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Post by bison137 on Feb 27, 2024 15:33:31 GMT -5
If anyone thinks this first season is some kind of new experience for Paulsen: Bucknell: 2008 (Flannery): 12-19 2009 (Paulsen): 7-23 2010 (Paulsen): 14-17 2011 (Paulsen): 25-9 2012 (Paulsen): 25-10 2013 (Paulsen): 28-6 Mason: 2015 (Hewitt): 9-22 2016 (Paulsen): 11-21 2017 (Paulsen): 20-14 2018 (Paulsen): 16-17 2019 (Paulsen): 18-15 CDP has more than a bit of experience with rough first years in new gigs. Ironically, it took longer to turn things around at Bucknell, but he reached a much higher ceiling there, with a quicker turn to 20 wins at Mason that proved not sustainable. I think DP's situation when he took over at Bucknell was VERY different than the situation he inherited at HC. Yes, Bucknell had gone 12-19 the previous year, but the three previous years, which were still fresh in the minds of the players DP's staff recruited, were: 2007 (Flannery) 22-9 (13-1 PL) - reguar season co-champ 2006 (Flannery) 27-5 (14-0 PL) - regular season champ, PLT winner 2005 (Flannery) 23-10 (10-4 PL) - PLT winner Also note that those teams played FAR tougher schedules than any that a Brett Nelson team played. And all three teams were in the nation's top 100 (Pomeroy). As you likely recall, the 2006 team finished in the nation's top 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. That kind of success was only 13 months removed when the DP era began at Bucknell and they began recruiting. One further piece of background info is that the 2008 team was plagued by injury. Their starting center suffered a serious knee injury halfway through the season. Starting PF tore his ACL in July - returned in less than 5 1/2 months but was not the same player. Part-time starting wing tore MCL and missed significant time. Part-time starting SG had several different injuries and saw very limited playing time. And during this time, Flannery was battling serious health issues that eventually forced him to step down. So it was a down year, but certainly not a program that had collapsed, and there were two highly recruited players about to arrive. One other thing that helped the DP regime recruit was the Bucknell fan base and arena. Despite the bad year in 2007-08, BU still averaged 3400 fans per game - the best in the PL by a wide margin - and was playing in the nicest arena in the PL. All of that helped recruiting, as Bucknell was way ahead of most northeastern mid-majors in those categories. It was a great job to inherit, which is why they had a huge number of applicants, including Joe and James Jones, Sean Kearney (who thankfully was quickly eliminated), and a bunch of others with name recognition.
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BPC POW
Feb 26, 2024 21:33:10 GMT -5
Post by bison137 on Feb 26, 2024 21:33:10 GMT -5
Well, if Colgate goes 3-0, Loyola 2-1 & HC 1-2, 3 way tie for first, CU gets #1 seed, Loyola #2 & HC #3. And in the above scenario, if army goes 3–0, there would be a four-way tie, and then army would get the number one seed.
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BPC POW
Feb 26, 2024 18:07:38 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by bison137 on Feb 26, 2024 18:07:38 GMT -5
With so many different winners of the PoW, it may be a close vote for the PoY. Weimar, with 3 weekly awards and the leader in double-doubles, seems to be the current favorite. Better if BPC leads us to the PLT crown and wins MVP as she did last season. Don’t forget that the POW awards are chosen by an entirely different group of voters whose voting criteria is about 95% offensive stats. The All-PL teams, and the player of the year, are chosen only by the coaches, who have a totally different set of criteria than the weekly voters. Having said that, I think Weimar is a clear favorite with Therien battling P-C for number two. An interesting contest will be for the last two spots on the first team. Agree about O’Bannion deserving COY. Her Loyola team was picked for ninth and is currently in second.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 25, 2024 14:30:38 GMT -5
Couldn't remember whether she played in 20,22,23,24 or 21,22,23,24. It was the latter, so, yes, she would have another year of eligibility. She played 14 games her freshman year including one start but Memphis hired a new head coach for her sophomore year and she only only played five games that year so she might have a red shirt season to boot. she played six games her sophomore year, but one of them was in the second half of the season, which means there is no possibility at all of her having a red shirt year.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 20, 2024 0:58:25 GMT -5
Too many ‘off the board’ posts for my liking - is MM a good recruiter ? I’d say she has a better product to offer than Sacred Heart and many other schools we’re losing recruits to I have no inside knowledge but take all these things with a grain of salt. She allegedly also had an offer from Georgetown. If she had a commitable full scholarship offer from Georgetown and went to SHU, I don’t know what to tell you. Due to the fact that Georgetown’s coach died last fall, it’s hard to tell what offers from there were still committable. However, I have no doubt that her list of offers was legitimate. She put up phenomenal stats as a sophomore and as a junior against decent NYC competition. Was 2nd team All-NYC public as a soph. And her AAU stats were off the charts, despite playing against competition two years older than her. Her AAU team included a number of players who committed to strong programs. Not sure why she selected Sacred Heart, but she must’ve really liked the coaches and the program.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 19, 2024 21:07:30 GMT -5
