Thursday, November 18, 2004
PL Opening Weekend Preview
Get excited boys and girls, basketball season is here again. Time to get out the puffy coats, the wool hats, and your mapquest.com directions to Hamilton, NY, because another fun season of PL basketball is upon us. There are a lot of questions going in to the season. Among them:
- Is Linas Lekavicius ready to be a full time PG for the AU Eagles? Can Andre Ingram challenge Rob Feaster's all time PL best 28 ppg?
- If Jim Crews doesn't win 10 games this year, is he gone?
- Will Bucknell live up to the hype, or was Kevin Bettencourt's relatively disappointing season last year a sign of things to come? They had potential last year, but will it manifest itself? They didn't look good against Princeton.
- Will Colgate win more than 6 games in league play? Who the hell is going to score points on that team? Will the Chonesesess ever return? Were they kicked out for doing that stupid Darius Miles/Quentin Richardson forehead banging thing?
- Will Senior Nate Lufkin develop into the player that HC fans thought he would be when he was voted Rookie of the Year three years ago?
- Can Lafayette compete in a league with scholarships? Will the scholarship issue be a distraction for the team?
- Who is Joe Knight, and will he lead the Lehigh MountainEagleEngineers to another title? Is he Austen Rowland part II?
- On that note, is this Billy Taylor's last year at Lehigh if they go back to the Dance?
- Can a guy from the Merchant Marine Academy turn the Navy program around? Or at least beat Army?
- Am I really going to make the trip up to Hamilton again? I can't be serious, can I?
All of these storylines are going to play out, and it should make for a very interesting season. Try not to explode with anticipation.
It all starts this weekend with the following matchups:
Rider vs. Bucknell - Look at the Rider Athletics website and try to tell me with a straight face that they're a real DI program. This is a team that had to eek out a victory against Loyola MD last year. Bucknell by 15.
Navy at UMBC - At least Billy Lange is going to the right places to get wins. This one ought to be close, but I think the kids at U Must Be Crazy will win.
Lehigh at Penn St. - Unless Penn State puts the football team on the court, they will probably get this one. Big Ten guys are just too damn big, and State has a new coach that seems to be getting the house into order. Jason Mbegroff gets muscled around in this one by Aaron Johnson.
Colgate is in the Mohegan Sun Tourney against Central Connecticut East Technical State University - This should be a barn burner, with a final score of about 52-48. Not sure who is worse here. Maybe one team will have a freshman that is really good. Who knows.
SATURDAY
Holy Cross @ Boston University - These games have been close in the past, with HC knocking off their crosstown rivals last year. I think it will take some time for the Cross to gel as a team, so I think a rusty HC will be beaten by the more experienced Terriers.
Lafayette @ Duqunsenseque - A10 Duquense (however they spell it) will beat up on the smaller Leopards. Get used to it, LC fans. It's going to be a long season.
American @ Niagara - The Eagles blew a victory last year in the last minute against the Purple Eagles. I mentioned it then, but I'll say it again: what an embarassing mascot. Anyway, Juan Mendez is a big big man, with a big big plan. He was nearly shut out from the floor against AU last year, but went 15-15 from the line. Stopping him will be key to whatever AU does. I'm not sure they can, and the continuing development (and injury) of PG Linas Lekavicius makes me think the team with the wussier mascot is going to win this one.
The Citadel He-man Womanhaters @ Army - God, I hate the Citadel. I hope Army wins just to make them shut up. Neither team is very good, but at least the USMA isn't full of annoying pricks. Army by 5.
SUNDAY
Lehigh @ LIU - I encourage any Lehigh fans to go to this game, because LIU has the weirdest damn arena in college basketball. It's a renovated movie theater or something. I think it seats about 3 dozen. Also, it's not on Long Island. Don't ask me. LIU has a kid named James Williams who is pretty nasty, and is a very young team that is going to be good in a year or two. Unfortunately for them, they're not good now, and LU should beat them handily by 10 or 12.
Navy @ Loyola (Md.) - A rematch of the Battle of the Mediocrities from last year, the only winners from this game are going to be the people that stay home. This is the second leg of Navy's weekend "tour of crappy basketball schools in Maryland". For some reason they couldn't make it to Towson.
That's it! Be sure to get out and watch your team if they're at home this weekend. Unless you're a Loyola fan.
