We’ve got a rematch.
LIU Brooklyn showed its championship experience by not panicking down eight with eight minutes remaining and calmly dispatched upstart Quinnipiac, 78-75 at the Wellness and Recreation Center in the NEC Tournament semifinals.
Continue reading “LIU Brooklyn and Robert Morris set for NEC title rematch”
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:
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.
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 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.
As a freshman Kenny Onyechi started all 31 of LIU Brooklyn’s games and was named to the NEC All-Rookie Team. He played 25.7 minutes per game that season and averaged 8.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Then Julian Boyd came back healthy and Onyechi headed to the bench, but that all-league talent is still there.
Continue reading “Onyechi provides power off the bench for LIU”
Long Island let NJIT close a 21-point deficit to three in the middle of the second half, but thanks to Julian Boyd the Blackbirds persevered and pulled out the 84-74 victory at the Wellness Center on Friday night.
After Chris Flores’ lay up cut the Highlanders’ deficit to three with 9:12 remaining in the game, Boyd answered with a 12-7 run all his own to push the lead back up to eight with six minutes to play. The Highlanders got within seven once more in the game, but never truly threatened LIU again.
“It’s just a thing in me, a will to win,” Boyd said. “I want to win bad. I know everyone else on the team does too, but just seeing that lead diminish and wanting to get it back up it just made me work harder to try and do more things to try and get it back up.”
During the run Boyd scored eight points on free throws. He was a perfect 8-8 from the line in the game. Boyd, who was often guarded by the much smaller Isaiah Wilkerson, scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. He also grabbed 11 rebounds in 31 minutes
“What I said walking up the stairs was ‘Thank god Julian was here in the second half,'” said LIU head coach Jim Ferry afterwards.
The Blackbirds got solid contributions from a number of sources. Jason Brickman had a solid game with 18 points, six assists and only two turnovers. Jamal Olasewere had a double-double with 15 and 10 boards. Michael Culpo was the fourth LIU player in double-figures with 11.
The first was half was as close to perfect as LIU has played this season and the Blackbirds built a 40-23 lead at the break. But Ferry’s team failed to put NJIT away right after halftime. Wilkerson talked about playing together during halftime and with him on the bench other players stepped up. The Highlanders went on a 15-4 run to close the gap.
While NJIT was making the run, the bench provided the energy and enthusiasm. Loud chants of “Defense, defense,” came from the rambunctious bunch often standing on the sidelines near Engles. It was energy often reserved for last-second shots, but it was there the entire time NJIT made its move.
“The first half of this game I didn’t have one issue,” Ferry said. “I thought we did what we were supposed to do in the first half. We were focused. We had energy. We guarded. We played very unselfish offensively and it clicked. The second half we lacked urgency and we lacked focus.”
Eventually NJIT succumbed to Boyd’s incredible effort, but not until the Highlanders got 35 points off the bench, including 16 points from Arjun Ohri – who shot 4-6 from three. Chris Flores added 14 and five assists, and Wilkerson scored 13 and grabbed seven boards.
The Blackbirds now have six days before reopening NEC play at Sacred Heart on January 5. There’s still a lot for LIU to work on before then.
“Hopefully we learn from these games where we’ve given up leads,” Ferry said. “If we have breakdowns for five or six minutes in our conference we’re going to be in trouble.”
Notes: C.J. Garner had eight points and five assists (against zero turnovers) for LIU … NJIT attempted 70 shots … The Highlanders shot 9-18 from three during their second half comeback … LIU went 27-33 from the line … NJIT committed just eight turnovers … Brickman was 4-6 from three and 6-6 from the free throw line, Ferry called the play of his sophomore point guard “tremendous.”
There are eight games including New York area teams on Saturday, but just two include two city teams going head-to-head. Long Island will head to Morningside Heights to take on the surging Columbia Lions in what should be an interesting match up of offense versus defense. (The other by the way is Hofstra vs. Manhattan.)
Continue reading “Saturday Game of the Week: LIU at Columbia”
Congrats to Hofstra’s Charles Jenkins. He picked up another today with the announcement of the Haggerty Award, which goes to the player of the year in the New York metropolitan area. (Which means it includes the major conference guys as well.)
It was Jenkins’ third straight season winning the award. I guess he’ll have to give it up to someone else next season. (Since he’s graduating at all.)
It appears that Manhattan isn’t like it’s brethren at Fairfield and doesn’t want to join the arms race in the MAAC. Contrary to reports, Long Island’s Jim Ferry apparently asked for too much money and won’t become head coach of the Jaspers. Apparently Ferry asked for 7 years, $350k per season and Manhattan offered $240k. They couldn’t meet in the middle, so Manhattan is back to square one.
The MAAC continued to show that it’s going to be an upwardly mobile league in terms of coaching candidates with the hiring of former Long Island head coach Jim Ferry. Ferry was 98-134 with the Blackbirds before this season, but a 27-6 record and his second Jim Phelan Coach of the Year award made him a hot commodity in coaching circles. Ferry’s LIU teams played an exciting version of basketball and finished third in adjusted tempo in the NCAA and made the NCAA Tournament. The draws for Manhattan are pretty obvious.
Unlike the situation we looked at yesterday, this isn’t a lateral move in terms of competition either. The Northeastern Conference finished 25th amongst the 31 conferences that receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament in Ken Pomeroy, whereas the MAAC was 16th. It will definitely be a challenge for Ferry. What’s really interesting about the move is that it doesn’t appear to come with any more financial resources, but, considering the effort Fairfield put into getting Sydney Johnson and Manhattan snatching up Ferry, maybe that’s about to change.
Continue reading “Manhattan’s hiring of Ferry continues upwardly mobile MAAC”
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