MBB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

Started by njachoopsfan, March 16, 2005, 01:15:46 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Rhodes Scholar

For the most part, I agree with Phil. There is great parity in the NJAC this year, but that only means that quite a few teams--in this case possibly nine--are more or less equal. It doesn't mean that all of these teams are necessarily good. I happen to think that most of these teams are good, but it's looking very likely that none of them belong in the top 25 or even in the top 50 nationally.

The single most impressive out-of-conference win by an NJAC team this year was Ramapo's win over Biola, an NAIA 1 school. After that one, the next biggest was TCNJ's win over Scranton. No other NJAC team has beaten a tough opponent. WPU lost to Bates and Baruch. MSU lost to Alvernia and Lincoln. TCNJ lost to Wooster. Stockton lost to Lincoln. Kean lost to Widener and Trinity, CT. NJCU lost to Scranton, not to mention Hood.

This is certainly the most competitive the NJAC has been in recent memory, but at the same time, it is probably the weakest it's been as well.

Knightstalker

Right now I would agree that none belong in the top 25 but the top 50 is stretching it a bit.  NJCU, Ramapo and WPU are all good teams that are missing a piece or two but teams I think are worthy of being considered in the top 50.  If you look around at the traditionally strong conferences some are in the same boat as the NJAC.  The WIAC is beating each other up as is the CCIW.

NJCU, Ramapo and WPU have impressive wins on their schedule this year, unfortunately they are mostly against each other.  This season is actually shaping up like the 01-02 season where the top six teams finished the regular season within two games of each other. 

The NJAC should still have a good shot at two teams this season with the expanded field and the Regional criteria that is used to select the Pool C teams.

NJCU needs to step things up, they are 8-0 at home and 3-6 on the road, that needs to improve.  NJCU also needs to stop the Kardiac Knights routine  and get in the game fromt he start.  Ramapo needs to learn how to put an opponent away.  WPU needs to learn how not to play to the level of their competition.  I haven't seen Baruch play this season, but I still think there is no way the WPU team that played against NJCU a couple of weeks ago should have lost to Baruch.

"In the end we will survive rather than perish not because we accumulate comfort and luxury but because we accumulate wisdom"  Colonel Jack Jacobs US Army (Ret).

Rhodes Scholar

If a conference beats up on each other it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a top-tier conference, it only means that there is parity and many teams can compete with one another. The problem with the NJAC this year is that all of the teams--with the exception of Ramapo's victory over Biola and TCNJ's win over Scranton--have failed to beat a quality out-of-conference opponent. WPU, NJCU, TCNJ, Stockton, MSU and Kean lost all of their nonconference games whenever they faced a good team.

The WIAC and the CCIW beat up on each other, but they also beat very good nonconference opponents. The NJAC, on the other hand, has lost virtually every nonconference game against good competition. This doesn't mean that the NJAC is a weak conference, but it does mean that it certainly is not one of the strongest in the country this year.

Knightstalker

With the exception of Lincoln, Biola and Scranton the NJAC teams really haven't played top out of conference schools.  They are hurt by having to play regional games that are withing the 200 mile limit.  Outside of the NJAC and a couple of schools from other conferences there aren't that many top programs in the Atlantic regional area.  When the games played during breaks become regional the NJAC should be helped by being able to play stronger teams.  I have to disagree with you regarding the national strength of the NJAC, I think they are still one of the top 5 or 6 conferences in D-III hoops.  I think this opinion is shared by posters from other regions. 

A large portion of the CCIW schools could play WIAC or MIAC schools and still be within the 200 mile regional limit.  That is a distinct advantage they have in the Mid-West over the eastern and western teams.  I would love for NJCU to be able to play the best schools all the time, but that is not possible given their geographic location.

"In the end we will survive rather than perish not because we accumulate comfort and luxury but because we accumulate wisdom"  Colonel Jack Jacobs US Army (Ret).

BM10

I also have to agree that the NJAC seems to be down this year. I saw my first NJAC game of the year this past week when I saw MSU-William Paterson.  I came out of the game thinking that both teams were down and had to be in the bottom half of the conference standings but I was surprised to see Willy P atop the conference. That just led me to believe that the NJAC has to be WAY down.  Both MSU and Willy P teams are not close to the level that they have been over the years. WPU still has the disciplined, structured offensive and defensive philosophies but they do not have the athletes to make their team a great one. MSU is lacking a defensive intensity and guards who can break down a defense and get everyone around them better.

