WBB: Landmark Conference

Started by Dave 'd-mac' McHugh, February 20, 2007, 07:24:46 PM

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saratoga

No major surprises with the first Regional rankings...for the most part pretty much as expected. I was thinking the Middle Atlantic would rank 8 teams...looks like only 6. The only pick I would question is Muhlenburg over Dickinson. Dickinsons overall record is 15-6 vs. Muhlenburgs 16-5...however, Dickinson is 13-2 in region vs. Bergs 11-3. And, head-to-head...Dickinson 64-49. Only other minor surprise is Gwynned-mercy not getting a look at 17-5 & 12-1. We should be hearing from TC Hoops within the hour...stay tuned!

ronk

  Lady Royals clinch regular season title and home court advantage for conference playoffs in recovering from 11-4 deficit to take lead near end of 1st half only to have CU hit running 3-pt er from 25 feet as time ran out at the half. they trailed 44-38  in 2nd half but took lead on outstanding foul-shooting, missing only 1 until final minute. Coach K(elly) acknowledged credit for today's improvement to season-long bugaboo.
  Individually, PGs Ryan and Colleen played pretty good, Michelle had some strong drives to the hoop, and  Kathleen was also aggressive in the offensive paint.
   Hoping to see them continue the streak at Goucher later today.

ronk

   Lady Royals played well in opening half today. Starters out by 10 min mark and played only a few minutes in 2nd half. For the reserves, Brittany had best game of year for her, and I think she's the most fundamentally sound all-around player on the team: moves well w/o the ball, passes well, and most active defender. She should help in the future.
  Jen King did well offensively, dribbling and passing well through the full-court press. Kelly Tratthen looks like a rugged force on the boards. Marisa got so many shots off per minute of action that she had to ice down her shooting shoulder after the game. Seriously, it was good seeing her play w/o knee braces, after the injuries and rehab of previous years,
  Julie dressed but DNP, presumably resting her foot after the tough game the night before.
  All this is tempered by Goucher being the last-place team,only dressing 8 including a grad student, and it being the 2nd game of the weekend.    Interesting game next against Moravian on the road.

CardinalRed

Any ideas on Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, All-Conference Teams, etc.

gordonmann

Programming note...

D3hoops.com will broadcast Saturday's Scranton/Moravian doubleheader live from Johnston Hall in Bethlehem...

5:30 pm - Women: Scranton Royals versus Moravian Greyhounds
7:30 pm - Men: Scranton Royals versus Moravian Greyhounds


The broadcast will be available at www.d3hoops.com/audio starting with pregame coverage 10 minutes before tipoff.

CardinalRed

Landmark Conference released the All-Conference Team's today.

http://landmarkconference.org/sports/wbkb/2007-08/news/LCwbbal_allconference_08

   I pretty much agree with everything except for  a couple things. Anyone could have guessed that Megan Kopecki and Brianna Peterson were going to be on this link, but the question I raise is: Did Kopecki really deserve to get the upper hand in both categories over Peterson, Kopecki getting First Team and ROY, and Peterson receiving just 2nd team? I think they should have split the awards (Kopecki getting First Team and Peterson getting ROY or Vice Versa). Or at the least been Co-Rookies of the Year. I don't think there's a rule against sharing the award. After all Peterson did have a better year on paper, albeit with a less successful team.

   Peterson finished second in the league in PPG. She beat out Kopecki in most major categories including PPG, RPG, 3PT FG, and 3PT FG's Made. Peterson also started more games by starting 17 of 22. Kopecki starting just 8 of 24. Head to Head, both had one bad game. In the first game in PA, Peterson had just 6 points and 2 rebounds while Kopecki had a solid night with 11 points and 6 rebounds. The second time the teams met in D.C., Kopecki had her off night with just 6 points, three rebounds and 4 fouls in just 14 minutes in a game that was close until the end. That same night Peterson had a stellar night with 22 points and playing 35 minutes and helping her  team come closer than most teams did in attempting to beat the Royals this year.. Advantage Head to Head? I think Peterson. Advantage Team to Team? Scranton.
   Kopecki for 6th (wo) man of the year? Absolutely. But I don't think she played enough to deserve ROY, not enough to win it over Peterson at least.

