No player on a New York City team made the AP All-America Teams this season, but three were named Honorable Mentions. Iona’s Scott Machado, LIU Brooklyn’s Julian Boyd and NJIT’s Isaiah Wilkerson were all included on the list. Considering these teams are made up of the best players in the country, being named is quite the honor. Also, Mike Glover is on JTM Basketball Blog’s Portsmouth Suggested Invites for 2012. I’m guessing that he has Machado as one of the seniors that wouldn’t accept an invite.
Tag: Julian Boyd
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.
Dribble Handoffs – End of Season Edition
Just because the season is over doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of interesting links out there. One of the most interesting projects going on right now is the College Basketball Champions League. You might’ve seen the #CBBCL hashtag on twitter and wondered what it meant.
Season At A Glance — LIU Brooklyn
This is the eighth of what will eventually be capsules for each of the NYC teams when I’m sure their season has concluded.
Team: LIU Brooklyn
Record: 25-9 (16-2 in the NEC)
Season High: Winning at Vermont, Sweeping Wagner
Season Low: Losing at Norfolk State (though apparently that’s better than people thought)
Really Good At: Controlling the foul situation – LIU had both the best offensive and defensive free throw rates in the NEC this season. The Blackbirds took over 400 more free throws than their opponents.
Struggled With: Forcing turnovers – The skeptic might say defense in general, but the Blackbirds finished sixth in the NEC in total defense. They finished last in turnovers forced at just 17.7% of opponents’ possessions. It’s tough to have a good defense if opponents get chances for shots.
Key Losses:
- Michael Culpo (9.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 200+ career threes)
- Arnold Mayorga (2.8 PPG, 1.9 RPG)
Key Returnees:
- Jamal Olasewere (All-NEC First Team, 16.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG)
- Julian Boyd (NEC Player of the Year, 17.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 55.7% from field)
- CJ Garner (12.5 PPG, 3.4 APG)
- Jason Brickman (All-NEC Second Team, 9.7 PPG, 7.3 APG)
- Kenny Onyechi (5.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG in 14.9 MPG, key front court guy off bench)
- Jason Thompson (4.5 PPG, will probably take Culpo’s spot in starting lineup)
Outlook: Extremely positive. Most of the team that has now won two straight NEC championships will be back in 2012-13. The core of Boyd, Brickman and Olasewere is as strong as any in the NEC. The Blackbirds are equipped to weather the loss of Culpo by sliding Thompson into the starting lineup. It took a little while for the rotation to blend this season, but LIU should be able to get started right out of the game next season. That should help with seeding and keep LIU away from a tough 1/16 game in the NCAA Tournament. Of course once again the entire NEC is going to be gunning for the Blackbirds. They’ll have a number of competitors and the one-and-done nature of the NEC tournament means that nothing is for certain. Still, with the talented trio returning and the addition of two talented Texas recruits LIU looks to be as strong as ever.
Michigan State’s size too much for LIU
LIU Brooklyn came in confident and ready to play, but it just didn’t have the bodies to compete with Michigan State in the paint in a 89-67 loss in the NCAA Tournament.
LIU vs. MSU Round up
Tonight LIU Brooklyn will try to shock the world and take down #1 seed Michigan State. A lot has been written over the past two days about the game, so here are some of the highlights.
LIU is dancing again
Often the sequel doesn’t live up to its original. That was the case on Wednesday night at the WRAC, but LIU Brooklyn is just as happy with the ending.
The Blackbirds captured their second straight NEC tournament title with a 90-73 home victory over Robert Morris in front of a jubilant sellout crowd.
Unlike last season, when the Blackbirds needed overtime to secure the title, LIU took much of the drama out of this game early. RMU’s star point guard Velton Jones went down hard after a layup just a minute into the game. He returned, but never really seemed the same.
In the meantime the Blackbirds went about establishing a game plan that was far removed from the one they failed to execute when they lost at Robert Morris during the regular season. Midway through the first half the Colonials looked to be in control, up 19-15, but the Blackbirds exploded for 13-straight points to take a lead they’d never relinquish.
The reason LIU was able to hang onto the lead was the spectacular play of sophomore point guard Jason Brickman. Early in the season the Blackbirds struggled a bit while Brickman worked to define his role in the offense. As conference play started he seemed to get more comfortable taking on a scoring role as well as a playmaking one. In the NEC tournament that experience was on full display.
“I think just playing more games and getting practice in,” Brickman said about how he turned it around. “Just getting chemistry together in my first year as a starter and playing with these guys more minutes.”
Brickman set single game, championship and tournament records for assists as the Blackbirds rolled through the competition for the title. In the championship he had 18 points and 11 assists. While teammate Julian Boyd was named tournament MVP, he gave his credit for all his success.
