MBB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[phil]

ahhhh, the Potsdam State game. Greg Grant v. Steve Babiarz.

Trenton State won 78-62 and Grant had 38 (and scored 1044 that season).

I was there and had to get in line at 4:00AM to get tickets a day or two earlier. They filled the gym and showed the game on closed circuit in a second gym. Unfortunately, i don't think Trenton State/TCNJ has won a single NCAA tourney game since that 1989 season... but it was one helluva fun year to watch Trenton State!

[Knightstalker]

Roster for NJCU is posted.

Two of the assistants; David Fluellen and Darren Watkins are still coaching.  Alex Mirabel joins as a student assistant coach and Jon Greene is now an assistant with the mens team.  Also joining the staff is former NBA player Marques Bragg.  (Ira told me that)  Ira also informed me that Coach Brown will be broadcasting game with him this season.

[Knightstalker]

Listening to the NJCU Curry game on the Green and Gold network.  Ira and the original Coach Brown on the call.

[Knightstalker]

Ira, there is a difference in the volume levels between your mic and coachs mic.  His is hotter than yours on the broadcast.

[irapthor]

Mike,

I just listened to part of the audio to try to cut out some highlights, and you're right...We had some technical difficulties which will be worked out...I thought the "acquisition" of Charles Brown as an analyst will be very beneficial to anyone listening; his knowledge of the game, and of course NJCU, is A++++. It will make this year's broadcasts exciting, because let's be serious...who wants to listen to me by myself for 2 hours 

[Rhodes Scholar]

The NJAC went 1-7 yesterday against non-conference foes.  The conference's lone win was Richard Stockton's rout of New York City Tech, 91-62.

[Rhodes Scholar]

Rowan won the Marquette Rinso Tournament at Lebanon Valley today. They defeated York, NY 74-63 in the championship game. Yesterday the Profs came up with one of their biggest wins in years when they beat #7-ranked Brockport State, 97-93. Rowan got some votes in the d3hoops.com preseason poll and may very well receive more attention after their win over Brockport State.

[Truck]

Ramapo wins their tip-off tournament, defeating Yeshiva by 13 and St. Joe's Patchogue by 14, 88-74. Tim Wesley dropped 29 in the first game and Omar paced the 'Runners with 18 in the championship match.

I will be in attendance on Tuesday, 7:30 vs. John Jay

[irapthor]

FYI, Dana John of the NJCU men's basketball team will be featured in ESPN The Magazine and on ESPN Television E60 during the month of December...Dates of publication and broadcast will follow.

[Rhodes Scholar]

William Paterson 66, New York City Tech 59

The visiting Pioneers came away with a hard-fought win against the surprisingly tough Yellow Jackets. The game was nip and tuck from the beginning with WPU managing to open up a little breathing room down the stretch.

Jason Cameron led WPU with 16 points. Gabriel Paul and Bobby Dunn were next with 10 each. Jamaal Hall was high man for City Tech with 23 points, followed by Omar Mahoney with 18 and Ryan Phillip with 13.

Despite the loss of Luis Martinez, this William Paterson team may actually have a little more talent than they've had in recent years. Joey Spiegel is an all-conference player. Al-Basser Holloway has the talent to be very solid on this level. Gabriel Paul is an athletic freshman. Seve Cousins is a good all-around guard. Jason Cameron is a good outside shooter and Bobby Dunn is a hustler who can hit the outside shot. WPU's major weaknesses are a lack of size and no viable low-post players.

[Truck]

Sloppy and lackluster game at The Bill on Tuesday night.

Ramapo lost to John Jay, 80-75 in front of an announced crowd of 100. It really makes me sad that RCNJ has an awesome facility, a great men's basketball team with an outstanding coach, and nobody shows up.

Anyway, if the team continues to play like they did today, they won't be winning over many fans.

Ramapo started out very slow. Frankly, it was a pathetic start. 4 points in 5 minutes to begin the game. Pathetic first half really. RCNJ was down at 11 at one point. Plenty of turnovers, 25 for the game.

JJ was up 35-30 at the half.

Ramapo came out with energy and passion to start the second half. Completely different attitude from the team to begin the second.

However, this lasted until perhaps the 12 minute mark. Then, the pace began to slow down. RCNJ did not maintain the momentum that they came out in the second half. It was a fairly boring game, not the typical RCNJ fast-paced basketball I am accustomed to.

While the teams in years past would make a living of knocking down 3s, taking at least 10 each half. Yesterday, RCNJ hit 1/8 in the first half and 3/8 in the second.

And free throws..... oh boy. No doubt Chuck will work the guys in practice on this. 44% from the line for the game is not going to win ballgames. It was ridiculous to say the least. Desmond Sanders missing two key FT with 2 minutes left and down 5 pts. is just one example of missed opportunities.

Next up is Scranton, a better quality opponent than JJ. If RCNJ plans on playing the same way as they did today, they are going to be in for a long night. Sleepwalking through the first half is not the way to win ballgames.

[Truck]

Folks, one of our former Ramapo players, Amin Wright, is playing professionally in Germany for a team called "USC Freiburg".

He is leading the team in steals and assists and is, with these numbers, leading the entire league in steals. This defensive effort is nothing new, as Amin finished the 2004-05 season ranked #2 in D3 Hoops in steals and was named the Defensive Player of the Year in the NJAC for 2 consecutive years (04-05 and 03-04).

The link for the team for those interested is:

http://www.usc-freiburg-baskets.de/


It's in German, but hopefully you can take a look at the pictures and see that Amin is having fun doing what he does best on the professional level. We all wish him the best over there.

Alles Gute Amin!

[Pat Coleman]

Truck -- does attendance get better later in the season? Around here the traffic is pretty light in November and December, too.

[Truck]

Truck -- does attendance get better later in the season? Around here the traffic is pretty light in November and December, too.

Sadly no, Pat. For regular season games, they will get around 200 or 250 souls in The Bill. Once in a while, perhaps against WPU or NJCU, they might get 500 as announced attendance.

The most I have ever seen is during the playoffs, particularly the 04-05 run, the first year they opened The Bill. They would pack it to capacity with 1300-1400 students. In the old gym, they would also get a full house during the playoffs, particularly during the 02-03 year where I vividly remember the crazy atmosphere during that double OT Montclair State game and the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The attendance in last season's playoffs (meaning the NCAA run in March 2007), while still a lot more than during the playoffs, was far from a sellout.

The students obviously care, they have that Ramapo Rowdies program which sends out e-mails to students (although I haven't gotten any this year) and provided fan buses during the NJAC playoffs. I went to a game on the road against WPU last season and so many Ramapo students showed up for this regular season match-up cheering on the visitors.

So during the regular season, the attendance is pretty bad overall, here at The Bill and in years past at the old facility. The cheerleaders used to give away rally towels after every Roadrunner 3 pt. shot. This didn't seem to entice any students to come to games though. Perhaps they could try free food or something 

Maybe they could place me in charge of sports marketing? haha

I'll still be showing up, regardless, just to see the product on the court. Such a successful program should be enough to get rowdy youngsters to games. What else is there to do in Mahwah anyway?

[Knightstalker]

This seems to be the problem at all the NJAC schools.  NJCU has similar crowds maybe even a little smaller at games.  It appears that there is a larger student presence at Wednesday games than Saturday, at Saturday games there is a larger number of older fans.  Weekends in the NJAC don't generally draw big crowds.  Most of the students are only an hour or two away from home and go home most weekends.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, eat too much, drink too much and go ahead and open the waist of your pants and have more pie.