The news that Nurideen Lindsey is now eligible is huge news for Rider. His impact should not be under-estimated. Not just because he averaged 12ppg, 5rpg, and 3apg at St Johns and 23ppg at JUCO (6th in the Nation), but he also averaged 36ppg in HS. And since he can play both guard positions, getting an impact player at guard huge. I now have Rider at 4th .
The top 7 teams are still very close and could end only 2-3 games apart. The decision on Manhattan’s Ashton Pankey is the only other remaining major NCCA ruling that MAAC schools are waiting on. He would be a major defensive/rebounding presence.
10, agree that the NCAA has to something about this hardship waiver. It’s a bad rule, but they are ruling on it consistently…… so that means they are consistently bad. I would suggest the NCAA disallows all hardship waivers due to sick relatives. Its either “Disallow All” or “Allow All” and we see how bad it is with this “Allow All” approach.
Nash, Iona lost Machado and Glover 2 very special players…. In addition to Jenkins and Smyth…. Newcomers are not going to replace them….. talented or not. MAAC history has shown that when teams lose Impact Guards they are affected quite a bit and slide down the standings (i.e Flores, Clark, Jerry Johnson, Ron Moore). However, the same thing is not the case when MAAC teams lose a Big man. Rider and Siena got better after they lost Jason Thompson and Ryan Rossiter. Still, not that much difference between 6th and 1st .
Also Loyola’s PG RJ Williams is suspended until Jan 17th. He will miss 6 MAAC Games (including 1 Fairfield game), and I don’t think he can practice with the team. MAAC got even tighter.
Joe, no way Iona is 6th. Mo Mo jones is better than machado and now won't have to defer because it is his team. They have tons of talent and will just need to figure it out but will be very good. By the way, I remember many on this board saying Machado was a lottery pick which I told you was a joke. He was not drafted and Mo Mo will certainly be drafted. Happy to take all bets on that one. You are massively underestimating them. Mo Mo will be a monster this year. I know you love Needham but unless he grows 5 inches he will be facing easily the best talent in the league in his career.
Iona gets 6'8" 240 lbs. transfer David Laury eligible for the second semester. He will be a beast down low. If Norvel Pelle gets eligible as well, they will be the favorite to win the MAAC.
Post by reindeerfan on Oct 9, 2012 11:13:16 GMT -5
I'm with Hawkstag and Atlanta on Iona, in my mind no way either Rider or Canisius finish ahead of Iona. I also have to question Siena as a 7 pick. In my mind you could pencil Fairfield, Iona and Siena in any of the 3-5 positions and make a strong arguement for any order. I don't think we have an answer for OD, nor have we demonstrated an ability to shoot over the Buonguoro zone, or stop their outside shooters. So maybe we should be behind Siena. I think we only finish ahead of siena if we get very solid production / scoring from one of the freshman. I consider this to be the tightest 2-7 group we've had in a long time. My thoughts based on revised player availabilities:
Post by nashvillestag on Oct 9, 2012 11:35:39 GMT -5
I also think Iona will be near or at the top of the standings. Beside the new talant that will really help them because it fills a need in productive front court play that was lacking after Glover last year, I also think Mo Mo will become a dominant lead guard now that he doesn't have to defer to Machado. (I do not however believe he will be drafted as he does have size issues concerning the NBA). But also of concern to me is Sean Armand who will more than make up for Jenkins and Smyth as far as shooting the ball. So to me the only thing that might hold the Gaels back is chemistry problems and the unwillingness to play hard defense. If that happens then maybe you (JS) will be right. But I don't think so.
Iona has too many unknown's to put them any higher. Just because they recruited JUCO's that does not mean they are used to playing against DivisionI/MAAC defense. But for this year being 6th is not that far from 1st. But I see....
Momo Jones has not proved he is a PG. He is a combo and his game is very similar to Needham's. But Iona's offense requires a good PG that can distribute. I would not downplay Machado's role in Iona's their success, and while Momo is very talented, let's see how IOna does with him at PG.
Armond is a great shooter. I question his ballhandling/passing skills, and whether he can help Momo. Jenkins and Smyth were good Passers and Shooters and their value will be missed.
Overall, because of JUCO's, Chemistry, too many newcomers, and their lack of focus on Defense will be an issue for them. Regardless, the MAAC is so tightly bunched at the top, that does have the talent to finish 1st .
Siena will do well because of their defense, and will be a close 7th. I think we solved shot over Siena's zone very well last year. I think we shot close to 50% in both games. The only reason we lost to Siena last year is that we something like missed 32 1-2 foot layups against them. It was ananomly. I think we shot 3-35 on layups.
I agree with JS, Iona will either be feast or famine. If they can all play well together and there is an offensive flow and some semblance of a defense, they might be the best team in the MAAC.
JS, you make a valid point about Iona losing Machado and their PG position, maybe the most important position on the floor in college basketball. But the same can be said for the Stags (and many other MAAC teams) as well. Do we have a true PG on the roster? Needham is certainly capable, but is more of a shoot first combo guard. Jenkins, by all accounts, is also a combo guard. Desmond Wade is probably the closest to the ideal PG. But all three are going to have to share those responsibilities at one point or another, as we are lacking depth in the backcourt.
JS, you make a valid point about Iona losing Machado and their PG position, maybe the most important position on the floor in college basketball. But the same can be said for the Stags (and many other MAAC teams) as well. Do we have a true PG on the roster? Needham is certainly capable, but is more of a shoot first combo guard. Jenkins, by all accounts, is also a combo guard. Desmond Wade is probably the closest to the ideal PG. But all three are going to have to share those responsibilities at one point or another, as we are lacking depth in the backcourt.
I agree with you description of our guards except for Wade. IMO, he is a pure PG because he does the 2 most important things required of a PG..... Running the offense and making everyone else better on the court by distributing the ball to the right player at the right time. Thats what Machado did to perfection..... in addition to other things.
