JCC of Central New Jersey Men's Basketball

March Madness is fast approaching for the 2024-5 JCC Fall/Winter League.  With just two weeks left in the regular season heading into this past week, there was still a lot of possibilities with regards to the upcoming playoff seeding.  For the second straight week, the Grey squad had the daunting task of playing two games though at least this time they had a day off in between the two contests (Grey has played 4 JCC games in 8 days - thanks again Josh Tannenbaum).  Every year the NCAA has some version of upset Monday (or fill in the blank day), where several top seeds lose on the same night.  Though neither game was a true huge upset, JCC had it's version of Upset Monday this past week...

Gold 64 - Grey 61:  Grey was missing their stud, Shamar Mason as well as Rick Auyeung coming off the bench, while Gold was playing without the league leader in steals (and defensive intensity), Andre Lewis.  Grey came out of the gates on fire and wasted no time in building a 23-10 lead midway through the first half.  Without Shamar in the lineup, a heavy load fell onto Matt Ceccarelli's shoulders to pick up the scoring load and on this night he didn't disappoint by scoring a season-high 30 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 4 steals.  Everything was falling early for Matt though he was helped by teammates, Midrange Mike Korn (11 points) and Mike Hughes, who was a force in the paint with 10 points and 17 rebounds (including an incredible 9 offensive boards).  After building the 13-point lead, Gold answered with 3 huge three-pointers by Mike "neighbor" Huberman (team high 19 points plus 9 board and 4 assists) which helped cut the lead to just 4 points at half (32-28).  In the second half, Gold switched up to a 3-2 zone, which really gave Grey problems (and really highlighted how important Shamar is in breaking down a zone d). Grey built their lead back up to 47-36 with 11:30 remaining and still led 53-45 with just 7:00 left.  That is when Gold went on a 17-3 run thanks to timely shooting by several players as well as stifling team defense.  Jason Narod scored 12 points (along with 6 rebs/4assists) including some big shots late. Steve Bachman contributed 12 points (highlighted by a crazy spinning step-back three), Jake Granoff added 11 of his own and Bryan Minasian consistently kept possesssions alive with his offensive rebounding (6 of his 11 rebounds came on the offensive end).  Gold built a 6-point lead with 29.4 seconds remaining and here is how it played out:

• Matt came down and had a rare miss from deep but Mike Hughes gathered the offensive rebound, missed the putback, gathered another offensive rebound and found Ed Seiden at the three-point line.  Ed pump faked to let neighbor pass him by and then hit a three with 9.7 seconds left to cut the lead to 64-61 (Ed was just 2-10 from deep for the game and totaled 8 points/9 rebs).
• Neighbor was fouled intentionally on the ensuing possession but missed both FTs.  Hughes grabbed the rebound, passed ahead to Matt but Bachman knocked the ball out of bounds.
• 2.2 seconds remained and Mike Korn threw the inbound pass to Ed, who was intentionally fouled by neighbor but the refs didn't call it.  Ed threw up a desperation three at the buzzer...

which just missed and Gold secured the 3-point victory.  Grey came into the game with a magic number of 2 (either Grey wins or Red losses) to secure the number 1 seed and a first round bye in the playoffs.  This loss dropped Grey to 11-3 (the same record as Red who was up next) while the win moved Gold to 4-10.

