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Post by bison137 on Mar 10, 2022 8:23:53 GMT -5
Today's starter for Richmond has let up 2 hits in 12 innings this year. Game is on ESPN+ PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS (subject to change) Thursday, March 10| 1 PM | Pitt Field RHP Josh Willitts (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBA Willitts (UR): 3 appearances, 1 start, 12 IP, 2 H, 6 BB, 16 K, .056 B/AVG TBA (HC) richmondspiders.com/documents/2022/3/9/2022_BSB_Notes_11_14_HC.pdfWillitts has had poor control thus far, which has limited his effectiveness. For the year he has allowed12 basebrunners, thanks to six walks and 4 HBP. He closed out a 3-2 win over Bucknell a couple weeks ago. Richmond’s top hitter, 3B Dom Toso transferred there from Bucknell after his sophomore year. He made all PL as a freshman and was one of Bucknell’s top hitters. Unfortunately Richmond gave him a lot more money.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 9, 2022 21:35:26 GMT -5
FWIW, I'm rooting for Navy tonight. It's nice to see service academies in the tournament. 1998 last time, I believe. Army, never; Air Force not since 2006 (surprised they've been 4 times). Last time Navy got to the PL Final was 2001; we knocked them off in OT. Ryan Serravalle with a 3 pointer that seemed like it took a year to go in the hoop. In Billy Lange’s seven years as head coach at Navy, they never won a PL tournament game. Not even one. And yet St. Joe’s opted to hire Lange as their head coach, instead of Matt Langel.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 9, 2022 16:47:56 GMT -5
That will surprise many of the people in Pittsburgh, unless they can negotiate a much cheaper buyout than his contract specifies. Right now, if he is fired, Pitt owes him $17 million. If they wait another year to fire him that number declines to $5 million.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 8, 2022 22:21:41 GMT -5
Andrew Funk is in the portal. He will presumably graduate from Bucknell in a few months and enroll elsewhere as a grad student. Funk, I am sure, will be looking for a free MBA. He was the Patriot League scholar-athlete of the year this year, and has been on the basketball all-academic team for three consecutive years.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 8, 2022 12:47:09 GMT -5
That being said, an argument against missing the second might be that a possible foul by one of our players on the rebound would send a Mid to the line needing to make one shot to tie and two to win (if I'm remembering correctly that they were in the bonus). HC only committed three fouls in the 4th quarter, so they had one to give. but it’s extremely unlikely in that scenario that HC would’ve had any players lined up in the lane.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 8, 2022 12:45:45 GMT -5
1.7 seconds, rebound, long toss, three point shot. In 1.7 seconds Navy is going to get the rebound on the missed FT (no guarantee that they do), then pass to mid-court (how much time does that take?), and then cleanly catch the ball and hit a half-court shot? The odds of that happening are astronomically lower than inbounding the ball from underneath the basket and heaving it down the court for a three-point look. Also, what is the difference in being up by one or two points in this situation? Navy isn't going to be attempting a two-point shot in either situation, so a three would win it for them anyways. I'm sure MM would be the first one to admit she made a mistake. If she wouldn't, I'd like to hear her reasoning for not missing the FT intentionally. Yes. In 1.7 seconds there is no chance at all that Navy could grab the rebound, then wind up and throw the ball to mid court, then catch the pass, then generate enough momentum to reach from 45 feet, and then release the 45 foot shot. At minimum, that would take at least 2.5 seconds. And a player having to quickly turn and shoot with no forward momentum very likely wouldn’t reach the rim.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 8, 2022 8:48:07 GMT -5
