Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Official coaches poll, all-NEC team released

The NEC held it’s awesome #NECinNY media day yesterday. The conference brings in coaches, players, alumni, bloggers, media members, announcers, analysts and whatever else you can think of to host a really cool event.

Most notably, NEC media day means the official preseason coaches poll and all-NEC team’s are released. Like I said the other day, I could eat this stuff up for weeks. I also think it’s pretty cool to get the coaches perspective on how they see the league shaping up.

Just a reminder: Central Connecticut State was picked to finish second in last year’s preseason poll. Central Connecticut State finished with five wins on the season. Take it with a grain of salt.

Without further ado, your official 2015 preseason standings:

Mount St. Mary’s (6)
Robert Morris (3)
Bryant (1)
LIU Brooklyn
St. Francis Brooklyn
Wagner
Sacred Heart
St. Francis PA
Fairleigh Dickinson
Central Connecticut State

And your preseason all-NEC team:

G Byron Ashe - Mount St. Mary’s
G Cane Broome - Sacred Heart
G Rodney Pryor - Robert Morris
F Gregory Graves - Mount St. Mary’s
F Dan Garvin - Bryant

The defending champs second? Byron Ashe? Sacred Heart at seven? Our official NEC predictions piece isn’t scheduled until next Thursday, but feel free to chime in with thoughts…

--Chris Cappella

Monday, October 26, 2015

KenPom releases NEC preseason projections


KenPom released his full preseason ranking projections late last week. For your viewing pleasure, here is the NEC:

1. Mount St. Mary’s: 179
2. Robert Morris: 200
3. St. Francis Brooklyn: 217
4. Sacred Heart: 221
5. Bryant: 240
6. Wagner: 256
7. St. Francis PA: 277
8. LIU Brooklyn: 278
9. Fairleigh Dickinson: 320
10. Central Connecticut State: 340

Last year, Robert Morris finished at 176 overall. St. Francis Brooklyn, who won the NEC regular season championship, finished at 150.

I love preseason rankings. They fire me up beyond belief. It’s great to see the chatter leading up to the season, because it means the season is finally so close to being here. With that being said, even I know to take preseason rankings with a grain of salt.

A few things on the KenPom rankings:

I’m sure a lot of people would have presumed RMU was going to be number one in every preseason ranking. With, KenPom I can’t say I’m surprised. KenPom operates under a statistical basis. Robert Morris lost their second-most efficient scorer (Marcquise Reed) and another heavy operator of their offense (Lucky Jones). It’s hard to project a team like that.

Mount St. Mary’s, on the other hand, has plenty of their top performers coming back. Byron Ashe, Greg Graves, Junior Robinson, Khalid Nwandu, Taylor Danaher and Will Miller are all coming back. They should be a really good team this season.

Of course, the game is never played on paper. In my opinion, Robert Morris has the best player, point guard and coach in the conference. Also, I think Elijah Minnie will prove to be as good as any forward in the NEC. I’ll expand on this much more as we get closer to the season.

KenPom has RMU losing their season opener at UPenn and four of their first five of the year. He has them finishing 16-15 overall and 11-7 in conference. RMU hasn’t lost more than six conference games since 2007 when they finished 9-9.

I was surprised to see St. Francis Brooklyn so high with the losses of Brent Jones and Jalen Cannon. However, they deserve that respect with the type of season they put together last year.

Central Connecticut State brings up the rear at 340th overall. There are 351 teams in college basketball. Is Howie Dickenman still there? It could be a long winter in New Britain.

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Friday, October 23, 2015

What to expect from the Robert Morris defense

RMU’s defense was never really a problem last year.

I start with this because I specifically remember a lot of last year’s early season discussion circling around the defense. :RMU should go back to a man defense.” I must have had that tweeted at me 200 times a week through January. 

 So let’s just start with that understanding and go from there.

Last season, Robert Morris gave up 102.7 points per 100 possessions according to KenPom. The Division I average was 102.0, so Robert Morris was essentially, in 35 games, an average defensive team.

