SWC75
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(I'm splitting up the non-conference and conference seasons into separate posts.)
THE OPPOSTION
I break down the season into four component parts, each with a goal that cannot be finally attained until you get to that part of the season. Thus there’s no point to worrying about future goals before you can achieve them: just focus on what we are trying to do right now.
The first segment is the Non-Conference Season, during which the goal is to build the team we are going to be. Coach Boeheim will have games where everybody gets to play in various combinations to see who he can rely on and who works best with each other. We will be tested in certain games and, (unfortunately), an undue emphasis will be placed on those games in March when the decisions are made about who goes dancing and who doesn’t. Neither team will yet be the team they are going to become but the committee doesn’t seem to care. All you can do is play them in November and December and do the best we can. We’ll have a chance to really prove ourselves in the next segment.
The second segment is the conference season. This is really the most meaningful segment. You play 18 games against conference teams and you can lose some games and still have a chance to win the conference regular season title, (which, strangely, is unofficial in the ACC). This is the best measure of a team and the most significant achievement. A single elimination tournament produces a champion and makes history but it’s also something of a roulette wheel: you or a rival could lose for any number of reasons and be out of it. The conference season is an 18 round fight.
The third segment is the conference tournament which many regard as meaningless but is, in fact, the site of the best basketball you will see all year as rivals who know each other intimately try to win rubber matches.
Then the big decision will be made based on how you did in the first three segments. They used to emphasize the most recent results as a measure of how the teams are playing now. Unfortunately, they are looking at the November and December games as much as the February and March games but you can still make the big dance with a strong late run. That leads to the 4th segment: the NCAA tournament. Once you are in it, anything can happen, (see two years ago). If good things happen, you can make history.
How to get the “ACC Network Extra” games:
How to find ACC Network Extra (Watch league games online)
The Non-Conference Schedule
Wednesday November 1st at the Carrier Dome vs. Southern New Hampshire 7PM ACC Network Extra
The Penmen, (the school was founded in 1932 as the “New Hampshire School of Accounting and Secretarial Science”), are a Division II team in the same conference with LeMoyne, (why not play LeMoyne?), as is Southern Connecticut State. They were 21-9 last year and didn’t play anyone on the level of a Syracuse. They beat LeMoyne 78-73 and split with Southern Connecticut 95-79, 98-109. They averaged 82 points a game and 21 three point attempts. They were outrebounded by 2 a game, so they are a running, perimeter team. Their top returning players are 6-4 forward Chris Walter, who scored 18.1ppg, 6-3 guard Dimitri Floras (12.7) and 6-2 guard DaQuaise Andrews (12.2). They have four guys on their roster who are more than 6-4. All are 6-6 to 6-8 and those guys scored a total of 52 points last year. Syracuse should win easily but it won’t count in the record as this is an exhibition game. This will be a “look test” game, as will the next one.
Monday, November 6th at the Carrier Dome vs. Southern Connecticut State 7PM ACC Network Extra
The Fighting Owls were 18-13 last year. They played UCONN last year and lost 65-94. LeMoyne beat them 81-63 and 75-60. They play a lot of people: 11 players averaged 10 minutes a game last year, (although some of them didn’t play in all the games). They averaged 78.6ppg and averaged 22.5 three point attempts per game. They were a good rebounding team, (+4.). Six of those players who played 10 minutes a game are back. Three of them scored in double figures: 6-7 forward Jerry Luckett (15.1ppg), 6-1 guard Isiah McLeod (11.8) and 6-3 guard Joe Wallace (10.6). Luckett is their tallest player. This should be another easy win, (yeah, I know: the LeMoyne game 8 years ago) and another look test. It’s the second exhibition game.
Friday, November 10th at the Carrier Dome vs. Cornell 7PM ACC Network Extra
Now the games count. The Big Red was 8-21 last year. We have an all-time record of 91-31 against them and haven’t lost to them since 1968. The intrigue this year comes from one of their new recruits: 6-8 sharpshooting forward Jimmy Boeheim who, for the first time, will be competing against his father’s team. But 6-2 guard Matt Morgan might be more of a threat. He led the Ivy League in scoring with 18.1ppg last year. They run a Princeton-like offense through 6-8 forward Stone Cummings, who scored 12.4, pulled down 5.8 rebounds a game and led the team in assists with 2.9 per game. It will be interesting to see how our young big men perform against the veteran but smaller players of these early teams. (Late note: Stone Gettings didn’t play in last Saturday’s Red-White scrimmage for unknown reasons.)
