Hofstra Gives Hope for the Holidays (Recap of Colgate vs. Hofstra)

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 yesterday.  I took a half day off yesterday to watch the women's team rally and win an exciting contest over Marist 71-69 to take the championship of the New York Life Holiday Invitational.  Shante Evans dominated the court with a twenty nine point, eighteen rebound performance for the Lady Pride.   Now it was up to the men's team to provide a suitable encore in the nightcap.

The holidays are a wonderful time of year.  But they are also a detriment to the attendance of college basketball games.  The fall undergraduate session ended a few days earlier and there was barely any students in the Lions' Den Section last night.  The overall announced crowd was a little over 1,400, but it felt less to me, especially without rowdy students to harass the Colgate free throw shooters.

The game started out with Hofstra's number one gunslinger, Mike Moore shooting away at the Raiders. Moore buried three shots from beyond the arc and the Pride jumped out to a 17-7 lead with 15:13 left in the first half.   At the time, they were five of nine from the field and it looked like Hofstra, especially Moore, would shoot Colgate out of the Mack Center.

But as has happened many times over the course of this season so far, the Pride would suffer one of their extended shooting slumps.  Over the last fifteen plus minutes of the first half, Hofstra would shoot four of twenty one from the field, including missing their last six shots in the half.  This allowed Colgate to slowly work their way back into the game.  Over the last five plus minutes of the first half, the Raiders outscored the Pride 16-7 to cut the deficit to one, 35-34 at the half.  

Moore had nineteen of Hofstra's thirty five points in the first half.  The problem was the rest of the team combined for sixteen. On top of that, the Pride were shooting thirty percent from the field and no other player had more than five points.  

The halftime event was another CYO basketball game where the teams' colors were actually the same as the Colgate colors.  I had to check to see if we were at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, New York (home of Colgate University).  And actually, the Raiders brought a decent rooting section with them behind their bench.

At the start of the second half, Colgate had a chance to take their first lead of the game, but Mitch Rolls would miss a jumper.  It was the last chance the Raiders would have to take the lead the rest of the game. How the Pride would secure the win in the second half was possibly the most interesting dynamic so far this  season.

Before the game, Bryant Crowder left the Hofstra men's team for personal reasons.  He had been suspended most of the season and I happen to see in person two of the three games he played in for the Pride.  Combine that with starting point guard Steve Mejia out due to a lingering hamstring problem and Hofstra had only an eight men available to play last night.   It meant everyone had to step up for Coach Mo Cassara last night and they did so in the second half.

 But before they did so, a play occurred early in the second half with an interesting subplot, well perhaps interesting to only yours truly.  Colgate's Pat Moore committed a hard foul on Hofstra's Mike Moore, sending him crashing to the floor.  A flagrant foul was called resulting in free throws, Hofstra retaining the ball and Pat Moore being public enemy number one for the Hofstra fans the rest of the night.   There should be a law against "Moore on Moore Violence", especially when the author shares the same last name as the two players involved.  Also it should be noted that Pat is probably short for Patrick, which happens to be my older son Matthew's middle name as well as mine.  After the play, I publicly disavowed to my fellow season ticket holders around me of any relation to the Raiders' Moore.

After the "Moore on Moore Violence" occurred, Hofstra started to slowly pull away from Colgate.  What was once a one point lead was now, 54-43 with twelve and a half minutes remaining in the game.  There were encouraging signs.  Nat Lester had scored the most recent basket to put Hofstra up eleven.  It was his third field goal of the second half.  Also during this 19-9 run, Dwan McMillan had four points and three assists.  

The Raiders would continue to hang around for the next few minutes.  They actually were only down nine, 59-50 with about nine and half minutes left.  It seemed the Pride wouldn't be able to shake them.

But then Hofstra would seal the deal with a 14-3 spurt over the next five minutes.  And every one on the Pride contributed, as you can see pictured.  David Imes hit several shots. Shemiye McLendon buried jumper after jumper.  Dwan McMillan drove the lane, hit layups and had several more assists.  Moore ended the spurt with a layup and Hofstra was up 73-53 with a little more than four and half minutes left.  

The Pride would go onto win the game 82-57.  Hofstra would shoot nearly sixty eight percent from the field in the second half, outscoring Colgate 47-25 over the last twenty minutes.  The most amazing stat was that Mike Moore only contributed five of the forty seven points scored in the second half.  It was everyone else who "Put one foot in front of the other", to coin a famous holiday song, that gave the Pride their twenty five point win.

McLendon, the second coming of Vinnie Johnson, had seventeen points for the Pride, while McMillan had a double double with thirteen points and ten assists (with only two turnovers).  Imes added ten points and seven rebounds, while Lester also had ten points and nine rebounds.  And of course, Moore led the way with twenty four points.

The Pride gave the crowd a nice encore to the earlier Women's Basketball team's victory - a start to finish win.  And the Pride did it as a team, despite being shorthanded.  They gave their fans a nice early present before Christmas.  More importantly, Hofstra gave their fans hope that they can compete in the CAA when everyone on the team plays up to their skill level.  

And hope is what people, especially college basketball fans, need in the holiday season.

Hey St Joe's, Do the Right Thing!

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 of the college basketball season.

O'Brien originally was recruited by Bucknell and played for the Bison in 2007-08, making the All-Rookie Patriot League team.   But O'Brien had aspirations to play in the Big Five like his uncle did.  So he transferred on scholarship to Saint Joseph's.

After sitting out a year due to NCAA transfer regulations, O'Brien played for the Hawks for two seasons.  In his first season, 2009-10, O'Brien played nearly twenty three minutes per game.  He led St. Joe's in rebounding, averaging  6.3 rebounds per game (which was 15th in the A-10 that season), while scoring 5.6 points per game.  O'Brien actually had four double doubles in the 2009-10 season and had a career high 20 points and 12 rebounds in an 82-69 win over Fordham on January 9, 2010.

But last season, O'Brien saw his minutes decrease dramatically.  He averaged only seven minutes during the season and actually did not play in nine games.  Since O'Brien had sat out a year, he was at the point where he could graduate.  He did this summer, but actually walked in the May graduation.   O'Brien decided he want to go to graduate school elsewhere and use the NCAA's Graduate Student Transfer Exception, which he was eligible for since he only played three years.

O'Brien then went to St Joe's coach Phil Martelli and told him that he planned to go to grad school elsewhere.  Martelli was apparently quite upset.  Then O'Brien went to see Don DiJulia, the Athletic Director at St Joseph's and told him of his intentions.  When O'Brien went back to Martelli, Martelli told him "Regardless of what the rule is I'll never release you. If you're not playing basketball at St. Joe's next year, you won't be playing anywhere."

After St. Joseph's gave him "a permission to speak form", O'Brien looked at other schools and was interested in UAB's Public Administration program.  Then O'Brien spoke with UAB's Associate Head Coach Donnie Marsh, who played high school ball in Lancaster County.  O'Brien is from Lancaster County and he went to UAB for an official visit. He decided to enroll at UAB.

