SB Nation - Marist Red Foxes

RPI WATCH: 12/13/09

BracketCat — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:00:31 -0000

The circle is complete: By beating the brains out of Lon Kruger's team, perhaps we finally have erased the demons that have plagued K-State basketball for 20 years — roughly ever since he ditched us for Florida. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

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Sorry, guys. I accidentally set this to publish at 11:45 p.m. tonight when I meant for it to go last night. My bad.

Wow, what a Saturday.

I guess I'll start with us. I've adding a ranking indicator, because now that Xavier beat Cincinnati today (likely knocking them out of the Top 25), it's a 99-percent certainty that we will be ranked at this time tomorrow.

Meanwhile, our RPI is an eye-popping TWO. I don't think we're likely to top Duke anytime soon, so this basically is the pinnacle for our resume this year, at least from a numbers standpoint. Kudos to Frank Martin for drawing up a PERFECT non-conference schedule, one that now is ranked fourth, after briefly spiking at second last night.

UNLV was added to the ledger of Top 50 wins, and Wazzu's win over Air Force, coupled with playing us, moved the Cougars into the Top 100. That gives us six quality wins so far, and to that you can add Fort Hays State's movement into the Division II Top 25 last week. We've beaten some damn good teams.

What does all this mean? Barring an absolute collapse in Big 12 play, we're going to be in the NCAA Tournament. And if things keep up like this, we'll have a pretty high seed, too. We almost don't need this feature anymore — the resume speaks for itself. But I'll keep tracking everything, nonetheless.

Here's a little trivia for you: Four teams in the country have three RPI Top 50 wins. Who are they? Answers after the jump. Oh, and be sure to vote in my poll.

Answer: Georgetown, Kansas State, Texas, Villanova

Bonus Answer: Kansas has ZERO Top 50 wins. LOL!

Current Kansas State Ranking = TBD

Current Kansas State Record = 9-1

Current Kansas State RPI = 2

Current Kansas State SOS = 4

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton, UNLV

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI, Washington State, Xavier

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

Loyola (6-2, 1-1) | RPI = 40: Win over San Francisco (66-63)
Western Illinois (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 320: Loss to Eastern Illinois (44-41)
Boston (4-6) | RPI = 146: Win at Marist (88-72)
No. 25 Ole Miss (8-1) | RPI = 34: Win over McNeese State (83-67)
Dayton (7-2) | RPI = 24
IUPUI (8-3, 2-0) | RPI = 60: Win over Indiana-South Bend (92-56)
No. 22* FHSU (7-1): Win over Missouri Western (67-54)
Washington State (8-2) | RPI = 88: Win over Air Force (75-68)
Xavier (5-3) | RPI = 68
No. 18 UNLV (7-1) | RPI = 29: Loss to Kansas State (95-80)
Alabama (6-3) | RPI = 91: Loss to No. 5 Purdue (73-65)
UAPB (0-6) | RPI = 273
Cleveland State (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 232: Win over Wilberforce (113-61)
South Dakota (5-4) | RPI = 119
Missouri (6-3) | RPI = 161: Win over Fairleigh Dickinson (87-36)
No. 16 Texas A&M (8-2) | RPI = 18: Loss to New Mexico (84-81)
Colorado (6-4) | RPI = 229
No. 2 Texas (8-0) | RPI = 5: Win over Texas State (87-54)
Oklahoma State (7-1) | RPI = 26
Baylor (7-1) | RPI = 105
No. 1 Kansas (9-0) | RPI = 21: Win over La Salle (90-65)
Nebraska (7-2) | RPI = 151: Win over Oregon State (50-44)
Iowa State (7-3) | RPI = 155
Oklahoma (7-3) | RPI = 142: Win at Utah (78-73 in overtime)
No. 23 Texas Tech (9-0) | RPI = 18

*Division II Top 25

BtB 2009-10 Metro Atlantic Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:00:30 -0000

With four starters back from a team that won an NCAA game for the second straight season, the Siena Saints are again the prohibitive favorites in the Metro Atlantic. But the conference's two other postseason qualifiers, NIT entrant Niagara and CollegeInsider qualifier Rider, are primed to challenge the Saints again in 2009-10.

