Liberty League

Started by Pat Cummings, March 01, 2005, 07:38:14 PM

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ucaafan

According to Vassar baseball notes where Mrlik pitches is this note - pitched the final two innings against Waynesburg in the opening game of the season, allowing two hits and striking out three as he picked up the save in a 4-2 win...had to have season-ending knee surgery a week later, ending his second season with the Brewer baseball team...should return in 2015 to help anchor a strong pitching staff.

magicman

Thanks for the replies LLG and ucaafan. I though it might be something like knee surgery but didn't want to speculate. The baseball note pretty much says it all though.

LibertyLeagueGuru

Another good night for the Liberty League, going 3-0 last night against 3 very solid teams. Especially impressed with Hobart's big win on the road at Ithaca. Liberty League is now 13-3 against non-conference opponents.

LibertyLeagueGuru

Thoughts from this past weekend:

Clarkson is looking impressive as they have been steam rolling everyone they play. Granted, they aren't playing the toughest competition but they look as they haven't lost a beat with new coach Jeff Gorski.

St. Lawrence playing two very close games with elite SUNYAC teams is also impressive. Especially considering they were playing without Kyle Edwards and were starting 3 freshman.

RIT goes undefeated for the weekend again beating SUNY Maritime and D'Youville. RIT is undefeated this season and is showing some real depth in their scoring balance. Freshman PG AJ Horde seems to be a difference maker for them.

Skidmore loses a heartbreaker to Babson in overtime. I checked out the video and it seems like the rebounding foul called at the end of the game was bogus and the awkward ending was just unfortunate for Skidmore. The game has to be taken as a positive for Skidmore though given that Babson is currently ranked #23 in the country.

Bard loses an away game at Lehman by 9. Lehman is a tough team with a lot of athleticism who already have some great wins early on in the season.

Finally, Vassar loses by 20 to Drew. Seems they are having some serious offensive issues without Mrlik. Looks like they are in for a tough first semester without him. Hopefully his return can turn things around once conference play starts up.

One thing that can definitely be said early on in the season is that there are no bad teams in this conference and Skidmore and RIT seem to be the early favorites.

magicman

Quote from: LibertyLeagueGuru on November 19, 2014, 09:29:11 AM
Another good night for the Liberty League, going 3-0 last night against 3 very solid teams. Especially impressed with Hobart's big win on the road at Ithaca. Liberty League is now 13-3 against non-conference opponents.

LLG,

Hobart's win over Ithaca isn't really that impressive. The Bombers simply aren't very good and haven't been since the 2012-13 season. They came in 8th place last year in the Empire 8 conference with a 2-12 record and overall mark of 7-18. Ken Massey's ratings has them ranked 295 out of 416 teams. They are projected to wind up with a 6-19 record this year. What will be more impressive is if Hobart can come away with a win tonight when they host Buffalo State. Last year the Statesmen beat the Bengals in Buffalo by an 85-83 score. The Bengals won the matchup in Hobart 2 years ago, 80-74. They also played each other back in 08-09, and 09-10 with each team winning at home. So tonight is the 5th meeting in the past 9 years and will give the winner a leg up in the series. The point spread has Hobart favored by a 7 point margin. I think that the Bengals may sneak out of Bristol Gym with a win tonight though. by a score of something like 82-77. I think Hobart has lost more off their team from last year than the Bengals lost from their team. It should be a good game.

By the way what team in the LL is your favorite? I'm partial to Clarkson and SLU as I went to school at Potsdam State many years ago and saw those teams play numerous games over the years. My current team is my hometown Plattsburgh State Cardinals.

Glad to see you are posting here. For several years I tried to keep this board going but didn't have much help. I'm primarlily on the SUNYAC board but I visit the Empire 8 board and this board quite frequently, as well as other boards all over the country. Plus K for your insights. I'll be by from time to time.

Glad to see ucaafan on board as well. Another plus K to you.
     

magicman

Plattsburgh State with a knock down, drag em out, overtime win, at Skidmore last night. Final score was 60-57.  I traveled from Plattsburgh down to Saratoga to watch the game (couldn't resist with the temperature 62 degrees at the tail end of November) Got to see plenty of old friends and some new ones as well. Did a summary of the game over on the SUNYAC page. You can go there or click on this link to see it should you so desire: http://www.d3boards.com/index.php?topic=625.5910

LibertyLeagueGuru's analysis of Skidmore in his LL preseason Rankings was pretty much spot on. They have those 4 talented returning starters who are all very good but the team lacks any real depth. Pretty much a 7 player rotation. The coach used more than that tonight but when the 8th and 9th guys were on the floor this team was in trouble. Too bad they lost Tanner Brooks to St. Mary's they sure could use him. He's starting for St. Mary's and averaging a shade over 10 ppg for the Seahawks. Thought that Connor Merrill was the best player that Skidmore had last night. Good from long range or smooth inside with some nice soft bank shots. He should have had more touches. He shot 50%...the rest of the team shot 25%.  One thing LLG didn't mention is the addition of Royce Paris a 6' sophomore guard that transferred to Skidmore from Division I Marist. He was the 1st person off the bench tonight and he played 30 minutes...more than 3 of the starters. Medunjanin was in foul trouble, though and that could be why he played more than the 19 minutes per game he was getting in the prior 3 games. He's very quick and can get to the rim but doesn't appear to be that great a shooter. Plattsburgh has some very quick athletic guards and Medunjanin wasn't used to being guarded as good as he was tonight. Neither was Paris. Between them they only scored 14 points. Still I think they could very well win this league. I've seen Clarkson play in person as they scrimmaged Plattsburgh back on Nov. 7th and I've seen SLU play online and Skidmore is definitly more talented than those 2 clubs. Hobart lost a lot, Vassar without Mrlik is in trouble. And who knows if he will be back next semester. They may just get him a medical redshirt and forget about this year. Especially if his return is pushed back even just a little longer. RIT needs to prove to me that they can beat somebody other than the weaker schools in the East Region. Still not a believer although they have a good coach. Should be a fun year in the LL but I think it will be a one bid league. So if you don't win that automatic bid that comes with the tournament championship you won't be dancing this year.   

LibertyLeagueGuru

Quick note about Royce Paris, he is a transfer from Marist but he was not on the team in any capacity. So it is a little misleading to say they have a transfer from "Division I Marist". He was essentially just another student on campus. 

magicman

Quote from: LibertyLeagueGuru on November 25, 2014, 12:00:11 PM
Quick note about Royce Paris, he is a transfer from Marist but he was not on the team in any capacity. So it is a little misleading to say they have a transfer from "Division I Marist". He was essentially just another student on campus.

Interesting about Paris. I was courtside Monday night and several partisans from Skidmore said he was on the team at Marist but didn't get much playing time. hence the transfer.

magicman

Good night for the Liberty League on Tuesday.

Hobart defeats Buffalo State 56-46

Clarkson downs Oswego State 60-54

Union beats Hartwick 88-70

Three good wins there for the Liberty League that will help the League's SOS.

A win that was expected:  RIT defeats Keuka by a 69-47 score.

A loss that was expected: Bard falls to Hamilton by a 60-54 score.

A game that is surprising because of the margin of victory: Vassar is crushed by Western Connecticut  92-51.

A loss that hurts: RPI falls to Sage by a score of 77-65

LibertyLeagueGuru

VERY good night for the Liberty League. Hobart seems to have not lost a beat even when losing the conference player of the year, the conference defensive player of the year and a hall of fame coach. Clarkson has absolutely shocked me with their results so far. Same goes for Union. RIT keeps beating up on mediocre competition and Vassar loses big again. RPI losing to Sage was somewhat predictable.

I watched a little bit of the Bard-Hamilton game last night as I wanted to check out freshman Devahnte Mosley. Even though he struggled offensively, he is very very good. Great passer, great rebounder and great one on one scorer. If Bard had made a couple more open shots they would have beat Hamilton. Bard destroyed them on the glass grabbing 16 offensive rebounds to Hamilton's 4. The guards just could not hit a shot all game.

ucaafan

Following up on LLG's observations, I offer a few of my own. Although early in the season, I still expect Skidmore to finish near the top along with Hobart. Skidmore's two losses were to tough competition and by a total of four points. Agree that Clarkson is a real surprise with the new coach coming in just prior to the start of the season. Massey ratings have three Liberty League teams in the top 100 with Hobart 51, Clarkson 57 and Union, another surprise, at 99. They also have the LL rated 16th in conference ranks moving up from 25. But as always, it will take until the league season begins before we can get a true handle on relative team strengths as some of the teams schedule tougher non-league games than others. For example, Union's next six non-league contests have a combined record of 22-3 and two of those losses were recorded by Williams which finished second in D-III last year. Overall the Liberty League looks quite competitive this year and should be a fun season to observe.

with age came?

