2021 CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

[Wags]

Towson deserved to get blown out today in those light blue uniforms. They do look nice (light blue always seems to look nice), but not when it's not your color, not even a normal complementary color. That should only be for teams like North Carolina. I realize I might be the only one here who cares about this, but I feel like... wear your team colors, not someone else's. I'm glad Hofstra has stuck only to its team colors and I hope they continue to do so.

As I said before, watch out for Elon. Like last year in D.C., they are playing well at the right time again. Wouldn't shock me at all to see them take out JMU, which if Hofstra is able to get by Delaware, may be a be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario on Monday.

[ProudofPride]

I can’t imagine Towson keeps Skerry amount for much longer. It’s been 10 years, and most seasons they’re lucky to even be mediocre.

[Wags]

I can’t imagine Towson keeps Skerry amount for much longer. It’s been 10 years, and most seasons they’re lucky to even be mediocre.

Kind of mixed results for Towson under him. He did go from a 1-31 inaugural year in the CAA to an immediate turnaround -- consecutive 2nd-place/13-5 years in conference play the next two years (including a 25-win season the second of those two years) and after that, he did have three other third-place finishes, winning 20 games twice and 19 in another year. But Towson also finished 9th, 5th, and tied for 8th in three other years with him. This year, they were the 9 seed again, but maybe you kind of throw it out, playing only 12 games with all the stopping and restarting before the CAA tourney? Although even with the craziness of the season, Towson was picked fourth and didn't handle the odd season well, which is a reflection somewhat on the coach, whereas JMU was picked to be where Towson ended up and surprised by being the 1 seed. There's maybe enough there on either side to argue for what you're saying or to give him another chance for 1-2 more years and to see what happens. They've also done virtually nothing in the CAA tourney -- just two semifinal appearances and no finals appearances -- which could be the tipping point to move on. This was the second time, by the way, that Towson lost as a 9 seed to Elon as an 8 seed (lost in OT in 2015).

[Polito]

Elon does seem to be a tourney team in some ways, but I don't see them being a champion... no knock on them, tough out, I just don't see it - we'll see though, who knows, it's really wide open - they can DEF knock off somebody big along the way, and I'll be pulling for them to do so against JMU! Regardless of what they did to HU, JMU is not the same team w/out Lewis - can't remove the conf POY and not have an impact - HU w/out Ray would be a bottom half team at best. The dukes are very beatable by Elon.

As for HU, a tough road but it's a tough road for basically everybody, it's such a crapshoot this conf in normal conditions, forget this nutty one. Pretty much anyone's tourney this season, although I still keep hoping that eventually HU's experience will pay off... the tourney would be the perfect time to cash in on being the defending champion and the team to play the most.

The CAAT will I'm sure ultimately reward the team that is just steady enough, able to find just enough consistency for 3 straight games. Getting hot will win 1 maybe 2, but that 3rd one for the crown requires that next gear. Need our champions to play like it for all 3, and then some.

UD will be a big challenge especially considering both haven't played in awhile - but frankly, no excuses for HU here, UD hasn't played in MUCH longer at 5 weeks - everybody's got the same stuff to deal with, so it's time to show some championship experience.

I'm not confident, but I'm not nervous either lol - I'm sort of 50-50 here... no clue how these two teams will come out after these breaks. I am first and foremost pulling them for all to remain healthy in terms of the conditioning - tough to jump right back in here.

After that, honestly I really just want them to play to the level they should - if UD beats 'em and they put out their best, and I mean their best, then so be it - tip of the hat - even I won't go crazy about an A effort in this crazy year - at least they will be able to hold their heads high, and so will we - but if they come out flat, lost, asleep, unfocused, and totally crap the bed, it's going to be a big sore spot and a real ding against this group (esp Ray, Coburn, and Kante) and Farrelly at the helm.

They need this - LET'S GO HU ! EARN what was taken away from HU last year - dig deep fellas, and MAKE IT RIGHT!!

[Wags]

I'm not confident, but I'm not nervous either lol - I'm sort of 50-50 here... no clue how these two teams will come out after these breaks. I am first and foremost pulling them for all to remain healthy in terms of the conditioning - tough to jump right back in here.

After that, honestly I really just want them to play to the level they should - if UD beats 'em and they put out their best, and I mean their best, then so be it - tip of the hat - even I won't go crazy about an A effort in this crazy year - at least they will be able to hold their heads high, and so will we - but if they come out flat, lost, asleep, unfocused, and totally crap the bed, it's going to be a big sore spot and a real ding against this group (esp Ray, Coburn, and Kante) and Farrelly at the helm.

