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Great recap, 90! I agree with so much of what you said and might only add a few personal thoughts and research findings. First the latter……….
KenPom sees us finishing in the middle of the PL pack this year at 9-9 and good for 5th. He tabs Army #1 followed closely by BU, Bucky, and Navy. As for the remainder of our OOC schedule, he sees us going 1 & 2 with a 4pt. at home over MSM and close losses to RM and SB.
Again according to KenPom, the PL is ranked 20th out of 32 NCAA D-1 conferences. Take away our “Big 3” of Syracuse, UVA and Perdue, four of the other seven D-1 opponents have come from lesser conferences (Stony Brook from the AE ranked 24th, and MSM, RM, and SFU form the NE ranked 30th). With that slate of games, I, too, was hoping for a > .500 record before we hit the PL. I do believe, however, we’ll go 2-1 with wins over RM and MSM. SB with an impressive 13 point win over Princeton may be just too much to handle.
The PL has taken in the chin so far this year – no more so than Lehigh. Here’s how KenPom saw it on Day 1 and here’s how he sees it today. The universe is comprised of 352 teams.
LU 119 – 220
BU 123 – 140
Bucky 151 – 191
Army 169 – 111
AU 182 – 265
Loyola 203 – 268
LC 237 – 287
HC 257 – 243
Navy 268 – 200
CU 279 – 270
Finishing in the upper half of the PL, short-staffed and talent-lacking as we appear to be, will be quite a feat. However, I do give us hope and I pin much of my optimism on senior pride. JC, JG, JRG, and DC will probably never suit-up for another game come the middle of March. Call it a hunch, but I do believe that pride and renewed energy will take over. I fully expect JC and JG, in particular, to raise their games in Conference play – both on the defensive and offensive side of the ball. As for the latter, here’s where their shooting percentage sit today as compared to how they did in PL play a year ago.
JC .342 / .477
JG .462 / .572
At 1-7, there’s little else we can do but cheer and remain loyal. Count me in.
Again, thanks 90 for a great recap.
