The 8-11 women's team, fresh off an upset of the 13-6 Laurentian Voyageurs, almost made it two in a row against the OUA East-leading York Lions (16-3 heading in to tonight's game), but came up just short, losing 71-66 in overtime. Queen's trailed 29-21 at the half, but outscored York 22-14 in the third and held them even in the fourth to force the extra frame.
It really didn't need to go that far, though. With less than a minute to go and the score knotted at 60, Queen's star forward Sarah Barnes hauled down a defensive rebound and started a fast break, but point guard Teddi Firmi missed a tightly contested layup that could have given the Gaels the lead. On the ensuing Lions drive, Queen's forward Anne Murphy fouled York's Emily Van Hoof, who led York with 21points on the night. Van Hoof went to the line, but missed both shots, perhaps thrown off by the noise from the stands. They were the only foul shots she missed all night in a 9-for-11 effort from the line. Queen's then took the ball with 18.9 seconds left and drove down the court, but couldn't crack York's defense for a
game-winning basket. Barnes eventually launched a three, but it fell short and the teams headed to overtime.
In overtime, Queen's had plenty of chances. Barnes was outstanding early, making a steal and hitting a layup. She then sunk two free throws after being fouled on the Gaels' next possession, part of her 22 points on the night. Queen's hung with York for a while, but conceded too many free throws, and York went an astonishing 11 for 12 from the line in extra time to clinch the victory.
Barnes, who was playing her final regular-season home game for the Gaels, and head coach Dave Wilson both said they were disappointed not to get the win, but took some comfort from sticking with a top team like the Lions for so long. Looking at their performances this weekend, it's tough not to agree: they've shown they can play with the best in the league. However, the issue now is finding consistency: this is, after all, the team that lost to the 2-18 Ottawa Gee-Gees only last Tuesday. Interestingly enough, the Gaels play Ottawa and 6-14 Carleton again on the road next weekend. A pair of wins would give them some solid momentum heading into the playoffs, especially as there's a good chance they'll face the Ravens in the first round. Wilson, Barnes and Anne Murphy all mentioned that they'd like to avenge Tuesday's defeat to Ottawa, so the Gaels seem to have some extra motivation for that clash on Friday.
One final note from this game: Firmi again had a solid game with five assists, five points and eight rebounds, third-best in the game (behind only Van Hoof's 13 boards and Barnes' nine). However, she fouled out for the third game in a row. Granted, this time it wasn't until overtime, but I'm sure Wilson will be bugging her about that: the Gaels are a better team with her on the floor, so it's important for her to be more careful about fouls.
The men's game was pretty much as expected, as Queen's beat 5-13 York 74-67 to improve their own conference play record to 12-7. As I predicted yesterday, it was closer than the team's records would suggest. This time, however, the prediction worked out but the reasoning didn't. By all logic, Queen's should have run away with this game: they thoroughly outplayed York for most of the game, and they were getting ridiculously good looks at three-point shots, which normally spells disaster for the opposition. This time, though, Queen's couldn't hit a three for love or money in the first half: they were a lousy 3of 17 (18%) from deep in the first two quarters, and were even outscored 16-9 in the second frame, which meant that they held a slender 27-25 lead at the half.
The Gaels turned it around in the second though, and their shots started falling. The outcome was never really in question after Queen's went on a 9-0 run to start the third quarter. Their field goal percentage jumped from 30% to 57%, and they hit eight out of 16 threes for an astonishingly high 50% success rate. They outscored York 21-14 in the third, and only lost the fourth quarter by two points (28-26) despite some horrible turnovers and fouls near the end.
As expected, star forward Mitch Leger led the Gaels with 18 points, but it wasn't one of his greatest nights: he went six for 20 from the field, and hit just one of nine from downtown. He did add seven rebounds, though, which tied him for the team lead with rookie Nick DiDonato. The Mitchell brothers both had solid games: Travis put up 14 points and added five rebounds and three steals, while Simon recorded eight points, four rebounds and three assists. Rookie forward Jon Ogden also played well, notching 14 points and adding five rebounds. Guard Tut Rauch was the story for the Lions, as he recorded 29 points, almost half of their total offensive output. The Lions also went 21-24 from the foul line, which helped them keep it close.
