SB Nation - Navy Midshipmen

BtB 2009-10 Patriot League Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:14:36 -0000

Two oddly-timed coaching changes were the big offseason stories in the Patriot League since American bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round. First, Ralph Willard left his alma mater, Holy Cross, to be Rick Pitino's associate head coach at Louisville. Sean Kearney, a former assistant under Mike Brey at Notre Dame takes over in Worcester. Willard had guided the Crusaders to four NCAAs in his ten seasons at the helm, and had a great shot to make a fifth trip this season.

Meanwhile, Army made a very late change. Former Cornell assistant Zach Spiker replaced Jim Crews on October 1. Crews was about to start his eighth season at West Point and had just received a contract extension; however, athletic director Kevin Anderson felt that he had to make a change. Spiker takes over a program that could very well have its first winning season in 25. The Black Knights have never made the NCAAs. Even Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski were unable to guide the Cadets to the Big Dance.

Two-time defending champion American lost a lot of talent after last season, so the Patriot League should see a new winner in 2010. I'll go through each team's chances after the jump.

Let's first take a look at last season's Patriot League standings.

Patriot League Standings

(updated 3.19.2009 at 10:19 PM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
American U. Eagles	13	1	24	8
Holy Cross Crusaders	11	3	18	14
Navy Midshipmen	8	6	19	11
Army Black Knights	6	8	11	19
Lehigh Mountain Hawks	5	9	15	14
Colgate Red Raiders	5	9	10	20
Lafayette Leopards	4	10	8	22
Bucknell Bison	4	10	7	23

Now, here are my picks for the 2009-10 Patriot League season, presented in reverse order.

Lafayette (last NCAA: 2000) The Leopards featured seven freshmen last season, so the hope is the year of experience will serve the team well. Last season, Lafeyette's defense was dreadful, ranking 293rd in Division I, and the offense wasn't much better. Only two Leopards averaged in double figures, and leading scorer Andrew Brown (13.6 ppg) graduated. The other double figure scorer, G Jeff Kari (10.7 ppg, 2.7 apg) returns, as do three players who were close, sophomore F Ryan Willen (9.4 ppg), junior F Jared Mintz (9.2 ppg), and senior guard Michael Gruner (8.2 ppg). The sophomore class and the Leopards' quiet frontcourt will need to step up for Fran O'Hanlon's squad to escape the basement.

American (last NCAA: 2009) The Eagles acquitted themselves well in two straight NCAA appearances, but will have a hard time getting back to those heights after losing all five starters off last year's league champions. American picks up 6-10 F Vlad Moldoveanu in mid-December. He makes the short trip to DC from George Mason. Moldoveanu and 6-8 soph Stephen Lumpkins (3.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg) will anchor the Eagles' frontcourt, while swimgman Nick Hendra (6.3 ppg) will have to develop into a scorer. Head coach Jeff Jones has a five-man freshman class coming to campus that may need to step up immediately to keep AU from falling too far in the standings. 6-1 frosh Daniel Munoz is expected to replace 11.7 point and 4.4 assist per game performer Derrick Mercer at the point, an unenviable position for a newcomer.

Navy (last NCAA: 1998) The Middies finished in third place last season, but they'll be hard pressed to repeat that accomplishment after losing leading scorer Kaleo Kina (18.0 ppg) and forward Adam Teague (10.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) to graduation and active service. The good news is that second leading scorer Chris Harris, a 6-2 guard who averaged more than 15 points per contest is back. So is defensive stalwart Romeo Garcia, who missed most of last season with hamstring problems. Garcia will help bolster the defense, and if Navy can replace Kina and Teague's scoring, they can replicate their average from last season (71 ppg) and finish quite a bit higher in the standings.

Bucknell (last NCAA: 2006) The Bison weren't very good in Dave Paulsen's first season, winning only once on the road and seven times overall. They should do far better this season, as they return four starters including 6-8 big man Patrick Behan (13.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and guards Bryan Cohen (11.8 ppg) and Darryl Shazier (7.8 ppg, 4.6 apg). They also get 2007-07 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Stephen Tyree back from an ACL tear. Tyree's return and a second year in Paulsen's system should lead to a marked improvement in the Bison's fortunes this season.

