Monday, January 25, 2010

BIG Monday

Some noontime thoughts on this rainy Monday.

....I'm excited for the Syracuse Georgetown game tonight. It is always a rivalry and it seems to have added significance this year. I know Ray was a bit concerned that the Orange has struggled a little bit of late. I expected Saturday to be what Saturday was. In fact, a 15-point lead with 3 minutes left was more comfortable then I ever thought it would get. I expected Marquette to play much better than they did in their loss to Depaul - and I thought their style was more like Pitt's then anybody else we've played. So I thought that would cause problems. I also expected that we might be looking ahead a little bit to Georgetown tonight. It seemed like some, or maybe all of that happened and we still led by 15 with three minutes to go. Don't get me started on what happened to that lead, I'm focusing on the fact we had it.

....Tonight will be a tough tussle. I think Syracuse is going to throw one of those top notch efforts out there and really have a blazing effort. But Georgetown definitely has the ability to win the game and be a factor at both ends of the floor. This is a very good test, but one I am looking forward to.

....Obviously, I've been very silent about the Mount since Saturday. Truth is, I don't know what to say. They got swept in Brooklyn and although I didn't see the game on Saturday, the numbers were downright dreadful. I'm sick of looking for silver linings. Sick of waiting for the real team to appear. I think the body of work is too large right now to ignore the fact that this team just is missing something. Shooters ideally.

....I was at the Theater yesterday afternoon (Nice performance by Music Gettysburg! presenting Amahl and the Night Visitors) and I bumped into a Penn State fan. He was in a rush to get home. He says to watch the football, I joked to watch Penn State play. He said they are probably already down by 30. I joked back and said, they are just like the Mount, they lose every game by 1. Little did we know that Penn State had Wisconsin on the ropes at that time. Of course, the Badgers rallied for the win. Sort of fitting.

....I did get home in time to see Seton Hall and Pittsburgh finish up. I wasn't overly surprised that the Hall won the game. The Pirates are definitely a bubble team right now and have a huge game at South Florida on Thursday night. It is games like that, when they go down as losses, that really hurt that level of team. It also could end up being the difference between a +500 record and something below that for Seton Hall. The two recent wins over Louisville and Pitt are nice and will help them in the long run, but I still think they are going to have to be +500 with their non-conference schedule to earn a bid.

6 comments:

  1. icepack4:18 PM

    MSM - a year ago, they had a good chance with the 4 and 5 being occupied by two seasoned but less than highly talented players. As I mentioned 2 months ago, they were counting on Barber and Wells to learn to be like Sam and Marcus, but on a higher level. Both just starting to get it in gear; a few home games should help. As for the shooting? Well, awful is a great description. Looks like Jeremy has to have a good night or no one does.

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  2. Some Early Onions8:35 PM

    I have been highly dissapointed and highly critical of the Mount this year. It is getting extremely difficult to find any silver linings anymore, however, I am going to dig deep for one.

    Their schedule has given them no favors to this point. They have played 19 games and have only essentially had one true home game. Yes, I realize that they've played at home 5 times, but only one of those times was when the students were there. And we all know, at any level in Division I basketball, a home game is a whole different animal when the students are there as opposed to when they are on break.

    So for all intensive purposes the Mount has had 14 road games, 4 neutral games, and 1 'true' home game. They won that home game against a very good Loyola team by 20. Will be interested to see the energy level they come out with this week against two quality opponents and a 'true' home crowd for only the second time this year. Cause the first time, the place was electric. Just hope the students haven't seen the record and given up on them yet.

    I'm just not quite ready to write them off til I see how they perform down the stretch with 7 'true' home games out of their last 10.

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  3. icepack8:44 PM

    E.O. - good words. Electricity and winning are indeed fun. We will be there Thursday and Saturday. Raff may even attend! Go Mount.

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  4. I'll be there Thursday. Unfortunately, I've got another commitment on Saturday that I can't miss.

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  5. Richard- reclick1 at cougars.ccis.edu10:25 PM

    I have just discovered who leads in technical fouls so far. Hmmmmm drum roll please….
    First off I will go from the bottom up: SFPA- a big zero, CCSU and SHU- a mighty 1, Monmouth, Quinnipiac,MSM, and FDU- all at 2, SFNY-4, Bryant and Wagner-5(4 on the devil Deane), LIU- 6, and hmmmm…. RMU-a whopping 8. Green and Bennett lead the league with 3. I guess we see who the weaklings of the league are and who the roughnecks are. But RMU leading? No way that’s a big surprise, lol. One thing I observed is that Monmouth behaved themselves all year except for against the beastly Colonials. Their sole 2 techs were by Gaitley. Why does RMU have a problem with Gaitley or vice versa? That big oaf buffoon is harmless and yes, skill-less. May as well pay him no mind. I find it hard to believe that MSM only has 2 with Mr. Ladies-Man, protector of the blue and white, the conceited Beidler still on the team. The only players with more than one are Green, Bennett 3, and Olasewere and R. Johnson of RMU with 2. I’d have to say the worst refs I have seen over the past few years have been Tom Fahey as worst, Jack Sweeney, Ray Perone, and Joe DeMayo is comical, Joe Battiato isnt too swift either. The best ones would have to be Jacky Loube-who’s no longer reffing(I wish) Bernard Clinton, Gene Steratore of NFL fame. I just thought the techs would be interesting to look into. Sorry if it bothered you since this is a news forum, but it is sort of news to me.

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  6. Richard3:35 PM

    Beidler would probably be one of the best players in the East if he would be less worried about how tough he is and sexy he is to the ladies. I've met many Mount players, even partied with them in the last 20 years and never have I known one to think he is the Adonis to all the gurlies as he exhibits a lot, to the level that he does. Conversely, i really do value Beidler's play more so this year than others. He has appeared to take charge more than anyone else- when he chooses to not 'fall asleep' on at least a few plays every single game. His character, on the court and off is reminiscent of a guy named Kenny Lantz, formerly of Emmitsburg that exhibited that character all around the town to great dismay of its residents and nearly all of his peers. In my opinion Beidler is supreme athletically yet allows his ego and prowess of the schools 'groupie' girls ( that he thinks he has) to disproportionately magnify his head. These are simply my opinions based on experiences that I have had in his and the other player's presence on and off the court. I believe that the Mount's current demise is due to individual character and mental issues that has persisted even through the last few 'glorious' seasons. I hate to single Beidler out- just an example. He is not the only player that has similar issues of psychological detriments on the team. Coach Brown needs to learn to stop coddling his boys and stop acting like he is one of them, there needs to be more personal separation when it comes to playing the games. Yes Brown is relatively young, as coaches go, and close to having similar interests and lifestyles as the players sometimes. We will never exhibit our full talent potential until that separation I mentioned exists. I'm tired of seeing most of the players constantly looking over to Brown too much during games. If this season is lost then I surely hope that next season Brown changes his style and loosens up to let the players fulfill their talent. If they have another underachieving season like this next year then he should be on the 'hot seat'. Maybe replaced by Mike Deane, lol, or someone with a stricter style. I sure wish Phelan found the fountain of youth and came back. Yes Brown brought some success but it would have been a lot more if only the team was allowed to sport their full potential. Lastly, I know they need to schedule a few 'money' games but the others do not need to be so many pre season conf. favorites. give us a few Dartmouth's or Browns like Quinnipiac and the rest play every year. the tough schedule has hurt them this year, they need to taste victory a little more than they were able to.

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