Tag: Alex Francis

NEC Week 2: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Week two of the NEC season has come and gone, clearing up the conference picture just a bit. The contenders are slowly beginning to separate themselves from the pretenders, but as we expect to be the case for the entire season, the NEC should be just as unpredictable from start to finish. Through 24 conference games, the home team has only gone 13-11, another indication that any team can win on any given night. Let’s sift through the positive and negative developments of the week.

The Good

  • Back to Normal in Moon Township – After enduring a surprising two game slide to open up conference play, the Colonials responded to Andy Toole’s challenge: play defense and compete with maximum effort and toughness. Robert Morris did just that during their New Jersey road trip, soundly beating Fairleigh Dickinson and Monmouth by 34 and 15 points, respectively. Neither game was ever in question, as the Colonials held their opponents to 0.84 points allowed per possession. The Colonials received significant contributions throughout the roster, highlighted by upperclassmen Russell Johnson and Coron Williams. Johnson, who has struggled in the past with his consistency, filled up the stat sheet as of late, registering 17 points, 21 rebounds, 11 assists (against only one turnover), and six steals in his last two games. The sharp shooting Williams has been potent from behind the arc, draining 12 of his 17 long-range jumpers this past week.
  • Officially Among the Elite – It’s time to stop being surprised by the Bulldogs’ success; they simply are for real. In four conference games – three on the road – Bryant has scored 1.15 points per possession, in large part thanks to unsung floor general Frankie Dobbs. The loyal senior has masterfully run Tim O’Shea’s offense by scoring (14.4 ppg) when necessary, while keeping his talented teammates involved (4.2 apg, 2.0 A/TO) as well. Down in the low block, Alex Francis continues to torment opposing defenses. On Saturday versus CCSU, the junior posted 26 points and a career high 18 rebounds. Throw in Starks, Maynard, and O’Shea and you have a lethal starting five. Ken Pomeroy agrees; Bryant is now rated #169 (out of 347 D-I teams) after beginning the season at #290. That is one heck of an improvement in only 15 games played.
  • Tough Terriers – Since their lopsided losses to Stony Brook and St. John’s this past December, St. Francis Brooklyn has won five of their last six contests. The Terriers impressively went into Spiro Sports Center and upset Wagner by holding the Seahawks to 0.80 points per possession. In fact, defense has been the major culprit for St. Francis’ recent run, as they are the only team to hold all four of their NEC opponents to under 1.00 points per possession. It also helps that Travis Nichols has been heating up recently. In their two most recent wins, Nicholas averaged 15 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. When he is able to produce from behind the arc (4-9 from three-point range versus Wagner), Glenn Braica’s offense becomes that much better. With home games versus FDU and Monmouth coming up, St. Francis could find themselves with five wins after three weeks of conference play. That notion seemed far-fetched a month ago when the Terriers were 2-7.
  • The Youth Movement – It hasn’t exactly been the year of the NEC freshmen so far (I’ll have more on that in the near future), but recently two frontcourt novices have emerged as important contributors for their respective teams. In Brooklyn, E.J. Reed has taken advantage of increased playing time with Boyd’s season-ending injury by scoring 15.6 points per game in his last five games. The athletic 6’6″ freshman has shown a propensity toward fouling (he has committed 6.9 fouls per 40 minutes), yet he’s infused some much-needed energy on the offensive glass and in the defensive post. Further north in Connecticut, Brandon Peel made a name for himself in New Britain when he put together a monster 17 point, 17 rebound, and four block performance against Sacred Heart last Thursday. Since being named as a starter in Howie Dickenman’s lineup, Peel has grabbed an average of 11.5 rebounds per game, relegating senior Joe Efase to the bench. It should only get better for the high-motored Reed and Peel in the coming weeks as they elevate themselves into the NEC Rookie of the Year discussion (along with St. Francis freshman Stephon Mosley).

The Bad

  • Still a Work in Progress – There’s a lot to be encouraged about if you’re a long suffering FDU Knights fan, but the second week of conference play probably wasn’t what their fans could have envisioned. Sure, they split the two game home stand against the Pennsylvania teams, but they never had a chance versus Robert Morris and barely edged out a victory over the feisty, yet flawed and inexperienced St. Francis Red Flash. Two NEC wins in four tries is a nice start for a team that went 3-26 last year, but you can bet Greg Vetrone is cognizant his team has been hideous at defending. In 16 games, FDU has given up 113.8 points per 100 possessions, bad enough for 10th worst in the nation. With a difficult slate of NEC games coming up, the Knights will need to dial up the defensive effort – and reduce their 23.6% turnover rate – to become a factor in this wonderfully competitive conference.

