Save Sean Kearney!

Sean Kearney needs some support, and it's good to see that Facebook is giving him that support. I encourage everyone to join. Solidarity for Sean is what's needed right now.

See you tomorrow for the PL Check-In!

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

When your team beats the (current) 1st place team and climbs to 2nd place it makes you happy to write about the game's GOOD, BAD, and UGLY

Goooooooooood afternoon AU hoops fans! Hope you all had a chance to watch our AU Eagles declaw the Laugh-ayette Kittycats! There were a few ties and lead changes in this game, but to be honest we had the game in hand for a majority of the time, and it was really a matter of "Are we going to blow this?" more than "Are they going to come back?" The answer to both questions, of course, is no! This win, our third straight, means we will finish this weekend no lower than tied for second place. What a great day to be an AU Eagles fan. I hope you're all enjoying the snow and being careful and all that. Do yourself a favor, don't go outside, stay right here and join me as I dish out the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY!

AU Eagles vs. laugh-ayette lol-leopards LIVEBLOG

DON'T BE FOOLED: ACTUAL LAFAYETTE LEOPARD IS NOT THIS CUTE!

Join us in the liveblog!

Leopard Print, an AU faux pas

The Lafayette Leopards, Post-Game

At 1:00 PM this afternoon we close out the first half of our Patriot League schedule in Easton, PA, facing down the Leopards of Lafayette College. Yup, the team with a leading 5-1 conference mark in the Patriot League. Also the team picked in the pre-season to finish dead last the league. That seem backwards to you? Me too! My confused attempt to make sense of this madness after the jump!

When your impaler puts up 37 points, it's GOOD for you and BAD to UGLY for your opponent.

I almost went for the "When your game review is almost 24 hours late, it's GOOD that it's a win but BAD or UGLY for your blog." This is going to be relatively quick tonight because we had some great comments on the blog, especially here, today. But, we'll still give it a go because that's what we do. So awaaaay we go.

New Poll Wants to Know: Who's the PL Player of the Year?

Now, now, we know who we WANT to be Patriot League Player of the Year, but who actually deserves to have that title? Lots of candidates this year. I include one from every school except for Lafayette and Bucknell in the poll. Why? Because I don't like Lafayette, and Bucknell has no one deserving, that's why.

Last week's results are a little skewed because of some attention we drew from some Holy Cross fans. Still, it seems that a lot of you profess to be at every game, which is exciting and encouraging! Keep that up!

Results:

How many men's basketball games will you attend this year?

0	18 (29%)
1-3	3 (4%)
4-6	1 (1%)
7-9	6 (9%)
10-12	9 (14%)
Miss a game? I'd sooner die.	25 (40%

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Press Conferences (don't sink ships)

While you're waiting in eager anticipation for the GOOD, BAD, and UGLY of tonight's win vs. the Navy Midshipmen, check out the post-game press conference, provided by AU Athletics. I applaud their continued effort to make these available.

Pro Deo Et Patria,
Josh

The Quick and Dirty Previews Continue (aka "Foul Balls Sink Ships")

Navy's starting lineup - they only need 4

My apologies, dear readers, for the....shall we say...concise previews lately. This will be another one to that effect, but starting next week I'm going to kick things back into gear and bring these entries back to their glory days. Until then, everything you need to know about how to sink Navy's ship tonight after the jump!

Speculation Tuesday Doesn't Have Much to Speculate About

To be perfectly honest, I don't have entirely too much to speculate about. Let's look at it this way:

- We've got all the recruits we're going to get for next year
- Blake Jolivette is benched for the foreseeable future; we know why he's benched, and the only way we'll know when he's out of the doghouse is when he actually gets called up in a game.
- Mike Bersch's benching has also been widely confirmed as a lack of physicality in play
- The lineup isn't going to shift anytime soon with Lumpkins back to his dominant earlier season self and Riley becoming a shadow of the player he was earlier this season
- Hendra and Vlad have been consistent recently
- No other bench player has really made a push recently to make it into the starting five

So, wow. I guess I could speculate about whether or not we'll win against Navy tomorrow, but that's what the Navy preview will be for.

Monday Wrap-up

Evening folks. Lots of stuff to talk about, so let's get down to business and spare the niceties.

Still Waiting for Post-Game from Phil Bender

Still waiting for the post-game Jeff Jones press conference audio/video to come up. We'll post it as soon as it goes up on the AUEagles site.

