Category: LIU Brooklyn

Tempo-free NEC: Almost home edition

A couple Senior Nights have been played, most of the conference race has been decided and the NEC is getting wrapped up. As we go into the final week of the regular season what do people need to know about the league? Well, thanks to Ken Pomeroy’s new conference statistics we can take a look at some general trends. For one, like I’ve been saying all season, the NEC is a fast league. The fifth fastest paced league in the country in fact. This is driven by LIU Brooklyn, St. Francis (NY) and Sacred Heart, but it’s also a product of there not being any particularly slow teams in the league. There’s no Wisconsin here. The slowest paced team in the league in conference play has been Robert Morris at 65.8 possessions per game.

What else happens in the NEC? A lot of turnovers, a lot of offensive rebounds and quite a few assists. I think this is why Andrew Chiappazzi likes to say that this is a guard’s league. The teams that have good ones are able to rise above the pack. Of course, talent always rises to the top and that’s why once again LIU is sitting at the top of the league standings (or Jason Brickman). But it’s the team they’ve beaten twice, Wagner, that’s still hanging tough atop the efficiency rankings.

NEC Efficiency Standings:

1. Wagner (14-2) — +0.188
2. LIU Brooklyn (15-1) — +0.123
3. Robert Morris (12-4) — +0.106
4. St. Francis (NY) (12-4) — +0.054
5. Quinnipiac (8-8) — +0.052
6. Central Connecticut (8-8) — +0.018
7.  Sacred Heart (7-9) — -0.008
8.  Monmouth (8-8) — -0.041
9. Mount St. Mary’s (5-11) — -0.057
10. St. Francis (PA) (5-11) — -0.065
11. Fairleigh Dickinson (1-15) — -0.185
12. Bryant (1-15) — -0.207

Superlatives:

Best Offense: LIU at 1.13 points per possession
Best Defense: Wagner at 0.89 points allowed per possession
Worst Offense: Fairleigh Dickinson at 0.83 points per possession
Worst Defense: Bryant at 1.12 points allowed per possession
Luckiest: LIU at 2.4 wins above expected
Unluckiest: Quinnipiac at 2.3 wins below expected
Highest Variance: Quinnipiac
Lowest Variance: LIU

I think those last two things are related. (And are important moving forward!)

Three teams have significantly outplayed their pythagorean records: LIU, Monmouth and St. Francis (NY). All three of those teams have won a number of close games in conference this season and I think their coaches have a lot to do with it. On Twitter there’s been a lot of discussion lately about who should be the NEC coach of the year. I think in any other season King Rice would actually have a great argument, but it should come down to Dan Hurley and Glenn Braica. I think the fact that the Terriers have played so well in close conference games is a mark in favor of Braica’s candidacy for the award. It’s worth noting that Quinnipiac is the only NEC that’s “unlucky” by more than a game in conference play. According to Ken Pomeroy the Bobcats are 322nd in luck in the entire nation. That’s a painful way to go through the season.

LIU’s free throws are a valuable ally

At this point LIU Brooklyn and free throws should be almost synonymous in people’s heads. For each of the past two seasons during their run through the NEC the Blackbirds have been in the Top 10 in the nation in both offensive and defensive free throw rate.

This season LIU has attempted 491 free throws in the second halves of games alone. Their opponents have attempted 411 free throws total. It’s an amazing rate that is certainly helping them win basketball games. In fact, there are four teams – LIU, Gonzaga, Long Beach State and Nevada – that are in the Top 25 in both offensive and defensive free throw rates. Each of those teams currently leads their respective conferences and is the favorite for an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

“It’s something we’ve done every game for years. It’s not fluke,” said LIU head coach Jim Ferry after his team shot 30 free throws against St. Francis (NY). “It’s not like well they got… We get 30 fouls shots every game. We lead the country in doing so. It’s part of what we do. You just have to relax step up and make them.”

The fact that LIU makes the free throws is just as important as taking them. With 566 free throws made this season the Blackbirds rank number one in the nation. That’s even after shooting 84 fewer free throws than the No. 1 team in offensive free throw rate, New Mexico State. That’s because LIU shoots 73.4% from the line, the third highest percentage amongst teams in the Top 25 in free throw attempts and 45th in the nation overall.