The race should stay interesting as most of the league's stars are back. Eleven of the 15 players who made the 2008-09 all-MAAC teams are back, with the Purple Eagles and Saints each losing players on the list. While Siena will miss Kenny Hasbrouck and Niagara has a big hole in the middle now that Benson Egemonye is gone, both still have plenty of pieces in place to be competitive nationally. Rider brings back its lone selection, Ryan Thompson, a player who could very well join his brother Jason in the NBA next season.

So while Siena has a great chance to build its national reputation, their conference rivals are ready, and well-positioned, to make some noise of their own. More on the Saints and the nine teams trying to chase them down after the jump.

Here's a recap of last season's MAAC standings.

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Standings

(updated 3.22.2009 at 7:49 PM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Siena Saints	16	2	27	8
Niagara Purple Eagles	14	4	26	9
Rider Broncs	12	6	19	13
Fairfield Stags	9	9	17	15
Manhattan Jaspers	9	9	16	14
St. Peter's Peacocks	8	10	11	19
Iona Gaels	7	11	12	19
Loyola, Md. Greyhounds	7	11	12	20
Canisius Golden Griffins	4	14	11	20
Marist Red Foxes	4	14	10	23

Now here are my picks for the 2009-10 season, presented in reverse order.

Marist (last NCAA: 1987) Former John Calipari assistant Chuck Martin will have an even more difficult time leading the Red Foxes this season, as three starters are gone off a 10-win team, including the team's top two scorers, F Ryan Schneider (15.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and G David Devezin (10.3 ppg). If the returnees, led by 6-2 G Dejuan Goodwin (6.7 ppg), 5-10 R.J. Hall (6.9 ppg, 1.7 apg), and 6-9 Korey Bauer (4.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg) are more comfortable with the dribble-drive offense, the Foxes should improve, but that may not show up in the standings. The Red Foxes play their first six away from Poughkeepsie, starting with a game at Rutgers on November 14.

Iona (last NCAA: 2006) The Gaels will fill the MAAC's host slot at the Old Spice Classic at Disney World, where they open with 2009 NCAA participant Florida State, facing either Alabama or Baylor on day 2. It could be a rough four days for them, as they may not have the firepower to compete. Leading scorer Gary Springer graduated, and he was the only Gael to average in double figures last year (11.8 ppg, 7 rpg). Kevin Willard will need his returnees, led by Scott Machado (9.3 ppg), last year's conference Newcomer of the Year, and his backcourt-mate Milan Prodanovic (6.9 ppg), to get their offense to the level of Iona's often impressive defense.

Manhattan (last NCAA: 2004) Barry Rohrssen has three starters back from a team that did well to finish at .500 in the league last season. The two losses are significant; however, as Chris Smith (13.4 ppg) transferred and forward Devon Austin (10.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg) graduated. That means the Jaspers will be even more guard-oriented this season. 6-4 Darryl Crawford, the team's leading scorer (14.4 ppg), leads the returnees, while 6-4 JC transfer Rico Pickett will see immediate minutes in an effort to recover the production of Smith and Austin. The highlight of the Jaspers' non-conference schedule this season is a trip to Nashville to face Vanderbilt.

Canisius (last NCAA: 1996) The Golden Griffins could be ready to fly up the standings, as all five starters are back from last year's 11 win outfit. Senior PG Frank Turner (15.6 ppg, 4 apg) has several options when running the offense, including 6-4 junior SG Julius Coles (12.1 ppg), 6-7 junior Greg Logins (11.3, 7 ppg, 7 rpg) and 6-9, 320 lb. C Chris Gadley (7.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg off the bench). The highlight of a relatively local schedule is a trip to a holiday tournament at Southern Miss, which also features New Orleans and North Florida.

