Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Ivy League Report from the SportsXChange/YahooSports.com


Ever since Cornell reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament two seasons ago, the Ivy League has once again rebranded itself as a conference of dangerous opponents instead of the stereotypical smart guys who play basketball in between science fairs.

Harvard made that clear again in late November. In an eight-team field that included defending national champion Connecticut and No. 22 Florida State, the Crimson emerged as the champions of the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas, knocking off Utah, Florida State and Central Florida in the process.

The problem for the conference is that apart from the Crimson, the contenders for the conference title got off to slow starts in non-league play.

Yale can’t hang its head over an 11-point loss to the Big East’s Seton Hall, but would dearly love to have that six-point loss at Quinnipiac back. Penn lost back-to-back-to-back games to Wagner, Pittsburgh and James Madison. And Princeton’s new coaching staff got off to a 2-5 start with losses to Wagner, Elon, Bucknell and Morehead State.

And the injury news is worse. Columbia lost Noruwa Agho for the season with a knee injury in the second game of the season, so barring him getting a rare Ivy League medical redshirt his college career is over. Cornell may have lost Errick Peck for the season with knee surgery, and is battling injuries to several other players as well.

It’s not a big deal if you’re Harvard, which entered December getting a lot of votes in the Top 25 poll, if not an actual ranking. But the slow start from the rest of the league could have an impact on the postseason.

Three teams made it to a postseason tournament a year ago, and a fourth would have joined them had Yale not lost too many of its players to Spring Break before the fields were announced. For that to happen again, the other seven of the Ancient Eight will need to pick up the pace in a hurry.

NOTES, QUOTES

The biggest loss of the early season didn’t come on the scoreboard in the Ivy League. Rather, it came in the form of a knee injury that will sideline Columbia guard Noruwa Agho for the season. Agho was the centerpiece of Kyle Smith’s offense a year ago and the early part of this season, and other players are going to have to fill the breach to replace his considerable offensive production.

Yale center Greg Mangano started the 2011-12 season like he left off the previous campaign … as an All-Ivy lock and a potential NBA player. He was averaging close to a double-double through November.

Penn guard Zack Rosen got off to a red-hot start, averaging more than 20 points a game through November. He’s also moving up the charts in the Penn record books, which is a mixed blessing for his coach. He was 50 assists away from the career record at Penn through seven games of the 2011-12 season … a mark held by coach Jerome Allen with 505 career helpers.

One thing about Princeton is that it’s going to be tough for Ivy League teams to dominate the Tigers in the paint. The Tigers have nine players on the roster who are 6-8 or taller, the most in the conference.

Dartmouth guard David Rufful gave the Big Green a rare bit of good news when he was named to the Great Alaska Shootout’s All-Tournament team in November. The senior averaged 17.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in the three games, and made 10 of his 15 attempts from three-point range in the three-day event, which saw his team beat Alaska Anchorage and lose to San Francisco and Central Michigan.

While the Harvard men’s basketball team was in California knocking off Loyola Marymount, its gym was being put to good use by a charity event that also gave the local fans a chance to welcome back its most prominent basketball-playing alum.

Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo hosted an event at Lavietes Gym to benefit to benefit local charities SPIN (Serving People In Need), Sojourner House, and Crossroads Family Shelter. Among the returnees was former Harvard guard Jeremy Lin. Lin nailed a host of deep threes to help his team, which included Rondo, JaJuan Johnson, Rudy Gay, Josh Smith and Kendrick Perkins, to victory.

Of all the injured Cornell players, and there are many, the most worrisome news may concern forward Errick Peck. Peck entered December on the sidelines, and hasn’t been able to play since undergoing what was expected to be a minor knee surgery over the summer. But there are reportedly lingering issues there, and the cartilage is not regenerating as quickly as the surgeons expected. At this point, he could be out for the season.

Brown got bad news from the NCAA concerning recruit Rafael Maia, who graduated from a Brazilian high school in 2009 and played last year at Maine Central Institute. Because he graduated from a Southern Hemisphere high school and did not enroll at a Division I institution within one year of that date, he has to sit out the 2011-12 season and will lose a year of eligibility.

Columbia played shorthanded early in the season, thanks to an injury to starting forward John Daniels that caused him to miss the first two games. However, Daniels was back in the starting lineup by the end of November.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Matchup To Watch: It seems crazy to think of it, but the Dec. 8 game between Harvard and Connecticut is probably a matchup between the top two teams in New England. At least the coaches have seen a lot of each other—both were participants in the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas, with the Crimson winning the tournament and the Huskies coming in third.

Recruiting Watch: It should be no surprise that Tommy Amaker already has four highly-touted verbal commitments for the upcoming recruiting class. Getting top talent has been a strong suit for him in every stop on his coaching trail.

