State of the Gaels: Tournament Basketball

With one game left in the regular season and the MAAC tournament just days away, it is pretty apparent that the Iona Gaels have a long shot if the team is serious in defending their title as the best of the MAAC. The team currently sits at 11-15 while their conference play sits at 9-10. And while its clear that they won’t defend their regular season title from a year ago, there is optimism that the team could make a Cinderella run back to NCAA Tournament.

In today’s state of the Gaels address, we will highlight three main situations that must happen if the strive for five can be alive for the four-time defending MAAC Champions.

Before we can dive any further, we must give credit to where its due. In this situation that honor goes to Associate Head Coach Tra Arnold. If the MAAC had a voting poll for the coach of the year, Arnold should be considered. In only his second season as Associate HC, Arnold had to fill in for the defending MAAC Coach of the Year in Tim Cluess who is out for the season with an undisclosed illness. With impressive wins over Canisius and Rider, it is safe to say that Arnold has filled the big shoes completely.

Now that we have got the sentimental part out of the way let’s get to the first situation that must happen should the Iona Gaels seek to defend their title.

Dylan van Eyck must break out in the final games . van Eyck is arguably the teams’ most valuable and vocal player as the junior forward is currently averaging 3.4 points per game and 4.1 rebounds per contest. Now despite what the statistics may suggest , you can’t help but admire the attributes that the Boskoop native brings on the floor. His energy is contagious as in some games van Eyck is seen patting his teammates on the back and rooting defense while sitting courtside.

Van Eyck must produce impressive numbers as he did in the February 14thgame versus Manhattan where he finished with 8 points and a game high thirteen rebounds. That has made the difference for the Gaels as van Eyck defensive force creates more opportunity for guards Isaiah Washington and Isaiah Ross to command the floor and eliminates pressure from forwards E.J Crawford and Tajuan Agee as the later leads the team in scoring and rebounds respectfully.

With more space to pace the flow of the game van Eyck becomes a scoring option that opponents aren’t prepared for as they will try to lock down both Agee in the post and Crawford mid-range. And with Washington’s underrated passing ability aided by Ross’s deep ball threat the only limit is the sky for the Gaels

Since we are shedding light on Isaiah Washington’s passing ability, this can segway into the fact that the Harlem native is 4th in assist with 4.1. Although Washington is known for his layups through a viral sensations known as jelly, Iona should use his passing for their advantage. The team is ranked 2ndthe league with 13 assist per game so it would make sense that the team utilize their bigs such as Agee,in the post to make space for their sharp shooters like Ross and Andrija Ristanovic to score. With Iona high passing volume, the team can simply outpace the other team if the squad is serious about contending about a fifth straight

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However, there is one major achilles heel that may hinder this contention. And that is rebounding. While the team’s leading rebounder Tajuan Agee is ranked fourth in the league with 7.3, the team is ranked no higher than 7th in all major team rebounding statistical categories. If the team wants to win its fifth straight they cannot allow other teams opportunities to score.

It’s not like Iona doesn’t know how to rebound. The team is ranked 4th in defensive rebounds per game with 25 but it is essential that the team doesn’t give their opponents opportunities to gain any second chance points on them. It also doesn’t help that the team is next to last is offensive rebounding either. So, it is important that defensively that the team is locked in and try to play more full press man to man as opposed to running a 2-3 zone.

There’s no doubt in fans mind that Iona can make a fifth straight to the big dance, but these are the three major things the team really should consider if they are serious about contending and defending. Yes, they do not have Coach Cluess to lead the way but the fact that they are able to make a double digit win season without the coach speaks into the untap potential that this team have. And while they are in the Tournament indeed will that be enough? Fans would just have to wait.