tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53849105416408554242012-02-10T10:25:02.999-05:00Coverage of Division I, II, III Men's and Women's Basketball.Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.comBlogger5591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-12246947496941560442012-02-10T10:25:00.000-05:002012-02-10T10:25:03.038-05:00

Seventeen years ago, Wolfie made his debut as the mascot of the Stony Brook Seawolves. Seventeen years ago, Stony Brook wasn't even a Division I basketball team at the time.  The Seawolves weren't Division I until 1999 and didn't join the America East until 2001.  But here we were on a Thursday night, seventeen years later celebrating Wolfie's birthday and also celebrating the fact that Stony

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-27987031016423347452012-02-08T06:36:00.000-05:002012-02-08T07:51:31.200-05:00

With three weeks and five games left in the CAA regular season, there is now a clear line of delineation between the top four teams in the Colonial and the rest of the teams that will likely be battling out on Pillow Fight Friday, as @VCUPav puts it.  Two games separate fourth place Old Dominion from fifth place Georgia State.  So with that in mind, lets go "Down on the Corner" to get this CCR

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-25434615855326257292012-02-06T08:08:00.000-05:002012-02-06T08:08:19.133-05:00

After watching Hofstra suffer another tough loss at the hands of Georgia State, Matthew and I bid adieu to Tieff, who couldn't make our last part of the Hofstra influenced tripleheader.  My six year old color analyst and I raced up north to the Bronx.  Our destination was Manhattan College, who were hosting Iona in a big MAAC conference game on Saturday night. I have been to several games on

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-158692407888411452012-02-05T13:40:00.002-05:002012-02-05T13:40:35.635-05:00

When the CAA Tournament is over and I look back on this Hofstra season, I will remember all the incredibly close games that ended in loss; the last second losses to Florida Atlantic, James Madison, Delaware, Northeastern, Drexel and George Mason. There were the large second half leads that evaporated vs. Boston University and Old Dominion. The most frustrating thing to all this is that there

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-35625236858089718462012-02-05T10:53:00.000-05:002012-02-05T11:07:09.099-05:00

I wanted to do something crazy for the 800 games Played Project.  An opportunity arose a few weeks ago to be able to see three games in one day; Charlotte vs. Fordham, Georgia State vs. Hofstra and Iona vs. Manhattan.  The time schedules were perfect; 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 7:00 PM.  With a little luck and a lead foot, I thought I could make all three games. When I planned out my triple header

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-88520423242629860142012-02-02T08:09:00.001-05:002012-02-02T10:10:41.485-05:00

When Towson defeated UNCW last Saturday, the Tigers ended their NCAA record forty one game losing streak. With the win, Towson entered a tie for eleventh place in the CAA with Hofstra.  The Pride had just lost earlier in the day at Northeastern.  Both teams entered last night's game with a 1-10 conference record. One team at the end of the night would be in eleventh place and the other team

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-46367895251092322162012-02-01T10:08:00.000-05:002012-02-01T10:10:54.765-05:00

This is part two of my two part series on St Joseph's Eagles basketball. As I noted in the first part of the series, I interviewed Coach John Mateyko four years ago for my site.  The Eagles were in the midst of their second successful season in a row, the second of now many for St. Joseph's.  In that interview, he noted to me when he first started coaching that “Our first year we only had

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-88499400659994534002012-01-31T08:03:00.000-05:002012-01-31T08:07:35.689-05:00

So, if you're a mid major college basketball fan, unless you have been hiding under a rock, you should know by now the BracketBuster Pairings. St Mary's vs. Murray State Long Beach State vs. Creighton Nevada vs. Iona Wichita State vs. Davidson Drexel vs. Cleveland State Akron vs. Oral Roberts Valparaiso vs. Loyola Marymount Northern Iowa vs. VCU Buffalo vs. South Dakota State Drake vs. New

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-8602554517622157292012-01-30T07:22:00.000-05:002012-01-30T07:57:53.150-05:00

Later today is the announcement of the thirteen televised BracketBuster games.  As I noted in a post last October, like them or not, the BracketBusters have made a difference for mid major teams.  You can make a strong case that neither George Mason or VCU would have made the NCAA Tournament in 2006 or 2011 had it not been for their road BracketBuster victories over Wichita State. This year, the

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-54301652195708684672012-01-29T12:35:00.000-05:002012-01-29T12:37:03.521-05:00

Over the past five seasons, the St. Joseph's Eagles have reached the postseason in Division III.  Four of those times were in the ECAC Metro Tournament.  But in the 2008-09 season, the Eagles went 24-4, won the Skyline Tournament Championship, defeating Farmingdale State and made the Division III NCAA Tournament. The Eagles would lose in the first round to DeSales, a team that made it to the

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-34161635848741352952012-01-26T08:24:00.000-05:002012-01-26T09:03:22.186-05:00

Coming into last night's game, in six of their eight conference losses, Hofstra has lost by a total of twenty five points.  It's never been a question of heart.   The Pride have played hard all season, and with very few exceptions, they have been very competitive in their games this season.  Hofstra even has three non conference wins over teams that are in first place in their conference (LIU,

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-28631156044736524432012-01-25T07:29:00.000-05:002012-01-25T09:06:54.536-05:00

Starting in the 2005-06 season, Hofstra and George Mason have had a heated rivalry. OK, it's a really heated rivalry when it comes to Defiantly Dutch and Mason Nation (and no, I haven't read that article at the time of this article's posting yet).  Still, there is a lot of history between the two teams. In Hofstra's first season in the CAA, the 2001-02 season, the tenth seeded Pride upset the

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-57538817233205657312012-01-23T07:18:00.003-05:002012-01-23T07:19:56.501-05:00

The Northeast Conference, otherwise known as the NEC, started as the ECAC - Metro conference in 1981.  As the NEC website notes, originally the conference's goal was "to create a competitive NCAA Division I men’s basketball conference for unaffiliated schools on the Eastern seaboard."  It started as just a men's basketball conference, but it grew to twelve schools and twenty three sports.   

