Those 2.8 seconds are going to end up being the reason the Travelers don't advance. Houston Hoops will own the head to head tiebreaker.

I figured that might happen. That's such a tough way to go out

Who knows? They may still get in.

 

Haven't they had some extraordinarily good luck just to make Peach Jam each of the last 2 years? I'm not sure on that but it seems that there was talk on here the weekwnd/day of (season) play each year that they likely wouldn't make it yet they managed to get there both times.

They have been eliminated.

The Ville also heading home from South Carolina.

Still don't know why Rose didn't just throw the ball deep to the other end of the court . You could tell in video that he was very nervous taking that ball out. Beverly did get fouled but most of the time in AAU ball they will not call that. Tough way for them to go out but congrats to the Travelers on a good run

To sum up the Peach Jam, there are 40 teams in the EYBL and the top 24 during the regular season advance to the Peach Jam. The 24 teams in the Peach Jam are then divided into four pools of six teams each for pool play. The top two teams from each pool advance to the 8-team bracket play to determine the champion. The semi-finals and finals are on ESPNU today.

 

The Travelers finished in a 4-way tie for 1st place in their pool with all teams having a 3-2 record. Apparently the method for breaking ties was not set forth in writing in advance which led to the confusion as to which teams would advance (maybe Nike likes it that way so that they have the flexibility to advance teams with the bigger stars). Anyway, the method first announced for breaking ties was by point differential (instead of head-to-head or some other method), but then there was confusion as to whether the point differential applied to all pool play games or just the games played between the teams that were tied. If I did the math correctly, the point differential using all five pool play games would have advanced the Kentucky Travelers and Team Final to bracket play. The results would have been:

 

Kentucky Travelers +14

Team Final +8

Oakland Soldiers +3

Houston Hoops +1

 

Nike decided, however, to use the point differential only for the games played among the tied teams, which substantially juggled the results and ended up advancing the Oakland Soldiers and Houston Hoops to bracket play. By that method, the point differentials were:

 

Oakland Soldiers +10

Houston Hoops +3

Team Final -3

Kentucky Travelers -10

 

Obviously, the buzzer-beater loss to Houston Hoops was heartbreaking as it cost the Travelers the chance to advance, because if they had won that game they would have been the only team in their pool with a 4-1 record and would have been alone in 1st place.

 

Nevertheless, the Travelers represented Kentucky well. The EYBL is a "grown man's league" that is played above the rim. It is hard to understand the size and athleticism of the players unless you have seen it in person. The Travelers were undersized against every team they played, forcing many Travelers to play out-of-position by having small forwards start at the 4 and play the 5 and having shooting guards play the 3 and even 4 at times. This especially was difficult against the Oakland Soldiers who regularly played three players who are 6'10" or bigger at the same time. The Travelers 10-point loss to the Soldiers was the most significant negative factor for the Travelers in the point differential tie breaker method selected by Nike. The Travelers had a short bench, but managed to avoid significant foul trouble or injuries. Compared to other teams, they had no superstars on the roster. They won by playing solid basketball as a true team. Congratulations to them.

To sum up the Peach Jam, there are 40 teams in the EYBL and the top 24 during the regular season advance to the Peach Jam. The 24 teams in the Peach Jam are then divided into four pools of six teams each for pool play. The top two teams from each pool advance to the 8-team bracket play to determine the champion. The semi-finals and finals are on ESPNU today.

 

The Travelers finished in a 4-way tie for 1st place in their pool with all teams having a 3-2 record. Apparently the method for breaking ties was not set forth in writing in advance which led to the confusion as to which teams would advance (maybe Nike likes it that way so that they have the flexibility to advance teams with the bigger stars). Anyway, the method first announced for breaking ties was by point differential (instead of head-to-head or some other method), but then there was confusion as to whether the point differential applied to all pool play games or just the games played between the teams that were tied. If I did the math correctly, the point differential using all five pool play games would have advanced the Kentucky Travelers and Team Final to bracket play. The results would have been:

 

Kentucky Travelers +14

Team Final +8

Oakland Soldiers +3

Houston Hoops +1

 

Nike decided, however, to use the point differential only for the games played among the tied teams, which substantially juggled the results and ended up advancing the Oakland Soldiers and Houston Hoops to bracket play. By that method, the point differentials were:

 

Oakland Soldiers +10

Houston Hoops +3

Team Final -3

Kentucky Travelers -10

 

Obviously, the buzzer-beater loss to Houston Hoops was heartbreaking as it cost the Travelers the chance to advance, because if they had won that game they would have been the only team in their pool with a 4-1 record and would have been alone in 1st place.

 

Nevertheless, the Travelers represented Kentucky well. The EYBL is a "grown man's league" that is played above the rim. It is hard to understand the size and athleticism of the players unless you have seen it in person. The Travelers were undersized against every team they played, forcing many Travelers to play out-of-position by having small forwards start at the 4 and play the 5 and having shooting guards play the 3 and even 4 at times. This especially was difficult against the Oakland Soldiers who regularly played three players who are 6'10" or bigger at the same time. The Travelers 10-point loss to the Soldiers was the most significant negative factor for the Travelers in the point differential tie breaker method selected by Nike. The Travelers had a short bench, but managed to avoid significant foul trouble or injuries. Compared to other teams, they had no superstars on the roster. They won by playing solid basketball as a true team. Congratulations to them.

 

Well put! IMO Travelers would have made it to the Final 4 if they had been allowed to make it to the playoffs. They were playing great TEAM BALL.... It is SCARY how good this program could be with more big name prospects. They have been one of the top Nike programs the last 2 years, and Coach Mahorn as well as the other coaches are doing an amazing job.

Agreed with Doubletake1902. Andre, Jesse and Tre do a great job. Looking forward to finally seeing the Travelers play this week at Super Showcase.

The way Nike did the tie breaker is the correct way to work the point differential tie breaker. You do not include the non teams in tie breakers. It prevents rewarding running up the scores on "bad" teams. The Travelers had a great season on the circuit and hopefully they continue it this week at the super showcase. They have a chance to make a deep run in this tourney, but its a loaded field. I am looking forward to watching them again this week.

You mentioned running up the score on bad teams.... Should the same consideration not be given for teams who lose to bad teams? Two of the teams that made it lost to the worst teams teams in the pool and the Travelers did not.... With that being said, there were no "Bad" teams at Peach Jam.

Is this going to be enough to quiet rumors of Nike giving the Traveler's sponsorship money to Team Manimal or is there still a chance of this happening?

You mentioned running up the score on bad teams.... Should the same consideration not be given for teams who lose to bad teams? Two of the teams that made it lost to the worst teams teams in the pool and the Travelers did not.... With that being said, there were no "Bad" teams at Peach Jam.

 

This is not just based on this tourney. This is the universal rule with tie breakers not just Peach Jam. This pool had a VERY unique situation. There are bad teams in other tourneys which is why I used the parenthesis.

I thought the Travelers played well as a "team" in the Peach Jam and this was further confirmed when I looked up the scoring stats online. Although Cameron Justice was by far the leading scorer, I think it is remarkable how evenly the other six players contributed to the effort. Here are the points per game averages for the 5 games of the Peach Jam:

 

16.2 Cameron Justice

8.8 Beetle Bolden

8.4 Drew McDonald

8.4 Dwayne Sutton

8.0 Braxton Beverly

7.8 Matt Rose

6.8 Jalen Perry