Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
Throughout the entire college basketball season, the Q30Sports basketball beat will bring an exciting and informative notebook-style, weekly update every single week. This will will the go-to spot for all things Quinnipiac basketball. Feel free to tweet ideas, questions or topics for future editions.
Women’s basketball (3-0)
Last week: W 66-56 vs. FGCU, W 63-60 at Dayton, W 78-55 at Holy Cross
This week: Nov. 20 vs. Northeastern
Morey Hershgordon (@Mahhersh): Bobcats win over Holy Cross a precursor for what is to come
A 23-point blowout win against an average mid-major team is nothing to be surprised about if you’re Quinnipiac women’s basketball. For all of January, February and the first week of March, Quinnipiac will be beating teams in the MAAC by this margin. Savor the close games. Savor the competition. In the upcoming weeks, it has a home test against Northeastern, which lost to Quinnipiac by one point in overtime last year, Temple, picked preseason number two in the American Athletic Conference behind UConn, Michigan State, which could enter Hamden as a top-25 team come early December and mid-major and high-major powerhouses in a tournament in Las Vegas right before Christmas. Should Quinnipiac pull out close wins, like the one it did on Sunday at Dayton, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see the Bobcats receive votes in the AP Top 25 poll. Sitting 12th in the RPI, Quinnipiac’s strong out of conference schedule could mean earning as high as an eight, nine, 10 or 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament. For reference, in 2014, Princeton went undefeated and earned an eight seed. Watch some great basketball over the next month before you hit hibernate and set the alarm for March.
Bryan Schwartz (@BryanSchwartz15): Big Minute Totals for starters will be short-lived
Totaling a team-high 64 minutes over the first two games, fifth-year senior Adily Martucci has played an even bigger role than expected so far this season. “If the coaches need me for that long, then by all means. I don’t know if that will be for the whole season,” said Martucci after the win over Florida Gulf Coast. Quinnipiac needed that boost from a veteran and big-time player in the first two games against those mid-major powers, but the Bobcats should not need to run Martucci out on the floor for that extended amount of time throughout the entire season. Ultimately, Martucci will not need to play big minutes like this because of the depth that the Bobcats possess. Up and down Quinnipiac’s roster, they have players that can match up and complete with almost any opponent that they will face. With this depth and so-called “grit,” as assistant coach Mountain MacGillivray put it, that the Bobcats play with, they will be able to implement the Gold Rush system, swapping five players on the court with five from the bench.
Everyone stays fresh, and they continue to be competitive because of the talent that they bring throughout the roster. Whether it is Martucci or Brittany Johnson or Carly Fabbri at the guard position, it seemingly should not matter. Though they did not use Gold Rush system against FGCU or Dayton, they showed that they can stay strong in the second half, while others have faltered. Quinnipiac outscored the Eagles by 11 and the Flyers by eight in the second half. Having a fresh roster in the second half will ultimately lead Quinnipiac to success, keeping them in every game, and able to come back from large deficits like they did against Dayton. Two impressive wins against mid-major powers to start off the season are only the beginning of a dominant season out of Quinnipiac in the MAAC.
Josh Silverman (@JoshMSilverman): Bobcats incredible depth means they have multiple players that can take over a game
It’s been said numerous times, but this year’s Quinnipiac Women’s Bobcat team has tremendous depth, possibly the best in program history. Although one could argue the team that went 31-4 in 2014-15 was a more talented team, this team has a more complete roster. That was evident on Nov. 13th when Quinnipiac overcame a 17-point second half deficit to beat the out of conference Dayton Flyers.
When Quinnipiac faced Florida Gulf Coast (FGCU) in the first game of the season, junior Brittany Johnson notched 14 points while Paula Strautmane scored nine. However, against Dayton the pair only combined for five points while Morgan Manz and Brittney Martin scored a combined 20 more points against Dayton than they did against FGCU.
The tremendous talent on the roster allows for players to be on either side of the scoring spectrum on any given day. If one player isn’t scoring 15 points, a player coming of the bench is. It gives head coach Tricia Fabbri a unique ability to ride the hot hand.
Although coach Fabbri would rather have constant production from every player, the ability to have every player score from almost anywhere on the court makes it so difficult to gameplan against the Bobcats. Unlike other teams in the MAAC, you have to gameplan against all 11 players on the Bobcats’ roster.
Although, against the MAAC and certain out of conference teams Quinnipiac can get away with having players cover for other’s mistakes. They will need every player to be on the top of their game when Michigan State comes to Lender Court on Dec. 6.
Men’s basketball (0-1)
Last week: L 94-70 vs. Vermont
This week: Nov. 21 vs. Columbia, Nov. 24 vs. Gonzaga, Nov. 25 vs. Seton Hall/Florida
Tom Cunningham (@TomCunny13): Quinnipiac faces tough road to find first victory of season
It was a tough opening game for Tom Moore’s team as they were throttled by the Vermont Catamounts 94-70 at Lender Court. With nine days between games, Moore and Co. definitely have time to sure things up, especially on the defensive end, but the schedule does not get any easier from here. Quinnipiac’s next game comes against a tough Columbia team that won 25 games last season.
The true test for the Bobcats, however, comes next weekend when the team travels to Orlando for the ESPN Advocare Invitational. The Bobcats are guaranteed three games in the tournament, against some of the toughest competition in the country. Each year one team from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference is give a spot, this year it was Quinnipiac. Quinnipiac opens up the tournament on Nov. 24 when it takes on No. 14 Gonzaga. Gonzaga is one of the premiere programs in the country, and will certainly be one of the toughest tests Moore has faced in his tenure at Quinnipiac. Following the game against Gonzaga, Quinnipiac will play either Seton Hall or Florida. Both Seton Hall and Florida are also some of the top programs in the country playing in the Big East Conference and Southeastern Conference (SEC) respectively. Other teams in the tournament include Miami (FL), Iowa State, Stanford and Indiana State
After the trip to Orlando, Quinnipiac returns home on Dec. 1 to begin their MAAC schedule. Its first opponent is preseason favorite Monmouth. Quinnipiac definitely faces a tough road ahead with a lot of big-time opponents. The way things are shaping up, the Bobcats may find themselves without a win until the calendar turns to December.
Dylan Fearon (@DylanFearon_): Abdulai Bundu needs to make more of an impact
I have to see more from Abdulai Bundu, plain and simple. After emerging last year as a significant contributor in the starting lineup (7.4 ppg and 6.6 rpg in 23.2 mpg), I expected Bundu to play very well against Vermont on Saturday. But the Upper Marlboro, Maryland product could only muster four points and ZERO rebounds against the Catamounts, while also failing to guard UVM freshman Anthony Lamb. Yes, it’s only one game, and I might be getting carried away, but with Quinnipiac’s entire backcourt, with the exception of Daniel Harris, being a new face, the big men have to play better. That starts with Bundu, Chaise Daniels and Donovan Smith. Tom Moore cannot rely on Reggie Oliver to make four three’s a game and average 15 points in his first year at the Division I level. Plus, Columbia is not a great rebounding team, so it is imperative that those three step up and attack the glass, even with the up-tempo style offense. The Lions top rebounder last year was Luke Petrasek, who averaged only 4.5 rebounds per game. Quinnipiac has to take advantage of the Lions’ weaknesses.
Bundu’s final eight games last year really showed how good he is and how much better he will get. Over that stretch the sophomore averaged 10.5 points 6.1 rebounds and 58 percent from the field. He has said he wants to help carry this team with Daniel Harris, so I am challenging him to do so against Columbia. Crash the boards, lock down your man and be efficient from the field. If he can do that, I like Quinnipiac’s chances at home with nine days to prepare for the Lions.
Chris Dacey (@Chris_Dacey85): JUCO shines in a losing effort
Junior college transfer Reggie Oliver made a splash in his debut at Lender Court. Literary, a splash, as he went 4-8 from three-point land against University of Vermont in Saturday’s loss. Tom Moore said he’s one of the team’s best perimeter player this season.
After the game, Oliver was already getting compared to his teammate, senior Daniel Harris, who had a similar first game with the Bobcats scoring 13 points and also sinking four shots from behind the arc.
Oliver had a good first game during a bad offensive day for the Bobcats. The offense consisted of players standing around and waiting for something to happen. Well, Oliver did make some things happen but not enough to keep the Bobcats close to the streaking Catamounts.
The transfer’s shot might be great for the offensive side of the ball, but the defense for the Bobcats was not where it needed to be at all. The team did not get back on defense allowing Vermont to get easy buckets in transition. But when the defense did end up in a settled situation in the half court, the team still could not stop Vermont from getting to the rim.
Vermont freshman Anthony Lamb had a first game to remember scoring 23 points with nine rebounds. If the Bobcats want to be successful in the MAAC this year, something like that just cannot happen.
Another thing, a big thing, rebounds. The Bobcats, who are usually pretty dominate on the boards, were out-rebounded 40 to 26 by the Catamounts. They won’t win many games rebounding like that. Moore and the Bobcats will need to change this if they want to improve off last season’s 9-21 record.
