Defiantly Dutch Comes To Casa Del Moore for Hofstra - Western Kentucky

My plans were simple yesterday.  After work, go home sit on the couch and watch the ESPN 3 feed of Hofstra vs. Western Kentucky on my laptop.  Then later write about it.  Late yesterday afternoon, I was on my twitter account and I got this from Jerry Beach - #Hofstra Tweeps: Are you able to view ESPN3.com on campus? Need a place to watch the game tonight since Cablevision blows.  Being the good samaritan I am, plus truly despising Cablevision and the Dolans, I immediately responded to Beach with Come over to my house. Fios baby.   I followed up with a text to my friend Jerry and he responded later with an affirmative.

I left work, raced home and helped tidy up the house a little bit with my wife who already knew I had asked Jerry over.  Being the techie I am, I grabbed a VGA cable from work and hooked up my netbook to my 40 inch LCD Samsung.  It would have been my work MACBook Pro, but I left the adapter at work (memo to self, splurge for the VGA cable and adapter for home).   Plugged in my audio jack and we were good to go for ESPN3 Moorevision at Casa Del Moore.  As much as I am usually impartial, Hofstra games are different.  Tonight, it was two Hofstra fans and as Beach puts it, rival bloggers hoping for a good game by the Pride.

Both Western Kentucky and Hofstra were smarting from double digit blowouts in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tipoff yesterday.  The Hilltoppers lost by 18 to a Minnesota Gophers team that was about to prove how good they were to North Carolina later that night.  Hofstra had been hit by a powder blue tsunami yesterday losing to the #8 Heels by 44.   So both teams were looking to right themselves and avoid the #7-#8 game vs. Nebraska,  who had lost to Davidson earlier 70-67.

At the outset, it looked like Western Kentucky was going to blow Hofstra out with 16-8 lead with 10:34 left.  Sans Charles Jenkins, the Pride couldn't hit the side of a barn in the first half as they missed on twelve of their first fourteen attempts from the field.  Four of twenty later on was an improvement for Hofstra.

Jerry joined in during a commercial break as I tweeted - Beach is here. Pizza soon to follow and perhaps followed by offense.  Immediately he was greeted by my friendly dog Twinkie and the sounds of a really bad cartoon music coming from my two sons watching a DVD in the other corner of my living room.  He can thank my father in law for that bad DVD.  I set up Mr. Defiantly Dutch with wireless access and the twitter/blog fiend was on his way.

But while we were talking about how futile the Hofstra offense was, the Pride switched from man to man to a suffocating zone.  This threw the Hilltoppers off their game and rendered star player Sergio Kerusch non existent.  Kerusch, who put 31 up on St Joseph's in the first game of the season had only two points the first 31 minutes of the game.  The zone also resulted in a lot of tipped Western Kentucky passes, resulting in a significant amount of turnovers.

As a result, Hofstra was able to work itself back into the game with a 16-3 run capped by a David Imes layup to put the Pride up 24-19 with a minute left in the half before settling for a 24-21 halftime lead.  The first half was not pretty.  The Pride only shot 29 percent while the Hilltoppers shot 34 percent.  But due to forcing numerous Western Kentucky turnovers and outrebounding the Hilltoppers on the glass, Hofstra had eight more field goal attempts and thus one more field goal.

Of course, Beach and I were noticing a few things while chowing down on pizza and being subjected to my two sons playing Monster Truck Wrestling.  First, ESPN's boxscore had Nathaniel Lester scoring two points for the Pride, which of course was wrong because Lester is out due to a quad injury.  Beach noted in one of his tweets that I replied "Did Andy Katz report that?".

Second, early in the second half, Andy Katz, who was sideline reporting for the Puerto Rico Tipoff commented for the upteenth time since he wrote this article, how much Mo Cassara and Charles Jenkins need each other.  Beach responded with a tweet " Andy Katz telling us AGAIN how Mo Cassara & Jenkins need each other. We know. We read the article.  I responded with "Andy is really a romantic at heart. Too bad this is hoops."

The second half started similar to the first.  Hofstra came out in a man to man defense and Western Kentucky quickly tied the game at 24.  Very quickly, the Pride went back to a zone and again the Hilltoppers struggled.  What also happened was that Hofstra showed some aspects of an offense without Charles Jenkins.  Jenkins only scored two of the team's first fifteen second half points as Shemiye McLendon scored six of those points along with a Mike Moore free throw to put Hofstra up 39-32 with 8:52 left.

As a happy Jerry Beach and I watched on, Jenkins started to take over.  He scored six of Hofstra's points in a mini 9-2 spurt that put the Pride up fourteen, 48-34 with 5:18 left.   Hofstra had frustrated Western Kentucky with its zone and now was putting up points.  It looked like the end was in site for the Hilltoppers.  But the Pride had left a little glimmer of light  for Western Kentucky by missing three free throws during this time, which was a microcosm of their day at the charity stripe.  The points that were left off the board would come back to haunt the Pride.

The Hilltoppers desperately turned to a full court press and it started taking it's toll.  With Hofstra still up thirteen, 52-39 with 3:50 left, Western Kentucky made its charge, as they finally starting hitting shots.   Pettigrew hit a layup to cut it to eleven.  A McLendon turnover resulted in a Kerusch three point play and the lead was down to eight.  Another McLendon turnover resulted in a Juan Pattillo dunk and the lead was now six, 52-46.  The scary thing was that Western Kentucky had scored seven points in only 43 seconds.

It was during this time that the blood pressure for both Beach and I went up astronomically.  Both of us were watching the game with a sense of impending dread, though we both tried to talk ourselves out of it saying Hofstra would pull this out.  It's like seeing the train coming, but you are in too much shock to pull yourself out of the way.

A Jenkins steal resulted in two McLendon free throws and the lead was back to eight, 54-46 with 2:53 left.   But after Kerusch hit another layup to put it back to six, McMillan only hit one of two free throws and the lead was seven, 55-48 with 2:20 left.  Hofstra and Western Kentucky traded two points each and the Pride was still up seven 57-50 with 1:45 left.  A Jenkins jumper was sandwiched between two Kahlil McDonald  three pointers and the lead was down to 59-56 with one minute left.

Dwan McMillan would turn the ball over but the Hilltoppers couldn't capitalize as Greg Washington grabbed the rebound of a missed layup by Juan Pattillo.  Jenkins would get fouled and with 40 seconds left had the chance to put the Pride up by five.  But Jenkins missed one of two free throws and the Pride were up only four.  Immediately, Caden Dickerson buried a three for Western Kentucky and the lead was only one, 60-59 with 35 seconds left.

All Hofstra had to do was inbound the ball and get the ball to midcourt and get fouled.  But McMillan couldn't accomplish that and within one second, Brandon Peters stole the ball from McMillan and hit a layup.  The comeback was complete and the Hilltoppers were up one, 61-60 with 29 seconds left.  Beach and I were beside ourselves.

But Hofstra had the last shot (or so it seemed) and the ball.  Mo Cassara quickly called a 30 second timeout. The plan was simple.  Get the ball to Jenkins.    Well the plan worked, and Jenkins drove the lane.  But two Western Kentucky players converged, so Jenkins kicked the ball out to an open Mike Moore in the corner.  Moore's jumper hit off the top of the rim and Pattillo grabbed the rebound and immediately was fouled.  Pattillo hit one of the two free throws and down to 62-60, Hofstra still had a chance to at least tie.

