JCC of Central New Jersey Men's Basketball

That's right Jim Mora...Playoffs have arrived.  This past week closed out the regular season and 4 months after the season began, the second season is about to begin.  The playoff seeding was largely set coming into the week with the only seeds up in the air was which of Green or Gold would end up in the 5 seed and which would end up as the 6 seed.  In order for Gold to pass Green and slip into the 5 seed, they would need to win both of their games and also have Green lose to Grey.  So for the final time this regular season, let's get to recapping:

Red 50 - Blue 48: A big theme for this week was key players missing from their teams.  Whether it was load management and getting ready for the playoffs or other reasons, several teams were forced to get it done without their starters...starting with Red missing both of it's big men, Adam Hynes and Eric Sass.  Meanwhile, Blue was missing Adam Driansky who is still recovering from his ankle injury.  And as has often been the case for Red over the past two seasons, No Hynes...No Sass...No problem (though this one was definitely not easy).  When looking for words to describe the offense in the first half of this game I was forced to consult my thesaurus and come up with synonyms for gross.  But after giving it some thought I realized there was no need to come up with a synonym because gross really seemed to capture what the video showed.  Blue got out to an early lead thanks to the offensive contributions of Jon Ackerman (team leading 18 points) and Phil Romero (11 points/9 rebs/5 assists/3 blocks).  Late in the first half the question was whether either team would eclipse the 15 point mark for the half and Blue did manage to achieve that milestone, taking a 18-14 lead into the break. The second half was much better offensively and with 16:00 remaining, Blue had opened up a 30-23 lead.  Now these teams will be facing each other again this week in the first round of the playoffs so it appears the Red team, not wanting to give Blue confidence heading into their playoff matchup, decided to flip the switch and start playing Red basketball.  Over the next 10 minutes of game action, Red went on a 15-1 run to establish a 38-31 lead with just 6:00 remaining.  Without the duo of Hynes and Sass, the scoring burden fell to Colin Neff, Ben Carr and Gabe Berkowitz.  I know I've brought this up a few times recently but it was again evident watching the film below, Colin just moves at a different speed than everyone else on the court (even with a newborn at home)

Okay that was Usain Bolt but you get the idea. Colin scored 16 points, added an absurd 23 rebounds (8 offensive) and for good measure got 2 steals and 3 blocked shots.  Ben Carr stepped up too adding 12 points but it was Gabe Berkowitz (17 points/7 rebs) that really made the most of the bigger role, though he's quietly put together a very good season.  The score was 42-34 (Red) with 4 minutes remaining but Blue showed some heart and toughness and that made for an exciting finish:

• Blue stole the ball and Jon Ackerman hit a 3 (42-37 Red)
• Red missed a shot and Phil Romero hit a 3 (42-40 Red)
• Kanarek gets fouled but missed front end of 1-and-1 but to nobody's surprise Colin got the offensive rebound and was fouled. Colin made 1/2 FTs (43-40 Red with 1:00 left)
• Ackerman missed a 3 and Gabe grabbed rebound and was fouled.  Makes both FTs(45-40)
• Zach Sicherman hits baseline jumper to cut the lead to 45-42
• Ben Carr gets fouled and makes 1/2 (46-42 Red)
• Phil hits a 3 for Blue (46-45 Red)
• Gabe gets fouled with 33 seconds left and again hits both FTs (48-45 Red)
• Jon Ackerman hits a 3 with 11.2 seconds left to tie the game at 48.
• Mike Pollack (who had a solid game with 7 pts/7 rebs) didn't realize the score was tied and intentionally fouled Ben Carr. Ben hit both FTs to make the score 50-48 which is how it would finish as Blue was unable to get a good shot off at the buzzer

These two teams will meet again in the playoffs with Blue hoping to close the deal this time.