Interestingly enough, Smart, Ogden and Simon Mitchell all agreed that nothing really changed from the first to the second half. They were getting similar looks, but the shots they missed in the first just started to drop in after the break. What I found particularly interesting was the difference in Smart's reactions after tonight's game and last night's thumping of Laurentian. Last night, they had a much bigger halftime lead (40-27 as opposed to 27-25), but Smart was really unhappy with their play in the first half. Tonight, with only a two-point margin, he wasn't all that disappointed in the team's early play: he recognized that they were playing well, but the shots just weren't falling. That's good coaching, if you ask me: knowing when to fume and knowing when your guys are already doing well, but it just isn't working. There's more to sports than the scoreline, as the piece I wrote for my Journal blog on today's Tottenham-Manchester United clash shows.
Next weekend, the Gaels face Ottawa and Carleton in a pair of tough matches. 15-4 Ottawa may be vulnerable, though: they dropped a 78-69 decision to Toronto tonight, and lost star guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe in the process. Sean Peter also didn't dress for the Gee-Gees, and it will be good news for the Gaels if one or both of them can't play Friday night: the duo combined for 31 points in Ottawa's close win over Queen's Tuesday night. Carleton looked invincible as always with a 100-77 win over Ryerson, but as I'm hoping is the case tomorrow, it's not always possible to maintain perfection. Simon Mitchell said the Gaels want to come out of next weekend with at least one win: that would certainly be an impressive outcome, regardless of which side they beat.
Related:
- Mark Wacyk's piece at cishoops.ca on the men's game.
- I'll have full stories on both games in Tuesday's Journal.
- Met up with Brock Harrison from the Kingston Whig-Standard at tonight's games: he should have pieces on both in Monday's paper.
Showing posts with label Dave Wilson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dave Wilson. Show all posts
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
Campus Corner: Friday night, time to shoot out the lights
The men's basketball team has been getting a fair amount of coverage lately, but they were upstaged by the women tonight. Only three days after their surprising loss to the 2-16 Ottawa Gee-Gees, the women rebounded with a huge 75-69 upset of the 13-5 Laurentian Voyageurs. They held highly-regarded All-Canadian Cassandra Carpenter to just 16 points, and only two in the first half. Nicely enough, this prevented Carpenter from breaking the CIS record for career points against Queen's. She'll almost certainly attain the record tomorrow night against the hapless Royal Military College Paladins (still winless!), but at least it won't have happened against the Gaels. Laurentian came on towards the end when the Gaels got into foul trouble, but Queen's led for most of the game after the first quarter (aided by outscoring the Voyageurs 32-15 in the second frame).
By the way, Carpenter didn't really impress me. Sure, she's got a good shot and sees the court well, but she flops around more than the Italian national soccer team. There were several times during the game where she'd run into a defender (usually Maddie Soye, Alaina Porter or Sarah Barnes), fall to the ground, and writhe around in mortal agony, only to get up and drain a couple foul shots as if nothing had happened (8 of her points were from the line by the way, as she shot a poor 4/13 from the field). She also had only four assists to go with her atrocious seven turnovers. It might have just been an off-night for her, but on tonight's performance alone, I won't be joining the fan club.
The Gaels also got some help from an unexpected source. The men's volleyball team had tonight's road game against Laurier moved to Sunday due to the storm (for anyone not in Ontario, it's pretty crazy here at the moment), so they showed up en masse at the gym to cheer on the women's basketball team despite their own 8 A.M. departure tomorrow. They were effective hecklers from the front row, and particularly got into Carpenter's head (she turned and gave them the finger at one point). In fact, both Barnes and Porter made special mention of the help from the volleyball guys in my post-game interviews with them. Queen's could use more fans like that.
Tomorrow night, the women face league-leading York (16-3). They'll be trying for two upsets in a row, but it will certainly be a difficult task. Frankly, coming out of this weekend with the two points they've already got is a huge victory on its own.
