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Post by purplehaze on Nov 18, 2022 10:38:02 GMT -5
Thru the first week and a half of the season we're back in familiar territory - a cumulative 9-22 league record against mostly low-mid major competition the best win could be Loyola's over Monmouth and the worst loss may be Bucknell's home loss the FDU this week
More winnable games across the league this weekend so we'll see if there's improvement
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Post by timholycross on Nov 20, 2022 9:04:44 GMT -5
Marquette beat #6 Texas.
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Post by longsuffering on Nov 21, 2022 20:15:46 GMT -5
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Post by oldschoolhoops on Nov 21, 2022 20:18:18 GMT -5
BC is really bad this year. This game is a real opportunity for this young Holy Cross team
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Post by lou on Nov 21, 2022 20:35:05 GMT -5
BC is really bad this year. This game is a real opportunity for this young Holy Cross team 8 players 6 feet or taller, including a 6'5", 6'3", and a couple of 6'2"
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Post by oldschoolhoops on Nov 21, 2022 20:48:55 GMT -5
BC is really bad this year. This game is a real opportunity for this young Holy Cross team 8 players 6 feet or taller, including a 6'5", 6'3", and a couple of 6'2" #5 (the 6'3# kid) is pretty good. The 6'5" player has played 6 minutes so far this year. They lost to Harvard and almost lost to a very average Northeastern team. This is a good chance for us.
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Post by HC13 on Nov 21, 2022 21:21:55 GMT -5
Hopefully, it is a good game - still waiting for HC to play a 40 min game. Worry about the lack of a 3 pt shooters.
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Post by oldschoolhoops on Nov 21, 2022 21:30:11 GMT -5
BC is also a poor shooting team from three. Need our big people to stay out of foul trouble so we can have a shot to rebound with them because they'll be a lot of misses all around. I share the concern about the 40 minute fight with this group. Wondering why that is.
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Post by HC13 on Nov 21, 2022 21:37:26 GMT -5
Inexperience, also, I think MM is still trying to figure out her rotation.
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Post by oldschoolhoops on Nov 21, 2022 21:47:47 GMT -5
Inexperience, also, I think MM is still trying to figure out her rotation. I am sure you're right HC13. Good experience for the new faces to the rotation before conference play.....as long as they are learning through it.
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Post by purplehaze on Dec 1, 2022 17:17:22 GMT -5
Really lousy start to the season for many PL teams - three are still looking for their first D.1 win - AWP, Navy and AU Overall OOC record 23-45 (vs. D.1) - Biggest disappointments so far have to be Lehigh and Bucknell It was correctly stated on another thread that this should be a wide open race with HC clearly one of the favorites the standings here patriotleague.org/sports/wbball
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Post by oldschoolhoops on Dec 1, 2022 21:38:29 GMT -5
Really lousy start to the season for many PL teams - three are still looking for their first D.1 win - AWP, Navy and AU Overall OOC record 23-45 (vs. D.1) - Biggest disappointments so far have to be Lehigh and Bucknell It was correctly stated on another thread that this should be a wide open race with HC clearly one of the favorites the standings here patriotleague.org/sports/wbballFor sure not the best OOC run for the league, Purple. The league is young though + there are clearly some good players coming up.....so very good times ahead for the league. It's going to be a wild season. I don't think we can overlook anyone just because of their record. It's just one of the those seasons. Bucknell is playing a tough OOC schedule. And they have A LOT of young players. They are going to be pretty tough when playoffs arrive. And I'd put Lehigh in the upper tier. They have a frosh...Lily Fandre, who is a stud. If Kramer and Hottinger and Fandre are healthy, they'll be in every game they play. The wide openness is pretty fun for this year even if the play is down a bit. It's fun to root for the younger players and we have a few of the good ones!
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Post by purplehaze on Dec 1, 2022 21:53:13 GMT -5
I hope you’re right but let’s get some decent ooc wins Army got their first win tonight by 2 pts over Sacred Heart Navy had a very bad loss at home to Md Eastern shore 72-66 BU played tough at St Joe’s but lost 65-61
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Post by bison137 on Dec 1, 2022 23:20:31 GMT -5
Bucknell is playing a tough OOC schedule. And they have A LOT of young players. They are going to be pretty tough when playoffs arrive. And I'd put Lehigh in the upper tier. They have a frosh...Lily Fandre, who is a stud. If Kramer and Hottinger and Fandre are healthy, they'll be in every game they play. As you say, Bucknell is a very young team and is suffering through some growing pains. Also the entire team over the last few weeks had RSV, which obviously did not help. Their current starting team consists of one senior, three sophomores, and one freshman. But the way things are developing, it is possible that a freshman center may take a lot of the minutes away from the senior at some point And one of the first two subs off the bench is another freshman, so the team has some very good potential for the next few years.
