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1231
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.

1232
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: Game 15: vs. Norfolk State, 12/29 12pm
« on: December 31, 2019, 07:50:37 am »
I was curious, so I sorted all of our opponents by KenPom (as of 12/30/2019) - we're at 156
 
Seton Hall22
Virginia30
Yale68
Providence80
Vermont84
Hofstra125
North Dakota State151
Delaware178
American209
Albany225
Brown232
UMass Lowell262
Manhattan264
UTRGV268
UMBC270
New Hampshire272
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi295
Norfolk State297
Hartford306
Binghamton309

Wagner319
Maine345

The America East: it's not pretty.

Beating Yale here would’ve been nice. Granted, it all comes down to three days in March.


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1233
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: A decade of Seawolf Basketball
« on: December 30, 2019, 09:00:27 am »
A really really good decade but not the team of the decade. UVM had ten 20-win seasons, five AE regular season titles, four NCAA berths to our one, a First Four win, and a couple decent runs in the CBI (FWIW). A lot changes without the two unbelievably unfortunate finishes at BU and Albany.


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1234
SBU Men's Basketball / Game 15: vs. Norfolk State, 12/29 12pm
« on: December 29, 2019, 01:49:51 pm »
Man, I’ll tell you how in vacation mode I am. I totally forgot this was at home. Double digits made sense.

Romp.


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1235
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: Game 15: vs. Norfolk State, 12/29 12pm
« on: December 26, 2019, 03:18:44 pm »
i think you have american listed up there- probably a cut/paste issue! 

but thanks for all your efforts!

if i recall- didnt we play them twice last year, and get both?

Oops, good catch.

That’s correct. Played them twice, both pretty close. In game two at their place, Olaniyi was out with a concussion and Yeboah fouled out pretty early. We hung on thanks to Cornish and a nice night from Otchere.


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1236
SBU Men's Basketball / Game 15: vs. Norfolk State, 12/29 12pm
« on: December 26, 2019, 12:26:58 pm »
NORFOLK STATE (4-10)
Last Game: Drexel 53, Norfolk State 49 on 12/21/19
Last Game with SBU: Stony Brook 79, Norfolk State 73 on 11/27/18; shot 55% from the field; SBU led by as many as 18
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Stony Brook -6.5
NET Ranking: Stony Brook 177, Norfolk State 337
KenPom Rating: Stony Brook 157, Norfolk State 296
KenPom Prediction: Stony Brook 69, Norfolk State 57
Olaniyi 1,000 Point Watch: 893
Listen/Watch:
TV: http://www.espn.com/watch?id=67efb60c-4352-47e7-8a89-15809b70bbe3
Notables:
6-1/185 rsr G Jermaine Bishop 12.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg, .351 3-pt FG%, .852 FT%
6-1/215 so G Joe Bryant Jr. 11.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.5 spg, .968 FT%
6-3/215 rsr G Steven Whitley 10.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.5 spg
6-3/200 jr G Devante Carter 9.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.0 spg, .560 FG%
6-8/220 so F Chris Ford 3.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 bpg, .559 FG%

The rivalry continues!

I know what you're thinking. I do. Norfolk State? Again? Why do we play this game EVERY YEAR? How did we get ourselves into this?

But listen, we've also taken these guys lightly EVERY YEAR. They always have an abysmal record, only a few wins, none of which are notable, hideous stats, etc. But ... they have given us trouble, guys. And every year they go on and challenge for a league title just like us. In fact, they have finished no worse than 11-5 in the (albeit dreadful) MEAC in each of the last eight seasons. It's a winning program on the lower end of the D-I totem pole, not unlike us.

