Men's Basketball 21-22

[mountainred]

Glad they rescheduled; otherwise, it would have been over three weeks between games heading into league play. Dartmouth has played 4 times since Cornell's last game. All losses, but narrow losses at Cal and Stanford, plus a narrow loss to Cal St. Bakersfield (who knew there was such an animal).

[Al DeFlorio]

Syracuse Will Face Cornell on December 29th Instead of Georgia Tech.

Syracuse basketball's game against Georgia Tech was postponed from Wednesday, December 29th, but the Orange has already found a replacement opponent for that day. Syracuse will face Cornell, which was originally scheduled for December 21st. That game was postponed with both teams facing a COVID-19 outbreak within their respective programs, Now, with the Yellow Jackets in COVID protocols, the date became available for the Orange and the Big Red.

Game is on NESN+ at 7 pm for those in this area.

[scoop85]

Syracuse Will Face Cornell on December 29th Instead of Georgia Tech.

Syracuse basketball's game against Georgia Tech was postponed from Wednesday, December 29th, but the Orange has already found a replacement opponent for that day. Syracuse will face Cornell, which was originally scheduled for December 21st. That game was postponed with both teams facing a COVID-19 outbreak within their respective programs, Now, with the Yellow Jackets in COVID protocols, the date became available for the Orange and the Big Red.

Game is on NESN+ at 7 pm for those in this area.

Also on YES

[marty]

Syracuse Will Face Cornell on December 29th Instead of Georgia Tech.

Syracuse basketball's game against Georgia Tech was postponed from Wednesday, December 29th, but the Orange has already found a replacement opponent for that day. Syracuse will face Cornell, which was originally scheduled for December 21st. That game was postponed with both teams facing a COVID-19 outbreak within their respective programs, Now, with the Yellow Jackets in COVID protocols, the date became available for the Orange and the Big Red.

Game is on NESN+ at 7 pm for those in this area.

Also on YES

Thank you.

I've wondered for years why NESN's monetization was such that Time Warner and now Spectrum subscriptions didn't have an option to add this channel in one of the sports tiers.  (Is this still true?) All moot now because cable seems to be following newspapers down a death spiral path.

I'd likely ditch cable if it weren't for their DVR. We're down to one (my wife) or two (me) network shows that are recorded on the DVR.

[Weder]

Syracuse Will Face Cornell on December 29th Instead of Georgia Tech.

Syracuse basketball's game against Georgia Tech was postponed from Wednesday, December 29th, but the Orange has already found a replacement opponent for that day. Syracuse will face Cornell, which was originally scheduled for December 21st. That game was postponed with both teams facing a COVID-19 outbreak within their respective programs, Now, with the Yellow Jackets in COVID protocols, the date became available for the Orange and the Big Red.

Game is on NESN+ at 7 pm for those in this area.

Also on YES

It's on the ACC Network, so the game will be on several regional sports networks (MASN in the DC area). You should also be able to get ACCN on some of the streaming services.

[djk26]

Cornell loses, 80-68.  Not embarassing; at least it was closer than against VT?

[upprdeck]

much better job of taking 3s this game.  15-46. its what they need to do to hang with the bigger/better teams..

the difference was that VT made so many 3s and SU missed most of theirs..

[mountainred]

the difference was that VT made so many 3s and SU missed most of theirs..

That, and the Hokies are probably a better team than the Orange this year.  They did everything else a little bit better than SU.

If you missed it, Syracuse beat Brown 93-62 on Monday thanks to a very one-sided second half.  Sports aren't transitive, but that is encouraging.

[mountainred]

League play begins Sunday (Omicron notwithstanding), so here is a quick synopsis of the competition for those who haven't really been following.