Knightstalker

Ben, MSU is still recovering from the fiasco a couple of years ago.  I think they lost a lot of recruits because of that, coupled with the administrations seemingly hostile attitude towards athletics and you have problems.  Sometimes I wonder how good Gonzales would be in he had some better pieces around him.  He is carrying the team on his back, everyone knows he is carrying the team on his back and they still can't stop him.  I think he will be player of the year hands down.

"In the end we will survive rather than perish not because we accumulate comfort and luxury but because we accumulate wisdom"  Colonel Jack Jacobs US Army (Ret).

BM10

Knightstalker,

I do believe the events that happened a few years back hurt MSU's recruiting but I do not believe they "lost" recruits. I feel that Coach Fiore changed his recruiting philosophy and recruited players to try and start to build a program and not recruit to reload year after year.   Coach may have received a bad wrap for that but a coach can't anticipate all that took place that year. The players have to share some of the blame for their actions. With that said, I still believe this year's team has some solid players. It is just not the same level of talent that people have been accustomed to seeing at MSU since Coach Fiore took over.

Knightstalker

It's impact on recruiting is what I meant by lost recruits.  A lot of what happened does rest on the players, but people are going to blame the coach.  They are going to say he is the one who brought in the players.

The only player I still can't figure out is the one with the alias that ended up being arrested for dealing and then found out he was wanted under a warrant under a different name.  That should have been caught by admissions.

"In the end we will survive rather than perish not because we accumulate comfort and luxury but because we accumulate wisdom"  Colonel Jack Jacobs US Army (Ret).

BM10

Quote from: knightstalker on January 27, 2006, 02:32:23 PM
It's impact on recruiting is what I meant by lost recruits. A lot of what happened does rest on the players, but people are going to blame the coach. They are going to say he is the one who brought in the players.

The only player I still can't figure out is the one with the alias that ended up being arrested for dealing and then found out he was wanted under a warrant under a different name. That should have been caught by admissions.


I think the recruiting situation is more of a byproduct of Coach Fiore changing his philsophies more than recruits not being sold on MSU anymore or being turned off by what happened a few years back.  I suspect very few high school seniors even know about what happened  a few years ago.  I

phil

...not to drum up bad MSU memories, but coach Fiore didn't just have a philosphy of "reloading", but he reloaded without considering team chemistry and the character of the individuals (or one could say "characters"), he was recruiting. Hell, he admitted as much. I can't fault him over his current team, but I'm sure he lost a few kids along the way who might have otherwise considered playing at MSU.

Add in an athletic department which seems to operate without a shread of administrative support after the public debacle over cutting  some varsity sports – and you don't exactly have a great climate for the recruitment of athletes.

I still marvel over the public relations fiasco which was incurred after MSU released the interum wrestling coach after he raised all that money to save the program. Seems like the guy they hired is doing a great job after losing to TCNJ 40-4 last night. Yet another MSU varsity sport which has left the national D3 stage.

I'll give coach Fiore one thing though. He can flat out recruit. If he doesn't get fed up with the powers that be at MSU I'm sure he'll be able to build a program with four-year players augmented by the possibility of one or two highly qualified transfers every couple years.

...and I've been saying as much about the MSU admissions department for years – when it comes to athletes, they  should just be called the Department of the Rubber Stamp.

msu_10,
If high school coaches are doing their jobs these recruits should at least be aware of what happened a couple years ago.

Truck

#160
Quote from: knightstalker on January 27, 2006, 11:12:48 AM
Right now I would agree that none belong in the top 25 but the top 50 is stretching it a bit.  NJCU, Ramapo and WPU are all good teams that are missing a piece or two but teams I think are worthy of being considered in the top 50.  If you look around at the traditionally strong conferences some are in the same boat as the NJAC.  The WIAC is beating each other up as is the CCIW.

NJCU, Ramapo and WPU have impressive wins on their schedule this year, unfortunately they are mostly against each other.  This season is actually shaping up like the 01-02 season where the top six teams finished the regular season within two games of each other. 