For HC audio, check out Hoop Time's recording. (Thanks Hoop Time!)

See you soon, I hope.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

When you beat your arch-nemeses, in front of a packed arena, and your coach gets his 300th win, there's a lot of GOOD and not much BAD or UGLY

What a glorious, glorious day to be an Eagle. Packed crowd. Tie at halftime. Eagles win. Ah. Makes me so happy. Be sure to check out the following resources: AU's recap, the box score, Mike Unger's liveblog of the game, and Hoop Time's livetweeting and recap of the game. Woo that's a lot of resources. Alright let's get down to the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY!

We Won!

We beat Holy Cross 71-64! We win Phil Bender! Jeff Jones gets his 300th! AU PL home winning streak at 19! What a glorious day to be an Eagle! Good, bad, and ugly coming shortly!

How 'bout today, huh? PHIL BENDER day!

The Holy Cross Crusaders. As archaic as the image implies.

Hello, Eagles faithful, and happy PHIL BENDER day! PHIL BENDER is without a doubt one of my favorite days of the year, just like Empire Records is one of my favorite movies of all time (for those of you who didn't get the reference in the title). I can honestly say I have been waiting for this day all season, and it could not be sweeter. Affectionately referred to by The Washington Post's DC Sports Bog as "state school day", PHIL BENDER "phils" the heart of every AU student with joy, while simultaneously filling the hearts of the hapless Crusaders with a terror that cannot be described by mere words. Of course, Bender Arena "phils" up as well, and that's a sight I have not yet seen this season and my little blue heart aches to gaze upon it again. But enough waxing poetic, find out how we're going to squash the Crusaders like the purple chimps they are after the jump!

Friday Morning AU Hoops-Related Content (One Step Up From: Insert Title Here)

Be sure to check out the profiling of Nick Hendra that the Washington Post did today here. Certainly unveils a side of Nick I didn't know about (though, I don't know how I would've found out otherwise, so thanks WaPo).

Also check out this story on how Derrick Mercer is playing for the Maryland Greenhawks. What the article doesn't tell you is that Derrick is now reunited with forward Travis Lay.

Just some interesting links to check out.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Open Letter to Holy Cross Coach Sean Kearney

As you all well know by now, this Saturday is Phil Bender, and we will be facing our arch-nemeses, the Holy Cross Crusaders. Our foes are not without their struggles this year, what with the departure of Ralph Willard and all. But, fear not, they have a new coach, and in this, my newest open letter, I want to talk strategy with him for this weekend.

The Sixth Man

Many thanks to contributor Joe Viddy for this.

For six years now I have called myself an Eagle. I have seen this campus change and grow in many respects, nowhere more striking than in Bender Arena. When I arrived at American University, a young neophyte, unaware of his surroundings, I did not care for the game of college basketball in the slightest. I did not know the difference between a Duke Blue Devil or a Georgetown Hoya. I didn’t come to AU for the basketball, nor did I even know we were a division I school at the time I applied. I never gave AU Athletics any thought or interest. In fact, my freshman year, I think I went to only a single game.

There was lots of UGLY. So much so that I'm not separating any GOOD or BAD from it.

Listen, let me be honest with you. That game we just played was atrocious. Army's defense ate us alive, and we played right into it with terrible passing and decisions with the ball. We got killed in the paint on both ends of the court. The way I feel tonight is that this was a team loss. Yes Vlad had 22 points, which was a lot considering we had 48 for the game, but when you get whipped the way this team just did, everyone loses. So here's your Good, Bad, and Ugly for tonight.

THE GOOD
...

THE BAD
...

THE UGLY

Everyone.

All 200 minutes of that game for our AU Eagles. Get it together, boys. You're going to have a full house on Saturday for Phil Bender, and if you lose to Holy Cross the way you just lost to Army, you're going to have an empty arena by halftime.

Check in tomorrow, we'll have some great content for you!

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES (even when they play terribly, like tonight)!

AU Eagles vs. Army Black Knights Liveblog!

Come on in, the water is fine. TWO IN A ROW. TWO IN A ROW.

Well Let's Hope that our Eagles Exceed the Weekly Poll Expectations!

Evening folks, I'll be putting the liveblog up shortly, but I wanted to recap this past week's poll.

68% of you think that we will win 6 games or less. That would probably put us somewhere in 6th-8th place in the PL. We were picked to finish 6th in the pre-season poll, so that seems about right.