Princeton -- The Tigers (10-3) have had the most impressive non-conference season.  They have two power 5 wins (though Oregon State is dreadful), a 2OT loss to 10-1 Minnesota, and no bad losses.  They start 3 seniors and 2 juniors, shoot the 3 well (34th best in the nation), and have a classic Princeton post player who is playing well (the improbably named Tosan Evbuomwan).  The Tigers look like a lock for the ILT.
Harvard -- Tommy Amaker again has the best talent in the league, but their non-conference play has been so-so.  Unless he's thinking about maximizing an NCAA seed, Amaker generally doesn't sweat out-of-conference games, he uses them to experiment.  So far, Harvard (8-4) has an OT loss to a very good Iona team (now with more Pitino), a WTF loss to Siena, and three D3 wins.  Their best win was in OT v. Colgate and needed a Raider brain fart at the end of regulation.  Still, the post-season tournament is on a rotation, and this year it is in Cambridge, so all Harvard has to do is finish in the top 4 (and they really should) to have a great shot at the league's NCAA bid.
Brown -- Other than our guys, the Bears (8-6) have had the most surprising opening to the season.  They've won almost all of the games they could reasonably expect to win (one blip with Bryant), have a nice win versus Bradley, and took UNC and Colorado to the final horn.  They have an outstanding freshman Guard in Kino Lilly, Jr., a terrific coach in Martin, and have been playing great defense, at least until the second half of the SU game (they are only the league team that is giving up less than a point per possession).  They are going to win some ugly games and be a factor.
Yale -- The Bulldogs (6-8) were the pre-season favorites, have a stud in senior guard Azar Swain, but its been pretty blah in New Haven since a mid-November drubbing of UMass.  Seton Hall, Auburn and St. Mary's are all very good, but Yale lost them all by 20+ points and the four teams they have beaten since UMass are a combined 13-32.  IMHO Jones is the league's best coach and he always gets Yale into the top half of the league, but they have not looked the part of a pre-season favorite so far.
Penn -- It's fun watching Quaker fans lose their minds over Penn's 3-10 start, but the Quakers over-scheduled again.  Only the two point loss at LaSalle is a head-scratcher.  They have a legit center in Michael Wang and Sophomore guard Jordan Dingle will score 20 a game.  The Quakers will be fine come league play and should be around .500.
Dartmouth -- The Big Green (3-8) have maybe the league's best win (at Georgetown), dropped a pair of heart-breakers in the Bay area to Stanford and Cal and start 4 seniors.  One of those seniors is outstanding shooter Brendan Barry who returns for a fifth season after transferring back from Temple (he was the Owl's best player last season).  This is not the Ivy League I once knew.  Still, Dartmouth is winless in December and has lost 7 straight.  The Green are dangerous and the Ivy opener with them on Sunday will be telling for both teams.
Columbia --   The Lions (3-10) are frankly a mess.  They are 2-4 against teams in the nation's bottom 100 (their other win was a D3 game) and aren't favored to win again this year.  Sure, their best player, forward Ike Nweke, has been injured but now is back, so there is some upside, but this is the only league team that can safely plan to miss the Ivy Tourney.  They'll win a game or two, and the difference between making the ILT and missing it could come down who gets upset by the Lions.

The Big Red could fall just about anywhere between 2nd (can't see them passing both Princeton and Harvard) and 7th (finishing below Columbia would be a disaster).  FWIW, both computer projections have the Big Red finishing 7-7 and tied with Penn for 5th -- one game out of the ILT -- with the 8-6 being good for 3rd and 6-8 getting 7th place.

[scoop85]

League play begins Sunday (Omicron notwithstanding), so here is a quick synopsis of the competition for those who haven't really been following.