As an aside, the women's game featured some questionable officiating towards both sides. The Gaels were getting called for absolutely nothing most of the game (one of my favorites was where Carpenter absolutely bowled over Barnes with an elbow and still picked up the foul), which led to head coach Dave Wilson getting a technical partway through for his opinions on the quality of the refereeing. However, partway through the fourth quarter, it was if the officials flipped a switch and went for the even-up calls: they started calling phantom fouls on Laurentian and ignoring real ones by the Gaels. Both coaches wound up criticizing the referees in my interviews, which shows balance, but also that there might be a problem with the quality of the calls. Even though the poor officiating wound up helping both sides, it still wasn't a good showing for the refs, especially in front of a knowledgeable basketball audience. They interfered with the flow of the game far too much, and called too many fouls in general (both Sarah Barnes and Teddi Firmi fouled out, along with a couple of Voyageurs, and there were at least four or five more players sitting on four fouls by the end). This doesn't help a league that struggles for credibility at times.
The men's game produced pretty much what everyone expected, as the Gaels gave the Voyageurs a 81-57 drubbing. Star forward Mitch Leger proved that my injury worries were unfounded, pouring in 24 points in only 25 minutes. He also added 12 boards, 2 steals and an assist to claim the double-double. Travis Mitchell chipped in 17 points, while Rob Shaw and Dan Banister both had 11, and the team as a whole shot an impressive 50 per cent from the field and 43.5 per cent from deep.
Things were closer than head coach Rob Smart would have liked in the first half (40-27 lead at the break), but the Gaels stepped it up in the second and never looked back. The game gave Smart an opportunity to work in more of his rookies than normal, expanding the playing time of those who already feature (like Nick DiDonato and Jon Ogden) while allowing other rookies who normally sit on the bench (Alex Murphy and Patrick Beswick) to get some valuable minutes.
The team's looking pretty healthy at present, too, which can only be a good thing going forward. Point guard Baris Ondul put in 25 minutes, notching six points, four steals, three assists and a rebound, which shows that he's close to 100 per cent. Smart said Beswick's fully recovered from his concussion, and the Gaels were able to dress 11 guys (a far cry from the eight who featured against Ryerson a couple weeks ago). That can only bode well for a stretch run.
The men are in an odd position at the moment. Their 11-7 record means there isn't too much hope of them catching Toronto (13-4) for the third playoff spot, but there's no way 5-12 Ryerson can edge them out of fourth. Thus, it's important for them to keep the pressure on in case the Blues tank, but there's also that sense of meaningless games. Smart and Leger both told me it can be a bit of a challenge to stay focused, which should make tomorrow night's match with York interesting. The 5-13 Lions have been hot lately, demolishing Laurentian and Ryerson by scores of 96-65 and 72-53 respectively, and only losing to No. 7 Toronto by six last weekend. Smart said the Gaels can't afford to take them lightly. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Related: Mark Wacyk's take and news from around the league over at cishoops.ca.
By the way, Carpenter didn't really impress me. Sure, she's got a good shot and sees the court well, but she flops around more than the Italian national soccer team. There were several times during the game where she'd run into a defender (usually Maddie Soye, Alaina Porter or Sarah Barnes), fall to the ground, and writhe around in mortal agony, only to get up and drain a couple foul shots as if nothing had happened (8 of her points were from the line by the way, as she shot a poor 4/13 from the field). She also had only four assists to go with her atrocious seven turnovers. It might have just been an off-night for her, but on tonight's performance alone, I won't be joining the fan club.
The Gaels also got some help from an unexpected source. The men's volleyball team had tonight's road game against Laurier moved to Sunday due to the storm (for anyone not in Ontario, it's pretty crazy here at the moment), so they showed up en masse at the gym to cheer on the women's basketball team despite their own 8 A.M. departure tomorrow. They were effective hecklers from the front row, and particularly got into Carpenter's head (she turned and gave them the finger at one point). In fact, both Barnes and Porter made special mention of the help from the volleyball guys in my post-game interviews with them. Queen's could use more fans like that.
