PSAC WEST

[Ship69]

Not 100% confirmed but I've been told Cal's (3) post players are likely out for the season (Palek, Lucas and Arnette).

I'll always root against Danny straight up, but you don't like to see any team deal with this amount of injuries. No word if they plan to come back next year or not. Lucas and Palek have been there for a long time so we'll see. Arnette is younger so I'd assume he will return.

Lucas may be the best Small Forward in the league. He's so athletic for his size and can play a foot above the rim. Palek does so much for them inside and outside. Arnette is a physical grinder.

I hope they all recover well. Hopefully they can finish their careers on their terms.

Had this team been healthy, it would have certainly been in the Regional discussion.

The injuries have been unreal in the league this year. Ship is unfortunately starting to catch up in that department, and it had a real impact in the Raiders becoming Kutztown's first league victim last night. Freshman David Dorsey is the latest Raider to be seen on crutches and joining the tracksuit brigade. With him, Gabriel Romero-Sanz, and Michael Dickson all out with injuries, Ship is basically missing three of its top eight rotation. Dickson, in the four games he started for Ship this year, was averaging more than five assists a game. The current leader, forward Donovan Hill, gets a little over two a game. And when Hill get into quick foul trouble and had to sit for about 13 minutes of the first half Wednesday, an eight-point Ship lead turned into a four-point halftime deficit. When you lose your big guy, having two reserves who are 6-7 and 6-4 and unable to play does not help you. With the 6-8 Hill out, we drop down to 6-3 Denzel Figueroa. Denzel plays hard, but it was no surprise he had some trouble with Kutztown's 6-9 Tyler Koenig close to the basket. Dickson, specifically brought in to play point guard this year, might be done for the season. I'm not sure about the other two. This was not an especially deep team to begin with, and any more key injuries would probably turn a bleak outlook into disaster.

While I will never blame officiating for a loss, last night's officiating at Ship was just not good. Ship players were mugged going to the hoop all night, but they almost got back into the game when they were able to hack Kutztown players in return with a late press. The unsatisfactory rationale of it is what it is comes to mind.

[bballfan03]

Everybody playing for SRU ? Holy smokes.

I didn't see any big names missing for rock.. and now new names for Cal.

Rock did shoot 30% in first half

1 and 13 had huge first halves. 13 outscored rock himself

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Uh.. just flipped through games.. Cal 57 - 17 Rock

Did cal bring in a new squad?

Everybody playing for SRU ? Holy smokes.

[bballfan03]

Uh.. just flipped through games.. Cal 57 - 17 Rock

Did cal bring in a new squad?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Not 100% confirmed but I've been told Cal's (3) post players are likely out for the season (Palek, Lucas and Arnette).

I'll always root against Danny straight up, but you don't like to see any team deal with this amount of injuries. No word if they plan to come back next year or not. Lucas and Palek have been there for a long time so we'll see. Arnette is younger so I'd assume he will return.

Lucas may be the best Small Forward in the league. He's so athletic for his size and can play a foot above the rim. Palek does so much for them inside and outside. Arnette is a physical grinder.

I hope they all recover well. Hopefully they can finish their careers on their terms.

Had this team been healthy, it would have certainly been in the Regional discussion.

[bballfan03]

In Lucas and Palek you're talking two elite, All-PSAC post players. So, yes, that cripples everything Cal does.

Lucas is a nightmare to play against and Palek can play inside and is a very good deep shooter at 6'8". Lucas is a terrific defender and Palek is a knat.

Without having to worry about those two, teams can swamp their guards.

With Arnette also out, they have no size or depth, and are playing true freshmen.

At full strength Gannon may still beat them but it wouldn't look anything like yesterday.

I'm far from a Danny fan but his whole season got f-ed by injuries. You feel for the players as they are seniors.

Cal has lost so many with them out. They all three may redshirt at this point.

Ok yeah if that's all their true size then that makes more sense. Didn't realize they were all post players/swings.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

With Cal in the state they are, the West is probably as weak as it's been since I started paying attention. And the East is no prize this year, either.

It is historically bad from No. 2 down.

Injuries galore across the West aren't helping.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

So i get that those 3 are good players.. but does missing 3 players equate to that much of an embarrassment? Like, do those 3 do everything and then they have no bench? Not just digging at Cal, but they looked pathetic. Felt like they should be playing Behrend. And I know Gannon played a really good game, but even without that.. Cal looked completely lost.