Tuesday, November 14th at the Carrier Dome vs. Iona 7PM ACC Network Extra
The Gaels might be the first serious challenge: they were 22-13 last year. 6-1 guard Rickey McGill scored 10.5 and averaged 5.1 assists per game. 6-6 E. J. Crawford, 6-5 Deyshonee Much and 5-10 Schadrac Casimir are all three point threats. But they lost three double figure scorers from last year and like so many of the teams in the early schedule, have little size inside. But sometimes inexperienced big men have trouble dealing with smaller, quicker players.
Saturday, November 18th at the Carrier Dome vs. Texas Southern 7PM ACC Network Extra
This is the first of three games in the Dome that are technically part of something called the Hoopball Miami Invitational, another of these early season ‘events’ that aren’t really a tournament because Syracuse will progress to the “finals” which will actually be played in Miami against Kansas, (see below). It will be the second year in a row we will be in this type of event and third in four years. Somehow, they lake the intrigue and excitement of a real tournament, the latter of which has often been the springboard to team success since we have an uncanny record of winning early season tournaments.
The Tigers are one of those historically black colleges who have sometimes struggled financially in the era of integration and try to make up for it by playing anyone anywhere in seasons featuring endless road trips, (HBO’s Real Sports recently did a feature on them), But they had a good team last year (23-12: 16-2 in the conference and 7-10 outside of it) and are coached by Mike Davis, the former Indiana coach who once took the Hoosiers to the Final Four. Leading scorer Zach Lofton transferred out and two other double figure scorers graduated. They also lost 7-0 center Marvin Jones, the SWAS’s defensive player of the year. Point guard Demontrae Jefferson only 5-7, will easily be their best player. He averaged 14.8ppg and 3.3 assists last year.
Monday November 20th at the Carrier Dome vs. Oakland 7PM ACC network Extra
No, we aren’t playing the Raiders: this Oakland is in Michigan. It was once part of Michigan State. The Golden Grizzlies have a fairly good history in basketball. Coach Greg Kampe is the third longest tenured coach in the NCAA behind Coach K and the one he’ll be facing. He’s won 20+ games 12 times and 583 games overall, making it to the NCAA tournament three times since they joined Division 1 in 1997. They are one of the better mid-majors. Last year they were 25-9 and made it to the NIT second round, just like someone else we know. They were thought to be a year ahead of schedule and will be the Horizon League favorites this year. Per Athlon Sports, they have “three legitimate Conference Player of the Year candidates”: 6-7 forward Jalen Hayes(15.9p, 8.0r), 6-6 guard Matez Walker (17.8p, 4.0r) and Illinois transfer Kendrick Nunn, a 6-3 guard who averaged 15.5p in his last year with the illini. Oakland is looking for a scalp and will be playing Michigan State, Kansas and Syracuse in an effort to get one this year. We could certainly be it. It would be one of those “embarrassing” early season losses that come back to haunt us, even though it was against a good team.
Wednesday, November 22nd at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. Toledo ACC network Extra
The Rockets were 17-17 last year and have the “Strength up the middle” every sports team seems always to be looking for. 6-11 235 Luke Knapke will be a test for our young big men. He only averaged 6.9p/4.2r but Athlon calls him “A capable and versatile big man”. Jaelan Stanford, the 6-4 point guard averaged 13.6p, 3.1a and hit 65 three pointers. Coach Ted Kowalzyk has brought in two transfers from Power Five teams, 6-6 Willie Jackson from Missouri and 6-7 Tre’Shaun Fletcher from Colorado, both listed as guard/forwards. That gives them comparable backcourt height to us. If we’ve just lost to Oakland, this game won’t be a gimme to fall back on.
Monday, November 27th at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. Maryland ESPN 2
Now it gets serious, as shown by the fact that this one won’t be on ACC network Extra. We take a break from the Hoopball Miami Invitational to play the Terps in the ACC-Big 10 challenge. I have to keep reminding myself that Maryland is a Big Ten team now, (so is Rutgers and West Virginia is one of the ten teams in the Big 12, etc. etc.). Maryland’s football misadventures in the Big Ten notwithstanding, they’ve done well in basketball. Last year they were 24-8 and 12-6 in the conference. That’s a lot better than we did in the ACC so I’m not sure how we were matched with them. We were 19-15 and 10-8 in the ACC where we finished 10th. Maryland was #3 in the Big Ten. Our closest match would have been Iowa, who had the exact same overall and conference record we did and finished 8th. In 10th place was Ohio State at 17-15/7-11.
