Big Red Brackets

The Cornell Basketball Blog monitors the Big Red's bracket projections until the 2009 NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday.

This week, Rivals.com projects Cornell as a 14 seed, just two spots out of a 13 seed. Rivals.com writes:

No. 14 seeds





53. Stephen F. Austin
54. Cornell
55. Vermont
56. VMI

The buzz: Stephen F. Austin looks to be the best team in the Southland and is aiming for its first NCAA berth. Cornell is the only Ivy League school ranked better than 200th in the RPI. Vermont is tied with Boston U. for the America East lead, but Vermont has won by 14 at BU already. VMI leads the nation in scoring and already has won at Big South co-leader Radford.

Below are links to updated projections of the 2009 NCAA Tournament brackets.

• Rivals.com (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 2.4.09)
• ESPN's Nitty Gritty Report (Cornell No. 13 seed as of 2.4.09)
• Jordan Schwartz of Bleacher Report (Cornell No. 14 seed updated 2.4.09)
• CollegeHoopsNet.com (Cornell No. 15 seed as of 2.3.09)
• Andy Glockner's Seed Report/CNNSI.com (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 2.2.09)
• Marc Daley's "Bald Prophet" of Bleacher Report (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 2.2.09)
• Shaun Reilly of Bleacher Report (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 2.2.09)
• Matt Browning of Bleacher Report (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 2.2.09)
  
• Joe Lunardi's ESPN Bracketology (Cornell 14 seed updated as of 2.1.09)
• Bracketography.com (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 2.1.09)
  
• The Hoops Report (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 2.1.09)
  
• The Washington Times (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 1.30.09)
• Jameson Flemming's "Bracketology" of Bleacher Report (Cornell No. 14 seed updated as of 1.30.09)
• Curt Hogg of Bleacher Report (Cornell No. 15 seed as of 1.30.09)
  
• Gary Lloyd of Bleacher Report (Cornell No. 15 seed updated as of 11.23.08)
• Sports Illustrated/CNNSI.com (Cornell 55th--No. 14 seed updated as of 11.19.08)
  
• CBS Sports (Cornell No. 14 seed as of 11.11.08)
  
• ESPN.com Dick Vitale (Cornell Ivy League Champion as of 11.10.08)
  
• BleacherReport.com (Cornell No. 13 seed as of 11.1.08)
  

For The Cornell Basketball Blog's prior "Big Red Brackets" posts, click here.

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Cornell Team Report from the SportsXChange

Cornell Team Report

By The SportsXchange/YahooSports/Rivals.com
February 4, 2009

Getting Inside

Not only did the Big Red have its best weekend ever by the numbers in Ivy League play, it also saw a reinforcement arrive to join the rotation.

Adam Gore made his return to the court after missing the first part of the season with a torn ACL. He scored a total of five points in 22 minutes of victories over Brown and Yale.

He might not regain his spot in the starting lineup, because Geoff Reeves is playing well and Gore is still getting his basketball legs back under him. But Cornell seems to have recovered from its early-season injury woes, which sets the team up well for Ivy League play.

When Louis Dale missed time early in the season, Chris Wroblewski stepped up and showed he was ready to contribute immediately. Now that Dale is back to his All-Ivy self, Wroblewski is back on the bench and content with being one of the league’s best reserves.

Similarly, Reeves has stepped into the void that Gore left when he was injured and has become a key linchpin in the Big Red attack. With Gore back, coach Steve Donahue has four very strong guards he can rotate in and out of the lineup without losing much in the way of production.

The frontcourt has shown a lot of depth as well, with Adam Wire and Brian Kreefer filling in nicely for the starters, particularly on defense. Add swingman Jason Battle and the Big Red have at least 10 players who can be counted on to match up with opposing starters, which is a big advantage for Cornell as it looks to keep its Ivy League win streak alive against Princeton and Penn this weekend.

Notes, Quotes

• Cornell beat Brown by 32 on Jan. 30, and followed that with a 28-point win over Yale on Jan. 31. The 60-point margin of victory for the weekend was the largest in program history.

