Men's Basketball 21-22

[mountainred]

I know there was a topic for the pre-season poll, but thought a more general topic was appropriate.

The season begins on Tuesday with a trip to Binghamton (okay, Vestal).  Pretty much everyone who played significant minutes the last time there was a Cornell basketball game (612 days ago, as Cornell sports information seems to like to say) is gone, so I have no earthly idea what to expect this year.  Only four guys who played regular minutes return.  Wing Jordon Jones who played himself into, and then out of, a starting spot as a Freshman, before missing the last half of the season with a injury; Dean Noll, who was the first guard off the bench; Kobe Dickson, who started the last six games after Boeheim was injured and averaged 10p-5R in that stretch; and rotational guard Greg Dolan.  Plus 11 guys who have never played a minute for Cornell. Some of those newcomers look intriguing, but this is basically a team reboot.

If the "possible starters" on the press notes is what the starting line-up looks like, it will be short.  Four guards and one forward with Jones, Dolan and Dickson starting along with VMI transfer Sarju Patel and Soph. Chris Manon.  Earl will likely be trying out a lot of combinations, but that possible starting line-up looks awfully small.

No idea what to expect, but the Ivies have really stratified into two tiers and I'd be happy if the guys were the best of the "have-nots," and some of the freshman and sophomores looked like solid building blocks, especially a couple of the bigs since Earl has six of them.  The first two games are at Bingo and Lafayette, neither of which is supposed to be good, so early wins are possible.

[upprdeck]

Lafayette opens at SU tonight to see what they have.. I know they have a 7ft kid at center

[ugarte]

Probably a reflection of the Binghamton defense but Cornell out to an 11-6 lead and pushing the pace hard. Fun so far.

Very hard to imagine Patel at VMI. He probably let his freak flag fly as soon as he got accepted to transfer out.

[Al DeFlorio]

Cornell playing like there's a 10-second shot clock.

[ugarte]

wire to wire. very nice. the team likes the backdoor cuts a little too much. the ones that get through are pretty but too many giveaways. shooting, especially free throw shooting, needs a lot of work. fun start to the season though.

mcgriff has a handle way too good for the level but he can't shoot and cornell got him into foul trouble easily.

[scoop85]

Hoops beats Bingo 76-69. Our FT and 3-point shooting was awful, but Binghamton couldn't hit an outside shot either and we have more talent. Nice to see the guys finally get on the court and play before a pretty good crowd in Vestal.

Good performances by Manon, Jones, and Patel. We went 13-deep on the roster and have lots of guys who can contribute. But if our 3-point and FT shooting doesn't improve we'll have trouble beating better teams than Binghamton. But overall a good effort for the 1st game in 18 months with so many kids who've never played a D-1 game.

[mountainred]

Yeah, Bingo is not very good, but better to win these games than lose them. A lot is going to ride on whether any bigs develop to help Dickson out.  16 offensive rebounds is way too many to give up.  A better team will make Cornell pay for that.

Still, 1-0 is better than the alternative.

[mountainred]

Very hard to imagine Patel at VMI. He probably let his freak flag fly as soon as he got accepted to transfer out.

VMI was probably a break after attending Hargrave Military Academy.  Think VMI, but all male and more Baptist.

[David Harding]

A cheerful take from 14850.com

"Two-game win streak features victories 612 days apart" for Big Red Hoops

[mountainred]

At the half:  Cornell 50 Lafayette 42

The guys have looked like the better team, LC has needed a bunch of threes to keep this close.

Cornell is very aggressive on D and has a bunch of guys who can get to the basket.

[mountainred]

Final:  90-85.  Lafayette had chances to grab a lead and never could get over the hump.  3 game win streak?

[billhoward]

Final:  90-85.  Lafayette had chances to grab a lead and never could get over the hump.  3 game win streak?

Hello, N.I.T.

[mountainred]

Final:  90-85.  Lafayette had chances to grab a lead and never could get over the hump.  3 game win streak?

Hello, N.I.T.

Ha, I wish!  Meanwhile, Brown leads UNC at the half.

[billhoward]

I'm trying to think, what are other schools named UNC -- Nebraska-Columbus, pop 25,000?

[mountainred]

I'm trying to think, what are other schools named UNC -- Nebraska-Columbus, pop 25,000?

It could have been the Univ. of Northern Colorado in beautiful Greeley, Colorado, about midway between Denver and the Wyoming line. They've been D1 for a couple of minutes.

But nope, it was the UNC that is a basketball arena surrounded by a campus.  Brown loses 94-87.