MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[D3HoopJunkie]

Hey LilDave, I was fortunate enough to see Gibbs play a few times this past high school season and I must say that he is athletic as they come. I'm not sure if his game will be able to translate into a serious threat right off the bat as a freshman but overall if he can stick with it and listen to Coach Oliver and learn from the veterans he should be a very solid player in years to come. All his damage is done at the rim. He doesn't really have a mid-range jumper at all but he makes up for it big time by finishing everything at the rim. Rumor has it Oliver is going to bring in a number of JUCO players this upcoming season. I hope so because with the loss of all those seniors, it would be nice to get players in who can immediately contribute. Also, I guarantee that Oliver brings in a few kids from Jersey. He must have some serious contacts in that area because he's been getting quality players from there the past couple seasons. Rodney Wilson should be healthy this year and he is supposed to be a really good talent. Can't wait for the season to start.

[pjunito]

Albertus hires new AD.  http://www.albertusfalcons.com/information/generalreleases/AbromaitisAD

Former player at UConn, son played at Notre Dame and is trying to make Boston Celtics.

[pjunito]

Dave and Junkie,

What is up guys... Can't wait for November to start another basketball year. I am confident in Oliver, he is a solid recruiter. But, let's look at what he has coming back:

Darius Watson, probably best player in the conference. He has been to back to back tournament appearance and as a senior should have his best season.

Julian Saunders, this kid was having a solid season offensively and defensively before getting hurt before the playoffs. His lost was a bad one for the Falcons last year. He will be a junior, very athletic and a solid jump shooter. Also has the ability to finish around the rim.

Rodney Wilson, didn't play at all last year. Probably the most athletic kid on team. I heard he is polish and has the ability to score. Very long and strong defender. Should be a starter next year.

Jennings, had a fantastic freshmen year. He was erratic at times, but made clutch shots in the championship win vs Anna Maria. He has confidence and the ability to score. He handles the ball very well. He needs to improve his shot selection and look to pass a little more earlier in the games. He reminds me of Trey Burke from Michigian, as a freshmen trey took a lot of bad shots but wasn't afraid to take the big shot. As a second year player he made better decisions with the ball but still wanted to take a big shot. I'm not saying he is trey burke, but if he improves his shot selection, he could be deadly this year to opponents.

Larson, had a lot of minutes near the end of the year. He is a energy guy, who is good around the rim controlling rebounds. He also made huge free throws in the game vs Anna Maria. He can run the court and plays solid defense.

Starting five (with no additions) should be Jennings and Saunders at the gaurds, Watson and Wilson at the forwards, and Larson at Center.  This is a solid line-up. No depth, but solid starting five.

Now Oliver has proven to bring in a solid class each year with at least one impact player.

2012 - Wilson and Jennings
2011 - Smith, Dugas, Saunders
2010 - Watson
2009 - Lora, Jackson, Jimmy Eco
2008 - Askew

If Mitch can bring in two solid guys (and one stud), wow, now you bring depth to this team and they can compete again for a GNAC crown.

[D3HoopJunkie]

Hey PJ,

Great assessment of next year starting five but I must disagree with you at one position and that is Lemar Larson. I think that you are going to see Lemar come off the bench to start the season which in my opinion actually helps him when it comes to relaxing and playing the game that we all know he is capable of. Not sure on who will play in his place yet until I know the other recruits coming in but I am going out on a limb and saying that Oliver will go to youth on the interior (possibly Trevon Gibbs) with what will be in my opinion the most athletic team that he has ever put on the floor.

In other news I know we had a few posts about recruits and Trevon Gibbs is confirmed according to NERR. It looks like Oliver scored with another combo guard in Kyle Wiggins (formally of Dean College) who apparently will play his final two seasons with Albertus. Wiggins has good size and can really score the ball but lacks a defensive presence which might hold up his game slightly. I believe that Wiggins will still be able to contribute right away and give the team good quality minutes off the bench.

The clock is ticking, Can't wait for another season. Keep the recruiting updates coming.

[pjunito]

Junkie,

Great points regarding the team for next year. I agree that Larson will be coming off the bench, I was just throwing him in there because I had no one else. I think competition is a good thing. If Oliver can bring in 2-3 contributors right away along with some development players than this team could be solid next year and the years to come.

Where are you finding the commits to Albertus? I searched on the NERR website but didn't find anything. Would love to know if there are any other future falcons in that group.

At the end of the last year, I looked at the winning teams around the region at the D3 level. They all have very similiar teams. Let me know if you agree.

1. Very strong guard play - guys who have a high assit to turnover ratio
2. One guy who can get his shot when he needs it
3. A knock down long range shooter
4. strong team defense and chemistry
5. at least 7 players who provide productive minutes


Now compare that to last year's team:

1. Average guard play, Jackson had a great year but jennings and dugas were inconsistent
2. Darius Watson can be that guy
3. Jimmy Eco and Julian had moments, but they didn't have that guy
4. They play strong defense in most of their games but didn't turn teams over as much as in previous years
5. injuries and the lost of Armstead hurt their depth

So, from a fan point of view.. my wishlist.

1. Improvement from Jennings and recruiting a solid back-up pg who doesn't need to score but should protect the ball
2. Allow Darius to continue to grow and score
3. Recruit a guy who makes 4 three's a game (someone who keeps the defense honest)
4. Have a Miami Heat approach to defense; fg percentage is not as crucial as forcing turn-overs; especially turnover that lead to easy points)
5. Bring in 4-6 guys who can provide productive minutes. I think we all get caught up in bring in studs.. but, really we need a team. Guys who can come into a game and  defend, extend leads by executing the offense, and rebound.

Thoughts?