• The Big Red dominated defensively in the victory over Yale. The Bulldogs were shooting less than 20 percent until the final few minutes, and made their only 3-pointer with just over two minutes to play.

Quote To Note: “I think it’s hard for teams to guard us in transition. When they’re scrambling, they don’t know where our shooters are. Meanwhile, you have the point guard coming up and he can attack or do whatever. And I think our bigs run the court very well. We can kick it ahead to them and they can finish.”—Louis Dale told the Cornell Daily Sun.

Strategy And Personnel

As if the rest of the league didn’t have enough to worry about, Adam Gore returned last weekend after missing the first half of the season recovering from a torn ACL. He played 12 minutes against Yale and gives the team another talented option in an already formidable backcourt.

Player Rotation: Usual starters—G Louis Dale, G Geoff Reeves, C Jeff Foote, F Ryan Wittman, F Alex Tyler. Key subs—G Chris Wroblewski, G Adam Gore, F Adam Wire, F Brian Kreefer, G/F Jason Battle.

Game Review:

Cornell 83, Columbia 72

Cornell 90, Brown 58

Cornell 64, Yale 36

Game Preview:

at Princeton, Friday, Feb. 6

at Pennsylvania, Saturday, Feb. 7

vs. Harvard, Friday, Feb. 13

vs. Dartmouth, Saturday, Feb. 14

In Focus: Cornell can take a huge edge on the rest of the league with a road sweep this weekend, as it takes on the league’s only other unbeaten on Feb. 6 and the team predicted to finish in second place in the preseason polls on Feb. 7. The game against the Tigers could be difficult, as Princeton slows the game down and Cornell likes to speed it up. The Big Red backcourt will be tested as it looks to impose its will on an opponent who will do everything it can to derail the high-octane Cornell attack.

Roster Report:

• Adam Gore returned from a torn ACL to play against Brown and Yale last weekend. He got on the court for a total of 22 minutes over the weekend, and as he gets back into the flow of things he makes the Big Red even more dangerous.

• Jeff Foote scored 18 points to lead the Big Red against Yale. He scored nine consecutive points for Cornell in a first half stretch that saw the team extend a 12-7 lead to 22-11 and effectively end the competitive portion of the night.

• Louis Dale can probably blame his lack of playing time for now winning Player of the Week honors in the Ivy League last week. Dale had 33 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in 41 total minutes of the team’s sweep of Brown and Yale.

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A Date in Cornell Basketball History

Cornell Head Coach Steve Donahue, left, former Cornell President Hunter Rawlings and Athletic Director Andy Noel meet the press following the announcement of Donahue's appointment as Cornell Head Coach on September 6, 2000 in Schoellkopf Hall. Below, an October 2000 article from the Cornell Daily Sun. (For The Cornell Basketball Blog's prior posts on Dates in Cornell Basketball History, click here.)

A Man With a Mission

By Shiva Nagaraj
Cornell Daily Sun
October 17, 2000

Ask Steve Donahue about how things are going with his family or how Ithaca's treating him, and he'll lean back in his chair and let his guard down, unafraid to shoot the breeze for a while. But question him about his basketball team, and he'll sit up, his eyes will gleam, and a sense of clarity will come about him. Having been hired as the men's basketball team's head just over a month ago, Donahue is none too shy to spout off on his vision for the future, a future could bring an aura of excitement to a team lacking any such quality, at least in recent memory.

Originally picked to finish third in the Ivy League last year, the Red limped to a dismal 3-11 record in the conference. Factor in the July 28th resignation of former head coach Scott Thompson due to his battle with colon cancer, and Cornell basketball was in need of a dire pick-me-up.

But if Donahue's execution can match his rhetoric, the Cornell need look no further.

A former assistant at perennial Ivy-stud, Penn, Donahue is no stranger to winning championships, having collected six titles in his 11 seasons in West Philadelphia. And he unabashedly believes that he can bring the crown back to the East Hill for the first time since 1988.