The kid Bishop's an interesting one. He was an A-10 all rookie team member years back when he was at Saint Louis, and was leading SLU in scoring before suffering an ankle injury. Then he was part of a group of players accused of sexual assault – one was expelled, and three others, including Bishop, were suspended. He never played there again. Fast-forward two and a half years later and he's at Norfolk State, which I thought was a curious move given his pedigree but then learned about the allegations against him. He's going on 23 years old with a year of eligibility after this. He's got a pretty jumper and was billed as a multi-level scorer, but he's done his damage mostly from three at NSU. He's too good to be in the MEAC, but I wonder if he'll have any opportunities to transfer out for his grad year.

Then you're looking at a few modest pieces – Bryant a wide-bodied guard but I'm guessing he'll have trouble getting his shot off against length on the perimeter. Whitley's not that unlike him – not a high riser but can take it to the hole and will even go on the low block. Against our guards and with the bigs lurking? I dunno. Can't see it. He hasn't shot the three much this year but has in the past. The kid Kashaun Hicks has shown he can hit the three. He had some big makes in their comeback against Bowling Green last week.

I'll go on record in saying I wouldn't touch a double-digit spread in this game. KenPom has this as a 12-point SBU win. NSU's record stinks, but they have played better, beating a pretty good Bowling Green team – they were projected to win the MAC East – on a neutral floor. Sadly it's their only D-I win – other triumphs have been over Greensboro, Penn State-Wilkes Barre and Apprentice. BUT they've been reasonably close with Ole Miss, Bradley and Northwestern on their home floors. I just think this will be close somehow. Post-Christmas hangover, right before the new year, right before the conference schedule starts, on the road, noon tip, maybe we underestimate them, maybe they want to avenge last year's loss. Two years ago, we were all moaning and groaning, wondering why we even bothered scheduling Norfolk State, and then proceeded to watch  the one-win Spartans hand us an L at home right before the new year.

I dunno. Just seems like another one close one to me.

Lastly, I'm not sure what kind of crowd they'll get, but I'm certain that the Norfolk State BAND is going to BRING IT. Love a good band. They left a good impression last year.

1237
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: Game 14: at American, 12/21 2pm
« on: December 21, 2019, 01:27:28 pm »
Looks like this game is going to go off as a pick’em. As long as our heads are in it, I feel like we’ll prevail. When you take away the middle like Otchere and Gueye have, it’s such a difference maker.


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1238
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: Game 13: at Virginia, 12/18 6:30pm
« on: December 19, 2019, 09:42:13 am »
Anybody see Gueye on the SC Top 10 TWICE?

The two-block sequence was #7 or so, and the pump fake and dunk at #4.

1239
SBU Men's Basketball / Game 14: at American, 12/21 2pm
« on: December 18, 2019, 11:26:23 pm »
AMERICAN (4-5)
Last Game: Mount St. Mary's 82, American 76 on 12/17/19
Last Game with SBU: Stony Brook 86, American 68 on 12/17/15; Warney game-high 22
Checkmate Unofficial Line: American -2
NET Ranking: Stony Brook 192, American 209
KenPom Rating: Stony Brook 167, American 209
KenPom Prediction: American 72, Stony Brook 71
Olaniyi 1,000 Point Watch: 872
Listen/Watch:
TV: https://watchstadium.com/network/patriot-league-network/
Notables:
6-2/190 sr G Sa'eed Nelson 17.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.6 apg, 3.2 spg, .490 FG%
6-3/215 so G Jacob Boonyasith 12.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, .519 FG%, .488 3-pt FG%
6-2/200 rso G Jamir Harris 12.1 ppg, .379 3-pt FG%, .955 FT%
6-4/185 jr G Stacy Beckton 8.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.3 bpg
6-10/245 sr C Mark Gasperini 6.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg

We can feel sorry for ourselves after giving three good teams, including the defending national champs, a game on their home floors, but that would only aid our adversary in what is our final road game out of conference. American doesn't have the cachet of Virginia, Providence or even Hofstra, but if we aren't hungry and focused walking into Bender Arena on Saturday afternoon, we'll see our losing streak swell to four.