Gold vs Grey Highlights 2/24/2025

Black 63 - Red 56: On the heels of watching Grey blow their big opportunity against Gold, Red had to be licking their chops to get a win against Black to put pressure on Grey in the battle for the top seed.  This was the third matchup between these two teams with Red taking each of the first two games, including a tight game just two weeks ago.  Black was desperate to avenge that loss and build some momentum heading in the playoffs.  Red was missing Mike Borik for this game while Black was missing Alex Fisher.  Red got out to a quick 8-2 lead thanks to threes by Adam Hynes (18 points) and Ben Carr (10 points), as well as a fast break layup by Eric Sass (16 points and 7 rebounds).  Black had to be thinking here we go again but they maintained their cool and chipped away at the lead and took a 13-12 lead with 13:00 remaining in the half.  This is when Damian Jackson went into beast mode and took over the game.  Damian has been putting up double-doubles every week and has somehow been doing it quietly.  There was nothing quiet about this performance as Damian decided to focus more on getting in the paint and punishing defenders (only 1 three-pointer attempted which he also made).  Damian finished the game with 24 points and 11 rebounds, consistently making tough shots every time his squad needed it.  Black built a 3-point lead going into the half at 30-27.  Last week when Black faced Grey, they did so without Gary Levine, and the team struggled to move the ball on both ends of the court. Black was coming off a performance where they allowed their opponents to score 80 points but in this game they held Red to just 56 points. And while Red is normally extremely efficient shooting the ball, they shot just 35% from two-point range (way below their season average) and just 23.8% from three (5/21 for the game).  Gary's hustle on both ends of the court and the impact that it has cannot be overstated.  Black opened the second half on a 12-5 run and built their lead up to 42-32 with 16:00 left.  This has to be an all-time record that I've gotten this far in a recap for a Black game and have yet to mention Siri Carpien. Well fear not becuase I'm here to tell everyone that the likely league MVP had what for Siri was a so-so performance but for most everyone else is a great game (19 points/9 rebs).  And Siri made some clutch baskets in the second half to help build the lead.  But if anyone thought that Red would just roll over and die when faced with adversity, Lee Corso is here to tell you what he thinks:

Not so fast indeed, Lee.  Red came storming back with an 11-1 run and tied the game up at 43-43.  Before the game, Colin Neff assured me that having a new baby in the house has caused him to be quite exhausted despite it looking like he was still moving at a different pace than everyone else on the court last week.  Well Colin did struggle shooting the ball this week (2/10 for 7 points) but every other aspect of his game was once again on point (13 rebounds/7 rebs/5 steals).  The score was tied at 45 with 7:00 left and Red must have used up all their energy to get back into the game because for the next 6 minutes they failed to score a point while allowing Black to go on an 11-0 run and build the lead back up to 56-45.  It did get dicey in the final minute when Red went on a little 7-0 run to cut the lead to 4 but Black held on for the big victory.  TJ Farrell had an off-shooting night but still put up a near double-double (10 points/9 rebs) as did Gary Levine (9 pts/9 rebs).  The loss for Red moved Grey's magic number to 1 and dropped their record to 11-4 while the win moved Black to 10-5.

Black vs Red Highlights 2/24/2025

Grey 56 - Orange 37:  Grey was back at it again two days later knowing that Red's defeat against Black meant a win would clinch the top seed in the playoffs and a first round bye.  Unfortunately they would have to make it happen without Shamar Mason once again. Fortunately for Grey, Orange was missing two of it's top scorers in Michael Gerstein and Rory Schulman.  Orange jumped out to a quick start thanks in large part to Orange having no answer for Mike Hughes in the middle.  Hughes had an all-around dominant perfomrance totaling 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.  Orange did answer with a run of their own and managed to take the lead with around 10:00 left in the first half mostly due to 2 bank three-pointers by Alex Schosheim (Orange had two bank threes in the last matchup between these teams as well).  Grey closed out the half strong and opeend a 7-point halftime lead.  Matt Ceccarelli was coming off a monster 30-point game and got off to a slow start but he took over in the second half and finished the game with 19 points.  Grey dominated the second half, building the lead to over 25 points at one point. Orange did not quit and went on a few runs of their own but were never able to really threaten the lead the rest of the way.  Grey got big bench contributions from two players who were desperate to break out of shooting slumps and rebuild their confidence.  Brandon Wendel notched 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while Alex Stone added 4 points and 3 rebounds helping to make up for the loss of Shamar Mason. Orange was led by Mr Consistent, Ben Huber, who had 14 points and 5 rebounds.  Jake Lillie added 9 points in the losing effort.  This game was decided with defensive intensity by Grey, who held Orange to a mere 37 points (which amazingly wouldn't be the lowest team total of the night).  One play of note - apparently word must have gotten back to Rodney that replacement ref Alex Schosheim called a 3 second violation in his officiating debut.  Rodney, feeling threatened and not wanting to be shown up by a "scab" ref, felt the need to call this totally phantom 3-second violation on Mike Hughes.  The whole video isn't even long enough to warrant a 3-second violation and he's not even in the paint to the first 1-2 seconds.

