NCAA Conference Reports...

First up in my look through the NCAA Division 1 Conferences and teams is the America East Conference. The Conference is host to nine teams. Last season the Binghampton Bearcats ran the table and garnered the NCAA bid for the league but were overmatched in the first round of the NCAA tourney by ACC outfit Duke. The offseason for Binghamton has been tumultuous with six players being dismissed from the squad in September. The team opened the season with a 71-46 defeat at the hands of Pittsburgh. Kyrie Sutton was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal performance.

Boston University comes into the 2009-2010 campaign with an experienced squad that features four returning starters and nine seniors. The Terriers will be looking to better last seasons 17-13 record and finish near the top of the conference. Top returning players include John Holland and Corey Lowe. Thus far the team has failed to impress losing at Iona 82-73 and dropping their home opener to George Washington 69-59. Looming on the schedule after a trip to the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off is the local derby with Harvard.

Next we travel to Vermont, the home of the Catamounts, a perennial contender for the conference title. With two time Conference Player of the Year Marques Blakely leading the way the team hopes to return to NCAA action in March after last seasons 24-9 outing. With no home games until December 13, the team has split their first two games of the season losing at Loyola, MD 79-66 before a narrow 58-57 win at Buffalo.

Albany will be looking to improve on last seasons 15-16 record with a host of new faces as the team said goodbye to two starters and four lettermen. The team will look for steady play from guard Tim Ambrose and improvement from center Brett Gifford. After opening losses to Syracuse 75-43 and Morgan State 69-65, the ‘Danes pulled off a one point 51-50 win over American. The team will face Alcorn State, Detroit and Robert Morris when they hast the 2K Classic from November 20. On December 30 the team will get to measure its progress against defending NCAA Champs North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Stony Brook hopes to use last season’s 16-14 record as a building block for this year’s slate. The Sea Wolves look for improvement form the four returning starters from last year’s squad. The team has not disappointed thus far with wins over Maryland-Eastern Shore 75-57 on the road and an 87-53 thrashing of Mount St. Mary’s at home. A November 24 visit to Rhode Island will provide a chance to gauge the teams’ progress against quality opposition.

The University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) will not sneak up on anyone this season after last years surprise run to the final of the conference tourney. The team lost their two top scorers from last season but return three solid players in Chauncey Gilliam, Justin Fry and Matt Spadafora. The team has opened with home court setbacks, losing to Morgan State 72-57 and Loyola-Maryland 69-66 in local derbies. The Retrievers have tough road trips to Penn State and Virginia Tech in December before settling into conference play.

At New Hampshire, the Wildcats are coming off their best season in fifteen years and return steady guard Alvin Abreau to lead the way as three quality freshmen arrive on campus to complement the nine returning players. The team opens its season with a November 20 visit to ACC team Maryland.

The Hartford Hawks limped to a 7-26 record after losing top guard Joe Zeglinski to injury only ten games into last season. With a healthy Zeglinski, all of the Hawk starters return as the team is set to make amends for last season. The addition of three newcomers will help solidify the team. After a loss to Quinnipiac 84-76 to kick off the season the team ventured into Texas and nearly came away with an upset of highly fancied Baylor before losing in a 71-69 thriller. The teams’ morale was at a high for their home opener where they brutalized Marist 75-38. A future high exposure contest sees the team traveling to Kentucky in late December.

Although Maine returns four starters from last years sub par 9-21 squad, the Black Bears may find the going tough again this season in spite of a one win, one loss start. A narrow road win over Fordham 76-73 and a close 56-53 victory at Delaware State sandwiched a heart breaking 72-71 loss at Norfolk State. December visits to Connecticut, Syracuse and Boston College could get ugly as the Black Bears try to gain credibility.

As far as predictions go, look for Vermont and Boston University to finish at or near the top with Stony Brook as a possible surprise team.

NCAA Hoops in full swing!!

Even more hoop happenings are now a reality with the US college basketball season underway. While the first couple of weeks will inevitably produce a lot of Who are they?, Where are they from?, What is a top team doing playing them? There is always a close call or two for the big timers.

Early on, we have seen the return of Isiah Thomas to the coaching game at Florida International University. His welcoming gift was a visit to defending Champions North Carolina where they were promptly disposed of by a score of 88-72.

The early surprise of the season came last Friday when little Rider College upset #18 Ranked Mississippi St. on the Bulldogs home court88-74. The woes of the Southeastern Conference continued last weekend with Alabama going down to a solid Cornell team at home 71-67. It goes to show that on any given night in the college version of the game, a team can put it all together and surprise the "Bog Boys".

A Sunday highlight saw Harvard survive in a three overtime thriller with William&Mary 87-85. Monday had another beauty as #4 Kentucky beat Miami-Ohio 72-70 thanks to a clutch basket by highly touted freshman John Wall.

Overnight there were narrow escapes by #19 Georgetown, 46-45 over Temple, #12 Connecticut 76-67 over Hofstra and #2 Michigan State 75-71 over always tough Gonzaga.