The Pride got the ball to midcourt and called timeout with three plus seconds to go.  But with Jenkins covered, the ball went to McLendon who took the last shot, but it too missed.  Western Kentucky got a huge comeback win, 62-60, outscoring the Pride 23-8 in the final 3:50 of the game.  Pattillo had a double double for the Hilltoppers with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Steffphon Pettigrew had 12 points and Kerusch finished with 9.  The Hilltoppers had 13 more field goal attempts in the second half than the Pride.

As for Hofstra, they actually shot 57 percent for the second half,. 12 of 21 from the field.  Unfortunately they had 14 of their 19 turnovers in the second half which led to the additional scoring opportunities for Western Kentucky.   Jenkins had 27 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the field.  Moore added 15 points and 11 rebounds.  McClendon added 10 points for the Pride.   The trio combined for 52 of the 62 points while the rest of the team shot just 3 of 15 from the field.

The thing that hurt the most though was the charity stripe. The Pride had double the number of free throw attempts that the Hilltoppers had - twenty five to twelve.  But Hofstra only made thirteen of those attempts.  What also didn't help is that Hofstra only had nine assists and nineteen turnovers.  When Dwan McMillan has kids and tells them about his college basketball exploits, he really might want to skip this game from the storytelling.  McMillan had seven turnovers, two of them crucial down the stretch, was 2 of 8 from the field and 1 of 4 from the line.

Post game, Beach and I were almost at a lost words.  We felt numb.  As Beach had another piece of pizza and made best friends with my dog Twinkie by giving her the pizza crust, we tried to figure out when was the last time the Pride/Dutchmen had suffered such a bad loss.

Beach has his own terrific take on what happened yesterday and here it is in his words.  However, I would never use chloroform on him.  But I am old school.  If I wanted to take him out, I would have been like Colonel Mustard and taken him out with the lead pipe in the conservatory.

Jerry believes this loss was tougher than the one I pointed out, a February 8, 2007 loss to Drexel in overtime. I disagree.  This was only the third game of the season and it was a non-conference game to boot.  The game in 2007 had serious repercussions for the Pride.  The Pride blew a fourteen point second half lead when they lost that game.  As a result of the loss, the Pride would finish third in the CAA in 2006-07 at 14-4.  Had they held onto the lead and won the game, the Pride would have finished tied for second in the CAA with ODU and would have had the tiebreaker on the Monarchs since Hofstra beat VCU in their lone matchup of the season.  Instead, Hofstra got the third seed and ended up being upset by Mason in the CAA Quarters in 2007, the other most demoralizing loss since yesterday's game.

Yes, it was a really bad loss. Mindnumbing in many ways.  But as crushing as the two mentioned above?  No, because it was not a conference game, nor was it the end of the CAA Tournament.   I was furious after the 2007 Drexel loss and devastated after the loss to Mason in the 2007 CAA quarters after the Pride had defeated them at the Patriot Center earlier in February 2007.

There were positives from yesterday's game.  Moore has become the second option and McLendon looks to be a terrific sixth man.  Jenkins is in great form.  The Pride played terrific defense for 36 plus minutes.  They shot well in the second half and they rebounded from a beatdown loss to NC with a very inspired effort. The minuses are no frontcourt scoring, a serious need to improve their free throw shooting and they need to handle a full court press better.

But they outplayed Western Kentucky, a team picked by College Basketball Prospectus to win the Sun Belt, for 36 minutes.  There are things to build on.  How they handle themselves tomorrow against Nebraska after a bad loss like this will say a lot about this team.

As Beach left, he graciously thanked my wife and I for having him over.  He survived my kids, Monster Truck Wrestling and a friendly but mooching dog.  We talked for a little bit outside and then we said we would see each other next Friday when Hofstra hosts Wagner.  Then I walked back inside and thought "maybe I should have used chloroform and taken over his blog and Twitter account".   For me,  Moody Blues sure beats hair metal.

Another Good Garden Party - The 2K Classic

If you are one of the few, the proud, the regular readers of this site, you know that I am old school.  And one of my favorite "life songs" is Ricky Nelson's "I Went to a Garden Party".   Ricky Nelson was originally on the TV show "Ozzie and Harriet" with his parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, a show that lasted fourteen years on television.  He later then became a very popular music act with several big hits in the 50's and 60's.  The 60's brought acts like the Beatles, the Stones etc to the foreground and Nelson faded into the background.

In 1971, he rather reluctantly played a "revival" concert at Madison Square Garden.  The fans there were expecting a 50's looking Ricky Nelson, with his short haircut.  But Nelson now had long hair and bell bottoms, as he too was experiencing the 70's as well.  He played his old music, but also played some of his new material, which was more based in country music.  Apparently in the middle of the set, the crowd starting booing heavily, especially during his version of the Stones "Honky Tonk Woman".  It turns out that the crowd also may have been booing the police who were removing drunk fans from the arena.  Nelson decided to cut bait and left the stage mid set.

This experience led him to writing "I Went to a Garden Party", a major hit for him.  The lyrics are actually quite meaningful.  It captures the era of the time.  And of course there is the "it's all right now, learned my lesson well. You see, you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."  It's those lyrics that I try to live by, as should everyone.  But there is also my favorite below;

"If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck. But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck"

Sadly, Nelson died shortly after the above 1985 video in a plane crash in Texas.  But that song will always remain one of my favorites.

So every time I go to MSG for a college hoops game, whether a single game or a Tournament, to me it's a Garden Party.  And I never go for memories, it's always for new experiences.

Thus, I left work a little early yesterday for another new Garden Party experience, the 2010 2K Classic.  First I went home and changed and then headed out to the Hicksville Train Station.   As I left, something was nagging at me, something that was telling me that I had left something behind.  But I had my phone, my wallet and of course my keys.  I was meeting Tieff and Mal in the city and Mal had our tickets.   So what could I be forgetting?   As I boarded the 4:23 for Penn Station and sat in my seat, realization hit me.  I left my Canon camera on the kitchen table.  Thus, cell phone pictures!

I got into Penn Station at 5:15 pm and immediately headed upstairs to the Friday's outside the Amtrak waiting area.  And I had got there early to Penn Station for a reason.   There was Tieff at the bar watching the Hofstra-North Carolina first round game at the Puerto Rico Tipoff.   The Pride was down 13, 29-16 at the time I got there.  It was immediately evident that the Pride could not stop the Tar Heels from scoring, despite the Pride shooting over 50 percent from the field, which was due in large part to one Charles Jenkins.  Jenkins and Heels' super frosh Harrison Barnes had a first half mano on mano duel.   Jenkins was 9 of 11 from the field in the first half for 20 points, while Barnes nailed four threes and scored 19 points.

But the rest of the Pride couldn't keep up with the Tar Heels.  And what was 13 points, turned into 25 aft the half, 58-33.  Then Carolina Blue turned up the heat on Jenkins, holding him to four second half points and the rest of Hofstra went ice cold from the field.  A lead that was 25 points quickly grew to 30 then 35, then 40 points in the span of ten minutes.  The Heels shot 56 percent from the field, including a ridiculous 12 of 17 from beyond the arc (70 percent).

As a work colleague of mine said to me today, it was like "Hofstra was hit by a tsunami' in the second half.   The Pride had no answer for the Heels outside shooting and when Carolina did miss, they cleaned up on second chance opportunities.  North Carolina had 20 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Hofstra 49-27 as a whole.  It was a beat down of epic proportions as the only thing missing was free tacos in the 107-63 win by North Carolina.

Mal joined us during the second half of the game and the three of us took in a few more minutes of the taco beatdown.  But we actually left before the end of the Hofstra game for our seats in the Garden.  We first decided to quickly sit in one section and take in the beginning of the first game which was #4 Pitt taking on unranked Maryland.  Immediately we were surrounded by a sea of red, as in Maryland red.  Terps fans were everywhere at MSG Thursday night, and it didn't matter when we moved to our actual seats.  It was red everywhere as there a lot Maryland alums in New York.

