MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[Saint-Paul]

Saints Season Wrap Up :   Final Record  6  -  19

     Another long season for the Saints is now in the books.  That makes 93 losses in 5 seasons, and 31 players leaving the program.  A brief recap of the season is as follows;

     First semester line up of four freshman and one junior college transfer proved to be a disaster, and a true coaching blunder.  The freshman were overmatched both physically and by game experience, had done nothing to earn a starting spot, and the junior college transfer was not a team player, playing only for his own stats. The results of the first semester were a 1 - 7 record, getting the season started on a sour note, a lowering of team moral especially for the seniors, and an embarrassing 60 point loss to J&W at home.  One of the freshman starters and the junior college transfer from this starting lineup are no longer with the team. If they went 1 - 7, what did the freshman do to earn starting spots over experienced seniors before one game was even played??

     The second semester saw a brand new line up, this time featuring two experienced senior guards, a new freshman post player, and another returning player with GNAC experience. Many of the same old problems surfaced again in the second semester.  Full court man pressing resulted in easy transition baskets and wide open 3 point shots for opponents even when the teams were similar in terms of size and foot speed.  The inability to teach good fundamental man to man defense, especially sound shell positioning, caused the Saints to lose many winnable games.  The run and gun full court pressing style of play resulted in a second semester record of 5 - 12.  The defense required to compete as an effective college level team was lacking for most of the season, and the Saints looked like they were fielding a JV team on the court for most of the second semester games. The embarrassing home court losses mounted, compiling a home court record of 2 - 8. 

     The inability to keep a post player who can defend and rebound on the roster for a complete season, along with not having a  " pure " shooter on the team resulted in playing a lineup consisting of four driver / slasher type guards, who often were playing out of position and being overmatched physically at both ends of the court. Basketball is about facts and facts don't lie. This team did not play competitive basketball again this season. 
     
     I am not sure what direction the Saints program can take from here.  Rebuilding requires the development of players, giving them time to grow and mature their skill sets, develop some team chemistry, and to improve from freshman to senior year.  That does not happen at Emmanuel.  There is a new roster and new line up on the floor every year.  The players never get a chance to grow and develop. The new players always leave before they have a chance to rebuild so rebuilding never gets completed.  It is very evident that the recruits and the transfers just don't want to play for this coach.  The constant parade of players to the equipment room to turn in their uniforms is a very clear signal that something is very wrong at the heart of this program.  Other GNAC schools also have less than 0.500 records in the last few years but you don't see this large volume of players leaving their programs, so the problem is not just about wins and losses. If 18 and 19 year old student athletes are not getting the support and encouragement to develop their skill sets, if the atmosphere surrounding the program is not a positive, nurturing, atmosphere they will leave and look for a less stressful environment elsewhere.  That is exactly what has been happening with the Saints program over the last five years.  To continually berate, degrade, curse and criticize your own players perpetuates a losing atmosphere and takes a toll on the players moral. A lack of encouragement and positive support can hurt players more than the final score of the games.  The only question remaining is to see how many more years this will continue. 

[D3HoopJunkie]

Ok GNAC Posters,

Why don't we all do a GNAC Tourney PickEm. I realize that this will be pretty straightforward since there are only 8 teams that participate but I think it would be fun to see if anyone thinks there will be any upsets or not.

Another way for us GNAC posters to amuse ourselves as well   

If you want to participate, and anyone from others boards can as well, I am talking to you 7, feel free. I will keep track of the results. Just copy and past my format into your message with your picks and post it to the board. We will break it up by days so lets start with Tuesday. All picks must be submitted by 7PM tomorrow in order to officially count. Also, for the Championship Game Saturday everybody will put a combined total score for the outcome in case there is a tie amongst anyone. If so the who ever is closest to the final combined score will be the official winner. Sound Good?

Here are my picks, as you can tell I am not feeling any upsets

#1 Albertus Magnus vs. #8 Norwich University: WINNER - Albertus Magnus
#4 Lasell College vs. #5 Rivier University: WINNER - Lasell College
#3 Johnson and Wales vs. #6 Anna Maria College: WINNER - Johnson and Wales
#2 Saint Josephs (ME) vs. Suffolk University: WINNER - Saint Josephs (ME)

[lildave678]

I'll take chalk as well for the first round. The difference in conference record from Lasell to Rivier is all I need to look at in terms of top half/bottom half.

One thing I'd like your opinions on, is how many games do the Falcons have to win to be considered for Pool C? We've seen St. Joes beat them (albeit on the road) and JWU hang tough. If one of them pull off the upset in the finals do you think they still get a shot? What about the unthinkable with a Semi's loss to Lasell? We saw what the Monks loss did in terms of perception. I think they need to at least get to the finals to still have a chance to get selected. Hopefully they just take care of business and possibly host (if things fell right) or they get that middle game of a pod.

