Part of the “Tuesday Following Monday” routine for me is cranking out a CAA piece for the Blue Ribbon Postseason Tournament Guide. (Heck, I did preseason, so it makes sense, right?)

Sleep would be nice, but that’s for another day. Right now I need to figure out who this Gerald Lee guy is. I hear he’s pretty good.

So we’ve been buried with that, as I chose to add another team this year. We’ll get to regular CAA programming tomorrow, which includes postseason info, and why it’s stupid to take the CAA tournament out of Richmond.

Until then, I highly suggest getting a copy of the Blue Ribbon postseason guide. Here’s why: you can read the three-inch box in USA Today with nothing but stats, or you can read 1,500 words on all 65 teams.

The tournament edition features a season wrap-up and tournament outlook and a full page of statistics and tournament history. There’s blank brackets and predictions.

Reserve your copy now here or call 1-877-807-4857 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Monday through Friday.

09
Mar

We’re a tad exhausted ’round these parts, and have a couple interviews to do today. Life doesn’t stop–even when it’s 65 degrees, sunny, and you have a new set of golf clubs you’re dying to try out.

Congrats to Old Dominion–it isn’t easy to be predicted first, finish first, and then win the tournament.

We’ll catch up later today, but as for now enjoy the highlight reel from last night:

Just finished with Blaine Taylor and Tony Shaver. Full video to come, but the short version: both coaches talked about the importance of rebounding, Taylor likes “the other guy” when Gerald Lee commands attention, and Shaver says Quinn McDowell is banged up but a gamer and they will try to get him into a rhythm.

Seven of the last eight CAA tournaments have been won by the #1 seed. The only holdout: 2008, when #3 George Mason beat #5 William & Mary.

08
Mar

The two meetings in the regular season produced 115 total possessions: 59 and 56.

Last night, William & Mary didn’t have a double-figures scorer in its victory over Northeastern. The Pugs were led by Danny Sumner’s eight points (”Congratulations Danny,” said David Schneider in last night’s press conference.)

Tony Shaver used this fact to say that his bunch is probably not as talented as Old Dominion, but he likes their ability to play as a team. After Sumner, five players scored six or seven points against the Huskies.

One of those players was Quinn McDowell, who has been blanketed in his two Richmond games. The conference’s leading three-point gunner has scored 16 total points on 1-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Prior to getting off teh bus in Richmond, McDowell had not been held to less than double figures points in back-to-back games this season. Keep an eye on that.

The ODU winning scenario played out on February 3. The Monarchs pounded the glass, winning the battle 48-25 and reeling in 23 offensive rebounds. When the Monarchs play ping pong on the offensive glass, they don’t lose. Plus, ODU shot 40% from the field and took care of the basketball (11 turnovers).

We stated it before but it bears repeating: once Old Dominion gets the ball to its post player, it’s too late. Gerald Lee is too skilled and Frank Hassell too workmanlike. Somebody is shooting from close, and the other guys are crashing the boards.

Look at it this way: when was the last time you can remember ODU successfully throwing a pass on the block, and then it came back out for an open three? It wasn’t this weekend. You’d think Old Dominion would fire away at will from the arc, with the double teaming and focus inside. But they don’t. Perhaps a conference-worst 30.1% from three is why. This is further testament to ODUs interior strength.

You have to make life difficult for the ODU guards–make their passes difficult–or you are toast. It will interesting to see how this plays out tonight. Brian Mull pointed out during the Northeastern game that on many possessions, William & Mary had four players operating around the foul line and key. The Pugs were giving away the baseline in order to stop the dribble drives and outside shots.

How W&Ms nasty combination zone, man-to-man, matchup zone defense alters ODUs offensive flow is what I’m watching. (Wasn’t there an amoeba defense somebody ran at one point? I’ll have to look that up.) This is of course, after rebounding.

In the January meeting, The Pugs held their own on the backboards. ODU won the battle only 40-32 and grabbed just 14 offensive rebounds. ODU shot about the same percentage from the field in each game, but the Monarchs took 60 field goals and 18 free throws in the blowout, and 55 shots and 11 free throws in the close game. That may not seem like much, but a 40%FG and 75%FT accuracy would net ODU another 12 points.

The Pugs also hit 10 threes in that game.

Tony Shaver won’t mince words: they have to shoot the three well to win. We all know that. In fact, ODU underscores the importance of that. The Monarchs hit three threes against VCU, two of which won’t be forgotten: we’re talking to you Marsharee Neely and Ben Finney. But there was teh VCU bombs that kept them in it, and David Schneider’s only bucket last night.

Hanging tough early is also important. As we’ve mentioned, more than one coach told me this year the problem with playing The Pugs is that they come out of the locker room and play harder. You get just a smidgen fatigued, lose a tiny bit of focus, and a Pug is backdoor for a layup. Or gets just enough daylight for a three.

I have to wonder if the Monarchs will start a little starstruck, which helps keep W&M close early. Then, a little late fatigue. This is the ultimate goober “game-within-a-game” stuff.

And I note: if ODU gets running early and beating up the glass, all that is off the board.

Much more on the way. Consider this the appetizer.

The two teams played twice during the regular season.

Old Dominion 58, @W&M 55 (1/23)

@Old Dominion 61, W&M 42 (2/3)

  • William & Mary has defeated 10 of the other 11 CAA teams this season. The lone holdout: Old Dominion.
  • ODU outrebounded W&M 88-57 in the two games.
  • W&M 15-55 threes in the two games.
  • W&M has three players who were contributors n the 2008 final. ODU last played in the CAA finals in 2005.
  • Unknown weapon: Frank Hassell was a combined 10-11 from the field and made all six free throws in the regular season meetings.
  • Both teams take care of the basketball: ODU leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31/1), and W&M leads in turnover rate (16.8%). ODU forces the most turnovers in the conference (14.1)
  • W&M is a prolific three shooting team, and ODU was second in the conference in three point FG defense (30.7%).

It’s going to take most of today to craft an appropriate summation of what we’ve witnessed over the past two days in Richmond. In the end, I don’t know we can get there.

In fact, the more I sit back and digest, the more I believe it’s a futile effort to cram it in and not living up to the standard this conference tournament has set on and off the floor. I’ve closely followed the CAA for 15 years–VERY closely for the last five years–and this tournament sets a standard in every way from close games to a sold out venue to gut wrenching and uplifting back story.

In sum: we said that rarely do things live up to hype, and Saturday’s quarterfinals round was refreshing because it did. Yesterday’s action exceeded any hype machine, even mine.

So here’s what we’re going to do: even if tonight’s game is a clunker, we’ll save the summation for Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s only fair.

One moment last night is the impetus behind the desire to wait it out, soak it in. David Schneider was asked about the pressure of having the opportunity to be the first W&M team to ever make the NCAA tournament. Schneider gave a very detailed and thoughtful response that somebody will use as a quote in a story.

While Schneider spoke, Tony Shaver sat to his right with what looked like a nervous tick, cocking his head and pulling at his tie and shifting in his seat. When Schneider finished, Shaver broke in with his answer.

“This team doesn’t deserve the burden of our past,” Shaver pointedly stated. “It deserves the opportunity to play this one game for a championship and should carry no other burden. (This team) has been exceptional this year at taking care of the moment.”

So should we.