Men's Basketball (2017-2018)

Wow. Cornell trails by 22 mid-way through the second half. They win in 3OTs 107-101. This game was over and then it wasn't. Hats off to the guys.

On the stats, Morgan was 3 assists away from a triple double (31 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists). Gettings had 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Cornell is now tied with Brown for 4th.

I don't know how much these guys will have in tank for Penn, as Morgan, Gettings, Julian, and McBride all played over 40 minutes. But they earned a good night's sleep tonight.

and now cornell is tied for 4th in the IVY. yale/brown weekend at home becomes a huge.

With the score tied and less than half a second left in the game Princeton air-balled a free throw to send the game to OT. lol

Missed tonight's game, the 11th straight loss to Penn. But Dartmouth beat Brown and Columbia blew out Princeton, so the Big Red remain in fourth (now tied with Brown and Columbia).

By rule there must be four teams in the Ivy Tourney, though only Penn and Harvard deserve it. If the Big Red can beat Brown at home and Dartmouth on the road, it just might be them. Pretty remarkable considering the defense remains awful.

So coming down the stretch, my take, slight chance of being correct

scenario 1
Cornell has Yale/Brown Harvard/Dart Lose to harv/yale Beat brown/Dart Ends 6-8
Brown has Cornell/Columbia Penn/Prin Lose to Cornell/Columbia/Penn beat princeton ends 5-9
Columbia has Yale/Brown Harvard/Dart Lose to Harv/Yale Beat Brown/Dart ends 6-8

tie breaker 1 is h2h cornell/columbia split
tie breaker 2 is h2h cornell/columbia both 0-2 vs penn
tie breaker 3 is h2h cornell/columbia columbia beat Harvard so it wins

Scenario 2
Cornell has Yale/Brown Harvard/Dart Lose to harv/yale Beat brown/Dart Ends us 6-8
Brown has Cornell/Columbia Penn/Prin Lose to Cornell/Penn beat princeton/columbia ends 6-8
Columbia has Yale/Brown Harvard/Dart Lose to Harv/Yale/browb Beat Dart ends 5-9

tie breaker is h2h cornell wins 2-0 over brown

That looks right to me.

Recruit update: Kobe Dickson is averaging 15 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks a night so far this season. His team is 18-1, so he's not piling up stats in losing efforts. He might be a really solid under the radar find.

Entertaining, but ultimately disappointing, loss to Yale 82-80. The Bulldogs scored 52 in the second half as the Big Red's defense struggled again.

Cornell and Brown are now tied for 5th and Saturday's game is one of survival for both teams. Win and the ILT is still reachable. Lose and you are basically done.

really just a couple poor defensive decision late. up 2 you cant allow a 3 and tied they did it again.. at worst its OT if you just make then shoot 2s

upprdeck
really just a couple poor defensive decision late. up 2 you cant allow a 3 and tied they did it again.. at worst its OT if you just make then shoot 2s

In fairness, they've been pretty lousy at allowing 3s all season, it wasn't just a late game breakdown.
EDIT: wait, are you thinking about Yates's shot to give Yale the lead for good? Cornell only led by 1 before that shot. Yates shouldn't have been that open either way.

Cornell beats Brown 73-68.

Ken711
Cornell beats Brown 73-68.

The defense has struggled this year, but that's twice they solved Brown. Their PG averages 17.5 ppg, he scored 14 total in the two games v. Cornell.

The Big Red is now tied with Columbia for 4th, one game ahead of Brown and Princeton. The Lions hold the tiebreaker for the last spot in the ILT, so Cornell needs to sweep next weekend or hope Columbia loses at last place Dartmouth.

too bad tey let that Yale game get away.

upprdeck
too bad tey let that Yale game get away.

Both that and the Harvard game. On the other hand, we probably had no business pulling out the Dartmouth or Princeton games, so it’s probably evened-out.

I’d love to see us sneak in, but hard to see winning 2 on the road.

scoop85

upprdeck
too bad tey let that Yale game get away.

Both that and the Harvard game. On the other hand, we probably had no business pulling out the Dartmouth or Princeton games, so it’s probably evened-out.

I’d love to see us sneak in, but hard to see winning 2 on the road.

Yeah not likely they sweep. Given their road record (3-10), it's much more likely they get swept and lose both.

I think Cornell gets in if they win at Harvard and lose at Dartmouth and Columbia does the opposite; that would make Cornell's sweep of Brown the tie-breaker. Unless Princeton sweeps Brown and Yale at home, in which case the Tigers have the advantage because they would be the only team to have beaten 3rd place Yale. EDIT: except in my scenario I assumed a Cornell win over 2nd place Harvard. Sorry about that.

