Tuesday, October 04, 2005
2005-2006 TEAM BY TEAM QUESTIONS
Welcome to year three of your Patriot League Hoops blog. Storylines and questions for this year are as follows:
American: Who are these guys? Only six returning players and two starters remain, leaving AU with lots of holes to fill. Their only legit post presence during the first half will be Brayden Billbe, while the man known as Paul Jones comes in late December. Where does Linus Lekavicius play now that there are no less than three point guards on the team? Can the freshman contribute immediately like Ingram did in 2002? They have a lot of hype, and will need to live up to it for AU to be competitive.
Army: How long can Jim Crews keep his job while winning one DI game a year? I would venture to say that Crews needs seven wins this year if he wants to keep his job. Thus, the Army job-o-meter to the right. Out of kindness, we'll include non-DI contests, meaning Ws against powerhouses like NY Maritime and NY Polytechnic will count.
Bucknell: The Bison had the most successful season of any PL team ever, with two wins over top 25 teams, and national coverage of their breakthrough NCAA first round win. Can these guys be stopped? Will they develop the consistency that seemed to elude them throughout last season? Can Pat Flannery survive another year of this stuff? If they go under .500 in OOC play, will it shake their convidence?
Colgate: The Chones Brothers return, but what kind of difference will they make on a team that was mediocre in every way last year and has its best player in Andrew Zidar? Are they going to be in game shape? Is Marc Daniels going to be their starting center (they better hope not)? If Colgate scores 30 points a game and no one is there to watch, is the game official?
Holy Cross: They're the clear #1 contender to Bucknell, but the key will be beating Bucknell in the PL tournament. Can Tim Clifford be a top-tier Center and defend McNaughton? This is a team that only lost one regular season league game last year. They might have been the favorite despite their PL title game loss if Bucknell did not have their postseason success.
Lafayette: Who are these guys (part 2)? They had a couple good young players in Abdullah and Harley last year, but who knows what those guys will develop into. Lafayette's season this year and in every year afterwards will be about whether they finally get scholarships. It might be better for the program overall to finish in 8th just to show what an uneven playing field has emerged.
Lehigh: Is Joe Knight the guy that scored 45 on Colgate or the guy who went 3-17 in a half dozen other games? Can Olivero get over a sophomore slump that looked to steal his shooting touch? Lehigh has the potential to win with Knight, Olivero and Mbegroff if they all meet their potential, but inconsistency killed them last year.
Navy: Can the improvement continue? Despite losing their first five league games last year, Navy impressed me early on (you'll remember I predicted their first win vs. Colgate). They turned the battleship around and ended up going 5-4 in their last 9 contests. They even had their first really close game against American, scaring the shit out of me in their 83-85 OT loss to the Eagles in their first round PL tourney game. Now that coaches have had a year to see what Billy Lange's matchups brings to the table, will they be able to adjust?
Next: Team by team previews @ 3:52 PM
Welcome to year three of your Patriot League Hoops blog. Storylines and questions for this year are as follows:
American: Who are these guys? Only six returning players and two starters remain, leaving AU with lots of holes to fill. Their only legit post presence during the first half will be Brayden Billbe, while the man known as Paul Jones comes in late December. Where does Linus Lekavicius play now that there are no less than three point guards on the team? Can the freshman contribute immediately like Ingram did in 2002? They have a lot of hype, and will need to live up to it for AU to be competitive.
Army: How long can Jim Crews keep his job while winning one DI game a year? I would venture to say that Crews needs seven wins this year if he wants to keep his job. Thus, the Army job-o-meter to the right. Out of kindness, we'll include non-DI contests, meaning Ws against powerhouses like NY Maritime and NY Polytechnic will count.
Bucknell: The Bison had the most successful season of any PL team ever, with two wins over top 25 teams, and national coverage of their breakthrough NCAA first round win. Can these guys be stopped? Will they develop the consistency that seemed to elude them throughout last season? Can Pat Flannery survive another year of this stuff? If they go under .500 in OOC play, will it shake their convidence?
Colgate: The Chones Brothers return, but what kind of difference will they make on a team that was mediocre in every way last year and has its best player in Andrew Zidar? Are they going to be in game shape? Is Marc Daniels going to be their starting center (they better hope not)? If Colgate scores 30 points a game and no one is there to watch, is the game official?
Holy Cross: They're the clear #1 contender to Bucknell, but the key will be beating Bucknell in the PL tournament. Can Tim Clifford be a top-tier Center and defend McNaughton? This is a team that only lost one regular season league game last year. They might have been the favorite despite their PL title game loss if Bucknell did not have their postseason success.
Lafayette: Who are these guys (part 2)? They had a couple good young players in Abdullah and Harley last year, but who knows what those guys will develop into. Lafayette's season this year and in every year afterwards will be about whether they finally get scholarships. It might be better for the program overall to finish in 8th just to show what an uneven playing field has emerged.
Lehigh: Is Joe Knight the guy that scored 45 on Colgate or the guy who went 3-17 in a half dozen other games? Can Olivero get over a sophomore slump that looked to steal his shooting touch? Lehigh has the potential to win with Knight, Olivero and Mbegroff if they all meet their potential, but inconsistency killed them last year.
Navy: Can the improvement continue? Despite losing their first five league games last year, Navy impressed me early on (you'll remember I predicted their first win vs. Colgate). They turned the battleship around and ended up going 5-4 in their last 9 contests. They even had their first really close game against American, scaring the shit out of me in their 83-85 OT loss to the Eagles in their first round PL tourney game. Now that coaches have had a year to see what Billy Lange's matchups brings to the table, will they be able to adjust?
Next: Team by team previews @ 3:52 PM