Games To Watch:

Dec. 3

Pennsylvania at Villanova

A win here, and the slow start for the Quakers becomes a distant memory.

Dec. 3

Lehigh at Cornell

It’s the last game for the Big Red before its two week break for exams.

Dec. 5

Yale at Sacred Heart

Bulldogs will be looking for a road win, but the Pioneers knocked off the Ivy’s Brown in November.

Dec. 5

Brown at Providence

The Rhode Island rivalry gave is always fun to watch.

Dec. 7

Princeton at Rutgers

Tigers always seem to perform well at the State University of New Jersey.

Dec. 8

Harvard at Connecticut

The Crimson somehow wasn’t ranked despite winning the Battle 4 Atlantis in The Bahamas. It’ll definitely get in the Top 25 if it can knock off the defending national champions.

Around The League

BROWN

Stephen Albrect was expected to have a big impact after sitting out the 2010-11 season as a transfer from Toledo, and so far he hasn’t disappointed.

Albrecht scored a career-high 23 points against Sacred Heart on Nov. 27. He also made six three-pointers in that game, tied for the 10th-most in program history.

Jean Harris returned to the Bears after taking a year and a half off from college basketball. The senior didn’t take long to get back into the swing of things: He had 11 points in the season opener against Johnson & Wales.

Tucker Halpern began the 2011-12 season on the sidelines with a case of mononucleosis. He missed the team’s November games and is out indefinitely.

Columbia

If Columbia is going to make an impact in the Ivy League, it will need an all-conference type of season from point guard Brian Barbour. Though the Lions struggled early, the early returns were promising as far as Barbour’s play was concerned.

Barbour led the team in scoring in four of its first five games. Perhaps more impressively, he did so while taking care of the ball. For example, he committed just one turnover in 38 minutes against a Manhattan team that entered the game averaging more than 20 forced turnovers per game.

Freshman Alex Rosenberg made his first career start in Columbia’s Nov. 26 victory over Manhattan. The forward continued to look comfortable as a collegiate, with 11 points and five rebounds in his 32 minutes.

Columbia controlled the offensive glass in four of its first five games. If that doesn’t sound like much consider that one of those opponents was Connecticut, and the Lions outrebounded the Huskies 20-10 on the offensive end.

Cornell

Shonn Miller made himself the early favorite for Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors, sharing Rookie of the Week honors for the first two weeks of the season.

That’s not bad, considering Miller began the season without much practice time. He spent the first part of the preseason recovering from a stress fracture, and was originally expected to be sidelined until the end of November.

Forward Anthony Gatlin remains on the sidelines, and will likely be in street clothes until Cornell’s winter break.

Freshman forward David LaMore turned his ankle in the preseason, and was still working his way back to full strength by the start of December.

Dartmouth

The Big Green newcomers gave the fans some reason for optimism early, sharing the Ivy League’s first two Rookie of the Week honors.

Jvonte Brooks got the award for the season’s first week, after scoring eight points in 29 minutes off the bench against Rutgers. Teammate Gabas Maldunas shared it the following week after following up his double-double against Bryant with nine points and seven rebounds against Vermont.

Dartmouth failed in its first two attempts at back-to-back victories, losing to San Francisco after knocking off Bryant and then falling to Central Michigan after beating Alaska Anchorage. It hasn’t won two games in a row since it swept Penn and Princeton on the same weekend in Feb. 2009.

Will McConnell probably thought he would be spending Thanksgiving with a family member when he saw the trip to the Great Alaska Shootout on the schedule. After all, his twin brother Reed plays for UC Irvine, which also participated in the event. However, Reed McConnell is redshirting and did not make the trip.

Harvard

One of the most impressive parts of the Crimson’s three-game sweep in the Bahamas was its lack of intimidation. Facing a Florida State team with a lot of size inside, Harvard dominated the glass and won the rebounding battle 40-30. It wasn’t just the veterans coming through either: Freshman Steve Moundou-Missi got five boards to go with his seven points off the bench.

Keith Wright came home from the Bahamas with some hardware, winning the MVP trophy from the Battle 4 Atlantis. He averaged 10 points and 7.3 rebounds per night over the three-game stretch.

—The victories in Atlantis fell just short of enough to get Harvard into the Top 25 for the first time in school history. The Crimson entered December with the second-most votes for teams not in the rankings in both the AP and Coaches’ polls.

Pennsylvania

Henry Brooks was expected to take some time to adjust to the Quaker basketball program following a knee injury he suffered as a high school senior. But the freshman looks ready to be a factor for the Quakers in Ivy League play.