The Yale loss hurts because it was there for the taking, but that was likely Karma payback for stealing one versus Princeton.

Great job to come back and send this game to OT and then couldn't hold an OT lead and then Harvard ran away in 2OT. Surprisingly close given that I only saw Cornell hit a single shot beyond 10 feet. The boxscore says we hit 9 threes but I didn't see any of them; just one bad miss after another. *sigh* Insanely frustrating because Columbia lost and we could have controlled our own destiny tomorrow.

Another entertaining, but ultimately disappointing loss. 96-88 at Harvard in double overtime. Cornell had the ball with a chance to take the lead with about 1:20 in the second OT but Gordon missed the shot and the wheels came off. Matt missed a shot at the end of the first OT that would have won it, but he was too deep. Morgan had 34, Gettings 23 before fouling out.

Two defensive stats: Harvard shot 48% from behind the arc (lots of wide open looks) but turned it over 19 times to give the Red a chance. They also hit 24 of 27 from the line, so credit them there.

BUT, Columbia spit the bit at Dartmouth (they trailed by 19 late, closed to within 2 but the gap was too much). So, Cornell can take the last ILT spot with: 1) a win at Dartmouth; 2) a Columbia loss at Harvard; and 3) a Princeton loss at Yale. It's a lot of help, but none of those outcomes are crazy.

ugarte
Surprisingly close given that I only saw Cornell hit a single shot beyond 10 feet. The boxscore says we hit 9 threes but I didn't see any of them; just one bad miss after another.

Morgan hit some serious bombs, but he was the only one.

harvard playing for the ivy tomorrow so that will help them vs Columbia, as will yale SR night vs Princeton.

it wont be an easy game as dartmouth has played pretty very game close.

had plenty of chances tonight . too bad we couldnt hit 3s for most of the game.

KenPom predictions for tonight: Dartmouth over Cornell 75-73, Yale over Princeton 71-68, Harvard over Columbia 75-67.

Harvard won't want to lose the #1 seed so soon after taking it back from Penn and they will want revenge for their loss in NYC. I'm not too worried about that domino falling into place.

I'm not as sold on Yale/Princeton going our way. That game means a lot more for Princeton than it does for Yale.

Dartmouth has played everyone tough (except the trip to the P's, but every league team knows that experience). And the Green really should have won in Ithaca (93 % win percentage with a minute left).

I know the ILT isn't going away, but a 6-8 team making it for the second straight year is not a good look.

There is actually one more lifeline for the Big Red: Cornell, Princeton and Columbia all lose and Brown beats Penn (i.e. a home sweep on the night). That creates a four way log jam at 5-9 for 4th place and Cornell advances due to their sweep of Brown. I have no faith in Brown beating Penn though.

well first half went our way, can we get 2?

harvard playing well.. Hope Yale can find a way to finish the game

Looks very promising. I've switched over to watch Princeton/Yale. Go Bulldogs.

*sigh*

Harvard rolled Columbia as hoped.

Cornell up 12 with .40 to go

yale at 4 with 1:30 to go

Yale with back to back turnovers.

OT in New Haven.

Yale melts down, up 8 . three TOs in a row and gets one shot off down the stretch..

OT

really had it won,, up 8 with the ball and then shut down the offense to milk clock and blew it.

upprdeck
Yale melts down, up 8 . three TOs in a row and gets one shot off down the stretch..

OT

really had it won,, up 8 with the ball and then shut down the offense to milk clock and blew it.

Penn fans wondering where that Yale team was last night. Princeton ratcheting things up.

Yale by 2 and with the ball. Time out with 2 min. left.

Yale at the line, up 3. :21 left.

Yale wins 94-90.

We're Number 4. We're Number 4.

Credit the guys for taking care of business while Princeton and Columbia could not. Next weekend is a third crack at Harvard.

we can beat Harvard, you never know

upprdeck
we can beat Harvard, you never know

Agreed. 3 point loss at home; 2OT loss on the road. Those were competitive games.

A shout out to Jack Gordon (16 points, 4 of 5 from 3 pt distance), Freshman Jake Kuhn (8 points and 2 of 3) and Josh Warren (11p, 4a) for stepping up tonight.

Are the tourney games at neutral site or the #1?

Trotsky
Are the tourney games at neutral site or the #1?

At the Palestra, so big advantage for Penn, even though the #2 seed.

