American 65 Men's B-Ball 63

So much for going into exams with a winning record.

The good news -- 1) Wroblewski shot the ball well and had his best game of the season. 21 points, 6 assists, 4 Rebounds. Maybe the shooting slump is over. 2) Figini played like the post player the team needs him to be. 14 points, 5 rebounds and no three point attempts until the last minute when taking the three was the thing to do. 3) Miller and Cancer keep playing well -- freshman mistakes aside. After Ski, they are Cornell's most talented players.

The bad news -- Well, everything else. American is a very ordinary team, but Cornell was on its heels most of the game. Cornell looked lost on screens, doubling the ball after a screen time after time and leaving the screener wide open. I guess that could be the way they are being taught, but I hope not. Stopping dribble penetration is hit and miss. On offense, there are too many guys willing to stand around the perimeter, chuck threes and hope to get hot. When Cornell pushes tempo they look good. Similarly, the offense is solid when they they try to penetrate and/or pass the ball into the post. But there are too many three point "shooters" to play either offense.

Cornell now has a game against the Patriot League favorite (Lehigh) before the exam break and are staring a 3-11 start in the face, and that assumes a win in the first game back after exams. Yeah, I may be overreacting to a pair of losses in winnable games, but this wasn't the start I was hoping for.

Yes Courtney also used some strange lineups, why was Miles and Gray on the court at the same time? Neither of them can shoot, one on the court at a time is ok but not both. Miles has finally found himself a good role of distributing and occasionally driving with his quickness. He doesnt usually finish but usually gets fouled although today he did have that once nice layup. But Gray has done nothing this year, he comes in and misses 3's, Tarwater also. I would like to see Scelfo out there more, he cant do worse than Gray. I'm also interested to see Devin Cherry, he was hyped similarly to Miller/Cancer but has been hurt.

For more bad news Barry mentioned off the microphone, I dont think he knew the microphone could hear him, that Peck is done for the year. That will hurt us this year but you have to look forward to the next 2 year's if Peck red shirts this year because we will have Cancer, Miller, Peck, plus some big man recruits Harmon and Bunce.

What I heard was "He doesn't want to play." Now, that could certainly be Barry being sarcastic/frustrated after a demoralizing loss and the truth is more along the lines of "Peck doens't want to push himself to come back this season and risk hurting himself further while losing a season of eligibility." But, it's something worth watching.

It's more the preparation than the line-ups that bother me about this team. Slow starts, defensive breakdowns and periods of offensive stagnation are the norm. Potential runs are constantly being cut short by an ill-advised three with 25 seconds left on the shot clock.

I agree with not wanting Miles and Gray on the floor at the same time, but I think Coach C is frustrated that outside the top seven no one is making a case for more time with their play on the floor. And virtually everyone in Cornell's top seven is getting more minutes than they should: Wrobo has been in a miserable shooting slump (though he should be on the floor as much as possible); Ferry is a one dimensional shooter who would best be used off the bench (but deserves the start based on everyone else's play); Miles can be a valuable role player but when playing in the regular rotation his offensive limitations are hard to mask; and Cancer and Miller are freshman who need to sit some and learn from thier mistakes (big fan of both however). There are minutes crying out to be taken, but no one is taking them.

mountainred
What I heard was "He doesn't want to play." Now, that could certainly be Barry being sarcastic/frustrated after a demoralizing loss and the truth is more along the lines of "Peck doens't want to push himself to come back this season and risk hurting himself further while losing a season of eligibility." But, it's something worth watching.

It's more the preparation than the line-ups that bother me about this team. Slow starts, defensive breakdowns and periods of offensive stagnation are the norm. Potential runs are constantly being cut short by an ill-advised three with 25 seconds left on the shot clock.

I agree with not wanting Miles and Gray on the floor at the same time, but I think Coach C is frustrated that outside the top seven no one is making a case for more time with their play on the floor. And virtually everyone in Cornell's top seven is getting more minutes than they should: Wrobo has been in a miserable shooting slump (though he should be on the floor as much as possible); Ferry is a one dimensional shooter who would best be used off the bench (but deserves the start based on everyone else's play); Miles can be a valuable role player but when playing in the regular rotation his offensive limitations are hard to mask; and Cancer and Miller are freshman who need to sit some and learn from thier mistakes (big fan of both however). There are minutes crying out to be taken, but no one is taking them.

