JIM BOEHEIM IS FULL OF SHIT

From HoopTime two weeks ago:

So maybe Jim Boeheim can be excused for being less than gracious in defeat last night, preferring to talk about how bad his team is, instead of giving Bucknell its props for pulling off it’s third upset of a Top 20 team in less than a year.

“It’s about our team. It is not about the teams we are playing. We are not playing very well,” Boeheim said.

They were saying the same sort of stuff in Kansas last March. Matter of fact, they kept saying it all summer. Similar thoughts were muttered in Pittsburgh back in January.

“There is a reason nobody respected us in the polls. We are not very good,” said Boeheim. ... “Bucknell is good, but they won at Rider by 2 points,” said Boeheim, dissing the Broncs and the Bison in the same sentence.

and then from today:

"I guarantee you we didn't play that badly against Bucknell. The so-called mid-majors have moved up and the top teams have dropped quite a bit. These [mid-major] teams are pretty good now, and there's not just a few of them. There's a bunch."

Which is it? Was Syracuse just off a little bit when they lost, or is Bucknell a legit team that, despite a recruiting budget the size of two season tickets to Syracuse games, can compete with the big boys?  @ 2:21 PM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard

  HOLY SHIT, 2.0

This time, it wasn't really a shock. Bucknell pulled an upset, but not the 1-in-100 upset they pulled against Pitt last year or the 1-in-50 upset they pulled against Kansas in the NCAAs. This was more like 1-in-3. Like, say, when Clemson beats Maryland. You're surprised, but the paradigm is still the same.

I saw the final of the Bucknell-Syracuse game much the way that everyone else probably did: while watching the ridiculousness that was Michigan State/Gonzaga in three OTs last night. So I can't really say anything about the game itself (you know where to go for that), just what the outcome means.

LOGIC 208: WHAT WINNING DOES

Bucknell is on the verge of becoming one of the top five non-major conference teams in the nation. They're one big win away from being nationally ranked and a topic of watercooler discussion in all 50 states. And what does that mean? It has these potential effects:

1. Recruiting gets a lot easier for Pat Flannery. Recruits start knowing Bucknell by name, and when you call them, they actually want to talk to you.
2. Recruiting gets tougher for everyone else in the PL if Bucknell is also interested in a kid.
3. Money starts flowing in from Alumni who suddenly remember how much they love Bucknell hoops and want to get on the bandwagon.
4. Attendance goes up at games, bringing in further cash.
5. Bucknell gets more exposure for prospective students, further increasing their academic standing.

So what happens is nothing less than a complete revitalization of the entire school. There is little better promotion available for Bucknell than their basketball team.

PATRIOTLEAGUEHOOPS.COM: RECOGNIZING ADMINISTRATIVE EXCELLENCE SINCE 2003

Let's not forget to give credit where credit is due. The whole reason Bucknell has gotten to this point is a forward thinking Bucknell Board of Trustees and Administration that:

-Implemented scholarships and
-Built a new sports complex.

Compare this to an AU board that overlooks fraud and embezzlement from the president of the university, and a Lafayette Board that seemed not to notice that its previous president had his head up his ass about the scholarship issue.

Don't get me wrong-- Pat Flannery, his coaches, and (most importantly) the BU players deserve adulation for building what looks to be the best PL program that has ever existed (remember when I was somehow controversial for saying such a thing last year this time?). But don't forget the folks in nice suits either, as they laid the groundwork for this whole thing.

EVERYONE ELSE SUCKS

Here's what else happened last night:

- AU sucked on both ends against a Wagner team that has now beaten them 4 out of 5 years. Brayden Billbe, however, had a promising night with 11 boards and 16 points, both career highs. So maybe there is some kind of hope.

- Navy lost at UALR in the first ever game played in their new gym. Navy's freshmen made some contributions, but Navy's continuing inability to make a bucket sunk them.

- Joe Knight still isnt playing, and Lehigh beat one of the worst basketball programs in the world in Stony Brook.

- Lafayette let a DIII school shoot 46% against them, but pulled it out in the end.

- Kyle Roemer put up 18 shots, 12 of them threes. Kyle Chones had a double-double, but it still wasn't enough as Cornell won in the Battle of Schools I Would Never Attend Because It's Too Fucking Cold. Kendall Chones is notably absent from the box score. An amber alert may be upcoming.

And then there's the one other real surprise of the night, Holy Cross' loss to Harvard. Harvard has never been a very good basketball program, and going in, you would assume this would be a win for the PL in the Ivy/PL showdown. It certainly looked that way after the first half.

