Over the next few weeks, my blogs will be primarily previews and predictions of the upcoming New Jersey high school basketball tournament, Conference Tournaments in the NCAA and finally the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I actually heard some pretty cool news the other day that I'm looking forward to and that is because the NCAA Tournament is now on 4 seperate stations, other channels besides CBS can air games and not have to worry about regularly scheduled programming, so what that means is now in the Round of 32, games instead of stopping around 9 or 10 on Saturday and 7 on Sunday, are now going to midnight. The second round is usually way too rushed to me and I've always hated the national early game followed by 3 in the second window then 4 in the final window on Sunday. Fortunately over the last couple years, that window hasn't had great games but a few come to my mind-the Purdue-Texas A&M game last year, Kentucky-UAB a few years back, etc. but if there was ever a day with a lot of great games, we wouldn't be able to see it because they can only show you one game at a time. There is no more of that fortunately, and you can view any game you want. Anyway, this is the new configuartion of Saturday/Sunday viewing times.
Saturday-12, 2:30, 5, 7:30 on CBS, 6 and 8 on TBS, 7 and 9:30 on TNT
sunday-12, 2:30 and 5 on CBS, 6 and 8 on TBS, 7 and 9:30 on TNT, 7:30 on TRUTV
I personally love the idea that as of 6PM Sunday, only 3 games will be completed or so and those will be games everyuone can watch since those are the only ones going on then. Then with the 5 and 6 PM ones you can go back and forth, as with the 7, 7:30 and 8, before finishing up watching the late night 9:30 game.
Obviously, as you can tell by now, I'm a big fan of basketball at all 3 levels-high school, college and professional. I still scorekeep relatively frequently for my high school, film, announce and scorekeep for Monmouth and watch college basketball frequently as well as the pros. About now each year is the county tournaments across the state and here I will preview Middlesex County's Elite Eight. The quarterfinals are Sunday and whoever's around should drop by. The games will be a lot of fun. Here's the schedule...
12:00-#3 East Brunswick vs. #6 Cardinal McCarrick
1:30-#2 St. Joe's vs. #7 Perth Amboy
4:00-#5 Bishop Ahr vs. #13 John F. Kennedy
5:30-#1 Piscataway vs. #9 South Brunswick
#3 East Brunswick vs. #6 Cardinal McCarrick-To people around the county, this is probably the best game on paper. Both teams have done phenomonal in conference--East Brunswick went 17-3 while Cardinal McCarrick went 13-5. Cardinal McCarrick, however, has stumbled to the finish line winning just 3 of their last 6, although those losses were to the 1 seed Piscataway, the 4 seed North Brunswick(who was upset last night), and a much improved Roselle Catholic team. East Brunswick, however, plays in the Red Division, which is overall stronger with 5 of the remaining 8 teams still alive residing in that division. McCarrick remains the only team left in the White Division. Bishop Ahr and JFK are the remaining teams in the Blue. I also believe this is one of the stronger teams for East Brunswick in recent memory. A deep run in this tournament will likely make them a top 20 team and as it is they are currently ranked 4th in the state in Group IV, which is always loaded with great teams. McCarrick has also had great teams recently and have become one of the powerhouses in Non-Public South B, but they are far from the team they were a couple years back when they had both Mike Burwell who's playing at South Florida right now and Vince Rosario, who's playing at Central Connecticut State. Both teams are similarly experienced, but I believe East Brunswick is just a deeper team this year and will find a way to pull it out, especially after Cardinal McCarrick just had a thrilling double overtime win against Colonia on Thursday night, I'm not sure if they have it in them to pull a close one out today. Going in if they'd have won in regulation against Colonia I probably would've picked them, but East Brunswick this year has a deep enough team and scoring from enough places to get the job done here in a big spot. I think a key player in this game will be East Brunswick's Rob Ukawuba who is only a sophomore but has come a long way this season and really has had great numbers in some games. He is one of the taller players on the team and gives East Brunswick the inside presence they need for a predominantly guard oriented perimeter shooting team. Cardinal McCarrick has relied on guys like Charlie Gorman and Ahmid Williams all season to lead the Eagles to victory and I expect it to eb the same way this game. Ahmid Williams has to play one of the games like I've seen him play at Monroe and I think McCarrick can win. The problem in this game though I see for them is that McCarrick is a traditionally higher scoring team while East Brunswick is a lower scoring team. I think East Brunswick will play a better defensive game and find a way to beat Cardinal McCarrick. Their lowest point total this season is 49, followed by scores in the mid 50's or higher. I think EB advances to the semis in a close one.