Loyola (MD) (last NCAA: 1994) Jimmy Patsos has all five starters back, so the Greyhounds should improve on the 12 wins they claimed a season ago. Loyola's strength will be a backcourt featuring the conference's leading scorer and nation's top free throw shooter, Jamal Barney (18.1 ppg), Brett Harvey (12.4 ppg), and Brian Rudolph (8 ppg), but the frontcourt should be much better this time around thanks to the addition of 6-10 Maryland transfer Shane Walker. Patsos' schedule is heavily local, with a game at West Virginia a main highlight.

St. Peter's (last NCAA: 1995) The Peacocks should improve on their 8 league wins this season, but this year could just be a stepping stone to next year, when John Dunne's three returning junior starters are ready for their swan song. St. Peter's backcourt is formidable, as PG Nick Leon (2.3 apg) and off guard Wesley Jenkins (4.3 rpg) both averaged more than 15 points per contest last year. 6-7 F Ryan Bacon is a force inside, as he averaged almost 12 points and nearly 8 boards a game in '08-09. For the Peacocks to make real strides in this league, Dunne will need more out of his bench, particularly 6-6 swingman Jordan Costner (3.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and 6-8 F Jack Hill (1.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg). St. Peter's opens at Seton Hall and will face Monmouth in a 6 a.m. game during ESPN's November 17 hoops marathon.

Fairfield (last NCAA: 1997) Ed Cooley welcomes four starters back, led by 6-7 senior F Greg Nero (12.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg), but point guard is a major issue for the Stags. Herbie Allen (9.6 ppg, 2.8 apg) graduated and last season's original starter, Jonathan Han (12.5 ppg, 5.3 apg), left the program after Cooley suspended him. Expect the Stags to be more frontcourt-oriented thanks to the presence of Nero, 6-5 junior Warren Edney (9.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg), 6-6 junior Yorel Hawkins (8.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg), and 6-9 senior Mike Evanovich (7.5 ppg, 3 rpg). The Stags will spend most of the Thanskgiving season in the DC area, where they'll face Maryland, American, and Howard.

Rider (last NCAA: 1994) Besides Thompson (18 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.2 apg), Tommy Dempsey has three other players back who averaged in double figures last year: 6-7 F Mike Ringgold (11.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg), 6-7 swingman Novar Gadson (10.8 ppg, 6 rpg), and 6-2 G Justin Robinson (10.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg). Rider's major loss is 6-3 G Harris Mansell, who averaged almost 12 points a contest last year, but his brother Patrick (2.7 ppg) could potentially replace him. The Broncs should continue to score in bunches, but they'll need to tighten things up on the defensive end to reach the next level. Rider will participate in the low/mid-major bracket of the Cancun Challenge, where they'll face Florida A&M, followed by either Oral Roberts or Sam Houston State. They'll visit Kentucky and Virginia earlier in the event. They'll also visit Mississippi State, hoping to pull an upset in Starkville, like San Diego did last season.

Niagara (last NCAA: 2007) Joe Michalich has a hole to fill down low with Egemonye's graduation (12.7 ppg, 7.1 ppg), but the return of four high-performing starters--including three seniors--means the Purple Eagles will be right in the thick of things again this season. The backcourt, featuring 5-11 Tyrone Lewis (16.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg), 6-2 Rob Garrison (10.9 ppg), and 6-1 junior Anthony Nelson (8.1 ppg), will continue to be a strength, while 6-5 swingman Bilal Benn (13.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg) does considerable amounts of everything. Look for 6-6 senior Demetrius Williamson, who averaged 7.7 points and 3 boards a game, and 6-8 freshman Scooter Gillette to attempt to fill Egemonye's shoes and production. The Purple Eagles face a challenging schedule including a trip to Auburn as part of the Glenn Wilkes Classic. They'll face Akron, UCF, and Howard in that same event in Daytona Beach. They also travel to Illinois State for a BracketBuster rematch and host Drexel in a game that starts at 8 a.m. on November 17.