Still, let's hope that our Eagles can exceed the poll's expectations. Though they certainly will not be able to meet the 13 victories that one of you voted for, a 12-win PL season is still very possible!

Interested in Analysis from Holy Cross Fans?

Found this last night on a Holy Cross sports forum and was mildly amused/entertained by it. Thought I'd share it with all of you as a lead-up to PHIL BENDER THIS SATURDAY.

Colgate vs. American thread

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

The Most Patriotic of the Patriot League - America Can't Lose, But West Point Sure Can

"In Clawed We Trust"

Today marks a most epic battle - on the hardwood, of course - between most likely the two most Patriotic college basketball teams in the United States. The West Point Black Knights face off against the American University Eagles at Army's Christl Arena tonight at 7 PM Eastern Time. If it isn't blindingly apparent that this is AMERICA'S basketball game, then I encourage you to immediately emigrate to Canada. For our international readers (including Canadians), this basketball game should encompass everything you need to know about American culture. More after the jump...

Speculation Tuesday Wants to Know If We've Turned the Corner

If you're at all like me, you run a blog about AU basketball but are routinely outwitted by the very clever anonymous commenters who post there and keep you supplied with nice tidbits of news about said AU basketball team. Alternatively, you could be like me and still be basking in the glow of the win against Colgate this past Sunday.

The question is, is this the game where it finally sticks? After we beat DePaul on the road we came back to Bender and dropped a game against 0-10 UMBC. After we beat Brown we came back and played what was a very disappointing game against Columbia. Can we finally string together a two game winning streak this season? I think so, for a couple of reasons:

Patriot League Check-in: Laugh-ayette ain't the laughing stock anymore

Evening AU hoops fans, hope you all had a great MLK Day and that you spent the day (or part of it) in service. I had to work today, but I'll provide this service to you: updating you on the Patriot League!

Post-Game Press Conference Video

Be sure to also check out the GOOD, BAD, and UGLY post underneath this one, but I wanted to get this up here. I think this is one of the best things athletics could do, not just for this blog and its writers, but for the fans out there. So props to them for putting this video up, and I hope it's something they'll continue doing. Some good insights from Jeff Jones, like for example how for the moment Luptak will be backing up Munoz at PG. I guess Blake is out of the picture for the moment, and after the way Luptak played today, you can't be surprised at that. JJ also points out that Lumpkins has been working hard at finishing his shots and notes that "His percentage isn't terrible, but when you consider that almost all his shots are lay-ups or within five feet..." Yeah, our thoughts exactly. Glad we can put that behind us. Right Lump? Right?

When you play a complete game on your home court and it fills me with a warm fuzzy feeling, I'm happy to write a GOOD, BAD, and UGLY

Goooood evening AU Hoops fans. What a game, what a GAME. I hope you were able to make it to Bender today to see our AU Eagles beat Colgate 73-63. Barring that, I hope you were able to watch it in some form. This was one of the more enjoyable games I've ever seen at Bender, to be honest. Lots of passion from a very fired up team as they extended the PL home winning streak to 18. The recap is here and the box score is here. I also have to say I'm very happy to see the post-game press conference video up, nice touch athletics! Let's get to dishing out the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY after the jump!

Toothpaste Jokes Are Just The Beginning

So I hate to say it, but we've already doubled the number of Patriot League losses we had last season. Oh, I'm just kidding - that statistic is true, but when you only have one loss in a season, it's not hard to double. Speaking of double, make sure to use Colgate Scratch N' Sniff toothpaste for double the fluoride action! Ha, I'm kidding again, we don't endorse anything here! In fact, go out and use Crest in protest, as today we face those clever pseudo-dentists in our third Patriot League contest of the season. No liveblog today, as we're finally back in Bender for the first time in almost a month! Get the scoop on all of the exciting action after the jump.

If Only Holy Cross's Sean Kearney Would Take a Page from the Soccer Coach's Book...

Major penalties for Holy Cross's men's soccer team as a result of recruiting violations

Maybe HC can be penalized now for having two guys with last names ending in "-eister" on the team.

Okay probably not, but a guy can dream.

Preview for Colgate later!

