ELynah Forum

General Category => Other Sports => Topic started by: ugarte on January 11, 2025, 08:19:39 PM

Title: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 11, 2025, 08:19:39 PM
The hoops thread is too long, especially on mobile, so I'm starting a new thread. Columbia is still in the old thread but don't be shy about posting here. Same goes for Penn State-Schuykill, I guesss? Basketball moved away from the all-back-to-back weekend programming so the upcoming games are

1/18 @Penn (0-1 L 73-70 v. Dartmouth)
1/20 Brown (0-1 L 79-58 v. Yale)
1/25 @Princeton (W 68-64 v. Harvard)

Let's go Red. Plenty of room on the bandwagon.

Current KenPom rankings:


 75 Yale
115 Princeton
132 Cornell
187 Columbia
207 Brown
260 Harvard
292 Dartmouth
310 Penn


OOC opponent rankings (wins in bold):

 86 George Mason
102 Samford
112 Syracuse
122 Cal
148 Ill. St.
169 La Salle
238 Colgate
239 Robert Morris
261 Lafayette
276 Iona

280 Siena
297 Army
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: billhoward on January 12, 2025, 12:52:02 AM
Duke basketball thread gets too long after a week.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on January 15, 2025, 02:32:30 PM
After the 2014 disaster, I'm happy to see this is as a problem.

There really is no way to put lipstick on that Siena loss.

It is probably not a surprise to learn that a team wins more when they score more, but the Big Red's record:

When they score 80 or more -- 9-0
When they score under 80 -- 0-5.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: nycred on January 18, 2025, 09:35:01 AM
Showdown today at 2pm against Penn at THE Palestra.

Penn is having a miserable season, close to being in the bottom 50 in kenpom at 307. 3 of their 4 wins are against bottom 50 teams in the country(!)

Ethan Roberts and Nick Spinoso are still legitimate scoring threats, but with the lack of depth this team has, expect an easy win for the Big Red.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 18, 2025, 10:01:25 AM
No easy wins in the Ivy League and no easy wins for Cornell this year, just look at the Siena game. I would expect Penn to finish bottom of the league but we're still going to have to shoot and play decently well to come out with a win.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: scoop85 on January 18, 2025, 10:53:34 AM
Our Sweet 16 team lost its only league game at the Palestera to another Penn team having a miserable season, so I'm not taking anything for granted.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Iceberg on January 18, 2025, 11:22:45 AM
Nice weekend for those of us around Philadelphia with hockey yesterday and Princeton and now basketball at the Palestra today
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Trotsky on January 18, 2025, 12:23:31 PM
I know the Palestra is legendary but, for those who have been there, is it fun to see a game there?  It looks amazing in photos.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Iceberg on January 18, 2025, 12:53:28 PM
Quote from: TrotskyI know the Palestra is legendary but, for those who have been there, is it fun to see a game there?  It looks amazing in photos.


The hallways remind me of those of an old public high school in NYC but there are cool exhibits around showing great NCAA coaches of the present and past (Boeheim, Pitino, etc.), of the Penn/Princeton rivalry, and some other notables. The actual arena is a nice place to watch a basketball game and has many of the modern fixings. Usually, the Penn band and cheerleaders are there, too, although still lots of canned music.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Chris '03 on January 18, 2025, 01:34:01 PM
Quote from: TrotskyI know the Palestra is legendary but, for those who have been there, is it fun to see a game there?  It looks amazing in photos.

Absolutely worth seeing at least once. It's like a trip back in time. Lots of history and exhibits on the Big Five. There's no center scoreboard, which is a delight in this day and age. Clear sight lines all the way around. Even parking isn't bad for an urban environment.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 18, 2025, 02:06:18 PM
ESPN plus doesn't even have the stream going
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 18, 2025, 02:06:50 PM
really aggravating
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 18, 2025, 02:08:38 PM
I thought I heard a story that half the team had the flu that night.

[sorry I was replying to the post about the loss to Penn in the Sweet 16 year and forgot to quote it]
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: nycred on January 18, 2025, 02:11:46 PM
Is the stream still not working for anyone else?
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 18, 2025, 02:12:12 PM
Yep, nothing on my end
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on January 18, 2025, 02:14:13 PM
ESPN+ thinks game hasn't started at 2:10.  Penn up 14-8 shooting 63% to our 27%.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on January 18, 2025, 02:20:12 PM
many of the espn 2pm games don't work now
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rmandel on January 18, 2025, 02:20:38 PM
Radio is available via Penn athletics website.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 18, 2025, 02:20:50 PM
ESPN chat gave me this link and it appears to work

https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/907b2760-758f-4097-ad52-86c02e989a7c/country/us/redirected/true
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 18, 2025, 02:21:38 PM
Quote from: Mr. NissESPN chat gave me this link and it appears to work