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Post by bison137 on Dec 2, 2022 0:36:53 GMT -5
Massey rankings for PL teams thus far are as follows:
179 HC 184 Bucknell 197 Boston U 209 Lehigh 287 American 288 Colgate 302 Loyola 306 Lafayette 315 Army 351 Navy
As mentioned above, a down year so far. Definitely looks like it may be a four team fight. I wonder what Navy thinks about the decision to fire their winningest all-time coach, Stephanie Pemper, 2.5 years ago. It’s still too early to tell, but so far it doesn’t look good.
Bucknell’s worst ranking in the past eight years was number 150. Woodruff will have a lot of work to do to get them up to that ranking by year end.
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Post by PLhoops8 on Dec 2, 2022 8:36:45 GMT -5
I’d put Loyola Maryland as a dark horse for a top 4 finish. Therien is a beast and I believe O’Banion brought in some transfers. Looks like they are on the up and up. Bucknell’s challenges are not particularly surprising, Woodruff had success the previous 3 seasons with the previous coach’s roster, last season there were already some cracks forming in the foundation. I think it will be a rough season for them, considering they are playing a comparable OOC to last season and underperforming. Lehigh has a new coach, Troyan stepped down, but they have a lot of established talent that should make them an easy top 4 team. HC is perennial as well, Magarity is such a fantastic coach, the loss of AL will be compensated for. However, Boston really is the team to beat.
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Post by HC13 on Dec 2, 2022 13:07:20 GMT -5
I agree with all the above comments.
Bos U should be the overwhelming favorite as they have an upperclassmen laden roster unlike most of the other contenders. AU has had a suicide OCC, bad loss to Howard, with new coach & rebuilt roster they are struggling. Colgate looked sporty early but have 2 bad loses in a row (Canisius & Merrimack). Lafayette has fallen off a cliff. In large part, agree the PL is going to be a 4/5 team race, lot is going to depend on who can stay healthy.
I would love to know who thought firing Pemper was a good idea - I'd guess there is more to that story.
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Post by oldschoolhoops on Dec 2, 2022 13:08:05 GMT -5
I’d put Loyola Maryland as a dark horse for a top 4 finish. Therien is a beast and I believe O’Banion brought in some transfers. Looks like they are on the up and up. Bucknell’s challenges are not particularly surprising, Woodruff had success the previous 3 seasons with the previous coach’s roster, last season there were already some cracks forming in the foundation. I think it will be a rough season for them, considering they are playing a comparable OOC to last season and underperforming. Lehigh has a new coach, Troyan stepped down, but they have a lot of established talent that should make them an easy top 4 team. HC is perennial as well, Magarity is such a fantastic coach, the loss of AL will be compensated for. However, Boston really is the team to beat. The thread through your thoughts really focuses on coaching, PLhoops8 and that's probably on point although I would have a different view of Loyola's fortunes based on exactly that (O'Banion being a poor coach IMO). I am wondering how other old timers might feel about it, but since I have been following Holy Cross and the league (30 years) it seems like the coaching in it is at its lowest level ever. I am sure it's a combination of things, two major ones being that ADs probably don't care as much about women's hoops (or women's sports) as men's and that schools hiring aren't going to hire the best available coach but the best available that fits their pre-determined frame for the hire. I am not sure what a down year looks like for Bucknell, but they landed in the championship game last season. And they could get there again this season. Woodruff is one of the better coaches in the league right now. I share your take on Therien. Very good player. And that Boston is the team to beat.
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Post by bison137 on Dec 2, 2022 13:13:43 GMT -5
I’d put Loyola Maryland as a dark horse for a top 4 finish. Therien is a beast and I believe O’Banion brought in some transfers. Looks like they are on the up and up. Bucknell’s challenges are not particularly surprising, Woodruff had success the previous 3 seasons with the previous coach’s roster, last season there were already some cracks forming in the foundation. I think it will be a rough season for them, considering they are playing a comparable OOC to last season and underperforming. Lehigh has a new coach, Troyan stepped down, but they have a lot of established talent that should make them an easy top 4 team. HC is perennial as well, Magarity is such a fantastic coach, the loss of AL will be compensated for. However, Boston really is the team to beat. Therien is definitely a great player, and O'Banion has likely been a coaching upgrade - but I'd be surprised to see Loyola push into the top four. There's a big gap right now, based on performance thus far this year. As for transfers, I think Loyola only has one (Sims), who was a benchwarmer last year at Albany. Good rebounder but not a game changer. As for Bucknell, they have played a MUCH tougher schedule than Loyola, which is why they are ranked way ahead of them in every credible ranking system. They may be "underperforming" but they are still ranked as the #2 team in the PL. Bucknell's schedule through seven games this year is unquestionably harder than their schedule was last year btw. As for Woodruff's recruits, his current freshman and sophomore classes are at the same level as Roussell's good classes. Actually had more and better offers than most Roussell recruits. It just took Woodruff and staff a year to figure it out, as his first class (three of the four current juniors) was not good. I think Lehigh is one of the two most talented teams and could easily win the title. Losing Sue Troyan is bound to be a plus as far as actual coaching goes. She was a very good recruiter but a negative on the bench.
