And no that is not a misprint, that's reel as in hi-light reel. The season is about 10 days old, and some things have stood out (talking about the MAAC and other opponents). Don't have the time, but will post my observations soon.
Some of my early observations: *Came away from PR with the opinion that Scott is playing MUCH better than I expected, and that Taj is a player. However, as good as Randy played, I think we need Diggs to get healthy and on the court for extended minutes. *MoMo is at his best when taking it to the basket, and either going to the tin or pulling up for the short jumper. He's not as effective when he falls in love with the three. And looking at his muscular build makes me wonder if he benefitted from two years in the weight room at a BCS football school. *FF will be a tough opponent, and they play with a three forward/two guard lineup. It will be interesting to see how that compares to Iona's two forward/three guard set. Wade has not done much, but they are winning as he learns on the job. Looking forward to seeing them on the tube in Orlando. *Other MAAC players that I'm looking forward to seeing are Walters and Hymes of Siena, Green and Mason of Niagara and Washington of Canisius. And still others Jones (Rider), Morton and Fields (?) (Marist), Prescott (SP) and a bunch of Manhattan guys. IMO, a lot of new blood in the MAAC. *St. Joe's game reminds me of our game last year with Richmond. I don't think the Hawks are as good as last year's Spiders, and feel that we are a lot better than last year's team. However, we went into the Richmond game with a feeling of desperation, and I have NO idea of the mindset of this year's team. *Tim Cleuss is an excellent coach. *From an entertainment perspective, I watch a little more intently when Ra'Shad James enters the game. And I mean both ends of the court. *Nice to see Kevin Willard's Pirates get off to a good start. Again,mo, but Kevin is easy to root for. Not sure how they'll hold up in BE play. *Scott is the best MAAC PG since Jared Jordan. And that's not a knock on Ron Moore from Siena, who was a better deep shooter than Scott, but not near the passer. And a reminder of those Siena apologists who point to the rings won by Moore, let's remember that they were won on his homecourt. Apples to oranges, or at least worthy of an asterik. *Fordham's big win against Binghamton lost some of its lustre, when Bing. got pulverized by a struggling Peacock team. The Rams versus the Jaspers should be a good game. *St. John's shooting 38 free throws with #18 ranked, at the time, Aggie team awarded only three, is a real black eye for officiating. The even worse news members of that crew, Faia, Pagano and Riley will probably be doing some Gael games. Almost makes you wish for Joe DeMayo. *Mike Glover's value starts with his strong hands. *Go Gaels!!
I taped last night's Siena game vs. Ga Tech. As most know the Yellow Jackets won, 72-44, but I wasn't impressed, with the exception of Rice. For me it was easy to see why St. Joe's beat them last weekend. But even though he shot 1-9, I was impressed with the Siena PG, Hymes. He is not only quick, but he has PG tendencies and can make the pass to his big men. Unfortunately, he's not surrounded by much talent. Forget Walters, a guy I heard much about, but hadn't seen play. Aosiske (Sp?) is pretty quick but has trouble finishing, and is Alejo like from the foul line. Another freshman on the team, Poole, is supposed to be a good outside shooter, but had an off night. Jury, imo, is still out on him. Team depends on Downey, but he's really only a role player and has to be surrounded by talent in order to be effective, and Siena doesn't have the talent. I believe they play at Vermont on Saturday, but signs point to a long season in Albany, but Hymes should give them hope for next year.
Post by jerseygael on Nov 24, 2011 12:33:01 GMT -5
KW plays defense we don't at least not consisitently. I watched what seemed like at least 4 or 5 uncontested dunks or lay ups and numerous open threes. Ridley is really lost out there right now. He's constantly looking in at the bench for direction. Hopefully he'll learn the sysyem as the year progresses but right now he's a huge defensive liability. St. Joe's is better than I thought but I wonder how much better. Interesting to watch them the rest of the year. Anyway I am not complaining since this is as entertaining a team as I've seen in a long time. Looking forward to a wild ride!!
Just watched FF lose to Dayton, and, imo, FF is a VG team. Their front line is exceptionally good and more traditional than ours, with three bigs and two smalls. Sanders is a Glover clone but slightly smaller. Oelander is improved and Barrow is a true blue collar worker. At present their weakness is the backcourt, with Wade at the point struggling, and Needham seems lost, playing some point and some off guard. Fields and Nickerson are up and down, though both are capable of good things. Not sure if it is just the gameplan (Dayton) or Sidney Johnson's style to run their offense through the big men, but the guards don't seem to contribute much offensively. The freshman, Adam Jones, is a nice addition to the front court. At present, I'd say they're a work in progress, but by the time we play them, I'd say they'll be a very tough opponent.
Just watched FF lose to Dayton, and, imo, FF is a VG team. Their front line is exceptionally good and more traditional than ours, with three bigs and two smalls. Sanders is a Glover clone but slightly smaller. Oelander is improved and Barrow is a true blue collar worker. At present their weakness is the backcourt, with Wade at the point struggling, and Needham seems lost, playing some point and some off guard. Fields and Nickerson are up and down, though both are capable of good things. Not sure if it is just the gameplan (Dayton) or Sidney Johnson's style to run their offense through the big men, but the guards don't seem to contribute much offensively. The freshman, Adam Jones, is a nice addition to the front court. At present, I'd say they're a work in progress, but by the time we play them, I'd say they'll be a very tough opponent.
Also watched that game. I think Dayton is lower third of A-10. Fairfield is good, but showed little quickness other than Needham. Just do not Sanders as a Glover clone. he did not seem all that effective when forced away from the rim, and he does not have the Glover drop steps or quickness inside. Oelander will be a match-up problem for us. While good inside, Fairfield does not compare to what we have seen from St. Joseph's or Purdue. Hell, Purdue needed 91 points to beat us. Actually, we beat ourselves, with the help of about four or five Purdue prayers.
If we can speed them up, I see a lot of turnovers. Maybe I have rose colored glasses. I don't see any way they take two from us. I think we can take two from them.
I agree on Fairfield. I am sure they will improve as the year goes on but so will we and right now they are easily about 7-10 points worse than us.
Iona is going to need to beat Fairfield at least twice because come March I think despite a lofty record the NCAA committee will not give Iona an at large bid based on lack of wins over majors, however if we win the Maac tourney and they are forced to seed us they will give Iona a 9 or 10 seed because they know how good Iona really is. One win on a Monday in March should not be the difference between a 9 seed and a 13 (not in the tournament) but this is how I feel The NCAA committee will look at Iona come that time.
Marshall won at Cincinnati. That is Iona's chance at a big win!
Presbyterian also won at Cincinnati; Yikes. We knew Marshall would be good. I'm surprised at how well Denver is doing, but I confess I didn't know much about them.