Men's Basketball (2017-2018)

[Ken711]

Recruiting a center with size would be nice,

[mountainred]

having seen admittedly next to nothing of the team this year, is it clear that the program is on an upswing under Earl, or this just the case of one great Ivy player (Morgan) dragging the team up to 6 wins, and then the program can expect to decline once he leaves (like Columbia, Brown etc. the past few years)

probably a little bit of Earl, a little bit of Morgan, a little bit of the conference having a down year - Penn is a 16 seed.

While making the ILT was great, there was a bit of luck to it.  Cornell's final KenPom rating is still mired in the bottom 100 and not much better than Courtney's last team.  In baseball, it would be like winning the second wild-card but with a negative run differential.  The play-off game is great, but there is a nagging sense that it took a lot to go right that is not likely to be repeated.

I won't argue with the analytics, but after a rough early start in league play, the eye test tells me that the team improved in most facets, and it was a heck of a lot more enjoyable to watch a team that actually ran a structured offense, often beautifully.

Agree 100% on the offense. The ball movement was great and the guys generated tons of good looks. Assists on 60% of the made baskets (24th best in the nation).  It was fun to watch and so much better than the hero ball of the Courtney years.

But I gotta disagree on the defense.  Other than having Brown's number, it was bad all season.  Maybe adding Dickson and getting Troy Whiteside back helps the D.  And opponents can't all shoot from behind the arc like they are Drew Ferry again next year, can they?  Still, when you finish ranked 323 in defensive efficiency (one spot over a Niagara squad that seemed allergic to playing D), there's a problem.

I give you that the "all facets" comment was an overreach.  The D was bad, which I think was primarily a function of the personnel we had.  Hopefully bringing in a couple of bigger interior players will help on that front.

I like some of the things Earl tried on D -- having Julian regularly apply token pressure was a nice touch.  It didn't lead to turnovers, but it forced teams to use a bit of the shot clock just getting the ball up court.  Neither Stone nor Matt are great defenders, and you need them on the floor, so Earl is limited in his options.

Next year should be fine.  Earl's real test is the following year.

[scoop85]

Recruiting a center with size would be nice,

I think Dickson, a 6'9" rebounding machine who can score, should fit the bill as a solid interior guy in the Ivy League. Like usual we'll be outmatched against the power conference teams that we play, but should be in the hunt against anyone else.

[billhoward]

BleacherReport has Penn 60 of 68 teams in the 2018 basketball tournament. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2762679-ncaa-tournament-2018-power-ranking-all-68-teams

They remember us:

The Ivy League has produced some outstanding Cinderella candidates in recent years. In fact, dating back to Cornell in 2010, this conference has won five tournament games and had losses by seven points or fewer against Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State and Notre Dame. This Penn team is probably the weakest during that time. At this point, though, you simply can't write off this league's chance of an upset.

Worst of the least is North Carolina Central.

[scoop85]

Verbal Commits tweeted that Bathurst is "leaving the program."  I assume that means he's graduating and will play as a grad student elsewhere like Miller and Onourah.

[mountainred]

Verbal Commits tweeted that Bathurst is "leaving the program."  I assume that means he's graduating and will play as a grad student elsewhere like Miller and Onourah.

Has to be.  He was honored as a senior, so he's leaving on good terms.  Might as well get someone to pay for a year of grad school.

I know you weren't trying to name them all, but Galal Cancer did the same thing. This Ivy rule of not permitting grad students to play is annoying.

[billhoward]

Cornell and Duke now even - both seasons ended. And it wasn't Cornell that delayed the Stormy Daniels interview by going to OT.

[French Rage]

Cornell and Duke now even - both seasons ended. And it wasn't Cornell that delayed the Stormy Daniels interview by going to OT.

* except on the West Coast

[mountainred]

Earl adds another guard to this year recruiting class:  Dean Noll

#Imnotascout, but I think the three seniors who are coming on board had one D1 offer among them.  Let's hope Earl can spot talent other coaches miss.

[billhoward]

The 6-foot-1 Noll, who averaged 21.6 points in leading Shawnee to a 29-5 record and the No. 1 spot in the Inquirer's final Top 25, had offers from NCAA Division II programs such as Caldwell and University of the Sciences. But he was holding out hope for an offer from a Division I program.

Good for him. Cornell is the big time. Plus Brian Earl played at Shawnee, the same school.

[scoop85]

https://twitter.com/TheRealMM10/status/980825318083657728

While it doesn't say he's signing with an agent, the tone of his tweet seems to indicate he's gone regardless.

[upprdeck]

who is it?

[ugarte]

weird - i posted the tweet link also and it isn't rendering as a tweet, just the tweet text. it's matt morgan, declaring for the draft. http://cornellsun.com/2018/04/02/junior-matt-morgan-declares-for-nba-draft/

the tweet is embedded in the Sun story.

I think what he heard from the league was probably a text from vlade divac like "r u high?"

[mountainred]

weird - i posted the tweet link also and it isn't rendering as a tweet, just the tweet text. it's matt morgan, declaring for the draft. http://cornellsun.com/2018/04/02/junior-matt-morgan-declares-for-nba-draft/

the tweet is embedded in the Sun story.

I think what he heard from the league was probably a text from vlade divac like "r u high?"

He has also tweeted:  "I will not be signing an agent at this time to retain my eligibility!!!!"

I don't blame him for seeing where his stock is.  But the tone of the earlier tweet sure sounds final.  And a lot more final than last year's announcement.  "It's more putting my name on the radar in case next year or the year after that I decide to do this again," Morgan told The Sun. "Of course, if I can go this year, I will, but we'll see what happens."

[BearLover]

weird - i posted the tweet link also and it isn't rendering as a tweet, just the tweet text. it's matt morgan, declaring for the draft. http://cornellsun.com/2018/04/02/junior-matt-morgan-declares-for-nba-draft/

the tweet is embedded in the Sun story.

I think what he heard from the league was probably a text from vlade divac like "r u high?"

He has also tweeted:  "I will not be signing an agent at this time to retain my eligibility!!!!"

I don't blame him for seeing where his stock is.  But the tone of the earlier tweet sure sounds final.  And a lot more final than last year's announcement.  "It's more putting my name on the radar in case next year or the year after that I decide to do this again," Morgan told The Sun. "Of course, if I can go this year, I will, but we'll see what happens."

This entire announcement makes almost zero sense unless he's fairly certain he will actually get drafted, which, given that he is a 6'2 shooting guard(?), seems like a longshot?