But St. Joseph's would still not release him, so O'Brien appealed to the NCAA. My favorite organization, aka the No Clue At All, denied O'Brien's appeal, stating that based on their rules St Joseph's had to grant his release. Thus O'Brien sits in limbo and as a result wrote the CNN/SI article to plead his case.

First, for a coach to actually say to another school that O'Brien "wronged him", is childish, vindictive behavior.  O'Brien "wronged" Martelli by wanting to transfer to another school for graduate work?  I am sure Martelli didn't think O'Brien "wronged" Bucknell when he transferred from the Bison to the Hawks after his freshman year.  You didn't see Bucknell not grant O'Brien his release to transfer to St. Joseph's.

Second, what if was St Joe's was right and that O'Brien's transfer to UAB was ""more athletic then academically motivated"?  First of  all, O'Brien was averaging seven minutes per game last season.  It wasn't like he was starting or seeing significant minutes.  Second, Halil Kanacevic, a transfer from Hofstra, was now eligible to play this season, so O'Brien was going to see even less minutes had he stayed at St. Joseph's.  Third, O'Brien transferred to UAB, which is not another Big Five school, doesn't play in the same conference as St. Joe's, wasn't on the Hawks' schedule and is nowhere near the Hawks campus.

So what if O'Brien was athletically motivated?  Can you blame him?  It's his right to want to transfer to another school to play.  Basketball players on scholarship do this ALL the time, transferring to other schools to get more playing time. And by the way, Kanacevic is playing twenty five minutes per game, averaging 6.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, numbers pretty close to what  O'Brien averaged in the 2009-10 season.

O'Brien's history is very similar to a student athlete who played briefly in the CAA, John Fields. Fields originally played at East Carolina for two seasons, averaging nearly ten points and five rebounds per game his sophomore season.  Fields transferred to UNCW, sat out a year and then played for the Seahawks in the 2009-10 season.  For UNC Wilmington, Fields played twenty four minutes per game, averaging ten points and nearly nine rebounds per game.

After theoretically his junior season, Fields actually graduated from UNCW.  He used the Graduate Student Transfer Exception and transferred to Tennessee.  You could certainly say that the transfer to the Volunteers  was ""more athletic then academically motivated."  However, you didn't see the UNCW administration refuse to grant the waiver.  Fields played a lot more minutes and contributed a lot more than O'Brien did in his junior season.  And if you know that UNCW team from last season, they certainly could have used Fields for his last year of eligibility.

Martelli is certainly not the only one to blame here.  DiJulia could have easily overruled his coach.  Instead he goes along with Martelli's vindictive behavior.  And how does the NCAA not grant the appeal in this process after the evidence listed below;

...when Saint Joseph's turned in the requested paperwork to the NCAA about my transfer, school officials had selected "Yes" to the the question "Do you object to Todd O'Brien being eligible for competition this season?" Under the part that said "If yes, then why do you object" there was no reason.

It's obviously clear that St Joseph's HAD NO REASON other than a vindictive coach feeling he was "wronged".  Yet the NCAA didn't see it that way.

Now supposedly O'Brien was involved in a laptop theft and as Seth Davis notes in a tweet "Martelli went to bat 4 kid when he was involved w laptop theft."  An ESPN article states the "Philadelphia Daily News reported he was "peripherally involved with a laptop (theft) situation" and was benched for a game against Xavier as a result.

If that's the case and Martelli did stand up for him, then why would he care if O'Brien left the team. If he was "peripherally involved" in the laptop theft, then do you want someone like that on your team, especially if they are only playing a few minutes per game?  It just doesn't make sense to refuse to grant his waiver in that case.

But what it comes down to is you have a coach wielding power with no legitimate reason behind it (based on the original St Joseph's paperwork); an athletic director without the decency to do the right thing and a powerful, yet clueless organization that tows the company line instead of looking at the evidence.

O'Brien is the first player in NCAA history to not be allowed the Graduate Student Transfer Exception.  He certainly feels "wronged". O'Brien had no other forum to plead his case, except to write an article for a national publication to tell his story.

Already Seth Davis has taken to the Twitter world to push for O'Brien's case.  And you can see that other news organizations like ESPN have picked up the story.   It's time for St Joseph's to do the right thing and follow Henry Jones Sr's advice to his son in a climatic scene in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".

"Let it go."

Yes, Phil Martelli, let it go and let O'Brien has his waiver.  Enough is enough.

College Basketball in the Eyes of a Child (Recap of Binghamton vs. Hofstra)

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 backseat to your children.  Things that used to bother you to no end are now inconsequential.  Your children's lives are the most precious thing to you and you want to be able to understand what they see.

For the better part of last season, I wanted Matthew to come to a basketball game with me. Matthew loves baseball and I thought he would enjoy college basketball even more.  But each and every time Matthew said no, for one reason or another.  Finally, on my birthday this year as a birthday present to me, Matthew came to the William and Mary vs. Hofstra basketball game.  I couldn't have picked a more exciting contest for Matthew to see as Charles Jenkins hit two buzzer beaters, one in regulation and one in overtime as the Pride defeated the Tribe.

My older son was hooked.  Even before the game ended, Matthew asked if he could come to the next game.  After the game, he raced around the basket by the Hofstra bench with other children.  When he came home, he played basketball in the living room until he went asleep.  Then the next day, he played basketball again, and the day after, and so on and so forth.  It was as if a whole new world was opened to him.

He came to the rest of the Hofstra home games last season.  When I went to the CAA Tournament in Richmond, he was very upset that he couldn't go.  I had to call him with updates of the Hofstra  vs. William and Mary quarterfinal. Then I called him after Hofstra lost to Old Dominion.  He couldn't understand that Hofstra's season ended.  Matthew didn't understand Kyle Whelliston's phrase that "the season always ends in loss".  As a result, he ended up going with me to a couple of Iona CIT tournament games.  He took up rooting for VCU in the NCAA tournament since VCU played in Hofstra's conference.  The kid was all into college hoops and very disappointed when the season ended.

This season, Matthew has attended all the Hofstra home games.  And you can find him intensely watching the game, cheering for Hofstra, raising his fingers when they shoot a free throw, or conversing with my friend Mal who he always sits next to for the games.   And he always has his pretzel and a bottle of water.  It's his pre-game ritual.

I always spend time during a Hofstra home game tweeting game updates to "My Marines", aka the few, the proud, my @gmoore21566 twitter followers.  But I realized during the game vs. James Madison that Matthew was conversing more with Mal than me on the game.  I wasn't jealous, but I felt bad that I was giving Matthew the attention he deserved.

Thus I decided that this Saturday I was going to spend the entire game conversing with Matthew about the basketball game.  I announced to my twitter followers that I wasn't going to tweet updates from the Binghamton - Hofstra game.  It gave me a further idea to write a recap around Matthew's view of the game.

Friday night, my family joined my department staff and I as we celebrated another successful end to another semester at a local restaurant.  There, I told Matthew of my plan to write a story about the game from his view.  I told him that I am writing an article for my site and for my friend's site and it's going to be about the Hofstra game from his perspective.

