PSAC EAST

[jrshooter]

Shocking, the PSAC East jackass shows up! Loser!

Nah, you just can't accept the truth that you're more irritating than he ever was.

[jrshooter]

Ship with another sweep. The men bury Kutztown 89-62. 22 for Carlos Carter; Luke Nedrow has his best game of the year with 17 points and 14 rebounds. IF West Chester can hold off an ESU comeback (Rams up 75-69 with 4:22 left and bailing water hard), the Raiders will take over first place in the East.

Hell of a rally by the East-leading Shippensburg women, who can't throw the ball in the ocean (27.1 percent FG pct.), but still erase an 8-point Kutztown lead in the final five minutes of regulation and go on to win 68-62 in overtime. 22 for Ariel Jones despite 6-for-26 shooting; Raiders outscore the Golden Bears 26-10 at the line.

[IUPalum]

Nah, you just can't accept the truth that you're more irritating than he ever was.

I guess you like crap as opposed to my facts. Noted!

[jrshooter]

East Stroudsburg drops its second straight and falls out of first place. 86-81 final, West Chester.

[IUPalum]

My guess is West Chester shot like Curry.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

East Stroudsburg drops its second straight and falls out of first place. 86-81 final, West Chester.

WTF ?

[jrshooter]

WTF ?

In the Poconos, no less.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

In the Poconos, no less.

I've said that on here all year the walk-ons could be a biatch

Here's the proof.

[Ship69]

I've said that on here all year the walk-ons could be a biatch

Here's the proof.

You never know what to expect out of West Chester. They and Shepherd are strange teams. And for all the up and down Ship has had this season, they're now is solid contention in the East. Tough week coming up, though, with road games at Millersville and Lock Haven, with the unpredictable Shepherd bunch in between.

[Ship69]

Ship with another sweep. The men bury Kutztown 89-62. 22 for Carlos Carter; Luke Nedrow has his best game of the year with 17 points and 14 rebounds. IF West Chester can hold off an ESU comeback (Rams up 75-69 with 4:22 left and bailing water hard), the Raiders will take over first place in the East.

Hell of a rally by the East-leading Shippensburg women, who can't throw the ball in the ocean (27.1 percent FG pct.), but still erase an 8-point Kutztown lead in the final five minutes of regulation and go on to win 68-62 in overtime. 22 for Ariel Jones despite 6-for-26 shooting; Raiders outscore the Golden Bears 26-10 at the line.

That women's game was strange. They were shooting badly, eight points down, and their body language didn't look good. But all of a sudden there they were. Kutztown was one of the taller overall women's teams I've ever seen in the PSAC. I think 11 of their 14 players were 5-10 or taller, with four of them over 6 feet. They were getting to the basket and frustrating Ship in the lane but for some reason started firing up 3s in OT, which was very beneficial to Ship. Jones is certainly the straw that stirs the drink for the Ship women, but her shooting has been wildly erratic this year.

Something's up with the KU men. They've been shorthanded, and looking at the roster it seems their two leading scorers didn't even dress for the game. I know nothing about their program, so whether it's injury, academics or something else is a mystery. Helped the Raiders to one of their few easy wins this year and enabled Fite to sit a few guys in preparation for the three-game week coming up.

[Ship69]

Got a chance to view the stream of the West Chester and East Stroudsburg game and was reminded once again of the importance of matchups in basketball. ESU's unexpected loss of two straight games has obviously created a new dynamic in the East Division standings.

The Warriors' loss to Shepherd was partially the result of an unreal shooting night by Shepherd, but I think West Chester creates some matchup problems for ESU. When ESU throttled Ship a couple of weeks back, the Warriors were able to take advantage of the fact that Ship, while possessing some height, has only one player (Luke Nedrow) who could be called a big body, and he is a step slower than the Warriors' Carlos Pepin and his running mate, Lakeem McAliley. The result was Pepin going wild for 30-plus points and that, along with a torrid three-point shooting night by ESU, turned the game into a blowout.

West Chester, probably the hardest team to figure out in the East Division, has both the speed to keep with the Warriors' press and enough big bodies to hound the ESU bigs. The Rams are very comfortable with a fast, street-style tempo and their bigs harassed Pepin into a four-point first half. Pepin didn't help himself when he committed two quick fouls in the second half, one of them a particularly silly hold in the backcourt. And the Warriors weren't shooting lights-out as they often do, which helped West Chester exploit ESU's biggest weakness — when they don't score, they can't set up their full-court pressure and push the game as much as they want. And their halfcourt defense tends at times to be a little loosey-goosey, which enabled West Chester to constantly slash to the basket for close-in buckets. A flurry near the end of the game got ESU back into it, but it was a well-deserved win for a WCU team that controlled most of the game.

I still think ESU is the class of the East overall, but now they'll have to work from second place. They should crush a depleted Kutztown team on Monday, but a Saturday date at IUP beckons. With the two losses hitting them just when they'd climbed in national and regional rankings, the IUP game is a huge one for the Warriors. But IUP, even moreso than West Chester, has the bigs and guard depth to match up favorably with the Warriors. ESU has the talent to pull off the upset, but they'll have to play a lot tighter than they have the past two games.

