Tag: King Rice

Awards/Thoughts from a Whirlwind Day of NEC Hoops

It’s midnight, but I’m wide awake after attending three NEC games in nine hours time. I drank 6 bottles of water, ate a banana and clif bar, drove nearly 100 miles for approximately two hours, and finally gorged myself at the diner all while taking in some excellent basketball in between. Rather than offering up a recap for all three outcomes, I decided to hand out some awards. The six teams I saw today – Quinnipiac, FDU, St. Francis Brooklyn, Central Connecticut, Sacred Heart, and Monmouth – are all eligible for these distinguished honors, as are the players. Let’s begin…

Best Player Performance
Shane Gibson – (I can already feel you rolling your eyes.) In my defense, Gibson netted a game high 33 points on 17 shots to go along with 15 made free throws. As I’ll explain later, the referees called the Monmouth/Sacred Heart game way too tight, but Sacred Heart made their freebies while Monmouth didn’t. Gibson was a major part of that, plus his 24 second half points guided the Pioneers to their first place tying victory Saturday night. In fact, Gibson scored 19 straight points for his team in the second half. 19 straight! Can you say “NEC Player of the Year?” Time to start the campaign! (Ok, I’m kidding. Sort of.)

Best Player Performance in a Losing Effort
Jalen Cannon – The 6’6″ immovable object in the paint had himself a dominant first half against the Blue Devils, as he scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. It was so dominant, however, that every time Cannon touched the ball in the second stanza down low, Howie Dickenman would scream out “Help, help, help!” (No really, he did that every single time.) But his pupils listened and made life quite uncomfortable for Cannon, even though he ended up with an excellent final line of 18 points, 14 rebounds, and two steals. Cannon’s Terriers may have lost the game in heartbreaking fashion, but it certainly wasn’t Cannon’s fault.

Best Player Performance in a Supporting Role
The Central Connecticut Supporting Cast – Allow me to partially cop out here, as I nominate the CCSU threesome of Malcolm McMillan, Adonis Burbage, and Terrell Allen. They combined for 39 of the Blue Devils’ 72 points while draining six of nine from long range. McMillan was impressive both from the perimeter (2-3 from 3PT range) and attacking off the dribble, Burbage was his usual sharpshooting self, and Allen scored a career high 15 points off the bench. Kyle Vinales and Matthew Hunter may be a terrific twosome, but Dickenman has to be pleased with the effort from the rest of his supporting cast.

Best Player Performance in a Defensive Role
Jamee Jackson – I’ll begin with this Tom Moore quote about Jackson after their win over FDU: “I’m going to push him for [NEC] Defensive Player of the Year. I’ll really push for him to get that, and I know people judge [the award] by steals, blocks, and that type of stuff. I just know he can guard in the post. He can guard on the perimeter. He can help defend and he just plays at an elite level defensively … He’s come up with huge blocks in big situations for us, because he plays with so much energy.”

In the victory, Jackson recorded two steals and two blocks, but it was his effort on Kinu Rochford that was the most impressive. After Rochford got going early in the second half, Jackson did an excellent job pushing him off the low block and making life extremely difficult at all times. His block on Sidney Sanders final shot attempt of the game sealed the Bobcat’s two point victory. Say what you want about Jackson’s free throw shooting, but the athletic power forward is a beast on the defensive end.

Best Team Performance
Central Connecticut – Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac may have won their respective games, but CCSU was easily the most impressive of the victorious teams Saturday. With the ankle injury of Brandon Peel, Dickenman practically had six players at his disposal with five of them logging a cramp inducing 38 minutes or more. Those five were responsible for all 72 points, while their up-tempo attack kept St. Francis on their heels for a majority of the contest. Really, it’s remarkable how fast this team continues to play – eighth fastest in the country at 72.8 possessions per game – even though they are two injuries away from asking fans to suit up.

Best Postgame Quotes
King Rice – Who else did you expect?! King Rice and Andy Toole have to be the best NEC quote machines after a losing effort because neither of them hold back. Here’s what Rice had to say when I asked him about the increased role of his freshmen, in particular Christian White and Tyrone O’Garro.

