PSAC EAST

[IUPalum]

Mansfield gets a late 3-point play from Justice Smith, holds off West Chester 94-90.

West Chester is a mess.

[Ship69]

West Chester is a mess.

As I said in an earlier thread, don't sleep on anyone in the PSAC this season. Ship just about let a big lead dribble away against Mansfield a couple of weeks back. Lose concentration in the three-point era, and that 15-point lead can go down to 2-3 very quickly.

[jrshooter]

Really, Mansfield might be a three-win team, but they're capable of knocking anyone off on a given afternoon. I saw they gave Idris Ali his fourth straight start, and he had a career-high 18. I think he's a prime example of a young guy who didn't get the scholarship offers he might have due to the glut of transfers.

[Ship69]

Really, Mansfield might be a three-win team, but they're capable of knocking anyone off on a given afternoon. I saw they gave Idris Ali his fourth straight start, and he had a career-high 18. I think he's a prime example of a young guy who didn't get the scholarship offers he might have due to the glut of transfers.

The long shot and shortened shot clock have revolutionized the game in both positive and negative ways. I like that it generally prevents stalls and makes for a lot of genuinely exciting games. I don't like the way it has largely killed the midrange game and sometimes results in players standing around the perimeter chucking up 3s rather than running plays. I sometimes think about the worst thing that can happen to a team is if they make their first couple of three-pointers. All of a sudden the whole team is throwing them up.

Whatever the case, it pretty much ensures that even big leads are not safe. I wasn't paying much attention to the Purdue-Ohio State game today as Purdue had a 20-point lead with about 14 minutes left. Next thing I knew, that game was tied at 78 in the final minute, and Ivey had to win it for Purdue with a fadeaway three-pointer. Give a guy like Bobby Knight even a 10-point lead with that time remaining in the two-point era with no shot clock, and that game was likely over.

Problem is older guys like me still tend to think of a 20-point lead as almost insurmountable, but these days if you have eight minutes or more on the clock you can knock that down in a couple of minutes. Basketball more than ever is a game of runs. That was on abundant display in the Ship-ESU game Saturday when Ship got the lead up to 17 points early in the second half, watched ESU quickly cut that down to a one-possession game, and then ran the lead back up to 18 before netting the 14-point win.

Even with the three-point era and the clock, it's still human nature for these young kids to let up with a big lead. They get up by double-digits, the defensive intensity drops, and it's almost like a scripted event. Here comes the other team back into the game. You'd better have a healthy heart if you're going to coach college ball these days. It's not always easy for fans, either. The Ship-Bloom game last Wednesday was one of the few this season that felt as if Ship was firmly in control for most of the game.

[CALUPA69]

The long shot and shortened shot clock have revolutionized the game in both positive and negative ways. I like that it generally prevents stalls and makes for a lot of genuinely exciting games. I don't like the way it has largely killed the midrange game and sometimes results in players standing around the perimeter chucking up 3s rather than running plays. I sometimes think about the worst thing that can happen to a team is if they make their first couple of three-pointers. All of a sudden the whole team is throwing them up.

Whatever the case, it pretty much ensures that even big leads are not safe. I wasn't paying much attention to the Purdue-Ohio State game today as Purdue had a 20-point lead with about 14 minutes left. Next thing I knew, that game was tied at 78 in the final minute, and Ivey had to win it for Purdue with a fadeaway three-pointer. Give a guy like Bobby Knight even a 10-point lead with that time remaining in the two-point era with no shot clock, and that game was likely over.

Problem is older guys like me still tend to think of a 20-point lead as almost insurmountable, but these days if you have eight minutes or more on the clock you can knock that down in a couple of minutes. Basketball more than ever is a game of runs. That was on abundant display in the Ship-ESU game Saturday when Ship got the lead up to 17 points early in the second half, watched ESU quickly cut that down to a one-possession game, and then ran the lead back up to 18 before netting the 14-point win.

Even with the three-point era and the clock, it's still human nature for these young kids to let up with a big lead. They get up by double-digits, the defensive intensity drops, and it's almost like a scripted event. Here comes the other team back into the game. You'd better have a healthy heart if you're going to coach college ball these days. It's not always easy for fans, either. The Ship-Bloom game last Wednesday was one of the few this season that felt as if Ship was firmly in control for most of the game.

