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Subject: Men’s Bball Author: joiseyfan [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 13:06:36 10/08/24 Tue Ignoring the idiocy of discussing basketball ONE game into the league football season, here’s the preseason press poll: https://ivyleague.com/news/2024/10/8/mens-basketball-tigers-selected-as-league-preseason-favorite.aspx 1. Tigers — 15 2. Bulldogs 3. Bruno — 1 4. Red 5. Lions 6. Crimson 7. Quakers 8. Green Can’t remember the last time Penn and Harvard were jointly ranked so low. Still no press release on the Princeton men’s frosh class, which is odd to the point of bizarre. The women’s release came out June 6. Still waiting patiently for news on CJ Happy, and see whether he can make a run at center on the all-time all-name Ivy squad, now comfortably occupied by Hassan Duncombe. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Subject: Re: Men’s Bball Author: Go Green [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 13:41:15 10/08/24 Tue I assume that the poll pre-dated the news that Brown's Nana Owusu-Anane is expected to miss the season? [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Men’s Bball Author: Fear the Quaker [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 14:11:04 10/08/24 Tue Next to last, a place where long time Quaker fans are not used to being. Ouch. Hopefully, some magic will occur in the Palestra and in the freshmen class will surprise. :) [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Men’s Bball Author: An Observer [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 14:30:08 10/08/24 Tue That is a lot of respect for a Columbia team which finished 4-10 last year. I'm not saying the optimism is wrong, but that's a big step up in expectations, given recent history. Good for Columbia. Are we sure that no voters thought they were opining on Megan Griffith's team? [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: Columbia should be in the mix for a seed in the IL Men's Tourney. Author: Valmas (Stoic) [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 15:28:34 10/08/24 Tue Columbia expects at least seven experienced upperclassmen to be part of this year's men's basketball team; including IL Player of the Year candidate and one-thousand point scorer, Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa. H, P and P all lose key pieces in transfer situations; Brown to injury; and Cornell loses their wunderkind coach, the great Brian Earl. So I like the Lions' chances to at least finish the regular season in the league's top tier. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Columbia should be in the mix for a seed in the IL Men's Tourney. Author: An Observer [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 16:02:01 10/08/24 Tue I am absolutely not saying that the optimism in Morningside Heights is misplaced. Having led with a Columbia disclaimer, I think that, broadly across many sports, one recurring point made by bullish analysts with which I most *disagree* is a lot of returning starters from a team with a losing record. Players should get better over the course of their four years -- yes. But players should get better at all programs, including competitors. In my observation, the biggest jumps are made by non-stars at top programs who have the talent to make the leap, but in the prior season were sitting behind a superior starter. It's less common to see a team finish 4-10 and then have four or five starters from that squad step up to a stronger year. They were starting last year. In the words of Dennis Green, "They are who we thought they were." None of this is specific to Columbia. But having brought up the point, I'd be more optimistic about the non-stars on Megan Griffith's team stepping up once Abbey Hsu and other seniors take their diplomas to the Mohegan Sun and beyond. I believe that P only lost to the transfer portal the player who transferred to Western Carolina. Weren't people on this board saying that Jack Scott pulled a Spencer Gloger? [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> Subject: AO: Your points are well taken, as per usual. Author: Valmas (Stoic) [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 16:48:12 10/08/24 Tue Sorry - in the prior post, I meant H (Malik Mack), Y (Danny Wolf) and P (Vernon Collins and Zach Martini) to transfer situations. Now, Martini did graduate; but, with a year of eligibility remaining, he also transferred to Rutgers. And, yes, Columbia was most recently 4-10 in IL league play; but I prefer to look at that team as ten points shy of 7-7; just 10 points was the entire differential in two losses to Harvard and one to Brown; and Harvard's Mack and Brown's Owusu-Anane - both instrumental in all three of those narrow Columbia losses - will be missing from the upcoming IL season. So, Columbia, with one all-league performer and a solid supporting cast, can complete this next IL season at 7-7 (at worst) and a place at the post-season table. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: AO: Your points are well taken, as per usual. Author: An Observer [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 17:02:26 10/08/24 Tue Thank you, Michael, for your kind words. I really like your point that the team lost a lot of close games and was only ten points shy of being 7-7. In basketball, the goal is to work for good shots and deny them to your opponent. Having taken an assortment of both good and bad shots, sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't. That's especially true now that we are so three-point oriented. One or two shots that luckily bank in off glass inevitably will play a role in how a game plays out. I would love to see data about how teams which have an extreme +/- record in close games (say, within three points) in a given season do in similarly close games the following year. Coaching and game management in the final minutes of a contest is a skill of the staff which carries over from season to season. There's a reason why some teams win the close ones. But some of it is simply serendipity. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: The tale of the tape. Author: Valmas (Stoic) [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 18:07:54 10/08/24 Tue Under the present-day Columbia men's basketball coach, the team has gone 10-16, in Ivy League games decided by five or less points. That may not seem impressive (38% WPCT.), but it's better than the WPCT. for his overall IL record and for his complete record as Columbia head coach - each of which hovers at or below 30%. So, it can be said that he's shown an ability to win a portion of the close ones. Again, I believe a good number of the member schools have suffered significant personnel losses; and I have the personal knowledge allowing me to define the current Columbia seniors as, to a man, tough-minded and good character human beings. There's still a place in this world for people like that to succeed and I believe they'll use their final opportunity as student-athletes to demonstrate just that! [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Men’s Bball Author: The Mountain LIon [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 10:28:20 10/09/24 Wed After six or seven years of dismal recruiting, Columbia somehow turned everything around three years ago and recruited a very good class. Then after another bad recruiting year, the Lions recruited the current very promising freshman class. Aside from the recruiting improvement, the Lions did not lose any players from last year's team to the transfer portal. So this is mostly about much improved recruiting and holding on to what you have. Given the huge improvement in personnel, it is not unreasonable to expect Columbia to compete strongly for the Ivy League Men's Basketball Championship this season, and if the Lions do not finish in one of the top three places in the Ivy League, it will be a huge disappointment. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Men’s Bball Author: Roar Lion [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 15:38:38 10/09/24 Wed CU returns four of top six scorers from last year and I think all of our top five rebounders. I can't say whether the incoming freshman are good enough to contribute, certainly hope so. I agree with AO that returning the core of a 4-10 team is not that exciting, but most of them were sophs last year - they should be getting better. Is 7-7 realistic? I don't think competing for a title is in the cards, but we ought to be a contender for a tournament spot. How many chances will this coach get? [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Men’s Bball Author: BLUE BOY (sad) [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 13:38:48 10/10/24 Thu Bulldogs second that will not happen third or forth if there lucky.They can shoot the ball but rebounding will be a problem all year.Why jones did not go after any transfer is beyond me.Just like football no news [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: And Women Poll Author: Bengal [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 13:49:14 10/10/24 Thu I appreciate P being picked first in the M and W polls, but I think these polls tend to skew at the top in favor of last year’s leaders. Plus the impact of transfers out and into the League is difficult to fully measure. The P men do not have a returning center, at least one with more than minimal experience, and it remains to be seen if one develops. The P women have lost a star and supporting cast in previous years and still won the title or co- title and the automatic NCAA bid the following year. This year, we lose 2 stars and supporting cast, 3 who started at the end of the season. If we win the League or automatic bid, that will be a great job by players and staff. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: Ivy Women's Basketball Media Day Thurs, Oct 17 Author: An Observer [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 14:07:46 10/10/24 Thu The Ivy League will host an online media day next Thursday, Oct 17. The host will be Lance Medow. Of the various local broadcasting teams which do play-by-play and color on ESPN+, I think he's the best. He's an asset for Columbia basketball. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Ivy Women's Basketball Media Day Thurs, Oct 17 Author: Bengal [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 15:09:26 10/10/24 Thu Columbia used to have a guy do a mid-game week interview with Bagnoli when he was still HC at Penn. He was outstanding. While the interviews were never on the same level of entertainment and directness as listening to Carril, they were entertaining and worth listening to. One year, when Hughes was our HC, he said “they’re playing harder this year” in reference to P. Think about that one. The other thing I remember him saying was a comment on what made Villanova such a difficult opponent: not size but explosiveness. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]