Matthew's response was "What's perspective mean?"

Yes, I often forget that he is only six years old.  After telling him what that meant, he nodded his head in approval of the idea.  Matthew was a willing subject for my latest recap.

When I picked him up Saturday afternoon from a playdate from his friend Brian's house, I could tell that he needed a nap before the game.  Sure enough, he fell asleep immediately in the backseat of my car.  When I got to the parking lot outside of the Mack Center about forty minutes before game time, I waited in the car so he could get a few extra Zs.  Finally I woke up Matthew and we headed in.

I got him his usual pretzel and water and we headed inside the arena.  It was free Hofstra cap day, so we each grabbed one and made our way to our seats thirty minutes before game time.  Matthew wasted no time in eating his pretzel.  I asked him "What do you think about today's game?"  With no hesitation, he replied "I don't know.  I will tell you when the game starts."

A few minutes later, Binghamton went onto the court and practiced shooting at the Hofstra basket. Matthew took a break from his pretzel and stated. "I will tell you one thing.  I am watching this team practice."  And he did exactly that, as he watched the Bearcats intently while noshing on his snack.

A few years ago, the Bearcats were the best team in the America East.  The coach at that time, Kevin Broadus brought a group of transfers and some recruits from some questionable diploma mill schools.  There were warning signs with the program as early as February 2009.  But Broadus was able to get Binghamton to win the America East championship and they went on to lose to Duke in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

But a few months later, the roof caved in on Broadus and the Bearcats' basketball program.  Several players were kicked off the team.  There were recruiting violations and a subsequent independent review of the basketball team.  Athletic Director Joel Shirer resigned, then shortly thereafter Broadus was put on an indefinite leave of absence and eventually was let go of his position.  The February 2010 independent audit report cited Binghamton's president Lois B. DeFleur, and Shirer for a lack oversight over the basketball program.  DeFleur resigned at the end of the Spring 2010 semester.

Since then, Binghamton's basketball team has declined steadily. The Bearcats were 13-18 in the 2009-10 season, 8-23 last season and so far were 0-7 this season coming into the game vs. Hofstra.  Ken Pomeroy ranked them 338th out of 345 Division I teams coming into Saturday's game. With the exception of their first loss to Colgate by four points, all their other losses were by fourteen points or more.

But last season at home, they forced overtime against Hofstra before eventually losing.  And that Pride team had two time CAA Player of the Year Charles Jenkins.  This season, with Jenkins now in the NBA, Hofstra entered the contest vs. Binghamton having lost four games in a row.  It seemed if the Bearcats might have a fighting chance in this game.

In the first few minutes of the game, Matthew noted to Mal and me "Why doesn't it say Hofstra on the scoreboard?"  And sure enough, he was right.  Normally, the scoreboard says "Hofstra" and the name of the school of the opponent.  But yesterday, it said "Pride" and "Bearcats".  Perhaps Binghamton was too long of a name for the scoreboard.  But only Matthew noticed, not the two forty plus year old adults sitting next to him.

As for the game itself, Hofstra went out to a 15-6 lead but Binghamton managed to cut the lead to 18-15.  During this time, Matthew yelled out "Mike Moore, where are you?" And sure enough, Mike Moore answered the call.  Moore would hit three of his four first half three pointers over the span of about seven minutes as part of a 15-3 Pride run.  The Pride were up 33-18 with four and half minutes left and Matthew blurted out "Hofstra is going to score 100."    Mal and I both laughed as Hofstra would end the half up 40-28.

At halftime, a Farmingdale PAL team played on the court.  I asked Matthew if he wished he was on the court playing.  Matthew turned to me and said "Oh yeah.  I could easily score in this game."  He had all the confidence of Mike Moore playing against Binghamton.

Apparently the Bearcats didn't get the message at halftime from Coach Mark Macon that they should shutdown Moore from the outside.  He hit three more three pointers to start the second half and the Pride went up 49-33.  With a little less than four minutes into the second half, Moore had tied the Hofstra record for most three pointers in a game with seven.

Every time Moore hit a three pointer, the Lions Den Student Section, or what there was of it due to finals, would chant "We Want Moore! We want Moore!"  And every time, Matthew would do a little dance in his seat in honor of his favorite player.

Things would not get any better for Binghamton.  Hofstra would go up by as many as twenty four, 61-37 with ten minutes remaining.  It was during this stretch where the Bearcats turned the ball over three times in about two minutes.  Out of complete disbelief, I turned to Mal and simply stated "Binghamton sucks."

I realized right then and there that was something I shouldn't have said in front of Matthew.  Immediately I said to Matthew "You didn't hear that."

Matthew came back with a big smile.  "Oh, I heard that."   Mal did his best to try to ease the situation, jokingly saying "Your dad was saying that Binghamton was good."

Matthew immediately turned and gave me an incredulous look that normally only my wife would give me. It was right then and there I knew how much Matthew was like his mommy.  The conversation ended there.

The Bearcats actually showed some heart the last ten minutes of the game. They actually cut the lead to fourteen, 70-56 before Hofstra coach Mo Cassara called time to get his team's mindset back in order.  It seemed to do the trick as the Pride got the lead back up to twenty and would go onto win 82-62.

The game was not exactly pretty as both teams combined for thirty five turnovers.   Hofstra did shoot fifty percent from the field, including eleven of twenty from beyond the arc.  Moore was unreal for the Pride, scoring thirty two points, shooting seven of eleven from beyond the arc.

Binghamton was led by Robert Mansell with nineteen points.  Their leading scorer on the season, Ben Dickinson was frustrated all day and held to half his season scoring average with seven points.  He showed hist frustration with a technical foul and then later fouled out on a flagrant foul.  Dickinson wasn't the only one to show his frustration.  One Binghamton fan showed up with a bag on his head.  He left before the game ended.

As we left the arena and headed out to our car on a cold December night, I asked Matthew what he thought of the game.  Matthew said "It was great.  It was everything I wished for."   For a six year old boy, he got what he wanted.  After losing four games in a row, his Hofstra team finally won.   And for him, that's all that matters.

For Drexel, Getting To The Free Throw Line Helps

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 the offense finished better than 208th nationally, and only once has the defense finished worse than 92nd. All you need to see is the Christmastime look of the chart."

And he's exactly right, when you look at the aforementioned statistics, this is how Drexel plays.  Really tough defense and ugly offense.  Bruiser Flint's teams specialize in physical play both on the offensive and defensive ends.

But when I looked at the "Christmastime" statistics for Drexel, I noticed one area of concern.  If you look at that linked chart graphic and take a look at Pomeroy's FTR ratio for the Dragons, which stands for Free throw Attempts to Field Goal Attempts Ratio.  Drexel's is 26.0, which is 319th in the country.  When Drexel had been successful, like last season when they won 21 games or in the 2006-07 season, when they won 23 games (and had a legitimate beef for being snubbed from the NCAA Tournament) or 2004-05, when they were 17-12, their FTR ratios were much better.

