2021 CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

[joeg1]

The CAA angered JMU by saying that Coach Byington got a technical for arguing while out of the coach's box, which coaches do a lot.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmoni ... ?id=340270 has statistics and William & Mary leads Northeastern 23-17. We swept W&M and got swept by NU, so we should root for W&M, but it only matters if the winner of this game and us win tomorrow.

After we play Elon, we will have played 12 of the 13 teams that are or were in the CAA with us including the four teams that left. We haven't played Charleston in the CAA Tournament. 2020 was the seventh complete CAA Tournament Charleston played in and was the first time they were in the same half of the bracket as us. They were the 4 and lost to 5 seed Delaware.

Our game had 27 free throw attempts in the first half, and 33 in the second half. I took a screen shot of William & Mary vs. Northeastern's box score at halftime because nobody attempted a free throw! W&M leads 28-25.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say the CAA angered JMU. Neither are people with emotions.

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[joeg1]

The CAA angered JMU by saying that Coach Byington got a technical for arguing while out of the coach's box, which coaches do a lot.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmoni ... ?id=340270 has statistics and William & Mary leads Northeastern 23-17. We swept W&M and got swept by NU, so we should root for W&M, but it only matters if the winner of this game and us win tomorrow.

After we play Elon, we will have played 12 of the 13 teams that are or were in the CAA with us including the four teams that left. We haven't played Charleston in the CAA Tournament. 2020 was the seventh complete CAA Tournament Charleston played in and was the first time they were in the same half of the bracket as us. They were the 4 and lost to 5 seed Delaware.

Our game had 27 free throw attempts in the first half, and 33 in the second half. I took a screen shot of William & Mary vs. Northeastern's box score at halftime because nobody attempted a free throw! W&M leads 28-25.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say the CAA angered JMU. Neither are people with emotions. Did a representative of the CAA anger someone at JMU? Please be more specific.

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[Hof_Judge99]

You said Walker isn't playing, but you meant Walters. Northeastern scored 25 in the first half and 24 in the first half of the second half. It's now 52-38. Even if it isn't close, the CAA had two close games this afternoon.

No, I said Walters.

[EvanJ]

You said Walker isn't playing, but you meant Walters. Northeastern scored 25 in the first half and 24 in the first half of the second half. It's now 52-38. Even if it isn't close, the CAA had two close games this afternoon.

No, I said Walters.

You're right.

The CAA's justification of the technical on Coach Byington made JMU's fans and probably team mad.

Ray became the twelfth player and first CAA player this season to attempt at least ten twos, at least ten threes, and at least ten free throws. The last CAA player to do that was Northeastern's Jordan Roland on January 18, 2020. Our last player to do it was JWF in a 93-87 win hosting William & Mary on February 9, 2019. It was the sixth time from 2010-2011 to the present that a Hofstra player did that. JWF did it twice, Zeke Upshaw did it twice, and thief Shaquille Stokes did it once. Juan'ya Green did it for Niagara.

With two of their top three rebounders out, Chris Doherty has 18 rebounds. The CAA Tournament record is 23 by Gustys when we blew the 2016 Final and lost to UNCW in overtime. Doherty had as many rebounds as the next three highest players on either team combined. Northeastern won 63-47. Northeastern had 10 more rebounds, and W&M shot field goals .315 and free throws .615. In the second half W&M shot field goals 5-22 (.227) and scored 19.

[Wags]

38-19, NU in a dominant second half. As usual, Coen gets his team to rise to the occasion when it matters. NU moves on, beating W&M, 63-47.

Figures, I'm 5-for-5 I'm predictions the one year we don't have a CAA tourney pool, which means I'll probably never pick like this again. From here, I'm going with Drexel over CofC, then HU over Elon, NU over Drexel, and then HU-NU for a third straight year in the finals... I'll wait on that one. Already know what my heart says, but my head is telling me that NU's defense was really good today.

[HUSID80]

NU dealing with several injuries to key players. If we get by Elon, I like our chances...Go with JOE AND THE JACKET!

[Jojogunne]

Has anyone tried to listen to the post-game press conference?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjuY5F_hNHk

I don't think I'm having any technical difficulties on my end. If I am, I apologize to the CAA in advance, but I can't believe that after a year of Zoom meetings and remote broadcasts the CAA hasn't figured out how to transmit clear audio and video over the internet. The CAAT is the league's flagship event. This post-game presser is an embarrassment.

