MBB: University Athletic Association

[WUPHF]

The Bears win on the road against NYU, 71-63.  Aaron Thompson with yet another great game.  Spencer Gay shoots 16 on (7-9) against the NYU big men, further illustrating my point about the depth of this team.

The WU alumni described by the announcers as a Sea of Red!.  Way to go!  Enjoy the cookies and orange juice.

[BUBeaverFan]

Nice weekend for the Bears.  The Seniors close out their home careers next weekend against Case and Carnegie Mellon.  Case wins again today over Emory.  The Spartans are playing as well as anyone in the league right now and will come to St. Louis with a tremendous amount of confidence feeling that they let one slip away at home last month.  Bears are up by three games in the UAA with three to play.  One win away from securing an outright UAA title. Go Bears!

[WUPHF]

Carnegie Mellon gets its first UAA win of the season with a 73-64 win over Rochester at home!  Congratulations Carnegie Mellon. 

[Hugenerd]

Nice win for CMU today, a losing streak like that has to be tough, especially for a team that went to the NCAA tourney last year.  Hope they keep it going the rest of the season and into next year.

[Marty Peretz]

Just back from NYU and a great afternoon of D3 basketball. Today's atmosphere was excellent...if you were one of the literally hundreds of Wash.U fans. Bear friends, family, and LOTS of alumni turned Coles Gym into a legitimate home court advantage for WUSTL, a fact that really shouldn't be understated. Sundays on the road in the UAA are notoriously difficult to get up for if you're the visitor and the chants of "Wash.U home game" and other WU revelry gave the team at least a slight lift today.

As for the game itself...The final score was reasonably close (I believe 8 or 10 points) but after Wash.U's huge run to open the second half, you knew the game was never in doubt. NYU sucks the life out of each and every one of their offensive possessions, regularly taking 25 or 30 seconds off the shot clock and though that strategy keeps them from getting blown out, it also ensures that the chances of a comeback (at least against a team with a terrific transition offense like Wash.U) are highly unlikely. Wash.U. took NYU out of its slow-down offense for the first four of five minutes of the second half and after that, it was clear to anyone watching that the game's ultimate outcome was never really in doubt. In under three minutes, the Bears went on a 13-3 run and with 13 and change to go, Wash.U. led by a comfortable 15. In the first 10:30 of the second half, the Bears put up 30 points. AT hit four 3's in that stretch and the game was over.

DJ Glavin (spelling?) helped NYU in the second half, but Nesci seemed reluctant to push the tempo and almost more content with taking an 8 or 10 point loss than with taking the risk of getting into a run game and trying to make a dent in the lead. On some level, you can't blame him. Who wants to get into a run game against a team that loves nothing more than to push tempo and that has a pair of all Americans in its backcourt? On another level, though, you have to question the tactic. NYU NEEDED a win if it wanted to stay in the Pool C hunt and they have a steady point guard manning the ship. Why not at least try and cut the lead? I don't think anyone in that building really believed NYU had a chance even when they got the lead to 6 with seven plus minutes to play. The Violets continued to slow the tempo and scored nine points for the duration of the game. Nine. And it wasn't as if Wash.U.'s defense was legendarily exceptional. Certainly, the Bears got rebounds and made stops, but by and large, NYU's lack of scoring stemmed from a stagnant offense that would move the ball around and burn clock before attempting shots from 15 or 20 feet out. Just not sure what they were trying to do.

As for Wash.U.: always nice to get an 8 point win against a quality league opponent on the road on Sunday. The Bears played very well today and continue to play their best basketball at the most opportune of times. With AT back at MVP-type form, it's going to be very difficult for teams to defend Wash.U. come tournament time. You can try to zone them, but with AT stroking again, you'll get the same result as NYU did today. You can try to play man, but their offensive sets are so fluid after four years of running them with this core group of guys that it's very difficult to limit their offense. You can try, as Emory did, to run a triangle and 2 on AT and Wallis, but this may prove to be the least effective of all (as Emory found out). Sean and AT had their worst offensive performances of the season and yet Wash.U put together arguably its most dominating performance of the year.

