12/14/2011 - NJAC Should Push Back Starting Date
Jim O’Connor, like all high school basketball coaches, has had his hands full this week in preparation for opening night.
With the state cutting two days off the start of practice in November, time has been tight, even for the veteran coach with over 400 career wins with the Jefferson girls basketball team.
But in talking with O’Connor, he brought up a very valid point about opening night. Why should the season start with division games? Why doesn’t the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference allow teams to play two or three independents and its holiday tournament before going into the meat of the season?
Good question.
Prior to realignment, the teams in the Sussex County Interscholastic League were locked into an 18-game regular season slate which allowed for two independents and two tourneys; a holiday tourney and the SCIL Festival.
Now the former SCIL teams are in the NJAC which according to division has fewer league games. For example both the boys and girls teams in the American have a 14-game slate and in the Freedom they play 10 games.
Although the Freedom will change next year with the addition of North Warren and Jefferson coming back to the fold after a two-year absence.
So what about O’Connor’s proposal? I think it is a good one and the coaches I asked about it seemed to agree.
Now before anyone out there thinks that O’Connor is pushing for this because he is opening up for the second straight season with American Division power High Point, well, you are wrong.
Yes, he is fully aware that the Wildcats handed the Falcons their only two division losses last year, but his point is that with fewer league games, what is the rush?
Back in the SCIL days it made sense to get the league rolling with two games before Christmas because you had to squeeze 18 games in. And throw in a couple of snowstorms, you can be backed up in a hurry.
Add in the fact of the state pushing back the starting day of the winter sports season to the Monday after Thanksgiving, coaches should have the luxury of playing independents and holiday tourneys to get their teams ready for regular-season play, just like they do in college.
There are four open dates in the American schedule to begin with, so you can plug in the division games there in January and February.
And the Freedom under the 10-game format, has plenty of dates to choose from even with the built-in crossover game which brings the set schedule to 12 games total. There are stretches in the middle of the season when the Freedom teams will play just one division game per week.
Opening night is always fun. And for some teams it means much more than others. Case in point, the High Point-Jefferson game on the girls side. The winner will have the inside track on the division title until their rematch on Jan. 20.
Should the league title essentially be decided on Dec. 16?
I don’t think so and that can be changed by shifting the start of the NJAC season to after the New Year especially with the earlier starting time.
TIP OFF TIME…Tonight’s High Point-Jefferson game should be a doozy. Jefferson was the only team to really give High Point any trouble last year in the regular season.
But the Wildcats will have a slightly different look with the graduation of Leanna Tallamy, the Mugs Media Player of the Year last season.
Tallamy, who is excelling at Gordon College, gave the Wildcats a dominant presence in the post. Plus she ran the floor better than any other big in the area.
High Point coach Chris Dexter said that the Cats will attack more on the defensive end with the great athletes he has in Nikki Hull, Darby Smith, Brianne Woop, Emily Umbach, Steph Peterson and Amber Reilly.
Jefferson lost its top-notch sharpshooter in Cassie Flaherty, but the Falcons have the best frontcourt in the area in Sam Lapszynski and Kristen Swerzenski. Lapszynski has just signed on to play at Division I Niagara next year, while Swerzenski has developed into a real threat on both ends of the floor.
The key will be how well returning point guard Lauren Ferguson handles the pressure the Cats throw at her. If she can handle the heat and get the ball to the bigs, Jefferson has a real good chance to win especially on its home floor.
But I think in the end, High Point has just too many weapons and it will pull out the win on opening night.
There have been a lot of coaching changes on the boys side this season with Jason Hasson taking over at Pope John, Boris Seminiw at Wallkill, Jessie Strehl at High Point, Dan Healy at Lenape Valley and Dan Gibson at Sussex Tech.
But the biggest change in basketball this season has come in the Mugs Media broadcast booth. After nearly two decades, Mike Parichuck will not be doing games as he and his wife have moved to North Carolina to be closer to their daughter and son-in-law and their new baby.
Mike will be missed not only by us here at Mugs Media, but all the coaches and players in the area who had grown accustomed to his fair analysis and positive approach to high school sports.
Mike is a gentleman and left an indelible mark on high school sports in the county starting in his days as a player and then at coach at Pope John, followed by his long tenure at Kittatinny.
Opening night won’t be the same without you, Mike.
For what is worth here are my preseason rankings and Player of the Year candidates. And if you are betting person, believe me, save your money on this picks!
Girls Top Five: 1. High Point, 2. Jefferson, 3. Kittatinny, 4. Pope John, 5. Sparta.
Boys Top Five: 1. Sparta, 2. Vernon, 3. Pope John, 4. Hopatcong, 5. Newton.
Girls Player of the Year: Alexis Breheny of Pope John
Boys Player of the Year: Dan Tintle of Vernon.
That’s it for now see you on the sidelines.
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