Time to move on. This is a Tuesday night game, and regionally broadcast on ESPN. I already wrote a season preview for them, here, so I’ll focus on the last few games.

GMU has played 4 games since their loss to the Tribe, 3 blow out wins and a close loss at ODU. The biggest key to their loss against W&M, rebounding, has improved greatly since that game, and they haven’t lost a rebounding battle since. In their last 4 games, they have been over 17 points in the positive in scoring margin.

Their shooting has also been good. Save the low-scoring UNCW game, they have shot around 50% from the field. If they shoot like that, about 5% better than they did against W&M, we will be in for another solid game. Finally, it would be huge if the Tribe could get either Will Thomas or Folarin Campbell in foul trouble. While Thomas hasn’t had trouble with that this season, Campbell has, averaging about 3 fouls per. If we could keep one their 2 best players on the team on the sideline, our chances get MUCH better.

I really can’t say I like our chances. GMU is absolutely SMOKING, and the Tribe just lost soundly to one of the worst teams in the nation. The best we can hope for is that the Tribe comes out mad, and plays like they did 2 weeks ago before a regional, ESPN audience. Hoping for the best…

GMU-72
W&M-67

Go Tribe.

1)VCU
2)ODU
3)Drexel
4)HU
5)GMU
6)W&M
7)NU
8)Towson
9)GSU
10)UNCW
11)UD
12)JMU

What? Only players worth anything were AP and Smith, and our #6 3-pt D was smoked. We, also, made 2 threes all game.

If you find a positive from somebody not named AP or Alex Smith, let me know.

Go Tribe?

The Tribe hits the road again after 2 straight home games, the destination being Newark, Delaware to face the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens. The Hens are currently the worst team in the CAA, at 0-5 in the conference and 2-14 total. While they did beat La Salle and Niagra back-to-back, that momentum was taked away after a 15-point loss to bottom-feeder JMU followed by 4 more CAA losses.

The Tribe are heavy favorites against UD, who is sporting a 289 RPI. That is coupled with a 291 Pomeroy rating. Pomeroy is predicting a 6-point Tribe win, and gives the Tribe a 78% chance of winning. Mike Greenfield gives the Tribe a 62% chance of winning, and has the spread at W&M -2.4.

UD’s Mr. Everything this season has been Herb Courtney, a 6-7 Junior Foward. Courtney is leading the team in scoring, at 17.9 points per game, and rebounding, at 6.3 per. He is also leading the team in blocks, at an impressive 29, and is tied for the team lead in steals with 23. While he turns the ball over a bunch, he is their biggest threat.

UD’s only other legitimate scorer is Zaire Taylor, a Sophomore guard from Staten Island. Taylor is second on the team in both scoring and rebounding, at 10.3 and 4.9. He is also one of the most accurate shooters from 3 at 38%, and from the field at 46%. He also has 23 steals, and a solid assist-turnover ratio. However, Taylor will not be playing against the Tribe as he left the team indefinitely.

Another one of UD’s solid players is Brian Johnson, who can really handle the ball. Johnson has 71 assists compared to 48 turnovers, and averages about 8 points per game. He has 17 steals on the year, and is shooting 73% from the stripe.

UD will be lacking depth to the extreme, as they have only 7 scholarship players still dressing, and one walk-on. I don’t think winning this one will be huge problem, and if a game against a team with 8 players is even close, we are in trouble. Tribe rolls big-time.

W&M-78
UD-53

1)Hofstra
2)VCU
3)Drexel
4)ODU
5)W&M
6)GMU
7)Towson
8)NU
9)UNCW
10)GSU
11)JMU
12)UD

Well….didn’t play our best, but still played a pretty good game. We didn’t turn it over too much, but couldn’t really get any rhythm. Too many bad plays and too much bad execution.

AP had a career-game, with 26 points. He also had 4 steals, and was 10-11 from the free throw line.

Laimis Kisielius had a terrible game, his first since Towson. He only scored 7 points, and was 1-10 from the floor.

We kept the turnovers down, at 16. Also had 11 assists, so the numbers weren’t too bad. The real reason we lost though, even though the stats aren’t reflecting it, was the free throw shooting. VCU was 23-27 from the foul stripe in the second half. They were pretty much automatic.

While Schneider was solid shooting, and scored 10 points, his 2-5 from the stripe was very disappointing. Those 2 foul shots he missed when he got fouled from the 3-point stripe hurt us greatly.

Oh well. 10-5, and a sure win is coming against UDel Saturday.

GO TRIBE!

Virginia Commonwealth University will make the short trip to Williamsburg wednesday night to take on the William and Mary Tribe in each teams biggest conference game yet. The Rams are 4-0 in conference  play so far this year, with road wins over JMU and Towson, and home wins over Delaware and Northeastern. Like the Tribe, they played a pretty weak out of conference schedule with their biggest wins at home against UAB and Houston. This season they have gone to a new style of play, 40 minutes of  frantic pressing and pushing, the motto being “94 feet both ways” under new head coach Anthony Grant.

