We'll have analysis/coverage about this in the coming days, but for now, be sure to read Josh Barr's article regarding Stephen Lumpkins' decision to sign with the Kansas City Royals.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Showing posts with label stephen lumpkins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stephen lumpkins. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Lucky Round 13 for Stephen Lumpkins
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| Stephen Lumpkins pitching for the Bethesda Big Train last summer | * |
Lumpkins is set to break out his left-handed pitching arm again this summer, playing for the Laconia Muskrats (based in Laconia, New Hampshire) of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He's looking to beat the performance last summer that got him on scouts' radar, where he struck out 11 batters in 10.2 innings while allowing four earned runs (these may be the most baseball stats you'll ever see on this blog). Of course, 6'8" left-handed pitchers probably don't show up in the New England Collegiate Baseball League every day, so I have high hopes for his chances.
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| This thing is fierce! |
Update: It looks like Lumpkins would be facing stiff competition as well - according to sbnation, in the first 13 rounds, the Royals picked 9 pitchers. Of the 9, 3 are left-handed pitchers (including Lump), and both the 12th and 13th picks are 6'8" (Kansas City Star).
According to Athlon Sports, every year that there's been a draft (with the sole exception of 1975), at least one 13th round pick has made it to the majors, most notably Albert Pujols (402nd overall pick in 1999). So, his chances aren't terrible, but it's also far from guaranteed. This is going to be a tough decision for him, and wherever he goes, AUHoops will follow (so these may not be the last baseball stats we see, in fact).
The AUeagles press release does hint that he will be back, citing the milestones he'll be able to reach next season if he stays on the hardwood. Last year, they gave no such indication, so read into that as you will. Although he sometimes got lost behind Vlad, Lumpkins is already in the top 20 in program history for rebounds, and top 5 all-time for blocks (19th and 4th, respectively). Next season, he could become the 11th Eagle to score 1,000 points and pull down 500 boards. Should I mention again how much of a hit it would be to lose him?
Ultimately, Lumpkins knows how much he means to this team. It's going to come down to how much he wants to be a professional athlete, and what he feels his chances are after he graduates. We'll keep our ear to the ground and keep you updated with the latest. In the mean time, vote in this week's poll to let us know what you think Lumpkins will do, and of course, share your thoughts in the comments.
One final silver lining - if Lumpkins does have a meteoric rise in baseball, he could likely finance the return of varsity baseball at AU, last played in 1986. We can dream, right?
If you want to catch Lumpkins on the mound (and happen to be in or around New Hampshire), the Laconia Muskrats will be playing their season opener at home against the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide (what an incredible name) this Friday, June 10th, at 7:05 PM. The Muskrats' Robbie Mills Field is located at 15 Eastman Road in Laconia, New Hampshire.
Pro Deo Et Patria,
Josh
*Image courtesy Harvey Levine, SmugMug.com
Monday, March 7, 2011
Amid the Shock, Uncertainty Ahead for Eagles
There are dozens of ways that this could have happened differently. Jeff Jones could have called for a foul to send Lafayette to the line for two at the end of regulation, instead Ryan Willen ties the game at 53 with a long three. Troy Brewer's three could have rolled in instead of out. Vlad could have hit that three in the corner with six seconds left in the second overtime.
AU had a shot to win the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime, and a chance to extend their lead with a few seconds left in the second overtime. But they didn't get it done. Lafayette had one hectic chance with time expiring in the second overtime, and Jim Mower buried it over a diving Nick Hendra. All of the sudden, that was it. The next full-court inbounds was a formality. Nick Hendra tried to find Vlad Moldoveanu, but his pass was plucked out of the air.
"I'm really sorry," Hendra said through tears, "that this team couldn't bring back the championship to where it belongs. And I feel personally responsible for that."
"I'm not really sure what happened," Moldoveanu said. "We were up six [in the second overtime], and it felt like the next second the game was tied.
"They made big shots, and we - slash, I think I - missed big shots. And kind of like Nick said, I feel really guilty for it. Last year's playoffs, now this year, this game, I got to take a lot of blame for it."
AU had been down most of the second half, but they had always kept the deficit manageable. Five points, three points, but you always knew they would cut it down. If they could make an 18-6 run against Colgate, they could squeak out a 7-0 run on Lafayette.
"I don't think we played well," Jones said. "We played awfully hard."
That might be the epithet written on the 2010-11 Eagles' tombstone. The effort was there, as was the goodwill, but there was always a stretch - however small - of bad play that would come back to doom them, or at least expose their mortality.
What makes tonight's example so excruciating was that the Eagles had their chances. It wasn't sloppy turnovers. It was a three pointer rolling out of the basket.
"Whether you're college age or a 50-year-old coach, it's the kind of thing that sticks with you," Jones said. "Hopefully with time, that pain and that disappointment will subside a little bit."
Maybe. But part of what makes this so shocking is that this year's senior class includes three starters, and Moldoveanu joined the 1,000 point club tonight after just 53 games. He will wind up tied with Gordon Stiles, who scored 1,012 points between 1967-1970. Replacing Moldoveanu's production will no doubt be done by committee. But it will be a committee of unproven players who didn't play much this season.
Stephen Lumpkins will be back. Brewer will be back. Charles Hinkle will be back. We'll probably get our first real look at Wayne Simon II. Jordan Borucki will get more than the six minutes he got this season. Warren Flood, Jr. may get an expanded role. Incoming freshman forward Kyle Kager looks promising. But we don't really know what next year's team will look like. We can guess, but we don't know.
That is the question for the next eight months while Jones and his staff assess the status of the roster. As much as I loved Moldoveanu, and he was one of the best players we will see in Bender for a while, here's hoping the next iteration of the Eagles is more balanced offensively. The difference between the '08-'09 teams and the '10-'11 teams was that you knew who would produce in those first two years. But In the last two seasons, it was Vlad and the rest. It was difficult to judge who else would provide meaningful production every night.
These Eagles gave us great moments. The double overtime win last Friday at Lafayette, the 5-0 start, the Cable Car Classic win, the one-point win at Lehigh, and that magical second half run to put Colgate away last Wednesday. All told, it was another 20-win season, the team's third in four years. After the game, Jones gave a farewell to the three players that won't be here to make another run next season.
"I wanted to thank them," he said. "I hope each of their teammates has an opportunity to thank them. Not just for what they've done as far as basketball, but for them as people and their contributions across the board. You look at it, and Luptak and Hendra are kind of your typical [player]. They've grown up so much and they've come so far. With Vlad, it's hard to believe that somebody in just a year and a half can have as much of an impact on a program. People will either believe me or they won't, but they need to understand, that with Vlad it's not just about him being a good player. He's a damn good player. But he's a great teammate. He's just an outstanding young man and I think has made my job easier and hopefully his teammates have enjoyed playing with him. I think it's rare that you play with someone that good who's also that good a person."
A toast to the 2010-11 AU Eagles. You went before your time, but it was a sweet ride.
AU had a shot to win the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime, and a chance to extend their lead with a few seconds left in the second overtime. But they didn't get it done. Lafayette had one hectic chance with time expiring in the second overtime, and Jim Mower buried it over a diving Nick Hendra. All of the sudden, that was it. The next full-court inbounds was a formality. Nick Hendra tried to find Vlad Moldoveanu, but his pass was plucked out of the air.
"I'm really sorry," Hendra said through tears, "that this team couldn't bring back the championship to where it belongs. And I feel personally responsible for that."
"I'm not really sure what happened," Moldoveanu said. "We were up six [in the second overtime], and it felt like the next second the game was tied.
"They made big shots, and we - slash, I think I - missed big shots. And kind of like Nick said, I feel really guilty for it. Last year's playoffs, now this year, this game, I got to take a lot of blame for it."
AU had been down most of the second half, but they had always kept the deficit manageable. Five points, three points, but you always knew they would cut it down. If they could make an 18-6 run against Colgate, they could squeak out a 7-0 run on Lafayette.
"I don't think we played well," Jones said. "We played awfully hard."
That might be the epithet written on the 2010-11 Eagles' tombstone. The effort was there, as was the goodwill, but there was always a stretch - however small - of bad play that would come back to doom them, or at least expose their mortality.
What makes tonight's example so excruciating was that the Eagles had their chances. It wasn't sloppy turnovers. It was a three pointer rolling out of the basket.
"Whether you're college age or a 50-year-old coach, it's the kind of thing that sticks with you," Jones said. "Hopefully with time, that pain and that disappointment will subside a little bit."
Maybe. But part of what makes this so shocking is that this year's senior class includes three starters, and Moldoveanu joined the 1,000 point club tonight after just 53 games. He will wind up tied with Gordon Stiles, who scored 1,012 points between 1967-1970. Replacing Moldoveanu's production will no doubt be done by committee. But it will be a committee of unproven players who didn't play much this season.
Stephen Lumpkins will be back. Brewer will be back. Charles Hinkle will be back. We'll probably get our first real look at Wayne Simon II. Jordan Borucki will get more than the six minutes he got this season. Warren Flood, Jr. may get an expanded role. Incoming freshman forward Kyle Kager looks promising. But we don't really know what next year's team will look like. We can guess, but we don't know.
That is the question for the next eight months while Jones and his staff assess the status of the roster. As much as I loved Moldoveanu, and he was one of the best players we will see in Bender for a while, here's hoping the next iteration of the Eagles is more balanced offensively. The difference between the '08-'09 teams and the '10-'11 teams was that you knew who would produce in those first two years. But In the last two seasons, it was Vlad and the rest. It was difficult to judge who else would provide meaningful production every night.
These Eagles gave us great moments. The double overtime win last Friday at Lafayette, the 5-0 start, the Cable Car Classic win, the one-point win at Lehigh, and that magical second half run to put Colgate away last Wednesday. All told, it was another 20-win season, the team's third in four years. After the game, Jones gave a farewell to the three players that won't be here to make another run next season.
"I wanted to thank them," he said. "I hope each of their teammates has an opportunity to thank them. Not just for what they've done as far as basketball, but for them as people and their contributions across the board. You look at it, and Luptak and Hendra are kind of your typical [player]. They've grown up so much and they've come so far. With Vlad, it's hard to believe that somebody in just a year and a half can have as much of an impact on a program. People will either believe me or they won't, but they need to understand, that with Vlad it's not just about him being a good player. He's a damn good player. But he's a great teammate. He's just an outstanding young man and I think has made my job easier and hopefully his teammates have enjoyed playing with him. I think it's rare that you play with someone that good who's also that good a person."
A toast to the 2010-11 AU Eagles. You went before your time, but it was a sweet ride.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
AU Eagles Have Made the Final Four
...of the Patriot League tournament, that is. We're still a few games away from the NCAA Tournament's Final Four, but all in due time my friends. We're just eight games away from AU's first national championship (and the Patriot League's, actually).
How did we get into this position? By playing a really complete game against the Colgate Raiders last night. Colgate was in it in earnest for all of about six minutes. After that it was all AU, and especially all Vlad the Impaler and the Unstumpable Lump. AU will play the Laugh-ayette LOLKitties, who upset the delightfully underperforming given how talented they are Holy Cross Crusaders, on Sunday night at 5pm.
Let's look at a few highlights from last night raid of the #7 Raiders, shall we?
