A revival

It’s been roughly one month since the last post on this site, and if blogs are successful for one reason, it’s because of their continuity.  We at the Justice have failed in that regard thus far, but with the two basketball teams prepared to open play in the NCAA Tournament, and the men’s team scheduled to host, it’s the right time to bring JustCourt back. 

Last year was special for Brandeis, because it was the first time both the men’s and women’s team made the Tournament together, but this year is arguably even more special considering what both teams have gone through.  The men’s team lost Steve DeLuca ‘08 for the season, suffered two heartbreaking home losses to the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis, and had so many other close calls, yet here they are hosting games for the first time in 30 years.  Oh sure, last year’s team needed to win its last six games to even make the tournament, but they had least all of their stars (except for Terrell Hollins ‘10).  Meanwhile, the women’s team struggled so badly to start the year, struggled to replace Caitlin Malcolm ‘07, and had so much inconsistency in Univeristy Athletic Association play that they had to overcome to get back to the tournament for a third consecutive year.  Throughout last year, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the women would be back, but there were so many times this year when that was in doubt.  Even if they lose by 30 to a powerful University of Southern Maine squad, I think this was a successful campaign for the women’s team.

The dance starts tomorrow, with the women playing at Kean University in Union, N.J. against Southern Maine at 5:30 p.m., and the men playing in Red Auerbach Arena against Lasell College at 8 p.m.  No matter how both teams do in the tournament, tomorrow begins the culmination of two very exciting seasons.

Q & A with Women’s Basketball Coach Carol Simon

I spoke to women’s basketball coach Carol Simon on the phone earlier this evening. Here are parts of our conversation (with some context that I added) regarding the Judges’ season up until now and their upcoming conference games:

Me: Coming off of what has probably been your team’s biggest weekend of the season up until this point, with back-to-back wins against University Athletic Association foes University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis, in what ways would you say your team has progressed from back in November (when the women posted a 2-2 start)?

Coach Simon: I think we’re just getting better. At the beginning, we were playing with some young kids. We had a pretty tough opening the first couple weeks with some very good teams, so I think that really prepared us for conference as well. I just think, the WashU game, especially the second half, really showed when we really put everything together, how good this team can be. But now it’s just a matter of being able to put 40 minutes together.

Me: The next two weekends the Judges play Case Western Reserve University and Emory University, first on the road and then at home. Last season, you went 2-0 against both teams. You think the women can do it again, and if so, what will it take?

CS: We hope so, but you know, it’s a different year, different people, different personnel. Both Case and Emory I think are improved teams from last year. Case has back all their players, so they’re more mature, [there's a] new coach, which, you know, is going to be a different look for us a little bit, and they’re good. They’re a very strong team on the road, and it’s always difficult [to play them]. Same at Emory — it’s a difficult place to play at, and again, they have a lot of good players. She lets a lot of players play, so they [use] some fresh legs, and especially on the road, when you’re going against a home team, that’s definitely an advantage for them. It’s going to be tough. Every game right now is tough because everybody’s still striving for tournament, and everybody’s looking to move up in the UAA.

Me: As of Jan. 27, Brandeis led the UAA in scoring defense, giving up an average of just 51.7 points per game. The Judges also led the conference in field goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense. What is it about your defense that you think distinguishes it from that of the other UAA teams?

CS: Honestly, I don’t know what distinguishes it from [other teams]. I think the other teams are all good teams. It’s just something that we work hard on in practice and hopefully that comes to fruition in games. But all the other UAA teams are all very good teams, defensively as well.

Me: After this weekend’s doubleheader, you guys play five out of the last seven games at home. How if in any way do you think this will work to your team’s advantage?

CS: You hope it’s to your advantage because you’re on your home court. Traveling in the UAA is very difficult. Being on the road, the last three out of four weekends, is tiresome. It’ll be nice just to be able to be home for at least two weekends in a row and kind of have some normalcy in our lives. You just hope that you can take care of business at home.

Me: Speaking of that traveling, what’s your favorite thing to do on the plane rides to/from UAA games?

CS: My personal favorite thing? … Is when I get to catch up on my sleep. That’s my favorite thing. When I’m on the plane ride, I catch up on my sleep.

** Just a reminder as to this weekend’s schedule:

Friday, Feb. 1, 6 p.m.: Brandeis at Case Western Reserve University

Sunday, Feb. 3, 2 p.m.: Brandeis at Emory University

Dressed to the nines?

Brandeis men’s basketball falls to 9th in the latest d3hoops.com Top 25 Poll

After being upset at home by unranked University of Chicago 79-77 last Friday and (then) #4 Washington University 71-69 last Sunday, Brandeis falls from #2 in the nation to #9 in this week’s d3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

The team started the season with a 12-1 record, but with three straight conference losses Brandeis now sits at 12-4 with a 2-3 record in University Athletic Association play.

Rounding out the top 5 in this week’s poll (last week’s ranking in parenthesis):

1. Wash U 14-2 (4)

2. Amherst 16-2 (3)

3. Rochester 15-1 (1)

4. Hope 14-2 (5)

5. UMass Dartmouth 17-0 (8)

The big winner is obviously Wash U, leap-frogging Amherst and Rochester to the number one spot.  Look for more analysis of the reshuffling of the top 25 and Brandeis’ latest woes in the next couple of days.  In the meantime, check out the complete Top 25 Poll here.

The weekend of heartbreak

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think this proves it.

(Photo by David Sheppard-Brick/the Justice).

Q and A with women’s basketball co-captain Jamie Capra

I talked to co-captain guard Jamie Capra ‘08 on the phone this afternoon about UAA play. Below you’ll find most of the conversation, with some contextual information that I added:

Me: Brandeis was ahead by as many as 8 points against then-No. 21 Univ. of Rochester this weekend and 10 points against then-No. 4 NYU, but in both cases Brandeis was unable to hold on at the end of the second period and wound up falling to the opponent. What was the reason(s) for this?

Jaime Capra: I think really what it comes down to is other teams, when they fall behind, they’ve been making adjustments to stop whatever’s working for us. If our inside game is working, they make adjustments to play more on the defensive post inside. I don’t think we’ve been reacting to their adjustments very well. I think that teams are making adjustments and we’re trying to play the same way and then it ends up not working out for us anymore, which is why we would end up falling behind again.

JG: Looking ahead to this weekend, the Judges will be facing two more UAA teams– the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis. While Chicago and Wash U. are not currently ranked in the D3hoops Top 25 poll, both teams received votes (16 and 30, respectively), both teams hold 11-3 records (and winning records in the UAA), and both teams are currently on winning streaks. That is to say, both are certainly challenging opponents. How important is it for the Judges to play a full 40 minutes, particularly during the last 5 minutes or so?

JC: This weekend is a huge weekend for us. [Whether they're ranked or not,] they’re both very good teams. I think we just need to really work on playing for a full 40 minutes. We can’t have any lapses where the other team goes on like an 11-0 run. We’ve been preparing for a week, and I think we’re all ready to go. It’s getting to the point where we just need to win games, so we’re just going to take it one at a time, and hopefully we’ll beat Chicago Friday.

JG: You guys have played the first 3 UAA games on the road and have posted a 1-2 record over that stretch. Is there any advantage in this weekend’s games, considering they’ll be played at home?

JC: Yeah, definitely, I think traveling is hard. By the time Sunday comes around, you’re tired, you’ve been flying all weekend or taking a bus. There is an advantage to being on your home court because you don’t have to go from a game Friday night to flying Saturday to going right to the gym for practice. It’s really just a hectic schedule. I think it’ll be good for us to be back on our home court. We haven’t played here in a while [since January 9], so we’re looking forward to it.

JG: What is the most difficult part of playing in a conference like the UAA, with so many competitive teams?

JC: I think that’s really the most difficult part, is that every team is so competitive, and on any given day, any team, whether they’re last place in the conference or not, they can still come out and play a great game and beat the first-place team. It happened with Rochester and NYU. Rochester beat NYU. I think that’s just the toughest thing. You can’t get tired because if you let up, the [lower-ranked team] will beat you.

JG: On a different note, I hear you’re a NY Giants fan.

JC: Yeah, yeah! Big time!

JG: What was your reaction to their Sunday night victory over the Green Bay Packers?

JC: I don’t think any Giants fan would have thought they would have made it this far. At this point, I think it’s like, well, they made it to the Super Bowl, it doesn’t even matter if they win any more, but of course we’re all pulling for them, and I just think it’s a great story. They started out 0-2, and now they’re in the Super Bowl. So hopefully we can try and emulate the Giants a little bit [laughing].

Unfortunately, as Capra added, the Judges won’t get to watch the Feb. 3 Super Bowl, as they’ll be on the plane home from Atlanta after they play Emory, but as we both agreed, hopefully there’ll be great highlights for her to watch!

Finally, I’ll leave you with the women’s schedule for the weekend:

Fri (tomorrow), 1/25, 6 p.m.: University of Chicago at Brandeis

Sun, 1/27, 2 p.m.: Wash U. at Brandeis

Around the internets

Note: For our articles this week, go here.

Some interesting articles from around the UAA this week:

-New York University women’s basketball forward Jessica McEntee, who dropped 28 and 15 on the Judges two Saturdays ago, was profiled in this New York Times article. It’s your typical DIII athlete profile (DII star, got offers from DI schools, chose DIII for academics, doesn’t regret her decision, etc.), but one question I had that wasn’t really answered was this: If academics mattered so much, why did she choose NYU over Penn and Cornell, two schools reportedly seeking her? Either way, nice profile of a great player who should win the UAA Player of the Year.

-This is old (January 18), but here’s a really good article from the Washington University Student Life about how they’re dealing with the absence of star junior point guard Sean Wallis. Originally, they moved starting sophomore shooting guard Aaron Thompson to the point, but after two losses, the Bears inserted sophomore Ross Kelly into the lineup, moving Thompson back to his normal position, and have succeeded. Of course, it also helps that the Bears have played only one road game during this stretch. I’m just sayin.’

-Jeff’s going to touch more on this tomorrow, but both of the men’s basketball team’s losses have come to undefeated teams. Yes, that includes Umass-Dartmouth, who was profiled in this week’s D3hoops Around the Nation. A choice quote

“The Corsairs have passed every one because they can put five scorers and defenders on the floor at any time. They average 83 points per game as a team. Holbrook leads the team in scoring and rebounding, but not far behind as far as statistical support are senior guard A.J. Tavares and senior forward Cory Tynes, freshman forward Brandon Stephens and sophomore forward Jeff Macchi. Holbrook only scored six points against Brandeis, but the team won anyway, because Tavares led the way, scoring 22, including a clutch 3-pointer in overtime.

“Brandeis definitely boosted our confidence, because it made us believe we could compete with nationally ranked teams,” Holbrook said. “But at the same time, we were very modest about it. We weren’t satisfied with just that win.”

When’s the last time you heard anyone pointing to beating Brandeis as a confidence-booster? I suppose that says something about our program.

-Does anyone else find the lead of this Rochester Campus Times story on the men’s game this weekend funny?

“If there was ever any doubt of the validity of the UR men’s basketball team’s No.1 ranking, it was stifled pretty quickly this past weekend when the ‘Jackets shut down the second-ranked Brandeis University Judges en route to a 74-68 victory.”

I have several issues with this lead.

• Prior to this game, Rochester was one of two undefeated teams in the country, and had defeated opponents by an average of 17.5 points per game. Really, was there any doubt they deserved the #1 ranking to begin with?

• Rochester won by six on its home floor. It was a tight game. They held serve like they should have. I don’t see how that proves anything except that both these teams are good. Now, if the same thing happened at Brandeis, then we can talk.

• It was an exciting game filled with twists and turns, and that’s the best you could come up with? At least give me some cliche celebration image.

Whatever. I think I’m grasping at straws here. It was a nice description of a very good game.

-From the Monday Morning Quarterbacking department:

“However, in a close game with approximately 10 minutes left, four of the Tartan starters were curiously on the bench. The Judges capitalized and extended their lead to 10 within a minute’s time. The lead did not drop below double digits for the rest of the game.

It looked like the team had a solid strategy forming during the run, with strong double teams on Brandeis’ leading scorer, Terrell Hollins, by junior Terrance Bouldin-Johnson and senior Greg Gonzalez. With Hollins neutralized and Einwag providing solid defense on the Judges’ captain and second-leading scorer Joe Coppens, the Tartans were able to create turnovers and convert them into easy buckets. Their absence from the court at the 10-minute mark proved costly, as Hollins got back into a rhythm on the next two possessions, converting one of two free throws and scoring on a lay-up from an assist by Coppens.”

I guess the alternative would be never giving starters a rest…

-Even without star forward Jamie McFarlan, the Wash U women’s team, whom the Judges will face Sunday, is still post-oriented:

“We always try to attack from the inside out, and our post players have been doing a great job sensing when to take it themselves and when to kick it out for perimeter shots,” said [junior forward Jill] Brandt. “Our point guards have been doing a great job pushing the ball in transition, so we are getting easy baskets.”

