The RMU Thread

[Woy]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNTBDOH9BPs"]NEC First Round: MU @ RMU Post Game: Andy Toole - YouTube[/ame]

[MvP]

Toole is from Red Bank, which is 10 minutes away from Monmouth. He's probably real familiar with the school.

[Woy]

A little preview...

#3 Robert Morris Colonials (23-9, 13-5 NEC) @ #2 Wagner Seahawks (25-5, 15-3 NEC)

Robert Morris Starting Five
G - Velton Jones, Jr. (16.4 PPG, 4.5 APG, .754 FT%) [1st team All-NEC]
G - Coron Williams, So. (10.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG, .401 3PT%)
F - Russell Johnson, Jr. (8.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 0.9 BPG)
F - Lawrence Bridges, Sr. (4.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, .578 FG%)
F - Mike McFadden, So. (8.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, .522 FG%)

Robert Morris Key Bench Players
G - Anthony Myers, So. (6.5 PPG, 3.0 APG, .414 3PT%)
F - Lucky Jones, Fr. (8.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG, .800 FT%)
F - Lijah Thompson, Jr. (7.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.1 BPG)

Wagner Starting Five
G - Kenneth Ortiz, So. (8.2 PPG, 4.3 APG, 1.9 SPG) [NEC Defensive Player of Year]
G - Latif Rivers, So. (14.5 PPG, 2.7 RPG, .881 FT%)
G - Tyler Murray, Sr. (11.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG, .493 3PT%)
F - Jonathon Williams, Jr. (13.5 PPG, 4.9 RPG, .539 FG%)
F - Naofall Folahan, So. (4.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.6 BPG)

Wagner Key Bench Players
G - Chris Martin, Sr. (7.2 PPG, 1.1 SPG, .845 FT%)
F - Josh Thompson, Jr. (4.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, .742 FT%)
F - Mario Moody, Fr. (4.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.0 BPG)
F - Orlando Parker, So. (4.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, .485 FG%)

Best Wins
RMU - vs. Long Island (75-66), @ Ohio (70-67), @ LaSalle (51-44)
WAG - @ Pittsburgh (59-54) (lolPitty), @ Penn (71-65), vs. St. Francis (NY) (90-50)

Previous Match-ups
February 2, 2012 - Wagner 80, Robert Morris 69

Other Tournament Games
#5 Quinnipiac Bobcats (18-12, 10-8 NEC) @ #1 Long Island Blackbirds (23-8, 16-2 NEC) [1/7 - LIU 79, QU 75 | 2/18 - LIU 99, QU 89]

My prediction: Winner of this game represents the NEC in the NCAA Tournament.

[Woy]

Noon tip on MSG. Should be streamed.

Let's gooooooo!

[Rudi]

Where's this stream going to be located

[Rudi]

59 combined fouls :leake:

Great win by the Colonials tho, one moar to go!

[MvP]

Woy was spotted with a red shirt and red fitted cap on, screaming and jumping around after a huge 3-pointer by (i think) Coron Williams.

Good win by RMU. Annoying game to watch with all the fouls but they looked good.

[Woy]

Yeah I was told I was on TV a few times. We had a nice amount of people make the trip up and although for a while it seemed like we would get screwed by the refs (again), beating Wagner in their own house was oh so sweet.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yU0PfAigE0"]Jay Z Feat Lil Wayne "Hello Brooklyn" (Uncensored Version) - YouTube[/ame]

Leaving tomorrow morning to go to LIU.

[Woy]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRnqlYNlJec"]2012 Northeast Conference Semifinal Highlights - Robert Morris at Wagner - YouTube[/ame]

[Woy]

A little preview...

#3 Robert Morris Colonials (24-9, 13-5 NEC) @ #1 LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds (24-8, 16-2 NEC)

Robert Morris Starting Five
G - Velton Jones, Jr. (16.6 PPG, 4.4 APG, .762 FT%) [1st team All-NEC]
G - Coron Williams, So. (10.7 PPG, 2.7 RPG, .397 3PT%)
F - Russell Johnson, Jr. (8.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 0.9 BPG)
F - Lawrence Bridges, Sr. (3.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, .565 FG%)
F - Mike McFadden, So. (8.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, .518 FG%)

Robert Morris Key Bench Players
G - Anthony Myers, So. (6.4 PPG, 3.0 APG, .428 3PT%)
G - Brandon Herman, Fr. (1.8 PPG, 0.9 RPG, 0.7 APG)
F - Lucky Jones, Fr. (8.4 PPG, 6.2 RPG, .794 FT%)
F - Lijah Thompson, Jr. (7.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.1 BPG)

LIU-Brooklyn Starting Five
G - Jason Brickman, So. (9.5 PPG, 7.2 APG, .808 FT%) [2nd team All-NEC]
G - Michael Culpo, Sr. (9.5 PPG, 3.2 RPG, .774 FT%)
G - C.J. Garner, Jr. (12.3 PPG, 3.4 APG, 1.0 SPG)
F - Julian Boyd, Jr. (17.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG, .409 3PT%) [NEC Player of the Year, 1st team All-NEC]
F - Jamal Olasewere, Jr. (17.0 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.1 BPG) [1st team All-NEC]

LIU-Brooklyn Key Bench Players
G - Brandon Thompson, Jr. (4.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG, .760 FT%)
F - Kenny Oynechi, Jr. (5.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG, .494 FG%)
F - Arnold Mayorga, Sr. (2.8 PPG, 1.9 RPG, .759 FT%)

Best Wins
RMU - vs. LIU-Brooklyn (75-66), @ Ohio (70-67), vs. Wagner (71-64)
LIU - vs. Vermont (80-75), vs. Wagner (78-73), @ Wagner (73-66)

Previous Match-ups
January 26, 2012 - Robert Morris 75, LIU-Brooklyn 66

Breakdowns
Guards: Robert Morris
- Although Julian Boyd won the NEC POY award, Velton Jones might just be the MVP of the league. He's taken over as a leader ever since last season and single-handily won games for this team (@ James Madison, @ Monmouth as examples). Coron Williams is a dangerous shooter from outside and the two of them hold a slight advantage over LIU-Brooklyn's trio of Jason Brickman, Michael Culpo and C.J. Garner, even though all three of them can get hot quickly from behind the arc.
Forwards: LIU-Brooklyn
- No contest here really. Boyd and Jamal Olaswere make up one of the best frontcourts in America and each can beat you in many different ways. RMU gets some offensive production from Iona transfer Mike McFadden, but Lawrence Bridges is used for nothing more than just a scrapper. Russell Johnson has finally started to hit his stride and was excellent in this game last year (22 points, 8 rebounds, 4-9 3PT).
Bench: Robert Morris
- Because of numerous injuries throughout the year, RMU has a group of players who have started before and would start for most NEC teams. Lijah Thompson played great in this game last year but was hampered by a stress fracture in his foot part of the season. Lucky Jones was named to the NEC All-Rookie team and might just be the hardest worker on the team. Anthony Myers could be the NEC's best sixth man and altogether the Colonials can go a total of 10 deep if needed. LIU-Brooklyn gets some production from Brandon Thompson and Kenny Oynechi, but that's pretty much it.
Coaching: Push
- Jim Ferry has done a great job bringing back LIU-Brooklyn basketball and deserves a lot of credit. The two-time NEC Coach of the Year thrives on his team playing at a fast pace and put together a roster that succeeds at that. On the other side, the youngest coach in America has done a masterful job since taking over for Mike Rice. This year's success was an overlooked effort in a way, as he made the difficult decision of suspending the team's best player Karon Abraham before the start of the season. Despite the loss, the Colonials enjoyed their best record ever in non-conference play (9-4) and advanced to the NEC title game for the fourth straight year.

My prediction: Robert Morris 73, LIU-Brooklyn 70

[Rudi]

RMU was +1 earlier, now its a pick em. :leake:

[Woy]

This game is gonna be that good.

Tip at 7:00 on ESPN2...let's gooooo!

[calgaryballer]

Watched a bit via illegal stream. Saw Spike was taking time out from watching the Knicks to cheer on LIU. RMU had it close for a while, but LIU was just too much

[Rudi]

[Woy]

As you could see from TV, I was pretty devastated. Every problem that plagued us this season came together last night and led to that loss. We couldn't get into any rhythm with the constant injuries (Velton was seriously hurting all game), couldn't defend the three or stop penetration and couldn't hit threes, especially in the cases where we had to create our own shot. Again, Caron and Velton are great on their own right but they can't make something out of nothing like Karon can.

I wasn't as disappointed last year because LIU was clearly the better team. But after everything we overcame and how well we were clicking lately, I had all the confidence in the world we'd come out on top. There's a very outside shot for a NIT berth, but CBI/CIT is more likely if we decide to accept a post-season berth.

LIU's going to scare the shit out of whoever they play. I'm kind of tempted to root for them to win so their coach believes there's nothing left to accomplish at LIU and leaves for an open Big East job.

We'll get it next year.