Well Hell's Bell's - I'd better start posting again or Magicman will be left to keep this thing going and be as mad as a wet hen!!  One man on a mission to save this board from extinction!!  Although LL Guru seems to have some good thoughts & UCaa fan helps out too!  Miss going North to those games Magicman - bigtime!!  Number 1 son (you know who) is getting married in January and I'm pretty excited. Also excited about (although somewhat removed from) the Knights start.  Heartbreaker in OT to Elmira but other than that a solid start with a couple of decent wins. 

magicman

Quote from: with age came? on December 12, 2014, 12:47:42 AM
Well Hell's Bell's - I'd better start posting again or Magicman will be left to keep this thing going and be as mad as a wet hen!!  One man on a mission to save this board from extinction!!  Although LL Guru seems to have some good thoughts & UCaa fan helps out too!  Miss going North to those games Magicman - bigtime!!  Number 1 son (you know who) is getting married in January and I'm pretty excited. Also excited about (although somewhat removed from) the Knights start.  Heartbreaker in OT to Elmira but other than that a solid start with a couple of decent wins.

I wasn't sure if you were going to make an appearance this year or not. Every year removed from #1 son's playing days means less and less time spent here on the LL board. Nice to see you stop by. Don't be such a stranger and you can visit the SUNYAC board as well once in a while. ;D

Clarkson did get off to a nice start but the SOS was rather weak. Losing to Elmira, usually a lower level E8 team (although they did make some progress last year) put a halt to the Golden Knights' chances of getting any love in the Top 25 poll. St. Lawrence beat Elmira on the road 72-52, the day after Elmira beat Clarkson in Potsdam. So what does that say about the two neighboring rivals. (I smell a series split this year) :o   

I saw Clarkson play in early November when they came to Plattsburgh and scrimmaged the Cardinals. Plattsburgh won going away in the 2nd half. John Coleman and Felix Abongo are both excellent players. Coleman will be an All Region player this year and may be the Liberty League Player of the Year.

Skidmore is my pick to win this League. They have 3 losses to 3 very good teams and all of them could have been wins with a little luck. The recent loss on the road to Middlebury was one that I still find hard to believe. They handed that game to the Panthers on a silver platter. I watched the game online and there is no way they should have lost, with the lead they had, and the little amount of time left in the game.

SLU taking on Potsdam on Friday. Saints with a 4-3 record are 3-0 against the Empire 8 conference but already 0-3 against the YAC. They would be in 1st place in the E8 and would be in last place in our conference. Go figure. ??? Saints still playing without last year's LL Rookie of the Year, Kyle Edwards.

I think they will have a Deja Vu moment today however, as they came into the Potsdam game last year with an 0-3 record against the same 3 SUNYAC teams that have beaten them this year. They beat Potsdam 69-67 in Canton. Today the game is in Potsdam but I think the Saints, like last year will get their first win against the YAC to end up with a 1-3 SUNYAC record and escape our basement. It should be another close game but the Saints will prevail by a 72-67 score or something like that.

Over here in Plattsburgh we're hoping that the new Clarkson coach will once again put the Cardinals back on their schedule as Adam Stockwell always did. Crazy for the 2 schools not to meet every year when they are only 90 minutes apart.

Glad to hear of your son's impending marriage. I hope he chose wisely and got plenty of advice from the old man.
After all... with age came.....? ;) Plus K my friend.         

dcahill44

Impressed with the start Union has had. Beating U of R is always a good win. Interested to see what happens in this league once conference play gets into gear.

ITH radio

Pleasure seeing the Statesmen down here in FL and meeting Coach Sweeney.

Bummer Hobart couldn't close the door on UWEC. They had several opportunities at the line and elsewhere and just couldn't make the easy baskets.

Seems like a tight knit group of kids and I'm sure they'll learn from this experience down here as they go into league play. This team could be 7-1 if they locked in. Will be curious to see how they fare in LL play.
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