PSAC EAST

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The Tuesday night Raiders showed up.

I can tell you one thing, this is a race to see who gets pummeled by Gannon in the PSAC title game.

They are leaps and bounds above every other team in the league.

[Ship69]

ESU loses a tough one on the road at Shippensburg. They got down early 19-9, but fought back to get it to 1 at the half. The real story of the game was the foul shooting. In a 2-point game, ESU was 9-19 from the line while the Raiders went 20-24. ESU hosts Lock Haven Wednesday, needing a win to stay within arms length of the division leaders. Free throws matter...

The Tuesday night Raiders showed up.

[WarriorVoice]

ESU loses a tough one on the road at Shippensburg. They got down early 19-9, but fought back to get it to 1 at the half. The real story of the game was the foul shooting. In a 2-point game, ESU was 9-19 from the line while the Raiders went 20-24. ESU hosts Lock Haven Wednesday, needing a win to stay within arms length of the division leaders. Free throws matter...

[IUPalum]

I don't need you to tell me who I represent or how to act.

You're right, your **** School doesn't care anyways. You've been getting away with it for years! Just keep proving how big of a loser you are!

[WarriorVoice]

You're such a fraud! You know your team stole a win and then you make up other **** to make it look better. Grow up! You're suppose to be representing that University but yet you act like a piece of trash!

I don't need you to tell me who I represent or how to act.

[WarriorVoice]

ESU is taking care of business against the East so far. Adrian Brito has been a big addition to the roster, and leads the PSAC in FG%. Ethan Millirons lead the PSAC in 3-PT FG %. Total team effort, as no player is averaging more than 13 points a game. The longer they play without Kevin Coleman, they add more chemistry and depth. Keni Williams could be a contender for Freshman of the Year!!

[Ship69]

It was a typical Shippensburg-Millersville barnburner last night at Ship and an entertaining game to watch, but as has been typical recently the final shot didn't fall in Ship's favor. A Markus Frank three-pointer with six seconds left on the clock brought the Raiders to within 71-70 of Millersville. But then the Raiders ran into a strategic problem. The officiating crew had been in a "let 'em play" mood and had called very few fouls in a physical game. Actually, it was a decently officiated game by PSAC standards, but with only four fouls at that point, the Raiders had to either get a turnover or commit three quick fouls to get the ball back. They did that in decent fashion to put Millersville on the line in a one-and-one situation with a little over 4 seconds remaining. After the first shot was made for a 72-70 lead, Ship grabbed the rebound on the missed second shot, but then were hit by their second problem — Millersville still had two fouls to give before Ship got into a one-and-one. The Marauders used those fouls to milk the clock down to 1.6 seconds at which point all Ship could do was throw a 55.footer up at the basket. So a 72-20 game.

The two teams went back and forth for most of the game, and when Ship had an 11-point run and grabbed a 65-57 lead with about five minutes remaining it looked as if a mild upset might be brewing. But Millersville quickly responded with an 11-0 run of its own, finished off by Day Waters' first three-pointer of the night to send the game into its tight finish.

It was Ship's best recent effort as they actually outrebounded the taller Millersville team and held their own in shooting most of the game. Denzel Figueroa played probably his best game since returning from an ankle injury a couple of weeks back as he had a near double-double and held his own with 6-9 Millersville forward Cesar Tchilombo (who somehow got to Millersville from the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Ship point guard Michael Dickson broke out of a recent scoring slump for 18 points and effectively ran the offense most of the night. But the Raiders haven't found the formula for finishing games this season, and turnovers at untimely moments prevented them from grabbing control of the game.

Millersville has now won eight straight in the series, which is quite a run, but five of the games have been decided by four points or fewer, and the last two at Ship have been decided by two points, 91-89 last year and this year's 72-70. You get the feeling that this year's Raiders squad can compete with just about anyone in the league on a given night. They certainly didn't look like a basement dweller in last night's game, but the record is what it is.

[Ship69]

The main thing that drives me crazy with officials:

1) "make-up" calls
2) Not calling a thing in the first half, and then going full ticky-tack in the second half


Other than that, as you alluded, deal with it. Teams just have to know going in it sucks.

Inconsistency is a hobgoblin in the officiating of any sport. In baseball it's the umpire who doesn't call the low strike for seven innings and then suddenly rings up a guy for it in the late innings.