- Vlad really impaled last night. 31 points on 11-19, 4-6, 5-7 with 7 boards? Whaaaaaa? He put on a clinic. Driving to the basket, shots from long range, baseline jumpers, leaners in the lane. There was just nothing the Raiders could do about it either. Mike Venezia gave a nice effort, but in the end, his forearm checks to Vlad's back just weren't good enough.
- Lumpkins, aside from playing Navy, has been remarkably consistent in Patriot League play. Last night was no different. He had his 55th double-double of the season. That's not an error. We've played 30 games this year, and Lumpkins had 55 double-doubles. Remarkable, huh? He had 17 points on 6-7 from the field and 15 boards. He also did a great job with John Brandenburg and Nick Pascale on defense while only picking up one foul in 38 minutes. Great game for Lumpy.
- Tough game from the field yesterday for Nick Hendra. 0-6 from the field and 0-4 from long range, but if you ignore that, as you should, and look at the incredible 9 assists against 0 turnovers and the tremendous defense he played all game. Hendra had some good looks that just didn't drop yesterday. It happens. What's also been happening a lot is that Hendra is using his perfected float pass to perfectly place the ball in past the defense and into Lump or Vlad's hands for an easy two. You also saw a great moment last night toward the end of the game when Lump got called out by JJ for something. JJ was really ripping into Lump on the sideline and Hendra came over, put his arm around the big man, gave him some encouragement, and patted him the ass to get him back in the game. That's the kind of leadership you need from your seniors, and that's what we're getting from Lump.
- Every once in a while you see great drives from Munoz or Luptak. Flashes of brilliance that I really wish we could see more of. Clearly our time to see more of it out of Luptak has passed, but hopefully this will change out of Munoz in the future.
- Charles Hinkle doesn't score a ton of points, but when he does, it seems like they come in bunches. He came in yesterday and hit a clutch deep three as the shot clock expired, and then within the next minute got another jumper from 18 feet. Hinkle's five points started a 10-0 run that AU never looked back from.
- Tough game for Troy yesterday. Only 2-8 from the field and 3-4 from the line for a total of 7 points. He did have 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Luckily we didn't really need a huge game from Troy yesterday. We will need a big one on Sunday though, so put your Spiderman suit back on.
That's all I've got for you. What did I miss? Leave it in the comments! What do you think our prospects are for Sunday? Excited? YOU SHOULD BE! EIGHT GAMES, FOLKS.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
How did we get into this position? By playing a really complete game against the Colgate Raiders last night. Colgate was in it in earnest for all of about six minutes. After that it was all AU, and especially all Vlad the Impaler and the Unstumpable Lump. AU will play the Laugh-ayette LOLKitties, who upset the delightfully underperforming given how talented they are Holy Cross Crusaders, on Sunday night at 5pm.
Let's look at a few highlights from last night raid of the #7 Raiders, shall we?
- Vlad really impaled last night. 31 points on 11-19, 4-6, 5-7 with 7 boards? Whaaaaaa? He put on a clinic. Driving to the basket, shots from long range, baseline jumpers, leaners in the lane. There was just nothing the Raiders could do about it either. Mike Venezia gave a nice effort, but in the end, his forearm checks to Vlad's back just weren't good enough.
- Lumpkins, aside from playing Navy, has been remarkably consistent in Patriot League play. Last night was no different. He had his 55th double-double of the season. That's not an error. We've played 30 games this year, and Lumpkins had 55 double-doubles. Remarkable, huh? He had 17 points on 6-7 from the field and 15 boards. He also did a great job with John Brandenburg and Nick Pascale on defense while only picking up one foul in 38 minutes. Great game for Lumpy.
- Tough game from the field yesterday for Nick Hendra. 0-6 from the field and 0-4 from long range, but if you ignore that, as you should, and look at the incredible 9 assists against 0 turnovers and the tremendous defense he played all game. Hendra had some good looks that just didn't drop yesterday. It happens. What's also been happening a lot is that Hendra is using his perfected float pass to perfectly place the ball in past the defense and into Lump or Vlad's hands for an easy two. You also saw a great moment last night toward the end of the game when Lump got called out by JJ for something. JJ was really ripping into Lump on the sideline and Hendra came over, put his arm around the big man, gave him some encouragement, and patted him the ass to get him back in the game. That's the kind of leadership you need from your seniors, and that's what we're getting from Lump.
- Every once in a while you see great drives from Munoz or Luptak. Flashes of brilliance that I really wish we could see more of. Clearly our time to see more of it out of Luptak has passed, but hopefully this will change out of Munoz in the future.
- Charles Hinkle doesn't score a ton of points, but when he does, it seems like they come in bunches. He came in yesterday and hit a clutch deep three as the shot clock expired, and then within the next minute got another jumper from 18 feet. Hinkle's five points started a 10-0 run that AU never looked back from.
- Tough game for Troy yesterday. Only 2-8 from the field and 3-4 from the line for a total of 7 points. He did have 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Luckily we didn't really need a huge game from Troy yesterday. We will need a big one on Sunday though, so put your Spiderman suit back on.
That's all I've got for you. What did I miss? Leave it in the comments! What do you think our prospects are for Sunday? Excited? YOU SHOULD BE! EIGHT GAMES, FOLKS.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Good Thing There's Toothpaste Jokes, Because I've Got No Puns for "Raiders"
Well, here we are again. You know, I'd like to say it gets boring hosting (at minimum) a quarterfinal Patriot League game every year, it doesn't. It really, really doesn't. Though the Blue Crew has been surprisingly lackluster at times this year, I really hope that they turn out en masse tonight to cheer on our Eagles as they go for their third win over the Colgate Raiders tonight.
We've beaten the Raiders by 9 both times we played them this year. In both of those games, Troy, Vlad, and Lump all scored in double digits. Vlad and Troy have been on a hot streak that hopefully they will ride into Patriot League play and Bender Arena tonight.
The game plan should be the same as it's been the past two games against Colgate: keep the defense spread out by feeding Vlad and Troy a steady diet of 3s and 18-footers off of screens and make them pay on the interior using Lumpkins. Colgate has no big man inside to pose a real challenge to Lumpkins, especially if we can hit our perimeter shots. Add in a little bit of roleplaying from guys like Luptak, Munoz, and McCormack, and a sprinkle of dribble penetration and lane-slashing from Nick Hendra and we've got a winning combination and a trifecta over the toothpaste merchants.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm, and we hope that you will BE THERE. BE BLUE. AND BE AU!
We'll be liveblogging per usual, so if you can't make it to Bender, be sure to log in and keep apprised of what's going on!
GOOD LUCK EAGLES! THREE MORE WINS TIL THE DANCE!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
We've beaten the Raiders by 9 both times we played them this year. In both of those games, Troy, Vlad, and Lump all scored in double digits. Vlad and Troy have been on a hot streak that hopefully they will ride into Patriot League play and Bender Arena tonight.
The game plan should be the same as it's been the past two games against Colgate: keep the defense spread out by feeding Vlad and Troy a steady diet of 3s and 18-footers off of screens and make them pay on the interior using Lumpkins. Colgate has no big man inside to pose a real challenge to Lumpkins, especially if we can hit our perimeter shots. Add in a little bit of roleplaying from guys like Luptak, Munoz, and McCormack, and a sprinkle of dribble penetration and lane-slashing from Nick Hendra and we've got a winning combination and a trifecta over the toothpaste merchants.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm, and we hope that you will BE THERE. BE BLUE. AND BE AU!
We'll be liveblogging per usual, so if you can't make it to Bender, be sure to log in and keep apprised of what's going on!
GOOD LUCK EAGLES! THREE MORE WINS TIL THE DANCE!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Eagles Must Stay Grounded Despite Clinching Second Seed
With two games left against lesser teams in the Patriot League, it would be easy for the Eagles (19-8, 9-3) to pack it in and take the next few games off. They've clinched second place in the tournament - their best finish since 2008-09, when they finished first - and can't move up or down.
The Eagles have senior night against Navy (10-18, 5-7) on Wednesday and a road game at Lafayette (10-17, 5-7) on Saturday.
"I wouldn't call either of those games tune-up games," senior guard Nick Hendra said. "Earlier in the season we got our butts kicked up at Navy. So we're looking to come out for senior night at home ready to play."
"I'd be shocked and disappointed if these guys needed me to say much of anything to get them ready against [Navy] on Wednesday night," Head Coach Jeff Jones said.
The Eagles have senior night against Navy (10-18, 5-7) on Wednesday and a road game at Lafayette (10-17, 5-7) on Saturday.
"I wouldn't call either of those games tune-up games," senior guard Nick Hendra said. "Earlier in the season we got our butts kicked up at Navy. So we're looking to come out for senior night at home ready to play."
"I'd be shocked and disappointed if these guys needed me to say much of anything to get them ready against [Navy] on Wednesday night," Head Coach Jeff Jones said.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Eagles Will Re-Phil Bender Before Taking On Crusaders
Gooooooood evening AUHoops fans! Hope you're all getting your beauty sleep tonight so that you'll be ready to shout yourselves hoarse in Bender tomorrow afternoon. What your personal aesthetics have to do with your ability to belt out AU-related chants is beyond me, but just come rested and ready. Matchups between Holy Cross and our beloved Eagles have been notoriously fierce over the years, but the Eagles have found a way to beat the Crusaders in the last four meetings between the two in Bender Arena.
Last month's game between these two teams was unbelievably close and ended with AU squeezing out a win in Worcester, 60-57. When I tell you this match-up was close, consider:
- 36 to 35 rebounding advantage to AU
- 13 to 14 foul advantage to AU
- Both teams with 11 assists
- AU with a 6 to 8 turnover advantage
- AU with a 2 to 1 advantage in blocks
- Holy Cross with a 6 to 5 advantage in steals
- Each team with only two players in double digits
- AU 5-18 from 3, Holy Cross 4-17.
Ultimately that game came down to free throws. Both teams shot under 60% from the line, and had AU missed a few more, or Holy Cross made a few more, we would've had a reversal of fortunes.
AU is coming off of a yeoman effort against the Army Black Knights. Led by Lumpkins' 13 and 15, this was just a solid team game where they went in and did what they had to do to get out with a win. Hopefully a Bender crowd that is sure to be fired up will put some energy into the team and get them pumped up to play.
Things to look out for tomorrow:
- Will Vlad have a big game? The Impaler hasn't been very uh, impaleful, recently. He hasn't scored 20+ points in a month. Troy has been picking up some of his slack, but if AU is going to make a sustained run into the PL tournament, we're going to need him to revert back to his high octane ways.
- Which Andrew Beinert shows up? Holy Cross's senior point guard runs hot and cold. In the past 5 games, he has just one double-digit performance. Which is fine, they don't necessarily need him to be the main scorer with Devin Brown and Andrew Keister out there, but the problem is that he's been scoring few points while taking a lot of shots. If he's having to take a lot of shots, it means they're having trouble getting the ball to their playmakers. It'll be a long day for Coach Milan Brown if AU can hold leading scorer Devin Brown under 20 points again.
- The matchup between Andrew Keister and Stephen Lumpkins is always epic. In Worcester last month, Lump got the better of Keister and put up a double-double (20 and 10). Have to hope the crowd revs up the Unstumpable One and he lays down the slammajamma all over the Gallivanting Gallowayan.
