MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

D3HoopJunkie · February 28, 2015, 03:57:06 PM

HoopsFan, very deceiving behind the benches. Not enough room at all to put bleachers behind there. It would be to tight. Ill be back later to post my thoughts on an outstanding victory!!

Dunk Haven!!!

falcons2010 · February 28, 2015, 04:44:25 PM

Hoops, not enough room behind the benches. Albertus needs more bleachers on the opposite side of the benches. It is a very tight seating area.

Good game; I am so impressed with the JWU coach. He is so calm. His team takes on his personality. They don't give in, they don't rush shots, they don't panic. Albertus should have been up 20+ multiple times. But, 5 minutes left, it is a 7 point game. Biggest play of the game, came at the 4 minute mark. Albertus was up 8, and Lewis had a wide open look at a three. Closer guy to him was sitting in the stands. He missed the shot, Albertus secured the rebound and JWU never got within 8 the rest of the game.

I was with F13; and we both looked at each other and said, JWU will be tough to beat next year. Talented, Senior team.

Congrats to Coach Oliver and the rest of the Albertus Falcons.

Larsen wins 4 GNAC titles in 4 years and Julian wins 4 in 5 years. Congrats!

lildave678 · February 28, 2015, 06:07:43 PM

As much as I love the Falcons, JWU has to be the runaway favorite next year. Basically the whole team returns whereas we graduate our (current) starting 5.

This was clearly a game of similar styles. Both teams wanna take the ball out of the hoop and go. Albertus took an 8 point lead into half and that was without Eian for most of the half. JWU kept it within that 6-10 range for most of the 2nd half but today at least, Albertus seemed to find an answer - none bigger than the alley oop where Big Vic jumped over a JWU defender (not one of their little guys mind you), and completed the dunk while getting the "foul." I've never seen anything like that in person. Hopefully d3hoops and/or the sportzedge have that highlight soon enough.

As far as the game otherwise, if our starters stay out of foul trouble we're as good as anyone in the country and credit goes to JWU. I honestly hope they get the recognition they deserve next year because that team is going to be something to watch. I'm not sure which player it was but one of their guys dunked all over Vic on one play, too bad it was a 12 point game at the time...but it was a preview of what they can do next year. Don't be surprised if JWU is ranked next year. Big props to Walters and Perez at the end of the first half. Lex had a great couple of possessions defensively despite being physically outmatched and you can see Walters will be a problem next year if he can find some vision. If he has someone smaller on him it's game over. The problem is when he thinks he can get to the hoop, he hasn't shown he can dish yet. I think that will come with time.

Same story, Albertus needs to win to ensure a tourney spot and they never disappoint in front of the home fans. On to the selection show!

Obviously we will all be biased so I'm curious if Hoops Fan can give a full take on the game? Always nice to read a more objective report as this was our closest (home) final since we've started winning.

Ferraro13 · February 28, 2015, 06:46:53 PM

Great post Dave. Is this game gonna be able to be watched from the archives?

Ferraro13 · February 28, 2015, 07:12:59 PM

http://sportzedge.com/2015/02/28/albertus-magnus-wins-gnac-tourney-ncaa-tourney-next/

lildave678 · February 28, 2015, 07:40:20 PM

I can only hope the archive has the view from above. It's the 2nd to last dunk.

D3HoopJunkie · February 28, 2015, 08:09:10 PM

Game is already uploaded to YouTube!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUsI_EfiqJQ

D3HoopJunkie · March 01, 2015, 12:23:46 PM

Finally have time to reflect on the great win yesterday!!! So relaxing to know that we punched our own ticket and didn't have to sit and wait on the bubble. My guess is we would have been left out especially after the Eastern CT loss and what's going on in the NESCAC right now!

First off I have to echo the same words that Falcons2010 and LilDave already mentioned.....this JWU team is going to be very good next season. They should be the conference favorites to start the season as long as they bring everybody back. With what Albertus is losing (basically everybody) JWU should have a very good shot at getting back to the conference championship game. With that said I think we also should keep in mind that we all know what kind of recruiter Coach Oliver is. You know he is going to bring in some impactful JUCO players again along with some very good players returning like Jaquan Walters who is a future star, Marc Wilson, and both Chaunce Dunbar and Lex Perez who look like very good prospects. Not to mention James Jennings, yes he was booted off the team this year but he was a junior and if he can somehow get his head on straight and act right he can come back. That being said whether Oliver takes him back is another story, Oliver has a no BS policy and he really doesn't care who you are, you follow the rules or you don't play and I think that is a great thing!