Brooks played in six of the team’s first seven games, averaging close to 10 minutes per night. He scored a season-high 10 points in the loss to James Madison, and had four rebounds when the Quakers fell to Pitt.

Freshman forward Greg Louis underwent hip surgery this Fall, and will be out for several months.

The Quakers’ reliance on Zack Rosen was apparent in a 60-58 loss to James Madison in late November. Down by two with 10 seconds left, the Quakers tried to get the ball to their scoring leader, but the Dukes dedicated their defense to keeping it out of his hands. Instead, Penn settled for a shot by Mike Howlett that was blocked at the buzzer.

Princeton

Mitch Henderson hasn’t been afraid to switch things up this season, particularly given the Tigers slow start.

Seven different players started the first seven games. The bench rotation has changed as well, with Henderson searching for the combination that works best. He says that the depth and talent is there, but hasn’t found the right fit yet.

Mack Darrow got his first career start in Princeton’s Nov. 27 victory over West Alabama. He just missed a double-double, with 10 points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes.

The fact that Princeton has gotten off to a slow start shouldn’t be too concerning, based on recent history. Last year’s team started off 2-3 but went on to win the Ivy League title. The 2009-10 squad went 2-4 through six games, and wound up earning a spot in the College Basketball Invitational.

YALE

Perhaps because of its advantage in the middle, Yale has been one of the best defensive teams in the Ivy League early in the season. Through five games, the Bulldogs were allowing opponents to shoot just 35.8% from the field, and 23.5% from three-point range.

Michael Grace was absent from the Army game because of a death in the family, but that was about the only down part of the early season for the reserve guard. Grace had seven or more points in three of the first four games, and seven assists in the win over Lyndon State.

Freshman forward Matt Townsend has yet to make his Yale debut because of an injury.

Game Preview Center: Cornell vs. Lehigh (12.3.11, 7 PM)

News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

Above, our Tweets of the Day from the world of Cornell Basketball on the twittersphere. Below, some news and notes for Wednesday...
  • In Ivy League Roster Report news, Brown has added a pair of walk-ons to its roster (Tellef Lundevall, a junior and Patrick Donnelly, also a junior). Meanwhile at Dartmouth, two players have left the program (Jenieri Cyrus, So. and Gediminas Bertasius, So.)
  • Cornell assistant coach Mike Blaine is participating in the CollegeInsider.com Shots from the Heart Tournament. The event is designed to help "create more awareness for the growing problem of Heart Disease and to raise money to benefit the Skip Prosser Foundation. CollegeInsider.com and the Skip Prosser Foundation are working with the American Heart Association, which will be a beneficiary of the Skip Prosser Foundation, to further promote "Shots from the Heart" and the educational aspects of heart disease. ...There will be two 64-coach fields (one for head coaches and one for assistant coaches). Participating coaches will compete in a free throw shooting contest."




Springfield Armor add 7-footer Jeff Foote as D-League rosters expand

SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Armor got bigger Tuesday, in more ways than one.

The Armor signed two-time Ivy League defensive player of the year Jeff Foote from the NBA Development League’s available-player pool, and have the opportunity to add a 12th player under a temporary expansion of the roster.

The D-League on Monday allowed teams to expand the maximum roster limit from 10 to 12 players, all 12 of whom can dress for games until a week after NBA training camps begin, when rosters have to go back to a maximum of 10 players.

Foote, a 7-footer who played three years at Cornell after transferring from St. Bonaventure, was a three-time All-Ivy League choice and helped the Big Red win three Ivy League titles with three appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including a Sweet 16 run in 2010.

Foote played professionally in Israel, Spain and Poland over the last year.

“He’s extremely mobile, runs the floor well, he’s long, he’s athletic and his best basketball days are ahead of him, so we’re real excited he’s with us,” Armor coach Bob MacKinnon Jr., said. “When Jeff became available, it was a no-brainer. He’s a hard-working guy, he fits exactly the way we want to play and we feel like he’s a potential NBA player, so he fits into our hybrid model as well.”

Foote, 24, becomes the tallest player on the Armor roster and the only true center. Forward Jamar Brown (6-10) played the pivot in the first game and rookie Dennis Horner did a lot of work under the glass in the opening-night win over Maine last Friday.

MacKinnon said there are no plans in place to add a 12th player, but if the right player presents himself the Armor would certainly take advantage of this window for expansion.

Once NBA camps have been under way for a week, the Armor will have to reduce their roster back to 10, but they could have help with the decision process.

“With the NBA starting training camp, we may lose a couple of guys to camp, so things happen,” MacKinnon said. “We’re always on the lookout for good players.”

The Armor (1-0) return to the court Friday when they host the Fort Wayne Mad Ants at the MassMutual Center.
  • Also mentioning Foote's signing is the Nets Daily. The site writes, "Jeff Foote, the seven-footer who helped Cornell get to the NCAA Round of Sixteen in 2010, has been signed by the Armor who has been without a true center since Chris Taft hurt his knee and was waived a week ago. Foote has played for Maccabi Tel Aviv and was signed this summer by Zastal in the Polish League, where he was replaced by Jordan Williams."
  • John Gaseway of Basketball Prospectus writes a special feature for ESPN Insiders and and suggests that Harvard might be the best Ivy League team ever. His argument relies almost exclusively on the point that Harvard could potentially achieve the highest Ken Pomeroy ranking ever by an Ivy League team. He writes, " If a team from the Ivy League is knocking off ranked opponents, it must have come up with some inscrutable and fiendishly effective offensive scheme, right? (Think Cornell 2010.)... In the brief but detailed history of my colleague Ken Pomeroy's website, no Ivy League team has ever rated out higher than No. 52 in the country (again, Cornell 2010). Harvard appears to be on track to smash through that ceiling with ease." To us, Cornell's 2010 team will remain the best Ivy League team in the last 3o years until the following feats can be matched or exceeded by another Ivy League team. First, Cornell in 2010 won two NCAA Tournament games, reaching the Sweet Sixteen against a pair of teams both ranked in the FINAL 2010 Top 25 (Temple and Wisconsin). Cornell also defeated three teams from BCS Conferences along the season (Alabama, St. John's, and of course Wisconsin), as well as four A-10 teams (Temple, La Salle, UMass, St. Joseph's). Of Cornell's five total losses during 2010, three of the defeats were at hands of teams ranked in the nation's final Top 10 (Kentucky, Kansas and Syracuse). For this performance, Cornell finished 2010 in the final Top 25 poll ranked No. 17 nationally. Time will tell if Harvard or anyone else can match or exceed these feats. So far, no other team is even close.

Junior forward Eitan Chemerinski talked about his longtime love of basketball and what it was like being a freshman during the Sweet 16 run

Chemerinski Makes a Name for Himself on the Court

Cornell men’s basketball junior forward Eitan Chemerinski is a go-to example of everyone having his or her day — and not just a day to impress teammates by solving a Rubik’s Cube. Hidden deep on the bench of the 2009-10 Sweet 16 squad during his freshman year, Chemerinski built a foundation last season and has started all six games so far in 2011-12.

The son of Argentinian immigrants, Chemerinski was born and raised in Potomac, Md. Like most unusually tall athletes, the 6-8, 218-pound forward drifted towards basketball at an early age, and he has not looked back.

“I’ve been playing basketball probably since I was about 10 and it’s always been my favorite sport,” Chemerinski said. “I’ve just been playing a lot ever since then. I was always relatively one of the tallest kids in my grade.”

Chemerinski turned his raw talent into elite production at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md. After averaging 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists per game as a junior, he posted nearly identical numbers as a senior along with six blocked shots per contest. The Maryland Gazette named Chemerinski an all-state honorable mention in each of his final two seasons, and as a senior, the forward was a McDonald’s High School All-America nominee.

Chemerinski earned the accolades while honoring his religious duties — something No. 55 continues to do in Ithaca.

“[Religion] is a big part of my life — it’s always something that’s going to be very important to me. I’m just trying to do the best I can in finding the right balance between playing a sport that’s pretty demanding for time and also … fulfilling as many religious obligations as I can.”

Chemerinski discovered Cornell through his older sister Anat, who graduated from the University in the spring. After getting in touch with former head coach Steve Donahue, Chemerinski attended a summer camp for top-tier high school players and decided Cornell was the school for him.

In his freshman year, Chemerinski first took the floor in the Red’s fourth outing of the 2009-10 season at Syracuse in the Carrier Dome. The Orange pulled away in the second half to win, 88-73, allowing Donahue to insert Chemerinski into the game with the outcome already decided. The forward recorded a rebound in one minute of action.

“At the time, just grabbing a rebound or just being out there for a split second was an amazing moment,” he said. “It was pretty exciting to be in my first real game in college.”

Chemerinki played in nine more games his freshman season, finishing with three points and eight rebounds in only 27 minutes of court time. Aside from his on-court action, fans caught the most memorable glimpses of the reserve forward in videos of Chemerinski humoring teammates by rapidly completing Rubik’s Cubes. Chemerinski enjoyed the year on the star-studded club from a basketball perspective, too, largely because 7-0 forward Jeff Foote ’10 helped him develop.