It’s the second half though where LIU’s aggression really starts to show up. This season the Blackbirds have attempted 280 free throws in the first half and have a free throw rate of just 34.8% during the first 20 minutes. If that trend were continued over a full game LIU would rank 217th in the nation, but the Blackbirds go to work on opponents and the referees during the second half.

LIU has attempted 491 free throws in the second half and has a free throw rate of 67.3% during that time. That would be far and away the best mark in the nation if done over a full game and shows just how hard it is to stop the Blackbirds from getting to the line.

Part of the reason LIU has such a significant advantage from the line is the team’s frontcourt depth and its style of play. Julian Boyd, Jamal Olasewere and Kenny Onyechi almost have to be fouled in order for NEC opponents to hope to contain them. Both Boyd and Olasewere rank in the top 100 players in the nation in individual free throw rate and if Onyechi had enough minutes to qualify he would rank seventh overall.

Olasewere in particular is a handful for officials. His continuously attacking style puts pressure on defenses to stand in and take charges or to try to strip the ball on the dribble, each moment offering up an opportunity to draw another foul. It’s why according to Ken Pomeroy’s estimates Olasewere ranks seventh in the nation in fouls drawn per 40 minutes, there’s just no other way to guard him. (Boyd ranks ninth by the way.)

This is all well and good, but watching the Blackbirds and listening to Ferry speak you have to wonder, is this really a skill? Is there a way to be good at getting officials to call fouls and avoiding them? Lets look at a few graphs to help determine the answer.

There are three questions I want to attempt to answer here:

  1. Is this a repeatable skill year to year? (Can you coach it?)
  2. Are offensive and defensive free throw rates related?
  3. Is being a good team, and having late leads, the way to have a high free throw rate?

First in terms of if this is a repeatable skill. Well, if it wasn’t luck and teams could really teach it you’d see a correlation from year-to-year. It appears you certainly can teach teams to not foul. From 2009-10 to 2010-11 there was a 0.61 correlation between a team’s defensive free throw rates. From 2010-11 to this season that correlation currently stands at 0.56. Considering the turnover in personnel and coaching staffs, that seems like a strong indicator that this is a skill that can be taught. On the other hand, offensive free throw rate doesn’t show quite as strong a correlation at 0.47 and 0.37 year-to-year over those same seasons. Here are graphs of 2011 vs. 2012 seasons for both.

For another example of why defensive free throw rate may be able to be taught take a look at the year-to-year improvement in Ferry’s Blackbirds. Since he went through an entire recruiting cycle he’s never had a team finish worse than 100th in the nation in defensive free throw rate. Over the past four seasons the Blackbirds have ranked 77th, 54th, 7th and now 2nd. It’s obvious that they’re on to something and it’s working. (It’s worth noting though that a strong defensive free throw rate doesn’t mean you’ve got a good defense. It’s just one small component.) If winning the battle at the line is important to a staff’s philosophy it can be done.

But this brings me to point two. If avoiding and drawing fouls are teachable skills then why isn’t there a clear correlation between the two? For instance, there is almost no correlation between offensive and defensive free throw rate this season. Here’s a graph with both on the axes. It’s a giant blob.

Also, it doesn’t appear that offensive free throw rates are impacted by how good a team is. I thought that maybe teams that were talented, as measured by their Pomeroy rating, would also have a high offensive free throw rate. That’s not the case as it turns out, as you can see in the graph below. (Well, there’s a slight relationship.)

So what have we learned? LIU and free throws have a special bond and the Blackbirds have a unique skill that will certainly serve them well for the rest of the season and possibly into the future as well.

LIU needs five more minutes to take down Sacred Heart

After Shane Gibson’s three to force overtime LIU Brooklyn could’ve just given up. The Blackbirds had come back from 11 down in the second half only to see their six-point lead with 35 seconds disappear. Instead LIU got even, fast, scoring the first 10 points of overtime to close out a 103-91 victory at the Wellness Center.