Prediction:East Brunswick 56, Cardinal McCarrick 51
#2 St Joe's vs. #7 Perth Amboy-As a St. Joe's alum and still their scorekeeper, this game scares me. Just 3 weeks ago, on our home court, we faced a chance to lose to this Perth Amboy Panthers team and ultimately prevailed in overtime. But just like the 38-35 win for the Patriots over the Giants to end the regular season back in 2007, it made Perth Amboy realize they can win against us. We are however, a stronger team than them, in pretty much every area but depth and experience. Our coach, Dave Turco, to me, is one of the best coaches in the state and his level of preparation and knowledge for a high school level is staggering. I don't know if he's done them this season, but over the past few years, he prepared elaborate scouting reports to his players talking about strengths, weaknesses, etc. I think Perth Amboy's coach, Edwin Santana, is a pretty solid coach too and because all of his team is Spanish he communicates with them that way, which I definitely believe is an advantage. This may be a game, however, Perth Amboy's seniors have been anticipating for a while. The last few years they haven't been very good but this year, they are over .500 again and have a decent seed in states though it is against the Union Farmers. So they may have been waiting for this day to come when they have a chance to pull off the upset in a big spot. They have 9 seniors while St. Joe's has just 4. However, 2 of the players, not seniors for St. Joe's are all GMC players Danny Brix and Quenton DeCosey. They combined for 43 points the other night in their 83-40 win vs. Metuchen and will continue to be integral components in the county and state tournament. I just don't think Perth Amboy has an answer for both Danny and Quenton. Quenton's as good as a player I've seen on the high school level taking it to the hoop and getting second and third rebound chances. The sky is really the limit for him as long as he keeps his head on straight and doesn't act selfish. He is a junior right now but he is getting some very high profile looks from Syracuse and Notre Dame I've heard. Danny also I think is definitely good enough to go division I as well and it is this combo that will make St. Joe's tough to beat this time of year. To me, they have 2 losses rather than 4 on the year. The East Brunswick game the first time was atrocious--awful officiating. How do you not put Quenton at the line one time when he averages a few free throws a game and seemingly is always near the basket? That game was also 2 days before Christmas so the focus might not have been there. The Colonia loss too I don't really count because it was made up on very short notice which we never play well in, and Colonia's a tough place to play at in general. Piscataway was probably one of the worst games I've ever seen St. Joe's play and we still almost won. The tide would have turned if the refs didn't make an egregious error and noticed the 6 men on the court which would've given St. Joe's the ball and 2 free throws on a technical to cut the lead to 3 from 5. And the Hun loss just the other day was a bad one. We looked good for the first 3 quarters but forgot to seal the deal and lost by 4. A big problem with Perth Amboy is their lack of big men. They have good guards like Kearny Canella and Jorge Jimenez, but outside of Wancel Arias and David Rogers, they are lacking in that spot. I just think St. Joe's defense will be too much to handle in this spot and even if Brix or DeCosey are off, expect guys like Kevin Waitikovich, Nick Straughn and Jimbo Long to pick up the load for us. We never start out well in the quarterfinals and I expect the same today, but ultimately we will eventually pick up the pieces at some point in this game, cruise to a relatively easy victory and make a statement to show we're more than ready to defend our county title from last year.
Prediction:St. Joe's 63, Perth Amboy 46
#5 Bishop Ahr vs. #13 John F. Kennedy-I find it particularly interesting here Kennedy is 12-6 and a 13 seed. Remember Piscataway is the 1 with a 13-6 record although the teams they've played are far better. Kennedy has 2 awful losses on paper, the 31-28 loss to Middlesex at home and the 23 point loss at Carteret after beating them by 9 earlier in the season. First time around this season, Bishop Ahr won by 20. The second time around, Bishop Ahr won by 3. The bottom line is prior to last game, the highest seed in the county that Kennedy beat was the 12 seed. In addition, Bishop Ahr is a parochial school and there's just no reason a parochial school should ever lose to a team with as many flaws as JFK. I'm expecting this somewhere between more scores probably a 10-15 point game, but would be shocked if Bishop Ahr didn't win. JFK's win over North Brunswick was totally unexpected and I think was more a fluke and them underestimating JFK and being over confident themselves than anything. Don't expect a reprise today.
Prediction:Bishop Ahr 67, John F. Kennedy 52
#1 Piscataway vs. #9 South Brunswick-This could wind up being game of the day and it is the last one on the schedule. You have top seeded Piscataway taking on one of their divisional opponents. South Brunswick really stumbled to the end losing 6 of 8 after starting the season 8-4. Piscataway has shown weakness at times too beating Perth Amboy just 33-20, losing at home to Perth Amboy by 12, losing to East Brunswick by 15 and a relatively medicore Immacualta team this year by 23. Piscataway and South Brunswick are usually odd teams because you can see games with great defense or with a lot of scoring. The two games this year were 46-37 and 38-35 both going in Piscataways favor. Piscataway by no means is a dominant team for a 1 seed and I personally be shocked if they won this tournament. I think whoever wins the game between us and East Brunswick wins the tournament. You could make an argument how the hell is a 13-6 team the 1 seed? East Brunswick went 17-3 in conference and was co leader atop the toughest division so they could've been the 1. South Brunswick perhaps regained a bit of confidence from the 46-41 win Thursday night against New Brunswick and I'm sure just based on the two games this year, they know they can beat the top seeded Chiefs. Neither of these 2 teams do anything well besides play tough gritty defense. These 2 are not spectacular on any means on the offensive side which is why I can see an upset here. If Tajae Sharpe or Danny Cole is off for the Chiefs today, I think guys like Kory Sanders and Nick Muha can lead South Brunswick to one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far.
Prediction:South Brunswick 44, Piscataway 43
So based on my predictions, I have #9 South Brunswick vs. #5 Bishop Ahr and #3 East Brunswick vs. #2 St. Joe's. Those games are on Wednesday so I'll probably preview them sometime that morning. Over the next few days, I'll preview the state brackets. Here will be the schedule.
Tuesday-2/22-Group I
Wednesday-2/23-Group II/GMC Semis
Thursday-2/24-Group III
Friday-2/25-Group IV/GMC Championship
Saturday-2/26-Non-Public A
Sunday-2/27-Non-Public B
So that does it for my GMC Quarterfinals Preview and we can only hope we have a day like the Shore Conference had yesterday where all 4 games were settled by 3 or less and there was the huge upset of #8 Pt Pleasant Beach over #1 CBA as well. I'm looking forward to the games today and if you're around, you should definitely drop by.
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