Florida Atlantic And Hartford

Censored by Laurie · November 9, 2007

Tonight after work I will be heading to the University of Rhode Island and their beautiful new arena, Ryan Center, to see the Running Rams open their season against Carlos Monroe and Florida Atlantic. Preseason publications have URI pegged as an NIT team so it will be good to see how FAU matches up with a quality opponent. FAU also has a game Monday up here against Boston College, though regretably I won't be able to make that game.

This Sunday, Hartford plays Quinnipiac a few miles from my home so I will be in attendance there as well. QU is picked to finish in the middle of the pack in an under-impressive Northeast Athletic Conference (last season's league champ was 16 seed Central Connecticut St.) so this won't be a great gauge of how good Hartford is, but it should give me some idea.

I'll be sure to pass along the info on Monday.

Censored by Laurie · November 11, 2007

Rhode Island - 90 Florida Atlantic - 63.

FAU has an incredible frontcourt. That said...pretty much anybody reading this board could transfer to FAU and find minutes in their backcourt.

Carlos Monroe led the way for FAU with 22 points and 9 boards...most of the time working against a URI post with atleast 25 pounds on him. He showed nice range knocking down a few 12 footers and is incredibly smart at avoiding foul problems. Jeff Parmer scored only 4, but also dished out 4 assists...he was a bit too passive as he has some nice post moves and showed a nice attack from the three point line to the bucket. The biggest surprise to me was the play of Arlington native Brett Royster, a true freshman. How did we miss this kid? He is incredibly athletic, long arms, soft hands and solid post moves for an 18 yr old kid...hes going to develop into a force. Derrick Simmons contributed little...but he looks a few inches bigger than the 6'6" hes listed as. Once Sammy Hernandez gains his eligibility at the end of December, FAU will have a crowded but very talented frontcout.

But man, their backcourt needs serious help. Paul Graham looks and plays just like Matt Barnes, just without any sort of perimeter shot. He attacks the basket very well and has solid mid-range from about 15 feet. JUCo transfer Carderro Nwoji started at point...and likely seems like FAU's best option their the rest of the year. He's lightning quick and plays some aggresive on the ball defense...but he couldn't hit a jumper any further out than 10 feet and his decision making is at best suspect...he wants to push but just doesn't have the talent on the wings to run with him. RS Freshman Xavier Perkins started at the two...he looked a bit over-matched at this point...hes big (6'4" 225lb) and will get smarter with his attack. Eni Cuka, Sean Alarcon and Sanchez Hughley all saw time in the backcourt...and all showed about the same, mediocre ball handling, questionable decision making and POOR outside shooting...as a team FAU went 1-11 from 3, Alarcon hit their only 3 pt with 3:20 left in the game when it was well out of reach.

FAU was up through the first 15 minutes...and down only five at the half...but poor point guard play killed them. URI showed mostly man defense...and I wondered why b/c the 2-3 they went into occassionally was extremely successful...this is a team that needs Monroe to touch the ball on the block or for Graham to breakdown the defense, both would be limited by a 2-3 and they sure as hell won't shoot you out of a zone. JJ...ZONE THE HELL OUT OF THIS TEAM...and also press...Nwoji's handles are adequate but he's going to make mistakes and their second best ball handler might be Monroe. I felt bad for Monroe and his frontcourt mates...this backcourt was just woeful and I thought that with just a care taker point guard this team could be really good.

Off to watch Hartford this afternoon.

Censored by Laurie · November 12, 2007

Quinnipiac - 85 Hartford - 79 (2OT)

Hartford really was the better team last night...one QU shooter got hot late in the second half and basically carried QU to the end...but the is absolutly no reason for UNT to not win by 20.

Hartford is a very small team...nobody on the roster is taller than 6'7"...starting center Warren McClendon is 6'6" 250...hes very strong and has range out to the 3pt line. Behind McClendon is Fabrice Tafo (6'7" 225 Jr.) is very active, but not very skilled...Morgan Sabia (6'7" 200 Fr.) is a wing who won't help on the block and Kevin Estes (6'7" 230 Fr.) will see minutes if foul trouble becomes a problem. Michael Turner (6'5" 215 Jr.) essentially starts at the four...he is very gritty and is the vocal leader of the team...Hartford also lacks a true PG and Turner handles those responsiblities frequently. Their guard rotation is solid: Joe Zeglinski (6'1" 185 Soph.) is a very fluid scoring guard...Rich Baker (6'1" 180 Sr.) is the teams best shooter and either Zeglinski or Baker or both are always on the floor. The other starter is a freshamn, Anthony Minor (6'6" 200) and he provides the teams only real athleticism. Off the bench...Brian Growiak (6'3" 180 Sr.) is another solid combo guard, as is Jaret Von Rosenburg who scored 7 in the teams first game...but didn't play against QU.

UH stayed in a 1-3-1 zone the entire game...and with their lack of height will probably be forced into the same against UNT...which means Collin Dennis and Adam McCoy may have career nights shooting over the zone...

Overall: UH gets its scoring from McClendon, Baker and Zeglinski - I think McClendon will pose a bit of a match up problem...but Zeglinski and Baker simply arent athletic enough to get the shots they got yesterday against our athletic guards. UH is very patient though...and UNT will have to play defense for all 35 seconds of each possession...but we should be able to run off of misses and find holes in their zone in the half court. This is a pretty major step down in level of compition for us and should be a relativly easy win.