AU is running out of real estate to get into high gear here. With three games left, they need to come together and focus on doing all the little things right in preparation for the Patriot League tourney. We need to see Troy and Lump continue their great efforts and we need to see Vlad move it into the higher level we know he's capable of achieving at. Offensive consistency and excellence from those three, paired with the tenacious team defense this team has shown all year, and we'll be in a good place. Next step: Holy Cross, TOMORROW.
BE THERE. BE BLUE. BE AU.
Oh, and as if the prospect of playing Holy Cross wasn't enough, the first 1,000 fans in the door tomorrow will receive a CLAWED THE EAGLE bobblehead courtesy of GEICO.
I know I want one. Or six.
See you there!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Last month's game between these two teams was unbelievably close and ended with AU squeezing out a win in Worcester, 60-57. When I tell you this match-up was close, consider:
- 36 to 35 rebounding advantage to AU
- 13 to 14 foul advantage to AU
- Both teams with 11 assists
- AU with a 6 to 8 turnover advantage
- AU with a 2 to 1 advantage in blocks
- Holy Cross with a 6 to 5 advantage in steals
- Each team with only two players in double digits
- AU 5-18 from 3, Holy Cross 4-17.
Ultimately that game came down to free throws. Both teams shot under 60% from the line, and had AU missed a few more, or Holy Cross made a few more, we would've had a reversal of fortunes.
AU is coming off of a yeoman effort against the Army Black Knights. Led by Lumpkins' 13 and 15, this was just a solid team game where they went in and did what they had to do to get out with a win. Hopefully a Bender crowd that is sure to be fired up will put some energy into the team and get them pumped up to play.
Things to look out for tomorrow:
- Will Vlad have a big game? The Impaler hasn't been very uh, impaleful, recently. He hasn't scored 20+ points in a month. Troy has been picking up some of his slack, but if AU is going to make a sustained run into the PL tournament, we're going to need him to revert back to his high octane ways.
- Which Andrew Beinert shows up? Holy Cross's senior point guard runs hot and cold. In the past 5 games, he has just one double-digit performance. Which is fine, they don't necessarily need him to be the main scorer with Devin Brown and Andrew Keister out there, but the problem is that he's been scoring few points while taking a lot of shots. If he's having to take a lot of shots, it means they're having trouble getting the ball to their playmakers. It'll be a long day for Coach Milan Brown if AU can hold leading scorer Devin Brown under 20 points again.
- The matchup between Andrew Keister and Stephen Lumpkins is always epic. In Worcester last month, Lump got the better of Keister and put up a double-double (20 and 10). Have to hope the crowd revs up the Unstumpable One and he lays down the slammajamma all over the Gallivanting Gallowayan.
AU is running out of real estate to get into high gear here. With three games left, they need to come together and focus on doing all the little things right in preparation for the Patriot League tourney. We need to see Troy and Lump continue their great efforts and we need to see Vlad move it into the higher level we know he's capable of achieving at. Offensive consistency and excellence from those three, paired with the tenacious team defense this team has shown all year, and we'll be in a good place. Next step: Holy Cross, TOMORROW.
BE THERE. BE BLUE. BE AU.
Oh, and as if the prospect of playing Holy Cross wasn't enough, the first 1,000 fans in the door tomorrow will receive a CLAWED THE EAGLE bobblehead courtesy of GEICO.
I know I want one. Or six.
See you there!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Eagles Brush With Crest Again As Colgate Falls In Bender
It's not often I'd say that a game against Colgate is exciting, exactly, or at least more exciting than any other game. However, today's game was downright exciting. Our Eagles definitely came prepared to this afternoon's first Bender White Out, teeth brushed with Crest and ready to topple the Raiders 69-60. That's right, I said topple. You might wonder, how does one exactly topple an opponent that is 6-19? Well, Colgate showed up at Bender today ready to upset, and for a brief period it looked like they might have found it in them. In a game so scrappy it was reminiscent of the 2008 Patriot League Championship game that was about as close to a wrestling match as you can get with ten guys and a basketball, AU showed it has what it takes to truly compete for the conference title this season.
After that kind of buildup, let's go through a list of what wowed me today. If I miss anything, don't be shy about letting me know in the comments. Let's go!
- STEPHEN "YOU CAN'T STUMP THE LUMP" LUMPKINS. As of today, that is now a grammatically correct sentence in itself. To multiple chants of "you can't stop him", the unstumpable one brought down a season-high 27 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and an assist for good measure, with only a single personal foul to show for it. Oh, and 82% shooting from the charity stripe (against a season average of 64%) wasn't shabby either. Lumpkins slammed down something like four monster dunks, including the first one-handed jam I've seen from him early in the first half off a fast break. After having to contend with Bucknell's Mike Muscala, Lumpkins took advantage of a team without a quality big, and by "took advantage" I really mean "eviscerated mercilessly until even dental records were useless."
- Speaking of monster plays and one-handed dunks, Troy Brewer played the role of the human highlight reel to the fullest this game. For quick proof, see all three glorious camera angles at the bottom of the AUEagles.com recap. With a little over four minutes remaining in the first half, Colgate started to get the better of us, shooting lights out from downtown (57% for the game, they were nuts), complemented by some impressive dribble penetration from guard Mitch Rolls. After a drive and layup by Rolls, he decided to be even more ambitious, picking the ball right from Vlad's fingers a few possessions later. Troy was going to have none of it. As Danny Munoz valiently tried to chase Rolls down on the fast break, it seemed as if he was in the clear for an easy layup to go up 28-24. In comes Troy, streaking in like he competing in the 100 meter dash. As Rolls goes in for the layup, Troy launches himself over Rolls and slams the ball into the backboard, effectively rebounding it to Vlad. Danny brings it down the court, passes back to Troy, who doesn't see a shot, and passes back to Danny. Danny dishes it to an open Hendra who takes a DEEP three, clanging off the rim. Then WHAM! All of a sudden Troy is staring eye-to-eye with the rim again and slams the rock home to bring the score to a much preferable 26-24. I swear to you, his legs are actually giant springs. Although this was countered with a Colgate trey, we held the Raiders scoreless for the last four minutes of the half and ended the first period 29-28. Troy ended the game with 10 points and the faint hope of seeing himself on ESPN's highlight reel this evening. While Charles Hinkle wears the number 23 with pride, tonight that number should have been on Troy's back.
- The Danny/Steve Combo Platter: 8 points (including a deep three from Luptak to start the game), a 6:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and 4 rebounds earns us a solid 40 minutes from the one spot. Nothing mind-blowing, but definitely solid.
- The Vlad Virus: This piece of unfortunate alliteration here hints to the fact that I suspect poor Vlad of having a cold or some other mild ailment which is throwing off his game a little. He scored what I could best call the quietest 17 points I've seen from the Impaler, mostly from a 10-11 showing from the free throw line. Vlad looked a bit off tonight, and I really hope he feels better before we head off to West Point on Wednesday. If not, it's always good to see those around him step up, and I commend his ability to take on a huge supporting role even when he's not in the spotlight. Sure, being the second-highest scorer in the game, 3 steals, 4 rebounds, and an assist are great numbers, but not quite normal Vlad-level numbers either. The three fouls he racked up were a bit telling too, as lately his play has been tight enough to avoid a lot of the ticky tack calls that plagued him last season.
- Stop, thief! Both AU and Colgate each recorded 7 steals for the game, which is impressive. Although we definitely looked better (through these red, white, and blue goggles, anyway) on this end, neither team was holding on to the ball terribly well. It was clear who made the most of their extra possessions, however.
- DE-FENSE! Honestly, the final score doesn't indicate exactly how hopeless this game became for Colgate in the second half. Although they were up a point at the break, AU came out in the second half with all engines blazing and never looked back. Colgate's highest scorer for the game was Sterling Melville, who only had 10, indicating that the Raiders had a balanced attack despite having only a single double-digit scorer. To our benefit, we held Yaw Gyawu, Nick Pascale, and Joe Hoban to 9, 8, and 8 points respectively. We showed a lot of hustle and with the exception of about five minutes in the first half, never let the Raiders find a rhythm. If it wasn't for their untimely accuracy from beyond the arc, it would have been a blowout.
- The Pep Band Bagpiper: Whichever intrepid pep band member decided that bringing his bagpipe was a good idea, we wholeheartedly agree. While I sincerely wish more of your songs could get the entire Blue Crew to turn around, clap their hands, and dance, it was great to see the Screamin' Eagles getting some of the recognition they deserve. Plus, bagpipes are just freakin' cool.
- Congratulations to the Eagle-in-Chief: President Kerwin reclaimed his Presidential Shootout title at halftime, defeating Student Government President Nathan Bronstein 7-4 and avenging last year's loss.
- Finally, props to athletics on producing some very nice White Out shirts. I hope this great event becomes an annual tradition.
Well that's that. Share your reactions to today's game in the comments, and we'll see you later this week as we travel to Army to thank them for beating Bucknell the only way Eagles know how - by winning.
Pro Deo Et Patria and GO EAGLES!
Josh
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Eagles Fall to the Buffalo Herd in Sojka
First of all, thanks to everyone who joined us in the liveblog last night. It was a very lively discussion and great to "see" so many of you in there to talk about the pretty crazy game that we were able to listen to. Here's the recap, and here's the box score. I have some thoughts from this game, so please join me as I tip-toe through the tulips below.
- You've probably noticed I don't do the GOOD, BAD, and UGLY anymore, but in this case, I think it's warranted to give Vlad a BAD for last night. In your biggest games, you need your biggest players to step up. In two games against Bucknell this year, Vlad shot 5-20 and 1-4 from the 3 point line. He's averaging 8 points a game (12 points below his average). He is averaging 6.5 rebounds in these games, but it's not enough. You need Vlad to step up. Haywood points out that it looks like Vlad was sick last night, or at least something was off. If that's the case, sorry to put the BAD on you, Vlad. We'll hope to see you bounce back against Colgate.
- Troy has really stepped it up the past few games. In his past 3, he's averaging 14 points on 48% from the field. He was the only one who kept the Eagles afloat in the dismal first 10 minutes of yesterday's first half. The one gripe I had about him last night was that he doesn't ever pull up for jumpers in the lane. He has some trouble finishing at the hoop, so why not shake off the defender with a sudden stop and pull-up? Keep up the good work, Troy.
- Every once in a while Danny Munoz has one of these tremendous outputs that you wish, hope, and pray would be what we'd see on a consistent basis. Munoz exploded for 11 points and 4 assists last night. The 11 points came on 3-4 from long range (a season high) and his point total tied a season high too. Great performance, Danny really stepped up when a lot of the other roleplayers didn't.
- Mike Muscala is a force. That is all.
- Lump had a decent, but not great, game last night against the best big man in the Patriot League. 11 points (1 pt below average) and 5 rebounds (almost a season low), weren't a tremendous output. There were times when Lump got the better of Muscala, with a little up and under trickery that completely faked out the big buffalo. We needed Lump to have the game of his life last night, and we didn't get it, but we certainly can't lay this loss at his feet given the other subpar performances we got.
- What an unbelievable comeback by the Eagles for this game to even be a bitter loss. Down 14 points early, this looked like it was going to be a repeat of the Bender Blowout earlier this season. But the Eagles bite and clawed their way back to get a lead late in the second half. Clutch three point shooting really helped; without those buckets from Munoz and Charles (help comes from unexpected places!) we'd be tearing our eyeballs out at a double-digit loss today. Down the stretch we just couldn't hit a clutch basket. We missed a few chances to re-take the lead. Muscala came up huge at the end for Bucknell and we didn't have anyone step up in the last few minutes. We came together enough to get it close, but just couldn't get over the hump.
I fully, FULLY expect us to bounce back (again) against Colgate this Saturday. One game at a time from here on out, it's completely improbable that we will get the #1 seed now, but we can work on keeping the #2 seed firmly in our grasp.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
- You've probably noticed I don't do the GOOD, BAD, and UGLY anymore, but in this case, I think it's warranted to give Vlad a BAD for last night. In your biggest games, you need your biggest players to step up. In two games against Bucknell this year, Vlad shot 5-20 and 1-4 from the 3 point line. He's averaging 8 points a game (12 points below his average). He is averaging 6.5 rebounds in these games, but it's not enough. You need Vlad to step up. Haywood points out that it looks like Vlad was sick last night, or at least something was off. If that's the case, sorry to put the BAD on you, Vlad. We'll hope to see you bounce back against Colgate.
- Troy has really stepped it up the past few games. In his past 3, he's averaging 14 points on 48% from the field. He was the only one who kept the Eagles afloat in the dismal first 10 minutes of yesterday's first half. The one gripe I had about him last night was that he doesn't ever pull up for jumpers in the lane. He has some trouble finishing at the hoop, so why not shake off the defender with a sudden stop and pull-up? Keep up the good work, Troy.
- Every once in a while Danny Munoz has one of these tremendous outputs that you wish, hope, and pray would be what we'd see on a consistent basis. Munoz exploded for 11 points and 4 assists last night. The 11 points came on 3-4 from long range (a season high) and his point total tied a season high too. Great performance, Danny really stepped up when a lot of the other roleplayers didn't.
- Mike Muscala is a force. That is all.
- Lump had a decent, but not great, game last night against the best big man in the Patriot League. 11 points (1 pt below average) and 5 rebounds (almost a season low), weren't a tremendous output. There were times when Lump got the better of Muscala, with a little up and under trickery that completely faked out the big buffalo. We needed Lump to have the game of his life last night, and we didn't get it, but we certainly can't lay this loss at his feet given the other subpar performances we got.
- What an unbelievable comeback by the Eagles for this game to even be a bitter loss. Down 14 points early, this looked like it was going to be a repeat of the Bender Blowout earlier this season. But the Eagles bite and clawed their way back to get a lead late in the second half. Clutch three point shooting really helped; without those buckets from Munoz and Charles (help comes from unexpected places!) we'd be tearing our eyeballs out at a double-digit loss today. Down the stretch we just couldn't hit a clutch basket. We missed a few chances to re-take the lead. Muscala came up huge at the end for Bucknell and we didn't have anyone step up in the last few minutes. We came together enough to get it close, but just couldn't get over the hump.
I fully, FULLY expect us to bounce back (again) against Colgate this Saturday. One game at a time from here on out, it's completely improbable that we will get the #1 seed now, but we can work on keeping the #2 seed firmly in our grasp.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Lumpkins Earns His First PL Player of the Week of the Season
Congrats to the Unstumpable Stephen Lumpkins for earning his first PL PoW selection of the season and second overall. His citation is below:
STEPHEN LUMPKINS, AMERICAN Jr., F, 6-8, 225, Redwood City, Calif./Juniperro Serra
Lumpkins takes home Patriot League/Anaconda Player of the Week honors after two strong efforts to lead the Eagles to close victories last week. He made 6-of-9 shots and finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in a 65-62 win at home against Army on Wednesday, then recorded his fifth double-double of the year with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 60-57 victory at Holy Cross on Saturday that put the Eagles in sole possession of second place. Lumpkins made 9-of-12 shots in the game, and became the 27th Eagle and 49th Patriot Leaguer to go over 500 career rebounds during the contest. Lumpkins averaged 18.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks while shooting 71.4 percent from the field for the week. He stands 10th in the Patriot League with 12.8 points per game and leads the League with 8.0 rebounds per contest this season. Lumpkins earns his second career Anaconda Player of the Week award and first this season.
Lump lately has been a dominating force in the paint. We need him to keep that up against everyone he can not named Muscala (and eventually against people named Muscala too!)
Congrats Lump!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
STEPHEN LUMPKINS, AMERICAN Jr., F, 6-8, 225, Redwood City, Calif./Juniperro Serra
Lumpkins takes home Patriot League/Anaconda Player of the Week honors after two strong efforts to lead the Eagles to close victories last week. He made 6-of-9 shots and finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in a 65-62 win at home against Army on Wednesday, then recorded his fifth double-double of the year with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 60-57 victory at Holy Cross on Saturday that put the Eagles in sole possession of second place. Lumpkins made 9-of-12 shots in the game, and became the 27th Eagle and 49th Patriot Leaguer to go over 500 career rebounds during the contest. Lumpkins averaged 18.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks while shooting 71.4 percent from the field for the week. He stands 10th in the Patriot League with 12.8 points per game and leads the League with 8.0 rebounds per contest this season. Lumpkins earns his second career Anaconda Player of the Week award and first this season.
Lump lately has been a dominating force in the paint. We need him to keep that up against everyone he can not named Muscala (and eventually against people named Muscala too!)
Congrats Lump!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Things I Think About a Game I Didn't See
Woo. Took me long enough to get this up, eh? So I didn't see the game last night. I'm going off of what I read through various recaps and the box score. Take this analysis with a grain of salt, I guess. I'm hoping you'll bail me out and post in the comments what you saw or heard last night. Or don't. It's Friday night after all.
Anyway. Some things I think.
- Glad to see Vlad's shot selection change a little bit last night. He was successful WITHOUT the long ball (only attempted two 3's and hit one of them). Still, he was the team's leading scorer with 21. Vlad lately has been relying too much on the long ball. This hopefully is a good reminder to him that he can score, at a serious clip, within the arc.
- Lump's foul trouble really hurt us inside last night. With 6 points and 1 rebound, this is definitely his worst game of the season. It's curious to me that he only played 14 minutes and yet Fisher and Wroblicky combined for just 8 minutes. I'm guessing they moved Vlad over to the 5 and put Hinkle at the 4 (since Hinkle had 24 minutes). Strange lineup. Tony Wroblicky's minutes have really dropped off lately. We saw him a lot at the beginning of the season, but he started to fall off a bit and now we don't see him much at all. Disappointing, but I hope that he can battle through and earn some more minutes as we get to PL play.
- Another solid game out of Troy Brewer last night. There's a rumor he even dunked the ball and didn't get a technical. Jokes aside, a very respectable stat line from him last night.
- To be within 4 of this Northwestern team at halftime is something that should be applauded. I didn't think there was much chance of us pulling this game out, and, well, we didn't pull this game out. You do have to wonder why the second half woes that we had so badly last year are creeping back on us again. AU appears to have come out flat after halftime. Northwestern started the 2nd half with a 22-6 run. Oof. Brutal.
- This is a Northwestern team that is very, very talented. Shurna is going to make a solid run for 1st team Big 10, and Michael Thompson is having a great season as well. Aside from those two we did a pretty good job on defense (holding them to 8-22). But, well, those two are a pretty big part of the offense so I guess it's a wash analysis.
- Nice game from Simon last night. As I mentioned in the last recap, his minutes are going to be reduced. To get 4 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists in 13 minutes says to Jeff Jones, "I'm productive, you've got to find me some minutes." Having Lump in foul trouble last night opened up some time for Simon by way of shifting Hinkle over.
Anyway, that's all I've got. What did you all see and want to share? Are we excited for Mt. St. Mary's on Monday?
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Anyway. Some things I think.
- Glad to see Vlad's shot selection change a little bit last night. He was successful WITHOUT the long ball (only attempted two 3's and hit one of them). Still, he was the team's leading scorer with 21. Vlad lately has been relying too much on the long ball. This hopefully is a good reminder to him that he can score, at a serious clip, within the arc.
- Lump's foul trouble really hurt us inside last night. With 6 points and 1 rebound, this is definitely his worst game of the season. It's curious to me that he only played 14 minutes and yet Fisher and Wroblicky combined for just 8 minutes. I'm guessing they moved Vlad over to the 5 and put Hinkle at the 4 (since Hinkle had 24 minutes). Strange lineup. Tony Wroblicky's minutes have really dropped off lately. We saw him a lot at the beginning of the season, but he started to fall off a bit and now we don't see him much at all. Disappointing, but I hope that he can battle through and earn some more minutes as we get to PL play.
- Another solid game out of Troy Brewer last night. There's a rumor he even dunked the ball and didn't get a technical. Jokes aside, a very respectable stat line from him last night.
- To be within 4 of this Northwestern team at halftime is something that should be applauded. I didn't think there was much chance of us pulling this game out, and, well, we didn't pull this game out. You do have to wonder why the second half woes that we had so badly last year are creeping back on us again. AU appears to have come out flat after halftime. Northwestern started the 2nd half with a 22-6 run. Oof. Brutal.
- This is a Northwestern team that is very, very talented. Shurna is going to make a solid run for 1st team Big 10, and Michael Thompson is having a great season as well. Aside from those two we did a pretty good job on defense (holding them to 8-22). But, well, those two are a pretty big part of the offense so I guess it's a wash analysis.
- Nice game from Simon last night. As I mentioned in the last recap, his minutes are going to be reduced. To get 4 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists in 13 minutes says to Jeff Jones, "I'm productive, you've got to find me some minutes." Having Lump in foul trouble last night opened up some time for Simon by way of shifting Hinkle over.
Anyway, that's all I've got. What did you all see and want to share? Are we excited for Mt. St. Mary's on Monday?
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Monday, November 29, 2010
When I Still Can't Believe We Lost this Game There's GOOD, BAD, and UGLY
Wow. I'm stunned. I thought having a good night's sleep would bring me to acceptance of the fact that we dropped our first game of the season yesterday afternoon. It didn't. I'm still stunned. This was a game we had firmly in hand and then just kind of, dropped. It wasn't like there was a strong momentum shift or anything, we just let them back into the game, and then they beat us. Vlad did not play yesterday, he was in street clothes. He had a concussion, but I'm not sure where/how/when he picked that up. Hopefully he'll be back for the trip to Morgantown because the prospect of this team going down there without him when they just blew a double-digit lead to Columbia yesterday is terrifying. Anyway, the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY.
THE GOOD
Stephen Lumpkins - Lump had a rough first three or four minutes but then came on nicely and picked up another double double. He had 20 points (8-13) and 12 boards and also chipped in three blocks. He did a nice job on interior defense, and also caused a few turnovers with his quick hands. Lump has been on a roll the past few games, and this is the player we all knew had to show up for us to go far this season. Keep it up, big guy, you cannot be stumped!
Simon McCormack - Hell of a game yesterday from Simon, who played 27 minutes and was the team's third highest scorer with 13 (on 6-9 shooting). He also had six rebounds and was all over the court on defense per usual. Simon's minutes have been reduced this year, but it's good to see that he can still be a very productive player when JJ needs to call on him.