“Contrary to what everybody thought when we signed those guys, and everybody all across the country was like ‘oh man [Monmouth] can’t get the right dudes’ and all this stuff, but you know what? Those kids (White, O’Garro, Jalen Palm) probably could have started from day one. I’m the type of coach that gives older guys more of a chance and now it’s time for [my freshman] to get some playing time. They’ve earned it, they are the best guys at those positions – that’s why they’re playing – and now we’re going to have those guys for three to four years.”

Also I’d like to throw in a brief exchange I had with Dave Bike last night.
Me: Have you ever seen this much parity in the NEC before?
Bike: You guys are the experts, but right now you wouldn’t have picked in the beginning, after 8 games, Robert Morris, Bryant and us tied for first place.
Me: I wouldn’t have put Bryant and Sacred Heart in there, that’s for sure.
Bike: Well, thank you. (laughter)

Oh, things are so much more jovial postgame when the Pioneers are winning! Anyway, moving along…

Most Disappointing Performance
Fairleigh Dickinson – Yeah, I couldn’t keep this entire post positive, because I did after all see some negative things in my six hours of hoops. For example, FDU absolutely gave a game away yesterday to Quinnipiac by consistently shooting themselves in the foot late. There were bonehead turnovers, missed free throws on the front end of one and one opportunities, and bricked open looks. The Knights easily threw away about seven or eight possession in the final five minutes, and when you lose that game by two points (and shoot a paltry 8-18 from the free throw line), it will surely drive the head coach nutty. Without a doubt, Greg Vetrone has to be sick with this loss, especially when you throw in the late lead they blew to LIU Brooklyn over a week ago. Those two games are the difference between 4-4 and 2-6.

Best Crowd
Sacred Heart’s Pitt Center – The “upset” of the day belongs to the Sacred Heart fans – 1,614 of them to be exact – who came out and filled up the makeshift gym to give the Pioneers a nice home court advantage. Thanks to the students, the Pitt Center was loud and very much into the game. It was a pleasant surprise and frankly cool to see.

Most Shameful Performance
The Officials for the Monmouth/Sacred Heart game – Talk about a tightly officiated game; the evening showdown at the Pitt Center was ground to a halt in the second half thanks to a comically refereed contest. Both teams were in the bonus by the under 12 minute timeout and ended up accumulating a mind-blowing 32 personal fouls, in the second half alone! Everything was being called: hand checks, minimal arm taps, hell some were led to believe breathing on a player was an offense. It was truly shameful how the officials took the game over.

I’ve run out of awards, thus I’d like to conclude with some important random thoughts:

  • The aforementioned Monmouth freshman Christian White has a beautiful outside shot. It’s one of the prettiest rainbow arcs you’ll see in the NEC, and so far the freshman is making the most of his playing time. For the season, the diminutive White has drained exactly 50% (16 of 32) of his three-point attempts. Given Monmouth’s past outside shooting woes, White’s production is sorely needed.
  • Quinnipiac’s backcourt continues to serve as a revolving door of guards, whether it’s Shaq Shannon, Zaid Hearst, Evan Conti, Kendrick Ray, or James Ford. As Tom Moore explained in his press conference, not even he knows which player(s) will perform on a given night. Yesterday, Conti gave Moore a strong first half of eight points and four assists. On Thursday night, Shannon scored 18 points exclusively on three-pointers to give the Bobcats a much needed spark over CCSU. Zaid Hearst has been in-and-out with his production. Moore is still searching for the right guy(s) to mix and match, although he certainly would prefer leaning on one or two players for the NEC stretch. Will someone eventually elevate their play? No one really knows the answer.
  • The curious case of Travis Nichols continues. On Saturday, Nichols had another double digit point effort as he scored 10 points, which sounds awesome when you realize St. Francis was 5-1 in those games. But yesterday, St. Francis lost in part because Nichols found himself in foul trouble for much of the second half. The versatile forward missed critical stretches late and it inevitability cost his team as CCSU pulled away in Nichols’ absence. I’m certainly not placing all of the blame on Nichols, but it’s hard to dispute the effect he has on the team when he’s logging quality minutes on the floor for Glenn Braica’s group.
  • I know I brought this up in last week’s edition of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but it bears repeating. Phil Gaetano, through eight NEC games, now has dished out 75 assists versus only 21 turnovers. He holds a league best A/TO ratio of 3.6. Not bad for a player who only attempts four shots per game.