Colgate (last NCAA: 1996) Like Bucknell, the Raiders also get a a key player back off a season lost to injury. 6-3 swingman Kyle Roemer, a threat for all-conference honors received a sixth year of eligibility. Roemer will return to a team that is among the most balanced in the conference, as three players, guard Mike Venezia (10.8 ppg) and forwards Yaw Gwayu (10.2 ppg) and Ben Jonson (10.4 ppg) averaged in double figures last season. Seeing as Roemer averaged over 16 points in his last season, Colgate shouldn't have much trouble scoring; however, they have had trouble with possession. The Raiders will have to follow the example of point guard Anthony Hill and take better care of the ball. They'll also have to find a way to replace Alex Woodhouse's rebounds and blocks (6.3 rpg, 1.8 bpg) to be successful.

Army (last NCAA: None) The big question for the Cadets is whether the team can adjust to Spiker's system. Jim Crews believed in distributing playing time, as 12 players saw regular action last year. This paid off as Army won six league games for the second year in a row, not bad for a team that averaged two league wins a year during the five seasons before. Despite this equity, 6-4 G/F Cleveland Richard is the arguably the Black Knights' most important player, as he averaged 12 points a game while grabbing 3 boards a contest and at least a steal per game. Marcus Nelson was the conference Defensive Player of the Year and the 5-11 guard is sure to give the opposition headaches. Army's weakness is in the frontcourt, where no pure forward averaged more than 2.9 points per contest.

Lehigh (last NCAA: 2004) The Mountain Hawks have arguably the most star power in the conference, as they feature 6-7 F Zahir Carrington, the defending Pat League rebounding champ (8.6 rpg) who can also score (14 ppg) and guard Marquis Hall (13.9 ppg, 4.1 apg). However, Carrington is foul prone, which limits his effectiveness. This could be problematic this season as C Phil Anderson graduated. Hall also attracts a lot of defensive attention because of his flexibility. Point guard Prentice Small (5.5 ppg, 3.2 apg) can take some of the pressure off Hall, as can the 2007-08 conference Newcomer of the Year, Rob Keefer (8.8 ppg). If the Mountain Hawks can find a way to take some of the spotlight away from their stars, they could soar.

Holy Cross (last NCAA: 2007) Sean Kearney has an excellent chance to make the NCAA Tournament in his first year at the helm. Last year's Patriot League Newcomer ot the Year, SG R.J. Evans (13.4 ppg) is back, anchoring a backcourt that also features 3-point specialist Andrew Beinert (8.5 ppg, shooting 45.4% from beyond the arc) and Mike Cavataio, a transfer from St. John's. 6-9 C Andrew Keister (8.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and 6-8 C/F Eric Meister (6.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg) is the best forward tandem with last names that are off by a single letter in the country. Seriously, they are one of the best forward groups in the league, though they will have to produce a little more with the graduation of Colin Cunningham, who was a versatile performer for the Crusaders last season, scoring over 8 a game while grabbing nearly 5 boards and dishing out 3.5 assists per game. If Kearney keeps the Crusaders focused on defense and rebounding (the Cross was 13th in Division I in rebounding margin last season), he'll find his team in the field of 65.

So, the Crusaders are my preseason pick for the Patriot League crown. You'll see them in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. Now, to wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-Patriot League team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-Patriot League Team

Player of the Year: R.J. Evans, 6-3 G, So. (Holy Cross)

Remainder of the Team
Zahir Harrington, 6-7 F/C, Sr. (Lehigh)
Marquis Hall, 5-11 G, Sr. (Lehigh)
Cleveland Richard, 6-4 G/F, Sr. (Army)
Kyle Roemer, 6-3 G/F, Sr. (Colgate)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the Patriot League this season?