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-34593415663908056192012-01-21T12:10:00.001-05:002012-01-21T12:10:09.191-05:00

A couple of days ago, when I went on Iona's web site and saw the game time for last night's home game was 10:00 P.M., I did a double take.  But when you are dealing with the wonderful people in Bristol, Connecticut and their ESPNU channel, anything is possible.  Yes, the World Wide Leader thought it was a brilliant idea to put a MAAC women's game at 6:00 PM; Loyola - Maryland vs. Marist, then a

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-7806681983975922202012-01-19T06:14:00.000-05:002012-01-19T08:08:12.324-05:00

There are few certainties in life; death, taxes and a Drexel-Hofstra rockfight.  I really don't know how to describe this rivalry otherwise.  The games are tough, physical and almost always a closely fought game. The rivalry has its roots in the America East where the teams battled out from 1994 until 2001.  In the 2001-02 season they both joined the CAA.  The Dragons owned the Pride for the

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-65573835745070154942012-01-18T06:36:00.000-05:002012-01-18T06:39:23.376-05:00

Another week has gone by in the CAA and the standings are getting a little clearer.  There are now three teams with a 5-1 record; Georgia State, George Mason and Old Dominion.  Another three teams have a 4-2 record; VCU, Drexel and Northeastern.  There is the middle of the road; UNCW and Delaware both 3-3.  Finally, the bottom tier is becoming pretty apparent; William and Mary is 2-4, James

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-51068281688607087492012-01-17T07:45:00.001-05:002012-01-17T07:49:32.062-05:00

Often one of the key ingredients to a team's successful season is the ability to win at home.  Seven times this season, Stony Brook has hosted a game in Pritchard Gym and seven times this season, Stony Brook has won that home game.  The Seawolves were looking for nine wins at home in a row dating back to last season when they hosted the Wildcats of New Hampshire for a 5:00 P.M. start due to

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-40833637295609146132012-01-16T09:18:00.000-05:002012-01-16T09:18:36.374-05:00

The Hynes Center hosted a doubleheader on Sunday.  The women's game was first at 1:00 PM, followed by the men's game at 3:30 PM.  Both conference games were important.   The women's game between Manhattan and Iona was for third place in the conference and to stay above a .500 conference record.  The men's game was for sole possession of first place in the MAAC. Yesterday, I brought both of my

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-47319886334663191332012-01-15T12:03:00.003-05:002012-01-15T12:03:39.204-05:00

Over the years, I have been fortunate to go to many college basketball venues.  Some, like the Webster Arena in Bridgeport, aren't conducive to college basketball games, especially when there are only two thousand people in the stands.  Others, like the Acierno Arena at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware truly stand out.  And it's not just for the basketball

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-50468954833555981242012-01-14T09:45:00.000-05:002012-01-14T09:45:46.697-05:00

A few days ago I was looking at the empty Friday the 13th on my calendar.  I said to myself there has to be a Division I game that I can attend that evening. Then I looked at ESPN's entire college basketball schedule for January 13th and noticed they had originally listed two ESPNU games for 7:00 P.M.; Cleveland State vs. Butler and Loyola Md vs. Fairfield. I knew that had to be a misprint.

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-4102646093209227082012-01-13T08:20:00.004-05:002012-01-13T08:29:05.112-05:00

Entering last night's game with Manhattan, Iona had been on a serious roll since their loss at Hofstra at the end of December.  The Gaels won three straight conference games by a combined total of seventy two points.  And I had seen two of the wins in person, the 95-59 dismantling of Siena at Madison Square Garden and a 73-61 win at home over Niagara.   They were looking to make it four

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-53138095250816424152012-01-12T07:45:00.002-05:002012-01-12T07:46:38.155-05:00

Over the years, there is luck involved in college basketball. I have seen several miracle half court shots go in.      Many times have I seen a buzzer beater to win a game.  There are strange bounces and questionable last second calls that have decided games.  And often I have seen as much bad luck as there is good luck. But from my years experience of watching college basketball live, luck is

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-7630305628873907202012-01-10T19:16:00.001-05:002012-01-10T19:42:38.622-05:00

So,  CAA gauntlet week ended with Drexel's come from behind win at home over VCU on Sunday night.   There's only one undefeated team left in CAA conference play, George Mason.  Then there's a whole bunch of surprises at 3-1 and also surprises at 2-2.  Finally there is the back of the pack and one of those teams has as many losses in conference as they did all of last season. So with the all

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-67758305504802554552012-01-08T23:46:00.000-05:002012-01-08T23:46:19.044-05:00

The universities in the State of New York school system used to be known with their names starting with SUNY.  There was SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Albany and SUNY Binghamton, to name a few.   They are officially known as the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the State University of New York at Albany and the State University of New York at Binghamton. But several years ago, the schools

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-65118226675076474562012-01-07T19:18:00.000-05:002012-01-08T07:50:24.188-05:00

I always love going to early afternoon games at Rose Hill Gym.  When the sun shines through the windows on the one end of the court, it feels like church to me.  And well, it should, since Rose Hill is on the campus of Fordham University, a Jesuit catholic school. Fordham's opponent on Saturday was Xavier, another Jesuit catholic school.   At one time Xavier was undefeated and highly ranked.