Troy Brewer - I don't know what kind of English/rotation/spin Troy puts on the ball. I do know that it makes the smoothest swishes on threes that I maybe have ever seen. The net doesn't even move when he makes these baskets. It's insane. Troy "InsertNicknameHere" Brewer fit into his recent pattern as a sniper again yesterday. He went 4-8 from 3, totaled 18 points, and also had two blocks. He also played 39 minutes and only picked up two fouls. He narrowly missed the chance to make it into the AU legendarium yesterday...with 1.7 seconds left, Hendra inbounded to Lump who kicked it to Troy in the corner. Troy's three was just a little too strong, and we dropped the game 64-62. So, so close. Good game from Troy though, his consistency is definitely improving.
Daniel Fisher - With Vlad out yesterday, Daniel Fisher got the nod over Riley Grafft to play some minutes inside. He ended up playing 13 minutes and got 4 boards and an assist. Some points would have been nice, but he did a good job setting screens on the offensive end and was pretty solid on defense as well. He ended up getting more minutes than Tony Wroblicky yesterday, which was a little surprising. Nice work from the Aussie yesterday.
THE BAD
Point Guard Play - I was at the game yesterday. I watched for the positive intangibles and non-stat sheet items that I was berated for not including in the last Good, Bad, and Ugly. I didn't see them. What I did see was a lot of sloppy ball handling from Hendra (who had an otherwise okay game, but wasn't good enough to make it into the GOOD column), Munoz, and Luptak. They combined for 9 of our 15 turnovers, and honestly there could have been a lot more. Sloppy ball handling. Passes that only just barely made it to who they were supposed to. Not good yesterday. Hence, bad.
Mike Bersch - Bersch made his first career start yesterday (Congrats!), but he didn't make much of it. He only earned 6 minutes and went 0-1 with a turnover. He still looks lost out there on defense, and on the offensive end he doesn't move well with the ball. For the moment it looks like for him to be a weapon we need to get him the ball when he's set behind the three point line. Not sure he'll get another start for a while, especially given how Simon played yesterday. Keep working, Bersch. You know you're a favorite over here. We're pulling for you, but we need to see more out of you than what you gave us yesterday.
Tony Wroblicky - Tony showed flashes of awesomeness yesterday. A nasty block, a nice hook shot fading away from the basket, but he also picked up three personal fouls in nine minutes of play. He was definitely outplayed by Daniel Fisher, who got his first significant playing time ever yesterday. We need Tony to step up to be the guy to back up Lump, ultimately he's got to be the long term option.
THE UGLY
I can't really put my finger on what caused the loss yesterday. I think it was complacency. Sitting in the stands yesterday, we had a double-digit lead, and as a fan, I never thought we'd give it up. Yeah they got close, but I just kept waiting for a Lump dunk or a Brewer three-point dagger to end their run. It didn't happen. All of a sudden it was like "Oh shit, we're down 2." And then, "Oh, SHIT. We're tied." And then, "OH SHIT!! WE'RE LOSING?" And then, finally and sadly, "Oh...shit...we lost that game. What the hell happened?" We had Columbia on the ropes and then just didn't knock them out. It seemed like we just were out there expecting to win, assuming that lead would hold. Well, we assumed wrong, and we dropped a game we definitely should have won. We looked great in stretches yesterday, even without Vlad. And then we looked completely flat. This team is still consistently inconsistent, and that's a bad thing to be with a tough road schedule coming up.
We were going to lose games this season; we knew that. But we shouldn't have lost to Columbia. I think games like this are the difference between a 14 and a 15 seed come tournament time. That assumes we win the PL Tournament, of course, but bear with me. The selection committee expects teams like AU to lose to teams like WVU, Pitt, Northwestern, and Florida. Losing to teams like that don't count too much against us. But the committee will look at the teams who are at our level and see if we beat everyone we should have. If we did that, we're more likely to get a 14, maybe even a high 14, and not a 15. Well, Columbia is a game we should've had. At home, with a double-digit lead, you win that game. I hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass come postseason time, assuming there is postseason time.
Thoughts from yesterday?
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
THE GOOD
Stephen Lumpkins - Lump had a rough first three or four minutes but then came on nicely and picked up another double double. He had 20 points (8-13) and 12 boards and also chipped in three blocks. He did a nice job on interior defense, and also caused a few turnovers with his quick hands. Lump has been on a roll the past few games, and this is the player we all knew had to show up for us to go far this season. Keep it up, big guy, you cannot be stumped!
Simon McCormack - Hell of a game yesterday from Simon, who played 27 minutes and was the team's third highest scorer with 13 (on 6-9 shooting). He also had six rebounds and was all over the court on defense per usual. Simon's minutes have been reduced this year, but it's good to see that he can still be a very productive player when JJ needs to call on him.
Troy Brewer - I don't know what kind of English/rotation/spin Troy puts on the ball. I do know that it makes the smoothest swishes on threes that I maybe have ever seen. The net doesn't even move when he makes these baskets. It's insane. Troy "InsertNicknameHere" Brewer fit into his recent pattern as a sniper again yesterday. He went 4-8 from 3, totaled 18 points, and also had two blocks. He also played 39 minutes and only picked up two fouls. He narrowly missed the chance to make it into the AU legendarium yesterday...with 1.7 seconds left, Hendra inbounded to Lump who kicked it to Troy in the corner. Troy's three was just a little too strong, and we dropped the game 64-62. So, so close. Good game from Troy though, his consistency is definitely improving.
Daniel Fisher - With Vlad out yesterday, Daniel Fisher got the nod over Riley Grafft to play some minutes inside. He ended up playing 13 minutes and got 4 boards and an assist. Some points would have been nice, but he did a good job setting screens on the offensive end and was pretty solid on defense as well. He ended up getting more minutes than Tony Wroblicky yesterday, which was a little surprising. Nice work from the Aussie yesterday.
THE BAD
Point Guard Play - I was at the game yesterday. I watched for the positive intangibles and non-stat sheet items that I was berated for not including in the last Good, Bad, and Ugly. I didn't see them. What I did see was a lot of sloppy ball handling from Hendra (who had an otherwise okay game, but wasn't good enough to make it into the GOOD column), Munoz, and Luptak. They combined for 9 of our 15 turnovers, and honestly there could have been a lot more. Sloppy ball handling. Passes that only just barely made it to who they were supposed to. Not good yesterday. Hence, bad.
Mike Bersch - Bersch made his first career start yesterday (Congrats!), but he didn't make much of it. He only earned 6 minutes and went 0-1 with a turnover. He still looks lost out there on defense, and on the offensive end he doesn't move well with the ball. For the moment it looks like for him to be a weapon we need to get him the ball when he's set behind the three point line. Not sure he'll get another start for a while, especially given how Simon played yesterday. Keep working, Bersch. You know you're a favorite over here. We're pulling for you, but we need to see more out of you than what you gave us yesterday.
Tony Wroblicky - Tony showed flashes of awesomeness yesterday. A nasty block, a nice hook shot fading away from the basket, but he also picked up three personal fouls in nine minutes of play. He was definitely outplayed by Daniel Fisher, who got his first significant playing time ever yesterday. We need Tony to step up to be the guy to back up Lump, ultimately he's got to be the long term option.
THE UGLY
I can't really put my finger on what caused the loss yesterday. I think it was complacency. Sitting in the stands yesterday, we had a double-digit lead, and as a fan, I never thought we'd give it up. Yeah they got close, but I just kept waiting for a Lump dunk or a Brewer three-point dagger to end their run. It didn't happen. All of a sudden it was like "Oh shit, we're down 2." And then, "Oh, SHIT. We're tied." And then, "OH SHIT!! WE'RE LOSING?" And then, finally and sadly, "Oh...shit...we lost that game. What the hell happened?" We had Columbia on the ropes and then just didn't knock them out. It seemed like we just were out there expecting to win, assuming that lead would hold. Well, we assumed wrong, and we dropped a game we definitely should have won. We looked great in stretches yesterday, even without Vlad. And then we looked completely flat. This team is still consistently inconsistent, and that's a bad thing to be with a tough road schedule coming up.
We were going to lose games this season; we knew that. But we shouldn't have lost to Columbia. I think games like this are the difference between a 14 and a 15 seed come tournament time. That assumes we win the PL Tournament, of course, but bear with me. The selection committee expects teams like AU to lose to teams like WVU, Pitt, Northwestern, and Florida. Losing to teams like that don't count too much against us. But the committee will look at the teams who are at our level and see if we beat everyone we should have. If we did that, we're more likely to get a 14, maybe even a high 14, and not a 15. Well, Columbia is a game we should've had. At home, with a double-digit lead, you win that game. I hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass come postseason time, assuming there is postseason time.
Thoughts from yesterday?
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
When You Make It Harder Than It Should Be But Get the W Anyway, There's GOOD, BAD, and UGLY
Hellooooooooo AUHoops fans! Welcome to the wonderful realm of being 3-0. First time this has been the case in the Jeff Jones era, and the first time this has happened to AU since 1989-90 when I was just learning how to eat my Cheerios without spilling all the milk out of the bowl. As predicted, we got the win against the U-MESS Chickenhawks last night, but boy it was a lot closer than me or Josh thought it would be. U-MESS was within 2 with 75 seconds to go last night; that was particularly surprising since before the game I thought they wouldn't have been within 20 with that much time left. Definitely some GOOD, BAD, and UGLY to take out of the game last night, but the overriding thought I have is, a win is a win, and now we'll take our 3-0 record on the road against what will be a very tough match-up against the FAU Hooters.
THE GOOD
VLAD THE IMPALER - No getting around it, folks, Vlad the Impaler was the crown jewel of last night's game. He scored 31 of our 65 points and, along with Nick Hendra who I'll get to in a minute, put this team on his back to get the victory. At half, Vlad had 13 of 23 points and was 3-4 from long range (the rest of the team? 0-8). In the second half, Vlad really turned it on. After getting into some foul trouble and riding the bench with Lumpkins for a long stretch in the middle of the second half, he came back in with the score tied at 45. He then proceeded to rattle off 13 straight AU points including three long range buckets from Garrison Carr range. The third was a contested shot in the corner where he shot around the defender who was in his face while off-balanced and on one leg. Unreal. He finished 9-5, 6-7, and 7-9 from the line with 5 boards, 3 assists, and 2 turnovers. A classic impaling last night.
Nick Hendra - Hell of a game last night for Hendra, and the intangibles were more important than the score sheet. When UMES made their run in the second half to tie it up at 45, Hendra got real fired up and let the rest of the team know about it. He lead by example last night, fighting for loose balls, picking off passes, and at one point hurdling the courtside fans to try to save a ball. All of this isn't to say that Hendra did nothing tangible last night. At halftime he was our second leading scorer with 6, he finished with 9 pts, 5 boards, 6 assists (to only 2 turnovers), and 2 steals. Now that the pressure is off of him to be a primary scorer for the team, Hendra seems to be flourishing in his new role and is facilitating the offense in a tremendous way, including the awesome alley-oop to Troy Brewer late in the second half.
Stephen Lumpkins - Lump was stumped in the first half, going just 1-5 but grabbing four boards. We were having trouble getting it inside to him, and he was having some trouble finishing. Lump was also very predictable down low in the first half (catching the ball with back to defender, spin move left, finish with left hand). Luckily for us, the team came out ready to feed the hungry big man in the second half. He scored the first 10 AU points in the second half and showed all kinds of move in the post. After that the Chickenhawks locked him up for the rest of the game, but he finished with 12 points, 6 boards, and 3 steals. Also did play in foul trouble for most of the second half.
