Tuesday, June 27, 2006
NERDS TAKING OVER NBA
Oh, you laughed at me when I posted points per pound, but check it out, the Rockets are
totally hiring other stat dorks. Perhaps NCAA teams will be next in line. I'm waiting for your call, Joni Comstock. @ 1:22 PM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
Oh, you laughed at me when I posted points per pound, but check it out, the Rockets are
totally hiring other stat dorks. Perhaps NCAA teams will be next in line. I'm waiting for your call, Joni Comstock. @ 1:22 PM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
Thursday, June 08, 2006
CLASS OF 2010: ARMY
When Jim Crews was hired in 2002, he was hailed as bringing "instant credibility" (a direct quote) to the Army program. Instead, Crews has suffered through the same fate that most Army coaches in the last twenty years have: year after year of ineffective and undersized talent struggling at the Division I level. Crews, by all accounts, is a great strategic and teaching coach. His problem for his four seasons at West Point has been that his players, very simply, have not been very good.
Crews has coached only two real impact players during his time at Army, Matt Bell (who is basically Damon Bailey lite) and Jarell Brown, who is poised for a breakout season this year in my opinion. The good news is that Army has five new guys coming in this year, and they lost 1% of their team's offense in departing senior Erik Engstrom. If Army can put three average guys around Bell and Brown, they may be able to win a few this year. Otherwise, they're going to continue to struggle for the forseeable future. This is Bell's last year, and without him I'm not sure who is going to score for the Black Knights.
Army appears to be a good defensive team when you look at the scores of their games (typically in the 45-50 range for both teams), but the reality is that last year they were the worst defensive team in the league, allowing 1.12 points per opponent possession. Compare that to Bucknell's defense allowing .80 points per possession and you see the gap that exists. So there is work to do on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Army fans can hope that Eric Zastoupil from Plano, Texas may shore up some of that defense. Listed at 6'7", 190 lbs, Zastoupil was the league defensive player of the year on his state championship team. A legitimate defensive prescence in the post would be huge for Army, even if it is only a 6'7" guy. 6'7" is big on Army. He is ranked the 69th (heh heh) best player in Texas by someone, whatever that means. More importantly for us DC residents like me, he was also entered into the Congressional Record. Good to see government at work on the important issues. The Dallas Morning News ran a good story about him here talking about his propensity to get beat up, something he will have to get used to at Army.
The rest of Army's class of 2010 is made up of guards, something I'm not sure they need. They are listed at 6'1", 6'2", 6'3", and 6'4". On a team of guys under 6'5", these guys will have to be able to shoot the lights out to make any significant impact on the Army program.
Lance Pevehouse was still looking for scholarship offers as of this time last year, so you have to think he is borderline. He is a scorer though, so perhaps he can take pressure off of Brown and Bell. But at 6'1", 150 lbs, he may join his new teammate in getting pummelled out there.
Tyrell Thompson is the one player NOT from Texas in this class. He's ranked as two stars by Scout.com, not bad for the PL. However, he was considered a low-DI talent at best, maybe a D-II talent by his coach, so you have to wonder about his ability at the D-I level. When Central Connecticut State is the only other suitor, well, there are questions.
Rickey Royal (no, not the Royal Rickey, a classy cocktail) and Cleveland Richard round out the class. If I could find anything out about them, I would tell you, but I can't. That's not a good sign.
The short of it is that Army could have 2-3 of these guys pan out, which would be a big deal for them. If Zastoupil can be a legitimate post prescence, it would help tremendously. At the least, he should be Army's forward for the seasons ahead. However, they need help now, not down the road. How much longer Mr. Crews will be allowed to continue with 3-23 type seasons is something I don't know. But for the sake of the Indiana Class of 1976, I am hopeful that he can get it done this year, so we don't have to find out. @ 3:16 PM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
When Jim Crews was hired in 2002, he was hailed as bringing "instant credibility" (a direct quote) to the Army program. Instead, Crews has suffered through the same fate that most Army coaches in the last twenty years have: year after year of ineffective and undersized talent struggling at the Division I level. Crews, by all accounts, is a great strategic and teaching coach. His problem for his four seasons at West Point has been that his players, very simply, have not been very good.
Crews has coached only two real impact players during his time at Army, Matt Bell (who is basically Damon Bailey lite) and Jarell Brown, who is poised for a breakout season this year in my opinion. The good news is that Army has five new guys coming in this year, and they lost 1% of their team's offense in departing senior Erik Engstrom. If Army can put three average guys around Bell and Brown, they may be able to win a few this year. Otherwise, they're going to continue to struggle for the forseeable future. This is Bell's last year, and without him I'm not sure who is going to score for the Black Knights.
