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Pregame VCU-Towson

George Templeton

March 08, 2008 11:52 AM

A welcome to the CAA blog and a preview of VCU-Towson

Alright ladies and gentlemen of the internet, I am picking up the baton for Michael Phillips and carrying you through the quarterfinal round today on the CAA blog. Welcome everyone.

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Postgame: Northeastern 73, James Madison 55

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 10:22 PM

Northeastern is the day’s final winner, cruising to an easy victory in JMU coach Dean Keener’s final game. He announced he would resign when the season ended. Northeastern will face No. 3 George Mason tomorrow night.

Thanks for joining us for an exciting day of blogging from the Richmond Coliseum. More coverage will be in tomorrow’s Times-Dispatch. Tomorrow the action starts at noon with Towson facing VCU. George Templeton will be your blogger for another full day of CAA action.

Postgame comments from the final game:

Northeastern:

Coach Bill Coen: Whenever you get to tournament time, theres a different level of intensity in the air. I thought our guys came out with the appropriate amount of intensity, and it showed on the defensive end.

We got a great lift off our bench in Baptiste Bataille. James Madison did a great job of getting on the backboard and taking advantage of our size.

We really couldn’t get much going. We had a couple possessions where they got deep into the shot clock with positive results, and I thought when Baptiste came in that opened things up for us.

It’s tourney time. It’s all about the team that can make shots and do the little things right. We were fortunate tonight, we had a couple guys step up for us.

Guard Matt Janning: They made their little run with those threes, and then we stopped it and the momentum carried for the rest of the game.

James Madison:

Coach Dean Keener: I just feel bad for our guys. There’s a good group there. I think our guys can hold our heads high. We didn’t accomplish everything we wanted to this year, but I think there’s been a foundation and an infrastructure put in place.

Foul trouble was an issue. We had several guys with two in the first half, and played a couple of them. I hate doing that. I think the same official called all five fouls on Juwann, and four of them were away from the ball. That’s a tough call. That certainly hurt us not having our guy. It’s hard for JMU to win basketball games when Juwann’s not playing 30-plus minutes.

It’s hard when you get down. You just use so much energy coming back. Then they make a couple shots and become backbreakers.

I’m just disappointed we long. I’m not necessarily thinking about that. I don’t have a terminal disease. I’ve got a great family and kids to spend time with as I decompress over the next couple weeks. We can walk out of here knowing the program is better than when we took it over. In some small fashion, this program is better. My hope is it continues to grow with whoever they hire.

Forward Juwann James: This guy [coach Keener] recruited me. He taught me what it is to be a man, so it’s like losing a father figure. We’ll wish him the best and he’ll wish us the best.

Guard Pierre Curtis: I think those threes were pretty huge, especially because they were guys we didn’t think would knock them down. It was a big turning point in the game.

I think the zone worked exactly how we wanted it to. But we left a couple shooters open and they knocked them down.

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Second half: Northeastern vs. James Madison

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 9:24 PM

3:33, Northeastern leads 60-48 Things have settled down here and we’re playing some basketball now. Northeastern still hot from behind the arc, the Huskies are now hitting 47 percent of their threes. James Madison is struggling to create baskets inside and doesn’t appear to have much of a chance at a comeback here.

5:31, Northeastern leads 57-46 Apparently the officials just love CAA Basketball so much they don’t want to leave. Tonight’s official is James Williams, the same one VCU coach Anthony Grant got in a staring match with earlier this season. 35 total fouls now with lots of basketball still to be played.

7:12, Northeastern leads 57-46 Juwann James picks up his fifth foul. Keener turns again to the radio crew and mouths “this is unbelievable,” before laughing again. It would be a shock if we played 30 consecutive seconds of basketball tonight.

7:58, Northeastern leads 57-46 Technical foul against JMU’s Pierre Curtis for...stomping the floor? Maybe?

Curtis went over to coach Dean Keener, but didn’t receive an earful - Keener was equally upset about the call. Keener looked over to the JMU radio crew, shrugged his shoulders, then laughed. You’ve gotta play the game the way the refs call it.