I think people forget how effective a scorer Spencer Gay has become. When Emory triangle and 2'd the Bears, Gay went 7 for 8 and finished with 18 points. Today, he put up 16 on 7 of 9. A triangle and two opens up the passing lanes and enables him to get easy buckets. And lest we forget, the Bears' X factor: Cam Smith. People have overlooked him his whole career because he's always been a 3rd or even fourth offensive option. Triangle and 2 the Bears and Cam hits five 3's. This is a guy who can flat out score and has always produced when necessary, but simply hasn't really had to.

Looking forward to seeing how things shape up. The way to beat the Bears will be to  hope that their big guns are simply not hitting. A superior post player will also give the Wash.U bigs real trouble. The UAA is down this year, so Wash.U. has not had to deal with the issue of a dominant post man (save Hollins on Deis, who did give Wash.U trouble) and that is my primary concern come tournament time. Otherwise, I'm beginning to feel pretty confident, certainly much better than I was 3 or 4 weeks ago.

[magicman]

Marty mentioned Aaron Thompson's 4 three pointers over the 1st 10 minutes of the 2nd half but 3 of those treys came on Wash U's 1st 3 possessions of the 2nd half. The Bears opened the 2nd half with a Thompson 3, NYU misses, another Thompson 3, NYU misses again and a third AT 3, all within the span of 1:45. Turned a 5 point halftime edge into a 14 point Bears' advantage and NYU never recovered. I think Thompson's back and just in time. He led my team to victory last year in the NCAA Tournament Fantasy League and he'll be my 1st pick again this year if i can grab him.   

[Gratuitous Violets]

Just back from NYU and a great afternoon of D3 basketball. Today's atmosphere was excellent...if you were one of the literally hundreds of Wash.U fans. Bear friends, family, and LOTS of alumni turned Coles Gym into a legitimate home court advantage for WUSTL, a fact that really shouldn't be understated. Sundays on the road in the UAA are notoriously difficult to get up for if you're the visitor and the chants of "Wash.U home game" and other WU revelry gave the team at least a slight lift today.

As for the game itself...The final score was reasonably close (I believe 8 or 10 points) but after Wash.U's huge run to open the second half, you knew the game was never in doubt. NYU sucks the life out of each and every one of their offensive possessions, regularly taking 25 or 30 seconds off the shot clock and though that strategy keeps them from getting blown out, it also ensures that the chances of a comeback (at least against a team with a terrific transition offense like Wash.U) are highly unlikely. Wash.U. took NYU out of its slow-down offense for the first four of five minutes of the second half and after that, it was clear to anyone watching that the game's ultimate outcome was never really in doubt. In under three minutes, the Bears went on a 13-3 run and with 13 and change to go, Wash.U. led by a comfortable 15. In the first 10:30 of the second half, the Bears put up 30 points. AT hit four 3's in that stretch and the game was over.

DJ Glavin (spelling?) helped NYU in the second half, but Nesci seemed reluctant to push the tempo and almost more content with taking an 8 or 10 point loss than with taking the risk of getting into a run game and trying to make a dent in the lead. On some level, you can't blame him. Who wants to get into a run game against a team that loves nothing more than to push tempo and that has a pair of all Americans in its backcourt? On another level, though, you have to question the tactic. NYU NEEDED a win if it wanted to stay in the Pool C hunt and they have a steady point guard manning the ship. Why not at least try and cut the lead? I don't think anyone in that building really believed NYU had a chance even when they got the lead to 6 with seven plus minutes to play. The Violets continued to slow the tempo and scored nine points for the duration of the game. Nine. And it wasn't as if Wash.U.'s defense was legendarily exceptional. Certainly, the Bears got rebounds and made stops, but by and large, NYU's lack of scoring stemmed from a stagnant offense that would move the ball around and burn clock before attempting shots from 15 or 20 feet out. Just not sure what they were trying to do.

