Tag: James Jones

Yale 72, Vermont 54: Bulldogs Shut It Down Again

(photo courtesy: Steph Crandall)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – We’ve reached the point in the season where we have enough useful data to attempt to make sense of your favorite team, but not quite a full profile of who they will be going forward.

One of the top methods we use – especially in mid-major land – to compare conference teams that will eventually meet up is the transitive property. If A beat B and then B topped C, then A will certainly win against C, right? In a vacuum, maybe. But early-season games are not a vacuum, you have injuries, coaches fiddling with rotations and sets to see what and who will work, and the equalizer that is home-court advantage.

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Three Thoughts: Yale 99, Sacred Heart 77

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Anthony Latina was a little frustrated his team couldn’t have done a little better Monday night, but he knew that going up against a frontcourt like Yale was going to be difficult for his undersized team anyway. And without the injured Tevin Falzon and Matej Buovac – two players expected to play major minutes for the Pioneers – it was always going to be an uphill battle.

You throw in the new freedom of movement rules, and Yale (2-0) had an offensive bonanza, posted 1.34 points per possession (unofficially, its highest since a win at Dartmouth in 2008) and posting its highest point total against a Division I opponent in 13 years (incidentally, Yale lost that game 114-102 at George Washington) at Lee Amphitheater.

All Latina could do was tip his proverbial cap.

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Agonizingly Close, Yale Can’t Finish Off Ivy, Now Faces Playoff

There is no separate place for press conferences at Dartmouth’s Leede Arena, so when Yale coach James Jones emerged from the locker room, he was immediately in front of the few cameras and reporters that made the trip to Hanover, N.H. on a Saturday night where there was plenty else going on in the sports world.

There was no ESPN as there was the night before in Boston, no Sports Illustrated, no New York Times. The crowd was announced at 1,237 and certainly made themselves heard at the end, but it was far from the raucous, oppressive charged atmosphere at Harvard’s Lavietes Gym that Yale had conquered 24 hours earlier.

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Yale Stuns Harvard, But Ivy Job Not Quite Done Yet

To paraphrase the immortal Jake Taylor, “Yale ain’t won nothin’ yet, they still have one more to go.”

Such is the awkwardness of the 14-game Ivy League Tournament that even after a 62-52 win at Lavietes Pavilion over four-time defending Ivy champ Harvard, their job is not quite done yet.

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A Conversation Preview About Yale-Harvard Ivy Armageddon

With Ivy League armageddon upon us Friday night at Lavietes Pavilion, we decided to mix things up a bit. Instead of bringing you an Xs and Os preview, Ray Curren and Kevin Whitaker had an e-mail conversation and here is what they discussed. Kevin has covered Harvard all season, while Ray has seen play of Yale. Can Yale repeat its victory at Harvard last season and put one hand on its first outright Ivy crown (and NCAA Tournament appearance) since 1962? Or will Harvard keep the championship belt for at least one more year?

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Three Thoughts: Yale 62, Cornell 51 (Happy Birthday, Coach Jones!)

As much as we like numbers, they sometimes don’t tell the whole story or accurately predict a snapshot in time, i.e. a 40-minute basketball game over the course of a fairly long season.

Friday night, though, one look at the stat sheet – or more appropriately, the KenPom numbers – could have given you a pretty good idea of what was going to happen between Yale and Cornell. The Big Red entered with some stellar defensive numbers that worried the Bulldogs, 69th nationally in defensive efficiency, 34th in eFG%.

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