Red vs Blue Highlights 3/3/2025

Gold 72 - Black 66:  Continuing the theme of top players missing this week, Black did not have Damian Jackson available coming off his dominant game last week.  There were also no Shane bombs on this night as Shane Calendar was also out. For Gold, Steve Bachman and Cory Rothbort both sat out this contest.  This was a really well played game especially by Gold, who seem to be playing much better basketball in recent weeks.  This team is very streaky offensively and when the ball is moving like it was on this night, it leads to good results.  The first half went back and forth with both teams finding their groove early offensively.  With Damian out for Black you knew Siri was going to get his, though Gold didn't make things easy on him, consistently doubling when he got the ball.  For the most part the defensive assignment fell to Andre Lewis, who did a great job of harrassing Siri and just making his life difficult.  Andre's defensive intensity definitely got the rest of the team fired up:

Siri still put up 28 points and added 11 rebounds, capping off his regular season with another big time performance.  TJ Farrell added 16 points/9 rebs followed by Drew Mandelbaum (with a season high 13 points) and Gary Levine (9 points/12 rebs).  Jason Narod led the way offensively for Gold (and in his mind staking his claim to the Comeback Player of the Year award) with 20 points. Michael "neighbor" Huberman was bombing away from three en route to 19 points (to go with 6 rebounds and 5 assists).  And Jake Granoff added 14 points of his own.  And when those three weren't making their shots, Bryan Minasian was there to grab the rebound (11 total as well as 9 points).  The lead was just 1 at half but Gold stretched it to as much as 15 points (51-36) midway through the second half.  Black did have one more run in them and did cut the lead to just 3 points (63-60) with 3:00 left but Gold was the better team on this night and came away with the all important win for them.  Andre Lewis, aside from being a menace defensively, also contributed 7 assists (several highlight reel dishes) as well as 6 points and 5 rebounds in a very strong all-around effort.  The win moved Gold one step closer to the potential 5 seed but they would be right back at it two nights later.

Gold vs Black Highlights 3/3/2025   

Orange 59 - Gold 54: Gold was again missing Steve Bachman on this night as well as Daniel Lantz while Orange was missing Alex Schosheim (finishing up his courses at referee school) and David Laub.  The one time all season that Matt asked me to do the stats was an earlier matchup between these two teams and as I watched the film I would call out the stats to my daughter who was tallying it up.  But because I don't know Lantz or Laub that well I had to keep saying Lantz/Laub (the one on Orange or the one on Gold).  Coincidentally, Laub and Lantz both missed the game Wednesday night but they did run into each other later that night at a parking lot in town

The stakes for this game were pretty big because if Gold could find a way to beat Orange then their chances at secruring the 5 seed would still be alive.  Gold wasted little time in showing they meant business jumping out to a quick 27-18 lead.  Bryan Minasian, showing why he is an all-star, led the team in scoring with 17 points (8/10 shooting) while also adding 10 rebounds (5 offensive) as well as 5 assists.  Whether it was cleaning up a missed shot by a teammate and following it up with an easy put back or running the floor on a fast break, Bryan seemed to be in the middle of all the action. Again, Jason Narod (14 points) and Jake Granoff (12 points) each added double digit points to help make up for the loss of Steve Bachman. The score was 27-18 Gold with 6:00 left in the first half and the Orange team decided to collectively emerge from their in game naptime.  They went on a 7-0 run to close out the half and trailed by just 2 at the intermission (27-25).  In the second half it seemed like Orange couldn't miss a three-pointer, especially Michael Gerstein (who finished with 14 points and 4 three pointers made).  But Gerstein wasn't alone as Jake Lillie (10 points) and Rory Schulman (14 points and finished the regular season hitting 48.4% of his shots from deep) got hot from downtown.  And when those three weren't bombing away, Ben Huber was doing his thing in the paint, en route to 13 points/5 rebs/3 steals.  Gold did go on a run late to cut the lead to one possession (thanks to back-to-back threes by Jason Narod) but it wasn't enough as Graham Haskell and Ben Huber closed it out with some clutch FTs.  The win by Orange ensured that they will be facing Green in the playoffs and made the final game of the week meaningless as far as seeding was concerned.  Black will be looking to get their revenge in the playoffs against a Gold team that just beat them.

