Ray Floriani

RETROSPECTIVE OF A CLASSIC

The Syracuse/UConn six overtime thriller will live on in memories

By Ray Floriani

NEW YORK CITY – It has been billed a classic. Some are calling it the greatest college basketball game ever. Whatever the opinion, the six overtime epic between Connecticut and Syracuse, won by the Orange, 127-117, was discussed quite frequently on Friday.

Let’s say it defines the 2009 Big East Tournament.

As the Friday night wore on, overtime stories were exchanged during time outs. Three overtimes, not too frequent, but I have seen or covered one or two. Actually the most overtimes witnessed was this past January playing EA Sports NCAA09, That was four OT’s and I thought that was long…

The nuances and momentum changes, missed free throws and great shots (even the one by Eric Devendorf at the regulation buzzer that didn’t count) are well documented. Some of the behind the scenes stories are worthy of telling.

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BIG EAST TOURNAMENT SESSION II RECAP

by Ray Floriani

NEW YORK CITY- The afternoon sessions of the 2009 Big East Tournament saw upsets with DePaul stopping Cincinnati as the UC Collapse is Complete to end the season. The afternoon also saw Georgetown dropping a decision to St. John’s for the second time in a week, as Norm Roberts and the Johnnies Live to Fight Another Day.

The evening session held to form as the favored seeds moved on to live another day and keep their dreams of five imporbable wins in five days alive to make the 2009 NCAA Tournament with the Big East’s automatic bid. Notre Dame eliminated Rutgers and Seton Hall defeated South Florida.

Need Tickets to the Big East Tournament?? Still time to get them and for some GREAT Prices. As little as $9 can get you into the door with a ticket.

Check out our 2009 Big East Tournament & Tickets page for the schedule and links to purchase tickets and have them for the game!

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SETON HALL/ST. JOHN’S RECAP

by Ray Floriani

NEWARK, NJ – Mark it down as three straight for Seton Hall. The Pirates defeated St. John’s 91-81 at the Prudential Center on Thursday evening. A tempo free breakdown…

Final totals…

Team………….Possessions………….Efficiency
St.John’s…………71…………………114
Seton Hall………..73…………………125

What Seton Hall did well. Impose their ‘will’ on the game. Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez noted that getting an uptempo team to slow things down as opposed to doing the reverse, force a slower team to kick it high gear. Seton Hall did just that. St.John’s prefers a low sixty possession outing but by going small and applying some pressure defense, the Hall increased the tempo and built a significant early lead.

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HOOP GROUP HIGH SCHOOL SHOWCASE OBSERVATIONS

By Ray Floriani

NEW BRUNSWICK , NJ – A final look back on the Hoop Group Showcase with a few notes and observations.

A few of the traditional New York City powers as Rice and St. Raymond’s were among the missing. Regardless, it was a competitive field with some local schools as Plainfield (NJ) and the Nia School stepping up and getting attention.

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ST. PATRICK TAKES HOOP GROUP SHOWCASE

Ray Floriani offers unique perspective on championship game as one of the referees

By Ray Floriani

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – St.Pat’s served notice that last March’s season ending loss to St.Anthony’s is behind them and they are primed for another TOC (Tournament of Champions) title. The Celtics captured the Hoop Group High School Showcase defeating Windsor of Connecticut 54-17 in the championship game.

The tournament was held June 21 and 22 on the campus of Rutgers University with games at the Livingston campus and the College Avenue gym, better known as ‘The Barn’. The way St.Pat’s dismantled the competition on Sunday was reminiscent of another great team that actually called the Barn home, the ’76 Rutgers Final Four team. Pat’s defeated Seton Hall Prep in the quarterfinals before dismantling St.Benedict’s 61-35 in the semis.

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SIGHTS & SOUNDS FROM MSG: PICTORIAL

Ray Floriani spent Wednesday night and Friday night in Madison Square Garden and provided us with two nights of coverage with his Sights & Sounds from Madison Square Garden from the opening night and the Semis. 

Today, Ray shared some if his photo memories from his MSG experience as we take a look back at some of the Big East Tournament experience for the players, fans and cheerleaders with his quick Big East Tournament Pictorial.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS FROM MSG: THE SEMIS

by Ray Floriani 

NEW YORK CITY – The championship game will be a rematch of last season. Pitt will be returning to the finals and appearing in its seventh Big East Tournament title game in the last eight years. Georgetown, looking very formidable these past two days, aims to defend the title and secure a number one seed in the NCAA tournament

The Scores :

Georgetown 72 West Virginia 55
Pitt 68 Marquette 61

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SIGHTS & SOUNDS FROM MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Ray Floriani was in Madison Square Garden checking out the action from Day One of the Big East Tournament. Before heading off to Atlantic City for the Atlantic 10 Tournament, Ray filed a brief report on the action from Wednesday:

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IMPRESSIONS FROM ST. JOHN’S/MARQUETTE

By Ray Floriani

NEW YORK CITY – Marquette stopped St.John’s 73-64 in a Big East Conference game at Madison Square Garden. It appeared early on this might be another blowout loss for the Red Storm. After trailing by 21 in the second half, St.John’s regrouped and actually made a nice run. A rundown on the game…

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NOTRE DAME/SETON HALL IMPRESSIONS

Ray Floriani provides the NBE Basketball Report with a running commentary on last night’s contest at the ‘Rock’.

By Ray Floriani

NEWARK, NJ – About ten minutes prior to tipoff of Notre Dame-Seton Hall official Tim Higgins comes over to say hello. “Nice buiding, my first time here,” Higgins says. Kind of surprised this is Higgins’, a New Jersey resident, first trip to the ‘Rock’. But he’s been on the move just having done Michigan-Ohio State the night before. “Just a great game,” he adds before rejoining his partners on the floor.

20:00-13:56
Jamar Nutter buries a deep three on his first attempt. A good sign for the Hall? Luke Harangody’s first two baskets are fifteen footers. Not a good sign as the Irish big man has yet to go in the paint. Hall runs a nice pick and roll with Augustine Okosun finishing. Kyle McAlarney, courtesy of some great ball movement, buries an open three for ND.
16-8 Notre Dame

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SETON HALL-SOUTH FLORIDA GAME REPORT

By Ray Floriani

NEWARK, NJ – On a night Jeremy Hazell found the range, Seton Hall earned its first Big East victory of the season, stopping South Florida 74-64 at the Prudential Center.

Hazell struggled in his first Big East road trip last week. The freshman guard scored two at Marquette and was scoreless at Pitt, both Pirate losses. Hazell led all scorers with 22 points. He was 5 of 11 from three point range and had several scores on penetration. The win snapped a two game losing streak for the hall. Seton Hall is 11-6 (1-3 conf) while South Florida fell to 10-8 (1-4).

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NIKE SUPER SIX RECAPS

January 17, 2008

On Sunday afternoon, six of the top teams in the NYC/NJ region convened at Madison Square Garden for the Nike Super Six event. Ray Floriani and Adam Zagoria took in the action from the event as Mount Vernon staged a furious late rally to edge Paterson Catholic, St. Benedict’s edged Rice and St. Patrick got by St. Raymond’s.

Five players headed to the Big East next year played in the Nike Super Six Invitational. The group included Paterson (N.J.) Catholic point guard Jordan Theodore(Seton Hall), Rice (NY) point guard Kemba Walker (UConn), St. Raymond (N.Y.) point guard Darryl “Truck” Bryant (West Virginia), Mount Vernon (N.Y.) forward Kevin Jones (West Virginia) and St. Benedict’s (N.J.) power forward Samardo Samuels (Louisville).

Earlier this week we had a Zag’s Recruiting Round-up from the Nike Super Six as Adam Zagoria took a look at some of the top potential Big East prospects from the action. Today, we take a look at the notes from Ray and Adam on the action and, especially, on the players headed to the Big East next year.

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Mount Vernon 66 Paterson Catholic 60

by Ray Floriani

New York City – For just over three quarters Paterson Catholic did what was needed. The Cougars were running the break, penetrating and taking care of the defensive end. Then, the final six minutes it all came unglued. Mount Vernon rallied down the stretch to post a 66-60 victory.

Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino was hesitant to trap or press the quick, athletic Paterson Catholic. Down double digits with just over 5 minutes to play he had no choice. It worked as the young PC squad suddenly came unglued and Mount Vernon rallied for the 66-60 win.

West Virginia will benefit from the services of a major addition in Kevin Jones next season. The Mount Vernon big man earned game MVP honors with a 25 point 19 rebound effort. Thing I liked most about Jones was when PC’s defense collapsed on him and limited the touches , Jones never stopped working. Some marquee players don’t see the ball and they stop working , or worse, sulk. Jones just kept active on both ends and in the fourt quarter he was dominant. One sequence late in the game saw him sprint down court while PC was in transition and eventually block a shot on the wing. Bob Huggins has the real deal headed to Morgantown next year.

“We couldn’t match their (Mount Vernon) intensity the last three or four minutes,”Paterson Catholic coach Damon Wright lamented during post game interviews. “We just couldn’t close it out. We are young and their (Mount Vernon) maturity just paid off especially the last quarter.”