Neal Quinn (Lafayette) has entered the transfer portal. One of his first contacts after entering the portal was from old friend Milan Brown of the Pitt staff. Multiple high majors have already contacted him. Pitt is likely reaching out to every player with a pulse. We are in the second week of March, and Pitt still has no commitments for next year and has struck out on every target. They are ranked 193rd in the country, and the only reason Capel will keep his job at the end of the year is that he has a buyout of over $15 million. Next year the buyout falls to $5 million and he will be gone.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 7, 2022 15:43:35 GMT -5
The six sports that I know Navy won are men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men swimming, women’s swimming, men’s indoor track, and women’s indoor track. There could be others. It is easy to find the champion by going to the Patriot League site and then clicking on an individual sport. Once on that page, click on the drop-down that says championship, or else simply find the news article about the championship meet.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 7, 2022 14:17:15 GMT -5
There never was a prohibition, but there was an extra long sit-out, which effectively made transfers impossible. However I believe they did away with that feature in the bylaws last year.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 7, 2022 12:23:55 GMT -5
LS, you say ‘Kit was not handed an empty cupboard’ other than football and Women’s bball, what exactly are you referring to ? I hear you. Many shelves in the cupboard are bare. But I reviewed the standings of the different sports on the PL website, and while they don't list who is the actual champion of each sport, I don't believe any of the other nine schools have more than the two championships so far this year that HC has. Navy has at least six championships so far. As for overall results, holy cross is no better than seventh in the Presidents cup standings thus far.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 6, 2022 9:33:37 GMT -5
I hope the crowd is good. Last game listed was 417 but that has to be not counting students. Way more people then the mens game listed at 898 The attendance always counts students. Also attendance includes all tickets sold, so the men’s attendance may have been less than the number of people in the seats.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 2, 2022 12:31:02 GMT -5
it makes plenty of sense. To begin with, there are many athletes who prefer D3 because the time commitment is far less. And then there are many other athletes who didn’t get a D1 offer but then developed at a D3 school into someone who could easily play at the D1 level. In the NESCAC alone, there are hundreds of athletes who could be playing D1. Agree. Let's say you're a decent high school baseball player, but aren't receiving a ton of Division 1 offers. The offers you have are from NEC schools like Sacred Heart and Bryant. Conversely, NESCAC schools such as Williams and Amherst are showing a ton of interest and want you in their program badly. Don't you think going the D3 route is better? Do you believe the D1 badge trumps all else? The first team all NESCAC basketball players would, in all likelihood, see minutes on PL teams. And in some other sports, there are a bunch who would start for PL teams. In sports like soccer and lacrosse (and baseball), where few players get full scholarships, it makes even more sense to take the NESCAC offer over a Bryant or Sacred Heart. And if you're not going to get any scholarship money from a PL school anyway, it makes a lot of sense to opt for Amherst or Williams.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 2, 2022 11:53:53 GMT -5
Then why are the players in D3 if they are so good? Doesn't make sense. it makes plenty of sense. To begin with, there are many athletes who prefer D3 because the time commitment is far less. And then there are many other athletes who didn’t get a D1 offer but then developed at a D3 school into someone who could easily play at the D1 level. In the NESCAC alone, there are hundreds of athletes who could be playing D1.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 1, 2022 22:56:17 GMT -5
Them too...but the 2014 meltdown in the PL tourney in DC was really eye opening; with N. Pine on hand. It’s ironic that the beginning of the end for MB came in a season when HC went 12-6 in PL play and won 20 games overall.
