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LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY
CONFERENCE: Northeast (NEC)
LAST SEASON: 10-17 (.370)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 10-10 (t-5th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 3/2
NICKNAME: Blackbirds
COLORS: Blue & White
HOMECOURT: Schwartz Athletic Center (1,200)
COACH: Ray Martin (Notre Dame '77)
record at school 10-17 (1 year)
career record 10-17 (1 year)
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ASSISTANTS: Ron Brown (John Jay '76)
Ken Barer (George Washington '88)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 11-9-21-21-10
RPI (last 5 years) 255-264-81-97-223
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference quarterfinals.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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One didn't need a degree in economics from Notre Dame, like second-year Long Island University coach Ray Martin owns, to know that the numbers simply didn't add up for the Blackbirds heading into the 1998-99 season. Gone from a team that had won 21 games in 1996-97 and 1997-98 were 6-3 scoring machine Charles Jones (a Division I-best 29 ppg in 1997-98) to the Chicago Bulls and underrated small forward Mike Campbell and his 19.7 ppg. In all, Martin entered his first season looking to replace 62 percent of the Blackbirds' scoring, 64 percent of their rebounding and 55 percent of their assists from the season before. Because of that massive loss of personnel, Martin thought it wise to change the Blackbirds' old shoot-it-from-anywhere, defense-is-an-afterthought hoops style that had played to rocking packed houses at tiny Schwartz Center with a more traditional style. And he was going to make this 360-degree change with a roster filled with players recruited by his predecessor, Ray Haskins, to play at NASCAR-like speeds. Even the man who hired Martin, LIU athletic director John Suarez, was predicting a tough transition the very day that he was introducing Martin as the team's head coach. Guess what? As expected, the Blackbirds sputtered in 1998-99. They started the season at 1-9 and only one of those losses was by single digits, a 79-73 loss to Niagara on November 30. Of course, the New York media took potshots at the school for hiring Martin. But as the season wore, Martin and his club started to improve, scoring upset road wins over Maryland-Baltimore County (the 1999 regular season champ) and Mount St. Mary's (the eventual 1999 conference tournament champ) in mid-February.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C- BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT C+ INTANGIBLES D
Once again, LIU coach Ray Martin has one of the NEC's most talked-about players in Richie Parker and a whole lot of question marks. He must develop a new starting backcourt, including the tough task of breaking in two freshmen point guards. That fact means more growing pains for the Blackbirds, who have questions in the middle too especially if 6-10 senior Cheikh Fall isn't ready to go after an injury-shortened 1998-99 campaign. LIU could probably make good use of a shot doctor. The team that averaged 90-plus points per game in the two years prior to Martin's arrival endured its biggest problems trying to shoot while unguarded. The Blackbirds made only an inexcusable .569 of its free throw attempts. They must improve drastically in that aspect of the game, as well as in running their offense against zone defenses, in order to move up in the NEC standings in 2000. There is some talent here particularly on the wings. Parker (15.4 ppg) and fellow senior Virgil Smiley (9.0 ppg) don't need a compass to find the hoop. Swingman Jonathan Frank (6.5 ppg) and two-guard Ray Rivera (6.0 ppg) can score too, plus Martin brought in three promising wings in sophomore Keith Leslie and freshmen JaJa Bey and Lee Jones. So better days appear to be ahead. Just not in 1999-2000, thanks to the lack of a proven scorer in the post and the lack of a steady hand at the point. Call it a middle-of-the-pack finish for the Blackbirds, who figure to be more dangerous in February once freshman point guard Maurice Yearwood gets more experience at running the show. |
With the year of adjustment behind them, the Blackbirds expect to contend in the NEC this season. If so, then 6-5 senior Richie Parker will lead the way. Parker (15.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 47 assists, 30 steals) enters his senior season as the leading active NEC scorer with 1,379 points. To make his dream of playing in the NBA a reality, Parker must improve his long-distance shooting (he was zero for six from three-point range last season) and his ballhandling (88 turnovers vs. just 47 assists in 1998-99). Probably better known nationally for his troubled past than for what he's accomplished at LIU (which is a lot), Parker is talented enough to collect a check playing this game although it's probably going to be overseas. "He has considerable talent and will be an important go-to guy for us this season," said Martin, who hopes the strong finish last season will carry over to this year. Junior forward Karim Smith, 6-7, also returns to the starting lineup. Smith (3.