Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › Stony Brook – Game 7 (Wed., Dec. 1, 2010)
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December 1, 2010 at 1:23 am #2898
Stony Brook – AE
Last Year: 21-9 (14-4)
This Year: 2 (FDU, Monmouth) -2 (UConn, Wagner)
RPI: 101
Pomeroy: 203
Sagarin: 213Game Notes:
http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/sto … elease.pdf
http://www.lehighsports.com/assets/1/wo … /41671.PDF
What you need to know…….Compliments of USAToday
GETTING INSIDE
Stony Brook has to face it: life without Tommy Brenton is not going to make it easy for the Seawolves to follow up on last year’s tremendous success.
Brenton, the hard-working rebounding machine, is gone for the year with a knee injury. Couple that with the graduation loss of America East Player of the Year Muhammad El-Amin and losses like the one suffered to Wagner — at home — are bound to happen.
Without Brenton, the Seawolves were outrebounded, 39-20, and yielded 20 second-chance points. That kind of thing tends to happen when you’re missing the conference’s defending rebounding king.
"Tommy being injured is certainly a setback," coach Steve Pikiell said before the season. "He has been the leading rebounder in the conference for the last two years. But, I also feel that we have a lot of depth up front."
The Wolves opened with a loss at UConn, then reeled off three straight wins, two of them on the road at Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson, before losing to Wagner.NOTES, QUOTES
–Stony Brook opened the season with a loss at Connecticut, in a coaching matchup of Steve Pikiell against his old boss, UConn Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun.
–The Seawolves scored only seven field goals in the second half and shot 23.8 percent for the game and still almost beat Wagner.
–Stony Brook is hosting a BracketBuster game in February.
KEEP AN EYE ON: This team’s ability to handle the boards with Tommy Brenton gone for the year with a knee injury. Through five games, the results on the stat sheet weren’t bad, but Wagner won at Stony Brook with 20 second-chance points.
STRENGTHS: The Stony Brooks strengths start, on the court, anyway, with guards Bryan Dougher and Chris Martin, two season upper classmen who did a lot of winning last year. Dougher is one of the best players in the conference and is always a long-range threat. Off the court, coach Steve Pikiell is an outstanding coach and it’s a bit of a surprise he’s still there after what he did last season. The Seawolves were holding their opponents to a .325 field goal percentage, .341 from 3-point range.
WEAKNESSES: The Seawolves were not shooting the ball well, and even Dougher was struggling a bit (18-for-50) from 3-point range. With Tommy Brenton gone for the year, rebounding is a major question mark.STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
ROSTER REPORT:
–G Bryan Dougher was averaging 16 points per game through the first five games of the season but it was clear Stony Brook needed a No. 2 scoring option. No one else was averaging more than nine points per game through the early going.
–G Muhammad El-Amin graduated and F Tommy Brenton is out for the year with a knee injury, meaning the Seawolves have lost 24.4 points and 13.1 rebounds per game from the starting lineup.December 1, 2010 at 6:00 pm #2901This would be a really nice OOC road win. Stony Brook is a solid opponent and has beaten LU two straight. They should win their fair share of games this year.
A win would also put an end to the L-W-L-W-L-W trend we have started the year with.
Looks like Mackey is playing more confidently over the past few games and hopefully he can continue that. It will be interesting to see who starts alongside Knutson up front – I’m personally hoping that its Maneri and he can continue to become the rebounding physical post presence we need.
December 1, 2010 at 7:18 pm #2902It’s quickly becoming apparent that there’s a wealth of talent on this year’s team. While W’s and L’s are important and I think this is any one’s game tonight, it’s the roster experimentation that goes on in OOC play that has my eye. Coach Reed seems to excel at it and it is fun to watch. After six games, there’s no doubt Mackey is our man at the point. His A 24/TO 11 ratio of 2.18, acceptable point product of 7.5 ppg, and growing level of comfort level with his 2 and 3 guards (that no look pass on Sunday night says it all) nails it down for him. Some day down the road, we may be saying, "Marquis Who?" Prentice Small seems destined to be our relief man up top to deliver that occasionally needed spark on offense and exert defensive pressure. With CJ, Ojo and Gabe making their respective cases for 25-30 minutes/night (see below),
Player / PPG / RPG
CJ / 22.5 / 7.3
Ojo / 13.5 / 3.3
Gabe / 10.5 / 6.5it comes down to a forecourt battle between Maneri, Adams, Hamilton, and Greiner with Safstrom and McCarthy thrown in for extra measure when bulk down low become paramount. Personally, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Greiner get a start tonight or sometime soon (Hamilton already did). Why not, his play as been good and equal to that of the other bangers: Adams, Mineri, and Hamilton – all averaging around 2-3 pts. and mpg.
In a somewhat less crowded backcourt, you have to wonder how the minutes will be split between Keefer and D’Orazio – both of whom have been somewhat effective in their limited roles to date. Rob is shooting .533 and averaging 4 pts. and 13 minutes per game while Anthony, perhaps a better 3-point shooter, is connecting on 56.3% of his shots and averaging slight more points (6 pg) in slightly fewer minutes (11.8 mpg). It could simply come down to defensive assignments with Rob yielding time to Anthony when all else is equal. Captain Keefer (check out three year stats below) comes off as a class act and a team player, if ever there was one.
