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| Sit! Stay! |
After a string of three heartbreaking losses, our Eagles could certainly use a cupcake about now to get their spirits up. Sure, after a 5-0 start there's still little to complain about, and the losses to WVU and Florida weren't all that bad. Of course, our inability to put Columbia away is still smarting a bit, but I digress. This evening AU soars into UMBC (0-9) looking to produce its sixth win of the young season.
While I'm hesitant to call this game a cakewalk, there is little doubt in my mind that we'll be able to find victory in Baltimore. We'll have to bring it to them for the full 40 minutes without "playing down" to what we think is an abysmal record, as we have yet to truly blow out a struggling team this season. Frankly, unless we are able to enter this game with the same intensity that we brought to WVU and Florida, the Retrievers may even be able to make it closer than I am comfortable with. Fortunately, we've been off since December 5th for final exams and everyone should be well rested and ready to go, and the proximity of Baltimore means that travel will be light.
The Sweet, Sweet Revenge Tour also resumes this evening, as UMBC took a narrow 59-57 decision from us in Bender Arena last season. It was only the second game of the Vlad era, and was slightly disappointing after our solid thrashing of DePaul. Needless to say, if I were Vlad I'd have a chip on my shoulder and be ready to get out there and impale my brains out.
Another big transfer milestone is also marked with this game, as Charles Hinkle officially becomes eligible to hit the court. While I don't expect him to put up Vlad-level numbers on his first night out, he'll certainly make an impact. Athletics cleverly avoided mentioning this in their game notes, but I'm sure UMBC knows what's coming. Of course, they also wrote that Troy Brewer leads the team with 8.8 rebounds per game (it's Lumpkins), so who knows what they know. Like Vlad's first game against DePaul, I doubt Charles will start, so for now the usual starting lineup of Luptak, Hendra, Troy, Vlad, and Lumpkins should be expected. Who Charles takes the most minutes from off the bench is still a mystery to me, but I'm sure a fire will be lit under the collective behinds of about three to four players who know that if they perform poorly they'll be out for a while.
So what will our new dream team have to defend against? Not unexpectedly, UMBC features a duo of high-scoring guards in Chris De La Rosa and Travis King. Both average almost 14 ppg, and limiting their ability to slash inside will be important to winning this game. Frankly, King's 6'2" 215 lb. frame might be too much for either Danny or Steve to handle, so Hendra might be the only one able to guard him at the two. Chris De La Rosa is a much more manageable 5'10" 170 lb. and hopefully won't outplay our backcourt too heavily. On the large end, only 6'10" 230 lb. forward Justin Fry and 6'9" 210 lb. Laurence Jolicoeur look to be able to compete with our frontcourt, and our ability to dominate the post might be the key to winning this game (as opposed to shooting thirty or forty threes, unless we lucky enough to be lights out). Fortunately, if we do decided to go this route, Troy Brewer has made 17 of his last 46 attempts from downtown (47.2%), living up to his reputation as a sharpshooter after a relatively slow start in his first few games. Still, that should not be our strategy for winning this game with the size advantage (and likely speed deficiency) we have against this UMBC team. Fortunately, UMBC has been giving up an average of 84 ppg over their last nine contests, while scoring only 66 ppg. If we can keep the game at our pace, while we might not hit 84, we should certainly be able to keep UMBC under 66 and come away with the W.
Another big transfer milestone is also marked with this game, as Charles Hinkle officially becomes eligible to hit the court. While I don't expect him to put up Vlad-level numbers on his first night out, he'll certainly make an impact. Athletics cleverly avoided mentioning this in their game notes, but I'm sure UMBC knows what's coming. Of course, they also wrote that Troy Brewer leads the team with 8.8 rebounds per game (it's Lumpkins), so who knows what they know. Like Vlad's first game against DePaul, I doubt Charles will start, so for now the usual starting lineup of Luptak, Hendra, Troy, Vlad, and Lumpkins should be expected. Who Charles takes the most minutes from off the bench is still a mystery to me, but I'm sure a fire will be lit under the collective behinds of about three to four players who know that if they perform poorly they'll be out for a while.
So what will our new dream team have to defend against? Not unexpectedly, UMBC features a duo of high-scoring guards in Chris De La Rosa and Travis King. Both average almost 14 ppg, and limiting their ability to slash inside will be important to winning this game. Frankly, King's 6'2" 215 lb. frame might be too much for either Danny or Steve to handle, so Hendra might be the only one able to guard him at the two. Chris De La Rosa is a much more manageable 5'10" 170 lb. and hopefully won't outplay our backcourt too heavily. On the large end, only 6'10" 230 lb. forward Justin Fry and 6'9" 210 lb. Laurence Jolicoeur look to be able to compete with our frontcourt, and our ability to dominate the post might be the key to winning this game (as opposed to shooting thirty or forty threes, unless we lucky enough to be lights out). Fortunately, if we do decided to go this route, Troy Brewer has made 17 of his last 46 attempts from downtown (47.2%), living up to his reputation as a sharpshooter after a relatively slow start in his first few games. Still, that should not be our strategy for winning this game with the size advantage (and likely speed deficiency) we have against this UMBC team. Fortunately, UMBC has been giving up an average of 84 ppg over their last nine contests, while scoring only 66 ppg. If we can keep the game at our pace, while we might not hit 84, we should certainly be able to keep UMBC under 66 and come away with the W.
Oddly enough the Retrievers feature three graduate students on their roster. Thanks to medical redshirts leaving them with a year of eligibility, Travis King joined the 12-man UMBC roster as he begins work on his masters degree after playing at GW until graduation. Similarly, forward Laurence Jolicoeur spent his four undergraduate years at Manhattan College. Forward Justin Fry completed his bachelors at UMBC and is continuing on for graduate school. Honestly, while the glut of what are essentially fifth-year seniors seems like it would be an advantage for the Retrievers (and, as stated, these are their best players), their 0-9 record says otherwise.
So that's that. Tip off is at 7:30 PM tonight in Baltimore. The game will be televised in the Mid-Atlantic region on MASN, and we'll be liveblogging right here on AUHoops if that's not colorful enough for you. See you there!
Pro Deo Et Patria and GO EAGLES!
Josh
So that's that. Tip off is at 7:30 PM tonight in Baltimore. The game will be televised in the Mid-Atlantic region on MASN, and we'll be liveblogging right here on AUHoops if that's not colorful enough for you. See you there!
Pro Deo Et Patria and GO EAGLES!
Josh
Keys to victory:
ReplyDelete- Vlad scores 20 points
- Lump has double double
- Total of 3 players score in double digits
- AU scores more than 60 points.
go AU!!
Travis King would have been the perfect elixir to AU's PG woes this year. And he wouldn't even have had to leave the city.
ReplyDelete