It was a great day of college hoops, one I’m extremely thankful to be a part of. Perhaps there will be more Connecticut tripleheaders in my future. I just have to run it by the wife next time…

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

Monmouth Continues to Struggle on Offense, Loses to Mount St. Mary’s

In just two and a half minutes, seven turnovers were already committed. Given Mount St. Mary’s and Monmouth’s ability to force turnovers (each team is in the top ten nationally in that category), this early development wasn’t surprisingly in the least bit.

Unfortunately for Monmouth, another thing that wasn’t surprising was the Hawks’ inability to put the ball in the basket. It wasn’t from a lack of effort, or even execution on the offensive end. The open looks just wouldn’t fall for the struggling Hawks, and it cost them once again as the Mount pulled away in the second half for a 71-59 victory. After the loss, King Rice was surprisingly upbeat, despite his team now in the midst of a seven game losing streak.

“I told my kids after we’re still a work in progress,” said Rice. “I feel so bad for them, because Jesse [Steele] got good looks, Dion [Nesmith] got good looks … and the ball hasn’t fallen for them yet. So I told our guys, we played hard enough today to be able to win. Now we have to execute and make shots and those types of things, but that’s the type of effort I’m looking for.”

To the Mount’s credit, they hit some shots right out of the gate. After settling down from the initial frenetic pace, the Mount sank 13 of their 27 shots in the first half to take a 31-25 lead into halftime. Big man Kristijan Krajina led the attack with nine first half points on five shots, while Sam Prescott looked comfortable hitting three of four three-pointers.

Said Jamion Christian after the game on his suddenly emerging low post scorer, “[Kristijan] has really given us a consistent low-post scorer. Our guys have done a great job getting him the ball in key situations and I expect him to keep playing the way he’s been playing.”

The tenacious Hawks – clearly taking on the identity of their head coach – predictably came out swinging in the second half. Monmouth used a 8-0 run to pull within one point with 10:34 remaining, but that was the closest the Hawks would get. A 20-6 Mount St. Mary’s run to conclude the game ultimately broke the back of Monmouth.

In those final ten minutes, Monmouth missed nine of their final 11 shots and ended the night with a now league worst 0.81 points per possession and 41.3% field goal percentage. Jesse Steele, in particular, still hasn’t found his stroke (shooting 26.8% from the floor for the season), yet Rice isn’t ready to take the ball out of his hands.

“Last year Jesse wasn’t in shape, last year Jesse didn’t try hard all the time, and Jesse had a great year for us last year,” said Rice. “Now Jesse has gotten in great shape, he’s put in more time on his game then he ever has since high school, he’s doing all the right things, he’s trying his best to be our leader, and the ball hasn’t fallen. But I told Jesse over and over and over, keep shooting the ball, son. When you score the way you score, it’s going to start happening at some point.”

Andrew Nicholas led the Hawks with 19 points, although he needed 19 shots to score those points. Despite the losing streak, Rice is still confident enough to believe his team will get through this rough patch and become a factor once again in the NEC.

“I like our team,” said Rice. “I probably messed in scheduling in having the three high major games in a row. We were playing at a high level before the Navy game and we lost our mojo a little bit.”

“They are great kids. If they weren’t buying in then it would be a different story, but our kids are bought in and we need some things to break for us, and I believe they will.”

After what appears to be a brief reprieve with St. Francis (PA) coming to the MAC, Monmouth will then embark on a difficult three game set with Robert Morris, St. Francis Brooklyn, and LIU Brooklyn. Those open looks need to fall soon, or Monmouth will find themselves in a deep, deep hole by late January.