The NJAC should still have a good shot at two teams this season with the expanded field and the Regional criteria that is used to select the Pool C teams.

NJCU needs to step things up, they are 8-0 at home and 3-6 on the road, that needs to improve.  NJCU also needs to stop the Kardiac Knights routine  and get in the game fromt he start.  Ramapo needs to learn how to put an opponent away.  WPU needs to learn how not to play to the level of their competition.  I haven't seen Baruch play this season, but I still think there is no way the WPU team that played against NJCU a couple of weeks ago should have lost to Baruch.



'Stalker mentioned the 01-02 season when WPU won the Championship. Here is what the standings looked like at the conclusion of that year.


                           NJAC         OVERALL
School                       W    L    W    L         Pct.    STREAK


William Paterson    15     3      26    5    .839    L1
New Jersey City     12     6      20     9    .690    W3
Kean                      11    7    16    10    .615    L1
Rowan                     10   8       14     11         .560     L2
Richard Stockton    10      8      15    11    .577    L1
Ramapo                     8   10      11     13    .458         L1
Rutgers-Newark         8     10    14      11         .560     L3
The College of NJ      7   11      11     13    .458    W1
Montclair State    6   12        11     13    .458      L3
Rutgers-Camden        3    15     6     18    .250    L2


Commitment, Hard Work, No Shortcuts

Truck

Very boring game in Mahwah today. Ramapo won 121-79 over Rutgers-Camden, a team that played only 7 players.

From the outset, during the player introductions, R-C looked as if they were already beaten. Although with an 0-11 conference record, I imagine it's tough to be positive.

Ramapo came out with an altered starting line-up, which included some bench players. Rah Wilson, Mosby, and Lowber did not start for the sake of R-C. Not one player from Ramapo played over 19 minutes.

Points in the paint-RCU 8,RCNJ 40.
Points off turnovers-RCU 17,RCNJ 48.
2nd chance points-RCU 14,RCNJ 24.
Fast break points-RCU 0,RCNJ 3.
Bench points-RCU 41,RCNJ 71.


Otherwise, it was a very boring game.


Also, WPU lost to Stockton 95-79, which will drop WPU to 8-4/13-6.

Ramapo is 8-4/15-4



Commitment, Hard Work, No Shortcuts

phil

...and TCNJ beat Kean by 18 today, which means that no matter the outcome of the rest of today's contests the NJAC will have 6 teams within a game of first place going into February.

Truck

I was going to post the updated NJAC Standings but it is not coming out right. Sorry


Commitment, Hard Work, No Shortcuts

Knightstalker

NJCU lost to Rowan tonight.  NJCU just gave the game away, they let three players from Rowan score 75 of their 91 points.  On a more disturbing note, there was a shakeup in the NJCU coaching staff over the break.  It seems that one of the Deans got caught hiring her husband for a campus job which is not allowed.  This Dean then proceeded to find out who else had relatives working on campus and she discovered that Coach Browns son and nephew were coaches.  She demanded that they not be allowed to work also and so they were let go.  They both offered to be volunteers but were not allowed to do that because of insurance reasons, they offered to sign a waiver but that was also denied.  This is all I have right now, I got the story from two different but very reliable sources.  On a positive note, Samar Battle is now working with the mens basketball team as an assistant coach.

Byrnes had 33 for Rowan and led all scorers, that kid can shoot.  He made several shots off balance, off the wrong foot and they just fall in.  The Knight defenders were getting a hand in his face but you have to put a body right on him and crowd him to have a hope so shutting him down.  Rowan looked a lot better than they did earlier in the season.  They were using that 3-2 zone they used to always use and playing it well, the first game they had to use man to man a lot.  I actually heard Coach Cassidy on Rowans radio station earlier this season say his kids couldn't handle playing the zone, they have learned.  They are getting good ball movement, finding the open shooter and are starting to penetrate well.  They also have a couple more of those 6'5"+ 240lb + post players that are only freshman.  I don't know where they keep finding these big gorks, but they always have a couple.

"In the end we will survive rather than perish not because we accumulate comfort and luxury but because we accumulate wisdom"  Colonel Jack Jacobs US Army (Ret).