As the game's first few minutes went by, several things were immediately evident.  First, Maryland has serious issues at the foul line as they missed their first five free throw attempts.  In their second game of the season, a one point win over Charleston, the Terps were 5 of 18 from the charity stripe, so this was not a new event.   Second,. Pitt was definitely the better rebounding team and clearly used their size to their advantage.  Surprisingly though despite the free throw and rebounding deficiencies, Maryland hung in the game due to limiting their turnovers and actually was ahead, 27-26 with a little more than a minute left before Pitt scored the last five points to go up 31-27 at the half.

Now when Tieff, Mal and I are at a game together, we often are keeping track of other games and giving each other updates.  And Thursday night was no exception.   We were keeping track of the Western Kentucky - Minnesota,  Charlotte-George Mason, Richmond-Iona,  and Morehead State -UNCW games.   We even talked about how VCU throttled Wake Forest.  As a result, during halftime Mal made his way down to the MSG ticket office and got tickets for next weeks Preseason NIT Tipoff.

The second half saw Pitt pick up where it left off in the first half as the Panthers went on a 11-2 run capped by an Ashton Gibbs three pointer to put them up 42-29.  It looked like Maryland might be done due to the fact, they couldn't make free throws, were being thoroughly outrebounded and the Terps couldn't hit the side of a barn from the outside (for the game, Maryland would shoot 2 of 14 from beyond the arc).

Yet somehow, the Terps hung in there, responding with a 14-2 run of their own, due in large part to forcing four Panthers' turnovers in four minutes.   Maryland actually had a chance to tie the game when Gibbs fouled Terrell Stoglin on a three point attempt.  But after hitting the first two free throws, Stoglin missed the third free throw and Maryland was still down one 44-43.  The Terps would never tie or take the lead the rest of the way.

Pitt used its rebounding advantage down the stretch and would also make 26 of 37 free throws to slowly pull away.  Maryland stayed in the game due to their ability to hold onto the ball better than Pitt (Panthers had 16 turnovers as opposed to 8 for the Terps) and actually had two more shot attempts than Pitt despite being outrebounded by 18.  But again, what killed the Terps was their 14 of 30 shooting from the charity stripe.   Pitt would win 79-70 as five Panthers scored in double figures with Talib Zanna had 14 points while Gibbs, a very talented player, added 13.  Cliff Tucker had 17 points while Jordan Williams, Maryland's best player, added 14 for the Terps.

Pitt looks as good as their #4 ranking.  In fact, my friend Mal predicts the Panthers will win the NCAA Tournament.  Maryland is actually pretty good (well duh, they did make the NCAA Tournament last season), though they need work at the line and on their three point shooting.

As the Maryland fans left in a mass exodus, we were able to move our way down further to Section 48 for the second game.  During the break though, we learned that UNCW had come from behind to beat a good Morehead State team (a nice early win for new Seahawks coach Buzz Peterson), Mason waxed Charlotte as I told Mal they would, and Minnesota pulled away from Western Kentucky at the Puerto Rico Tipoff for an easy win.  It would turnout the Gophers and the Hilltoppers would have big parts in the Tipoff on Friday.

But two other games caught our attention as Illinois and Texas warmed up on the court.  Richmond and Iona were caught in a dogfight in New Rochelle and the Gaels rallied to force overtime.  Then both Mal and I glanced at the scoreboard and both of us thought that we saw Yale up on Boston College.  We were quite surprised.   But knowing that scoreboards can be wrong, I pulled up the score on my phone.  But the scoreboard was correct as the Bulldogs, twenty point underdogs, were up by ten at the Eagles.   Yale would eventually win 75-67 for a big road win.

As the Illini-Longhorns game started, you could tell immediately that this was going to be a competitive first half.  #22 Texas has some really talented athletes, especially the trio of senior Gary Johnson, sophomore Jordan Hamilton and the dynamic freshman Tristan Thompson.  But #16 Illinois, who I saw last holding off Stony Brook in the NIT in March, has talent too.   D.J. Richardson and Demetri McCamey are an excellent guard combination.

And it was evident that both of these talented teams had their games on.  Hamilton scored eleven of his team's first thirteen points and the Longhorns were up 13-9.   But McCamey's five points were part of a 7-0 Fighting Illini mini spurt as Illinois went up 16-13.  But like a good championship boxing match with two equal contenders, the Longhorns would fight back with a 13-4 run of their own.  Thompson would punctuate this run with a dunk to put Texas up 26-20 with a little less than ten minutes left in the first half.

During this time, we found out that Richmond-Iona were waging their own battle, now heading into a second overtime.  The Gaels would eventually prevail 81-77 in double overtime.  It was a huge win for Iona for two reasons.  First, it kept them from an 0-4 start (Iona is now 1-3).  And second, the Gaels got a big win over a previously unbeaten team that made the NCAA Tournament last season and that was returning its best player in Kevin Anderson.  Tim Cluess' first win as a Division I coach was a big one.

Meanwhile, Tristan Thompson's layup put the Longhorns up eight, 30-22.  Just as it looked like Texas was making a statement to the large orange Fighting Illini student section, Illinois came back.   Brandon Paul buried two straight three pointers, sandwiching another Thompson layup and Illinois was down 32-28 with 7:41 left.

Illinois would continue their comeback by outscoring the Longhorns by seven over the next five minutes.  McCamey's three point jumper would cap that comeback and the Fighting Illini were back up 42-39 with 2:37 left.   But once again, the Longhorns would return the favor.   Thompson who had previously hit a jumper to put Texas up 39-37, scored Texas' next four points as well to put them back up 43-42.

The six foot eight Thompson was downright impressive.  He is explosive on the offensive end and even has a nice jumper in his arsenal, and defensively he can take over a game with his shot blocking ability.  He is shooting 55 percent from the field on the season and averaging nearly 3 blocks as well.  If he has one weakness, it's his free throw shooting.  He was 4 of 12 in the game vs. Illinois and is shooting under 50 percent from the line on the season (16 of 33).

The half ended as it should with Mike Tisdale burying an open three to tie the game at 45.  Both teams shot well over 50 percent in the first half.  And it wasn't like both teams aren't good defensively (both teams would end up shooting well under 50 percent for the game).   It was just two good ranked teams on their offensive games in the first half.

The first half would be it for me.  I had to leave to catch an 11:09 PM train to head back to the Island.  Tieff had left somewhat earlier but Mal's train was ten minutes later than mine and he decided to stay to watch the start of the second half.   As I got back to the Hicksville train station near midnight and made it to my car in a remote parking lot, I turned on the radio.  I quickly got a 1050 radio update that the game was heading in overtime, which with these two teams made a lot of sense.   Quickly I drove home and was able to catch on TV Texas pulling away for the 90-84 OT win.

I didn't feel any regret that I left a good Garden Party early.  Too many deadlines and commitments were again facing me later that day at work.  But I also know that I had a ticket in my wallet.  It was for Wednesday, November 24th at 7:00 PM.  Section 110, Row A, Seat 10.  The ticket is for the Preseason NIT Tipoff at MSG.  Once again, next week I will be at another Garden Party.  And with Thanksgiving the very next day, I won't have to worry about leaving early.  I plan on staying for the entire party.

Quick Miscellaneous Thoughts for a Thursday

Yesterday was my younger son Jonathan's birthday.  He turned three. He's into monster trucks and monster dunks.  Maybe someday he will love college basketball as much as his dad.  But for now, it's Monster Truck Mater and his preschool basketball hoop.