Of course, numbers will ever tell the whole story. In non-conference play, RMU played some incredible offensive teams. Lafayette, North Carolina, Georgetown and Toledo were ALL in the top-50 in offensive efficiency last season. Duquesne was 72, another top offensive team. Facing those types of offenses will fudge with your numbers.

Robert Morris had the third-most efficient offense in conference play last season, giving up 98.8 points per 100 possessions, according to KenPom. That’s pretty damn good.

The thing about RMU’s defense is you can’t just pinpoint it on one scheme or person. No, Robert Morris doesn’t have an Amdy Fall in the middle or an outstanding guard who will lock you up on the perimeter. Instead, they swarm to points with a ton of energy in their 2-3 zone. 

 Last year’s team had such an advantage with Lucky Jones. Like a solid cornerback in football, Jones could almost take away half the court. Teams would specifically run plays away from him. Having a player like that was/is a blessing and a curse; it’s nice to have that type of defensive presence, but you always want to see your best defensive player engaged and making plays.

 Jones (and for that matter David Appolon, a terrific defensive guard) are obviously no longer around, but that doesn’t mean RMU should be slackers on that end. 

 Good defense translates no matter the scheme. Playing with energy, discipline and communication is universal, but a good 2-3 defense has to fight through screens, communicate as offenses run through different zones and makes high post entry difficult. Length is a welcomed aspect of things too.

 Robert Morris won’t be short on length. The whole team, even point guard Kavon Stewart, is long as hell. Length can make up for a lot things, specifically if you have a wing on the bottom of the zone who might not be the quickest, they can still contest shots in the corner and baseline.

 Last year, Rodney Pryor, who stands around 6 foot 4, played primarily at the top of the zone. I’m interested to see if that’s the case this year, especially with such an influx of inexperienced players jumping into things. 

 It can’t be ignored that Marcquise Reed isn’t going to be around. Reed had the 27th best steal percentage in the country. With teams so actively trying to move the ball and get the zone defense out of position, there will be more opportunities to deflect passes and get steals. Reed did it better than almost anyone, and that’ll be hard to replicate. 

 Two newcomers that figure to play a large role this season are guards Matty McConnell and Isaiah Still. I would imagine, just based on size, McConnell will be at the top of the zone. Still has more of a Lucky Jones reputation as an incredibly athletic, long wing player. The news coming out the Stills camp is encouraging; in my opinion he can be an impact defensive player right away.

 Both will have to be committed on the defensive end. As the old adage goes, defense gets and keeps you on the floor. That couldn’t be more true at Robert Morris.

 Having a “big” man anchoring the zone is nice but not needed. The middle needs toughness, not size. It’s the reason Aaron Tate started at center, not Stephan Bennett. 

 With the status of both Bennett and Tate in doubt, the Andre Frederick era might start at least a year earlier than imagined. Frederick has flashed potential, twice recording four blocks in a single game, but was wildly inconsistent. For every great play he had, there were ten more where he was caught sleeping on the defensive end. 

 Frederick is a massive human, so the potential as a shot blocker and rebounder is there, but I have my concerns. I’m interested in the athletic frame freshman Billy Giles can bring. Joe Hugley should also see some minutes. 

 When it comes down it, this should be a solid defensive team. I’ve stated my feelings for Kavon Stewart and what a blur he can be offensively. That goes both ways. He can terrorize defensively. Between Stewart, Pryor and Minnie, those are three impact defensive players. 

Every team is going to have bad games. Hell, Youngstown State’s Bobby Hain looked like Patrick Ewing in a December game at Robert Morris. Communication will probably be an issue early, but it shouldn’t be enough to make the Colonials a well oiled machine when it matters most. 

 --Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Aaron Tate might be done, but my players strike is just beginning


Robert Morris forward Aaron Tate tweeted he may not be playing this season.


