Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews St. Joe’s SR SG/SF Aaron Brown

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Jon Teitel

Aaron Brown is so good that he is about to play in the tourney for the 2nd time…on his 2nd team!  On Sunday he scored 13 PTS to help the Hawks beat VCU in the A-10 tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament.  His 1st college start came in the 2012 NCAA tourney with Virginia, and 4 years later his final college start will come against Cincinnati on Friday.  Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Aaron about transferring to St. Joe’s and defending the 3-PT line.

aaron

In the 2012 NCAA tourney as a player at West Virginia you scored 2 PTS in a loss to Gonzaga: what are your memories of your 1st taste of the tourney? I was a freshman so I did not really understand what a privilege it was to play in the tourney. It was my 1st career start and even though we lost it was a great experience.

You spent your 1st 2 years of college in Morgantown: why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose St. Joe’s? I decided to transfer because it was the best situation for me after a lot of things had happened. Once I decided to leave I knew that I would come to St. Joe’s because they were my #2 choice when I was in high school.

Do you still follow the Mountaineers, and if so, how far do you think they will go this year? I do catch a game here and there. Coach Bob Huggins is a very good guy and will always say hi whenever I drop by the West Virginia gym: there is no bad blood.

You play for Coach Phil Martelli: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He is just a good dude who is always there to help by putting us in the right situation to be our best. I knew that from the 1st time he started recruiting me.

You beat several tourney teams this season including Buffalo/Temple/Dayton (twice)/VCU: which of these teams impressed you the most? They were all very good teams, which is why they all made the tourney. I cannot put 1 ahead of another because we had tough times with all of them.

Isaiah Miles was named the A-10 Most Improved Player/conference tourney MVP, led the team in many statistical categories (PPG/RPG/BPG), and also led the entire conference with 88.3 FT%: what makes him such a great player? His work ethic is great: he spent so much time over the summer and now it is paying off. He waited for his time and has learned a lot.

On Sunday you had 13 PTS in a win over VCU to clinch the A-10 tourney title en route to being named to the all-tourney team: how hard is it to win 3 games in 3 days, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? It is very tough to win 3 straight games: you have to focus on scouting reports and get some rest in a short period of time so that you can take care of your body. I went to class the day after we won and got a standing ovation: everyone is excited that we are bringing the attention to our school.

Your team is top-20 in the nation in 3P% allowed: what makes you guys so good at defending long-range shots? You just have to know the scouting report in terms of who to close out on, who has the hot hand, etc.

The A-10 was 1 of only 2 non-power conferences (along with the AAC) to have at least 3 teams make the NCAA tourney: what advice do you have for Syracuse (who plays Dayton on Friday) and Oregon State (who plays VCU on Friday)? I would say to not underestimate any A-10 teams because we all made the tourney for a reason. Do not take them lightly just because they are not a Power-5 school!

You ended up with a #8-seed and will be playing in Spokane on Friday against Cincinnati (who was swept by Temple this year): do you think that you deserved a better seed, and can you even remember playing against the Bearcats in the Big East 4 years ago? It did not matter what seed we got: we will be ready to go. We played them at home during my freshman year.  It was a completely different team but they were physical and played man-to-man defense.

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First Four!! Play in…I mean…Opening Round Games

Posted on March 15, 2016 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for the most recent Hoops HD Report

CLICK HERE for John Stalica’s wrte up on the NIT, CIT, and CBI games

CLICK HERE for Jon Teitel’s interview with SFA senior Thomas Walkup

 

FIRST FOUR!!! 

-Okay, let me get this out of the way.  I’m not a huge fan of the First Four.  I look at the NCAA Tournament as being a championship and not a jamboree.  I think the idea of expanding the field to “give more teams a chance” isn’t really doing that at all.  There is a 30+ game regular season.  All 351 teams have a chance to make their case of belonging in the NCAA Tournament throughout that season.  So, everyone has a chance.  There are also conference tournaments in 31 out of the 32 leagues that award automatic bids to the winners, so that is yet another chance that everyone has.  Expanding the field to give more teams a chance is, in reality, giving teams a third chance after they’ve already had two.  But, it is what it is.  No one asked me.

But, if we must have 68 teams instead of 64, then why do we use this format??  This is not a dig at Dayton.  I think they do an amazing job with this event.  Furthermore, I don’t think anyone else in the country would do a better job with this event.  But, logistically, it is difficult on both the teams and the fans.  You learn you’re in the tournament on Sunday night.  If you’re playing tonight, you have less than 48 hours to get to Dayton, and essentially you need to figure out how you’re going to do that before you go to bed on Sunday night.  The fans of the teams who are in these games cannot make travel plans on Sunday to be in Dayton on Tuesday, and then maybe be in another city entirely on either Thursday or Friday if they win.  On top of that, the local fans in Dayton, as great as they are, usually aren’t all that familiar about any of the teams, (especially in the #16 v #16 games), so we have fans with no emotional interest just sitting there and watching as if they are at a movie.  It isn’t really the NCAA Tournament atmosphere that we have at all the other sites.

So, if we must have 68, I’d like to see it done one of two ways.  First would be to have a #17 line, and just have the #16s play the #17s at the #16s.  I know some of the venues are small, but doing it this way would create a much getter atmosphere and arrange it so at least half the teams didn’t have to travel.

The other way would be to just send them directly to the sites that they’re playing in.  Instead of sending Florida Gulf Coast from Gulf Coast to Dayton and then to Raleigh all in about 72 hours, just send them straight to Raleigh and play the game there.  I’d much rather play two games in two days at one place than two games in three days at two places.

But, we don’t do it that way.  Teams are in Dayton now that didn’t know they were going to be there as recently as Sunday afternoon, and because of the rush it was very difficult to get their own fans there.  But, here we go.  So….

 

#16 FLORIDA GULF COAST VS #16 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON.  Both of these teams won their tournaments in exciting fashion, particularly Fairleigh Dickinson.  FGCU wasn’t really expected to be here, but after clobbering top seeded North Florida on the road in the ASun semis and then holding on to beat a Stetson team in the championship that got hot all of a sudden, they made it.  I’m actually really looking forward to this game because both teams have looked good in their recent games, and it should be exciting and well played.  We keep hearing about “Dunk City.”  Well, this FGCU team isn’t exactly “Dunk City” anymore than this year’s Michigan team (who is also in the First Four) is the Fab Five.  It’s a different cast of characters entirely, but it is still fun to watch them play and it should be fun tonight.

#11 VANDERBILT VS #11 WICHITA STATE.  Vandy had high expectations coming into the year, but was somewhat of a surprise selection, especially when compared to teams like Monmouth and Saint Bonaventure who were left out.  They still have a strong front court which could give Wichita problems.  Wichita isn’t as big, but they have a very good backcourt, so the contrast of styles should be exciting.  Wichita hasn’t won a lot of great games, but they’ve won several road games in conference that weren’t easy to win, so they are somewhat battle tested and could do well in this tournament if they get out of the First Four tonight.

#16 HOLY CROSS VS #16 SOUTHERN U.  It’s great to see Southern U back in the tournament after an APR ban that had nothing to do with the current players.  Although they weren’t the first place team in the SWAC, they did appear to be one of the stronger teams, if not the strongest, out of conference so it’s not as if them being here is any sort of a fluke.  Holy Cross, on the other hand….yeah, that could be considered a bit of a fluke.  They finished in 9th place in the Patriot League, which only has ten teams, and didn’t win a single road game during the regular season.  They ended up winning four in the conference tournament to win the automatic bid, and looked inexplicably good in all four of them.  Like the other game, this one should be exciting.

#11 MICHIGAN VS #11 TULSA.  It has been discussed, at length, how no one feels Tulsa should be in this field.  I agree with that.  They do have a win at SMU, though, so just because they rarely played up to their ceiling does not mean their ceiling isn’t higher than their paper indicates.  In their last game they were crushed by Memphis, but sometimes when a team is given a second chance that they weren’t expecting to get, they really cash it in.  Michigan had a lot of peaks and valleys this season as well, but they beat a very good Indiana team in the Big Ten Tournament, and had they not done so they may not be in this field.  Their good has certainly looked better than Tulsa’s good, but their bad has shown that they can also be beaten by a team like Tulsa.  Lastly, both these teams should thank Louisville and SMU.  Without their ineligibility, neither of these teams would be here.

 

 

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Stephen F. Austin SR SG/SF Thomas Walkup

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Jon Teitel

Most players would be content with 1 conference POY award or 1 conference tourney MVP award: if anyone needs to borrow 1, Thomas Walkup has 2 of the former and an incredible 3 of the latter!  On Saturday he scored 19 PTS to help the Lumberjacks chop down Texas A&M Corpus-Christi in the Southland tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. He led the conference in FG% this year and even had a Leap Day triple-double.  Yesterday HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Thomas about a single-digit loss to Utah in last year’s NCAA tourney and how his team forces more turnovers than almost anyone in the nation.

walkup

You play for Coach Brad Underwood, the 3-time reigning conference COY: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? It is hard to pick just 1 quality, but his attention to detail is great and he brings it every day at practice. I have taken that to heart and will use that the rest of my life.

Last March you scored 12 PTS in a 7-PT loss to Utah: what did you learn from that game that you think can help you this time around? We learned that we cannot play timid. If we had played in the 1st half the way we did in the 2nd half I think that we would have won the game, so we will come out more aggressive this time.

You began your season with a pair of tough road games against Baylor/Northern Iowa: which of these teams impressed you the most? Baylor was much better than Northern Iowa. They have athleticism, size, and happened to play 1 of their best games of the year against us: they just shot it well all night long.

On February 29th you had a triple-double (12 PTS/15 REB/10 AST) in only 28 minutes during a win over Incarnate Word: where does that rank among the best all-around games of your career? It is definitely in the top-5. It was not all up to me: I just kept dishing the ball to my teammates for layups. It was neat to look at the scoresheet after the game and see double-digits in all 3 columns!

On Saturday you had 19 PTS/4 STL in a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to clinch the Southland tourney title en route to being named conference tourney MVP for the 3rd straight year: how are you able to consistently play your best when it matters the most? Preparation. We lift weights during the summer and throughout the season so my body stays fresh while our opponents might be a little worn out.

You are the 2-time reigning conference POY and led the conference in FG% this year: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors, and what is your secret for being a great shooter? I will look back at my individual accomplishments in 10-15 years but I know that I am winning these awards due to the success of our team, which is the most important thing. The key to shooting well is just staying in the gym…but I would not call myself a great shooter.

You have increased many of your stats during each of your 4 years on campus (PPG/RPG/APG/SPG): how have you improved as a player from the fall of 2012 until now? My numbers were not very good as a freshman, and the following summer our new coaching staff dragged us into the gym to preach individual improvement. All of us still get into the gym to put up some shots because our coaches showed us what it takes to be good.

Each of your top-3 scorers (including yourself) are seniors: how crucial has your veteran leadership been to your team’s success this year? It has been a huge part of our success. The best part is that all the seniors have been to the NCAA tourney and won the Southland tourney so I think it is a combination of leadership/experience. Having 5 seniors in the rotation with everyone playing their roles has helped a lot.

Your team has forced 596 TO this year, which is #2 in the nation: what kind of defensive tactics has your team used to rack up so many turnovers? We stay in the passing lanes, pressure the ball, and are extremely aggressive on defense. Some teams use defense as a chance to take break during the game but that is where we thrive and wear people out.

You ended up with a #14-seed and will be playing in Brooklyn on Friday against West Virginia (who swept Baylor in the regular season): do you think that you deserved a better seed, and how do you plan to deal with the Mountaineers’ famous full-court press? There are a lot of good teams out there. Of course it would be nice to be a #12-seed but I am happy with our seed/draw. We have a lot of different guys who can handle the ball and pass it and we have a high basketball IQ so we will try to beat their press and attack down the floor.

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Postseason News, Notes and Highlighted Games – Tuesday, March 15

Posted on March 15, 2016 by John Stalica

Click here for the weekly HoopsHD Report previewing the NCAA Tournament which starts tonight; also click here for Chad Sherwood’s analysis of the 2016 NCAA Tournament bracket.

Also click here for Jon Teitel’s interview with Saint Joseph’s F Isaiah Miles and here for his interview with Middle Tennessee assistant coach Win Case

-Trent Johnson and Johnny Dawkins were both dismissed from their positions yesterday, although neither result was unexpected. What was unexpected was Cal assistant Yann Hufnagel being dismissed over sexual harassment allegations just days prior to the Bears’ NCAA Tournament opener.

-The CIT got off to a good start for the Team of the People last night; despite a late charge from South Carolina State in the inaugural John McLendon Classic, Grand Canyon defeated the Bulldogs 78-74. The Lopes’ Grandy Glaza was named MVP of the game. Jackson State defeated Sam Houston State 81-77 in the other 1st-round CIT game played last night.

NIT

(8) HIGH POINT AT (1) SOUTH CAROLINA (7:00 PM, ESPNU) – This is the first game of the NIT between one of the first 4 teams left out of the NCAA Tournament in South Carolina and the regular season champs of the Big South, the High Point Panthers. Both teams have dealt with injury issues in recent weeks, but it’s difficult to imagine High Point making this game competitive without John Brown in their lineup tonight.

(6) AKRON AT (3) OHIO STATE (7:00 PM, ESPN) – This is actually a rematch of the 1989 NIT opener for both teams; back then, Gary Williams was coach for Ohio State and Bob Huggins was coach for Akron in a game that Ohio State won at St. John Arena. Akron wound up in the NIT after winning the regular season in the MAC but wound up losing in the closing minutes of the MAC championship to Buffalo. Ohio State did rack up a few decent wins at the end of their Big 10 campaign and will likely be favored to win tonight as well.

(5) DAVIDSON AT (4) FLORIDA STATE (7:00 PM, ESPN2) – There is some talent on the floor here with Davidson’s Jack Gibbs and Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes and their talented freshmen, but the Noles stumbled in the 2nd half of ACC play (although they did score wins over Virginia and Notre Dame at home this year). Davidson never looked like a serious contender after getting embarrassed against Pitt at Madison Square Garden back in December.

(5) ALABAMA AT (4) CREIGHTON (9:00 PM, ESPN) – Both teams were pleasant surprises in their respective leagues, although Alabama did have real NCAA Tournament hopes as late as the end of February. Led by their lightning-quick guard Maurice Watson Jr., Creighton will likely be too much to handle in Omaha in their first postseason game in the post-Doug McDermott era.

(7) NORTH FLORIDA AT (2) FLORIDA (9:00 PM, ESPNU) – This is another rematch of the 2014 Sweet 16 game between the Gators and Ospreys, although not quite as much is at stake for this go-around. North Florida (Atlantic Sun regular season champion) is looking to rebound after a disastrous finish to their regular season finale at home against Florida Gulf Coast in the Atlantic Sun Tournament. Florida will look to extend their stay in the O-Dome for a little longer before it undergoes renovations this summer.

(6) LONG BEACH STATE AT (3) WASHINGTON (9:00 PM, ESPN2) – This is another pair of at-large NIT teams that were also pleasant surprises to advance to this tier of postseason play. Long Beach did pick up notable wins against BYU, Seton Hall and a pair of wins against Hawaii earlier in the season. Washington’s best wins were against Texas (overseas in November), USC and Colorado. However, the Huskies were only 1-1 against Big West foes – they beat Cal State-Northridge but lost a game to UC-Santa Barbara.

(8) TEXAS SOUTHERN AT (1) VALPARAISO (9:15 PM, ESPN3) – Valpo is another team that gets one of the four 1-seeds in the NIT by virtue of being one of the first four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament field. They were assured of an NIT bid because of their Horizon League regular-season crown, but Texas Southern also gained entry to the NIT by virtue of their SWAC regular-season crown. Even the Tigers’ loss in the SWAC tournament wasn’t a complete shock as Southern was the most consistent team all year in the SWAC.

(7) NEW MEXICO STATE AT (2) ST. MARY’S (11:00 PM, ESPN2) – As tough as it was for the Gaels to not hear their name called for the NCAA Tournament after winning the regular season title in the West Coast Conference, it was tougher for the Aggies since Cal State-Bakersfield ended their reign of terror in the WAC with a buzzer-beater in the WAC Championship. New Mexico State must turn around very quickly to try and beat St. Mary’s in a place where Pepperdine was the only visitor to leave victorious.

CBI

MOREHEAD STATE AT SIENA (7:00 PM, sienaallaccess.com) – Siena will begin their quest for the program’s 2nd CBI crown tonight; they also won this tournament 2 seasons ago. Morehead State also had wins against Belmont and Austin Peay in their only meetings with those two teams earlier this year, but they lost in the Ohio Valley semifinals to Tennessee-Martin. Tonight’s winner will face the winner of tomorrow night’s Duquesne-Omaha game.

CIT – all games streamed on the CIT’s website

MERCER AT COASTAL CAROLINA (7:00 PM) – This is the first time in 3 seasons that Coastal Carolina will not be representing the Big South in the NCAA Tournament, but nonetheless will get to experience one more postseason run before they transfer to the Sun Belt for basketball and all sports (besides football) for next season. Mercer will begin their quest for their 2nd CIT championship; they also won the 2012 CIT championship at Utah State.