“I think the biggest thing was probably experience,” said Michael Culpo about what helped the Blackbirds in overtime. “We went into overtime in the finals last year so we weren’t that rattled coming into overtime. We just knew that we needed to pick it up and play better than them in that five minute segment.”

Culpo hit two threes during the initial flurry in overtime that sealed the game for LIU. That Blackbirds were up 91-81 by the time there was 3:25 remaining in the extra period. LIU’s largest lead of the game came with 36 seconds remaining in OT at 14.

The win gives LIU 20 victories on the season and keeps the Blackbirds one game up on Wagner with three NEC games left to play. Along with Robert Morris’ victory over Bryant it also gives the conference three 20-game winners for the second time in league history.

Things didn’t come easy for the Blackbirds. Jim Ferry shortened his rotation down to just seven players as thanks to the play of center Justin Swidowski, 23 points, and Gibson, 24 points, SHU kept the pressure on all game. The Pioneers also used a 2-3 zone to slow down the game’s tempo for stretches and stay within striking distance.

“I thought Sacred Heart did a good job of trying to control the tempo of this game,” Ferry said.

One of the side effects to the zone was a return to form for Culpo. The senior had been struggling lately, going 5 for 15 over his past four games, but he stepped up and went 6-10 from beyond the arc against SHU and scored 20 points.

“I don’t think anything was any different. My teammates never lose confidence in me,” Culpo said. “They’re always looking for me. As of late I’ve been struggling shooting the ball, but I’ve been in the gym getting extra shots up.”

Jamal Olasewere recorded a double-double again, with 27 points and 11 boards, and Julian Boyd added 20 points and nine boards, but rebounding will be a priority before physical Quinnipiac comes to Brooklyn for Senior Day on Saturday afternoon. The Bobcats are coming in off a 64-56 home loss to St. Francis (NY) on Thursday night.

“I’m just expecting a physical, intense game like every LIU-Quinnipiac game has been for the past four years,” Ferry said. “They’re all tough, grind-it-out games. I think we’re fortunate we’re at home. We’re going to have to play better than we played tonight to win that game.”

The NBA can’t stop Jeremy Lin, but Columbia and LIU once did

Jeremy Lin is blowing up the NBA. In his last six games the former Harvard guard is averaging 26.8 points and 8.5 points per game and Linsanity has basically taken over Twitter and highlight shows. After last night’s game-winner against Toronto things are getting out of control. But before Lin was even on an NBA roster he played his college basketball with a rebuilding Crimson program. His college record as a starter (sophomore – senior seasons) was a game under .500 and four of those losses came to New York City schools.

Yup, the Lakers and Kobe Bryant can’t stop Lin, but the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds and Columbia Lions could. In fact, Lin lost three games to Columbia in those three seasons. Also, he played at LIU during his sophomore season on December 13, 2007. Lin scored 17 points in 25 minutes, but Harvard went home with the loss 88-77. Jaytornah Wisseh had a double-double going up against Lin with 13 points and 11 assists in the game for the Blackbirds.

But Harvard didn’t lose that game because of Lin. Instead the front court, now the Crimson’s strength, was just horrible. That led to an 8-22 record and two losses to Columbia. In those two losses Lin scored six points and 10 points respectively as Harvard fell 73-64 and 61-54. He also committed nine turnovers in those two games against nine assists.

The next season Harvard improved a bit to 14-14 overall and split with Columbia. The Lions won at Levien 60-59, it had been Lin’s nine points early in the half that gave the Crimson their working margin (AP recap). He finished with 19 points in 38 minutes and six turnovers and hit two free throws to give Harvard a 59-58 lead, but it was Kevin Bulger’s 10-footer that was the game-winner.

What does all this mean? Well on a per 40-minute basis those four games were worse than the Lin’s short time as an NBA star. It’s crazy to think that he’s developed so much to be such a major factor at the NBA level and great to think about where he came from in such a short time.

Fun facts you should know about the NEC

This post may sound like I was smart enough to read the weekly notes from the NEC where Jamal Olasewere was named the co-player of the week. If that’s the case that’s fine because here are some fun tidbits that the conference office figured out the time to share and I thought were pretty awesome. Note: If you think you could’ve written this post it’s probably true. Read the full notes here.