https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/907b2760-758f-4097-ad52-86c02e989a7c/country/us/redirected/true

strike that, that's the ladies

ESPN's people apparently are incompetent
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 18, 2025, 02:22:11 PM
Stream is working now
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on January 18, 2025, 02:29:14 PM
Quote from: Mr. Niss
Quote from: Mr. NissESPN chat gave me this link and it appears to work

https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/907b2760-758f-4097-ad52-86c02e989a7c/country/us/redirected/true

strike that, that's the ladies

ESPN's people apparently are incompetent
Maybe the webcast is produced by the stable geniuses at Wharton.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 18, 2025, 02:39:42 PM
Announcers are pretty funny and they're right, those passes to cutters are getting infuriating
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on January 18, 2025, 03:23:57 PM
Offense playing out of control lately.  Letting Penn back in the game.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Iceberg on January 18, 2025, 03:50:24 PM
Quote from: Al DeFlorioOffense playing out of control lately.  Letting Penn back in the game.

Thankfully so is Penn's offense. This game wouldn't be close if Cornell had a more spotless game
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 18, 2025, 04:07:27 PM
Two double digit wins to start the Ivy League is big, quick turnaround to brown on Monday and I'm looking forward to that one.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 18, 2025, 05:09:20 PM
after a slow start, we ran away with it. every time penn made a run we punched back with a little run of our own. comfortable win even with a rocky afternoon from deep. i really like beccles.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on January 18, 2025, 06:20:29 PM
Not the guys' best effort, but 10 offensive rebounds to Penn's 1.  That was huge.  

And any win at the Palestra is satisfying; the Sweet Sixteen team laid their biggest egg of that season there.

Big game Monday.  Win and Cornell is three games clear of Brown and probably Columbia.  Great position for making the ILT.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 18, 2025, 08:01:36 PM
just want to pile on with how pleased I am with this team opening with two double-digit wins on the road after two disappointing losses to teams they should have beaten

and watching Princeton and Yale eke out wins today against weak teams makes me optimistic

Also want to throw a shout out to Jon Jacques, whose modest tweaks to Brian Earl's game plans seem solid -- in particular, I like that we don't press as much as we did in the past, our press seemed incredibly easy to beat and we'd give up too many easy points

much more pleased than I am with the cretins who apparently operate the Ivy League streams on ESPN+, where we already missed the first period and part of the second period of the Quinnipiac game ... somehow it's 1-1 but ESPN keeps telling me that the game hasn't started
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 19, 2025, 02:00:12 PM
no time to rest on our laurels. right back at it against brown tomorrow at 2 eastern.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on January 20, 2025, 11:34:39 AM
You have to think Brown will be desperate today.  They really played poorly in hosting Harvard on Saturday.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on January 20, 2025, 01:35:39 PM
nasty day to head out and drive home later.

lets hope they just want to get out of there.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 20, 2025, 02:36:03 PM
Not thrilled with the play of #8.  He seems to get more time on the floor than he merits.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 20, 2025, 02:47:01 PM
Shot 80% from the field and have a six point lead.  Not great, Bob.  Here's to shooting 90% in the second half.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 20, 2025, 03:31:50 PM
Cornell is up by 4 with 8 minutes left. Hinton commits some real silly fouls but has been knocking down shots and disrupting passing lanes.

Meanwhile, the Cornell crowd is heckling Brown's leading scorer because he's getting blanked. Kind of wild that he's being shut out and Brown is still in the game so the hecklers may want to chill out.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 20, 2025, 03:35:09 PM
oh man bullshit offensive foul on ak okereke on a killer spin move
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 20, 2025, 03:39:08 PM
Bad turnover by Ragland, losing focus after a rebound and getting stripped. Brown scores, cuts the Cornell lead to 1 with 3:59 left.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 20, 2025, 03:45:41 PM
The officiating in this game has been atrocious.

As, unfortunately, has our free throw shooting.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 20, 2025, 03:48:35 PM
Quote from: Mr. NissThe officiating in this game has been atrocious.

