MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

GnacBballFan · November 22, 2013, 10:07:54 AM

Great rundown junkie! I couldn't get the video feed on my Mac, but nice win for albertus on the road. What awful news about Sanders. I feel for him. Hope he has a speedy recovery.

Is there any news on Jennings? His injury or how long he's out? Tough road matchup against NJC next game for albertus, they have their hands full, especially with Khalil Muhammad.

D3HoopJunkie · November 25, 2013, 08:59:33 AM

I think Jennings will be back this week at full strength and will be just fine for the NJC game. He sustained a high ankle sprain in practice prior to the start of the season. Honestly, he probably could have played in the Newbury game if needed and called upon but as we saw by the outcome he wasn't.

Julian Sanders injury is sad but the depth on this team is outstanding and I don't think they will miss him that much when it comes to point's contribution. Kyle Wiggins will see increased minutes along with Allen Brown and when Jennings gets back, he will slide right into Sanders role providing just as much if not more offensive firepower. Defensively they will be fine as well; Julian was by no means a lock down defender. What he did provide however was a "long" guard meaning he could alter outside shots with his size and length. Julians athleticism was never really appreciated in my opinion. I still to this day think he was one of the best at slashing to the rim and turning his body in such a way to really draw contact without getting called for offensive fouls. His explosiveness was unmatchable and unfortunately it was a play like this that ultimately gave him the injury.

NJC does make for an interesting matchup. No doubt Khalil Muhammad is there go to player, however if you look at their current schedule, they are 4-0 against teams who on the season have a combined 3-8 record. So as we can see they have yet to face a real tough team. Now you can say the same thing about the Albertus schedule so far as well but I still think Albertus has faced stiffer competition. We will know MUCH MUCH more about NJC after their game tomorrow with Rutgers-Newark which is being video broadcasted. I know I'll be watching and will give my prediction on the Albertus NJC game after that game has completed.

D3HoopJunkie · November 25, 2013, 09:24:24 AM

I also wanted to propose this question to the GNAC board because I don't really know the answer and was hoping to get some clarification.

With the injury that Julian sustained resulting in the end of his senior season, is it possible for him to come back and have the NCAA grant him another year of eligibility. I know the season has already started but with only two games played I thought there was a circumstance that if only X amount of games are played he can be granted another year. This is also assuming he would want to even come back and play another year but let's just say for arguments sake he does.

I am sure Coach Oliver and even Albertus new athletic director Jim Abromaetis is all over this issue. Jim's son Tim played for Notre Dame and if anyone here followed the then Big East, it seemed like Tim played for about 8 years at ND. The poor kid went through so much injury wise at ND and was granted extended eligibility from the NCAA.

Is it the same for D3? Is there a silver lining? I just hate to see a kid's college career end this way.

lildave678 · November 25, 2013, 10:14:19 AM

I'm not sure how it works because he participated in 2 games. I played soccer for AMC and the summer before my senior year I tore a bunch of ligaments in my ankle and didn't play. Because I had a knee injury that cost me my senior year in high school, I told myself I wasn't missing another senior season. As long as I had credits remaining (you obviously still need to be a student), I was granted the extra year. So I purposely came up 3 credits short in the spring, saved the one class for the fall and had a 5th year. But as said, I didn't play at all that first senior season.

And I know it seems weird that I could play only taking one class (normally thats considered part-time) but the coach explained it to me that if it was towards graduation you were eligible. I didn't completely understand lol but I'm assuming what he meant by that is they were the last 3 credits I needed to graduate...I wasn't like a sophomore who just decided for the heck of it to only take one class for a semester.

GnacBballFan · November 25, 2013, 10:17:21 AM

Unless the rule has changed, Sanders can come back and play next yr. I injured myself prior to my senior yr at albertus, a week before our season started (not bball), but chose to play the last 8-10 games of the yr rather then medically redshirt. Now this was 2007, not sure it has changed since. Also a friend of mine whom I played with broke a foot one week in to his senior yr a few yrs after myself and was allowed to come back the following yr. I guess it all depends on sanders and how many credits he has left. If he's on pace to graduate in the spring he would have to be enrolled in graduate classes to come back. But of course if he's not on pace to walk, I'm pretty sure he will be eligible to play as usual. Again I'm not positive but pretty sure he can. I hope for his sake he is able to come back next yr if he chooses to do so.

Yes I agree, NJC is a question mark at this point based on their competition. I think it's a great game for us to see just how good albertus is as well up until this point

GnacBballFan · November 25, 2013, 10:19:21 AM

Lil dave, I'm pretty sure I remember being told it's anywhere from 8-13 games played as far as when your not eligible to come back the following yr. I'm almost positive Sanders can come back

GnacBballFan · November 25, 2013, 10:21:51 AM

Scratch that it's a percentage of your games since every sport has different schedules, I believe. And I remember being told my number was 9 games I believed. With the injury coming so early in they te sanders see has not surpassed it

D3HoopJunkie · November 25, 2013, 10:45:26 AM

Thanks for the info guys. Hopefully we get some more chatter on the topic. I also think Julian is probably on pace to graduate this year. I remember reading an article about him an a couple other Albertus players from various sports making the All-Academic team or something of that nature for the GNAC conference. Maybe he should slow down a little and take some time off LOL.

officer cadet · November 25, 2013, 11:02:25 AM

Quote from: D3HoopJunkie on November 25, 2013, 09:24:24 AM
I also wanted to propose this question to the GNAC board because I don't really know the answer and was hoping to get some clarification.