Fun fact #1: This could be just the second time in conference history that the NEC has three 20-game winners. Wagner has 21 victories, LIU Brooklyn and Robert Morris each currently have 19 and seem good bets to get that final one. The last time this happened? 1995-96 when Marist, Mount St. Mary’s and Monmouth all cracked 20 wins. The NEC put two teams in the NIT that season along with an NCAA bid. It’s certainly possible that Wagner, LIU and RMU will all get postseason invitations of some sort (NCAA/NIT/CBI/CIT) when this season is over.

Fun fact #2: Wagner’s 21-4 record is the reverse of its 4-21 record just two years ago. That’s ridiculous. In the past 19 seasons Wagner has won 20 games two other times in 2002-03 (the school’s only NCAA appearance) and 2007-08.

Fun fact #3: Olasewere went 11-11 from the field to earn Battle of Brooklyn MVP honors. His 11-11 from the field tied Luke Apfeld of Vermont for the most made shots without a miss in a game this season. Note: Apfeld was also 1-1 from the free throw line and scored 24 points. Olasewere was just 9-12 from the line. Of course Olasewere also made his 11 shots against St. Francis (NY) whereas Apfeld was playing Towson.

Fun fact #4: Shane Gibson of Sacred Heart currently has the highest per game scoring average in conference play for all NEC players since 1998 at 25.9 points per game. I can only imagine that will probably go up in a shootout against LIU Brooklyn on Thursday, a game I’m excited to be attending. Gibson is using 28.7% of SHU’s possessions (72nd in the country) and has a 113.3 offensive rating (313, but 11th amongst players using at least 28% of their team’s possessions). He’s carrying that offense.

Fun opinion #1 (Technically not a fact): Kyle Vinales of Central Connecticut is the leading scorer amongst NEC freshman and probably the leader for the NEC’s Rookie of the Year award, but I’d take two players – St. Francis (NY)’s Jalen Cannon and Robert Morris’ Lucky Jones – over him.

Oh yeah, NYC NEC still lives as thanks to Wagner’s two wins over Mount St. Mary’s last week the three city schools are now 29-1 against NEC competition. The road gets a little tougher this week as St. Francis has to go to suddenly scorching Quinnipiac and LIU Brooklyn hosts the Bobcats on Saturday.

Tempo-free NEC: Ready for the tournament?

Is it time for the NEC conference tournament already? After six sweeps during rivalry week the playoff picture has become awfully clear. I’d like to recommend that you check out Ryan Peters’ breakdown of the current league standings and what teams have left. I’ve also got the tempo-free standings and final projected conference records according to the 10,000 sims, which are much less random now.

Continue reading “Tempo-free NEC: Ready for the tournament?” →

Jamal Olasewere and Julian Boyd lead LIU past St. Francis (NY)

Jamal Olasewere went a perfect 11-11 from the field and scored a career-high 32 points to take home MVP honors in LIU’s 81-78 win over St. Francis (NY) in the Battle of Brooklyn. It was teammate Julian Boyd who scored 20 points, grabbed 10 boards and hit the eventual game-winning shot. Here’s some video that I took of the shot from the stands with my Flip video camera.

“That’s a shot I practice every day in practice,” Boyd said. “I don’t know if coach likes it. But it’s something we do everyday, just a little turnaround jump shot. I thought it was going to come off on the left side of the rim. Thank God pushed it in. It was falling off and it went in. I was happy it did.”

So We Meet Again

Game #8-772: Saint Francis (NY) Terriers at Long Island Blackbirds

February 12, 2012 4:30 pm
Athletic Center
BBState Stats/Recap

It was rivalry week. LIU Brooklyn and St. Francis (NY) had just met at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Now it was Sunday and the Blackbirds and Terriers were at it again. That’s because NEC is the only conference in the nation that is crazy enough to make you play your rival twice in one week.

Unlike past seasons these games meant a lot too. Both teams were in the thick of the conference race. SFNY, like the rest of the NEC, was chasing first-place LIU for the second season in a row. The Blackbirds had just one conference loss.

