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.
Showing posts with label troy brewer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label troy brewer. Show all posts
Monday, March 7, 2011
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!
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!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
AU Must Learn How to Win Without Moldoveanu
"That's what you would call an old-fashioned butt-kicking," AU head coach Jeff Jones said as he sat down to talk to the media after the Eagles' 75-60 loss to Bucknell. On a night full of hard lessons for the Eagles, they were nearly dealt a devastating blow.
With just over three minutes left, AU's superstar senior Vlad Moldoveanu took a hard fall. Just as he has the ability to ignite a crowd, Moldoveanu took its entire breath away when he landed on his right shoulder and began writhing in pain.
"The angle I was at, the way his shoulder looked, it looked bad," Jones said. "I grimaced, in fact I looked away."
But somehow, just over a minute later, Moldoveanu stood up. The fans started cheering when he first sat up, let alone when he put weight on both shoulders to propel himself off the ground and returned to the bench.
"They said he was okay to come back but it made no sense to do that, the game was already out of hand," Jones said. "We'll keep an eye on it overnight and if, as I anticipate, it's sore tomorrow then we'll try to hold him out and try to ease him back into things. Probably wouldn't hurt our other guys to play and figure out how to get some stuff done without relying on him so much."
For that brief moment, Eagles coaches, players, and fans were left to wonder if they'd seen the last of Moldoveanu, and what the team might look like without him.
Picture the first 37 minutes of tonight's game, because it was pretty much the same.
Moldoveanu scored just seven points, and the Eagles were bulldozed by Mike Muscala, whose 33 points led the Bison over AU by what Jones said was the largest margin he could remember in his time at Bender.
The Bison dared the Eagles to shoot jump shots all game. Moldoveanu was double teamed with the ball at all times, and Muscala took care of Stephen Lumpkins on both ends of the floor for most of the game. The Bison were happy to allow the Eagles to chuck up threes, and AU did: they shot 5/24 from long range. Meanwhile, Bucknell shot 23 free throws and made 20 of them. AU made all five of their attempts.
In a game in which the Eagles were crying out for someone to pick up the scoring load, nobody answered.
"Collectively we didn't rise to the occasion," senior Nick Hendra said. "It's as simple as that. It was a big game and in games like that everybody has to rise to the occasion. You have to be the cream of the crop and the better team will win. It's as simple as that."
But after the game there was some disagreement as to why the Eagles looked so rusty early.
"No matter what their scheme was, they could have taken away the middle but we weren't knocking down shots," junior Troy Brewer said. "We got the ball down low and we weren't making layups. The way we started out, we weren't prepared to play."
"From an individual standpoint and from a collective standpoint I felt like we were not prepared for today's game," Hendra said.
"I'm going to interpret and hope that what [Brewer and Hendra] meant was that we didn't come out and play nearly as well [as we did against Lehigh]," Jones said. "I think it's a cop-out to say we weren't ready. I think we prepared hard, our players were excited for this game. Bucknell just played better."
The Eagles will pack their bags and head to Colgate for a game Saturday. Three of the next four games will be on the road against conference opponents.
The blueprint to beat AU is out there. Unless the Eagles can develop a consistent threat from mid-to-long range on offense outside of Moldoveanu, they will see similar defenses.
"If you think it's hard to win at home, it's about twice as hard to win on the road," Hendra said.
With just over three minutes left, AU's superstar senior Vlad Moldoveanu took a hard fall. Just as he has the ability to ignite a crowd, Moldoveanu took its entire breath away when he landed on his right shoulder and began writhing in pain.
"The angle I was at, the way his shoulder looked, it looked bad," Jones said. "I grimaced, in fact I looked away."
But somehow, just over a minute later, Moldoveanu stood up. The fans started cheering when he first sat up, let alone when he put weight on both shoulders to propel himself off the ground and returned to the bench.
"They said he was okay to come back but it made no sense to do that, the game was already out of hand," Jones said. "We'll keep an eye on it overnight and if, as I anticipate, it's sore tomorrow then we'll try to hold him out and try to ease him back into things. Probably wouldn't hurt our other guys to play and figure out how to get some stuff done without relying on him so much."
For that brief moment, Eagles coaches, players, and fans were left to wonder if they'd seen the last of Moldoveanu, and what the team might look like without him.
Picture the first 37 minutes of tonight's game, because it was pretty much the same.