7-1 250 Michal Cekovsky averaged (7.6p, 2.8r) and will share the center positon with 6-9 220 Ivan Bender (4.8p 3.7r). They will be joined by 6-9 230 Joshua Tomiac, who played for Spain in the World Championships, 6-9 Sean Obi, a Duke transfer and 6-10 245 freshmen 6-10 245. We’ll envy their depth inside. Coach Mark Turgeon: “We want to become a more physical team”.
There’s only two double figure scorers back. One is 6-7 220 Justin Jackson (10.5p 6.0r), who opted to return after attending the NBA combine. The backcourt consists of two sophomores who started every game as freshmen: 6-7 Kevin Huerter (9.3p 4.9r) and 6-0 Anthony Cowan (10.3p 3.9r, 3.7a). Lindy’s predicts “an interesting and entertaining year for Maryland fans”. I can only hope it will be the same for Syracuse fans.
Saturday, December 2nd at the American Airlines Arena 5:30PM in Miami, Fl. vs. Kansas ESPN
From the frying pan into the fire. Kansas will be trying to set a record this year by winning the Big 12 for the 14th straight year. (UCLA won the Pac 10 for 13 straight years from 1967-79). We think we are on a short list of elite programs but we’ve never won the ACC and won or tied for the Big East regular season title 9 times in 33 years. Kansas doesn’t rebuild: it reloads. They lost national player of the year Frank Mason and NBA lottery pick Josh Jackson and three frontcourt players but it won’t matter.
6-2 DeVonte’ Graham will be one of the best guards in the country. Last year he averaged 13.4p/4.1a. He’ll be joined by Malik Newman, a 6-3 transfer from Mississippi State who in 2015 was ranked the #2 recruit in the country. He had averaged 11.3p as a freshman. 6-8 Sviatoslav Mykhalliuk is listed as a guard. He scored 9.8 last year and considered going to the NBA. 6-5 Leonard Vick scored 7.4. Coach Bill Self: “We can put four guards out there that have experience and certainly are about as talented a group of four guards (as any) in the country”. Their backcourt vs. ours should be an interesting match-up. (Note: they have another guard, sharp-shooting Sam Cuncliffe, who transferred in from Arizona State, who won’t be eligible to play until mid-December so we won’t see him.)
Self is bemoaning the fact that they have “just three post players – all of whom lack experience”. Udoka Azubuike will be intimidating at 7-0 280. He only averaged 5.0p/4.4r but “He’s certainly one of the most talented bigs we’ve had here”. Athlon reports that “Azubuike dominated the Jayhawks’ off-season workouts and could become one of college basketball’s breakthrough players in 2017-18.” Then there’s 6-10 240 Billy Preston, a McDonald’s All-American we wanted badly. Athlon: “Preston can handle the ball like a guard, making him a tough match-up for opposing forwards.” Unfortunately, he’ll be a tough match-up for our forwards, not for Kansas’ forwards.
Tuesday, December 5th at Madison Square Garden 9PM vs. Connecticut ESPN
The Huskies, who have won two national titles in this decade, (and two before that), had a rough year last year with a 16-17, (they still beat us 50-52 at this same venue) It was their first losing season in 30 years. Their problem was injuries to 6-0 point guard Alterique Gilbert, 6-8 swingman Terry Larrier and 6-8 forward Mamadou Diarra. They are all back and Coach Kevin Ollie wants to pair Gilbert with 6-3 guard Jalen Adams, (14.4p 6.1a assists in a sterling backcourt. 6-2 Christian Vital filled in with 9.1ppg and will come off the bench. They’ve brought in “rim protecting grad transfer David Onuorah (6-9 235) from Cornell and 6-8 285 JUCO Eric Cobb to help up front. It’s another team with strength where we have strength, (in the backcourt) and weakness, (or at least questions) where we are weak, (in the frontcourt). That will make it an interesting contest. Oakland to Connecticut could be a very rough stretch for us early in the season, if our younger guys aren’t ready to contribute.
Saturday December 9th at the Carrier Dome 2PM vs. Colgate Regional Sports Network (I believe that will be Channel 3)
We finally get another breather. We last lost to Colgate on February 24, 1962. We’ve beaten them 51 times in a row since then. They last got to within single digits in 2000, when we beat them 73-65. The average margin of victory since then has been 35 points. It probably won’t be much different this year. The red Raiders were 10-22 last season. Athlon: “With all their key players returning, they should look a lot like last season”. 6-8 Will Rayman scored 14.6p. 6-2 Guard Sean O’Brien scored 12.5 and 6-7 forward Jason Swopshire scored 10.3.
