With this 5 game slate, I would be unhappy with anything under 2 wins.
Definitely. Would certainly like to see the Stags go 4-1 and get some winning vibes going.
Assuming these games get played, I do think the Stags should have a decent chance to beat everyone but Providence. None of the other four appear to be super-strong this season (according to predictions). BOTOH quite frankly, no matter what we think of our team, we do have a lot of questions, do we not, especially since we haven't really watched a majority of our players in action. Everything is a mystery with every team, but again, I, like you, think we should do okay here. Just a guess, but I would think a 3-2 mark would be realistic and the most likely result.
Loss to Providence - the J Young Defense will keep the game close Loss to Stony Brook - an away loss Win vs SHU - this will be like a nuetral court, we are undefeated against SHU Win vs Hartford- this is a true home game W&M game will not be played fo Covet-19 reasons
Stags open season 2-2. Maybe we play W&M in February.
At least at this time I would hope that game gets canceled (with no penalty). And considering we would be trying to complete a MAAC schedule, there is no way we could play them in February.
There is nothing that I see or read these days that gives me any confidence the college hoop season can start in a couple of weeks as planned. I just don’t see it happening with all of the virus protocols that must be followed. I foresee the winter sports season being canceled in its entirety prior to thanksgiving. That is really disappointing to me and will make this winter even more depressing.
ESPN article suggests the college hoops season may be delayed for a few months. Many coaches & officials are echoing Rick Pitino's recent tweet calling for a late start to college basketball, with the NCAA Tourney being held in May.
Well no matter what people think of Pitino, fact is as one of the heavyweights of the college game his voice has meaning and influence. And in this case I think there might a lot of merit to this idea he is proposing. Actually I think I remember suggesting a few months ago in one of these threads that maybe the season wouldn't start until after the first of the new year with the NCAA tournament moving back a month or so. Anyway, if that's the way they eventually decide to go, 'May Madness' doesn't sound like such a bad idea to me. Certainly beats nothing, that's for sure. But with less than two weeks to go before competition is supposed to begin, a decision should be forthcoming very shortly I would imagine.
Last Edit: Nov 15, 2020 8:30:02 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
Post by nashvillestag on Nov 15, 2020 8:34:31 GMT -5
And to follow up this point a bit maybe by April into May fans could be allowed to some degree, given the optimistic projections that a vaccine might be widely available to the public. Anyway, this coming week should be interesting to see what will happen.
Last Edit: Nov 15, 2020 8:45:20 GMT -5 by nashvillestag
And to follow up this point a bit maybe by April into May fans could be allowed to some degree, given the optimistic projections that a vaccine might be widely available to the public. Anyway, this coming week should be interesting to see what will happen.
We seem to be heading down this road, and as 74 said it will make for a more depressing winter. I’m in for May Madness if that’s what it comes to. At least our underclassmen could make up for missed summer workouts. Agree Nash, we’d have a better chance of attending games in the spring with a vaccine.
I guess college basketball is hitting an even greater low then I imagined previously if a scumbag like Rick Pitino is considered “ influential “ and a “heavyweight “ in college basketball circles. What a shame!
Coach K stated a while ago that the NCAA tournament should include all D1 teams due to the problems associated with the coronavirus. The NCAA said no way. I have to think the former Olympic head coach's opinion is more influential within the NCAA hierarchy than Pitino's so I don't think the NCAA will rush to implement Pitino's idea. To me, Pitino made that suggestion because he lost a lot of practice time as a first year head coach where Iona has had a lot of roster turnover since last season. Pitino is just looking out for his reputation, in my opinion, instead of the good of the sport. Pitino's reputation would be severely damaged if he can't do extremely well in the MAAC as a HOF coach. And losing the last two weeks of practice time before the season opens really hurts a first year coach more than a veteran coach who has upperclassmen on his roster that can help implement his priorities on the court. If the NCAA does push back the season -- Pitino will have more time to instill his preferences on offense and defense to the Iona team.
Pitino's claimed that he had no idea of what was occurring with paying for players and securing prostitutes for his players at Louisville so I'm having difficulty believing Pitino is now more concerned about the health and well being of college basketball players instead of what will occur to his image if Iona gets off to a horrible record to start the season.
Coach K stated a while ago that the NCAA tournament should include all D1 teams due to the problems associated with the coronavirus. The NCAA said no way. I have to think the former Olympic head coach's opinion is more influential within the NCAA hierarchy than Pitino's so I don't think the NCAA will rush to implement Pitino's idea. To me, Pitino made that suggestion because he lost a lot of practice time as a first year head coach where Iona has had a lot of roster turnover since last season. Pitino is just looking out for his reputation, in my opinion, instead of the good of the sport. Pitino's reputation would be severely damaged if he can't do extremely well in the MAAC as a HOF coach. And losing the last two weeks of practice time before the season opens really hurts a first year coach more than a veteran coach who has upperclassmen on his roster that can help implement his priorities on the court. If the NCAA does push back the season -- Pitino will have more time to instill his preferences on offense and defense to the Iona team.
Pitino's claimed that he had no idea of what was occurring with paying for players and securing prostitutes for his players at Louisville so I'm having difficulty believing Pitino is now more concerned about the health and well being of college basketball players instead of what will occur to his image if Iona gets off to a horrible record to start the season.
Yeah maybe his proposal is based on selfish reasons. Only he would know for sure. However to be fair, he did suggest something like a January start a couple of months ago. So this didn't just come out of the blue based on the current shutdown of his club. Anyway I personally think this might be a good idea. However no matter what I think (or Pitino thinks), some sort of consensus within the industry would have to occur for this change to be implemented anyway. At this point in time I would think it might be a 50-50 proposition.
This Mike Anthony column in the Hartford Courant expresses what many college basketball fans are thinking right now as we're 9 days away from November 25th.
In the article he has part of a tweet from Jon Rothstein on Saturday. Looking at Rothstein's full tweet, Rothstein lists 29 D1 schools that are currently on pause due to Covid. That includes all the Ivy League schools which won't be playing this year. Which means that in the current Covid surge, there are over 320 D1 schools that haven't had to pause their activities for a positive Covid test. Of course it's a very fluid situation and those numbers might change dramatically in the coming week.
One interesting coincidence in the list of currently paused schools, both Iona and Minnesota (coached by Rick Pitino's son) are on the list. MAAC schools on Rothstein's list are Iona, Siena, Rider, Marist, Canisius, and Niagara.
Good, some common sense prevails. The entire focus of most athletic teams during COVID is to minimize travel, so it only makes sense to defer this game u til 21/22 season.