Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: At Marist vs St. Peter's

by Ray Floriani

JERSEY CITY, NJ - St.Peter’s opened 2010 with a 61-49 MAAC victory over Marist at Yanitelli Center.

In a 57 possession game, the Efficiency and Factors:

	Off		FTA
	Eff	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
Marist	86	42	33	26	26
St.Peter’s	107	53	4	35	18

In writing the latest MAAC report for Rush the Court a tempo free breakdown of defensive efficiency was included. Somewhat surprising, St.Peter’s was the conference leader. Entering this game, the Peacocks’ DE was 89. No surprise they held Marist in check with 86.

Closely related and a major reason for the great defense was the limiting of the visitors to an eFG mark of 42%. One of coach John Dunne‘s priorities was to stop the mismatches from ball screens and handoffs that the dribble drive offense creates. Dunne was willing to concede a few treys. For the night, Marist was 5 of 14 (36%) from beyond the arc.

Marist mentor Chucky Martin employs the dribble drive but is more in a half court setting rather than transition. Marist entered the game averaging 67 possessions per outing.

Marist starts three freshmen and two juniors. The record is now 1-12 with the lone win coming last Saturday against Manhattan. Included were a number of tough losses. They have a 6-9 inside player in Corey Bauer but are very perimeter oriented (POT, perimeter oriented team). Entering the game 36% of their scoring was from three point range and 40% of their field goal attempts were from that distance. Basically, if they are not shooting well from downtown, Marist is very vulnerable.

Stats give a read on tendency but not a guarantee. Entering the game Marist was shooting 61% from the line. For the night they were 14 of 14.

St.Peter’s showed excellent balance with Ryan Bacon inside (12 points 8 rebounds) and Nick Leon outside (game high 16 points). On a night leading scorer Wesley Jenkins had only 7 points (half his average) the St.Peter’s offense rarely skipped a beat.

St.Peter‘s, to little surprise, owned the paint with a 32-10 edge. The free throw situation was interesting. Marist committed 17 fouls to St.Peter’s’ 15. From the line, as noted, Marist was 14 of 14 and St.Peter’s 2 of 5. The Peacocks had the better inside game and the lack of free throws indicates they scored a number of easy baskets. Dunne noted that the last eight minutes the St.Peter’s defense “let up a little bit”. And started to put their opposition on the line.

Sam Prescott, a freshman guard, came off the bench to lead Marist with 14 points while another freshman guard Devin Price added 12. Marist (1-12) is now 1-3 in the MAAC. St.Peter’s is 2-2 in conference and 7-7 overall.

“There are a lot of good teams in the (MAAC) conference. You have to win the ones you should because there are a lot of close games. This is a pretty even league. That Marist team will surprise and beat a few people before this season.” - St.Peter’s coach John Dunne

Yanitalli Center, St. Peter's College

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Report from the Rutgers - Marist Game

by Ray Floriani

PISCATAWAY, NJ- Rutgers posted a very workman like 74-67 victory in their season opener against Marist. Exactly a year to the day removed from a narrow win over this same Marist club. Well actually different as Red Foxes mentor Chucky Martin has virtually an entire new cast on board. The numbers in a 71 possession contest:

			FTM
	Eff.	eFG%	FGA	OReb%	TO%
Marist	94	48	17	31	20
Rutgers	104	50	21	31	16

Notes and Observations:
Rutgers wanted a faster paced contest and Marist was a willing opponent with their DDM offense. Thought Marist turnover rate was not that bad given new personnel and a opener on the road against Big East competition. Rutgers had an excellent TO rate which went a long way toward getting the win in this contest. Rejecting nine shots and negating the Marist inside game was also huge.

Equal opportunity -- A year ago Mike Rosario utilized 27% of Rutgers’ possessions. On virtually every night he had to. Against Marist, Rosario used 25% of the possessions and led the way fo the Scarlet Knights with 17 points. The scintillating soph, though, had help. Patrick Jackson, a 6-6 sophomore forward, who scored all of 10 points last year added 15 points. Gregory Echenique used his size advantage to add 13 points. Even Rosario commented that having adding consistent scoring threats makes Rutgers more dangerous and gives himself more freedom to roam.

Closing Out -- Rutgers still must put people away given the opportunity. The Scarlet Knights made a nice late first half run to go up 9. Marist cut it to four before a Rosario baseline drive at the buzzer gave Rutgers a 41-35 lead at intermission. In the second half Rutgers led by 16 before Marist came back to make it a three possession contest.

Game Management -- I liked an early time out by Rutgers coach Fred Hill. Marist led 12-9 (in 7 possessions) largely due to some lax defense by Rutgers. Hill called time out to address the situation and lack of defensive intensity over those first four minutes.

Senior Experience -- I loved the energy Hamady Ndiaye brought today. The 7 foot Rutgers senior came off the bench and made an immediate impact by blocking 6 shots. Echenique added 3 as for the 9 Rutgers rejections on the afternoon.

Rebuilding -- As noted Marist has a lot of new faces for second year coach Chucky Martin. One to especially keep an eye on is 6-7 freshman swingman Rob Johnson (effective outside -- 2-4 -- and in the paint -- 4-7) who finished with a game high 18 points while adding 6 boards. Marist did have balance with 4 players in double figures.

Attendance was 4,828.

Stat of note -- Seventy per cent of Rutgers’ field goals were assisted. They had 27 FGM, 19 assists. That added with a great TO rate spells outstanding ball movement.

Quotes: "I have to give Rutgers credit. They’re a good team and much improved from a year ago." - Marist coach Chucky Martin

"I don’t think the difference was any one person. The difference was our team. We got out and pushed the ball and controlled tempo." - Rutgers coach Fred Hill