Kisielius was completely out of it. Lost on defense, lobbing up bad shots on offense, 4 fouls in 21 minutes. His poor play has been the reason the Tribe is struggling.

Schneider was great as always, and Mann started to heat up. A good sign there.

Why Gonzalvez wasn’t put on complete lockdown in the last 5 minutes is completely beyond me. That is the reason we lost.

Richmond had a total of 15 students at the game. Yikes.

Laimis’ final shot of the game was terrible for several reasons. One, a man was on him and he forced a bad shot. Two, there was 4-5 seconds left when he took this bad shot. Three, he was ice cold tonight. Four, Mann and Schneider are better at shooting 3 pointers.

This team is really pestering me…hopefully we can at least be competitive at VCU.

go tribe

This game is a must win. Tribe will lose to VCU, and going 1-5 can not happen. UR is 3-4 so far, the wins being over Maine, Rice, and ECU. They played Memphis pretty tough, but losses to Norfolk State and UMBC are ugly. The Tribe must, and I mean must, win this ball game.

6-9 foward Dan Geriot is the leading scorer on this team, sitting at 15.1 points per. He was on the A-10 all rookie team last season, and is putting up another solid year so far as he is also leading the team in rebounds. He is solid from the stripe for a big man, at 76%.

David Gonzalvez(not a typo) is second on the team with 10.7 points per game. The sophomore guard is has the best shooting percentage on the team(both from the field and from 3), and can create his own shot. However, his assist/turnover ratio is terrible.

Senior Oumar Sylla is averaging 9.7 points per game. He is most famous for his legal troubles last year, when he alledgedly stole some electronics from fellow students. He is a senior foward from Africa, and a transfer from Valpo.

This is a team we need to beat. They have a negative assist/turnover ratio, are being outrebounded on the year, and don’t shoot all that well. If we have Alex Smith, Tribe wins by 10, if not it is a tossup. I’ll go somewhere in the middle.

Tribe: 55
WE R YOU R: 51

Not the best of times at Kaplan.

How is a supposed top 200 team down at the half, at home, to a school that wasn’t even DI last year?

Still had some very nice performances. David Schneider is amazing, and he had another 19 points along with several steals. Incredible defense. Laimis was also his steady self, adding in another 19. The easy choice for team MVP was Chris Stratton and his 12 points, great game for Stratt.

Bottom line, though, is that this team will need to play much better to beat RIchmond and even think about beating VCU. We’ve got a long way to go.

GO TRIBE! 

Houston Baptist is the worst team we will face this year. An NAIA school last year, they are 1-8 so far, and only have 10 home games on their slate. I have only heard of 3 of the teams that they have played so far, and needless to say they lost to all of them. This is a game the Tribe must win, big.

The no-doubt star of HBU is Baron Sauls, a 6-2 Junior guard from Houston. Sauls is the only player that has started in all 9 of their games, and is averaging 17.7 points per. He also has a solid A/TO ratio, and is money from the foul line. This is the only player on the Huskies that can hurt us.

6-8 foward Emmanuel Willis is their biggest threat in the post, averaging 10.8 points per game. He is leading the team in rebounds with 6.2 per, but is sitting near 50% at the line. He has only started in 3 games, and is averaging just over 20 minutes per game.

Another junior, 6-3 guard Andrew Puzyk is their third strong scorer. He is averaging 10.1 points per game and is the team’s top 3 point shooter. He has started in 8 games at guard, but his A/TO ratio is not very good for a PG and he fouls a little bit too much.

This team is terrible. I will say it right now. If this game is within 20 points there is no way I go to Richmond next week. Tribe needs to roll, and roll big.

Tribe-92
HBU-65

Wagner.

Wagner.

Ugh.

First, I’d like to mention that the football team lost again yesterday.

Now, on to Wagner. The Seahawks come into this game with a 1-2 record, with a win vs. Lafayette and losses to Manhattan and St. Peter’s. Their RPI is sitting at 260, with an SOS of 262. They finished last season with an RPI of 299.

Senior Durell Vinson has been their top player thus far. He is a 6-7 from New Jersey who is averaging 15 points per game, and 9.3 boards. His shot does not have very much range, and he tends to turn the ball over.

Joey Mundweiler is the team’s second best scoring threat, at 11.7 points per game. This redshirt junior is the best 3 point shooter on the team, and is solid from the field. Jamal Smith and Mark Porter are also in double figures, averaging 10 points per game. Both have been in a deep slump from 3 point range so far.

