MBB: University Athletic Association

[hopefan]

I wrote this about two hours ago but neglected to post - it very much paraphrases what TQ wrote...

I don't have time to contribute in depth, but the athleticism remark is worth discussing - Troy Ruths was an athlete - strong, could jump, good speed up and down the court for his size...  Wash U's current 5's could not compete in 'athletic testing' with a Troy Ruths - limited speed or quickness, limited jumping ability.  I wouldn't even define Sean Wallis or Tyler Nading as great athletes - but before someone jumps on that - athleticism can be opposed by two things - individual smarts, and outstanding coaching leading to team play- Wash U's Nading and Wallis benefit from both, and consequently can in many instances outplay an individual who may be quicker, jump higher, have superior individual moves.  It's moving without the ball, getting position on their opponent around the court, know when to use a quick burst - that makes the difference.  When you have a guy like Troy Ruths who combines all of the above at the D3 level, you have an All American.....

[y_jack_lok]

Thanks TitanQ and hopefan, I think we are all on the same page. And for what it's worth, I was defining athletic (or perhaps better put, athletic looking in the basketball context) as someone who can run fast, jump high and is smooth and graceful in their movements. But if a player with those qualities can't dribble well, can't put the ball in the basket or hold on to a pass or a rebound, then they aren't much use.

[Hugenerd]

Brandeis goes down tonight to Laselle 68-66. Bad start for the UAA this year out of conference. 2 teams (WhashU and NYU) have 2 wins each and no one else has a win yet on the season (CMU and Rochester have not played yet). 

[Ralph Turner]

Write-up -- Lasell 68-66

[ILive4This]

That result certainly shocked me and since I was not at the game I can only assume two things..with a good chunk of the starters and key players gone from last year's squad and deluca back for his first game in a year...first game jitters and all that comes with it, was more prevelant here than usual. Also being a repeat of the first round NCAA game the Brandeis won...but this time at Lasell, the Lasers really wanted it more. I think that things will start to come into their own....New starting PG, Hollins having to play a new role, DeLuca back in the mix and a foot longer 3 pointer...it may be a rusty start but by UAA play (hopefully way earlier) the team will be back to their winning ways. Personally I'd rather have a rough start and great finish then the other way around (see Williams 2007-2008 season).

[Hugenerd]

That result certainly shocked me and since I was not at the game I can only assume two things..with a good chunk of the starters and key players gone from last year's squad and deluca back for his first game in a year...first game jitters and all that comes with it, was more prevelant here than usual. Also being a repeat of the first round NCAA game the Brandeis won...but this time at Lasell, the Lasers really wanted it more. I think that things will start to come into their own....New starting PG, Hollins having to play a new role, DeLuca back in the mix and a foot longer 3 pointer...it may be a rusty start but by UAA play (hopefully way earlier) the team will be back to their winning ways. Personally I'd rather have a rough start and great finish then the other way around (see Williams 2007-2008 season).

The problem with a rough start is that the conference looks weak and then you are at risk of only getting one or two into the NCAAs (2004 and 2005 seasons come to mind).  Even if you play extremely well at the end, you are only beating up on other UAA teams so if you dont win the conference, you get a sweet consolation prize of playing in the ECAC.  The UAA really needs to start winning games out of conference rigth away, they cant afford to ease into the season.  Their out of conference record is the reason they have been so successful the last couple of years in getting teams into NCAAs (4 last year).  Chicago's two losses are honestly an embarassment to the league for a team picked to finish 2nd in the UAA and Brandeis opening with a loss doesnt help either.  Brandeis still has a lot of tough games to redeem themselves (at WPI, UMD, Tufts, RIC, at Amherst) but if they slip up in a few of those games, all of a sudden your 6-5 or 7-4 out of conference and that is not so great, considering that I doubt anybody (besides maybe WashU) will win more than 10 games in conference.  You add that up and its an 8-10 loss season and you end up hosting a game in the ECAC tourney (Just ask last year's carnegie mellon team).

[pabegg]

The problem with a rough start is that the conference looks weak and then you are at risk of only getting one or two into the NCAAs (2004 and 2005 seasons come to mind).  Even if you play extremely well at the end, you are only beating up on other UAA teams so if you dont win the conference, you get a sweet consolation prize of playing in the ECAC.  The UAA really needs to start winning games out of conference rigth away, they cant afford to ease into the season.  Their out of conference record is the reason they have been so successful the last couple of years in getting teams into NCAAs (4 last year).  Chicago's two losses are honestly an embarassment to the league for a team picked to finish 2nd in the UAA and Brandeis opening with a loss doesnt help either.  Brandeis still has a lot of tough games to redeem themselves (at WPI, UMD, Tufts, RIC, at Amherst) but if they slip up in a few of those games, all of a sudden your 6-5 or 7-4 out of conference and that is not so great, considering that I doubt anybody (besides maybe WashU) will win more than 10 games in conference.  You add that up and its an 8-10 loss season and you end up hosting a game in the ECAC tourney (Just ask last year's carnegie mellon team).

