OT: CAA Men's Basketball Tourney

[Walter]

I am glad it was UD. They were afterall the team that lead the exodus from the AE.

 

[TweederGMU]

Bill and Mary couldn't close the door. Thornton has gotta take his last two possessions to the rim instead of shooting 15 foot jumpers.

Delaware can definitely beat a team in the NCAA Tourney this year. Saddler, Threat, and Usher are pretty darn solid! This Delaware team has lots of chemistry that plays very good together.

 

[sigmanorm]

Man...so close for W&M...closed out like we do...ugh

 

[gmutom]

Such a heart-breaking loss for the Tribe. They killed themselves at the line, but what a gutsy performance. Thornton is such a stud. Tony Shaver is too good of a coach to never get to the NCAAT. Congrats to Delaware. I'll be pulling for them in the tournament.

 

[psyclone]

Such a heart-breaking loss for the Tribe. They killed themselves at the line, but what a gutsy performance. Thornton is such a stud. .....

Thornton is a stud, but on the final pick & roll, Rusthoven was rather open underneath with the Delaware big guy (Baptiste) guarding Thornton. I know Thornton is "the guy" for W&M, but I've seen Rusthoven enough over the years that I'm sure he would have converted.

 

[Cool Disco Dan]

Thornton is a stud, but on the final pick & roll, Rusthoven was rather open underneath with the Delaware big guy (Baptiste) guarding Thornton. I know Thornton is "the guy" for W&M, but I've seen Rusthoven enough over the years that I'm sure he would have converted.

BEASTHoven! Too bad he and Britt are seniors; not sure if W&M will have enough help for Thornton next year.

 

[Harry]

BEASTHoven! Too bad he and Britt are seniors; not sure if W&M will have enough help for Thornton next year.

The Tribe does have the great rookie of the year Bromar Prewitt (as one student's sign said). And Daniel Dixon also is a freshman. As has been pointed out, Tony Shaver is a good coach and will make the most of his talent.

BTW, everyone who thought W&M would slow it down (including me) couldn't have been more wrong. The Tribe showed surprising athleticism.

But to have the whole game come down to that fat blob Baptiste knocking Thornton down to get an uncontested shot is just wrong. I know the refs weren't calling much at that point but let's not be ridiculous.

[Full transparency here, my alma mater is William & Mary]

 

[Pablo]

Based on the link, this was the 8th time that W&M was just one victory away from earning a bid to the NCAA tourney. And, W&M remains one of 5 schools still playing D-1 basketball since 1948 that has yet to play in the tourney - see
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/69036534/william--mary-could-earn-first-ncaa-tournament-berth.

 

[gmutom]

BEASTHoven! Too bad he and Britt are seniors; not sure if W&M will have enough help for Thornton next year.

Dan, not only do they still have Prewitt and Dixon, but they are bringing in a 6-8 sharpshooter from Loudoun Valley named Paul Rowley (in one of the videos below he hits 9 threes in a game). If memory serves me, I believe we might have offered him — but you can see by watching him that he's a Tony Shaver guy through and through.

http://www.paulrowley.net/paulrowley/Highlights.html

 

[mkaufman1]

Dan, not only do they still have Prewitt and Dixon, but they are bringing in a 6-8 sharpshooter from Loudoun Valley named Paul Rowley (in one of the videos below he hits 9 threes in a game). If memory serves me, I believe we might have offered him — but you can see by watching him that he's a Tony Shaver guy through and through.

http://www.paulrowley.net/paulrowley/Highlights.html

Yeah Mason was after him and I think someone said (a scout?) that he didnt create his "own shot" that well, so he would be a better fit for the CAA.

 

[gmutom]

Yeah Mason was after him and I think someone said (a scout?) that he didnt create his "own shot" that well, so he would be a better fit for the CAA.

Man, my memory is fading fast. I was talking to head coach at a local high school several months ago, and he was the one who told me that Rowley is a great shooter but might have trouble separating at the next level.

I really don't see that being an issue in W&M' system, though, because Shaver is so creative about getting shooters open. And at 6-8, this kid is going to create a lot of mismatches on the perimeter like Danny Sumner did (although he was a much better athlete).

To this day, I'm still bitter Sumner never played for us. I'm not sure if Coach L recruited him aggressively or not, but it's never good when a kid that talented is from Fairfax and ends up playing for a conference opponent.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

Poor Drexel fans. Blue Hens get it done before their team could.

CAAZONE looking forward into next year:

tu_fan

Next Year
Now that UD has won the CAA tournament, lets speculate on next year. I think W&M as well as Northeastern will be the 2 favorites. Both team bring back a ton of talent and both of the 2 pre-season players of the year (Thornton gets my vote).

UD & Towson will be decimated from graduation. JMU will be better. Charleston should be better, but they need some scorers. Hard to say w Hofstra, they will lose alot this year as well. UNCW, eh, Buzz will keep them down again. Elon should be mid-pack. Lastly, Drexel will be decent with Damion Lee coming back.

Other thoughts? Barring a high profile transfer joining a CAA team, i think WM/NE will be clear favorites.

 

[Five Two]

Buzz out at UNCW:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20140311/articles/140319929

 

[KAOriginal]

Buzz out at UNCW:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20140311/articles/140319929

That's a $880k buyout ladies and gentleman.

UNCW is ponying up that much cash to change coaches unlike another school in a bigger conference.

Watch a Miami Asst get the gig.........just throwing that out there since UNCW is going to come in at about $200k for the next up and comer who knows the league and region......

 

[GMUgemini]

That's a $88k buyout ladies and gentleman.

UNCW is ponying up that much cash to change coaches unlike another school in a bigger conference.

Watch a Miami Asst get the gig.........just throwing that out there since UNCW is going to come in at about $200k for the next up and comer who knows the league and region......

Notice it was going into his fifth and last season under the deal...

I will say the article makes you feel a little better about our program.

Some highlights:

1) Peterson: we have the lowest budget in the CAA.

2) banned from postseason due to low APR in 2013

3) 5 20-loss seasons in the last 6 years.

 

[KAOriginal]

Notice it was going into his fifth and last season under the deal...

I will say the article makes you feel a little better about our program.

Some highlights:

1) Peterson: we have the lowest budget in the CAA.

2) banned from postseason due to low APR in 2013

3) 5 20-loss seasons in the last 6 years.

Nope 2 more years....extended in 2010 and extra year. (See Para 1 page 2 of article)
Again, little ol UNCW just paid out nearly 1 MILLION to get a new coach........

 

[GMUgemini]

Nope 2 more years....extended in 2010 and extra year. (See Para 1 page 2 of article)
Again, little ol UNCW just paid out nearly 1 MILLION to get a new coach........

No, you're right.

I don't buy the money argument (although if we fired Hewitt right after the A10 tournament we are looking probably closer to 2 million than 1). But Hewitt hasn't been quite as bad a Buzz Peterson yet either, so I suspect a fourth year is in the cards for us. Which, OK, I can see the logic of it even if I don't agree with it. But there better be some concrete metric of success (real success, not some subjective wishy-washy idea of success) they are looking at in year four to justify keeping him beyond that.

 

[Walter]

No, you're right.

I don't buy the money argument (although if we fired Hewitt right after the A10 tournament we are looking probably closer to 2 million than 1). But Hewitt hasn't been quite as bad a Buzz Peterson yet either, so I suspect a fourth year is in the cards for us. Which, OK, I can see the logic of it even if I don't agree with it. But there better be some concrete metric of success (real success, not some subjective wishy-washy idea of success) they are looking at in year four to justify keeping him beyond that.

That is true, Buzz was the worst head coach in all of D1. So that is a pretty low bar. Buzz took over a program already destroyed by an incompetent AD and a horrible coach. Hewitt inherited a pre-preseason Top 25 team and then destroyed a once proud program. He should be fired the second he loses this week.

 

[CAA_Beat]

Just wanted to add some thoughts to the comments already made here.

I've covered Towson for the past two years for a local radio station.

The loss to William & Mary was very disappointing. The season wasn't a disappointment. Towson set a record for most wins as a Division 1 school (23). It won a post season game for the first time in four years. All that said, they did have high expectations (winning the CAA and Tourney). But credit both W&M and Delaware. They both had great seasons and the Tribe played a phenomenal game against Towson as well as against Delaware.

As for Benimon, he was by far and away the best player in the league and Skerry rightfully went to him down the stretch. If Thornton doesn't make a great play on the strip, Benimon had Tarpey beat for an easy layup and who knows maybe a fouls on the and one. Just credit WM for great team defense.

As for Thornton, I can't tell you how many times I shook my head at the shots he made over the weekend. And the poster who made the comment about Rusthoven being wide open was spot on. If W&M had won Thornton would have been the tourney MVP. I'm very confident he will be the preseason player of the year next season, possibly Eatherton of NU, and Jarvis Threatt will get some votes as well. But I see
Thornton winning it.

As for Towson next year. I see them picked anywhere from 4th to 6th. A down year from the past two. However nothing like the 1-31 season...ha.
As has been noted, they lose a lot of scoring and rebounding. However McGlynn and Parker Rivera will be very good. It all depends on if they find a PG who can effectively run things. They will have an unexpected "ship" available with the Hairston dismissal. They have a good freshman PG coming in, but the best thing would be to pick up a JC or graduate transfer for experience.

Sorry for the long post, but I enjoyed this thread. It was a great environment in Baltimore. Props to the UD and WM fans who had a good turnout on Monday night. The Towson fans and students were fantastic as well

 

[gmutom]

CAABeat, thanks for checking in. I really enjoyed watching a lot of CAA games this year, especially almost all of the tournament. Towson certainly had a lot to be proud of this season. It's a shame it ended early, because I think you could have made some noise had you gotten to the NCAAT.

The good thing for you is Towson is back to being a good program. The downside is it bring expectations and often times disappointment because the stakes are higher. I fully expect Skerry to you have guys back in contention very soon. Congrats again on a very good season.