Yes, they are brothers.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 19, 2024 20:26:38 GMT -5
That is your legitimate opinion...but one with whch I disagree. Where would you see HC going that is somehow better? Also, if the PL were "doomed to fail" (a point on which we disagree) why would all of the PL ADs continue to support it? Do you feel the athletic programs are being run by people too incompetent (or too content) to see that their league is "doomed" so they remain? My comments apply to men’s basketball only. Also my definition of fail is fail to be relevant on a regional and national scale (I also could see the PL fold with one or two departures). Why would the league fold with one, or even two, departures? League would be fine with eight or nine schools. Or worst case would be to lower the academic standards a bit and add someone. Lots of schools have shown interest in joining, and at least several would still be interested. Marist and Fairfield to name two. Also NJIT, although they clearly would be less desirable.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 19, 2024 18:27:12 GMT -5
Ironically, Chuck’s Steakhouse of Danbury CT recently announced it’s closure after over 50 years at the same location just off of I – 84.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 17, 2024 16:45:20 GMT -5
When was the last time men’s lacrosse started 2-1 iIn 2020, they started 4-1. All four wins were by one goal.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 17, 2024 10:35:46 GMT -5
Second-best team in NE? Got to be Fairfield, 22-1; one three point loss on the road to 19-7 Vandy (coached by Shea Ralph). Might be, but it’s far from certain. Massey and at least one other rating model have Boston College well ahead of Fairfield. The reason is that Fairfield has played one of the weakest schedules in the country, while BC’s schedule is around number 50.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 13, 2024 14:11:55 GMT -5
I hope the Berkshires seem dreamlike on account of the frosting during their trip today and the Raiders don't need Paul Revere to guide them between Stockbridge and Worcester. What does a visiting team do all day on Wednesday? Can they set up shop in Dinand Library to study? Now that HC has two gyms and one HC team is on the road do they give one gym to the visitors to practice at their leisure? I am sure that they will do a shoot-around in the Hart at some point during the day, probably late morning. Then probably a meeting and some film study after lunch.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 8, 2024 13:58:40 GMT -5
Leone's 72 years old- was their coach when HC entered the PL. Some would call him a “Youngster” 😊 Leone was almost certainly the worst coach in patriot league history. In his five years in the PL, LC had a league record of 15-53, with many of the wins over an equally weak army team. In his final season, before getting fired, LC was winless in the patriot league and 1–27 overall, having managed to beat a weak Columbia team early in the year. unfortunately he is no better as a color man than he was as a coach. He is never prepared and doesn’t seem to understand the game very well at all. Unfortunately, his announcing partner is no better.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 5, 2024 0:54:15 GMT -5
I saw the 3 point shot, the shooter land inside the arc and Singleton come down on his foot there - after the shot. I still can't figure why he got 3 shots instead of the 2 he should have been awarded. Yes, if the ref thought he put his foot out there to have Singleton land on it he could have been called for an offensive foul...that was not their interpretation. no, the referees were correct in awarding him three shots. The only thing that matters is where his feet are when he leaves the court. It is irrelevant where he lands in terms of the number of FTs. I am not sure why the color man started talking about one foot having landed inside the arc, since that did not matter at all as far as how many shots should be awarded. Someone might want to send him a copy of the rulebook.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 3, 2024 11:47:04 GMT -5
with a bachelor's, he's just 1 of many grad transfers with immediate 1 yr of eligibility The rule is written that an athlete gets one and only one transfer and immediate eligibility. It even explicitly states that someone who uses that one time pass cannot get another one if they graduate and go on to another school for a masters. Pridgen used that free pass when he went from HC to North Carolina. The tweet above says he left the team for personal reasons. That could be paving the way for a waiver to let him play next year. Without some sort of waiver, he is not playing next year even if he has a Bachelors. It is possible that he left the team because he graduated in December. Pridgen had to sit a year when he transferred to Northeastern (it was his second transfer). so this is his 5th year of college Recently the NCAA has been extremely liberal in granting waivers for second and even third transfers. I would be surprised if he does not get one.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 2, 2024 21:51:31 GMT -5
