Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Midday Brunch 11/23

Even before Kansas State beat Gonzaga last night and Frank Martin uttered the words, "It's not like we're Mount Saint Mary's, we've played these types of games before." I was going to say Martin and his Wildcats are the most overrated team in the country. Now I'm hoping that Duke proves me right tonight. 

And I'm also hoping that Martin mans up and comes to Emmitsburg to play the Mounties. I mean if that's how he feels about the Mount, I'm sure a road trip to the Knott Arena would do nothing but add a W to the Wildcats slate.

Hard to be too upset with the Mount's loss at Niagara last night. There were certainly some things that need to be corrected. But there was also some growth in everything that is going on. Very nice to see that even though Atupem and Trice missed the bulk of the second half, the Mount didn't fold. 

The Mount is 1-3 but has a good chance in the next three games to get above .500. They've shown that they are going to give everyone a battle and home games with Florida A&M and Navy before an NEC opener at Sacred Heart provide reason to believe that this team could earn some wins.

Two big surprises for the Mount this season. Shawn Atupem's free throw shooting and Dave Golladay's play. Atupem was a horrendous foul shooter in his first three years at the Mount. Now he's just about automatic. Not sure where the credit should be heeded, but good work by Shawn. As far as Golladay goes, I think he was sort of the guy that nobody thought would benefit from the coaching change. His style of play seemed to fit Milan Brown's style much more than what we expected Rob Burke's to be. Now the redshirt freshman is starting and contributing as an undersized wing. Credit to him for shaking off the rust of the redshirt year and to the coaching staff for finding a way to utilize his skills. 

Old Dominion won the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Island last night. Might go a long way to making the CAA a two-bid league this year. The fact they did it against another quality mid-major in Xavier probably helps as well. That and the fact that VCU is playing in the semis of the NIT tomorrow. ODU has won four straight since that opening night loss to Georgetown. They play another important bubble game next week when Richmond visits.

Earlier this season we asked about Fran McCaffery and Iowa...and whether or not he might be having second thoughts. The Hawkeyes appear headed to a rough rough season after dropping two of three in the Virgin Islands including yesterday's 78-72 loss to Long Beach State. McCaffery might have learned something from Dan Monson in that one. You'll recall that Monson left Gonzaga for the bigger program at Minnesota, didn't have success and is not rebuilding the 49ers. Long Beach should end up being a factor in the Big West, but plays a tough stretch of games between now and Christmas that will make wins tough to come by. Road tests at North Carolina, Washington, Arizona State and Utah State along with games with St. Mary's and Loyola Marymount could leave Long Beach reeling.

Kemba Walker's performance yesterday was fascinating. Truly remarkable. And a tough loss for Wichita State. The Shockers don't have a lot of opportunities for a marquee win and yesterday saw one get away. They need to take care of Chaminade today and then get a win over Oklahoma or Virginia or their hopes of an at-large bid maybe over before they start.

Central Connecticut State dropped its first game of the season last night. The Blue Devils downed 77-61 at Penn State. Central plays the first NEC game of the season on Saturday against Monmouth. NEC teams are now a combined 18-21 thus far. Long Island is still unbeaten at 3-0, while Sacred Heart and FDU haven't won a game yet.




1 comment:

  1. I truly thought this Niagara game was one we could take until I realized the abundant talent of the Niagara freshman. I knew Niagara lost a lot from last year but I did not remember the wonderful recruiting class they had, although I did review them before the season. Needless to say, every time I seen Malcolm Lemmons I was rooting hard for him to miss- since he was originally going to RMU. I watched the game by paying 7 bucks on the Niagara site. This game really hurts but Niagara was simply drilling those 3 pointers and when a team is on a hot streak like that there is not much you can do. I seen where Savannah St. almost upset Dayton. I really enjoyed watching Savannah st's unique style. I would love to see them play again. I can't believe it, but one of the most interesting games for me on Wednesday will be Cincy vs. Sav St. As for Frank Martin, I like him, he reminds me of Bobby Knight. I hope they demoralize Duke tonight. Also, this may be the one and only time I root for Pitt all year as I will be watching them play the dirtiest team in the land-RMU. Raff, do you know what happened to Tony Little? Have you talked to him? I am going to email him and find out why he has not been at any games. I hope he gets over Brown leaving and Brion not getting the job. Actually I believe if we had Burke during the past few years, we would have won the championships and RMU would not be so cocky.

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