We are nearing a full week of college basketball.  Some major tournaments start today with the Puerto Rico Tipoff and the Charleston Classic being the main two tournaments.  There are some really good games on TV tonight and if you are in the local NY area, I would suggest one of two venues.  One is New Rochelle where Iona hosts Richmond.  And two, there is the 2K classic semifinals tonight at MSG.

Speaking of which, if you are one of the few, the proud, the avid readers of this site, I wrote an article disparaging the notion that 2K Classic was a tournament.  And if you read the article, it truly is not "a tournament".  And Charleston nearly put a nice dent into the 2K classic by giving Maryland a major scare, but fell short at the end.

Well, the first irony is that I will be at MSG tonight for the semifinals of this "tournament".  But before you are thinking, "What's with the advertisement for the 2K Classic?", let me tell you the second irony.  Three days after I wrote my 2K classic article, I got an email message advertising the tournament.  Now I checked my email history and I never had been in touch with the Gazelle Group before. No not even to abuse them about the CBI.

So how did I get this?  Well, here's what I think happened.  If you click on my name under contributors on this blog's home page, you get my profile.  You can then click on "email" under contact to email me.  Some enterprising person, perhaps even one of my wiseacre friends, or perhaps the Gazelle Group themselves (yeah right) decided to sign me up for their mailing list.  I think it's actually pretty funny and whoever decided to do that, props to you.

Congrats to VCU, who themselves are going to MSG next week for the Preseason NIT Tipoff.  The Rams punched their ticket by punching out Wake Forest 90-61 in Winston Salem Tuesday night.  VCU will play Tennessee in one of the semifinals while UCLA takes on Villanova in the other semifinal.  The stat of Tuesday night.  The Rams forced 23 turnovers on the Demon Deacons but only committed seven themselves.  Talk about ball possession.

Sticking with the Virginia schools, I am going to give credit to Virginia Tech for actually scheduling a tough non conference ROAD game vs. Kansas State.  And the Hokies were playing well till my friend Mal gave them "The Marv Albert Kiss of Death", then the Wildcats rolled over them.  But still, they will be guaranteed not having the 339th ranked non conference schedule they had last season, since they also play Purdue and Mississippi State as well.

But a note to Seth Greenberg - How about playing teams in your backyard?  Meaning, why doesn't Virginia Tech play VCU or Old Dominion or Richmond?  There's not much traveling involved since all are in the same state and it guarantees the Hokies a good non conference strength of schedule.  So c'mon Hokies, how about helping yourselves, your fellow Virginia schools and Virginia basketball fans and schedule some in-state games.  Imagine a yearly in-state tripleheader featuring Richmond, Old Dominion, VCU, William and Mary, Virginia and Virginia Tech.  I can.

Despite not being able to watch just about all of the 24 Hours of Hoops Tuesday on ESPN, I did somehow manage to stay up and watch San Diego State vs. Gonzaga.  And I tell you, if you didn't watch the game live, the replay should be on ESPN3.  Watch the game just for the performance by the Aztecs' Billy White.  White is a 6 foot 8 senior forward who can shoot from the outside as well as score from the post.  He was 14 of 18 from the field, including 2 of 2 from beyond the arc, for 30 points and he added 9 rebounds. White was downright dominant.  Also, I was wondering why Elias Harris looked so out of it on Tuesday night.  Now we know why - Harris hurt his achilles during the game. Hopefully Harris will be OK.

Enjoy your Thursday.

Deadlines and Commitments vs. the 24 Hours of Hoops

I was 14 years old when I first heard "Against the Wind" by Bob Seger.  It was such a great song that I immediately went out and got "Against the Wind" and "Nine Tonight" as well as Seger's older albums "Night Moves" and "Live Bullet".  Very quickly, I became a huge Bob Seger fan.  And as much as I loved songs like "Katmandu", "Beautiful Loser", "Till it Shines", "You'll Accompany Me" and the live "Mainstreet", no Seger song spoke to me over the years more than "Against the Wind".

"I was living to run and running to live
Never worried about paying
or even how much I owed.
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time
Breaking all of the rules that would bend..."

Ten years later, I was 24 years old, had a good paying job, an attractive girlfriend, and a basement apartment that I was rarely ever in.  Somehow I was doing something every night and all weekend, playing in four softball leagues, hanging out with friends at bars, going to baseball games or spending time with the girlfriend.  I had no savings, but no cares and having an out and out ball.

Over the years, the girlfriend became an ex, the softball leagues lessened from four to one, then eventually none and priorities changed.  I started a new job in 1993 and it took a work colleague to thankfully yell at me to ask out my wife over 16 years ago.  We got married in 1996 and started saving for a house while taking that one summer vacation a year. In 2002 we moved into our first house, our current house.

I always had been a big college basketball fan, but during this time, actually three years prior starting in 1999,  I became even a bigger fan.  Thanks to the Flying Dutchmen teams of Speedy Claxton, Norman Richardson, Jason Hernandez and Rick Apodaca, my love of college hoops grew.  First it was season tickets to Hofstra games and as many games at MSG that I could go to, then the annual road trips to Richmond with Tieff.  Then Tieff and I started doing other road trips to Towson, Drexel, and Delaware.  I was learning that there was nothing better than watching live college basketball

In July of 2005, my first son Matthew was born.  Most of my time was spent at work, taking care of my first born with my wife, and the rare free moments in the winter, college basketball.  During this time I started my college basketball blog in December 2005.  Little did I know then how special that 2005-06 season would become.

In the past few years, thanks to a very understanding wife, I have gone to the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Raleigh, seen the first ever Charleston Classic, and continued to go to a lot of local area games, including keeping my section 111 Row D seats at Hofstra and seeing my friend, Tony Bozzella turn a women's basketball program around at Iona.

Well those drifter's days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave out

But in the past couple of years, things have changed.  In March of 2009,  I missed the CAA Tournament for the first time in several years due to my younger son's kidney surgery. Family commitment always comes first.  I was able to go back to this year's CAA Tournament. But this past year's NCAA Tournament, the Year of the Mid Major, was the ninth straight year where I was working during the first day of the NCAA Tournament (when I went to the 2008 Raleigh Regional, it was the Friday-Sunday regional and Tieff, Mal and  flew down to Raleigh Good Friday morning, when my office was closed for the holiday).

A few months ago I was hoping to go to the Puerto Rico Tipoff down in San Juan.  But besides the fact that my younger son's birthday was the day before the Tournament, something else was telling me not to go.  It would turn out that the past few months have been extremely busy at work, and I was about to lose two vital staff members of my department in the span of a month (along with my boss who left in September).  I truly have so many "deadlines and commitments" and there seems to be nothing I can "leave out".

So when the 24 Hours of Hoops on ESPN started at midnight this morning,  I wasn't that excited.  It wasn't because the games weren't compelling.  Part of me would have loved to stay up at 2:00 AM to watch St John's take on one of my favorite teams of recent years, St Mary's.  But that would have meant being up till 4:00 AM to watch the Gaels beat the Jonnies.  There were more pressing issues, like getting sleep and then later getting up early preparing my agenda for my 9:00 AM meeting and two interviews to replace my one open position in my department.

Outside of a few minutes of watching Stony Brook rally against Monmouth during breakfast, I didn't have time to watch any of the other games on the WWL marathon online on ESPN3 during the day (though I did check scores from time to time). When I got home tonight,  my friend Mal texted me that the Hokies were "playing well" against the Wildcats.  I turned on the TV in time to see Mal give Va Tech the "Marv Albert Curse of Death" as Kansas State rolled over them in the second half.

