The last decade has been kind to Yale Basketball and head coach James Jones. They have finished at the top of the Ivy League in 7 of those 10 seasons and have qualified for every single Ivy Tournament in the history of Ivy Madness. Ivy Madness is a 4 team event hosted by a different school in the Ivy League. The winner of the 4 team event gets to head to the NCAA Tournament. Yale was the winner of Ivy Madness this year and were granted the 27th automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
It is the 8th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament for Yale and their 3rd in the last four seasons. The Bulldogs head to the Big Dance with a 22-7 overall record and a final record of 13-1 in Ivy League. The last time that the Bulldogs finished a regular season with that record they walked away with a win the tournament and that was in the 2015-2016 season. Will this year be the same result?
The Bulldogs are a team that is very likely to pull off an upset, and they will be picked to win the game by a lot of people. Yale earned a 13 seed for the second consecutive season. Coach Jones was able to guide his team to a huge first-round upset of an SEC team in last year’s tournament. It was the second straight year that the Ivy League won a game in the NCAA Tournament. Here are some reasons that Yale can make it three straight years for an Ivy League win.
Shooters
How does the saying go? Shooters shoot? That is exactly what you should be afraid of when you play the Bulldogs. Yale doesn’t take a ton of shots from the outside, but the ones they do take, they make because the team is loaded with shooters. Coach Jones preaches playing within the offense and doesn’t step outside of that to play hero ball, so that is why the Bulldogs get most of their shots in the paint because that is how the flow of the offense works. Yale is the one team in the mid-major ranks that has the players to adapt to a team taking the paint away because they have such great shooters. That is one of the reasons they are picked by so many to win their opening round game, because of their ability to adapt. Yale shoots 39% from deep as a team, that is the 8th best number in the country and 4 out of their five starters all shoot over 37% from deep.
John Poulakidis
The senior guard is the ultimate X factor because of his ability to put the orange ball in the larger orange circle. Poulakidis led the Ivy League in scoring and his 19.2 points per game average is one of the top marks in the entire country. Great, a whole lot of players in the Tournament have these types of numbers, right? That is true, but none of them can shoot like the senior Bulldogs guard can. The guard has taken over 200 threes and has made 83 of them. Simple math says that is an average of 41% which is one of the best marks in the country, especially with the volume that he takes. If, by chance, a team runs the guard off the three-point line, he is a 50% shooter from the inside the arc and a 90% free throw shooter. He is one of the best shooters in the country, and if he gets hot, he will lead Yale to a victory. Yale must make sure they are getting him as many shots as possible.
Bez Mbeng
How can two players be a reason that Yale is going to win? Well, when you have two players, the caliber of the ones mentioned who are the heart of almost every game you win, that is how. Mbeng won the Ivy League Player of the Year, and it is for good reason. The point guard is a stat sheet stuffer and currently holds averages of 13.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.6 assists, and has a 3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He sets up the offense and makes sure that the shooters get the ball in the shooting pocket, ready to let it rip. Mbeng gets into takeover mode when the game is on the line and is going to make plays that lead to winning. Mbeng didn’t stop at the Player of the Year; he is the three-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Ivy, and he is going to be tasked with shutting down the opponent's best player and giving them nothing. The point guard led the Ivy League in steals at just under 2 per game and is one of the highest-rated individual defenders, according to EvanMiya.com.
Yale is a team to watch out for; they have all of the pieces to pull off an upset, and they are one of the best-coached teams in the tournament. Poulakidis and Mbeng can start for any team in the country, but they chose to go to Yale and are going to go down as two of the best Ivy League stars ever. Don’t be shocked if the Bulldogs make the second weekend, especially if they get hot from deep.