Stony Brook/Quinnipiac/UPenn Hoops

CornellFan · December 30, 2007, 10:18:55 AM

(1) Here is a short video clip of a Ryan Wittman three pointer from the game at Stony Brook. Good to be back in the win column.

http://cornellbasketball.blogspot.com/2007/12/notes-and-observations-from-stony-brook.html

(2) The Quinnipiac game is on MSG network at 12 tomorrow.

(3) Anyone notice that Penn lost by 30 yesterday to Florida Gulf Coast? The Quakers scored an NCAA record, 6 points in the first half. Yes, just 6 points.

KeithK · December 30, 2007, 03:27:37 PM

[quote CornellFan](3) Anyone notice that Penn lost by 30 yesterday to Florida Gulf Coast? The Quakers scored an NCAA record, 6 points in the first half. Yes, just 6 points.[/quote]
How the hell did they do that? Did they just brick every shot? Even if you were throwing the game I think you'd get double digits by accident.

Edit: "(AP) Penn shot just 5.9 percent and committed 23 turnovers." Yeah, that'll do it.

Al DeFlorio · December 30, 2007, 06:37:56 PM

Hartford's women's team missed 23 straight field goal attempts against UConn yesterday, but they did outdo Penn by pouring in seven points in the second half.

ugarte · December 31, 2007, 10:24:13 AM

[quote Al DeFlorio]Hartford's women's team missed 23 straight field goal attempts against UConn yesterday, but they did outdo Penn by pouring in seven points in the second half.[/quote]
And despite the one point difference, scoring 7 in a half against UConn is much more impressive than scoring 6 against Florida Gulf Coast.

Is Penn still your pick to win the Ivies, CornellFan?

CornellFan · December 31, 2007, 10:51:11 AM

My preseason pick was Penn. My feeling right now is that there are five Ivy teams that are just about even (Penn, Yale, Cornell, Brown and Columbia). I think the winner of the Ivy League will probably have 3-4 losses. It is going to be a war this year.

On Cornell...

We haven't played terribly. Losses to Syracuse and Ohio on the road are acceptable. SU is well.... SU. Ohio is a very good 8-4 team, having knocked off St. Johns, New Mexico State and Maryland. No shame in losing in Athens, Ohio.

Bucknell was a tough loss, but it was on the road after an 18 day layoff, while the Bison were fresh off a game at Wake Forest. The Bison are also pretty good basketball team.

The loss to Colgate was the only "bad" loss of the season, but it was without Jason Hartford or Jeff Foote. Its tough to win games when your only big players are 6'7" and down. Also, I should mention that Colgate is looking pretty good. They are off to a 7-5 start and might compete in the Patriot League.

My problem with Cornell is our inability to put opponents away. We have an explosive offensive and have held big double digit leads on Colgate, Ohio, Binghamton, Lehigh, Stony Brook etc, but have allowed these teams to creep back into games.

If we can't put teams away... we are not going to win the League.

It is very simple actually.... once we build our typical 10-14 point lead, Steve has to instruct the kids to stop shooting three-pointers before we go Ice Age. Once we have the commanding lead, we need to transition the offense into attacking the basket, drawing fouls, getting high percentage shots. Guys like Robinson, Gore, Dale, and Wittman are great attacking the basket and shooting free throws.

I'd rather risk drawing offensive charges in the lane then heaving up three after three when we are already up by 12.

[quote ugarte][quote Al DeFlorio]Hartford's women's team missed 23 straight field goal attempts against UConn yesterday, but they did outdo Penn by pouring in seven points in the second half.[/quote]
And despite the one point difference, scoring 7 in a half against UConn is much more impressive than scoring 6 against Florida Gulf Coast.

Is Penn still your pick to win the Ivies, CornellFan?[/quote]

mnagowski · December 31, 2007, 12:32:07 PM

Anybody watching the game? The refs seem a little bit whistle happy. Quinnipiac seems to be doing a pretty good job shutting down the 3-pointers, but the Red are performing admirably inside.

ugarte · December 31, 2007, 12:38:58 PM

[quote metaezra]Anybody watching the game? The refs seem a little bit whistle happy. Quinnipiac seems to be doing a pretty good job shutting down the 3-pointers, but the Red are performing admirably inside.[/quote]
Not until I get home. Please don't post spoilers in a thread title.

CornellFan · December 31, 2007, 12:52:41 PM

Cornell had a 9 point lead, but Q trimmed it down to 4 at half.

Ka'ron Barnes (now an ESPN production assistant) is at the game doing some commentary with Barry Leonard.

mnagowski · December 31, 2007, 02:21:34 PM

Not a bad outcome. A character building overtime win over a team that had already lost to Brown...

CornellFan · December 31, 2007, 02:41:56 PM

Yes, Brown also beat Quinnipiac, but also in overtime. Great win in a game where our frontline carried the day. Great game by Foote and Tyler.

MOBalum · December 31, 2007, 03:54:50 PM

Great job by the Red of not giving up after turning a 15-ish point lead into an 8-point deficit. Last two minutes of regulation were very well-disciplined leading to good shot selection and Q fouls, then a similar job after falling behind in the middle of the OT.

Nothing flashy from Cornell, and for a 7-footer I don't think Foote is too exciting but he can still develop. Nice showing for the team on the telly. Let's hope for a similar result for the next TV game, yes?

CornellFan · December 31, 2007, 04:20:26 PM

Foote is definitely not an offensive threat. But he is a very good defender in the post and even gave Syracuse some problems. He should get better and better. Even Andrew Naeve was pretty bad on the offensive end as a freshman and sophomore. I am pretty sure Naeve shot below 50% his first three years of college ball. And that is terrible for a 6'10" kid.

Foote has 2 more years to further develop his offense. Further, he should be more effective against smaller and less athletic Ivy competition.

MOBalum · December 31, 2007, 04:42:53 PM

[quote CornellFan]Foote is definitely not an offensive threat. But he is a very good defender in the post and even gave Syracuse some problems. He should get better and better.[/quote]

Absolutely - I don't blame him for not scoring more as the offense does not go through him. Maybe he'll develop post moves, maybe not. I just see a guy that big and want instant rebounds and putbacks. Those instincts aren't there yet.

EDIT: As I look at the box score, he had 5 boards and 10 points on 3-5 shooting in only 22 minutes. So perhaps he's a quiet beast and I just missed it. My apologies to the Foote family.

[quote CornellFan]Foote has 2 more years to further develop his offense. Further, he should be more effective against smaller and less athletic Ivy competition.[/quote]

Very true.

ebilmes · December 31, 2007, 08:31:59 PM

[quote CornellFan]
(3) Anyone notice that Penn lost by 30 yesterday to Florida Gulf Coast? The Quakers scored an NCAA record, 6 points in the first half. Yes, just 6 points.[/quote]

That game was about 2 minutes down the road from the hockey games. We considered going to see some of it, but they were charging $8 for the cheapest seats and $30 for courtside seating. Still might have been worth it to see that horrible effort.

Chris '03 · December 31, 2007, 09:29:03 PM

[quote ebilmes][quote CornellFan]
We considered going to see some of it, but they were charging $8 for the cheapest seats and $30 for courtside seating. Still might have been worth it to see that horrible effort.[/quote]

Wait... you went to Florida for hockey but were unwilling to put up $8?