As, unfortunately, has our free throw shooting.
fortunately their free throw shooting has also been bad! 82-82 with 1:02 left and Cornell has the ball and 24 seconds on the shot clock coming out of a time out.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 20, 2025, 03:58:50 PM
goddamit. Brown goes 1-2 from the line to take a one point lead with 10 seconds left. Williams dribbled into traffic and was left with an awful shot that was deflected out of bounds with .5 left. Cornell got the ball in to Ragland, who had a decent enough look from 3, but he clanged it at the buzzer. 83-82 loss.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on January 20, 2025, 04:01:39 PM
Got outhustled and outmuscled today.  Brown's 2nd chances on shots were the difference.  Cornell has had a tough time getting stops on defense this year. Pm
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: dbilmes on January 20, 2025, 04:03:46 PM
Cornell was 7-for-16 from the foul line in a one-point loss. That says it all.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on January 20, 2025, 04:07:05 PM
Quote from: rss77Got outhustled and outmuscled today.  Brown's 2nd chances on shots were the difference.  Cornell has had a tough time getting stops on defense this year. Pm
Aaron Cooley looked all-world out there.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 20, 2025, 04:23:40 PM
Terrible coaching at the end there, Jacques NEEDS to call a timeout the second that naz crossed half after that missed free throw but he just let him go. Not to mention how after that naz was trapped under the hoop and we still didn't call a timeout. And then the last shot being a fadeaway from our big man was icing on the cake. Terrible finish, this loss could come back to hurt us. I want everyone on the team shooting 100 free throws every morning for the next week.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: scoop85 on January 20, 2025, 04:46:45 PM
I didn't see the game, but that's a tough one to swallow. Strange that after being almost unbeatable at home the past few years, this season we're struggling at Newman and doing great on the road.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Iceberg on January 20, 2025, 06:21:20 PM
Quote from: dbilmesCornell was 7-for-16 from the foul line in a one-point loss. That says it all.

Strange turnaround compared to Saturday when seemingly no one could miss a free throw
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on January 21, 2025, 09:30:41 AM
hard to lose a game when you shoot 65%
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: marty on January 21, 2025, 01:13:03 PM
Quote from: Iceberg
Quote from: dbilmesCornell was 7-for-16 from the foul line in a one-point loss. That says it all.

Strange turnaround compared to Saturday when seemingly no one could miss a free throw

If we're missing shots, it must be the coaching! ::bolt::
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on January 21, 2025, 02:34:51 PM
Quote from: chimpfoodTerrible coaching at the end there, Jacques NEEDS to call a timeout the second that naz crossed half after that missed free throw but he just let him go. Not to mention how after that naz was trapped under the hoop and we still didn't call a timeout. And then the last shot being a fadeaway from our big man was icing on the cake. Terrible finish, this loss could come back to hurt us. I want everyone on the team shooting 100 free throws every morning for the next week.

A more experienced coach would probably be ready to take a TO once Nazir got in trouble under the basket, but new coaches make mistakes.  The good ones learn. My guess is most coaches would have let their senior playmaker, who is normally tremendous in the open court, try to take advantage of a chaotic situation and not taken a TO.  This team is generally more dangerous playing full court, rather than half.  I had no issues with that decision other than it didn't work this time.

And the playbook for "you have less than a second to get a shot off" is pretty limited. You take what you can get.

This game was lost because Cornell played horrible defense as opposed to merely poor defense.  And they still likely win if they hit free throws at their usual rate.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on January 21, 2025, 04:46:47 PM
That was the late coach Bobby Knight's philosophy not to call a time out. He felt you got a better shot if you played it out.  Agreed one would want it in Nazir's hands but Brown knew  and to their credit they converged on him altering his shot.  When one looks at the box score-Brown had 12 second chance points and Cornell had just 1 which reflects that Brown had 9 offensive rebounds and Cornell had just 4.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 21, 2025, 05:43:50 PM
Yep as I have cooled down and gotten less pissy with time after the game I agree that not calling a timeout immediately was the right play, especially given the trouble we've had inbounding the ball this year. That said, Jacques needs to be ready to call one the second that naz gets stuck under the cup but he didn't and we probably lost a second or two because of that.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on January 25, 2025, 03:08:27 PM
P scores last 5 for 37-36 lead at half.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 25, 2025, 04:15:17 PM
Quote from: Al DeFlorioP scores last 5 for 37-36 lead at half.
I checked in while still recording a podcast and Cornell was up by 1 about halfway through the second half and the next time i got to check in, Cornell had run away with it. Final: 85-76 good guys.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mike1960 on January 25, 2025, 04:15:58 PM
Great win in Princeton's house!

48% field goal
40.7 three point
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 25, 2025, 04:17:33 PM
Massive win. It's cool being road warriors but let's sweep at home next weekend and we're in a fantastic spot.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on January 25, 2025, 04:25:10 PM
Quote from: mike1960Great win in Princeton's house!

48% field goal
40.7 three point

That's a great finish, because for the first 1/4 of the game they barely could hit a shot and were fortunate that Princeton was in the same boat.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on January 25, 2025, 05:15:14 PM
Huge, huge win, as everybody has said.  Shot brilliantly from the line, so whatever was going on against Brown seems to have passed.  

