Ray Floriani's Tempo-Free NEC Analysis

Heading into the final weekend, there is excitement on Remsen Street. St. Francis Brooklyn is set to close out the Northeast Conference as regular season champion. The Terriers will have home court advantage (providing they ‘survive and advance) through the tournament. But as St. Francis coach Glenn Braica knows, having the home floor through the event does not guarantee a title. Regardless, it is an edge coaches would not hesitate to have. The tempo free numbers are for conference games and courtesy of bbstate.com.

Efficiency Margin: Record

1. St. Francis Brooklyn 14                  14-2

2. Robert Morris 8                  10-6

3. Mount St. Mary’s 8                  10-6

4. Bryant 2                  10-6

5. Saint Francis U             0                    8-8

6. Wagner         0                    8-8

7. Sacred Heart -1                    7-9

8. LIU Brooklyn                -5              8-8

9. FDU    -9                  2-14

10. CCSU   -18                  3-13

Pace

1. Sacred Heart 70

2. Wagner         70

3. LIU Brooklyn         69.4

-All three at a high octane tempo. 

Most deliberate:

1. Saint Francis U  63.8

2. St. Francis Brooklyn 63.9

-The two St. Francis schools prefer a more pedestrian tempo. 

            

NEC cares:

The turnover rate cutoff is 20%. As noted in the past, teams want their offense under 20 and the defense to force opponents into a miscue once every five possessions. The NEC is caring for the ball. Only one team, Central Connecticut, is over 20%. They are just above the mark at 20%. The lowest figure is the 17.3% of St. Francis(PA).  

Best Offenses:

1. St. Francis Brooklyn 110

2. Robert Morris 106

        Bryant 106

Best Defenses:

1. Mount St. Mary’s 92

2. St. Francis Brooklyn 96

3. Robert Morris 98

FDU has not won since January 5th and is in a 14 game tail spin. Opponents haven’t had it that easy facing Greg Herenda’s group. There have been a few close contests during that prolonged drought. Interestingly, FDU at 22.3% defensive turnover rate, disrupts opponents the most (by TO rate) in conference. The Knights downfall defensively is allowing a 51.7% eFG mark on defense. The highest mark in conference. 

Mount St. Mary’s holds opponents to 45.3% eFG shooting and forces 21.2% (TO Rate) second to FDU, on the opposition. Little wonder the Mountaineers pace the conference in defense and will be a tough ‘out’ in the NEC post season get together. 

Best shooting percentage is the 53.5 eFG percentage of Robert Morris. At the opposite end is Central Connecticut (45.4) at the bottom and LIU (45.1) in the middle of the pack.