The kid Nelson presents a very interesting matchup for us. He's the defending Player of the Year in the Patriot League and is on pace to repeat. But he's not this lights-out shooter as we'll see sometimes. He's a guy whose first choice is to finish around the basket. And he is really really good at that, keeping his defender off balance with starts and stops and spins, and then using either hand to score. And he is a NUISANCE defensively, flying into passing lanes and getting easy layups on the other end over and over and over. Check this out: EIGHT steals in a rout of UMBC, FIVE in AU's win over George Washington. He's fourth in the country in steals per game.

But ... with Gueye and Otchere keeping an eye on incoming threats, and a couple solid defenders in Olaniyi and Latimer (I'd imagine) to throw at him, can't we keep him at bay? It's been done. A really good George Mason team held him to just seven and they were held to a season-low 53 points. Albany beat AU in part due to limiting Nelson to 13. That has to be objective #1 for us.

They do have some shooters – Boonyasith, Harris, reserve Connor Nelson – and Nelson isn't a head-down, score-at-all-costs guard either. He can distribute, and those guys can knock them down. Harris was a three-star recruit who spent a season at Minnesota before transferring out, and Boonyasith was a Patriot All-Rookie Team member last year. Nelson does a good job finding them, and he can also get into the paint, draw the opposing pivot, and drop it off to a teammate underneath. Under Mike Brennan, a four-year starter under Pete Carril at Princeton, you can expect AU to move the ball well.

Early in the season, we really pounded it inside. We've gotten away from that a bit out of necessity; you're not going to overpower Seton Hall, Providence, Virginia, etc. The good news is we have shooters who can knock down threes. But we should find more breathing room underneath against AU, which hasn't defended the two or the three terribly well, and has shown a propensity for putting the opposition on the line, giving up more than 21 free throws per game. And they do not have the luxury of a legitimate shot blocker. Get to the rack, get on the glass, and pick our spots with threes.

We have to be careful though. We've played in front of tens of thousands of fans the last couple weeks and now walk into an opposing gym that will ... not have that kind of fanfare. An undermanned UMBC team went in there and got PUMMELED by 24, due in part to 20 turnovers, a flaw we've proven to have. With a full complement of players, I'd like to think we're better than that. But this is no slam dunk. It's been a while since we've gotten in the win column. Let's get it done.

1240
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: Game 13: at Virginia, 12/18 6:30pm
« on: December 18, 2019, 08:40:28 pm »
Easy team to root for.


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1241
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: Game 13: at Virginia, 12/18 6:30pm
« on: December 18, 2019, 07:59:34 pm »
Banked three just devastating after Foreman’s make in transition.


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1242
SBU Men's Basketball / Game 13: at Virginia, 12/18 6:30pm
« on: December 18, 2019, 07:29:55 pm »
Love the zone against a poor shooting team. I’m fine with Huff and Diakite shooting mid-range jumpers all night. Otchere and Gueye are deterrents for sure.

We’ve definitely shown to be eager to try to get a quick shot up.


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1243
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: Game 13: at Virginia, 12/18 6:30pm
« on: December 17, 2019, 04:44:53 pm »
Call me crazy, but I believe this is a winnable game. Virginia's tempo (slowest in the country according to KenPom) will be helpful for us as it will limit our fast break attempts, and limit our turnovers (our biggest weakness as a team). Key is a dynamic player, who was sorely missed against Purdue (30 point shellacking) and UNC (9 point victory over a now outranked Tar Heels squad). Diakite and Huff are athletic bigs with size, but they can be limited by Otchere and Gueye. Our two bigs need to be on the court together for a majority of this game. I would start Foreman, Eli, Garcia, Gueye, and Otchere. Their size and length will provide easier passing lanes against the pack-line defense. Additionally, we need to shoot open 3s when they become available. This is the only way for a mid-major to beat Virginia, as evidenced by UMBC's 12-24 shooting in the infamous tournament game.

