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Post by bison137 on Oct 18, 2018 11:11:36 GMT -5
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 18, 2018 11:15:23 GMT -5
Tough to be picked in the bottom half of the year with the pre-season Player of the Year on your team.
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Post by bison137 on Oct 18, 2018 11:22:57 GMT -5
Tough to be picked in the bottom half of the year with the pre-season Player of the Year on your team. Two things: (1) Manis was likely the second best player in the league last year and they went 7-11; (2) they graduated a very good player in Infiniti-Waheed, along with two other seniors who played 22-25 mpg. A number of players will need to show a lot of improvement for them to finish in the first division. Manis can't do it by herself.
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Post by HC13 on Oct 18, 2018 13:17:33 GMT -5
For better or worse, should have a reasonable idea fairly early whether they are going to be better or not. I would think that two or three of the Frosh, likely Petro & LaBarbara are going to have a chance to play a lot early.
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Post by purplehaze on Oct 18, 2018 13:36:20 GMT -5
Is Gibbons' seat warm ? or is his lifetime 'good guy' contract in place regardless of this year's results ? Does 4 straight losing seasons mean anything?
I'm hoping for improvement as the ooc schedule is weak and a winning record going into league play should be expected.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Oct 18, 2018 18:35:21 GMT -5
Looking ahead . . . Gibbons is about 60-years-old now. He can collect full Social Security benefits at age sixty-seven. He currently has 602 wins. The average win-loss record of the past thirteen years is 14-17. If he can maintain that pace for another seven seasons, he will reach 700 wins.
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Post by timholycross on Oct 27, 2018 15:25:09 GMT -5
Looking ahead . . . Gibbons is about 60-years-old now. He can collect full Social Security benefits at age sixty-seven. He currently has 602 wins. The average win-loss record of the past thirteen years is 14-17. If he can maintain that pace for another seven seasons, he will reach 700 wins. Has Holy Cross developed so much institutional malaise (or, another description of it would be "intramural attitude") that they would allow someone to stay another 7 years with those kind of records? I fear the answer to that might be "yes".
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Post by HC13 on Nov 5, 2018 11:38:23 GMT -5
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Post by sader1970 on Nov 5, 2018 13:19:30 GMT -5
Small bone to pick, not wearing my glasses but looked like they say Fr. Swords was a ‘30 grad. Pretty sure he was class of ‘38.
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Post by hchoops on Nov 5, 2018 15:05:10 GMT -5
Seems to be blocked Please post if possible
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Post by HC13 on Nov 5, 2018 15:24:18 GMT -5
WORCESTER — Megan Swords was “just starting to get it as a freshman,” Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons said, during a game at Colgate two years ago, when she went up to corral an offensive rebound and came down and blew out her left knee. Swords’ first season at Holy Cross had been a trying one to begin with — “I’m a perfectionist,” Swords said before a recent practice. “I was very critical of myself.” As Gibbons said, though, in the games that led up to the one at Colgate, Swords was turning a corner and that helped her better handle her injury. “I took it as it was,” Swords said, “and, ‘I’ll move on from here.’ If it was going to happen, thank God it happened when it happened and not when I wasn’t finding my groove. When it happened, from that point on, I said I’ll take it as it is and move on.” Swords had surgery performed by Dr. Brian Busconi to repair her left anterior cruciate ligament, worked tirelessly with Holy Cross athletic trainer Alicia Caswell, and returned to action ahead of schedule, in the third game of last season. “It was a great moment to get back on the court,” Swords said. “I picked up two fouls in the span of two minutes. I was so excited I just ran into people.”
Swords played in 28 games with four starts last year. She averaged 13.9 minutes, 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds and, with a career-high 15 points, had a breakout game at Bucknell. The 6-foot-3 Swords has earned the starting center position for this season. “She worked her tail off,” Gibbons said. “Last year was almost like her freshman year all over again. Early on, she had some trouble finishing, but she got better and better as the season went on. This year, she’s a better player, a more confident player.” The Crusaders, who went 13-18 last year and fell to Bucknell in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament, will return to a more conventional lineup this season after featuring four guards for much of the last few seasons. Swords’ emergence will allow junior Lauren Manis, the preseason Patriot League Player of the Year, to return to her natural 4 position. Junior guards Madalyn Smith and Nicole Morris and sophomore guard Jenay Faulkner round out the starting five. Gibbons expects rebounding to be a strength, and the Crusaders will have to replace the scoring of the graduated Infiniti Thomas-Waheed (16.1 ppg) and Tricia Byrne (7.2 ppg). Swords’ Holy Cross family lineage goes all the way back to her great-grandfather, John O’Connor, who played football and graduated from HC in 1918. Her great uncle, Rev. Raymond Swords, graduated from Holy Cross in 1930 and served as president of the college from 1960-70. Swords Hall is named in his honor. Swords’ father, Kevin (Class of 1982), is an honorary member of the Varsity Club Hall of Fame for his achievements in club rugby. He is also a member of the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame. Swords’ grandfather, John Swords, graduated from HC in 1943, and numerous uncles and cousins are also Holy Cross alums. Her brother is a Holy Cross freshman.
“It’s a whole list,” Swords said with a laugh. “It’s kind of surreal to think some of my family has walked through the campus. It’s nice to share similar experiences.” Swords remembers driving past Holy Cross on the way from her family’s home in New Jersey to New Hampshire for summer vacations. “Once, when I was 11, we came to find Swords Hall,” she said. Swords didn’t really explore the campus until she was in the recruiting process. At first, she wasn’t sure if she would be adding to her family’s Holy Cross legacy, but after meeting the team and touring the school, she felt it was the right fit for her, too. In that regular-season game at Bucknell last year, Holy Cross trailed the Bison, 44-17, at halftime. Swords led HC’s second-half rally and 30-point fourth quarter. “She took over the game with the way she rebounded and the way she overpowered them,” Gibbons said. The Crusaders’ comeback came up short and they lost, 72-63, but Swords finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, a block and a steal. “I saw the (halftime) score and I didn’t care,” Swords said. “I knew it wasn’t over. In high school, we had a 20-point lead in the state championship and we lost. I was just going to keep playing. That was my mentality and the mentality I want to keep for this season. I want to not worry about making mistakes and just keep pushing through.” Swords will have a bigger role this year, but her approach will be the same. “I just want to come in and work really hard every day,” she said. “That’s always my focus, to just give my all.” —Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @jentandg.
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Post by hchoops on Nov 5, 2018 15:36:47 GMT -5
Not a word about the 4 frosh or anyone else besides the 5 starters ?? Toland’s or Gibbons’ responsibility ?
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Post by rgs318 on Nov 5, 2018 15:57:15 GMT -5
It may be best to wait until the five frosh accomplish something before putting a spotlight on them. Giving Megan Swords some ink after all she has come through seems appropriate IMO.
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