Some observations of Monmouth’s strengths and weaknesses

Last night, I attended my first NEC game as a fan when I purchased tickets with a co-worker to see the Monmouth Hawks lose by more than 30 points to ACC foe Maryland. It really wasn’t a fair fight, after all Maryland has the fifth tallest roster in the country versus Monmouth who has the seventh shortest team. Obviously, the blowout loss in College Park isn’t a proper barometer to measure the Hawks, but the Terrapins were able to exacerbate some of Monmouth’s issues. Here are my thoughts on the Hawks as they will soon move forward into NEC play:

1) Swarming the Basketball – Monmouth may have one of the shortest teams in the country, but they sure are quick. On defense, they fly around the court creating havoc a majority of the time. Their defensive rotations, for the most part, are crisp and clog up passing lanes in a hurry. Even a team that has superior size and athleticism in Maryland, struggled mightily in their half-court set. In all, the Terps coughed the ball up 24 times, which is right on par with the number of turnovers this Hawks’ defense extracts every game. With their excellent turnover rates (top 10 nationally), any NEC team opposing Monmouth should be content if they give the ball away less than 20 times. If they break 15 turnovers, then they should be thrilled. And if they break 12 turnovers, well then it was a marvelous performance. This team can flat out defend when they’re clicking on all cylinders. No one, and I repeat no one, will look forward to play these Hawks in conference.

2) Offensive Struggles – Monmouth was in quite a quandary on Wednesday night. King Rice tried to instill an aggressive mindset on the offensive end, as his Hawks clearly weren’t shy about driving the lane. Maryland’s size, however, made life extremely difficult for Monmouth’s bigs and slashers. Alex Len, all 7’1 of him, registered five blocks and altered a countless number of other shot attempts. In all, Monmouth only connected on 21% of their shots last night. Of course, Monmouth won’t see this type of size in the NEC, but the Hawks currently cannot buy an outside jumper. For the season, the Hawks are scoring 0.85 points per possession. I don’t care how good your defense is, an offense playing at that level simply won’t cut it if you truly want to break into the NEC top four or five.

3) Who is the Go-To-Guy? – If you have a KenPom subscription, head to Monmouth’s scouting page. On it, you’ll unfortunately see a lot of red boxes (red means BAD) when it comes to offensive statistics and metrics. It’s been a real struggle shooting the basketball for a majority of the Hawks. Senior Jesse Steele is shooting 27% from the floor. Andrew Nicholas, after his 0-9 performance against Maryland, has only drained 36% of his shot attempts. Not one player, with the exception of freshman Christian White who doesn’t have many attempts, has a three-point percentage greater than 32%. Quite simply, this is one of the worst shooting teams in the country, which truly places a premium on transition points off turnovers. If the Hawks have an off day turning their opponent over, they’ll have real trouble winning the game.

Despite all of the offensive issues, this team is significantly better than a season ago. King Rice has his players bought in on the defensive end, but he’ll need to figure out how to create better looks offensively. His go-to-guys, Steele and Nicholas, have disappointed in the early going, so one of the biggest issues moving forward is if those guards can improve their numbers. Without a sizable tick up in performance, the Hawks won’t have enough offensive firepower to compete with teams like LIU, Robert Morris, and even Central Connecticut.

Monmouth’s King Rice suspended one game

Last night, the Navy Midshipmen came into Monmouth and snapped the Hawks’ four game winning streak. It was a surprising result to say the least and it left Monmouth’s head coach angry after the game. King Rice was angry at himself. He was angry at his team’s effort in the second half, when they allowed 53 Midshipmen points. And most importantly, he was angry at the officials.

After receiving his second technical late in the second half, Rice was ejected from the game. In the press conference afterwards, Rice went off to Asbury Park Press beat writer Tony Graham when asked about the technical fouls.

“Here’s the problem,” said Rice. “I don’t cuss at these guys, they’ve got a chip on their shoulders towards me. Those two officials have a problem with King Rice and they showed it tonight.”

Part of the problem, besides of course talking in the third person about yourself, is Rice publicly criticized the officials. And Monmouth apparently wasn’t going to stand for that behavior.

Today, the Asbury Park Press reported that Monmouth has suspended Rice for Saturday’s game versus Syracuse.

In a statement, Monmouth athletic director Dr. Marilyn McNeil said, “Monmouth University does not condone public criticism of officials, or any sideline behavior that misrepresents the University’s commitment to good sportsmanship and respect for all participants.”

Well then. Consider this a lesson learned for the second year head coach, which selfishly is unfortunate. Only hours before I had quipped on Twitter that a King Rice press conference after a loss was must listen theater. He certainly doesn’t hold back when you ask him a question.

