Yesterday

Towson 80, Winston Salem 59. Gary Neal scores 26, but take a look at the maturation of Tommy Breaux. This kid is getting better and better. But also note CC Williams notching three minutes in a blowout win. For Pat Kennedy’s sake, let’s hope Williams is fighting a cold or flu.

Texas Pan American 70, JMU 59. At least this wasn’t in the Battery-Powered Zoo. Guys not named Juwan James shoot about 30% for the game. The Dukes fall to 2-8, I still can’t understand it, and the Dean Keener chirpers get louder.

Winthrop 71, ODU 65. Monarchs’ faithful are going to struggle with this loss, but it’s not a bad one. What should be concerning is Arnaud Dahi’s continuing poof act. This has little to do with his knee and everything to do with his want-to. Every single year he hits a spot where he just doesn’t do the things he needs to do to succeed. Every year it’s around Christmas.

Hofstra 63, St. John’s 51. Look out…the Pride is getting it all together. This is the fourth straight year Hofstra has beaten the Jonnies by double digits. Gadzooks: Chris Gadley is coming along. The 6-9 sophomore forward had eight points and seven rebounds last night, giving him 16 points and 16 rebounds in the two tournament games. Importantly, early in the second half after St. John’s drew close, Gadley converted back-to-back dunks to restore a 42-35 lead.

***

Today, the Fightin’ Larranagas take on Mississippi State. At home. Tipoff is right about when I type these words: GMU will win this one. I say that for no other reason than GMU has no reason why they should win this game. College basketball is like that.

The Dub is also tipping off against NC State in Raleigh. Taint happenin–Pack by nine.

VCU hosts Appy State this evening in a game that means more than any name would suggest. Appy State carries a glossy RPI number in the teens, thanks to victories over Virginia and Vanderbilt. They also have two very good players in guard DJ Thompson and forward Dontaye Minter (a Virginia transfer). This is a numbers game VCU will win.

Delaware travels to Holy Cross searching for–gasp!–its third straight win. Again, taint happenin. Holy Cross by double digits.

Finally JMU plays tonight and I don’t know that it matters.

Royal Oil

Stella…………………………………

Brevard, NC is beautiful.

I don’t get JMU. I may never get it. Texas Pan Am? Weren’t they the team you scheduled just after Athletes in Action and Marathon Oil way back when?

Yay, Monte.

I’ve called Tom Pecora twice while they were in the middle of their pregame walk through. Hofstra record: 2-0.

I called Coach P again today. Halftime score as I write: HU 29, St. John’s 24.

Feels Like the First Time

Hitting the road for the mountains of North Carolina for the holiday weekend, and I needed to take a moment from packing to weigh in on tonight’s action. Don’t worry…I won’t leave you hanging. Saturday action will be followed closely, with Stella always at the ready.

Hooray Monte…Delaware 71, Niagara 53. Herb Courtney is doing his best Harding Nana impression, and I Am Sam McMahon chipped in a career high 20. Good for Monte Ross. Calvin Murphy, where are you?

Hooray Gadlay (okay, Gadley, and this was a pathetic attempt)…Hofstra 65, St. Joseph’s 63. Yes, it was Loren Stokes’ 18-footer with 2.2 seconds to play that won it, but Chris Gadley gets special mention for earning his uniform tonight. Gadley added season highs of eight points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 1:17 to play. More importantly, he played hard and effective minutes.

Hooray me…Drexel 61, George Mason 49. Okay so Drexel earned the victory, but I tried to tell you Domonick Mejia would be the difference. Psst–he scored 20 points and carried the Dragons early and then hit the dagger trey late. One day you will listen to me. The victory was sealed by a stifling defensive performance through the middle part of the second half. I don’t know the exact stat, but Mason managed about 12 points in the last 14 minutes of the game.(Side note: man, that Will Thomas is freaking good.)

Hooray Sha……….ver…The Tribe 72, Hampton 67. Odd stat of the night: W&M is now 13-0 under Tony Shaver when they shoot 50% or better. Really. Keep in mind W&M doesn’t win a lot of games.

Eye of the Tiger

Sure, most every team has a game under its belt, but the real conference season kicks off tonight with a heavyweight fight: Drexel hosting George Mason. And who could’ve wanted, really, anything else? This year’s Best Early Season Headliner versus Last Season’s Headliner.

After this bout, enjoy your New Year’s celebration. Because things roll one week from yesterday.

