Seawolves Fans
Athletics => SBU Men's Basketball => Topic started by: Checkmate on October 30, 2019, 04:43:13 pm
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YALE
Last Year's Record: 22-8 (10-4 Ivy League)
Last Game with SBU: Yale 82, Stony Brook 62 on 11/23/01 in Washington, DC; DJ Munir game-high 19 points
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -1.5
Net Ranking: TBD
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 228, Yale 146
KenPom Prediction: Yale 74, Stony Brook 73
Listen/Watch:
TV: http://bit.ly/MBBGm1Vid
Stony Brook radio: TBD
Notables (2018-19 stats):
6-9/205 sr F Jordan Bruner 10.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.5 bpg, .511 FG%
6-10/220 jr F Paul Atkinson 9.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, .697 FG%
6-0/185 jr G Azar Swain 7.9 ppg, .409 3-pt FG%
6-5/200 so G Matt Cotton reserve player in 18-19; 4-star recruit out of HS
6-4/190 fr G August Mahoney NYS Class A POY; 3-time state champ; SBU recruit; 2-3 star recruit out of HS
Hoops is BACK, ladies and gentlemen. Good competition, good crowds, good venue, good family time – gotta say that I'm fired up to get it going again.
This is a real nice test from the opening tip – a team with a tradition of excellence with a few core players and other promising talent that was just waiting for an opportunity.
I mentioned the tradition. What kind of tradition you ask? Well, in James Jones' 20 seasons at the helm, Yale has finished no worse than fourth in the Ivy every year since the 2000-01 campaign. The program is as strong as ever, coming off a nailbiting first-round loss to third-seeded LSU, its second NCAA bid in four years. In 2016, Yale ambushed 5 seed Baylor in the first round for its first ever tournament win.
Bruner and Atkinson present interesting matchups for us defensively. The former is a big-time athlete who will be active on the offensive glass and has ready hands on the interior. But he can also step out and shoot – not at a terrific clip last year (.278) – and the shot's a little funky, but he isn't someone who you can leave out there a la our bigs. I wonder who gets that assignment. Atkinson is more of your traditional big – a bigger body, will get on the glass, limited range, not necessarily a guy you feed the ball but his size and energy stand out. They were part of a 2018-19 team that made its possessions count, shooting over 49 percent from the field. I even like this kid EJ Jarvis coming in. He looks like an ox, and it seems to me he can handle himself well in traffic, off the bounce and on the perimeter. Looks like a good get to me.
It begs the question: going into year two with Jeff Otchere, what has he learned in the last eight months to be a factor out there for 28-32 minutes a night? Never mind offensively; just be a presence in the middle for the opposition to think about.
On the perimeter, Swain takes on a more significant role after being a key piece off the bench. He didn't HAVE to score last year but did when asked, including when he dropped in 15 (incl. four threes) in Yale's tournament loss. I'm curious if we see him at the point – Yale will be very inexperienced in the backcourt having lost three huge assets in Trey Phills, Alex Copeland and, most notably, Ivy League POY Miye Oni who's now with Utah's G League squad. Senior captain Eric Monroe figures to be in the mix, and I wonder if we see a dose of two southpaws – Cotton and Mahoney. The latter for sure can SHOOT IT.
Questions I'm looking to have answered on day one:
1. Just how good is Foreman? Is he a leader? Can he handle the point? Is he really a distributor? Does he finish at the rim? Can he create his own shot? A lockdown defender? Everything basically. He has to be a big piece of the puzzle for us with Cornish gone.
2. Just how good is Gueye? And Stephenson and Pierre? Are any of them ready to play major minutes?
3. Down one, who gets the ball – Foreman? Olaniyi? Garcia?
4. Has Latimer's game developed beyond being a three-point shooter?
5. How different is the system under Ford vs. Boals?
6. Aforementioned question about Otchere, and Gueye had bouts with foul trouble at the juco level.
7. Is the area ready? Tuesday night, the middle of football season, election day ... will we get out of the gate well ourselves?
KenPom has us going 15-16, 9-7 in conference. I'd like to think we'll do better than that.
I had us at Yale -1.5 initially and then switched it to us. I dunno though. These guys might be tough.
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its back! thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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This might be the second best thing I'll read all day.
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Great job as always Checkmate! Hard to believe we're starting up again. I have a late work commitment so I'm going to have to DVR and watch late; I'll need to stay off this board during game time.
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Can't believe we're back to basketball season already. Make it a good one!!
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Early line: Yale -2
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I'm surprised that there is no sign of our games being on the radio this season. I have enjoyed listening to the postgame show on the ride home.
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where would we be without the first-class newsday coverage: https://www.newsday.com/sports/college/stony-brook/stony-brook-men-s-basketball-1.38116301
http://longisland.news12.com/story/41254407/stony-brook-seawolves-prepare-for-new-basketball-season-following-trip-to-europe
https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-mens-basketball/article236983871.html
USC’s young players “didn’t really mentally prepare to play some of these teams because they were schools that they had never heard of,” Martin said.