The Ugly

  • Unchartered Territory for Quinnipiac – With only one season left to earn that elusive NEC postseason title and NCAA automatic bid, it’s becoming more apparent that Tom Moore may fall short in that regard. For the first time in the Moore era, the Bobcats find themselves at 5-10. Quinnipiac is inventing new ways to lose each game, but the most troubling issues have been their poor free throw shooting (once again) and their inconsistency to score and respond when other teams make a run. Overall, the offense has performed better of late (1.18 points per possession), whereas the defense has been exceptionally porous (1.18 points allowed per possession). The optimistic approach for a Bobcat fan is to recall their team’s early NEC slump last season when they climbed out of a 2-5 hole to finish with a 10-8 NEC record. This season however, I’d be a little more skeptical that Tom Moore can somehow turn the ship around without any true playmakers. I’ll have more on their issues in the near future.
  • The Mayhem Mess – Jamion Christian is one of the most positive coaches in the conference, but even the first year head coach has to be shaking his head over his team’s recent play. The numbers have become particularly ugly during their 2-6 skid: the Mountaineers are allowing opponents to shoot 43.9% from three (worst in the nation) and 59.3% from inside the arc (2nd worst in the nation). In addition, their interior players – Krajina, Barber, Danaher – aren’t intimidating opposing big men with their puny block percentages and heavy foul rates. With an upcoming schedule that immediately includes Bryant, CCSU, Wagner, and Robert Morris, the defense needs to improve in a hurry. Right now when the Mount gives up more than 1.00 points per possession, they are 2-8 on the season. That must change if the Mount wants to get back into the NEC postseason.

Ryan Peters covers Northeast Conference men’s basketball for Big Apple Buckets and Pioneer Pride. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @pioneer_pride

Navy uses second half surge to pull past Bryant

Most fans would admit that when a Bryant/Navy non-conference battle in Annapolis was set this past offseason, it likely wasn’t a game at the top of anybody’s lists. After all, these were two basketball programs that struggled to merely stay competitive last season. Continue reading “Navy uses second half surge to pull past Bryant” →

NEC Team Capsule: Bryant Bulldogs

Head Coach: Tim O’Shea, 5th year (20-99)
Last Season: 2-28 (1-17 NEC), ineligible for the NEC tournament
NEC Preseason Coach’s Poll: 10th out of 12 teams
State of Program: Agressively improving
Key Players Lost: Ben Altit (5.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.2 bpg)
Incoming Players: Curtis Oakley (F), Shane McLaughlin (PG), Andrew Scocca (PF/C)
Previous Posts: Bryant Recruiting Recap, Tim O’Shea’s Bulldogs Ready to Make a Move

Projected Lineup:
PG: Frankie Dobbs (13.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.6 apg, 81.8% FT)
G: Dyami Starks (transfer, sat out last season)
G: Corey Maynard (11.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.1 spg)
F: Alex Francis (17.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.5 apg, 51.2% FG)
F: Claybrin McMath (4.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg)

Key Reserves: Joe O’Shea (G), Raphael Jordan (G), Vlad Kondratvey (PF/C), Curtis Oakley (F), Shane McLaughlin (PG), Andrew Scocca (PF/C)

Key Storylines:

    1. Transition Over – After undergoing an arduous four year Division I transition period, Bryant is finally eligible to participate in the NEC postseason, should they qualify. The transition period made it nearly impossible for Tim O’Shea to recruit, but finally the Bulldogs can boast a lineup stocked with capable DI players. Of course, with two transfers and three freshmen added to the roster, it will take time to mesh all of the pieces together. The question of how quickly remains to be seen.
    2. Defend, Defend, Defend – Last season, the Bulldogs gave up a conference worst 1.10 points per possession. Whether it was the lack of depth or limited frontcourt options that served as the culprit to their lousy defense, O’Shea must find a way to prevent the opponent from scoring the basketball.
    3. The New Guys – If there’s one thing to be optimistic about, it’s the additions of transfers Dyami Starks (Columbia) and Joe O’Shea (Holy Cross). Both had notable high school careers, were moderately recruited, but then wasted away on the bench of their respective university when new coaches came in to replace the old coaches that originally recruited them. Now in Smithfield, look for Starks and O’Shea to have an immediate impact.

