the second half. But Bucknell responded with a 10-0 walk (all but two of the points came at the free throw line, so you could hardly call it a run) and the Crusaders never got closer the 9 the rest of the way.
By the time the game was over, Bucknell had made that walk to the free throw line 37 times, making 26. Bucknell was hardly an offensive juggernaut. Holy Cross held them to 14 field goals the whole afternoon (14-of-34, 41.2 percent). But between a defensive effort that held the Crusaders to 14-of-50 (28 percent) shooting night, their worst offensive showing of the season, and Bucknell’s free throw shooting, the HC defensive effort hardly mattered.
“Bucknell did a great job shooting free throws,” Willard said. “They beat us by 16 points at the free throw line.”
It was hardly coincidental the Bison won the game by the same margin.
“You can’t work hard on defense and then wind up letting them shoot free throws, and that is what we did,” said Willard. “They killed us at the free throw line.”
You would have to go back to the 56-40 loss at Louisville on Dec. 7, 2003, to find a poorer offensive showing by the Crusaders. Only in a 46-42 loss to Colgate in 2002 has Holy Cross scored fewer points in a league game since Willard became the Crusaders coach.
“We didn’t execute,” said HC’s junior guard Kevin Hamilton, the Crusaders lone bright spot offensively. Hamilton finished with 17 points. No other Crusader had more than 7.
“We anticipated the defenses they played. We were prepared for that,’ Hamilton said. “We just didn’t execute.”
A big part of the Crusaders offensive problems could be traced to Nate Lufkin’s foul trouble. Lufkin, Holy Cross’ only legitimate weapon in the paint, played only 16 minutes before fouling out. With Lufkin on the floor, Bucknell’s guards had to double down to help every time the Crusaders threw him the ball. One on one against Bucknell’s Chris McNaughton, Lufkin was almost unstoppable, missing only one shot.
The problem was, between his foul problems and Bucknell’s double teams, he only took three shots all afternoon. Lufkin played just five minutes in the first half, taking a seat after picking up two quick fouls.
Lufkin picked up his fourth personal on a questionable call while trying to block a shot with 12:35 to play. At that point, Holy Cross was down 6 and in the midst of the 10-0 run that cut Bucknell’s lead to 38-37 with 11:14 to go.
“It affects us a lot (when Lufkin sits). You saw what he did when he did get the ball in the second half,” said Willard. “He hit some shots. Even when he didn’t, he made some good things happen. He was kicking the ball out and we had some open shots. We didn’t make them, but we had some open shots.”
Kevin Bettencourt led Bucknell with 17 points, including three treys. Charles Lee added 12, five from the free throw line.
The win was Bucknell’s seventh in a row. Holy Cross lost for just the second time in six games.
The Crusaders will look to rebound Wednesday when they visit Army.
Read more!
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Special to the Telegram-Gazette
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Holy Cross came into its Patriot League opener at Bucknell with a simple three-part game plan.
The Crusaders went 0-for-3 on that checklist and the result was a 59-43 loss (box score) at the hands of the preseason league-favorite Bison and an 0-1 start in conference play.
“Our game plan was to go inside and go right at them and I think we threw the ball inside four times in the first half,” said Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard. “We had two things defensively we had to do: get back in transition and not put them at the free throw line. In the first half, they had 18 points in transition and 10 from the free throw line.”
The result was a 30-18 halftime deficit that the Crusaders (8-5, 0-1) were unable to overcome.
“Out of 30 points they had 28 from the two things we said we weren’t going to let them do,” said Willard. “We laid an egg. They made an omelet.”
Actually, it would have been hard to make an omelet out of that egg. You probably would have needed to scrape the broken egg off the floor first. If it didn’t make a mess clanging off the rim – Holy Cross was 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) from the field in the first half – it certainly would have shattered on the floor from one of the Crusaders 11 first half turnovers (19 total).
The second half was not much prettier. The Crusaders did manage to cut the Bucknell lead to one about midway through the second half. But Bucknell responded with a 10-0 walk (all but two of the points came at the free throw line, so you could hardly call it a run) and the Crusaders never got closer the 9 the rest of the way.
By the time the game was over, Bucknell had made that walk to the free throw line 37 times, making 26. Bucknell was hardly an offensive juggernaut. Holy Cross held them to 14 field goals the whole afternoon (14-of-34, 41.2 percent). But between a defensive effort that held the Crusaders to 14-of-50 (28 percent) shooting night, their worst offensive showing of the season, and Bucknell’s free throw shooting, the HC defensive effort hardly mattered.
“Bucknell did a great job shooting free throws,” Willard said. “They beat us by 16 points at the free throw line.”
It was hardly coincidental the Bison won the game by the same margin.
“You can’t work hard on defense and then wind up letting them shoot free throws, and that is what we did,” said Willard. “They killed us at the free throw line.”
You would have to go back to the 56-40 loss at Louisville on Dec. 7, 2003, to find a poorer offensive showing by the Crusaders. Only in a 46-42 loss to Colgate in 2002 has Holy Cross scored fewer points in a league game since Willard became the Crusaders coach.