Tomorrow night, the women face league-leading York (16-3). They'll be trying for two upsets in a row, but it will certainly be a difficult task. Frankly, coming out of this weekend with the two points they've already got is a huge victory on its own.
As an aside, the women's game featured some questionable officiating towards both sides. The Gaels were getting called for absolutely nothing most of the game (one of my favorites was where Carpenter absolutely bowled over Barnes with an elbow and still picked up the foul), which led to head coach Dave Wilson getting a technical partway through for his opinions on the quality of the refereeing. However, partway through the fourth quarter, it was if the officials flipped a switch and went for the even-up calls: they started calling phantom fouls on Laurentian and ignoring real ones by the Gaels. Both coaches wound up criticizing the referees in my interviews, which shows balance, but also that there might be a problem with the quality of the calls. Even though the poor officiating wound up helping both sides, it still wasn't a good showing for the refs, especially in front of a knowledgeable basketball audience. They interfered with the flow of the game far too much, and called too many fouls in general (both Sarah Barnes and Teddi Firmi fouled out, along with a couple of Voyageurs, and there were at least four or five more players sitting on four fouls by the end). This doesn't help a league that struggles for credibility at times.
The men's game produced pretty much what everyone expected, as the Gaels gave the Voyageurs a 81-57 drubbing. Star forward Mitch Leger proved that my injury worries were unfounded, pouring in 24 points in only 25 minutes. He also added 12 boards, 2 steals and an assist to claim the double-double. Travis Mitchell chipped in 17 points, while Rob Shaw and Dan Banister both had 11, and the team as a whole shot an impressive 50 per cent from the field and 43.5 per cent from deep.
Things were closer than head coach Rob Smart would have liked in the first half (40-27 lead at the break), but the Gaels stepped it up in the second and never looked back. The game gave Smart an opportunity to work in more of his rookies than normal, expanding the playing time of those who already feature (like Nick DiDonato and Jon Ogden) while allowing other rookies who normally sit on the bench (Alex Murphy and Patrick Beswick) to get some valuable minutes.
The team's looking pretty healthy at present, too, which can only be a good thing going forward. Point guard Baris Ondul put in 25 minutes, notching six points, four steals, three assists and a rebound, which shows that he's close to 100 per cent. Smart said Beswick's fully recovered from his concussion, and the Gaels were able to dress 11 guys (a far cry from the eight who featured against Ryerson a couple weeks ago). That can only bode well for a stretch run.
The men are in an odd position at the moment. Their 11-7 record means there isn't too much hope of them catching Toronto (13-4) for the third playoff spot, but there's no way 5-12 Ryerson can edge them out of fourth. Thus, it's important for them to keep the pressure on in case the Blues tank, but there's also that sense of meaningless games. Smart and Leger both told me it can be a bit of a challenge to stay focused, which should make tomorrow night's match with York interesting. The 5-13 Lions have been hot lately, demolishing Laurentian and Ryerson by scores of 96-65 and 72-53 respectively, and only losing to No. 7 Toronto by six last weekend. Smart said the Gaels can't afford to take them lightly. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Related: Mark Wacyk's take and news from around the league over at cishoops.ca.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Campus Corner: A sibling rivalry, or lack thereof?
The men's basketball team faces a sharp contrast this weekend. Tonight, they play 14-0 Carleton, the consensus No.1 team in the country (according to the CIS poll, cishoops.ca, and the RPI rankings, which agree on very little apart from Carleton). Tomorrow night, they play a polar opposite team in the 0-14 RMC Paladins (as an aside, why does RMC even bother keeping volleyball and basketball teams? They haven't won a game in either gender in either sport this year, so they're worse than the Miami Dolphins, which is pretty sad).
Tonight's Carleton game should be quite interesting. As Neate Sager noted on The CIS Blog, Carleton's suffering from a flu bug. That, combined with the possibility that the Ravens might overlook tonight's match in preparation for tomorrow's Capital Hoops Classic against Ottawa before 10,000 fans at Scotiabank Place, should at least give the Gaels a slim chance to my way of thinking.