Notes:
• Cimmino used a little ploy to get Sherrod Wright going.” He’s (Wright) a North Carolina native and wants to play for UNC,”Cimmino said. “At the start of the fourth quarter I pointed out to Sherrod who was in the stands.” None other than North Carolina coach Roy Williams who saw the junior swingman score 13 of his 20 points the final quarter and play a huge role in the Mount Vernon comeback.

• Impressed with Lance Brown who led PC with 16 point 8 rebounds. A junior forward, Brown did a nice job getting in the lane and finishing.

• Seton Hall got a really nice lead guard in Jordan Theodore. The PC senior runs the break well and gets in the lane. Whether in transition or breaking down defenses Theodore finds teammates with beautiful fingertip pinpoint passes. He scored 12 points whit 5 assists and 5 steals. Spoke to a PC assistant who feels Theodore will get appreciable minutes at the Hall either spelling Eugene Harvey or teaming up with him in stretches. “The thing about Justin,”the coach added, “is he also plays outstanding defense.”

• There was absolutely no need to motivate players on this date. “At Madison Square Garden, a top notch opponent, the kids are in a ‘ candy store’ ,” said Cimmino.

• There was no shot clock used in the games. New York state employs one while New Jersey doesn’t. Cimmino was asked the effect of having no shot clock to which he replied in jest, “you mean we didn’t have one today.” Simply, none was necessary.

St. Benedict’s 55 Rice 52

by Adam Zagoria

New York – Louisville commit 6’9 Samardo Samuels came off the bench to score 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed 13 boards in St. Benedict’s 55-52 victory over Kemba Walker and Rice.

Samuels earned MVP honors despite being benched to start the game by head coach Danny Hurley, who was less than impressed with Samuels’ behavior during and after the team’s loss last week to Academy of the New Church(Pa.).

St. Benedict’s, currently ranked No. 2 in the Prepnation.com national poll, had been No. 1 and undefeated prior to that loss.

“Sometimes you look at these kids, he’s 6-9, he’s 245,” Hurley said of Samuels. “He’s built like a man, and sometimes it’s hard to realize that they’re teenagers and that they make mistakes.

“Some other coaches would maybe have looked at what happened this week and said, ‘No big deal.’ I got from my old man (St. Anthony head coach Bob Hurley) and other coaches, small things are a big deal with me.”

Walker, a UConn commit, scored a game-high 18 points but also made eight turnovers in a losing effort for Rice. The Raiders were coming off a thrilling 81-74 overtime victory over St. Raymond the night before. Walker poured in agame-high 29 in that game and exerted his will down the stretch.

A Few More Notes From Ray Floriani:

Dexter Strickland of St.Pat’s announced after the St.Raymond’s game that he would attend North Carolina. Strickland originally was heavily involved with Michigan State.

Among the college coaches in attendance was UCONN assistant Patrick Sellers. When he took his seat Sellers took friendly condolences from fellow assistant Orlando Antigua of Pitt. Sellers was still replaying the action of a day ago when Georgetown knocked off the Huskies on a Roy Hibbert trey. “That’s a shot myself, coach Calhoun, our whole team would give anytime,” Sellers said, “and he (Hibbert) goes and hits it.”

Thought St.Pat’s was not too fluid and a little rough around the edges. Still, Kevin Boyle’s club earned a 64-56 win over a good St.Raymond’s club. Kansas bound Quintrell Thomas was a force (25 points) inside and a big difference maker.

St.Pat’s and St.Anthony’s are headed on a collision course in the New Jersey Parochial B section of the state tournament. And that’s one many of us can hardly wait for.

Even with 6 outstanding programs, the Super Six drew just about 4,000.

A Few More Notes from Adam Zagoria:

Walker and WVU commit Darryl ‘Truck’ Bryant may have been a little tired after their thriller Saturday night. Bryant scored 17 points on 5 of 19 shooting in a game the Ravens lost to St. Patrick, 64-56. St. Raymond had been undefeated coming into the weekend before losing back-to-back games to Rice and St. Patrick.

Another WVU commit, 6’8 Kevin Jones was a monster on the boards, finishing with 25 points and 19 rebounds to earn MVP honors. He made 11 of 28 shots, but was just 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.

All these teams will jump back into action in showcase games next weekend. St. Benedict’s and Paterson Catholic will face off Saturday in the Dan Finn Classic at the Jersey City Armory. Rice and St. Patrick would meet in the McDonald’s Classic in Erie, Pa., assuming both teams win their first-round games.

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