Siena (last NCAA: 2009) Hasbrouck (14.6 ppg, 3.6 ppg) is the only significant loss for Fran McCaffrey, so the Saints will again be a threat to make it to the Tournament and win a game (or even two). The frontcourt is still athletic and full of talented offensive players with 6-6 Edwin Ubiles (15 ppg, 7.9 rpg), 6-9 Ryan Rossiter (10 ppg, 7.9 rpg), and 6-5 Alex Franklin (13.6 ppg, 7.5 rpg) leading the way. Ronald Moore, a pass-first PG (8.7 ppg, 6.4 apg), runs an efficient offensive unit, while 6-3 senior Clarence Jackson (8.3 ppg) and 6-2 sophomore Kyle Downey (3.5 ppg) will get the opportunity to produce in Hasbrouck's place. The Saints also welcome veteran and JC transfer Just-in' Love Smith to their roster this season. The schedule won't quite be the gauntlet of last season's, but there are plenty of intriguing contests. Siena will feature in the November 17 marathon, facing Northeastern. They also travel to Northern Iowa for a BracketBuster rematch and to Atlanta to face former coach Paul Hewitt's Georgia Tech squad. The Saints will also participate in the Philly Hoop Group Classic, where they'll visit Temple, host Delaware, and face St. John's and Brown at the Palestra.

The Saints are my pick to be kings of the MAAC again, so they'll appear in my Final Preseason Bracket on November 9. If the Saints can put together a great regular season, but slip up in the MAAC Tournament, there may be a chance for the Metro Atlantic to be a multi-bid league.

Now, to close this preview, here is my preseason All-MAAC team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-MAAC Team

Player of the Year: Ryan Thompson, 6-6 G, Sr. (Rider)

Remainder of the Team
Jamal Barney, 6-3 G, Jr. (Loyola)
Bilal Benn, 6-5 G/F, Sr. (Niagara)
Alex Franklin, 6-5 F, Sr. (Siena)
Edwin Ubiles, 6-6 G/F, Sr. (Siena)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the MAAC this season?

Canisius

1 votes

Fairfield

2 votes

Iona

0 votes

Loyola (MD)

1 votes

Manhattan

0 votes

Marist

1 votes

Niagara

0 votes

Rider

1 votes

St. Peter's

0 votes

Siena

3 votes

9 votes | Poll has closed

Ultimate Rankings Countdown: 268 - 254

aGent37 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:25:17 -0000

268. Wagner: Veteran coach Mike Deane is coming off his second straight winning season with the Seahawks in which he finished with a respectable 16-14 record. The team saw its fair share of ups and downs but overall they could not expect much more. However, Deane is going to be hard pressed to continue his winning streak beyond the 2009-10 season. The Seahawks will lose four of last year’s starting-five. These four starters; Joey Mundweiler, Jamal Smith, Llew Radford and Justin Drummond were responsible for a staggering 72% of the teams offensive production. This is a big blow to the Wagner team and it will take a while for Deane to rebuild the program.

267. Valparaiso: Homer Drew’s team looked as if they were going to be the Horizon League’s elite team at the start of the 2008-09 season. However the Crusaders ended up disappointing all their supporters by finishing 9-22 with a 5-14 conference record. Things look as if they will get a lot worse as Drew is set to lose his two senior leaders in Urule Igavboa and Jake Diebler. These two were not only the team’s top performers on the court but also led the team off the court as well. With the loss of these two it looks as if the Crusaders struggling offense (60.1 ppg) will be even weaker come the tip-off of the 2009-10 season.

266. Hampton: The 2008-09 Hampton team was incredibly young and inexperienced and coach Kevin Nickelberry was well aware of this. The team consisted of five freshmen and only two seniors. Nickelberry never seemed to really connect with his young players and this was mostly likely the cause of his resignation subsequent to the season. Now that he has bailed this young team will have to start from scratch yet again with interim head coach Edward Joyner calling the shots. Expect many big wins but also many devastating loses from this Pirates team. They will have to learn a new style of play, which will be a major setback in their on-court developmental process.

265. Marist: The Red Foxes showed signs of promise at times during the 2008-09 season but ultimately ended with a 10-23 record. Coach Chuck Martin will return for his second year in Poughkeepsie but still has a lot of work to do before getting his team to where he wants them to be. Martin took over a very unmotivated team and quickly changed them into hard-working athletes. He will face a major holdup as he loses the teams top players Ryan Schneider and guard Kaylen Gregory. Schneider led the team last year in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game. Martin will have a very young team with no standout leader, causing them to drop off a bit from last year.