I think Miller and Cancer need to play a lot, mistakes be damned. Miles is an atrocious offensive player, sorry to say. Gray showed a lot last year, but hasn't been effective this season. I'd like to see Scelfo and Matthews get some time, but they don't seem to be part of the equation right now.

Matthews is still hurt. I dont understand why Scelfo has gotten such few minutes, Gray has been terrible. Miles is a terrible shooter but this year he has done a decent job being the primary ballhandler with Wrobo on the bench and has made some nice assists. Miller and Cancer are mostly playing starter's minutes.

I am so glad I got to Syracuse for the Sweet Sixteen game because it may be my only trip to see a Cornell team go that deep into the NCAAs hoops tournament. But I fear Donahue's last three years were an aberration. The close losses to the likes of American may be Cornell's lot in life and the best we can hope for is .500-plus Ivy basketball and an Ivy title run every five years. Hope I'm wrong.

[Add:] It's great to see there are Cornell basketball fans even in .500 years. Thank you. I can't get worked up about coulda, woulda, shoulda beaten American.

Yes I was there too, the toughest part about that game was how poorly we played especially how poorly Wittman shot and yet at one point it was 40-34 there for the taking. But you have to remember mid majors at this level dont get to the Sweet 16 every other year, they have to rebuild, it takes time. The best the P's could do through all those years of dominance was to get to the round of 32.

This may turn into another rough season, they have a rough stretch of road games coming up which could lead into another long losing streak into Ivy play which they took until the end of last season to finally shake off. However, I am optimistic about the next 2 seasons, Miller and Cancer are playing great for freshman, Miller has been Ivy league rookie of the week for the 1st 3 weeks, not sure we had an Ivy league rookie of the week all last year. With Peck for 2 more years along with Miller and Cancer and some decent big man recruits in Bunce and Harmon we should be very competitive in the league over the next 2 years as this year Harvard loses Wright, Penn loses Rosen, Yale loses Mangano.

phillysportsfan
Yes I was there too, the toughest part about that game was how poorly we played especially how poorly Wittman shot and yet at one point it was 40-34 there for the taking. But you have to remember mid majors at this level dont get to the Sweet 16 every other year, they have to rebuild, it takes time. The best the P's could do through all those years of dominance was to get to the round of 32.

We should also recall that we basically played against an NBA team.

Ben

phillysportsfan
Yes I was there too, the toughest part about that game was how poorly we played especially how poorly Wittman shot and yet at one point it was 40-34 there for the taking. But you have to remember mid majors at this level dont get to the Sweet 16 every other year, they have to rebuild, it takes time. The best the P's could do through all those years of dominance was to get to the round of 32.

We should also recall that we basically played against an NBA team.

Yeah their length and quickness to close us out on 3's definitely hurt us but the team definitely could have played better after their amazing play in blowing out Temple/Wisconsin

phillysportsfan

Ben

phillysportsfan
Yes I was there too, the toughest part about that game was how poorly we played especially how poorly Wittman shot and yet at one point it was 40-34 there for the taking. But you have to remember mid majors at this level dont get to the Sweet 16 every other year, they have to rebuild, it takes time. The best the P's could do through all those years of dominance was to get to the round of 32.

We should also recall that we basically played against an NBA team.

Yeah their length and quickness to close us out on 3's definitely hurt us but the team definitely could have played better after their amazing play in blowing out Temple/Wisconsin

To me, that game made a mockery of the NCAA "student"-athlete system. Five of their players went in the first round of the NBA Draft, and four of them were one-and-dones. By contrast, our guys either have or will graduate after four years, and at least one of them ('Ski) is an Academic All-American.

Ben

phillysportsfan
Yes I was there too, the toughest part about that game was how poorly we played especially how poorly Wittman shot and yet at one point it was 40-34 there for the taking. But you have to remember mid majors at this level dont get to the Sweet 16 every other year, they have to rebuild, it takes time. The best the P's could do through all those years of dominance was to get to the round of 32.

We should also recall that we basically played against an NBA team.