American

1 votes

Army

0 votes

Bucknell

3 votes

Colgate

2 votes

Holy Cross

19 votes

Lafayette

0 votes

Lehigh

2 votes

Navy

3 votes

30 votes | Poll has closed

Big East Week 3 Look Ahead

ibleedscarlet — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:34:04 -0000

Week 3 has arrived, and things are starting to heat up in the Big East. We've got some high quality out-of-conference squirmishes on tap this weekend. I was a perfect 7-0 last week, which leaves me at 12-2 for the season thus far (admittedly, it's not too hard to pick a Big East member over FCS schools). Let's take a look into the crystal ball for the Big East Week 3 match-ups:

Big East Game of the Week: #17 Cincinnati Bearcats at Oregon State Beavers

There's no team in college football playing better offensively than the Bearcats. I don't care who you play, 118 points in 2 games is 118 points no matter how you dice it. Cincy travels to the west coast this week with a chance to notch a significant road win against a team on the cusp of the Top 25. The Beavers boast formidable competition, and Mike Riley will rely on brother's Jacquizz and James Rodgers to provide the big plays for OSU on offense. I think the Beavers will get their points on offense, but an experienced defense which has trouble rushing the passer (1 sack in 2 games so far) will be the downfall for OSU. We saw what happened to Rutgers when they couldn't get pressure on Tony Pike & Co., and I think we'll see something along that same model again this week. Cincinnati wins and vaults itself into the Top 15. Cincinnati 38 Oregon State 34

Navy Midshipmen at Pittsburgh Panthers

Despite the offensive explosion from Pitt last week, I still don't trust Bill Stull at QB. I think he's due for a 2 or 3 turnover game against a pretty solid Navy defense. The key thing about turning the ball over against Navy is that it gives their defense more possessions and time to wear out your defense. It's tough enough to stop the triple option, but it's even tougher when you've been on the field for 2/3 or 3/4 of the game. Navy played well enough to win against Ohio State, but came up a 2 point conversion short. This time they churn out 260+ yards on the ground, and chock another up against a BCS conference team. Navy 31 Pittsburgh 24

Northwestern Wildcats at Syracuse Orange

Think we'll have some sports journalists on hand? Syracuse's run through the Big Ten (games already vs. Minny, PSU) comes to an end this week with a visit from N'western. In my opinion the Greg Paulus experiment is a complete disaster, and this weeks game will only further demonstrate that. The 'Cuse is ranked last in offense in the Big East (no surprise), but they refuse to even Paulus take shots down the field. It's not too difficult to stop an offense if you know they can't throw more than 10+ yards down the field. Northwestern struggled last week to beat Eastern Michigan, but 2-0 is 2-0. Make it 3-0. Northwestern 24 Syracuse 7

Florida International Panthers at Rutgers Scarlet Knights

I couldn't believe my eyes last week when I saw FIU hanging with Alabama until late in the game. After week 1's performance against Cincy, it starts to make you worry as an RU fan. The most worrisome thing is that FIU has a legitimate passing game with WR T.Y. Hilton, and we saw what a good passing game can do to the Knights without pressure. RU will need to get some pressure on QB Paul McCall and disrupt his timing. I'll be interested to see if the coaching staff mixes up the coverages and sets blitzers from all over the field. I see the RU offense being too much to handle for FIU with Brooks running well early and setting up the play fake for Tom Savage. Rutgers 27 FIU 17

UConn Huskies at Baylor Bears

Things are going well for Baylor. UConn's heading to Waco off a tough loss. Baylor got a great road win against Wake Forest in week 1. Baylor had a week off to prepare for this game. If you haven't seen Baylor QB Robert Griffin yet, get ready to be dazzled. The guy has amazing speed, and can hit the homerun at anytime. The Connecticut QB situation is unclear with the injury to Zach Frazer and the ineffective Cody Endres. Baylor is going to score points this week, and the offensively depleted Huskies won't be able to match. Baylor 34 UConn 17

