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.
Category: Manhattan
Pankey picks Manhattan
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.
The Best Mid-Major Guards
Today Jon Rothstein, whose work I actually really like for the most part, wrote Ten Mid-Major Guards to Watch Next Season on CBS New York. It’s worth noting that he didn’t explicitly say the 10 best, but, considering he ranked them 1-10, it is sort of implied. Most of the names on the list make a ton of sense. I mean Isiah Canaan was a Second Team All-American last season and has his own Wikipedia page. I think he deserves to be #1. But some of the other names on the list make me think I’ve slipped into an episode of Punk’d.
NEC sets record high in attendance
Attendance results are out for the 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball season. The results aren’t too surprising, but there is good news for the NEC. The conference set a record high in attendance during the 2012 season attracting 1,353 fans per game, an increase of 116 fans per game over last season. Of course the NEC is still 31st amongst the 31 automatic bid conferences, 121 fans per game behind the Big South, but that’s still a solid gain.
Introducing the “Bracket of Champions”
Since there are no real basketball games going on right now, let’s do something fun and talk about simulated basketball games. The Bracket of Champions brings together some of the best teams from the New York area during the Ken Pomeroy era (2003+) and puts them in a bracket against each other. Continue reading “Introducing the “Bracket of Champions””
Some surprises on latest Transfer List
Jeff Goodman released his latest version of the End-of-Year Transfer List on CBSSports.com today and there are some notable surprises for New York City programs. The whole list and then some analysis of the biggest names after the jump.
Dribble Handoffs – April 5
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.
Top NYC Players: 10-6
This is part four of this week’s series about the Top 25 players in the New York metro area. Check out 21-25, 16-20, 11-15.
10. Greg Mangano, Yale — First, I’d like to note that separating the three Ivy League First Team players was one of the hardest things I had to do. All three were excellent this season and were part of the reason the league was so fun to watch. Mangano’s numbers – 18.2 points and 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game – are excellent, but I just wish there was a little more consistency in them. The 6’10” senior forward scored in single digits three times, including early in the season in a loss to Quinnipiac. Mangano obviously had a ton of great games, but nights like his 14-points, 5-board performance in an overtime loss at Cornell prevent him from being higher on this list. Overall though he had a great season. Mangano scored 26 points against then #10 Florida and also added 23 in a critical Ivy win over Penn. You don’t find a lot of players with his height and skills in the Ivy League and he certainly made the most of it during his final two seasons in New Haven.
9. George Beamon, Manhattan — You wonder how Manhattan would’ve scored any points this season if Beamon wasn’t on the team. He averaged 19 points per game and did it every way, shooting 43% from three, 80% from the line and 49% from the field overall. The 6’4″ junior swingman carried the Jaspers’ offense for long stretches of time and also thrived in the presses that Steve Masiello brought with him from Louisville. One of the most impressive parts of Beamon’s game was his consistency. He didn’t score in single digits once all season. His season lows came in two comfortable wins over Marist. Beamon saved his best for last, scoring a season-high 34 points in the Jaspers’ CIT win over Albany. After being named to the MAAC First Team in 2011-12, Beamon should contend for Player of the Year honors next season.
8. Brian Barbour, Columbia — At some point this season Barbour’s role with the Lions changed dramatically. It wasn’t quite when Noruwa Agho went down, but soon afterward Barbour became the man. It took him some time to accept that role, but once he did he showed skills rivaling the best guards in the Ivy League. Barbour averaged 15.5 points, 4.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game on the season while shooting 90% from the free throw line. Because he didn’t turn the ball over much, just 2.3 times per game, Barbour’s offensive rating is extremely high for shooting just 39% from the field. Barbour seemed to play his best at home in close losses during Ivy play. He scored 25 on back-to-back nights against Princeton and Penn and then scored 23 in the overtime loss to Harvard on the final Friday of the season. He drove Columbia’s offense and played 88% of the team’s minutes (51st in the nation). I’m sure Kyle Smith would tell you that’s too many, but it just goes to show how valuable Barbour was this season.
7. Ian Hummer, Princeton — In terms of efficiency Hummer’s junior season wasn’t quite as strong as his sophomore campaign, but that’s because he shot up to an insane 31.8% usage rate in 2011-12. So much of Princeton’s offense went through the 6’7″ forward that it was hard to miss him, though I bet some opponents wish they could’ve. Hummer averaged 16.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game during the season, while also contributing more than a block and a steal per game on the defensive end. He scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in Princeton’s triple overtime win over Florida State and added 20 and nine as the Tigers beat Harvard. He’ll be back next season and should continue to be a forced to be reckoned with in the paint in the Ivy League.
6. Moe Harkless, St. John’s — The small forward from Queens did absolutely everything he possibly could to try to live up to the promise he brought the Red Storm when agreeing to be a part of Steve Lavin’s super freshman class. While things weren’t always steady around him, Harkless turned in a season that was remarkable for a freshman in the Big East. Playing 36.1 minutes per game, he averaged 15.3 points and 8.6 boards. His outside shot and free throw stroke still need work but it is clear how special a player Harkless is. He was named an Honorable Mention on the All-Big East teams at the end of the season. Of course the game that everyone is going to remember, and has put the visions of what he can be in the head of every NBA scout, is Harkless’ 30-point, 13-board performance against Duke. The Red Storm ultimately lost that game, but it showed just what incredible talent Harkless has. The 6’8″ forward also scored 32 points and grabbed 13 boards against Providence and dropped 25 on Pittsburgh in what ultimately proved to be the final game of his collegiate career. All the best to him moving forward.
Check back tomorrow for the final five players, including two conferences’ Players of the Year and to find out who I rated No. 1 overall.
New York Mid-Major 2011-12 Teams
What a year it was for college hoops in New York City. Both Iona and LIU Brooklyn qualified for the NCAA tournament and Stony Brook also won the regular season title. A number of players were named to their All-Conference teams and garnered postseason awards. In fact, those awards are still coming in. Here I’d like to name my New York Mid-Major teams for the 2011-12 season.
Season At A Glance — Manhattan
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:
- Roberto Colonette (6.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG)
- Kidani Brutus (8.3 PPG, 2.4 APG)
- Liam McCabe-Moran (5.3 PPG, 36.5% 3PT%)
Key Returnees:
- George Beamon, Jr., G (All-MAAC First Team, 19.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.5 SPG)
- Rhamel Brown, So., F (MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, 7.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.5 BPG)
- Michael Alvarado, So., G (8.5 PPG, 3.2 APG, 1.4 SPG)
- Emmy Andujar, Fr., G/F (8.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.2 APG)
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 