AU's ball handling/distribution - For the second straight game we had a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, last night it was 18 to 9. At half it was 7 to 2, so while we distributed the ball well in the 2nd half, we also gave it away a fair amount. Kudos to Danny Munoz who had 5 assists to 0 turnovers in 23 minutes of action last night.
Tony Wroblicky - Great game from the freshman big man last night who has quickly become a crowd favorite in Bender. 6 pts and 6 boards on 3-6 shooting, and he was able to step in for Lumpkins who had foul issues throughout the game. Nice moves inside, and it didn't look like the ankle sprain JJ talked about post-St. Francis was bothering him at all.
AU's first half defense - Lest I forget this two games in a row, AU's defense in the first half was awesome. Gave up on 18 points and held U-MESS to 31% shooting. Unfortunately, the defense in the second half was much more porous, which brings me to...
THE BAD
AU's second half defense - After playing great D in the first half, the Eagles let the U-MESS backcourt have too much slack in the second. Lots of drives inside by Kevin White and Tim Burns led to 20 points in the paint allowed in the second half versus just 6 in the first. U-MESS shot just under 50% in the second half as well.
Offensive production from the PG position - Danny and Steve combined to go 0-2 with 0 points last night. They did a great job limiting turnovers, and they combined for 6 assists, but they looked overmatched last night against the U-MESS backcourt.
Troy Brewer - It pains me to do this, but I've got to. Troy has a tremendous amount of athletic ability, but has definitely not his groove yet. For a guy who has the reputation as a 3 pt. sniper he's now 2-13 on the season and was 0-4 last night. He's 10-29 overall (2-10 last night) from the field this season. Troy is also very quick, but on two fast breaks last night he lost the handle and turned the ball over. I think Troy is going to be a tremendous asset to us, and he already is on defense. He's long and quick and a real pain for opposing players, but his shooting % has to improve.
Mike Bersch - Bersch is doing a fine job passing, and he looks better on defense, but the guy is a 3 pt specialist and so far he's 1-9 on the season. He drains them like crazy in practice apparently, but in a game situation it's been very different this year. 0-3 last night, until he starts shooting better he's going to see his minutes be even more limited.
THE UGLY
Non-Vlad 3-point shooting - Vlad: 6-7, rest of the team: 1-12. Terrible. That's really, really bad. We're going to the 3 too early in possession, and our sets, thankfully, are giving us open shots, but we are just missing the shots like crazy. We should be feeding the ball inside more to Lump to give him a shot at the opportunities we're squandering from the outside.
All of the easy missed shots - This isn't a statistic that we keep track of, I guess, but it just seemed like we had a lot of trouble finishing lay-ins and point blank shots last night. If we had made these shots, the game would've been a blowout, but we kept missing freebie easy buckets. It wasn't anyone in particular either, it was a team-wide problem last night. As a senior AU official said to me last night, sometimes the shots go in, and sometimes they don't. Let's hope we don't have too many nights where they don't going forward.
How close this game was - This is part of the problem above, but U-MESS is a team that just gave up 100 points to Columbia. We should not have had as big a problem with the Chickenhawks as we did. We let them back into the game and gave that team a lot of hope. A team with hope is dangerous. YOU HAVE TO CRUSH IT LIKE A TOTALITARIAN REGIME WOULD.
Anyway, that's that. Big game coming up against FAU's Hooters. What were everyone else's thoughts about the game last night?
THE GOOD
VLAD THE IMPALER - No getting around it, folks, Vlad the Impaler was the crown jewel of last night's game. He scored 31 of our 65 points and, along with Nick Hendra who I'll get to in a minute, put this team on his back to get the victory. At half, Vlad had 13 of 23 points and was 3-4 from long range (the rest of the team? 0-8). In the second half, Vlad really turned it on. After getting into some foul trouble and riding the bench with Lumpkins for a long stretch in the middle of the second half, he came back in with the score tied at 45. He then proceeded to rattle off 13 straight AU points including three long range buckets from Garrison Carr range. The third was a contested shot in the corner where he shot around the defender who was in his face while off-balanced and on one leg. Unreal. He finished 9-5, 6-7, and 7-9 from the line with 5 boards, 3 assists, and 2 turnovers. A classic impaling last night.
Nick Hendra - Hell of a game last night for Hendra, and the intangibles were more important than the score sheet. When UMES made their run in the second half to tie it up at 45, Hendra got real fired up and let the rest of the team know about it. He lead by example last night, fighting for loose balls, picking off passes, and at one point hurdling the courtside fans to try to save a ball. All of this isn't to say that Hendra did nothing tangible last night. At halftime he was our second leading scorer with 6, he finished with 9 pts, 5 boards, 6 assists (to only 2 turnovers), and 2 steals. Now that the pressure is off of him to be a primary scorer for the team, Hendra seems to be flourishing in his new role and is facilitating the offense in a tremendous way, including the awesome alley-oop to Troy Brewer late in the second half.
Stephen Lumpkins - Lump was stumped in the first half, going just 1-5 but grabbing four boards. We were having trouble getting it inside to him, and he was having some trouble finishing. Lump was also very predictable down low in the first half (catching the ball with back to defender, spin move left, finish with left hand). Luckily for us, the team came out ready to feed the hungry big man in the second half. He scored the first 10 AU points in the second half and showed all kinds of move in the post. After that the Chickenhawks locked him up for the rest of the game, but he finished with 12 points, 6 boards, and 3 steals. Also did play in foul trouble for most of the second half.
AU's ball handling/distribution - For the second straight game we had a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, last night it was 18 to 9. At half it was 7 to 2, so while we distributed the ball well in the 2nd half, we also gave it away a fair amount. Kudos to Danny Munoz who had 5 assists to 0 turnovers in 23 minutes of action last night.
Tony Wroblicky - Great game from the freshman big man last night who has quickly become a crowd favorite in Bender. 6 pts and 6 boards on 3-6 shooting, and he was able to step in for Lumpkins who had foul issues throughout the game. Nice moves inside, and it didn't look like the ankle sprain JJ talked about post-St. Francis was bothering him at all.
AU's first half defense - Lest I forget this two games in a row, AU's defense in the first half was awesome. Gave up on 18 points and held U-MESS to 31% shooting. Unfortunately, the defense in the second half was much more porous, which brings me to...
THE BAD
AU's second half defense - After playing great D in the first half, the Eagles let the U-MESS backcourt have too much slack in the second. Lots of drives inside by Kevin White and Tim Burns led to 20 points in the paint allowed in the second half versus just 6 in the first. U-MESS shot just under 50% in the second half as well.
Offensive production from the PG position - Danny and Steve combined to go 0-2 with 0 points last night. They did a great job limiting turnovers, and they combined for 6 assists, but they looked overmatched last night against the U-MESS backcourt.
Troy Brewer - It pains me to do this, but I've got to. Troy has a tremendous amount of athletic ability, but has definitely not his groove yet. For a guy who has the reputation as a 3 pt. sniper he's now 2-13 on the season and was 0-4 last night. He's 10-29 overall (2-10 last night) from the field this season. Troy is also very quick, but on two fast breaks last night he lost the handle and turned the ball over. I think Troy is going to be a tremendous asset to us, and he already is on defense. He's long and quick and a real pain for opposing players, but his shooting % has to improve.
Mike Bersch - Bersch is doing a fine job passing, and he looks better on defense, but the guy is a 3 pt specialist and so far he's 1-9 on the season. He drains them like crazy in practice apparently, but in a game situation it's been very different this year. 0-3 last night, until he starts shooting better he's going to see his minutes be even more limited.
THE UGLY
Non-Vlad 3-point shooting - Vlad: 6-7, rest of the team: 1-12. Terrible. That's really, really bad. We're going to the 3 too early in possession, and our sets, thankfully, are giving us open shots, but we are just missing the shots like crazy. We should be feeding the ball inside more to Lump to give him a shot at the opportunities we're squandering from the outside.
All of the easy missed shots - This isn't a statistic that we keep track of, I guess, but it just seemed like we had a lot of trouble finishing lay-ins and point blank shots last night. If we had made these shots, the game would've been a blowout, but we kept missing freebie easy buckets. It wasn't anyone in particular either, it was a team-wide problem last night. As a senior AU official said to me last night, sometimes the shots go in, and sometimes they don't. Let's hope we don't have too many nights where they don't going forward.
How close this game was - This is part of the problem above, but U-MESS is a team that just gave up 100 points to Columbia. We should not have had as big a problem with the Chickenhawks as we did. We let them back into the game and gave that team a lot of hope. A team with hope is dangerous. YOU HAVE TO CRUSH IT LIKE A TOTALITARIAN REGIME WOULD.
Anyway, that's that. Big game coming up against FAU's Hooters. What were everyone else's thoughts about the game last night?
Monday, November 15, 2010
And They Would've Won, Too, If It Weren't for You Meddlesome Eagles! The GOOD, BAD, and UGLY
Two games for our Eagles, and two wins! According to AUEagles.com, this is only the second time under Jeff Jones that the Eagles have started 2-0. Pretty surprising given the level of success we've enjoyed overall during the JJ era. In any event, we played an Albany team that was more or less overmatched the entire game. We jumped out to an 8-2 lead and never looked back. Were there areas we definitely could've improved upon? Yes. In some ways, the margin almost could've been higher. This is an Albany team that was missing its best player and was in foul trouble all game. When you read the rest of this, it might actually read like a GOOD, BAD, and UGLY from a loss. There weren't a lot of standout individual performances. This is a night where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Still, a win is a win. Let's get into it.
THE GOOD
The point guard position - Danny and Steve combined tonight to go 4-8 overall and 2-5 from behind the arc for 10 points. They also had 6 assists and no turnovers. For a position that was supposed to be the weakest part of AU's game, these two have done a pretty good job platooning at the point. Danny's improvement from behind the arc is noticeable and could be a big factor that allows us to spread out the defense even further as the season goes on.
Mike Bersch - Only 11 minutes, but 5 points and a rebound on 2-4 shooting, including his first of what I suspect will be many this season from behind the arc. Welcome back to the good column, Mike.
Stephen Lumpkins - It seemed like Lump has having some trouble finishing his shots during the game, but the 5-10 shooting line wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Add to that his 8 boards and 2 blocks and the fact that he shut down Albany's John Puk (no shots, one rebound, five fouls) all night and he definitely deserves to be here.
Assist to turnover ratio - Any time AU has a 2.0 assist/turnover ratio it deserves to be in the good column. All due praise to the ball handling tonight.
THE BAD
Shot selection - Like I said above, this was a game where we were in the driver's seat the entire way. So let's look at the shot selection: 21-48 overall, but 7-23 from long range. Just under half of our shots were three point attempts. That's unbelievable and inexcusable against an opponent like Albany. Why shoot like you're down 15 when you were up 15 for most of the game? There's no reason to take that many shots from long range. I think it's an indictment of our ability to get the ball inside for us to take that many shots from outside. Not only was the number of 3's we took too high, but the number we made was way too low. Vlad: 1-7, Troy: 2-6. Come on, guys. There will be games you're going to need to rely on the 3. This wasn't one of them.