Army appears to be a good defensive team when you look at the scores of their games (typically in the 45-50 range for both teams), but the reality is that last year they were the worst defensive team in the league, allowing 1.12 points per opponent possession. Compare that to Bucknell's defense allowing .80 points per possession and you see the gap that exists. So there is work to do on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Army fans can hope that Eric Zastoupil from Plano, Texas may shore up some of that defense. Listed at 6'7", 190 lbs, Zastoupil was the league defensive player of the year on his state championship team. A legitimate defensive prescence in the post would be huge for Army, even if it is only a 6'7" guy. 6'7" is big on Army. He is ranked the 69th (heh heh) best player in Texas by someone, whatever that means. More importantly for us DC residents like me, he was also entered into the Congressional Record. Good to see government at work on the important issues. The Dallas Morning News ran a good story about him here talking about his propensity to get beat up, something he will have to get used to at Army.The rest of Army's class of 2010 is made up of guards, something I'm not sure they need. They are listed at 6'1", 6'2", 6'3", and 6'4". On a team of guys under 6'5", these guys will have to be able to shoot the lights out to make any significant impact on the Army program.
Lance Pevehouse was still looking for scholarship offers as of this time last year, so you have to think he is borderline. He is a scorer though, so perhaps he can take pressure off of Brown and Bell. But at 6'1", 150 lbs, he may join his new teammate in getting pummelled out there.Tyrell Thompson is the one player NOT from Texas in this class. He's ranked as two stars by Scout.com, not bad for the PL. However, he was considered a low-DI talent at best, maybe a D-II talent by his coach, so you have to wonder about his ability at the D-I level. When Central Connecticut State is the only other suitor, well, there are questions.
Rickey Royal (no, not the Royal Rickey, a classy cocktail) and Cleveland Richard round out the class. If I could find anything out about them, I would tell you, but I can't. That's not a good sign.
The short of it is that Army could have 2-3 of these guys pan out, which would be a big deal for them. If Zastoupil can be a legitimate post prescence, it would help tremendously. At the least, he should be Army's forward for the seasons ahead. However, they need help now, not down the road. How much longer Mr. Crews will be allowed to continue with 3-23 type seasons is something I don't know. But for the sake of the Indiana Class of 1976, I am hopeful that he can get it done this year, so we don't have to find out. @ 3:16 PM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
CLASS OF 2010 RECRUITS: BUCKNELL
This is part two in an ongoing series
Pat Flannery and company have unquestionably been the league's best recruiters for the last three years, bringing in impact talents like Chris McNaughton, Charles Lee, and Kevin Bettencourt. While Lee and Bettencourt were not in BU's first scholarship class, McNaughton was a scholarship player who Bucknell probably would not have gotten if they didn't have scholarships, as in previous seasons.
This year BU has three guys coming in this year, two guards and a forward. Let's take a look:
Stephen Tyree looks like their best recruit. Listed as anywhere from 6'3" to 6'5", Tyree was a two sport athlete in high school, but will stick to hoops and ditch football in Lewisburg. He is the one guy here who might get some minutes if no one else on the team can step into the holes left by Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt.
6'8" Virginia product Pat Behan looks to fill the gaps in BU's frontcourt in the post-McNaughton era. He averaged 17 points in a weak Loudoun County league, but supposedly looked good at the Capital Classic, which unfortunately is no longer the tournament it once was now that #45 has left town. Word is he's got a decent outside game to compliment his inside presence. Don't look for him to get too many minutes this year, as McNaughton, Mastropolo and Brown will take up the majority of the post time.
Finally, Zach Evans from Encino, CA, projects to be a 3-4 player, but again, will not see much action early on. Evans was a McDonald's All-American nominee, but who knows what that means at this point, as I think they nominate over 1000 kids these days. He is also one of the chosen people, further proving my theory that Jews will one day dominate basketball. L'Chaim! Check out his HS stats from his Junior year and his senior year here.
All in all, BU's class looks better than Lafayette's, but the time tested recruiting motto in the PL ought to be "who the hell knows". While the PL has improved, the level of recruits coming in is still questionable when they arrive. @ 10:04 AM 1 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
This is part two in an ongoing series
Pat Flannery and company have unquestionably been the league's best recruiters for the last three years, bringing in impact talents like Chris McNaughton, Charles Lee, and Kevin Bettencourt. While Lee and Bettencourt were not in BU's first scholarship class, McNaughton was a scholarship player who Bucknell probably would not have gotten if they didn't have scholarships, as in previous seasons.
This year BU has three guys coming in this year, two guards and a forward. Let's take a look:
Stephen Tyree looks like their best recruit. Listed as anywhere from 6'3" to 6'5", Tyree was a two sport athlete in high school, but will stick to hoops and ditch football in Lewisburg. He is the one guy here who might get some minutes if no one else on the team can step into the holes left by Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt.6'8" Virginia product Pat Behan looks to fill the gaps in BU's frontcourt in the post-McNaughton era. He averaged 17 points in a weak Loudoun County league, but supposedly looked good at the Capital Classic, which unfortunately is no longer the tournament it once was now that #45 has left town. Word is he's got a decent outside game to compliment his inside presence. Don't look for him to get too many minutes this year, as McNaughton, Mastropolo and Brown will take up the majority of the post time.Finally, Zach Evans from Encino, CA, projects to be a 3-4 player, but again, will not see much action early on. Evans was a McDonald's All-American nominee, but who knows what that means at this point, as I think they nominate over 1000 kids these days. He is also one of the chosen people, further proving my theory that Jews will one day dominate basketball. L'Chaim! Check out his HS stats from his Junior year and his senior year here.
