Iona made the NCAA tournament last season, but now the hard part begins. Tim Cluess returns just four players from last season’s team that lost to BYU in the first round. But he’s reloading with junior college players, transfers and a few freshmen in an effort to keep the momentum going next season.
Continue reading “Iona finds talent in many forms to reload roster”
Well, the awkward holiday week is upon us. Welcome to July. As we get into the dog days of summer the news is starting to slow to a trickle for July and August before exploding right before the season picks up. What we’ve got now is a bunch of recruiting news and the recently completed NBA Draft. If you’re looking for college basketball reads about LIU Brooklyn or Iona, here are some good ones.
Siena Saints Blog recently posted a Q&A with MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor that is definitely worth a read. It covers a wide range of topics from the format of the conference tournament, to at-large bids, realignment and even some legal proceedings. In the Q&A Ensor reaffirmed that the MAAC is certainly keeping an eye out as realignment happens, but the conference isn’t ready to move yet, because the right fit just isn’t there. Here’s one key quote:
That’s good in terms of stability and continuity and when we look at other possible members – because we’ve said over a decade ago that we would go to 12 if the right schools were available. Well that list is relatively small because our average enrollment is about 4,000 undergrads and we have a bunch of ranges we work within as well, overall budget for athletics, and then there’s the academic filter as well. When we start looking at schools that fit our mold, there aren’t that many of them out there frankly.
Go read the rest of the Q&A over at Siena Saints Blog.
Boston University is leaving America East for the Patriot League in July of 2013. That’s almost exactly a year from now and it’s going to make for one interesting final season. The biggest problem though is that it’s dragged America East right back into the conference realignment conversation. Is Stony Brook going to jump to the CAA now that BU is leaving? I don’t know, but my guess is that this move doesn’t actually change much. What it should do though is make America East very nervous.
What do Steve Masiello and I have in common? Not much, but today we’re featured on videos around the internet. Masiello’s latest installment of “Coaches Corner” went live last night and is a must watch for any Manhattan or MAAC fan. This morning my video about Free Throw Rate went live as part of the Sabermetric Network. You should check back weekly on Tuesdays for content about tempo-free basketball stats, it’s way more fun than reading my quick guide.
The Manhattan Jaspers picked up a key addition on Friday when 6’9″ sophomore forward Ashton Pankey decided to join Steve Masiello’s team. The transfer from Maryland is coming to Manhattan after picking the Jaspers over Iona and Fordham.
A bunch of links that I wanted to share with you as the season wraps up. Jerry Carino released his All-Metropolitan ballot and his Haggerty Award nominees. I like some of the Ivy League players a bit better, but overall we agree throughout much of it. Also, Princeton Basketball tipped me off to this hilarious piece about what movie bad guy roles the coaches of the NCAA tournament would be cast in. LIU Brooklyn’s Jim Ferry is apparently in line to play a cop on the take (and got ranked #22).
In some other coaching moves, Bashir Mason has filled out his coaching staff at Wagner adding Mike Babul, Marquis Webb and Scott Smith according to the Staten Island Advance. Smith is the lone returnee and Babul and Webb both have high-major experience either as a player or coach, so that’s a good sign. Cormac Gordon digs into their connections with Mason in his article.
What would be an end of year post without some stats? Keepin’ Track of the MAAC looks at the national leaders from the MAAC. Here are a few more tempo-free nuggets for Iona and Manhattan courtesy of KenPom.com. Manhattan’s Rhamel Brown finished second in the nation in block percentage behind only Kansas’ Jeff Withey. Roberto Colonette finished fourth in the nation in offensive rebound percentage at 18.3%. As a team the Jaspers had the 19th best block percentage in the nation and ranked 22nd in assist per field goal made. Iona’s Scott Machado finished fourth in the nation in assist rate. Thanks entirely to his great two-point shooting Mike Glover finished 11th in the nation in effective field goal percentage and 24th in the nation in true shooting percentage. Sean Armand also finished 13th in the nation in offensive rating at 126.8.
The Mid-Majority has been working towards a goal this season of 800 crowd sourced recaps. Today it hit that goal with this piece about Zack Rosen and Penn at Harvard. A lot of people (122 in fact) contributed recaps along the way. I put 15 stories up there from my travels around college basketball this season. If you’re interested in local hoops (and I assume you are) I’d also recommend the work of Gary Moore and Raymond Curren. Congrats to everyone who worked on the project. It’s great to have such a collection of stories from around the nation.
This season the Iona offense was run by the steady hand of Scott Machado. One of the nation’s best point guards, Machado led the nation in assists per game during the 2011-12 season. He was also fourth in assist rate (behind Utah’s Josh Watkins, Penn State’s Tim Frazier and UNC’s Kendall Marshall). As you’ll see below, Machado was a big driver in the success of a number of players’ success this season. Of course, Machado is a senior and will be heading to the NBA next season. The keys are going to be turned over to Lamont “Momo” Jones in 2012-13.
Continue reading “Iona’s Assists or Why the Offense Will Stay Strong”
This is the ninth (and final) of the capsules for each of the NYC teams when I’m sure their season has concluded.
Team: Manhattan
Record: 21-13 (12-6 in the MAAC)
Season High: Winning at Iona on Emmy Andujar’s last-second shot
Season Low: Losing in overtime to Siena in the quarterfinals of the MAAC Tournament
Really Good At: Defense – This team became a lock-down defensive team. With Rhamel Brown and Roberto Colonette patrolling the middle, the press forcing turnovers and making opponents think, and a general ability to lock down on shooters the Jaspers became a defensive force.
Struggled With: Turnovers – The Jaspers just turned the ball over way to much during their first season in Steve Masiello’s offensive approach. They finished with a turnover rate of 22.9%, eighth in the MAAC during conference play. If you eliminate those turnover possession Manhattan probably had the best offense in the league. It’s something to work on for next season.
Key Losses:
Key Returnees:
Key Quotes:
“Great season. Biggest turnaround in college basketball. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” Steve Masiello
Outlook: Positive. The three seniors that are leaving the Manhattan program do represent some quality players, but the Jaspers seem to be well positioned for next season. Beamon will be a star in the MAAC during his senior season (possibly the best player in the conference) and Brown, Alvarado and Adujar are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of talent in Riverdale. There is a strong recruiting class coming in with players that seem to fit Steve Masiello’s system. That’s one of the keys too. The players now have had a season to learn the trapping defensive system Masiello brought with him from Louisville. They should be able to work on it this offseason. Now that they’ve tasted success players like Beamon are just going to be that much hungrier. It should make for a focused, talented Manhattan team come 2012-13, one that has the potential to win the MAAC.
The Full Series of Season At A Glance Posts:
NYC Buckets Archive 