Louisville Cardinals at Kentucky Wildcats

Louisville QB Justin Burke was awful in his 1st start, and now he's expected to head into Kentucky for the Governor's Bowl and come out victorious? Tall order. Louisville will look to pound the ball with Victor Anderson (expect 30+ carrys), but it won't be enough. The Cardinals are too one-dimensional and the Wildcats will pounce all over UL. Kentucky 30 Louisville 10

West Virginia Mountaineers at Auburn Tigers

This easily could have been the Big East Game of the Week, but neither team is ranked, and a win by WVU won't firmly establish them as a team on the national radar. But it will help. Jarrett Brown has looked incredible in the 1st two weeks against Liberty and East Carolina. Equally impressive has been the Auburn offense which has rushed for nearly 700 yards in 2 games this season. Ben Tate and Onterio McCalebb both have rushed for over 100+ in each game thus far, and Gene Chizik's high flying offense is producing results. Jordan-Hare Stadium is one of the toughest places to play, and should be rocking for this one. I know that these are completely different seasons, but something from last year's game where WVU roared back to beat Auburn hangs with me. I think WVU is more mentally tough than the Tigers and Noel Devine runs scores a late TD to steal a huge road victory. WVU 30 Auburn 23

Charleston Southern Bucaneers at South Florida Bulls

Just another warm-up for the Bulls before the big showdown with Bobby Bowden and Florida State next week. USF 45 Charleston Southern 13

Last Week: 7-0

Season to Date: 12-2

Agree, disagree? As always, take to the comments section and let me know.

Poll

Who will win the Big East Game of the Week?

Cincinnati Bearcats

5 votes

Oregon State Beavers

2 votes

7 votes | Poll has closed

Conference tournament wrap: 3/4/09

Mike Rutherford — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:00:14 -0000

Nothing outside of the opening round in the Belt and the Patriot League and a single game in the A-Sun on Wednesday, but things go up a notch on Thursday and then kick into high gear on Friday.

Game of the Night

6) Colgate 64, 3) Navy 59 (OT) (Patriot)

Navy, which lost on a halfcourt shot at the buzzer in last year's Patriot League Tournament, was upset in the first round for a second straight season, falling 64-59 to sixth-seeded Colgate in the postseason's first overtime game.

Ben Johnson was the star for the Raiders, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Yaw Gyawu added 20 points, including the final four points of the game on free throws to seal the deal.

Colgate had ended the regular season on a five-game losing streak, including a 77-64 loss to the Middies in the season finale.

The Raiders get No. 2 Holy Cross in the semis.

Upset of the Night

9) Florida International 71, 8) Louisiana Lafayette 69 (Sun Belt)

The only other upset Wednesday night was a slightly smaller surprise.

Florida International shot 62.1% from the field in the first half and then held on down the stretch to pull the mild upset of eighth-seeded Louisiana Lafayette.

Freddy Asprilla led the way for the Golden Panthers with 15 points and 11 boards.

FIU now faces No. 1 Western kentucky, a team they defeated by two points on Jan. 8.

Player of the Night

Kevin Tiggs (East Tennessee State/Atlantic Sun)

Tiggs dropped a career-high 37 on Stetson as second-seeded East Tennessee State cruised into the A-Sun semis.

Honor Roll

R.J. Evans (Holy Cross/Patriot)

Scored 31 points in the Crusaders' 31-point victory over Bucknell.

Derrick Mercer (American/Patriot)

The Patriot League Player of the Year led the Eagles in scoring (20), assists (5) and rebounding (7).

Ben Johnson (Colgate/American)

Notched as double-double (22 and 10) in Colgate's overtime upset of Navy.