VCU is 4th in the CAA when it comes to RPI, at 99. Their SOS is 273, slightly better than W&M’s. They are much higher in the Pomeroy rating at 61, and according to that have an 80% chance of winning wednesday night. Mike Greenfield’s ratings give VCU a 72% chance of winning, with a 5.2 point spread.

VCU’s leading scorer this season has been B.A. Walker, a senior guard. Walker is averaging 15.1 points per game, and 2.9 boards. His biggest number is his assist-turnover ratio, which is key in a system like they run. He has 38 assists to 19 turnovers. He is shooting 88% from the foul stripe on the year, and is second on the team with 16 steals. Walker chucks up a lot of 3’s and is 40-102 on the year.

Jesse Pellot-Rosa, another senior guard, is the team’s second-leading scorer. JPR is averaging 13.7 points per game, and is second on the team with 4.9 boards per. He also has 16 steals, but has 23-24 assists to turnover. He is shooting about 42% from the floor on the season, and is leading the team with 36 offensive rebounds.

The third player I’ll be previewing is Eric Maynor, a sophomore guard out of North Carolina. Maynor is averaging 13.2 points per game, and is one of the team’s best 3-point shooters at 48%. He averages 4.5 rebounds per game. The number that really jumps off the screen is his assist-turnover ratio, the best I have seen all year. 87-25, about 3.5/1. He is one of the top shooters on the team from the floor, at 46%.

I really think W&M can pull off this upset. We are #5 in the nation in 3-point defense, and VCU’s guards, especially Jesse Pellot-Rosa and B.A. Walker, really depend on the 3. If we can make them miss some shots, it will be difficult for them to press, and everything unwinds.

W&M-70
VCU-67

RIP EM UP
TEAR EM UP
GIVE EM HELL
TRIBE

1)Drexel
2)VCU
3)Hofstra
4)ODU
5)W&M
6)GMU
7)Towson
8)Northeastern
9)Georgia State
10)UNCW
11)JMU
12)Delaware

We are on a 7-game win streak. Some years the Tribe has won 7 games total, yet this year - with 3 of them in conference play - we have won 7 straight. I am beyond excited for VCU on Wednesday.

This year something changed. The players who didn’t contribute are now contributing. Alex Smith is dominating inside. Peter Stein has progressed very nicely. Guards are rebounding. AP isn’t afraid to score. A freshman is the team leader. It’s just incredible how much progression we have had, and every game we are getting better.

The Tribe just dominated a CAA team on the road. And it wasn’t JMU. It is really amazing how good this team has gotten so quickly. We have a huge game against VCU on Wenesday, and get everybody and their brother to come. We need the Hall to be rockin’, and I’ll be sure to do my part.

For some other CAA scores, Towson and Delaware are going down to the wire, and a UD win would be huge. VCU is also up 19 on Northeastern with about 2 minutes. u

10-4, 3-1.

GO TRIBE!

The Tribe travels to Atlanta to battle Georgia State monday night, a very tough place for visitors to win. Like Northeastern, GSU has played a tough schedule this year with games against FSU(22 RPI), Georgia Tech(51), and Clemson(6). Up to this point they have only one solid win, and that is a home, 2OT upset of Towson Saturday. Also, they only lost to 6 by Drexel at home.

So they are going to be tough. They have a higher RPI(192) than us, even though they are 5-8. Pomeroy rank, which tends to look at record a little more, has them far behind us at 228 and gives the Tribe a 51% chance of winning. Mike Greenfield gives the Tribe only a 31% chance of winning, and has GSU -4.

The Panthers are led by 6-8 senior Lance Perique, out of New Orleans. Perique is leading the team with 16 points per game, and is second with 6.1 boards per. He is the guy the Tribe has to stop, and the guy Towson couldn’t as he scored 26.

Their other big-time player is Rashad Chase, a sophomore foward from Atlanta. Chase is second on the team in scoring, with 12.2 a game, but leads the team in rebounding at 7.8 per. He will be a force down low, but hopefully the Tribes strong rebounding of late will carry over into this game.

Finally, their 3rd player in double-digit scoring is Leonard Mendez, a sophomore guard from Smyrna, Georgia. Mendez averages 11.8 points per, and is third on the team with 4.1 boards. He has 15 steals, and is second on the team in FG%(45) and 3-point%(44).

Overall, to beat Georgia State we will need to crash the boards and force turnovers. They are in the negative in rebounding margin, so if we can pull them down like we did against Mason we should be good. They also have 224 turnovers to only 136 assists, so turning the ball over is something they have had trouble with.

This will be a very tough game for the Tribe. We will not be favorites, but I don’t think it matters. Were we favorites against Mason? No, 14 points dogs, and I think the same thing happens tomorrow night. The Tribe comes out on fire, and beats the Panthers by an 8-point margin.

W&M-66
GSU-58

GO TRIBE!