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Monday, November 19, 2007
A quick look at some news and numbers from around the league.
NO RUST ON ROEMER: One of the questions for Colgate entering the season was how effective Kyle Roemer would be after missing the Raiders last 32 games over the past two seasons due to injuries. Conventional wisdom was that it would take Roemer at least a few games to shake off the rust accumulated after missing the final three games of the 2005-06 season with a concussion and all 29 of last season with an ankle injury.
The answer is: no time at all. Roemer is averaging a league-best 20 points per game through Colgate's first four outings. The 6-3 redshirt (medical) junior, who averaged 10.7 ppg through his first two seasons, has scored 15, 16, 24 and 25 in four games thus far. The 25 against Kennesaw State Saturday broke his career-high set the night before against Texas State. The two 20-point games equalled the number of 20-point performances Roemer recorded in the first 54 games of his career.
This far, Roemer is shooting 40 percent from three-point range, with 12 of his 26 field goals coming from the arc.
BROWN OUT: Big things are expected this season from Army's Jarrell Brown, but through three games, Brown's offense has been hit or miss -- and more miss than hit. Sandwiched around his 26-point outburst against Sacred Heart are a 5-point night in the opener at Minnesota and a 4-point showing in last week's loss to Long Island.
Brown, who scored 20 points in 11 games last season and reached double figures in 26 of the Black Knights' 31 contests, averaged 16.9 points per game last season, shooting 41.8 percent from the field. He is shooting just 34.3 percent this season, and his average is down to 11.7 ppg, tied with teammate Kenny Brewer, who is averaging 11.7 ppg off the bench. Brewer has arguably been Army's best offensive player. He is shooting 62.5 percent from the floor.
SMALL BALL: American coach Jeff Jones was looking to add some size to his lineup after the graduation Brayden Billbe and Paulius Jonelius when he went the juco route in recruiting. But after a 1-2 start, Jones went smaller in the Eagles' win Sunday over Stony Brook. Cornelius Guibunda, the 6-9 junior transfer from Georgetown, who started the first three games, was relegated to the bench. His place in the starting lineup was taken by 6-5 Jordan Nichols. Guibunda played only 3 minutes against Stony Brook.
GROWING PAINS: Navy, on the other hand, has tried to go bigger this season, starting a pair of 6-10 guys in all four games. Freshman Mark Veazey has started all four games. Fellow freshman Jeremy Wilson, another 6-10 guy, started in Navy's most recent contest, replacing 6-10 senior Ben Biles in the starting five But the added size has not resulted in an added presence in the paint. Navy has been outrebounded by an average of more than 6 boards per game. The lack of an inside attack is a big reason why opponents have made 82 free throws (on 115 tries) thus far, while Navy has only shot 78 (54 made).
Navy's 1-3 start can't be blamed entirely on the big men, though. The Mids are also averaging 20.3 turnovers per game.
NAVY'S NOT ALONE: Through three games, 1-2 Lafayette has also had inside problems. The Leopards are shooting almost two percentage points (43.2-41.3) better than their opponents and have hit twice as many threes (32-15, Lafayette shooting 39.5 percent, foes 26.3 from the arc). But the 'Pards are 1-3. The slow start is primarily due to being outrebounded on average by 10 boards per game (44.3-34.3). It has not helped that opponents have made 77 of 106 free throws and Lafayette has only shot 83 foul shots (making 54).
YOU ARE WHO YOU PLAY: It is still way too early to take the RPI rankings seriously, but the early numbers do give you a peak at both the relative strength of the league's teams, and to perhaps a greater extent, the strength of the schedules they have played. Bucknell, which was No. 1 last week, slipped, but not far, after Sunday's loss to Villanova. The Bison are No. 6 in the RPI as of Monday morning. Holy Cross is up to No. 11 after beating Hampton and Colgate is also in the top 64, checking in at No. 58. Navy is the only other team in the top 200 (barely), checking in at 197. Other league teams and their RPI; Lehigh - 200, American - 276, Army - 324 and Lafayette - 325. As a conference, the Patriot now ranks No. 18 out of the nation's 32 (including independents) Division I leagues.
NO SURPRISES: Pat Flannery was not surprised Bucknell played Villanova so tough Sunday. Even though the Bison team that beat Kansas had lost by 38 in the ski lodge the last time Bucknell visited the Main Line, and the Bucknell team that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament the next year lost by 19 at home, and even though Bucknell's rotation included only one senior and three freshmen, there was no intimidation factor.
