WBB: Landmark Conference

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

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Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

For those interested, I will be broadcasting both Landmark title games at Catholic Saturday. The link is here: http://ustre.am/uA0t.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

ronk

 So, is Dean going to be ur halftime guest or r u going to be his?

saratoga

Best of luck to the Lady Royals today...they certainly have the talent to win...shock the Card's.
Should be an NCAA Pool C even if they fall short.

Roundball999

Quote from: saratoga on February 23, 2013, 10:07:09 AM
Best of luck to the Lady Royals today...they certainly have the talent to win...shock the Card's.
Should be an NCAA Pool C even if they fall short.

I wouldn't count on that Pool C bid, if by falling short you were referring to the Lady Royals.  They don't even show in the top 8 of latest regional rankings.  Would be very unusual for a 19-8 team to make it in Pool C, especially with intense competition this year for Pool C bids.  Royals need to win the tournament.  But Cardinals would likely get a Pool C bid if they don't win.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

#409
Quote from: Roundball999 on February 23, 2013, 10:31:41 AM
I wouldn't count on that Pool C bid, if by falling short you were referring to the Lady Royals.  They don't even show in the top 8 of latest regional rankings.  Would be very unusual for a 19-8 team to make it in Pool C, especially with intense competition this year for Pool C bids.  Royals need to win the tournament.  But Cardinals would likely get a Pool C bid if they don't win.

What regional rankings are you reading? Scranton is 4th in this week's regional rankings and will probably come to the selection table relatively quickly should they lose to Catholic. Plus, they will boost their SOS with these games against Moravian and Catholic which will also boost their vRRO to 1-1 (should they lose).

By the way, Scranton would have an 18-7 regional record, not 19-8 which is their overall record, which isn't great, but with an SOS of .530 and a vRRO of 4-2... that isn't bad.

Scranton has strengthen their argument of getting into the tournament as a second Pool C candidate for the Landmark but will have to deal with the fact that at least two other teams are head of them in the regional rankings. I think they are in good shape granted, Hope didn't make the tourney last year with a 20-5ish record... but there were other factors.

As for Catholic... they are a lock to get a Pool C bid. Today's game has a lot to do on whether CUA will host the first and second weekends of the NCAA tournament or maybe just the first. But CUA is in the NCAA tournament no matter what happens today.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

ronk

 2 of the 3 teams ahead of Scranton in the regional rankings have already lost since the rankings and the 3rd(Messiah) will probably win the AQ,removing them from the regional ranking Pool C consideration. Scranton's vrro is 4-4(2 losses to Catholic which would be 3 if they're in Pool C) and 1-1(Cal Lutheran, Emmanuel) additional if out-of-region vrro is considered secondarily.

Roundball999

Quote from: Dave 'd-mac' McHugh on February 23, 2013, 11:03:01 AM
Quote from: Roundball999 on February 23, 2013, 10:31:41 AM
I wouldn't count on that Pool C bid, if by falling short you were referring to the Lady Royals.  They don't even show in the top 8 of latest regional rankings.  Would be very unusual for a 19-8 team to make it in Pool C, especially with intense competition this year for Pool C bids.  Royals need to win the tournament.  But Cardinals would likely get a Pool C bid if they don't win.

What regional rankings are you reading? Scranton is 4th in this week's regional rankings and will probably come to the selection table relatively quickly should they lose to Catholic. Plus, they will boost their SOS with these games against Moravian and Catholic which will also boost their vRRO to 1-1 (should they lose).

By the way, Scranton would have an 18-7 regional record, not 19-8 which is their overall record, which isn't great, but with an SOS of .530 and a vRRO of 4-2... that isn't bad.

Scranton has strengthen their argument of getting into the tournament as a second Pool C candidate for the Landmark but will have to deal with the fact that at least two other teams are head of them in the regional rankings. I think they are in good shape granted, Hope didn't make the tourney last year with a 20-5ish record... but there were other factors.

As for Catholic... they are a lock to get a Pool C bid. Today's game has a lot to do on whether CUA will host the first and second weekends of the NCAA tournament or maybe just the first. But CUA is in the NCAA tournament no matter what happens today.

You're right, I was looking at the wrong region.  Nevertheless, 19-8 would be unusual and it would be best for Scranton to win out.  It is my understanding that Pool C is no longer allocated regionally, Scranton would be competing nationally for Pool C spots, and there are several regions that are loaded with very strong teams.

Hope was 22-5 last year, top 20 nationally all year, and didn't make it.  But the Great Lakes region is one of those very strong regions and some of Hope's best wins last year were against out of region top teams like Ithaca, NCAA screwy system doesn't count them, so agreed that was a little different. 

ronk

 Yes, the Pool C spots are allocated nationally, but Scranton could be #1 in its region for each Pool C decision and that's a very favorable place to be.

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Scranton will either be at the table the entire time for the 20 picks... or for a majority of them. I would be surprised if they didn't get picked at that point.

And at-large bids have been nationally selected for over a decade at least.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

saratoga

Without a doubt, Scranton's Lady Royal's have done just enough to claim one of the coveted Pool C bids.
Where I have my doubts is what they'll do with that chance from a preparation perspective.

The following is a brief look at some schools & what they've done from the standpoint of making magnificent adjustments so that games that may have been considered a foregone conclusion, ended up being a huge victory by the supposed underdog.

On the men's side:

On 2/16 F&M defeats Dickinson by 30 points.
In last nights championship game at F&M, Dickinson wins by 24.

Scranton men vs. Juniata.
The Royals win both regular season games, the most recent at Scranton on 1/26 when they win by 21 points.
Three weeks later in the Landmark semi-final at Scranton, Juniata wins in double OT by 10.