As for Wash.U.: always nice to get an 8 point win against a quality league opponent on the road on Sunday. The Bears played very well today and continue to play their best basketball at the most opportune of times. With AT back at MVP-type form, it's going to be very difficult for teams to defend Wash.U. come tournament time. You can try to zone them, but with AT stroking again, you'll get the same result as NYU did today. You can try to play man, but their offensive sets are so fluid after four years of running them with this core group of guys that it's very difficult to limit their offense. You can try, as Emory did, to run a triangle and 2 on AT and Wallis, but this may prove to be the least effective of all (as Emory found out). Sean and AT had their worst offensive performances of the season and yet Wash.U put together arguably its most dominating performance of the year.

I think people forget how effective a scorer Spencer Gay has become. When Emory triangle and 2'd the Bears, Gay went 7 for 8 and finished with 18 points. Today, he put up 16 on 7 of 9. A triangle and two opens up the passing lanes and enables him to get easy buckets. And lest we forget, the Bears' X factor: Cam Smith. People have overlooked him his whole career because he's always been a 3rd or even fourth offensive option. Triangle and 2 the Bears and Cam hits five 3's. This is a guy who can flat out score and has always produced when necessary, but simply hasn't really had to.

Looking forward to seeing how things shape up. The way to beat the Bears will be to  hope that their big guns are simply not hitting. A superior post player will also give the Wash.U bigs real trouble. The UAA is down this year, so Wash.U. has not had to deal with the issue of a dominant post man (save Hollins on Deis, who did give Wash.U trouble) and that is my primary concern come tournament time. Otherwise, I'm beginning to feel pretty confident, certainly much better than I was 3 or 4 weeks ago.

Wash U. definitely did have a home court advantage this afternoon--not only did the Bears fans come out in large numbers, but they were also loud.

As for NYU's offensive strategy, that issue comes up a lot with this team. It can be frustrating to watch the Violets burn clock when they're behind, but I still think it's an exaggeration to say that everyone in the gym knew they didn't have a chance. They were a stop and a score away from making it a one-possession game with about seven minutes left, and they weren't able to get it done. For much of the season their incredibly slow offense has been effective enough to get wins. I think what was worse about their offense today than its pace was the fact that it didn't result in good shots.

Wash U. was by far the best team I've seen visit NYU this season. Anytime NYU threatened to make a run, the Bears answered. Their offense was crisp, and even if their defense wasn't perfect, I certainly thought they did a great job making sure that NYU didn't have any easy shots.

[deiscanton]

Update on ECAC Tournament declarations--

As of February 11, NYU and Carnegie Mellon filed declaration papers to the ECAC expressing interest in competing in their respective ECAC postseason basketball tournaments.

The ECAC tournament is a consolation postseason tournament  designed for teams in their respective ECAC regions interested in competing for those championships who finish above .500 on the season but do not qualify for the NCAAs.  In each region, the ECAC picks up to 8 teams from a list of teams who declared for the ECAC tournament-- if a declared team qualifies for the NCAA, the declaration is withdrawn without penalty.

There are four regions of the ECAC:  New England, Metro, Upstate, and South-- with regional champions crowned for those four regions.

First round is on March 3, with semis and championship expected for the weekend of March 6 and 7.

NYU would be competing in the ECAC Metro Championship-- The NYU men currently have a record of 15-7 on the season.

[WUPHF]

REGIONAL RANKINGS

The latest regional rankings are out: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021710aab.html

Washington University remains in No. 1.  Brandeis has moved to No. 4, up one from the first regional rankings while NYU has dropped one to No. 5 with one in-region game left against Rochester.