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Post by bison137 on Mar 1, 2022 13:15:15 GMT -5
Another way that I look at it: if you think back to how Keegan Records (3rd team PL) and Suk Mathon (PL POY) looked as freshmen, were they better players than Caleb Kenney is right now? I don't think so, but Caleb has to go up against the senior version of those 2 (that is, if he gets another chance to). Agree about Mathon. Disagree on Records. His playing time was limited due to the presence of Ivanauskas and Rayman, but I remember how surprised I was by how well he played when he got the chance. He had a phenomenal offensive rebounding rate (14.7%) - which would have put him in the top 20 in the nation had his minutes been a bit higher.. Also hit 64% (66-104) from the field and had an extremely high rate of blocked shots. His Pomeroy ORating was off the charts at 129.1.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 28, 2022 21:15:35 GMT -5
Interesting that HC is likely to beat American but American is more likely to win it all than HC Home court advantage. Since American is viewed by Pomeroy as being a better team, if they do manage to win the first game then they have a higher probability of winning future games.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 28, 2022 17:33:57 GMT -5
With HC ranking #181 in the NET and #186 in Massey, I doubt they will get into a small field tournament. I won't take the opportunity to blame the PL for HC's modest ranking, as is too common. All PL teams have a two out of ten chance for an auto bid to a post season national tournament. Who can ask for better than that? Indeed you shouldn’t, because the patriot league has nothing to do with HC’s ranking.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 28, 2022 16:19:08 GMT -5
it likely would be tough to get a spot. As far as I know, the only other women’s tournament is the WBI, which only takes eight teams. Other than the NCAA and the NIT, I’m not sure there are any other women’s tournaments right now other than that one. Too bad, an eight team tournament seems competitive but non-exhausting for the teams that do qualify. Holy Cross has a good track record in eight team national post season tournaments. With HC ranking #181 in the NET and #186 in Massey, I doubt they will get into a small field tournament.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 28, 2022 16:03:15 GMT -5
If HC finishes third and does not win the PLT, should they enter one of the pay to play minor national post season tournaments and try to bring some hardware home to HC? Yes from my perspective as a fan for whom the games are appointment viewing on ESPN+ and as a proud alumnus who would like to see Holy Cross win another basketball championship of any kind. But I can understand if the players would not be excited and rather be ready to begin their off season. I would hope there would be no financial restriction on HC's part after it spent whatever was necessary to secure a home FCS playoff game, and maybe more than was necessary due to the sealed bid arrangement. it likely would be tough to get a spot. As far as I know, the only other women’s tournament is the WBI, which only takes eight teams. Other than the NCAA and the NIT, I’m not sure there are any other women’s tournaments right now other than that one.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 28, 2022 14:36:09 GMT -5
This game is very important, for seeding and thus which of the 3 contenders will get the automatic first place invite to the NIT if that team loses in the PL tourney. We lost to BU the first time, and split with AU. I do not know the tie breaker format. Could be a three way tie. The NIT guarantees a spot to one team from each conference. So even getting the 2 seed is important, since that earns an invite to the NIT if the 1 seed wins the PLT. Of course there are also other reasons to prefer the 2 seed over the 3, i.e. home court for the semi and possibly home court for the finals.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 27, 2022 21:55:31 GMT -5
Gotta be doing something wrong......or may something right if suddenly Georgetown has admission standards for basketball players commensurate with the rest of the student body. there is zero chance that that is a reason for their lack of success.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 27, 2022 21:53:34 GMT -5
The price is most likely set by the PL. Lafayette is charging six dollars per ticket for students, seniors, and youth.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 27, 2022 21:50:06 GMT -5
What is the reasoning behind the rule ? As I recall, many D3 schools complained about D1 schools being allowed to play D3 football. They claimed that the D1 schools had greater resources and greater name recognition, which gave them a significant advantage when it came to recruiting and running a program.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 27, 2022 20:16:35 GMT -5
1. Randy Bennett - An experienced Head Coach at the same school for 21 years. 2. Eight International Players (Half of the Roster) 3. A Cousy. Actual Tommy Kuhse. Last name pronounced the same as the Hodini of the Hardwood. 4. A graduate student. Tommy Kuhse. What they clearly don’t have from my time in Moraga, is better facilities than HC. They are still seeking funding to remodel the former McKeon.Pavillion. Yes, HC played football against St.Mary’s twice in this century, last in 2002, before they dropped football. SMC and Santa Clara had to upgrade to 1AA from D2 because of NCAA rule changes; both ended up dropping football instead. SMC tried it for a while then gave up. That is the same NCAA rule that ultimately destroyed MAAC football. Schools that played football in the MAAC included Siena, Canisius, Saint peters, Marist, Fairfield, Iona, Duquesne, Saint John’s, La Salle and Georgetown. Three of the 10 still have football, playing in three different conferences.
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Post by bison137 on Feb 27, 2022 14:52:45 GMT -5
I saw an article that said the NFL team that had won the first two times in the regular season also won the third time in an NFL playoff game 67% of the time. That was as of 2019 and represented 21 games. Didn’t see any data for college basketball but I don’t think the old saying necessarily holds water. statistics from college basketball game say the same thing. If a team has won the first two games, it is likely to win the third game as well.
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