Saturday December 16th at the Verizon Center in Washington DC 12:30PM vs. Georgetown CBS
Another old rival that has fallen on hard times – but still managed to beat us last year, (71-78). Our prospects for this year don’t seem as good as they seemed last year and we have to ply them in their place. They limped to a 14-18 record last season which lost coach John Thompson II his job. He’s replaced by his father’s biggest star, Patrick Ewing. Bringing back an old hero pleases fans but it doesn’t always improve the team. Ewing, unlike his fellow 80’s star at St. John’s, Chris Mullen, has a coaching resume. He’s bene an assistant in the NBA for 14 years. He got tired of waiting for a head job in the big league and returned home to Georgetown.
The Hoyas return only one double figure scorer, 6-10 270 center Jessie Govan (10.3p 4.9r). They lost the highly productive Rodney Prior (18.0p) and L. J. Peak (16.5p) to graduation. They have two grad transfers: Trey Dickerson, a 6-1 guard scored 10.4p – for South Dakota. 6-6 Greg Malinowski averaged 7.7p for William and Mary but shot 40% from three. 6-7 250 Murray Derrickson averaged 8.3 and could play high post to Govan’s low post. Their top freshman is 6-7 Antwan Walker, “an athletic forward whose motor doesn’t stop running.” (Athlon)
Tuesday, December 19th at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. Buffalo ACC Network Extra
The Bulls are no breather: Athlon favors them to win their division in the MAC. They were 17-15 last year. 6-3 guard CJ Massinburg can score (14.6p 5.6r) and so can 6-8 forward Nick Perkins (12.4p 6.7r). 6-2 guard Dontay Caruthers is the reigning MAC defensive player of the year. Missouri Transfer Wes Clark, a 6-0 guard averaged 9.8p, 3.0a for the Tigers. Jeremy Harris was “the nation’s #2 JC player” per Lindy’s. He’s a 6-7 guard who averaged 18.2p 5.2r for Gulf Coast State last year. 6-3 guard Javon Graves was Ohio’s High school Player of the Year last season and 6-4 guard James Reese was the same in South Carolina. They also have three guys 6-10 or larger to play center.
Friday, December 22nd at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. St. Bonaventure ACC Network Extra
The Bonnies have four starters back from a 20-12 team and are looking to top that record. It was their third straight 20 win season, something they hadn’t done by since the 1970’s. Their strength is in the back court where, per Lindy’s, “The lethal backcourt of Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley is back to terrorize foes for one more season”. Athlon called Adams “one of the best kept secrets in the country. The 6-2 Adams averaged 20.6p and 6.5 and Mobley, a 6-3 guard, averaged 18.5p and an impressive 5.8r. Ahtlon said they “will need some assistance – not a ton of help just some.” Freshman Tshiefu Ngalakulondia 6-6 forward, “was considered one of the elite athletes in the New England prep school scene last year”. 6-10 225 Ndene Gueye, a JUCO transfer, is “an explosive shot-blocker” per Athlon.
Wednesday, December 27th at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. Eastern Michigan ESPN2
Rob Murphy’s Eagles were 16-17 last year. That’s undistinguished but their center is not. 6-10 240 James Thompson IV who averaged 14.8p 11.2r last year. He’s the only college player who averaged a double-double two years in a row. Rob has three D1 transfers, 1 JUCO and four freshmen to help him out. 6-9 200 Elijah Minnie averaged 12.0p, 6.6r and 1.9b for Robert Morris. 6-7 Tom Bond scored 9.1p last year. They need a good point guard and 61 Paul Jackson form Eastern Kentucky could help. At least he’s used to playing for ‘Eastern’.
Comments: You look for “cupcakes” and find the diet looks pretty lean. Cornell, Colgate and who? Maryland and Kansas will likely be too strong for us. Connecticut and Georgetown would love to beat us again. Iona, Texas Southern, Oakland, Toledo, Buffalo, St. Bonaventure and Eastern Michigan are probably all better than the casual fan might think they are. The days of going into conference play with a 13-0 cushion are gone. And, even if teams aren’t yet what they are going to be, these games will matter when the NCAA committee meets. We will already know what kind of season this is likely to be before we ever play a conference game.