Kentucky should recall it nearly lost to students.

billhoward

Ben

phillysportsfan
Yes I was there too, the toughest part about that game was how poorly we played especially how poorly Wittman shot and yet at one point it was 40-34 there for the taking. But you have to remember mid majors at this level dont get to the Sweet 16 every other year, they have to rebuild, it takes time. The best the P's could do through all those years of dominance was to get to the round of 32.

We should also recall that we basically played against an NBA team.

Kentucky should recall it nearly lost to students.

Nearly lost?

Yes, nearly lost, in my mind. A close battle sometimes turns on an event not near the end. Cornell led early, we kept it close in much of the second half, and it wasn't until the closing minutes that Kentucky pulled away. Had Cornell not gone cold on three-pointers, we would have advanced. The Kentucky breakaway baskets were spectacular but still only worth two points. As the years go by, we're going to remember Ryan Wittman having an off night of his own doing and forgetting whether it was a Kentucky defense that forced imperfect shots and created turnovers.

Rick Pitino [edit: er, John Calipari not Pitino] should be coach of the year because he basically has to recruit an entire team each year. Courtney only has to recruit 25% each year.

RichH

billhoward

Ben

phillysportsfan
Yes I was there too, the toughest part about that game was how poorly we played especially how poorly Wittman shot and yet at one point it was 40-34 there for the taking. But you have to remember mid majors at this level dont get to the Sweet 16 every other year, they have to rebuild, it takes time. The best the P's could do through all those years of dominance was to get to the round of 32.

We should also recall that we basically played against an NBA team.

Kentucky should recall it nearly lost to students.

Nearly lost?

I'm a huge Big Red homer, and I can't sell 62-45 as Cornell nearly winning. A gutty comeback to make a game of it before Kentucky went on a late run to put the game away, sure. But to say Kentucky nearly lost, not so much. Cornell played nearly perfect basketball against Wisky and Temple. The team was due to fall back a little even without UK's size and quickness making it even harder to take open threes. Still, a glorious run.

As for the future, I think competing for Ivy titles on a regular basis is a reasonable goal. I doubt we see another trip to the Sweet Sixteen anytime soon since the entire league went without for 31 years. But I will be rooting to be proven wrong every winter.

This was not a close game. It was never a close game. Cornell started with a 10-2 lead because they hit a few shots. Then Kentucky went on a 30-6 run to close the half. THAT was what the real difference in talent was. Wittman wasn't missing shots because he was off - Witmann was missing shots because Kentucky decided to play defense. The second half was cruise control for Kentucky. Anything that looked like a comeback for Cornell was quickly stopped by Kentucky applying something called "effort."

Temple and Wisconsin were precisely the kinds of BCS teams that Cornell could beat: low-scoring, relatively plodding teams that win with defense. Kentucky was a much more talented version of the matchup problems that Cornell faced in Stanford and Missouri the previous two years. The Kentucky game was never a contest even if, for 5 minutes, we could dare to dream.

It does no favors to the memory of the best team Cornell has ever had - and may ever have - to pretend that they were on the same level as Kentucky (even given the near-miracle against Kansas).

As for the loss against American - disappointing result, but the late charge is encouraging. This is probably a lost year given Harvard's likely dominance anyway, so I like the idea of letting the team build to another run at the Ivy title and maybe, just maybe, the stars can align again to take another NCAA tournament game.

billhoward
Yes, nearly lost, in my mind. A close battle sometimes turns on an event not near the end. Cornell led early, we kept it close in much of the second half, and it wasn't until the closing minutes that Kentucky pulled away. Had Cornell not gone cold on three-pointers, we would have advanced. The Kentucky breakaway baskets were spectacular but still only worth two points. As the years go by, we're going to remember Ryan Wittman having an off night of his own doing and forgetting whether it was a Kentucky defense that forced imperfect shots and created turnovers.

Rick Pitino should be coach of the year because he basically has to recruit an entire team each year. Courtney only has to recruit 25% each year.

I guess enough years have already gone by for you to remember that we played a team coached by Rick Pitino, and not John Calipari. Eh, it's an election year...it's trendy to change all the facts to match whatever narrative you'd like. Hey, remember when we had Antoine Walker and Jamal Mashburn on the ropes in the Elite 8? They were only up by double our score at halftime. Adolf Rupp was so nervous to be in such a perilous predicament!

