Liberty League

[UfanBill]

It happened...Just as most thought it inevitable, the struggling Union Dutchmen seniors got their feel good win of the year tonight with a 68-57 upset of arch rival RPI. It's been a tough season for the Dutchmen but tonight they put all the pieces together. Nice to see. 

[Caz Bombers]

Union the only home team to win tonight, and the least likely to do so. Ain't that some sh**.

[Bartman]

Looks like the Statesmen are putting it all together at the right time with a great road win over the Bombers last night and a 5 game win streak. I've been following Hobart Hockey mostly( #2 in D3 at 18-2) this season and kept an eye on basketball since Jackson Meshanic and his brothers are fun to watch. Now I've got to concentrate on both. Coach Thompson "13 (Captain of the LL Champs in 2013)  has really matured and hopefully will keep the winning streak going into the playoffs. The LL BB Playoffs are always a great competition, but the Statesmen have come up short the last few years. I'm hoping Jackson's Senior year will be a special year.

[stlawus]

Can't remember a year like the one we're having up to this point.  The top 6 teams all have a shot at winning the regular season just over halfway through.  Major standings implications Tuesday night when SLU and Clarkson face off for the only midweek matchup.  SLU is hoping to get to 8-4 after sweeping @Bard/Vassar for the first time in 6 years, and Clarkson is hoping to rattle off wins to get to the last playoff spot.  Clarkson played a phenomenal defensive game against the Saints in December, very much looking forward to this matchup in 2 days. 

The drawback to the league being so competitive is that it's pretty much cannibalized itself.  Don't really see any pool C scenarios right now.  Ithaca would probably be the only regionally ranked team if the rankings were released today, and they would likely be #7.

[Bartman]

Can't remember a year like the one we're having up to this point.  The top 6 teams all have a shot at winning the regular season just over halfway through.  Major standings implications Tuesday night when SLU and Clarkson face off for the only midweek matchup.  SLU is hoping to get to 8-4 after sweeping @Bard/Vassar for the first time in 6 years, and Clarkson is hoping to rattle off wins to get to the last playoff spot.  Clarkson played a phenomenal defensive game against the Saints in December, very much looking forward to this matchup in 2 days. 

The drawback to the league being so competitive is that it's pretty much cannibalized itself.  Don't really see any pool C scenarios right now.  Ithaca would probably be the only regionally ranked team if the rankings were released today, and they would likely be #7.

Agree with your analysis totally . Pretty much a cannibal scene all the way through the LL Tournament. Any one of the top 6 teams could get hot in the tournament and make it into the NCAAs. No Pool C this year. It will be fun for one team and agonizing for the other 5.

[stlawus]

I think the league dynamics are a reflection of the experience on each of the top 6 teams.  Ithaca starts 4 seniors which include 3 5th years and a 4th as a first option off the bench  Hobart starts 3 seniors which includes a 5th year player in Jackson Meshanic.  A fully healthy Vassar starts 5 seniors, they are currently starting 4 seniors and a junior.  Skidmore starts 4 seniors which includes a 5th year in Skoric.  RPI starts 4 seniors and a junior which includes 5th year Dom Black.  SLU is the youngest of the group, normally starting 2 sophomores, 2 seniors (no 5th years) and a back and forth starting option between a senior and 2 other sophomores.  It's no surprise that all these teams at the top have the records they do with the experience they have. 

I have been wrong many times before, but I think next year there will be a "reset" of sorts across the country.  What I just described applies to most, if not all of the top teams this season.  That's not unique to this season, but with the vast majority of impact covid year players getting cycled out after this season I get the feeling d3 hoops will be a different landscape next year.

[Bartman]

I think the league dynamics are a reflection of the experience on each of the top 6 teams.  Ithaca starts 4 seniors which include 3 5th years and a 4th as a first option off the bench  Hobart starts 3 seniors which includes a 5th year player in Jackson Meshanic.  A fully healthy Vassar starts 5 seniors, they are currently starting 4 seniors and a junior.  Skidmore starts 4 seniors which includes a 5th year in Skoric.  RPI starts 4 seniors and a junior which includes 5th year Dom Black.  SLU is the youngest of the group, normally starting 2 sophomores, 2 seniors (no 5th years) and a back and forth starting option between a senior and 2 other sophomores.  It's no surprise that all these teams at the top have the records they do with the experience they have. 

I have been wrong many times before, but I think next year there will be a "reset" of sorts across the country.  What I just described applies to most, if not all of the top teams this season.  That's not unique to this season, but with the vast majority of impact covid year players getting cycled out after this season I get the feeling d3 hoops will be a different landscape next year.

+k for analysis. Lots of 5th and even 6th years on teams that will fade next year. Just glad to see the athletes competing since the shutdowns were devastating for so many of them. This season will be a gem as far as pure competition with such parity.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I think the league dynamics are a reflection of the experience on each of the top 6 teams.  Ithaca starts 4 seniors which include 3 5th years and a 4th as a first option off the bench  Hobart starts 3 seniors which includes a 5th year player in Jackson Meshanic.  A fully healthy Vassar starts 5 seniors, they are currently starting 4 seniors and a junior.  Skidmore starts 4 seniors which includes a 5th year in Skoric.  RPI starts 4 seniors and a junior which includes 5th year Dom Black.  SLU is the youngest of the group, normally starting 2 sophomores, 2 seniors (no 5th years) and a back and forth starting option between a senior and 2 other sophomores.  It's no surprise that all these teams at the top have the records they do with the experience they have. 