THE OPPOSTION
I break down the season into four component parts, each with a goal that cannot be finally attained until you get to that part of the season. Thus there’s no point to worrying about future goals before you can achieve them: just focus on what we are trying to do right now.
The first segment is the Non-Conference Season, during which the goal is to build the team we are going to be. Coach Boeheim will have games where everybody gets to play in various combinations to see who he can rely on and who works best with each other. We will be tested in certain games and, (unfortunately), an undue emphasis will be placed on those games in March when the decisions are made about who goes dancing and who doesn’t. Neither team will yet be the team they are going to become but the committee doesn’t seem to care. All you can do is play them in November and December and do the best we can. We’ll have a chance to really prove ourselves in the next segment.
The second segment is the conference season. This is really the most meaningful segment. You play 18 games against conference teams and you can lose some games and still have a chance to win the conference regular season title, (which, strangely, is unofficial in the ACC). This is the best measure of a team and the most significant achievement. A single elimination tournament produces a champion and makes history but it’s also something of a roulette wheel: you or a rival could lose for any number of reasons and be out of it. The conference season is an 18 round fight.
The third segment is the conference tournament which many regard as meaningless but is, in fact, the site of the best basketball you will see all year as rivals who know each other intimately try to win rubber matches.
Then the big decision will be made based on how you did in the first three segments. They used to emphasize the most recent results as a measure of how the teams are playing now. Unfortunately, they are looking at the November and December games as much as the February and March games but you can still make the big dance with a strong late run. That leads to the 4th segment: the NCAA tournament. Once you are in it, anything can happen, (see two years ago). If good things happen, you can make history.
How to get the “ACC Network Extra” games:
How to find ACC Network Extra (Watch league games online)
The Non-Conference Schedule
Wednesday November 1st at the Carrier Dome vs. Southern New Hampshire 7PM ACC Network Extra
The Penmen, (the school was founded in 1932 as the “New Hampshire School of Accounting and Secretarial Science”), are a Division II team in the same conference with LeMoyne, (why not play LeMoyne?), as is Southern Connecticut State. They were 21-9 last year and didn’t play anyone on the level of a Syracuse. They beat LeMoyne 78-73 and split with Southern Connecticut 95-79, 98-109. They averaged 82 points a game and 21 three point attempts. They were outrebounded by 2 a game, so they are a running, perimeter team. Their top returning players are 6-4 forward Chris Walter, who scored 18.1ppg, 6-3 guard Dimitri Floras (12.7) and 6-2 guard DaQuaise Andrews (12.2). They have four guys on their roster who are more than 6-4. All are 6-6 to 6-8 and those guys scored a total of 52 points last year. Syracuse should win easily but it won’t count in the record as this is an exhibition game. This will be a “look test” game, as will the next one.
Monday, November 6th at the Carrier Dome vs. Southern Connecticut State 7PM ACC Network Extra
The Fighting Owls were 18-13 last year. They played UCONN last year and lost 65-94. LeMoyne beat them 81-63 and 75-60. They play a lot of people: 11 players averaged 10 minutes a game last year, (although some of them didn’t play in all the games). They averaged 78.6ppg and averaged 22.5 three point attempts per game. They were a good rebounding team, (+4.). Six of those players who played 10 minutes a game are back. Three of them scored in double figures: 6-7 forward Jerry Luckett (15.1ppg), 6-1 guard Isiah McLeod (11.8) and 6-3 guard Joe Wallace (10.6). Luckett is their tallest player. This should be another easy win, (yeah, I know: the LeMoyne game 8 years ago) and another look test. It’s the second exhibition game.
Friday, November 10th at the Carrier Dome vs. Cornell 7PM ACC Network Extra
Now the games count. The Big Red was 8-21 last year. We have an all-time record of 91-31 against them and haven’t lost to them since 1968. The intrigue this year comes from one of their new recruits: 6-8 sharpshooting forward Jimmy Boeheim who, for the first time, will be competing against his father’s team. But 6-2 guard Matt Morgan might be more of a threat. He led the Ivy League in scoring with 18.1ppg last year. They run a Princeton-like offense through 6-8 forward Stone Cummings, who scored 12.4, pulled down 5.8 rebounds a game and led the team in assists with 2.9 per game. It will be interesting to see how our young big men perform against the veteran but smaller players of these early teams. (Late note: Stone Gettings didn’t play in last Saturday’s Red-White scrimmage for unknown reasons.)
