| Meg Barber's first five years as NYU's women's basketball coach came without a true home game. Natalie Bruns' recruiting visit to Mercer Street came without seeing a court.
"I just saw a hole in the ground," Bruns said.
As NYU awaited the completion of construction on its new home court — delayed multiple times by the pandemic — the Violets became nomads, hosting games at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility, Hunter College, St. Francis Brooklyn and Westchester's Pace University.
Practices were held at the Palladium on 14th Street, where walls hug the sidelines and six baskets surround the court.
"The hoops were over the lines, and you couldn't throw a long sideline pass," Barber said. "We couldn't even do sideline inbounds."
Now, her team can do anything.
 All-American forward Natalie Bruns has been a core piece for an NYU team that went 50-5 over the two seasons prior to this one.
NYU Athletic Communications
Following back-to-back trips to the Elite Eight, NYU has finally begun play on its new court — a Division I-quality facility, with a seating capacity of 2,000, tucked into the basement of the $1.2 billion, multi-use John A. Paulson Center.
This long-awaited campaign has opened with 18 straight wins, earning NYU the No. 1 national ranking in Division III.
Led by Barber, an NYU alum who previously was an assistant at Temple, the Violets are winning games by an average of 28.4 points.
"When we first came here, we were trying to convince kids to see the future, see what we're saying, picture this facility," Barber said before a recent practice. "Today, we have players that are turning down Division I opportunities, saying, 'This is better than that could be.' That is how we've been able to sustain our excellence instead of being a one-hit wonder."
A team that went 50-5 over the prior two seasons — featuring Bruns, an All-American, and Belle Pellecchia, the UAA Defensive Player of the Year — became a D-III juggernaut upon adding Morgan Morrison, the National Player of the Year for Smith College, and Megan Bauman, who led the nation in assists and free throw percentage at Babson last season.
 With graduate transfer Morgan Morrison, who was named the D-III Player of the Year last season, the Violets are beating opponents by more than 28 points per game.
Yibin Chen/NYU Athletic Communications
"With some of the transfers we've added, we're almost an embarrassment of riches, but it never is about what you have on paper," said Barber, who ranks 10th on the program's all-time scoring list and reached two Elite Eights as a player. "Their eye is on the big prize this year, and we haven't shied away from it. We're No. 1. We're not gonna not talk about it. I'm really proud of it because for a long time NYU hadn't been No. 1, so it's a really big deal to be able to be in that position at this point in the season. We just want to be there in the end."
That hasn't happened since 1997, when Marsha Harris drove the length of the floor for a buzzer-beating layup that sent fans rushing onto the floor in celebration of the school's first-ever national championship.
It has been 17 years since NYU returned to the Final Four.
"This year, our thought is we have to make it to the Final Four," Pellecchia said. "We have to make it to the national championship."
The men's team shares similar thoughts.
 Men's basketball coach Dave Klatsky guided NYU to its first postseason appearance in seven years in his first season at the school.
Kelli Keady/NYU Athletic Communications
Led by second-year head coach Dave Klatsky, NYU has followed up a surprising 18-win season — the most by a first-year coach in program history — and its first NCAA Tournament berth in seven years with a 15-3 start to the season and the No. 10 ranking in the nation.
Prior to Klatsky's arrival, the Violets suffered losing seasons in four of the previous five years.
"They were so thirsty to be pushed and play a different way, and they bought in," said Klatsky, who previously spent 11 years as an assistant at Colgate. "This happened fairly quickly. I'm still cautiously optimistic because I'm a coach thinking about what could go wrong, but I like our squad.
"We aren't a championship team yet. But I think we can be."
Klatsky, 43, didn't envision coaching as a calling. The former Penn point guard earned his degree from the Wharton School of Business, then spent eight years as an equity analyst and trader. Four years into his career, his interest in returning to basketball led him to moonlight as an unpaid assistant at Hoboken's Stevens Institute of Technology.
"I would go there after work. I was single, no kids, all the time in the world," Klatsky said. "I started loving it so much I started taking off days to go on road trips."
 Mike Krzyzewski's grandson Michael Savarino is one of four NYU players with D-I playing experience.
