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/MBBGm1VidStony 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.