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Through new life challenges, Devon Saddler is a driven player and family person

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 8, 2014 in Columns

If you just look at some of Devon Saddler’s statistics, you might get an impression of Delaware’s all-time leading scorer. Seeing his numbers, mainly his scoring, shooting and assist numbers, might leave an impression that he’s been your classic gunner who has scored from taking a lot of shots, and you might wonder about him as a team player and a young man.

Stop right there if that’s the impression you get. It’s about as false an impression as you can get.

No Comments | Tags: Colonial, Delaware, Devon Saddler

At Drexel, two different guards from different places try to extend their careers

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 7, 2014 in Columns

This weekend, Drexel will attempt to prolong a season that began with a lot of promise. It hasn’t quite gone as many had hoped, but two senior guards will try to lead them to a longer season. It is those two guards, who come from different places, who have had different journeys to this point, and who have become like brothers while learning plenty about dealing with adversity, who will try to lead them one last time in the Colonial Athletic Association.

From a basketball standpoint, the backgrounds of Chris Fouch and Frantz Massenat aren’t all that similar. Their careers have been quite different as well, but as teammates they have been a big part of how Drexel has done. Through adversity, they have forged a strong bond that Massenat points out during interviews of both. It is perhaps only fitting that they will finish right next to each other on the school’s all-time scoring list.

No Comments | Tags: Chris Fouch, Colonial, Drexel, Frantz Massenat

2014 CAA awards: How one person voted

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 7, 2014 in Columns

The Colonial Athletic Association handed out its postseason awards on Thursday night, as usual a day in advance of the conference tournament. As one of the voters in the conference, I always find it a worthwhile exercise to share how I voted and some of the thoughts behind it.

The most notable highlight is that the Player of the Year vote was a tough one. I debated that more than anything else, even finishing my ballot other than that award at first so I could ponder it more. A couple of the other awards were relatively easy this time around, and at the margins it was a tough call in a couple of cases for the last person on one of the teams.

No Comments | Tags: Colonial, Jerrelle Benimon, Monte Ross, Omar Prewitt

For Bryant, especially the seniors, there are no words right now

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 6, 2014 in Columns

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – What do you say to the players who have meant so much to your program after a heart-breaking loss likely ends their careers? What do you say to the players who gave all they had, even transformed themselves, for the betterment of your program at a crucial stage?

In truth, there are no words. Tim O’Shea, who has seen plenty in the world of basketball, had a hard time finding them after Bryant lost a 55-54 heart-breaker to Saint Francis in the Northeast Conference Tournament on Wednesday night. And you can’t blame him. His lack of words says nothing about him and everything about the situation.

No Comments | Tags: Alex Francis, Bryant, Clay McMath, Conference Tournaments, Conference Tournaments 2014, Corey Maynard, Northeast, Tim McKinney

Saint Francis scores a big, unlikely win

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 6, 2014 in Columns

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – When the final buzzer sounded, Ronnie Drinnon turned to the students and raised his arms, even though his team was on the road. His coach could barely contain himself a couple of minutes later. And if you know a little of the history of Saint Francis University, including recently, along with how much the coach knows about that history and the makeup of the team right now, you can understand why.

It might be one of the biggest quarterfinal wins in a mid-major conference tournament in some time. Drinnon had just played the game of his life, and a program that hasn’t tasted a great deal of success got a big win that can be a big momentum boost even if they get thumped in their next game on Saturday.

No Comments | Tags: Conference Tournaments, Conference Tournaments 2014, Northeast, Rob Krimmel, Ronnie Drinnon, Saint Francis University

Offense helps Florida State move along late in the season

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 5, 2014 in Columns

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Florida State was very concerned about Boston College for a lot of reasons. After pulling out a 74-70 win over the Eagles, they were pretty relieved.

“I hope that people understand that they’ve got everybody back next year, and I hope we only play them once, and I hope it’s at our place,” said head coach Leonard Hamilton with a smile. “We were just very fortunate to get a stop, hit a free throw, get a turnover right at the end that gave us a chance to pull it out.”

No Comments | Tags: Aaron Thomas, ACC, Florida State

Brewster Academy wins a second straight title on more than talent

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 3, 2014 in Columns

BEVERLY, Mass. – Championships are not won merely by assembling talent and rolling out the basketballs. Jason Smith already understood this well, and that was driven home again on Sunday. The good thing for the Brewster Academy head coach is that the result of it was positive, a thrilling 68-63 win over New Hampton in the NEPSAC Class AAA championship.

Brewster Academy won the Class AAA championship for the second year in a row and has now won four NEPSAC titles in the past seven seasons. While in recent years the Bobcats have annually had the most talent in Class AAA, that hasn’t always translated into a title. Talent alone doesn’t do it, and it’s not just because NEPSAC is so competitive, although Smith offered plenty of words about that after the game.

No Comments | Tags: Brewster Academy, Donovan Mitchell, Elijah Bryant, NEPSAC, Tory Miller, Tyler Lydon

Adams leads Cushing to a repeat in less dramatic fashion

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 3, 2014 in Columns

BEVERLY, Mass. – This time around, a buzzer-beater was not needed for the win in the big game.

Cushing Academy won last year’s NEPSAC Class AA championship with a buzzer-beater from about mid-court from Jalen Adams (6’2″ Jr. SG, Roxbury (MA)). The Penguins won this year’s title with Adams taking MVP honors in their 78-68 win over Kimball Union Academy, and with their other top players coming up big as they needed them to.

No Comments | Tags: Connor Gilmore, Cushing Academy, Idris Taqqee, Jalen Adams, Kaleb Joseph, NEPSAC

Phillips Exeter is an unlikely repeat champion

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 3, 2014 in Columns

BEVERLY, Mass. – A year ago, anyone could have predicted this result before the season. This year, not so much.

While any championship feels great, you have to think Phillips Exeter head coach Jay Tilton feels especially good about the one his team took home in dramatic fashion on Sunday by a 49-46 margin over Hotchkiss, their second NEPSAC Class A title in a row.

No Comments | Tags: NEPSAC, Phillips Exeter, Recruiting

Maine has work ahead to stop a repeat of this season

by Phil Kasiecki - Published March 3, 2014 in Columns

It’s not like anyone couldn’t see this coming. With Maine’s personnel, a season like the one that is mercifully nearing an end looked possible, even likely almost a year ago.

The Black Bears were already going to lose two seniors. Then Justin Edwards transferred and Alasdair Fraser opted to pursue a pro career overseas a year early, and leading three-point shooter Jon Mesghna followed them out the door. With that, the Black Bears had been gutted of talent and experience. Then junior Killian Cato missed the first semester due to academics, as if that wasn’t bad enough.

No Comments | Tags: America East, Maine, Shaun Lawton, Till Gloger, Xavier Pollard, Zarko Valjarevic

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Your Phil of Hoops

Saturday notes – January 17, 2015

January 18, 2015 by Phil Kasiecki

High school games may have grabbed a lot of attention, but there were plenty of college games as well. Most results weren’t surprising, but were well worth looking at some notes on, and we do that here.

Rhode Island keeping perspective after tough loss

January 15, 2015 by Phil Kasiecki

Rhode Island controlled Tuesday night’s game against VCU, but couldn’t finish it and took a tough loss. Their improvement is evident, though, and they are keeping perspective on that in trying to keep improving.

Saturday Notes – January 10, 2015

January 11, 2015 by Phil Kasiecki

Conference play is now in full swing, and on Saturday we saw a number of games tell us something about teams and conferences in the early going. In that respect, one conference appears to be standing out right now.

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