PHIL BENDER (enough said)

Image courtesy icanhascheezburger.com

There is no day at AU like Phil Bender Day! Oh yes, today is the day famously referred to by WaPo's Dan Steinberg in 2008 as "State School Day." Unfortunately, this is one of those years where scheduling dictates that we don't get to face our "purple whale" (another Steinberg pun referring to Holy Cross), but play the Lafayette lolcats (8-13, 3-3) instead. What the heck, it's still Phil Bender!

While we're all still reeling from the blowout at Navy that by any laws of physics should never have happened (but enough about that), today is a great opportunity to rebound (literally and figuratively). Lafayette may not be the cream of the Patriot League crop, but they do return a core that went to the Patriot League Championship game last season, and still have a legitimate shot at making some noise in the PL Tournament. Historically, Lafayette is a good matchup for us, as even last season we managed to sweep them (of course, we swept Nav-- oh hell, let's just forget it). We're 25-19 all-time against the Leopards, and 17-5 since joining the Patriot League eleven seasons ago.

One area where we might encounter trouble is that Lafayette has some legitimate big men that have given Stephen Lumpkins (12.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg) fits in the past. While he's no Muscala, senior forward Jared Mintz brings a team-best 16.1 ppg and 5.7 rpg to Lafayette straight from the frozen tundra of Canada. Can Lumpkins' sunny Californian demeanor overcome the maple leaf? Am I trying too hard to make this matchup look awesome? Hopefully, the answers are yes and no respectively.

Fortunately, what Lafayette has lost this season are some solid guards, including Bethesda native Michael Gruner. It's quick guards that give our greatest offensive weapon, Vlad, the biggest trouble, and this may be the best matchup for him yet in the League. Hopefully, he's on his game and can exceed the double-double he notched against Navy.

Per usual, our roleplayers need to be in the game too. Lafayette is likely going to try to punish us from beyond the arc, and if Troy can match them (but not make hasty shots if he's having an off day), we'll be OK there. We generally run the score up pretty high against Lafayette, with last season's wins coming at 76-66 and 78-60, so we needn't be shy about playing an offensive game - we just need to be smart. If Navy wasn't the wake up call we needed to find our true potential this season, then things are going to look grim. That's a cold, harsh reality.

Considering that the time you spend reading this could also be spent preparing for PHIL BENDER, I'll leave you with this for today. If there's anything crucial I missed, definitely make it known in the comments. While I like to pretend I know what I'm writing about, the best part of this blog is its ability to provoke dialog.


PHIL BENDER tips off at 4 PM today, and the game will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports if you can't make it to Bender. If you can, TODAY IS THE DAY to wear blue and go absolutely all out. Get there early, as the best seats in the house are going to fill up fast (and how often can we say that?). Expect every promotion athletics can muster, including Dominoes pizza, Robeks smoothies, Coke products, and more (and we don't even get a cut of the profits for advertising that). See you there, Eagles Nation!

PRO DEO ET PATRIA AND BEAT LAFAYETTE!
Josh