"We have some players. We're not coming down here without any players," said Flannery. "Now when we come into a Villnova, there is not that awe, not that wow."
Villanova coach Jay Wright agreed: "I don't think anybody here is surprised. Anybody who saw the halftime score (Bucknell 35, Villanova 27) was not surprised. They do it to everybody. They are just that good."
YOUNG GUNS: You know Bucknell has three freshmen in the rotation, and two of their three seniors out of action due to injuries. But here is another number that emphasizes just how young and inexperienced the Bison are: 38. That is how many starts the dozen guys who have dressed for Bucknell this season had between them when the season started. All 38 of those, by the way, belonged to senior John Griffin.
BLOCK PARTY: Bucknell freshman Todd O'Brien blocked two more shots against Villanova, giving him three straight games with multiple blocks and eight total rejections through the first three games of his career. O'Brien's average of 2.7 blocks per game ranks tops in the league and 39th in the nation. That pace would have been tops in the Patriot League in nine of the past 16 seasons.
As a team, Bucknell had three blocks against Villanova, giving the Bison three or more in three games this season, equalling the number of times they blocked three in a game all of last season.
FOUL MOOD: Holy Cross center Tim Clifford has fouled out twice already in the Crusaders' first three games. Clifford has now been disqualified in 17 games in his career. Clifford's pace of 8.8 fouls per 40 minutes this season is even higher than his career pace of 5.4 fouls per 40 minutes. As a freshman, Clifford averaged 6.3 fouls per 40 minutes. That number dipped to 5.5 per 40 as a sophomore and 4.9 40 last season.
Since Clifford has averaged 15 points and 7.3 rebounds per 40 minutes over his career, his ability to stay on the floor longer could pay huge dividends for Holy Cross.
LEAGUE LEADERS: Conference leaders in selected categories through Sunday with their NCAA rank in parentheses:
Scoring: Kyle Roemer, Colgate -- 20 ppg (tie 72)
Rebounding: Bryan White, Lehigh -- 10.7 rpg (tie 30)
Blocked shots: Todd O'Brien, Bucknell -- 2.7 bpg (39)
3 pt. FG pct.: G.W. Boon, Bucknell; Michael Gruner, Lafayette -- 50 percent (tie 150)
NO RUST ON ROEMER: One of the questions for Colgate entering the season was how effective Kyle Roemer would be after missing the Raiders last 32 games over the past two seasons due to injuries. Conventional wisdom was that it would take Roemer at least a few games to shake off the rust accumulated after missing the final three games of the 2005-06 season with a concussion and all 29 of last season with an ankle injury.
The answer is: no time at all. Roemer is averaging a league-best 20 points per game through Colgate's first four outings. The 6-3 redshirt (medical) junior, who averaged 10.7 ppg through his first two seasons, has scored 15, 16, 24 and 25 in four games thus far. The 25 against Kennesaw State Saturday broke his career-high set the night before against Texas State. The two 20-point games equalled the number of 20-point performances Roemer recorded in the first 54 games of his career.
This far, Roemer is shooting 40 percent from three-point range, with 12 of his 26 field goals coming from the arc.
BROWN OUT: Big things are expected this season from Army's Jarrell Brown, but through three games, Brown's offense has been hit or miss -- and more miss than hit. Sandwiched around his 26-point outburst against Sacred Heart are a 5-point night in the opener at Minnesota and a 4-point showing in last week's loss to Long Island.
Brown, who scored 20 points in 11 games last season and reached double figures in 26 of the Black Knights' 31 contests, averaged 16.9 points per game last season, shooting 41.8 percent from the field. He is shooting just 34.3 percent this season, and his average is down to 11.7 ppg, tied with teammate Kenny Brewer, who is averaging 11.7 ppg off the bench. Brewer has arguably been Army's best offensive player. He is shooting 62.5 percent from the floor.
SMALL BALL: American coach Jeff Jones was looking to add some size to his lineup after the graduation Brayden Billbe and Paulius Jonelius when he went the juco route in recruiting. But after a 1-2 start, Jones went smaller in the Eagles' win Sunday over Stony Brook. Cornelius Guibunda, the 6-9 junior transfer from Georgetown, who started the first three games, was relegated to the bench. His place in the starting lineup was taken by 6-5 Jordan Nichols. Guibunda played only 3 minutes against Stony Brook.