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

When you blow a halftime lead in overtime to a herd of slow moving land mammals, there's plenty of GOOD, BAD, and UGLY

Hello AU Hoops fans! For those of you who missed our fabulous liveblog earlier this evening, we dropped a heartbreaker to the Bucknell Bison in our second conference contest of the season. This does not bode well for our overall Patriot League chances, although there were some bright spots. Although Bill is usually the guru of all that is GOOD, BAD, and UGLY, I will be taking over these duties today in penance for letting the Bucknell preview slip through the cracks. Fear not, for our regular previews shall return this weekend with Colgate. Until then, on to today's GOOD, BAD, and UGLY after the jump!

AU vs. Bucknell Liveblog - better late than never!

Poll of the Week Says Lumpkins Should Be Starting

In a pretty overwhelming poll result, 65% of those polled in the past week said that Lumpkins should reclaim his place as a starter and at Riley Grafft's expense (46%). While Blake and Simon received 24 and 28% respectively to sit, there wasn't a clear consensus about who should replace them. A clear-cut case of we know what we don't like when we see it, but we don't know what we'd like better? Oh, you AU Hoops fans, you're so fickle. What do you think about these poll results? What do they suggest to you? Here are the full results:

(Usual) Starter Who Shouldn't Start?

Riley Grafft 23 (46%)
Nick Hendra 3 (6%)
Blake Jolivette 12 (24%)
Simon McCormack 14 (28%)
Vlad Moldoveanu 4 (8%)

Total: 50

Non-Starter Who Should Start?

Mike Bersch 9 (16%)
Joe Hill 8 (14%)
Stephen Lumpkins 36 (65%)
Steve Luptak 1 (1%)
Daniel Munoz 6 (10%)
Matthew Wilson 5 (9%)

Total: 55

This week, prognosticate about how many Patriot League wins the Eagles will get. Obviously we can't get more than 13 since we're already 0-1. Have at it!

I'm not sure if Josh is going to get a preview up or not, but join us at 7pm for the liveblog either way! Be sure to leave your predictions in the comments!

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

Speculation Tuesday Ties Up Loose Ends Nicely

We've got a lot of people who take advantage of our AU Hoops blog tip line to send us interesting things. This week, we've had a lot of people write in and offer up some interesting tidbits for us. I want to dispense some of them to you before I speculate about lineup changes.

AU Only One Game Out of 1st in PL

Ha. Ha. Ha. Get it?

We'll have more to report when the PL goes through it's second round of games this week.

Biggest news from the first game? Army loses to Colgate who suddenly looks very good with two of the top five scorers in the PL.

We'll get you a preview tomorrow for Bucknell!

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

BREAKING: Vanderbilt's Charles Hinkle to transfer to AU

Good evening, AU Hoops fans. Exciting news to report, Vanderbilt's 6'5" 210lb. guard Charles Hinkle will reportedly transfer to AU and be eligible in the second semester of next season. This news has not yet been reported by AU Athletics officials, but other reports we have received confirm it. Hinkle's story reads much like Vlad Moldoveanu's, a player with a lot of talent who was not getting the minutes at his initial institution. Hinkle will contribute to the large number of guards that the team already fields (Hendra, McCormack, Luptak, Munoz, Jolivette, Hill, Borucki, Brewer, and, arguably, Bersch), but at 6'5", he may be able to play small forward in the Patriot League.

Details as we get them as this is an emerging story.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

There wasn't a whole lot of GOOD last night, but there were heaping helpings of BAD and UGLY

Gooooood afternoon AU Hoops fans. Hope everyone out there is having a good day and enjoying the Ravens beating the snot out of the Patriots. Kind of like how the Lehigh Hill Pigeons beat our beloved AU Eagles last night. The first half of that game was probably one of the worst that I've ever seen out of AU basketball. There's a little bit of everything today, so let's get down to it.

GOOD, BAD, and UGLY...Can wait until I get some sleep

For anyone who didn't join what was a very spirited liveblog tonight, we lost 78-67 at Lehigh tonight. The recap is here and the box score is here.

I'll do the write-up at some point tomorrow. There is PLENTY of GOOD, BAD, and UGLY to go around, and because of that, I don't want to neglect it with my drowsiness.

See you tomorrow for a complete discussion of tonight's loss. Preliminary comments on it can go here.

Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!

LIVEBLOG! PL Play Begins: AU Eagles vs. Lehigh Hill Pigeons

Commenter and site hero Vidulicious will moderate tonight. Check in around 7pm as the Eagles take on Lehigh! Also, I recommend you pick up the PL Package from PatriotLeague.org, streaming of all PL games for $7.95 a month. This is much better than the package through AU, which only gives you AU home games (which I've always felt is stupid, but hey, that's life I guess). Anyway, it's on the right-hand side of PatriotLeague.org. Check it out!