But somehow Haavaard shot 56% in the second half. That's what has to worry you most if you're a HC fan. Holy Cross is a squad that wins with defense, and simply can't win games if their opponents start beating their defense.

You can put the blame on lousy shooting from the Crusaders (the box score is ugly), but that 53% shooting percentage for is killer.

Who knows? Maybe the HC defensive lapses were just a glitch in the Matrix. But after tonight, it looks as if Bucknell is a much bigger favorite than we all previously thought.  @ 9:40 AM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard

  JOE KNIGHT CRISIS: DAY EIGHT

A preview of my appearance on this evening's Nancy Grace:

Tonight, breaking news in the latest missing persons case to captivate a nation: the strange and sudden disappearance of Joe Knight, leading scorer for the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Our featured guest will be Matt B, angry internet blogger and founding CEO of the PatriotLeagueHoops.com empire.

Good evening Nancy. May I just say I'm a big fan of the show and find your exploitation of middle American tragedy to be very impressive and in no way offensive.

Thank you. Mr. B, the internet seems to be aflame with rumors about Knight's disappearance. As an irresponsible psuedo-journalist, would you like to speculate unreasonably about where Knight could be?

It's my belief that Knight has been abducted by aliens. These aliens are conspiring, along with Lehigh coach Billy Taylor, to create a super-basketball-team the likes of which we haven't seen since 1996's Space Jam.

But why Joe Knight, Mr. B? Couldn't the aliens find someone with a better shooting percentage or who didn't wear a goofy headband?

Well, Nancy, my hypothesis is that the aliens are also putting together a track and field team, and hoped they could kill two birds with one stone, as Knight was all-state back in high school. Also, they might be trying to bolster their alien baseball team as there was a Joe Knight who hit .312 for the Cincinnati Reds back in the 19th century.

A very interesting case, and an interesting man. Thanks for your time, Matt.

Always a pleasure, Nance. Send my love to little Jimmy and Ann. The truth is out there.  @ 10:41 AM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard

  AMBER ALERT FOR JOE KNIGHT

  @ 11:50 AM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard

  BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

There's a good look at Lehigh in this Northwestern game preview. Would have been more interesting two days ago, but oh well.  @ 11:13 AM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard

  METHODISTS BEAT CATHOLICS IN BLOODBATH

Last night's American vs. Catholic U. matchup was just plain ugly. Ugly shooting, ugly officiating, and ugly people. The refs called FIFTY-SEVEN fouls, which made for one of the worst basketball games I've ever watched. Linas Lekavicius fouled out in EIGHT minutes of action. Every player but one guy who played for Catholic for 2 minutes was called for a foul. This was in addition to the dozen or so traveling violations throughout the night.

Did I mention it was ugly?

That said, there were a few things to take out of this. AU's freshman crop is really, really good, and is potentially the best recruiting class AU has had since joining the PL. It's cliche to give "comparables" when talking about young guys, but I don't know what else to do so here goes:

- Garrison Carr can shoot really, really well and was the best option at the two for most of the night. His defense is still questionable, but for now he can compliment Ingram and play much of the role that Ingram played his freshman season.
- Derek Mercer, if he plays as well as last night, will be the ROY in the PL. Think Jave Meade.
- Brian Gilmore looked a little slow, but seems to have the height and touch to be a tall Brian Burke.

It was harder to get a handle on Nicols, who wasn't really involved much on the offensive end. Gary Garris joined Craig Weinstein on the bench.

Although the freshmen looked good, the rest of the team was less than stellar. Brayden Billbe looked like he was far from ready to play the minutes he'll have to in the first half of the season, only pulling down three boards against a D3 team that was mostly composed of 6'1" guys. Travis Lay looked overwhelmed, and why he was starting instead of Sekou Lewis or Gilmore I'm not sure.

Nevertheless, AU has three freshmen who could potentially start on this team. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is up for debate.

This is going to be a good team. The question is whether they become a good team by March 3rd, 2006. It should make for an interesting season.  @ 3:01 PM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard

  Andres Rodriguez Update

If you can figure out this translation, Andres Rodriguez didn't make the cut for some German team. Says the coach: "Andres is without question a good player, but not the type, whom we look for for the moment as reinforcement; we hold now after a more athletic structure player look out, "thank Headcoach Chris Fleming for Rodriguez ' commitment.

Indeed.  @ 12:06 PM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard

  SPORTS NETWORK PREVIEW

Here's
The Sports Network's PL preview. Mostly the same as all those other pre-season previews, but worth glancing over anyway.  @ 9:55 AM 2 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard