mountainred
Masters Student
Posts: 510
Age: 57
Loc: Charleston, WV
Reg: 04-11-10
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01-15-15 10:37 AM - Post#179674
A .500 out of conference slate is as good as anyone could have hoped during the off season. 0-3 versus teams currently in the KP top 100; 5-2 against the bottom 100; and 3-3 against the middle.
Cornell's improvement is on the defensive end, and mainly in the ability to shut down offenses inside the arc. Shonn's return, coupled with good defensive play from Onuorah, has resulted in teams shooting just 42% inside the arc (#24 in the nation). Under Courtney, Cornell has never been top 200 in this stat before. Cornell's a solid defensive rebounding team, but the Big Red's success is primarily based on the ability to stop two point shots.
That's critical, because the offense continues to struggle. Shonn has become more assertive in the last month and seems likely to get his 20 every night, but the rest of the offense consists of the three guards (Cherry, Cancer, and Hatter) driving to the basket (which they do fairly well) and taking threes (which they don't). Despite the pace, cracking 60 points is a chore.
Is this enough to get Bill an extension? Maybe, especially when you compare this year to last season's nightmare. Basketball is the #3 winter sport at Cornell and I can see the administration not wanting to spend bandwith on a search. But, the team isn't progressing from what Courtney inherited (and I'm not talking about the '08-'10 run, but the 2011 squad) and I don't see an answer for when Shonn leaves.
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