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:
1. Nick Hendra scored 2 points on Sunday. Two. And we still won, by 10 points. That means when one of our big three (Hendra, Vlad, Lump) has an off game (or at least a game where they don't put up a ton of points) we have other people who can step up. Yes, I know Luptak isn't going to do that every game, but maybe next game it's Danny, Simon, or Riley.
2. Vlad is getting the fouls under control. I know he fouled out of the last game, but the refs in the last game were also terrible (like academic institutions in Worcester, MA). I think he's wised up about what is and isn't going to be caught. If he can stay in games longer, we've got our number one weapon for longer.
3. The defense last game was superior. We held the number two scorer in the league to 19 points on 6-19 shooting. We held a very good shooting team to under 40% from the field. The defense was really a team effort.
4. Speaking of team efforts, it finally looks like there's some chemistry on the team.
I'm getting ahead of myself. Josh is going to do a full preview shortly. Here are three actual pieces of speculation:
1. What's the story with Jeff Holton, who was in a shirt and tie for the game on Sunday? There's two reasons I can think of he wouldn't be dressed for the game: injury or academic ineligibility. I hope neither is the case and he, you know, left his uniform in the wash or something. Certainly Jeff isn't at this point a critical cog in the AU machine, but he may be in the future, and you certainly want to see a guy in his uni and not in street clothes.
2. Blake Jolivette - Word on the street is bleak for Blake is that he won't be getting play time until he improves in practice. Apparently he hasn't been sharing the ball too well, which is sad to hear but obviously an issue for a point guard. Blake certainly has a lot of talent (and a lot of it needs to be refined and honed), and I hope that this will work out for him and he'll get with the program (if that's really the issue, as we've heard). The longer he sits the more of an advantage that Danny Munoz is going to continue to gain over him and the less likely it will be that Blake will regain the starting job. We'll monitor the situation as best we can and keep you posted.
3. Lastly, I want to speculate a little bit about the lineup next year. With the arrival of Charles Hinkle and the eligibility next year of Troy Brewer, this could be a very different team. Troy comes in highly touted as a gifted athlete and shooter. It could be an intense battle between he and Hendra for the shooting guard position as I don't see either Troy or Nick playing at the three, especially with the arrival of Charles Hinkle. If he pans out the way the scouting reports we've read read, the lineup next year could be: Lumpkins, Vlad, Hinkle, Nick/Troy, Danny. That'd be a really intense lineup because of the crazy depth it represents; you'd have Riley (and possibly Tony Wroblicky) backing up Lumpkin/Vlad, Simon backing up Hinkle, and Luptak, Nick/Troy, Blake backing up the guards. Unreal depth that would have to get us at least some votes to win the Patriot League in pre-season. Gives you something to look forward to next year, though you should NOT give up on this team this year, especially given the way we played Sunday.
Josh will tell you next why you should or shouldn't be hopeful about the impending Black Knights match-up.
Until next time, pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
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