On to the game, I can't say enough about this group!!! Sledge was on another level, clearly the best player on the court and when he can pull up and hit the 15-20 foot jumper like he was doing yesterday himself and us as a team are almost unstoppable. Big Vic had a tremendous game, 1 block shy of a triple double and I almost thought they should have gotten him more touches and he still bangs out 24 points and grabs 17 boards. Kids a beast thats all there is to it. Eian played well, had a few turnovers that were very bad but at this point we almost have to accept that because he is just so fast and wants to go go go. He is such a true point guard, he is so fun to watch. He loves sharing the ball with his teammates and when he picked up the 2 fouls quick yesterday and sat almost the whole 1st half I knew he was going to come out in the 2nd like a bat out of hell!!!

Julian Sanders, he was a bit off yesterday and found himself in foul trouble (a couple in which were highly questionable) but still he is a senior who contributes in a lot of ways and will continue to contribute in the NCAA tournament. He will be a key player if we want to make a run! 4 Championships for him in 5 year!!!

Lemar Larsen!!! I love this kid. He is the definition of a professional. Such a hard worker, gets banged around and knocked around all day yesterday and you never see him complain about a thing. His postgame interview was impressive as well. Such a great kid, very respectful and plays the game right. He is a rebounding machine with a great ability to finish a lot of shots underneath. Not to mention this stat line; for his career he has won 4 straight conference championship and I think they said 58-1 at home in 4 years. WOW, this couldn't have happened to a better kid!

Who knows where we are heading now?? Looking forward to tonight's broadcast of Hoopsville where Pat Coleman and Dave McHugh are going to give their best crack at where they think every team is going to end up!! Selection Monday is set for 12:30 tomorrow afternoon!!!

Dunk Haven!!! 4Peat!!!! Let's Go Falcons!!! We aren't done yet!!!

Saint-Paul · March 01, 2015, 01:21:30 PM

Congrats to the Albertus fans. Scoring 98 points and beating a very good JWU team was impressive. Your big time players really stepped up when they were needed. They kept JWU from putting any sustained run together. Well deserved win. Thanks to live stream it was possible to watch the GNAC championship along with some other games across the country. There were some really good championship games on this weekend. Richard Stocken won their game over William Patterson, Neumann beat Cabrini, Scranton beat Catholic, Alvernia beat Stevenson, Salisbury beat Chris Newport, Endicott beat Wentworth, St John Fisher beat Alfred. It was tough keeping up with all the championship games but someone had to do it. Good Luck in the NCAA tournament, should be full of good teams. Just hope all the live stream videos in the tournament are free.

Ferraro13 · March 01, 2015, 02:23:12 PM

Saint, from what I remember they are free. Just watched Weselyan beat amherst in ot. What a weekend of bball.

falcons2010 · March 01, 2015, 02:59:12 PM

Despite the lost of Jennings and Wiggins; this is Mitch's best team. Hard to believe how good this team is compared to the 2009 team that made the NCAAs. Let's look at the rosters quickly.

2009 2015
Lora C Vic
Askew F Larsen
Reaves F Sanders
St. Juste G Sledge
Alex M. G Davis

Key Reserves Key Reserves

Jimmy E Walters
Sweeney Walker
Armstrong Wilson
Mike Torres Dunbar
Arshad Jackson Perez

Big difference.... Imagine Jennings and Wiggins...

I will have more post once the opponent is reveal. But, for those of us who are optimist about next weekend; I think we should be. Since, we basically thought the 2009 team was going to the final four.

Ferraro13 · March 01, 2015, 04:06:22 PM

I think it was the 2012 team we had high hopes of, not 08. We were just glad to make the tourney in 09/10

falcons2010 · March 01, 2015, 04:28:34 PM

2012 team

C - lora
F - askew
F - watson
G - dugas
G - jackson

Reserves

Jimmy E
Sweeney
Larsen
Sanders (was injured)

Still a big difference right?

Am I missing anyone?

D3HoopJunkie · March 01, 2015, 04:46:19 PM

Falcons2010.......Your forgetting Spencer Smith if I recall. That kid would have been a hell of a player but he was dismissed from the team after that season I believe for academic reasons. He contributed quite a bit during the season of 2011-2012.

It really is amazing to compare these teams to each other and the difference in overall level of play and ability.

D3HoopJunkie · March 02, 2015, 06:54:38 AM

Interesting Guys!!

Pat and Dave have us traveling to Rochester NY in the St. Johns Fisher POD to take on Calvin in the opening weekend. I actually think this would be a pretty favorable draw if this were to happen. As great as Pat and Dave are, you still can't bet on any of this going the way they see it even though year after year their projected bracket is always put together better than the NCAA suits who do it.

I think their Pool C teams are spot on. Very much like ESPN's Joe Lunardi, Pat and Dave can pick the entire field 99.9% of the time but actually deciding where they go in the bracket is always a crapshoot. Still very fun to observe and certainly holds you over until 12:30 as I am already googleing (is that a word?) stats for Calvin, Regis and St. Johns Fisher in the work place.

March is clearly the most unproductive work month of the year and I wouldn't want it any other way

DunkHaven!!!!