Columbia’s entire season changed on Monday night when Noruwa Agho went down for the season with a left knee injury. Agho was highly integrated into Kyle Smith’s offensive attack, and without him there will definitely need to be adjustments.
Continue reading “Agho’s injury an opportunity for Lions to go big”
November 14, 2011 7:00 pm
Levien Gym
BBState Stats/Recap
Paul O’Neill was at the Columbia vs. Furman game on Monday night watching his son, Aaron O’Neill; who sat on the bench for the entire game. The former Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees outfielder collected 2,105 hits and made the All-Star team five times. He was a good player, but not an all-time great.
Yet O’Neill still managed to play on five World Series champions during his career, because he played with guys like Barry Larkin, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. O’Neill was a good player, but he never had to be “the man” on a championship team.
To be a champion a team needs those elite players, the guys to lean on when everything goes wrong. Each November every college basketball team spends game time searching for “the man.”
Coming into the season Columbia already knew it would be Noruwa Agho. Last season Agho used 28.4% of the Lions’ possessions whenever he was on the court – that’s stats speak for what some would call a ball hog – and led the team with 16.8 points per game. He is the focal point of Columbia’s offense.
As Columbia’s band played “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” at the under four timeout in the first half Agho had already attempted eight of his 16 shots, but he had just six points. He’d go on to score 12 along with five turnovers and five assists.
He also got hurt with 6:19 remaining in the game.
When Agho went down clutching his knee Columbia was trying to hold onto the final threads of the 13-point lead it had raced out to in the first half. The Lions aren’t noted for their offensive efficiency, but with tough defense Columbia had managed to get a working margin over their Southern Conference challenger. But in the second half the lead had slowly dwindled and when Agho went out things went from bad to worse.
Someone else had to step up. Brian Barbour tried. The junior forward was Columbia’s most efficient scorer last season, but he’s a point guard with soft shooting touch – not a fearless bowling ball heading fearlessly down the lane like Agho. Barbour tried valiantly, taking over that role, and spurring the offense along, but he committed two turnovers, missed a three, and just like that Furman had the lead.
It came as a bit of a shock to those in the building. The Paladins really snuck up on everyone. It felt like Columbia was in control almost until 2:05 remaining, the exact moment it wasn’t. Without Agho to drive and score or dish the Lions couldn’t generate that one basket that could end Furman’s run and help Columbia regain the momentum.
No one could be the man, and while Kyle Smith tried everything possible to spur his team for a few extra baskets, it wasn’t enough. Columbia was 0-2 after falling 62-58. The extent of Agho’s injury is unknown, but the Lions might be looking for a new lead guy soon.
Columbia was in a tough, one-point game against Furman with 6:19 remaining when the team’s season flashed before the Lions’ eyes as preseason All-Ivy League selection Noruwa Agho went down to the ground clutching his left knee.
Continue reading “Agho’s injury leaves questions for Columbia after 62-58 loss to Furman”
November 12, 2011 5:00 pm
Jadwin Gymnasium
BBState Stats/Recap
It happens so fast in college basketball, especially below the Red Line. One season you’re up, the next you’re down. Players graduate, coaches depart, the game changes. Maybe you’ve got Brad Stevens on your bench, so it just takes an adjustment period, but Stevens is just one man, and there is only one Butler right now. So chances are lately your team has gone from nothing, to something, to nothing. It’s the cycle of college basketball.
Two seasons ago, during the 2009-10 season under Mike Deane Wagner was at nothing. The Seahawks were 5-26 and 335th in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. Then everything changed when Dan Hurley agreed to take over. The former high school coach only lost 21 games in his entire nine-year career at St. Benedict’s in Newark, NJ. He lost 17 in his first season at Wagner.
But last season was used to build, the upswing was noticeable, and while a young team broke down towards the end of the season and a five-game losing streak ended any chance of getting to .500, there was something more important, hope.
On Saturday at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, NJ those hopes got to play a game. The Seahawks took a new roster, with brand new recruits, transfers and talented players throughout and whipped the Tigers 73-57. Hurley’s infectious energy made its way into his players and their tenacious ball pressure forced 28 Princeton turnovers. It was almost exactly as Hurley drew it up 17 months ago.
And so Wagner is on the upswing, but it may be that Princeton is on its way down. It wasn’t so long again that the Tigers were immune to such cycles. They had their own Stevens, Pete Carril. The legend coached the Tigers to 16 Ivy League championships and made Princeton a contender every season. He also created a network of coaches and players that could one day take his place. Princeton enjoyed years of dominating the Ivies thanks to Carril’s coaching tree, but in 2007-08 the Tigers finally hit the bottom going 7-23 in Sydney Johnson’s first season.