Tied with Princeton for second in the league, and with the tie-breaker over them, and 3 road wins.  First place Yale has only on road win.  Gotta hold serve next weekend at home and Dartmouth is a lot more dangerous than in recent years.  But the team is in a great place.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: scoop85 on January 26, 2025, 09:02:20 AM
While not on a back-to-back, this is the 1st time we've beaten Penn and Princeton on the road in the same season since we went 14-0 in the league in 2007-2008. I forgot how bad Princeton was that season until I looked at the box score.

Now we just need to regain our mojo at home that has been strangely lacking this year.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on January 26, 2025, 12:50:13 PM
Quote from: scoop85While not on a back-to-back, this is the 1st time we've beaten Penn and Princeton on the road in the same season since we went 14-0 in the league in 2007-2008. I forgot how bad Princeton was that season until I looked at the box score.


Great catch!  Man, it really doesn't feel the same this way.

Playing around with KenPom, Cornell is the #1 team in nation for both 2 point FG percentage and effective FG percentage (all shots with a 50% bonus for 3 pointers).
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: CU2007 on January 26, 2025, 03:56:40 PM
Great win. Makes that home loss to Brown even more annoying.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 29, 2025, 01:30:36 AM
KenPom as of 1/29:

Current KenPom rankings:

-75 Yale
125 Cornell
138 Princeton
203 Columbia
222 Brown
270 Harvard
271 Penn
275 Dartmouth

Yale is 4-0 in conference; we are tied with Princeton at 3-1. Penn and Dartmouth are tied for the 4th spot in the ILT at 2-2. After starting the year 10-1, Columbia has dropped five in a row and is 0-4 in conference.

OOC opponent rankings (wins in bold):

-69 George Mason
-99 Samford
117 Syracuse
115 Cal
143 Ill. St.
183 La Salle
214 Colgate
206 Robert Morris
297 Lafayette
264 Iona
244 Siena
302 Army
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 29, 2025, 09:35:29 AM
Big weekend here, chance to get to 5-1 with two weak teams coming to town. Watch out for Dartmouth on Friday, they are making a strong bid for the ugliest starting 5 of all time.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on January 29, 2025, 12:38:36 PM
For your viewing pleasure, Luke Benz runs a ton of simulations (https://lbenz730.shinyapps.io/recspecs_basketball_central/)on the Ivy season.  (Go to the Ivy League tab).  Basically, Yale, Princeton and the Big Red are in great shape for the ILT, and the last team in is a crap shoot.  He's a little more bullish on Dartmouth than I am, but it makes an interesting follow.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: billhoward on January 30, 2025, 03:41:43 PM
It is hard to think of Dartmouth basketball as a juggernaut. No winning season since the late 1990s, last year 6-21, 2-12 Ivy last year. Their glory days were two NCAA finals in the early 1940s.

It is still pleasantly surprising at the season midpoint to see Cornell basketball has won two-thirds of its games.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on January 30, 2025, 08:19:59 PM
Quote from: billhowardIt is hard to think of Dartmouth basketball as a juggernaut. No winning season since the late 1990s, last year 6-21, 2-12 Ivy last year. Their glory days were two NCAA finals in the early 1940s.
34-8 in the Ivy during the Rudy LaRusso era.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 31, 2025, 07:22:36 PM
21-14 midway through the first half as the offensive rebounding has been solid and the 3s are starting to fall.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 31, 2025, 07:43:45 PM
Big Red continues to dominate the boards and they are up 35-24 at the half.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mike1960 on January 31, 2025, 08:52:20 PM
Looking really good as the clock ticks down.

Dartmouth 61, Good Guys 73

Edit: Final Score

Dartmouth 64, Cornell 76

Another nice win!
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Ken711 on January 31, 2025, 08:56:43 PM
Final Cornell 76 Dartmouth 64
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 31, 2025, 08:59:43 PM
Quote from: Ken711Final Cornell 76 Dartmouth 64
Dartmouth couldn't shoot and a lot of that was because of much improved defense. Good 40 minutes.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Ken711 on January 31, 2025, 09:11:08 PM
Quote from: ugarte
Quote from: Ken711Final Cornell 76 Dartmouth 64
Dartmouth couldn't shoot and a lot of that was because of much improved defense. Good 40 minutes.