Free throws - 8-15 tonight. Better improve on that quickly because it will really hurt us later in the season if we're shooting ~50% from the line. Credit to Simon McCormack who hit all 6 of his tonight.
Second half slump - Yes we didn't play with a ton of urgency because we had a big lead, but we only outscored Albany 23-21 in the second half. We also shot 14% worse. Against a team that had 12 fouls in the first half, we only forced one guy to foul out. Felt like we were going through the motions a little bit because of our lead.
Rebounding - Outrebounded 38-31.
THE UGLY
The announcing for this game - The two guys who announced this game for the radio feed should stick with the play-by-play at the duck pond. Couldn't pronounce names for their lives (Vlad Moldano, Mike Hendra, anyone?) With 3 minutes left, and Albany down 14, they were still talking about how they could come back and win it. Just a very poor broadcasting crew. Was tough to listen to. Not like our very own Dan Laing.
Maryland Eastern Shore's loss to Columbia - Columbia hung ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT points on UMES tonight and had 6 players score in double digits. As ugly as that is, I sure hope Wednesday's matchup against UMES will get even uglier for the Hawks. The sweet, sweet revenge tour of '10-'11 continues. We've avenged our losses to Randolph-Macon, St. Francis (PA), and Albany. UMES is next.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
THE GOOD
The point guard position - Danny and Steve combined tonight to go 4-8 overall and 2-5 from behind the arc for 10 points. They also had 6 assists and no turnovers. For a position that was supposed to be the weakest part of AU's game, these two have done a pretty good job platooning at the point. Danny's improvement from behind the arc is noticeable and could be a big factor that allows us to spread out the defense even further as the season goes on.
Mike Bersch - Only 11 minutes, but 5 points and a rebound on 2-4 shooting, including his first of what I suspect will be many this season from behind the arc. Welcome back to the good column, Mike.
Stephen Lumpkins - It seemed like Lump has having some trouble finishing his shots during the game, but the 5-10 shooting line wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Add to that his 8 boards and 2 blocks and the fact that he shut down Albany's John Puk (no shots, one rebound, five fouls) all night and he definitely deserves to be here.
Assist to turnover ratio - Any time AU has a 2.0 assist/turnover ratio it deserves to be in the good column. All due praise to the ball handling tonight.
THE BAD
Shot selection - Like I said above, this was a game where we were in the driver's seat the entire way. So let's look at the shot selection: 21-48 overall, but 7-23 from long range. Just under half of our shots were three point attempts. That's unbelievable and inexcusable against an opponent like Albany. Why shoot like you're down 15 when you were up 15 for most of the game? There's no reason to take that many shots from long range. I think it's an indictment of our ability to get the ball inside for us to take that many shots from outside. Not only was the number of 3's we took too high, but the number we made was way too low. Vlad: 1-7, Troy: 2-6. Come on, guys. There will be games you're going to need to rely on the 3. This wasn't one of them.
Free throws - 8-15 tonight. Better improve on that quickly because it will really hurt us later in the season if we're shooting ~50% from the line. Credit to Simon McCormack who hit all 6 of his tonight.
Second half slump - Yes we didn't play with a ton of urgency because we had a big lead, but we only outscored Albany 23-21 in the second half. We also shot 14% worse. Against a team that had 12 fouls in the first half, we only forced one guy to foul out. Felt like we were going through the motions a little bit because of our lead.
Rebounding - Outrebounded 38-31.
THE UGLY
The announcing for this game - The two guys who announced this game for the radio feed should stick with the play-by-play at the duck pond. Couldn't pronounce names for their lives (Vlad Moldano, Mike Hendra, anyone?) With 3 minutes left, and Albany down 14, they were still talking about how they could come back and win it. Just a very poor broadcasting crew. Was tough to listen to. Not like our very own Dan Laing.
Maryland Eastern Shore's loss to Columbia - Columbia hung ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT points on UMES tonight and had 6 players score in double digits. As ugly as that is, I sure hope Wednesday's matchup against UMES will get even uglier for the Hawks. The sweet, sweet revenge tour of '10-'11 continues. We've avenged our losses to Randolph-Macon, St. Francis (PA), and Albany. UMES is next.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
When Your Team Plays Like a Robert Louis Stevenson Novel, There's GOOD, BAD, and UGLY
1-0 folks. As long as we're being honest, that's the only number in this entire post that matters. One in the win column. Revenge earned after last year's second half collapse at St. Francis. Actually, come to think of it, this year was kind of the reverse of last year's. We went into halftime trailing by 9 and then outscored St. Francis 35-16 in the second half to get the 10 point victory. It wasn't often pretty, and at times, it was downright ugly. Here are the resources you'll want: box score and recap. Let's get into it...with the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY
THE GOOD
Vlad "the Impaler" Moldoveanu - 24 points to lead all scorers, including draining the three (off a sweet Nick Hendra pass) that finally tied the game up with 12:07 left in the second half. Not the prettiest line Vlad will ever put up, and Jeff Jones noted that "this was not his best game," but he still got it done. 7-15, 2-5, and 8-10 with 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and an assist, unfortunately he also had 4 turnovers.
Troy Brewer - We need to get some kind of nickname for Troy, and I'm going to recommend Peter Parker or Spiderman. Seriously, the guy's vertical leap is out of control. I think he could hurdle Lumpkins if he wanted to. Last night he went up for a block, and I swear his head was even with the rim when he did so. Unbelievably athletic, and I think he's going to give AU the ability to open up some fast breaks. He's got a good instinct for it and is already halfway down the court looking for an outlet pass when there's even a hint of the Eagles forcing a turnover. Troy put in 36 minutes, and 12 points on 5-11 shooting. He was 0-3 from behind the arc, unfortunately. AU could've used some long range shots in the first half. He also chipped in 5 boards.
Nick Hendra - In the post-game conference, Jeff Jones said that Nick has already played with more sustained intensity and focus this season than he has at any point in his career with AU. That's a hell of a statement, and it's good that we're seeing Hendra take up this intensity on the court. He's got a ton of experience as a senior, and he has a ton of talent as well. Last night, though, you could see the unbelievable intensity he was playing with. He seems like some kind of field general out there now. Pointing to his guys and making sure they're in the right places, distributing the ball, hustling for loose balls. He had 5 points last night, but they were huge. He scored the first five non-free throw points of the second half, which, with Lumps' two free throws, sparked the 7-0 run that brought the Eagles back into the game.
Danny Munoz - Hell of a game last night from Danny. Coach Jones said this might have been his best game as an Eagle thus far and that he was looking for his shot more than in any game last year. 10 points, including two 3's. Danny seems to have made the long ball a more regular part of his game than last year. He seems to be more comfortable shooting from behind the arc, or at least has been these first two games. Danny also has done a good job driving into the lane and getting some good dribble penetration. No assists in 24 minutes though isn't such a good stat from our point guard though; hopefully that will improve.
The Blue Crew - An attendance of over 2,800 last night, on a Friday night? Awesome. The atmosphere in Bender was nothing short of electric, and the crowd did its best to keep St. Francis unsettled. KEEP IT UP, folks. The guys need us to provide the PL's best home court advantage. What a great start to the season for the AU fans.
The second half - Any time you outscore your opponent 35-16 in a half, that's a quality half for sure. We came out of the locker room ready to play and really locked down St. Francis with an intensity that was completely lacking in the first half. The shooting in the second half also improved: 12-25, 4-8, and 7-11.
THE BAD
Stephen Lumpkins - Lump was stumped last night. St. Francis's big man, Mislav Jukic, was a real beast last night, and he made Lump look bad most of the night. Coach Jones said Lumpkins was "overmatched" going one-on-one with Jukic, who finished 9-12 with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Lump's line? 3-6 for 9 points and 6 rebounds. Not a bad line, but we've come to expect more out of the big guy. There's a lot of other talented big men Lump will have to face this year. Hell, just in the PL he's got Gate's John Brandenburg, Mike Muscala from Bucknell, and Jared Mintz at Lafeyette. Hopefully he learned some lessons from facing Jukic that he can apply later this year.
I'd add more to the Bad here, but there's really more Ugly than Bad. So let's move onto that.
THE UGLY
The first half for the Eagles - Jeff Jones said in the press conference that St. Francis just came out and punched us right in the mouth. Yep, that's pretty much how it went. They got out to a 9-0 lead before it seemed we even had our shoes laced up. Completely not ready to play. In the first half, we were 10-26 overall and 1-11 from behind the line. Ugly, ugly, ugly.
3 point shooting overall - 5-19 for the game isn't going to get it done. Surprisingly, only Danny Munoz had any kind of consistent touch from behind the arc. While the 3's we had were big, 14 missed shots from behind the arc is something we're definitely going to have to improve on.
I think that'll do it for me. Anything I missed, folks? A good start for the season for the Eagles, now we get to venture up to Albany and face the Scooby-Doos!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
THE GOOD
Vlad "the Impaler" Moldoveanu - 24 points to lead all scorers, including draining the three (off a sweet Nick Hendra pass) that finally tied the game up with 12:07 left in the second half. Not the prettiest line Vlad will ever put up, and Jeff Jones noted that "this was not his best game," but he still got it done. 7-15, 2-5, and 8-10 with 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, and an assist, unfortunately he also had 4 turnovers.
Troy Brewer - We need to get some kind of nickname for Troy, and I'm going to recommend Peter Parker or Spiderman. Seriously, the guy's vertical leap is out of control. I think he could hurdle Lumpkins if he wanted to. Last night he went up for a block, and I swear his head was even with the rim when he did so. Unbelievably athletic, and I think he's going to give AU the ability to open up some fast breaks. He's got a good instinct for it and is already halfway down the court looking for an outlet pass when there's even a hint of the Eagles forcing a turnover. Troy put in 36 minutes, and 12 points on 5-11 shooting. He was 0-3 from behind the arc, unfortunately. AU could've used some long range shots in the first half. He also chipped in 5 boards.
Nick Hendra - In the post-game conference, Jeff Jones said that Nick has already played with more sustained intensity and focus this season than he has at any point in his career with AU. That's a hell of a statement, and it's good that we're seeing Hendra take up this intensity on the court. He's got a ton of experience as a senior, and he has a ton of talent as well. Last night, though, you could see the unbelievable intensity he was playing with. He seems like some kind of field general out there now. Pointing to his guys and making sure they're in the right places, distributing the ball, hustling for loose balls. He had 5 points last night, but they were huge. He scored the first five non-free throw points of the second half, which, with Lumps' two free throws, sparked the 7-0 run that brought the Eagles back into the game.
Danny Munoz - Hell of a game last night from Danny. Coach Jones said this might have been his best game as an Eagle thus far and that he was looking for his shot more than in any game last year. 10 points, including two 3's. Danny seems to have made the long ball a more regular part of his game than last year. He seems to be more comfortable shooting from behind the arc, or at least has been these first two games. Danny also has done a good job driving into the lane and getting some good dribble penetration. No assists in 24 minutes though isn't such a good stat from our point guard though; hopefully that will improve.
The Blue Crew - An attendance of over 2,800 last night, on a Friday night? Awesome. The atmosphere in Bender was nothing short of electric, and the crowd did its best to keep St. Francis unsettled. KEEP IT UP, folks. The guys need us to provide the PL's best home court advantage. What a great start to the season for the AU fans.
