PSAC EAST

[Ship69]

Ship derailed Friday night by something that plagued the team at times last season — poor three-point shooting. A performance of 4-for-24 beyond the line is not going to get it done very often, certainly not against a preseason Top 25 such as Virginia Union. The game was close because VUU didn't shoot much better. A lot of guards getting minutes appears to show that Coach Fite is still up in the air about the point guard position and how that gets resolved will be the key to whether the Raiders have a good or average season. One early-season surprise (at least to me) has been the limited minutes for Mike Dunn, who saw quite a bit of playing time last year. He got only two minutes Friday night. Don't know whether something is going on with him or he is just being outperformed by the others. Freshmen Tim Conner and Trey Martin got some points in limited minutes, and I suspect more might be seen of them as the season goes on. Problem is probably dividing the minutes of Martin, who'd be best at shooting guard, with those of four returning senior and grad forwards. Haven't seen any minutes from Mike Smith, the Kutztown transfer, leading me to believe there is an injury there barring any other explanation.

Several of Ship's losses last year followed this template — a good defensive performance marred by inexplicably bad shooting. Hope we're not on that road again this year. We shall see. The early schedule we have will not be friendly to off nights.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Ship derailed Friday night by something that plagued the team at times last season — poor three-point shooting. A performance of 4-for-24 beyond the line is not going to get it done very often, certainly not against a preseason Top 25 such as Virginia Union. The game was close because VUU didn't shoot much better. A lot of guards getting minutes appears to show that Coach Fite is still up in the air about the point guard position and how that gets resolved will be the key to whether the Raiders have a good or average season. One early-season surprise (at least to me) has been the limited minutes for Mike Dunn, who saw quite a bit of playing time last year. He got only two minutes Friday night. Don't know whether something is going on with him or he is just being outperformed by the others. Freshmen Tim Conner and Trey Martin got some points in limited minutes, and I suspect more might be seen of them as the season goes on. Problem is probably dividing the minutes of Martin, who'd be best at shooting guard, with those of four returning senior and grad forwards. Haven't seen any minutes from Mike Smith, the Kutztown transfer, leading me to believe there is an injury there barring any other explanation.

Several of Ship's losses last year followed this template — a good defensive performance marred by inexplicably bad shooting. Hope we're not on that road again this year. We shall see. The early schedule we have will not be friendly to off nights.

I saw Faulker didn't play in 'Ville's loss

[WarriorVoice]

ESU is on fire out of the gate! Lakeem McAliley scored 25 with 12 rebounds on Friday night and followed that up with 35 points and 13 rebounds on Saturday. Meanwhile the Women are 2-0 as well!! Ryan Weise was 9-10 from the floor on Saturday, and went 8-10 from 3 Pt. land on Sunday!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The EAST went 7-8 on opening weekend. Kutztown and Shippensburg, combined, lost (4) close games to strong opponents. Updated EAST standings (men's):

TEAM	Conference	Overall	Streak
East Stroudsburg	0-0	2-0	W2
Lock Haven	0-0	2-0	W2
West Chester	0-0	2-0	W2
Bloomsburg	0-0	0-0	NA
Shepherd	0-0	1-1	W1
Mansfield	0-0	0-1	L1
Kutztown	0-0	0-2	L2
Shippensburg	0-0	0-2	L2
Millersville	0-0	0-2	L2

[Ship69]

The EAST went 7-8 on opening weekend. Kutztown and Shippensburg, combined, lost (4) close games to strong opponents. Updated EAST standings (men's):

TEAM	Conference	Overall	Streak
East Stroudsburg	0-0	2-0	W2
Lock Haven	0-0	2-0	W2
West Chester	0-0	2-0	W2
Bloomsburg	0-0	0-0	NA
Shepherd	0-0	1-1	W1
Mansfield	0-0	0-1	L1
Kutztown	0-0	0-2	L2
Shippensburg	0-0	0-2	L2
Millersville	0-0	0-2	L2

Well, Millersville lost two as well down at Richmond. I figured Ship might be slow out of the gate while they try to get the point guard thing figured out. This probably wasn't a year they wanted to face a top 25 Virginia Union team and always competitive Virginia State right out of the gate. The lineups indicated Coach Fite did a lot of experimenting in these first two OOC games. The positives, if there can be any out of a couple of losses, is that their three-point shooting in the first game was about as horrible as it could be and there was a tremendous disparity in fouls the second game (25 on Ship and 14 on Virginia State), yet both games were close. We'll see if the great experiment continues this week. They'll have to get it together soon as some tough games loom before we even get to the PSAC schedule. Outside of favored East Stroudsburg, I don't see a lot of other powerhouses in the Eastern Division.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, Millersville lost two as well down at Richmond. I figured Ship might be slow out of the gate while they try to get the point guard thing figured out. This probably wasn't a year they wanted to face a top 25 Virginia Union team and always competitive Virginia State right out of the gate. The lineups indicated Coach Fite did a lot of experimenting in these first two OOC games. The positives, if there can be any out of a couple of losses, is that their three-point shooting in the first game was about as horrible as it could be and there was a tremendous disparity in fouls the second game (25 on Ship and 14 on Virginia State), yet both games were close. We'll see if the great experiment continues this week. They'll have to get it together soon as some tough games loom before we even get to the PSAC schedule. Outside of favored East Stroudsburg, I don't see a lot of other powerhouses in the Eastern Division.