While that would have been a laughable notion in the midst of the Red's six-game losing streak last year, Donahue is nonetheless convinced otherwise.

"Guys are healthy; attitudes are right; the league is falling into place where I think we can compete," he remarked. "I couldn't ask for more."

Logic (and common sense) would say that the Red is in for a surprise if it thinks it can hop from the Ivy cellar to its ceiling in just one season, and rightly so. The squad was buried near the bottom of the Ivy table in nearly every team statistic in 1999-2000 and it had to wait seven games before finally scooping up an Ivy League win. Going by the numbers, even die-hard fans would be hard-pressed to throw the Red's name into the Ivy title hunt.

But consider that Penn and Princeton, who essentially owned the conference in the '90s are currently the weakest they've been in years. While the Quakers lost Michael Jordan and Matt Langel (both All-Ivy First-Team last season) to graduation, the Tigers have to cope with the departure of head coach Bill Carmody, and two of his assistants as well as Mason Rocca and Chris Young, two of the league's premier big men.

AND don't forget Cornell returns its top-three playmakers from last year in Ray Mercedes, Wallace Prather, and Greg Barratt.

What may make the final difference, however, is just how hell-bent Donahue in his intention to push the Red back into the conference's elite.

"I'm preparing our to challenge for the Ivy League," he said, adding that he wouldn't have taken the job had he not thought it was plausible.

"For the first time I've been in the league, it's wide open," Donahue continued.

Cynics would brand his enthusiasm as idealism, and even he admits that he won't be able to right the ship overnight. After a Midnight Mania practice session that witnessed only a handful of fans in the stands, Donahue acknowledged that building excitement around the program will have to be a gradual task.

"It's a good start," he said. "I wasn't under the illusion that there was going to be 4,000 people there."

Rather than aiming for instantaneous success, Donahue has already begun to look to the future, to a day when regular season tickets will acquire the type of reverence as the stubs at Lynah. But even for that, he is aware that the team has to do its job first.

"You can't expect people to be 100% excited about men's basketball right now, until we prove something. [Then] I think the [fans] will come out."

After dealing with a team on the skids the few years, Donahue's convictions - though they could be regarded as wishful thinking - are refreshing nonetheless. This is a man who's waited nearly his whole life to become a head coach.

"Since high school," he says. "In ninth grade I was coaching younger kids. I always admired the coaches I had."

Now that's it's finally his chance, now that he at last is at the helm, his enthusiasm and sunny outlook should be welcomed. He may not bring a title to Ithaca (this season at least), but the way he's going Steve Donahue will very soon erase the ominous clouds that have been recently hanging over the men's basketball team.

Just look for the gleam in his eye.

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Back to business

Patriots maintained their home court dominance in a big win over Hofstra last night. Mason was never threatened in this one and we saw a much improved defensive effort, holding the Pride to under 30% on the night. John Vaughan and Ryan Pearson each finished with 16 points as the Patriots shot 49%. And anyone who said Vaughan missing from the VCU and Old Dominion games didn't have a big impact should have taken notice of how Mason was able to break the full-court press by Hofstra with ease when in-bounding to the ball to him. Mason as a whole did a great job creating fast break opportunities and spreading the ball around for open shots. Cam Long had a quiet night as his big play ability wasn't needed with Mason coasting most of the 2nd half. Getting to the free-throw line was a big key in this one as the Patriots got 24 points from there. Pearson and Cornelius got to the line fairly easily and I would hope to see more of that in the future. The CAA's second leading scorer, Charles Jenkins, was held below his average as the Patriots did not let anyone on the Pride's offense get going. The only downside for the Patriots last night was that Hofstra was able to get 23 offensive rebounds and you have to wonder how much more the margin would have been on the scoreboard if they didn't get all those second chance points. It's always good to see the youth of this team shine in conference play and progression of freshmen is really starting to show. Mike Morrison set a pick that leveled a Hofstra player and had a thunderous dunk to follow it up. Monroe, Pearson and Morrison held their own in the front court; something I really hope to see February 14th when Northeastern comes to town.

