mountainred
Masters Student
Posts: 514
Age: 57
Loc: Charleston, WV
Reg: 04-11-10
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12-08-13 01:56 PM - Post#158837
I knew this season was going to be tough with having to replace nearly 80% of the minutes from last year's squad, but did not see being 0-10 going into the exam break. There was a taste of a Miller-less Big Red at the close of last season and it wasn't pretty, but certainly BC could prepare something during the offseason.
Guess not.
If you watch this team, the first think you notice is the defense. Or the noticeable lack of defense. Depending on the metric, Cornell is either the worst defensive team in the nation (KenPom) or the fifth worst (BBstate). There is literally nothing Cornell does well defensively: teams are shooting an absurd 58% eFG, the Big Red commits too many fouls and doesn't generate turnovers. When you can't get defensive stops against St. Francis of PA, you can't get stops.
The offense has been okay, but from watching the games I get the sense that most of those points are coming after the game is either settled or the opposition is content to run up and down the floor trading baskets while holding onto a double digit lead. The scheme is the still the same as it's been under Courtney: one on one dribble drives to the basket or three balls. The first half of the WMU game saw Cornell take one shot inside the arc and that was a put back of a missed thee point try.
It's hard to imagine Cornell will go winless against D1 opposition for the year, but they are at least a 70% underdog in all but two of their remaining games. Still, you have to think they will have a hot night from behind the arc once or twice the rest of the way and the season ender with Penn could be a battle of which team wants the season over more.
It's also hard to imagine that Courtney gets another season after this debacle.
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H78
PhD Student
Posts: 1458
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 01-06-11
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Re: Still looking for the 1st win 12-25-13 04:46 AM - Post#160091
In response to mountainred
I'm hoping your ship will right itself, and believe things have to improve. The Big Red's games against Loyola MD and Siena really could've gone either way. And a win against St. Peters on 12/28 isn't a stretch.
To use a worn-out cliche, they just need to put together 2 good halves (in one game), and they will probably do so sooner than we think.
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penn nation
Professor
Posts: 21256
Reg: 12-02-04
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Re: Still looking for the 1st win 12-26-13 09:41 PM - Post#160157
In response to H78
The Times had a rather sympathetic article today on the Big Red and Courtney.
That's just Penn's luck. They can't even outsuck another Ivy squad.
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H78
PhD Student
Posts: 1458
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 01-06-11
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Re: Still looking for the 1st win 12-27-13 12:57 AM - Post#160159
In response to penn nation
The Times had a rather sympathetic article today on the Big Red and Courtney.
That's just Penn's luck. They can't even outsuck another Ivy squad.
Right, PN. But no one can beat your fans' passion!
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IvyBballFan
Masters Student
Posts: 479
Age: 77
Loc: Central Florida
Reg: 11-19-09
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01-04-14 10:29 PM - Post#160919
In response to H78
It's a month later and little has changed. The Big Red is still looking for its first W. Mountainred's post at the top of this thread holds true.
One thing that has changed is that a different Ivy coach now holds the record for most consecutive losses by a head coach in the modern history of the league. With today's loss at St. Bonaventure, Bill Courtney's 19th consecutive loss eclipsed Armond Hill's 18-loss run that closed both that fateful 2002-03 season and his Ivy coaching career.
Coach Hill has had a solid career as an NBA assistant under Doc Rivers over the past eleven years. One must wonder whether something similar awaits Courtney. Things went off the rails for him in mid-February last year and nothing has gone even vaguely right since.
At this point, Cornell is in trouble. As they have been for some time, they are the only D-1 team with no wins of any type, and one of only a dozen with no wins over D-1 opponents. The Big Red richly deserve to be ranked in the bottom ten teams in D-1. They are Pomeroy's worst defensive team. People who have watched the Big Red play know that the reason their offensive ranking is not similarly putrid is because of the efforts of Nolan Cressler. Moreover, they actually score many of their points in the extended garbage time created by their defensive ineptness.
They host D-III Oberlin next weekend, but the way Cornell is playing, Oberlin has to be licking their chops and Big Red fans have to be holding their collective breaths. Cornell is now the team to whom no coach wants his team to lose. They will get everyone's best shot from here on out. It will be interesting to see how this level of extreme ineptness affects the Ivy League race during the back-to-backs. They remain on course to be the worst team in modern Ivy history.
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hoopla
Masters Student
Posts: 486
Age: 50
Reg: 08-28-12
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01-05-14 11:54 AM - Post#160948
In response to IvyBballFan
What happened to Shonn Miller
They were/are a totally diff team without him
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IvyBballFan
Masters Student
Posts: 479
Age: 77
Loc: Central Florida
Reg: 11-19-09
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01-05-14 12:47 PM - Post#160959
In response to hoopla
What happened to Shonn Miller?
They were/are a totally diff team without him.
From what I can find, he banged up his shoulder in February last year and underwent corrective surgery in the early spring. Clearly, the injury was serious and the rehab has not gone well, or he would be playing. With the state of the team, it seems unlikely he will be in uniform until Fall-2014.
Hopefully he is 100% by the fall. I believe all would say that is an open question at this time. He is quite a player.
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penn nation
Professor
Posts: 21256
Reg: 12-02-04
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01-12-14 10:42 AM - Post#161723
In response to IvyBballFan
Time to eliminate this thread!!
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