I had to go out and run errands this evening.  It's also my younger son's birthday tomorrow so I had to go get balloons for his party.  Then it was off to get dress pants for work and a haircut.  After I finally got home, I started writing this article while finally being able to watch some basketball.  Unfortunately it was Butler struggling and eventually losing against Louisville (don't worry Bulldogs fans, remember they struggled at the start of last season too).

As I wrote this, I only realize it is only going to get tougher as the years go.  My wife works Sundays now which makes going to Iona women's games or other local men's basketball games on Sundays much harder with two cute boys in tow.   And it's only a matter of time when they get old enough that I will be taking them to their own basketball games or other activities.  Their lives will become even more of my life, and I would want it no other way.  That means less time for live college basketball and less time for this blog.

"Against the wind
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm older now but still runnin' against the wind."

I am not complaining mind you.  In this economy,  I know that I am very fortunate to have a full time paying job when people I know quite well who have been out of a job for a while.  And I have been blessed with a wonderful wife and two cute kids who thankfully have their mom's looks.

And that exactly puts everything in perspective.  Compared to surviving, providing for your children and trying to save for their future is much more important than being able to regularly watch college basketball live or hell, even write about it.

As much as I love writing this blog, if the time comes due to greater priorities where I don't have the time or commitment to write this blog, it will end.  But I know there are many good writers whose work I read on a daily basis that will fill that void for me.  And I will still find the time for the occasional live game.

But until that time comes, this blog and this blog's main charge about seeing college basketball live and writing about it will continue.  Come Thursday evening, I will be once again at a live college basketball event.  A doubleheader at MSG for the 2K Classic, sharing it with my two good friends Mal and Tieff.   And you can be damn sure there will be an article about it the next day.

In 2007 I got to finally see Bob Seger live at MSG.   After a great main part of the concert, Seger started his encore with "Against the Wind".   The whole Garden crowd sang along as they did in the Kansas City video up above.  It seemed that all of Seger's fans truly understood the song's meaning after all these years and really cherish that song.  For like me, they all too have been running against the wind.  I think we all have.  That's how we roll, how we survive.

So keep running against the wind.  There really is no other way.

Thoughts from the Past Weekend

It was the first weekend of college basketball for the 2010-11 season.  Two hundred and thirty seven games played over three days.  And already there are a few things of note to talk about as hoops are "back in the saddle" again.

Watched the JMU vs Kansas State game last Friday night.  James Madison's JUCO transfer Rayshawn Goins is a load in the post.  He had a 17 points and 12 rebounds Friday night vs. Kansas State.  The problem is that the Dukes' Denzel Bowles, a preseason First Team CAA Player, has a similar post game and he seemed lost on Friday night.  Bowles who averaged 21 points and 9 rebounds per game last season only attempted seven shots, hit four of them and was 3 of 6 from the line for eleven points.  Bowles and Goins didn't mesh well together.  And it didn't help that JMU also had 26 turnovers, which was their biggest problem last season.   James Madison's offense seems to be a work in progress.  They may continue to struggle for a while.

ODU fans, I wouldn't worry about the loss against Georgetown.  Mike Litos of CAAHoops correctly notes the key stretch that cost the Monarchs the game vs. the Hoyas.  But the bright side for Old Dominion, good balance offensively - Frank Hassell, Ben Finney and Kent Bazemore each with 13 points. And the Monarchs did their usual dominance on the glass outrebounding Georgetown 38-27.  Monarchs will be just fine.

The question for yesterday was Fran McCaffery covering his eyes in disgust for his team's play or did his wife get tossed out of another basketball game? (McCaffery's wife was tossed out of a Siena vs Hofstra Bracketbuster game in 2006).  The Hawkeyes lost at home to the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State yesterday.

Best Coaching Move of the Night - After I watched the UVA- Hofstra women's basketball game last Friday night, I was listening on the drive home to the Brown vs. Fordham game on WFUV 90.7 FM, the Fordham U radio station.  Fordham had cut a 40-27 halftime deficit down to one, 49-48 in the second half with 9:14 remaining.  Bears coach Jesse Agel called timeout and inserted three point shooter Adrian Williams into the game.  Williams buried two threes in a row.  Good job by the Fordham announcers to point out how the Rams defense left the corner open for three pointers and that Agel noticed that and inserted Williams into the game.  Thus the two threes.  Brown eventually won 69-65.

After Wake Forest lost at home to Stetson on Friday, if you are VCU/Winthrop, are you licking your chops for a second round matchup vs. the Demon Deacons in the Preseason NIT Tipoff?  Especially now after Wake point guard Tony Chennault broke his foot and is out 8-10 weeks.  By the way, wonder how Wake fans feel after they lost their home opener. Might not have happened had their AD not fired a coach that led the Deacons to a first round NCAA Tournament win.

Well, when the next Mid Majors Baker's Dozen comes out, one team that will not be in the countdown is Iona.  They had a really tough weekend at the World Vision Classic at Cleveland State.  A one point loss to a Kent State team considered a favorite in the MAC, then a loss to Cleveland State, who went undefeated in the tournament.  Finally the Gaels lost on a buzzer beater to a Bryant team that won ONE game last season.  Yup 1-29.  Rough start for Coach Tim Cluess and the Maroon.

And when the next Mid Majors Baker's Dozen comes out, one team that I have a feeling will definitely be in the countdown is Cleveland State.  The Vikings ran the table in the World Vision Classic defeating two teams that were considered to finish at the top part of their leagues in Kent State and Iona.  That is due in large part to one Norris Cole.  Cole averaged 23 points for the three games and was 24 of 29 from the line.

A lot of the weekend hoops talk was about the slugfest between Georgetown over Old Dominion or the upsets by Stetson and South Dakota State over Wake and Iowa respectively.  But an under the radar game was the beatdown Western Kentucky gave to St Joe's on the Hawks home court 98-70.  Sergio Karush scored 31 points, Juan Pattilo and Stepphon Pettigrew each had 17 for the Hilltoppers.  WKU was 51 percent from beyond the arc (11 of 21).

The Hilltoppers are part of the killer group of teams playing in the Puerto Rico Tipoff (North Carolina, West Virginia, Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Nebraska, Hofstra and Davidson are the other seven teams).  A couple of wins there and Western Kentucky will have a spot in the Tastiest Thirteen Mid Majors Team Countdown.

Back Where It All Begins

There is nothing like the first home game to a new basketball season.  It's been nearly five years since I first started writing this blog.  Despite all the name changes, the different sites, even the various people who at times contributed to this blog, one thing has remained the same.  The home base is Hofstra.  So thus it's "Back Where it All Begins.", a nice lead in for an Allman Brothers song and the start of another Hofstra basketball season.   And today, November 13, 2010 marked that beginning of the Pride's 2010-11 basketball season as they took on Farmingdale State, a team with a very successful recent history in Division III.

But it was not just the beginning of a new basketball season, it was also the beginning of a new coaching era.  While Tom Pecora took his ball to the Bronx, where now "It's game time" for Fordham, Hofstra eventually found its way to its new coach, Mo Cassara.   To say Coach Cassara is excited about the opportunity to coach at a Division I level, well that might be the understatement of the season.

The night before, Tieff and I joined Jerry Beach at his usual seat, behind the basket near Hofstra's bench, as we all watched the Hofstra women take on Virginia.   And around halftime, the new Men's Basketball coach came by to say hi and ended up chatting with us for a while.   Coach Cassara is a down to earth, incredibly engaging person, and I know we all enjoyed talking with him very much.  You can see he is so grateful for the opportunity to be the head coach, truly appreciates all the support the Hofstra Community has given him so far and is a flat out workaholic, as most coaches are.   But most coaches don't go out and high five the first row of the student section like Coach Cassara did today before the start of the game.