The 0-2 start makes things really tough. We typically go with the "8 losses to be safe" philosophy but some years it's more like 7 losses. Taking two before mid-Nov. is rough.

It's funny because you'll hear from fans every year that these losses don't matter because it's so early. That couldn't be more from the truth. A game in early November means the same as one in February when you start talking about NCAA resumes. Granted, many teams consider the 'playoffs' to be the PSAC Tournament. So, if that is the only goal, then they are correct, I suppose.

If you want to host the Regional ... most years it's (3) losses or less.

Hopefully Ship gets its PG back soon (assuming the KU transfer is the intended PG). I remember last year with Biss out they took those early losses -- which, no doubt came back to haunt them come Selection Sunday.

[Ship69]

The 0-2 start makes things really tough. We typically go with the "8 losses to be safe" philosophy but some years it's more like 7 losses. Taking two before mid-Nov. is rough.

It's funny because you'll hear from fans every year that these losses don't matter because it's so early. That couldn't be more from the truth. A game in early November means the same as one in February when you start talking about NCAA resumes. Granted, many teams consider the 'playoffs' to be the PSAC Tournament. So, if that is the only goal, then they are correct, I suppose.

If you want to host the Regional ... most years it's (3) losses or less.

Hopefully Ship gets its PG back soon (assuming the KU transfer is the intended PG). I remember last year with Biss out they took those early losses -- which, no doubt came back to haunt them come Selection Sunday.

Last year was a very strange season for Ship. I know it drove Coach Fite nuts. When they got Biss back for the first week they went wild with a win over Bowie State and then convincing wins over Pitt-Johnstown and IUP. Biss played lights-out in the latter two games. Obviously, IUP had just lost Jones then and was still trying to figure things out, but even so nobody else was beating IUP and it looked like a big season ahead. But for some reason, after the dreaded holiday break, they never seemed to get back to that level. Biss had a bad mid-season shooting slump and they lost a couple of grinders at home to Millersville and East Stroudsburg. Defensively they played well enough to win both those games, but the offense was way below par. Probably the low point of the season was a loss at Lock Haven where they shot 12 percent from three-point range and missed a ton of free throws, losing in overtime. They recovered later in the season, but that probably should have been a 24-6 team at worst last year rather than 21-9. Sometimes the ball just doesn't go into the hole. We'll see what happens this week. If they lose to Wilmington you can officially color me worried.

[jrshooter]

Funny how much better Ship looks with a CACC opponent on the other side. LOL.

Up 16-6 at Wilmington early.

Not so good for the women, though, trailing 57-45 with 7 minutes left at Jefferson. Ariel Jones doesn't have her shot back yet, and that is a killer. She's 6-for-18 at this point -- admittedly better than her 1-for-17 from the floor in their second game last weekend.

[jrshooter]

By the way, what's with the quick "flopping" technical now? Officials have to judge the line between trying to draw a charge and "flopping"? That's ridiculous.

[IUPalum]

By the way, what's with the quick "flopping" technical now? Officials have to judge the line between trying to draw a charge and "flopping"? That's ridiculous.

It’s not just that, it’s also guys flipping to the ground after shooting.

[jrshooter]

Wasn't it just last March we were applauding the selfless defenders who give up their bodies to draw charges?

[jrshooter]

Ship holds on by the skin of its teeth at Wilmington, winning 71-68. 19 and 12 boards for Dom Sleva; 17 for Carlos Carter. I think a Wilmington fan just came over to Carter with one second left and tried to get in his face as he was preparing to inbound the ball.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Kutztown is 0-3 ... didn't see that coming.

Three nail-biting losses. I think they'll get it going.


Nice win for West Chester over Virginia State.

[Ship69]

Ship holds on by the skin of its teeth at Wilmington, winning 71-68. 19 and 12 boards for Dom Sleva; 17 for Carlos Carter. I think a Wilmington fan just came over to Carter with one second left and tried to get in his face as he was preparing to inbound the ball.

They need to get more out of their bench. It was good at least to see Recchia put up double digits. I think Trey Martin might be contributing something before the season ends. He's a freshman, but a good prospect They're going to need him or someone else to step up from the three-point line. That area has been pretty dismal in two of the first three games. Haven't got a chance to talk to coach lately, but I noticed today that Mike Smith, the transfer from Kutztown, is no longer listed on the roster. Have you heard anything about what happened there? I think he was brought in to give them some experience at guard, so that is a significant loss. Unusual to have that sort of drama at Ship. I also noticed Frank hasn't played — perhaps RS is in store for him. He had an outstanding senior year in HS, but I noticed from his videos that he is chiefly an inside player and they might want to give him more seasoning considering they already have four senior forwards on the team.

[Ship69]

Funny how much better Ship looks with a CACC opponent on the other side. LOL.

Up 16-6 at Wilmington early.

Not so good for the women, though, trailing 57-45 with 7 minutes left at Jefferson. Ariel Jones doesn't have her shot back yet, and that is a killer. She's 6-for-18 at this point -- admittedly better than her 1-for-17 from the floor in their second game last weekend.

Yeah, hard to believe the women actually won that game where she only made one shot, but obviously they'll be in trouble if their best player keeps shooting like that. Jake Biss's midseason shooting slump for the men last season probably was a factor in Ship not making the NCAA tourney.