Lineup Analysis: The years of serving as the NEC’s doormat should end shortly, if not already. For the first time in five seasons, O’Shea has a roster full of competent DI players, which will allow Bryant to comfortably play 8-9 guys every game night. It all starts with the upperclassman trio of Alex Francis, Frankie Dobbs, and Corey Maynard. Francis and Dobbs had an all-conference type of performance last season, which hardly went noticed due to Bryant’s shortcomings as a team. Now with more depth in place, expect the talented trio to get the respect they deserve. Joining them is Columbia transfer Dyami Starks, whom O’Shea expects will start right away. Both Starks and Joe O’Shea, the head coach’s nephew, have the ability to drain the perimeter jumper and add another dimension to Bryant’s offense that was seriously lacking last season. Much of the team’s depth will rely on the development of freshmen Curtis Oakley, Shane McLaughlin, and Andrew Scocca. Of the three, McLaughlin has the most promise early on, as he projects as the first guard off the bench backing up Dobbs and Starks. Oakley is an undersized forward who could have difficultly creating his own shot, but at least has the versatility and range to pull defenders out of the paint. Clay McMath, Vlad Kondratvey, and Andrew Scocca will patrol the paint, now that Ben Altit has left the team to serve for his native country of Israel. How this rotation merges is anyone’s guess, yet one thing is for certain, this is the most talented and athletic roster O’Shea has had the pleasure of working with since taking the Bryant job.

Coach’s Quotes:

“When I took this job we targeted year five as a year we really wanted to come out of the gate and be as competitive as possible. It’s one of the reasons we sat some transfers out last year. As you might imagine it’s been very difficult to have no possibility of a postseason, especially in recruiting those early years. Who’s going to take a legitimate Division I offer where you can compete for a postseason where here you can’t. This is a big deal for us to get this postseason ban off our back.”
– O’Shea, on how difficult it’s been to lead Bryant into Division I basketball

Prediction:
Ryan – It may take some time for all of the pieces to fit, but when they do, the Bulldogs have the potential to pull off a major upset or two in the NEC. Bryant should take a step forward this season, but realistically the Bulldogs are probably at least a year away before they’re ready to join the middle of the pack in the NEC and become annual playoff participants.

John – The early season schedule is absolutely brutal, but if the Bulldogs can survive that, they might be the surprise team in the NEC this season. I think they were picked way too low. Dobbs and Francis are all-conference caliber players and, if coach O’Shea can continue to build around those two, it should make for a competitive season in the NEC.

Previous NEC team capsules:
October 24th: St. Francis (PA) Red Flash
October 25th: Fairleigh Dickinson Knights

NEC Breakout Candidates – Part 1

Every season, the NEC produces players that generally come out of nowhere, or elevate themselves from a typical role player to a program cornerstone.  Players like Scott Eatherton and Jason Brickman, for example, elevated their game last season to become valuable contributors for their respective teams.

Continue reading “NEC Breakout Candidates – Part 1” →

Tim O’Shea’s Bryant Bulldogs ready to make a move

Since taking on a full NEC schedule for the 2009-10 season, the Bryant Bulldogs have struggled mightily to compete with their conference foes – or any Division I foes for that matter – as they fully transitioned into DI basketball.  The Bulldogs managed a meager nine victories versus NEC opponents in the past three seasons.  It was, for the lack of a better phrase, a brutal stretch of basketball.

In fairness, there wasn’t much head coach Tim O’Shea could do, since most DI recruits were turned off by the prospect of not playing postseason basketball.  Bryant, after all, needed to serve out their DI probationary period, as per NCAA rules, forcing the team to operate by a very thin margin last season.  Thus, when Bryant’s third leading scorer, Corey Maynard, missed a majority of the conference season due to a foot injury, it led to a 2-28 debacle of a season.

The days of the Bryant Bulldogs serving as the NEC’s punching bag, however, may soon be over.  All along, O’Shea was targeting this upcoming season when he signed his eight year contract in June of 2008.

“When I took the job, I initially targeted year five as a year where we could really hopefully make a move,” said O’Shea.  “And I feel confident that, despite what we went through last year, that we’ll be able to (become competitive).”