Bottom line, this is a great opportunity for Stony Brook. They need to go out and play loose and limit their turnovers. With students home for the winter break, the atmosphere may not be as daunting as it normally would be. If we can shoot over 40% from deep ( a BIG if), we'll have a shot against the National Champs.

I'm surprised that the psych center lets its residents have access to the internet so they can make such posts.  ;D

1244
SBU Men's Basketball / Game 13: at Virginia, 12/18 6:30pm
« on: December 16, 2019, 11:05:36 pm »
VIRGINIA (8-1)
Last Game: Virginia 56, North Carolina 47 on 12/8/19
Last Game with SBU: First meeting
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Virginia -18.5
Net Ranking: TBD
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 170, Virginia 9
KenPom Prediction: Virginia 62, Stony Brook 46
Olaniyi 1,000 Point Watch: 861
Listen/Watch:
TV: http://bit.ly/BBallGm13Vid
Radio: https://listen.tunein.com/virginiabasketballschedule
Notables:
6-9/225 rsr F Mamadi Diakite 13.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.1 spg, 1.0 bpg, .465 FG%, .476 3-pt FG%
6-8/230 sr G Braxton Key 10.3 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.3 spg, .480 FG%
7-1/245 rjr F Jay Huff 9.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.3 bpg, .593 FG%
5-9/165 so G Kihei Clark 8.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.1 spg, .344 3-pt FG%, .850 3-pt FG%

Into the pressure cooker. Gulp.

I can't remember a team that has defended like this. I mean, they've held three Division I teams under 40 points, and Maine to just 26. Per KenPom, they are ranked at or near the top in just about every defensive category – adjusted efficiency (1st), effective FG% (1st), 2-point FG% (1st - 36.4%), block percentage (3rd - they block 16.8% of opponents' 2-pt FGA) and it doesn't end there. FWIW, last year's Hoos weren't even close to this, but it was a much more explosive team offensively with two first-rounders and a second-rounder.

One thing to help us out: UVA ought to be without Key, who hurt his wrist against Arizona State and missed the last three games. Without him, they got walloped at Purdue, but also beat a team by the name of North Carolina in this same gym, holding them to 1-14 from the three-point line.

So how do they do it? The pack-line defense, founded by Tony Bennett's dad and run to perfection in Charlottesville. Pack in four defenders, a fifth out top, force perimeter shots, help on everything in the paint, front to prevent easy passes to the post, hit the glass. If you don't like the three ball – looking at you, CoB! – then this isn't the game for  you. Purdue shot the lights out at home (13 for 25) and limited UVA to just four offensive rebounds. Of UVM's 52 shot attempts, 34 were from deep, with Lamb accounting for seven of the 12 makes. Note that these are the only two teams to top 50 all year against Virginia.

This matchup does not bode well for a team that has proven to be careless with the ball. I would like to see if we can get out and run. We're going to have to get on the glass and go – not rocket science of course, but this is not a gifted offensive team and if we can try to get some easy ones before they get in their halfcourt defense, we'd be glad to have it. More likely is a frustrating-as-hell halfcourt game. If we manage to get to 50 points, that is a hell of an effort.

I hope that UVA is here to stay. By all accounts, Bennett is an off-the-charts human being, and it's nice to see a team commit to defense, commit to team basketball, and to, lo and behold, four years of school to compete. Yeah, we'll see if it stays that way now that they've won it all, but I have to think the philosophy will keep them from competing for the elite high schoolers. For 2020, they have two four-stars inside ESPN's top 50 – not bad but not terrific. But again, I don't think Bennett is looking for high flyers. He's looking for guys who will buy in. And yeah, they can eventually go pro too – Brogdon, Hunter, Joe Harris are among the notable alumni.

1245
SBU Men's Basketball / Re: Game 12: at Providence, 12/13 8pm
« on: December 15, 2019, 12:31:02 pm »
Missed this one also – just too much going on.

Pretty good that we stayed with a team that was behind only Seton Hall, Villanova and Xavier in the Big East preseason poll.

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