-Interesting format to this Emory Wheel article. Guy sets school record in 400-meters, talks about how he hopes to inspire team, and writer emphasizes that the Emory track team is focusing more on team results rather than individual ones, saying “The Eagles are determined to succeed as a team, rather than revel in strong individual performance.” My head is spinning.

-In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, former Brandeis fencer Tim Morehouse ‘00 had strong performances in various world cups, and has risen to 11th in the world. Be sure to look for him when watching the games this summer.

-NYU swimming, still undefeated.

Tynes for a diversion

Note: In case you’re wondering, yes, the men’s basketball team fell short against the Rochester Yellowjackets on Sunday, but considering they only lost by six points at one of the UAA’s toughest home gyms, I’m not too concerned. What’s more concerning is the women’s team falling apart in the final six minutes again in their game against Rochester, but I digress…

To me, one of the funniest thing about sports media is the headlines, which too often are better served as jokes on the bottom of a Popsicle stick. And really, I understand, because it was awfully tempting for me to write “Rochester Buzzes Past Judges” or “Judges Stung Down the Stretch” as the headlines for the two basketball games this weekend (thankfully I didn’t). That’s why my first reaction to Lawrence Tynes sending the New York Giants to the Super Bowl with a 47-yard field goal to beat the Green Bay Packers was gleeful. I had no rooting interest in the game (I’m a D.C. sports fan), but I was beyond excited to see what puns on Tynes’ name would be used by news organizations for their headlines.

So what happened? Color me disappointed. There was the New York Post’s “Third Tynes the Charm” headline (had the Giants lost, it reportedly would have been “A Tynes to Kill”), and Matt Mosley from ESPN’s Hashmarks blog came up with the wonderful “Let the Good Tynes Roll!” headline, but that was it. It was a golden opportunity wasted by so many editors across the country.

During production, the editors of the Justice came up with a list of possible puns on Tynes’ name. Here’s what we have so far. Feel free to suggest others in the comments section.

• “In the Nick of Tynes”
• “It’s About Tynes”
• “Working Over Tynes”
• “Just in Tynes”
• “Tynes is Money”
• “Right on Tynes”
• “No Tynes Like the Present”
• “Tynes of Their Lives”
• “The Dawn of Their Tynes”
• “Right on Tynes”
• “A Tynes to Celebrate”
• “A Tynes to Win”
• “Tynes to Look Ahead”
• “Tynes of Arrival”
• “Winning Tynes”
• “Good Tynes”
• “At the Right Tynes”
• “Tynes of Reckoning”

Pre-Game Thoughts on This Weekend’s Women’s Bball UAA Double Header

After last weekend’s tough 57-47 loss at New York University, the women’s basketball team look to get their first University Athletic Association win of the season this weekend with games at Carnegie Mellon University today and the University of Rochester, ranked 21st in the country by D3hoops.com, Sunday.

Some food for thought before this weekend’s double header:

Carnegie Mellon, currently tied for last place in the UAA with a 7-5 overall record, is coming off a close 71-68 win Monday against Bethany College. Whether or not they can carry this momentum into tonight’s game (6 p.m. start time) is of course yet to be determined, but if the matchup is anything like last year’s games against Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon should be prepared for a tough battle. The Judges swept the Tartans last year, beating them by at least 25 points in each of the two contests.

Interestingly enough, CMU only has one first-year on its roster this season, so it’s returning most of last year’s team. Junior point guard Stacie Aleski returns and is averaging 14 points per game thus far. Classmate and forward Rachelle Roll, who did not play last year due to injury, leads the squad with an average of 7.6 rebounds per game and has contributed a team-high 40 assists and 9 blocks thus far.

The Judges will face #21 Rochester Sunday at 2 p.m. Rochester, which has won 9 straight games and boasts an 11-1 record as of today, is in second place behind NYU in the UAA. Its only loss thus far came November 20th against #20 Medaille College by a score of 67-51.

Last year, the Judges split decisions against Rochester, with each team winning at home. This year, Rochester is paced by junior forward/center Julie Marriott, who is averaging 12.7 points per game. Marriott placed second on the team in scoring and rebounding last year during the Yellowjackets’ run to the NCAA Sweet 16, where they lost to Bowdoin College.

The Judges, who started out 1-2 against UAA teams last year but took off from there to finish with a 9-5 conference record, will have to look sharp this weekend in both matchups in order to match or beat last year’s UAA start.

Judgement Day

Men’s Basketball weekend preview

The #2 Judges hit the road this weekend to take on a pair of ranked conference foes with # 24 Carnegie Mellon Friday at 8:00pm and #1 Rochester Sunday at 12:00pm.  Sunday’s game marks the second time Brandeis has gone toe-to-toe with a top-ranked team this season.  The Judges defeated then-#1 Amherst 72-62 at home December 8th. 

Plenty is at stake for the team this weekend.  It’s fair to assume that with wins in both games Brandeis (for the first time in school history) will be the top-ranked team in Division III basketball.  Perhaps more importantly, with wins in both games, Brandeis jumps out to a 3-0 conference start, with all 3 wins coming on the road.  The team has already defeated NYU 66-56 in the UAA opener last Saturday. (Shameless plug alert: read more about the NYU victory in this week’s Justice.) A 3-0 start in the UAA would give the Judges an early advantage at capturing the conference title.

Last season the Judges lost to both teams on the road; 83-65 at Rochester and 75-68 at Carnegie Mellon.

Carnegie Mellon/Friday 1-18 8:00pm

While Rochester will present the toughest test of the weekend, at 10-2, Carnegie certainly isn’t a pushover.  The team is 0-1 in the UAA, but is 5-0 at home.  Like the Judges, Carnegie features a balanced-scoring offense with 4 players with double-digit per-game averages.  Ryan Einwag leads the Tartans with an average of 16.1 points per game. Something to keep in mind: second-leading scorer Jack Anderson (12.1 ppg) has missed the last three games with an ankle injury.   Statistically the teams match-up fairly evenly.  However, Brandeis has a decisive edge in field goal percentage (49.3% to 43.3%) and three-point field goal percentage (41.5% to 31.0%) .

Rochester/ Sunday 1-20 12:00pm

If one regular season game could trump the importance of the victory vs. Amherst, this is it: Sunday’s matchup features a showdown of the top two teams in Division III basketball.  Rochester has three players averaging at least 13.8 points per game.  Senior guard Robert Dominiak leads the way with 15.9 ppg, while senior center Jonathan Onyiriuka and senior forward Gordian Uche Ndubizu score 13.9 and 13.8 ppg respectively.  Rochester has dominated opponents this season with an average margin of victory of 17.5 ppg.

LINKS

For your pre-game enjoyment:

• Here is a press release about the success of the Carnegie basketball team from the Carnegie Mellon athletic department.
• Here is a short video documentary on the Rochester athletic website about the school’s basketball program.
• Here is this week’s top 25 poll on d3hoops.com
• Click here to follow the games on your computer this weekend .

Crowd up to the challenge

Melissa Siegel was stationed in the heart of “The Jury” as an embedded correspondent. The following is her report.

In the first half, the fans appeared in full force, filling the gym with loud cheers and chants. I spoke with a couple of the rowdiest fans at halftime, and they all seemed optimistic with the Judges holding a 31-29 lead.

One of these fans was David Mael ‘09, who has seen the action from both sides, as he was a member of the varsity team during his first two seasons in college.

“It’s all about having fun,” he said. “We’re all having a great time out here.”

Another excited fan, Akil Gupta ‘10, was impressed by the spirit shown by the fans.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “The school’s spirit has gone up tremendously. We’re going to go crazy [in the second half].”

Gupta predicted a 70-65 Judges win. He was only five points off the mark.

As the start of the second half approaches, the fans form a circle around the court entrance. As the referees re-enter, the fans give them high-fives in hopes of swinging a couple critical calls in the Judges’ favor. Head coach Brian Meehan is mobbed and hugged by the fans as he joins his players on the court, and he seems to be enjoying the positive attention.

Throughout the second half, the loud fans continued their “Bull****” and “Amherst sucks” chants from earlier. They also attempted to faze Amherst’s senior all-American point guard Andrew Olson, chanting “OLSON!” repeatedly whenever he touched the ball. The strategy worked to some extent, as the Judges held him to just nine points and five assists.

Another common chant was a play on Amherst’s team nickname, the Lord Jeffs. Instead, Brandeis fans chanted “Gaylord Jeffs,” likely to portray their opponent as weak.

An 11-0 Amherst run quieted the fans momentarily, but they were soon back on their feet after rookie forward Christian Yemga ‘11 hit a three-pointer off the glass with the shot clock winding down. The shot gave momentum back to the home team and sparked a large cheer from the crowd.

As the clock ticked down with the Judges sporting a comfortable 10-point lead, I could feel the excitement in the air. When the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the game, several of the Judges’ rowdiest fans stormed the court and circled the players. With the biggest regular-season win in school history now complete, this will likely be a moment these fans will never forget.