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 27 assists, 22 steals) isn't the world's straightest shooter (.369 field goal percentage, .125 three-point percentage), but he serves as the team's top interior defender. If Martin needs some scoring pop from that forward spot, he calls Virgil Smiley's number. The 6-7 senior took some time to adjust to his sixth man role last year, but the JUCO import possesses a soft touch from the perimeter and unbelievable ups (Smiley claims that he first dunked a ball at age 12). Smiley (9.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 21 assists, 19 steals) played 25 minutes per night and shot .469 from the field. He'll see lots of time in 1999-2000, either as the team's starting power forward or as one of the first guys off the bench again. Rounding out the starting frontcourt, along with Parker and either Smith or Smiley, will be 6-10, 240-pound senior Cheikh Fall. Fall (2.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg) had an abrupt ending to his 1998-99 season after suffering a torn shoulder muscle in December. He appeared in only eight games and, while he isn't exactly the second coming of Tim Duncan, LIU desperately missed his shot-blocking and rebounding skills. Fall will have to be ready to go, or the Blackbirds will struggle to replace 6-9 center John Morgenstern (7.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg), who graduated. If Fall can't play, then Martin has two options: He can play "small ball" or he can go with still-unpolished pivots Mike Ansley and Jason Schnelle and get his scoring from the other four spots. Ansley, a 6-11 junior, arrived at Long Island with some baby fat on his frame. Scratch that, lots of baby fat on his frame. The 290-pound Ansley still isn't ready for the cover of Muscle and Fitness, but he has dropped 30 pounds. But this legitimate widebody remains as raw as sushi at the offensive end. Ansley (1.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg) appeared in 15 games last season and scored a grand total of 16 points. Schnelle, a skinny 6-10 junior, is actually less advanced offensively than Ansley, if that's possible. Schnelle (0.4 ppg, 0.2 rpg) has worked hard, but he's still too frail at 215 pounds to establish low-post position on a consistent basis in a D-I game. So if Fall isn't 100 percent, expect Martin to go with a smaller lineup. The reason? Smith can guard most NEC pivots and Martin has loads of 6-5 and 6-6 swingman types. One of them, 6-5 senior Jonathan Frank (6.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 24 assists, 27 steals) has proven experience, both as an off-the-bench contributor and a part-time starter (five starts in 1998-99). Frank is a testament to what hard work can do. He arrived three years ago as a walk-on and earned a scholarship last year. Frank possesses decent range (20 of 55 from behind the arc last year) and can explode to the goal if a defender tries to get right in his grill. Frank will have a battle on his hands for playing time, thanks to the arrival of a pair of built-alike freshman in JaJa Bey (6-6, 190) and Lee Jones (6-6, 200). Bey (Cheshire Academy, Cheshire, Conn.) gradauted from Forest Hills (N.Y.) High School before moving on to Cheshire Academy last season, where he averaged 14 points and six boards to help his team to a 17-5 mark and a spot in the New England Class Tournament quarterfinals. "I'm extremely happy to have a multi-talented small forward like JaJa in our program," said Martin. "He gives us great versatility on the perimeter and allows us the flexibility to play him at different spots." Jones averaged a double-double as both a junior and senior at Albany (N.Y.) High School and will figure in the mix at small forward and big guard. Speaking of the backcourt, both spots are very much up for grabs as last year's starting duo of Issiah Francis (10.9 ppg, 74 assists) and Karee Anderson (10.2 ppg, 93 assists) is gone. The point-guard spot looks like a two-man battle between freshmen Maurice Yearwood and Antawn Dobie. Bet on Yearwood to get the starting nod. The 6-foot Yearwood averaged 23 points and 10 boards last season at Brooklyn Tech. "We are delighted to welcome Brooklynite Maurice Yearwood into our family," said Martin. "He is an outstanding all-around person, an excellent student and he fills our point guard needs for the future." Sounds like the starter to us, but not if the 6-1 Dobie has anything to say about. Dobie started at the point the last two seasons for Monsignor McClancy in the always-tough New York City CHSSA. The shooting-guard spot will be a mix of something old and something new. Ray Rivera (6.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 16 assists, 18 steals), a 6-4 senior from the Bronx, came to LIU without a scholarship and has worked his way into the rotation, thanks to his long-range shooting skills (.338 from three-point range in 1998-99). He has worked extremely hard this offseason in hopes of landing a starting spot. He'll have loads of competition from the aforementioned Frank as well as JUCO transfer Keith Leslie from Midland (Texas) College. Leslie, a 6-3 sophomore, averaged 7.3 points and 2.0 assists last season. Parker could also move to the two-guard spot, which would enable LIU coach Martin to start Smiley or even one of the newcomers at small forward.
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