Moldoveanu scored just seven points, and the Eagles were bulldozed by Mike Muscala, whose 33 points led the Bison over AU by what Jones said was the largest margin he could remember in his time at Bender.
The Bison dared the Eagles to shoot jump shots all game. Moldoveanu was double teamed with the ball at all times, and Muscala took care of Stephen Lumpkins on both ends of the floor for most of the game. The Bison were happy to allow the Eagles to chuck up threes, and AU did: they shot 5/24 from long range. Meanwhile, Bucknell shot 23 free throws and made 20 of them. AU made all five of their attempts.
In a game in which the Eagles were crying out for someone to pick up the scoring load, nobody answered.
"Collectively we didn't rise to the occasion," senior Nick Hendra said. "It's as simple as that. It was a big game and in games like that everybody has to rise to the occasion. You have to be the cream of the crop and the better team will win. It's as simple as that."
But after the game there was some disagreement as to why the Eagles looked so rusty early.
"No matter what their scheme was, they could have taken away the middle but we weren't knocking down shots," junior Troy Brewer said. "We got the ball down low and we weren't making layups. The way we started out, we weren't prepared to play."
"From an individual standpoint and from a collective standpoint I felt like we were not prepared for today's game," Hendra said.
"I'm going to interpret and hope that what [Brewer and Hendra] meant was that we didn't come out and play nearly as well [as we did against Lehigh]," Jones said. "I think it's a cop-out to say we weren't ready. I think we prepared hard, our players were excited for this game. Bucknell just played better."
The Eagles will pack their bags and head to Colgate for a game Saturday. Three of the next four games will be on the road against conference opponents.
The blueprint to beat AU is out there. Unless the Eagles can develop a consistent threat from mid-to-long range on offense outside of Moldoveanu, they will see similar defenses.
"If you think it's hard to win at home, it's about twice as hard to win on the road," Hendra said.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
We're Like One of Those Birds That Lands in a Croc's Mouth to Clean Its Teeth Except the Croc Eats Us
Well, that was fun. AU loses its third game in a row, 67-48 against the Florida Gators at the Verizon Center. Sorry again that we didn't have the liveblog. Sometimes our schedules just aren't conducive to doing them. Unfortunately, this was one of those times. Ah well. In any event, here is the AUEagles recap, the AP recap, and the box score. For the second straight game, I'm not going to review how things went in the Good, Bad, and Ugly format. I think I'm going to abandon that format from now on, actually. Here are my reasons why, then I'll talk about the game:
First, Good, Bad, and Ugly has been decreasingly enjoyable for me to write. This is because I feel badly about labeling our players' performances either as "Bad" or "Ugly." I'm not opposed to criticizing their performances (I'm going to criticize a number of them tonight, for example), I just think it's unduly negative to categorize them as such in broad categories. Second, the Good, Bad, and Ugly format doesn't allow for nuances of description. If, for example, some aspects of a player's game were good but others were bad or ugly, it makes it difficult to do the write-up. Third, I wasn't really using the Ugly category. Because of reason one, I was never going to put a player in the Ugly category. That again made the format less useful. If anyone misses this format terribly, I'm sorry. I'll listen to compelling reasons why I should continue it, but otherwise I will probably continue without it.
On another note, I need a new name for the recap. "Random Thoughts About the Game" just doesn't have the same gravitas, so come up with something good for me.
Anyway, to the game.
First, Good, Bad, and Ugly has been decreasingly enjoyable for me to write. This is because I feel badly about labeling our players' performances either as "Bad" or "Ugly." I'm not opposed to criticizing their performances (I'm going to criticize a number of them tonight, for example), I just think it's unduly negative to categorize them as such in broad categories. Second, the Good, Bad, and Ugly format doesn't allow for nuances of description. If, for example, some aspects of a player's game were good but others were bad or ugly, it makes it difficult to do the write-up. Third, I wasn't really using the Ugly category. Because of reason one, I was never going to put a player in the Ugly category. That again made the format less useful. If anyone misses this format terribly, I'm sorry. I'll listen to compelling reasons why I should continue it, but otherwise I will probably continue without it.
On another note, I need a new name for the recap. "Random Thoughts About the Game" just doesn't have the same gravitas, so come up with something good for me.
Anyway, to the game.
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!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Quick Hit: Seven Three Pointers?
