America East Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 30, 2021 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE For All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Stony Brook
  2. Vermont
  3. New Hampshire
  4. Hartford
  5. UMBC
  6. UMass Lowell
  7. Albany
  8. NJIT
  9. Maine
  10. Binghamton

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Stony Brook was just 7-9 in league play last year and won just 9 games overall, but they were pegged as the preseason favorites this year.  I’m not sure that’s who I would have voted for, but with four starters returning along with six new transfers the expectations are high.  They were a terrible shooting team last year so if they can improve on that it would be a huge step in the right direction.

-Vermont seems to always be at or near the top of this league, and with four starters back from a team that tied for 1st place the expectations are again high.  Ryan Davis returns as one of the best players in the conference and he’ll have a pretty good supporting cast around him.

-New Hampshire also has some good experience returning with four starters back.  This program struggled a year ago, but they still managed a 3rd place finish and have some key pieces back this year.  They have two guys that can score in the frontcourt in Jayden Martinez and Nick Guadarrama and a really good guard in transfer Marco Foster, so the Wildcats have something going this year.

-Hartford is the Team of the People!!  We’ve already named them so they’re going on top!  This is a team that won the conference tournament last year and made the NCAAs for the first time ever.  It’s also a program that may be transitioning down to div3 if the leadership at the head of the university gets their way.  Their stated reasons for wanting to transition down are questionable at best and there has been a huge groundswell of support around this program.  They have also made huge strides in recent years and could be in position to take another big step forward this year.  With three starters back and some strong transfers coming in we could see this team back in The Dance this March!

-UMBC has some rebuilding to do after a first place tie last year.  They also have a new coach in Jim Ferry, who has some big shoes to fill after Ryan Odom left for Utah State.  The Retrievers have had a good run over the past several seasons, but they look to be rebuilding this year.

-UMass Lowell had a so-so season last year where they finished 7-8 in league play.  They’ve got three starters back and some key transfers so we may see some improvement out of this team this year.

-Albany has had their roster overhauled.  Just one starter is back and while they have added some transfers they may have trouble keeping up with the top half of the league.

-NJIT has had a rough couple of years, and could be in for another rough year this year.  They’ll look to get some production out of three returning starters and some of the transfers that they’ve added.

-Maine and Binghamton are typically at the bottom of the league and that’s where they’re likely to end up this year as well.

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Metro Atlantic Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 30, 2021 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE For All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Iona
  2. Saint Peter’s
  3. Marist
  4. Monmouth
  5. Rider
  6. Fairfield
  7. Manhattan
  8. Siena
  9. Quinnipiac
  10. Niagara
  11. Canisius

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-It was a crazy year last year with Iona playing just nine regular season games under first year coach Rick Pitino, but they won the conference tournament and the auto bid before losing to Alabama.  They did lose two starting guards, but they have some key transfers coming in and should once again have strong guard play and play intense pressure defense.

-Saint Peter’s has all five starters back and that experience could lead to a successful season and another big step forward for the program.  This is another team that can play really tough defense and that should help with their success this year.

-Marist is another team with a lot of experience coming back.  Four starters return for a team that was playing fairly well down the stretch, and if they can carry that momentum into this year they should once again be able to finish in the top-three or top-four of the league.

-Coach King Rice has done a fantastic job at Monmouth, but he’s tasked with replacing what was probably their best player in Deion Hammond.  Fortunately three starters are back and they did get some key transfers so chances are they’ll still finish in the top half of the league.

-Rider really struggled last year and won just six games, which is way below what we are used to seeing out of them.  They do add a few key transfers to the roster and that should help them improve this year.

-If you’re looking for a dark horse then you may want to consider Fairfield.  They have all five starters back, and while they certainly had an unspectacular season a year ago they actually weren’t all that bad down the stretch.  They actually advanced all the way to the MAAC Championship game before losing to Iona, so they should at least have some confidence with all the starters back.

-Manhattan had a rough year last year, but four starters are back along with some key transfers, so we should see some improvement this season.

-Siena finished in a tie for first place a year ago, but they also lost most of their key players and are in reset mode right now.  The long term health of this program is pretty solid, but this may be a long year for the Saints as they try to rebuild.

-Quinnipiac, Niagara, and Canisius are all teams that return quite a bit of experience, but they’re also all coming off the kinds of seasons where you wonder if the experience they’re returning is going to help them.

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In Memoriam: HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel interviews Dan Lynch Jr. about his father Daniel

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Jon Teitel

Daniel Lynch did it all at St. Francis as both a player/coach. As a player he led his team in scoring for 4 years in a row and was captain of the 1937 team. A decade after graduating he became head coach at his alma mater and over the next 20 years he made 3 trips to the NIT and won the 1951 National Catholic Invitational Tournament. He remains the winningest basketball coach in school history and also coached the varsity baseball team for several years. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Daniel’s son Dan Jr. about his father’s success in several different roles. Today marks the 40th anniversary of Daniel’s passing on October 30, 1981 so we take this time to honor his life/legacy.

Your father was captain of the basketball team at St. Francis (NY): what made him such a good leader? We came from the same area of Brooklyn as Red Auerbach! Very few people went to college back then but he ended up getting a couple of master degrees and serving in WWII. He was the 1st in our family to do a bunch of things: he was very self-driven.

He led the team in scoring during each of his 4 years: what was his secret for being a great scorer? He was a tremendous shooter with a 2-hand set-shot but only scored about 8 PPG because it was a low-scoring era.

A decade after graduating he became head coach at his alma mater: why did he take the job? He actually coached a high school team while he was still in college himself, then later coached at St. Francis Prep for several years.

What are your memories of the 1954 NIT (NIT MVP Togo Palazzi scored 25 PTS in a win by eventual champion Holy Cross)? I remember that Holy Cross was 1 of the premier teams in the country back then.

In the 1956 NIT Al Innis had a school-record 37 REB in a win over Lafayette: was it just a situation where Al grabbed every single rebound because he was “in the zone”? I think that remains the record for the most rebounds by anyone in NIT history. That team remained close to my father long after they graduated.

In the 1963 NIT Mike McCoy scored 29 PTS including the game-winning layup in a 1-PT win by Miami: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? I was at that game: McCoy came in averaging about 8-9 PPG but had a huge game and was making shots from 25 feet away. It was 1 of the only times that Rick Barry was ever held to single-digits.

He later worked as athletic director/professor of physical education: how did he like being an administrator/faculty member as opposed to being a coach? I am sure that he liked coaching the most but he also liked the camaraderie he formed with the other coaches while meeting with them as AD. He only taught toward the end of his career but really got into it and enjoyed it a lot. He was a pioneer in women’s sports after the advent of Title IX and was an early advocate of the 3-PT line: they even played 1 game against Siena after painting a 3-PT line on the court!

He remains the winningest coach in school history: what made him such a good coach, and do you think anyone will ever break his record? They had a lot of homegrown guys and played a tough schedule. I remember reading articles that always described them as “tough kids from Brooklyn” who did not even have a real gym to practice in. I do not think that his record will be broken unless there is a coach who stays there for a long time: it is a lot harder to get high-quality players right now.

You also attended St. Francis: how big of an influence was he on your own college decision? There was never any doubt: I went to almost every single home game even while I was still in the womb. From Day 1 I knew that I would go there, although I was more of a baseball player than a basketball player.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Every single person who met him, from the ticket-takers to the opposing head coaches, considered him a very down-to-earth person who treated everyone the same. He drummed into me the idea that if you have to tell someone who you are, then you are not. He never held a grudge once the game was over: he was a great leader and a great friend. We were at a bar once when an interview with my dad was being shown on TV. The bartender looked at the TV, then looked at my dad sitting at the bar, and was just stunned!

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OVC Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 29, 2021 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE For All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Belmont
  2. Morehead State
  3. Murray State
  4. SEMO
  5. Tennessee State
  6. Austin Peay
  7. SIUE
  8. Tennessee Tech
  9. Eastern Illinois
  10. UT Martin

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:

-Johni Broome – F – Morehead State
-Tevin Brown – G – Murray State
-Jr. Clay – G – Tennessee Tech
-Chris Harris – G – SEMO
-Carlos Marshall Jr. – G – Tennessee State
-Grayson Murray – G – Belmont
-Nick Muszynski – C – Belmont
-Skyelar Potter – G – Morehead State
-Luke Smith – G – Belmont
-KJ Williams – F – Murray State

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State have left the conference to join the Atlantic Sun, and Austin Peay will be joining them next year.  That makes the OVC a single division, ten-team league.

-Belmont is perhaps in the running of the most under-rewarded team in college basketball over the past couple of seasons.  In the 2019-2020 season they finished in first place and won the OVC Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament!!  The problem was the NCAA Tournament was cancelled…but they had all their players returning the next season and tried to put together a strong OOC schedule  The problem was that a lot of those games ended up not getting played.  They were still the first place team in the conference though and lost just four games all year!   Unfortunately one of those was the OVC Championship game against a Morehead State team they had beaten and finished ahead of during the regular season.  And that was it.  No NCAA Tournament.  No NIT.  No respect.  Belmont, again, has all five starters back.  They are one of the better UTR teams out there, and may have an outside shot at playing their way inside the bubble.  Nick Muszynski is probably the best big man in the league and they have some great shooters on the perimeter as well.

-Morehead State posted a 17-3 record in league play and won the OVC Tournament.  While they did lose some key pieces and have just two starters back, they add a couple of pretty solid transfers and have some guys back that contributed off the bench as well.

-Murray State had a less stellar season than what we normally see out of the Racers, but with four starters, including KJ Williams, they will once again be close to the top of the standings this year.

After that there is pretty big drop off.

-SEMO has all five starters back and that experience seems to have people thinking they can finish in the top half of the league, but they won just 11 games a year ago.  They did look a lot better down the stretch winning four of their last five before losing in the conference tournament so maybe they can take some of that momentum into this season.

-Tennessee State won just four games last year and is in complete reset mode with no returning starters.  They do have some guys back that were injured last year and some key players who transferred in, so we should see some improvement from them this year.

-Austin Peay has just one starter back, and it’s not Terry Taylor, who was the best player in the league a year ago.  They are in complete reset mode and could be in for a long season.

-SIUE lost eight of their last nine games to end the season last year, so while three starters are back it’s hard to say that the expectations are all that high.

-Tennessee Tech has a good coach in John Pelphrey (at least I think so) and a good player in Jr. Clay.  They don’t seem to have much else, though.  I thought Pelphrey was a fantastic hire who would really be able to get this program going, but they’re coming off a year where they were just 5-22 and have shown very few signs of improvement.

-Eastern Illinois has a new coach in Marty Simmons and he has his work cut out for him.  Just one starter is back from a year ago and there are a lot of question marks surrounding this team.

-UT Martin is coming off a year where they dealt with severe off the court issues.  Coach Anthony Stewart died just before the season started and the team was understandably effected by that all season long.  They’ve got a new young coach in Ryan Ridder and have had a bit of a roster overhaul as well as they try and get things back on the right track.

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Ivy League Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 29, 2021 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE For All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Yale
  2. Harvard
  3. Princeton
  4. Penn
  5. Brown
  6. Dartmouth
  7. Cornell
  8. Columbia

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-It’s never easy to forecast how a season is going to go.  That’s why so many preseason predictions, even the ones that come from experts, end up being flat-out wrong.  It’s also the reason that we don’t really make predictions anymore, but rather just try and offer a few notes on each team.  With that being said, doing that for a conference where none of the teams played a season ago won’t be easy.

-Yale is the preseason favorite and they appear to have a strong perimeter led by SR G Azar Swain.  They have been the class of the league in recent years and appear to be close to the top again.

-I was really excited about Harvard’s team last year, and was kind of disappointed when the Ivy opted not to play.  A lot of guys that would have been on the team last year graduated and moved on and it’s kind of hard to know what to make of them.  They’ve got a lot of new players so I guess we will see once the season starts.

– Princeton returns a lot of players who were in contributing roles two seasons ago, and that experience should help them out this year.

-Penn has what appears to be a strong backcourt and could have a decent frontcourt as well with some players being back from injury.

-Tamenang Choh is back for Brown and that should give them some experience this year.  It’s hard to say how much help he is going to get.

-Brendan Barry transferred from Dartmouth to Temple last year…and has now transferred back.  He should be able to give them a boost as well but they may still be in for a long season.

-Neither Cornell or Columbia had good years the last time we had an Ivy League season, and chances are this year will be a struggle for them as well.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews ASU SR SF Kimani Lawrence

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE For All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

We are keeping our fingers crossed in the hope that we can return to a “normal” version of college basketball this fall: fans in the stands, announcers without masks, etc. Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen but we will try to restore some order with season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. We continue our coverage with ASU SR SF Kimani Lawrence. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Kimani about being a veteran leader and his expectations for this season.

You were born/raised in Rhode Island: what made you choose ASU? I wanted to go to a school that needed me and at the time Coach Bobby Hurley did not have all of his guys here yet. I felt it would be the best place for me to get onto the court right away.

What makes Hurley such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He has taught me the importance of competing regardless of the game situation. He is really good at connecting with his players, especially since he was a big-time college player himself, so we have a lot of respect for him.

In December of 2018 you scored 7 PTS in a 4-PT win over an undefeated Kansas team: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It is definitely 1 of my favorite ASU moments: it is up there.

1 of your biggest heroes is Kobe Bryant: what was your reaction when you learned that he died last year? It was really sad, especially with his daughter Gianna and several other people also dying in the helicopter crash.

Last February you had 21 PTS/20 REB in an 8-PT win over Washington: where does that rank among the best all-around games of your career? That was definitely my best game as a Sun Devil.

Your FG%/FT% both went way up from 2020 to 2021: how were you able to improve so much in just 1 year? Just simplifying the game, moving more without the ball, and being more aggressive. It helped my confidence and took my game to another level.

After 3 straight 20-win seasons you went 11-14 last year: what will it take to turn things around this season? 1 of our biggest problems last season was not being on the court enough with each other due to COVID/injuries. The big thing this year is to just learn each other’s game and create a bond off the court so that we can gel on the court.

There are 10 newcomers on the roster this year: how much pressure is there on you to be a veteran leader? Coach Hurley trusted me to help get the new players to buy in. Being a veteran I know what is expected of the players. The newcomers are all high-character guys who want to win so there was not much pressure once I got to know them: there is a mutual level of respect and we all get along.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against San Diego State/Baylor/Creighton and either VCU or Syracuse: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? There is not 1 specific game that stands out, but the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas is a big-time opportunity to show that we can compete with Baylor and other high-level teams.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? My biggest goal is just winning, since that will help us all get to where we want to be individually. This is my last year: next year I hope to play professionally and winning this year will give me the best opportunity to do so. If you look at a championship team like Villanova from a few years ago you can see how many of their players went pro.

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