Yes, defense was tight.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: stereax on January 31, 2025, 09:13:18 PM
Quote from: ugarteXXX Red continues to dominate the boards and they are up 35-24 at the half.
Sorry, WHO is dominating the boards?
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on January 31, 2025, 09:24:43 PM
Solid game, always sweet to be at 4-1. Harvard up tomorrow who is coming off a win as well. Columbia after starting 11-2 has gone 0-5 in the Ivy League.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on January 31, 2025, 10:35:21 PM
Quote from: stereax
Quote from: ugarteXXX Red continues to dominate the boards and they are up 35-24 at the half.
Sorry, WHO is dominating the boards?
YIKES I'll edit it if you will
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: stereax on February 01, 2025, 01:03:16 PM
Quote from: ugarte
Quote from: stereax
Quote from: ugarteXXX Red continues to dominate the boards and they are up 35-24 at the half.
Sorry, WHO is dominating the boards?
YIKES I'll edit it if you will
Deal HAHAHAH! I'm sure it was a typo but a terrible one to make :')
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Ken711 on February 01, 2025, 07:33:40 PM
Cornell trailed Harvard at the half 32-20.  Cornell now leads 61-45 with 7:37 left.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on February 01, 2025, 07:45:33 PM
Quote from: Ken711Cornell trailed Harvard at the half 32-20.  Cornell now leads 61-45 with 7:37 left.
32-30 H at half
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: RichH on February 01, 2025, 07:56:08 PM
NM, I didn't read right
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Ken711 on February 01, 2025, 07:57:29 PM
Quote from: Al DeFlorio
Quote from: Ken711Cornell trailed Harvard at the half 32-20.  Cornell now leads 61-45 with 7:37 left.
32-30 H at half

Yep typo.  Final Cornell 75 - Harvard 60
Cornell shot 57.1% on 28-49 to Harvard's 41.8% 23-55
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 01, 2025, 11:39:44 PM
Good play tonight. We're gonna have to play better than we did on either night this weekend to beat Yale but I think we can do it. I'm already pumped for that game, a lot of people see Yale as the clear cut 1 seed already but I'm not so sold.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on February 02, 2025, 12:29:48 AM
I guess with the way this ILT works, we're hoping for Princeton to fall to the 4 (assuming of course that we don't sweep Yale, which of course we will)?
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 02, 2025, 12:43:58 AM
Quote from: Mr. NissI guess with the way this ILT works, we're hoping for Princeton to fall to the 4 (assuming of course that we don't sweep Yale, which of course we will)?
Yeah we definitely want to avoid Princeton/yale in the first round and but if brown makes it I think that their home court advantage would make them as tough of a matchup as P. Speaking of the tourney, anyone else planning to go this year? I had as much fun as you could (given Cornell's poor performance) at the ILT last year. I'm going to make reservations the second they clinch this one, no ourbus straight from Ithaca makes it a little more annoying to get to though.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 02, 2025, 12:47:05 AM
I don't know if I can commit to an overnight stay or a 3.5 hour drive each way but if we make the final it's going to be awfully tempting. If we make the final and it's against anyone but Yale I don't know how I'll stop myself.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 02, 2025, 09:28:38 AM
Cornell defense is nothing to write home about but like the energy the freshman Anthony Nimani is bringing on defense. Looking forward to the matchhup this Saturday. Go Red!
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on February 02, 2025, 09:37:57 AM
Quote from: rss77Cornell defense is nothing to write home about but like the energy the freshman Anthony Nimani is bringing on defense. Looking forward to the matchhup this Saturday. Go Red!

I think their defense is much improved from the last couple of years.  They don't give up nearly as many uncontested/easy shots, primarily because they don't press as much in an attempt to ratchet up the pace.  The funny thing about a big comeback win at home against Yale a few years ago was that they made up something like a 17-point deficit in the last half of the second half because they *stopped* pressing, if I recall correctly.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 07, 2025, 12:28:01 AM
Massive game coming on Saturday vs Yale. One thing I would like to see is Ragland pulling some more minutes. He has been get short shifted for a while now and kiachan and Cain are honestly dreadful to watch out there, producing little on offense and rarely having the physicality to guard the opposing big man on defense. Ragland is really solid in comparison and I want to see as many minutes as possible from him.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 07, 2025, 09:48:13 AM
Quote from: chimpfoodMassive game coming on Saturday vs Yale. One thing I would like to see is Ragland pulling some more minutes. He has been get short shifted for a while now and kiachan and Cain are honestly dreadful to watch out there, producing little on offense and rarely having the physicality to guard the opposing big man on defense. Ragland is really solid in comparison and I want to see as many minutes as possible from him.
I'm not as down on Kiachian as you - nice little hook shot, very good rebounder and his length is useful even though he is not a banger. Imo the main reason Ragland sees fewer minutes than he might in another system is pace of play. The rotation is so deep to keep everyone fresh and we still sometimes have trouble in the closing minutes.  Ragland has also hit the bench after early fouls in a few games.