264. Tennessee Tech: The Golden Eagles started off the season scorching hot as they were victorious in six of their first eight games. However the team quickly began to cool down and by the end of the season they were ice-cold, losing eight of their final nine games. The Eagles struggled on both sides of the ball but more noticeably on defense where they ranked 7^th in the OVC by allowing 73 points per game. Mike Sutton is going to have to really turn this team around to maintain his position as head coach. He will have to do so without Daniel Northern who led the team with 12.6 points per game along with 8.8 rebounds. Players like Northern are very difficult to replace, leaving Sutton with a lot of work before the 2009-10 season.

263. Campbell: The Fighting Camels looked as if they began a new chapter in their basketball program in the 2008-09 season. They had a roster that showed a lot of promise, consisting of eight new players and not one single senior. They finished conference play at 11-9 marking their first winning record in the Atlantic Sun. The 11 wins marked a five game improvement from there six in 2008-09. Coach Robbie Laing was able to put together a lethal bunch of sharpshooters that finished with a 35.5% from beyond the arch. The Fighting Camels are pleased to return their leading scorer Jonathan Rodriguez (15.6 ppg) for the upcoming season. They might be able to make a legitimate run at the conference title if they carry over their lights out shooting from a year ago.

262. Penn: The Quakers had high hopes heading into the 2008-09 season. Glen Miller’s crew was almost a unanimous pick to be a contender for the Ivy League championship. The Quakers seemed to not be able to handle the pressure and ended the year with a 10-18 record mainly due to their poor performance at home in conference play. Last years team was fairly young and seemed promising for the upcoming season. This all changed when their top young player Harrison Gaines announced his intentions of transferring. Gaines scored 9.9 points per game in 2008-09 and was one of the few players that continuously played to his full ability.

261. Southern Utah: Things are on the upside in Cedar City, UT. The Thunderbirds are looking better and showing improvement year-after-year. The team has a top-notch player in Davis Baker coming back to run the SUU offense. Barker averaged a team high of 17.4 points per game making him one of the nations top-100 scorers in 2008-09. The only question for the Thunderbirds is if head coach Roger Reid can assemble a supporting cast to help Baker take the team to the next level. As we all no there is no "I" in team and with out a little help I do not believe SUU will be able to make any improvement.

260. Jacksonville St.: Last years leading scorer Jeremy Bynum will have fine tune his game over the offseason in order for the Gamecocks to have any hopes of a successful 2009-10 season. Bynum will lose two of his fellow starters as Jonathan Toles and DeAndre Bray both graduated last spring. Head coach James Green’s main focus seems to be on tightening up the team’s weak defense. Last season the Gamecocks allowed opponents to shoot 45.9% and average 71 points per game. They have a solid recruiting class coming in that Green feels will be the missing piece to the puzzle.

259. SMU: A disappointing 2008-09 should not put a damper on the Mustangs high hopes for this year. The team will only suffer one loss, big man Bamba Fall to graduation. This means that they will bring back a lot of experience. I would keep an eye out for Paul McCoy who returns to Dallas, TX for his sophomore year. As a freshman McCoy led the team with 13.4 points per game. Another player that has the potential of a great season is point guard Derek Williams. He was not only an impressive scorer but also led the team with 3.5 assists per game.

258. Bethune-Cookman: Clifford Reed Jr. has finally found his go-to guy on offense. Ironically enough it is his son C.J. Reed who proved to be the needed spark to ignite the Wildcat scoring. C.J. averaged 15 points and 3.9 assists per game and looks as if he is capable of putting up even higher numbers this year. The team will lose two role players in Tobias Malone and Kevan Creppy but they were more additional depth and did not play a major role for the team. The only thing standing in the Wildcats way is a much-improved Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. It will be difficult to overcome the increased level of competition but I would not rule anything out with this father-son combo.

