Wednesday, 01/17/2018, PL Basketball, You Pick...

Colgate @ Lehigh 


American @ Boston Univ. 


Navy @ Lafayette 


Bucknell @ Loyola 


 Army (West Point!!) @ Holy Cross (hope I'm wrong. It seems that just when I think the team has hit rock bottom, they do a bit better. But, when I think they are starting to improve, they nosedive. Who'd of ever thought that we'd "hope" for a win against Army? Army! I can't lose with this selection. If we lose, my winning picks improve. If we win, I'll feel better. Look for some more "thank you for your service" calls from the refs!)

Lehigh
Boston University
Navy
Bucknell
Army

Lehigh
Boston Univ.
Navy
Bucknell
Army

Colgate
American
Lafayette
Loyola
Holy Cross

I think lou has seen Army play this year

Yeah, and he's the only one who got a 2016 PL championship ring, too. 

Colgate
Boston University
Navy
Bucknell
Holy Cross

Colgate
BU
Lafayette
Bucknell
Army

Lehigh
BU
Navy
Bucknell
HC--why not?

Lehigh- Colgate lost last two games by 14 then 12. Team has depended on the three but was 13/60 in those two games and eff fg pctg was 34% for those two. Will Rayman 2 for last 15 on 3's and freshman Jack Ferguson has been woeful: 5/29 in PL play. Ferguson has a breathtaking launch rate, e.g. going 0-9 on threes in just 18 minutes vs BU. Colgate is 1-6 when shooting eff fg pctg of 51% or worse and 2-6 when 36% or worse on threes. Lehigh is not a good shooting team and is 5-2 when it shoots 50% or better, 3-7 otherwise. Pat Andree has #1 O-Rating in PL play buoyed by a 54.5% pctg on threes. Both teams have fallen down the KenPom ranks since PL play started.

Boston U-- This looks like a mismatch. In PL play AU has #10 offense and #6 defense per KenPom while BU has #1 & #2. AU is 0-11 when opponents shoot 46% or better, pretty low bar, while BU is at 55% in PL play. BU is 5-1 in PL play with wins by 8,5,11,14,14 points. BU has moved up 50 spots in KenPom's rankings since PL play started. BU, who would have guessed, has the best 3 point percentage in PL games, but is #9 in 3 point attempts as % of FGA. BU looks like it is really rounding into form.

Navy-- not an easy team to pick as it has dropped 42 places in PL play. Navy has won last 4 games versus Lafayette Navy is 11-1 when it shoots 47% or better and 1-6 otherwise. Laf's FG defense has looked better in PL play but I'm not a believer. Laf is 0-10 (excluding Susquehana game) when opponents shoot 49% or better and Navy is right at that mark in PL play. I see Navy controlling the boards and prevailing.

Bucknell-- Bison beat #186 Army, #275 Lafayette, and #227 Colgate on the road and now travels to #301 Loyola. Bison won last three games despite very poor shooting: 20/68= 29% on 3's and 54/122= 44% on 2's. Zach Thomas has been rebounding well but has certainly not been All-PL of late on offense. Still, Bucknell won. Bison have #2 offense and #1 defense in PL play. On another thread we looked at how the Bison have played better in the second half of each of their PL games--let's see if that holds true today.

Army-- I surely hate writing this but Army appears to be the better team by enough of a margin to overcome HC's Hart center advantage. In PL play Army has #6 Offense and #5 defense while HC has been #9 & #7. Key is the thing I hate so much: three pointers. Army's three point shooting percentage has been down a little of late but is still very good, #3 in PL play while HC's defense against the three has been #9. Army is 11-2 when opponents shoot (eff fg pctg) 55% or lower and 0-4 when opponents hit 60% or higher. HC has not hit that 60% mark yet. Army really relies on the three and HC is 0-9 when opponents have 3 pt pctg of 35% or better. Army has bettered that mark in 15 of 17 games. Austin Butler and Jacob Grandison has shown marked improvement (if you believe in KenPom's "o-rating") in PL play. JF has had three sub-optimal games in a row and Caleb Green has really been struggling on offense. I'd really like to see us try some different tactics tonight to try to get this team going in a different direction. I really miss my old friends the offensive rebound and the made free throw....

Colgate @ Lehigh 7:00pm



American @ Boston Univ. 7:00pm



Navy @ Lafayette 7:00pm



Bucknell @ Loyola 7:00pm



Army @ Holy Cross 7:05pm