Lehigh Sports Forum

While we await the Game Notes, here's something to think about..........

Needing a win or two this weekend and with a long-range view/hope of a spot in the playoffs to begin on March 6th, dare I say I’d rather be traveling to Worcester (Holy Cross @ 2-4) than to Hamilton (Colgate @ 5-1)) this weekend for a pair of road games. With any luck, we can make next weekend’s double-header with Bucky must-see events.

Central Mini-Conference Standings
Lafayette 5-1
Bucknell 2-4
Lehigh 1-5

I’m thinking that it won’t be pretty on either Saturday or Sunday, but figure someone gotta win and why not us! Stat Comparison follow:

LU (1-5) Ranked 316th and 0-3 away
@
HC (2-4) Ranked 337th and 0-2 at home
For what it’s worth, Pomeroy sees LU winning them both by 1. Don’t hold your breath

PL Stat Comparisons and National Rankings

2 pt. % - even
LU 50.9% and ranked 135th
HC 50.8% and ranked 139th

3 pt. % - nod to HC
LU 30.9% and ranked 257th
HC 35.3% and ranked 96


Free Throws
LU 64.1% and ranked 309th
HC 60.4% and ranked 228th


Offensive Boards
LU 22.1% and ranked 302nd
HC 26.7% and ranked 194th



Should it come down to the deep ball, keep your eyes on #4, Senior Guard, Austin Butler from Holy Cross. His stat line below includes an 0 for 2 in his last outing.

Top Guns
LU: #1 Betlow @ .462, #01 J. Wilson @ .429, #3 Taylor @ .375, and #5 Wilson @ .333
HC: #4 Butler @ .632, #1 Johnson @ .500, #00 Wade @ .421, #3 Humparey @.333

Note that the Mini-Conference standings that count the most look like this:

Lafayette 3-1
Bucknell 2-2
Lehigh 1-3

Those are the standings that will determine who finishes 1st (and gets a top 3 seed) and who finishes 2nd (and gets seeded 4. 5.or 6). The non-division games, such as Lehigh and Bucknell play this weekend, don't count in determining who wins a Mini-Confernce or who is 2nd. They only matter for seeding among the divisional winners and runners-up - and also for who gets the last two seeds.

Lehigh65 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:16 am
Should it come down to the deep ball, keep your eyes on #4, Senior Guard, Austin Butler from Holy Cross. His stat line below includes an 0 for 2 in his last outing.

Top Guns
LU: #1 Betlow @ .462, #01 J. Wilson @ .429, #3 Taylor @ .375, and #5 Wilson @ .333
HC: #4 Butler @ .632, #1 Johnson @ .500, #00 Wade @ .421, #3 Humparey @.333

One thing about the aoove. They are only through HC's first four games - not through the six they have actually played. HC has yet to update their stats for last weekend. Their SID Dept often does a poor job - which is why I try to use Pomeroy for stats when HC is involved. To make things even more confusing, the HC site also has a PDF version of their stats. That version shows stats through five games - having updated through last Saturday's game but not through Sunday. Through the six games they have actually played, Butler is now at .542, Johnson at .385, and Wade at .360.

Butler is an interesting case. First, his career 3-point pct prior to this year was about .360 (on 362 attempts), as compared to this year's .542 - so I expect his pct will continue to move down. And his FT pct this year is a hard-to-believe 18.8% (3-16). This from a 54% 3-point shooter and a career 72% FT shooter.

Ha, the way we commit fouls I would expect the Butler won't score all that well against us then

van wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:57 pm Ha, the way we commit fouls I would expect the Butler won't score all that well against us then

Too true.

I watched the first half of Cross/Gate from Sunday, 2 things stuck out, Cross took very few shots further than 12 feet and they pressed after every made shot

My hope is that we can finally play two good halves in the same game........

Jim, it’s my hope that we give more time to and promptly recognize the outstanding play of sophomore Evan Taylor. A start this afternoon would mark his second of the season and acknowledge his fine play against Bucky last weekend when he went 10 for 17 (including 2-2 from 3), pulled down 11 boards and racked up 24 points.

2 hours to showtime!

NEWS FROM THE PL

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Patriot League men's and women's basketball games between Bucknell and Colgate scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 23 and Sunday, Jan. 24 have been postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests with the Bucknell men's and women's basketball programs' Tier 1.

The two men's basketball games and two women's basketball games between the Bison and Raiders will be rescheduled following discussions with the two schools and the League office.

The Bucknell men's and women's basketball games against Lehigh scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 30, and Sunday, Jan. 31 will also be postponed with scheduling adjustments to be announced at a later date.

A Bucknell manager tested positive. I imagine these games will be made up on a couple random Wednesday evenings since the schools are relatively close to each other.