Rider at Brown

[I'm Storming]

Does this Brown team really deserve to be favored against anyone? Granted Rider has trouble scoring the ball, but they have a stud in Jerry Johnson and did beat Princeton on a neutral court.. So whats with the line? Any ideas....?

 

[superbook]

Storming --

Based upon a quick review last nite, the lines for the Yale and Brown games look reasonably fair. I wouldn't touch Cornell no matter how many points you gave me.

This is Yale's first home game after 10 on the road against an improved URI team.

Brown and Earl Hunt have been struggling on O, but Rider at home might just be what they need right now.

I'll get back to you later with further thoughts.

- Jon

 

[superbook]

NEW HAVEN ? James Jones felt a sense of relief shortly after his Yale men?s basketball team returned from its two-game trip in California last week.
Jones was walking through the tunnels that lead from his office in the Ray Tompkins house to the Lee Amphitheater in Payne Whitney.

"I just felt good being in the building," said Jones, whose team opened the season with 10 straight games away from home.

Jones and Yale play host to the University of Rhode Island tonight at 7 in the Bulldogs? home opener.

Only two teams in Division I ? St. Francis (N.Y.) and Bethune-Cookman ? start their home schedules later than Yale.

"Starting the season the way we did, I wouldn?t wish this upon anybody," Jones said.

"It?s so difficult getting comfortable," Yale senior swingman Ime Archibong said. "I?m just glad all 15 get of us along, or else it would?ve been really tough." On the road, Archibong said, it becomes a cycle of traveling, practicing, then going to the hotel for something to eat, followed by another practice before winding down by watching television.

"It puts a wear on you," Yale senior guard and captain Chris Leanza said. "All that traveling never helps.

Being on the road for nine hours puts a drain on your body. It?s almost as bad as practicing.

"It?s awful. You feel like you don?t have a home anymore. We?re all excited to get back home and play before our fans. There?s something about being on the road and not being in your own bed."

Coming off a 21-11 season in which the Bulldogs tied for their first Ivy League title in 39 seasons, Yale had trouble finding teams to play in New Haven.

Albany, Colgate and Long Island all dropped the Bulldogs. Bowling Green considered playing in New Haven, then dropped Yale.

Heck, it got so bad, Jones had to schedule Division III RPI for Saturday just to reach the NCAA required minimum for home games (33 percent). Yale almost paid a guarantee of $10,000 to Rhode Island to play, but Yale will return to URI next season instead.

Yale (5-5) hasn?t just started its season with 10 games away from home. The Bulldogs have improved their schedule, with six of their first 10 opponents having played in the postseason last season, including five that made the NCAA tournament: Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Holy Cross, Central Connecticut and Stanford.

That was no accident, Jones said.

"Every team we?ve played so far this year has been more athletic than us, by design, mainly because the team that won the conference last year (Penn) beat us with athleticism," said Jones, who has been pleased with the intensity of the team?s last two practices. "So we need to get used to that and get used to guys pounding us on the glass."

The players hope the preparation helps the team achieve its ultimate goal, to win the Ivy League title.

"The way you have to look at it is that if it doesn?t kill you, it will make you stronger," said Archibong, who?s coming off his best performance of the season with 10 points against Fairfield. "At 5-5, we?re not happy, but it didn?t kill us. Hopefully, we learn from this and it kind of gives us an edge and makes us stronger."

"When it comes down to going to (play a big game on the road at the end of the season, guys will be used to (playing on the road), and have the confidence they can win anywhere if they play the way they are capable of playing," Jones said.

 

[superbook]

PROVIDENCE -- The West Coast sights were nice over the holidays, the results were so-so, and now the Brown Bears finally are back home to play some basketball, hoping to build momentum with their Ivy League season opener just a little more than a week away.

Brown, which went 1-2 on its recent trip to the San Francisco area, will play host to Rider tonight (7 o'clock) at the Pizzitola Center.

It's only the third home game of the season for the Bears, who have stumbled to a 3-9 start.

"It's nice to be home, no doubt about it," said Brown coach Glen Miller.

Not that Miller expects an easy win just because his Bears are home. Hardly. The Broncs, who have been one of the top teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, are 5-5. But included in that record is a victory over Princeton, one of Brown's Ivy rivals. The Broncs, who hoist about 40 percent of their shots from beyond the 3-point line, also extended Harvard to overtime before bowing.

"Rider is a very good team," said Miller. "They have good athleticism. They're patient on offense. It's just an all-around good team."

But while Miller is concerned about what Rider does, and while he, his staff and his players have watched film of the Broncs in action, it is what Brown does or doesn't do that concerns Miller the most, he said.

"We have to have a little more team chemistry as far as realizing what we have to do to play with each other better," said Miller. "We've come into a lack of confidence (because of the tough start).

"It's not easy. We just have to get back to playing good basketball. If we dwell on our 3-9 record, it won't do us any good. We can't get all those games back in one night. We just have to concentrate on playing good, sound basketball heading into our league season," said Miller.

Miller has made one shift in his lineup. Senior Earl Hunt, who became the Bears' all-time leading scorer during the road trip, moved from the wing to the point-guard position at times over the last two games.

Hunt, who has bounced back from an early-season thigh injury, also will play his normal wing position, with sophomore Jason Forte reclaiming his point-guard spot when that happens. Miller said Hunt's shift allows him to work Harold Bailey, another wing player, into the rotation along with Mike Martin and Patrick Powers. And Miller said Forte will get his minutes, too.

"There's still a lot of work to be done," said Miller.

And it continues tonight at home.

 

[I'm Storming]

Superbook--

Superbook--

Thanks for the info.