[D3HoopJunkie]

Also, can anyone clarify how St. Joes got the #2 Seed over JWU?? They both finished with identical 15-3 conference records and each team split with one and other during the regular season. JWU held a better overall record at 19-6 as opposed to St. Joes who finished 16-9.

I thought it came down to best overall record once the conference and regular season head to head were through. Apparently not since the GNAC tourney press release has St. Joes as the #2. That is a huge swing in St. Joes favor getting what I think will be JWU on Thursday in Standish Maine.

[Saint-Paul]

I agree,  St Joe getting to play JWU at home is a big advantage because St Joe relies on strong outside shooting to stop the quick , athletic teams.  Most teams shoot better at home because of familiarity with the rims, lighting, depth perception, etc. ( most teams, the one exception being my Saints, haha ) .  I did watch the JWU / St Joe game played at JWU on video reply and St Joe had a lot of trouble getting to the rim because of the quick JWU defenders and the St Joe shooters we not lights out that night.  Also, St joe had trouble stopping the JWU run outs off their missed 3 point shots so the game was heavily in favor of JWU. 

      With St Joe being able to play a home against JWU I am no longer comfortable with my prediction of AMC / JWU in the final.  I still think that JWU is quicker, more athletic, better rebounders, and better defenders than St Joe, but St Joe's home court record speaks for itself.  They are very tough to beat on their home court and the game is going to be a real battle.

[GnacBballFan]

Haven't been on sorry guys. I will get my conference teams in soon......I'm in for the pickem league. I'll take all chalk as well for the first round, except for one game. Riv over Lasell

[GnacBballFan]

I agree saint, my pick was amc vs jwu, not any longer. I think albertus will now have a shot at avenging their only d3 loss in the final. First things first though

[D3HoopJunkie]

Ok guys. So far so good with two guys in plus my picks. LilDave with all chalk and GNAC all chalk with the exception of Lasell over Rivier. I like that pick GNAC. I almost wanted to take them myself but I just don't think Lasell Will lose to that team on their home court. Plus I don't see anybody on Rivier being able to match up with Clyde Niba.

It is however going to take pics like that in order to win because most favorites in the conference this year seem to be the common pics to advance.

[D3HoopJunkie]

Saint, tremendous input as usual.

Will we be getting any picks from you?? It would be nice to get a non Albertus fan in the mix!

[7express]

Since Junkie called me out I feel obliged, so I'm in.

Taking all chalk as well (yah really going out on a limb): #1 Albertus #2 St Joes-Maine #3 J&W #4 Lasell.

[lildave678]

Yeah, just don't see an upset in the first round. I figure instead of trying to find the outlier early, I'll stay the course and hope to win on like a tiebreaker like the final score of the championship game or something haha

[7express]

Also, can anyone clarify how St. Joes got the #2 Seed over JWU?? They both finished with identical 15-3 conference records and each team split with one and other during the regular season. JWU held a better overall record at 19-6 as opposed to St. Joes who finished 16-9.

I thought it came down to best overall record once the conference and regular season head to head were through. Apparently not since the GNAC tourney press release has St. Joes as the #2. That is a huge swing in St. Joes favor getting what I think will be JWU on Thursday in Standish Maine.

Not sure how the GNAC works, but the LEC works like this:

1) Head to head record
2) winning percentage against teams in the conference starting at the top and working your way down.

Since you can't break it using 1, IF 2 was the next criteria, St. Joes was 1-1 (50%) vs. Albertus while J&W was 0-2 (0%) vs. Albertus.  So, if that was indeed the case, that's why St. Joes is #2 & J&W is #3.

In the LEC this year, Western Connecticut had a better overall record than UMass-Dartmouth did (16-8 for Western vs. 15-10 for Dartmouth).  The series was tied at 1-1, but since Dartmouth was 1-1 vs. #2 Rhode Island College and Western lost to both games they played vs. Rhode Island, that's how Dartmouth ended up #3 and Western ended up #4.

[D3HoopJunkie]

I knew you would be here 7!!! Thanks fo the picks!

LilDave, I am thinking that is going to be my strategy as well lol. Just not feeling any upsets in the 1st round.

[D3HoopJunkie]

Thanks 7. That must be it then. I cant stress enough how big being the 2 seed is for St. Joes. That could really change things. Especially in the PickEm pool.

[lildave678]

Another little SportzEdge piece on the Falcons:

http://sportzedge.com/2014/02/23/albertus-magnus-mens-basketball/