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-45417635418564786422012-01-07T08:56:00.003-05:002012-01-07T08:59:43.069-05:00

Iona spent the entire month of December on the road.  The Gaels went 6-2 on their road trip.  They went as far west as Denver (an overtime win over the Denver Pioneers), as far north as Burlington (a win over the Vermont Catamounts) and as far south as Williamsburg (a win over the William and Mary Tribe).  And on Tuesday night, Iona had a neutral site conference game at Madison Square Garden.  

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-55612114134212825322012-01-04T19:27:00.000-05:002012-01-04T19:27:04.988-05:00

Having attended many concerts at Madison Square Garden in my lifetime, there is often an opening act before the headliner.  The opening act is usually not that good, but the headliner more than makes up for that fact.  And often, the headlining band has a solo performance, usually a virtuoso guitarist, who has the crowd buzzing in amazement.  Such was the case in last night's Siena vs. Iona

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-38465282974791314572012-01-03T07:45:00.001-05:002012-01-03T07:52:16.041-05:00

"You talk about the eye test. This one doesn't pass the laugh test." By now, everyone should know the story of the 2010-11 VCU Rams.  Finished fourth in the CAA, lost in the CAA Championship to Old Dominion.  One of the last teams to make it into the NCAA Tournament and were a member of "The First Four".  And of course, the recipient of the above insidious comment by Jay Bilas during ESPN's

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-76879292944606919072012-01-02T09:48:00.001-05:002012-01-02T09:55:31.720-05:00

I always love the New Year as far as CAA play goes.  God bless Tom Yeager and the folks at the Colonial Athletic Association.  They give you a brief one game taste of conference play in December, then hit their fans with a full force smorgasbord of basketball the first week of January.  Six days, three games (with one exception, VCU at Drexel Sunday night).  Now that's starting off the new

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-19550477716623924172011-12-31T10:27:00.002-05:002011-12-31T10:41:08.557-05:00

Last night was the second game I saw in Pritchard Gym in three days.  On Wednesday, Stony Brook gave up a twenty point lead to Cornell but won in overtime 68-59.  This time the defensive minded Seawolves were hosting the Broncs of Rider.  It was the last non-conference game for both teams before conference play truly begins (MAAC teams each have already had two conference games, America East

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-76996249585479527822011-12-30T10:23:00.002-05:002011-12-30T10:24:42.082-05:00

Exactly a year ago, Mo Cassara's Hofstra Pride traveled to New Rochelle to take on Tim Cluess' Iona Gaels.  It was the first season for both as head coaches in Division I Basketball.   On that night, it was all Iona, as they dominated Hofstra, winning 87-62.  It was the second worst loss of the season (next to a forty two point drubbing by eventual Elite Eight member North Carolina) for a Pride

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-19982531679036205722011-12-29T08:26:00.000-05:002011-12-29T08:35:27.349-05:00

If red is your favorite color, then last night's Cornell vs. Stony Brook contest was the game for you.  You had the Big Red taking on the Seawolves, whose motto on their tickets is "Get Your Red On, It's What We Do".  Needless to say, the crowd was dressed for one of the preferred colors of the holiday season. The last time I saw Cornell was at Madison Square Garden in December of 2009. They

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-16201985667662559762011-12-28T08:27:00.000-05:002011-12-28T09:50:28.270-05:00

Once in a while, I actually have a good idea.  Realizing that my brain was running on fumes, I took a half day off last Thursday and started my Hofstra Holiday Break early.   I used that time to head over to the Mack Center to watch the championship of the New York Life Holiday Invitational Women's Basketball Tournament between Marist and Hofstra. I got to my seat in the Mack Center during

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-60210319545629537592011-12-23T11:43:00.000-05:002011-12-23T14:13:49.732-05:00

Several days after their twenty point win over Binghamton, Hofstra was looking to make it two wins in a row against Colgate.  The Pride needed to get on a roll going into next week's important game against Iona, a team that many think is the best team in the local New York City area (with all apologies to Seton Hall fans). It was the second Hofstra basketball game that I would be attending

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-36526997448027775962011-12-20T07:06:00.001-05:002011-12-20T07:07:07.166-05:00

Late this afternoon, a friend whose twitter feed I follow, Travis Mason Bushman, tweeted something about an article in SI.Com.  I followed the link and read Todd O'Brien's story called "St. Joe's won't release me to play at UAB and I don't know why".  O'Brien has a scholarship to play at UAB but is not able to play with the Blazers.  Herein lies one of the most interesting and appalling stories

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-26143753702490433512011-12-18T06:53:00.000-05:002011-12-18T06:53:11.599-05:00

With the eyes of a child You must come out and see That your world's spinning 'round And through life you will be A small part Of a hope Of a love That exists In the eyes of a child you will see   "Eyes of a Child" by the Moody Blues My life forever changed on July 26, 2005.  My first child, my older son Matthew was born.  When you are a parent, everything else in life happily takes a

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-88246227275902517162011-12-12T19:52:00.000-05:002011-12-12T19:53:35.929-05:00

Mike Litos, the Dean of CAA Basketball wrote a good article, as usual, last Friday about Drexel, entitled "There is Nothing Wrong About Drexel".  If you couldn't guess from the title, Litos breaks down some Ken Pomeroy statistics and correctly surmises the following; "Take a look at how good Drexel’s defense has been, and how bad it’s offense has been. In the past seven seasons, only once has