The Earl era is moving in the right direction.

I kinda lost track but what happened to boeheim? did he get injured?

scoop85

Trotsky
Are the tourney games at neutral site or the #1?

At the Palestra, so big advantage for Penn, even though the #2 seed.

I believe the Palestra is the permanent location for the Ivy playoff, not just the place that it was scheduled this year.

How we did against the rest of the league:

1. Harvard (3 pt loss @ home; 2OT loss @ Harvard)
2. Penn (8 pt loss @ Penn; 8 pt loss @ home)
3. Yale (9 pt loss @ Yale; 2 pt loss @ home)
4. Cornell
5. Princeton (37 pt loss @ home; 3OT win @ Princeton)
6. Columbia (26 pt loss @ Columbia; 1 pt win @ home)
7. Brown (18 pt win @ Brown; 15 pt win @ home)
8. Dartmouth (1 pt win @ home; 11 pt win @ Dartmouth)

In general we showed a lot of improvement in the rematches. Nobody in the playoffs embarrassed us this year. This isn't over. We may lose by 40 to North Carolina yet.

ugarte

scoop85

Trotsky
Are the tourney games at neutral site or the #1?

At the Palestra, so big advantage for Penn, even though the #2 seed.

I believe the Palestra is the permanent location for the Ivy playoff, not just the place that it was scheduled this year.

Not sure if it’s permanent or if they just selected the Palestra for just the first few years.

ugarte
How we did against the rest of the league:
1. Harvard (3 pt loss @ home; 2OT loss @ Harvard)
2. Penn (8 pt loss @ Penn; 8 pt loss @ home)
3. Yale (9 pt loss @ Yale; 2 pt loss @ home)
4. Cornell
5. Princeton (37 pt loss @ home; 3OT win @ Princeton)
6. Columbia (26 pt loss @ Columbia; 1 pt win @ home)
7. Brown (18 pt win @ Brown; 15 pt win @ home)
8. Dartmouth (1 pt win @ home; 11 pt win @ Dartmouth)
In general we showed a lot of improvement in the rematches. Nobody in the playoffs embarrassed us this year. This isn't over. We may lose by 40 to North Carolina yet.

This could end the way Butch Cassidy did. Steve McQueen: "Good. For a moment there I thought we were in trouble."

scoop85

ugarte

scoop85

Trotsky
Are the tourney games at neutral site or the #1?

At the Palestra, so big advantage for Penn, even though the #2 seed.

I believe the Palestra is the permanent location for the Ivy playoff, not just the place that it was scheduled this year.

Not sure if it’s permanent or if they just selected the Palestra for just the first few years.

The Palestra was a good cheap place to hold this event to start and the league needs a pre-determined place as long as the league wants to hold the men's play-off and the women's at the same location. Playing games in a 3/4 empty arena in Bridgeport is not a good look.

mountainred

scoop85

ugarte

scoop85

Trotsky
Are the tourney games at neutral site or the #1?

At the Palestra, so big advantage for Penn, even though the #2 seed.

I believe the Palestra is the permanent location for the Ivy playoff, not just the place that it was scheduled this year.

Not sure if it’s permanent or if they just selected the Palestra for just the first few years.

The Palestra was a good cheap place to hold this event to start and the league needs a pre-determined place as long as the league wants to hold the men's play-off and the women's at the same location. Playing games in a 3/4 empty arena in Bridgeport is not a good look.

Certainly if they have to hold the tournament at a pre-determined site, the Palestra is the best choice.

billhoward

ugarte
How we did against the rest of the league:
1. Harvard (3 pt loss @ home; 2OT loss @ Harvard)
2. Penn (8 pt loss @ Penn; 8 pt loss @ home)
3. Yale (9 pt loss @ Yale; 2 pt loss @ home)
4. Cornell
5. Princeton (37 pt loss @ home; 3OT win @ Princeton)
6. Columbia (26 pt loss @ Columbia; 1 pt win @ home)
7. Brown (18 pt win @ Brown; 15 pt win @ home)
8. Dartmouth (1 pt win @ home; 11 pt win @ Dartmouth)
In general we showed a lot of improvement in the rematches. Nobody in the playoffs embarrassed us this year. This isn't over. We may lose by 40 to North Carolina yet.

This could end the way Butch Cassidy did. Steve McQueen: "Good. For a moment there I thought we were in trouble."

billhoward's memory *is* in trouble. Steve McQueen wasn't even in the movie. Paul Newman said that.

I think he was talking about the audition mix tape.