Even though this game wasn’t at MSG, it was still special. Crowds had packed WRAC for the Battle of Brooklyn. I decided to sit in the stands for the game just behind the basket. I was hoping for a different experience than being down on press row. Plus, then I could cheer for both teams. (Well, in my seat I probably had to be careful cheering for SFNY. The stands were divided into two camps and mine was definitely in the LIU section.)

The game started out normally enough. Runs from both sides were made and answered. Jalen Cannon and Julian Boyd, probably the best players for SFNY and LIU respectively, were both tagged with two fouls. Other key players, like Akeem Johnson and Jamal Olaswere took their place and dominated stretches of the game. SFNY forced 11 turnovers in the first half, but when LIU hung onto the ball there was no stopping the Blackbirds. They shot 16-24 in the first half as Boyd and Olaswere shot a perfect 14-14 from the field.

As the teams exited possibly the biggest battle of the day commenced. The dance teams for both teams were given the opportunity to perform. I don’t think it was coincidence either that both teams performed to Beyonce’s Girls (Run the World). The beat is a little funky. In the video that’s linked Beyonce can really move, but that’s Beyonce. Both dance teams acquitted themselves. (I don’t consider myself qualified to judge who won.) It added a bit of levity to the whole situation.

Once they were done I furiously typed first half notes on the iPhone, definitely one of the trickiest parts of not being on press row. Also, a few SFNY fans came over to talk about what had happened in the first half and ask me for a second half prediction. Even though the Terriers were up 43-41 at the time I told them that I thought LIU was probably going to win. (Not a very bold prediction considering the Blackbirds haven’t lost at home in 26 straight games.)

Early in the half it looked like I might be wrong. St. Francis jumped out to a seven-point lead right after the break. Then LIU swung things back the other way, getting the lead up to nine points with eight minutes to play. Nothing though comes easy in a rivalry game. The Blackbirds couldn’t pull away. It never got to double-digits and just four minutes later the game was tied again. Then, with three minutes remaining Travis Nichols’ three gave SFNY a five-point lead. Maybe they were going to do it Not so fast. LIU went on an 11-3 run to close the game, including a jumper by Boyd with 18 seconds remaining, to give the Blackbirds the 81-78 victory.

Most of the people around the nation probably looked at the result and shrugged. It looked like another close win over an NEC team. But this win meant more. It was the Battle of Brooklyn. It was the second time in four days the Blackbirds had escaped the Terriers. They now had control of the NEC race (and would take advantage, winning the conference tournament at the WRAC to secure the automatic NCAA bid).

The game was everything you’d want a rivalry game to be. Both teams’ best players came to play. Olasewere was named MVP after going a perfect 11-11 from the field and scoring 32 points. But the award could’ve just as easily gone to Boyd for his 20-point, 10-board, game-winning shot performance. If St. Francis had won Johnson (23 points, nine boards) or Nichols (12 points) would’ve had a case. The best players played their best on the brightest stage.

At that point it looked like there was a chance that LIU and St. Francis (NY) could meet one more time in the NEC title game. Both teams were playing excellent basketball. Unfortunately for the Terriers, injuries and struggles offensively down the stretch led to a home quarterfinals loss to Quinnipiac, preventing the possibility. I’m sure though they’ll see each other soon. The intensity of rivalry week isn’t quickly forgotten.

at LONG ISLAND 81, SAINT FRANCIS (NY) 78
02/12/2012

SAINT FRANCIS (NY) 13-12 (10-4)– B. Mockford 4-12 3-4 14; S. Perunicic 3-11 0-0 8; A. Johnson 9-16 5-7 23; J. Newton 2-4 0-0 4; T. Nichols 5-7 0-0 12; J. Cannon 2-5 0-0 4; B. Jones 2-8 0-0 4; M. Milk 0-1 0-0 0; P. Santavenere 2-2 0-0 5; K. Douglas 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 31-68 8-11 78.

LONG ISLAND 19-7 (13-1)– J. Brickman 1-4 0-0 3; M. Culpo 1-6 1-1 3; C. Garner 4-9 7-8 15; J. Boyd 9-11 2-2 20; J. Olasewere 11-11 9-12 32; K. Onyechi 0-2 1-3 1; B. Thompson 2-6 0-2 6; B. Hucks 0-0 1-2 1; G. Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-49 21-30 81.

