Time to Discuss 2022-23 GMC Boys Hoops Realignment

Highland Park’s Markos Hantsoulis goes up for a layup in the first half of the Owls game against Dunellen on Monday night. The Owls, which defeated the Destroyers (53-47), have benefited for the new GMC boys basketball alignment with its best season in over 20 years.

The Devil is in the Details with the New Conference Alignment

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – The 2022-23 Greater Middlesex Conference boys basketball season saw a number of changes in the four division alignment.  Most notably in the GMC Red where Aquinas and Colonia moved up and Perth Amboy and New Brunswick moved down to the GMC White.  

Prior to this season, Perth Amboy had always competed in the GMC Red.  Aquinas never played in the Red Division before while Colonia played in the GMC White from the 2010-11 season to the 2013-14 season.  However, the devil is in the details, and it will likely make an impact on the GMCT boys seeding come Friday morning.

In addition to the changes mentioned above, South Plainfield moved up to the GMC White to join long time rival, and new GMC member North Plainfield.  J.F. Kennedy and Carteret moved down to the GMC Blue while Timothy Christian and Wardlaw moved up to the Blue from the GMC Gold.  Dunellen and Highland Park moved down to the Gold Division after a two year stint in the Blue.

While these changes were a little more out of the box than in the past, they were essential.  The reason for that is because the overall competitive balance in the Greater Middlesex Conference on the boys side was in tremendous disarray.  For example, only three teams from the GMC White:  Colonia, Edison, and St. Thomas Aquinas were above .500 overall in 2021-22.  

In addition, the GMC White had an average margin of victory of nearly 28 points per game out of the 56 division games that were played during the 2021-22 boys basketball season.  The Gold Division had similar disparities.  In 2021-22, the average margin of victory in all 56 division games was just over 21 points per game.  The only division that was somewhat competitive top to bottom was the GMC Red.

Last year, the average margin of victory in GMC Red boys basketball games was just under 15 points per contest in 71 games played.  This year, the qualify of games has improved somewhat in each division top to bottom.  For instance, as of the completion of play on Tuesday, GMC Hoops has covered 32 varsity boys basketball games, and 21 of them (65.6 %) have been decided by 8 points or less so far this season.

True, there are still teams struggling in the White Division, but with Edison’s recent play, and North Plainfield’s surprising season, the White has a bit more depth than a year ago.  Perth Amboy also defeated Woodbridge, and already has more wins than a year ago after not playing at all due to COVID two seasons ago.

Meanwhile, the GMC Gold has seen improvement as well.  Highland Park has the most wins in a season in 21 years, and has exceeded last year’s win total by 6 games already.  East Brunswick Magnet has surpassed last year’s win total by 4 games already, and the 2021-22 victory tally was twice that in 2020-21.  The Tigers have double digit wins for the first time in 7 seasons.

The GMC Blue has enjoyed a good deal more competitiveness with teams like Timothy Christian knocking off Spotswood twice.  Carteret has scored victories over Metuchen, Middlesex, and Timothy Christian while Kennedy upset TCS on opening day.  The Red has seen a number of close games such as the two between Aquinas and St. Joseph’s, Colonia’s buzzer beater over South Brunswick, and SB’s two hard fought wins over P-Way.

Over the holidays, GMC Hoops took all of the results of Greater Middlesex boys basketball games from a year ago, and did some analysis. Let’s take a look at how things broke down in 2021-22:

All Games played in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  19.5 ppg in 477 total games played

  • 118 games were won by 10 points or less – 24.7%
  • 359 games were won by 10 points or more – 75.3%
  • 204 games were won by 20 points or more – 42.8%
  • 111 games were won by 30 points or more – 23.3%
  • 47 games were won by 40 points or more – 9.9%
  • 21 games were decided by 50 points or more – 4.4%
  • 8 games were decided by 60 points or more – 1.7%
  • 3 games were decided by 70 points or more – 0.6%

170 Non-Conference games in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  17.5 ppg in 170 games played

  • 39 games were won by 10 points or less – 22.9%
  • 131 games were won by 10 points or more – 77.1%
  • 63 games were won by 20 points or more – 37.1%
  • 35 games were won by 30 points or more – 20.6%
  • 12 games were won by 40 points or more – 7.1%
  • 3 games were decided by 50 points or more – 1.8%
  • 1 games were decided by 60 points or more – 0.6%
  • 1 games were decided by 70 points or more – 0.6%

307 Conference games in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  20.6 ppg in 307 games

  • 79 games were won by 10 points or less – 24.7%
  • 228 games were won by 10 points or more – 75.3%
  • 141 games were won by 20 points or more – 42.8%
  • 76 games were won by 30 points or more – 23.3%
  • 35 games were won by 40 points or more – 9.9%
  • 18 games were decided by 50 points or more – 4.4%
  • 7 games were decided by 60 points or more – 1.7%
  • 2 games were decided by 70 points or more – 0.6%

82 GMC Crossover games in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  19.3 ppg in 82 games 

  • 27 games were won by 10 points or less – 32.9%
  • 55 games were won by 10 points or more – 67.1%
  • 35 games were won by 20 points or more – 42.7%
  • 20 games were won by 30 points or more – 24.4%
  • 9 games were won by 40 points or more – 11.0%
  • 4 games were decided by 50 points or more – 4.9%
  • 1 games were decided by 60 points or more – 1.2%
  • 0 games were decided by 70 points or more – 0.0%