Here’s what I’ve got:

1. A friend emailed me and was surprised that Drexel was installed as seven point faves. My first thought? Wow, seven is a big number. Then, I took all the emotion out of it, and revised my thinking to: Holy crap, seven is a big number.

2. Everybody I’ve spoken with about this game is touting Will Thomas versus Frank Elegar. Fine, but nobody said Chaz Crawford and his defensive prowess wouldn’t draw Thomas. I’ll also allow Folarin Campbell and Bashir Mason to cancel each other. To me, it comes down to “the other guy” when determining Elegar and Crawford versus Thomas and the other guy. Even if the other guy (note: it ain’t Jesus Urbina folks) plays his tuchus off, there is no answer for Domonick Mejia.

3. The game is on teevee (CN8), so even if you cannot be at the Daskaslackassilasscksis Center, check it out. And keep an eye, early, on Jim Larranaga. He’s been chewing on his players much more this year than last.

4. Count the number of Folarin Campbell dribbles as well. There’s been far too many of those (which could explain #3). Too much one-on-one against Drexel’s team defense spells disaster.

So net it out for us, you blabbermouth.

Drexel 68, George Mason 61

Eat that, Vegas.

Half the Perfect World

That’s Madeleine Peyroux, by the way. If you like Billie Holliday, you’ll love Madeleine Peyroux. You come here for culture, as well as CAA news. I deliver.

***

Book Stuff
Consider this the first of many useless to you notes about book stuff. Jim O’Connell, who you know because you know good college basketball writing, has begun the pres train. (For those that are new, Jim is the AP college basketbal beat writer and well respected.)

National write up:

On msnbc.com…

Thanks, Rob
POW: Bash Mason, Drexel. Talk about leaders…Drexel went on the road and beat Syracuse and Temple. Mason had 14 points, five assists, five steals and no turnovers in the five-point win at SU and contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals as the Dragons beat Temple for the first time since 1982. Mason’s defense also helped limit the two opponents to under 40% combined FG shooting.

NOW: Louis Birdsong, George Mason. Making his first collegiate start, Birdsong scored eight points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds as George Mason posted a 58-46 road victory at Holy Cross last Thursday. The freshman forward grabbed nine caroms in the second half, including five on the offensive end.

Random Sketch Pad Notes
It’s the day after Christmas, I’m still a bit ill, and dead tired. Oh, and it’s back to work…deal with misspellings and poor grammar…

The George Mason story was chosen by the Richmond Times-Dispatch as the sports story of the year in the state of Virginia. Remind me what happened…

I’m really shocked at Delaware’s 0-9 start. The one game I saw they didn’t look horrid. I have no idea about how good or bad UNC Greensboro may or may not be, but for crying out loud, it’s UNCG !!!! Delaware, which is 0-9 for the first time since 1929-30, plays in the La Salle Classic from Dec. 28-30, facing Niagara, La Salle and Holy Cross.

Yes, Georgia State was bludgeoned at Iowa last week 101-59, but notably Justin Billingslea, State’s top returning scorer, saw his first action of the season after missing the first semester due to academic issues. He contributed seven points and four rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.

Northeastern is 3-0 at home this season, but 0-5 on the road. The Huskies are riding an 11-game home court winning streak dating back to last January, but have lost eight straight away contests. At this pace, Nor’Easter will go 9-9 in conference. (No, they won’t.)

The Tribe shot 50% from the floor and converted 21-of-22 from the free throw line in their win over UMBC, which was the best for W&M since 2004. William & Mary is now 12-0 under coach Tony Shaver when shooting 50% or better. (Translation: make a bunch of shots and you win games. You don’t get this kind of analysis anywhere else, huh?) Junior forward Laimis Kisielius led the way with 19 points on 5-of-7 FG shooting. Freshman guard David Schneider tallied double digits for the fourth time in six career games with 11 points.

Livin on a Prayer

Things will be spotty the next few days…I’m battling a cold (and losing) and I still have Christmas shopping to get done. In lieu of cookies and milk, I think we’re going to leave nachos and Jack Daniels out for Santa this year.

***

Good win for the good guys.

But I’m not convinced. Yet. And after all, a win is a win is a win.

***

Hofstra travels to the Carrier Dome tonight to take on the Fightin’ Boeheims. Well, I guess they have already traveled there. Tonight they play the game. But I digress…

I can’t tell you how hard I will be rooting for Pecora’s team. It’s big for the conference and it’s big for the Pride–they need to establish that they can play with a team that can outsize them.

And speaking of…Greg Washington retook his test the other day and Hofstra awaits the decision from the NCAA on his eligibility. Of ourse, since the NCAA is involved, the decision will come down just before the next Presidential election. In Haiti.

Washington will immediately make Hofstra a far better team, and in more ways than having a big guy.

***

The other game of note tonight is Drexel taking on Temple. Letdown? Nah. If Temple wins this one, it won’t have anything to do with any letdown. It will be because Temple outplays Drexel.

Won’t happen.

I Can’t Tell You Why

I don’t get it.

I saw Delaware live and in person for the first time last night. The Hens lost to VCU 79-60, falling behind by double digits late in the first half and never getting the margin below 10.

Delaware clearly is not a very good basketball team. But they are certainly not 0-8 bad. Herb Courtney is legit, and even though they are short, the two freshmen Monte Ross is running out there at guard are serviceable and remember freshmen. The Hens were executing on offense a plan. It wasn’t all the time, but you can see there is a strategy.

And I think that’s where the difference may reside: there were times during the game where you could visibly see Delaware wasn’t giving it everything, especially on the offensive end. Too many times the Hens fired six passes around the top of the key and then moved out of the way so that a guard could go one-on-one and try a fadeaway 16-footer at the shot clock buzzer.

For his part, Monte Ross was teaching and praising; making sure his players–already beaten down from an 0-7 start and being down 15 on the road–weren’t beaten down further by their coach. At one point, Ross took Sam McMahon out of the game and stopped McMahon on his way to the bench.

“That’s big time effort Sam. Big time,” Ross said. (McMahon did grab 8 rebounds on the game.)

I’m thinking that there will be a significant Henderson Hangover in Henland, but Ross was the right kind of hire.

Now, part two of I Don’t Get It Thursday is the JMU Dukes. I haven’t seen them yet this year, but I REALLY don’t get them. James, Swanston, and Curtis are not horrible players. Further, they play hard.

But the most confounding part is that the losses are bad. Dartmouth has barely competed in its games this season and they beat JMU in Harrisonburg. Youngstown State? By 20? That’s one of those “excusables if JMU slips by Dartmouth and loses closely to Youngstown.

Again, I don’t get it.

And neither do the Dukes Faithful.

***

Towson is blown out at Georgetown and Georgia State drilled in Iowa City. Let’ move on to the yuletide spirit.

The Little Drummer Boy

Pa-rum-pa-pum-pum.

I promised. My view has always been to let the early season play out. It is darn near impossible to figure out how good or bad a team is going to be until, oh, somewhere around Christmas. Guess where we are right now?

So I’ve put together my view of how teams are looking/appear to look as we get ready to crank into teh conference season. We have a pretty decent gauge. Please understand that my prognosis is against how teams were “expected” to be, not what they are.

Enjoy or not. I know you know where to send emails.

And note: I reserve the right to edit my opinions after several glasses of egg nog. There is a certain clarity that comes with holiday cheer. (Plus, I have two parties to attend that will be slightly less painful than pulling out my own eyes with a dull spoon. Two minutes into 80% of the conversations, my mind will wander to Cory Cofield, Bruiser Flint, Hofstra’s free throw shooting, and wondering who in the world is responsible for moving the VCU at UNCW game from a Saturday in December.)

***

Delaware: I’m not sure what to say, other than the Hens are one of three winless teams left in Division 1. Herb Courtney plays hard and Zaire Taylor is a threat on both ends of the floor. A pair of freshmen Johnsons (Brian and Darrell) are seeing legit playing time. But 0-7 is terrible. A 12/23 game against UNCG should give Monte Ross his first head coaching victory. We hope.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Critical. Delaware is clearly a bottom three team. If that.

Drexel: It took some time for the Dragon Wagon to catch steam, but they are rolling. Back-to-back wins over Villanova and Syracuse shows just how good they are. Frank Elegar is playing to a first team All CAA level, and Dom Mejia has not warmed to the season yet. Bruiser has seniors, so look out.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Optimistic. I thought they’d be the top team, and they look like it.

George Mason: It’s termed “getting used to each other” and “blending in three new starters,” but I see a ton of dribbling and one-on-one play. Make no mistake, George Mason is very good. The conference season will play out with double-digit victories, but the key to this season resides in the next two weeks. These guys have got to come together. It’s getting way past late to be getting used to each other.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Guarded. There are a myriad of reasons to explain it away, but they are still 4-4. They could easily be this year’s ODU.