Never coached a game in my life but defending the crazy three point run seems to be the opposite of defending the ice cold three point string. If a team is throwing up bricks from behind the arc fall back in a tight zone and let them bomb away. If you need to defend against a crazy run of 3s go out to the line and deny them the open shot even if you foul. The odds move from a likely 3 to a possible 2, lay-up or short jumper, to a maybe 1 of 2/3 at the line. In any instance you get them out of the flow of shooting uncontested 3s which can definitely overwhelm even the best team in short order. I've never seen it done but I can't say why.

[Ship69]

Never coached a game in my life but defending the crazy three point run seems to be the opposite of defending the ice cold three point string. If a team is throwing up bricks from behind the arc fall back in a tight zone and let them bomb away. If you need to defend against a crazy run of 3s go out to the line and deny them the open shot even if you foul. The odds move from a likely 3 to a possible 2, lay-up or short jumper, to a maybe 1 of 2/3 at the line. In any instance you get them out of the flow of shooting uncontested 3s which can definitely overwhelm even the best team in short order. I've never seen it done but I can't say why.

Not a bad idea, but I think the problem with dropping off a team if they're not hitting the 3s is that they might start hitting them quickly. Part of the reason they might have been cold is perhaps you were playing good defense. I've seen Jake Biss have some cold streaks at Ship, but I don't think dropping off him is advisable. If your scouting report shows that some players are having a miserable year shooting 3s, I'd definitely lay off them until they prove they can hit some. Thing is, hitting only 33 percent of your three-point shots is about the same as 50 percent of your two-point attempts. You probably want your opponent hitting 30 percent or less from beyond the arc.

[jrshooter]

Shippensburg scrambles like mad to get back within 26-25 of Millersville at the half. The Marauders, quite frankly, deserved better. They played incredible defense for the first 15 minutes and put Ship in a double-digit deficit, 24-14, before Jake Biss hit two huge shots to spark a 11-2 run to close the half. Millersville shooting 48 percent, Shippensburg 30 percent (and 2-for-14 from three).

[jrshooter]

Millersville 55, Shippensburg 51.

So many chances, both ways, and a whole lot of big defense. Justin Nwosu's jumper with 1:09 left holds up.

[WarriorVoice]

Carlos Pepin scored 26 points and hauled in 21 rebounds as the Warriors defeat Kutztown 84-77. Pepin shot 80% from the floor in the win. Things are getting tight at the top of the PSAC East standings.

[Bart]

Mansfield 114 Bloom 107 in OT.

Mansfield's J.Smith broke their record with 56 points. Add 12 rebounds, 9 assists, no turnovers. And he is a redshirt freshman.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Mansfield 114 Bloom 107 in OT.

Mansfield's J.Smith broke their record with 56 points. Add 12 rebounds, 9 assists, no turnovers. And he is a redshirt freshman.

Holy shiz

[Ship69]

Millersville 55, Shippensburg 51.

So many chances, both ways, and a whole lot of big defense. Justin Nwosu's jumper with 1:09 left holds up.

Very good and hard-fought game. I didn't enjoy the loss, but enjoyed the contest. Even Stitzel was relatively under control. Sleva played better than any Ship fan had a right to expect, good defense on Najdawi and did some scoring himself. It was good to see Carter getting back to double figures tonight. Johnson played well, but had some critical turnovers. He can't be superman every game. There wasn't as much good news in the backcourt. Hardy seemed out of sorts most of the game, and Biss didn't do a lot of shooting after his little spurt in the first half.

I thought James Sullivan was the key for Millersville, very solid on defense and much more of a factor on offense than in the first game.

So Ship completes a strange cycle of losing to both East Stroud and Millersville at home and beating them both on the road. The Raiders are a real Jekyll-Hyde team on offense this year, so it's hard to tell what to come. They'll have to take care of business down the stretch. There is a long road stretch in February, but on the other hand this team seems to play as well or better on the road than it does at home. One bit of good news is we know Stroud or M-ville will take a loss Saturday.

[Ship69]

Holy shiz

After playing a hard, physical game against Millersville tonight, Ship had better not take a vacation against the Mounties Saturday.

[jrshooter]

After playing a hard, physical game against Millersville tonight, Ship had better not take a vacation against the Mounties Saturday.

A team on the rise, no doubt about.

[WarriorVoice]

Holy shiz

Smith is a great young talent, but Bloomsburg isn't exactly the best in the East. ESU laid 113 on the Mounties on their own floor earlier in the year, then beat Bloom by 20 earlier this week.