[EvanJ]

38-19, NU in a dominant second half. As usual, Coen gets his team to rise to the occasion when it matters. NU moves on, beating W&M, 63-47.

Figures, I'm 5-for-5 I'm predictions the one year we don't have a CAA tourney pool, which means I'll probably never pick like this again. From here, I'm going with Drexel over CofC, then HU over Elon, NU over Drexel, and then HU-NU for a third straight year in the finals... I'll wait on that one. Already know what my heart says, but my head is telling me that NU's defense was really good today.

I have files saved, and I didn't make a prediction contest in 2017, 2019, or 2020. Including this year, I've made contests for three of the seven tournaments this forum existed for. You could have made one. As for a third consecutive HU-NU Final, that has never happened in the CAA Tournament. Thank you for pointing that out. The only times consecutive finals had the same teams were 2019 and 2020, James Madison and Old Dominion in 1994 and 1995, and Navy and Richmond in 1984-1985. All three times the teams split, so if we beat NU it will be the first time consecutive Finals had the same winner and the same loser. NU has been to three consecutive finals. If they reach the final, they will tie the record of four consecutive finals by Navy (won in 1984 and then lost three), James Madison (1992 through 1995 with their only win in 1994), and UNCW (2000 through 2003 with wins in 2000, 2002, and 2003). 2002 was our first CAA Tournament, so no team has made four consecutive CAA Finals since the northern teams joined.

The highlights the CAA posts are from court level without graphics, and I don't like that. In the past they make a video talking about the games after each day, but they didn't do that yesterday. Hofstra posted highlights from a normal height with graphics, but only of us scoring.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmoni ... ?id=340269 will have statistics for Drexel vs. Charleston.

Edit: Coach Bill Coen broke Northeastern's record with his 251st win and broke Jim Larranaga's record with his 18th CAA Tournament win. Larranaga's 17 CAA Tournament wins included the game before they lost to us and went to the 2006 Final Four. Coen said that Shaquille Walters will not play tomorrow or Tuesday. Jason Strong is questionable. Both of them did well in two games against us including making a majority of their field goals. Walters averaged 6.5 assists, and he's not even their main point guard.

[Wags]

Has anyone tried to listen to the post-game press conference?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjuY5F_hNHk

I don't think I'm having any technical difficulties on my end. If I am, I apologize to the CAA in advance, but I can't believe that after a year of Zoom meetings and remote broadcasts the CAA hasn't figured out how to transmit clear audio and video over the internet. The CAAT is the league's flagship event. This post-game presser is an embarrassment.

Thanks for at least confirming that it wasn't just on my end - I was wondering. I can hear most of the pressers, but nothing in other spots.

[Wags]

41-29, Drexel at halftime. The first half only took 39 minutes to play. Just four fouls called, two per team. Not sure I've ever seen that in a half.

Before the tourney, I was thinking Drexel over NU, but the way NU brought the D today, I'm still thinking NU. Plus, HU-NU for a third straight year would be interesting.

[EvanJ]

41-29, Drexel at halftime. The first half only took 39 minutes to play. Just four fouls called, two per team. Not sure I've ever seen that in a half.

Drexel shot free throws 0-3 in the first half, and Charleston didn't attempt any. Northeastern and William & Mary also didn't attempt any free throws in the first half, so consecutive games had first halves without a made free throw!

Drexel went up 14, and Charleston went down 54-47 with 12:36 left. Payton Willis has 16 points and 12 field goal attempts, Zep Jasper has 14 points and 15 field goal attempts, and the rest of Charleston has 17 points and 18 field goal attempts with nobody with more than 4 points or more than 4 field goal attempts.

If Drexel holds on, all the even seeds will have won except for the 7-10 game.

[Flying Dutchmen]

Grant really botched the last minute of this game.

[Wags]

41-29, Drexel at halftime. The first half only took 39 minutes to play. Just four fouls called, two per team. Not sure I've ever seen that in a half.

Drexel shot free throws 0-3 in the first half, and Charleston didn't attempt any. Northeastern and William & Mary also didn't attempt any free throws in the first half, so consecutive games had first halves without a made free throw!