Tuesday, November 14th at the Carrier Dome vs. Iona 7PM ACC Network Extra
The Gaels might be the first serious challenge: they were 22-13 last year. 6-1 guard Rickey McGill scored 10.5 and averaged 5.1 assists per game. 6-6 E. J. Crawford, 6-5 Deyshonee Much and 5-10 Schadrac Casimir are all three point threats. But they lost three double figure scorers from last year and like so many of the teams in the early schedule, have little size inside. But sometimes inexperienced big men have trouble dealing with smaller, quicker players.
Saturday, November 18th at the Carrier Dome vs. Texas Southern 7PM ACC Network Extra
This is the first of three games in the Dome that are technically part of something called the Hoopball Miami Invitational, another of these early season ‘events’ that aren’t really a tournament because Syracuse will progress to the “finals” which will actually be played in Miami against Kansas, (see below). It will be the second year in a row we will be in this type of event and third in four years. Somehow, they lake the intrigue and excitement of a real tournament, the latter of which has often been the springboard to team success since we have an uncanny record of winning early season tournaments.
The Tigers are one of those historically black colleges who have sometimes struggled financially in the era of integration and try to make up for it by playing anyone anywhere in seasons featuring endless road trips, (HBO’s Real Sports recently did a feature on them), But they had a good team last year (23-12: 16-2 in the conference and 7-10 outside of it) and are coached by Mike Davis, the former Indiana coach who once took the Hoosiers to the Final Four. Leading scorer Zach Lofton transferred out and two other double figure scorers graduated. They also lost 7-0 center Marvin Jones, the SWAS’s defensive player of the year. Point guard Demontrae Jefferson only 5-7, will easily be their best player. He averaged 14.8ppg and 3.3 assists last year.
Monday November 20th at the Carrier Dome vs. Oakland 7PM ACC network Extra
No, we aren’t playing the Raiders: this Oakland is in Michigan. It was once part of Michigan State. The Golden Grizzlies have a fairly good history in basketball. Coach Greg Kampe is the third longest tenured coach in the NCAA behind Coach K and the one he’ll be facing. He’s won 20+ games 12 times and 583 games overall, making it to the NCAA tournament three times since they joined Division 1 in 1997. They are one of the better mid-majors. Last year they were 25-9 and made it to the NIT second round, just like someone else we know. They were thought to be a year ahead of schedule and will be the Horizon League favorites this year. Per Athlon Sports, they have “three legitimate Conference Player of the Year candidates”: 6-7 forward Jalen Hayes(15.9p, 8.0r), 6-6 guard Matez Walker (17.8p, 4.0r) and Illinois transfer Kendrick Nunn, a 6-3 guard who averaged 15.5p in his last year with the illini. Oakland is looking for a scalp and will be playing Michigan State, Kansas and Syracuse in an effort to get one this year. We could certainly be it. It would be one of those “embarrassing” early season losses that come back to haunt us, even though it was against a good team.
Wednesday, November 22nd at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. Toledo ACC network Extra
The Rockets were 17-17 last year and have the “Strength up the middle” every sports team seems always to be looking for. 6-11 235 Luke Knapke will be a test for our young big men. He only averaged 6.9p/4.2r but Athlon calls him “A capable and versatile big man”. Jaelan Stanford, the 6-4 point guard averaged 13.6p, 3.1a and hit 65 three pointers. Coach Ted Kowalzyk has brought in two transfers from Power Five teams, 6-6 Willie Jackson from Missouri and 6-7 Tre’Shaun Fletcher from Colorado, both listed as guard/forwards. That gives them comparable backcourt height to us. If we’ve just lost to Oakland, this game won’t be a gimme to fall back on.
Monday, November 27th at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. Maryland ESPN 2
Now it gets serious, as shown by the fact that this one won’t be on ACC network Extra. We take a break from the Hoopball Miami Invitational to play the Terps in the ACC-Big 10 challenge. I have to keep reminding myself that Maryland is a Big Ten team now, (so is Rutgers and West Virginia is one of the ten teams in the Big 12, etc. etc.). Maryland’s football misadventures in the Big Ten notwithstanding, they’ve done well in basketball. Last year they were 24-8 and 12-6 in the conference. That’s a lot better than we did in the ACC so I’m not sure how we were matched with them. We were 19-15 and 10-8 in the ACC where we finished 10th. Maryland was #3 in the Big Ten. Our closest match would have been Iowa, who had the exact same overall and conference record we did and finished 8th. In 10th place was Ohio State at 17-15/7-11.