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Post by HC13 on Dec 2, 2022 13:20:30 GMT -5
Funny thing about the PL coaches, hard to believe but I think Damon is the longest serving now, entering her 6th season. Amazing to think nearly the entire league has turnover their coaching staffs in the last 3/4 years. In fairness to O'Banion, she didn't have much to start with, and recruiting has been so/so.
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Post by lou on Dec 2, 2022 13:27:52 GMT -5
I’d put Loyola Maryland as a dark horse for a top 4 finish. Therien is a beast and I believe O’Banion brought in some transfers. Looks like they are on the up and up. Bucknell’s challenges are not particularly surprising, Woodruff had success the previous 3 seasons with the previous coach’s roster, last season there were already some cracks forming in the foundation. I think it will be a rough season for them, considering they are playing a comparable OOC to last season and underperforming. Lehigh has a new coach, Troyan stepped down, but they have a lot of established talent that should make them an easy top 4 team. HC is perennial as well, Magarity is such a fantastic coach, the loss of AL will be compensated for. However, Boston really is the team to beat. The thread through your thoughts really focuses on coaching, PLhoops8 and that's probably on point although I would have a different view of Loyola's fortunes based on exactly that (O'Banion being a poor coach IMO). I am wondering how other old timers might feel about it, but since I have been following Holy Cross and the league (30 years) it seems like the coaching in it is at its lowest level ever. I am sure it's a combination of things, two major ones being that ADs probably don't care as much about women's hoops (or women's sports) as men's and that schools hiring aren't going to hire the best available coach but the best available that fits their pre-determined frame for the hire. I am not sure what a down year looks like for Bucknell, but they landed in the championship game last season. And they could get there again this season. Woodruff is one of the better coaches in the league right now. I share your take on Therien. Very good player. And that Boston is the team to beat. If it weren't for women's hoops, I would have zero interest in Holy Cross basketball this year. As it is I'm thoroughly enjoying watching our WBB this season
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Post by oldschoolhoops on Dec 2, 2022 13:29:28 GMT -5
Funny thing about the PL coaches, hard to believe but I think Damon is the longest serving now, entering her 6th season. Amazing to think nearly the entire league has turnover their coaching staffs in the last 3/4 years. In fairness to O'Banion, she didn't have much to start with, and recruiting has been so/so. The turnover has been amazing HC13, no question. And I think you're right about the Lafayette coach as longest tenured. Roussell, Pemper, Gibbons, D. Magarity, Moseley, Gebbia. That's a whole bunch of coaching acumen gone. And not for the better overall from where I sit. Fairness to O'Banion...sure. But she inherited Therien and Dixon and they went 5-24 last year. They have not had a signature win to date. And their schedule has been extremely weak this season. I think she deserves her chance too. But I don't think she's a particularly good coach. She's entering at the right time as many teams are vulnerable. But I just don't see it.
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Post by purplehaze on Dec 3, 2022 15:47:49 GMT -5
Columbia led Lafayette 69-17 after 3 qtrs today before showing mercy in the 4th. The Princeton- Columbia games this year will be battles But an embarrassment for a schollie PL team and it should not happen
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Post by oldschoolhoops on Dec 3, 2022 20:36:15 GMT -5
Today Navy dropped to 0-9, American to 0-7, and Lafayette got crushed/embarrassed as noted above. Lehigh also took a beating from LaSalle and Loyola lost to a weak Mount saint Mary's team. The Crusaders are holding the flag for the league right now. That's fine by me. But it was a rough day today for the league.
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Post by bison137 on Dec 3, 2022 20:47:31 GMT -5
Today Navy dropped to 0-9, American to 0-7, and Lafayette got crushed/embarrassed as noted above. Lehigh also took a beating from LaSalle and Loyola lost to a weak Mount saint Mary's team. The Crusaders are holding the flag for the league right now. That's fine by me. But it was a rough day today for the league. Fwiw, Bucknell did beat Stony Brook by six points today, so there are two hoisting the flag right now. SB was ranked #178 by Massey, so it was expected to be a close game. Boston U plays at BC tomorrow afternoon. It will be interesting to see if they keep it close.
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