Liberty League

[Bartman]

I thought Hobart might get some points in the Top25 poll, but not even a sniff. However Rochester is No. 25 with the same 11-3 record and Hobart beat them h2h...oh well, winning the LL should really be the focus for now.

[d3d3d3]

Bard 83, Union 81 F

[Pat Coleman]

Love the new Vassar posters -- welcome, folks!

[VCFan05]

Another big weekend of Liberty League hoops is upon us! Wild game at Bard Tuesday, neither team really shot it well but the pace of that game according to the box score looks dizzying!

Looking at the schedule of games, I think Friday night's games to watch are Skidmore at Bard and the tilt in Ithaca. RPI needs the game more than Ithaca, and they match up pretty well with the Bombers and IC is just 3-3 in its last six games. Bard knocked off Skidmore last year at home, so you'd think that the T-Breds would like some revenge. That game is going to be fun to watch I'm sure, who's got the stopwatch on seconds per possession, I'm going under 12 for each team. Rogers is fun to watch, here's wondering if the Raptors' length gives the Rupper some problems. Probably not, he's so good. Vassar and Union could be an exciting one too, Union back at home for the first time since December 11.

Saturday, Ithaca and Skidmore obviously looks like the best game, but I'll be watching Vassar-Bard. Locally rivalry which has meant more to Bard recently, but this game has serious playoff implications on it. Contrasting styles, let's see which one wins out. Tough trip to North Country for Hobart and RIT, splits up North are always welcomed especially with CU starting to put it together.

Enjoy everyone!

[Bartman]

Another big weekend of Liberty League hoops is upon us! Wild game at Bard Tuesday, neither team really shot it well but the pace of that game according to the box score looks dizzying!

Looking at the schedule of games, I think Friday night's games to watch are Skidmore at Bard and the tilt in Ithaca. RPI needs the game more than Ithaca, and they match up pretty well with the Bombers and IC is just 3-3 in its last six games. Bard knocked off Skidmore last year at home, so you'd think that the T-Breds would like some revenge. That game is going to be fun to watch I'm sure, who's got the stopwatch on seconds per possession, I'm going under 12 for each team. Rogers is fun to watch, here's wondering if the Raptors' length gives the Rupper some problems. Probably not, he's so good. Vassar and Union could be an exciting one too, Union back at home for the first time since December 11.

Saturday, Ithaca and Skidmore obviously looks like the best game, but I'll be watching Vassar-Bard. Locally rivalry which has meant more to Bard recently, but this game has serious playoff implications on it. Contrasting styles, let's see which one wins out. Tough trip to North Country for Hobart and RIT, splits up North are always welcomed especially with CU starting to put it together.

Enjoy everyone!

VCFan.....+k for your updates

[d3d3d3]

Bard 63, Skidmore 58 F

[Bartman]

Very impressive win by Bard, especially clawing back after Skidmore built a decent lead....beware of Bard

[Caz Bombers]

Very impressive win by Bard, especially clawing back after Skidmore built a decent lead....beware of Bard

(Giant spit take for comedic effect)

Welcome back to LL Thunderdome, gang.

[d3d3d3]

Vassar 73, Bard 67 F

[Libertatem Foederis]

Liberty League Power Rankings (Week 4)

1. Hobart : (13-3 Overall & 8-1 in League, Movement: - ) 2-0 this weekend in the north country, Best Win: @ Ithaca by 10 , Worst Lose: @ Union by 5.  1/2 half thru the league & average margin of W by 13.3 PPG, clearly a cut above the rest.
2. Ithaca : (12-4 Overall & 7-2 in League, Movement: - ) 2-0 this weekend @ home, Best Win: RIT by 16 , Worst lose: @ Clarkson by 13.Have won 4 of their last 5 and probably kicking themselves for dropping one against Clarkson.This Friday they get another shot @ the Statesmen & it should be a good one!
3. RIT : (8-8 Overall & 6-3 in League, Movement: +2 ) 2-0 this weekend in the north country, Best Win: @ Union by 3 Worst Lose: Skidmore by 1 in OT.  The Tigers have sneaked up to the 3 spot, looking at their results with a workman type manner beating the teams they should, and doing it in a different way then years past with a much slower pace. 
4. Union : (9-6 Overall & 5-4 in League, Movement: - ) 2-1 this week, Best Win: Hobart by 5 & Worst Lose: @ Bard by 2.  The Dutchman have won 5 of their last 6 & have a testing schedule ahead of them next weekend.  (Skidmore & Ithaca Both Home)
5. Vassar : (5-11 Overall & 4-5 in League, Movement: +1 ) 1-1 this weekend on the road, Best Win: @ Bard by 7 & Worst Lose: SLU by 1.  If the Brewers are going to make a run the time is now, next 3 games will be against the bottom half of the league going 3-0 will go a long way to making the conference tournament.
6. Bard : (6-10 Overall & 4-5 in League, Movement: +3 ) 2-1 this week @ home.  Best Win: Union by 2 Worst Lose: @ RPI by 5.  I mentioned last week how poorly Bard has been shooting, taking a snap shot of their last 3 games: Union (W) 47% , Skidmore (W) 33% , Vassar (L) 39% .  its not perfect but its an improvement. 
7. Skidmore : (9-6 Overall & 5-4 in League, Movement: -5 ) 0-2 this weekend on the road.  Best Win: Union by 11 in OT Worse Lose: @ Vassar by 8.  The spiral continues with no end in sight, taking a snapshot of their last 3 games they can’t score like they have been (67.6 PPG) & having trouble getting stops (78.6 PPG).  shuffling down 5 spots is a lot, but i think i was perhaps giving them the benefit of the doubt the past few weeks that they could turn this around (which they very well may with the talent they have) and ranking them higher than i should.
8. RPI : (8-8 Overall & 3-6 in League, Movement: -1 ) 0-2 this weekend on the road. Best Win: Bard by 5 Worse Lose: @ Skidmore by 20.  This is quite a skid for the Engineers 1-7 in their last 8.  I don’t see it getting much better until their start scoring more 70+ points a night or holding teams down in the 50’s.
9. Clarkson : (6-10 Overall & 2-7 in League, Movement: -1 ) 0-2 this weekend @ home: Best Win: Ithaca by 13 Worst Lose: RPI by 11.  The Golden Knights aren’t dead yet!  I give them a sliver of hope here in the 2nd half 8 wins (6 more) in conference might get you that 6th spot in the tourney.
10. St. Lawrence : (3-13 Overall & 1-8 in League, Movement: - ) 0-2 this weekend @ Home, Best Win: @ Vassar by 1 Worst Lose: @ Clarkson by 28.  I don’t foresee the Saints pulling out of this, It appears it will be small , moral victories from this point further and hoping that guys continue to develop and improve for next year.