[WPI89]

You guys are hardcore - you do know it is the middle of July and 97 degrees out, correct?

Well done.

"See you" all in the Fall.

[amh63]

WPI89....surprised that you are " trolling" in this kind of weather!   Want to let you know that your "recruit" for Amherst is one of an expected class of 7 players to arrive in the Fall.  Will need to be ready to compete for playing time.  Take care and will chat again in the Fall.

[D3HoopJunkie]

Hey PJ,

Nice insight on your last post. I'm going to go through in order with how your post was set up to give you my own thoughts and insight.

To answer your first question, NERR actually has Trevon Gibbs listed as committed to Albertus already so you probably just missed that by mistake. If you go to the website and in the top right of the page you will see rankings. Click that and then click CT, from there you will see Gibbs as the #42 prospect in the state of CT and if you go back a few posts LilDave made a nice assessment stating that "if you exclude all the prep schools (the likes of South Kent, St. Thomas More, etc) he's in the 8-12 range of regular high school kids." As I mentioned later on I got to see Gibbs play and in my opinion excluding the Preps School I would reach out a bit more and say he is in my top 15 of "regular" high school players in CT. If he had anywhere from a 10 to 12 foot jumper I believe he would have been recruited more heavily but with that being said I am really glad that Oliver was able to score this kid. He is an elite athlete and has a high motor around the rim finishing and rebounding. I look for him to develop that jumper and be a very productive player in the next few years to come.

And to answer your question about Wiggins, I heard he was a coach/counselor at the Oliver Hoop School the past couple weeks and he has stated on social media that he is going to Albertus. As far as other players are concerned I haven't been able to find anything online but I have heard a few things about a couple more guards and another "big" from NJ that is supposedly committed but I don't know their names yet.
I'll keep the board posted!

[D3HoopJunkie]

As far as your assessment of the other D3 regional teams I would say that is completely accurate and #5 has a lot to do with that particular coach's style of play.

In your assessment of last year's team I can't say that I totally agree with #1 only because Jackson's stats were good but I felt his consistency and effort for me was not there every game and specifically in important games. Spot on with Jennings and Dugas though. Jennings was a young freshman and Dugas just beat himself up too much most of the time.
#2 is spot on, we all know Darius is the man and he is the guy and will continue to be the guy
#3 Julian Sanders is going to step in and be the guy who gets 4 3 pointers a game. He shoots the ball extremely well and I think starting is going to be the best thing for his game. Also he is IMO the best player on the team when it comes to slashing and getting to the basket but need to work on his finish and touch around the rim when he does so. And if you look at the stats he quietly lead the entire conference in three point fg percentage at a staggering 48.1%.
#4 I would absolutely agree and like to see more turnovers. I believe that will happen this year.
#5 100% agree that the injuries and losses of players like Armstead really hurt their chances in the NCAA. I firmly believe that if they had the same team from start to finish the NCAA's would have been a different story.

My wish list would be to get some more depth and really work on defense and turning teams over more. We all know by now that as long as Oliver is there year in and year out Albertus will be tops in the country in scoring but as we have seen the past couple season, once you hit the NCAA tournament it is an entirely different ballgame and you must play both ends of the floor in order to compete and advance.

And to WPI89, it's never too early to start talking about college hoops LOL.

[pjunito]

WPI... miss ya on the boards.. Hopefully it will be another entertaining year.

Junkie, you make great points. Thanks for the instructions on the NERR website. I was away on vacation, but am back now.... Only a few months away from midnight madness.


I agree with all of your points; including Jackson. I thought he had his worst game in the NCAA tournament. I look for Julian to have a big year. He takes quality shots and 48% is out of this world.

I am excited about learning who the new recruits are. I think the team is solid as is, but need a few pieces to really make a run. I think Albertus will be playing another division 1 school, that is always fun.

[D3HoopJunkie]

PJ,

Agree with you 100% on the need for Albertus to add depth to their roster. Recently added to the list of committed recruits via the NERR is Daylon Ore who attended Hartford Public and seems to really have a knack for scoring the ball. I guess he averaged around 20 points or so for Hartford Public this year. I unfortunately never had the opportunity to see him play so I don't like to talk much about a player until I actually see them play. I guess he has a pretty interesting and inspiring story that is on YouTube about him actually sustaining a gunshot wound earlier in his career at Hartford Public and being able to come back and compete and play at a high level.

Also, word on the street is that Albertus will be playing against Central Connecticut this year which should be fantastic. I'm sure Darius is excited about this game as it will take place in his hometown of New Britain CT. Should be a fun game, not sure on the date yet.

Tick Tock Tick Tock, Is it November Yet??

[lildave678]

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't Darius originally supposed to go to CCSU as well?

[lildave678]

and here's the video Junkie was referencing. AMC gets a shoutout at the end haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXT5MAeqp14

[D3HoopJunkie]

LilDave,

If I remember correctly I think Darius was committed to the University of New Haven before the coaching change took place right before his freshman season. With that being said, I think after this game and even now if Dickenman saw what Darius has turned into under Mitch's coaching and his work ethic and transformation from a slightly overweight maybe even undersized player for what he was recruited as to what he is now, he would have made him an offer years ago. But that's the great thing about basketball and recruiting, you cant really predict how good or in some cases bad a player is going to be until they get on the court and put in the work. There is no doubt in my mind he can be playing at a school like CCSU.

Thanks for posting the video as well. Pretty interesting piece. I hope the kid works hard and succeeds, he seems like a high character guy.

[pjunito]

Lil Dave,

Great piece on Ore.. He is coming to Albertus from what I heard.

I am excited to see what the roster looks like in the fall. Albertus has a new AD, I think this guy will bring the entire program to another level. He is a former professional basketball player and has connections.