Georgia State: Lance Perique has proven he can take the next step and lead this team offensively. The Panthers also get Justin Billingslea back from academic suspension, which will help the Deven Dickerson illness issue. If there is any team where you can see the long term pieces coming together, this is it. I’m not ready to pronounce them top six, but they are knocking on the door.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Stable. This isn’t the year Perry’s Panthers break through, but you can see it coming.

Hofstra: If it is possible, Hofstra is the team people have forgotten in this race. They haven’t won impressively yet and lost two games that they had no business losing. Stokes, Rivera, and Agudio are as good as advertised. Greg Washington coming back from NCAA Stupidity is beyond key for them. He retook his SAT yesterday, so stay tuned for the most important announcement to come from Long Island since the Buttafuoco case.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Cautious. Everybody is down on the Pride after opening the season with three losses, but they are the same team everybody (but me) picked to win the CAA. The bagel in the middle is larger than expected.

James Madison: This is a very, very odd team. Juwan James is playing well. So is Pierre Curtis. Joe Posey leads the conference in three pointers made. I guess I’d look at giving up 40% shooting from three and 50% overall and scream “Somebody cover that guy!” I’m not supposed to root, but I admit that I’m hoping it isn’t another long season in Harrisonburg. I may not have a choice.

Prognosis Against Expectations: ICU. This is the point last year when JMU lost about 12 straight games by 15 or more points in a row. I thought things were going the right direction, but home losses to Dartmouth and Youngstown are bad. We need House, or at least Trapper John McIntyre.

UNCW: I’d vote this Seahawks team as “Most Likely to Make Fans Jump Off a Bridge.” A fast pace and 3-6 record are not what folks at the beach are used to seeing. Vladie Kools is doing his best Uwe Blap impression, and Montez Downey looks promising—the kind of gunner Benny Moss wants. Unfortunately Daniel Fountain is not John Goldsberry.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Serious. Every season The Dub is picked for sixth or seventh place. Methinks this is the year they do it.

Northeastern: The three seniors have provided exactly what Poor Bill Coen wanted—leadership and stability. Plus, Matt Janning has shown himself worthy of first team all newcomer. It’s tough to gauge this team—they lost so much from last year and have not played particularly well nor particularly poor. I wouldn’t be surprised if they showed up in beige uniforms.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Uncertain. They’ve lost, big, the games they were supposed to lose big. Sometimes really big. Who really knows, but my assessment stands—they will wear road uniforms in the play-in game.

Old Dominion: I didn’t think I could type the words, but here goes: as Valdus Vasylius goes, so goes the Monarchs. Readers know my love for Drew Williamson, but it seems this team rises and falls to VVs versatility. Williamson and Brian Henderson are steady as they come. Arnaud Dahi is on his way, but the lack of minutes in the past few games has less to do with his knee and more to do with his annual attitude adjustment. Abdi Lidonde could be the key in many, many ways.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Cautiously optimistic. Gerald Lee is coming along, and Jonathan Adams remains above average. Brandon Johnson has been a tremendous boost—the 8-3 start is no mirage.

Towson: You can see the train coming down the tracks. CC Williams is beginning to “get it,” and Gary Neal has not yet gotten hot, in the Dom Mejia way. Dennard Abraham is absolutely filling the Lawrence Hamm role. When Neal gets going and everybody gets comfy with roles, this will be a scary team.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Egad. All the plaudits aside, if it doesn’t come together, Pat Kennedy has a train wreck on his hands. I’m wagering that it lands somewhere in the middle—the Tigers are going to beat Drexel badly and lose to JMU. You know it and I know it.

VCU: Everybody knew VCU had talent. Everybody also knew the “94 feet both ways” attack of Anthony Grant was going to pay dividends. The surprise is how quickly it appears to be coming together for VCU. The Rams still have a huge hole in the middle—Eric Davis remains suspended and Calvin Roland’s minutes continue to dwindle—but VCU has the makings of a top three finish. Eric Maynor surprisingly leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Prognosis Against Expectations: Feeling good. How they look against teams with a lot of size (Drexel) or multiple good guards (Hofstra) will be telling.

William & Mary: Is that optimism I hear coming from Williamsburg regarding its basketball team (not holiday sales)? David Schneider is a surprise at point, and Adam Payton is steady. Stat you didn’t know: The Tribe is second in the league in FG % defense (first in three-point defense) with five of their eight opponents not cracking 41%. How do you scout a team with 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game?

Prognosis Against Expectations: Improving. It’s kind of a good feeling, but W&M was in a similar position at this time last year. Laimis Kisielius needs to be consistent, and what in the world happened to Corey Cofield?