“Just being able to practice with all those guys and trying to help in any way I could was a great time for me,” he said. “Just being around and learning was a great experience … Jeff is a really great guy and he was always really nice. I was just trying to learn as much as I could from him in practice, and that helped me quite a bit.”

Chemerinski increased his production slightly last year as a sophomore, but was stuck behind forwards Mark Coury ’11, Adam Wire ’11 and Aaron Osgood ’11 on the Red depth chart. As a sophomore, Chemerinski totaled 33 points and 23 boards in 106 minutes, highlighted by an 11-point, six-rebound performance in a loss at Yale on Feb. 4. Over the off-season, the Red coaches continued to push Chemerinski and the rest of the front-court to replace the trio.

“The whole coaching staff has been so helpful,” he said. “During all the practices and all the workouts, they really try to get the best out of all the players. They make me really want to be the best player that I can be.”

The hard work has paid off at the beginning of the 2011-12 season, as Chemerinski accomplished a difficult task under second-year head coach Bill Courtney — maintaining a spot in the starting lineup. Chemerinski has played more total minutes in the six contests this year than in all 28 games of his sophomore season.

The junior ranks second on the team with 10.2 points per game, while shooting 64.1 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line. He has also tallied 17 rebounds, eight steals and six assists.

For Chemerinski, everything and nothing has changed since his first year in Ithaca. Despite an exponentially larger role, it is still all about hustle and scrappiness for the Applied Economics and Management major.

“All I can say is that I’ve been trying to work as hard as I can,” he said. “Every opportunity that I have to be out there, I’m going to try as hard as I can to make the most of it. I’m really just trying to play hard — playing good defense, getting rebounds, and the usual stuff. I’m going to keep working hard and keep getting better.”

  • Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recap sections from each of Cornell's games this season.
  1. November 11, 2011 at St. Bonaventure L 58-79
  2. November 14, 2011 vs. Binghamton W 76-61
  3. November 16, 2011 at Buffalo L 59-68
  4. November 20, 2011 vs. Boston University W 71-66
  5. November 22, 2011 at Delaware L 68-76
  6. November 27, 2011 vs. American L 63-65
  • Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of November 30 is No. 308 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 173 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 245. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.
IVY LEAGUE COMPOSITE SCHEDULE

Friday, November 11

Johnson & Wales 66 Brown 86 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 57 Connecticut 70[ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 58 St. Bonaventure 79 (Box Score - Recap)
MIT 49 Harvard 76 (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 56 Rutgers 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 59 Maryland-Baltimore County 45 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 73 Central Connecticut State 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 12
Wagner 73 Princeton 57 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 14
Albany 77 Brown 68 (NIT Tip-Off-1st Round@Syracuse, N.Y.)[ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Temple 73 Penn 67 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Furman 58 Columbia 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Binghamton 61 Cornell 76 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 15
Harvard 73 Holy Cross 64 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Quinnipiac 68 [SNY] (Box Score - Recap)
Brown 52 Manhattan 54 NIT Tip Consolation@Syracuse, N.Y. [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 16
Cornell 59 Buffalo 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Vermont 65 Dartmouth 53 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 58 North Carolina State 60 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 17
Penn 78 Rider 72 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Lyndon State 37 Yale 101 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 19
Buffalo 53 Princeton 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Hartford 52 Brown 59 (Box Score - Recap)
American 66 Columbia 58 (Box Score - Recap)
Bryant 62 Dartmouth 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Robert Morris 60 Penn 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 77 Loyola Marymount 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 21
Brown 48 George Mason 74 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 22
Brown 79 Monmouth 71 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 53 Stony Brook 67 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 64 Delaware 72 (Box Score - Recap)
Wagner 71 Penn 65 (Box Score - Recap)
Elon 56 Princeton 55 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Seton Hall 73 (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 24
Dartmouth 69 San Francisco 71 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 75 vs. Utah 47 [HDNet] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, November 25
Dartmouth 64 vs. Alaska-Anchorage 52(Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 46 vs. Florida State 41 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Bucknell 62 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
Pittsburgh 78 Penn 58 [TCN] (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 26
Yale 84 Army 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 59 Manhattan 41 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Morehead State 68 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
James Madison 60 Penn 58 [TCN] (Philly Hoop Group Classic) (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 48 vs. Western Michigan 65 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 59 vs. Central Florida 49 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 27
Brown 64 Sacred Heart 77 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 66 West Alabama 66 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
American 65 Cornell 63 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 28
Swarthmore 42 Columbia 104 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 29
Manhattan 72 Penn 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 74 Hartford 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 30
Dartmouth at New Hampshire, 7 pm
Lafayette at Princeton, 7 pm
Rhode Island at Brown, 7:30 pm [myRITV]