8:35, Northeastern leads 55-46 Timeout appeared to be the right call for Northwestern. They went on a 6-0 run after the break. Now JMU will hope to duplicate that success.

9:44, Northeastern leads 49-46 A layup from Curtis Pierre and a 4-0 run prompts Northeastern to call timeout. The Huskies look a lot sloppier in this half, and need to regroup if they want to keep their lead.

11:09, Northeastern leads 49-42 Northeastern’s Mark Washington picks up his fourth foul. Expect a lot of foul news down the stretch - the refs are blowing the whistle on anything, even if it’s away from the action. JMU is approaching 50 percent from the field, with Terrance Carter to thank for that. he’s leading the team with 12 points. Neither team is above .500 from the free-throw line, and both have logged at least 10 attempts.

13:23, Northeastern leads 45-38 JMU’s Juwann James picks up his fourth foul, though he likely was not the player who committed the foul. There are now 28 fouls between the teams, ensuring this game won’t develop any sort of rhythm.

16:29, Northeastern leads 42-34 As seems to be the trend tonight, the trailing team begins a comeback to start the second half. Northeastern calls timeout after a Terrance Carter layup cuts the lead to single-digits.

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Halftime: Northeastern vs. James Madison

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 9:23 PM

It’s been a marathon day of basketball, though not much of a day for offense. We’re unsure how many of the fans have stayed for all four sessions, but they should get some sort of ribbon if they have. Also some exercise. They should definitely get some exercise.

With 20 minutes left in this one Northeastern is solidly in command, leading James Madison 38-25 in front of a partisan crowd for the Dukes. Northeastern took charge midway through the half, scoring on 3-point baskets and with fast breaks off JMU turnovers. The Huskies have also done a much better job of avoiding foul trouble as the teams head to the locker room.

Halftime also means it’s time for tonight’s final mascot showdown, the puppy bowl. To keep the spirit of the event (and because the batteries died in our camera), football pictures will be used from each school’s website.

“Duke Dog” the James Madison Duke:
Pros:
-Clearly a tougher dog than the husky.
-At about eight feet tall, he’s tonight’s tallest mascot.
-Twelve pack chest the result of non-stop workouts or failure to iron.

Cons:
-Unoriginal name.
-Crown looks like a beret; French things aren’t intimidating.
-Might be violating public leash laws.

“Husky" the Northeastern Husky:
Pros:
-Appears to know all the cheers and participate, instead of just dancing goofily.
-Has a rally towel.
-Huskies can handle the ice-cold climate of the Richmond Coliseum.

Cons:
-Equally unoriginal name.
-Has a rally towel.
-Appears to be smirking at all times.

No winner in this one, they’re just too similar.

One final break for us, then we’ll enter the home stretch. If anybody has been reading this blog for 10 consecutive hours, you also deserve a ribbon. If you’re looking at this tomorrow and scan all the posts in about five minutes, you get a bigger ribbon.

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First half: Northeastern vs. James Madison

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 8:34 PM

4:34, Northeastern leads 25-20 And now the whistles come out. The pace of this game grinds to a halt the teams have now combined for 18 fouls. Timeout is called by JMU. Abdulai Jalloh stays in the game with two fouls, Juwann James sits with three. For the Huskies, only Chris Alvarez has two, he’s currently on the bench.

7:42, Northeastern leads 18-16 James Madison is not afraid to let the shots fly, they’re 6 of 18 right now. Northeastern is selecting more carefully, going 8 of 12, though none of those points have been scored in the paint.

12:10, Northeastern leads 11-9 The Huskies come out in a man-to-man defense, as to the JMU Dukes. It’s going to be a dogfight, and that’s not a prediction, just a very bad pun.

15:58, James Madison leads 5-4 Northeastern’s Chris Alvarez misses a pair of free throws, which, as we learned in the last game, can be costly.

18:01, James Madison leads 3-0 The computer ate the pregame report (due to user stupidity), so let’s jump right into the action as No. 6 Northeastern takes on No. 11 James Madison. The crowd is highly partisan towards the Dukes, who are playing in slick gold uniforms. It’s a strong start for JMU as Abdulai Jalloh hits a 3-pointer.

Tonight’s winner gets No. 3 George Mason tomorrow in the 8:30 p.m. game.