Cleaning Up The Hill Pigeons

First, I just want to throw it out there that today's Lehigh preview is going to be running a little short as I am running out to catch a train in just a short while. With that in mind, Patriot League play is finally starting as we take on the Lehigh Hill Pigeons (erm...Mountain Hawks) at 7PM this evening in Bethlehem, PA. Will we win? Will we lose? Will we just give up and call it a draw after eight overtimes? Find out after the jump!

Open Letter to Jeff Jones - The First

Well, I've been talking about writing one of these for a while, so I figure you better get busy writin' or get busy...not...writin'. Sorry, Shawshank Redemption, I know I butchered you there. Anyway, here are some thoughts I have that I wanted to write down in my first Open Letter to Jeff Jones. Maybe he'll read it someday and look at it stoically. Letter after the jump!

Poll of the Week Doubles Your Pleasure, Doubles Your Say

As you can see the new Poll of the Week is up! But wait, there's two!? That's right, two poll questions this week. If you could make roster changes, who would it be? Sorry I didn't include all the bench players on the right-hand list, if you want to make a strong case for someone not listed you can do so in the comments.

Here's the results of last week's poll:

Would disabling anonymous commenting discourage you from commenting?
Absolutely, Yes 4 (12%)
Maybe, Yes 13 (41%)
Absolutely Not 7 (22%)
Maybe Not 4 (12%)
I don't comment now 3 (9%)

Since over 50% said it would discourage them to some degree, we'll continue to allow anonymous commenting. If you want to make up a unique handle for yourself that would keep you anonymous but also allow us to distinguish you from comment thread to comment thread, that'd be great! We're trying to build an AUHoops community after all.

Enjoy voting! Let's see if we can beat last week's total of 31 votes. I'm sure that we can!

(The Return Of) Speculation Tuesday

While some might call this day Wednesday, I am not such a person. Nay! I call this day...Speculation Tuesday! Some data crunching, free throw shooting, and even a strange primate, all after the jump!

No Guts. No Glory, No Victory, No Niceties in the GOOD, the BAD, or the UGLY

I just. You know. As hard as it's been on the team I'm sure to lose all these games...10? 11? 12? How many is it? It's kind of hard to keep writing all of these recaps. I think this video adequately sums up how I feel about the season thus far....

PL Check-In: Turbo Edition

So I know that I know I owe all of you a PL check-in today, because it's Monday. But I've been doing some thinking, and you know, you all know about these things called ESPN.com, Rivals.com, cbs.sportsline.com, and/or sports.yahoo.com, and thus you can look up standings, teams played, results, etc. for pretty much any team out there. So here's the thing, I'm going to give you the standings, tell you if a team beat a team or lost to a team they shouldn't have, and then I'm going to call it a day. Besides, I have a Good, Bad, and Ugly, to write, and that's, I think, more interesting for everyone.

AU vs. Columbia LIVEBLOG!

You know the drill, join us for the liveblog!

The Great Battle of the Jones (aka Spank That Lion, Jeff!)

The Great Battles of the Jones? What? Have I finally lost it? Well...yes and no. Yes, because I am crazy enough to predict our first winning streak of the season. No, because this is actually a battle between two coaches named Jones. How will our Eagles down the Lions? How will the announcers tell the coaches apart? Will one actually spank the other? Find out the answer to these questions, and oh so many more, after the jump!

Surprisingly, There Is More GOOD than BAD or UGLY Because We Won Today

Today was a pretty good day for the AU Eagles and their fans as we beat Brown in Providence 76-68. It was a complete game all the way around, and there are a lot of positives about the way we played. Certainly some negatives as well, and you'll get to hear all about them as soon as you click "Read More." As always, here's the recap and box score. And away we go!

AU Eagles vs. Brown Bears LIVEBLOG!

Join us for the Brown Bears vs. AU EAGLES liveblog! Free as always!

Smarter Than The Average Bear

The title of this post is, of course, referring to the average AU student. Between that and the above image (and yes that's the real Brown logo), I've already taken two shots at the nation's intellectual elite. Fortunately for us, they're not the basketball elite. Bam, that's three, I should slow down. More trash talk than a Holy Cross valedictorian can spell (and the reason why I refer to the mentally handicapped) after the jump!