Monday, December 12, 2005
CATCHING UP: PART II
More recaps of what's going on in the PL so far.
HOLY CROSS
Record: 4-4
RPI: 141
What's Happened: Started the season off well, winning a tournament in Williamsburg, VA, but struggled with a four game losing streak before bouncing back last week with two wins.
Best win: A 2OT win over Fordham, since beating any A10 team is never bad.
Worst loss: A 15 point loss to Harvard
The good news: Torey Thomas has been doing his best Jave Meade impression, playing a lot of minutes and significantly upping his shooting percentage. While the threes still aren't falling for him (which doesn't make him unique among the HC players at the moment), he could emerge as a scoring option at the guard spot other than Simmons or Hamilton. Keith Simmons is now getting the ~35 minutes he should have been getting for some time now.
The bad news: Kevin Hamilton has been ill (not like he is laying down dope rhymes, but is feeling sick), and it has done nothing good for his game. Hamilton is shooting at a 29% tick, and is shooting an abysmal 8-42 from three point land. Tim Clifford, despite an offensive outbreak vs. Brown, is only playing 18 minutes a game, which is not a good sign.
Prediction: If Holy Cross can figure out their post game, and get healthy, they should contend down the stretch. This team has more shades of the 2002-2003 team than the 03-04 squad.
LAFAYETTE
Record: 3-5
RPI: 227
What's Happened: With a couple of good wins against Ivy league squads and a couple of close losses, the Leopards find themselves in familiar under .500 territory.
Best win: @ Princeton
Worst Loss: @ Columbia
The Good News: The win over Princeton makes it seem like LC might be able to play spoiler come February.
The Bad News: No one on the team can rebound, and only one player (Pat Betley) has started all of their contests.
Prediction: Same as before the year, there are no indications that Lafayette won't be battling Army for the #7 spot.
LEHIGH
Record: 3-6
RPI: 272
What's Happened: After putting a scare into Northwestern to start the season, Lehigh has been a ship without an anchor as Joe Knight was suspended for academic reasons. Lehigh's PR department tried to spin the whole thing as a casual mixup, but no one is buying it.
Best Win: Harvard
Worst Loss: @ Sacred Heart
The Good News: Jose Olivero is playing the best ball of his career, shooting 43% and leading the league with 16 points per game.
The Bad News: All things Joe Knight. Jason Mbegroff's 14 minutes and 3 rebounds a game are more than unimpressive, they're disappointing. There was a point at which folks around the league thought as well of Mbegroff as they did Bucknell's Chris McNaughton. They've gone in slightly different directions since.
Prediction: If Joe Knight comes back and plays to his full potential, the Mountain Engines can still win some games in PL play and finish as high as 2nd. At the same time, Knight could lead them into 5th if he struggles to fit back into basketball.
NAVY
Record: 2-4
RPI: 247
What's Happened: The Midshipmen struggled with a tough schedule of away games to start the season and lost 4 straight before bouncing back with consecutive Ws versus Howard and Morgan state.
Best win: at MCI center in front of dozens vs. Howard
Worst Loss: @ Arkansas-LR
The Good News: For the first time in a long time, Navy actually blew out a D-I opponent in Morgan State. They are also continuing to crash the boards well, and appear to have solid freshmen in Kaleo Kina and Clif(f) Colbert.
The Bad News: Injuries have struck Corey Johnson and Carlton Baldwin, who could contribute significantly if they were healthy.
Prediction: Navy could rail off 8 wins (okay, 6 D-I wins) before league play with a schedule that includes Brown, Yale, UMBC and the Citadel, all winnable games. I still think they're the most underrated team in the league, and ought to contend for one of the top 4 spots.
More later about AU and their freshman phenoms... @ 11:22 AM
More recaps of what's going on in the PL so far.
HOLY CROSS
Record: 4-4
RPI: 141
What's Happened: Started the season off well, winning a tournament in Williamsburg, VA, but struggled with a four game losing streak before bouncing back last week with two wins.
Best win: A 2OT win over Fordham, since beating any A10 team is never bad.
Worst loss: A 15 point loss to Harvard
The good news: Torey Thomas has been doing his best Jave Meade impression, playing a lot of minutes and significantly upping his shooting percentage. While the threes still aren't falling for him (which doesn't make him unique among the HC players at the moment), he could emerge as a scoring option at the guard spot other than Simmons or Hamilton. Keith Simmons is now getting the ~35 minutes he should have been getting for some time now.
The bad news: Kevin Hamilton has been ill (not like he is laying down dope rhymes, but is feeling sick), and it has done nothing good for his game. Hamilton is shooting at a 29% tick, and is shooting an abysmal 8-42 from three point land. Tim Clifford, despite an offensive outbreak vs. Brown, is only playing 18 minutes a game, which is not a good sign.
Prediction: If Holy Cross can figure out their post game, and get healthy, they should contend down the stretch. This team has more shades of the 2002-2003 team than the 03-04 squad.
LAFAYETTE
Record: 3-5
RPI: 227
What's Happened: With a couple of good wins against Ivy league squads and a couple of close losses, the Leopards find themselves in familiar under .500 territory.
Best win: @ Princeton
Worst Loss: @ Columbia
The Good News: The win over Princeton makes it seem like LC might be able to play spoiler come February.
The Bad News: No one on the team can rebound, and only one player (Pat Betley) has started all of their contests.
Prediction: Same as before the year, there are no indications that Lafayette won't be battling Army for the #7 spot.
LEHIGH
Record: 3-6
RPI: 272
What's Happened: After putting a scare into Northwestern to start the season, Lehigh has been a ship without an anchor as Joe Knight was suspended for academic reasons. Lehigh's PR department tried to spin the whole thing as a casual mixup, but no one is buying it.
Best Win: Harvard
Worst Loss: @ Sacred Heart
The Good News: Jose Olivero is playing the best ball of his career, shooting 43% and leading the league with 16 points per game.
The Bad News: All things Joe Knight. Jason Mbegroff's 14 minutes and 3 rebounds a game are more than unimpressive, they're disappointing. There was a point at which folks around the league thought as well of Mbegroff as they did Bucknell's Chris McNaughton. They've gone in slightly different directions since.
Prediction: If Joe Knight comes back and plays to his full potential, the Mountain Engines can still win some games in PL play and finish as high as 2nd. At the same time, Knight could lead them into 5th if he struggles to fit back into basketball.
NAVY
Record: 2-4
RPI: 247
What's Happened: The Midshipmen struggled with a tough schedule of away games to start the season and lost 4 straight before bouncing back with consecutive Ws versus Howard and Morgan state.
Best win: at MCI center in front of dozens vs. Howard
Worst Loss: @ Arkansas-LR
The Good News: For the first time in a long time, Navy actually blew out a D-I opponent in Morgan State. They are also continuing to crash the boards well, and appear to have solid freshmen in Kaleo Kina and Clif(f) Colbert.
The Bad News: Injuries have struck Corey Johnson and Carlton Baldwin, who could contribute significantly if they were healthy.
Prediction: Navy could rail off 8 wins (okay, 6 D-I wins) before league play with a schedule that includes Brown, Yale, UMBC and the Citadel, all winnable games. I still think they're the most underrated team in the league, and ought to contend for one of the top 4 spots.
More later about AU and their freshman phenoms... @ 11:22 AM
