MBB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

Billy Baller · December 07, 2011, 05:05:44 AM

Well, it seems that William Paterson is the real deal this year because of major division 1 transfer Corey Chandler (Rutgers) and division 1 transfer Lance Brown (Fordham, then Quinnipiac). They've also got a Portugese kid whose a 6'3" guard (both parents played pro basketball) who can shoot and is very athletic along with two 6'8" kids who can bang around down low. The team is pretty deep (9 guys getting over 10 minutes a night) and with the 6'2" Chandler and 6'4" Brown leading the way, this poster believes they can actually go undefeated this season and have a decent run in the NCAA tournament (barring any freak incidents). Who knows if they get any spring transfers to join in the fray as well?

Let me clarify further here: the difference between this Atlantic region teams' transfers as opposed to other teams in years past: these are both LEGITIMATE division one basketball players. Both Chandler & Brown were top recruits from NJ high schools and Chandler averaged 11 points a game his freshman year at Rutgers...Brown was a 5 & 5 guy for both Fordham & Quinnipiac, not too shabby. Most D1 players who come down to D3 are not at the level these two guys are - William Paterson will be a force to reckon with this year (and next, because they are both juniors and the team has all the rest of the important surrounding cast returning next season too).

Knightstalker · December 07, 2011, 08:59:42 AM

Quote from: Billy Baller on December 07, 2011, 05:05:44 AM
Well, it seems that William Paterson is the real deal this year because of major division 1 transfer Corey Chandler (Rutgers) and division 1 transfer Lance Brown (Fordham, then Quinnipiac). They've also got a Portugese kid whose a 6'3" guard (both parents played pro basketball) who can shoot and is very athletic along with two 6'8" kids who can bang around down low. The team is pretty deep (9 guys getting over 10 minutes a night) and with the 6'2" Chandler and 6'4" Brown leading the way, this poster believes they can actually go undefeated this season and have a decent run in the NCAA tournament (barring any freak incidents). Who knows if they get any spring transfers to join in the fray as well?

Let me clarify further here: the difference between this Atlantic region teams' transfers as opposed to other teams in years past: these are both LEGITIMATE division one basketball players. Both Chandler & Brown were top recruits from NJ high schools and Chandler averaged 11 points a game his freshman year at Rutgers...Brown was a 5 & 5 guy for both Fordham & Quinnipiac, not too shabby. Most D1 players who come down to D3 are not at the level these two guys are - William Paterson will be a force to reckon with this year (and next, because they are both juniors and the team has all the rest of the important surrounding cast returning next season too).

I have heard this before from half the programs in the NJAC. Let us wait and see, let's also wait and see if they come back next season. That is also a problem with many D-1 transfers to the NJAC they jump schools after a year.

phil · December 07, 2011, 02:39:56 PM

Quote from: Billy Baller on December 07, 2011, 05:05:44 AM
Well, it seems that William Paterson is the real deal this year because of major division 1 transfer Corey Chandler (Rutgers) and division 1 transfer Lance Brown (Fordham, then Quinnipiac). They've also got a Portugese kid whose a 6'3" guard (both parents played pro basketball) who can shoot and is very athletic along with two 6'8" kids who can bang around down low. The team is pretty deep (9 guys getting over 10 minutes a night) and with the 6'2" Chandler and 6'4" Brown leading the way, this poster believes they can actually go undefeated this season and have a decent run in the NCAA tournament (barring any freak incidents). Who knows if they get any spring transfers to join in the fray as well?

Let me clarify further here: the difference between this Atlantic region teams' transfers as opposed to other teams in years past: these are both LEGITIMATE division one basketball players. Both Chandler & Brown were top recruits from NJ high schools and Chandler averaged 11 points a game his freshman year at Rutgers...Brown was a 5 & 5 guy for both Fordham & Quinnipiac, not too shabby. Most D1 players who come down to D3 are not at the level these two guys are - William Paterson will be a force to reckon with this year (and next, because they are both juniors and the team has all the rest of the important surrounding cast returning next season too).

