Belmont Defeats the Tanners

The Belmont Marauders defeated the Woburn Tanners in a balanced game in which they controlled the Tanners defensively throughout the game. The game was low-scoring and close until the half. In the third quarter, the Marauders played tenacious defense and fed the front court in a timely fashion. Goodwin and Paolillo finished most of the feeds to lead the Marauders in scoring.

Belmont has all the reasons to believe that this will be a winning season, especially if they continue displaying consistent defensive effort. The team seems to be well synced on that end of the court. The guards play on a defensive string, expanding and collapsing as needed, and the center line is solid with a good amount of bulk added to length. These centers can push anybody out of the paint; if they maintain their focus and keep boxing out, there will be no easy points for the opposing offense from down low.

On the offensive side of the court, Belmont again relies on the strong game of the front court (Paolillo and Goodwin) with occasional penetration by Andrew Musler. Musler is hard to categorize as a player, he may be one of the few point forwards in the league, but his contribution is bigger than the stat sheet may tell. He can break the other team through the middle and either score or open the game up for others… and he gets on the line which is valuable since he is a dependable free throw shooter. He extends his game to either guard or power forward with solid ball handling and rebounding. Even when percentage of his conversion is not high, as will occasionally happen, it is not a concern because there is always a positive side effect of throwing the opposing defense out of their formation.

Not everything is cozy on offense, though. The lack of outside shooting is a concern. The guards are reluctant to take shots when open 10-15 feet away from the hoop. So far, they haven’t been successful in a penetrate-and-dish-out or find-the-big-guy kind of game either. This leads to my other concern, which is play-making. In the game against the Tanners, Belmont relied on Musler far too often to handle the ball and make plays. Luckily, in this game, it didn’t turn out to be a critical weakness.

So far, the strengths outweighed the weakness. That’s why Belmont has a 1-1 record against two tough opponents from two away games.

From Around the Web

• It’s early, but so far so good, Mark Goodman and Michael Liuzza, Belmont Citizen-Herald

On Tuesday night, the Belmont High boys basketball team defeated Woburn, a team that has been picked by many to do great things this season. But the Marauders went into Woburn High School with confidence and came away with a huge victory.

• Belmont gets the better of boys hoop, Mark Goodman, Woburn Advocate

The Woburn High boys basketball team never really got on track Tuesday night in a 48-36 defeat at the hands of Belmont. The visiting Marauders were down at the half, 20-18, but put on a remarkable defensive display after that. Woburn scored just two points in the third quarter, by the end of which Belmont led, 33-22.

Here’s the slideshow of pictures taken during the game:

History In the Making

The Celtics are bound to make history tomorrow night agains the 67ers. Although they are not in the business of making history, all they want is win another championship, their journey has been followed closely by the press. Here, you will get an overview of press coverage of their winning streak. Read more ->

Celtics Keep Streak Alive, Partizan & Cibona Lose

The Celtics

The Celtics are 24 – 2 this season. They extended their winning streak to 16 games with last night’s win over Atlanta. An up and down game in which Rajon Rondo confirmed his aspirations to have big three replaced with big four. Kendrick Perkins is also coming close to averaging double-double for the season so far. So, maybe we’ll be talking about big five, the way it should actually be on a championship team.

Atlanta is a good team and they played up to their reputation last night. They have depth, inside-outside game, toughness, athleticism… almost everything that championship teams are made of. Still, something is missing. The intangible mental component – apparent when Joe Johnson missed his free throw at the end of the game. I am convinced that if the Celtics play them in the playoffs this season again it will not be in the first round, because I don’t think the Hawks will be positioned last in the East going into the playoffs. Read more ->

Lexington Beats Belmont in Fourth Quarter

The first game of the season! After months of training, anticipation building, summer leagues, fall leagues, exhaustive workouts, week-long tryouts… the first game is here. Belmont knows that historically their chances to win are slim. But history doesn’t matter now, it’s ten guys on the court which will decide the outcome.

Belmont starts strong and has a lead after the first quarter. The front court is doing their job boxing out and rebounding. The guards are holding their positions defensively, Belmont’s patient with the ball and runs the court well. They continue playing strong in the second quarter and have the lead at the half. Third quarter is no different. The offense from both teams is slow, half-court offense which is looking for the big guys as close to the paint as possible. If the big guys are cut off, the ball circles around while guards are looking for the opening. Slow, but tension builds up. The quarter ends in a tie.

Belmont is starting to believe that the win is within reach.

Read more ->

News Clippings, Middlesex League

An article Courtside Chatter by Globe Northwest Sports, published on December 14, 2008 talks about boys’ players and teams to watch:

Danny O’Keefe, Lexington: The 6-foot-4 O’Keefe captained the Minutemen as a junior and led the team to its third straight Middlesex League title, averaging 17.6 points per game.

Lexington: After winning three straight Middlesex League titles, the Minutemen return a core of starters and are poised to make another run for the championship.

Christopher Hurley wrote an article for Melrose Free Press on December 17, 2008. Although the article is primarily about Melrose high school basketball, he quotes coach Mike Kasprzak’s thoughts about Middlesex League in the section Middlesex League Log Jam.

The Red Raiders will need all the help they can get as they head into a highly competitive Middlesex League. According to Kasprzak, the league should be even stronger this season.

“Some people describe it as the number three boys league in the whole state,” Kasprzak said. “I would say that’s not a stretch.

“You have teams that are three times the size of us as far as population in Lexington and Woburn,” he added. “They have great players and great coaches. Lexington and Watertown are outstanding, Reading and Woburn are also going to be right there.”

From there it’s a toss-up, with Wakefield and Burlington also jockeying for position in an already imposing league.