In fact, here are Drexel's FTRs for the past several seasons, where they ranked in the country in that category and their overall record.

2010-11 - 40.3 - 105  21-10
2009-10 - 36.1 - 215 16-16
2008-09 - 39.9 - 99   15-14
2007-08 - 37.5 - 140 12-20
2006-07 - 44.9 - 21    23-9
2005-06 - 33.8 - 228 15-16
2004-05 - 41.9 - 47    17-12

Notice that when their FTR was above 40, those were also Drexel's three best seasons under Bruiser since the 2004-05 season.  Yes, everyone knows that Bruiser's teams are excellent defensively and are also offensively challenged.  But the FTRs clearly show that Bruiser's teams are most successful when they get to the line.  Also since 2005-06, with the exception of the 2008-09 season, the Dragons have always finished in the top half in the CAA in free throw attempts (in 2006-07, Drexel was second to VCU in free throw attempts with 724).

Now I noted this to Litos in the comments field of his Friday article, also noting that Drexel was dead last in the CAA going into Saturday's action in free throw attempts per game, with fourteen per game.  He responded that he agreed with me about the FT rate. However, he noted  that " But Drexel has also been a terrible FT percentage team (which I certainly agree with).   It isn’t like they get a disparate number of points via the free throw."

But I responded by saying that when you get to the line a significant amount of times, even if you are not the best free throw shooting team, you will still get your share of free throws.  For example, let's say you shoot 61.6% from the line, which Drexel did last season.  If you get to the line ten more times than your opponent in a game, you will get six more points as a result.  When you play close games like the Dragons seemingly do, every little bit counts.

So that gave me an idea.  I reviewed Drexel's wins from last season where the margin of victory was seven points or less.  Thirteen of the Dragons' twenty one wins fit that category.   In eight of those thirteen wins, Drexel had more free throw attempts and free throws made than their opponents.  And in each case, it was significantly more free throw attempts than the opposing team.

Opponent	Date	# of FTA More than Opponent	# of FTM More than Opponent	Margin of Victory
Loyola Md	11/12/10	15	6	3
Rider	12/11/10	9	10	4
St Francis PA	12/18/10	22	12	4
Old Dominion	1/13/11	13	7	5
Hofstra	1/29/11	8	5	5
William and Mary	2/12/11	8	2	2
VCU	2/23/11	13	9	4
Towson	3/4/11	15	6	6

In all eight of those games, Drexel had at least more than eight free throw attempts than their opponent. And in each of those games, the margin of victory was due to the free throws made margin Drexel had over their opponent.  Simply put, Drexel won all eight of those games due to the charity stripe.

This past Saturday, Drexel won at home, 54-50 over Princeton.  In Saturday's game,  the Tigers had more field goals than the Dragons, 22-20.  The Tigers and Dragons each had the same number of three pointers, four.  What was the difference?  The foul line.  Princeton was 12 of 15 from the line, while Drexel was 20 of 24 from the line.  The Dragons had eight more free throws than the Tigers and they won only by four points.  Again, the charity stripe won the game for the Drexel.  Mike Litos even acknowledged this in his article from today (and yes Mike, Massenat, Fouch and Lee were huge).

Now I agree with Mike that Drexel needs to shoot better from the perimeter and Chris Fouch and Damion Lee combined to shoot 11 of 23 from the field against Princeton, so that's a good start.  But for a team that for the most part doesn't shoot well from the field, getting to the line much more often than their opponent can be a definite factor.  It certainly was last season for Drexel in about forty percent of their wins on the season.  Unless they start shooting the ball better from the field, it may need to be as well this season for the Dragons.

The Slide Continues as Hofstra Loses to Manhattan

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, out-defended and out-rebounded a team that had won road games at Vanderbilt and Kent State earlier in the season.   Cleveland State hasn't lost a game since that loss to Hofstra.

As I drove back home to Long Island that night, savoring my victory burger and chocolate banana shake from the awesome Jake's Wayback Burgers in Mystic, Connecticut,  I couldn't help but think about the possibilities with this Hofstra team.  I had watched Bryant Crowder play his first two games of the season at Rhode Island.  He gave them an inside scoring presence, height and serious attitude.  The Pride now had a nine deep rotation, with Steven Nwaukoni, Shemiye McLendon, Dwan McMillan and Crowder giving good contributions off the bench.  And they had a legitimate big time scorer in Mike Moore.  

Even though they were only 3-3 after the win over the Vikings, the Pride had been competitive in all their games. They had the impressive win over LIU and a gut check win over St. Francis. They hung tough against a good Oregon State team in Corvallis.  They lost by two to a Florida Atlantic team that had the best record in the Sun Belt last season.  And they rallied after being down nineteen against Rhode Island to keep the game close against the Rams.  I really thought the big win against Cleveland State was going to be the start of something special for the Pride.

But the next day the struggles began for Hofstra in the final game of the Legends Classic.  As I was following the game on my IPhone at my nephew's baptism in a church up in Wappinger Falls, they had a seven point lead over Boston University with ten minutes left.  They proceeded to shoot 2 of 15 the rest of the way in losing to the Terriers 68-61.  Starting point guard Steve Mejia injured his hamstring during the loss to BU and Crowder was suspended again for violation of team rules.

But last Saturday, despite being down two players, Hofstra started out well at home against James Madison.   They were up nine points at home on JMU with about eleven minutes left.  But, again they hit a cold spell, going 1 of  8 from the field.  They would lose to the Dukes 62-60 on a Humpty Hitchens jumper with three seconds left.

Then this Tuesday night, as I watched the Wagner streaming video feed at home, the Pride completely unraveled in the second half against the Seahawks, losing 58-43 to Team Hurley.  What I thought two weeks ago was going to be a springboard to a season of success turned out to be the last win Hofstra had going into today.  Hopefully home cooking would be the remedy to what ailed the Pride.

My son Matthew and I took our usual seats in Section 111, Row D.  It turned out to be Hofstra Fan Appreciation Day and there were a ton of boy scouts in the building today.  They came out on to the arena floor holding a giant American flag as the national anthem was beautifully sung.  Matthew and I had a feeling of hope that this was this day that Hofstra turned the tide.

But that hope was quickly dashed as they struggled out of the gate.   While the fans in my section stood at the request of the dance team until Hofstra scored a point, the Pride had three turnovers and missed their first three shots in the first nearly four minutes of the game  Amazingly, Hofstra was tied with Manhattan at two after a Moore jumper with 16:50 left.  We could finally sit down.

But the Jaspers would then make us wish we had stayed standing, as they went on a 21-4 run over the next seven minutes and forty five seconds.  Manhattan buried three three pointers and George Beamon hit an old fashioned three point play to put the Jaspers up 23-6 with nine minutes left in the first half.    I sat in my seat dumbfounded as Matthew sat next to me showing his frustration.

But Hofstra finally found their shooting touch and went on a 14-2 run of their own over the next four minutes. Moore's jumper made the score 25-20 with 5:04 left and the crowd was finally into the game.  After a missed free throw by Manhattan's Liam McCabe Moran,  Moore had a chance to cut it to two points, but his three pointer rimmed in and out.

The Jaspers would respond with a 9-1 spurt to end the half.  Hofstra would miss all seven of its shots and commit three turnovers in the last five minutes.  The Pride would walk into the locker room down 34-21 at halftime.

A youth basketball team from Syosset was the halftime entertainment as they played split squad half court games.  They handled the ball better than Manhattan and Hofstra, who had combined in the first half for twenty one turnovers.  Coach Mo Cassara was so upset at his team that they didn't go back onto the court until three minutes left before the start of the second half.

Unfortunately the long half time talk with his team didn't help the Pride.  The Jaspers actually extended their lead to fifteen, 52-37  with a little less than eight and a half minutes left .  Things were looking bleak for the Pride and I had not heard the Lions Den student section so quiet in such a long time.

However, the Pride didn't quit.  Nathaniel Lester, who had been quiet for most of the game and spent a good part of the second half on the bench, came alive in the final few minutes.  Lester and Moore keyed a 9-1 spurt over the next nearly two and half minutes.  A Lester layup cut the lead to seven, 53-46 with six minutes left.

But just when it seemed Hofstra was on the verge of making it a game, Manhattan responded.  Beamon buried a three pointer and Emmy Andujar followed with a layup, and the Jaspers were up by twelve, 58-46 with a little less than four minutes left.

The Pride would have one last mini spurt in them.  Lester would score five consecutive points and the lead again was cut to seven, 62-55 with three minutes left.  But once again, the Jaspers responded.  Rhamel Brown, who had his way inside in the second half for Manhattan, scored five of the next six points for the Jaspers.  Manhattan was back up 68-55 with two minutes left and many of the 2,800 that were in attendance headed for the exits.

Very few people were left in the stands when the buzzer sounded on Manhattan's 68-59 win over Hofstra.  Moore led all scorers with twenty points but he didn't have much help.  Lester scored eleven points, but most of them came in the final few minutes of the game.  Manhattan had much more balance as Beamon had fourteen points, while Brown had a double double with fourteen points and eleven rebounds. Andujar and McCabe Moran each added ten for the Jaspers.

Matthew and I made our way over to commiserate with Defiantly Dutch after the game. The Dutchman and I were both at a loss for words.  The Pride had now lost four in a row and both of us had to think about what good came out of the game. Finally, I said my goodbye to the Dutchman as Matthew and I had to head home to meet up with my wife and younger son to get a Christmas tree.

Two weeks ago, I was driving home, enjoying a delicious meal, looking forward to what seemed to be a hopeful season.  Tonight, I drove home dismayed and speechless.  Hofstra got outworked, out-shot, out-defended and out-rebounded by Manhattan.   I was left wondering if my team was going to be able to turn their season around.

It's amazing how one's perception can change in the span of fourteen days.

College Hoops Again Provide a Welcome Respite (Recap of FDU vs Stony Brook)

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 become engrossed in a game; the nuances of ball movement and defenses, marvel at the athleticism and skill of players, and the game management of knowledgeable coaches.  Throw in an occasional yell at bad officiating and I had my two hour world of complete bliss, a welcome respite from the various things going on in my world.

This is a hectic time of season at work.  Four weeks each year, two in the spring semester and two in the fall semester, I am involved in administering exams to nearly eleven hundred students.  For students and administrators alike, it's a stressful period of time.  One where I desperately look for avenues to decompress.   Thankfully, I can rely on my old friend, college basketball.

I didn't originally plan to attend last night's Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Stony Brook contest.  But when I reviewed yesterday's college basketball schedule, I realized that I could make the game.  Thus, I jumped at the chance to drive out to the campus of Stony Brook.

The last time I was at Stony Brook, I was there in March of 2010 when they hosted a first round NIT game vs. Illinois, due to a conflict with Illinois' home court.   The game was held at Stony Brook Arena, which is now being renovated, That night, it was an entire sea of Seawolves' red,  The game was sold out with both student sections under the baskets packed with SBU fans hungry for a giant RLU.  Stony Brook jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but eventually Illinois overcame an electric partisan Seawolves crowd and won 76-66, spoiling Stony Brook's first ever Division I postseason game.

Stony Brook's opponent last night, FDU, is a school where I have some second person knowledge of their greatest all time basketball player.  Several of my Glen Cove friends, particularly my friend Mal, went to high school with Desi Wilson.  Desi, who is listed at six foot seven and about 230 pounds, was a two sport star at Glen Cove in basketball and baseball.  Mal describes Desi as laid back and very friendly.  Desi went on to star at FDU and was the NEC player of the year for the 1989-1990 season.  That season he averaged over twenty points per game and nine rebounds per game. He is also a member of the NEC's 25th Anniversary Team.

Desi left the Knights after his junior year after being drafted by the Texas Rangers.  He was traded to the San Francisco Giants with Rich Aurilia for John Burkett.  He was a career .300 hitter in the minors and played one season with the Giants in 1996, hitting .271 in 118 at bats.  Unfortunately, Desi didn't hit for much power and was back in the minors the next year.  He had a long successful minor league career and even played overseas.  Due to his ability to hit for average, he ended up becoming a hitting coach and is currently the hitting coach for the Boise Hawks, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

The attendance for last night's contest was nowhere near the 4400 people that attended the Illinois game in March 2010.  Also, due to the arena being renovated, the game was held in the intimate confines of Pritchard Gym, which holds 1700.  Still, there was a good crowd for the game.  And again, there was a good amount of red in the stands, not just from the students, but from alumni and families that came to the game.  I was impressed with the support the Seawolves were getting and they didn't let their fans down.

The teams both struggled from the field in the first half but seemingly for different reasons.   Stony Brook played tough defense on FDU and caused numerous Knights' turnovers, twelve in the first half.  Meanwhile, the Seawolves were missing several open shots.   Stony Brook was only up two, 20-18 with five and half minutes left before they finished the half on a 10-4 run due in large part to guard Dave Coley.   The score at the half was SBU 30 FDU 22.  The Knights were fortunate to be only down eight thanks to their forward George Goode, who had eight points and eight rebounds in the first half.

Surprisingly there was no halftime entertainment, so the fans were left to their own devices.  In my case, it was a celebrity sighting.  Mick Foley, WWE wrestling star, lives in Stony Brook and sure enough he was at the game.  He spoke to the Stony Brook radio crew during halftime.  Alas, there was no confirmed sighting of Mr. Socko at the game.

No doubt spurred on by the appearance of Mr. Foley, the Seawolves came out and blitzed the Knights at the start of the second half.  Stony Brook started nailing those open jumpers and when they missed, they grabbed offensive rebounds and got second chance points.  Meanwhile, FDU committed five turnovers and missed on their first nine field goal attempts.  Barely six minutes into the second half, SBU was up twenty, 44-24.

And it didn't get any better for the Knights.  They only scored five points over the next seven minutes.  The score was now 57-29 with seven minutes left in the game. Yes, a lot of this had to do with Fairleigh Dickinson not being a good team whatsoever.  Even Desi Wilson in his prime couldn't have helped the Knights to a victory last night.

