Quote from: Bombers798891 on February 05, 2011, 10:50:10 PM
Bombers give one away to Utica, 94-89. Bombers shoot just 13-of-22 from the line. Jordan Marcus hits six three points in a four minute stretch in one of the best shooting performances I've seen, but the Bombers were just sloppy.

I'm sure the company line is that it's hard to beat a team that goes 8-of-15 from three, but Ithaca seems to be the only team that has any kind of trouble keeping Utica to a reasonable point total. Thankfully, Ithaca won't have to worry about them come conference tournament time.

Stunner that the Wick lost to Alfred of all teams. Fisher's loss, while not stunning, makes things interesting. RIT can take sole possession of 4th place with a win over them at home.

Really, anyone in the 1-5 spot is capable of missing the tournament right now.

You don't "give one away" when your opponent shoots over 57 percent from the field and doesn't miss a shot for the last 7 minutes plus of the game.

That being said, while they certainly have a long climb ahead of them, don't count Utica out of it. Depending on which team shows up, they can beat anyone in the conference. If they continue their recent hot play they could end up with 9 or 10 wins in conference. That would certainly make for some interesting tie breakers. After head to head, it goes to Best record vs. subsequent finishers in descending order beginning with the 1st place team.


It's a fun conference this year.

Quote from: bomber3 on November 22, 2010, 07:23:11 PM
E8Hoops --

I went to Goodemote's basketball camp for about 5 years and played against him for 2 and have nothing but good things to say about the guy.  He is an excellent coach and is a class act.  It was a joke about Ray Bryant.  They have had several players come back to play in their late 20's so it wasn't a one time deal.  Obviously I was kidding though.  But seriously who would have guessed Fisher would be 0-2 and Utica would be 2-0? 

The E8 seems to be pretty strong from top to bottom this year with every team having bright spots.  My early Bomber prediction of 21-22 wins is probably about 2-3 games higher than it will end up but oh well.  12-4 is probably realistic in the conference and I would expect another non-conference loss.  Hopefully the quick post-Thanksgiving turnaround (game Sunday afternoon) doesn't affect them.

I'm glad that was a joke!

There certainly have been a lot of surprises in the early season. Should be fun as always to see it all unfold.

Quote from: sjfcards on November 22, 2010, 06:01:33 PM
I am getting on the boards for the first time in a few days, so I am sorry if this has already been covered. I have to say that I did not see Fisher's 0-2 start coming. I have been looking at the teams profiles, and I don't see anything that would make me think that Fisher would struggle the way they did.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why they have started so slow? I did see that Norsen did not play in either game, and that Kramer did not make the trip, but still. Any ideas?

I think it is because the teams they played scored more points than they did...


Seriously though, I am surprised as well.

Quote from: bomber3 on November 22, 2010, 07:19:36 AM
Wow, Utica wins two games and already they're an at large contender! Now I don't actually know how good Utica is but unless they resigned..I mean re-enrolled Ray Bryant again then I would think the max number of wins to expect would be 17-18.  They were just not good last year.  And are these the same boards people had Utica listed in LAST place in the E8 this year?!

I wasn't aware that saying "If Utica Surprises and puts together a good resume" was the same as saying that after two games they are an at large contender. Of course, exaggerated hyperbole is what one would expect from someone who is insincere enough to suggest that a Coach with the integrity of Andrew Goodemote would have a paid player in his program, especially since the player in question lived just a few miles from the campus.

Utica is a question mark, no doubt. They struggled mightily last season. However, it was a season filled with uncertainty and extraneous variables. A new system was being learned, a large turnover in the roster, injuries, academic issues etc... were prevalent after a decade of stability for the program. There are still some very talented players on that roster and by the looks of them physically, they put in some hard work in the offseason.

Who knows what will happen this season? I know I don't. But I do know that quality wins early on are huge for the individual team and the conference as a whole. For a program that needs to take it one game at a time and keep focused, I'd say Utica has done a good job thus far.

Quote from: magicman on November 21, 2010, 02:44:48 PM

Quote from: E8Hoops04 on November 21, 2010, 07:50:46 AM

Quote from: reelentless on November 20, 2010, 10:06:41 PM
UC Pioneers had a nice win against SUNY IT Friday night. Tied at the half, UC, lead by James Paterson w/ 21 on 8-15, 5-9 and Kevin Johnson w/ 17 on 6-12,1-4, 4-5 lead all the way after the first minute of the second half and finished with a 12 point win at 75 - 63.  David Golembiowski had 29 (11-25, 4-13, 3-5) and Calvin Logins had 12 w/ 8 FT for IT.

The UC defense played well throughout, particularly in the second half, holding IT to 30/17% for the period, 33/27% overall.  Johnson and Paterson each had 4 steals and Jeff Ward had 14 rebounds for the Pioneers.

SUNY-IT was ranked number 19 nationally going into the game. Impressive victory for the Pioneers who have started 2-0 with both games on the road.

Who had SUNYIT at #19 in the nation? The only ranking that matters, D3hoops Top 25 had them getting 7 pts. in the Others Receiving Votes category in the Pre Season Poll. And that was probably based on the success they had last year. It's a good start for Utica, winning their 1st two games on the road, but it's not like they beat a top tier program with either of these victories.

I agree that pre-season rankings don't mean much, but when it comes selection time, if UC surprises and puts together a solid resume, these early season road victories including one over a ranked team are a big help.

Also, Empire8.com's headline on the story says "Utica Men's Basketball topples 19th-ranked SUNY IT".

Quote from: reelentless on November 20, 2010, 10:06:41 PM
UC Pioneers had a nice win against SUNY IT Friday night. Tied at the half, UC, lead by James Paterson w/ 21 on 8-15, 5-9 and Kevin Johnson w/ 17 on 6-12,1-4, 4-5 lead all the way after the first minute of the second half and finished with a 12 point win at 75 - 63.  David Golembiowski had 29 (11-25, 4-13, 3-5) and Calvin Logins had 12 w/ 8 FT for IT.

The UC defense played well throughout, particularly in the second half, holding IT to 30/17% for the period, 33/27% overall.  Johnson and Paterson each had 4 steals and Jeff Ward had 14 rebounds for the Pioneers.

SUNY-IT was ranked number 19 nationally going into the game. Impressive victory for the Pioneers who have started 2-0 with both games on the road.