That said, give him the minutes if he can handle them. We were maybe too hard on him in the past but it feels like he's a leader out there now. We are really going to miss our seniors so I'm enjoying it while they're here.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 07, 2025, 11:36:52 AM
I also like the change of pace Cain and Kiachian bring.  This year's Yale edition like so many of Jones's teams in the past are extremely physical and they like knocking people around especially Townson and Molloy.  If you collapse on them that leaves Poulakidas open outside.  They have not suffered that much losing Wolf to Michigan and IMO Aletan is coming along nicely at the Center position.  The Red have to hit a high % of three pointers IMO.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: scoop85 on February 07, 2025, 01:07:51 PM
I think Kiachian and to a lesser extent Cain have done fine out there to spell Ragland. Our quality depth is one of our strengths. But no doubt Ragland has improved significantly over his career and he'll need to come up big tomorrow.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: mountainred on February 08, 2025, 12:08:06 PM
Cain is the 11th man in Cornell's 10 man rotation.  Most games Chris gets 3-4 quiet minutes at the end of the first half, or for a possession before a media timeout, to keep Ragland from picking up an extra foul; he's fine in that role.  Kiachian has been a pleasant surprise this year considering his prior Cornell career, and he has helped immensely as a rebounder.  Sure, Ragland is a better player, but Ryan's a useful option off the bench.

Ragland is actually seeing career highs in minutes, about 10% more time on the court than under Earl.  Of course, it is his first year as a starter and Jon rides his starters more heavily than Brian did. His issue is that he can get in foul trouble.  Not like Chris Manon, but enough that Jon has to regulate the minutes so that he has Guy available at the end.

Yale is physical and as a result they are elite on the glass while Cornell, well, isn't.  For the Big Red to win, they can't afford to have one of those games with they are giving up double digit offensive rebounds.  Keep Yale honest on the boards, and this one is highly winnable.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 08, 2025, 12:17:51 PM
I'm keeping my eye on mbeng for Yale. Even though he is only their third leading scorer he's probably their best player but he coughs the ball up quite a bit. If we can get force 3-4 turnover from him and maybe get him into foul trouble early to limit what he can do on defense we'll be in a good spot.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 08, 2025, 12:35:56 PM
counting on all of you to keep me informed on progress while i'm watching the end of the cornell/princeton dual meet which will probably decide the ivy wrestling title.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Mr. Niss on February 08, 2025, 02:45:24 PM
I'd love to understand what these refs are looking at.  Poulakidas threw a check to set a pick, should have been an offensive foul, no call, he then hits two threes and our guy gets clubbed with no call leading to another easy two.  Very frustrating.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 08, 2025, 02:46:51 PM
Quote from: ugartecounting on all of you to keep me informed on progress while i'm watching the end of the cornell/princeton dual meet which will probably decide the ivy wrestling title.
Oof. Turn on the game right before the half to see Cornell down 8 and Yale takes a time out to set up a final shot with 7 seconds left.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 08, 2025, 02:49:17 PM
Dubious foul on Hinton but Yale hits both. Cornell is down 10 at the half.

EDIT: Oh damn, 14-0 run for Yale to close the half. Rough.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 08, 2025, 03:20:29 PM
Getting uglier. Not our day. Down 18 with 13:05 left.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 08, 2025, 04:19:20 PM
Gonna lose most games where you let up 100 points. Pretty infuriating that after I say I think Ragland needs more pt he plays 5 minutes in the first half which was the only time the game was close. Three of yales guys just completely had their way with us. Mbeng had a triple double and 5 steals, poulakidis was knocking down everything, and Townsend bodied his way to the cup every time. I honestly don't know how to fix that but we need to figure it out because we play them again in 2 weeks.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 08, 2025, 06:08:20 PM
Poulikidas reminds me of the UPenn star Matt Maloney from back in the day.  Don't see how they could have defended him any better. Townsend is impressive but he does push the envelope with the way he engages contact with opposing players-not a fan. 5-17 3 point shooting in 2nd half did not help either Cornell either.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: billhoward on February 09, 2025, 03:07:47 PM
Quote from: ugarteGetting uglier. Not our day. Down 18 with 13:05 left.
And then it became a race to see if Cornell got to 80 before Yale to 100. In this likely prop bet, it was Cornell FTW. Man, in the blink of an eye it went from Cornell up 5 in the second part of the first half to down 20 in the second. Admittedly, the Yale runup seemed more solid than our early lead. For this game.