On 2/10 Amherst plays at Williams and wins by 17.
In today's NESCAC championship game, Williams travels to Amherst & almost pulls it off losing by only 1.

On the women's side:

On 2/10 Amherst travels to Williams & suffers their only loss of the season...losing by 21 points.
In today's women's NESCAC championship, Amherst regroups & wins by 15.

The common theme is teams have lost games big (& in most instances two games) to the same team only to make the adjustments necessary to capitalize on their strengths & neutralize their opponents.

In the case of the Lady Royals, they've done just the opposite.
The first game they lost to Catholic was by 16, the next time was by 17 & instead of following in the examples outlined & creating the mismatches necessary to win, they get blown out by 20.

History is not on their side...
Three years ago they were swept by Moravian (3 games inclusive of playoff), with each loss getting progressively worse.
Two years ago it was Juniata following the exact same format as Moravian.
Last year it was Catholic's turn & again this year the repeat follows.

There is an old sports adage that laments how tough it is to defeat the same team three times in a season.
Thus far, the results coming out of Scranton's adjustment plan book more realistically prove, there are exceptions to every rule.

Here's hoping they get in...and, beyond that, hoping they actually have a plan that's workable & gives the kids a chance.



ronk

Quote from: saratoga on February 24, 2013, 04:51:56 PM
Without a doubt, Scranton's Lady Royal's have done just enough to claim one of the coveted Pool C bids.
Where I have my doubts is what they'll do with that chance from a preparation perspective.

The following is a brief look at some schools & what they've done from the standpoint of making magnificent adjustments so that games that may have been considered a foregone conclusion, ended up being a huge victory by the supposed underdog.

On the men's side:

On 2/16 F&M defeats Dickinson by 30 points.
In last nights championship game at F&M, Dickinson wins by 24.

Scranton men vs. Juniata.
The Royals win both regular season games, the most recent at Scranton on 1/26 when they win by 21 points.
Three weeks later in the Landmark semi-final at Scranton, Juniata wins in double OT by 10.

On 2/10 Amherst plays at Williams and wins by 17.
In today's NESCAC championship game, Williams travels to Amherst & almost pulls it off losing by only 1.

On the women's side:

On 2/10 Amherst travels to Williams & suffers their only loss of the season...losing by 21 points.
In today's women's NESCAC championship, Amherst regroups & wins by 15.

The common theme is teams have lost games big (& in most instances two games) to the same team only to make the adjustments necessary to capitalize on their strengths & neutralize their opponents.

In the case of the Lady Royals, they've done just the opposite.
The first game they lost to Catholic was by 16, the next time was by 17 & instead of following in the examples outlined & creating the mismatches necessary to win, they get blown out by 20.

History is not on their side...
Three years ago they were swept by Moravian (3 games inclusive of playoff), with each loss getting progressively worse.
Two years ago it was Juniata following the exact same format as Moravian.
Last year it was Catholic's turn & again this year the repeat follows.

There is an old sports adage that laments how tough it is to defeat the same team three times in a season.
Thus far, the results coming out of Scranton's adjustment plan book more realistically prove, there are exceptions to every rule.

Here's hoping they get in...and, beyond that, hoping they actually have a plan that's workable & gives the kids a chance.

Much of what you present I agree with, including the history segment; there was a stretch for more than a year when every loss was double digits. However, recently, they've been playing purposely, rather than just running a motion offense. Starting with the Goucher game which I saw in person, I've seen favorable things that weren't evident earlier in the year. The Moravian playoff game was night and day better than the regular season game a week earlier.
Yesterday, as an indication of adjustments, they used a 1-3-1 zone defense that was somewhat effective that I don't remember being previously used. On offense, I saw some screens, pick and rolls(Tayler got an open jumper from the foul line that she happened to miss), and curls(Meredith was the recipient of at least one) that I've thought for a long time should have been a significant part of the offense. All in all, it was a great game til the 10 min mark(Royals up 4) when the Card hit a 3 and was fouled, adding the free throw and tying the game. It seemed to have been a great mental deflater as the Cards added 11 more for a string of 15 unanswered points, stepped up their defense and we never got closer than 9.
  Admittedly, they haven't been able to play a complete game, but the progress is promising. Hopefully, we get an at-large berth to prove this out. Messiah losing makes it tougher for Scranton as Messiah will be on the selection table before Scranton as the Mid-Atlantic rep in the decision process. 

Dave 'd-mac' McHugh

Messiah, Widener and maybe Moravian could still be ahead of Scranton... since all of those teams lost... but Scranton could move head of Moravian.
Host of Hoopsville. USBWA Executive Board member. Broadcast Director for D3sports.com. Broadcaster for NCAA.com & several colleges. PA Announcer for Gophers & Brigade. Follow me on Twitter: @davemchugh or @d3hoopsville.

ronk

 Widener and Moravian lost w/o getting a victory while Scranton did get a victory over a regionally-ranked team(Moravian), adds another for Kings and might get a 3rd if Cabrini becomes regionally ranked to become 6-5(7-6, including 2 out-of-region regionally ranked teams(Cal Lutheran,Emmanuel)). Half their schedule(13 games) will have been against regionally-ranked teams. 

ronk

  Lady Royals get an at-large berth to play Williams @ Rochester. They've already played the other 2 teams in the pod this year. Thought the NCAA tried to avoid that kind of circumstance.

gordonmann

The NCAA tries to avoid first round rematches and having too many teams from the same conference in the same pod.  But rematches between non-conference opponents after the first round aren't uncommon.