Thursday, December 1
Harvard at Vermont, 7 pm

Friday, December 2
Columbia at Loyola Marymount, 10 pm (Doubletree Los Angeles Westside Centennial Classic)

Saturday, December 3
Vermont at Yale, 2 pm
Brown at Iowa, 3 pm
Lehigh at Cornell, 7 pm
Penn at Villanova, 7 pm [ESPN3]
Columbia vs. North Texas, 8 pm (Doubletree Los Angeles Westside Centennial Classic)

Sunday, December 4
Columbia vs. La Sierra, 2 pm
Seattle at Harvard, 2 pm

Shaq Fights The Big Show On WWE Monday Night Raw 7.27.09



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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

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Springfield Armor of NBA D-League Sign Jeff Foote ('10)

The Springfield Armor, the NBA D-League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets have signed Jeff Foote, Cornell class of 2010. Below is the news release:


SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Springfield Armor announced today that they have acquired 7’0 center Jeff Foote from the NBA Development League’s Available Player Pool.

“We are excited to be having Jeff join our organization,” said Armor head coach Bob MacKinnon. “He has tremendous upside, both for the D-League, and potentially the NBA. Jeff is also the kind of player that fits in well with our style of play.”

Foote, 24, was a three-time All-Ivy League selection during his three seasons at Cornell University. After redshirting a year at St. Bonaventure University and transferring to Cornell, Foote earned second team All-Ivy honors during his sophomore season in 2007-08, averaging 7.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 22 games.

As a junior, Foote earned second team All-Ivy honors again, averaging 11.8 points while starting 30 of the Big Red’s 31 games. Foote was also the Ivy League’s leading rebounder (7.2) and shot blocker (2.1) and captured the first Defensive Player of the Year award in Ivy League history.

In his senior season, Foote was a unanimous first team All-Ivy pick and earned the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the second straight year. Foote averaged 12.4 points while starting all 34 games and was the conference’s leader in field goal percentage (.633), rebounding (8.1) and the second-leading shot blocker (1.9). Foote also served as a team tri-captain.

During his three seasons at Cornell, Foote helped lead the Big Red to three straight Ivy League titles, as well as three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Prior to this league domination, Cornell had captured one Ivy League title since 1956.

Cornell was eliminated in the first round of the 2008 and 2009 NCAA tournaments, but as a 12th seed in the 2010 tournament, the Big Red upset fifth seeded Temple and fourth seeded Wisconsin for the first NCAA Tournament victories in program history. Cornell was eliminated in the Sweet 16 by number one seed Kentucky. In the 2010 tournament, Foote averaged 12.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 33 minutes per game, while shooting 65% from the field.

After graduating from Cornell, Foote signed a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Super League in June 2010. In November 2010, Foote was sent on a one-year loan to Melilla Baloncesto of the Spanish Basketball League’s second division. In August 2011, Foote signed a deal with Zastal Zielona Gora in Poland’s top division.

Foote, a native of Lockwood, NY, joined the Armor for practice yesterday and will be available for the Armor’s game on Friday, December 2 at 7:00 PM against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

SEASON AND GROUP TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE NOW: The Springfield Armor are proud to offer affordable full season, partial season and group ticket options to our fans for the upcoming 2011-12 season. For more information on all of our ticket opportunities, contact an Armor representative by calling (413) 746-3263 or by visiting our office located at One Monarch Place – Suite 220, Springfield, MA 01144.

George Mason back in action against Bucknell

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, now let's get back to more George Mason basketball.  The Patriots host Bucknell tomorrow night (TV: MASN), who are winners of their last five games.  This Bucknell team presents a different type of challenge, as their leading scorer is Mike Muscala, a 6'11" 234 lb center.  To date this season Mason really hasn't faced a legit threat in the front court and Muscala's ability to get to the free-throw line could thwart the Patriots uptempo offense if they don't stay disciplined on defense. This isn't to say that Bucknell is an inside team, guard Bryson Johnson, second on the team in scoring, has gone 15-for-27 from the three-point line in their last two games. The Bison protect the ball pretty well and shoot 42.1% from behind the arch. Where the Patriots have the edge is rebounding and getting to the free-throw line at an effective rate.  Despite Muscala in the middle Bucknell doesn't rebound that well as a whole and Mason should be able to feast on second chance points like they did against Albany and Brown.

-Mike Morrison is coming off his most productive game of the season (13 points, 9 rebounds) against Albany and they will need more of this from him.  He doesn't need to score double figures every night but they need him getting boards on both ends.

-Will Paris Bennett make his season debut?  The team still could use some discipline on both ends of the court and a guy like Paris could help remedy a few of the problems we have been seeing. A steal here, a rebound there, a tipped pass are just some of things a strong utility player off the bench can bring that keeps everything together.