And with that as the backdrop, the Pride hosted the Rams for the second season in a row in front of an energetic crowd of 3,727 at the Mack Center, over 1,000 fans more than last season's opener against those same Rams.  With three new starters in the Hofstra lineup and especially after a somewhat flat exhibition win over Molloy, one didn't know what to expect from this team today.

But the two starting seniors, defending CAA Player of the Year, Charles Jenkins and forward Greg Washington set out to alleviate any concerns Pride fans may have had.  The two combined for fourteen of the Pride's first seventeen points.   Hofstra quickly built a ten point lead, 22-12 as one of the Pride's six new faces (if you count soon to be eligible Brad Kelleher and transfer Mike Moore), freshman Shemiye McLendon nailed a three pointer.  The lead would eventually double in size when McLendon hit another beyond the arc to put Hofstra up 42-20 before eventually settling for a 46-27 halftime score.

Now it seemed like the Pride were playing much better than last season's game vs the Rams.  But upon closer inspection, in last year's game, the lead at halftime was 53-28 Pride and the shooting percentages were pretty close (28 percent for the Rams this game as opposed to 31 percent in last seasons' game).  So defensively, it was about the same.

But there were two reasons why there was a difference from last season's game   First, the crowd was much more into this game than last season's.  There was an energy here that was lacking at last season's game. Now the additional 1,000 fans definitely helped and it was clearly apparent in the student section.  The Lions Den was especially vocal throughout especially in their love of Charles Jenkins. The chant "Charles Jenk-ins. N-B-A" was a constant throughout the game.

And the second reason was the offense was much better in this game than last season's.  Jenkins for his part didn't disappoint the crowd.  The defending Haggerty Award Winner for best metro NYC player of last season scored 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting from the field, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. But Jenkins also added 8 rebounds and 8 assists while only committing 2 turnovers.

But Jenkins was not alone as the Pride shot nearly 59 percent from the field in the second half and nearly 54 percent for the game (compared to 44 percent in last season's game vs the Rams).  The freshman McLendon, who did not play in the Malloy exhibition, was an absolute revelation, shooting 6 of 10 from the field, and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc for 16 points.  Dwan McMillan had 15 points, including 9 of 10 from the free throw line, while adding six assists and zero turnovers.  Mike Moore only played 20 minutes, as Cassara gave McLendon quality minutes.  But in those 20 minutes, Moore had 13 points, including 6 of 6 from the line as he consistently drove the lane.  Greg Washington also had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks.

But it wasn't just the shooting that was better.  Tieff and I noticed much better ball movement by the Pride as opposed to last season.  As Jerry Beach's wife, Michelle noted to me during halftime, it seemed the passes "were a lot crisper" in this game than last season.  And it showed in the box score.  Twenty five assists to thirteen turnovers which for a team with three new starters is pretty good.

Now the concern Tieff and I had was the depth of the frontcourt.  Washington played well as did David Imes with seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.  Stephen Nwaukoni again was active on the boards with eight rebounds in thirteen minutes (Nwaukoni could use some work on his finishes as he was scoreless on five attempts).  However, Rolando Brown and Paul Bilbo did not get into the game until six minutes left.  Brown did show some promise with four points and five rebounds during that time, so hopefully he will be the fourth man in that rotation.  It's also quite possible this season you might see Coach Cassara play four guards at a time if the bigs get into foul trouble.

The Pride would win the game 102-62.  Alas, there were no free tacos to be given out for Hofstra breaking the one hundred point barrier.   However, based on a loud and very happy crowd, no free tacos withstanding,  it was a very good day for the Pride and Coach Cassara.  Of course Division I competition awaits in the form of #9 ranked North Carolina in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tipoff on Thursday November 18, which is the Pride's next game.   But for the first step of a new era,  it was a very good beginning, especially for those of us where it's "back where it all begins".

Final from Hofstra

I originally thought Hofstra hit a three, but it was a two.  Final, Hofstra 102 Farmingdale State 62.  More on this later. Congratulations to Coach Mo Cassara on his first Division I win..in his first ever Division I game.

Hofstra Up Forty

FREE Tacos. OK maybe not. But Hof has 103 points. Farmingdale 60. 1:02 left in game.

Pride Playing Very Well

Pride up 30, 83-53 with 8:11 left in the game. McLendon damn impressive with 7:44 left.

Pride Up Twenty One

Dwan McMillan playing a solid point for Pride. Hofstra up 56-35 with 16:56 left second half. Sweet Child of Mine on PR system during timeout.

Pride Up at the Half

Hofstra up 46-27 at halftime. Coach Cassara has to be pleased somewhat by his team's first half play.

More of the Same

Hofstra up 39-20 with 3:23 left 1st half. Nice effort so far by the Pride. Jenkins just picked up his 2nd foul. He put his hand out to Coach Cassara to say he's good and stays in the game.

Hofstra Up Fourteen

Hofstra playing very good defense. Pride up 30-14 with 8:19 left 1st half.

Pride Up Early

Hof up 26-12. The Pride playing very well on both ends of the court. 11:03 left first half .

Back at the Mack

I am here at the Mack for Farmingdale State vs. Hofstra. Periodic updates to come.

Hofstra Women Lose at Home to Virginia

They unfurled the WNIT banner before the start of last night's Virginia vs Hofstra women's basketball game.  It was not only a celebration of the Pride's past season but an encouraging sign of things to come, as evidenced by an enthusiastic crowd at the Mack Center.  The Pride had an excellent chance for a women's RLU against a Cavalier squad that had made the NCAA Tournament the past three seasons.  The Pride are returning most of their team from last season plus a couple of talented freshmen.

And the Pride held their ground for most of the game against the Cavaliers.  While UVA preferred to work it inside (the Cavaliers would eventually outscore the Pride in the paint 44-26), Hofstra worked their magic from beyond the arc.   Freshman Kate Loper would bury four three pointers as the Pride had six total in the first twenty minutes.   The teams would trade the lead several times in the first half

But as the first half went on, there were warning signs for Hofstra.  Both of Hofstra's starting forwards, Shante Evans and Marie Malone quickly picked up two fouls and only played a combined 15 minutes in the first half.  And the Cavaliers dominated the boards in the first half  34-17.

This resulted in a lot of second and third chance opportunities.  But the Cavaliers weren't cashing in, as they only shot 35 percent from the field in the first half.  Even worse, the Cavaliers only hit 8 of 17 free throws in the first half.   A combination of tough Pride defense and the Cavaliers own ineptitude kept it close as the Cavaliers were up 32-30 at halftime.   The Pride had to do a better job working the ball inside as they only had three free throw attempts (and missed all three) in the first half.

The second half started out with Hofstra point guard Candice Bellocchio burying another three to put the Pride up one, 33-32.   Between Bellochio and forward Marie Malone, who had a quick two baskets, the Pride were able to keep it close, only down one at 41-40 with sixteen minutes left.  But by that time, Malone picked up two quick fouls and headed to the bench.   Still a three point play by Bellocchio put the Pride up two 45-43 with 13:48.

But again, the Cavaliers were wearing down the Pride inside.  A layup by UVA's Lexie Gerson with eleven and a half minutes remaining gave the Cavs a 49-47 lead that they would not relinquish again.  It would become a part of a 26-7 run over the span of nearly seven and a half minutes.  UVA would go up 73-54 with four minutes left (and in fact Tieff called that a couple of minutes prior that the lead would be 19 at most - swear to God).  During that time the rebounding margin got wider and wider.  