Well, that's one way to show everyone that you do deserve the reputation you have. Troy Brewer went off for 7 three pointers and finished with 24 points against Howard last night. In doing so, he also got his first double-double. My lips are zipped to any further criticism about his three point capabilities.
The nickname competition for Troy begins riiiiight now.
The Rainmaker? Three's Company? ThreeThreeMcThree? That's all I got.
Leave it in the comments.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
The nickname competition for Troy begins riiiiight now.
The Rainmaker? Three's Company? ThreeThreeMcThree? That's all I got.
Leave it in the comments.
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!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Open Practice and Coach Jones' First "Chalk Talk": A Musical* of Epic Proportions
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| *This is not actually a musical |
Our Eagles tipped off this week with a veritable smorgasbord of new events, which helped to feed my insatiable hunger for AU basketball. First on the docket was the first open practice I've ever been to in my time as an Eagle, followed by Coach Jones' first official "Chalk Talk." As you can tell by the title, it was not actually a musical, but it was not your average song and dance either. See what I did there? I know you come here for the great puns. No, you come here for the basketball? Well fine, let's get to that right after the jump.
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!
Friday, October 23, 2009
According to Yahoo/Rivals Everyone Can Win the Patriot League Except AU!
Yahoo/Rivals issued their first team reports for the Patriot League today. AU's can be found here, and it's got some interesting tidbits in it...
The report doesn't mince words, saying that "it’s extremely unlikely the Eagles will make a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament." Well isn't that cute.
Obviously they've been getting their research skillz from this blog because they made sure to point out that the team is going to lean heavily on Hendra and Lumpkins. Well, obviously. What I do find a little curious is that they describe Lumpkins as "electric." I don't really know how I feel about that categorization. There isn't a whole lot of flash to his game. In fact, the reason he got so much play last year is probably because he's a pretty fundamentally sound player who hustles a lot and played maturely for a freshman. There's no, as Dick Vitale would say, razzle-dazzle, Shake n'Bake, or YEAAAAAAAAAAH BABY to his game. Whatever, it's one word, Bill, stop making such a huge flipping deal about it.
(I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG ENTRY FOR A RANDOM DOSE OF NAPOLEON DYNAMITE QUOTERY BROUGHT ON BY THE WORD "flipping")
Sorry about that. Anyway.
Conspicuously absent from Yahoo's team report are any mention of Steve Luptak, Matt Wilson, or any of the sophomores other than Lumpkins. I find that to be strange because the article notes that Coach Jones is "now turning to a batch of young players and those unfamiliar with the system," except that he has a bench full of people with a year or more of experience under his system. Strange.
Yahoo also managed to project the starting line-up:
G Nick Hendra, G Josh Snodrass, G Daniel Munoz, F Stephen Lumpkins, F Mike Bersch
All I can say about that is WTF, mate. I mean Hendra and Lumpkins were locks. It makes sense that either Bersch or Snodgrass would get to play at the 3 spot, but both of them, starting? Seriously, Yahoo? No Riley Grafft? I dunno, if I had to guess it would be:
G - Hendra
G - Munoz
F - Bersch/Snodgrass
F - Grafft (until Vlad the Impaler becomes eligible)
F - Lumpkins
The question I really have at this point is, what is Jeff Jones going to do with all of these guards? Are Simon McCormack and Joe Hill going to be career benchers? What is he going to do with Troy Brewer when he becomes eligible next season? I mean, I guess we'll be really deep and insured against injuries, but we're going to have to set some kind of PL record for substitutions with all the cycling through players that JJ is going to have to do.
I really encourage you to read the team report, as it has a lot of great information, even if I disagree with some of it.
For those of you interested in other PL teams, well, Holy Cross and Lehigh come out looking the best, mostly because they return a lot of players from last year.
Just got some breaking news, another entry coming momentarily.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
The report doesn't mince words, saying that "it’s extremely unlikely the Eagles will make a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament." Well isn't that cute.
Obviously they've been getting their research skillz from this blog because they made sure to point out that the team is going to lean heavily on Hendra and Lumpkins. Well, obviously. What I do find a little curious is that they describe Lumpkins as "electric." I don't really know how I feel about that categorization. There isn't a whole lot of flash to his game. In fact, the reason he got so much play last year is probably because he's a pretty fundamentally sound player who hustles a lot and played maturely for a freshman. There's no, as Dick Vitale would say, razzle-dazzle, Shake n'Bake, or YEAAAAAAAAAAH BABY to his game. Whatever, it's one word, Bill, stop making such a huge flipping deal about it.
(I INTERRUPT THIS BLOG ENTRY FOR A RANDOM DOSE OF NAPOLEON DYNAMITE QUOTERY BROUGHT ON BY THE WORD "flipping")
- Napoleon: Stay home and eat all the freakin' chips, Kip!
- Kip: Napoleon, don't be jealous 'cause I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to become a cage fighter.
- Napoleon: Since when, Kip? You have the worst reflexes of all time.
- Kip: Try and hit me, Napoleon.
- Napoleon: What?
- Kip: I said come down here and see what happens if you try and hit me.
- Napoleon: [comes down the stairs] Such an idiot...!
- [After Napoleon tries and fails to hit Kip a few times, the doorbell rings]
- Napoleon: I'll get it. [Slaps Kip in the face while he's not looking]
- Kip: Geeeez!
Sorry about that. Anyway.
Conspicuously absent from Yahoo's team report are any mention of Steve Luptak, Matt Wilson, or any of the sophomores other than Lumpkins. I find that to be strange because the article notes that Coach Jones is "now turning to a batch of young players and those unfamiliar with the system," except that he has a bench full of people with a year or more of experience under his system. Strange.
Yahoo also managed to project the starting line-up:
G Nick Hendra, G Josh Snodrass, G Daniel Munoz, F Stephen Lumpkins, F Mike Bersch
All I can say about that is WTF, mate. I mean Hendra and Lumpkins were locks. It makes sense that either Bersch or Snodgrass would get to play at the 3 spot, but both of them, starting? Seriously, Yahoo? No Riley Grafft? I dunno, if I had to guess it would be:
G - Hendra
G - Munoz
F - Bersch/Snodgrass
F - Grafft (until Vlad the Impaler becomes eligible)
F - Lumpkins
The question I really have at this point is, what is Jeff Jones going to do with all of these guards? Are Simon McCormack and Joe Hill going to be career benchers? What is he going to do with Troy Brewer when he becomes eligible next season? I mean, I guess we'll be really deep and insured against injuries, but we're going to have to set some kind of PL record for substitutions with all the cycling through players that JJ is going to have to do.
I really encourage you to read the team report, as it has a lot of great information, even if I disagree with some of it.
For those of you interested in other PL teams, well, Holy Cross and Lehigh come out looking the best, mostly because they return a lot of players from last year.
Just got some breaking news, another entry coming momentarily.
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Fruits of the Summer
Writing for a reputable blog is always a privilege, particularly here at American University Basketball Central (or AU Hoops Blog for short). For too long we have been without a reliable source of fan coverage for our beloved AU Eagles Basketball. My name is Josh, a proud member of the greatest, loudest, bluest, and bare-chestedest** fan group in the Patriot League, and I will be joining Bill in making sure that the Birds of Bender have a share of cyberspace equal to or even greater than that of the hardwood.
While in recent days we have been eagerly looking forward to November, taking a look back at some summer developments might also help us see where we’re headed this season. More than anything, and contrary to what the press releases on AUEagles.com would have us believe, the summer was marked by a series of departures, however tempered with formidable additions.
As we recently discovered, Mike Technow transferred to the Division II University of South Carolina – Aiken. While something can be said about the athletic department’s failure to inform us of his departure, we wish him the best, as he will surely be a standout player for the USC-A Pacers. The incoming freshman class notwithstanding (who will certainly be analyzed in great detail in the near future on this blog), the athletic department did find it prudent to point out a key addition to the team – Troy Brewer. Troy transferred from the Georgia Bulldogs of the SEC, (likely with similar intentions as Technow) and like fellow transfer Vlad Moldoveanu who will start this January, will certainly be a force when he becomes eligible to play in the 2010-2011 season. Until then, I’m sure he’ll add quite a bit of challenge to practice with two full seasons of experience at UGA under his belt.