All in all, BU's class looks better than Lafayette's, but the time tested recruiting motto in the PL ought to be "who the hell knows". While the PL has improved, the level of recruits coming in is still questionable when they arrive. @ 10:04 AM 1 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
Friday, June 02, 2006
CLASS OF 2010 RECRUITS: LAFAYETTE
This is the first in a series looking at the PL's incoming class
Lafayette finally has a scholarship class, and it's headlined by a big Polish kid named Marek Koltun. Koltun got some press both online and off, as Andre Williams of the Morning Call seemed impressed. He was on the supposed "2nd best team in Delaware", but I think the Diamond State only has 3-4 high schools, so take that with a grain of salt. At 6'10", 265 lbs, Koltun has the potential with size alone to be a factor immediately at the PL level. He also has the potential to become the new Jason Mbegroff and become 6'10", 300. He is the guy to keep an eye on next year as Lafayette will be forced to give him big minutes because of their poor depth at the 4 and 5.
Let's hope that immigration laws don't tighten anytime soon, as the Leopards have jumped on the PL foriegn play bandwagon, signing Jesper Anderson from Sweden, someone who I cannot find any information on at all, other than that he is apparently a Senior Vice President at Oracle.
DC suburbs product Michael Gruner, who let Walt Whitman High School to a state title in Maryland, is the third of LC's recruits. From what I understand of the local high school scene here, he's a scorer but is not neccessarily considered a top-tier recruit. Check out this article (with picture) on the youngster from the WP. Think Matt Betley.
Andre Hines II is the son of Andre Hines I, who hardcore Seattle Seahawks fans will remember as the guy that was probably the worst player on their team ever. That alone ought to give Boxman something to yell at him about. At 6'7"/215, he will have to put on some weight or hope to grow more if he is to become an impact player.
Other than Koltun, I'm not sure Lafayette wouldn't have been able to get similar guys without scholarships. This doesn't look to be a class that will make the difference towards their rejoining the upper half of the league.
Next up: Bucknell @ 1:00 PM 2 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
This is the first in a series looking at the PL's incoming class
Lafayette finally has a scholarship class, and it's headlined by a big Polish kid named Marek Koltun. Koltun got some press both online and off, as Andre Williams of the Morning Call seemed impressed. He was on the supposed "2nd best team in Delaware", but I think the Diamond State only has 3-4 high schools, so take that with a grain of salt. At 6'10", 265 lbs, Koltun has the potential with size alone to be a factor immediately at the PL level. He also has the potential to become the new Jason Mbegroff and become 6'10", 300. He is the guy to keep an eye on next year as Lafayette will be forced to give him big minutes because of their poor depth at the 4 and 5.
Let's hope that immigration laws don't tighten anytime soon, as the Leopards have jumped on the PL foriegn play bandwagon, signing Jesper Anderson from Sweden, someone who I cannot find any information on at all, other than that he is apparently a Senior Vice President at Oracle.
DC suburbs product Michael Gruner, who let Walt Whitman High School to a state title in Maryland, is the third of LC's recruits. From what I understand of the local high school scene here, he's a scorer but is not neccessarily considered a top-tier recruit. Check out this article (with picture) on the youngster from the WP. Think Matt Betley.
Andre Hines II is the son of Andre Hines I, who hardcore Seattle Seahawks fans will remember as the guy that was probably the worst player on their team ever. That alone ought to give Boxman something to yell at him about. At 6'7"/215, he will have to put on some weight or hope to grow more if he is to become an impact player.
Other than Koltun, I'm not sure Lafayette wouldn't have been able to get similar guys without scholarships. This doesn't look to be a class that will make the difference towards their rejoining the upper half of the league.
Next up: Bucknell @ 1:00 PM 2 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
STAT OF THE DAY: POINTS PER POUND
Just because I thought it was funny to do.
@ 10:33 AM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
Just because I thought it was funny to do.
@ 10:33 AM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
Thursday, June 01, 2006
FORMATTING ISSUES
The PL announced earlier this week that they're going to a more reasonable tournament format, playing all games at the higher seed's site. Your PL blogger wholeheartedly supports this format, especially having been to the 4-5 and 3-6 seed games that were poorly attended and had little advantage for the higher seed. This makes the regular season much more important, as a three or four seed could concievably have home court advantage throughout the tournament if there was an upset in the first round, instead of playing all their games at a neutral site.
Congrats to the PL for getting this one right. @ 10:34 AM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
The PL announced earlier this week that they're going to a more reasonable tournament format, playing all games at the higher seed's site. Your PL blogger wholeheartedly supports this format, especially having been to the 4-5 and 3-6 seed games that were poorly attended and had little advantage for the higher seed. This makes the regular season much more important, as a three or four seed could concievably have home court advantage throughout the tournament if there was an upset in the first round, instead of playing all their games at a neutral site.
Congrats to the PL for getting this one right. @ 10:34 AM 0 HC Alums are angry about this post | Bitch about it on the PL hoops messageboard