Keefer / ppg / mpg
Freshman / 7.8 / 24.5
Sophomore / 8.8 / 26.4
Junior / 3.6 / 8.9Anyway, it’s that time of year. I say let’s sit back and enjoy tonight’s game for what it is – a tune up for the play that is set to begin in 6 1/2 weeks.
December 2, 2010 at 5:35 am #2909I did not get to watch, but looks like Coach Reed is mixing it up. Good to see Maneri get another start. I agree that Greiner will start soon, surprised he did not tonight. I like how Reed is trying different lineups. Should build confidence with the players. Keep it up LU.
December 2, 2010 at 3:49 pm #2911Nice win. Good to see CJ on such a roll early in the year. A few interesting stats:
3 turnovers in 3 minutes for Grenier – that won’t help him earn more time
40 minutes for Knutson – good to see him start to get his confidence back
only 3 minutes for D’Orazio – he will need to be ready for totally unpredictable minutes game-to-game, but he should come in and be aggressive and let it fly regardless. thats his role
December 2, 2010 at 7:13 pm #2912Other positives you can’t overlook:
Safstrom’s 18 minutes of play in which he pulled down 5 rebounds, blocked 2 (I counted 3) shots, scored 2 points and committed (nothing new here) 4 personal fouls. All in all, David’s best game at Lehigh. Not only did he contribute but did it during crunch time in the final and frantic final minutes of the game. He was out there with the starters (CJ, Ojo, Mackey, and Gabe) and looked like he belonged. You had to be happy for the guy.
LU’s stepped up "D" in the second half which paved the way for a Lehigh comeback. SB struggled making just 10 of 32 from the field in half #2.
LU’s willingness and ability to run the court scoring 15 fast break points.
LU’s coolness at the line hitting 18 of 20 – many in comeback pressure situations.
Ironman performance of Gabe Knutson who played a clean game (1 personal foul) while scoring 18 and pulling down 6 boards in 40 minutes.
Prentice’s 18 minutes (3-4 more than usual) in front of his Long Island fans. Didn’t disappoint dishing out 5 assists and committing only one turnover raising his season A/TO average to 3.1.
Team bonding during the second half comeback. If there was a substitution made in the final 8 minutes, I missed it. The five on the court knew it was there’s to win or lose. And, they got the job done.
CJ’s continued dominance with a line score of : 31 points, 8 boards (game-high) in 34 minutes. And, he hasn’t found his stroke from long-range yet, hitting just two bombs last night.Worries?
Adams, Mineri, Hamilton, or Greiner. Who and when will someone elevate their game and lay claim to a starting role?
D’Orazio. Was first game heroics a fluke or is there big-shot potential there?
Keefer. Will he be content to play in the shadows of other backcourt players this year?
December 3, 2010 at 1:38 am #2916LU65 – nice post, few comments.
1.) On bad note, no one in front court has stepped up "consistently"…However, on positive, we need just one each game to play well opposite Gabe to be effective, and it had been Maneri for a couple games and then David last night, so that is a good sign.
2.) D’Orazio – big shot potential is there, the skills are there to be a scorer in the league. Problem, where does he get minutes from this year? CJ has to and should play 35+, Ojo 30+, so at most he can get is 15 a game. Let’s not forget the kid is shooting 52% from the field and 41% from 3. His role, as you Id’d, is to come in and be instant offense/let it fly. I’m a believer in this kid.
3.) Reed getting Mackey his minutes now, which will help him get the valuable experience to help him grow for Feb/March..he’s been near or above 30 consistently last 3/4 outings, and loving the results….think he has shot to be a big time player for us.
Love to see us string some wins together now, get that RPI rating up although avoiding PIG if we win PL Tourney might be hard with how bad the conference has done so far this year in non-conference play.
December 3, 2010 at 5:14 am #2917I must agree that Safstrom had a stellar game. If he could check the fouls, he would be a great asset at the starting position. Gabe did a great job, but 40 minutes a game, no way he can play like this for the season. He needs help. I will say it, we need a skilled big man to help him.
In terms of the front court, looks like Maneri and Hamilton got good minutes last night. Maneri is a big guy who can bang for the rebounds, Hamilton too small against the big guys. I did not see the SB game. Greiner and Adams ( both not huge guys, Greiner has more offensive skills while Adams has more defensive skills) ,both got limited minutes last night. Greiner had foul trouble early and Adams often gets two fouls early most games. For the coaches out there, how do you avoid the fouls and play tight D? Overall, the 4 "worries" seem to rack up fouls. When stating that they need to step up their game, I assume that means they need to score. Greiner can hit jumpers, Maneri can score under the basket, Hamilton and Adams can hit the three at times. Consistency is an issue.
In the Bryant game, the team was really cheering for each other. I assume the same for this game. The team needs to believe in and encourage each other.
On a side note, in reading some of the other boards, there is conversation around how LU got CJ and why he has not transferred. A good free education is a good thing.
Let’s keep cheering the team on and good luck during finals. What a grueling schedule this week.
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