LU65
Sophomore
Posts: 133
Reg: 07-30-06
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01-15-08 12:48 PM - Post#41138
First, the numbers………..
PL Standings
BU, LC, CU, AU – tied for first place @ 1-0
LU, Navy, Army, HC – tied for last place @ 0-1
(Might never see HC in last place again)
RPI and SOS (341 Division I teams ranked)
LU – 309 and 337
Navy – 319 and 340
(Must be the weakest pairing of teams in the country this week)
Sagarin Rankings and Points (342 Division I teams ranked)
LU – 280 and 65.27
Navy – 266 and 65.73
Giving Navy an additional 4 points for home court, the line (if there was one) would be Navy –4 ½. Don’t get too discouraged, Holy Cross’ ranking and rating come in at 98 and 77.43, respectively. From top (Holy Cross) to bottom (Lehigh), the Sagarin spread is 12.16 – the lowest such spread in all divisions of Division I basketball. As many have said, it’s anyone’s league to win.
Last 5 Games
LU – 2 and 3
Navy – 4 and 1
Best Win
LU – Harvard (285 RPI)
Navy – Towson (252 RPI)
Let’s hope our Mountain Hawks come to play on Wednesday, after turning in a disinterested and unfathomable performance on opening night at home against American U - a team many fans thought to be our equal. I can’t help but think Coach Reed will have his team up for Navy. Starting out 0-2, after a promising 7-7 in OOC play is not what anyone had in mind.
Second, the concerns…………
“From the frying pan to the fire†might be one way to size-up the Navy game. First it was Mercer and Carr of American U., now it’s the other dynamic guard duo in the League: Sprink (Sr.) and Kina (Jr.). Toss in anothre high-flying guard, Harris (So.), and you have 45.2 pts. per game and the League’s #1, #8, and #14 scorers. At 6’5â€, Greg Sprink leads the Midshipmen in scoring (19.5 ppg) and rebounds (5.9 rpg). Right behind him in both scoring and boards is Kaleo Kina, at 14.3 ppg and 4.5 rpg, respectively. While Sprink has grabbed the headlines for the past couple of years, he’s hitting just .285 of his threes and .378 overall from the floor. In my opinion, the man to watch wears #24, Kaleo Kina The 6’3’ backcourt specialist has come alive over the last 5 games, scoring at a 22 ppg clip after averaging just 11 per game early in the season. He’s also their #1 man in Assist and Steals. The backcourt will definitely challenge us, demanding our best defense of the season.
Perhaps our points in the paint superiority, free throw accuracy (.733 to .662), ball protection talents (LU’s league-leading 12.1 TO/game compared to Navy’s league-worst 18.1 TO/game), and the edge we enjoy in 3pt FG accuracy (.393 to .354) will be enough to counter the Navy threat. That last point remains an mystery as LU ranks 2nd in accuracy but 7th in attempts (14.3 per game) across the League. We seem too often hesitant to pull the trigger.
Good luck, Guys.
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