You mean the team that was life and death to beat TCNJ 75-69? You needed a 10-3 run to close out the game for the victory on your home court against a team that finished 4-21 and 0-13 in the NJAC last season.

To Knightstalker's point. We've all heard this before. BTW, Corey Chandler was dismissed from Rutgers' team during his junior year in 2009. He transferred to and was dismissed from Binghampton in 2010. Don't know how he's a Junior in 2011/12 – but I'd say the chances of him sticking around at WPU are not too high. Brown is also on his third school – but at least he wasn't dismissed from any of them. I'll say that Jose will have his hands full coaching this year. This sort of program building turned into an absolute PR disaster at Montclair a few years ago.

Billy Baller · December 08, 2011, 12:01:33 PM

i'm not sure what happened in the TCNJ game but they've proven themselves every other game so far, no? I'm not a WP fan btw...i attended a school in another atlantic conference and played against WP, just stating an opinion that i think they've got two of the more talented guys in the region, if not the country playing together.

Now if only WP had gone after AJ Matthews from Farmingdale...wow. That would be a national championship team@!!!

phil · December 10, 2011, 10:23:09 PM

Quote from: Billy Baller on December 08, 2011, 12:01:33 PM
i'm not sure what happened in the TCNJ game but they've proven themselves every other game so far, no? I'm not a WP fan btw...i attended a school in another atlantic conference and played against WP, just stating an opinion that i think they've got two of the more talented guys in the region, if not the country playing together.

Now if only WP had gone after AJ Matthews from Farmingdale...wow. That would be a national championship team@!!!

...and yet the team you picked to go undefeated lost to a 3-5 Manhattanville squad today.

Billy Baller · December 11, 2011, 04:19:37 AM

phil,

they just came off a tough game against skidmore (who pushed middlebury to the brink) and mville isn't as bad as their record shows. The loss can only make that team stronger and it certainly wasn't Chandler & Brown's fault for the loss: if you look at the #'s for the game, the rest of the WP squad didn't show up...

What's funny is the animosity you have towards this team! The funnier thing is I really don't care about WP i just think it's exciting to see a team in the Atlantic that could potentially contend outside of the region for once.

phil · December 12, 2011, 11:18:30 PM

Billy, I'm most certainly not trying to be funny, nor do I have any animosity towards a team coached by Mr. Rebimbas. I'm merely responding to your post which stated, "WPU with the 6'2" Chandler and 6'4" Brown leading the way, this poster believes they can actually go undefeated this season." You also said "the difference between this Atlantic region teams' transfers as opposed to other teams in years past: these are both LEGITIMATE division one basketball players." You must not think much of the typical Division III basketball player if you think that Mr. Chandler and Mr. Brown can make such an impact in their first season at WPU as to lead them to an undefeated season. Horace Jenkins didn't do it for WPU, Greg Grant didn't do it for Trenton State. Both of these players led their NJAC teams to the national championship game. Neither did it in their first season. Both played in the NBA. Grant was drafted in the second round and played 7 seasons – and he had a transfer from Marquette and Richmond playing with him at TSC. Three 1,000 scorers on the '89 team with Grant scoring over 1,000 in one season.

I've seen many NJAC transfers come and go. Some have gone on to great things and others disappeared after a semester. One even ended up in jail after playing on an NJAC squad under an assumed name – on a team FULL o' transfers!

WPU might have a very good year. Obviously Manhattanville showed you that as good as your dynamic duo are – they can't do it alone. If Mr. Chandler and Mr. Brown manage to make it back to campus next fall, WPU might have a great year. But give them a year to adjust – and give the rest of DIII some credit. If Chandler and Brown could take WPU and turn them into an undefeated team as easy as that, then DIII basketball must not be very good.

