MBB: Great Northeast Athletic Conference

[D3HoopJunkie]

Saint-Paul

I think the POY race comes down to three players who all coincidentally happen to be the three top scorers in the league as well.

Armin Omanovic from Lasell, Jaqhawn Walters from Albertus and Anthony Jernigan from JWU

There aren't another three players in the league more important to their team's success then these three right here.

I would have to think that Armin is the favorite at this point even though I think both JQ and Jernigan are more deserving. My vote in order would be JQ Walters, Anthony Jernigan and then Armin Omanovic

My case for JQ Walter........He is a walking double double who on a number of occasions also dishes out assists nightly that look like they are coming from a guard. He has just missed on a couple of triple doubles this year and has a motor that is unlike any player at 6'6 that I have seen before. He is the emotional and mental leader of this Albertus team and rarely comes out of ball games. Again from a pure skill and talent standpoint and overall game I don't think you can argue that JQ Walters isn't the best players in the league. And let's not forget as well, winning counts a lot here in this category if you ask me and his Falcons are in 1st place for a reason.

Anthony Jernigan......No one on any team in the GNAC is more important to their team's success then Anthony Jernigan. If you take him off this Johnson and Wales team I really believe they fall into the bottom half of the GNAC. This year's JWU teams does not really have a lot of go to options and Jernigan is really the only person on this team that can shoulder the load. He is a savvy veteran point guard whose handles are so tight and he does an excellent job of getting others involved but he can also create on his own and get in to the lane at will when necessary. His team is also winning, currently in 2nd place in the GNAC right behind the Falcons.

Armin Omanovic......No one in the league is craftier with the ball then Armin. His ability to change speeds with the ball and get in the lane are second to none. He can also shoot the ball from deep and draw any player off for a foul where he goes to the line and converts. He is another player that if taken off this Lasell team I would think they would fall off quite a bit. But not as far as JWU. I think there is more of a supporting cast on this Lasell team then JWU. He leads the league and is one of the tops in the country at 27 PPG. His team albeit is also winning but has lost twice to Albertus and has split with JWU. Some may not like it but these are factors that I really feel must be part of the POY selection process.

That being said I think Armin will be selected by the coaches as the POY. I don't want to get into why I think this will happen but I am more than confident that it will

[Saint-Paul]

Yes, I would agree with all three nominations, as players who stand out above the rest of the league.  All three are extremely valuable to their teams, and are responsible for helping their teams have winning records.  Which ever player wins the POY award it will be well deserved, and all three being considered are in good company.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

The focus of Division III basketball now turns towards the second Regional Rankings. At the same time, conference regular seasons are wrapping up and the pressure of conference tournaments is increasing.

Teams are still trying to jockey themselves for the chance to keep playing in March, but sometimes focusing on March causes teams to lose focus of the next game. Upsets and trip-ups seem to happen often once Regional Rankings start coming out.

On Sunday night's Hoopsville, Dave chats with teams who are hoping to remain on top of their conference standings and thus eventually punch their ticket automatically to the NCAA tournament. But what about the distractions? What about the pressures? Or has it become somewhat routine for some teams?

Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com and airs from the WBCA/NABC Studio starting at 7:00 PM ET LIVE. You can watch the show on the official show page here: http://www.d3hoops.com/hoopsville/archives/2016-17/feb12 ... or you can watch the live simulcast on Facebook Live. If you miss the show, you can catch-up on Demand or listen to the podcasts (which will be uploaded at the conclusion of the show).

A reminder the Sunday edition of Hoopsville primarily covers the Northeast, Atlantic, South, and Central regions, but we will answer any questions about all of Division III throughout the show. You can also send your questions to the show and have them featured on the Hoopsville Mailbag segment. Email them to hoopsville@d3hoops.com.

And please consider helping Hoopsville stay on the air like you might help your public television station. The annual fundraising campaign has less than three weeks remaining, but we are no where close to reaching our goal. Click here for more information: Hoopsville Fundraising Page

Guests include (in order of appearance):
- Mark Edwards, No. 5 Washington Univ. men's coach
- Mitch Oliver, Albertus Magnus men's coach
- Judy Blinstrub, Babson women's coach (WBCA Center Court)
- Darrin Travillian, Maryville (Tenn.) women's coach
- Eric McNelley, Eastern men's coach

You can also tune into the podcast(s) after the show has aired:
SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/hoopsville
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hoopsville/id1059517087

Don't forget you can always interact with us:
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[Saint-Paul]

Albertus fans will be looking forward to a big night on Tuesday.  Saints defense has been porous all year.  They get blown out by any team with an above 0.500 record.  On Saturday the Saints pressing, trapping, defense held Lasell to 57 points, in the first half.  Kept them under a 100 for the game.  Part of the Saints defensive problems start with poor shot selection on offense, which often leads to run outs for the other team.  However, most of the defensive problems stem from jogging back on defense after a missed shot.  Not sure why it is so hard to teach college players to defend.  Just because they are not great shooters doesn't mean they can't defend the basket with maximum effort. A 60 point first half for Albertus is not out of reach.

[Saint-Paul]

Halftime score, Albertus 44 - Emmanuel 31.  Saints have played a 3 - 2 zone all year long, including their non league games, and they pick tonight, against the most athletic team in the league to switch to a man to man defense.  Don't get it. Albertus is getting into the paint any time they want to, and when a Saint defender comes to help they kick the ball out for a wide open three.  At least in their zone they could run the shooters off the three point line. Let's just hope that the Saints don't come out to start the second half in their famous full court trap press.