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-56674847217226020482011-12-10T23:22:00.000-05:002011-12-10T23:56:06.571-05:00

Two weeks ago, I was heading home from Kingston, Rhode Island.  I had just watched Hofstra beat Cleveland State 63-53 in what basically amounted to a rock fight at the Legends Classic SubRegional at URI.  It was a gutty, winning performance by a Pride team that took the Vikings best punch in the mouth and came back with multiple shots to their opponent's head.  They outworked, out-shot,

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-9181253544627800352011-12-08T07:40:00.000-05:002011-12-08T07:40:32.350-05:00

Watching live college basketball games, something I absolutely love, has been an outlet for me since I really started following Hofstra in the early 2000's.  Previously, I had enjoyed college hoops for years and I attended many games at MSG.  But when I truly became a fan of college basketball and Hofstra in particular, I found an avenue for anxiety, stress, even loss.  I could completely

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-49820410470468578622011-12-03T20:35:00.001-05:002011-12-04T08:23:32.889-05:00

Sometimes, there are long stretches where one team has another team's number.  When Hofstra first joined the CAA in 2001, they lost their first three games in conference with James Madison and had lost four in a row overall to JMU.  But starting in 2004, the Pride have gone on a twelve game winning streak vs. the Dukes. Though the series record indicates one team's dominance over another,

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-47046565214212836142011-12-03T09:30:00.001-05:002011-12-03T10:55:46.339-05:00

As noted in my previous post, it's the first day of CAA conference play.  Outside of VCU and UNCW, all ten other teams are playing against each other today.  And in Hempstead, we have a rematch of the classic overtime thriller from last season where Hofstra rallied in regulation against James Madison and won in overtime 92-90.  When the Pride joined the CAA in the 2001-02 season, the Dukes won

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-78027150065944029592011-12-03T05:26:00.001-05:002011-12-03T06:40:04.335-05:00

Today marks the first day of CAA conference action in the 2011-12 season.  There are five conference games on tap - James Madison vs. Hofstra, George Mason vs. Towson, William and Mary vs. Georgia State, Drexel vs, Delaware, and Northeastern vs. Old Dominion.  On December 17, UNCW will play at VCU to even up the conference schedule.  Mike Litos has a good preview of all the games. What

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-78502889710119000952011-12-02T08:12:00.000-05:002011-12-02T08:12:23.250-05:00

Saturday evening after Hofstra had defeated Cleveland State, I was presented with a choice.  Originally, I had planned to stay and cover the Boston University vs. Rhode Island game for the 800 Games Played Project on the Mid Majority Site.  But I was very tired, under the weather, lonely for my family and I had my nephew's baptism the next morning.  So instead of watching and recapping a game

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-28951781209674442642011-11-28T22:29:00.001-05:002011-11-29T08:08:52.459-05:00

Yesterday was an exasperating day.  I can't get into details, but I was agitated when I got home.  Thankfully, salvation was only ninety minutes away, for I had this game between LIU and Iona circled on my calendar.  I knew I was going to see a game that "The Guru of Go" would truly love. Westhead is the creator of "The System".  It's based on simple math - More Possessions + More Shot

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-49290035606056519572011-11-28T07:16:00.001-05:002011-11-28T08:10:22.217-05:00

Though I only attended three of the six games that were played this weekend up at the Ryan Center on the campus of URI,. I saw more than enough to make the following observations; Had it not been for a mistake by the timekeeper in their game against Cleveland State, Boston University would have swept the entire subregional.  The Terriers played really inspired basketball all three days and

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-35749882774084592522011-11-27T01:51:00.001-05:002011-11-27T07:26:34.492-05:00

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day in Rhode Island.  The temperature was around sixty degrees as I left my hotel and took the short drive down to Newport.  I spent part of the morning sightseeing, first around town, then I visited the Newport Shipyard.   I had never seen so many large expensive boats in one place in all my life. As I walked back from the shipyard past the Marriott where

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-13939897433310696522011-11-26T06:10:00.001-05:002011-11-26T06:37:27.064-05:00

The last time I was in Rhode Island for a Hofstra basketball game was eight years ago when the Pride traveled to Providence to take on the Friars.  How long ago was that?  NBA player Ryan Gomes was still in college, playing for the home team.  Meanwhile Loren Stokes and Carlos Rivera were freshmen playing their third games for Hofstra.  The Friars defeated the Pride 69-56 in a game that wasn’t

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-47104680924555835052011-11-25T04:23:00.001-05:002011-11-26T05:15:45.879-05:00

A few months ago, when I first started planning  to see four basketball games in two days in Rhode Island, it was supposed to be my first ever road trip with just my older son, Matthew, and me.   Matthew loves basketball, especially Hofstra basketball.  So he was very excited about the prospect of seeing two Hofstra games in two days. Then about three weeks ago, we adopted a new dog.  Walter

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-35698724984188000142011-11-23T01:19:00.000-05:002011-11-24T09:53:50.881-05:00

This article is also on the Mid Majority 800 Games Recap Site. Before last night, the last time I saw an Iona Men's Basketball game was March 30 of this year, when the Hynes Center hosted the championship game of the CIT as Santa Clara played Iona. With the recent advent of the College Insider Tournament (CIT), the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), as well as the seventy three year old

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-6190241675330657652011-11-23T01:18:00.000-05:002011-11-23T01:18:39.924-05:00

It was a rainy Tuesday night in Hempstead, New York.  I guess that was partly the reason for the sparse crowd at the Hofstra Mack Center.  The other reason might have been that there were no classes for undergraduate students on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  Thus the Lions Den student section was not even half full.   I wonder how many of the 1,436 that were in attendance

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-92197608760958349122011-11-19T10:34:00.001-05:002011-11-19T22:34:28.901-05:00

Hofstra started their season with a convincing win at home over LIU.  Then on Wednesday, they traveled to Corvalis, Oregon to play Oregon State. The game was close throughout.  But in the end, the Beavers prevailed 82-72 over the Pride.   Hofstra came back home for a chance to rebound against another NEC team, Saint Francis. Even though Saint Francis was 0-2, both games were close losses.  

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-2237135702016969272011-11-18T23:14:00.001-05:002011-11-19T08:49:12.398-05:00

The mark of a good team is how it bounces back from a loss.  After watching Iona lose to Villanova in the championship game of the Iona Tip-Off Classic last Saturday, the Lady Gaels won their next game at Bryant on Tuesday by thirteen points, 66-53.  Last night in New Rochelle, the Iona Women's Basketball Team looked to continue their winning ways as they hosted Stony Brook. The game started

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-24967998326776424252011-11-17T00:43:00.001-05:002011-11-17T07:35:35.858-05:00

It actually seemed like a hot summer night in November in Corvalis, Oregon as Oregon State hosted Hofstra  in a regional round TicketCity Legends Classic game.   The game was close throughout, but the Beavers held off the Pride 82-72 in a game that ended early after midnight New York time.  As I followed the game on the WRHU and Oregon State TV feeds, a lot of things stood out, both good and

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-5489865361229293312011-11-13T06:47:00.001-05:002011-11-13T14:07:11.526-05:00

Yesterday was a busy day. First it was a Saturday morning pancake breakfast with my family to benefit our school here in North Bellmore.  Then it was raking leaves on a blustery day. But I only got the front yard and the side done.  There is still the backyard to do, because I made a promise to see my friend Tony Bozzella's Iona Lady Gaels take on Villanova for the championship of the Iona

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-62600453252114153372011-11-12T06:46:00.001-05:002011-11-12T06:49:54.246-05:00

I posted a LIU perspective recap of last night's game for the 800 Games Project on the Mid Majority Site.  For the Hofstra perspective recap, look at the previous article listed below.

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-22911532638933139562011-11-12T01:30:00.001-05:002011-11-12T06:55:16.318-05:00

This was supposed to be a year of transition for the Hofstra Pride.  The first season of the post Charles Jenkins era is supposed to be a stop gap between last season's team and next season's team.  In 2012-13 much ballyhooed transfers Taran Buie and Jamal Coombs- McDaniel will be eligible and talented recruits Jimmy Hall from St. Anthony's and Dallas Anglin from Seton Hall Prep, both of

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-41915012171325806012011-11-11T01:54:00.001-05:002011-11-11T05:04:18.962-05:00

There is no better way to spend your early Friday morning (and when I mean early Friday morning, I mean 2:15 AM) then dividing up your Hofstra season tickets into three neat piles.  One for my friend Tony, one for my friend Mal, and two for my older son Matthew and me.  As much as I talked about the Queens - Hofstra exhibition game starting the season, tonight is the first home game of the

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-52672764550329214072011-11-09T03:53:00.000-05:002011-11-09T04:15:04.034-05:00

If you are one of the few, the proud, the loyal readers of this site, you know my focus tends to be towards mid major teams.  However, I do try to do write about Power Six conference teams when I watch their games live. Much has been made of St John's vaunted recruiting class, one of the best in the nation. Lately, it's been overshadowed by Steve Lavin's fight with prostate cancer.  Lavin was

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-71135510776804774982011-11-08T12:16:00.002-05:002011-11-08T13:02:55.921-05:00

This recap is also on the Mid Majority Site here as part of the 800 Games Project. Sometimes, I often don't decide to go to a basketball game until the last minute.  I wasn't sure if I was going to the William and Mary vs. St John's game last night, which was the first night of the college basketball season.  But I found out in the afternoon from my friend Mal that he and our friend Tony were

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-25864138217838464582011-11-07T06:54:00.000-05:002011-11-07T07:08:45.722-05:00

If you are a dedicated reader of this site, you know that I am long time admirer of Kyle Whelliston's Mid Majority site.  For seven years, Kyle has written about mid major conference teams, otherwise known as "The Other 24".  Kyle has made it his goal to attend 100 live games every year and write about them.  Along the way every year, he writes essays, or as I like to think, short novels about

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-88779796194937722332011-11-06T08:07:00.000-05:002011-11-06T08:47:40.902-05:00

Last week was the Hofstra Season Ticket Holder Scrimmage and Reception.  As I entered the Mack Center, my son Matthew and I headed to an open seat.  There I saw my old friend, Mr. Defiantly Dutch himself, Jerry Beach.   Jerry was already there watching the scrimmage with his much better half Michelle.  As I walked up to the Dutchman, I started singing "I'm back in the saddle again".  Yes, I am

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-69182938547439640532011-10-26T06:41:00.004-04:002011-11-07T07:09:23.879-05:00

With the lockout potentially canceling the entire season, NBA fans are looking for other avenues to fill their sports fix.  For those of you who want to see some quality hoops, it's time you joined the rest of us fans of the college hardwood (and I mean the sport, not my blog, though I certainly will gladly take more readers and followers on Twitter at gmoore21566).  Thus, for those of you pro

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-11336988426566481672011-10-20T20:51:00.001-04:002011-10-20T20:51:26.127-04:00

I gave my RSVP for the Hofstra Men's Basketball Season Ticket Holder Practice and Reception on October 27th.   Can't wait for my first taste of college basketball season.  Last year's Hofstra Fanfest gave me a good first look at a much improved David Imes.  Looking forward to see who will surprise me in my first look at Hofstra for the 2011-12 season. Today, the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Coaches

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-73278399469788197982011-10-13T22:07:00.001-04:002011-10-26T19:42:05.079-04:00

The 2010-11 Colonial Men's basketball season will go down as the most historic in conference history.  Three teams in the NCAA Tournament, its second team ever in the Final Four, the first team ever to go from First Four to Final Four and for the third year in a row, a CAA player taken in the NBA Draft.  It was an absolute pleasure seeing the seeds sown throughout the season and being at the

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-61057056242986984562011-10-06T06:29:00.000-04:002011-11-07T07:10:32.776-05:00

Last week, ESPN announced the pool of 142 teams for the 2012 BracketBusters.  It's the largest pool of teams in the history of the series that started in 2006.   Whether you like the concept or not, the BracketBusters series has helped mid major teams make a significant impact in the NCAA Tournament the past six years. You can make a significant case that if it wasn't for the BracketBusters,

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-56653255242802162652011-09-20T08:17:00.001-04:002011-09-20T13:15:14.249-04:00

I guess it was only a matter of time before we had serious conference realignment.  In the past several days, the dominoes have truly started to fall.  Texas A&M agrees to join the SEC.  Then Pittsburgh and Syracuse join the ACC, while UConn and Rutgers look to join them as well.  Meanwhile, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State are looking to join the PAC-12.  Now comes news that what's

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-149326252774844722011-07-31T07:01:00.000-04:002011-07-31T07:01:03.533-04:00

When VCU won the ESPYs award for "Best Upset", it capped an amazing season for the CAA.  Three teams in the NCAA Tournament, one team in the Final Four, former CAA players making a mark in the NBA playoffs and a second round draft pick in the NBA Draft. As the 2010-11 college basketball season first started, I am sure CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager had a hopeful outlook for his conference.  There

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-54130997461586639752011-07-16T07:20:00.000-04:002011-07-16T07:20:12.592-04:00

John Templon, the author of the very informational and fun to read Big Apple Buckets site, does a lot of statistical analysis of teams.  Recently, he has been doing a series of "Team Similarities", comparing teams from this past season to teams of recent past.   One of those teams in his series was Hofstra.  In his Hofstra Team Similarity, John states that Ken Pomeroy's "luck metric" notes that

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-21770094597985933832011-06-25T08:35:00.001-04:002011-06-27T04:30:56.303-04:00

On Thursday night, Charles Jenkins was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 44th pick in the NBA draft.  For all the "Charles Jenkins Facts" fans, it was an ideal selection.  #22 was taken in Round 2.  Multiply the numbers together and you have 44, the selection where he was picked.  That has omen written all over it. It made sense that the Warriors picked Jenkins.  Based on what I

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-27776221866952385302011-06-14T08:26:00.000-04:002011-06-14T08:26:26.566-04:00

In February of last year, I took my son into New York City for a Saturday afternoon matinee at Madison Square Garden.  Thanks to my friend Mal, I had two free courtside seats underneath the basket for St John's - Pittsburgh.  My son Matthew went with me (mostly for the train ride) and we would stay for the first half of the game.  I wrote about this in "Three Games in 24 Hours - An Empty City for

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-85314592690289992802011-06-09T19:49:00.150-04:002011-06-10T06:09:15.874-04:00

I know this doesn't have anything to do with college basketball.  But it does have to do with a dog loved by two college basketball fans.  Last night, we had to put to sleep our dog of eight years, Twinkie.   Last fall, Twinkie had a reoccurrence of a tumor that she has fought for several years.  The doctor at the animal hospital said there was nothing they could do this time (more on that in a

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-79464558413244834172011-05-24T09:04:00.001-04:002011-06-25T07:42:13.149-04:00

After Hofstra's exciting 92-90 overtime comeback win over James Madison, the Pride stood at 8-1 in the CAA and 14-6 overall.   It was their best conference start since the 2006-07 team started out 9-1 in conference.  A lot of Hofstra fans were excited and one of them was me.  I ended up writing an article about the Hofstra-Madison game I attended for the Mid Majority's 800 Game Practice Run.  

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-5675870907722512052011-05-17T22:34:00.000-04:002011-05-17T22:34:23.329-04:00

It was two months ago Sunday since Hofstra played in its final game of the 2010-11 season, a first round loss to Evansville in the CBI.  But the first season under Mo Cassara had a lot more triumphs than defeats.  And considering how the 2010-11 season started, it was truly an amazing ride. The 2010-11 season really started in April of last year when Tom Pecora left the comforts of Hempstead

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-714867905996417472011-04-22T13:09:00.002-04:002011-04-22T13:26:27.020-04:00

When news broke out last night that George Mason gave the University of Miami permission to talk to Jim Larranaga, it was at first quite stunning.  During the offseason, there were several CAA coaches - Blaine Taylor, Shaka Smart and Bruiser Flint who were bandied about in the news for seemingly higher profile jobs.  But they all stayed put.  Instead, one of the least likely to go, or so probably

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-88220576871930456992011-04-14T07:45:00.000-04:002011-04-14T07:45:04.478-04:00

Last Saturday, I wrote an article called NCAA Double Standards and Basketball People.  An anonymous person wrote a comment about that article, which is listed under the comments section of the above linked article, but here's the comment below. "Would you agree that the NIT has money (read-attendance) issues that severely impact its seeding decisions? Shame on CM for not admitting that but some

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-17502602923221584942011-04-09T07:47:00.004-04:002011-04-10T10:28:54.831-04:00

I want first to note a TERRIFIC op-ed piece in the New York Times yesterday by Joe Nocera.  It's called the NCAA's Double Standard.  Basically it talks about the different punishments the NCAA handed down to UConn coach Jim Calhoun and Baylor freshman Perry Jones.  Nocera further talks about the NCAA's punishment of five Ohio State players when they were "caught selling O.S.U. paraphernalia and

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-25052290618351420022011-04-05T21:05:00.008-04:002011-04-05T21:51:22.450-04:00

After watching Butler lose to UConn in the National Championship Game last night,  the men's college basketball  season was over (the women's season ends tonight).  There was lament, not as much for me as when Hofstra to ODU in the semis of the CAA Tournament, due in large part to being there for the game in Richmond, but there was lament.  There was the definite hope, especially at the half

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-69863540688071172142011-04-04T07:51:00.005-04:002011-04-04T11:18:44.683-04:00

Here's a few links to enjoy before today's game.  My review of Saturday's games and my prediction for Sunday are listed in the previous article. Someone who came across my blog suggested this article.  It's what they think is the Top Ten Most Memorable Mid Major Tourney Teams.  It was obviously done before VCU's and Butler's runs this season.  And if you are a long time reader of this blog, you

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-82359001689746394762011-04-04T07:51:00.002-04:002011-04-04T08:24:02.330-04:00

I recorded Saturday's National Championship game between VCU and Butler.  And it's amazing to be able to stop and rewind to see how some of the key plays of the game were setup.  Yes, there was the difference in rebounding, especially for Butler on the offensive end.  And there was of course the Bulldogs denying  the Rams' Joey Rodriguez of his offensive ability.   But there were two key

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-76523921232660434352011-04-02T10:22:00.002-04:002011-04-02T11:38:44.259-04:00

Yesterday, I was going to write an April Fool's article on how Kentucky will have to vacate this year's Final Four after the NCAA found improprieties into UK's recruiting of various players including Enes Kanter.  But since there have been two John Calipari teams having vacated their Final Four standing already (UMass and Memphis), I might seriously have the NCAA contacting me as a result (as in

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-36074339170170508762011-03-31T19:39:00.000-04:002011-03-31T19:39:03.286-04:00

It's very difficult for a team to travel all the way from the West Coast to New York, then play well in a hostile environment.  That was the task that Santa Clara had last night in New Rochelle as Iona hosted the championship game of the College Insider Tournament (CIT).  The Gaels were home to a near capacity crowd and were heavy favorites coming into the game.  Someone though forgot to tell the

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-87215995559454238802011-03-30T12:30:00.000-04:002011-03-30T12:30:53.663-04:00

Last night was the semifinals of the NIT at Madison Square Garden, the World's Most Famous Arena.   And it turned out to be an all VCU night.  In the first game, Wichita State, who lost at home to VCU in their nationally televised BracketBuster matchup, absolutely crushed Washington State.  And in the nightcap, the previous coach of VCU, Anthony Grant, now the coach of Alabama, led his team to a

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-47394838247003899892011-03-28T19:43:00.001-04:002011-03-28T19:49:11.759-04:00

At the beginning of March, shortly before the CAA Tournament began, I wrote my CAA preview entitled "It's 2006 All Over Again - The CAA Tournament Preview".   And what I wrote in my preview was that based on all the facts/statistics/rankings/RPI ratings/history etc. that we were seeing the second coming of the 2006 season.  In that preview, I talked about #3Bids4CAA.  But I predicted (wrongly so)

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-89423907630502472642011-03-28T09:11:00.003-04:002011-03-28T09:12:42.342-04:00

I will have a lot more on this tonight.  But all I can say was my son and I were glued to the television set yesterday.  To see a five year old so excited that his adopted team (since Hofstra is no longer playing) stun the world as the Rams defeated the Jayhawks, well it was an amazing sight.  I will have more on this tonight, which will include how some analysts still don't get VCU.   But Ram

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-64685213004048123142011-03-27T11:04:00.002-04:002011-03-27T11:10:58.070-04:00

When Gordon Hayward left for the NBA draft last year, many people, including yours truly thought Butler would still be a good team.  A team that would probably make the NCAA Tournament, but not quite have the success that they had last season when they were a Hayward three pointer away from winning the national title.  Still, another NCAA Tournament would be considered a success for one of the

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-72592373657027526092011-03-25T07:56:00.001-04:002011-03-25T10:17:47.554-04:00

When this 2010-11 season finishes in about the next ten days, I will look back on everything that I witnessed as far as college basketball is concerned.  And when I do, the first thing that will pop into my head is the city of Richmond.   That's because so much of the regular season, the CAA Tournament and now the NCAA Tournament has revolved around the city of Richmond and especially it's two

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-22461185460743101272011-03-24T00:18:00.002-04:002011-03-24T06:07:27.440-04:00

For the past couple of years, I had been trying to get my older son Matthew to come to see Hofstra Men's or Iona Women's basketball games with me.  Matthew liked shooting hoops in the backyard with his four foot  Little Tykes basketball hoop.  But each time I would ask, he would say something like "No, I would rather stay home and be with mommy and Jonathan."  And I understood. You can't force

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-79484542050784477142011-03-22T08:26:00.004-04:002011-03-22T14:39:02.174-04:00

Sorry that I haven't posted recently.  But there's a good reason for that.  I spent a good part of the four days of the NCAA Tournament watching many buzzer beaters, upsets, double overtime games, the Big East quickly becoming the Big Least and ESPN analysts eating crow.  There's nothing quite like March Madness, especially the first two rounds of  the NCAA Tournament. Unless you have been under

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-1905253769098397732011-03-17T08:24:00.000-04:002011-03-17T08:24:16.967-04:00

A night after UAB was drubbed by Clemson on the first day of the First Four, VCU took the court in Dayton to take on USC on the final day of the First Four.   All the talk on the pre-game show on truTV was about how the Trojans' guards would handle the press and be able to penetrate the lane on the Rams and that VCU would have trouble against USC's bigs.   A funny thing happened actually during

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-82359545132613739982011-03-16T06:42:00.003-04:002011-03-16T07:43:43.989-04:00

So last night, I watched the first two games of "The First Four", the NCAA Tournament's new format for the first four play-in games.  And based on the commercials for TruTV shows, I can tell you that outside of NCAA Tournament action I will never ever watch TruTV.  The only reality TV I watch is sports and Man Vs. Food. As for the games, UALR and UNC Asheville was actually a fun game to watch.

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-76170075413424716702011-03-14T07:18:00.004-04:002011-03-14T08:02:03.409-04:00

This is my 500th post on my new site.  Never thought it would coincide with the 2011 NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday.  I wrote last April that expanding to 68 teams would end or at least weaken the Bubble Talk of "who should have been in" or "who should be out".   Well as I said with my "Sunday Sausage Links and Selection Sunday Thoughts", I was so wrong on that.  And then came the bracket

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-77935499981426674582011-03-13T10:59:00.003-04:002011-03-13T11:35:58.464-04:00

Before we get into Selection Sunday, I have to take issue with something that I think has gone seriously under the radar.  Providence fired Keno Davis after just three seasons with the Friars.  Providence athletic director Bob Driscoll had some damning words for Keno Davis stating that with star player Marshon Brooks ""is probably going to the NBA and the kids coming in probably aren't as good,

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-19876183640949751072011-03-12T06:21:00.008-05:002011-03-12T09:23:55.783-05:00

The 2011 CAA Tournament lived up to its billing.  There were close games, major upsets, buzzer beaters, end to end action, raucous crowds and of course, bad officiating.  And what was at first a blowout in the championship game turned out to be an exciting finish and an opportunity for three bids for the conference. When heading to Richmond Coliseum last Friday had anyone said to me that I would

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-26084263814965194132011-03-10T07:35:00.004-05:002011-03-10T09:31:35.596-05:00

Today was one of those days.  I got into work early to get some projects done.  As busy as the morning was, my day came to a screeching halt around 11:45 AM when I saw a familiar extension as my phone rang.  It was the Hofstra Day Care number and I knew there couldn't be good news.  As I answered the phone, I found out my younger son, Jonathan, had a 101.2 fever.  I called my wife, told her news

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-69116517378113968122011-03-07T01:57:00.000-05:002011-03-07T01:57:40.770-05:00

Just got home from the CAA Tournament.  Yes, Hofstra lost, much to my chagrin.  But they played well and just happened to run into a very good ODU team.  More on that tomorrow.   Since sleep is needed, I just wanted to let you know that I have an article on Defiantly Dutch's website concerning three loyal Towson fans and their Tigers team playing Drexel in the first round of the CAA Tournament.

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-36871450802123708242011-03-06T01:32:00.002-05:002011-03-06T01:41:46.799-05:00

Since the CAA went to twelve teams in the 2005-06 season, this was the third time Hofstra had a bye in the first round.  And it was also the third time the Pride was the third seed, which meant they played the last game on Saturday night.  As much as I love watching basketball, when your team is playing its first game as the eighth game on the second day of the CAA Tournament, you get nervous and

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-27523560177245681982011-03-04T11:03:00.000-05:002011-03-04T11:03:46.036-05:00

Greetings from Richmond!  We got into our hotel room at 4:00 am this morning.  But not before we had a late night dinner at Waffle House.  OK, a late night breakfast. Before I head out to the Friday afternoon session, I wanted to let you know that Defiantly Dutch, aka Mr. Jerry Beach, and I will be doing our annual blog swap just in time for the CAA Tournament.   Both of our stories are hush

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-84893445508463553542011-03-02T20:23:00.002-05:002011-03-02T20:29:47.116-05:00

Before I start with my CAA Tournament preview, I just wanted to chime in about the firing of Georgia State's Rod Barnes.  Couldn't Georgia State AD Cheryl Levick wait until after the CAA Tournament was done to let Barnes go?  I mean we are talking about not even ten days.  Yes, the Panthers lost 79 games during Barnes' four years as coach.  But you are not going to start the hiring process until

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-20147746885655333642011-03-01T07:15:00.001-05:002011-03-01T07:16:37.099-05:00

I heard Mike Greenberg from Mike and Mike say this morning that March Madness is two weeks away.  Bull.  March Madness starts today with conference tournaments as the Horizon and Big South get underway.  Later in the week, the Southern, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, West Coast and most importantly here, the CAA tournaments all get started.  So a little business needs to be taken care of before we

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5384910541640855424.post-70094585625491761442011-02-27T11:00:00.005-05:002011-02-28T09:05:43.180-05:00

As you get older, the years go by much quicker.  It seemed like yesterday I was up in Worcester, Massachusetts watching a freshman wearing #22, and built like a Miami Hurricane free safety, drive his way to the basket in his first game as a member of the Pride.  November 10, 2007 was one of the very few nights in Charles Jenkins' career that he scored less than ten points (by my count Jenkins

Gary Moorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13068814551973487809noreply@blogger.com0