BALL STATE AT TENNESSEE STATE (8:00 PM) – Both the Cardinals and the Tigers had breakout seasons in their respective conferences, although their tournament runs ended early in the MAC and OVC conference tournaments. Ball State’s best win came at home against Valparaiso early in the season; Tennessee State split a pair of games with regular-season champion Belmont and tournament champion Austin Peay.

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The Hoops HD Report (Selection Sunday +1 Edition): March 14th

Posted on March 14, 2016 by David Griggs

Chad and the panel start off by sharing their thoughts on what the selection committee did, particularly Virginia getting a #1 seed over Michigan State, how Villanova and Xavier were placed in regions that will require them to travel more than what appeared to be necessary, and of course they talk about the inclusion of Tulsa, which everyone feels is ridiculous, and the exclusion of teams like Monmouth and Saint Bonaventure.

After that, they review each of the four brackets, talk about some of the intriguing match-ups in the Round of 64, and each picks their Final Four and national champions.

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show…

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews St. Joe’s SR SF Isaiah Miles

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Jon Teitel

The Hawk may never die but at least he could hang out on Sunday and watch his team earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament.  Isaiah Miles had a huge game with 26 PTS/12 REB to help beat VCU in the A-10 tourney title game and be named conference tourney MVP.  St. Joe’s received a #8-seed and will play Cincy on Friday in Spokane.  Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Miles about losing some weight and making some FTs. 

miles

Your nickname is “Zeke”: who gave you the nickname, and how do you like it? I got that name growing up from my dad because it was Isiah Thomas’ nickname: I like it a lot.

You are the only player on the team from Maryland: what made you choose St. Joe’s? It is close to home: this year my family was able to come to every single home game, and when I have winter or spring break I can go home to visit them.

You play for Coach Phil Martelli: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He is a great mentor who has taught me to be a good person who has good character. The name on the front of our jerseys is important but the name on the back counts as well: we have to make our families proud.

You did not play in the 8-PT OT loss to eventual champion UConn in the 2014 NCAA tourney: have any of your teammates who did play in that game (DeAndre’ Bembry/Papa Ndao) told you what to expect in the tourney? They said to treat it just like any other game, tune out everything else, and just play against the 5 guys on the other side of the court.

You beat several tourney teams this season including Buffalo/Temple/Dayton (twice)/VCU: which of these teams impressed you the most? They are all really good teams. I am happy that Dayton and VCU made it so they can represent the A-10.  I wish we had even more of our teams make it: I am proud to be part of our conference.

Earlier this month you were named the A-10 Most Improved Player: how much of a factor was losing 19 pounds from last year’s weight of 235 pounds, and if you win the title will you eat a Wendy’s bacon cheeseburger to celebrate?! Losing the weight was a huge factor and it changed my game a lot. I play close to 40 minutes/game, which would have been impossible last year: it allows me to be more explosive as I finish off my senior year. Sadly I will not grab a cheeseburger: if I have even 1 then I will not be able to stop!

On Sunday you had 26 PTS/11-16 FG/12 REB in a win over VCU to clinch the A-10 tourney title en route to being named conference tourney MVP: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? I just wanted to play my hardest for the team. The championship game of the postseason tourney is when the best players have to step up, and I credit my teammates for finding me in open places against VCU’s zone defense. We got back that night around 11PM and there were fans in our gym chanting the school fight song, which shows how loyal they are.

This year you led the team in many statistical categories (PPG/RPG/BPG): do you feel like you have to play a great all-around game for your team to win this week? I will definitely have to play my A game and be the best that I can be against a good team.

You also led the entire conference with 88.3 FT%: what is your secret for making FTs? I have always been a really good FT shooter, even back in high school. I just take my time and tune out everything else. I practice them every chance I get so that I feel comfortable at the line during games.

You ended up with a #8-seed and will be playing in Spokane on Friday against Cincinnati (who was swept by Temple this year): do you think that you deserved a better seed, and what do you know about the Bearcats? I do not know everything about the RPI so I am just happy for the opportunity to play in the tourney, as that has been 1 of my goals since the start of the season. I heard that the Bearcats are a strong/gritty team just like us so it will be a fight.

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