Billy Baller · December 14, 2011, 02:18:18 PM

let's see how they do the rest of the year. I think by the time they play Purchase, Purchase will have some new guys in and give them a real game...outside of that, do you think they really will lose another NJAC game?

irapthor · December 15, 2011, 12:25:10 AM

Hey fellas, don't forgot about the Gothic Knights...NJCU is 8-1 and still the defending NJAC champions with a fairly challenging schedule this season playing 3 NCAA teams from last year in its first 7 games...We haven't gone anywhere...Still a member of the Atlantic Region

phil · December 15, 2011, 10:13:36 AM

Quote from: Billy Baller on December 14, 2011, 02:18:18 PM
let's see how they do the rest of the year. I think by the time they play Purchase, Purchase will have some new guys in and give them a real game...outside of that, do you think they really will lose another NJAC game?

Purchase? Purchase?!? Let's start by winning AT Ramapo. Even though WPU beat the Roadrunners, Ramapo beat the same Manhattanville squad that beat WPU – and did so by a tidy 27 points. Then go win AT Newark, AT NJCU and AT Montclair. Too bad the NJAC has their ridiculous two division format. That saved WPU a trip to Atlantic City to face Stockton and Ewing to face TCNJ again.

WPU has not played a ranked team. They have beaten four teams with winning records. Of the four teams, Stevens has the best record at 7-2. They are not blowing anybody out and they have played every game at home except the two played at the Steven's tournament. They might very well be the favorite to win the NJAC right now. But you originally said they'd go undefeated for the season. Manhattanville ended that – and playing NJCU, Ramapo, Newark and Montclair on their respective home floors is a helluva lot tougher than playing a 3-5 Manhattanville squad on your own home court.

Let's see what they do when they take it on the road in the NJAC schedule ... and let's see what happens during a 10 day stretch in February when they play Montclair, at Ramapo, at Newark and NJCU.

Knightstalker · January 05, 2012, 08:15:53 AM

Watched the second half of the NJCU at Ramapo game last night. Typical Knights v Roadrunners game, came down to the wire and then was decided in ot with ramapo winning. On another note the stalkerette scored 3 of her 3-4 grade teams 5 points in a loss in their first game.

phil · January 05, 2012, 11:37:38 AM

Well that is certainly a monster game by Stalkerette! She scored 60% of her team's points!

We start girl's fastpitch softball down here this weekend. My girls are 6 and 11 and we already had a clinic with the high school team (who finished the year ranked #1 in the country by ESPN last year). This weekend is the first of two 3-hour clinics on back-to-back weekends – followed by tryouts the following week (Yes ... tryouts). Then the season starts. The fall season (which is less competitive), had 400 participants and wrapped up with a two-day tournament. Needless to say, they take softball pretty seriously here. Seems a bit much for me – but all the seniors on the HS team went on to get college scholarships.

Knightstalker · January 05, 2012, 12:00:01 PM

The stalkerette is 10 years old and already 5'1" and as tall as her coach and her mother. Needless to say she is the starting center. The opening tip was funny, she didn't realize she had to jump for the ball and I forgot to tell her and so did the coaches so she stood there and watched the ball go up.

rams1102 · January 05, 2012, 01:49:24 PM

Stalker / Phil

Happy New Year Guys. The Red Hawks had a nice win over Willy P last night. Maybe they can cause some havoc in the NJAC this year. Still recovering from Football this year.

phil · January 05, 2012, 02:08:34 PM

Same to you Rams!
Montclair beat Willy P? Hmmmm, it seems that not only will Willy P fail to go undefeated this season – they won't go undefeated in the NJAC either. So much for Billy Baller's prediction earlier on this thread.

Knightstalker,
My wife is coming to grips with the fact that our 11 year old is taller than she is (5'5"), and can wear her shoes & clothes! I wish she liked basketball ... the only problem is that she's as quick as her old man ... which means you can time us via an hourglass.