Three-point goals: SFNY 8-21 (J. Newton 0-2; S. Perunicic 2-8; B. Mockford 3-7; T. Nichols 2-3; P. Santavenere 1-1), LIU 4-16 (M. Culpo 0-4; J. Boyd 0-1; C. Garner 0-1; J. Olasewere 1-1; B. Thompson 2-5; J. Brickman 1-4); Rebounds: SFNY 30 (A. Johnson 9), LIU 34 (J. Boyd 10); Assists: SFNY 16 (J. Newton 6), LIU 18 (J. Brickman 12); Total Fouls — SFNY 24, LIU 14; Fouled Out: SFNY-T. Nichols; LIU-J. Olasewere.

LIU Brooklyn keeps control of NEC with win at MSG

The road to the NEC title still goes through Brooklyn, even if LIU and St. Francis (NY) played at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The Blackbirds took home an 86-77 win too maintain control of first place in the conference at 12-1.

“We knew coming in that St. Francis coming in had won nine of their last 11,” said Jamal Olasewere. “They’re definitely a team on a mission coming in trying to knock us off. So we definitely took that into consideration going into tonight’s game.”

The Terriers managed to make the game interesting. A run right before halftime left them down just one point at the break. Coming out of it Akeem Johnson, who scored a game-high 24 points, hit a layup to give SFC its only lead of the game. LIU then responded with a 16-5 run. St. Francis never got closer than five points after that moment.

St. Francis managed to launch 80 shots, but the Terriers shot just 37.5% from the field and 7-29 (24.1%) from beyond the arc. When St. Francis wasn’t grabbing offensive rebounds, which it did often with 20 for 28 second-chance points, the offense sputtered.

On the other end LIU used its typically aggressive offense to set the tone in the second half. Olasewere and C.J. Garner attacked the rim consistently and LIU shot 37 free throws in the game, including 31 in the second half alone. Olasewere finished with 21 points and 11 boards and Garner scored 19 points.

“The key with Jamal is just not fouling,” said LIU head coach Jim Ferry. “If he doesn’t foul he has the potential to be one of the best players in this league. He’s so versatile.”

The only LIU player that didn’t get very involved was Julian Boyd. The Blackbirds’ star player was hampered by foul trouble, but he still managed a 17-point, 11-board double-double in just 27 minutes of action. He was an efficient 5-9 from the field, but struggled at the line shooting 6-10.

That aggressive style of play is what makes Ferry’s team so tough at home and it’s looking more and more like the Blackbirds will be there throughout the NEC tournament. LIU has now defeated Wagner twice and St. Francis (NY) once, with the opportunity to get another victory over the Terriers on Sunday at the Wellness Center on Sunday in the Battle of Brooklyn. Ferry isn’t happy that these two games are so close together.

“It’s brutal, I don’t like it,” Ferry said about the NEC rivalry week schedule. “I don’t like that we have to play these rivalry games back-to-back. Ours is a true rivalry game, St. Francis and LIU. There’s so much emotion used up in these basketball games.”

Olasewere enjoys the format. “I think it’s exciting,” he said. “It’s more of a challenge. We’re able to show what we really are in situations like this.”

For St. Francis to pull the upset in that game the Terriers are going to have to shoot better from three than their effort on Wednesday. LIU started with Michael Culpo on Stefan Perunicic and he failed to get into the offensive flow of the game finishing with zero points on 0-4 shooting from the field. Ben Mockford scored 20 points, but it took him 22 shots to do so (including 3-11 from three) and Travis Nichols shot 3-11 (2-7 from three) and scored eight points. One of those perimeter players is going to have to step up on Sunday for the results to change.

“I think everyone in the league knows that we’re winning and that we should be close to the top of the league,” Johnson said. “They’re a great team and they played us well. Sunday we’re just trying to come back and hopefully we’ll play better. Hopefully we’ll remember our defensive principles and the outcome will be different.”

If the Terriers can’t pull the upset they could find themselves back at the Wellness Center again later this season, as they battle to reach their first ever NCAA tournament.