In the next few days I will go from A-Z of the Division 1 Conferences and highlight a few top teams and players.

Aussies draw Pool B for Wheelchair Championships

courtesy of: basketball.net.au

Wheelies worlds draws announced

12.11.09

The Executive Council of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) has announced the draws for the men's and women's world championships in Birmingham, England that will take place in July next year.

Australia’s Paralympic Gold Medallist men’s wheelchair basketball team has been drawn in Pool B alongside Mexico, France, Turkey, Algeria and Beijing Silver Medallist Canada.

Great Britain and the United States, who ranked third and fourth in Beijing, are on the other side of the draw in Pool A along with Japan, Poland, Italy and Korea.

In the women’s competition, Beijing Paralympics Bronze Medallist Australia has been drawn in Pool A along with The Netherlands, Great Britain, Mexico and Canada.

The United States and Germany, who won Gold and Silver in Beijing, have been drawn in Pool B along with Brazil, Japan and China.

Rollers head coach Ben Ettridge was happy with Australia’s positioning in men’s Pool B.

“The two pools are fairly even but I’d have to say that our pool may be slightly less experienced,” Ettridge said.

“Our pool contains a few unknowns for us in Mexico, France, Turkey and Algeria but each team has obviously done well to get to the worlds so no game will be easy and we need to win the early games to set us up for the crossover matches.

“Mexico beat Brazil at the IWBF Americas, for example, and Brazil was nearly a bogey team for us in Beijing, so that should be a challenging match up.

“Six teams (Poland, Italy, Mexico, France, Turkey, Algeria and Korea) did not qualify for Beijing but have qualified for the world cup so there has been some changing of the guard in world wheelchair basketball and we’ll have to be ready for that.”

Gliders head coach John Triscari was pleased with the women’s draw but stressed the importance of a good start for the Gliders.

“With the US and Germany on the opposite side of the draw to us, we need to win our preliminary games and win them well to secure a good seed for the crossover rounds,” Triscari said.

“If we do that, we’ll be in good shape to push on and achieve great things.”

Men’s and Women’s Pools for the 2010 IWBF World Championships:

Men:

Pool A: Japan, Poland, Italy, Great Britain, USA and Korea
Pool B: Mexico, Australia, France, Turkey, Algeria, Canada

Women:

Pool A: The Netherlands, Great Britain, Australia, Mexico, Canada
Pool B: Brazil, Japan, Germany, USA, China.

Aussie Report

Down Under Wrap

On the Aussie Hoop scene, “Sir” Julius Hodge returned to Aussie shores as a Melbourne Tiger and promptly went to work with a 22 point, 9 rebound, 7 assist and 3 steal debut in leading the Tigers to a 98-91 win over Townsville. The Crocs suffered from indifferent form in going through a one win, two loss week after being blown out by the Gold Coast on the heels of winning the NQ derby over Cairns.

Table toppers Perth and Wollongong suffered losses last week but remained on the top two ladder spots.

There are only four games on the schedule for this week but the matches on Wednesday and Friday nights in North Queensland should be interesting as John Rillie returns to the area with the New Zealand Breakers looking to consolidate their form as the season reaches the midway point.

The last week in the WNBL has seen the resignation of coaches in Perth and Dandenong while on the court, Eva Afeaki lead the Sydney Flames to a fourteen point thumping of Bulleen, the leagues final undefeated team. Elsewhere, Perth gained their first win of the season at the hands of the winless students from the AIS. This week’s action culminates in a huge matchup in Bendigo as the Spirit welcomes Sydney.

By all means get out and support the local product if you are in areas hosting games.

NBA Weekly Update

It’s All Ball Y’all!!!

The NBA season is well and truly underway with the last week bringing some much awaited excitement from Brandon Jennings of the Milwaukee Bucks. On Saturday “Mr. Jennings”, touched up the Golden State Warriors with a 55 point outing in three quarters no less as he went scoreless in the first term. Also over the last week in the NBA, the Phoenix Suns continued their resurgence with three wins sandwiched around a loss to the defending champion LA Lakers. But in picking a team of the week, I’ll have to go with the Cleveland Cavaliers who are in the midst of a four game winning streak after an indifferent start. Shaq is currently day to day with a shoulder problem but the team as a whole is coming together for a title push this season.

Other surprises thus far in the league are the San Antonio Spurs who are an even .500 while trying to sort through various injuries and adjust to new personnel. The whole Central Division is playing at .500 or better. Miami looks stronger than expected, Denver looks solid and Sacramento has surprised a few people.

My first NBA Top 10: Record Previous Rank

1. Cleveland 7-3 --

2. Boston 8-3 --

3. Denver 7-3 --

4. Orlando 8-3 --

5. Phoenix 9-2 --

6. Atlanta 9-2 --

7. LA Lakers 7-3 --

8. Dallas 8-3 --

9. Portland 8-4 --

10. Miami 7-2 --

Bubbling: Houston, Milwaukee