7-1 250 Michal Cekovsky averaged (7.6p, 2.8r) and will share the center positon with 6-9 220 Ivan Bender (4.8p 3.7r). They will be joined by 6-9 230 Joshua Tomiac, who played for Spain in the World Championships, 6-9 Sean Obi, a Duke transfer and 6-10 245 freshmen 6-10 245. We’ll envy their depth inside. Coach Mark Turgeon: “We want to become a more physical team”.
There’s only two double figure scorers back. One is 6-7 220 Justin Jackson (10.5p 6.0r), who opted to return after attending the NBA combine. The backcourt consists of two sophomores who started every game as freshmen: 6-7 Kevin Huerter (9.3p 4.9r) and 6-0 Anthony Cowan (10.3p 3.9r, 3.7a). Lindy’s predicts “an interesting and entertaining year for Maryland fans”. I can only hope it will be the same for Syracuse fans.
Saturday, December 2nd at the American Airlines Arena 5:30PM in Miami, Fl. vs. Kansas ESPN
From the frying pan into the fire. Kansas will be trying to set a record this year by winning the Big 12 for the 14th straight year. (UCLA won the Pac 10 for 13 straight years from 1967-79). We think we are on a short list of elite programs but we’ve never won the ACC and won or tied for the Big East regular season title 9 times in 33 years. Kansas doesn’t rebuild: it reloads. They lost national player of the year Frank Mason and NBA lottery pick Josh Jackson and three frontcourt players but it won’t matter.
6-2 DeVonte’ Graham will be one of the best guards in the country. Last year he averaged 13.4p/4.1a. He’ll be joined by Malik Newman, a 6-3 transfer from Mississippi State who in 2015 was ranked the #2 recruit in the country. He had averaged 11.3p as a freshman. 6-8 Sviatoslav Mykhalliuk is listed as a guard. He scored 9.8 last year and considered going to the NBA. 6-5 Leonard Vick scored 7.4. Coach Bill Self: “We can put four guards out there that have experience and certainly are about as talented a group of four guards (as any) in the country”. Their backcourt vs. ours should be an interesting match-up. (Note: they have another guard, sharp-shooting Sam Cuncliffe, who transferred in from Arizona State, who won’t be eligible to play until mid-December so we won’t see him.)
Self is bemoaning the fact that they have “just three post players – all of whom lack experience”. Udoka Azubuike will be intimidating at 7-0 280. He only averaged 5.0p/4.4r but “He’s certainly one of the most talented bigs we’ve had here”. Athlon reports that “Azubuike dominated the Jayhawks’ off-season workouts and could become one of college basketball’s breakthrough players in 2017-18.” Then there’s 6-10 240 Billy Preston, a McDonald’s All-American we wanted badly. Athlon: “Preston can handle the ball like a guard, making him a tough match-up for opposing forwards.” Unfortunately, he’ll be a tough match-up for our forwards, not for Kansas’ forwards.
Tuesday, December 5th at Madison Square Garden 9PM vs. Connecticut ESPN
The Huskies, who have won two national titles in this decade, (and two before that), had a rough year last year with a 16-17, (they still beat us 50-52 at this same venue) It was their first losing season in 30 years. Their problem was injuries to 6-0 point guard Alterique Gilbert, 6-8 swingman Terry Larrier and 6-8 forward Mamadou Diarra. They are all back and Coach Kevin Ollie wants to pair Gilbert with 6-3 guard Jalen Adams, (14.4p 6.1a assists in a sterling backcourt. 6-2 Christian Vital filled in with 9.1ppg and will come off the bench. They’ve brought in “rim protecting grad transfer David Onuorah (6-9 235) from Cornell and 6-8 285 JUCO Eric Cobb to help up front. It’s another team with strength where we have strength, (in the backcourt) and weakness, (or at least questions) where we are weak, (in the frontcourt). That will make it an interesting contest. Oakland to Connecticut could be a very rough stretch for us early in the season, if our younger guys aren’t ready to contribute.
Saturday December 9th at the Carrier Dome 2PM vs. Colgate Regional Sports Network (I believe that will be Channel 3)
We finally get another breather. We last lost to Colgate on February 24, 1962. We’ve beaten them 51 times in a row since then. They last got to within single digits in 2000, when we beat them 73-65. The average margin of victory since then has been 35 points. It probably won’t be much different this year. The red Raiders were 10-22 last season. Athlon: “With all their key players returning, they should look a lot like last season”. 6-8 Will Rayman scored 14.6p. 6-2 Guard Sean O’Brien scored 12.5 and 6-7 forward Jason Swopshire scored 10.3.