IF they lose and it's close, I'd give Farrelly somewhat of a pass since it's his first year and it's his first tourney game, but agree on the rest of it. Just be ready and give the best effort possible. Empty arena, 11 am tip, long layoff - lots of reasons for looking lethargic and getting off to a rough start. But as you say, no excuses, because it's the same for Delware. So just bring it like you're absolutely desperate to continue your season and let the chips fall where they may. I'm 50/50 too, though I do think HU is better and that this matchup is a lot more like the second game these two teams played this year than the game they played the day before back in January. That said, this could be as tense in the end as that tourney meeting two years ago in the semis, when HU beat UD in OT. After three weeks off, they should be eager to play and should show it. 11 am, midnight, empty JMU arena, elementary school, who cares? Just play like the season's on the line because it is.

[Wags]

So, it wasn't a very competitive opening round of the CAA tournament. Tomorrow should be a lot more competitive.

Saturday:
(8) Elon 69, (9) Towson 48
(7) W&M 73, (10) UNCW 60

Sunday:
(4) Hofstra vs. (5) Delaware - 11:00 am (regular season: Delaware won by 18, Hofstra won by 1)
(8) Elon vs. (1) JMU - 2:30 pm (regular season: JMU swept by 21 and by 9)
(7) W&M vs. (2) Northeastern - 6:00 pm (regular season: did not play)
(6) Drexel vs. (3) Charleston - 9:30 pm (regular season: did not play)

I think NU is the safest bet tomorrow. Kind of expecting Elon and Drexel to pull off upsets. I think Hofstra will pull out a close one.

[Wags]

Since we were wondering about Covid-related issues during the CAA tourney (let's hope we don't have any!), they'd probably follow the same as the MVC, which advanced second-seeded Drake automatically after 7th-seeded Northern Iowa won a first-round game but was then unable to play in the quarterfinals.

[Wags]

All four CAA quarterfinal matchups could be very competitive, but not sure it can match what the Horizon League had in that round on March 2nd. That was as competitive a quarterfinal round in any conference that I can ever remember:

(1) Cleveland State 108, (10) Purdue Fort Wayne 104, in 3 OTs
(4) Northern Kentucky 70, (5) Detroit Mercy 69
(3) Oakland 87, (6) Youngstown State 83, in OT
(8) Milwaukee 94, (2) Wright State 92, in OT

[Wags]

So, it wasn't a very competitive opening round of the CAA tournament. Tomorrow should be a lot more competitive.

Saturday:
(8) Elon 69, (9) Towson 48
(7) W&M 73, (10) UNCW 60

Sunday:
(4) Hofstra vs. (5) Delaware - 11:00 am (regular season: Delaware won by 18, Hofstra won by 1)
(8) Elon vs. (1) JMU - 2:30 pm (regular season: JMU swept by 21 and by 9)
(7) W&M vs. (2) Northeastern - 6:00 pm (regular season: did not play)
(6) Drexel vs. (3) Charleston - 9:30 pm (regular season: did not play)

I think NU is the safest bet tomorrow. Kind of expecting Elon and Drexel to pull off upsets. I think Hofstra will pull out a close one.

Sunday's odds:
Hofstra -3.5
JMU -4
Northeastern -6
Drexel -4

Surprised to see Drexel is favored although consistent with my thinking that they'll get the win (which is based more on lack of faith in CofC than overwhelming faith in Drexel).

NU being the biggest favorite is what I expected.

JMU not much of a favorite - beware of Elon riding a five-game winning streak after starting CAA play 0-7. Phoenix rising like a different team peaking now like last year in D.C.

Hofstra IS slightly better than Delaware but will have to prove it.

[EvanJ]

(8) Milwaukee 94, (2) Wright State 92, in OT

Wright State went up 24 with 8:07 left.