Tate really puts the “power” in “power forward”. His stats aren't going to jump off the page (3.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 50% from the field, ) but he was the heart and sole of last year’s team. This is what Andy Toole had to say about Tate after his buzzer beater against CCSU last season:
"I was very happy that it was Aaron Tate who tipped it in. I would be happy if it was anybody but Aaron does the right thing everyday, every opportunity that he has, every decision that he makes is the right one and I said to the guys after the game maybe that's why the ball bounced three times and was able to fall in for us because he's got some good collateral with the basketball gods," he said.
From what I can gather, Tate has been having issues with his knees, shins and ankles, and surgery could be in his future. Andre Frederick, Billy Giles and Joe Hugley all figure to be in the mix to anchor the 2-3 defense.

I’m not even going to try and guess what comes next. Maybe he redshirts, maybe he quits, maybe all of this means nothing and he suits up game one.

Consider this the beginning of my “players speculation” strike. If a guy quits, transfers, voices his displeasure on social media or whatever else could possibly happen anymore, I just don’t care anymore. I will not be writing anymore “player x has left the team” articles.

This is Division I basketball. Generally speaking, I’m sorry if things get hard and you want to quit the team. Good! I don’t want to watch guys who don’t want to be there anyway. Leave the team, and don’t come back.

I’m done. I’m writing about basketball from here on out.

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Thursday, October 15, 2015

And the best point guard in the NEC is..



St. Francis Brooklyn’s Brent Jones was the best point guard in the NEC last year, but on the night of the NEC championship game, he took a bow to Kavon Stewart. The sophomore guard hounded him defensively while putting up 11 points and a cool six assists.

Consider that game a changing of the guard, because Kavon Stewart is entering 2015 as the best point guard in the NEC.

Defining what a “point guard” is can be challenging, and everyone has their own flavor. Some like the traditional pass-first, in-control guard while others like the aggression the “newer” generation of point guards bring. It’s probably a moot point, but I understand the differing opinions that will come with this article.

The NEC has been blessed with some incredible point guard play these past few seasons. From Brent Jones to Velton Jones to Jason Brickman, it’s been a consistent that comes will inconsistent mid-major play.

I’m not sure we’re going to see great point guard play, but the top tier is solid. The three best point guards look like they’ll be Stewart, Sacred Heart’s Cane Broome and St. Francis Pennsylvania’s Malik Harmon. Mount St. Mary’s Lamont Robinson could also be thrown into that mix. Robinson had the second best assist rate in conference play last season.

The nice thing about this group is the youth. Stewart and Harmon are entering their junior seasons while Broome and Robinson will be sophomores.

Right away, let me throw this out there. I tweeted this the other day to gauge the responses:

Broome and Harmon were the most common responses that didn’t come from the RMU faithful. I’m indifferent on Harmon. For someone who isn’t a great shooter (39.6 percent from the field, 32.8 percent from three) I don’t think he can dish it like some of the other guys can. He just blends in on the floor.

Robinson is the wild card. He averaged a very respectable (and surprising) 8.2 points in about 24 minutes per game last season. He probably isn’t getting enough respect in this conversation, but I’ll boil it down to two things:

1) I want to see him do it again and prove his freshman year wasn’t fluky and
2) I want to see if Mount St. Mary’s pace of play, which is traditionally very fast but wasn’t last season, will have any effect on him. He has me intrigued, though.

Broome brings the most amount of opinions for a variety of reasons. Are we sure he’s a good shooter, or a volume shooter in a high tempo offense? His overall efficiency numbers don’t break to top 500 in KenPom.

Kavon Stewart directs traffic in a game against Wagner.
Broome’s biggest challenge is going to be adjusting to a more on the ball role. Last year, the incredibly steady Phil Gaetano handled the point duties. With Gaetano gone to graduation, we need to see if Broome can step up and become that lead guy.