Previous years I thought the playoff was a dumb idea. Now for some reason I like it. Funny thing, that.

French Rage
Previous years I thought the playoff was a dumb idea. Now for some reason I like it. Funny thing, that.

Having a team that is 6-8 in Ivy play make the playoff is an excellent argument for why it's a dumb idea. However, if a 6-8 Ivy team is going to have a chance to steal two games and get into the NCAA tournament, it might as well be us.

other leagues have teams go 4-12 and make the NCAA why should the ivy be different. It makes up for punishing the fball teams by not letting them play in that tourney

It’s perfectly ok to be excited for a team to win in a dumb system. See: Olympic hockey shootouts. Literally everyone complained about them, but there were the replays playing on repeat for a week.

There is a time and a place to complain about an Ivy basketball playoff but that time is not "the week that Cornell will be playing in the Ivy basketball playoff" and the place is not "a Cornell sports forum the week that Cornell will be playing in the Ivy basketball playoff".

Matt Morgan named unanimous first team all-ivy. Stone was second team.

Syracuse would kill to have Stone at the other forward position, they would be easily 4-5 games better with him at the 4.

ugarte
There is a time and a place to complain about an Ivy basketball playoff but that time is not "the week that Cornell will be playing in the Ivy basketball playoff" and the place is not "a Cornell sports forum the week that Cornell will be playing in the Ivy basketball playoff".

I thought that the time to complain in "a Cornell sports forum" was always. My bad.

What time is the playoff game at the Palestra?

Trotsky
What time is the playoff game at the Palestra?

Saturday at 12:30 on ESPNU

scoop85

Trotsky
What time is the playoff game at the Palestra?

Saturday at 12:30 on ESPNU

Thank you very much.

Do we have a snowball's chance in hell?

Trotsky

scoop85

Trotsky
What time is the playoff game at the Palestra?

Saturday at 12:30 on ESPNU

Thank you very much.

Do we have a snowball's chance in hell?

Sure. We lost at home to H in the final moments after leading most of the game, and we took them to double OT in Cambridge last week. If Morgan is on his game, we'll be in it. If he's off, we probably lose by 10-15.

scoop85

Trotsky

scoop85

Trotsky
What time is the playoff game at the Palestra?

Saturday at 12:30 on ESPNU

Thank you very much.

Do we have a snowball's chance in hell?

Sure. We lost at home to H in the final moments after leading most of the game, and we took them to double OT in Cambridge last week. If Morgan is on his game, we'll be in it. If he's off, we probably lose by 10-15.

KenPom predicts Harvard 73-67, Cornell with a 28% chance to win. So, we're clearly the underdog, but upsets of that magnitude happen every night.

best thing about the game is its at noon.. the penn crowd will be rooting for us, those that show up early.

mountainred

scoop85

Trotsky

scoop85

Trotsky
What time is the playoff game at the Palestra?

Saturday at 12:30 on ESPNU

Thank you very much.

Do we have a snowball's chance in hell?

Sure. We lost at home to H in the final moments after leading most of the game, and we took them to double OT in Cambridge last week. If Morgan is on his game, we'll be in it. If he's off, we probably lose by 10-15.

KenPom predicts Harvard 73-67, Cornell with a 28% chance to win. So, we're clearly the underdog, but upsets of that magnitude happen every night.

What do the KENPOM metric letters stand for and when do we start arguing that it must be wrong?

cornell- harvard didnt even get a story on their own web site today

upprdeck
cornell- harvard didnt even get a story on their own web site today

isn't the game tomorrow?

ugarte

upprdeck
cornell- harvard didnt even get a story on their own web site today

isn't the game tomorrow?

Correct:

03.10.18 12:30 P.M.

CORNELL VS HARVARD UNIVERSITY

lax is tomorrow too and it had a lead story..

Cornell up by as much as 7 in the first half of Ivy basketball tournament semifinal vs. Harvard.

Harvard catches up, goes up 31-30 with a minute to play. Boeheim misses a three, Harvard hits on its own, Boeheim hits a pair of free throws, Harvard hits a looong three from the edge of tipoff circle at the buzzer, half ends Harvard up 37-32. So we won about 19 of the 20 minutes.

Second half: Now it's Harvard up by 7, with 13-1/2 to play. The roof falls in and Cornell is working to keep the MOV below 20. 74-54 with 2 minutes to play.

Final, Harvard 74-55. Meet Yale or Penn Sunday.

billhoward
Cornell up by as much as 7 in the first half of Ivy basketball tournament semifinal vs. Harvard.