With the last game at 9:31 P.M., we have to stay up late if we went to know if Drexel or Charleston wins tonight, and the same goes for the second Semifinal tomorrow.

http://defiantlydutch.blogspot.com/2021 ... aware.html is Jerry Beach's "I'll Be Quirky: Delaware." We are the 4 seed in the CAA Tournament for the first time. We have been every seed except for 2, 6, and 12, and the 12 seed was possible for seven seasons. In 16 of 20 CAA Tournaments, we have been an odd seed. The 4 seed has won the CAA Tournament twice, and both times were before we joined the CAA. However, VCU was the 4 seed in 2011 when they went to the Final Four. Since we joined the CAA, the 4 seed is 8-11 in the Quarterfinals. We are 18-18 in the CAA Tournament. Last year ended a streak of four consecutive tournaments from 2016 through 2019 where we lost to a worse seed. We are 6-6 in CAA Tournament games where the worse seed won, which means the better seed won two-thirds of the time. 5 of the 6 upset wins were in our first five CAA Tournaments ending with our Semifinal win over George Mason before they went to the Final Four. In the last fourteen tournaments, our only upset win was 74-57 over James Madison in the 4-5 game in 2015. The next day we lost at the double overtime buzzer to William & Mary's Daniel Dixon when we focused on guarding POY Marcus Thornton.

KenPom predicts us to win 71-68.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmoni ... ?id=340272 will have statistics.

[Wags]

(8) Milwaukee 94, (2) Wright State 92, in OT

Wright State went up 24 with 8:07 left.

That's crazy. A 2 seed leading an 8 seed by that much with that time left - that's purely a case of Wright State thinking the game was over and they were moving on. But credit Milwaukee for not packing it in and fighting until the very end. That's an incredible comeback for the NBA. For college hoops, it's unheard of.

[Hofstra]

Lets get this dub today.

[Wags]

Looks like HU will be in the white uniforms today.
https://twitter.com/HofstraMBB/status/1 ... 0735050769

[Flying Dutchmen]

Need a big tournament from Caleb, if we get it, we're cutting down the nets.

[Polito]

Once again, an old long-standing former AE showdown is set to tee up - not that I want to see a difficult path, but it is cool in part to have this somewhat of a rivalry continue. Not really much of that true type of face-off battle in this league. Time for this HU squad to earn their place among the greats before them in their own run for the crown.

Also, pretty wild 2 of the matchups today those teams haven't even faced each other yet all season - what a total crapshoot this season and tourney is! Anything can happen, for that it is certainly intriguing!

Agree on that FD, as I've said for quite some time, HU's system is all about the 1 spot. When that is right and top level, this program wins, and the surrounding talent can be interchangeable. Need the up and coming Soph, who's had an overall strong 2nd yr, to take it up a full notch and play like a seasoned pro all 3 games.

Really want this for Ray, pulling for him to put his lasting mark on leading his team to the championship - this would really be a feather in his legacy - go get 'em, and GO HU!

[Wags]

Need a big tournament from Caleb, if we get it, we're cutting down the nets.

Not if Coburn is quiet as he tends to be sometimes. He needs to be heard from. Loudly. If he's not making his 3s, get to the line! 2/8 from 3 and 0/0 FTs won't cut it. But yes, they need Burgess to show up. And Cramer, Kante and Ray. Like last year, they can get by with limited bench help. But all of the starters need to bring their A games for three days.

[Hofstra]

Need a big tournament from Caleb, if we get it, we're cutting down the nets.

Always spot on. Caleb needs to be on one today, tomorrow, and Tuesday night.. Lets goooooo

[triplec2195]

There are so many factors that can determine the outcome of this game but we can't get major outplayed by Carr and Painter who dominated in the two games we played against them. Painter outplayed Kante in both games and had 35 rebounds they also scored collectively 37 points in each game. We got outrebounded in both games so we need to rebound and play lock down D. I believe our guards hold their own but post play is the key and of course Burgess. He had 17 points and 5 assists in the second game and we only won by one. This could be our toughest match-up.

[Wags]

There are so many factors that can determine the outcome of this game but we can't get major outplayed by Carr and Painter who dominated in the two games we played against them. Painter outplayed Kante in both games and had 35 rebounds they also scored collectively 37 points in each game. We got outrebounded in both games so we need to rebound and play lock down D. I believe our guards hold their own but post play is the key and of course Burgess. He had 17 points and 5 assists in the second game and we only won by one. This could be our toughest match-up.

Both games were misleading though - they won by one in the second game, but Delaware had a big run at the end. Before that, Hofstra was really in control and just let their guard down at the end. The first game really was a close game most of the way and Delaware finished, likewise, with a big run, to turn a tight game into an 18-point win. So maybe the biggest thing off of those two games against Delaware is for HU to just FINISH today. Play 40 minutes, not 32, not 36.

[Wags]

Need a big tournament from Caleb, if we get it, we're cutting down the nets.

Burgess already his first foul just 47 seconds in. Better not pick his second for a long while.