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where would we be without the first-class newsday coverage: https://www.newsday.com/sports/college/stony-brook/stony-brook-men-s-basketball-1.38116301
http://longisland.news12.com/story/41254407/stony-brook-seawolves-prepare-for-new-basketball-season-following-trip-to-europe
https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-mens-basketball/article236983871.html
USC’s young players “didn’t really mentally prepare to play some of these teams because they were schools that they had never heard of,” Martin said.
I love the Foreman praise. He HAS to be really really good for us.
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i read it as- makale is going to run the 1 (and can maybe shoot too), maybe spelled by mack and others. maybe TPP?
im encouraged by his rethinking the three pointer (i've been pretty clear about that going back to the pikiell era). i think if we can reduce attempts, we will simply win more games.
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Kind of an uneven first nine minutes on the offensive end. Gueye and Otchere will be fun to watch defensively when they’re on the floor together.
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2. Just how good is Gueye?
Seems to be very coordinated with a surprising ability to handle the ball and move.
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early thoughts just 10min in....
not a great turnout for a home opener (suppose im partially to blame).
great first two minutes and then terrible, i think we need to settle down a bit. gueye and otch on at the same time could create matchup problems. gueye is warming up quick!
shot selection is poor so far, so most didnt fall.
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Unsightly first half. Absolutely no flow offensively. We’re lucky to still be in it.
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The lack of creators on this roster is alarming.
We have a ton of finishers, but creating shots for others is going to be a struggle.
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were only in this because yale can't sink. but they're up simply because they've taken so many shots.
shooting so far is terrible (classic SB), but FT is strong (like last year). id say we hit the backside of the backboard maybe 3 times already. how many airballs for ola at this point? 5? 6???
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UNH having no such trouble with mighty Curry.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191106/f2f29a95ee7048807ea92bad5cdb975a.jpg)
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i've lost count of how many shots weve taken that havent hit the rim- it's more than 12.
gueye with more blocks than otch!
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We are putting an incredible amount of emphasis on getting the ball to the rim. And it’s had better results in the second half. Hopefully we knock down our free throws and the occasional jumper.
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Just noticed Stephenson in a walking boot. That explains his absence
Otchere with ZERO fouls. I love the freedom that he’s playing with defensively.
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oh latimer... oh baby
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the good- boards, FTs, fouls, blocks.
the bad- layups, ball handling, shot selection, airballs, gueye fouls.
notable- latimer FTs. 22 boards, 9 blocks for otch and gueye. latimer adding some penetration to the toolbox. otch looks improved. foreman is game-ready.
i think we'll be ok with foreman handling plus others, but want to hear what you guys think.
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Not a bad game all things considered. Still sloppy but this group is young and learning how to play together.
Gouye is definitely rough around the edges but is a unique talent- he's really quick and will only get better. Our shooting was awful all game and I expect that to improve. Yale is a solid, well-coached team. I did not like Garcia's play at the end of regulation.
Should be an interesting season.
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I found it so interesting that we went to the rack every time down, shot blockers be damned. We missed a lot of bunnies, particularly Olaniyi in the first half, but I appreciate the willingness. Latimer did very little of that last year, but he was aggressive.
The best part of the night was Otchere. For him to play TWENTY EIGHT minutes without committing a foul is PROGRESS. What were the Vegas odds on him being the only major contributor ON EITHER TEAM to not commit a foul – 3860388392 to 1 maybe? He was a different player on the defensive end – even better than a year ago – and it was GREAT to see. I think that having Gueye as another rim protector allows him to hunt blocks more. Gueye has to be stronger with the ball, but it was fun seeing him on the glass and altering shots. And as a tandem, wow, we're going to see some highlight reel blocks (like the one Otchere had on Bruner) and exponentially more dunks than we've seen in years past.
Bruner and Atkinson were pretty tough on the inside though. They had a clear edge in physicality on our bigs and used it to their advantage. Otchere and Gueye left their feet for the block more than a few times and did well to not commit fouls.
In other post man news: Ochefu 2 minutes. Christie DNP-CD.
An interesting nugget from the Newsday story – Foreman didn't practice for the 12 days leading up to the game. Without knowing that, I thought McKenzie was just going to play filler minutes, but I really commend him for his defensive work on Monroe. It was him and not Foreman down the stretch defensively (perhaps injury related), and he was right up in Monroe's face. Monroe was a nice, steady hand for Yale. The one thing he had on McKenzie was the willingness to attack. McKenzie just will not do it and is rarely inside 10 feet. Monroe went in amongst the trees and distributed from there. You saw it a few times with him and Atkinson throughout the game and from a MILE AWAY on the final possession in regulation. With our drives, I'd like to see some more distribution, whether it's out to shooters or in the interior. Too much putting our head down and bulling our way in.