2008 Carnegie Mellon isn't exactly a good example, because they were 7-0 in regional games out of conference and 6-8 in the UAA. In other words, they started fast and hit the wall in UAA play. On 1/13, they were 7-1 in region and the #8 team in the country in selection criteria.

In 2006, the UAA only got one bid despite having the best non-conference record in the country. That was frankly due to the schools beating themselves up inside the conference. WashU went 14-6, 9-5 and just missed a bid (which they would have gotten if they beat Chicago on the final day). NYU was 17-7, 7-7 and Rochester was 13-8, 7-7, while Chicago was 12-8, 8-6. These schools missed the tournament primarily because of their UAA losses. If NYU, WashU, and Rochester had won one more game, there could have been four UAA schools in the tournament instead of just Carnegie Mellon.

[scottiedawg]

At halftime:
Augustana 29
Chicago 25

Augie:
Collins: 8,7
Delp: 7
Washington: 6

Chicago:
Corning: 10, 5
Kinsella: 5
WatsonL 4

[scottiedawg]

55 all with 64 seconds left.

[scottiedawg]

Final:
Augie defeats Chicago 58-57 on a Jordan Delp basket with two seconds left.
Tough start for Chicago.

[Gregory Sager]

I've got a writeup on the Augie @ Chicago game in CCIW Chat.

Tough start for Chicago, yeah, but the Maroons are improving. I think that they'll be good to go by the time January rolls around.

[pradam]

I wasn't at the Lasell game, so I can't tell you if this cost them for sure, but I don't get why the Brandeis coaches insist on marginalizing Terrell Hollins.  The dude was a second-team all-league guy last year despite averaging only 24 minutes a game, and yet he played fewer minutes than Christian Yemga and Kenny Small. 

It's overcoaching at the highest level, particularly against a Lasell team that isn't particularly strong inside.  Here's a novel idea: play your best guys the most minutes.  There's no reason DeLuca and Hollins can't play well together.

[dblock]

There's no reason DeLuca and Hollins can't play well together.

unless the coaches, who see them play everyday in practice, have decided that they do not play well together.

[deiscanton]

Here are some of my thoughts on Tuesday night's Brandeis v Lasell game, and I did attend the game:

(1)  Some people seem to think that Terrell Hollins may be better off in the starting lineup playing along side Steve DeLuca rather than coming off the bench.  However, in the Brandeis Hoot, coach Meehan said it best:  What happens if Terrell Hollins starts and picks up 2 quick fouls 4 or 5 minutes into his shift like he had a tendency to do last year?   Brandeis may actually be better off having a guy like Hollins as a 6th man playing against 2nd line players on other teams who won't have a tendency to put Hollins into foul trouble early-- you want to put Hollins in a situation where he can maximize his output every game.

(2)  Here is a message for the Lasell athletic department:  Please upgrade your facility on at least a technological aspect so that someone can do video and/or audio webcasts and do live stats of your home games.  WBRS FM really wanted to at least audiocast the game, but Lasell did not have the technology for the radio station to come in and do it.  Lasell has a very small gym-- the seating capacity is even smaller than Memorial Hall at Plattsburgh State University-- at best you can seat about 300 people at the basketball court level and put about another 300 people standing room only on the upper track level to look down upon the court-- assuming of course,  the standing room goes about 2 to 3 deep on all 4 sides of the upper level.   Lasell placed the total attendance of Tuesday's game at 812, and you could not fit any more people in there.  Lasell had to use its entire campus police force inside the gym just to provide security for the game.  As for restrooms on the upstairs level for spectators, the men's public restroom only had 1 toilet.  Period.

(3)  For the Lasell fans, the beneft of having that small of a gym is that it gets extra loud when the fans are really into the game.  There were about 200 die-hard Brandeis fans in the gym, and the rest of the crowd was the Lasell faithful.  The cheers from the Lasell faithful on the upstairs track had the effect of drowning out the cheers from the "Brandeis Jury" on court level.

(4)  The graduation of the 6 seniors from last year's Brandeis team really had an impact on the defensive intensity of the Judges-- and coach Meehan admitted as much in interviews with the Brandeis Hoot and the Justice.  This was apparent in the game on Tuesday.  While Brandeis did its job in containing the top 2 returning Lasell players from last year, Lasell's Junior Sandoval, one of the new starters for the Lasers, scored a career high 23 points for the game on 7 of 10 from 3 pt. land.  Mr. Sandoval only made 15 of 48 from 3 pt. land for the Lasers all of last season while coming off the bench.   In addition, both the Brandeis and Lasell fans were fired up coming into the game, and it got testy trying to work with Lasell security so that both groups of fans could enjoy the game without suffering the indignity of some of us getting kicked out of the building for excessive rowdiness. 

(5)  Lasell really publicized this game on its campus as a "revenge match" for the Lasers coming into the opener.  This was the first game for the Lasers since Brandeis beat them in the NCAA tournament-- thereby giving it the feel of resuming a series after a several month break. 

[Hugenerd]

CMU leads Westminster 34-23 at the half.  CMU was up a bit more but gave up a small run at the end of the half.