In Lucas and Palek you're talking two elite, All-PSAC post players. So, yes, that cripples everything Cal does.

Lucas is a nightmare to play against and Palek can play inside and is a very good deep shooter at 6'8". Lucas is a terrific defender and Palek is a knat.

Without having to worry about those two, teams can swamp their guards.

With Arnette also out, they have no size or depth, and are playing true freshmen.

At full strength Gannon may still beat them but it wouldn't look anything like yesterday.

I'm far from a Danny fan but his whole season got f-ed by injuries. You feel for the players as they are seniors.

Cal has lost so many with them out. They all three may redshirt at this point.

[Ship69]

Gannon over Cal by 37

Still no Lucas, Palek or Arnette for the Vulcans.

Are they out for the season at this point?

With Cal in the state they are, the West is probably as weak as it's been since I started paying attention. And the East is no prize this year, either.

[bballfan03]

Did iup not play last night?

[bballfan03]

Gannon over Cal by 37

Still no Lucas, Palek or Arnette for the Vulcans.

Are they out for the season at this point?

So i get that those 3 are good players.. but does missing 3 players equate to that much of an embarrassment? Like, do those 3 do everything and then they have no bench? Not just digging at Cal, but they looked pathetic. Felt like they should be playing Behrend. And I know Gannon played a really good game, but even without that.. Cal looked completely lost.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Gannon over Cal by 37

Still no Lucas, Palek or Arnette for the Vulcans.

Are they out for the season at this point?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Ugly game vs WVSU today for Gannon.. they scored 97 pts and won by 16.. but they were fortunate WVSU just wasn't that great. Done by 10 in first half due to a flurry of TOs and missed shots (including wide open layups).. Gannon found some light and took control.

It may have been a deficit of 16 on the scoreboard, but it was more of a semblance of a 5 pt game. Game wasn't "over" until about 2.5 left when WVSU had wittled the deficit down and then got frustrated and committed 2 offensive fouls in a row.

interesting game Saturday vs Cal.

The interesting item will be if Cal has any of its (3) post players back. If not, this may be blowout city. Their two stars have been out the past month.

[Ship69]

Ugly game vs WVSU today for Gannon.. they scored 97 pts and won by 16.. but they were fortunate WVSU just wasn't that great. Done by 10 in first half due to a flurry of TOs and missed shots (including wide open layups).. Gannon found some light and took control.

It may have been a deficit of 16 on the scoreboard, but it was more of a semblance of a 5 pt game. Game wasn't "over" until about 2.5 left when WVSU had wittled the deficit down and then got frustrated and committed 2 offensive fouls in a row.

interesting game Saturday vs Cal.

Cal game will be interesting if Cal has some of its team back. Gannon likely isn't as good as it was last year, but neither is the PSAC.

[bballfan03]

Based on Ship's experiences with Gannon, Clarion, Seton Hill, IUP, and UPJ, I'd largely concur with your observations on those teams. Gannon is about the only game so far that I've felt Ship was completely outclassed. Clarion has a couple of individuals who are very hard to guard, but falls off after that. With Seton Hill, it all depends on how you do with their gimmicky zone defense. IUP is an up-and-down young team. UPJ shot the lights out against Ship — 50 percent three-point shooting and 18--of-19 from the free-throw line. Next night against Millersville there were about 30 percent in three-point shooting and missed eight free throws. They're not big and will go where their shooting takes them.

The East is basically a mirror image of the West this year — a mish-mash of unpredicatable and/or young teams — without a Gannon at the top. East Stroud is probably the best, but they haven't looked overwhelming. West Chester will have a say in things. Millersville seems very erratic so far. Shepherd and Lock Haven can be solid on occasion. Ship has some good young talent, but seems a player or two away and has had trouble putting together a complete 40-minute game. Bloom, Mansfield and Kutztown could spring the occasional surprise, but don't seem to have much talent at this point.

Ugly game vs WVSU today for Gannon.. they scored 97 pts and won by 16.. but they were fortunate WVSU just wasn't that great. Done by 10 in first half due to a flurry of TOs and missed shots (including wide open layups).. Gannon found some light and took control.

It may have been a deficit of 16 on the scoreboard, but it was more of a semblance of a 5 pt game. Game wasn't "over" until about 2.5 left when WVSU had wittled the deficit down and then got frustrated and committed 2 offensive fouls in a row.

interesting game Saturday vs Cal.