Halfway thru league play I thought it would be a good time to do Best/Worst look.  I feel confident with the top 2 & the bottom 2, 3 thru 8 I think anything can happen in the next 4 weekends. 

[Bartman]

L-F..thanks for your analysis and updates. I am surprised by the Skidmore slump, they seem to have become deflated after the loss to Hobart because they were really up for the game and were totally engaged and had high energy. I watched pieces of the losses this weekend and they have lost focus and the energy level is down. Looking forward to the Hobart basketball alumni weekend and especially the Ithaca game. A big game and critical for both teams and the eventual #1 seed.

[VCFan05]

Another frantic weekend of LL hoops, but nothing really crazy happened in terms of results with the possible exception of the Skidmore-Bard game.

It seems to me at this point of the season that teams are sorting themselves out, and things are getting somewhat predictable. For instance, when Bard shoots well, they normally win. When Vassar gives up less than 68 points, they're 4-1 in conference play. The team I'm continually impressed by is Union, Murphy does a very nice job with that program. As you'd expect from an alum, he takes a lot of pride in what they do there, and they play very tough. 2nd in PPG allowed and 3rd in PPG offensively will definitely get you more wins than not. They continue to surprise everyone, except maybe themselves.

The second half through should have some twists and turns, but looking at the upcoming schedules you have to like Skidmore to get back into the rhythm of things. They don't leave the Capital region for their next seven games, playing at Union and RPI this weekend before five straight home games in Williamson. They could easily win their next seven games and then this little hiccup would be totally forgotten. What's not good for the League is that Hobart is in Bristol for 7 of the final 9 games this year. Hard to imagine them not hosting the tourney this year.

No mid-week action this week, so enjoy another weekend coming up. Game to watch for sure is Ithaca-Hobart Friday night, like to see how Thompson plays against the length on the wings of Hobart. Sneaky game to watch is Union-Skidmore in Viniar, can Weckworth get some help like this weekend when King was great or will he have to take 26 shots like he did in a loss at Bard? VC takes the tough trip to the tundra to battle SLU and CU, and RIT with a tough road swing at RPI and then having to huff it back to Geneva to take on either a confident or pissed off Hobart after Friday's game vs. IC.

Enjoy everyone!

[ITH radio]

Nice to see my alma mater off to such a good start.

Hobart is billing this weekend as an "Alumni" one, so it sounds like many past Statesmen MBB players will be in Bristol Gym to cheer on this year's team. IC and HOB have impressive win streaks going on at the moment. One of them will be broken Friday night.

[Bartman]

Still no votes in the Top 25 for the streaking Statesmen. Perhaps a win over Ithaca will change that, or if Ithaca wins maybe they are deserving....need some LL representation

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Believe it or not... I think it is hard for teams to be noticed this year. There are a TON of teams with similiar, initial, resumes. Two to three losses and not much else that jumps out. I know last week I spent considerable time going around to see if I had missed anyone because suddenly teams who weren't part of the conversation are entering it thanks to being steady and others not being.

Hobart's resume is okay... not great. The win over SJF in any of the last few years would stand out more than this year. The win over Rochester is nice, but coming in early November I am not sure how voters are reading into that now. The losses to Brockport and Union won't help sway any voters, despite Brocpkport having a decent record (plenty of questions about how good is the SUNYAC this year). The loss to RMC isn't bad, but it is another loss to a team that if Hobart is a Top 25 team they should have beaten. Otherwise, nothing else tells us anything.

Sure a win over Ithaca would help.