[D3HoopJunkie]

Saints gave the Falcons a pretty decent run last night. Even when the game got close in the second half I was still more than confident that the Falcons were going to come out with the victory. We played a very well balanced first half with the exception of a number of bad turnovers. However in the second it became sloppy on more than a few possessions and it allowed Emmanuel to go on a few runs which allowed them to get back into the game. Again my confidence never wavered because our athleticism was simply too much for the Saints to overcome.

Saint-Paul  - I think last night's performance by JQ Walters only strengthens my case for him as GNAC POY. Wouldn't you agree? 34 Points and 23 rebounds!?!?!? It honestly seems like he can go out and get a 20/20 game every night out in the GNAC. His motor truly is remarkable. The kid just does not tire and the Saints had no match for him on either end of the court.

A big congrats to JQ as well as he surpassed the 1,000 point mark in the victory!

Final game and senior day on Saturday as Mount Ida comes to town!

[D3HoopJunkie]

Did the Falcons lock up the #1 seed and home court advantage last night too? Say we lose to Mt Ida on Saturday and JWU wins out. We would be tied correct?

Anyone know what the tiebreaker is to determine seeding?

[Saint-Paul]

Yes, I agree that game last night was never in doubt.  Walters and others could get to the rim any time they wanted.  Any missed shot just turned into an easy tap in.  The difference in athleticism was obvious. The Saints best weapon isn't passing, shooting , or rebounding, it is chaos.  In the first half Albertus stuck to their game plan, attacked the Saints defenders off the dribble causing perimeter defenders to have to help out.  They kicked the ball out for easy, open threes.  In the second half the Saints went to their chaos weapon, switching to zone and turning the game into an up and down the court running, shooting style with no game plan.  That helped get the Saints back into the game but the Albertus offensive rebounders just took over the game in the last 6 minutes. 
     Yes, Walters played like the POY last night.  He dominated the game at both ends, when he wasn't scoring or rebounding he was blocking shots and starting fast breaks.  However, on Saturday, Omanovic also played like the POY against the Saints, throwing in 37 points, 6 threes, and 5 assists.  Other leagues have named co POY's in the past, I see no reason why the
GNAC can't do that this year. 

[AllStar]

Did the Falcons lock up the #1 seed and home court advantage last night too? Say we lose to Mt Ida on Saturday and JWU wins out. We would be tied correct?

Anyone know what the tiebreaker is to determine seeding?

If it is like other leagues, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head.  If that doesn't break the tie, it then goes to record vs. common opponents in the order of their standing.  Since Albertus Magnus and Johnson and Wales are 1st and 2nd, you'd start with 3rd-place Lasell.  In this case, Albertus went 2-0 vs. the Lasers and J&W went 1-1, so I believe the Falcons would have the tiebreaker over Johnson and Wales.  If that had not worked, you would keep moving down the standings in order.  I can't be sure this is the tiebreaker for the GNAC, but it is for several other leagues, so I'm taking a chance in thinking it's the same.  I cannot find anything that actually spells out the tiebreakers.

[D3HoopJunkie]

Wow great stuff. Thanks AllStar

I especially like the breakdown table that you provided.  I suppose if this is indeed the case for tiebreak purposes in the GNAC, then the Falcons did in fact lock up the number one seed regardless of the result on Saturday.

Thanks Again......Plus K to you sir

[Saint-Paul]

Before tonight's game Norwich had only 4 league wins.  Well, now they have 5.  Norwich beat the Saints 83 - 77 on the Saints home court.  Somehow the Saints managed to lose to Norwich, in spite of shooting 40% from the field, one of their best shooting nights of the season.  The Saints don't shoot in the forties very often, but they did tonight and still couldn't get the win.  Their swiss cheese defense just doesn't get any stops, even when the game is on the line.  This sets up an interesting game on Saturday with JWU.  Tonight's loss is number 199 for the Saints coach.  If the Saints can avoid the upset at JWU, their coach will reach the 200 loss milestone in just 13 seasons.  A remarkable feat even for the GANC.   

[AllStar]

Wow great stuff. Thanks AllStar

I especially like the breakdown table that you provided.  I suppose if this is indeed the case for tiebreak purposes in the GNAC, then the Falcons did in fact lock up the number one seed regardless of the result on Saturday.

Thanks Again......Plus K to you sir

No problem!  I've been experimenting with my graphics across these boards.   

Good luck to your Falcons the rest of the way!

[D3HoopJunkie]

Well GNAC fans it looks like the conference tournament is set with the usual Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday format that we have all become accustomed too seeing.

Here is the official matchups and gametimes broken down for us all courtesy of thegnac.com

Quarterfinals - Tuesday, February 21
Game 1: #8 Anna Maria at #1 Albertus Magnus - 7:00 PM
Game 2: #5 Saint Joseph's of Maine at #4 Mount Ida - 7:00 PM
Game 3: #6 Emmanuel at #3 Lasell - 7:00 PM
Game 4: #7 Suffolk at #2 Johnson & Wales - 7:30 PM

Semifinals - Thursday, February 23
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner

Final - Saturday, February 25
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner


I plan on giving my full predictions for the tournament tomorrow!

[Falcons 25]

I will be rooting on the Falcons for all 3 games.(Hopefully!) This team can be so GREAT & then so AVERAGE!
All because they have become too much of an outside shooting team. (T.G. For Walters & his inside game!)
That said, the home court & their energy should carry them to the championship over LASELL!

[Saint-Paul]

On Tuesday I don't see any upsets.  Albertus over Anna Marie by 92 - 62.  JWU over Suffolk by 76 - 61.
Lasell over Emmanuel by 89 - 64.  Mt Ida over St Joe by 74 - 59. 

On Thursday i see much closer games.  Albertus over JWU  by 83 - 71.  Lasell over Mt Ida  74 - 66. 

On Saturday I see an overtime game,  Albertus over Lasell 91 - 88.