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Postgame: Delaware 60, Drexel 51

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 7:43 PM

After a tightly-contested first half, Delaware kept its poise while Drexel did not. Turnovers and foul shooting made the difference as the Blue Hens win, 60-51. They’ll face UNC-Wilmingon tomorrow at 6 p.m. Delaware’s Herb Courtney left the court with an injury with two minutes to play, returned, and fouled out of the game. The Blue Hens were led by Marc Egerson’s 15 points. Courtney had 14, and Alphonso Dawson had 13.

Postgame comments:

Delaware:

Coach Monte Ross: Anytime you get an opportunity to play a rivalry game in the tournament, it’s never easy. I thought Bruiser has done a tremendous job with those guys, and my hat goes off to them. I thought it was a very hard-fought game between two rivals, and we were very fortunate to make plays at the end. I thought our defense was spectacular. We wanted to slow down Frank Elegar, who really hurt us in the games earlier this season.

I think you do get a little tighter when you get to this point in the season, and it’s going to take a little while to get adjusted. We came over here and shot twice, but nothing prepares you for those game conditions.

I give Jim a lot of advice. I don’t know if he always listens to me. (laughs) When you’re playing against a player like Frank Elegar you can’t stop him, you just try to slow him down. I thought Jim did an excellent job in the second half of holding him to two points.

Marc Egerson was in a boot from practice yesterday until gametime today. But its that time of year, he sucked it up, and I don’t think anybody could tell he was injured. Adrenaline can get you through lots of things.

The last five minutes of practice Thursday he tweaked it. He knew something was wrong, so he left practice. We put him in a boot right away to keep him off it. He didn’t do any shooting today, didn’t do the walkthrough, but I thought he played like nothing happened.

Guard Marc Egerson:We just wanted to stay confident and try to make a couple plays at the end. Jim came up with a huge block, he made his free throws and I made my free throws. Those were big.

Everybody was thinking [it would be close]. Every night is a dogfight. We just tried to stay confident and keep making plays.

Forward Jim Ledsome: The second time we played them at Delaware I had a block at the end of the game. He’s got a great right-hand hook, and its tough to block with his length, but I got my timing right. It turned out to be a big play for us.

Drexel:

Coach Bruiser Flint:We missed 11 foul shots, and they made a lot of baskets on loose balls. And we made 11 of 22 foul shots. That sums it up right there. You’ve got to do the little things sometimes.

We made them take some tough shots, and they came up with the rebounds. We had been playing good defense, we just hurt ourselves by not coming up with the rebounds.

Center Frank Elegar: They made adjustments [in the second half]. I was trying to get it out to run the offense, but it didn’t happen.

Forward Randy Ovenke: It’s been a tough season for us. A lot of frustration and disappointment. But I blame it on us. We didn’t come ready at times, and these are the results.

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Second half: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 6:50 PM

18:06, Delaware leads 32-35 What a difference the possession arrow makes. Delaware had the ball, made a shot and then got a quick defensive stop. Now they’re the ones who will be defending a lead as the second half opens. Drexel called timeout to stop the momentum.

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Second half: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 6:50 PM

7.5, Delaware leads 56-51 Marc Egerson hits both free throws, and Drexel misses a three. An intentional foul from Drexel’s Gerald Colds will end this game.

18.4, Delaware leads 54-51 Amazingly, Delaware does not get the wake-up call. The Blue Hens squander their possession, but Drexel’s shot is blocked on the other end. With the shot clock off, Drexel has no choice but to foul.

1:29, Delaware leads 54-51 A pair of threes by Gerald Colds combined with Delaware turnovers is just what Drexel needed. They’ve cut the lead to three with 1:29 remaining. But they have no timeouts and two players with four fouls. The margin for error is razor-thin right now. Sign unveiled by the Drexel students: “Do you know what the best thing about Delaware is? Neither do we.”

3:54, Delaware leads 51-41 Drexel isn’t falling any further behind, but they’re also not catching up. The Dragons have gone 9 of 20 from the free-throw line with 16 turnovers, little things that will cost them the game. The winner gets No. 2-seed UNC Wilmington.

7:39, Delaware leads 47-38 Delaware is by no means blowing Drexel out, but the Blue Hens have scored 12 points off the Dragons turnovers, enough to very slowly swing this game their way. If Drexel doesn’t make a couple big plays, Delaware will be able to run out the clock to end this one.

11:32, Delaware leads 43-33 Alphonso Dawson sits with three fouls, leaving Delaware without its leading scorer. But the Blue Hens take advantage of a pair of turnovers and create their biggest lead of the night. Drexel coach Bruiser Flint has spent most of the media timeout arguing with the officials, who have thus far been patient with him.

15:40, Delaware leads 37-30 Drexel hits a three, but Delaware has the answer from Alphonso Dawson. Then Dawson missed a 3-pointer that would’ve given his team a 10-point lead, and slid into the bench. Coach Monte Ross picked him up and gave him an shove towards the defensive end of the court. Ross could trick-or-treat as Tiki and Ronde Barber’s third brother.

18:06, Delaware leads 35-30 What a difference the possession arrow makes. Delaware had the ball, made a shot and then got a quick defensive stop. Now they’re the ones who will be defending a lead as the second half opens. Drexel called timeout to stop the momentum.

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Halftime: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 6:43 PM

It’s halftime and after watching teams sit on the ball all morning, the fans have been treated to some offense. The Blue Hens lead the Dragons 28-25 at the break.

Delaware is led by Alphonso Dawson’s 10 points, which he picked up before getting his second foul early in the half. For Drexel the leader is Frank Elegar with 13 points. The stats remain nearly identical across the board, and neither team is surrendering an inch inside. Should be a fun second half in this fast-paced game.

As we head backstage to refuel on Mountain Dew, let’s take a look at two personalities that don’t need a halftime break - tonight’s mascots:

“YoUDee" the Delaware Blue Hen:
Pros:
-Wearing number 00 tonight, a refreshing change from every other mascot, who wears No. 1.
-Blue Hens easily the best-named team in the state.
-Wears size 28FF shoes.

Cons:
-The Delaware Turnpike - $5 to drive 5 miles.
-There could be confusion when the team ‘lays an egg.’
-YoUDee sounds too much like YouHoo, and we will hold the beverage’s horribleness against the mascot.

“Mario" the Drexel Dragon:
Pros:
-Inevitably nicknamed ‘Super Mario.’
-Fire-breathing ability would trump any other mascot’s strength.
-Brought most of the student body with him.

Cons:
-Does not actually exist.
-Has probably watched “Lord of the Rings” one too many times.
-Fitting through standard-sized doors is difficult.

This is clearly is premier mascot matchup of the night. The edge goes to YoUDee the Blue Hen on originality, though Mario the Dragon would’ve advanced out of any of the other brackets.

Second-half action coming up shortly. We’re going to call the boss and see if we can liveblog the Jonas Brothers here next Tuesday.

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First half: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 6:02 PM

3:58, Tied at 24 Delaware forward Pau Geli draws his third personal foul. Guard Alphonso Dawson is sitting with two fouls, as is forward Jim Ledsome. Both teams are knocking the other around inside, keeping the rebounding battle even at 10 each. The game is tied for the seventh time tonight.

7:45, Delaware leads 18-16 Drexel’s Scott Rodgers goes in for a layup and extends his foot in a kicking motion, knocking down Delaware’s D.J. Boney. The stats look almost identical across the board as each team continues its fast-paced attack.

11:38, Drexel leads 13-11 Get ready for a slugfest as these two teams go right at each other. Drexel is shooting less but making more - mostly because Delaware is 1 for 5 from behind the arc.

15:40, Delaware leads 9-6 We’ve got a high level of athleticism on display early. Both teams look comfortable in a run-and-gun offense, a nice change from the early games.

17:27, Delaware leads 7-4 The closer vantage point becomes intense in a hurry. Times-Dispatch writer John Packett flawlessly fields an errant ball headed in his direction. JP’s a guy whose skills will only improve as he gets more touches. Also we have a stat monitor down here so we can pass along all sorts of insight.

Looks to be another small crowd for this one, though the Drexel students are noisy and on their feet.

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