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Previewing Hofstra...

The road has not been the Patriot's friend this season; but the Patriot Center certainly has. Mason hosts Hofstra tonight, televised on ESPNU or you can just watch it here. Can the Patriots extend their home court dominance to 11 games this season? They will have to if they want to remain near the top of the CAA standings. Gomason.com points out that is a match-up of the league's most efficient offense against the league's toughest defense. Hofstra has been keeping opponents under 40% shooting all season long; they are big and can be very aggressive. Michael Litos mentions on his blog that this is not exactly the kind of team Mason needs to be facing right now and I agree. Charles Jenkins leads Hofstra scoring about 18 a game and the Patriots cannot let him go off like Matt Janning, Eric Maynor and Gerald Lee did. Larranaga isn't happy with the team's recent defensive efforts and who could blame him. The Patriots went from holding their first six CAA opponents to under 39% shooting to allowing three of their last four to shoot over 40% with ODU shooting 59%. Yikes. What happened? Holes seem to be popping up all over the place on the team's defense and you would almost have to wonder if some of the younger guys have gotten a little lax after such a good start to the season. They don't seem to be playing with enough intensity for the full 40 minutes lately. We have seen slow first halves matched with very aggressive second halves and that just isn't always going to yield victories.

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ESPN Bracketbusters announced tonight

Tonight ESPNU will be broadcasting the pairings for this year's annual bracketbuster event at 6:30pm. Judging by the RPI numbers and other stats it looks like Mason will most likely be playing either Evansville, Creighton, Niagra, or Fairfield. Evansville and Creighton are from the Missouri Valley conference and I would much rather get one of them because of the possibility of having a quality out-of-conference opponent come to the Patriots Center next season.

UPDATE: Creighton it is. Glad we got a MVC team. I'm hoping for an ESPN2 spot but I think we might have to settle for ESPNU. Creighton was the only team to beat Mason at home during the 2005-2006 season and I definitely don't mind having them on the schedule for the 2009-10 season.

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Road woes continue for the Patriots

Mason just can't seem to get it done on the road this year in the CAA. Last night we saw the Patriots again fumble one away on the road in what was essentially a winnable match. Mason has lost three CAA road games by a combined total of 8 points. Yes, that's right 8 points TOTAL. Some would say this team doesn't have a clutch go-to guy like an Eric Maynor, but really I think it's poor decision making on Mason's part. They fail to get the ball into the hands of whoever is shooting well that night. As the game came down to the finals seconds and Mason had the ball with a chance to win it due to the Monarchs missing some free throws, Cam Long took it up court and got off a decent shot but it fell short. They had no timeouts so he had to do it but wouldn't it have been better to see a play to Ryan Pearson (career-high 18 points) who at certain points last night seemed unstoppable in the front court.

What was disappointing in this game was the defensive effort by the Patriots. They let the Monarchs get off way too many easy shots the entire game. Gerald Lee had so many uncontested lay-ups I wanted to vomit. Just like against Northeastern and VCU the Patriots let the other team's "star" get going way too often, and essentially it was a huge difference maker in the outcome. Rebounding and turnovers were able even for both sides and the shooting was off the charts. Old Dominion started off hot and didn't seem to miss a shot for about 10 minutes while believe it or not Mason shot better overall going over 58% for the field. I would be interested to see the history of the Patriots losing when shooting that good from the field. Honestly it seems like it would be difficult to lose when you shooting that well and don't commit more than 8 turnovers. John Vaughan started the game and looked good aggressive picking up 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Today in the WaPo John Feinstein has a nice little piece on him. Dre Smith also looked good creating a lot of fast break points for Mason and hitting some threes. Andre Cornelius and Isaiah Tate were non-factors after playing well against Delaware, both did not get many minutes with Vaughan's return.

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