But Steve Pickiell's Seawolves played really hard for the entire forty minutes.  You could see why Stony Brook won the America East regular season title in the 2009-10 season and came within an eyelash of defeating Boston University in the America East championship game last season.  They continued to play tough defense even up by twenty eight points.

Pickiell worked the referees the entire night, getting underneath their skins.  After one conversation with an official, Pickiell walked away.  The official then shook his head in disbelief.  The Seawolves' head coach was as relentless as his team was last night.

When the game is for all intensive purposes over, you look for other things to keep you interested during the last few minutes  First, during the next to last TV timeout, the dance team brought out lots of kids from the crowd to dance to "Cotton Eyed Joe".  Then a few minutes later, as Goode attempted a free throw, the Seawolves mascot, Wolfie, shook a "Shake Weight" to try to distract him.  It didn't work, but it had to be the most creative distraction and best use of a "Shake Weight" so far this basketball season.

The Seawolves would end up winning 70-46.  Coley led all scorers with sixteen points.  Goode had a double double for the Knights scoring thirteen points and grabbing eleven rebounds.  FDU had more turnovers, twenty one, than field goals, seventeen.  You're not going to win too many games with stats like that.

As I headed for the exit, Mick Foley was still sitting in his seat, shaking hands with fans.  I came up to him and shook his hand as well, an added bonus to a fun night.   Once again, college basketball was a welcome respite to a long day.
.

Humpty Causes Hofstra a Great Fall

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, the results have been quite close.  During Hofstra's streak vs. JMU, nine of the twelve games were decided by seven points or less.  Three of the games went into overtime; a 92-90 win in January of this year, a 99-96 double overtime game in February 2009 and the all time gem, a 95-88 triple overtime game in February 2005.

So when the Dukes made the all familiar trip to Hempstead yesterday to face the Pride in the conference season opening game for both teams, it seemed one thing would be certain. It would be a close game.  And sure enough, the game lived up to that billing.

My older son Matthew was looking forward to yesterday.   For not only was there a basketball game, but Saturday was the long awaited day for putting up the Christmas decorations outside our house.  Now for me, I actually enjoy decorating for Halloween, not so much for Christmas.  But to placate a six year old boy and his four year old brother, I took down the decorations from the garage and spent the better part of the late morning and afternoon hanging Christmas lights and getting out several decorative inflatables.  Needless to say I was happy to leave for the basketball game when it was time.

The game started out with JMU's leading scorer on the season, A.J. Davis picking up two quick fouls in the first five minutes. But Madison hung in there, thanks in large part to their offensive rebounding. In the first half, the Dukes had eleven offensive rebounds which led to eleven second chance points.  JMU took a 22-17 lead with 7:45 left in the first half on a three pointer by Armon Marks, which was their only successful three point shot at that time.  The Dukes, the best three point shooting team in the CAA, would be only two of eleven from beyond the arc in the first half.

While JMU's leading scorer was on the bench with as many fouls as points, two, Hofstra's leading scorer for the season, Mike Moore, was basically unstoppable.  Moore hit four three pointers in the first half  (Hofstra was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc in the first half) and scored twenty of Hofstra's thirty one points.  After the Dukes had taken that five point lead, the Pride would go on a 14-2 run, with Moore scoring half those points.

However, JMU coach Matt Brady made a critical decision with a minute left in the half.  He went for a two for one possession.  The Dukes would miss two three pointers on their first possession and a Moore jumper would be the final points for Hofstra in the first half.  But due to the two for one possession, the Dukes got the ball back and called timeout.  Off the timeout, Humpty Hitchens, another transfer from Akron, hoisted a sixty foot prayer right before the buzzer.

As the buzzer sounded...nothing...but...net.

The officials reviewed the play to make sure the shot came before the buzzer, which it clearly did from our vantage point.  The officials confirmed that it was good.  And due to the Dukes second only successful three pointer in the half, instead of Hofstra going into the half up seven, they were only up four, 31-27.  Hofstra coach Mo Cassara was none too pleased, as if he knew that shot might come back to haunt the Pride.

At half time, there was your classic youth basketball game for entertainment.  But Matthew was pleading for me to get him a pretzel.  And since I can't say no to my cute six year old son, we waited on a long concession line while I tweeted updates on the game.

It was clear at the start of the second half that Coach Matt Brady told his team "Whatever you do, don't let Mike Moore beat us."  And the Dukes took him out of the game.  For the better part of the last twenty minutes, Moore barely touched the ball.  He would only have five shot attempts in the second half, hitting only one of those.

But early on, it didn't seem to affect the Pride.  Hofstra actually extended it's lead using a 10-2 run.  After Nathaniel Lester hit his first three pointer since the first game of this season, the Pride were up 43-33.   The lead was still ten, 47-37 after a Stephen Nwaukoni layup with a little more than eleven minutes remaining in the game.  JMU looked off in their shot selection and the rest of the Hofstra players were chipping in despite Moore being held scoreless.

But twice already in this early season, Hofstra had similar leads, only to see them evaporate and lose the game.  Against Florida Atlantic, the Pride were up 36-27 before going on a three for eighteen shooting drought and lost 62-60.  Against Boston University, the Pride were up 42-35 before shooting two of fifteen for the rest of the game and lost 68-61.  

Unfortunately for Hofstra, history would repeat itself yesterday.   With Moore being held scoreless, the Pride would shoot one of eight from the field over the next seven minutes. Meanwhile, JMU's vaunted three point shooting came to life.  Hitchens nailed two three pointers and Julius Wells added one as well.  The Dukes went on a 13-3 run and tied the game at fifty on Alioune Diouf jumper with six and half minutes left.

The Pride would retake the lead in large part to guard Shemiye McLendon.  First McLendon gave a pretty feed to forward Moussa Kone for a resounding dunk.  Then McLendon channeled his inner Vinnie Johnson (they wear the same jersey number, 15), and buried a slightly off balance eighteen foot jumper.  Hofstra was back up 56-52 with three minutes left.

After the teams traded turnovers and Hofstra's Dwan McMillan missed an open jumper, Davis came alive for James Madison.  First, he buried a three pointer to cut the lead to one, 56-55.  Then after a turnover by McLendon, the Dukes called timeout.  My friend Mal predicted that they would call a play for Davis.  Sure enough, off the inbounds play, they got it to Davis, who hit a layup and was fouled by Kone.   He would hit the free throw for the three point play. James Madison was up for the first time since four minutes remaining in the first half, 58-56 with a minute left in the game.

But Hofstra finally got Moore involved after JMU's imposed nineteen minute sabbatical.  Moore hit two free throws for his first points of the second half and the game was tied at fifty eight.  But Hitchens, the proverbial thorn in the Pride's side, nailed a jumper to put Madison up two, 60-58 with thirty nine seconds left.