16-4 Harvard run to close the half takes them from 7 down to 5 up.

I tuned in on a questionable stream when we were up 7 and we end the half down 5. So I'm going to stop watching.

French Rage
I tuned in on a questionable stream when we were up 7 and we end the half down 5. So I'm going to stop watching.

We know where you live.

French Rage
I tuned in on a questionable stream when we were up 7 and we end the half down 5. So I'm going to stop watching.

sadly you broke the game permanently

ugarte

French Rage
I tuned in on a questionable stream when we were up 7 and we end the half down 5. So I'm going to stop watching.

sadly you broke the game permanently

That was when the bottom was cut out of the peach baskets.

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)

underskill
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.

ugarte

underskill
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.

Penn deserved better than a 16-seed according to most of the "experts" -- probably should've been a 14.

In any event, while we have everyone back, so do most of the Ivies. In fact, every player on the 1st and 2nd All-League teams returns next year, including Morgan and Gettings. So, while we should be in the mix, we could just as easily miss the top-4 altogether.

As far as recruiting goes, right now we have 3 public commitments after we picked up yesterday a JUCO transfer from Arizona, power forward Chaz Mack. He'll be joined by freshman Matt Harshany, a 6 foot point guard from Florida, and power forward Kobe Dickson from Kansas.

Mack scored 43 points in a game this year in a strong JUCO league, and averaged 19.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg. He hit 89.4% of his FTs too. Mack is only 6'6", so he's pretty small for a power forward at the D1 level (Charles Barkley notwithstanding), but may be effective in the Ivies. Looking at some video he looks like he has a well-rounded game and has a decent stroke on the 3.

Harshany averaged 25.2 ppg this year playing in northern Florida.

Dickson is a 6'9" power forward who scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds in his team's loss this past weekend in the Kansas class 4A-II final. Dickson had 19 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks in the semifinal. He should add a nice inside power game that we've been thin on the past few years. Right now it seems Dickson might be the top recruit coming in.

ugarte

underskill
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.

ugarte

underskill
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.

Imagine if we squeaked in. We couldn't be seeded any lower than Penn is now. We could have gotten the overall #1 seed, Virginia. Which gets UMBC, ranked 186 of 351 teams by ESPN. Penn is 59.

mountainred

ugarte

underskill
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.

scoop85

mountainred

ugarte

underskill
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.

mountainred

scoop85

mountainred

ugarte

underskill
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.

Recruiting a center with size would be nice,

scoop85

mountainred

scoop85

mountainred

ugarte

underskill
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.

Ken711
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.

BleacherReport has Penn 60 of 68 teams in the 2018 basketball tournament. [bleacherreport.com]

They remember us:

Bleacher Report
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.

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.

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.

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.

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

billhoward
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

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.

Philly.com
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.

Thank you Cornell University, Newman Nation and everyone in the Cornell basketball organization!! It’s been an amazing 3 years and the memories we shared will not be forgotten!!

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

 

who is it?

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. [cornellsun.com]

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?"

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. [cornellsun.com]

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.”

mountainred

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. [cornellsun.com]

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?

michael_scott_i_declare_bankruptcy.gif

BearLover

mountainred

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. [cornellsun.com]

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?

I wouldn't be surprised if Matt made a nice career for himself in Europe. But I agree the NBA seems like a longshot. Of course, I never watched Jeremy Lin and thought "there is a man who will play 7+ seasons in the NBA" so what do I know.

scoop85

Thank you Cornell University, Newman Nation and everyone in the Cornell basketball organization!! It’s been an amazing 3 years and the memories we shared will not be forgotten!!

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

Yeah, sorry about that. When I previewed the post, the tweet appeared there in its entirety.

Anyhow, while I think he's a terrific player, I think the NBA is an uphill climb. Certainly a career overseas seems much more likely, but I'll be pulling for him regardless.

mountainred

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.”

Most recent statement in the Sun

“We talked about it between my family, my coaches and I and we all agreed [declaring for the draft] was a good move for me,” Morgan said in a text message to The Sun.

Morgan said while he hopes to be drafted by an NBA team, he will return to Cornell for his senior season if he isn’t selected.


“I’m going into this process with the intention of getting selected to play for a NBA organization, but I don’t want to lose my last year of college if that opportunity isn’t there for me,” he said.

Add another JUCO recruit. Thurston McCarty, last of East Central Community College in Mississippi. He is 6-7, but rail thin. He looks like he has a nice shooting touch from his posted videos, but no one ever misses in those videos. Still, welcome aboard.