The second half - Any time you outscore your opponent 35-16 in a half, that's a quality half for sure. We came out of the locker room ready to play and really locked down St. Francis with an intensity that was completely lacking in the first half. The shooting in the second half also improved: 12-25, 4-8, and 7-11.
THE BAD
Stephen Lumpkins - Lump was stumped last night. St. Francis's big man, Mislav Jukic, was a real beast last night, and he made Lump look bad most of the night. Coach Jones said Lumpkins was "overmatched" going one-on-one with Jukic, who finished 9-12 with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Lump's line? 3-6 for 9 points and 6 rebounds. Not a bad line, but we've come to expect more out of the big guy. There's a lot of other talented big men Lump will have to face this year. Hell, just in the PL he's got Gate's John Brandenburg, Mike Muscala from Bucknell, and Jared Mintz at Lafeyette. Hopefully he learned some lessons from facing Jukic that he can apply later this year.
I'd add more to the Bad here, but there's really more Ugly than Bad. So let's move onto that.
THE UGLY
The first half for the Eagles - Jeff Jones said in the press conference that St. Francis just came out and punched us right in the mouth. Yep, that's pretty much how it went. They got out to a 9-0 lead before it seemed we even had our shoes laced up. Completely not ready to play. In the first half, we were 10-26 overall and 1-11 from behind the line. Ugly, ugly, ugly.
3 point shooting overall - 5-19 for the game isn't going to get it done. Surprisingly, only Danny Munoz had any kind of consistent touch from behind the arc. While the 3's we had were big, 14 missed shots from behind the arc is something we're definitely going to have to improve on.
I think that'll do it for me. Anything I missed, folks? A good start for the season for the Eagles, now we get to venture up to Albany and face the Scooby-Doos!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Friday, November 5, 2010
When You Get Sweet, Sweet Revenge, You Gotta Talk About the GOOD, BAD, and UGLY
Welcome back AUHoops fans! Hope you're all out of hibernation and ready for some AU basketball coverage! As Josh alluded to in his post, Sweet, Sweet Revenge Day has yielded, well, sweet revenge. AU beats the Honeybees of Randolph-Macon 61-55. It was a back and forth game, but AU more or less had control throughout. I'll point you to the AUEagles.com recap when it comes up, but for now, I know you're here for the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Stephen Lumpkins Drafted in the 42nd Round of the MLB Draft. No, You're Not Misreading. [UPDATED]
In what is undoubtedly the weirdest piece of news I've heard this week, fan-beloved AU center Stephen Lumpkins has been drafted in the 42nd Round of the MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I'll let you take a minute to pick your jaw up off the floor.
Apparently when Lump found out he was eligible to be drafted, he decided to take part of the spring to get his arm back in shape. I imagine he's probably a pretty wicked pitcher. 6'8" with a big frame, he certainly could look the part in a jersey. He's even been playing in some American Legion games this summer.
My immediate reaction was "oh no," but I don't think we have a whole lot to worry about in terms of Lump leaving. He knows he's a cornerstone of this team and I'd be stunned if he left it, or AU, before he gets his degree. If I had to guess, and from what you can read in the article, it sounds like he just thinks it's cool to be able to say he was drafted by an MLB team. I'll try to get some comment from him about this and report back.
On another note, since one of our commenters suggested I should give them a shout-out, it turns out AU now has a club baseball team that played its first season this past spring. They notched a 10-7 record from what I can see, which is certainly respectable for a team in their first year.
That's it for now. Updates as I get them on this bizarre, a little funny, and more than a little awesome story.
UPDATE: According to Associate Athletic Director for Communications, Nancy Yasharoff, Athletics is "really excited about it...we're really excited for him." She indicated that Lumpkins is playing baseball for the Bethesda Big Train, an amateur wooden bat baseball team in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. She indicated that Lump may pitch for a few innings tomorrow night at Povich Field. Yasharoff said that the coaches "absolutely know about" his playing baseball. I, regretfully, neglected to ask her if she knew which way Lumpkins was leaning in terms of continuing with basketball at AU or going the route of baseball. I thought that it was unlikely he would leave the team, so I didn't bother to ask her. Guess I should have. I'd guess it depends on the contract they offer him. Crazy opportunity for Lumpkins, but a potentially devastating loss for AU men's basketball.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
I'll let you take a minute to pick your jaw up off the floor.
Apparently when Lump found out he was eligible to be drafted, he decided to take part of the spring to get his arm back in shape. I imagine he's probably a pretty wicked pitcher. 6'8" with a big frame, he certainly could look the part in a jersey. He's even been playing in some American Legion games this summer.
My immediate reaction was "oh no," but I don't think we have a whole lot to worry about in terms of Lump leaving. He knows he's a cornerstone of this team and I'd be stunned if he left it, or AU, before he gets his degree. If I had to guess, and from what you can read in the article, it sounds like he just thinks it's cool to be able to say he was drafted by an MLB team. I'll try to get some comment from him about this and report back.
On another note, since one of our commenters suggested I should give them a shout-out, it turns out AU now has a club baseball team that played its first season this past spring. They notched a 10-7 record from what I can see, which is certainly respectable for a team in their first year.
That's it for now. Updates as I get them on this bizarre, a little funny, and more than a little awesome story.
UPDATE: According to Associate Athletic Director for Communications, Nancy Yasharoff, Athletics is "really excited about it...we're really excited for him." She indicated that Lumpkins is playing baseball for the Bethesda Big Train, an amateur wooden bat baseball team in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. She indicated that Lump may pitch for a few innings tomorrow night at Povich Field. Yasharoff said that the coaches "absolutely know about" his playing baseball. I, regretfully, neglected to ask her if she knew which way Lumpkins was leaning in terms of continuing with basketball at AU or going the route of baseball. I thought that it was unlikely he would leave the team, so I didn't bother to ask her. Guess I should have. I'd guess it depends on the contract they offer him. Crazy opportunity for Lumpkins, but a potentially devastating loss for AU men's basketball.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
WNIT matchup and some love for Lump
Man, I'm still reeling from the shock of not being given an at-large bid, but we'll just have to move on I suppose. Two things for tonight, Eagles fans:
1. The WNIT bracket has been announced and we will be taking on the (14-4) Old Dominion Lady Monarchs (before someone jumps down my throat they are actually referred to as the Lady Monarchs) on Wednesday at 7 PM on their home court. ODU is a tough team, as our Eagles well know from our time spent with them in the CAA. In fact, according to the press release the Lady Monarch's 67-53 loss to James Madison in the CAA finals was only their second loss ever in the CAA Tournament. We lost in the WNIT to JMU last year by a slim margin (61-59), so hopefully that can be avenged on Wednesday against Old Dominion. The year before that we lost to Villanova by an equally slim margin of 53-51. For those keeping track, you'll note this is our third straight appearance in the WNIT, setting a program record for consecutive years in the postseason. Furthermore, before this current streak the Eagles had only made the postseason once before, appearing in the WNIT in 1998. We'll be throwing a full preview your way on Tuesday, and join us starting at 6:45 PM on Wednesday for the liveblog! I honestly have no idea where you can find coverage of the game elsewhere, but where there's a will there's a way, so stay tuned!
2. We failed to mention here at AUHoops that Stephen Lumpkins was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team. Shame on us! I suppose poor Lump was a little peeved that he didn't make any of the All-Patriot League teams, so he put up three straight double-doubles (and was a single rebound away from a fourth) to end the season, including the beastly 29 point, 15 rebound effort against Navy. When Vlad went cold in the tournament, Lump put the team on his back and kept us in the game. He completely deserves this honor, especially as he was the only non-Lehigh/Lafayette player to make All-Tournament honors. I cannot wait to see what he's capable of next season. Here's how he ranked nationally after the Quarterfinal vs. Navy on March 3rd:
Rebounds:
Points:
Also if you haven't yet put up a bracket for the AUHoops Tourney Challenge, look below and then join in! It's fun, I promise!
GO EAGLES,
Josh
1. The WNIT bracket has been announced and we will be taking on the (14-4) Old Dominion Lady Monarchs (before someone jumps down my throat they are actually referred to as the Lady Monarchs) on Wednesday at 7 PM on their home court. ODU is a tough team, as our Eagles well know from our time spent with them in the CAA. In fact, according to the press release the Lady Monarch's 67-53 loss to James Madison in the CAA finals was only their second loss ever in the CAA Tournament. We lost in the WNIT to JMU last year by a slim margin (61-59), so hopefully that can be avenged on Wednesday against Old Dominion. The year before that we lost to Villanova by an equally slim margin of 53-51. For those keeping track, you'll note this is our third straight appearance in the WNIT, setting a program record for consecutive years in the postseason. Furthermore, before this current streak the Eagles had only made the postseason once before, appearing in the WNIT in 1998. We'll be throwing a full preview your way on Tuesday, and join us starting at 6:45 PM on Wednesday for the liveblog! I honestly have no idea where you can find coverage of the game elsewhere, but where there's a will there's a way, so stay tuned!
2. We failed to mention here at AUHoops that Stephen Lumpkins was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team. Shame on us! I suppose poor Lump was a little peeved that he didn't make any of the All-Patriot League teams, so he put up three straight double-doubles (and was a single rebound away from a fourth) to end the season, including the beastly 29 point, 15 rebound effort against Navy. When Vlad went cold in the tournament, Lump put the team on his back and kept us in the game. He completely deserves this honor, especially as he was the only non-Lehigh/Lafayette player to make All-Tournament honors. I cannot wait to see what he's capable of next season. Here's how he ranked nationally after the Quarterfinal vs. Navy on March 3rd:
Rebounds:
Points:
Also if you haven't yet put up a bracket for the AUHoops Tourney Challenge, look below and then join in! It's fun, I promise!
GO EAGLES,
Josh
Sunday, March 7, 2010
In the time following the loss, let's focus on the GOOD
Well, good evening AU Hoops fans. After a long season full of ups and downs, the train finally chugged along to a stop tonight against the Lehigh Hill Pigeons who looked decidedly un-pigeon-like tonight. We got completely outplayed tonight in virtually every facet of the game. We came out flat against a team that was more experienced, more cohesive, and more talented. The game wasn't really ever that close. Still, we lost in the semifinals, and that's farther than a lot of people thought we would go this season. (I just wanted to host a home game in the quarters, personally). In light of what the team did achieve, I'm only going to focus on the GOOD from tonight's game. There is plenty of BAD and UGLY to point out, but I'll abstain. I imagine we can talk about it in the comments, but for now, join me after the jump.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
9 straight quarterfinal wins, 9 straight wins over Navy, 9 games away from an NCAA championship...coincidence? I think not. The GOOD, BAD, and UGLY
Gooooood evening AUHoops fans! Well, this team has really pulled it together toward the end of the season and avoided three potentially unfortunate distinctions. We've never finished below 4th in the PL, we've never finished below .500 in the PL, and after tonight's victory against Navy, we have always made it into the semifinals of the PL tourney. It was a great win tonight, although a little more cardiac toward the end than it needed to be (more on that later). We played 38 solid minutes and then almost gave it up in the last two minutes. We'll be playing Lehigh at 8pm (what a ridiculous time) on Sunday. The EIWA wrestling championships are being held at Lehigh and won't be done until after 5pm. Because it's so late and on a Sunday, I'll be liveblogging rather than actually attending. Sorry about that. Anyway, let's get to it.
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