257. Lehigh: The Mountain Hawks struggled throughout the 2008-09 season with ice-cold shooting. The team was not able to step up to the challenging defenses from their in-conference rivals and this caused them to fall 5-9 in the Patriot League. They will need big play from Zahir Carrington. He is perfectly capable of this as he averaged 14 points and 8.6 rebounds per game finishing fourth and first in the conference, respectively. Although Carrington is clearly very talented, I am not sure if he is the kind of player that can carry a team by himself. If the Mountain Hawks continue to shoot the ball poorly they will continue with their ever so frequent losing streaks, simple as that.

256. Savannah St.: The Tigers ended the 2008-09 season with a middle-of-the-road 15-14 record. Horace Broadnax’s team will have to find someone to take over for the team’s top-player Chris Linton. Linton led the team in both scoring (9.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.4 rpg). The absence of Linton will be a setback for the Tigers and could put them a couple steps back from last season. In order to continue to improve, Broadnax will need strong play from his sophomore forward Rashad Hassan. Last season Hassan finished second on the team in scoring and if he gets more aggressive could become a force under the boards. It is going to be a difficult task for the Tigers to lockdown a winning record in 2009-10 but it is defiantly not out of reach.

255. Arkansas St.: It looked as if the Red Wolves were going to have a very promising 2008-09 season as they got out to a 13-7 start. All of a sudden the tempo changed and John Brady’s team found themselves on many losing streaks. The team lacked an offensive presence and finished the season shooting a dismal 43% from the floor. This was mainly due to forced shots and it looks as if the loss of point guard Ifeanyi Koggu will make this matter even worse. Koggu was not necessarily a scoring threat but he did posses the ability to find the open man. Brady will need his star player Donald Boone to expand his game from being solely a scorer to a solid all-around player. This will be a difficult transition for Boone and could take some time before he fully blossoms.

254. UC-Davis: Head coach Gary Stewart will be in search of a scoring threat during the off-season. The Aggies will lose their top player Vince Oliver who was one of the main reasons that the Aggies were even able to win 13 games last season. Oliver is an electrifying scorer that can get it done in the paint or behind the arch. The loss of such a valuable component of the team will be very difficult and in order to bounce back they will need strong play from Joe Harden. As a sophomore Harden averaged 14.8 points per game but it will be interesting to see if he can do this again without Oliver’s presence on the court.

Florida State Seminoles 8, Georgia Diamond Dogs 2

T Kyle King — Sun, 31 May 2009 01:11:58 -0000

Following a dominant performance in their opening outing, the Diamond Dogs returned to action on Saturday against Florida State in the Tallahassee Regional. In a pitchers’ duel that got out of hand for the Red and Black at the end, the Seminoles pulled away to claim an 8-2 victory.

F.S.U. starter Sean Gilmartin retired the Classic City Canines in sequence on a strikeout, a groundout, and a flyout in the visitors’ half of the first frame. Trevor Holder, who had a solid day on the hill overall, got off to a rocky start in the bottom of the canto when he walked Tyler Holt, surrendered a single to Stephen Cardullo, struck out Mike McGee while allowing a stolen base to put two runners in scoring position, and conceded the sacrifice fly to Jason Stidham that scored a run.

Once Stuart Tapley was plunked and Tommy Oravetz was issued a base on balls, Ohmed Danesh grounded out to strand three. No Diamond Dog made it as far as first in the top of the second stanza but Rafael Lopez sent a one-out single into right field and advanced to third on a Holt double. After Cardullo turned the first pitch he saw into a foulout, a McGee double and a Stidham single combined to bring home three runs. Following a first-pitch single by Tapley, Oravetz went down swinging, but F.S.U. already had all the runs they would need.

Georgia went three up and three down in the top of the third frame and the Seminoles made some noise in the home half of the canto (in the form of a one-out Mike Meschke single and a two-out Holt single) but failed to add to their lead. The Classic City Canines at long last got on the board when Peter Verdin dropped a one-out double into right center field in the top of the fourth stanza and Rich Poythress belted a two-run shot to halve the F.S.U. edge.