Ivy Tournament strategy: maintain a 2-3 seed, avoid Yale 'til the finale, hope for a really good game, make the dance, see if we can be the 15-seed that takes down a 2-seed.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 09, 2025, 03:11:39 PM
Long as we can finally win an Ivy tourney game I'll be happy tbh. Of course winning would be electric but I'd be satisfied with the season if we just make the final.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 09, 2025, 04:23:21 PM
Agreed on all points-make the tourney! Also IMO Yale has an opportunity to do damage in the NCAAs if they make it out of the tourney.  Additional comment on Townsend-I think the refs gave him way too much leeway.  Leaning in when the Cornell defender is straight up-that's a foul??
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 14, 2025, 05:19:18 PM
Road games at Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. Should be sweepable. Let's go Red.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 14, 2025, 07:22:55 PM
Not a great start! Almost halfway through the first half and Cornell is down 21-7.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 14, 2025, 07:29:36 PM
Quote from: ugarteNot a great start! Almost halfway through the first half and Cornell is down 21-7.
31-12 at the 8 minute break. Defense is trash, Harvard is shooting well from distance and the ball movement has been awful. Noard and Feigen barely touching the ball since I tuned in. Nimani got an open look from the corner and bonked it off the side of the backboard.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Ken711 on February 14, 2025, 07:36:48 PM
Quote from: ugarteRoad games at Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. Should be sweepable. Let's go Red.

Cornell looks more like they will be swept this weekend, if the Harvard game is an indication?
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 14, 2025, 07:40:22 PM
We can't create of the dribble and they are playing tight out to the arc. Down 42-24. Noard has 16 and Williams has 6. Really need to see more Ragland and less Nimani. Okereke needs to do *something* with the ball.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 14, 2025, 07:41:58 PM
The only good thing about this game is that both Hintons are sporting Sideshow Bob hair.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 14, 2025, 07:48:19 PM
Quote from: ugarteThe only good thing about this game is that both Hintons are sporting Sideshow Bob hair.
Closed to 12, Okereke missed a shot from right under the basket, the defense allowed a wide open 3, Okereke and Cain botched a handoff into a fast break the other way the Williams dribbled of the clock to take a contested 3 that missed.

We're down 17 at the half. blech
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 14, 2025, 08:38:57 PM
Just keep working, almost there
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 14, 2025, 09:09:29 PM
Hugely disappointing at the end there. They handed us OT and we blew it. I also hate intentionally missing that last free throw. Just make it a one point game and see if we can get a turnover on the inbound since they have no timeouts. Need a win tomorrow or we're in a dangerous spot.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 14, 2025, 09:20:14 PM
Got buried in too big a hole.  Rebounding and turnovers.  Tough matchup tomorrow especially with Brown beating Princeton tonight
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on February 14, 2025, 10:33:38 PM
Several issues killed a good comeback

Missed FTs, make them and they are leading with a min to go.

I don't like calling Timeouts that really don't do much for you. Rather save them for when it matters.

The lack of rebounding late hurt.  1 Harvard guy and 4 Cornell guys several times and a couple got tipped into plays for scores

those 2-3 phantom foul calls.  The one where Noard just stood there, did nothing, didnt even try to stop the shot and got called for a foul was funny on the replay for how bad it was, but several others as well.

But when you allow close to 50 3 halves in a row bad things happen
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 14, 2025, 11:20:57 PM
Makes the end of the first half even more annoying!
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 15, 2025, 12:36:08 PM
Did today's game get moved to 5? I could've sworn it was scheduled for 6 before.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on February 15, 2025, 04:43:33 PM
nasty bus ride home tonight
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 15, 2025, 05:14:14 PM
Awful start
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on February 15, 2025, 05:19:08 PM
back to back 19 pt holes.   what happened to the offense
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 15, 2025, 05:37:41 PM
Not like it matters down 23 but how is that Dartmouth's ball?
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 15, 2025, 05:48:11 PM
Down 26 at half... I don't even know what to say
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 15, 2025, 06:26:30 PM
Scrubs in with 11 minutes to go, down 33, so embarrassing
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 15, 2025, 06:57:14 PM
40 point loss is really ugly. Tough weekend coming up with Yale and brown on the road. We're gonna have to figure out whatever the hell this was or were worrying about even making Ivy madness.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 15, 2025, 06:59:45 PM
Worse loss in how many years?  Humiliating loss-not sure what the prescription to get the ship back on course.  Defenses seem to have Cornell's offense figured out.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: billhoward on February 16, 2025, 07:36:51 PM
It's a delicate dance getting the team home safely. You don't want the team bus sliding off the road trying to keep just 5 or 10 mph under the speed limit (to get home at a reasonable hour), and you don't want the bus driver going real safe but turning the 5:40 Hanover to Ithaca run into 7-8 hours and concerns about driver fatigue; many drivers are over 50. Every school has a travel coordinator who can book, if available, a dozen to twenty rooms last minute but not every stretch of the road has a hotel with that much availability. And it may be a $2500 hit to the travel budget And once you get say 2 hours from home, it takes a really bad blizzard to stop. I believe the most common Dartmouth to Cornell route has the bus going diagonally southwest off I-91 onto Route 7 in Vermont and then intercepting Route 88 near Albany with that final leg on Route 79. You hope those roads are plowed as well as the interstates.

