McCaffrey's Musings
By Tim McCaffrey
Coming up in this edition of McCaffrey’s Musings: We will debut the TMAC Top 11 in both women’s and men’s hoops, but first, our top story involves two men’s basketball teams that can not play nice with each other.
Caldwell vs. Dominican
“Punches thrown Pandemonium in the Hennessy Center.…There are four Caldwell players left on the court, everyone else is in the hallway” — Jacob Kronberg, Dominican Play-by-Play
Once again the Caldwell University and Dominican College men’s basketball teams have embarrassed themselves, their institutions, their fans, their athletic departments, the CACC, the NCAA, and the game of basketball. This time following the final horn and a one-point Dominican win (sound familiar?), the incident was much uglier.
Punches were flying, one player was in a choke hold and coaches found themselves helpless to control anyone. The fight, players and coaches spilled into a back hallway where the fisticuffs continued with coaches desperate to stop the melee. How did this happen again? How can the leaders of these two Athletic Departments not have nipped this in the bud. It is a shocking tale, one the Musings will try to parse.
Both Joe Clinton (Dominican Head Coach) and Mark Corino (Caldwell) are also the school’s Athletic Directors. In general, head coaches report to the AD, and the AD will have a supervisor. When I worked for Athletic Directors, if a coach had an incident with an official or a player they often would then have a discussion with a boss. If the behavior continued or a coach was unable to control his or her program the result will be handled accordingly. But what happens when the boss is also the head coach? Well this outdated HC/AD model, (the NCAA does not allow anymore except for ADs Grandfather’ed in) is slightly more tricky. For example this conversation does not happen:
AD's Corino/Clinton: Close the door on the way in.
Coaches Corino/Clinton: Ok Sirs. Let us explain….
AD C/C: Look, We’re going to get right to the point. Your teams are an embarrassment. If you can’t get them in control you’re going to leave me no choice but to get someone in here who can. That is all. Leave the door open on your way out.
When Kansas State and Kansas were involved in a brawl each head coach in the post-game press conference took full responsibility. Kansas’s Bill Self issued an additional statement the day following and Bruce Weber of K-State had harsh public words for his players. It would be nice to hear some sort of accountability from Caldwell considering all sources I have talked to pegged the Cougars for beginning the altercation.
One reader wanted the Musings to target Commissioner of the CACC Dan Mara, for the earlier incident and this one. The conference office isn’t the boss of Corino or Clinton. Mara does not hold the power to suspend either man, especially considering neither was ejected. In fact, Corino and Clinton in the power dynamic of the CACC hold tons of power. Both were instrumental in guiding Mara from the Athletic Director at Post University to the commissioner’s chair well over a decade ago!
Sometimes accountability needs a deep look from somebody with no dog in the fight. Enough is enough. Both AD Corino and Clinton should suspend Coach Corino and Clinton for a few games so maybe they can both reflect at how disturbing each team’s comportment was AGAIN!
Women’s Top 11 (Record vs. Top 11)
1) Le Moyne 11-3 (4-1)
2) SNHU 12-4 (2-2)
3) Pace 15-4 (3-3)
4) Bentley 8-4 (3-2)
5) Chestnut Hill 17-3 (2-0)
6) USciences 13-3 (1-2)
7) Jefferson 14-5 (1-1)
8) Daemen 12-3 (0-1)
9) Adelphi 10-8 (2-3)
10) Saint Anselm 10-7 (2-4)
11) Franklin Pierce 8-6 (2-3)
OUT: #10 Post; #12 Stonehill
As we dig into the bracket, we notice not only has Daemen played only one game against the Top 11, but the Wildcats have only mustered a 2-2 record against teams with winning records. The great thing about being in the Northeast 10 is a team has plenty of chances to beat quality opponents, however the downside is there are so many potholes to navigate, especially on the road. Le Moyne, SNHU, and Pace all found the L column away from home, but there wasn’t much movement from top to bottom. Many squads are suiting up six times over the next two weeks so we should have a pretty good idea how things stand by then.
Men’s 11 Best (SOS Rank-In Region)
1) Bentley 14-2 (10)
2) Dominican 13-3 (17)
3) Saint Anselm 11-5 (1)
4) Adelphi 13-6 (13)
5) Franklin Pierce 9-5 (3)
6) Stonehill 11-8 (8)
7) Jefferson 13-4 (20)
8) Daemen 14-6 (12)
9) New Haven 11-6 (15)
10) SNHU 9-6 (4)
11) STAC (15-4 (22)
OUT: Le Moyne (12)
Want to take a guess who has the #2 SOS in the region? Answer in a moment. Bentley is a very solid one. The Falcons are tops in RPI and PI and would have to lose twice to even be considered lower than a one-seed. Post is 8-0 in the CACC, but if the Eagles win at Dominican and Jefferson this week, they will have officially crashed the at-large picture. That is a feat once thought impossible when the orange and purple were 4-6.
The group #2 in SOS in the region: Le Moyne!
NEXT WEEK
We will drop the rankings down to a tidy ten! Until then, be kind!
McCaffrey’s Musings is authored by Tim McCaffrey who has covered D2 basketball since 2003. While not broadcasting or writing this column, he umpires baseball and lots of it. His website, closecallsports.com is all about umpiring baseball properly! He responds to all e-mails so if you have a question or just want to chat or share your opinion feel free to reach out at: tpmccaffrey@gmail.com