-#FearTheBeard watch: The current season stat line for Ryan Pearson is 21.3 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.6 SPG, and 59.3% from the field.

-Will Corey Edwards get the nod again at starting point guard? Edwards and Allen have been playing about the same amount of minutes but to me Edwards seem to stand out a bit more dishing out the ball.  Allen is probably a better scorer and can get to the basket with ease but he doesn't seem to be a pass-first guy where Edwards is.  

-When will Vertrail Vaughns settle down?  Vaughns' streaky play continued against Albany as he went 0-for-5 from behind the arch.  He represents pretty much all of the team's three-point shooting so they can't really afford to have him going scoreless again.  

Note: click the link on the top right sidebar titled '2011-2012 season stats' for George Mason team stats updated daily.

News and Notes: Tuesday Edition

Below, news and notes for Tuesday...

  • Cornell's Shonn Miller now has accumulated three Ivy League Rookie of the Week Awards in the first three weeks of the season. For some perspective, Cornell's Chris Wroblewski was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2009, but only won the weekly award twice in his freshman season.
  • Game Recaps-Below are links to our game recap sections from each of Cornell's games this season.
  1. November 11, 2011 at St. Bonaventure L 58-79
  2. November 14, 2011 vs. Binghamton W 76-61
  3. November 16, 2011 at Buffalo L 59-68
  4. November 20, 2011 vs. Boston University W 71-66
  5. November 22, 2011 at Delaware L 68-76
  6. November 27, 2011 vs. American L 63-65
  • Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of November 29 is No. 312 out of 344 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 175 in the nation, while the USA Today Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 247. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.
IVY LEAGUE COMPOSITE SCHEDULE

Friday, November 11

Johnson & Wales 66 Brown 86 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 57 Connecticut 70[ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 58 St. Bonaventure 79 (Box Score - Recap)
MIT 49 Harvard 76 (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 56 Rutgers 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Penn 59 Maryland-Baltimore County 45 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 73 Central Connecticut State 69 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 12
Wagner 73 Princeton 57 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 14
Albany 77 Brown 68 (NIT Tip-Off-1st Round@Syracuse, N.Y.)[ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)
Temple 73 Penn 67 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Furman 58 Columbia 62 (Box Score - Recap)
Binghamton 61 Cornell 76 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 15
Harvard 73 Holy Cross 64 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Quinnipiac 68 [SNY] (Box Score - Recap)
Brown 52 Manhattan 54 NIT Tip Consolation@Syracuse, N.Y. [ESPN3] (Box Score - Recap)

Wednesday, November 16
Cornell 59 Buffalo 68 (Box Score - Recap)
Vermont 65 Dartmouth 53 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 58 North Carolina State 60 [ESPNU] (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 17
Penn 78 Rider 72 OT (Box Score - Recap)
Lyndon State 37 Yale 101 (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 19
Buffalo 53 Princeton 61 (Box Score - Recap)
Hartford 52 Brown 59 (Box Score - Recap)
American 66 Columbia 58 (Box Score - Recap)
Bryant 62 Dartmouth 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Robert Morris 60 Penn 66 (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 77 Loyola Marymount 67 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 20
Boston University 66 Cornell 71 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 21
Brown 48 George Mason 74 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 22
Brown 79 Monmouth 71 (NIT Consolation Fairfax, VA) (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 53 Stony Brook 67 (Box Score - Recap)
Cornell 64 Delaware 72 (Box Score - Recap)
Wagner 71 Penn 65 (Box Score - Recap)
Elon 56 Princeton 55 (Box Score - Recap)
Yale 62 Seton Hall 73 (Box Score - Recap)

Thursday, November 24
Dartmouth 69 San Francisco 71 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 75 vs. Utah 47 [HDNet] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Friday, November 25
Dartmouth 64 vs. Alaska-Anchorage 52(Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 46 vs. Florida State 41 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Bucknell 62 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
Pittsburgh 78 Penn 58 [TCN] (Box Score - Recap)

Saturday, November 26
Yale 84 Army 75 (Box Score - Recap)
Columbia 59 Manhattan 41 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 56 Morehead State 68 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
James Madison 60 Penn 58 [TCN] (Philly Hoop Group Classic) (Box Score - Recap)
Dartmouth 48 vs. Western Michigan 65 (Great Alaska Shootout) (Box Score - Recap)
Harvard 59 vs. Central Florida 49 [VERSUS] (Battle 4 Atlantis Bahamas) (Box Score - Recap)