F.S.U. leadoff hitter Tyler Holt went three for four on Saturday, with a walk and a stolen base, which just goes to show that she was the real brains behind Remington Steele.

Holder set down the Seminoles in order in the bottom of the inning and Colby May was the only batter for either team to register anything other than an out in the fifth frame. The sixth canto saw no baserunners at all and the seventh stanza produced one for each side: Joey Lewis reached on a fielding error in the Bulldogs’ turn at the plate and Tapley registered a double in Florida State’s time in the batter’s box.

The top of the eighth frame appeared promising for the Diamond Dogs, as a one-out Michael Demperio single and a two-out Verdin single brought the would-be go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Bryce Massanari. Unfortunately, the Red and Black catcher fouled out to strand his two teammates.

After Meschke drew the one-out walk that brought Will Harvil to the mound in the bottom of the inning, Lopez struck out to give the Georgia faithful cause for confidence that the Classic City Canines would have a final shot at victory. Unfortunately, it was then that the wheels came off, as Holt and Cardullo turned consecutive base hits into a run. Both remaining baserunners moved into scoring position on a double-steal and McGee walked the bases full to allow Stidham to bring home three runs with a bases-clearing triple. By the time Tapley went down swinging, the Seminoles had increased their lead to an insurmountable 8-2.

The Diamond Dogs went quietly on a flyout, a foulout, and a groundout in the top of the ninth canto to conclude a contest in which Trevor Holder pitched well enough to win. The Red and Black starter lasted more than seven innings, in which he gave up nine hits and three walks to 35 batters while striking out seven and surrendering five earned runs. He simply was outdueled by Sean Gilmartin, whose complete-game gem saw him strike out six, walk none, and concede only five hits and two earned runs.

Good pitching beats good hitting, and Florida State had very good pitching on Saturday afternoon. Gilmartin threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 33 batters he faced, which allowed the Seminoles to overcome their poor fielding. Because the Buckeyes eliminated Marist, the Diamond Dogs will face Ohio State a second time at noon on Sunday.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Georgia	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0
Florida State	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	X	8	12	2

Go ‘Dawgs!

Diamond Dogs Receive Second Seed in Tallahassee Regional

T Kyle King — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:26:15 -0000

The 64-team field for the N.C.A.A. baseball tournament was announced this afternoon and those of you hoping to avoid the Atlanta Regional would do well to remember to be careful for what you wish, as the Diamond Dogs are Tallahassee-bound.

Georgia (37-22) is the region’s No. 2 seed behind top-seeded host squad Florida State (42-16) and the Classic City Canines will open tournament action against No. 3 seed Ohio State (40-17) at noon on Friday. (Hopefully, the S.E.C. dominance of the Buckeyes will translate from the gridiron to the diamond, particularly since the Big Ten is to blame for shortening college baseball season.) The game will be televised on ESPNU and the Seminoles’ opening outing against fourth-seeded Marist (31-26) will follow at 4:00.

I know Marist is only barely above .500, but you have to admit that making it into the college baseball tournament is a pretty impressive achievement for a high school team!

The Red and Black, who made four N.C.A.A. district or regional playoff appearances between 1953 and 2000, earned their sixth national postseason berth of the 21st century. 2009 marks the first odd-numbered year in which Georgia has made the 64-team tournament field since 2001.

The Bulldogs are 25-10 all-time in N.C.A.A. regional action and have won in six of their regional appearances. Four of the last five Red and Black squads to have been playing after Hoover have advanced all the way to Omaha. In the 2006 postseason, Georgia outlasted Florida State in Athens. The Bulldogs and the Seminoles split their series in the 2008 regular season.

The difficulty of the Diamond Dogs’ 2009 slate is attested to by the fact that Georgia opponents Clemson, Florida, Georgia Tech, Louisiana State, and Ole Miss all occupy the top seeds in their respective regionals. The College World Series bracket in .pdf format may be downloaded here.

Go ‘Dawgs!

