I was at the game, and I have to admit that I didn't have a clue on what precipitated the post game melee, even though it happened right in front of me. I was annoyed with AJ for trying to play tight defense on Washington's final drive and miss. The game was 'over' and we should have just celebrated. As I tried to struggle into my jacket, I looked up and the melee was on. Thoughts on what MIGHT have caused it: *When you play on a Saturday, and there are so many games, you have to expect an inferior reefing crew. An example of poor officiating is the number of free throws attempted during the game. In the first half each team had four FT attempts. In the second half and OT they shot 23 and we shot 25. No consistency in the calls. But they didn't get all the calls wrong, like CC's fifth on a Washington three. *Fans were upset when the Iona announcer (PA) said that Weldon committed his fifth foul and it was put up on the scoreboard. The TV guys Sherman/Kennedy also said it was his fifth. He stayed in the game with no reaction from the Iona bench or the scoring table. At the very least the PA guy should have corrected his fifth foul call. So that is on the Iona admin. I was keeping score and I had him for five, but evidently one foul MUST have been charged to another player. *The PA also should have done a much better job of trying to explain the many times the refs visited the monitors. Those at the game didn't have a clue. *I'll also admit I didn't see (live) Wyche (??) ask for a TO until I watched the replay. But here is where the TV guys screwed up, by saying that since SPU was out of timeouts, that was the reason why John Dunne didn't call one. Look at the relay Doug, that's what they're there for. *If Rob Kennedy (Pat's nephew) did indeed say what has been reported, about DL, it was classless on his part. And I'm surprised, because I feel he usually does a good job as the color guy. I just saw Sherman/Kennedy do the SPU-Rider game and Kennedy called out the ref who made a call against SPU, which, in effect, decided the game, for making the call from about 40 feet away. Most announcing duo's bend over backwards to overlook bad calls. Rob didn't. And he also said that near the end of regulation, that AJ would have to make a play. Didn't say shot. And my question, when the play/pass happened, was it a set play? By that I mean AJ was taking it to the basket, which is what everyone expected, and when Dominique came out to help, Kelvin had a wide open path to the basket. Game tied/game over. AJ can put those two plays into a highlight reel and send to the NBA scouts. I know the melee will get most of the attention, but those were two of the most exciting Iona plays that I've seen in all the years I've watched Gael BB. *Needless to say the coaches didn't attend the post game reception, but Rick Cole did and we are fortunate to have him as our AD. He's a class guy.His take was that he didn't know what the League would do. *Also lost in the post game 'stuff', was the vg play of Jaylani Dublin. He only played 13 minutes, but shot 4-5, and only his two missed free throws kept him from double figures. *Our lucky number, 16, returned, after missing by one point at MSG. *I'll close by using the words of Charles Dickens. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". (Somebody let MTS know which paper Dickens writes for).
Great post 59.
It was Washington btw who made the TO signal before the jump ball call. Look closely, he does it very quickly but still should be a technical.
Yes, nice post 59.
05, that's what I saw. Desi sitting on his butt quickly motioning for a timeout. If they had none left, it should have been a technical foul.
Interesting to hear the different takes on the game. Some very slanted, some objective. My thoughts:
1) Whatever DL did must have been terrible. Proud of the coach for sitting him and risking the loss in regulation.
2) The refs were awful and as some have pointed out, awful for both teams.
3) If scouts from Bulgaria Basketball were present for the first 39 minutes plus, they would have no interest in AJ. However, he played like a pro after that.
4) I am concerned about a suspension of some type for the ref incident. Normally any "touching" of an official results in disciplinary action.
5) IW going out there with boot was insane.
6) Rob Kennedy is Pat Kennedy's nephew,
6) Great win off a very poor performance.
chels, i agree with everything but the first point. If you are going to bench him you bench him for the whole game after the technical. i would have been fine if he didn't bench him and made him run for 3 hrs today, but once you bench him the message is you are not playing win or lose, not its ok if we lose in regulation but not ot, should stick to your guns when disciplining a player
Interesting to hear the different takes on the game. Some very slanted, some objective. My thoughts:
1) Whatever DL did must have been terrible. Proud of the coach for sitting him and risking the loss in regulation.
