OT: Quinnipiac MBB off to best start in 50 years

[SwingDog]

Okay, granted they are ranked 233 in NET rankings and they just beat Division-III Albertus Magnus, but they have some decent wins so far. Coached by Baker Dunleavy, son of Mike, it's good to see another Connecticut team off to a good start, and I hope they have a good season. Quinnipiac men’s basketball off to best start in 50 years as Balanc shines in win over Albertus Magnus - The Quinnipiac Chronicle

 

[wheelerdog]

Why play a DIII school? C'mon man

 

[methodology]

Why play a DIII school? C'mon man

Albertus has been very good team over the past decade. They are like 15 minutes from each other. It’s a good game for both programs

 

[wheelerdog]

Albertus has been very good team over the past decade. They are like 15 minutes from each other. It’s a good game for both programs

I understand that Albertus is a fine program and that the schools are neighbors. I still think it's ridiculous.

 

[Waquoit]

I understand that Albertus is a fine program and that the schools are neighbors. I still think it's ridiculous.

Ehh, in a one-bid league SOS is meaningless.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I previewed Quinnipiac on my blog over the summer and lauded their returning guards and wings, but had questions about their forwards/bigs with Kevin Marfo graduating and Brendan McGuire transferring to Sacred Heart.

I thought Notre Dame transfer Elijah Taylor was going to be an impact player, but after an ACL tear before the season, my guess was Quinnipiac was going to go small, but man, was I wrong.

Not only did Quinnipiac not go small...they went big, starting 6'7 245 Columbia grad transfer Ike Nweke and 6'8 225 Kilgore College JC transfer Paul Otieno in every game this season.

Nweke continued his double-double numbers he sustained at Columbia (10.8p, 7.0r) while Otieno has been a been a monster on the offensive glass (92nd best offensive rebounding rate) and a defensive disruptor (71th best block rate, 325th best steal rate while playing within his abilities on offense (7.4p, 70 fg%, 88th lowest TO rate).

Yes, their OOC is weak (335th in the nation), but winning is winning. I'll catch them live later this year when they visit Iona and Fairfield.

 

[CTBasketball]

I previewed Quinnipiac on my blog over the summer and lauded their returning guards and wings, but had questions about their forwards/bigs with Kevin Marfo graduating and Brendan McGuire transferring to Sacred Heart.

I thought Notre Dame transfer Elijah Taylor was going to be an impact player, but after an ACL tear before the season, my guess was Quinnipiac was going to go small, but man, was I wrong.

Not only did Quinnipiac not go small...they went big, starting 6'7 245 Columbia grad transfer Ike Nweke and 6'8 225 Kilgore College JC transfer Paul Otieno in every game this season.

Nweke continued his double-double numbers he sustained at Columbia (10.8p, 7.0r) while Otieno has been a been a monster on the offensive glass (92nd best offensive rebounding rate) and a defensive disruptor (71th best block rate, 325th best steal rate while playing within his abilities on offense (7.4p, 70 fg%, 88th lowest TO rate).

Yes, their OOC is weak (335th in the nation), but winning is winning. I'll catch them live later this year when they visit Iona and Fairfield.

McGuire stunk and didn’t fit into the offense last year. Dezi and Kortright are two high energy guards who can do a little bit of everything - I picked them to win the MAAC.

And if anyone’s bored w/ no UConn games. QU games are a blast to go to. Great popcorn at their arena too.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Quinnipiac is up in Montreal as a part of the Northern Classic with games set up against top-175 teams Stephen F. Austin (now), Montana State (tomorrow) and Hofstra (Sunday).

Quinnipiac is up 56-41 over SFA with 2 min to go en route to a 6-0 start.

Wow.

 

[awfuldan]

Happy to see this. I go to a couple Quinnipiac games a season usually, as the arena is less than 10 minutes from my house. It's a nice place to watch a basketball game, and the team has had some interesting pieces of late (Marfo, Rigoni, Rich Kelly who went on to transfer to BC). Looking forward to seeing 'em play again this year.

 

[Hey Adrien!]