Orange vs Gold Highlights 3/5/2025

Grey 66 - Green 61: Green was playing this game without Josh Goodhart (who finished the season hitting 48.9% of his three-point attempts) while Grey was missing team captain Ed Seiden (nursing a neck injury) and Alex Stone.  Also, Pete Strauss was again late arriving to this contest as he continues to do God's work in coaching his daughter's basketball team.  Green welcomed Seth Niessen back from Delray Beach and the question was whether he could transition from his pickleball game back to hoops after a month-long absence.  The game was close for the first 15 minutes with Grey being led early by Matt Ceccarelli (15 points) and Mike Hughes (who was a monster on the offensive glass with 13 total rebounds and 11 points)  But Green closed out the first half on a run led by Andrew Merel and Adam Bendik.  The Grey team seemed to lose it's focus late in the half as all of the bounces seemed to be going Green's way and Mike Korn decided to take his frustrations out on the backboard on this inbound play:

Merel has really found his groove in recent weeks using his elite ballhandling skills, midrange game and finishing ability and in this game that translated to a game high 23 points.  Green went into the half with an 8-point 35-27 lead. Green extended their lead to as much as 12 points early in the second half with Bendik hitting tough 15-footers (16 points for the game) and Seth Niessen letting everyone know that he was back, hitting a nice reverse layup and an open three on consecutive possessions late in the game (he finisjed with 8 points).  As has happened many times over the years, Grey found themselves down double digits late but maintained their cool and slowly chipped away at the lead.  Grey went on a 25-9 run in the middle of the second half to eventually take a 54-48 lead.  Rick Auyeung had a huge second half, showing he's very capable of performing like an all-star and not just planning the all-star festivities (big shoutout to Rick for all the work he did in helping to make the all-star festivities a reality).  After Korn cleared his head with the above inbound pass, he put it together and hit a few of his midrange jumpers but also took it to the hole a few times (13 points/6 rebs and 4 assists). Shamar Mason missed the two prior games and showed how valuable he is to Grey's success with 12 points, 4 assists and 6 steals.  The score was 54-48 Grey and that is when Seth had his back-to-back baskets to cut the lead to 54-53.  The score was tied 55-55 in the closing minutes and this is how it played out:

• Mr. Clutch Shamar Mason hit a 3-pointer (Grey 58-55)
• Korn was fouled and made 1 of 2 fts (Grey 59-55)
• Jordan Perlmutter hit a 3 (Grey 59-58)
• Korn with a baseline drive (Grey 61-58)
• Matt drive (Grey 63-58)

Grey closed it out from the FT line and will now get an additional week off to rest up for a semi-final matchup with the winner of the Orange vs Green matchup.

Grey vs Green Highlights 3/5/2025

Playoff schedule: (Remember all games will be streamed live on the Sporfie app)

Red vs Blue 3/10 8:30 pm

Orange vs Green 3/12 7:15 pm

Black vs Gold 3/12 8:30 pm

Final Stats Leaders:

Points:

Siri Carpien - 23.6 ppg

Adam Hynes - 19.1 ppg

Matt Ceccarelli - 17.4 ppg

Shamar Mason - 16.3 ppg

Adam Bendik - 16 ppg

Rebounds:

Dan Amsellem - 16.3 rpg

Bryan Minasian - 11.4 rpg

Colin Neff - 11.1 rpg

Mike Hughes - 10.8 rpg

Eric Sass - 10.4 rpg

Assists:

Jason Narod/Ben Carr - 3.6 apg

Shamar Mason - 3.4 apg

Colin Neff - 3.3 apg

Phil Romero - 2.9 apg

Blocks (total):

Mike Hughes - 23

Phil Romero - 19

Eric Sass - 18

Dan Amsellem - 14

Mike Korn/Siri Carpien - 10

Steals:

Colin Neff - 2.786 spg

Andre Lewis - 2.571 spg

Zach Sicherman - 2.071 spg

Ben Huber - 2.062 spg

Jon Ackerman - 2 spg

Three-pointers made: total (season percentage)

TJ Farrell - 41 (28.1%)

Siri Carpien - 38 (35.5%)

Michael Gerstein - 36 (34 %)

Mike Huberman - 32 (31.1%)

Matt Ceccarelli - 31 (34.1%)

Free-Throws Made: total (season percentage)

Siri Carpien - 65 (63.1%)

Ben Huber - 55 (58.5%)

Shamar Mason - 45 (68.2%)

Damian Jackson - 38 (55.9%)

Andrew Merel - 36 (70.6%)

Good luck everyone and be on the lookout for the End of Season Awards coming soon