So were tied for 4th places with American at 4-5, and the Leopards are 3rd at 5-4, but we've beaten them twice, so we hold that tiebreaker.  8-6 or 7-7 and 3rd place in the PL going into the tournament doesn't seem like drug-induced fantasy to me right now.  We have a number of guys filling the stat sheet.

Every win is a great win!

Beat 'em!

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--- BulldogDad wrote:

So were tied for 4th places with American at 4-5, and the Leopards are 3rd at 5-4, but we've beaten them twice, so we hold that tiebreaker.  8-6 or 7-7 and 3rd place in the PL going into the tournament doesn't seem like drug-induced fantasy to me right now.  We have a number of guys filling the stat sheet.

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BulldogDad wrote: So were tied for 4th places with American at 4-5, and the Leopards are 3rd at 5-4, but we've beaten them twice, so we hold that tiebreaker.  8-6 or 7-7 and 3rd place in the PL going into the tournament doesn't seem like drug-induced fantasy to me right now.  We have a number of guys filling the stat sheet.

Nice win.   I too was one of those people who said, prior to the season, that Army could contend for 3rd place

I think you have a good chance to catch/pass Lafayette.   Their center, Dan Trist, who is one of their three key players, has a high ankle sprain and may miss the next few weeks.    If he continues to be out, that's a big blow to them since they don't have any other good post players.

With 5 games remaining in the PL season, we have Navy, HC, American, Colgate, and Lehigh. IMO, we can definitely say that we can beat 4 of the 5. In the next two weeks we could see basketball fever at Army. That hasn't happened since the Knight days. But, of course, it's one thing to say we can beat someone, and another to go out and do it. How about some predictions? Here's mine -- we go 4-1 taking us into tournament play with a record of 8-6. I know, don't get carried away.

FWIW, here are Pomeroy's probabilities for an Army win in each game:

@Navy       75%
Colgate      83%
@American 55%
Holy Cross  75%
@ Lehigh    13%


That comes out to an overall 3-2 record, which sounds about right to me.   I'd say his probabilities are a bit too high for the Navy and American games, but a little low on Lehigh.

 I imagine a conference record of 7-7 will be good enough to tie for 3rd.   Almost certainly will be good enough for a 1st round playoff game at home.

I haven't followed basketball as much as I do football but I must say it appears Spiker has the Army team improving. I was a cadet in the mid-90s when we were in the bottom 5 D1 programs in the nation according to many rankings. Being middle of the pack in our league is good improvement. Hopefully that improvement continues and we see Army in the NCAA's one of these years. I just hope all these underclassmen stick with it as I remember many cadets quit playing as upperclassmen due to the losing and other requirements of being a cadet.

FSUBulldog11 wrote: I haven't followed basketball as much as I do football but I must say it appears Spiker has the Army team improving. I was a cadet in the mid-90s when we were in the bottom 5 D1 programs in the nation according to many rankings. Being middle of the pack in our league is good improvement. Hopefully that improvement continues and we see Army in the NCAA's one of these years. I just hope all these underclassmen stick with it as I remember many cadets quit playing as upperclassmen due to the losing and other requirements of being a cadet.

It's come to my attention that Zack Lord has left the team.  Too bad, great kid, a ton of promise.  Anyone have any thoughts on how Ferguson is coming along?  Looks like he had a nice game: 10 boards, a couple of blocks.

capenewagen wrote: With 5 games remaining in the PL season, we have Navy, HC, American, Colgate, and Lehigh. IMO, we can definitely say that we can beat 4 of the 5. In the next two weeks we could see basketball fever at Army. That hasn't happened since the Knight days. But, of course, it's one thing to say we can beat someone, and another to go out and do it. How about some predictions? Here's mine -- we go 4-1 taking us into tournament play with a record of 8-6. I know, don't get carried away.

I've too got carried away many times before.  Navy is obviously a very bad team; how did we lose to them at home?  (rhetorical question)  I agree 4-1 is doable, but what is doable and what actually transpires never seems to agree.  What I like about this team's chances is a group of freshman who were probably winners in high school, winners at USMAPS, and now they are winning in the PL.  Looking at recent stat lines, it looks like Cox is doing an extremely good job QBing the offense.  Wilson, Toth, Toomey, and Ferguson are all playing well.  Good stuff - keep it going guys!

Ferguson has played well.  He's blocking shots and going to the hoop strong.  He is still of a very slight build so some bulk needs to be added but in speaking with him he has a tremendous understanding of the game.

I'm always wearing the rosé colored glasses. Most of these observations come from following the game flows on espn gametracker and then digging through the box score, so take them w a grain of salt. Cox had a turnover last night, his first in what, 5 or 6 games? moving Ellis to the bench for a couple games seems to have snapped him out of his funk, though i've no doubt he would have come around. I think Ferguson's playing pretty well. Perhaps he had something to do with MM's line in the Bucknell game...3 for 12 I think, even though he got some points at the foul line. On the other hand, Wilson, 5 for 5 out of the gate last night, seems to struggle against a big man. He likes to take it to the basket and can usually beat his man. The problem develops when he is confronted at the hoop by much bigger size. I think he was something like 5 for 13 against Bucknell and only two 3 pt attempts. I'm not complaining. These freshman are bringing it and the team is jelling. Saturday's game will be very interesting. i saw the Navy game at home and that was a frustrating afternoon. The prep school team is around 25 wins and has 4-5 players that can score 20 on a given night. One of them is reported to say (in response to a query as to why he chose Army) 'We're here to make history'. We know what that means. If lightning doesn't strike this year, and we get some retention...it most certainly will next year.

BulldogDad wrote:

capenewagen wrote: With 5 games remaining in the PL season, we have Navy, HC, American, Colgate, and Lehigh. IMO, we can definitely say that we can beat 4 of the 5. In the next two weeks we could see basketball fever at Army. That hasn't happened since the Knight days. But, of course, it's one thing to say we can beat someone, and another to go out and do it. How about some predictions? Here's mine -- we go 4-1 taking us into tournament play with a record of 8-6. I know, don't get carried away.

I've too got carried away many times before.  Navy is obviously a very bad team; how did we lose to them at home?  (rhetorical question)  I agree 4-1 is doable, but what is doable and what actually transpires never seems to agree.  What I like about this team's chances is a group of freshman who were probably winners in high school, winners at USMAPS, and now they are winning in the PL.  Looking at recent stat lines, it looks like Cox is doing an extremely good job QBing the offense.  Wilson, Toth, Toomey, and Ferguson are all playing well.  Good stuff - keep it going guys!

Can't wait until we get our NAPS program running again (which it is this year... next year will be the first year with them coming in). With the studs in both freshmen classes, Army and Navy basketball are clearly on the upswing. 

In two, three years, these games are going to mean even more.