“We didn’t execute,” said HC’s junior guard Kevin Hamilton, the Crusaders lone bright spot offensively. Hamilton finished with 17 points. No other Crusader had more than 7.
“We anticipated the defenses they played. We were prepared for that,’ Hamilton said. “We just didn’t execute.”
A big part of the Crusaders offensive problems could be traced to Nate Lufkin’s foul trouble. Lufkin, Holy Cross’ only legitimate weapon in the paint, played only 16 minutes before fouling out. With Lufkin on the floor, Bucknell’s guards had to double down to help every time the Crusaders threw him the ball. One on one against Bucknell’s Chris McNaughton, Lufkin was almost unstoppable, missing only one shot.
The problem was, between his foul problems and Bucknell’s double teams, he only took three shots all afternoon. Lufkin played just five minutes in the first half, taking a seat after picking up two quick fouls.
Lufkin picked up his fourth personal on a questionable call while trying to block a shot with 12:35 to play. At that point, Holy Cross was down 6 and in the midst of the 10-0 run that cut Bucknell’s lead to 38-37 with 11:14 to go.
“It affects us a lot (when Lufkin sits). You saw what he did when he did get the ball in the second half,” said Willard. “He hit some shots. Even when he didn’t, he made some good things happen. He was kicking the ball out and we had some open shots. We didn’t make them, but we had some open shots.”
Kevin Bettencourt led Bucknell with 17 points, including three treys. Charles Lee added 12, five from the free throw line.
The win was Bucknell’s seventh in a row. Holy Cross lost for just the second time in six games.
The Crusaders will look to rebound Wednesday when they visit Army.
Read more!
SCOREBOARDS
Here's some Patriot League scoreboards that will keep you up to date during this afternoon's games:
ESPN | CBS Sportsline | PennLive.com
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ESPN | CBS Sportsline | PennLive.com
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Morning shootaround
Holy Cross at Bucknell, 2 p.m. -- You'll find the full preview, with links, below. Two links we didn't include were for the audio feeds. Since the game is "nationally televised", not to mention Bucknell offering FREE ADMISSION, we figured nobody would listen to internet radio, so why bother.
Then we started looking through our local listings to set the VCR, and could not find it anywhere on the Comcast lineup in the Harrisburg area, even though College Sports TV's Web site says:
Also, a word on our game plan for this afternoon: Assuming no problems with our antique laptop, which is around 97-years-old in computer years (which are sort of like dog years), we will have the initial game story posted around 5:30 p.m. or so.
We will add additional commentary later, and then pull together a full league report Sunday morning.
The rest of today's games:
Navy at Lafayette, 1 p.m. (Gametracker | Navy Game Notes| Lafayette Game Notes)
Lehigh at American, 1 p.m. ( AU Game Notes (pdf) | Lehigh Game Notes)
Army at Colgate, 2 p.m. (Gametracker | Army Game Notes | Colgate Game Notes)
GAME DAY NOTES:
CURIOUS MOVE: The common itinerary for a Division I team on the road is to arrive the day before the game in time to have a walk-through in the other team's gym.
Holy Cross, though, took a different approach for today's game at Bucknell. The Crusaders practiced yesterday morning in Worcester, then bused to Lewisburg later in the day.
This is particularly curious because, with school still on winter break, there were no missed classes to be worried about.
We're not about to second guess Ralph Willard; He's been around long enough to know what he is doing. But we do wonder what the thought process was behind skipping a Friday shootaround in Sojka. We will try to remember to ask him about that this afternoon.
NO GUARANTEES: Author, commentator, columnist, swimmer and this afternoon's TV color guy, John Feinstein has a nice piece in today's Washington Post about how Bucknell forgot its end of the bargain in that guarantee game at Pittsburgh.
An interesting Pat Flannery quote near the end shows Flannery isn't about to buy into all the sudden hype. Despite beating Pittsburgh, Bucknell knows if they want to dance in March, this is a much bigger game. Said Flannery:
Did we mention FREE ADMISSION.
GLORY DAYS: Kyle, over at Mid-Majority.com, was thinking of making the Holy Cross Bucknell games one of his 100 games. Instead, he is continuing his America East tour, saving a visit to the No. 200 Sports Town in America for later. In his Friday installment he chronicled Boston University's (lopsided might be an understatement) 73-22 win over Hartford by listing "22 Teams That Can Beat The Hartford Hawks."
What does this have to do with the Patriot League, you ask. Nothing, but one of the 22 teams he mentions is me and a handful of other guys from the hoops blogosphere.
Had he mentioned it in a chat room, my response would be *ROTFLMAO* (translation: rolling on the floor laughing my ass off). This tells me one of X things: Either Kyle has no idea how out of shape I am and how weak my jumper was even in what I laughingly would call my basketball prime, or those other guys got serious game.
Next week Kyle promises to be in Lewisburg to see the Army-Bucknell game. Maybe the dude has a thing for mismatches.
Read more!