Wonder if that's a first (consecutive games without a first-half free throw made) for this tournament. That's today's game. We can thank SportsCenter for that. Free throws, fundamentals aren't valued or taught like they used to be because it's the 3s and dunks that make the SportsCenter highlights. You'd think that's where coaching at the D-I college and NBA levels would come in, but everyone's got a green light today. I get the analytics, etc., and agree with that when teams are making the 3s, but way too often, teams continue to misfire from there instead of attacking and getting to the line or looking for more makeable mid-range shots. Anyway...

If Drexel holds on, all the even seeds will have won except for the 7-10 game.

Drexel does hang on, 80-75. So the semis are set:

(8) Elon vs. (4) Hofstra
(6) Drexel vs. (2) Northeastern

[Hof_Judge99]

I know we’re not playing Northeastern tomorrow but per Bill Coen: Shaq Walters is OUT for the tournament and Jason Strong is iffy at best. They did get back their big guy Doherty back who had 18 rebounds tonight though.

[Wags]

I know we’re not playing Northeastern tomorrow but per Bill Coen: Shaq Walters is OUT for the tournament and Jason Strong is iffy at best. They did get back their big guy Doherty back who had 18 rebounds tonight though.

Noteworthy on that, Walters (20 pts) and Strong (18 pts) were NU's two-leading scorers in their OT comeback win over HU in Hempstead this season. So those losses for NU could be huge if it comes to that on Tuesday.

The flip side: two days later, Walters only had 7 pts and Strong 11 pts. It was Walker with 23 and NU's defense, holding HU to just 56 pts in an 11-point win. So, that's what HU has to get away from. Force the game into a more up-tempo, higher-scoring game rather than grinding it out. Last year, grinding it out worked, but that was with a better defensive HU team and with guys like Buie and Eli. This year, the style has to be more like that first meeting with NU this year in which HU was able to build a big lead before letting it slip away as opposed to the slower, lower-scoring style that they never really had a great chance to win during that second meeting.

But first thing's first - cool off Elon, which hasn't lost in its last six games and which is playing with as much confidence as anyone... and which can also hit the 3. If the zone is giving that up (as we've seen at times this season), it could be trouble. Regardless, HU should be able to score against Elon and might be able to overcome if Elon's hitting the 3s.

[EvanJ]

Drexel held on to win 80-75. Charleston shot threes 10-24 (.417), didn't miss a free throw, and committed only 2 turnovers in a loss. The only previous time from 2010-2011 to the present that a team that was Idaho in a 127-54 win hosting non-Division I New Hope Christian on December 18, 2015. It's the first time in 39 CAA Tournaments that the Semifinals had only even seeds. The only time when the Semifinals had only odd seeds was in 1995.

[HUSID80]

OK time to focus on Elon. They are the hottest team in the league right now with six straight CAA wins. According to ESPN we have a 63% probobility of winning and their overall rankings indicate we are 4.4 point favs although I have seen no official lines on the game.

Sagarin rates us the highest of the remaining four teams and says we're almost 5 point favs over Elon.

Like to think that Elon should be somewhat gassed after playing two days in a row and fighting so hard for their comeback win yesterday.

Thoughts?

[Polito]

I say bring it on. This tournament is for Joe Mihalich baby, ride that passion fuel to the top of the ladder. LET'S GO


Cohen is something, no question - young team, and you never know it lol - credit to Drexel as well, tough game against CofC - NU vs Drexel should be a real good one. I think at some point, similar to JMU, the impacts of guys out (and yes even the youth for NU) will catch up eventually in the tourney. This will be a game of Cohen vs Drexel's experience.

Big opp for HU tonight and in this tourney, I think our guys continue to play inspired - will be interesting to see how the game unfolds, who steps up, what strengths show, as Wags noted it can be different each game for this HU squad, and that isn't a bad thing.

Key here for me is Elon can shoot, so HU should not under any circumstance allow for big runs and big gaps in between scoring - recognize and negate them immediately by pounding the ball inside, not by chucking 3's and compounding the issue - find the high % opps right away, tighten the D, and compliment with some deadly deep shooting of our own.

Huge momentum builder yesterday IMO. Elon is hot, do not take them lightly at all, but I don't think HU will - Ray has the eye of the tiger, this is it, and this team should can and will feed off his power. Continue showing championship experience and maturity and let's win this thing for JM!

[Hofstra]

Lets get this dub tonight!

[RollPride15]

Elon tends to foul a lot and they struggle on the boards...need Kante to dominate. And hit free throws!!