To Hofstra's credit, they didn't waste time with the ball and went after a good shot immediately. That good shot was a Moore layup that tied the game at sixty with twenty six seconds left.   JMU wound down the clock and with about three seconds left, Hitchens hit another jumper over McMillan's outstretched hand.  The Dukes were up 62-60, but Moore had one last chance.  He hoisted a sixty footer from almost the same exact location Hitchens hit his three pointer at the end of the first half.

As the buzzer sounded...nothing...but...backboard.

James Madison had won 62-60.  Hitchens' sixty footer at the end of the half did come back to haunt Hofstra.  He led JMU with twenty points, while Davis had ten of his twelve points in the second half.  Moore had twenty four to lead all scorers, but the Dukes holding him in check in the second half was huge.  David Imes was the only other double figure scorer for Hofstra with ten points.

For once, a Humpty caused someone else's great fall.  All the Hofstra players and all the Hofstra fans couldn't keep the streak alive again.   After twelve straight losses, the Dukes finally had a win against the Pride.

James Madison vs. Hofstra Preview

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 the first three games in the series.  Since then, Hofstra has won twelve straight.   Here are seven things to look for in today's game.

1. Expect a High Scoring, Close Game - First you have JMU who leads the CAA in scoring and is next to last in scoring defense.  Second, you have Hofstra who is third in the CAA in FG percentage at 44.3, but is also next to last in the CAA in FG percentage defense at 46.6 percent.  The Pride are allowing a stunning 54.6 percent of two point field goals attempted.
   
   Third, when the Dukes and the Pride get together at the Mack Center, there is a history of high scoring, overtime games.  There have been three overtime games in the past six years where the winning team, Hofstra, has scored in the 90's; the aforementioned game from January, a 99-96 double overtime game in February 2009 and the all time gem, a 95-88 triple overtime game in February 2005.
2. JMU Star Transfer Part Deux - Matt Brady has lots of success with transfers.  First Denzel Bowles, now A.J. Davis. Davis, a transfer from Wyoming, is averaging 22 points per game. Hofstra's best player, Mike Moore will likely be responsible for guarding Davis.  Should be an interesting matchup.
3. Rise and Fire - Two of the top three point field goal shooting teams in the CAA play today.  The Dukes hit as many three pointers, ten, as the Pride attempt in a game (sixty nine three point attempts in seven games).  James Madison leads the CAA, shooting nearly 47 percent from the field, while Hofstra is second at 43.5 percent.  The Dukes have four of the top ten three point percentage shooters in the Colonial; Davis at a ridiculous 59 percent, Humpty Hitchens at 51.7 percent , Andrey Semenov and Julius Wells.
   
   Mike Moore is third in the CAA in three point FG percentage, shooting 48.4 percent (15 of 31). But, as noted by John Templon earlier this week, Hofstra should try attempting more three point attempts.  In fact, the Pride are averaging seven less attempts per game than last season. Hofstra is actually very good at defending the three, allowing only 32 percent of three point field goals attempted.
4. Charity Begins at the Line - As mentioned in my CAA Notes from earlier today, Hofstra is averaging twenty nine free throw attempts per game, more than double what Drexel averages per game.  The Pride have 204 free throw attempts.  Georgia State is next with 161 free throw attempts.  When you are hitting seventy percent of those attempts, you tend to stay in games.
   
   Meanwhile, James Madison is only ninth in the CAA in free throw attempts, with one hundred less attempts than Hofstra. This may be due in large part to their three point shooting prowess.  The advantage goes to Hofstra in this category.
5. Paging Nathaniel Lester - In two games vs. LIU and Rhode Island, Lester scored a total of fifty five points.  In his other five games combined, Lester has scored a total of forty five points. Though he is averaging a respectable 14.3 points per game, he is struggling from the field, shooting 36 percent from the field and 21 percent from beyond the arc.  In fact, after going 3 of 4 from three against LIU, he has missed his last ten three point attempts.  Against Florida Atlantic and Boston University, in the two games combined, he only hit one field goal in twenty two attempts.  Simply put, Lester has to be more consistent.
     
6. Ball Possession - James Madison is first in the CAA in assists, averaging 14.2 per game with Hitchens leading the CAA at 6.0 assists per game, as well as assists to turnovers per game at 2.1.  Hofstra's Dwan McMillan is third at 4.0 assists per game and fifth with .6 assists to turnovers per game.  The problem is Steve Mejia is the starting point guard for the Pride and he is not in the top fourteen in either category in the CAA.  In fact, Hofstra is tenth in the CAA in assists per game at 9.9.  Advantage James Madison.
7. Pride Must Avoid a Shooting Drought - The Pride had two substantial leads in their games vs. Florida Atlantic and Boston University.  In both games, they went cold from the field in the second half and lost both games.  Against the Owls, after being up 36-27, the Pride shot 3 of 18 from the field over an eleven minute period in the second half.  Against the Terriers, after being up 52-45 with ten minutes left, the Pride shot 2 of 15 from the field for the rest of the game.  They can't afford that against the Dukes.

How willl this game turnout?   Well, using lines from TV shows and movies: 

• If Hofstra Coach Mo Cassara yells "THEM DUKES! THEM DUKES!" like Boss Hogg from "The Dukes of Hazzard", it's a good day for James Madison.  
• If  James Madison Coach Matt Brady yells "Come on Julius, get in front of the damn ball! Don't give me this "olé" bulls___" like Lou Brown from "Major League", then it's a good day for Hofstra.

Either way, expect a very close, high scoring game.  History often repeats itself in this series.

CAA Notes Heading into First Day of Conference Play

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 conference play holds for the Colonial teams is still to be determined.  But so far, it's been a crazy non conference season for the Colonial teams.  Here are a few highlights.