This trickle of players down the college basketball hierarchy doesn’t even come close to the strangest swap of the summer, however. In another departure left unannounced by our athletic department (where transparency is like football), assistant coach Michael Brennan left to take an assistant coaching position with our cross-town nemesis, the Georgetown Hoyas. Who vacated the spot he took? None other than OUR new assistant coach Robert Burke. Yes, folks, we did just trade coaches with the Hoyas. I do believe we came out on top of this strange move, however, as Burke was the last original assistant to come in with Georgetown head coach John Thompson III. He’s been a recruiting force for Georgetown, bringing in some of their best players of the last five years. So why would a fellow of his caliber move from the Big East to the Patriot League? Despite academic success that puts even Georgetown to shame, truth be told the Patriot League won’t be dominating NCAA basketball any time soon in the manner of the Big East. This leaves one probable scenario: Burke is after Coach Jones’ job. After back-to-back tournament runs and a 24-8 season, as well as a history with UVA, it would be presumptuous to assume that Coach Jones hasn’t had his own fair share of offers from relatively big-time teams. Whether this is just premature rumor mongering or obvious foresight remains to be seen – more on this in a future investigative piece right here on American University Basketball Central.
Finally, I want to touch upon the newest, and likely most attractive new member of the Eagle’s squad this season. Alright, he’s not entirely new, but certainly looking a whole lot better than before. I am referring to none other than the redesigned Clawed Z. Eagle costume that debuted at the Bender Blue Out women’s volleyball game this past weekend. As Bill mentioned, the Associated Press took a stab two seasons ago at our proud eagle mascot, calling him “shopworn.” While that might have been a little much, it is clear that athletics decided to invest a little more in this iteration of our beloved mascot, and I think really hit the mark. Here’s a visual comparison of the new Clawed with his last two versions:
Frankly they hit the nail on the head. The leftmost Clawed looks very mascot-esque, but he looks very sad about something and for Pete’s sake they couldn’t even get the “AU” symbol right. The more recent version certainly looked more like an Eagle, but was rather scrawny and even a bit hairy – some might even say cuddly. Well this time they nailed both aspects quite well. Clawed looks buff and intimidating and not sad or like an awkward chicken. The marks and logos are spot on (take a look at his shoes when you get the chance), and he certainly had a real spring in his step as he was dancing among the crowd and on the court. During our next tournament run I hope the Associated Press takes notice. I know our unfortunate adversaries certainly will.
Go Eagles!
** “Bare-chestedest”: Superlative referring to the most bare-chested fan in attendance at an AU Eagles Basketball game. “Those guys from track team are the bare-chestedest Eagles here!”
While in recent days we have been eagerly looking forward to November, taking a look back at some summer developments might also help us see where we’re headed this season. More than anything, and contrary to what the press releases on AUEagles.com would have us believe, the summer was marked by a series of departures, however tempered with formidable additions.
As we recently discovered, Mike Technow transferred to the Division II University of South Carolina – Aiken. While something can be said about the athletic department’s failure to inform us of his departure, we wish him the best, as he will surely be a standout player for the USC-A Pacers. The incoming freshman class notwithstanding (who will certainly be analyzed in great detail in the near future on this blog), the athletic department did find it prudent to point out a key addition to the team – Troy Brewer. Troy transferred from the Georgia Bulldogs of the SEC, (likely with similar intentions as Technow) and like fellow transfer Vlad Moldoveanu who will start this January, will certainly be a force when he becomes eligible to play in the 2010-2011 season. Until then, I’m sure he’ll add quite a bit of challenge to practice with two full seasons of experience at UGA under his belt.
This trickle of players down the college basketball hierarchy doesn’t even come close to the strangest swap of the summer, however. In another departure left unannounced by our athletic department (where transparency is like football), assistant coach Michael Brennan left to take an assistant coaching position with our cross-town nemesis, the Georgetown Hoyas. Who vacated the spot he took? None other than OUR new assistant coach Robert Burke. Yes, folks, we did just trade coaches with the Hoyas. I do believe we came out on top of this strange move, however, as Burke was the last original assistant to come in with Georgetown head coach John Thompson III. He’s been a recruiting force for Georgetown, bringing in some of their best players of the last five years. So why would a fellow of his caliber move from the Big East to the Patriot League? Despite academic success that puts even Georgetown to shame, truth be told the Patriot League won’t be dominating NCAA basketball any time soon in the manner of the Big East. This leaves one probable scenario: Burke is after Coach Jones’ job. After back-to-back tournament runs and a 24-8 season, as well as a history with UVA, it would be presumptuous to assume that Coach Jones hasn’t had his own fair share of offers from relatively big-time teams. Whether this is just premature rumor mongering or obvious foresight remains to be seen – more on this in a future investigative piece right here on American University Basketball Central.