I have been wrong many times before, but I think next year there will be a "reset" of sorts across the country.  What I just described applies to most, if not all of the top teams this season.  That's not unique to this season, but with the vast majority of impact covid year players getting cycled out after this season I get the feeling d3 hoops will be a different landscape next year.

+k for analysis. Lots of 5th and even 6th years on teams that will fade next year. Just glad to see the athletes competing since the shutdowns were devastating for so many of them. This season will be a gem as far as pure competition with such parity.

There are still two classes of students who get an extra year of eligibility due to COVID and who've had two years to plan for it.  I don't think we'll see the tailing off of 5th year students just yet.

[stlawus]

I didn’t say we’d see the end of 5th years, I said that I think we’ll see most of the impact Covid year players cycle out.    These are players I previously referred to like Jackson Meshanic who were impact players before covid hit.

[stlawus]

Statement game for RPI tonight taking down Skidmore.  Skidmore had a long run to open the 2nd half but the Engineers got it together and won rather comfortably.   They may be "down" but they are still a Mark Gilbride coached team with some great players. 

While the odds are against them, it's great to see Clarkson not give up on the season and play with great effort here in this last stretch.  They're 3 games out but have an outside shot to make a run at the end to get the last spot.

More props to Union tonight for giving Ithaca everything they could handle.   The percentages at halftime indicated Ithaca would start making shots and they did.  Similar to Clarkson it's also great to see Union not give up despite a less than stellar record.  They had a really good chance to win that one. 

Vassar is "quietly" handling business to go up to 2nd place without their best player. 

Very proud of the SLU squad tonight winning a tough one against a red hot Hobart in OT.  Similar to Clarkson earlier in the week the Saints went on a 7 minute cold stretch in the middle of the 2nd half.  They got a huge defensive boost from 6'10" Andrew Cowan and kept LL player of the year front runner Jackson Meshanic completely scoreless for the remainder of regulation.  Meshanic would only get one FT in OT.  Definitely one of Downs's better coaching jobs in recent memory.

Standings didn't get any clearer tonight, every game is critical. 

[Caz Bombers]

4-way tie for 3rd after tonight and they're all 3 games clear of Clarkson on the outside looking in with 5 games to go. I won't even begin looking at tiebreakers until after the RIT at Ithaca game Tuesday night - when the whole league will have exactly 4 games remaining.

Ultimately I'm fairly certain we have our six LL tournament teams already, it's just a question of seeding. Union was mathematically eliminated tonight and Bard now needs to run the table over its last 5 and also get quite a bit of outside help.

[hopefan]

4-way tie for 3rd after tonight and they're all 3 games clear of Clarkson on the outside looking in with 5 games to go. I won't even begin looking at tiebreakers until after the RIT at Ithaca game Tuesday night - when the whole league will have exactly 4 games remaining.

Ultimately I'm fairly certain we have our six LL tournament teams already, it's just a question of seeding. Union was mathematically eliminated tonight and Bard now needs to run the table over its last 5 and also get quite a bit of outside help.

Thank goodness it's a 6 team conference tourney.. if it were only 4, devastating for 2 left out....  will be fun to follow next 2 weeks

[stlawus]

Clarkson now only 2 games back after beating Hobart in OT.  Hobart had won 6 straight coming into this weekend but the NoCo road trip got to them. 

I've given up trying to figure out Skidmore.  Also a bad road trip for them, but they still loom in a playoff spot with potential to beat anyone.

RPI built off of last night's performance to vault back up to a tie for 2nd place.  If the Engineers start to score like they have recently they are going to be very hard to beat.

Excellent weekend for SLU.  Thought they would have a down game after a very physical OT game the night before but they put on their best performance of the season. 52-18 at halftime which allowed the 2nd and 3rd units to get some valuable experience.   Big congratulations to Trent Adamson who reached the 1000 point milestone today.  He'd easily be in the top 10 in scoring for the program if not for the covid year.

[Bartman]

Clarkson now only 2 games back after beating Hobart in OT.  Hobart had won 6 straight coming into this weekend but the NoCo road trip got to them. 

I've given up trying to figure out Skidmore.  Also a bad road trip for them, but they still loom in a playoff spot with potential to beat anyone.

RPI built off of last night's performance to vault back up to a tie for 2nd place.  If the Engineers start to score like they have recently they are going to be very hard to beat.

Excellent weekend for SLU.  Thought they would have a down game after a very physical OT game the night before but they put on their best performance of the season. 52-18 at halftime which allowed the 2nd and 3rd units to get some valuable experience.   Big congratulations to Trent Adamson who reached the 1000 point milestone today.  He'd easily be in the top 10 in scoring for the program if not for the covid year.

Congrats to SLU for the overtime win over Hobart. TOs was the key...18 for Hobart and 8 for SLU, both lead the league at the bottom and the top for this stat. Jackson M had 8 turnovers as SLU defenders swarmed all over him, as he looked a bit lethargic either because of health or the relentless SLU defense. Hobart loses to Clarkson the next night with the same turnover/OT loss outcome. Hobart has no chance in the tournament unless they solve the TO problem. When they play tough like they did on the road in Ithaca and hold on to the ball, their skills carry the day ,otherwise it will be a short tournament.

[stlawus]

In fairness to Meshanic he was the only reason Hobart had a chance to win against SLU.  Made several tough shots and kept them active under the rim.  Patrick Walker didn’t play in that game for some reason which also has an effect. Walker did play in the Clarkson game though but that loss can also be attributed to fatigue.  The rebounding prowess of the Statesmen will give them a good shot against anyone. They might have stumbled a bit last weekend but that’s often a difficult road trip. I expect them to make it to the LL semifinals.