Goooooood afternoon AU basketball fans. And buenos tardes to Frank Borden if he's reading this from Mexico, who knows. So it strikes me that while many of you are digging graves for our (as-of-lately-not-so) mighty AU Eagles, you may not know about how the rest of our Patriot League friends and foes (but mostly foes) are faring in their out-of-conference schedules. Well, I figured I'd look that up and provide it in one nice, neat tidy package for you. This will catch you up on the games played to date, and every Monday I will update you on the past week's games. Get it? Got it? Good.
Off we go!
Army
Army has looked very good in its first five games under first year head coach Zach Spiker. Spiker, who turned around Cornell's basketball program, seems to be moving in the same direction with the Black Knights. Of course he's got a bit of a leg-up given that he's got 13 upperclassmen including guard Cleveland Richard (pre-season all PL), who is averaging 14 pts, 5 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and 3.5 assists a game. They haven't beaten anyone particularly impressive just yet (except for Harvard in a squeaker), but this is a team with a lot of experience that took AU to the very last minute in the PL semis last year. Watch out for them.
Record: 4-1
Wins: Long Island (2-3), Harvard (5-1), Yale (2-3), @Princeton (2-3)
Losses: @VMI (2-2)
Bucknell
The Bucknell Bison had a dismal season last year, notching just seven wins on the season. This year they already have more than half of last year's total (4), and seem to be ready to make a run at the Patriot League. With four players averaging double figures, they've got a lot of weapons to use and a big chip on their shoulders from last year. They beat St. Francis (PA) 70-58 (we lost to the Red Flash 65-61), but the teams they've beaten are a combined 2-18; at some point they will probably have to beat at least 2-3 fair to middling teams.
Record: 4-3
Wins: Bryant (0-5), @Delaware (1-4), St. Francis (PA) (1-5), @Wagner (0-4)
Losses: @Mercer (3-3), @Providence (4-2), @Columbia (2-2)
Colgate
Colgate's season has started just as rough as ours. 0-5 to this point. They played 30 good minutes with the UConn Huskies before the vastly superior team came out and beat them 77-63. We know how that goes here in Eagleville. It was a valiant effort by Colgate, who now certainly know what it's like to want a game to end at halftime (much like we wanted it to against 'Nova last year). Don't sleep on this team; if Kyle Roemer stays healthy (which is a big if) they will be a serious contender in the PL, especially after the pretty stiff non-conference schedule they have. Roemer averages 18 points a game and Yaw Gwayu is right behind him with 16.
Record: 0-5
Losses: @(12) Connecticut (4-1), @Yale (2-3), @TCU (4-3), @UW-Milmaukee (5-2), St. Francis (NY) (1-4)
Holy Cross
In perhaps the surprise of the non-conference play, the Holy Cross Crusaders have yet to notch a win. Pretty surprising given the hype they had going into the season. Holy Cross fans are starting to (starting to?) go a little nuts too, some even suggesting that the basketball program be scrapped. Holy Cross has four guys averaging in double digits, including last year's PL Rookie of the Year R.J. Evans (and pre-season all PL), but they're just not getting it done. Their non-conference schedule is pretty difficult; you look at the records and see that they're facing some teams that are having very successful years so far. Still, very surprising that they haven't pulled one out yet. Maybe this will be a hiccup year as they adjust to things under first year coach Sean Kearney.
Record: 0-6
Losses: Harvard (5-1), @St. Joseph's (3-2), Loyola Chicago (4-1), @Rhode Island (4-0), @(24)UNLV (5-0), @Western Michigan (2-2)
Annnnd I'm back. Let's finish out the rest of the Patriot League!
Lafayette
Lafayette is used to be in the depths of the Patriot League standings, but Canadian forward Jared Mintz (18 ppg) and a duo of talented guards (Jeff Kari and Jim Mower) may be the nucleus the team needs to be competitive. Seems to be working out so far this year as the team is 4-2. The question is will this talented trio get enough other support? Lafayette beat St. Francis (PA) by 11, and that's the only common game they have with AU at this point; when we take on Georgetown this weekend, we'll see another common opponent.
Record: 4-2
Wins: Wagner (0-4), @St. Francis (PA) (1-5), @NJIT (2-4), Hartford (2-4)
Losses: @Sacred Heart (3-3), @(18)Georgetown (4-0)
Lehigh
Lehigh was picked to finish second in the PL in the preseason poll. They're done alright so far this year, notching a 3-3 record. Pre-season PL Player of the Year Marquis Hall and pre-season all PL forward Zahir Carrington have thus far been outshone by FRESHMAN guard C.J. McCollum who has been averaging an unbelievable 16 points a game and over 40% from 3-point range. Hall and Carrington are dangerous and talented players; if McCollum keeps this level of play up, it's an almost certainty that that Lehigh will represent the PL in the NCAA tourney this year.
Record: 3-3
Wins: Qunnipiac (3-2), Monmouth (2-5), @St. Francis (PA) (1-5)
Losses: @Richmond (6-1), @Rider (5-3), Stony Brook (5-1)
Navy
Chris Harris is a beast. Let's be blunt. He's averaging 20 points per game. Navy's story the past couple of years has been fantastic offense and miserable defense. We'll see if they're playing any better defense this season. The one thing that should really be worrisome for the Midshipmen is their bench, four out of five of their starters are playing over 30 minutes a game. They may wear out their starters before PL play even starts. There's a whole host of problems that come along with this, foul troubles, etc. Not good.
Record: 3-4
Wins: @Longwood (0-7), Towson (1-3), Quinnipiac (3-2)
Losses: @Radford (2-2), Buffalo (2-2), @Long Island (2-3), Mt. St. Mary's (3-3)
And that's that. Overall what I learned from this exercise is that the PL is really weak this year. Whoever wins the PL will be lucky to get a 15 seed in the NCAA tournament. The good news is, I think the PL seasonw ill be very interesting and full of very competitive games.
Alright, that's it for tonight. I'll update you again next Monday!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
1. Why do you say Zach Spiker "turned around Cornell"? He was an assistant, who did whatever Donahue told him to do. Donahue was largely responsible for landing all of their good players.
ReplyDelete2. If you had bothered to read the full Holy Cross thread, you would have seen that the poster was being facetious - in answer to some who are down on the program. No-one suggested (or even hinted) that the program be scrapped.
3. Right now Lehigh would be only the third pick to win the PL, after HC and Army. It's silly to say "it's an almost certainty that that Lehigh will represent the PL in the NCAA tourney this year."
Did you not read the part where I qualified Lehigh going to the tourney and said that it would occur IF McCollum kept playing like this? If Carrington and Hall have another powerhouse scorer, my belief is that there isn't a team in the PL this year that can reasonably challenge them for the title. I see you disagree, and that's fine.
ReplyDeleteAlso well aware that the HC thread was facetious. I thought it was funny and decided to include it.
Thanks for commenting!