As a result of this suspension, I may be disappointed the next time I talk to Rice. He’ll surely be subdued with his comments, and with good reason.

NEC Week 4 Recap: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The NEC had their best overall week of the young season. For once, I had to really search for topics to place in the bad and ugly sections! It was a banner week across the board; some of the preseason top teams and some of the bottom teams elevated their level, so let’s sift through it all in our fourth edition of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

  • The Big Upset – Despite a lackluster effort versus Savannah State early in the week, Robert Morris headlines this section because of their upset victory over Ohio. Jim Christian’s Bobcats came in with a perfect 6-0 record and a #30 rating courtesy of Ken Pomeroy, but could not overcome the amazing performance of Colonial guard Karvel Anderson. The JC transfer hit all ten of his shots – eight from three-point range – to score 28 points in the win. Heading in, Ohio was a team of many strengths but Robert Morris wisely exploited one of their biggest weaknesses by staying aggressive on the offensive end. The Colonials made a season high 28 free throws on 35 attempts. The win gives Robert Morris a fighting chance to earn a non-16 seed should they represent the NEC in the big dance. For now though, it’s one of the biggest NEC victories in recent memory and could ultimately serve as the moment that turned the Colonials season around.
  • The Brooklyn Boys Are Back – Well well well. It’s nice to finally see the defending NEC champs in this section. After losing their first four contests – two of them as favorites – Jack Perri’s squad took care of business at the Wellness Center by defeating Columbia and Lafayette. Offense had never been the issue during the early skid, but as John explained here, the defense was in lock down mode for the week. In the two victories, LIU has held their opponents to only 0.87 points per possession, quite an improvement over their 1.21 points allowed per possession in the first four games. Julian Boyd, after suffering through a back injury and some untimely cramps, appears to be back to full strength. A healthy Boyd, along with major contributions from Jamal Olasewere, Jason Brickman, and C.J. Garner, has the Blackbirds poised to do some damage in the near future during their non-conference tilt. Getting frontcourt backups Kenny Onyechi and Booker Hucks will also help in that regard.
  • A Young Beast in the Middle – With almost a fifth of the regular season completed (I know, crazy huh?), it’s finally appropriate to highlight the phenomenal early play of St. Francis Brooklyn sophomore Jalen Cannon. Through five games, Cannon leads all NEC players in efficiency rating, rebounds per game (9.6), and is third in effective field goal percentage (66.7 eFG%), trailing only Brickman and teammate Kevin Douglas. It’s Cannon’s scoring, not his rebounding, that’s the biggest surprise early on. He has scored in double digits in four of five games and is averaging 16 points per game. If he keeps this pace up, he may very well make a run at the NEC Player of the Year as a mere sophomore. I see a lot of All-NEC first teams in his future.
  • Mayhem Has Arrived – Jamion Christian’s MAYHEM system has captured the attention of the league, but the Mayhem officially took hold on Monday when the Mount impressively upset the George Washington Colonials on their home floor. The Colonials were caught off guard with the Mount’s pressure, coughing up the ball 25 times and failing to hit a single three-pointer in the ugly loss. Afterwards, the Mount held on for an equally ugly one point victory over Binghamton, who may be one of the worst programs in the country. But, a win is a win, and the two game winning streak pulls the Mount back to 0.500. They’ll certainly be a tough out any night for future NEC opponents.
  • Hawks Soaring by December – At this point last season, King Rice’s Hawks were still searching for their first victory. In fairness, Monmouth had a brutal non-conference schedule – including Villanova, Virginia Tech, George Mason, and Vanderbilt – that was too difficult to overcome for a first year head coach. With a season now under their belt, Monmouth and their vaunted pressure defense (seventh nationally in turnover rate) has them at 4-3 on the season, with a three game winning streak. The offense is still hit or miss, but the Hawks will be a difficult matchup for any team on any given night with their in-your-face defense. If Monmouth shoots the ball well from the perimeter, then they’ll win more often then not. When they’ve shot better than 33% from beyond the arc this season, they have yet to lose.