If you're in hockey, the 2018 Humboldt Broncos Junior A team crash is etched in everyone's mind. A Saskatchewan truck driver drove through a flashing stop sign, T-boned the bus and killed half the players, coaches and staff on board.  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/remembering-humboldt-broncos-bus-crash-victims-1.5085126
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: billhoward on February 17, 2025, 12:02:51 AM
Quote from: rss77Worse loss in how many years?  Humiliating loss-not sure what the prescription to get the ship back on course.  Defenses seem to have Cornell's offense figured out.
We have done better—lower-margin losses—against arguably better teams:
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 18, 2025, 10:41:43 AM
Note where Cornell stands in Ivy Statistics:  https://ivyleague.com/stats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2024  Especially offensive rebounds and defense. Vince Lombardi's old maxim olds true-The Best Offense is a good defense.  Also Pete Carril when he coached at Princeton-he believed offense could run hot and cold and good defense brought forth a more consistent effort in terms of wins and losses.  Also surprised that Cornell ranked last in average attendance-a lot of competition for sports fans given men's and women's ice hockey and the high level of the wrestling program?
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: George64 on February 18, 2025, 11:52:11 AM
Quote from: rss77Also surprised that Cornell ranked last in average attendance-a lot of competition for sports fans given men's and women's ice hockey and the high level of the wrestling program?

You'd think Dartmouth - fewer students, faculty and staff, really small town, middle of nowhere, decent hockey, good skiing.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on February 18, 2025, 12:45:20 PM
I think the issue is that the number is wrong for Cornell

we reported no attendance for 4 games

The 5 games they did report we avg almost 1150

Hard to really know because we have different attendance numbers on cornellbigred vs espn on some games

You know. Athletics is hard.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 18, 2025, 01:14:43 PM
Yeah no way we have the lowest attendance, we've had good crowds for the Ivy League games.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on February 18, 2025, 02:44:01 PM
Well if you add 4 games with zero to the equation it brings down the number pretty fast.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on February 21, 2025, 07:49:40 PM
40-25 Cornell lead shrinks to 42-37 at hslftime
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 21, 2025, 10:11:11 PM
Tough L, yale is really good but we need to be better than .500 in the Ivy. If the season ended now we wouldn't even make Ivy madness.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 22, 2025, 07:27:28 PM
Watching Cornell's defense drives me up the wall.  Just so poor guarding in the paint.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 22, 2025, 07:51:34 PM
Naz Williams has had some good looks but can't can them tonight.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: rss77 on February 22, 2025, 08:38:06 PM
Phew!
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 28, 2025, 06:34:10 PM
30 mins till tipoff, a win here would be big for our Ivy madness odds.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 28, 2025, 07:48:07 PM
Dominant first half
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on February 28, 2025, 07:49:16 PM
63-27 halftime, Red
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: scoop85 on February 28, 2025, 07:57:46 PM
Are we sure we're not playing Penn State Altoona?
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Al DeFlorio on February 28, 2025, 08:17:52 PM
Quote from: scoop85Are we sure we're not playing Penn State Altoona?
Now 81-38
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: ugarte on February 28, 2025, 08:20:25 PM
This is sick. I sat down to start watching late. Women's hockey was up 3-0 in the waning seconds so I switched that off. Men's hockey was down 3-1 and I think I heard the PBP guy say that it looked like Schafer got hit with something so I switched that off. Then this? What am I supposed to do? Talk to my family?
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on February 28, 2025, 09:06:07 PM
Our scrubs can't score for shit but that's fine when you grab a 40 point lead early. Carry this momentum into Princeton.
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: Swampy on March 01, 2025, 02:04:40 PM
Quote from: ugarteThis is sick. I sat down to start watching late. Women's hockey was up 3-0 in the waning seconds so I switched that off. Men's hockey was down 3-1 and I think I heard the PBP guy say that it looked like Schafer got hit with something so I switched that off. Then this? What am I supposed to do? Talk to my family?

+1 :-)

Some other ideas: ::drunk:: ::wank::
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: upprdeck on March 01, 2025, 10:29:21 PM
Didnt look at tie breakers , but win one of the last 2 gets us in,

Chance for a 3 way tie for 4th and 6 teams ,500 or better,

Yale and then the other 5 are all about the same team
Title: Re: Men's Basketball January 2025
Post by: chimpfood on March 01, 2025, 10:34:40 PM
Yep, if we either win one of our last two games or brown and Harvard lose next week (playing Yale and Dartmouth) we are in. I like our odds but let's just get it done tomorrow. Should be a fun game, usually gets a big crowd.