2011 Team Similarities: Princeton vs. Harvard

The Ivy League during the 2010-11 season was about two teams, Princeton and Harvard. The Tigers and Crimson battled it out all season with Sydney Johnson’s team eventually prevailing after a last-second 63-62 victory in the teams’ third meeting of the season.

The two teams were almost inseparable by any metric. Princeton won 25 games, Harvard won 23. Harvard finished 83rd in KenPom, Princeton 84th. It was obvious that these were two very good, not just Ivy League, but basketball teams in general. But what do similarity scores say about the debate?

Continue reading “2011 Team Similarities: Princeton vs. Harvard” →

Value Added in the MAAC

Next season is shaping up to be a really interesting one in the MAAC. Out of the 10 teams in the conference six will be legitimate postseason candidates and at least three could do damage in the NCAA Tournament if they make it that far.

The first step in evaluating who might come out on top of that logjam is taking a look at returning players. Most observers think that since Iona is returning Michael Glover and Scott Machado the Gaels are the team to beat, but looking at the value added for returning players gives a different result.

Continue reading “Value Added in the MAAC” →

Sydney Johnson moves from Princeton to Fairfield

The movement of Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson to Fairfield appears to be a little outside of the scope of this site, but it actually brings to light something interesting about two conferences I’ll be covering moving forward. (And the schools missed being included here by about 30 minutes each.) But first let’s get one thing straight, this move isn’t about going to a “better” conference, despite what people will write.

The MAAC and the Ivy League are fairly comparable. For instance, here’s a look at the Ken Pomeroy and Sagarin ratings for both leagues this season:

Ivy: 15th conference in KenPom, 15th in Sagarin
MAAC: 16th conference in KenPom, 15th in Sagarin

Yes, the Ivy League was helped by the emergence of both Princeton and Harvard this season, but the bottom of the MAAC is really the anchor. Schools like Manhattan, Niagara and Marist totalled 11 conference wins between the three of them. The Ivy League’s Ancient Eight has a smaller pool to draw from, and thus the futility of Dartmouth failed to anchor down the conference.

Continue reading “Sydney Johnson moves from Princeton to Fairfield” →