The Bad

  • The Same Issues – Quinnipiac’s rebounding and defense has been good enough in the early going, yet the Bobcats are still having difficultly creating offense in the half-court set. The Bobcats are shooting 43% from the floor, which isn’t all that bad, yet they’ve had difficult closing games out late in the second half. The double OT loss to UConn was a prime example, and last week the Bobcats had a few opportunities to grab the lead from Lehigh, yet they failed to do so (you gotta make your free throws, Mr. Shaq Shannon). It’s the same problem that plagued the Bobcats last season, but without All-NEC second teamer James Johnson, the problem is exacerbated somewhat. Whether it’s creating more opportunities in transition or juggling around his crunch time lineup, Tom Moore needs to figure how his team can score more efficiently when the game is on the line.

The Ugly

  • On the Mend in Fairfield – If it wasn’t for a couple of improbable comebacks against Yale and Stony Brook, the Sacred Heart Pioneers could find themselves in the same company as the St. Francis Red Flash. As in winless. Currently, the backcourt is near shambles with Chris Evans and Evan Kelley out indefinitely with knee injuries. It got even worse before their eventual loss to Brown, when Steve Glowiak sat out with a sprained ankle and Shane Gibson hurt his knee diving for a loose ball in the first half. The rash of injuries forced Dave Bike to play freshman walk-on Louis Cramer nine minutes in the second half of the Brown game. Sacred Heart needs their guards to get healthy fast, but at this point it wouldn’t be the worst idea to wait until the conference season begins to get some his guards completely healthy. If their backcourt depth is this compromised come January, the Pioneers will certainly struggle to even make the NEC playoffs. That’s not what this fan envisioned for his alma mater in Gibson and Justin Swidowski’s senior season.

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

NEC Team Capsule: Monmouth Hawks

Head Coach: King Rice, 2nd year (12-20)
Last Season: 12-20 (10-8 in NEC), lost first round of NEC tournament to Robert Morris, 87-68
NEC Preseason Coach’s Poll: 7th out of 12 teams
State of the Program: Getting ready to compete
Key Player Lost: Mike Myers Keitt (8.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.3 APG), Phil Wait (4.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 0.5 BPG), Will Campbell (6.0 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 0.8 APG), Austin Tillotson (6.1 ppg, 2.0 apg, 1.1 spg)
Incoming Players: Jalen Palm (G), Christian White (G), Tyrone O’Garro (F), Colin Stewart (G)
Previous Posts: King Rice Believes Team Approach Is Best For Monmouth, Why Monmouth Might Not Improve In King Rice’s Second Season, King Rice Continues to Rebuild Monmouth With 2012 Class

Projected Starting Lineup:
PG: Jesse Steele (12.6 ppg, 4.2 apg, 1.2 spg, 1.7 A/TO)
G: Andrew Nicholas (8.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.2 spg)
G: Dion Nesmith (8.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.1 spg, 38.4% 3PT)
F: Ed Waite (7.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.3 spg)
F: Marcus Ware (6.4 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.0 spg)

Key Reserves: Khalil Brown (F), Gary Cox (F), Stephen Spinella (G), Tyrone O’Garro (F)

Major Storylines:

  1. How far does a balance attack take a team? — As discussed at length in two previous pieces this offseason, Monmouth plays a very egalitarian style of basketball. The Hawks will rely on having a different guy that can beat you every night. In a way this almost seems harder to pull off. You need not one, but three or four guys that can fill up the basket. In Jesse Steele, Dion Nesmith, Andrew Nicholas and a healthy Marcus Ware, that’s exactly what Monmouth thinks they have. The fact is though the offense probably won’t be very good, it’s the defense where Monmouth will have to win games.
  2. Does size matter in this system? — When King Rice showed up, seven-footer Phil Wait’s role decreased significantly. Players that can get up and down the court and guard multiple positions are really important. The third tallest player on Monmouth’s roster this season, 6’7″ freshman Colin Stewart, is listed as a guard. How the Hawks scheme to take away big men like Julian Boyd and Ike Azotam will be important during league play.
  3. Is this team ready to move up into the NEC’s upper echelon? — The big question is if the Hawks are ready to move into the conference’s elite in King Rice’s second season. Most people are skeptical. Monmouth has a long way to go to compete with the best in the conference. How the Hawks do starting January 3 at Wagner is one of the biggest things to watch in the NEC this season.