   In addition, would it be a bad idea to take away the 6th person on the First and Second Teams and add a 3rd team? It would open the field up to players that had solid but not great years such as Catholic's Kate Robinson, Jessica Schiavoni, and Freshman Kerri Confrey. Or USMMA's Kristen Hetsko and Brooke Picillo (who won Defensive Player of the Year but didn't make it to an All Conference Team?) Also with solid years were Moravian's Jessica Foran and Juniata's Claudia McDowell.
 

saratoga

CardinalRed: I can certainly see where you're coming from. However, I think it's also pretty fair to say that most coaches know that Megan is a really talented young player & about the only thing that held her back was actually Coach Strong by gradually easing her into the starting lineup & increasing her minutes...when he had to. If she averaged 30 minutes a game, her freshman stats would be off the charts. This vote, (ROY) is in some ways refreshing because 5 years ago Scranton had a freshman that could score from anywhere on the court, rebound, handle the ball and led her team to an elite eight berth yet was passed over for the award for another very good player...yet one that averaged about 15 minutes more per game & played for a team that won about 6 or 7 games that season. To me, playing a vital role as a freshman in helping her team advance that far was more telling of someone a bit more deserving of the ROY award or at least sharing it. In all honesty, I think that was the only award Taryn Mellody did not win. She ends up an All-Decade D-III Hoops First Team selection, yet somehow was not voted the MAC ROY. I think where your argument has more merit is that Brianna should have at least shared the ROY award as her accomplishments should not be diminished because she was on a mediocre team...just as a player on a good team should not have their accomplishments undervalued. However, the selection that really has me perplexed is how Mike Strong does NOT get Coach of the Year with the BEST overall record in the conference & the ABSOLUTE BEST conference record. I mean his Lady Royal team LOSES 70% of its scoring with the graduation of 2 All-Americans & their center yet they only have 1 conference loss (first conference game & by 2 pts.). What's this all about? Wait, let me take a wild guess! Scranton, with a totally revamped team has 5 overall losses to Moravians 9 & 1 conference loss to Moravains 5. And to top it off, last Saturday in the regular season final AT Moravian, Scranton drives the length of the floor with 8 seconds left to hit the final shot to tie it up at the end of regulation then sets up a play to tie it up yet again at the end of the first OT by hitting a shot with 1.4 seconds left on an inbounds play then pulls away in the 2nd. OT & wins by 7. Yet this is somehow not quite the best coaching job in this conference? The Lady Royals may well lose tomorrow to the USMMA in a first round game...but, don't believe for one minute that the job Mike did this year was second fiddle to anyone. Unbelievable...yet, predictable!

CardinalRed

   That's one thing I probably did overlook too. But I think the conference didnt want to give Scranton two 1st teamers, Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, AND Coach of the Year. If Scranton had completely dominated the conference schedule by beating teams by 20 all year, I could  see them doing that. But Scranton had one loss and some close games down the stretch. Don't get me wrong though, I too think Coach Strong deserves Coach of the Year. But the fact is that it would have been to hard for the Landmark to give Scranton 3 of 4 Conference awards. Thats where giving ROY to Megan Kopecki should come into question. Coach Strong probably deserved to be COY more than Megan deserved ROY. But Coach Strong probably would rather have his players be rewarded then himself, so I dont see him losing much sleep over not getting COY.

   I think if you put Brianna Peterson in Scranton's lineup this year in place of Megan Kopecki she would have had just as solid of a year, if not better.
   
