iogyhufi
Masters Student
Posts: 680
Age: 27
Reg: 10-10-17
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03-18-22 09:51 PM - Post#339558
What a wild season. It was great to see Ivy League basketball played again after what felt like forever, and I have to say, I'm really impressed with how Yale battled throughout the year. Starting off 2021 with only two players who played significant time in any prior season was always going to be tough. The Bulldogs stumbled their way through the noncon without getting anything even remotely resembling a quality win along the way. You would've been forgiven for wondering whether they'd even put up a fight in conference after that display. But the players rallied to put together a strong showing in-conference on the back of two of the very things that James Jones teams always have - defense and rebounding (the "sharing the ball" was down this year).
Some great individual development this year, and not just from the young guys. Azar Swain went from being a knockdown three-point shooter to an all-over scorer who, at times, simply couldn't be stopped. He had one of the more impressive performances I've ever seen against Iona, which got buried because Yale gave up 91 and lost. It is a crying shame to me that we never got to see an ILT nor an NCAA run with Azar and Paul leading the way. Yale lost two tournaments (and one year) of Atkinson and two years of Makai Mason in recent memory, which is an absolute shame given what they could've done. Jalen Gabbidon is an incredibly smart player (and a good friend) and I was blown away by the toughness he showed throughout his career. With only one season of college basketball experience to his name, he showed his ability on both ends of the court this year, and his understanding of the game and willingness to defer to others when it was needed made him the consummate captain.
The future looks bright as well - James (the poster) has said this already, but Bez Mbeng has the potential to be a really really good player down the line. He's exceptionally quick and fast, and he already has a decent shooting touch and was a fantastic defender in-league. And he's only a freshman! Matt Knowling and EJ Jarvis both showed a lot of stuff this year too - Knowling I can best describe by relaying what a friend said about him: "He doesn't really have post moves, he just hits a ton of contested hook shots." Jarvis was a very good post defender in-league, and if you look at how he played towards the end of the season and compare it with how he played at the beginning, you'd be dumbstruck. He improved by leaps and bounds as the year went on, and if he can stay healthy, he has a chance to prove Coach Jones' prediction that he could be the best big man in the league correct.
Ivy League basketball is something special to watch - it's the NCAA's hidden gem, in my view. The teams in our league have to have a special kind of toughness to deal with what they have to deal with. A friend once remarked that he'd like to see Duke drive five hours on a charter bus to Hanover to play a game in a blizzard in front of 100 people in a dilapidated old gym with refs who officiate by Ouija board and see how easy they found it to win. It's easy to play hard when you're on national TV every night and you play in front of packed houses, but it's much harder when you have to do what the league teams do, and balance a serious academic workload on top of that. Every basketball season is a joy to me, and I'm excited to see what comes next for the league.
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james
Masters Student
Posts: 789
Age: 48
Reg: 03-18-19
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03-19-22 08:33 AM - Post#339567
In response to iogyhufi
Nice post. I couldn’t agree more as it relates to the toughness of these kids.
It showed in yale. We were undermanned. But we competed in a tough matchup and things just didn’t go our way that had too-hitting timely shots Ivey not hitting 30 footers and to some extent fouls which were too disparate even accounting for team differences.
But we held them to a terrible shooting percentage when they didn’t shoot 80% at the line.
My biggest concern is obvious-swain and gabbidon. Replacing them will be tough and for different reasons
One is a great defender and leader and the other is a yale all timer who to your point massively expanding his midrange game to make it hard to defend.
but lastly it’s that the rest of the guys deferred. It was in their mindset.
Goes without saying we have to see some alpha step up with some skill development. There is talent.
I like cotton. He didn’t have a great year but he has the talent and needs to find consistency in his jumper.
mbeng needs to channel his inner ivey and improve his ballhandling to match his foot speed. He can certainly be the fastest kid with the ball in the IL if he does this. If he develops a reliable jumper, look out.
Jarvis has the physical tools and the moxie. I wish him health and development. He was a load in dc high school ball and had options. That’s where the moxie comment comes from.
otherwise it’s filling in gaps. We won’t be big per se but basa ama is quite talented. Sometimes I wonder why jj threw these post guys under the bus with comments abt how he didn’t have them or they were hurt.
Basa ama showed excellent potential and great length and athleticism and touch around the rim. I think he can make a leap.
Poulakidas is smooth left hander. He has good size.
Knowling was impressive. Just need him to expand his game a bit.
Kelly is a great athlete and fills a role. Wish we cld fix those shooting mechanics and move the ball forward in front of his head.
Anyway who is going to be the alpha dog leader? Talent exists
It’s not generational and to your point we replace some of that. there is no swain bruner Atkinson mason miye oni or Sears Sherrod walking through the door.
I agree and still think a spry less hurt bruner paired with post Baylor mason and miye oni and later Paul without mason—-was going to be the best team we have seen in this league since Cornell etc. sad. I guess harvard could also make arguments w Aiken and towns
But we have some quality raw material and Hope a strong off-season of health and work molds it.
Until then! As an aside I cldnt be more proud of how this has been built
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james
Masters Student
Posts: 789
Age: 48
Reg: 03-18-19
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03-19-22 08:39 AM - Post#339568
In response to james
JJ is far more comfortable playing kids who are system guys for a bit. This comes from his experience obv but also is a midmajor feature. you have 4 yrs with them and expect them to develop and learn the o and d systems without trial and error.
Anyway i think this bodes well for knowling and mbeng bc it’s a hell of a leap of faith for him. I also hope it bodes well for guys like molloy and basa ama and poulakidas.
My point is he sees them more than me and they could be really good. I liked their potential a lot referring more to the ones with spot duty
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SomeGuy
Professor
Posts: 6404
Reg: 11-22-04
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03-19-22 08:48 AM - Post#339569
In response to james
I think August Mahoney may actually be the guy next year.
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james
Masters Student
Posts: 789
Age: 48
Reg: 03-18-19
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03-19-22 09:46 AM - Post#339571
In response to SomeGuy
Yea I like him. He is a knock down 3 pt shooter and fine ball handler.
he is also tough. He needs to learn to not over penetrate and use the floater or kick it.
But you saw signs last night. so that’s a good point as u pair him at the 2
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SRP
Postdoc
Posts: 4910
Reg: 02-04-06
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03-19-22 03:49 PM - Post#339589
In response to james
One thing it's fair to say is that young, talented Yale players have tended to develop over the last several years. So Knowling, Mbeng, and Mahoney could be a formidable core with physical guys like Kelly and Cotton and others filling in.
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