MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[FormerGNACplayer]

And yes please, help the fans. Its bad

[Saint-Paul]

Final Score  :  ST  Joe  78  /  Emmanuel  67

     The Saints lost their ninth consecutive home game last night against a very impressive St Joe team.  The game was a battle of complete opposites.  St Joe is patient on offense, reverse the ball several times, ALWAYS make the extra pass to find the open man , and then finish the play by making shots, 55% for the game.  A very unselfish team, 27 field goals on 20 assists.  The Saints dribble over half court, make one pass, and jack up a quick shot with 25 seconds left on the shot clock, 27 field goals on 9 assists.  St Joe ran their motion offense like a clinic last night.  Every time the weak side cutter approached the screen at the elbow, the cutter would reject the screen and run a Princeton type back cut to the basket.  The screener would then step out to the arc and knock down a 3 point shot.  I kept wondering how long it would take the Saints defenders ( or their coaches
)  to realize that St Joe was not running this play for the back cut at all, they just wanted the screeners defender to hedge towards the basket for just one step so the screener could step out for an open 3 point shot.  St Joe knocked down four 3 point shots off this play in the first ten minutes of the game and finished the night with 10 three point field goals.  The Monks moved the ball from wing to wing quickly, they also look to skip the ball from the low post to the opposite wing, and at the end of all that passing they knock down open shots.  Their passing and shooting made the Saints man to man defense look like swiss cheese.

     I know that the supporters of AMC and J&W think that the GNAC is a two team race for the championship, but I was very impressed with the poise, the ball movement, the unselfish play, and the shooting touch of the ST Joe Monks.  Like Larry Brown is fond of saying, "they play the game the right way".  I would not like to play them on the first round of the playoffs.  They are not long, not athletic, don't have great foot speed, not great rebounders, but they play like a team that doesn't care who scores as long as they win the game.  I think that St Joe will make the GNAC playoffs very interesting.  St Joe plays the game the way that I would like to see the Saints play, but that has no chance of happening this year.

[Charles]

Has Davis really been getting into foul trouble lately? That seems a bit troubling to me. Every time I turned the game on Jackson was running the point. Because there aren't live stats I thought he wasn't even playing!

And is there any rule against a school putting in the paperwork to host at a facility that isn't on their campus? If Albertus really wanted it, but say they were too small, could they put in to host at Hillhouse for example? It's probably the premier basketball/indoor track facility in CT and it's right down the road. Albertus holds 600 (probably a little more with the extra seating they add) while Hillhouse's facility holds 3500.

you mean at the gym where a 14 year old kid was shot a few weeks ago? No thanks.

[lildave678]

I've been there plenty of times with no issues. I'd imagine it was high school/gang related. With two teams that aren't connected to the school there wouldn't be any issues at all.

[GnacBballFan]

The shooting was absolutely gang related. New Haven, unfortunately, has the second highest crime rate in the nation of cities with less then 200k people. Only flint has a higher rate. Albertus' gym also sits on one of the worst streets in new haven, Winchester avenue. But there is never any problems with attending games. Like anywhere you go now a days there is always that what if. Unfortunately it's the world we live in. But I think it's a great idea Dave, the fieldhouse is a great facility and would make a great host imo. If anything the security has been higher since that incident. It was an isolated incident

[D3HoopJunkie]

Great points everyone, let's not forget about AlbertUs NCAA game couple years ago against William Paterson. No disrespect to William Paterson but on our way my family and I drove through one of the most uneasy neighborhoods that I've ever driven through. Paterson New Jersey is one of the worst cities in America when it comes to crime rate and murders per capita (just watch Victor Cruz interview from last season on Paterson NJ). The gym and university was beautiful really, but the neighborhoods around it were tough to say the least.

I'm just saying all this because as mentioned, it is like this in almost every major city now. No matter where you go you're always going to take a chance. I think having a game at Hillhouse if possible would be a great and we should not let this one single isolated incident change that.

[GnacBballFan]

Yes junkie, in fact Paterson sits 9th on the list I mentioned. New Haven 2nd. Like I said, anywhere now a days has it's own dangers.

JWU and st joes present a real challenge to albertus for the gnac title. Like any conference these coaches know each other like the back of their hands. That's why I think albertus can throw fits in the tourney if they make it. Even with film avl now a days I don't think any coach can prepare for albertus as good as a JWU or st joes, and vice versa. They know each other too well

[7express]

Has Davis really been getting into foul trouble lately? That seems a bit troubling to me. Every time I turned the game on Jackson was running the point. Because there aren't live stats I thought he wasn't even playing!

And is there any rule against a school putting in the paperwork to host at a facility that isn't on their campus? If Albertus really wanted it, but say they were too small, could they put in to host at Hillhouse for example? It's probably the premier basketball/indoor track facility in CT and it's right down the road. Albertus holds 600 (probably a little more with the extra seating they add) while Hillhouse's facility holds 3500.

I don't think they could play at high schools.  Different 3 point lines, and CT doesn't have a shot clock in college unlike most states like NY does.

[lildave678]

Makes sense...then uhhh, see when Yale's done using their gym

[pjunito]

NOOO.. LET'S HAVE IT AT THE NEST!!!  Falcons have won 38 or maybe 39 straight home games (last lost was against Medgar Evers on the buzzer beater in 2012; my boy GNAC fan was front row). Longest current streak in NCAA (men or women at any level)!


DUNK HAVEN!!!

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Yeah... you have to have a gymnasium that fits NCAA rules and regs. That will be the first way to have your paperwork unapproved.

[lildave678]

Oh absolutely I'd love to have it there! Just spitballing in case size became an issue...

[D3HoopJunkie]

I'm not going to comment on the regional rankings. I've been reading all the posts on the Ranking the Northeast thread and they all contain really good information which I've looked at thoroughly and that's good enough for me. I don't need to go into a full on rant and rave into my own opinion because most of my thoughts echo the majority of Albertus supporters.

Instead it's time to keep winning! Because in the end that's all it comes down to. This team will make their own destiny. It is up to them to prove everybody wrong. And the only way to do that is to win the conference championship and then put on a showing in the NCAA tournament. Make voters regret their decision and step up and win every game from here on out. That is the only way you can get ultimate respect!

People complain about the Amherst and Williams and UW's of the world saying that they have it too easy because of their past history. I am not one of them. These teams you hear of year in and year out have earned the honor to be consitently in the top 25 and in the tops of their regions because every year they do the only thing that matters and that's win basketball games on the big stage (NCAA).

The players look at these rankings just as much as we do. And I know for a fact that the Falcons are pissed off. They feel they deserve more respect. Coach Oliver will have these guys ready. It's time to go out there and earn it!!

[pjunito]

You're right Junkie,  just win on the court and the rest takes care of itself.

But, JWU should be ranked higher than RIC. JWU is so much better than RIC. I know the head to head doesn't matter as much, and other issues. But, I think even the LEC posters would say that RIC doesn't have a "good" team for their standards this year. JWU is a better team than RIC. I use the old eye test, any coach that has watched these two teams plays the last 15 games would agree with that statement.

[7express]

You're right Junkie,  just win on the court and the rest takes care of itself.

But, JWU should be ranked higher than RIC. JWU is so much better than RIC. I know the head to head doesn't matter as much, and other issues. But, I think even the LEC posters would say that RIC doesn't have a "good" team for their standards this year. JWU is a better team than RIC. I use the old eye test, any coach that has watched these two teams plays the last 15 games would agree with that statement.

RIC sucks this year.  They should be nowhere near the NE rankings.