With Bryant now fully integrated as a NEC school eligible for postseason play, fans have reason for optimism.  For starters, Bryant is equipped with a very solid core of upperclassmen, led by junior Alex Francis and fifth year senior Frankie Dobbs.  One glimpse at their statistics last season (Francis: 17.0 ppg/7.4 rpg, Dobbs: 13.4 ppg/3.5 rpg/4.6 apg/1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio) would probably generate a double take.  Those numbers would have easily pushed both players into serious All-NEC second team consideration, if Bryant hadn’t finished last season ranked 333rd overall in Ken Pomeroy’s ratings.

Nevertheless, O’Shea believes his team is in a much better position to compete with this year’s crop of incoming players.

“This is the first year I feel confident that when I look at my top 8 guys, they’re all legitimately DI players,” said an optimistic O’Shea.

Several newcomers are expected to significantly enhance Bryant’s offensive firepower and depth, yet perhaps the most important player of the bunch is Columbia transfer Dyami Starks.  The explosive scorer begins his Bryant tenure with three seasons of eligibility remaining.

“Truthfully, I think (Starks) has the potential to be an All-Conference player in the NEC,” said O’Shea.  “He averaged 25 (points per game) against some pretty good teams over in Europe.  He can really score.  That’s something we didn’t have (last season); we had nobody in the perimeter that could score like him.”

Originally projected by some to be an All-Ivy League Rookie Team candidate, Starks fell out of Columbia’s rotation early, despite scoring double-digit points in five of his first seven games as a freshman.  Now with an offseason under his belt to refine his game, O’Shea believes Stark’s strong work ethic and undeniable talent will open some eyes within the NEC.  Just how talented is he?

“In all my years of coaching, he’s as good a shooter as I’ve seen and I’m talking guys like Preston Murphy, Cuttino Mobley, Troy Bell,” said O’Shea.  “I’m not saying he’s the athlete some of those guys are, but in terms of shooting the ball, he’s as good a shooter as I’ve been around.”

Another transfer who will play significant minutes at the “3” is the coach’s nephew, Joe O’Shea.  Listed at 6-foot-5, O’Shea should present match-up issues with his length, high basketball IQ, and excellent shooting range.

“He can really stroke it,” said O’Shea. “What he gives us is one of the things we really lacked last year; we weren’t a good three-point shooting team and here’s a kid that can really make threes.”

With a top 5 of Francis, Dobbs, Maynard, Starks, and O’Shea firmly in place, Bryant will look to their freshmen newcomers to bolster the team’s bench.  Curtis Oakley, Shane McLaughlin, and Andrew Scocca are all expected to compete for minutes right away.

Oakley profiles as a bulky wing, who can really shoot it from the perimeter.  Oakley’s excellent body control and assortment of ball fakes and post moves should accelerate his development.  McLaughlin brings a mental toughness to the team, and will be looked apon to backup Dobbs, Starks, and O’Shea most of the time.  And finally, Andrew Scocca gives O’Shea a big body in the middle that Bryant so desperately needs.  All in all, it’s a freshmen recruiting class O’Shea is really pleased with.

“We’ve really increased our basketball IQ, in terms of adding guys that know how to play, and that includes our freshmen,” said O’Shea.  “These are guys that will get minutes for us this year and I think are pretty good players.”

O’Shea will look to employ a small lineup much of the time, unfortunately due to the unexpected departure of 6-foot-10 Israeli Ben Altit.  Altit, who averaged 5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19 minutes per game, left Bryant recently to serve in the Israeli armed forces.  Typically, college students are granted deferments from serving, but with the recent political unrest in the Middle East, all deferments were waived immediately by the Israel government, thereby forcing Altit to defend the homeland, rather than DI big men.  Hopefully, Altit will be safe and return to Bryant sometime down the road.

Even without Altit patrolling the middle, the new additions give Bryant a much improved roster.  O’Shea seems to agree. “You’re going to see a very different Bryant team this year, very different in terms of talent, in terms of basketball IQ, and the ability to shoot the three.”

“It’s amazing in basketball, 1 or 2 good players can totally transform a team from where we were a year ago to a team that’s now a hard out every night, and that’s exactly what we’ll be.  If it all comes together, it’s going to be an interesting year for us.”

The rest of the NEC should certainly take notice.  In a league applauded for its recent improvement at the top of the conference, it’s the young team in the bottom tier that’s ready to play with the big boys.  It’s going to be an interesting year for the Bryant Bulldogs indeed.

Ryan Peters covers Northeast Conference men’s basketball on Big Apple Buckets and Pioneer Pride.  You can follow Ryan on Twitter @pioneer_pride.