NYU Athletic Communications
After four years of double duty, Klatsky was offered an opportunity — and a "not so fun" pay cut — to coach at Colgate, where he made multiple trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Klatsky also created a podcast (StatChat), which focused on the use of analytics in sports. Those numbers are the foundation of NYU's transformation, made possible with four starters who have D-I playing experience, including Michael Savarino, a former Duke guard and grandson of Mike Krzyzewski.
"I'm a math guy. My mind works in numbers," Klatsky said. "When the trend started, 2003 to 2006, I thought, 'This is awesome. People are proving things that coaches aren't doing. We shouldn't be taking mid-range shots that are contested and we should be trying to get free throws, layups and 3s.' This is obvious now, but it wasn't then. I remember reading every article I could, and at that time, there weren't that many.
"I tried to talk to NBA guys, who are always ahead of the curve. 'What are you looking at? What should I be looking at? What am I missing?' Now, it's more commonplace, but there's still a lot of dinosaurs out there that aren't using it to get slight advantages."
 After playing home gams everywhere from Brooklyn to Westchester over the previous few seasons, NYU's basketball teams have again begun playing in front of campus crowds again.
NYU Athletic Communications
The men's and women's teams travel parallel paths. They travel to road games together. They play doubleheaders.
They watch each other. They cheer for each other. They believe in each other.
After a road trip this weekend to face University of Rochester and Emory, the teams host Case Western Reserve on Feb. 9 and Carnegie Mellon on Feb. 11 at Paulson then finish their regular season with three more on the road.
"It's amazing getting to share the court with them and watch them blow everyone out every game," said Emmanuel Onuama, a forward who played for Columbia before transferring to NYU this season. "It motivates us. They're setting the bar and we gotta catch up. We watch them dominate and then we're like, 'We can't mess this up.'
"We're both trying to win it all."
Today's back page  New York Post
It's all starry now Do you want the good news, the really good news or the probably good news first?
Because the vibes are immaculate right now for the Knicks, winners of nine games in a row behind a truly special season from point guard Jalen Brunson.
An evening that began with Brunson being named to his first career All-Star Game ended with chants of "M-V-P!" raining down in a delirious Madison Square Garden after Brunson scored 40 points to lead the Knicks to a come-from-behind, 109-105 victory Thursday over the Pacers.
"We're going to keep fighting every single night," Brunson said in his on-court post-game interview, nearly overcome with emotion. "That's what we do. Especially here, man. This place is unbelievable."
 Jalen Brunson holds back tears as he's serenaded by the Garden crowd.
MSG Network
The Knicks were down to essentially 7.5 guys in the rotation (shoutout, Malachi Flynn) with OG Anunoby and Quentin Grimes sidelined by injuries. They trailed by as many as 15 points and fell behind again with two minutes remaining when Brunson was punched in the face — no call! — to set up a Pacers basket. They shot 39.8 percent and made just eight of 38 3-point tries.
They won anyway. It's a habit now.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 20 points. Miles McBride had 16, including 14 of the team's 17 during a crucial third-and-fourth-quarter stretch. Isaiah Hartenstein (19), Precious Achiuwa (16) — who also contributed outstanding defense on former teammate Pascal Siakam — and Josh Hart (12) combined for the 47 rebounds; the Pacers had 44.
But it all starts with Brunson, who is now averaging 27.1 points and has as many games of 40 or more (5) as games of 15 or fewer. His nightly exploits and folk-hero energy are changing the conversation around the Knicks (32-17), now a half-game back of the Bucks for second place in the Eastern Conference.
 Isaiah Hartenstein's big effort helped the Knicks to a ninth consecutive win.
AP
Remember the probably good news? Earlier Thursday, the Knicks released an initial prognosis on Julius Randle's recovery from a dislocated right shoulder. The All-Star forward — he was named a reserve alongside Brunson, though he'll be replaced on the roster — will be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks. Tom Thibodeau ventured to sound optimistic about Randle's rehab, but until surgery is ruled out — and it hasn't been — there's the potential for actual bad news here.
It seems like the only thing that can stop them now.
