Now that the dust has settled on the 2017-18 season and the curtain has closed on NYC Buckets, I thought now would be as good a time as ever to look back and honor a site that covered Ivy League basketball (among other conferences) so well for seven years.
NYC Buckets, formerly Big Apple Buckets, has been done since UMBC bowed to Kansas State in the NCAA Tournament several weeks ago. But several schools covered by NYC Buckets have been in the news lately (Siena for men’s coach Jimmy Patsos denying allegations of abusing a team manager and Marist hiring John Dunne away from St. Peter’s after firing Mike Maker), driving home the reality that the mid-major programs that NYC Buckets dutifully covered will move on while the website won’t.
Site founder John Templon and Ivy beat writer Kevin Whitaker both graciously guested on our On the Vine podcast several times. Even though it’s sunken in these past few weeks, NYC Buckets shuttering is still a tremendous loss for Ivy League basketball.
So here’s a small sampling of some of the site’s most memorable posts about the Ivy hoops scene:
“Yale’s Run One For The Ages, And They Knew It”
Ray Curren’s coverage of the Yale Bulldogs of 2015-16 in particular was indispensable, and this piece captured how special that season really was in New Haven.
“Cornell’s Berth In Ivy League Tournament Worth Wait”
Another Ray Curren special, this article stays with me mainly because of its description of Brian Earl isolating himself from the rest of his Cornell team (also well-described by Brett Franklin on our Inside Ivy Hoops podcast) as it rooted on Yale against his alma mater Princeton, which the Big Red needed to lose to get into the Ivy League Tournament. It’s invariably the little things that stick with you, even in such a big moment.
“Ivy League midseason breakdown”
Using efficiency margins, shot charts and other analytic tools, Kevin Whitaker in this 2015-16 breakdown tracked the return of “DonahueBall,” Cornell’s unique offensive approach among Ivies under Bill Courtney, and Yale’s dominance that season.
“Ivy League Tournament Mini-Preview: #1 Harvard vs. #2 Penn”
An astute breakdown of the head-to-head dynamics of Penn vs. Harvard ahead of this past season’s Ivy League Tournament final.
“Appreciate Columbia While They’re Still Here”
A great piece about savoring the talents of Maodo Lo, Grant Mullins, Isaac Cohen and Alex Rosenberg while they were still at Columbia. Now we’re in the offseason that this article discusses – the six months without any more games, the offseason workouts, transfers and recruiting. Recalling that that CIT title team was worth appreciating is a reminder to just enjoy the game – and thoughtful websites like NYC Buckets that add color to it while they can.
“Because you never know what life is going to be like next season.”