2) The refs were awful and as some have pointed out, awful for both teams.
3) If scouts from Bulgaria Basketball were present for the first 39 minutes plus, they would have no interest in AJ. However, he played like a pro after that.
4) I am concerned about a suspension of some type for the ref incident. Normally any "touching" of an official results in disciplinary action.
5) IW going out there with boot was insane.
6) Rob Kennedy is Pat Kennedy's nephew,
6) Great win off a very poor performance.
chels, i agree with everything but the first point. If you are going to bench him you bench him for the whole game after the technical. i would have been fine if he didn't bench him and made him run for 3 hrs today, but once you bench him the message is you are not playing win or lose, not its ok if we lose in regulation but not ot, should stick to your guns when disciplining a player
You make a good point. I thought about that. The Coach obviously felt he made his point, but you make a good case.
Iona1970, I disagree about benching of David Laury. Coach Cluess might have benched David for regulation, because his head was not right at that moment. By overtime he might have refocused and been ready. Benching was strategic, not disciplinary.
From the Siena board clearly illustrating - if true - that MTS is an absolute dolt. Isn't he the guy who tweets to potential Siena recuits about the joy of being a Saint?
I heard there was an altercation after the game and MTS is on the phone with Ensor trying to get English suspended for 5 games and other for 1-2 games
LOL. Don't know what the protocol is for refs in this situation. Obviously the ref was trying to prevent a fight from happening, which is a good thing. But the ref initiated contact with AJ. It wasn't a situation where the ref made a call and AJ went after him. You get grabbed in the heat of a fight by someone trying to wrap you up, its likely you aren't thinking rationally. The ref initiated contact with the player. The player shouldn't have resisted, but in the heat of the moment did. Maybe one/two game suspension. Five games is absurd, as is MTS's position most of the time about everything.
Thanks for the links, super. Now that I have seen the replay, I have to admit I was wrong in what I posted about this last night. I said that AJ did not know it was a ref that was trying to restrain him. It is clear from the video that the ref came from AJ's front and AJ had to know it was a ref. Another example of a mistaken eyewitness account.
I do not know what a player's responsibility is once he is being retrained by a ref. Clearly we have all seen officials restrain players to prevent a fight and the player keeps advancing. I think that AJ was caught up in the moment and wanted to get back into the scrum. A mistake on his part. Especially since it is clear that he was the first on pushed by some unidentified SPU player. My concern is that as AJ turned to his left, his left arm also extended. If this is construed as pushing a ref, I assume he will be suspended for a period.
This was an unfortunate incident started by SPU. AJ was pushed first. purportedly as a result of his celebrating an unlikely win and the frustration of SPU in blowing the game.
Iona1970, I disagree about benching of David Laury. Coach Cluess might have benched David for regulation, because his head was not right at that moment. By overtime he might have refocused and been ready. Benching was strategic, not disciplinary.
I think it was disciplinary.
"He [Dominique] said some things, some foul language, and I told him don’t talk to me like that,” Laury added on the altercation. “That’s pretty much it. It was just that I was so close to his face that the ref called a tech. [Coach Cluess] told me I’ve got to know better than to do things like that, especially late in the game. I respect what he did in keeping me out until overtime as he should have done. I can’t mess up and have us lose a game at home because someone called me a name. People are going to do that all the time.”
Iona1970, I disagree about benching of David Laury. Coach Cluess might have benched David for regulation, because his head was not right at that moment. By overtime he might have refocused and been ready. Benching was strategic, not disciplinary.
I think it was disciplinary.
"He [Dominique] said some things, some foul language, and I told him don’t talk to me like that,” Laury added on the altercation. “That’s pretty much it. It was just that I was so close to his face that the ref called a tech. [Coach Cluess] told me I’ve got to know better than to do things like that, especially late in the game. I respect what he did in keeping me out until overtime as he should have done. I can’t mess up and have us lose a game at home because someone called me a name. People are going to do that all the time.”
I also thought Cluess was disciplining Laury and the post game comment from DL makes it clear that's what happened.