This game should not even be close. They have a terrible assist/turnover ratio and can’t shoot at all. If this isn’t a double-figures win, it will be a disappointment.

Tribe-72
Wagner-56

Well my prediction was off.

NCST is good, folks, especially Hickson. Perfect from the floor and 31 points in his first game? Unreal.

The key to the game is the fact that we kept it close in the second half, even with a shooting percentage of 29%. If they shot like they did at GU, this would have been interesting.

Hopefully the Tribe can learn from these 2 games, and will be ready to really get rolling on tuesday. That is a game we need to win.

GO TRIBE!

Cramming this into one, but will do full ones for basketball when football season ends.

Richmond is 8-2 and needs a win to guarantee a playoff spot, even though it is likely anyway. The Tribe will be in an uphill battle, as the Spider’s top player is running back Tim Hightower. Hightower is a Payton award candidate with 17 touchdowns, the same amount as all the Tribe running backs combined. He is averaging 5 yards per carry and 150 yards per game. The UR run defense is solid, but they can be beaten through the air.

Honestly, I don’t think the Tribe has a shot here. Can’t stop the run, and UR has the motivation factor.

UR-38
W&M-21

The Tribe faces their second top 25 opponent of the year tomorrow, heading to Raleigh, NC for North Carolina State. Sophomore 6-9 foward Brandon Costner will be the man to stop, as he can play inside and outside. He led the team last year with almost 17 points per game, and has scored 10 and 22 points in the 2 exhibition games this year. Another strong player is junior Courtney Fells, a guard from Mississippi. He has combined for 24 points in his first 2 games in limited time. Gavin Grant is the only other player to be in double figures in both games, with 10 and 14. He averaged 14.7 points per game last year and was on the ACC All-Tournament team.

I think this NCST team is very vulnerable. The Tribe has played up against tough competition, while NC State has not. The Tribe will be prepared for the tough environment, while State will be working out the kinks. I am going to go out on a limb and predict the upset.

NCST-67
W&M-69

GOOOOOOO TRIBE!

Man. I was hoping for a win today, but going against 2 top teams killed that dream. The football game was more of a blowout than I expected, and I am starting to be in the camp thinking the football program isn’t going to make it back to where it was. When was the last time the Tribe was below .500 in 3 straight seasons?

The team wasn’t even in the game tonight. The final score may look like it, but 38-14 at halftime and giving up 55 points to ANYBODY is not something that should happen. Especially when 55 isn’t even our worst defensive game out the year. Mr. Shoop has his work cut out for him.

But the basketball team has me excited. Hanging with Georgetown for 35 minutes is not an easy task, especially when the officials aren’t helping you. Schneider was the star of today’s game, with 14 points, 7 boards, and 4 assists. Also shot 50% from 3. He is going to be good. Laimis started out on fire, but cooled off and ended up going 1/7 from 3. Yikes. Still 16 points though, something I will take any day of the week. The team got open against a tough team, and moved the ball very well. The Tribe will finish in the top half of the CAA next year, and NCST should be on upset alert.

A final note about the basketball game, assistant coach Jamie Smith is already making his mark on the team. He is running a program where you get “Toughness Points” for things like taking a charge, diving for a lose ball. The Tribe probably drew 5 offensive fouls today, 3 by Schneider. Another great hire by Coach Shaver.

Excited for Thrusday, GO TRIBE!!!!

Here are some keys to the JMU game.

Can JMU keep control of the ball?

3 turnovers vs. Delaware, including a key fumble in the 4th quarter, sealed the Dukes’ fate, and the story of their Richmond game was similar. Will Derek Cox and co. be able to force some turnovers, or will the Dukes be able to hold onto the rock? This will be a determining factor in Saturday night’s game.

Which Tribe team will show up?

Will the Tribe team that beat Towson and hung with UMass come to Zable, and will it be Villanova and Hofstra edition? This will be, in my opinion, the main determining factor of the game. And I would like to point out where Towson and Umass were played.

What team rises to the occation?

This is a rivalry game, and I can guarantee it will not be a blowout. Both teams will be  pumped for this, and both squads will have a bunch of screaming fans. Who will step up? The Dukes with the playoffs at stake, or the Tribe hoping they can eliminate the Dawgs? The players will not need to be pumped up for this one, and the team that can better take advantage of the pent up emotion will come out on top.

There it is. Go Tribe. I can imagine how excited I would be if we got 2 dub’s this Saturday.

I can dream, right