Saturday December 16th at the Verizon Center in Washington DC 12:30PM vs. Georgetown CBS
Another old rival that has fallen on hard times – but still managed to beat us last year, (71-78). Our prospects for this year don’t seem as good as they seemed last year and we have to ply them in their place. They limped to a 14-18 record last season which lost coach John Thompson II his job. He’s replaced by his father’s biggest star, Patrick Ewing. Bringing back an old hero pleases fans but it doesn’t always improve the team. Ewing, unlike his fellow 80’s star at St. John’s, Chris Mullen, has a coaching resume. He’s bene an assistant in the NBA for 14 years. He got tired of waiting for a head job in the big league and returned home to Georgetown.
The Hoyas return only one double figure scorer, 6-10 270 center Jessie Govan (10.3p 4.9r). They lost the highly productive Rodney Prior (18.0p) and L. J. Peak (16.5p) to graduation. They have two grad transfers: Trey Dickerson, a 6-1 guard scored 10.4p – for South Dakota. 6-6 Greg Malinowski averaged 7.7p for William and Mary but shot 40% from three. 6-7 250 Murray Derrickson averaged 8.3 and could play high post to Govan’s low post. Their top freshman is 6-7 Antwan Walker, “an athletic forward whose motor doesn’t stop running.” (Athlon)
Tuesday, December 19th at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. Buffalo ACC Network Extra
The Bulls are no breather: Athlon favors them to win their division in the MAC. They were 17-15 last year. 6-3 guard CJ Massinburg can score (14.6p 5.6r) and so can 6-8 forward Nick Perkins (12.4p 6.7r). 6-2 guard Dontay Caruthers is the reigning MAC defensive player of the year. Missouri Transfer Wes Clark, a 6-0 guard averaged 9.8p, 3.0a for the Tigers. Jeremy Harris was “the nation’s #2 JC player” per Lindy’s. He’s a 6-7 guard who averaged 18.2p 5.2r for Gulf Coast State last year. 6-3 guard Javon Graves was Ohio’s High school Player of the Year last season and 6-4 guard James Reese was the same in South Carolina. They also have three guys 6-10 or larger to play center.
Friday, December 22nd at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. St. Bonaventure ACC Network Extra
The Bonnies have four starters back from a 20-12 team and are looking to top that record. It was their third straight 20 win season, something they hadn’t done by since the 1970’s. Their strength is in the back court where, per Lindy’s, “The lethal backcourt of Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley is back to terrorize foes for one more season”. Athlon called Adams “one of the best kept secrets in the country. The 6-2 Adams averaged 20.6p and 6.5 and Mobley, a 6-3 guard, averaged 18.5p and an impressive 5.8r. Ahtlon said they “will need some assistance – not a ton of help just some.” Freshman Tshiefu Ngalakulondia 6-6 forward, “was considered one of the elite athletes in the New England prep school scene last year”. 6-10 225 Ndene Gueye, a JUCO transfer, is “an explosive shot-blocker” per Athlon.
Wednesday, December 27th at the Carrier Dome 7PM vs. Eastern Michigan ESPN2
Rob Murphy’s Eagles were 16-17 last year. That’s undistinguished but their center is not. 6-10 240 James Thompson IV who averaged 14.8p 11.2r last year. He’s the only college player who averaged a double-double two years in a row. Rob has three D1 transfers, 1 JUCO and four freshmen to help him out. 6-9 200 Elijah Minnie averaged 12.0p, 6.6r and 1.9b for Robert Morris. 6-7 Tom Bond scored 9.1p last year. They need a good point guard and 61 Paul Jackson form Eastern Kentucky could help. At least he’s used to playing for ‘Eastern’.
Comments: You look for “cupcakes” and find the diet looks pretty lean. Cornell, Colgate and who? Maryland and Kansas will likely be too strong for us. Connecticut and Georgetown would love to beat us again. Iona, Texas Southern, Oakland, Toledo, Buffalo, St. Bonaventure and Eastern Michigan are probably all better than the casual fan might think they are. The days of going into conference play with a 13-0 cushion are gone. And, even if teams aren’t yet what they are going to be, these games will matter when the NCAA committee meets. We will already know what kind of season this is likely to be before we ever play a conference game.
