Thou Shalt Not Play in Late Game Situations…

Today’s predictions are brought to you by Hofstra’s Greg Washington (3-14) and ODUs Frank Hassell (4-15), whose free throw accuracy is darn close to said prediction accuracy.

(Side note: Those look like Bible verses, not free throw statistics. “In Hassell 4-15, it says…”)

Four 7:00pm starts and two teevee tilts is going to keep the technology busy at the ranch:

Nor’Easter at The Dub: Thrilled to have earned back the capital D from CAA: LAMM, UNCW coach Benny Moss instructs his team to “go guard like you did when you did it well.” Confused by the lack of specifics, Vladie Kools allows Nkem Ojougboh to look like Hakeem Olajuwon. And I know what you’re thinking: that makes Cap’n Matt Clyde Drexler. And Chase Allen Alvin Franklin. And…and I’ll stop now. Somehow I feel that a virus-slowed Daniel Fountain hurts The Dub more than folks know and Nor’Easter slips out of town with an upset win. Final score: Nor’Easter 73, UNCW 71.

Georgia State at Towson: There is talk that Rodney Spruill will be back tonight after getting his academics in order. Not sure that fact is anything more than like adding another ingredient to a pot of chili. Regardless, Towson is too athletic at too many positions. Plus, nobody takes care of the basketball better than the Tigers. Towson leads the CAA in fewest turnovers, turnover margin, and assist-to-turnover ratio. The Panthers don’t have the firepower on offense to capitalize on a reduced number of possessions. Final Score: Towson 68, Ga State 61.

VCU at Hofstra: Danger, Will Robinson. This game is screaming upset. Agreatio drops a couple of threes; The Great Dane swats a few into the fifth row; the fans get cranking; and the next thing you know Hofstra leads 56-51 at the under 4:00 media timeout. Plus, the usually hyper-focused Anthony Grant allows his thoughts to stray from the game as he ponders the SC job and coaching OJ Mayo. In the end, I’ll go with the playmaker named Maynor. Final Score: VCU 66, Hofstra 62 (overtime).

William & Mary at Drexel: The pressure mounts, as CAA: LAMM received a phone call this morning from a partially-obscured but somewhat-familiar voice. The pseudo-stranger identifies himself only as “Tommy Shafer, CAA Expert” and rattles off five reasons why Drexel will defeat William & Mary this evening. The first four make sense, but it is the fifth reason that convinces me. I wouldn’t normally associate concrete and the proximity of my house to the James River with a CAA basketball game, but when I think really hard about it, Shaver Shafer is right. Final score: Drexel 59, William & Mary 55.

Delaware at James Madison: It’s interesting what one week can do in the CAA. Seven days ago (or thereabouts) YouDee was 5-0 and JMU 3-2 and the talk of the conference. Both teams are now coming off of two losses and of the four total games, three were spankings. Everything is pointing the way of the Dukes in this one, including the suspension of guard Joe Posey. My belief is that this is addition by subtraction–I don’t know that Posey has come to grips with the upgrade in talent at JMU, which of course reduced his PT. Could be a removal of a locker room problem. Plus, JMU is at a crossroads in its season, and I like Abdullai Jalloh being challenged. This is where swagger outduels giddy. Final score: JMU 83, Delaware 76.

Old Dominion at George Mason: I like the Patriots to win this game. They are just plain better, coming off of a significant performance, and playing at home. This is a game that you need to watch for the little things: the minutes and performance of ODU freshmen Hassell, Finney, and James as they go against talented and experienced players. For some reason I think Blaine Taylor lets them loose tonight. Check out Jordan Carter’s bench demeanor as Cam Long plays the important minutes. Mason is going to need a bench in the long run, and they are going to need Carter.

Keep an eye on Brandon Johnson’s fire in the first four minutes. Johnson just looks bored to me, at times, on the floor. See how Mason gets Louis Birdsong involved. Will Thomas has passed out of double teams all season to Dre Smith and John Vaughan. The guards have made them pay. Taylor may be the first to game plan that move and Mason will need an answer.

I could go on, but this is absolutely a game of subtexts. Final score: Mason 74, ODU 65.

~ by mglitos on January 23, 2008.