With the injury that Julian sustained resulting in the end of his senior season, is it possible for him to come back and have the NCAA grant him another year of eligibility. I know the season has already started but with only two games played I thought there was a circumstance that if only X amount of games are played he can be granted another year. This is also assuming he would want to even come back and play another year but let's just say for arguments sake he does.

I am sure Coach Oliver and even Albertus new athletic director Jim Abromaetis is all over this issue. Jim's son Tim played for Notre Dame and if anyone here followed the then Big East, it seemed like Tim played for about 8 years at ND. The poor kid went through so much injury wise at ND and was granted extended eligibility from the NCAA.

Is it the same for D3? Is there a silver lining? I just hate to see a kid's college career end this way.

I will tell to you positive example Former Norwich player Josh Cabrera'13
Cabrera got injured(knee) When he played 7 games in his Sophomore season.
he sat out bench all remain games, finally he granted extra a year play eligible .

I believe Julian get another year play eligible as long as he stay school.

D3HoopJunkie · November 27, 2013, 08:37:04 AM

Well that was an absolute track meet. NJC and Rutgers Newark just played one of the most up and down games I have honestly ever seen. (On Video) To be totally honest I was not terrible impressed with either team. I actually thought Rutgers Newark had the better overall team but NJC did a very good job of never letting them get into a rhythm.

Here is my take on NJC: They don't shoot the ball too well. Especially last night they really struggled with knocking down shots as evident by the score 61-52 and shooting percentages, 19 of 48 from the floor for 39.6%, 3 of 10 from deep and 20 of 29 from the line. They like to run run run and when they got into their offensive sets they didn't really run their offense to well. They seem to be athletic but there "bigs" are pretty slow and they were in foul trouble the whole night.
There guard Roberson is very quick with the ball and this will be the first real test for Eian Davis. Davis is definitely faster and a more polished player but NJC is pretty long defensively and should be better at defending some of the outstanding assists that Davis has been able to hand out this year.

I really don't think there is a player on NJC that can matchup with Darius either. He is too big and strong for their guards and their frontcourt is far too slow. I'd like to see him makes some more moves to this basket in this game instead of settling for threes. I really think he can have his way if he can dribble penetrate to the middle of the floor.

By no means will this be an easy matchup but if Albertus plays together and listen to Coach Oliver and runs their offense I think Albertus wins this game. They are just a far better shooting team and if NJC want to get into a track meet, then that will only further play into Albertus hands.

I also think we might see a press this game and that does worry me a little but I think after the first few minutes of it, we should settle in and handle pretty nicely.

pjunito · November 27, 2013, 08:28:57 PM

I believe GNAC is right with the rules to a medical red-shirt; however, it still has to be granted by the NCAA... So, Julian could meet all the requirements and still be declined. It shouldn't happen, however, it could. Julian could also play as a Grad student which will allow him to walk in May, if he so chooses. I think losing him really hurts, but allows Wilson, Wiggins, and Walker an opportunity to step up. If Wiggins or Walker can be consistent shooting the ball, then they can replace Julian's production. I think we lose a lot on the defensive end; haven't seen the new guys play in person yet. But, Julian was a strong defender, he had great feet and was able to take away passing lanes. He also allowed Darius to play a weaker offensive player, not forcing Darius to work to hard on the defensive end.

I really enjoy watching Albertus play strong competition early in the season. I believe it allows the coaching staff the opportunity to work on things during the semester break. Win or lose, I am really excited to play NJC this week. Great analysis by Junkie! You have me pumped!!! I am going to eat turkey for 4 days, then watch the falcons on Monday!!! WOOOOOO baby!

I am thankful for D3 boards and good falcon fans like you guys.... Happy Thanksgiving boys, see ya at the nest!

D3HoopJunkie · December 01, 2013, 08:46:08 PM

An impressive and solid win for the Falcons this afternoon in NJ. I couldn't attend the game because I had to much going on at home and didn't even get a chance to watch the webcast so I cant give my usual breakdown but just going off the stats it appears my preview of NJCU was correct. They are not a great shooting team. Today they shot 33.8% from the floor 8.3% from 3 (WOOF) and 52.9% from the line. Albertus knocked down 3's all day and Darius really stepped up. Eian Davis shooting stats were not good at all but he managed to dish out another 8 assists. In the end Albertus won the game because of there ability to knockdown shots. Good win, on to the next one!!

If anyone was there or watched the webcast another perspective on the game would be appreciated.

lildave678 · December 02, 2013, 08:05:20 AM

I caught a glimpse of the game midway through the first when AMC was up 6-ish and NJC made the run to take the lead. Can't really give you much detail but the little bit I saw it was certainly a track meet: rebound, find the outlet and go. While Davis didn't shoot well for the game, it was nice to finally "see" him and he's as quick as you guys have been saying. Vic looked good in the little I saw and should be a forced in the usually undersized GNAC.

If you want a better look into the game, check out the recap on NJC's athletics page. Very in-depth, even includes words from their coach.

D3HoopJunkie · December 02, 2013, 11:46:38 AM

Thanks LilDave,

Gonna head over to the NJC website now. I always like hearing what opposing coaches have to say about there opponent.

lildave678 · December 02, 2013, 12:25:53 PM

He doesn't really say much about us, other than no one's ever shot like that against them. You can still watch the game it seems through the Albertus schedule - click on live video and then pick the top video (as of writing this). It's titled NJC Athletics or something like that, not specifically labeled with Albertus or anything.