Midwest Region
In-Region Record, Overall Record
1. Washington-St. Louis 17-2 20-2
2. Carthage 14-3 18-5
3. St. Norbert 19-2 20-2
4. Wheaton (Illinois) 15-7 16-7
5. Illinois Wesleyan 17-5 18-5
6. Anderson (Indiana) 18-3 20-3
7. Defiance 16-5 18-5
8. Augustana (Illinois) 15-7 15-8

Northeast Region
In-Region Record Overall Record
1. Williams 21-0 23-1
2. MIT 20-1 21-2
3. Middlebury 17-2 21-2
4. Brandeis 17-5 17-5
5. Colby 16-4 18-5
6. Bridgewater State 15-4 16-6
7. Rhode Island College 16-7 16-7
8. Eastern Connecticut State 16-7 16-7
9. Gordon 18-4 19-4
10. WPI 16-5 17-5
11. Western Connecticut State 15-6 16-6

East Region
In-Region Record Overall Record
1. St. John Fisher 18-4 19-4
2. Medaille 20-2 21-2
3. Oneonta State 17-5 18-5
4. Stevens Institute 17-5 17-5
5. New York University 14-7 15-7
6. Plattsburgh State 13-6 15-7

[Pat Coleman]

Why don't we keep people around and have them go to our page?

http://d3blogs.com/d3hoops/2010/02/17/2010-regional-rankings-week-3/

[deiscanton]

Facility alert--

Brandeis is hosting the UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 5 and 6, 2010 at the Gosman Fieldhouse-- the same weekend as the first/second rounds of the NCAA DIII basketball tournaments.

The Gosman Fieldhouse is a multi-purpose fieldhouse that not only hosts basketball as a winter sport, but also hosts fencing meets and track and field meets in the winter season.

As the track completely surrounds the Red Auerbach Arena court on the same level, Red Auerbach Arena cannot be used for basketball on the same weekend as a track and field meet.  Closed practices would have to be held on the same competition court as the game-- thereby preventing track and field practice at the same time, and the stands go right over the track when basketball games are held.  For this reason,  in the regular season, track and field is held on a weekend when Brandeis is playing road UAA basketball contests.

In addition, the locker room facilities, as well as the team hotel normally used to house visiting basketball teams, also have to be dedicated to hosting the over 150 track and field athletes from the 7 other UAA schools that will be travelling to Brandeis to compete in the track and field events.

To host NCAA basketball tournament games, the Gosman Fieldhouse has to be completely closed off that weekend to all other events-- including the normal use of fitness club facilities in the bulidling, because of the tight security arrangements demanded by the NCAA.  In addition, the locker rooms in the building would have to be dedicated to the 3 other basketball teams who would be playing that weekend-- to the exclusion of everything else.  Not that I am complaining about that, because it was great to host NCAA first and second round tournament games for both the men and women for the past 2 years-- and if the track and field meet was not going to be held on the same weekend this year, I would be very glad for Brandeis to host basketball playoff games.

The reason why I am writing this now is that the Brandeis men are currently ranked #4 in the Northeast, and people will naturally ask the question as to whether or not Brandeis will be able to host a pod for the men's field this year for the first and second rounds.  I heard talk about this among coaches yesterday at the MIT-Wheaton men's basketball game.

Brandeis last hosted the UAA indoor track and field championships in March of 2007.  That year, the Brandeis men went to Rhode Island College's pod for first and second round games, and the Brandeis women went to Emmanuel's pod for first and second round matches.  Both Brandeis teams lost in the second round that year.

[Marty Peretz]

Hugenerd, once you referenced your lost karma points, the entirety of your argument lost any shred of credibility. In actuality, I was coming around to see your perspective, but then, like a bitter 8 year old who got the smallest bag of party favors, your reference to docked karma points rendered the legitimacy of your argument a moot point.

And no, I'm not some provocateur who chuckles as people dock my karma points and I go to -197 overnight. I'm just trying to point out the absurdity of someone who professes to be some sort of message board truth teller by noting that they'll stand by their remarks regardless of how many karma points they lose, as if vouching for Williams to be number one can be equated with a heroic act of citizen journalism. Be serious here.