GROWING PAINS: Navy, on the other hand, has tried to go bigger this season, starting a pair of 6-10 guys in all four games. Freshman Mark Veazey has started all four games. Fellow freshman Jeremy Wilson, another 6-10 guy, started in Navy's most recent contest, replacing 6-10 senior Ben Biles in the starting five But the added size has not resulted in an added presence in the paint. Navy has been outrebounded by an average of more than 6 boards per game. The lack of an inside attack is a big reason why opponents have made 82 free throws (on 115 tries) thus far, while Navy has only shot 78 (54 made).
Navy's 1-3 start can't be blamed entirely on the big men, though. The Mids are also averaging 20.3 turnovers per game.
NAVY'S NOT ALONE: Through three games, 1-2 Lafayette has also had inside problems. The Leopards are shooting almost two percentage points (43.2-41.3) better than their opponents and have hit twice as many threes (32-15, Lafayette shooting 39.5 percent, foes 26.3 from the arc). But the 'Pards are 1-3. The slow start is primarily due to being outrebounded on average by 10 boards per game (44.3-34.3). It has not helped that opponents have made 77 of 106 free throws and Lafayette has only shot 83 foul shots (making 54).
YOU ARE WHO YOU PLAY: It is still way too early to take the RPI rankings seriously, but the early numbers do give you a peak at both the relative strength of the league's teams, and to perhaps a greater extent, the strength of the schedules they have played. Bucknell, which was No. 1 last week, slipped, but not far, after Sunday's loss to Villanova. The Bison are No. 6 in the RPI as of Monday morning. Holy Cross is up to No. 11 after beating Hampton and Colgate is also in the top 64, checking in at No. 58. Navy is the only other team in the top 200 (barely), checking in at 197. Other league teams and their RPI; Lehigh - 200, American - 276, Army - 324 and Lafayette - 325. As a conference, the Patriot now ranks No. 18 out of the nation's 32 (including independents) Division I leagues.
NO SURPRISES: Pat Flannery was not surprised Bucknell played Villanova so tough Sunday. Even though the Bison team that beat Kansas had lost by 38 in the ski lodge the last time Bucknell visited the Main Line, and the Bucknell team that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament the next year lost by 19 at home, and even though Bucknell's rotation included only one senior and three freshmen, there was no intimidation factor.
"We have some players. We're not coming down here without any players," said Flannery. "Now when we come into a Villnova, there is not that awe, not that wow."
Villanova coach Jay Wright agreed: "I don't think anybody here is surprised. Anybody who saw the halftime score (Bucknell 35, Villanova 27) was not surprised. They do it to everybody. They are just that good."
YOUNG GUNS: You know Bucknell has three freshmen in the rotation, and two of their three seniors out of action due to injuries. But here is another number that emphasizes just how young and inexperienced the Bison are: 38. That is how many starts the dozen guys who have dressed for Bucknell this season had between them when the season started. All 38 of those, by the way, belonged to senior John Griffin.
BLOCK PARTY: Bucknell freshman Todd O'Brien blocked two more shots against Villanova, giving him three straight games with multiple blocks and eight total rejections through the first three games of his career. O'Brien's average of 2.7 blocks per game ranks tops in the league and 39th in the nation. That pace would have been tops in the Patriot League in nine of the past 16 seasons.
As a team, Bucknell had three blocks against Villanova, giving the Bison three or more in three games this season, equalling the number of times they blocked three in a game all of last season.
FOUL MOOD: Holy Cross center Tim Clifford has fouled out twice already in the Crusaders' first three games. Clifford has now been disqualified in 17 games in his career. Clifford's pace of 8.8 fouls per 40 minutes this season is even higher than his career pace of 5.4 fouls per 40 minutes. As a freshman, Clifford averaged 6.3 fouls per 40 minutes. That number dipped to 5.5 per 40 as a sophomore and 4.9 40 last season.
Since Clifford has averaged 15 points and 7.3 rebounds per 40 minutes over his career, his ability to stay on the floor longer could pay huge dividends for Holy Cross.
LEAGUE LEADERS: Conference leaders in selected categories through Sunday with their NCAA rank in parentheses:
Scoring: Kyle Roemer, Colgate -- 20 ppg (tie 72)
Rebounding: Bryan White, Lehigh -- 10.7 rpg (tie 30)
Blocked shots: Todd O'Brien, Bucknell -- 2.7 bpg (39)
3 pt. FG pct.: G.W. Boon, Bucknell; Michael Gruner, Lafayette -- 50 percent (tie 150)
Labels: American, Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Navy, notebook
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