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SBU Men's Basketball / Game 16: at Maine 1/5 1pm
« on: January 02, 2020, 12:48:10 pm »
MAINE (4-10)
Last Game: Maine 75, Columbia 72 (OT) on 1/2/20
Last Game with SBU: Stony Brook 81, Maine 53 on 2/23/19; shot 53% from the field; Yeboah game-high 27
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -15.5
NET Ranking: Stony Brook 162, Maine 326
KenPom Rating: Stony Brook 153, Maine 344
KenPom Prediction: Stony Brook 71, Maine 60
Olaniyi 1,000 Point Watch: 913
Listen/Watch:
TV: http://bit.ly/BBallGm16Vid
Radio: https://goblackbears.com/showcase?Live=4843
Notables:
6-7/220 sr F Andrew Fleming 16.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.3 spg, .497 FG%
6-4/205 sr G Sergio El Darwich 11.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.7 spg
6-8/210 rjr F Nedeljko Prijovic 8.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.0 spg
6-8/215 jr F Vilgot Larsson 7.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg
6-5/195 rso G Mykhailo Yagodin 6.5 ppg, .327 3-pt FG%
I don't know about you, but it's been a while since I've felt this good about a team going into the conference slate. We're pretty good. Right?
Maine, on the other hand, has struggled. This is nothing new. I can't help but think that it's a nearly impossible place to win. Barring a miracle in AE play, this will be the seventh consecutive season that the Black Bears have failed to notch double-digit victories. From the 2013-14 to 2018-19 seasons, they have averaged just under six wins a year. In history, they've had some 20-win campaigns, but they've never made an NCAA tournament in over a century of play. I just don't know how that changes. Yeah, Burlington's well north, Albany's north, but Bangor/Orono are in the middle of nowhere, it's 20 degrees below zero nine months of the year, you can't rely on in-state recruits, it takes forever to get anywhere, and there's no tradition. That it's "God's country" may appeal to you and me, but for a 17-year-old from out of state, I just can't see it.
Imagine that challenge? What they've done instead is find players from high/prep schools like Korrespondensgymnasiet, Alviks Basketbollklubb and Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf. All together, Maine has TEN countries represented on a 15-man roster. That includes just three Americans – Fleming and Taylor Schildroth from Maine, and Precious Okoh from Massachusetts. They're really going to miss Fleming next year. He's had a whale of a career. Out of high school, his only Division I offer was Maine, but it's not like it's a state that is crawling with talent evaluators. He was a really good get for Maine at the time. Over his career, he's put nearly 1,200 points and has served as a pillar of that team since he got on campus.
Worth noting: This past weekend, Maine went all the way to Hawaii – niiiiiiine hours each way – and got thumped by 40, and they're home tonight to Columbia. Will they have their legs under them when we arrive? And who's the last east coast team to play games in Oregon, Washington and Hawaii in one season, like Maine's done?
Notable stat: Maine is 347th out of 351 teams in turnover margin, coming in at -6.1. We aren't much better at 323rd (-2.9).
It's important that we don't look on the horizon here. Vermont awaits next week and it already feels like the game of the year the way we're going. I thought they might be vulnerable this year, but then they went and blew out Lipscomb and GW at home. But that's a discussion for next week. Gotta get this one first. Winning up there hasn't been a cinch for us. The last two matchups in Maine were 64-61 wins in our favor. But I feel like this team is better protected against putting up a stinker. We have I think one or two more scorers than we're accustomed to. We have four or five trusted outside shooters (we've made the 13th most threes nationally)). Foreman in particular has been a tremendous addition offensively (he's 4th nationally in threes made), and on the defensive end, supplementing Otchere with Gueye has been, as you know, enormous.
We bookend our conference schedule with four road games – two apiece – meaning we'll play eight home games in the middle 12 games. It'd be great to get off to a good start and then use the home court to our advantage.
Last Game: Maine 75, Columbia 72 (OT) on 1/2/20
Last Game with SBU: Stony Brook 81, Maine 53 on 2/23/19; shot 53% from the field; Yeboah game-high 27
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -15.5
NET Ranking: Stony Brook 162, Maine 326
KenPom Rating: Stony Brook 153, Maine 344
KenPom Prediction: Stony Brook 71, Maine 60
Olaniyi 1,000 Point Watch: 913
Listen/Watch:
TV: http://bit.ly/BBallGm16Vid
Radio: https://goblackbears.com/showcase?Live=4843
Notables:
6-7/220 sr F Andrew Fleming 16.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.3 spg, .497 FG%
6-4/205 sr G Sergio El Darwich 11.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.7 spg
6-8/210 rjr F Nedeljko Prijovic 8.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.0 spg
6-8/215 jr F Vilgot Larsson 7.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg
6-5/195 rso G Mykhailo Yagodin 6.5 ppg, .327 3-pt FG%
I don't know about you, but it's been a while since I've felt this good about a team going into the conference slate. We're pretty good. Right?
Maine, on the other hand, has struggled. This is nothing new. I can't help but think that it's a nearly impossible place to win. Barring a miracle in AE play, this will be the seventh consecutive season that the Black Bears have failed to notch double-digit victories. From the 2013-14 to 2018-19 seasons, they have averaged just under six wins a year. In history, they've had some 20-win campaigns, but they've never made an NCAA tournament in over a century of play. I just don't know how that changes. Yeah, Burlington's well north, Albany's north, but Bangor/Orono are in the middle of nowhere, it's 20 degrees below zero nine months of the year, you can't rely on in-state recruits, it takes forever to get anywhere, and there's no tradition. That it's "God's country" may appeal to you and me, but for a 17-year-old from out of state, I just can't see it.
Imagine that challenge? What they've done instead is find players from high/prep schools like Korrespondensgymnasiet, Alviks Basketbollklubb and Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf. All together, Maine has TEN countries represented on a 15-man roster. That includes just three Americans – Fleming and Taylor Schildroth from Maine, and Precious Okoh from Massachusetts. They're really going to miss Fleming next year. He's had a whale of a career. Out of high school, his only Division I offer was Maine, but it's not like it's a state that is crawling with talent evaluators. He was a really good get for Maine at the time. Over his career, he's put nearly 1,200 points and has served as a pillar of that team since he got on campus.
Worth noting: This past weekend, Maine went all the way to Hawaii – niiiiiiine hours each way – and got thumped by 40, and they're home tonight to Columbia. Will they have their legs under them when we arrive? And who's the last east coast team to play games in Oregon, Washington and Hawaii in one season, like Maine's done?
Notable stat: Maine is 347th out of 351 teams in turnover margin, coming in at -6.1. We aren't much better at 323rd (-2.9).
It's important that we don't look on the horizon here. Vermont awaits next week and it already feels like the game of the year the way we're going. I thought they might be vulnerable this year, but then they went and blew out Lipscomb and GW at home. But that's a discussion for next week. Gotta get this one first. Winning up there hasn't been a cinch for us. The last two matchups in Maine were 64-61 wins in our favor. But I feel like this team is better protected against putting up a stinker. We have I think one or two more scorers than we're accustomed to. We have four or five trusted outside shooters (we've made the 13th most threes nationally)). Foreman in particular has been a tremendous addition offensively (he's 4th nationally in threes made), and on the defensive end, supplementing Otchere with Gueye has been, as you know, enormous.
We bookend our conference schedule with four road games – two apiece – meaning we'll play eight home games in the middle 12 games. It'd be great to get off to a good start and then use the home court to our advantage.