225 GMC Division games in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  21.1 ppg in 225 games

  • 52 games were won by 10 points or less – 23.1%
  • 173 games were won by 10 points or more – 76.9%
  • 106 games were won by 20 points or more – 47.1%
  • 56 games were won by 30 points or more – 24.9%
  • 26 games were won by 40 points or more – 11.6%
  • 14 games were decided by 50 points or more – 6.2%
  • 6 games were decided by 60 points or more – 2.7%
  • 2 games were decided by 70 points or more – 0.9%

GMC Blue Division games in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  25.0 ppg in 42 games

  • 6 games were won by 10 points or less – 14.3%
  • 36 games were won by 10 points or more – 85.7%
  • 24 games were won by 20 points or more – 57.1%
  • 14 games were won by 30 points or more – 33.3%
  • 9 games were won by 40 points or more – 21.4%
  • 6 games were decided by 50 points or more – 14.3%
  • 1 games were decided by 60 points or more – 2.4%
  • 0 games were decided by 70 points or more – 0.0%

GMC Gold Division games in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  21.3 ppg in 56 games

  • 13 games were won by 10 points or less – 23.2%
  • 43 games were won by 10 points or more – 76.8%
  • 27 games were won by 20 points or more – 48.2%
  • 13 games were won by 30 points or more – 23.2%
  • 7 games were won by 40 points or more – 12.5%
  • 6 games were decided by 50 points or more – 10.7%
  • 1 games were decided by 60 points or more – 1.8%
  • 1 games were decided by 70 points or more – 1.8%

GMC Red Division games in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  14.7 ppg in 71 games

  • 20 games were won by 10 points or less (actually 7 points or less) – 28.2%
  • 51 games were won by 10 points or more – 71.8%
  • 21 games were won by 20 points or more – 29.6%
  • 7 games were won by 30 points or more – 9.9%
  • 0 games were won by 40 points or more – 0.0%
  • 0 games were decided by 50 points or more – 0.0%
  • 0 games were decided by 60 points or more – 0.0%
  • 0 games were decided by 70 points or more – 0.0%
  • 3 games went to OT

GMC White Division games in 2021-22

Average margin of victory:  27.7 ppg in 56 games

  • 11 games were won by 10 points or less – 19.6%
  • 45 games were won by 10 points or more – 80.4%
  • 37 games were won by 20 points or more – 66.1%
  • 26 games were won by 30 points or more – 46.4%
  • 13 games were won by 40 points or more – 23.2%
  • 5 games were decided by 50 points or more – 8.9%
  • 3 games were decided by 60 points or more – 5.4%
  • 1 games were decided by 70 points or more – 1.8%
  • 2 games went to OT (including one that went 4 OT – Sayreville 81-72 over Woodbridge)

Here’s a very important statistic, of the 477 total games played in GMC boys basketball in 2021-22, just under a quarter of them were decided by 10 points or less.  Meanwhile, nearly 10 percent of the contests were decided by 40 points or more.  Twenty-one of those games had a 50 point margin of victory including three by 70 points or more.  Bottom line:  Something needed to be done.

However, there was some disagreement on what to do.  One suggestion was the alignment that you have for this year.  Another suggestion was to put all the big schools, i.e. teams in the GMC Red and GMC White into one division, and have each team play the others only once.  There was also an idea to have a five division alignment.

Part of the reason for this was that most of the public schools in the Red didn’t want to have both St. Joseph’s and St. Thomas Aquinas in the division while losing both New Brunswick and Perth Amboy.  For instance, East Brunswick, which went 11-12 a year ago, was 4-0 combined against the Zebras and Panthers.  So, if you replace New Brunswick and Perth Amboy with Colonia and Aquinas, EB was looking at a much steeper hill to climb to get into the state playoffs in 2022-23.

On the other hand, having St. Thomas Aquinas move up to the Red with Colonia would provide the opportunity of the Trojans playing St. Joseph’s twice, perhaps three times during the season (if they meet in GMCT).  With both schools doing well in boys basketball right now, it was important to have them play against each other twice.   It is the GMC’s version of Bergen Catholic vs. Bosco, or Patrick School versus Roselle Catholic.

So, in order to make this happen there was a compromise made:  Aquinas and Colonia moved up to the GMC Red, but with a couple catches.  First, all the public schools in the Red Division with the exception of Colonia played Aquinas and Joes once.  Second, there was a pilot program made for the GMC Red standings, that would only count the first meetings between each of the school’s in the division.

As a result, what you see currently in terms of the 2022-23 Red Division standings, may not be what is utilized for the GMCT boys seeding.  For example, in the eight games played, J.P. Stevens and Old Bridge both went 2-6 with the Hawks winning the first meeting against the Knights.  So, in terms of the seeding, Stevens would likely come out first in a tie-breaker based upon those criteria.  

If you looked at the latest GMC Hoops mock seeding, the Hawks were seeded 10th, and that was based on the GMC Red pilot standings, and the fact that JPS just beat Timothy Christian.  Spotswood lost twice to the Tigers in GMC Blue competition.  Another example is Monroe and East Brunswick.  Both were tied at 1-7 in the Red pilot standings with Monroe winning the first match-up between the two schools.

Consequently, the latest mock seeding has the Bears slipping from 12th to 16th behind Monroe since the Falcons would come out first in the tiebreaker due to the head to head win back in December.  It is important to note that this is not official since it hasn’t really been decided how this will be handled, and likely not until the seeding meeting.