(Reading about Max Green..) 38.0 the highest ppg in Long Island high school hoops history. It should not be hard to guess the player, but I had never seen this stat previously. Any takers ? Wikipedia's accuracy record is not perfect, but under Brown's bio and also in another spot, it says: "Brown averaged a Long Island record 38 points per game for his basketball team. That record was later broken by future Boston Red Sox star Carl Yastrzemski of Bridgehampton." It's pretty well documented that Yaz set the LI record for points in a season - 628 - but less certain if he did it in 16 games, which would give him an average of over 39 ppg.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 28, 2024 14:02:28 GMT -5
Great comeback by Wyoming, but certainly not the greatest regular season comeback in history. I can think of a few better ones including Bucknell beating Colgate in 2018 after trailing by eight points with 22 seconds left. And they didn’t even need OT to win that one.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 26, 2024 20:53:59 GMT -5
When there is parity amoung the teams & fannies in the seats. Very accurate. If they played the first two rounds of the women’s tournament on neutral courts, the attendance at best would be counted in hundreds. Except for UConn and a few others.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 22, 2024 22:22:18 GMT -5
Nathan Davis, for all his faults, does have UNH 10-7 against D1 teams. They began the year ranked 300 by Pomeroy and are now up to 207, which would rank second in the PL. Check his record in four years, when he has to rely on his own recruits. And check out how much of the fan base he has driven away. He probably does benefit from being able to recruit low-academic players at UNH - ones who didn't fit under the AI. At Bucknell, his recruiting went from OK to poor to horrendous as time went by. Things got worse when Griffin left to become Associate Head Coach at St. Joes.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 22, 2024 22:17:03 GMT -5
Did Davis jump from Bucknell to UNH or did he first get whacked by Bucknell ? He was fired the day the season ended. About 98% of the fan base wanted him gone a year earlier but contract provisions bought him another horrible year, which made the hole much deeper. AD Truax knew he was going to fire him with at least a month left in the season and was thus prepared to act quickly. Davis was canned about eight days earlier than Nelson, and Bucknell had already interviewed their top candidates twice before Nelson was gone.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 22, 2024 14:03:42 GMT -5
Bison, What are your thoughts about your new coach ? Very happy with him so far. But Nathan Davis decimated the program and it will take at least a few years to dig out. Griffin has brought enormous energy to the program and is reconnecting with fans, something that was essential after what Davis did. That is one reason Bucknell chose Griffin instead of Paulson.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 22, 2024 13:02:43 GMT -5
Forgot to mention Noah Williamson, who averaged 18 PPG, 12 RPG, and two BPG in games at Boston U and Lafayette.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 22, 2024 11:54:36 GMT -5
I think Austin Benigni for Navy will get it. 22 ppg and Navy won both of their games. If not him, Mark Butler (Lafayette). 15 ppg, 5 apg, 14-20 FG -- remarkable shooting percentage for a guard. Had Bucknell not blown a lead and lost in OT at Lafayette, I think Jack Forrest would have had a good shot. In two road games, including a win at Boston U, he averaged 20.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and 3.5 apg. But the OT loss at lafayette probably will cost him.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 16, 2024 17:28:43 GMT -5
I never use Warren Nolan and have no idea how it is calculated, but I'm not sure how any SOS rankings wouldn't have Bucknell ranked in the same neighborhood as Lafayette and Colgate. Below are the Massey SOS ratings for the PL. Note these ratings include the four league games that have been played, which obviously make the ratings worse for the teams that have played a strong OOC SOS. Colgate 134 Lafayette 149 Bucknell 150 Loyola 275 Boston 290 Lehigh 299 American 307 Holy Cross 309 Navy 323 Army 361 Unfortunately Pomeroy's SOS can't be used because it omits the D3 games played by seven of the PL teams. I missed the Bison at 235 in the Nolan SOS rankings. Next is Lehigh at 304 followed by the remaining 6 well into the 300's capped by AU at 362. Looking at Nolan's page, I see that those SOS figures are from the old NCAA RPI model that the NCAA discontinued a number of years ago. No idea why he still uses it, but in any event it is not very reliable at least until February. Maybe not even then.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 16, 2024 14:08:18 GMT -5
According to Warren Nolan, Lafayette comes in at 187 in strength of schedule. Other than Colgate at 200, the rest of the PL is way behind the Leopards. HC is at 342. I never use Warren Nolan and have no idea how it is calculated, but I'm not sure how any SOS rankings wouldn't have Bucknell ranked in the same neighborhood as Lafayette and Colgate. Below are the Massey SOS ratings for the PL. Note these ratings include the four league games that have been played, which obviously make the ratings worse for the teams that have played a strong OOC SOS. Colgate 134 Lafayette 149 Bucknell 150 Loyola 275 Boston 290 Lehigh 299 American 307 Holy Cross 309 Navy 323 Army 361 Unfortunately Pomeroy's SOS can't be used because it omits the D3 games played by seven of the PL teams.
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Post by bison137 on Jan 16, 2024 13:56:30 GMT -5
Anaheim (Angel Stadium) opened in 1966. Has had a couple of renovations since then.
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