But Johnson built things back up quickly. Last season the Tigers went 25-7 and winning a dramatic Ivy League playoff over Harvard, 63-62, to advance to the NCAA Tournament. They were back on top again. But Johnson left and Mitch Henderson took his place and the uncertainty came creeping back in again.
Can Henderson maintain the Princeton legacy Can he keep the Tigers at that high Challengers continue to arrive in the Ivy League. Harvard and Yale look poised to take over the throne this season. Questions abound about how competitive the Tigers can be this season.
Those questions certainly weren’t put to bed on Saturday evening. The Tigers struggled against ball pressure and even when 6’0″ guard Kenneth Ortiz was guarding 6’7″ Ian Hummer they still couldn’t find a way to get a quality shot. It was obvious that Princeton, which is actually a pretty veteran team, still has a lot to learn.
But it looks like the Tigers just caught Wagner at the wrong time, because the Seahawks are on the rise and Princeton doesn’t know where it’s going just yet.
WAGNER 73, at PRINCETON 57
11/12/2011
WAGNER 1-0 (0-0)– T. Murray 4-7 5-6 15; C. Martin 2-7 0-0 5; J. Thompson 7-9 0-2 14; K. Ortiz 3-9 1-4 7; L. Rivers 4-9 2-3 12; N. Folahan 3-5 0-0 6; J. Williams 3-4 1-2 7; O. Parker 1-5 3-6 5; M. Burton 1-5 0-0 2; H. Naurais 0-1 0-0 0; R. Schrotenboer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 12-23 73.
PRINCETON 0-1 (0-0)– I. Hummer 8-17 2-4 19; D. Davis 5-7 0-0 12; T. Bray 1-2 0-0 3; M. Darrow 1-2 5-8 7; J. Sherburne 0-2 0-0 0; P. Saunders 2-4 0-0 5; W. Barrett 2-3 0-0 6; B. Connolly 0-4 1-2 1; B. Hazel 0-1 2-4 2; D. Koon 1-1 0-0 2; J. Comfort 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-43 10-18 57.
Three-point goals: WAG 5-11 (C. Martin 1-3; T. Murray 2-2; L. Rivers 2-4; M. Burton 0-2), PRIN 7-13 (P. Saunders 1-2; D. Davis 2-3; J. Sherburne 0-1; W. Barrett 2-2; I. Hummer 1-3; B. Connolly 0-1; T. Bray 1-1); Rebounds: WAG 35 (J. Thompson 9), PRIN 33 (I. Hummer 9); Assists: WAG 12 (T. Murray 4), PRIN 13 (W. Barrett 2); Total Fouls — WAG 19, PRIN 22; Fouled Out: WAG-O. Parker; PRIN-W. Barrett.
Every Saturday there’s a bunch of games to pick one, but only one is going to be named the Saturday Game of the Week! (SGOTW) This week’s is Wagner at Princeton. This game has a lot of intrigue thanks to the debut of Mitch Henderson on the bench for the Tigers, the hype around the Seahawks and the close game these two teams played last season (a 69-57 Princeton win).
Ken Pomeroy posted his preseason predictions today on his website. The conclusions are a little surprising in some leagues, especially the NEC. Let’s take a quick look at seven conferences.
As the season approaches every team has questions. This series is going to look at three key ones.
1. Can Columbia break into the top half of the Ivy League? – Last season the Lions tied for 5th in the Ivy League at 6-8. Most of that team returns, but Columbia was still picked 7th in the league by the media in the preseason. Nobody is particularly high on the Lions. In order to move up, the offense is going to have to be better in league play. Which brings me to question #2.
We’re thick into conference season by February and during a lot of weekends most of the teams around the city are on the road. There are still interesting games on the schedule though before the conference tournaments heat up in March. Here are five games worth attending.
Sixteen conferences and 142 teams are participating in BracketBusters this season. While most people are making jokes about how everyone gets to play, it’s interesting to see which conferences aren’t present this season. For instance, the Atlantic 10, Great West, Northeast Conference and the Ivy League present four examples of why a conference would sit out an event that offers 26 schools a decent bit of national exposure (and the rest a home-and-home series).
The Columbia Lions are looking for a schedule that can prepare them for an Ivy League schedule and their non-conference slate, which is filled with some intriguing games should do just that.
NYC Buckets Archive 