Friday, January 14, 2005 Then we started looking through our local listings to set the VCR, and could not find it anywhere on the Comcast lineup in the Harrisburg area, even though College Sports TV's Web site says:
CSTV is available on Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Adelphia and Insight cable systems, among others, and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610).If your cable system doesn't carry CSTV, you can listen live on your choice of the Bison Sports Network or Holy Cross flagship station WTAG. If you pick Doug Birdsong's Bucknell call you get the added bonus of hearing an interview with me at the half.
Also, a word on our game plan for this afternoon: Assuming no problems with our antique laptop, which is around 97-years-old in computer years (which are sort of like dog years), we will have the initial game story posted around 5:30 p.m. or so.
We will add additional commentary later, and then pull together a full league report Sunday morning.
The rest of today's games:
Navy at Lafayette, 1 p.m. (Gametracker | Navy Game Notes| Lafayette Game Notes)
Lehigh at American, 1 p.m. ( AU Game Notes (pdf) | Lehigh Game Notes)
Army at Colgate, 2 p.m. (Gametracker | Army Game Notes | Colgate Game Notes)
GAME DAY NOTES:
CURIOUS MOVE: The common itinerary for a Division I team on the road is to arrive the day before the game in time to have a walk-through in the other team's gym.
Holy Cross, though, took a different approach for today's game at Bucknell. The Crusaders practiced yesterday morning in Worcester, then bused to Lewisburg later in the day.
This is particularly curious because, with school still on winter break, there were no missed classes to be worried about.
We're not about to second guess Ralph Willard; He's been around long enough to know what he is doing. But we do wonder what the thought process was behind skipping a Friday shootaround in Sojka. We will try to remember to ask him about that this afternoon.
NO GUARANTEES: Author, commentator, columnist, swimmer and this afternoon's TV color guy, John Feinstein has a nice piece in today's Washington Post about how Bucknell forgot its end of the bargain in that guarantee game at Pittsburgh.
An interesting Pat Flannery quote near the end shows Flannery isn't about to buy into all the sudden hype. Despite beating Pittsburgh, Bucknell knows if they want to dance in March, this is a much bigger game. Said Flannery:
"I'm pretty sure I won't have any problem getting them ready for Holy Cross. For us, they're still the benchmark."TROUBLE IN ANNAPOLIS: A story posted yesterday afternoon in the Annapolis Capital previews the Mids game at Lafayette and also hints of off court problems with the Navy program:
The Midshipmen played that (air force) without forward Matt Fannin and guard Kelvin Boatner, whom Lange suspended for violation of team rules.ONE GAME NOT ENOUGH?: Fans attending the Bucknell-Holy Cross game whose appetite for hoops is not sated by that game can stick around after for a high school game between Shamokin and Central Columbia. It's all part of what Bucknell is billing as Community Day.
"We have certain ways we are going to carry ourselves and if I have to suspend people to make sure that standard is upheld, that's what I'll do," Lange said.
Fannin and Boatner will both be back tomorrow, but Lange is going to stick with the starting lineup he's been using. That means freshmen Ben Biles, Greg Sprink and Corey Johnson will start for the fourth straight game.
Johnson has taken over at point guard for senior Taj Mathews, who has been bothered by injuries to both wrists. Biles, who at 6-foot-9 is the second-tallest player on Navy's roster, has been providing decent rebounding and defense at center. Sprink moved into the starting lineup at wing forward after producing a double-double against Mount St. Mary's.
Navy remains without sophomore forward Carlton Baldwin, the team's leading returning scorer and rebounder. Baldwin, who has played in just three games, is serving an academy-related suspension and may not return this season.
"My main interest at this point is keeping Carlton at the academy," (Billy) Lange said. "It's a shame because I think our record is reversed if we have this kid all season. He makes plays."
Did we mention FREE ADMISSION.
GLORY DAYS: Kyle, over at Mid-Majority.com, was thinking of making the Holy Cross Bucknell games one of his 100 games. Instead, he is continuing his America East tour, saving a visit to the No. 200 Sports Town in America for later. In his Friday installment he chronicled Boston University's (lopsided might be an understatement) 73-22 win over Hartford by listing "22 Teams That Can Beat The Hartford Hawks."
What does this have to do with the Patriot League, you ask. Nothing, but one of the 22 teams he mentions is me and a handful of other guys from the hoops blogosphere.
Had he mentioned it in a chat room, my response would be *ROTFLMAO* (translation: rolling on the floor laughing my ass off). This tells me one of X things: Either Kyle has no idea how out of shape I am and how weak my jumper was even in what I laughingly would call my basketball prime, or those other guys got serious game.
Next week Kyle promises to be in Lewisburg to see the Army-Bucknell game. Maybe the dude has a thing for mismatches.
Read more!
He said, we said
Held over by popular demand
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Wednesday night results
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Not just weird, but wonderful too
Wednesday games
More bad news for Navy
Upon further review
Under the radar
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Hot and Cold Eagles down Yale
News and notes (it's official)
Monday, January 10, 2005
Poll watching
(not so) Big Monday
Cheer up purple people
Down in the valley
teAm lithUania
Sunday, January 09, 2005
They're calling it Bison Mania
Other games . . .
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Ramblin' Man
Bucknell 59, Holy Cross 43 (Telegram-Gazette version)
SCOREBOARDS
Morning shootaround