Burns:     Honestly, Smithers, I don't know why Harvard even bothers to
           show up.  They barely even won.

Smithers:  Their cheating was even more rampant than last year, sir.

Yep: Wrong UMass guy. Want the ex-UMass coach, Calipari, not the ex-player, Pitino. But they like each other so much, the two are almost interchangeable. Thanks.

ugarte
This was not a close game. It was never a close game. Cornell started with a 10-2 lead because they hit a few shots. Then Kentucky went on a 30-6 run to close the half. THAT was what the real difference in talent was. Wittman wasn't missing shots because he was off - Witmann was missing shots because Kentucky decided to play defense. The second half was cruise control for Kentucky. Anything that looked like a comeback for Cornell was quickly stopped by Kentucky applying something called "effort."

Temple and Wisconsin were precisely the kinds of BCS teams that Cornell could beat: low-scoring, relatively plodding teams that win with defense. Kentucky was a much more talented version of the matchup problems that Cornell faced in Stanford and Missouri the previous two years. The Kentucky game was never a contest even if, for 5 minutes, we could dare to dream.

It does no favors to the memory of the best team Cornell has ever had - and may ever have - to pretend that they were on the same level as Kentucky (even given the near-miracle against Kansas).

As for the loss against American - disappointing result, but the late charge is encouraging. This is probably a lost year given Harvard's likely dominance anyway, so I like the idea of letting the team build to another run at the Ivy title and maybe, just maybe, the stars can align again to take another NCAA tournament game.

Spot-on analysis. We never had the horses to really play with them.

American loss doesnt look so bad today, American has won its last 6 against relatively weak competition but tonight beat a top 100 St Joes team that has been playing very well

phillysportsfan
American loss doesnt look so bad today, American has won its last 6 against relatively weak competition but tonight beat a top 100 St Joes team that has been playing very well

Not to mention our own top 100 team that we beat this weekend, which was coming off of 6 straight wins, the last 5 by double digits.

Looks like Harvard just cracked the top 25.

[espn.go.com]

While we're drifting, Harvard cracked the top 25 this week. The AP notes:

Harvard is the first Ivy League school to be ranked since Princeton cracked the top 10 late in the 1997-98 season.

I coulda sworn there was an Ivy team ranked in 2010.

[www.nytimes.com]

ETA: Though perhaps I, like Bill, have a bad memory and didn't remember that Cornell only cracked the Coaches poll T25.

Chris '03
While we're drifting, Harvard cracked the top 25 this week. The AP notes:

Harvard is the first Ivy League school to be ranked since Princeton cracked the top 10 late in the 1997-98 season.

I coulda sworn there was an Ivy team ranked in 2010.

[www.nytimes.com]

ETA: Though perhaps I, like Bill, have a bad memory and didn't remember that Cornell only cracked the Coaches poll T25.

I remember we were 17th at the end of the season. Does the AP poll not continue through the Sweet 16, or was there such a large disparity between the two polls?

[espn.go.com]
That last poll was the Coaches poll. It only matters where you are ranked at the end of the season.

semsox

phillysportsfan
American loss doesnt look so bad today, American has won its last 6 against relatively weak competition but tonight beat a top 100 St Joes team that has been playing very well

Not to mention our own top 100 team that we beat this weekend, which was coming off of 6 straight wins, the last 5 by double digits.

Yeah who would have thought Miles and Gray would carry us to a win over a top 100 team???

phillysportsfan

semsox

phillysportsfan
American loss doesnt look so bad today, American has won its last 6 against relatively weak competition but tonight beat a top 100 St Joes team that has been playing very well

Not to mention our own top 100 team that we beat this weekend, which was coming off of 6 straight wins, the last 5 by double digits.

Yeah who would have thought Miles and Gray would carry us to a win over a top 100 team???

I'll admit I didn't think it was possible. And I'm glad they proved me wrong.

Willy '06
Looks like Harvard just cracked the top 25.

[espn.go.com]

Can "scout" Harvard vs. UConn tonight at 7 EST on ESPN2.