MBB: Liberty League

[stlawus]

SLU clawed back a 24 point deficit at Oswego to get it within 5 in the last minute but too late of an effort. Oswego at one point made 7 straight threes, just one of those games that it's hard to be upset about.  They're coming off a loss at home so the odds were already stacked against a SLU team trying to figure things out early.  Can't underestimate the effect of losing three 4 year starters, and that was on display tonight. Plenty of growing pains for SLU freshmen but they were a big reason for the comeback spark in the final 5 minutes (aside from Dan Anderson's efforts). I can't remember the last time SLU played 5 freshmen for a combined 80 minutes in a game, but I'm looking to forward to this group developing as the season goes on. J'Lin Brown got his first minutes, and looks the part so far even while shaking the rust off.

Saw that RIT made it a game at Nazareth, and even led by 5 late but lost on one of the most insane buzzer beaters I've ever seen.  Brutal.  Hobart taking care of business against Fisher right now.  Very odd to see Fisher so down, but Hobart is definitely playing to the kind of potential we all expect them to. 

[Bartman]

Hobart destroys St. John Fisher 93-58 and completely makes up for the poor performance against   York in the opener. The team has a lot of talent , but just needs to gel and settle into their roles.Hopefully the Fisher game is a sign for optimism for competing in the LL this year.

[stlawus]

I'm not sure why the new Ithaca coach has played Chris Leysath barely over 10 minutes in each of their first 2 games.  Reigning LL ROY that played a big role on last year's R32 team. 

[stlawus]

SLU freshmen are off to a hot start, I thought this was the best class they've recruited since the class of 2017, and so far they are playing the part. Team finally realized that Clarkson plays them like it's the national championship and really took it to them in the 2nd half today. The player I thought is the most talented has barely played thus far as well.  J'Lin Brown started today but picked up something in the 1st half and didn't come in the 2nd.  Seemed fine on the bench but obviously something kept him out. Aidan Phelan averaging 14 off the bench through three games.

Great to see Chris Downs Jr have the best game of his career thus far.  He beat his man with a move practically every single time he had the ball.

[mhm0417]

SLU clawed back a 24 point deficit at Oswego to get it within 5 in the last minute but too late of an effort. Oswego at one point made 7 straight threes, just one of those games that it's hard to be upset about.  They're coming off a loss at home so the odds were already stacked against a SLU team trying to figure things out early.  Can't underestimate the effect of losing three 4 year starters, and that was on display tonight. Plenty of growing pains for SLU freshmen but they were a big reason for the comeback spark in the final 5 minutes (aside from Dan Anderson's efforts). I can't remember the last time SLU played 5 freshmen for a combined 80 minutes in a game, but I'm looking to forward to this group developing as the season goes on. J'Lin Brown got his first minutes, and looks the part so far even while shaking the rust off.

Saw that RIT made it a game at Nazareth, and even led by 5 late but lost on one of the most insane buzzer beaters I've ever seen.  Brutal.  Hobart taking care of business against Fisher right now.  Very odd to see Fisher so down, but Hobart is definitely playing to the kind of potential we all expect them to. 

You nailed the assessment on Phelan before the season.  Wow....he's going to be a good one. SLU definitely misses those twins that graduated - one coaches at Oswego I believe now. Anderson is a really nice player too. If they had a 6'8" 240 pound rebounder/defender it would help them so much.  Of course that can be said for most D3 teams. 

[UfanBill]

Any time a LL team plays a NESCAC team they know it's going to be a battle. Union made the trip to Middlebury Thursday night and for much of the game it appeared the Garnet were going to have a happy bus ride home...Not so fast my friend...Union led by 14 with 70-56 with only 6:36 left when the bottom fell out. They scored only 2 points the rest of the game and a Panther 3 pointer with 10 seconds left stole the game for Middlebury 73-72. Problematic for Union was the off night of last year's late game hero Matt Garside. The usually dead-eye Garside missed all 7 of his 3pt attempts and went 0-2 from the free throw line to be held scoreless. Middlebury's bench outscored the Union bench 49-10. That bus ride probably was very long and silent. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

It's funny, sometimes, how games work.  I watched Middlebury's games with Skidmore and Union.  Just from the eye test, I would've said Union was better than Middlebury, who was better than Skidmore - and, of course, the results said the opposite.  Obviously they're all pretty evenly matched teams, but it is interesting how these things play out.

[stlawus]

One of the most frustrating SLU games I can remember. Cut a 21 point deficit against Nazareth to 3 points midway through the 2nd half with a chance to be down 1 with a 1 and 1 opportunity.  Promptly missed the free throw, and called for an offensive foul in the ensuing possession off an offensive rebound.  Before a 3 made in the final minute they were 2-24 from the arc, just beyond terrible.  All but 2 or 3 three attempts were wide open and uncontested. Missed layups and dunks and all around freshmen mistakes.  Part of the drawbacks of having a heavy freshmen rotation is the extreme growing pains you have to deal with.  Could have had a statement win on Naz's homecourt but couldn't stop shooting themselves in the foot.  Those games are so much worse than just getting beat straight up. SLU has one of the best players in region 3 and they are using him as a decoy, this has got to change before league play in 2 weeks.