D-League Player Profiles: Jared Jordan

Jon L — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:11:13 -0000

View full size photo »

Sorry again for the no-show yesterday. Today's profile moves south from Austin, to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In addition to having a great play-by-play man, this past season RGV had a few players who will likely see some Summer League action, and maybe eventually some time in the NBA. Let's start with 6'0", 185 pound point guard Jared Jordan.

How he got here

Jordan attended Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and made an immediate impact, being named to the MAACV All-Rookie Team. His sophomore year really started to reveal what he could do, as he was second in the league in assists per game and had already reached ninth on Marist's career assist ladder. Jordan started 26 games that year, and had four double-doubles that year. Another year, more improvement. As a junior, Jordan led the NCAA in assists and in assists per game, averaging 8.5, and was a unanimous All-MAAC First Teamer. As a senior he led the nation in assists once more, and became the 23rd player in Marist history to score 1,000 points.

Jordan attended the pre-draft camp in Orlando, and caught some peoples' attention. DraftExpress said,

One of the more intriguing prospects from day one, Jordan really stood out in the scrimmage portion of today's session. He displayed the ability to find the open man from anywhere on the floor, both in transition and in the half court offense, thanks to his fantastic court vision. He threw a great alley-oop lob to Stephane Lasme on one occasion, and did a solid job throughout on the pick and roll. The limitations of his game were just as apparent, however. Jordan will need to prove he can come over his disadvantages physically to really impress NBA scouts. At times he looked a step slow, needing a high ball screen at the top of the key to get the offense in motion.

Other observers praised his decision-making ability and intensity. Jordan was even featured in a glowing Sports Illustrated article (or at least on their website...I have no idea if this was in the print edition, because the only time I read that is when I'm at the dentist), and was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round of the 2007 NBA Draft. He played on the Clippers' Summer League team that year, then was traded to the New York Knicks for cash. He played a few preseason games for the Knicks, about eight minutes total, before being waived. Jordan then spent a year playing in Lithuania before joining the Phoenix Suns for their 2008 Summer League team. Phoenix didn't work out, either, and Jordan signed a training camp contract with the New Orleans Hornets. There he received praise from Coach Byron Scott, though he ultimately lost the backup point guard competition to Mike James and Devin Brown (which not everyone agreed with).

Jared Jordan then signed a contract with the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers. We'll take a look at how he did after the jump.

D-League play

Once in the D-League, Jordan was able to once again show his knack for racking up assists. He was fifth in the league in total assists, second in assists per game (when you discount Kyle Weaver, who only played in two games), and narrowly edged out Walker Russell, Jr. for tops in the league in assists per 48 minutes. He also had the third-best assist/turnover ratio in the league.

He wasn't immediately successful, though. Outside of a nine-assist game on December 26 against Los Angeles, Jordan only averaged about 2.5 assists per game for his first few weeks in the D-League, and he didn't really start to shine until late February. After another game against the D-Fenders, in which he had 4 points on 2-7 shooting and zero assists in 21 minutes, Jordan exploded for 23 points and nine assists against Bakersfield, followed by four straight double-doubles, starting with 16 points and 21 assists against Fort Wayne on February 26. From then on there were only two games where Jordan didn't finish with double-digits in either points or assists, and against Idaho on March 14 he had 15 points, 13 assists and only one turnover in 41 minutes.

Overall outlook

Not a whole lot has changed for Jared Jordan since he was drafted, but then it's only been a few years. He still has very good point guard skills, though he's limited defensively and not very quick. I saw Rio Grande Valley play in April and had these thoughts on Jordan:

He didn't really penetrate with the ball until later in the game, but he knows where his teammates are and makes solid decisions. He also had two nice alley-oops to [Kurt] Looby late in the game, one to pull within two and another to tie it up. Jordan also isn't particularly quick, but he was able to get around both [DeMarcus] Nelson and [Squeaky] Johnson.

Another thing Jordan doesn't do very well is shoot from outside. He tends to only take one or two threes a game (and sometimes not even that), but even at that he finished the year shooting 28 percent from behind the arc. That said, he's talented enough with the ball in his hands that he'd make a solid backup point guard in the NBA.

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D-League Player Profiles: Jared Jordan