Princeton -- The Tigers (10-3) have had the most impressive non-conference season.  They have two power 5 wins (though Oregon State is dreadful), a 2OT loss to 10-1 Minnesota, and no bad losses.  They start 3 seniors and 2 juniors, shoot the 3 well (34th best in the nation), and have a classic Princeton post player who is playing well (the improbably named Tosan Evbuomwan).  The Tigers look like a lock for the ILT.
Harvard -- Tommy Amaker again has the best talent in the league, but their non-conference play has been so-so.  Unless he's thinking about maximizing an NCAA seed, Amaker generally doesn't sweat out-of-conference games, he uses them to experiment.  So far, Harvard (8-4) has an OT loss to a very good Iona team (now with more Pitino), a WTF loss to Siena, and three D3 wins.  Their best win was in OT v. Colgate and needed a Raider brain fart at the end of regulation.  Still, the post-season tournament is on a rotation, and this year it is in Cambridge, so all Harvard has to do is finish in the top 4 (and they really should) to have a great shot at the league's NCAA bid.
Brown -- Other than our guys, the Bears (8-6) have had the most surprising opening to the season.  They've won almost all of the games they could reasonably expect to win (one blip with Bryant), have a nice win versus Bradley, and took UNC and Colorado to the final horn.  They have an outstanding freshman Guard in Kino Lilly, Jr., a terrific coach in Martin, and have been playing great defense, at least until the second half of the SU game (they are only the league team that is giving up less than a point per possession).  They are going to win some ugly games and be a factor.
Yale -- The Bulldogs (6-8) were the pre-season favorites, have a stud in senior guard Azar Swain, but its been pretty blah in New Haven since a mid-November drubbing of UMass.  Seton Hall, Auburn and St. Mary's are all very good, but Yale lost them all by 20+ points and the four teams they have beaten since UMass are a combined 13-32.  IMHO Jones is the league's best coach and he always gets Yale into the top half of the league, but they have not looked the part of a pre-season favorite so far.
Penn -- It's fun watching Quaker fans lose their minds over Penn's 3-10 start, but the Quakers over-scheduled again.  Only the two point loss at LaSalle is a head-scratcher.  They have a legit center in Michael Wang and Sophomore guard Jordan Dingle will score 20 a game.  The Quakers will be fine come league play and should be around .500.
Dartmouth -- The Big Green (3-8) have maybe the league's best win (at Georgetown), dropped a pair of heart-breakers in the Bay area to Stanford and Cal and start 4 seniors.  One of those seniors is outstanding shooter Brendan Barry who returns for a fifth season after transferring back from Temple (he was the Owl's best player last season).  This is not the Ivy League I once knew.  Still, Dartmouth is winless in December and has lost 7 straight.  The Green are dangerous and the Ivy opener with them on Sunday will be telling for both teams.
Columbia --   The Lions (3-10) are frankly a mess.  They are 2-4 against teams in the nation's bottom 100 (their other win was a D3 game) and aren't favored to win again this year.  Sure, their best player, forward Ike Nweke, has been injured but now is back, so there is some upside, but this is the only league team that can safely plan to miss the Ivy Tourney.  They'll win a game or two, and the difference between making the ILT and missing it could come down who gets upset by the Lions.

The Big Red could fall just about anywhere between 2nd (can't see them passing both Princeton and Harvard) and 7th (finishing below Columbia would be a disaster).  FWIW, both computer projections have the Big Red finishing 7-7 and tied with Penn for 5th -- one game out of the ILT -- with the 8-6 being good for 3rd and 6-8 getting 7th place.

Excellent summary. I think our up tempo style will give our Ivy brethren—-who, except perhaps for Princeton and Harvard don't have many Power 6 type athletes—fits. But if we're not hitting 3's we'll be vulnerable against anyone.

[mountainred]

Thanks Scoop.  The pessimist in me worries that what we've seen so far is a mirage fueled by a cupcake schedule, but I do think we're pretty good.  Not win the league good, but win a bunch of games and legitimately contend for the Ivy Tourney good.  Sunday will tell a lot about us and Dartmouth.

Boothby can't keep shooting 60% from behind the arc, can he?

[billhoward]

Cornell loses, 80-68.  Not embarassing; at least it was closer than against VT?

Moral victory. Take away J Boeheim's points, it might've been a tossup.

[upprdeck]

brown on tv vs maryland today as the ivies get close to ramping up league play.

[billhoward]

brown on tv vs maryland today as the ivies get close to ramping up league play.

Trying to think of any Brown vs. Maryland sport where the Bruins have or had a shot, beyond that golden era of Tewaaraton winner Dylan Molloy and coach Lars Tiffany ending in 2016.

BTW, from Molloy's bio on the Brown lax sports site. Makes you realize Chris Berman is pretty much the 21st century poet laureate of Brown.

[Trotsky]

Pass, fail, pass, fail, pass
Fail, fail, fail, fail, fail