I have my reservations. Broome is a solid shooter (he shot 49 percent from the floor as a freshman guard) but had nearly as many assists as he did turnovers. Can he still put up solid shooting numbers and create for his teammates? I'm not sure. When it comes down to it, I just trust my eyes. I like Broome, I don’t love Broome. I’m probably in the minority.

The ultimate case for Kavon
My personal flavor for a PG is someone who can hunt and create his own shot but looks to create and set up others first. I want someone who will control the tempo. Last year, Stewart average 4.6 assists-per-game. His last eight games (including the postseason): 49 assists to 16 turnovers. Think something clicked for him?

The NEC semifinal game was the official coming out party. When the team didn’t seem to have it, he put up a monstrous 19 points, 8 assists, 7 steals performance. A few days later in the NEC championship game, he made Brent Jones invisible. He was in complete control of that game, getting to the line at will and locking up on defense.

The defense aspect is another hat to toss into the ring. When Stewart puts consistent effort into the defensive side of the basketball, he might be the best defender in the NEC. Let’s make this clear: I am not saying Stewart is going to win NEC defensive player of the year; he’s just too inconsistent on that end. There are days when he gambles too much or doesn’t bring enough energy. It can be a sloppy mess of discipline. 

I’m merely saying he’s capable of being a top-end defender, and even on his worst days is still probably the best overall  defender of this group. Stewart’s steal percentage was one of the best in the country last year.

Shooting is always going to be Stewart’s Achilles heel. He’s not great at it. To put it nicely, he’s a streaky three point shooter. When he drives, he’s all left hand. That has to change. The strides he made from his freshman to sophomore year were encouraging, though.

So much of Stewart’s game is confidence. When he’s confident in his abilities, he brings a tremendous amount of energy, a controlled recklessness and a relentless amount of attack. It’s poetry.

So that’s my case. Flawed? Yes. Stewart's not the mold of a Velton Jones or Anthony Myers-Pate. The good comes with the bad. He has a lower floor but a higher ceiling.

Enjoy the ride.

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Monday, October 12, 2015

Preseason Polls update

It's that time of year....COLLEGE BASKETBALL IS BACK.


... well sorta.


Teams have begun practice in preparation for the 2015-2016 season, and with that many outlets are releasing their season preview's.

Chronicling the Colonials will have extensive coverage of the Colonials and the Northeast Conference as we get closer to the November 13th opener.

So far I've found three high quality publications that have released their NEC preview/predictions. All three are high on the Colonials. USA Today, Lindy's, and The Sporting News selected Robert Morris to win the NEC, and all three dubbed senior guard Rodney Pryor the conference player of the year.

Interestingly enough, USA Today picks Bryant to represent the league in the NCAA tournament (meaning they pick RMU to get upset in NEC tournament play).

Can Pryor lead the Colonials to another NCAA
tournament berth?
(p/c Pitt Post Gazette)
Overall, the league has lost its share fare of talent via graduation and transfers, but Andy Toole's program --despite the loss of two major pieces in Lucky Jones and Marcquise Reed-- seems, on paper anyway, the best equip to deal with the losses.

While these predictions are far from locks most of the time, it is nice to see the program getting the recognition it deserves after a successful March last season.

Also of note, how about Rodney Pryor? The senior looked like he would be battling for his career due to injuries a few years ago, and now he is a near consensus pick to win the Player of the Year award as we head into the season. That is a credit to his dedication and hard work over the years. While he will now have to go out and earn it, its nice to see.

Much for coverage to come over the next few weeks!

--Lee Kunkel
--@Kunkel5

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Lionel Gomis not returning

Robert Morris forward Lionel Gomis has left the team, per a source.

Gomis is not listed on RMU’s roster on the official Robert Morris athletics website.

Gomis played in 27 games last season, averaging 1.0 points and 1.6 rebounds in 9.6 minutes. Gomis shot 30.3 percent from the field.

On the court, Gomis’ presence won’t really be missed. I’m not trying to sound like a bad person here, but Gomis just wasn’t good at any point last season. The struggles began right away when he struggled to pass his conditioning test. They continued with his absurdly high foul rate, measured at 9-fouls-per-40 minutes according to KenPom.