At the end of the game, which Virginia won 82-66,  the Cavaliers outrebounded the Pride 65-34.    Evans, Hofstra's best player, only scored seven points while the freshman Loper led the Pride with 17 points.   Virginia, which shot 51 percent from the field in the second half,  had four players in double figures led by Whitny Edwards with 16 while Gerson had 14.    The Pride continue their season by hosting Saint Peter's on Monday night.

At Hofstra- UVA Game

Follow the action with my twitter account @gmoore21566

The Mid Majors Bakers' Dozen

As I prepared for the start of a new season of College Hardwood articles, I looked back on my previous season's blog articles, especially for today's article, the first Mid Majors Bakers' Dozen of the 2010-11 season.  When I wrote my last Mid Majors Bakers' Dozen back on February 26, a week before mid major conference tournaments started, I had no idea of the impact that those fourteen teams (there was a tie for 13th) would have on the NCAA Tournament.   Seven of those teams won a first round game in the NCAA Tournament.   Four of those teams would make it to the Sweet Sixteen.   And of course, one of those teams, Butler, would come within a just missed buzzer bank shot of winning the whole thing.

Here's the kicker though.  Of those fourteen teams, only one, Kent State did not make the NCAA Tournament (Kent State went to the NIT).  And as everyone knows, or should know, the Golden Flashes lost to the Bobcats of Ohio in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament.  The same Bobcats that of course would win the MAC as a ninth seed, then simply annihilate Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  Ohio was the eighth true mid major team to win a game in the tournament (we will allow wannabe Xavier to be the ninth mid major team).  2009-10 was the season of the mid major.

Now back on December 15, 2009, no one had any idea what was going to take place a few months later.  Certainly not me when I wrote my first Mid Majors Baker's Dozen for the 2009-10 season.  Only six of the thirteen teams in my first countdown made the NCAA Tournament (but all six won a game in the NCAA Tournament).  That goes to show you how long the season really is and how hard it is to predict what teams will make an impact by the end of the season.

Still, you have to stick with tradition and this countdown has been a part of this site for several years now. So without further ado, grab a boston creme, a cup of coffee, and enjoy the first countdown of the tastiest thirteen mid major teams in the country as of November 12, 2010.

1) Butler - The Bulldogs showed the college basketball world that if you have balls to the wall defense, all for one and one for all teamwork, timely shooting plus a good amount of talent (Gordon Hayward, ninth overall NBA draft pick), you can play with and beat the big boys.   Hayward, Willie Veasley and Avery Jukes are all gone but there is more than enough left to make at least another Sweet Sixteen run.  The Shelvin Mack Attack is back for another season as is point guard Ronald Nored.

But the key for The Butler Way 2010-11 Version to be successful is the return to 2008-09 season form of forward Matt Howard.  Last season, Howard sat way too often on the sidelines with foul trouble (only averaged 25 minutes per game).  The Bulldogs could make up for it with Hayward, Mack, Nored, Veasley and Jukes picking up their share.  But with three of those players now gone, there is less leeway for Howard to be foul prone.   Yes he will get help from an improving Andrew Smith and freshman Erik Fromm and Khyle Marshall.  But Howard must play 30 plus minutes for the Bulldogs to be successful.  The schedule will not be easy though as Butler looks to be Gonzaga 2.0.

2) Gonzaga - While Butler looks to be Gonzaga 2.0, the original version, Gonzaga 1.0 would tell you that they are still going quite strong, thank you.  The Zags made it to the round of 32 last season before losing to Syracuse.  Despite the loss of Matt Bouldin, one of the more underrated players last season, the 1.0 Bulldogs return four of their five starters, including Elias Harris, who quite possibly might be one of the five best players in the country this season.  Gonzaga also returns sweet shooting guard Stephen Gray and seven footer Robert Sacre, both double digit scorers.  Guard Demetri Goodson looks to improve on his 1.8 assists per game.

The Zags schedule is never easy, and this season is no exception.  Road games at #3 Kansas State,  #14 Baylor, Wake Forest and Notre Dame, plus home games vs. Illinois, Oklahoma State,San Diego State and Xavier.  Seven NCAA Tournament teams and one NIT team.  Talk about working the non conference SOS and RPI.   If Harris again improves this season, by season's end, it's very possible that Gonzaga 1.0 will be the better version than Gonzaga 2.0.

3) Old Dominion -  The Monarchs continue the pattern of "Lose your best player from last season but still be ranked in the countdown".  Forward Gerald Lee graduated but ODU returns its other four starters - Kent Bazemore, Darius James, Frank Hassell and Ben Finney, plus their sixth man Keyon Carter.  The Monarchs were one of the best teams in the country in scoring defense, only allowing 57 points per game.  And their defense on Luke Harangody enabled ODU to defeat the Land of the Leprechauns in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

ODU immediately faces a challenge tonight when they host Georgetown.  The schedule doesn't get any easier probable second round game vs. Clemson in the Paradise Jam.  Then another home game with Richmond on December 1,  a home game vs. Dayton on December 11, then a road swing to #15 Missouri on December 30 before conference play starts.  As long as the Monarchs can make up for the loss of their leading scorer in Lee with more balanced scoring from the rest of their cast, Old Dominion should be a good bet to repeat as CAA champ.

4) Murray State - The Racers had a marvelous 2009-10 season.   Only one loss in the Ohio Valley, a first round upset over fourth seeded Vanderbilt and a near upset of Butler.  Thirty one wins on the season.  And here's the scary part - eight of the Racers' best players, including their three top scorers are back for another season.   And the Racers are an excellent defensive team, leading the OVC in scoring defense, FG percentage defense, three point FG percentage defense and blocked shots.

Their schedule shows that the Racers are no longer an unknown quantity this season.  A road game vs. Mississippi starts things off,  followed later with three games in the 76 Classic. In the first round of the 76 Classic, the Racers face Stanford, followed by potential games vs. UNLV, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech or Tulsa.  Can the Racers follow the standard set by another mid major that played in the 76 Classic last year, Butler?   Time will tell.



5) Wichita State - I am old school. And once in a while, when I think of the Wichita State Shockers, I think of the above Glen Campbell song. So sorry, but when talking about Wichita State, I just had to include that video.

The Shockers are back from a season where they started out 19-4 but struggled down the stretch to finish 25-10.  However they were able to wiin two games in the Valley Tournament, before losing to Northern Iowa in the MVC championship game.  The Shockers season finished with a 74-70 loss at home to Nevada in the first round of the NIT, which was their only home loss on the season.

The Shockers return eight of their nine top players, with the lone exception being Clevin Hannah, their leading scorer from last year (hey, we're continuing the pattern here).  But Toure' Murray and J.T. Durley, who averaged almost as many points as Hannah are back (11.9 and 11.2).  Wichita State looks poised to win the Valley this season and they have a chance early on to show the nation how good they will be as they will be a part of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.  A first round game vs. UConn awaits and depending on the outcome there, the Shockers could potentially face 2010 Final Four Member Michigan State, an Enes Kanter-less Kentucky, Washington, Oklahoma or Virginia. Further on in their non-conference season schedule, Wichita State plays at San Diego State and LSU.  Yes, this season, Wichita State has the chance to truly be...shockers! (I know, bad pun).

6) Utah State -  There are certainties in life.  Death, taxes and Utah State having another really good season.
Since the 2001-02 season, Utah State has had nine consecutive 23 plus win seasons, five NCAA appearances and five NIT appearances. Stu Morrill's teams are always among the best in FG percentage in the country and this year looks no different.  Despite losing their second leading scorer, Jared Quayle, to graduation, the Aggies return their leading scorer, Senior Tai Wesley and his 57 percent shooting from the field and fellow starters Nate Bendall, Pooh Williams and Tyler Newbold.