Probably the most classic "make-up" guy I ever saw was a chubby little dude who officiated in my YMCA basketball league long ago. The worst thing you could do when he had the whistle was get out to a big lead in the first half. He seemed to think it was his mission to ensure close games, so if you pulled out in front he'd call literally every ticky-tack foul on your team and nothing on the other guys. In one game, with my team on the receiving end of the non-calls, I had the ball and some guy whacked my hand so hard that there was a resounding slap you could hear all across the gym and the fingernail on my index finger was driven back so far that it drew blood. No call. Next time there was a timeout I went up to the guy and said, "I've heard of no blood, no foul, but that one actually drew blood." He was unmoved.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Over the years I've seen endless tiffs on these websites over PSAC officiating. Far be it from me to tell anyone else what to get into online, but it's really a waste of time. We know the officiating in the league can range from adequate to simply not good, depending largely on what crew you draw for the game. My observation has been that when the officiating is bad it usually goes both ways, meaning that you and your opponent generally get screwed in about equal measure. I certainly haven't seen any home cooking at Ship so far this year as when I look up at the scoreboard the Raiders generally have as many or more fouls as our visiting opponents and this despite the fact that this is probably one of Chris Fite's least physical teams in years. Bad calls at crucial times can be crushing, but the reason for losses is usually that you haven't played well enough to put your opponent away. Whining about officiating beating your team is tiresome, but seems to be one of the more popular topics on the Interweb.

I will say that one thing I do notice, and it goes far beyond the PSAC, is that calls for the three-second rule and traveling seem to be a thing of the past. At the NCAA level you supposedly are allowed one step to "gather" when driving to the hoop, or you can use one step to plant a pivot foot and go up from there. There should be no such thing as the two-step "euro" step in our games, yet I see it quite often. Next time you see anyone from your team take two full steps or more before going up to score on a dunk, you can thank non-enforcement of the traveling rule for the two points. It's so ridiculous in the NBA that I seldom watch those games these days.

The main thing that drives me crazy with officials:

1) "make-up" calls
2) Not calling a thing in the first half, and then going full ticky-tack in the second half


Other than that, as you alluded, deal with it. Teams just have to know going in it sucks.

[Ship69]

Over the years I've seen endless tiffs on these websites over PSAC officiating. Far be it from me to tell anyone else what to get into online, but it's really a waste of time. We know the officiating in the league can range from adequate to simply not good, depending largely on what crew you draw for the game. My observation has been that when the officiating is bad it usually goes both ways, meaning that you and your opponent generally get screwed in about equal measure. I certainly haven't seen any home cooking at Ship so far this year as when I look up at the scoreboard the Raiders generally have as many or more fouls as our visiting opponents and this despite the fact that this is probably one of Chris Fite's least physical teams in years. Bad calls at crucial times can be crushing, but the reason for losses is usually that you haven't played well enough to put your opponent away. Whining about officiating beating your team is tiresome, but seems to be one of the more popular topics on the Interweb.

I will say that one thing I do notice, and it goes far beyond the PSAC, is that calls for the three-second rule and traveling seem to be a thing of the past. At the NCAA level you supposedly are allowed one step to "gather" when driving to the hoop, or you can use one step to plant a pivot foot and go up from there. There should be no such thing as the two-step "euro" step in our games, yet I see it quite often. Next time you see anyone from your team take two full steps or more before going up to score on a dunk, you can thank non-enforcement of the traveling rule for the two points. It's so ridiculous in the NBA that I seldom watch those games these days.

[WarriorVoice]

Just an observation. Your announcers agreed it was a bad no call.

My observation: There were no-calls throughout the game, many of them bad.

[Ramhead]

Deal with it. Marcus Banks initiated contact all afternoon and never got called. Lowered his shoulder numerous times against a defender and got away with the entire game...

Just an observation. Your announcers agreed it was a bad no call.

[IUPalum]

Deal with it...

You're such a fraud! You know your team stole a win and then you make up other **** to make it look better. Grow up! You're suppose to be representing that University but yet you act like a piece of trash!

[WarriorVoice]

You're full of ****!!!

Deal with it...

[IUPalum]

Deal with it. Marcus Banks initiated contact all afternoon and never got called. Lowered his shoulder numerous times against a defender and got away with the entire game...

You're full of ****!!!