Finally, I want to touch upon the newest, and likely most attractive new member of the Eagle’s squad this season. Alright, he’s not entirely new, but certainly looking a whole lot better than before. I am referring to none other than the redesigned Clawed Z. Eagle costume that debuted at the Bender Blue Out women’s volleyball game this past weekend. As Bill mentioned, the Associated Press took a stab two seasons ago at our proud eagle mascot, calling him “shopworn.” While that might have been a little much, it is clear that athletics decided to invest a little more in this iteration of our beloved mascot, and I think really hit the mark. Here’s a visual comparison of the new Clawed with his last two versions:
Frankly they hit the nail on the head. The leftmost Clawed looks very mascot-esque, but he looks very sad about something and for Pete’s sake they couldn’t even get the “AU” symbol right. The more recent version certainly looked more like an Eagle, but was rather scrawny and even a bit hairy – some might even say cuddly. Well this time they nailed both aspects quite well. Clawed looks buff and intimidating and not sad or like an awkward chicken. The marks and logos are spot on (take a look at his shoes when you get the chance), and he certainly had a real spring in his step as he was dancing among the crowd and on the court. During our next tournament run I hope the Associated Press takes notice. I know our unfortunate adversaries certainly will.
Go Eagles!
** “Bare-chestedest”: Superlative referring to the most bare-chested fan in attendance at an AU Eagles Basketball game. “Those guys from track team are the bare-chestedest Eagles here!”
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Does Everyone On This Team Weigh 215 Lbs? And Other Observations on the Revised Roster
AU Athletics did a little sprucing up to the men's basketball page today. What with posting a video (see previous entry) and updating the roster. Everyone has a number now (run out and get your 2009-10 AU Eagles tattoos with the do-it-yourself kit available at the Eagle's Nest) which is a bonus. In addition to numbers, the roster also expanded, by 25% no less! There are now fifteen Eagles on the roster, though Vlad Moldoveanu doesn't become eligible to play until January, and I'm not particularly sure about Troy Brewer (I'll check into that). Vlad should be a force at 6'10" 215lb (GMU's site lists him at 224lb), hopefully he'll spend the fall putting on some muscle; he just never got the minutes to have a breakout season at GMU, but in a future post we'll detail his impressive play in his native Romania.
Everyone else on the roster are the expected suspects, until you get to 6'7" 215lb freshman Daniel Fisher out of Melbourne Grammar in Melbourne, Australia. I've had trouble finding much information about him on the interwebs, but I'll be sure to try to get some from the ever-growing list of things I need to research.
What is particularly exciting about the roster is that the average size of the team is now a little under 6'5" and boasts no one listed at under 6'0". That kind of size will definitely help us in the non-conference portion of the schedule, but it would still be good to see some of our big men put on 5-10 lbs. of muscle (when you're 6'7"+ 200-210 lbs. isn't all that much anymore). At this point having six players over 6'6" gives us plenty of options down low, and I just hope that Coach Jones will adjust his playbook accordingly. We've played basically a perimeter game the past two seasons, but we may be able to pound it inside this season (assuming and God willing that these guys have good hands), which will open up Hendra and Joe Hill and Simon McCormack from the outside.
Anyway, those are the updates on the roster. We should have a ton of new content coming soon because I've found a co-contributor who will be introducing himself this weekend. Get excited. I am!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Everyone else on the roster are the expected suspects, until you get to 6'7" 215lb freshman Daniel Fisher out of Melbourne Grammar in Melbourne, Australia. I've had trouble finding much information about him on the interwebs, but I'll be sure to try to get some from the ever-growing list of things I need to research.
What is particularly exciting about the roster is that the average size of the team is now a little under 6'5" and boasts no one listed at under 6'0". That kind of size will definitely help us in the non-conference portion of the schedule, but it would still be good to see some of our big men put on 5-10 lbs. of muscle (when you're 6'7"+ 200-210 lbs. isn't all that much anymore). At this point having six players over 6'6" gives us plenty of options down low, and I just hope that Coach Jones will adjust his playbook accordingly. We've played basically a perimeter game the past two seasons, but we may be able to pound it inside this season (assuming and God willing that these guys have good hands), which will open up Hendra and Joe Hill and Simon McCormack from the outside.
Anyway, those are the updates on the roster. We should have a ton of new content coming soon because I've found a co-contributor who will be introducing himself this weekend. Get excited. I am!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
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