Full Results

Patriot League (Quarterfinals)

1) American 78, 8) Lafayette 56
2) Holy Cross 75, 7) Bucknell 56
6) Colgate 64, 3) Navy 59 (OT)
4) Army 53, 5) Lehigh 50

Sun Belt (First Round)

4) North Texas 79, 13) Florida Atlantic 73
5) Middle Tennessee 69, 12) Arkansas State 62
6) South Alabama 62, 11) New Orleans 60
7) Denver 77, 10) Louisiana-Monroe 57
9) Florida International 71, 8) Louisiana-Lafayette 69

Atlantic Sun (Quarterfinals)

2) East Tennessee State 90, 7) Stetson 76

Inside the Polls: The Huskers Still Hate, The Vols Love

Zach B — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:18:37 -0000

Everyone knew that we were going to drop in the polls after the upset loss to Arizona. They did indeed; down to 8th in the most recent Associated Press poll. The individual pollster results were finally released on the Internet, and once again the results are very interesting. Here is a little breakdown of the way the poll shook out:

Gonzaga is now ranked 8th overall after being 4th last week
People are still impressed! Gonzaga was ranked 4th by a voter in Tennessee and 5th by voters in New York City and South Carolina.
8 out of 72 voters ranked Gonzaga as the 6th best team in the nation or better
15 out of 72 voters ranked Gonzaga as the 11th best or worse team in the nation.
The Husker state strikes again! Gonzaga received two #15 votes this week from our favorite voter in Nebraska and his new friend from Washington D.C.

continue reading after the jump to see the thoughts of individual voters...

It has become apparent to me that Mark Few needs to start scheduling Nebraska or Creighton every year just so our favorite voter from Nebraska can see Gonzaga actually play basketball. Here is the way he voted this week after the Zags loss.

I gave this fellow the benefit of the doubt last week but there is no way you can put Gonzaga below Tennessee at this point and have any knowledge about college basketball. Gonzaga beat Tennessee and then Tennessee lost to Temple which gives them two losses. Gonzaga has one loss to a Pac-10 team that is probably going to go to the NCAA tournament. Purdue's only good win has been against Boston College and got completely outclassed at home against Duke. UCLA has lost twice, once to Michigan and in a tough loss to Texas. I like Wake Forest and Notre Dame but I don't think they have the body of work to be ranked ahead of Gonzaga at this point. Wake has only beat Baylor and Notre Dame has a pair of losses but a nice win in Maui over Texas.

As I mentioned, our Nebraska buddy has a new friend from Washington D.C. This voter had the Zags at fourth last week but was so displeased by the Zags loss to Arizona that he dropped them 11 spots. It's the usual list of suspects ahead of the Bulldogs, but at least he has Tennessee below us. The Washington D.C. native ranked Navy as the 25th best team in the nation after a three-point victory over 3-6 Mount St. Mary's.

But it wouldn't be fair for us here at The Slipper Still Fits to focus on the negative pollsters that seem to dislike our Zags. There are also a few voters that still believe we are a top six team in the nation even after our loss to the Wildcats. In fact, our favorite voter from Tennessee only dropped Gonzaga one spot from 3 to 4 after the loss. Here is how he voted...

Obviously as a Gonzaga blogger and jaded fan, I love this poll! But, in an objective manner, there is no way we should be ranked ahead of Oklahoma at this point. I also think that Xavier deserves to be ahead of us right now but we'll learn more about them, and the Zags for that matter, on Saturday. Aside from that, there is about a group of four or five teams; Gonzaga, Louisville, Texas, Duke, Wake, and Notre Dame that could be ranked in any sort of order and you could argue one way or another.

Overall, I'm kind of bummed that I didn't get to see our favorite Nebraska voter's poll if the Zags had beat the Wildcats. I feel like he was smiling ear to ear when he saw the box score of the Gonzaga-Arizona game 10 minutes before he had to turn his poll in. It should be a very interesting week in the polls when we do this breakdown again next week because we are about to learn alot about our beloved Gonzaga Bulldogs. Connecticut comes calling so if Gonzaga wins they can reestablish themselves as one of the top teams in the nations but if they lose, expect the Nebraska voter to have them out of the Top 25.

Poll

Where would you have ranked Gonzaga this week? (I'm assuming the top four are UNC, Pitt, UConn, and OU)

5th

12 votes

6th

30 votes

7th

30 votes

8th

29 votes

9th or Lower

21 votes

122 votes | Poll has closed