The win moved Grey to 12-3 and clinched the top spot in the playoffs  and the much coveted bye week to rest up. This is the third straight loss for Orange and dropped them below .500 for the first time all season (7-8)

Grey vs Orange Highlights 2/26/2025

Green 42 - Blue 33:  The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the government from inflicting cruel and unusual punishments.  Now I do this voluntarily so there is no government action at issue here, but having to watch and come up with a highlight reel for this game might be deemed cruel and unusual punishment.  But I am a man of the people and was tasked with coming up with a recap for this offensive ineptitude.  So here goes...Green once again played with just 5 players, this time missing Adam Bendik, Josh Goodhart and Seth Niessen (who is due back from his month-long Florida getaway).  Blue was missing Adam Driansky and Zach Sicherman.  This was the kind of game where the Elam ending would've come in handy, maybe just first team to 40 wins (though that barely happened for either team).  I guess I praised Blue too much in last week's recap because clearly they perform better after I've had negative things to say. So I feel bad for whoever is facing them this week because I can't come up with much positive to say. Phil Romero continues to make his case for Rookie of the Year honors, pouring in 13 points and 14 rebounds. Team captain Brian Maier had a solid game, scoring 10 points on 5/11 shooting. There's the positive. Before the 1979-80 NBA season there was no 3-point line. Unfortunately for Blue, the 3-point line exists and they continue to fire away from deep despite connecting on only 19% of those attempts this season. And the 0-17 shooting this week from deep did not help those numbers. However, this criticism from me can just as easily be viewed as a criticism of my job as commissioner in creating even teams, one that I am keenly aware of and hope to rectify going forward.   But that is for next season. Back to the actual game, which featured a 17-10 halftime score.  The below video is a reenactment of the first half:

The game was actually pretty close throughout until Green pulled away late. Andrew Merel had his best game of the season, relishing his role back as the primary ball handler and point guard, scoring 19 points and adding 7 rebounds.  Dan Amsellem continues to be a problem for all opponents on the glass, amassing 21 more rebounds in this game to go along with his 8 points.  Jordan Perlmutter had an off night shooting the ball (4/18) but still had 10 points and 8 rebounds and a couple of his patented bank shots.  Jon Ackerman was unable to build on his huge game from last week, hitting just 2 of 14 shots. The win for Green is their 4th straight and they continue to build momentum heading into the playoffs.  Blue fell to 2-13.

Green vs Blue Highlights 2/26/2025

This week's games:

Blue vs Red 3/3/25

Black vs Gold 3/3/25

Gold vs Orange 3/5/25

Grey vs Green 3/5/25

Stat Leaders:

Points:

Siri Carpien - 23.3 ppg

Adam Hynes - 19.1 ppg

Matt Ceccarelli - 17.6 ppg

Rebounds:

Dan Amsellem - 16.5 rpg

Bryan Minasian - 11.6 rpg

Mike Hughes - 10.6 rpg

Assists:

Jason Narod - 3.8 apg

Ben Carr - 3.7 apg

Colin Neff - 3.5 apg

Steals:

Colin Neff-  2.8 spg

Andre Lewis - 2.7 spg

4 players tied at 2 spg

Blocks: (total)

Mike Hughes - 19

Phil Romero - 18

Eirc Sass - 16

**Reminder to vote on all-stars - the voting will officially close on Wednesday. We are still trying to work out the details of the game/festivities

Playoff seeding/schedule (1 week early but most seeds are set)

1- Grey

2 - Red

3- Black

4 - Orange

5 - Green or Gold

6 - Gold or Green

7 - Blue

First round of playoffs:

Red vs Blue  - Monday 3/10 8:30 pm

Orange vs Green or Gold - Wednesday 3/12 7:15 pm (though might start closer to 7:30)

Black vs Gold or Green - Wednesday 3/12 8:30 pm (might start a few minutes late)

Semi-finals:

Red/Blue winner vs Black/Gold winner Monday 3/17 7:15 pm

Grey vs Orange/Green winner Monday 3/17 8:30 pm

Finals:

Winners of above games Wednesday 3/19 8:30 pm

Good luck everybody this week and next week will include regular season awards