The Aggies are known for not venturing outside of Logan often during non-conference season.   But the Aggies scheduled a dandy road game at Georgetown on December 4th, plus they have the usual in state rivalries with BYU (at Provo) and Utah (at home in Logan).  Look for Utah State, perhaps the most underrated mid major in the country, to post another 23 plus win season, shoot a high field goal percentage and take another trip to the Big Dance.

7) Missouri State - The Valley has not had a multiple NCAA bid season since 2006-07 (Creighton and Southern Illinois).  In the past three seasons, only the conference tournament champion has gone on to the NCAA Tournament (Drake in 2007-08 and Northern Iowa in the past two seasons).  Could this finally be the season that the Valley breaks that drought?  Wichita State certainly looks to be a NCAA Tournament team and with all their players returning, so does Missouri State.

Potential MVC player of the year Kyle Weems leads the Bears, along with fellow double digit scorers Adam Leonard and Jermaine Mallett should give MSU fans plenty of reason to cheer this season.  Valley President Doug Elgin should be happy with the Bears non conference schedule.  Missouri State is also playing in the NIT Season Tip Off with a potential second round game at Tennessee looming.  Plus the Bears travel to Oklahoma State before kicking their conference schedule into gear on December 29 vs defending champion Northern Iowa.



8) Ohio - Think about the Bobcats 2009-10 season for a second or two.  This was a team that at one time was 6-9 in conference with a 16-14 overall record.  After needing overtime to defeat Ball State in the first round of the MAC tournament , the Bobcats were probably considered an afterthought to a Kent State team they lost twice to during the regular season.  Then after a seventeen point win over the Golden Flashes, the above Tom Petty song was probably what most people thought about Ohio.  But the Bobcats then proceeded to down Miami and then Akron to win the MAC Tournament. Then in the penultimate moment of the season, Ohio thoroughly trounced #3 seed Georgetown 97-83 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (the Bobcats lost to Tennessee in the second round).

Armon Bassett left for a pro career after last season, but Ohio is not Old Mother Hubbard with a bare cupboard. The rest of the starting Bobcat five is back with double digit scorers D.J. Copper, DeVaughan Washington, Steven Coleman and Tommy Freeman.  The Bobcats do not have an easy non conference schedule. A home game with fellow 2009-10 NCAA Tournament member Oakland, then a first round game vs. #7 Kansas in the Las Vegas Invitational, and a home game in December vs. T#22 emple, another NCAA Tournament team.  The Bobcats won't sneak up on anyone.  But they won't back down either (hey two Tom Petty references in the same team preview. Nice!).

9) VCU - The defending CBI champs (won both games vs. St Louis in the CBI championship) surprisingly at times struggled in conference through their 2009-10 season, finishing fifth in the CAA.  Then after knocking off George Mason in the CAA quarters, the Rams had  ODU on the ropes,but the Monarchs survived winning in overtime.  Again, this is another team that does not return it's best player, Larry Sanders, who declared early for the NBA draft and was picked 15th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks.  However, the other starters, Joey Rodriguez, Brandon Rozzell, Bradford Burgess and Jamie Skeen all return, plus talented sixth man guard Ed Nixon and Darius Theus give the Rams depth in the backcourt.  The frontcourt is a question with only Skeen and David Hinton, returning from injury as the remaining bigs from last season.

The Rams are a part of the Preseason NIT and a second round matchup at Wake Forest looms.  Depending on how they do, they could match up against teams such as Road games at Richmond and UAB, and a home game vs. defending Southern Conference champ Wofford should all provide good tests for VCU before conference season starts.  Could the Colonial get two teams into the NCAA Tournament?.  It's hard to speculate at this time, but with four starters returning from a 25 win season, they should be a tough opponent for basically any team they face.

10) New Mexico State - The other NCAA Tournament member Aggies from the WAC return their talented frontcourt of Wendell McKines, Hamidu Rahman and Troy Gillenwater.  The trio combined to average nearly 36 points and 25 rebounds per game, while collectively shooting over 52 percent from the field.  The Aggies problem is that their two leading scorers, guards Jahmar Young and Jonathan Gibson are no longer on the team, so NMSU must have returning starting point guard Hernst Laroche must step up in the scoring column.

The Aggies waste no time jumping into a good non conference schedule by going to Tucson and facing Arizona, then home games with UMass and USC.  Then New Mexico State has home and homes with both UTEP and New Mexico, two other NCAA Tournament teams from last season.  Finally two days before Christmas, the Aggies host another NCAA Tournament team, Sweet Sixteen member St Mary's.  If NMSU can get relatively good backcourt play to match their excellent front court, it will be another very good season for the Aggies.


11) Oakland - So you lose two of your best Golden Grizzlies in forward Derick Nelson and  guard Johnathon Jones (who averaged 6.4 assists per game), do you worry?  Not when you have the Summit League's best player, Keith Benson, returning.  The double double machine Benson, who averaged 17.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game is a one man wrecking crew.  Fortunately for Benson, guard Larry Wright and his 11 points per game average also returns.  Guard Ledrick Eagles and forward Will Hudson will both have to step up into larger roles.

Give the Golden Grizzlies a lot of credit, they don't mess around with their non conference schedule.  Oakland starts at West Virginia, then Ohio. Follow that up with at Purdue, at Illinois, at Michigan State (please don't tell me the Palace at Auburn Hills is a neutral game. Gimme a break).  Top that with at Ohio State and at Michigan and I am just exhausted writing that.  But remember what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  And that's why Oakland had a RPI of 65 last season and was more than ready for the Summit Conference.  Check back with the Golden Grizzlies come March Madness time.

12) St Mary's - So you lose "The Beast" Omar "Enter the Sandman" Samhan, a long time favorite here at the College Hardwood and Ben Allen from their Sweet Sixteen team.  What's a Gaels team to do?  Reload with the perimeter shooting  of Mickey McDonnell, Matthew Dellavedova and Clint Steindl.  Mix in Jordan Page and Mitchell Young, the main two players off the bench last season and the Gaels will be just fine thank you.

St Mary's always plays a tough non conference schedule.  This season is no different.  The Gaels host St John's before heading to the South Padre Classic to take on Texas Tech, then face either BYU or South Florida. Then it's road games with San Diego State, Long Beach State, New Mexico State and  Mississippi State.  The Gaels road warrior ways should prove valuable come WCC conference time. Look for another three battles with Gonzaga which may determine whether the Gaels go dancing again.


13) Iona -  The other Gaels are my surprise team this season (well, not much of a surprise anymore since Basketball Prospectus picked them to finish first in the MAAC too).  Iona returns four of their starters including Scott Machado, Alejo Rodriguez, Kyle Smith and Jermel Jenkins.  Plus they have one of my favorite coaches, Tim Cluess running the show now (Kevin Willard left for Seton Hall).  Cluess' teams at C.W. Post were always exciting to watch and now he has DI talent to work with.

The Gaels schedule should be challenging.  Iona starts with the World Vision Classic in Cleveland vs 2010 NIT member Kent State, then Cleveland State.  The Gaels have a  home game vs. Richmond next week, then a road game vs. Syracuse before playing Hofstra at home.  The MAAC season starts with a road game vs. defending champ Siena.    It should be a good season for the Maroon.


With all due respect to Christmas, College Basketball is the most wonderful time of the year.  The season truly starts tonight with 134 games on tap and another 61 tomorrow.  Just close your eyes, listen to Johnny Mathis and think of three point baskets, monster dunks, players diving for loose balls and Bruiser Flint doing his stomp at an official's call.  And most importantly, go to a live game this weekend.  Lots to choose from!  Enjoy the start of the best season in sports.