Unfortunately, head coach Rob Smart doesn't seem to agree. Smart told me that the game means "almost nothing" for his team, as they've pretty much already written it off. While certainly a pragmatic and realistic attitude, I'm not entirely convinced that it's the proper one for a coach to take before such a clash. As earlier mentioned, there's a reason we still actually play the games rather than just simulating them on computers. If both the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens can almost knock off the New England Patriots, there's certainly a chance that Queen's can hang in there with Carleton, and maybe even take the match if they channel the kind of shooting (71% from three-point land!) the Raptors put
up against the Celtics in their upset the other day. Perhaps I'm just a huge fan of underdogs, but I like to believe that there's always some hope. If Queen's can hit 71 per cent of their threes, I'm pretty sure they'll pull off the win: otherwise, it's still a slim chance, but it's definitely there. In any case, the battle of the Smarts (Rob and his younger brother, Carleton coach Dave) alone makes this game worth watching.
By the way, to keep from coming down on Smart too hard: he also made a good point about how Queen's young guys (i.e. Mitch Leger, Jon Ogden) are right up there with, if not better than, Carleton's equivalent young guys. The difference is Queen's relies on its young stars, while Carleton uses them primarily as fill-ins. It's also possible that he's saying one thing to the media to keep expectations low while secretly pumping his guys up for battle. The other alternative is that he's just sick of the inevitable questions about the success his brother's having with Carleton. In fairness, these games don't really mean a ton in terms of playoff positioning either: the 9-5 Gaels are currently fourth in the OUA East, and there doesn't seem to be too much likelihood of them catching Toronto given the Blues' recent success: however, there are still a lot of games to play. They should be able to finish ahead of fifth-place Ryerson, though, as the Rams are currently 5-9. Thus, barring an unexpected run or Jean Van de Velde-esque collapse by the Gaels (or a Phil Mickelson-esque choke-job by the Blues), they should be set to host Ryerson in the first round, a very winnable game.
(Hilarious response by Smart when I asked him if there's a sibling rivalry: "A rivalry involves being close.")
It will also be interesting to see if Queen's can keep any intensity for Saturday night's game against RMC, or if it will all have been drained from them in the Carleton game. Smart said he isn't worried about overconfidence, but you have to think that there might be some going from playing a 14-0 team to matching up against an 0-14 team. RMC's certainly going to pull out all the stops against their cross-town rivals in an attempt to avoid a winless season, and the schedule should help them a bit. I don't think Queen's will let down far enough that RMC will take the game, but it might be closer than you'd think, and the improbable does occur from time to time.
The women's matches should also be interesting. Tonight, 5-10 Queen's takes on 3-12 Carleton. The Gaels then play the winless Paladins Saturday night. These are key games for playoff positioning. Queen's is currently fourth in the OUA East, and has no chance of moving up (third-place Laurentian is 12-4). However, they need to hang on to the fourth seed to host a first-round matchup. They definitely don't want to slip any further than fifth, as the sixth and final playoff seed earns a doomed matchup against the third-place team. Carleton currently occupies sixth place, and will be desperate to try and move up. As Gaels' head coach Dave Wilson noted, it really is a four-point game. The RMC game will also be key: Wilson pointed out that the Paladins have been playing good basketball without getting results, and you know they'll be fired up against a crosstown team that has also struggled.
(By the way, Wilson is one of my favorite coaches: he always has time for the media, and he's one of the most quotable people I've ever interviewed.)
Related:
- Neate Sager's piece setting up the weekend at Out of Left Field: he also threw a link my way, which was completely unexpected and very nice of him
- Neate's other piece on basketball at The CIS Blog, referenced above
- The CIShoops.ca weekend preview (By the way, Mark Wacyk got some nice recognition for his work from Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail, my favorite basketball reporter).
Tonight's Carleton game should be quite interesting. As Neate Sager noted on The CIS Blog, Carleton's suffering from a flu bug. That, combined with the possibility that the Ravens might overlook tonight's match in preparation for tomorrow's Capital Hoops Classic against Ottawa before 10,000 fans at Scotiabank Place, should at least give the Gaels a slim chance to my way of thinking.
Unfortunately, head coach Rob Smart doesn't seem to agree. Smart told me that the game means "almost nothing" for his team, as they've pretty much already written it off. While certainly a pragmatic and realistic attitude, I'm not entirely convinced that it's the proper one for a coach to take before such a clash. As earlier mentioned, there's a reason we still actually play the games rather than just simulating them on computers. If both the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens can almost knock off the New England Patriots, there's certainly a chance that Queen's can hang in there with Carleton, and maybe even take the match if they channel the kind of shooting (71% from three-point land!) the Raptors put
up against the Celtics in their upset the other day. Perhaps I'm just a huge fan of underdogs, but I like to believe that there's always some hope. If Queen's can hit 71 per cent of their threes, I'm pretty sure they'll pull off the win: otherwise, it's still a slim chance, but it's definitely there. In any case, the battle of the Smarts (Rob and his younger brother, Carleton coach Dave) alone makes this game worth watching.
By the way, to keep from coming down on Smart too hard: he also made a good point about how Queen's young guys (i.e. Mitch Leger, Jon Ogden) are right up there with, if not better than, Carleton's equivalent young guys. The difference is Queen's relies on its young stars, while Carleton uses them primarily as fill-ins. It's also possible that he's saying one thing to the media to keep expectations low while secretly pumping his guys up for battle. The other alternative is that he's just sick of the inevitable questions about the success his brother's having with Carleton. In fairness, these games don't really mean a ton in terms of playoff positioning either: the 9-5 Gaels are currently fourth in the OUA East, and there doesn't seem to be too much likelihood of them catching Toronto given the Blues' recent success: however, there are still a lot of games to play. They should be able to finish ahead of fifth-place Ryerson, though, as the Rams are currently 5-9. Thus, barring an unexpected run or Jean Van de Velde-esque collapse by the Gaels (or a Phil Mickelson-esque choke-job by the Blues), they should be set to host Ryerson in the first round, a very winnable game.
(Hilarious response by Smart when I asked him if there's a sibling rivalry: "A rivalry involves being close.")
It will also be interesting to see if Queen's can keep any intensity for Saturday night's game against RMC, or if it will all have been drained from them in the Carleton game. Smart said he isn't worried about overconfidence, but you have to think that there might be some going from playing a 14-0 team to matching up against an 0-14 team. RMC's certainly going to pull out all the stops against their cross-town rivals in an attempt to avoid a winless season, and the schedule should help them a bit. I don't think Queen's will let down far enough that RMC will take the game, but it might be closer than you'd think, and the improbable does occur from time to time.
The women's matches should also be interesting. Tonight, 5-10 Queen's takes on 3-12 Carleton. The Gaels then play the winless Paladins Saturday night. These are key games for playoff positioning. Queen's is currently fourth in the OUA East, and has no chance of moving up (third-place Laurentian is 12-4). However, they need to hang on to the fourth seed to host a first-round matchup. They definitely don't want to slip any further than fifth, as the sixth and final playoff seed earns a doomed matchup against the third-place team. Carleton currently occupies sixth place, and will be desperate to try and move up. As Gaels' head coach Dave Wilson noted, it really is a four-point game. The RMC game will also be key: Wilson pointed out that the Paladins have been playing good basketball without getting results, and you know they'll be fired up against a crosstown team that has also struggled.
(By the way, Wilson is one of my favorite coaches: he always has time for the media, and he's one of the most quotable people I've ever interviewed.)
Related:
- Neate Sager's piece setting up the weekend at Out of Left Field: he also threw a link my way, which was completely unexpected and very nice of him
- Neate's other piece on basketball at The CIS Blog, referenced above
- The CIShoops.ca weekend preview (By the way, Mark Wacyk got some nice recognition for his work from Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail, my favorite basketball reporter).
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