@ 3:26 PM
Get excited boys and girls, basketball season is here again. Time to get out the puffy coats, the wool hats, and your mapquest.com directions to Hamilton, NY, because another fun season of PL basketball is upon us. There are a lot of questions going in to the season. Among them:
- Is Linas Lekavicius ready to be a full time PG for the AU Eagles? Can Andre Ingram challenge Rob Feaster's all time PL best 28 ppg?
- If Jim Crews doesn't win 10 games this year, is he gone?
- Will Bucknell live up to the hype, or was Kevin Bettencourt's relatively disappointing season last year a sign of things to come? They had potential last year, but will it manifest itself? They didn't look good against Princeton.
- Will Colgate win more than 6 games in league play? Who the hell is going to score points on that team? Will the Chonesesess ever return? Were they kicked out for doing that stupid Darius Miles/Quentin Richardson forehead banging thing?
- Will Senior Nate Lufkin develop into the player that HC fans thought he would be when he was voted Rookie of the Year three years ago?
- Can Lafayette compete in a league with scholarships? Will the scholarship issue be a distraction for the team?
- Who is Joe Knight, and will he lead the Lehigh MountainEagleEngineers to another title? Is he Austen Rowland part II?
- On that note, is this Billy Taylor's last year at Lehigh if they go back to the Dance?
- Can a guy from the Merchant Marine Academy turn the Navy program around? Or at least beat Army?
- Am I really going to make the trip up to Hamilton again? I can't be serious, can I?
All of these storylines are going to play out, and it should make for a very interesting season. Try not to explode with anticipation.
It all starts this weekend with the following matchups:
Rider vs. Bucknell - Look at the Rider Athletics website and try to tell me with a straight face that they're a real DI program. This is a team that had to eek out a victory against Loyola MD last year. Bucknell by 15.
Navy at UMBC - At least Billy Lange is going to the right places to get wins. This one ought to be close, but I think the kids at U Must Be Crazy will win.
Lehigh at Penn St. - Unless Penn State puts the football team on the court, they will probably get this one. Big Ten guys are just too damn big, and State has a new coach that seems to be getting the house into order. Jason Mbegroff gets muscled around in this one by Aaron Johnson.
Colgate is in the Mohegan Sun Tourney against Central Connecticut East Technical State University - This should be a barn burner, with a final score of about 52-48. Not sure who is worse here. Maybe one team will have a freshman that is really good. Who knows.
SATURDAY
Holy Cross @ Boston University - These games have been close in the past, with HC knocking off their crosstown rivals last year. I think it will take some time for the Cross to gel as a team, so I think a rusty HC will be beaten by the more experienced Terriers.
Lafayette @ Duqunsenseque - A10 Duquense (however they spell it) will beat up on the smaller Leopards. Get used to it, LC fans. It's going to be a long season.
American @ Niagara - The Eagles blew a victory last year in the last minute against the Purple Eagles. I mentioned it then, but I'll say it again: what an embarassing mascot. Anyway, Juan Mendez is a big big man, with a big big plan. He was nearly shut out from the floor against AU last year, but went 15-15 from the line. Stopping him will be key to whatever AU does. I'm not sure they can, and the continuing development (and injury) of PG Linas Lekavicius makes me think the team with the wussier mascot is going to win this one.
The Citadel He-man Womanhaters @ Army - God, I hate the Citadel. I hope Army wins just to make them shut up. Neither team is very good, but at least the USMA isn't full of annoying pricks. Army by 5.
SUNDAY
Lehigh @ LIU - I encourage any Lehigh fans to go to this game, because LIU has the weirdest damn arena in college basketball. It's a renovated movie theater or something. I think it seats about 3 dozen. Also, it's not on Long Island. Don't ask me. LIU has a kid named James Williams who is pretty nasty, and is a very young team that is going to be good in a year or two. Unfortunately for them, they're not good now, and LU should beat them handily by 10 or 12.
Navy @ Loyola (Md.) - A rematch of the Battle of the Mediocrities from last year, the only winners from this game are going to be the people that stay home. This is the second leg of Navy's weekend "tour of crappy basketball schools in Maryland". For some reason they couldn't make it to Towson.
That's it! Be sure to get out and watch your team if they're at home this weekend. Unless you're a Loyola fan.
@ 3:26 PM