   It should definetly make for some good if not great games between these two. I could definetly see the next three years producing a potentially great rivalry between the two schools. Catholic's freshman class from this year has great potential. More than any other class I've seen in the Landmark this year. Joining this class next year will be a tremendous point guard in Justine Gray, who missed all but the two first games of this season due to a knee injury and forced her to take an injury red shirt this year. Catholic's back court should be loaded next year considering they will have two point guards that are capable of starting (Kerri Confrey and Justine Gray). And we cant forget about the frontcourt either.  Kristen Linderoth will be back after having an All Conference, if not All American year come to end for the second season in a row due to another knee injury. If this team stays healthy next year, they WILL be in contention for the conference championship. I'm just getting a little ahead of myself though. The conference playoffs haven't even started yet this year and I'm already talking about what could happen next year...

saratoga

CardinalRed: I think the future looks as bright as your print for Catholic & those of us that follow the UofS have not really known anything else. I know the seniors on this Scranton team are the known quantity...but, even last Sat. in a very big game at Moravain, Scranton had 4 freshmen on the floor late (C.McLane, M.Kopecki, B.Bontemps & J.King) so there is a ton of experience being gained by Scranton's freshman class in big games. Should be a fun group of kids from a number of schools to watch over the next few years. In a related note...Congratulations are certainly in order for Kathleen Daly of the UofS being honored as the first Landmark Conference Player of the Year & Megan Kopecki being honored as the ROY. A job well done by all those nominated from all the schools.

TCHoops Jr.

Quote from: saratoga on February 13, 2008, 10:41:03 PM
No major surprises with the first Regional rankings...for the most part pretty much as expected. I was thinking the Middle Atlantic would rank 8 teams...looks like only 6. The only pick I would question is Muhlenburg over Dickinson. Dickinsons overall record is 15-6 vs. Muhlenburgs 16-5...however, Dickinson is 13-2 in region vs. Bergs 11-3. And, head-to-head...Dickinson 64-49. Only other minor surprise is Gwynned-mercy not getting a look at 17-5 & 12-1. We should be hearing from TC Hoops within the hour...stay tuned!

TCHoops Jr.



Big Papi (aka the real) TCHoops should be responding shortly....

In the mean time I'll throw in my two cents and say no one at GMC is complaining about our ranking....

we want the PAC Championship (again) & the NCAA bid.... would welcome another shot at DeSales and Albright and /or a return trip to deal with those cockroaches up at NYU  (oops NYU won't be going this year cause they STINK !!!!)

TC HOOPS

Hey Jr. I see I taught you well. I know you all MISSED me but I am backkkkkkkkk!!!!No SHOCKER that GMC is not ranked, we are used to being over looked but like you said that's ok.  The only thing that GMC does is win Championships and go on to play in the NCAA playoffs and win in the first round and then have to play a final four team in their home court and give them a scare. Hopefully we will get over that hump this year and get to the sweet 16, either way we will have fun. What happened to that POWER house NYU this year? We were so looking foward to going back there to that empty gym and friendly fans to kick their butts. GMC goes for a 3PEAT Saturday night against a tough Cabrini team in rematch from last years championship game.

RoyalGator

Its that time of the year again where dreams are made or shattered!!!  I am just happy that the University of Scranton rebounded after the 6 - 5 start.  This has to be one of the best coacing jobs performed by Coach Strong since he lost Taryn, Allison and Tiffany.  Hopefully they will pull it out tonight and the NCAA committee merits there worthyness as a Pool B bid.  If they do win, do anyone think they will get a home get a home game?  If they do I hope its Thursday so I can make it up from Titleville (Gainesville), Florida.  I would be my first game since the Final Four im Springfield in 2006.

As for me I am Phinally Done after 2,017 days!!!!   ;D

saratoga

RoyalGator: Congratulations! We can now refer to you as Dr. RoyalGator! I agree, Coach Strong has worked this group of ladies together quite nicely. No superstars...just a great group of kids getting the most mileage out of their abilities. Its been an enjoyable & somewhat surprising run the Lady Royals have put together. Stay warm...heard it may hit only 70 today in Titleville.

ronk

Royalgator,

   Welcome back! Ladies hang on for the Landmark title by 2.
   Sorry, no women's games on Thurs, 1 on wed, the rest on friday; there will be 5 men's games on thurs- maybe the royals, especially if they win also today.