CAA Basketball

[backwardsk]

ODU up on VCU at the half in a close one.

Looking forward to the GMU Towson game this afternoon. Hairston seemed to be able to score whenever he wanted to at the Patriot Center last week. They'll need to shut him down.

[blueberryale77]

Wow, Towson goes down 56-48 to Mason but they put in a heck of an effort. Still, if only one Baltimore area team with a losing regular season record was going to go to it's tournament final... allright, I'll shut up. Congrats Towson on a nice end-of-season run.

[beaner]

Wow, Towson goes down 56-48 to Mason but they put in a heck of an effort. Still, if only one Baltimore area team with a losing regular season record was going to go to it's tournament final... allright, I'll shut up. Congrats Towson on a nice end-of-season run.

Great effort for Towson. I was just watching the end of the Binghamton game hoping for that upset for ya..

[BaltimoreTerp]

Wow, Towson goes down 56-48 to Mason but they put in a heck of an effort. Still, if only one Baltimore area team with a losing regular season record was going to go to it's tournament final... allright, I'll shut up. Congrats Towson on a nice end-of-season run.

Congrats on the win for UMBC.

[backwardsk]

Towson had a great tournament. Their defense was really impressive as they never allowed GMU to get into their offensive sets. The Patriots made two big 3's off of broken plays that helped them win.

There was a play at the end of the game where Hairston (I think) and Monroe both went to the ground after a battle for a loose ball. They both were exhausted as the whistle stopped play. They ended up helping each other up which was a great summation of the effort and sportsmanship that both teams displayed.

VCU-GMU in a repeat of the 2007 conference finals.

[MNAFETSC]

VCU-GMU in a repeat of the 2007 conference finals.

As great as Towsons run was a win today wouldnt have provided us with a final that would be as entertaining or competitive as this one will be (hopefully).

[backwardsk]

As great as Towsons run was a win today wouldnt have provided us with a final that would be as entertaining or competitive as this one will be (hopefully).

I just hope that GMU can catch their wind. Since Towson played so tough, the bench guys didn't get to play as much, especially in the 2nd half. Towson had long offensive sets that made Mason exert a lot of energy on the defensive end. Smith took a shot in the nose at the end of the game. Hopefully he'll be ready to go. I'm sure he'll be assigned to Maynor.

[O's are Legends]

I just hope that GMU can catch their wind. Since Towson played so tough, the bench guys didn't get to play as much, especially in the 2nd half. Towson had long offensive sets that made Mason exert a lot of energy on the defensive end. Smith took a shot in the nose at the end of the game. Hopefully he'll be ready to go. I'm sure he'll be assigned to Maynor.

Just got back from Richmond. Well worth it, me and my friends were going crazy when Cam Long just took over with 3 big three's at the end.

John Vaughn (All CAA first team defense) guards Maynor, Maynor has never been able to score on Vaughn. Vaughn was injured earlier this season when Mason played VCU but this time Maynor won't be so lucky. Mason bout to do work on VCU on their campus (neutral site - give me a break, why don't we just have the trny at the Patriot Center:rolleyes:)

George Mason vs. VCU - Monday night 7pm - espn2

[backwardsk]

Just got back from Richmond. Well worth it' date=' me and my friends were going crazy when Cam Long just took over with 3 big three's at the end.

John Vaughn (All CAA first team defense) guards Maynor, Maynor has never been able to score on Vaughn. Vaughn was injured earlier this season when [b']Mason played VCU but this time Maynor won't be so lucky. Mason bout to do work on VCU on their campus (neutral site - give me a break, why don't we just have the trny at the Patriot Center:rolleyes:)[/b]

George Mason vs. VCU - Monday night 7pm - espn2

Ha. Love your enthusiasm and I hope you are right. I just figured that Smith is quicker than Vaughn. Vaughn looked off yesterday. He had some lazy passes. However he fought and won a huge rebound near the end of the game.

When they made their run to the final 4, it seemed like every possession the ball went inside to Lewis or Thomas and then worked its way around the offense. They seemed to be more effective when they get it inside to Monroe. He's such an excellent passer. I hope that Birdsong gets more involved. He seemed to disappear at times yesterday too.

[O's are Legends]

Ha. Love your enthusiasm and I hope you are right. I just figured that Smith is quicker than Vaughn. Vaughn looked off yesterday. He had some lazy passes. However he fought and won a huge rebound near the end of the game.

When they made their run to the final 4, it seemed like every possession the ball went inside to Lewis or Thomas and then worked its way around the offense. They seemed to be more effective when they get it inside to Monroe. He's such an excellent passer. I hope that Birdsong gets more involved. He seemed to disappear at times yesterday too.

Yeah Smith is quicker than Vaughn and a very good defender as well so it really gives Mason another option on Maynor when Vaughn needs a breather. Lewis and Thomas were great passers and I think Monroe really learned a lot from Thomas last year. Birdsong at times looks as if he doesn’t know what he's doing. He did have 9 boards yesterday and needs to be alert and ready to go for the biggest game of his life.

I'm pretty confident in Mason tonight; VCU is a very good team with 2 main players who don't have a deep bench. I really hope Pearson is healthy as he gives us another post presence. Either way Mason has to get this done; guard Maynor giving him no room to operate and Mason has to get Sanders in foul trouble. Cam Long and Monroe need to have big games again and I hope Dre Smith can drive the lane and his three point shot is on today. I have to attend a job meeting and interview at 9pm! so I'll be at the hotel lobby rooting on Mason.

[backwardsk]

VCU went to work on GMU tonight for the CAA championship (71-50). Maynor proved that he's one of the best point guards in the nation tonight. He's not just a stats guy. He has a killer instinct and had a great game plan tonight. He did whatever he wanted to. As a Patriots fan, I hope the Rams make a lot of noise in the NCAAs.

GMU has a lot to look forward to with Cam Long, Mike Morrison, Cornelious, Tate, Pearson, and Birdsong all coming back nest year. Hopefully they do well in the NIT.

[MNAFETSC]

As great as Towsons run was a win today wouldnt have provided us with a final that would be as entertaining or competitive as this one will be (hopefully).

I guess I was the jinks....

[O's are Legends]

VCU went to work on GMU tonight for the CAA championship (71-50). Maynor proved that he's one of the best point guards in the nation tonight. He's not just a stats guy. He has a killer instinct and had a great game plan tonight. He did whatever he wanted to. As a Patriots fan, I hope the Rams make a lot of noise in the NCAAs.

GMU has a lot to look forward to with Cam Long, Mike Morrison, Cornelious, Tate, Pearson, and Birdsong all coming back nest year. Hopefully they do well in the NIT.

Minus some of their behavior, I gotta give it up to VCU - too bad Mason pulled a Creighton ( I sent a text out to about 45 people to watch the game, now I may have to send out an apology for wasting an hour and a half of everyone's night) No one is more sick to their stomach than me from this loss (except for some people in Vegas) Mason could of won but they played their worst game of the season and had no rhythm and I really question some of Coach L's early substitutions; off to the NIT for some much needed experience for next year.

Yes sir, with all that talent coming back plus the #1 recruiting class for all mid-majors and #26 overall, Mason will be a team to contend with for the next couple of years, like people used to say about Will Thomas, thank goodness we don't have to face Maynor anymore and hopefully Sanders will go to the NBA as well. (Anthony Grant will leave after the season is over to a major team.)

On another note, not trying to sound bitter, even if Mason won I would be saying this but you can't have the CAA tourney on a "neutral" court which is basically part of VCU's campus.

Congrats to JMU on their much improved team and Towson on their two victories in the trny. Sorry Mason laid an egg tonight; at least they weren't the only good team to get embarrassed tonight. Cool, Scott Van Pelt just gave the CAA as a whole props, showed key victories from both Mason and VCU from the last few years and said the CAA is a really good conference.

[Why Not?]

On another note' date=' not trying to sound bitter, even if Mason won I would be saying this but you can't have the CAA tourney on a "neutral" court which is basically part of VCU's campus.

[/quote']

That's been a valid complaint for 20 years, but the tournament isn't going anywhere unless there is major change in conference membership.

From conversations I had with CAA leaders in about 1994, Richmond has a lot of advantages: central location, appropriately-sized arena, plenty of nearby hotel rooms. There is also comfort and value in the continuity. People stay at the same hotels, go to the same restaurants, etc.

They felt it was important to have the tourney in a city as opposed to a suburb. But they also thought the CAA would be unimportant in a larger city like DC, Baltimore or Philly. Also, even with the recent expansions, the CAA is still firstly a "Virginia" conference. 40% of the teams are in the state and someday down the road, I could see schools like Radford or Liberty coming aboard or even Richmond returning as the CAA's football strengthens. That last part is just my speculation.

If you think it's bad now, it was worse when Richmond was in the CAA. Tournament games would be near capacity for Richmond games and empty for everyone else. At least now VCU doesn't play all of its home games at the Coliseum.

[CrimsonTribe]

JMU takes care of the Tribe.

And lookie look at Towson. Up on on Drexel at the half.

Mason/Dukes makes for a good matchup tomorrow.

Bah. We had our "glory" last year.

1983 NIT baby!