[Hugenerd]

Hugenerd, once you referenced your lost karma points, the entirety of your argument lost any shred of credibility. In actuality, I was coming around to see your perspective, but then, like a bitter 8 year old who got the smallest bag of party favors, your reference to docked karma points rendered the legitimacy of your argument a moot point.

And no, I'm not some provocateur who chuckles as people dock my karma points and I go to -197 overnight. I'm just trying to point out the absurdity of someone who professes to be some sort of message board truth teller by noting that they'll stand by their remarks regardless of how many karma points they lose, as if vouching for Williams to be number one can be equated with a heroic act of citizen journalism. Be serious here.

Grasping for any way to put me down now?  First off, that post wasnt on this board.  Secondly, you don't respond to any point I make in my post.  Finally, the argument again is not for Williams at 1 or WashU at 2, it is in reference to why WashU jumped Williams after last weeks results.  

Also, I dont know what you are talking about in your entire post.  Me mentioning karma shreds my credibility?  Really?  What has rendered you the expert on d3boards etiquette?  You clearly are the bigger person now that you have called me out on the aside I made about karma and devoted an entire post to analyzing that remark instead of writing anything of substance.  I stand by what I wrote, including the observation that I had lost 5 karma points during that discussion and that it would not be any detriment to me if that continued (by the way, I have seen others write similar things in the past regarding karma).  You are the one that continues to try to take the focus away from discussing basketball and trying to throw personal insults towards me.  You can say you don't agree with my argument, or even that I dont know what I am talking about when it comes to WashU's basketball team, but don't try to lower this to some immature level where you need to call names and attack me personally to try to win the argument.  I dont feel as though I am the immature one in this situation, I am sticking to the topic at hand.  If you would like to call names, so be it, but dont think that you are going to upset me in away with  your own immaturity.  I am sure we all knew bullies growing up, but I did not realize that they persisted in the real world.

Also, no one said vouching for a team you dont follow is a "heroic act of civic journalism."  It is called forming an opinion by observing a team and discussing them on a d3 basketball message board.  That is the purpose of these boards I thought.  Maybe I am wrong.

[Pat Coleman]

Marty,

That has to be the most ridiculous karma reference I've read on the boards, and I've read some doozys. Spare me.

[WUPHF]

PARTY IN THE UAA

Tonight is Senior Night at the Field House as Bears fans come together to celebrate the careers of some of the best athletes ever to wear green and red.  Washington University takes on a Case Western squad that has reeled off four straight UAA wins.  I am going to make a firm prediction on this: Washington University rolls over the Spartans with a statement win.  A win that gets the Top 25 thread talking.

I make this prediction, in part, because the Spartans have not been effective enough from three point range.  Feel free to disagree (and maybe this is an obvious point), but when it comes to the post-season, my prediction is that any team that wishes to take down the Bears will have to be on from outside.  Thoughts?

The Bears host Carnegie Mellon on Sunday, the last time Bears fans will be able to watch Wallis, Thompson, Kelly, Smith and Kelley free of charge! [insert very sad yellow thing here]

IN OTHER GAMES

New York University is on the road at Emory while Brandeis looks for the season sweep at Rochester.  Carnegie Mellon is in Hyde Park tonight for a match-up in the bright maroon-red Ratner Center. 

KARMA POLICE

This is only incidental to the previous conversations, but I recently earned the ability (or is it a responsibility?) to award and take away karma.  And, now that I understand how it works, it seems to me that karma is actually, more of a popularity index and has less to do with positive and negative contributions to the board.

ADDICTION

Lately, I feel like I have been living my otherwise happy life one Friday night and one Sunday afternoon at a time.  And, not a day goes by that I don't think about where I might go (dragging my wife along) to watch the Bears play again.  I think I am addicted to UAA basketball.  Am I the only one?  [typed with tounge in cheek]