• Florida Atlantic is 3-0 vs. the CAA. Yes, Georgia State, George Mason and Hofstra are all victims of Mike Jarvis' Owls.  Unfortunately, FAU is 0-5 in the rest of their non conference schedule.
• George Mason has the best overall record in the Colonial with a 5-2 record.  But the Patriots could easily be 3-4.  They needed overtime to win at home vs. Rhode Island, whose only win on the season so far came at the expense of Hofstra, and had to rally at home to defeat Bucknell. 
• One of the Patriots' losses came in overtime at the hands of Florida International.  Yes, the same Golden Panthers' team that lost by TWENTY SIX at Georgia State.
• Speaking of Georgia State, after losing three games in a row, they have won five straight by an average of twenty one points.  The Panthers are 3-0 at home, with their average margin of victory being twenty two points.  Guess where William and Mary plays today?
• Speaking of William and Mary, has there been a bigger disappointment so far than the Tribe? William and Mary is 1-7, with their average margin of loss being nearly seventeen points a game. Their lone win was a one point squeaker at Liberty, a team that lost at Georgia State by twenty two points. Ruh Roh.
• Despite eventually losing to the Wildcats, Old Dominion (4-3) dominated inside again Kentucky.  Then the Monarchs followed that up by getting outrebounded 45-36 at home by the Catamounts in a loss to Vermont.  The Monarchs have already lost two games at home this season. They only lost two games at home the entire 2010-11 season.  
• Hofstra followed up their loss to Rhode Island by giving Cleveland State their first loss on the season up at URI.  If not for two second half shooting droughts against Florida Atlantic and Boston University, the Pride could be 5-2 instead of 3-4.
• Northeastern dominated St John's at Carnesecca Arena, beating the Red Storm by fourteen.  The Huskies followed that up by losing by seventeen points at LaSalle, who also beat James Madison by nine points.
• Speaking of Big East teams, two of South Florida's three losses are against ODU and VCU, while the Bulls have won five of their other six non conference games.  Forget the Big East vs. SEC challenge.  Give us the Big East vs. CAA challenge.
• VCU used to be a member of the Sun Belt conference.  I am sure Western Kentucky is glad that VCU is no longer in that conference.  The Hilltoppers have lost two games to the Rams this season, including a twenty three point drubbing on WKU's home court. 
• Delaware is 0-3 on the road and 2-0 at home.  Drexel comes calling today.  Devon Saddler has hoisted 103 of the Blue Hens 288 FG attempts on the season.  Yes, that's more than twenty field goal attempts per game. The next closest, Jamelle Hagins with forty three FG attempts.
• Drexel, the preseason favorite to win the CAA, is a disappointing 2-3.  It simply comes down to FG percentage for the Dragons.  In their three losses, Drexel has shot 38 percent, 26 percent and 31 percent respectively.  The Dragons are 311th in the country in FG percentage at 38 percent.
• The scary thing is the Dragons don't get to the line either.  In five games, the Dragons have attempted sixty four free throws.  That's not even thirteen a game.  Huh?
• In comparison, Hofstra has attempted two hundred and four free throws in seven games. That's twenty nine free throw attempts a game. 
• James Madison is first in the CAA in scoring offense at 77.6 points per game.  They are next to last in the CAA in scoring defense at 74.8 points per game.  At least they are exciting to watch.
• Towson is last in the CAA in scoring defense at 79.2 points per game.  Unfortunately, they are also last in the CAA in scoring offense, averaging 50 points per game.  Yup, they lose by an average of twenty nine points per game.  And they get to host Mason today.  Enjoy.
• UNCW is last in the CAA in rebounding margin and dead last in defensive rebounding percentage. If you can't keep teams off the glass, you have hard time winning.  Thus, the Seahawks are 0-5.

Six Years, Seven Seasons, A Man's Life - It's All Relative

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 on my wish list, I took the three hour drive back to New York.  

For someone who has driven ten hours to Wright State for a basketball game, staying two extra hours in Kingston seemed like child's play.  And normally, it would have been.  But there wasn't just the cold I that I had and my nephew's baptism involved in my decision to head back.  Driving home, I knew I had to be back in Mineola for sure for Monday morning.  

For the past two plus weeks starting on November 14 until this past Tuesday morning, I have been on jury duty in Mineola.  Specifically, I have been a member of a twelve person jury deciding the fate of a man charged with murder in the second degree, three counts of robbery and two other counts of criminal possession of a firearm.  We had a break over Thanksgiving weekend, so I was able to go up to Rhode Island to watch the tournament.  But I was mentally beat from the week's proceedings and still trying to recover from a cold that I had for the better part of a week.

That's why I when I wrote my recap of LIU vs. Iona, I couldn't go into details of why I was exasperated on Monday.  I was exasperated by the slowness of the proceedings, the wheels of justice.  It wasn't our jury deliberations whatsoever.  Our jury actually did an excellent job deciding the counts and there was no acrimony whatsoever. It was all the other processes, the long delays to find an open courtroom and jury room every morning.  The delays to hear testimony replayed.  When a man's life is at stake, justice should be a lot more streamlined and not have the person have to wait out their fate due to overlengthy procedures.

On December 4, 2011, it will be exactly six years that I have written this blog.  What began on a dare has become a wonderful journey to various gyms and arenas in the United States.  I have seen parts of the country that I might never have gone to had it not been for college basketball.  In the past six years, I have been to places such as Worcester, Massachusetts; Lawrence, Kansas; Charleston, South Carolina; Dayton, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina to name just a few to watch basketball games. It's been a lot of fun, but at times, like the trip to Dayton, it's been a long and winding road.  I still don't know how Kyle Whelliston did it all these years

For eight of the past nine years, I have taken a pilgrimage to Richmond every first weekend in March to watch the CAA Tournament.  I got to see an unforgettable NCAA regional in Raleigh in March 2008.  And this past March, I got to see live my first conference championship game since 2001.   

More importantly, I have made so many friends along the way.  I consider Defiantly Dutch, aka Jerry Beach one of my good friends, even if he still won't get back to me with his answers for my blog post (yeah, Jer, I am calling you out!).  And he's a damn good writer too.  I consider Kyle Whelliston a mentor, friend and the best college basketball writer there is, outside of John Feinstein.  His work has inspired me beyond measure.

And there are others.  There's Joe Suhoski, Mr. ODU.  It turns out also he is a very good college football writer as well. Brian Mull and Mike Litos are two very good college basketball writers and I have been following their work for years.  John Templon is as good a writer as Kyle told me he was and his Big Apple Buckets site is awesome. I even have two Mid Majority mentees in Julia Prior and Michael Hadley, Mr Red Zone IUPUI, both terrific, hilarious people.

And there's good people I have got to know somewhat like Travis Mason Bushman (you are a legend and a leader, so to speak), Garrett Wheeler, Mike Greiner, Dominic Pody, Kraig Williams, Matt Cerilli, Brendan Loy (the man behind #PANIC), Guy Falotico of IonaHoops.com, the folks at CAAZone and last but not least, Gheorghe The Blog. If you are one of my followers on Twitter, I truly appreciate the support.

Writing about college basketball has opened up an entire new world for me. Though I am not accredited media, I no longer just watch games.  I cover them.  And when the official Iona Gaels twitter account acknowledges your game tweets along  with Jon Rothstein's. Matt Norlander's and Adam Zagoria's tweets, all terrific college basketball analysts and writers,  I consider it a great honor.

Six years ago, I had no idea that I would be doing any of this today.  I still don't know how long this will continue, as I noted in November of last year.   But this is now my seventh college basketball season. And this season is special.  I am now writing for two sites.   And when that 800th game recap is written, I will celebrate with everyone else who is contributing to the Mid Majority Site.

And so far, I have written nine game recaps for the 800 Games Played Project, which have been posted here as well due to Creative Commons license.   I figure I have another thirty five to forty to write this season, if all goes well. 

But last Saturday,  my better judgment overruled staying to recap another live game.  There were bigger obligations.  Deadlines and commitments as I noted last year.  

On Tuesday, we found the defendant not guilty of murder, guilty of three counts of robbery and not guilty of two counts of criminal possession of a firearm.  I truly believe our jury was thoughtful, measured and certainly unanimous in our judgment.   We epitomized the term "civic duty".

As much as I love it, college basketball is just a game.  In the grand scheme of life, six years and seven seasons pale in comparison to the past two weeks.  It was an experience that everyone should have once in their life.  And one I won't ever forget.