I really hope the team learns from this. Canisius, Siena, St Peter's, Manhattan, Quinny, all have or will focus on clutch and grab defense against Iona. Refs, even good ones, can't call every foul so the team cannot get rattled and lose their cool. Would probably be smart to concentrate on drives to the hoop at the beginning of our conf games to try to put the refs in the position of having to make a call.
We can expect a steady diet of this kind of "defense" against Iona. The staff has to adjust and the players too.
Let's see what Ensor does with the post game altercation.
"He [Dominique] said some things, some foul language, and I told him don’t talk to me like that,” Laury added on the altercation. “That’s pretty much it. It was just that I was so close to his face that the ref called a tech. [Coach Cluess] told me I’ve got to know better than to do things like that, especially late in the game. I respect what he did in keeping me out until overtime as he should have done. I can’t mess up and have us lose a game at home because someone called me a name. People are going to do that all the time.”
I also thought Cluess was disciplining Laury and the post game comment from DL makes it clear that's what happened.
I really hope the team learns from this. Canisius, Siena, St Peter's, Manhattan, Quinny, all have or will focus on clutch and grab defense against Iona. Refs, even good ones, can't call every foul so the team cannot get rattled and lose their cool. Would probably be smart to concentrate on drives to the hoop at the beginning of our conf games to try to put the refs in the position of having to make a call.
We can expect a steady diet of this kind of "defense" against Iona. The staff has to adjust and the players too.
Let's see what Ensor does with the post game altercation.
I didn't think it was so much about clutch and grab. I thought St. Peters kept the score low in 2 ways:
1) Had nothing to do with St Peters. Poor shooting- Missed tons of shots we usually make (many of which were wide open).
2) St. Peters was so deliberate on offense, I almost fell asleep. They really used the clock to their advantage.
I would not be surprised either way. AJ could get a suspension, but we've seen in the past in all sports players running through or throwing off ref's in these types of situation. As long as AJ did not initiate the contact, which he didn't, he may be OK. Having said that, a suspension wouldn't surprise me. And yes, he knew that was the ref. Clearly.
I should add a couple of comments, and probably should not have picked on MTS. Two things: 1. I didn't notice it in real time, but seeing a clip on AJ's drive and dish which sent the game into OT, I was very impressed with a great pick set by Ryden Hines. It was text book. 2. Looking at, but not reading the MAAC board, I see there is a thread started by Soup that says that AJ will be suspended for the year. And it was only recently that I saw what Soup's problem is. In just about every other post, he ends it with LMAO. And I have learned what that means. So I'm guessing that he has laughed so much of his *** off that there is nothing left but a hole. And even MTS can figure out what that makes Soup.
I should add a couple of comments, and probably should not have picked on MTS. Two things: 1. I didn't notice it in real time, but seeing a clip on AJ's drive and dish which sent the game into OT, I was very impressed with a great pick set by Ryden Hines. It was text book. 2. Looking at, but not reading the MAAC board, I see there is a thread started by Soup that says that AJ will be suspended for the year. And it was only recently that I saw what Soup's problem is. In just about every other post, he ends it with LMAO. And I have learned what that means. So I'm guessing that he has laughed so much of his *** off that there is nothing left but a hole. And even MTS can figure out what that makes Soup.
I should add a couple of comments, and probably should not have picked on MTS. Two things: 1. I didn't notice it in real time, but seeing a clip on AJ's drive and dish which sent the game into OT, I was very impressed with a great pick set by Ryden Hines. It was text book. 2. Looking at, but not reading the MAAC board, I see there is a thread started by Soup that says that AJ will be suspended for the year. And it was only recently that I saw what Soup's problem is. In just about every other post, he ends it with LMAO. And I have learned what that means. So I'm guessing that he has laughed so much of his *** off that there is nothing left but a hole. And even MTS can figure out what that makes Soup.
Somewhat overlooked due to the scrum was the fact that we were a bit lucky that Dominique missed 1 of those 2 free throws toward the end of resgulation. Excellent defense to deny Washington the ball on that out of bounds play. I believe A.J. was the defender.
Also, nice to see Amayo make two clutch free throws to seal the game. Although the first one was a line drive that barely cleared the iron.