[jrshooter]

That women's game was strange. They were shooting badly, eight points down, and their body language didn't look good. But all of a sudden there they were. Kutztown was one of the taller overall women's teams I've ever seen in the PSAC. I think 11 of their 14 players were 5-10 or taller, with four of them over 6 feet. They were getting to the basket and frustrating Ship in the lane but for some reason started firing up 3s in OT, which was very beneficial to Ship. Jones is certainly the straw that stirs the drink for the Ship women, but her shooting has been wildly erratic this year.

Something's up with the KU men. They've been shorthanded, and looking at the roster it seems their two leading scorers didn't even dress for the game. I know nothing about their program, so whether it's injury, academics or something else is a mystery. Helped the Raiders to one of their few easy wins this year and enabled Fite to sit a few guys in preparation for the three-game week coming up.

There's something quite specific about the Ship women, and Ariel Jones in particular. And if anyone knows she's one of the great players in PSAC history, it's me. But at least three times, I have seen a three-part scenario in Ship games this season.

1. Ship opens up unable to hit from outside the arc, including Jones.
2. Jones, frustrated at the 3s not falling, tries to fix everything herself. She begins trying to push the ball from end to end.
3. At some point, usually midway through the second half, Ariel remembers she's a facilitator as well as a scorer, begins to make things happen for everyone, and the Raiders are their best selves.

That tap-out to Colbert for the clinching bucket yesterday was something seen only from special players.

[Ship69]

There's something quite specific about the Ship women, and Ariel Jones in particular. And if anyone knows she's one of the great players in PSAC history, it's me. But at least three times, I have seen a three-part scenario in Ship games this season.

1. Ship opens up unable to hit from outside the arc, including Jones.
2. Jones, frustrated at the 3s not falling, tries to fix everything herself. She begins trying to push the ball from end to end.
3. At some point, usually midway through the second half, Ariel remembers she's a facilitator as well as a scorer, begins to make things happen for everyone, and the Raiders are their best selves.

That tap-out to Colbert for the clinching bucket yesterday was something seen only from special players.

Nos. 1 and 2 are always a danger when one player is clearly the standout on the team. Another is that the other players stand around watching the star try to fix everything and don't get involved themselves. The women have gotten better about that this year, especially Pettis, which is one reason they're off to a nice start. Their defense has usually been tighter as well this year, although there still are too many times when the initial defender is beaten outside and gets no help at the rim. That's a problem with a lot of teams these days, both men's and women's. A lot of U.S. players seem to freeze at the sight of a pick and roll. The women got back in the Kutztown game when they finally got some stops at the rim in the last quarter.

This happens to the men's team sometimes as well when Carter and Johnson sometimes try to force things when things aren't going well. I've seem periods when the Ship men move the ball very well and get good sets, but then fall into playing one-on-one or firing up unnecessary 3s. This often happens because of the odd rotation the Raiders have this year. The young guards know they're only going to get 8 or 9 minutes some nights, so they appear to try to make their presence felt by yanking up some long ones. Timmy Conner started out Saturday with some quick misses, but when he got into the game later, with things well in hand, he relaxed and set up well, resulting in three straight swishes. It's somewhat telling that Luke Nedrow was leading the Raiders in assists per game going into the Kutztown game.

[jrshooter]

Nos. 1 and 2 are always a danger when one player is clearly the standout on the team. Another is that the other players stand around watching the star try to fix everything and don't get involved themselves. The women have gotten better about that this year, especially Pettis, which is one reason they're off to a nice start. Their defense has usually been tighter as well this year, although there still are too many times when the initial defender is beaten outside and gets no help at the rim. That's a problem with a lot of teams these days, both men's and women's. A lot of U.S. players seem to freeze at the sight of a pick and roll. The women got back in the Kutztown game when they finally got some stops at the rim in the last quarter.

This happens to the men's team sometimes as well when Carter and Johnson sometimes try to force things when things aren't going well. I've seem periods when the Ship men move the ball very well and get good sets, but then fall into playing one-on-one or firing up unnecessary 3s. This often happens because of the odd rotation the Raiders have this year. The young guards know they're only going to get 8 or 9 minutes some nights, so they appear to try to make their presence felt by yanking up some long ones. Timmy Conner started out Saturday with some quick misses, but when he got into the game later, with things well in hand, he relaxed and set up well, resulting in three straight swishes. It's somewhat telling that Luke Nedrow was leading the Raiders in assists per game going into the Kutztown game.

Nedrow has some perimeter skills. Of course, that's not where they need him to make an impact. Ship already has a "big man" who will work out there, and he follows shots to the point where he's the nation's No. 2 rebounder.

[Ship69]

Nedrow has some perimeter skills. Of course, that's not where they need him to make an impact. Ship already has a "big man" who will work out there, and he follows shots to the point where he's the nation's No. 2 rebounder.

That's exactly the problem. Nedrow is a nice passer for a big guy, but it's not usual for your center to lead the team in assists. I wish the guy were a step faster because he has some nice footwork around the basket. He had some mismatches against Kutztown he used to good effect. Fite almost has to play the four veteran players for big minutes this year because of the odd makeup of this team, but it doesn't always leave them in their most logical spaces. Sleva is the blue collar player personified — I've loved watching him play all season. I think Johnson has been affected most by the absence of Biss and Hardy this season. Teams are clogging up the middle on us more due to the erratic three-point shooting (don't know when the last time it was I've seen three teams in a row in 2-3 zone sets against Ship) and his three-pointer hasn't been hitting as well as last year. This multi-game week will be a telling stretch.