Sunday, November 27
Brown 64 Sacred Heart 77 (Box Score - Recap)
Princeton 66 West Alabama 66 (Legends Classic, Lewisberg, PA) (Box Score - Recap)
American 65 Cornell 63 (Box Score - Recap)

Monday, November 28
Swarthmore 42 Columbia 104 (Box Score - Recap)

Tuesday, November 29
Manhattan at Penn, 7 pm
Yale at Hartford, 7 pm

Wednesday, November 30
Dartmouth at New Hampshire, 7 pm
Lafayette at Princeton, 7 pm
Rhode Island at Brown, 7:30 pm [myRITV]

Thursday, December 1
Harvard at Vermont, 7 pm

Friday, December 2
Columbia at Loyola Marymount, 10 pm (Doubletree Los Angeles Westside Centennial Classic)

Saturday, December 3
Vermont at Yale, 2 pm
Brown at Iowa, 3 pm
Lehigh at Cornell, 7 pm
Penn at Villanova, 7 pm [ESPN3]
Columbia vs. North Texas, 8 pm (Doubletree Los Angeles Westside Centennial Classic)

Sunday, December 4
Columbia vs. La Sierra, 2 pm
Seattle at Harvard, 2 pm

Cornell Daily Sun Recaps Defeat at Delaware

Below, the Cornell Daily Sin recaps Cornell's defeat at Delaware on November 22.


After edging out Boston University at home on Nov. 20th, the Red headed to Newark, Del., on Tuesday, Nov. 22 hoping to earn its first road win of the season. Last year Cornell (2-4) notched a 75-61 victory over Delaware (2-2) in the 2010 season opener at Newman Arena. This year, however, it was the Blue Hens’ turn to take the home victory, edging out the Red, 72-64.

Senior guard Drew Ferry kicked off the night with a steal that resulted in a 3-pointer just 37 seconds into the game. Delaware’s Kyle Anderson quickly equalized with a shot from behind the arc to tie the score. Less than a minute later, Cornell reclaimed the lead with a layup by junior forward Eitan Chemerinski.

“Any time you’re losing I think by definition you don’t have a lot of momentum,” said senior co-captain and guard Chris Wroblewski. “But we’re going to get back to practice and work hard.”

The remaining 18 minutes of the first half were marked by multiple shifts in momentum, with the Blue Hens building as much as a nine point lead over the Red — though Cornell was able to tie the score three more times. Delaware led the Red, 28-26, as the pace picked up and the teams headed into the second half.

“We want to keep the game moving as fast as we can but stay in control,” said junior forward Josh Figini. “We might look into pressing a little more — it seemed to be pretty effective at the end.”

The Blue Hens were able to hold the Red off the scoreboard at the beginning of the second period, but junior guard Miles Asafo-Adjei tied the game for the fifth time at 28-28 with a driving layup. Less than 20 seconds later Delaware reclaimed the lead with a layup of its own before freshman forward Shonn Miller made good from behind the arc, vaulting the Red ahead of the Blue Hens, 31-30. This was one of the last times that the Red laid claim to the lead in the contest.

Cornell was able to tie the game up on a total of six occasions; however, the Red was unable to expand its lead past the initial 3-pointer from Ferry to begin the game. With under four minutes remaining in play, Ferry hit another 3-pointer to regain a one-point edge over Delaware, 58-57; however, this lead did not last. The Blue Hens exploded with a 15-point scoring spree, while the Red only picked up an additional six off of a pair of layups by Asafo-Adjei and two free throws from Miller. The Red converted on 9-of-15 free-throw attempts for the night, compared to the 18-of-36 made by the Blue Hens. Cornell also led the night in personal fouls, 20-15.

“It is something we do [full court press],” said head coach Bill Courtney. “We probably would’ve had it on a little earlier in the half if we had got to the foul line a little more. It’s something we use in foul situations,but also on made field goals.”

While Cornell dropped to 2-3 for the season after the loss to Delaware, some players were able to improve their individual statistics in the defeat and achieve new school records. Wroblewski recorded three steals on the night, which earned him the distinction of being the 15th player in school history to reach 100 career steals. The senior also added four points to his career total, leaving him 84 points shy of becoming the school’s 24th 1,000-point scorer. Of the four points the co-captain tallied during the game, two came from free throws, pushing the guard past the 200 mark for his career.

Chemerinski continued to impress, notching 12 points to increase his season total to 57 — 21 more points than he recorded in his first two seasons combined. The junior has reached double figures in for four straight games.

Despite the impressive individual accomplishments, Courtney recognizes that it will be difficult for his squad to regain momentum after a tough road loss.

“It’s tough to build momentum any time you lose,” he said.

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Chris W Bosh - Send Me To New Orleans All Star Game 2008



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