MU rolls past RSC
The Monmouth University men’s basketball team defeated Division III Richard Stockton College 75-42 in an exhibition game Sunday at Boylan Gym. Monmouth was led by Dejan Delic’s team-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Whitney Coleman scored 16 points while Alex Nunner and John Bunch each had 11 points. The 7-2 Bunch also blocked seven shots and had five rebounds. Kevin Brown, a Neptune High School graduate, and Lacey graduate Jordan Krzeczkowski each had eight points Stockton.
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
posted by Tony Graham at 3:58 PM
16 Comments:
Tony,
I thought that this was an interesting game for MU, and while maybe a lose-lose type of situation, I thought it was a good chance for us to analyze some things about this team and players in general. I have a few observations in general I wanted to comment on.
1. John Bunch- Granted he was playing against guys much smaller than he, I thought today did demonstrate what he is able to do on the offensive end (and maybe defensive as well). The kid is in my opinion too unselfish. While his passing ability is a great asset, he can score 10 ppg in the NEC, and has to for the Hawks to compete for a title.
2. Corey Hallet- I thought while offensively he looked sluggish, that he did some nice things, as far as rebounding and blocking/altering some shots. This is what his role needs to be for the Hawks, in addition to being a high energy guy.
3. Defensively, I still saw some flaws, while they did hold Stockton to 42 points, let's be honest, they're nowhere near NEC caliber. I would like to see the Hawks tighten up more on the perimeter, and pressure the ball some more.
4. Whitney Coleman has a chance to have a breakout second half of the season. Looking forward to next season, he, along with Youngblood is going to be the man, and this is a chance for him to start making that push. His jumpshot is very smooth, as is his game overall. Although smaller, he has a chance to be much like Gerry Crosby was his senior year for us.
5. Deki is lighting it up from three point land. Enough said. As long as he continues to take good shots, he is going to have an excellent NEC year.
On a different note, I went to see Princeton play Marshall yesterday. Marshall is a very athletic team, who lost by 2 at Robert Morris, and by 2 to U-Cal, so pretty good squad. Princeton beat them 61-45, and totally dominated the game. Why do I bring this up on this blog? Well, Princeton runs a very similar offense and plays the matchup. While there are slight differences the basketball novice wouldn't notice, styles are highly comparable. I dont htink Princeton, talent wise, had one player that would start for MU, but as a unit, very impressive. They really execute well on offense, and on defense they stick to their game plan, challenge shooters, and gang-rebound. I think that MU needs to slow the game down more like Princeton and really use their offense as a defensive mechanism, by shortening the game. I know many here will not agree, but I am a basketball purist, and really enjoy that style of play.
Overall, I thought today was a good chance for MU to get some of the negative karma out and work on executing, which they did. A couple days off, then two big non-conference games, then NEC play. After the holidays the season begins to fly by, so hopefully adjustments will be made and things will work themselves out.
E-A-G-L-E-S!
Can John Bunch please shoot the ball more? He is very unselfish and seems to pass well out of the post, but the game he had today is what he could do regularly in the NEC right? He's a big boy! By the way, Tyson Johnson and his crew was in attendance today, odd?
Uh-oh! Let's go G-Men!
Tony,
What are your top five NEC teams?
FYI----Hartford shot 6-23 from 3pt range today and still beat St. Francis NY by 6 points. Last week they shot 3-16 versus Yale and still beat them at Yale. If MU can get their defense on track, this season can be righted, I am convinced, anyone else?
Game Over! E-A-G-L-E-S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tony,
Youngblood sat out the 2nd half today in his warmup suit -- is he hurt?
Hawks looked ok not great but with a small line up as in numbers 7-8 players they rolled. Mike Shipman played well as did Delic and Nunner.Get ready for the NEC , FDU lost by a bunch to Stony Brook,and RMU looks up and down,Wagner could be the dark horse right now.
Nice post by Jason. Great minds think alike. Well his anyway..but I am on board with all his views, especially slowing the ball down and having the offense work as a defense.
Five top teams in the NEC. Hmmmmm... I still like RMU and MU, also FDU, I guess I have to take a serious look at Sacred Heart, and maybe Wagner? Can't rule them out if they get best player Durell Vinson back from suspension after first semester. Are there five good teams in the NEC?
Tyson Johnson sighting. I said I would not refer to Tyson anymore until after the season..BUT..since I did the sighting Sunday (along with a few others) I am making an exception this time.
I talked to Tyson for a while after the game and he said he is doing very well with a 3.2 GPA at junior college (in Texas).
He admitted he was "lazy" at MU last year and generally seemed disappointed in himself during his stay at MU but said has learned from it.
He said schools like Houston, St. John's and Maryland (also FDU!) among others have shown interest.
I told him about the blog where some people have been critical of him. He did not know about it but said he would check it out.
I am not taking any additional blog comments on Tyson until maybe at the end of his season and asked him to e-mail me how he fared and what his future plans will be.
As I have said before, I like Tyson and never had a problem with him.
I was hoping that this would have been a good break-out offensive game for Corey, but he just looked bad on that end. He did a nice job rebounding and blocking a few shots, but offensively he couldnt even score on 6-4 players...He's having a rough go at it huh?
A few questions:
1. Thoughts on Sean Barlow?
2. Youngblood's prognosis?
3. Was the MU defense any better?
4. Is Shipman the MU point guard of the future, or do they need a more ball-control patient guard? Shipman's assits to turnovers has been great lately.
5. Is Alston sluggish this year?
Sean B's jam off the loose ball was great, and then he took a nice inside feed and laid a duece in off the glass. Shouldn's this guy get a few few minutes a game? Honestly, what does Hallet do better? I think Barlow could give the Hawks a few minutes, grab some rebounds, and maybe even put back a miss or two off the O-glass. What do we think?
Can Bunch block 5-7 shots a game in the NEC please? He has the potential and ability to do so. He needs to be key for MU to go forward, I agree. He looked good today?
Please go to my thoughts on Stockton game for additional comments...
Barring the unforseen, Shipman is the point guard of the present and the future. Jhamar, however, does have excellent PG instincts, Hett (the recruited PG from Staten Island )arrives next year.
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