Olaniyi had a gutsy 19 points, but I don't think he can be a 20-shot guy every night.
Latimer had a big make tonight, and I think Foreman's going to hit some big ones of his own before the season's over.
How many missed shots did we see BOUNCE ON THE FLOOR before someone grabbed the rebound? Too many times. Go up and get it.
Good student section tonight. It was great having SNY in the house.
And the SBU trading cards they gave out were AWESOME.
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This team looks as raw as an Onion. Clearly missing Yeboah. But I do see them improving as time goes on.
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This team looks as raw as an Onion. Clearly missing Yeboah. But I do see them improving as time goes on.
So just watched game this morning, and I agree with Hammer. We miss having a go-to shooter, aka Yeboah. Elijah is definitely one of the top dogs on this team, but I don't feel comfortable with him being the man and taking the big shot, given his inconsistent streaky shooting. Yet he kept us in the game in the 2nd half, after a horrid 1st half (how many lay-ups did he miss?). I hope we have few 1st halves during the season, like we did here, because that 1st half was just downright ugly.
But the leaders on this team: Foreman, Garcia, Elijah, and Latimer, stepped up in the 2nd half. Our defense was strong overall, and I think we have to have the team approach, with a different star-by-committee every night, if we're going to win. Maybe it's because we're a tad banged up and it was the first game, but Geno seems to rotate players a lot more than Boals did.
The positives from my vantage point:
I know he's banged up, but I think Foreman is an upgrade over Cornish, in that he can hit from the outside (his PG play is still a question mark though). Really impressed with Gueye's athleticism, although he's raw as hell. Definitely a work in progress, but love his defense and his unabashed offensive approach. Impressed with Big Jeff's play overall, and his ability to stay on the court, although he left his post under the basket on that last play in regulation. If he and Gueye can stay on the court, we have a legitimate twin-towers defense in there. Free throw shooting was money, and kept us in the game. Defense was really good overall.
The negatives from my vantage point:
Really poor ball movement throughout. Shot selection and abysmal shooting in the first half, turned around somewhat in the 2nd half. Looks like we lack that go-to guy, ala Akwasi, Woodhouse, Warney, etc.
Tough game against a solid Yale team, although Yale isn't as strong overall as they were last year. We'll see how we progress as season unfolds.
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agreed that Ola shouldnt be taking 20 attempts, but really everyone was cold. if we are going to take threes (i think we started 0-7) some of them should at least be higher % shots. the poor ball movement is reflected in the 10 assists- in an OT game.
we just got worked at the beginning of OT. and keep in mind- while the Elis arent the same team from last year, the Ivy has restrictions that we don't, that make it harder to attract athletes.
i did notice that probably 2-3 boards at the end hit the floor first- they were late, maybe it was fatigue. so much for that depth im always going on about!
in other news- didnt realize that garcia had 39 minutes!
with foreman healthy, we could have a nice starting five with otch, garcia, ola, latimer, and maybe gueye as a 6th man?
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I didn't get to see any of the game, but how did Garcia play? I remember him basically having a perfect game against Northern Iowa last year, and he stepped right in when Yeboah was injured/not on the court last year, so I figured maybe he'd be "the guy" for this team. I think it's ok if we don't have someone like that. I'd rather have quality depth all over and just get the ball to whoever has the hot hand that night. Better than centering your entire team around one player IMO.
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I didn't know Foreman was hurt leading up to the game.
My only complaint is that it seemed like it took a ton of work by us just to get a shot off. Lot of driving (which I like), but it wasn't like we were blowing by people. We dug hard for those shots. I wish they were easier and more organic.
We just don't have a creator on the roster, someone who understands how to move a defense in a way that will create open looks and opportunities for his teammates. Maybe that can be Foreman when he gets healthy.
Tough game. But there's something there. Definitely.
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I didn't know Foreman was hurt leading up to the game.
My only complaint is that it seemed like it took a ton of work by us just to get a shot off. Lot of driving (which I like), but it wasn't like we were blowing by people. We dug hard for those shots. I wish they were easier and more organic.
We just don't have a creator on the roster, someone who understands how to move a defense in a way that will create open looks and opportunities for his teammates. Maybe that can be Foreman when he gets healthy.
Tough game. But there's something there. Definitely.
I thought that the team lacked movement on the offensive end. As you said, nothing came easy. It was Garcia, Olaniyi and Latimer taking it inside as far as they could, being met by defenders, and putting a shot up amid a sea of arms. There has to be a better plan than that. And even with the emphasis on getting it inside, Yale outscored us 32-18 in the paint. That was almost all Atkinson. He's a player we just don't have.
I wonder if we see McKenzie and Foreman out there a lot to address the issue of flow. Or maybe it's not an issue; just a first game/familiarity thing.
As for Garcia, nothing outstanding from my perspective. Most of his shots were from in close and in traffic. I think that Olaniyi and Foreman are the closest things we have to an alpha dog, with Garcia and Latimer behind them.