3/19 Iona game (NIT)

[girldawg]

From Iona's message board:

"La Tech is a 7.5-point favorite."

"And well deserved. We are going to have to play our A game to beat this team at their place. They are as good as SMU statistically."

[kw2292]

I watched the Iona-Manhattan MAAC championship game. Very entertaining game, and I remember thinking at the time neither were a team I would want us to play. Manhattan hit a few more shots down the stretch, but you could tell Iona could play with anyone.

Sadly the casual fans won't know how good this team is, but our defense is going to have to be stellar to win this game.

[TechFanno1]

Bought 5 tickets for this game this morning around 11:00. (2 where my season tickets are and 3 more for a friend and his kids) There were quite a few people in the ticket office purchasing, some that were leaving as I was walking up, and more walking in as I was leaving. The guys who work in the Tech ticket office said sales have been really good so far. Sure would be nice to get 6 or 7 thousand in the TAC Wednesday night.

I see this happening.So looking forward to seeing our Dawgs play at the TAC. See Ya There in Tech Blue.

[rockdog]

Ticket office was just buzzing around 4:00 this afternoon. They still had student tickets available, which is disappointing. I was hoping they'd go fast.

In other news...Iona hasn't won a game outside of the Eastern time zone. I don't know if that will matter or not, but I did think it was interesting.

[WWDog]

If you go to ESPN3 you can watch some of the Iona games. They play very fast, look for the 3 often, and like to press. I think we are more athletic and might just have a little advantage in the paint. But it is hard to say only having watched less than half a game.

[Dawg06]

For those like me wondering where New Rochelle is located, it looks just northeast of the Bronx.

[Dwayne From Minden]

Defense

[ICFAN]

You are pretty much right on with your analysis of Iona. We want to play up tempo and shoot threes. We start 5 wing players where 4 of them have made at least 60 threes or more this year and bring our one true big off the bench. very streaky team where no lead is safe whether we are up 15 or down 15. the key for Iona is to have at least 2 of our 4 shooters having hot shooting nights and our big stating out of foul trouble. The Iona fans know we will need to play at our very best to try and get this win. the teams seem pretty close in size which helps us since at times rebounding hurts us. expecting a close game

[dawg80]

For those like me wondering where New Rochelle is located, it looks just northeast of the Bronx.

It's where Dick Van Dyke, er Robert Petry and his beautiful wife Laura lived in that TV show of the '60s.

[gabzooks]

Interesting stat comparison:

Scoring offense (pts per game)
3. Iona - 83.5
13. La Tech - 80.3

Assists (per game)
3. Iona - 17.3
12. La tech - 15.8


Three point %
9. Iona - 39.6% (offense) vs. 13. La Tech - 30.3% (defense)

Turnovers (per possession)
15. Iona - 14.5% (offense) vs. 10. LA Tech - 22.4% (defense)

SOURCE

[gabzooks]

CONTRAST


Offensive Shooting %
10. Iona - 48.7%
106. La Tech - 45.2%

Three pt %
9. Iona - 39.6%
224. La Tech - 33.0%

Offensive efficiency:
5. Iona - 1.148
48. La Tech - 1.087

FT %
135. Iona - 71.1%
272. La Tech - 66.9%


Defense (pts allowed):
57. La Tech - 65.6
320. Iona - 77.2

Defense (shooting % allowed):
63. La Tech - 41.2%
248. Iona - 45.4%

Defensive Efficiency:
9. La Tech - 0.888
267. Iona - 1.062

Rebounds (per game):
14. La Tech - 39.1
254. Iona - 33.0

[Champ967]

So Iona, statistically, has an edge on offense, and Tech has the edge on defense.

Am I reading that right?

[qng001]

I bet Iona would feel more comfortable playing in Memorial Gym vs the TAC.

[Dawg06]

So Iona, statistically, has an edge on offense, and Tech has the edge on defense.

Am I reading that right?

Yes.

Iona's offensive KenPom stats are off the charts.
- #10 in offensive efficiency
- #3 in effective field goal percentage
- #14 in turnover percentage
- #9 in 3-point percentage
- #5 in 2-point percentage
- #7 in steal percentage

Iona's Weaknesses
- Don't rebound
- Don't block shots
- Don't get to FT line
- Don't play good defense (except that they don't foul much)

[ICFAN]

Interesting note from this game is that La. Tech and Iona have both offered 6'8'' PF Nick Havener from Florida according to verbal commits. Also the line has gone from 7.5 to 9.5.