Lineup Analysis: As much as Rice talks about balance, this team will certainly rely on two key players in seniors Jesse Steele and Marcus Ware. Steele was the only double-digit scorer on the roster in 2011-12. He could probably score more if he needed to. What Monmouth really needs though is for him to get everyone else involved and improve on his 4.8 assists per game from a season ago. Up front it’s going to have to be the Ware show. At 6’8″ he’s the big, experienced body that Rice can throw up against teams. It’s possible that Khalil Brown, a 6’9″ forward will also be a big help in the paint. He had to sit out last season, but Rice has raved about his potential. Gary Cox, a 6’5″ forward also sat last season with an injury. It’s also worth noting that this is an experienced team. Steele, Ware, Nesmith, Waite, Spinella and Cox give this team a bunch of veterans to rely on.

Coach’s Quote:

“We’re a lot more aggressive. Last year I didn’t know the kids when we started out so we put in an up-tempo style of play. Now we know how to do it. We know our kids, so we’re just way more aggressive than Monmouth has been in a long time. And after going through the league a year and seeing we’ve got a lot of great guards and a lot of great coaches that control the games we’re going to try and mix it up even more than we did last year just so we don’t have a team that has a dominant player dominate the game against us. We’re going to try to take the ball out of the best guy’s hands.”
– Rice on how year two is different

Prediction:
Ryan — King Rice’s bunch is perhaps the most volitile team in the conference and could realistically finish anywhere from 4th to 9th. I’m projecting somewhere in the middle, as this team will probably take a small step back before becoming a serious NEC contender down the road. One thing is for certain though, Monmouth will be a factor almost every game they play.

John — I’ve made some bold predictions when it comes to Monmouth this season, but I think eventually they’re going to settle into the fifth or sixth seed in the NEC tournament. King Rice certainly has this program on the right track and they’ll be a tough out for any team they play. The tricky thing is going to be bridging the gap in 2013-14 as Rice’s recruits will still be growing up and the seniors will have departed.

Previous NEC Team Capsules:
October 24: St. Francis (PA) Red Flash
October 25: Fairleigh Dickinson Knights
October 26: Bryant Bulldogs
October 29: Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers
October 30: Central Connecticut Blue Devils

Why Monmouth may not improve in King Rice’s second season

The 2011-12 season was a tale of two halves for the Monmouth Hawks. You had the first half which came as no surprise to everyone; Monmouth stumbled mightily out of the gate en route to a 3-16 mark, with only two of those losses in single digits. Then seemingly out of nowhere, the King Rice led bunch concluded the season on an improbable 9-4 stretch, which included a 28-point drubbing of the NEC champion LIU Blackbirds in the regular season finale. Continue reading “Why Monmouth may not improve in King Rice’s second season” →

King Rice Continues to Rebuild Monmouth with 2012 Class

Monmouth Hawks, 12-20 (10-8 NEC), Lost in 1st Round of NEC Tournament to Robert Morris, 87-66

Players Lost:
F Mike Myers Keitt – 8.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.3 apg
G Will Campbell – 6.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.8 apg
C Phil Wait – 4.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.5 bpg
G Austin Tillotson (transfer) – 6.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.1 spg

Incoming Recruits:
Jalen Wesson Palm, 5’10” PG – Butler Traditional High (KY)
Christian White, 5’11” PG – Aquinas Institute (NY)
Tyrone O’Garro, 6’6” F – St. Peter’s Prep (NJ)
Collin Stewart, 6’8” G/SF – Meekel Christian Academy (NY)
Deon Jones (transfer), 6’6” G/SF – Towson University (MD)

With a full year under his belt, head coach King Rice may have procured one of the better recruiting classes in recent memory for the Monmouth Hawks.  Coach Rice and his staff used the past 2 offseasons to sign five players for the 2012 class, all of whom could have an impact in the coming years, if not immediately.

As a former point guard for the North Carolina Tar Heels (my apologies Monmouth fans, since you’ve probably heard this 1,568 times by now), Coach Rice understands how crucial it is to have a strong floor general running your team.  With the point guard position occupied by senior Jesse Steele for one more season, Coach Rice found his point guard rotation of the future, signing prospects Jalen Wesson Palm and Christian White.