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

You know, it’s just not safe to be a basketball team playing in a major conference anymore. Jim Boeheim had it figured out: I’ll pay some schmoe from the lowly Colonial a marginal sum to come to my house. I get a victory, play my bench, and cut Ol Bruiser Flint a check. After all, it’s a tried and true method…heck, it was abo0ut Jnauary 10 of last season before I played a road game.

What could possibly go wrong?

Pardon me while I laugh. Major conference schools have done everythnig they can to keep the field titled in their favor, including creating a concept that, in its base form, is really blood money.

Too bad they are now realizing a lesson we could all learn: things aren’t always as they appear on the surface.

Yo Frankie Elegar put up 27 and 10. Bash Mason chipped in 14 points and five assists. Dom Mejia scored 16 points. And Chaz Crawford had a huge garbage bucket, following a missed three pointer.

Team effort.

***

Side note for those that care: former Delaware head dude David Henderson has been spotted at random CAA games this season. His new gig: scouting for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

***

The Dooks dropped another one last night, falling at home to Youngstown State 78-58.

You can’t lose by 20 at home to the Penguins.

Honestly, I don’t get it.

***

Interesting side note: the CAA is 3-4 this season against the Big East. Drexel has beaten Villanova and Syracuse. ODU whomped Georgetown. The losses were a trifecta by Nor’Easter (Syracuse, Pitt, and UConn) and JMU losing to Georgetown.

Every single game was a roadie.

Think Boeheim has a new motivational ploy for Friday? The Rangemen get Hofstra.

Pardon me while I snicker and act like a 20-year old: And we took your money, too !!!!

***

Tonight, VCU hosts Delaware in the conference opener for both teams. I think that’s about all we need to say about that.

Towson travels to Georgetown as well, and Georgia State heads to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes.

She’s Fresh (So Fresh)

I’m so proud.

My man Vladie Kools was named CAA co-player of the week. He shares the honor with Lance Perique of Georgia State.

Kuljanin hit all 11 field goal attempts, scoring 23 points, in The Dub’s close loss at Toldeo. Vladie leads the CAA in FG percentage (69.1%) and is among the league’s top five in scoring and rebounding. Eat that, Will Thomas. (I kid because I care.)

The NOW is also a Dubman. Montez Downey scored 13 points in the Toldeo game and is averaging a Schick below 10 points per game on the season. (Side Note: I can’t bring myself anymore to refer to “guys playing their first season in the CAA” as rookies. Seems too professional. So I’ll have to buck the words of my friend Rob and call them the Newcomer of the Week.)

***

I’ve answered a pile of email from friends and blog readers about the VCU press. The question is always nearly the same: “what’s up with that?”

I keep coming back to the same thing: the reason it is so effective is that it is impossible to prepare for. Here’s what I mean. It’s not like the old Kentucky or Arkansas teams where you could practice with six guys on the floor. And it’s not like there is a sceme to attack it, because htere are small variances in the way it is imposed. Plus, it is always there.

Now, I’m not saying it cannot be beaten or neutralized. It can. It just takes an inordinate amount of patience and will on the part of 20 year old kids. Good luck with that. Its effectiveness, in my opinion, is its subtlety. It’s not a race all over the court and force 10 second violations kind of press. Rather, it forces big men to handle teh ball, or it traps the guard if the big men are afraid to help.

Again, there is a nuance to counter how the opposition chooses to attack. I can tell you it is fun to watch.

Another metaphor: the VCU press is your mother-in-law staying at your house over teh holidays. It’s not that she’s evil, but she seems to appear in every room of the house, and there is always the subtle dig. It wears you down to the point of heading to a bar to escape. And that only complicates matters for you.

At least that’s what I’d guess it is like.

***

You think Mike Davis is going to schedule another holiday run through Virginia in the coming years? His UAB Blazers were pulverized by VCU Saturday and two days later (that would be last night) obliterated by ODU. The really bad part: other coaches will take note.

But good for Mike Davis for making the trip. He has guts and I appreciate that.

***

Drexel heads to the Carrier Dome tonight to take on the Orangepeople. I don’t care who sponsors that building now, it will always be the Carrier Dome to me. This is the next-to-last chance for the conference to pick up a marquee victory. Hofstra follows Bruiser into the building on Friday.

***

I haven’t pondered much the stnadings and how teams have looked, overall, yet. It’s part of the way I approach things. I hate recruiting, and I preer to let teams get their legs under them. Round about now I start to look at the shape of the world.

More about that later, but I have to get back to real work.