— Jonathan Lehman
Bad romance After coming back for just one game Monday after missing more than two months of action for the Nets, Ben Simmons missed Wednesday night's game against Phoenix due to a left knee contusion suffered in his return.
The Post reported Simmons is expected to be available Saturday night to face the 76ers, his former team.
Can the Nets count on that? And for how long? Or is this yet another sign that the benefits seen when signing Simmons may never or only sparingly be reaped?
 Ben Simmons gave the Nets a winning spark in his first game in more than two months before he was sidelined again.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Prior to Monday's 147-114 victory against the Jazz, Simmons had missed 38 straight games — he played six of the first seven — this season while still raking in $37.9 million.
He has appeared in just 49 of the 165 Nets' games since the team acquired him in the 2021-22 season from Philadelphia, and the Nets are tied to him for $40.3 million next season.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn defended Simmons amid his frequent absences, for mental health reasons along with back, hip and knee injuries.
"Ben doesn't want to be hurt. He didn't want to be hurt," Vaughn said. "He was playing good basketball at the beginning of the year for this team. And we were in a lot of close games at the beginning of the year. And so he wants to play. I'll say that to the world or whoever: He wants to play. He wants to play here. He has the ability to impact a team."
When he did play this week, he made the struggling Nets look like a different team. Across the mere 18 minutes and 14 seconds played, he scored 10 points and tallied 11 assists, eight rebounds, no turnovers, and the Nets outscored the Jazz by 27 points when he was on the floor.
At his best, Simmons gives the Nets extra size — an advantage on the boards — and a ball-handler adept at playing in transition.
He helped the Nets out-rebound the Jazz by six and beat them in fast-break points by 12.
 Royce O'Neale's ability to play on the perimeter, and his expiring contract, has drawn interest heading into the NBA trade deadline.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Yet, whether Simmons is worth the ever-lingering question mark still remains. Approaching the two-year anniversary (Feb. 10) of trading James Harden for the three-time All-Star, it's all but assured the Nets won't get close to the value they hoped for at the time.
And while Nets fans may not-so-secretly be rooting for another Simmons trade by next Thursday's deadline, that $40.3 million number attached to his name means he's not going anywhere.
After dropping 18 of their past 24 games, it's expected the Nets will make a shakeup, whether that is to the starting lineup, the bench or the coaching staff.
That leaves GM Sean Marks sorting through the club's more reasonably priced veterans — point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, power forward Dorian Finney-Smith and wing Royce O'Neale.
Finney-Smith has been linked to the Bucks, Lakers, Mavericks and Thunder. O'Neale reportedly has drawn interest from the Bucks, Mavs, Nuggets, Pacers and Timberwolves, while Dinwiddie has been linked to the Lakers and Hawks.
No matter what the roster looks like at 4:01 p.m. ET on Thursday, though, the Nets' saga with Simmons doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon.
— Bridget Reilly
What we're reading 👀 ⚾ The AL East rival Orioles landed Brewers ace Corbin Burnes in a blockbuster trade. It's all coming up Birds this week.
🏀 More relevant rival news: Sixers center Joel Embiid has a meniscus injury, putting his availability and the team's prospects in doubt.
🏈 The Chiefs were 9-6 and gasping for air. How did they get from there to the cusp of another Super Bowl crown?
🏒 The Rangers' do-it-all center Vincent Trocheck is fitting in just fine at NHL All-Star weekend.
⚾ The Mets are close to adding lefty Jake Diekman to a remade bullpen.
🏈 Ravens tight end Mark Andrews' heroic, life-saving efforts on a flight could restore a little faith in humanity.
🏀 The early takeaway from WNBA free agency: The Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream are loading up for a run at the Aces-Liberty hegemony.
🏀 Check out the loaded men's college basketball schedule for this weekend: No. 1 UConn at St. John's (Saturday, noon, Fox) ... No. 4 Houston at No. 8 Kansas (Saturday, 4 p.m., ESPN) ... No. 3 Duke at No. 7 North Carolina (Saturday, 6:30 p.m., ESPN) ... No. 5 Tennessee at No. 10 Kentucky (Saturday, 8:30 p.m., ESPN) ... No. 2 Purdue at No. 6 Wisconsin (Sunday, 1 p.m., CBS).
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment