Championship Week

[HeinekenMan]

Wanted: The next George Mason.

Who's going to make get in? What are the names to know?

I'm starting with a VMI-Winthrop game. There's talk that Winthrop wants in even if they lose. VMI, interestingly, starts two sophs, a freshman and two juniors. They also have the nation's top scorer.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

That's because VMI runs and runs all day with a fast tempo. They don't play defense down in Lexington.

Winthrop is in almost no matter what. And I heard Oc on a podcast agree that they could end up being a Mason-like team this year.

 

[ondeadline]

Actually, the VMI system is not a carbon copy of the Loyola-Marymount fast-paced game. VMI actually plays a lot of pressure defense and traps frequently. The Keydets play a heck of a lot more defense than LMU played.

 

[jambalaya]

Cinderellas? There's always one.

But no one has George Mason's story this year.

Someone could even be better, but their story won't be like Mason's.

 

[Oz]

Wanted: The next George Mason.

I know what you mean, but that kind of seems like a slight to what George Mason did last season. That storyline simply doesn't happen every season.

 

[HeinekenMan]

Actually, the VMI system is not a carbon copy of the Loyola-Marymount fast-paced game. VMI actually plays a lot of pressure defense and traps frequently. The Keydets play a heck of a lot more defense than LMU played.

I believe they said VMI was about to set a new NCAA record for steals in a season.

This is a good game, but I'm not convinced that VMI can continue the pace that Winthrop has set.

 

[Cosmo]

VMI switched gears this week knowing they couldn't win games in the conference tournament by running at people. It's worked pretty well. They've played a lot of zone and half-court offense, completely opposite of what they did in the regular season.

 

[HeinekenMan]

And we have controversy for the first time. By the way, how did I manage to put this thread in the wrong place. Dear Moderator, this is your opportunity to move a thread, assuming that you haven't done so. Consider it your training camp.

By the way, awesome news here. I haven't really had more than three days to myself since I moved to my new state nearly two years ago. But I just learned that my wife is going to her father's for spring break. She's taking the two kids. And I'm going on a 70-mile hike, which will be followed by watching every televised minute of the first and second round of the Tournament. I believe she's due back on Sunday evening, so I might have to end my week of freedom by hitting a bar just before the last few teams stake their bid for the Final Four.

 

[beefncheddar]

Bubble teams holding their breath over SoCon final.

Edit: Now breathing a little easier.

 

[ServeItUp]

Anyone else hoping Billy Packer gets assigned the Missouri Valley final tomorrow as karmic penance for bitching up a storm about the Valley getting four or five teams in last year? He'll probably do Duke-Carolina but a boy can dream, right?

 

[DisembodiedOwlHead]

Championship Week! March 1-11! Don't miss any of the 11 days in this great week!

 

[HeinekenMan]

Hey, that's a long way, now that you mention it.

 

[joe king]

Wanted: The next George Mason.

Who's going to make get in? What are the names to know?

I'm starting with a VMI-Winthrop game. There's talk that Winthrop wants in even if they lose. VMI, interestingly, starts two sophs, a freshman and two juniors. They also have the nation's top scorer.

Never use the word ``interestingly'' in a story or column. If you have to tell the reader something is interesting, it probably isn't. Such as this fact about VMI's starting lineup. Are you trying to say it's a young team? Texas starts four freshmen and a sophomore, and the Longhorns are a lot better than the Keydets.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

What if the next George Mason is ... George Mason? The Patriots beat Hofstra yesterday, so two more wins and here we go again.

Obviously, I don't think they're getting past today's opponent (look to your left).

 

[ondeadline]

VMI's inexperience was one of the reasons that its coach went to the radical high-scoring game. He knew the team wouldn't win with a conventional game.

 

[HeinekenMan]

Wanted: The next George Mason.

Who's going to make get in? What are the names to know?

I'm starting with a VMI-Winthrop game. There's talk that Winthrop wants in even if they lose. VMI, interestingly, starts two sophs, a freshman and two juniors. They also have the nation's top scorer.

Never use the word ``interestingly'' in a story or column. If you have to tell the reader something is interesting, it probably isn't. Such as this fact about VMI's starting lineup. Are you trying to say it's a young team? Texas starts four freshmen and a sophomore, and the Longhorns are a lot better than the Keydets.

Um, what? I wasn't aware that you were considering me for a columnist job. I hope this hasn't ruined my chances! But, since you bring it up, I wasn't writing a column. I used the word to indicate that it was a fact that piqued my interest. Perhaps I should have written "a point that I find interesting is that." Anyway, thanks for the tip. I'll assume that you're someone with a keen interest in developing my writing rather than some ass who finds it necessary to belittle people based upon their posts.

 

[Idaho]

Hopefully not Weber State.

 

[ondeadline]

Interestingly, I think the word is OK in message-board posts.

 

[Oz]

What if the next George Mason is ... George Mason? The Patriots beat Hofstra yesterday, so two more wins and here we go again.

That sucks. I wanted to see them make the tournament, if not for last year's omission but for a huge fan around these parts. SI.com tied it up pretty nicely with a piece on Loren Stokes following last night's loss.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/bill_trocchi/03/04/caa.quarters/index.html

 

[Cosmo]

VMI's inexperience was one of the reasons that its coach went to the radical high-scoring game. He knew the team wouldn't win with a conventional game.

That and his overall lack of talent. Reggie Williams and the Holmes twins are very good, but put them in a half-court game and some of their plusses are negated. The rest of the players on that team are borderline Division I at best. He'll go back to the system next year once he gets some more depth. That killed them toward the end, and ultimately, that's why Duggar made the switch come tourney time. Certainly worked. Getting to that game against Winthrop was the best anyone in that league really hoped for, anyway.