“I definitely wouldn’t have got player of the year. I wouldn’t get all the accolades and we would not be where we are without him,” Boyd said.
As Jones struggled with injured ribs the Colonials struggled to find anyone that could contain LIU’s dynamic triggerman. Whether it was getting into the lane for layup, or firing a pass out onto the wing Brickman made the right decision more often than not during his 35 minutes on the court.
“He was incredible,” said RMU head coach Andy Toole about Brickman. “He has an uncanny ability to read a defense.”
Brickman said he developed that ability by watching NBA point guards like Steve Nash and Jason Kidd play. Knicks super fan Spike Lee, who was in attendance on Wednesday, would certainly approve.
Now that LIU has conquered the mountain of back-to-back NEC titles, a new challenge begins. The NEC hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2008 when Mount St. Mary’s defeated Coppin State in the play-in game. Next weekend LIU will have a chance to change that, hopefully as a 15 seed or better. Whatever higher seed awaits is in for a difficult challenge. Brickman, Boyd and Jamal Olasewere can cause matchup problems for any team.
“One of my goals at the beginning of the season was to win a game in the NCAA tournament,” Brickman said. “I think with a lot of guys back from last year we have experience. I think we’re going to be a lot more comfortable going in.”
Now they’ll have that shot.
Four Questions for the NEC Championship
Tonight on ESPN2 LIU Brooklyn and Robert Morris will meet again with the NEC title, and the NCAA tournament automatic bid that comes with it, on the line. Last season the Blackbirds pulled out the home victory in overtime. Earlier this season though the Colonials got the 75-66 win at the Charles L. Sewall Center. Looking back on that game here are four key questions and things to watch.
1. Will someone else step up? — The last time these two teams played Julian Boyd scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Jamal Olasewere added 18 points and that was about it. The Blackbirds scored 66 points that night, the third fewest this season and the fewest when Boyd was completely healthy. Michael Culpo was 0-10 from the field and the LIU shot 3-16 from three as a team. That can’t happen again. LIU’s defense just isn’t good enough to score fewer than 70 points and win. Thus someone else is going to have to step up. Whether it’s Jason Brickman getting involved offensively, C.J. Garner slicing down the lane or Culpo knocking down jumpers, a third scorer must emerge.
2. What happens at the free throw line? — One thing that might help LIU’s offense is that the Blackbirds will be playing at home. Last time LIU shot 19-20 from the free throw line, but Robert Morris actually had more attempts, going 17-27 from the line. LIU has lost all three games in which its opponent shot more free throws (at Hofstra, at Norfolk State and at Robert Morris). How the officials call the game will impact this contest just as much, as it completely destroyed the rhythm of RMU’s semifinal against Wagner. If officials call the touch fouls it could be a long night for the Colonials. During the conference season RMU was the worst in the NEC in defensive free throw rate. LIU was the best at getting to the line. A parade of free throw shooters wouldn’t be aesthetically pleasing, but it’d certainly get the job done.
3. Who guards Velton Jones? — Jones scored 25 points in the win over Wagner, including 14-16 from the free throw line. He also scored 23 points the last time these two teams met. Jones is RMU’s heart. If you can contain him there’s always a shot. Robert Morris is 2-3 when Jones scores fewer than 10 points this season. A big, physical point guard he’s a bad matchup for LIU. It’s likely the Blackbirds come out in a zone and hope that RMU has a cold shooting night from three.
4. Can LIU hang onto the basketball? — At the beginning of the season it seemed like LIU couldn’t stop itself from turning the ball over. When LIU turns the ball over on more than 25% of its possessions there’s a ton of vulnerability. Last time against RMU that number was 26.9%. Brickman, Garner and Olasewere each had four turnovers in the last game and Boyd had five. That can’t happen tonight.
Bonus tip: LIU was the best three-point shooting team in the NEC during conference play at 37.5%. Robert Morris was the worst team at defending the three during conference play allowing opponents to shoot 39.1%. If playing at home is the magic formula from beyond the arc it should help the Blackbirds.
Extra bonus tip: Check out these articles on potential NEC seeding and the NEC title game by the numbers from Colonials Corner.
This should be a great game. If you can’t make it to Brooklyn be sure to watch.
LIU Brooklyn and Robert Morris set for NEC title rematch
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”
Final tempo-free NEC, plus awards
All the games have been played and the final weekend provided a big shake up! Not only did LIU Brooklyn fall at Monmouth, a bunch of other teams got knocked out too. Fascinatingly enough, Robert Morris almost caught LIU after the Blackbirds’ disaster, but since it only mattered in tempo-free world LIU will still hang onto home court throughout the conference tournament, which at least gives Jim Ferry’s team a fighting chance at repeating as champions. I’ve also included my All-NEC First and Second Teams and conference awards at the end of this post.
NYC Buckets Archive 