Both Wesson Palm and White fit the mold of their future coach, with each exhibiting strong leadership qualities to go along with a tight handle and tough play.  Of the two recruits, Wesson Palm profiles as the future starter, thanks to his speed, good passing eye, and ability to create separation from his defenders.  Based on limited scouting reports, Palm’s perceived potential is held back by two criticisms that can be improved upon.  The first criticism highlights his proneness to turning over the ball.  While he’s been reported to play a little out of the control, Coach Rice’s influence should help reduce Wesson Palm’s turnover ratio over time.  The second criticism is his lack of size, although adding strength to his 150 pound frame should accelerate his progress and prevent bigger guards from pushing him around on the defensive end.

White, on the other hand, has a little more size, yet has average to slightly above average quickness.  Consequently, he’ll have more difficulty than Wesson Palm creating his own shot and facilitating play with penetration into the lane.  At least you have to admire White’s competitive fire, even if it brings out some wacky comments.  When asked in an interview what his goals at Monmouth were, White offered the following, “I want to win a national championship.”

Given the Northeast Conference’s 3-30 career record in the NCAA tourney, perhaps White is being a tad optimist.  All kidding aside though, White appears to have the mental makeup and tools to play an integral role towards Coach Rice’s rebuilding effort.

As far as immediate playing time is concerned, it wouldn’t be surprising if Wesson Palm or White are redshirted in their first season.  After all, Monmouth will have 5 players measuring 6-foot-1 or shorter on the roster and Steele should match his minutes from last season, which landed in the NEC top 10 at 34.5 minutes per game.

With the point guard position covered through the 2015-16 season, Coach Rice moved into the low block to find his next impact recruit.  Tyrone O’Garro, who hails from New Jersey, possesses the type of athleticism and leaping ability this Hawk’s team desperately needs.  But don’t take my word for it – check out this Youtube highlight video of O’Garro, comprised mainly of alley-oops.  It’s highly unlikely O’Garro will complete as many alley-oops against collegiate competition though!

Digging deeper, O’Garro should provide instant rebounding for a Monmouth club that finished dead last in the NEC in rebounding margin.  O’Garro is versatile defensively, with the ability to guard bigger forwards in the post and smaller forwards on the perimeter, thanks to his polished footwork.  His offensive arsenal needs development, but O’Garro should see immediate playing time just for his off-the-ball skills, especially with the departures of big men Phil Wait and Mike Myers Keitt.

Next up is the moderately recruited (among low mid-major teams) Collin Stewart.  Stewart is the most intriguing recruit of the bunch, because the lanky 6-foot-8 recruit profiles as a shooting guard.  It’s with good reason.  Stewart excels shooting the outside jumper and has well developed skills out on the perimeter.  Stewart, when ready, would give most NEC opponents matchup problems on both ends of the floor, especially against smaller lineups.  The potential is absolutely there, and if developed properly, Stewart could be the best recruit that comes out of Coach Rice’s 2012 class.

Deon Jones, the transfer from Towson University, makes up the 5th and final recruit in this class, although Jones isn’t eligible to play for the 2012-13 season.  Jones played a full season in the Colonial Athletic Association, and as a freshman, his performance was a mixed bag.  There was the good (4.5 rebounds per game) and the bad (37% Effective FG percentage, 0.4 assist-to-turnover ratio).  Once upon a time, Jones ranked as the 2nd best high school senior in Delaware, therefore the raw talent is there.

All in all, Coach Rice grabbed a little of everything for his 2012 recruiting class.  While some of these players probably have a ceiling of a solid role player, a couple of these recruits could progress into excellent players in the NEC.  Only time will tell, but it appears the Monmouth Hawks are heading in the right direction with Coach King Rice.

Ryan Peters covers Sacred Heart and Northeast Conference men’s college basketball on Pioneer Pride and Big Apple Buckets.  You can follow Ryan on Twitter here.

What is up with the NEC?

The final day of NEC action ended up being so far from what anyone expected that the conference has basically been flipped upside down going into the postseason tournament. All four of the teams that will be hosting games on Thursday night lost (on the road) on Saturday. Three of those losses came to teams that will be in the NEC tournament and shows the wide-open nature of the conference this season.

Continue reading “What is up with the NEC?” →