This does, yet again, provide another slight blow to the team’s depth. Gomis is now the fifth player from last season not returning, joining Lucky Jones and David Appolon (graduation), Marcquise Reed (transferred to Clemson) and Stephan Bennett (left the team).

Robert Morris has four walk-ons. There’s crowd-favorite Conrad Stephens (returning) and newcomers guards Anthony Pugh and Nate Johnson. Johnson was a teammate of freshman wing Isaiah Still at Union Catholic high school.  A fourth walk-on is not yet listed on the official roster yet.

As it stands, here are the scholarship players:
G Kavon Stewart
G Matty McConnell
G Rodney Pryor
G Steven Whitley
G Isaiah Still
G Jordan Lester
F Aaron Tate
F Billy Giles
F Joe Hughey
F Andre Frederick

F Elijah Minnie

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Friday, October 9, 2015

Stephan Bennett has left the team, and what it means

Robert Morris center Stephan Bennett is no longer on the team, Sports Information Director Jim Duzyk confirmed via e-mail.

“Unfortunately, he hasn't met the necessary requirements to move forward with the program,” Duzyk wrote.


I’m not sure about the chances Bennett comes back, or even would be welcomed back. You may remember that  around the time of the NEC championship game, Bennett was involved in an incident in Pittsburgh that took him away from the team. While he traveled with the team during the NCAA tournament, enough may just be enough.


There are a lot of differing opinions on what exactly Robert Morris is going to be losing (or gaining, based on your perspective) with Bennett gone. Let’s recap:


Last year, Hawk scored 4.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Quite frankly, last year was a big time disappointment for him. There were signs that Hawk was going to be able to put something together.


When Hawk came in as a rail-thin freshman in 2012 he at least had the type of size that made you think he could be a really good shot blocker/rebounder. “Maybe he could develop a low-post game,” the average thinking man might have pondered.


By his sophomore year, Hawk was still 150 pounds and it was clear he was never going to be a good rebounder. What did happen was he developed a really nice mid-range game. That 12 foot baseline jumper was money for him. Hell, he hit a three in an NIT game at Belmont.


If Hawk wasn’t going to be able to rebound or be an above-average defender, that mid-range shot needed to be there this season. It wasn’t. 2014-15 was full of awkward jump hooks, fouls and baseline jumpers clunked off the side of the backboard. The metaphorical “leap” we all hoped he would take never happened.


In the sense of a few things, yes, the team will miss Hawk. With the way things have gone the past few years, never underestimate depth. At the very least, Hawk could have been a senior who knew what he was doing, could give guys a breather and maybe something clicks for him. For a team that lost one of the best players in school history (Lucky Jones) and a stud shooting guard (Marcquise Reed), anyone who knows what they’re doing and has played in big spots is at an advantage.

On the other hand, the book of Stephan Bennett appears to be closed. At 6-foot-9, he couldn’t rebound, was an average defender, okay shot blocker and, more often than not, was an offensive liability. If he doesn’t want to be apart of the team, so be it. That’s his decision to make and not something we should judge.

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Monday, October 5, 2015

Recruiting update

Some Robert Morris recruiting news to pass along.....


The Colonials received their second commitment for the class of  2016. 6-7 230lb forward David Cole out of Christ The King High School in New York committed to Robert Morris over the weekend.


Cole received offers from St. Francis Brooklyn, Central Connecticut, and Manhattan among others. Recruiting guru Brian Flinn gave Cole a nice endorsement.




The Colonials now have two 2016 verbal commits as Cole joins 6-10 Braden Burke. Here is a nice piece on Burke over at Colonials Corner. Burke commits to Robert Morris 


Size was obviously a big priority for the Colonials as they move forward. Robert Morris is due to lose forwards Aaron Tate and Stephan Bennett and have already lost Leo Gomis via transfer.