2021 CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

[EvanJ]

I already said that if we face Northeastern, it will be the first time three consecutive CAA Finals had the same teams. We have never played a team in three consecutive conference tournaments, so tomorrow could be the first time we play a team in three consecutive conference tournaments.

[triplec2195]

Kante has had big games against Elon in the past and when I look over the roster I don't see any answer for Elon to contain Kante and Cramer could also have a big game. We should dominate them in the post. Also Silverio had two good games against them last year. Past performance is not a barometer for current performance but I don't see how Elon plays with us. They're riding the wave right now but I think it all ends for them tonite. I don't see Hunter leading them over us.

[Wags]

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?

I would think so, HUSID. What makes them dangerous is their ability to hit the 3. That's where playing their third game in as many days may be a factor. Will they have the legs left to hit 3s? It's funny, they were talking about Curry still hitting deep 3s in last night's All-Star Game after hitting all of his 3s to win the 3-point contest before the game and they were asking if his arms were tired. Yes, that's thing with fatigue and 3-point shooters, but really, when it comes to fatigue and 3-point shooting, it's the legs that matter most. Surprised Reggie Miller, of all analysts, wouldn't have mentioned the legs and just let Marv run with the questions about Curry's arms. If you see Elon leaving 3s short early on, that could be a sign that they have tired legs with shooting the three after playing Towson and JMU.

I think HU will be able to score. Elon is not what NU, for example, is defensively. But HU has given up 3s during the regular season too often and too much. If they shut that down to enough of a degree or if Elon misses them, again, simply because of tired legs - even if they're open looks - I think HU wins fairly easily. If Elon gets hot from 3, it'll be a battle.

[Pride97]

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

And Cramer. HU hasn't had a secondary rebounder like Cramer in a while. Coburn has been the closest to that but he is undersized and having someone who can help Kante down low is big. Limit second chances and make some of their own. Cramer has been great on the O-Glass as well. Kante is good there too and i have to say Schutte is very active on the O-Glass as well. Good things will happen if HU can win the rebounding battle.

Lets get this one tonight! Team should be pumped - i knew we all are!

[Wags]

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

And Cramer. HU hasn't had a secondary rebounder like Cramer in a while. Coburn has been the closest to that but he is undersized and having someone who can help Kante down low is big. Limit second chances and make some of their own. Cramer has been great on the O-Glass as well. Kante is good there too and i have to say Schutte is very active on the O-Glass as well. Good things will happen if HU can win the rebounding battle.

Farrelly referenced this as a key reason they won yesterday, outrebounding UD 44-35, especially when they needed to rebound and limit UD's second chances late in the game.

Schutte was a good help in the first half yesterday. Provided some good energy and production when HU needed to stay close in the first half.

[HUSID80]

Schutte is an underrated defender who can block shots and gives us five extra fouls to give in the post...he is another energy guy

[jaspegs]

Super pumped for this one. Just watching Elon against JMU yesterday - they live and die by the three. 55% of FGs from 3. Got really hot late in the second half and JMU was not aggressive and settled for way too many jumpers (6/25 from 3). We know this HU team is extremely streaky as well so need to make sure we don't settle if the 3s are not falling. JMU was up by 16 in the second half and completely fell apart... good reminder for the guys if we do get out to a hot start.

[Flying Dutchmen]

We have to do a better job defending the perimeter tonight, and just limit the turnovers. Time to put sloppy play in the past.

[Hofstra]

I am geeked for this game tonight. Wish we were all at the arena, but CBS Sports will do. Hope we take them down tonight. Like Jaspegs and FD said, Elon can shoot, and we get sloppy. Have to stay focused for 40 minutes tonight. Eye on the prize. Gotta cut some nets tomorrow night (If the CDC allows it)

[Wags]

Super pumped for this one. Just watching Elon against JMU yesterday - they live and die by the three. 55% of FGs from 3. Got really hot late in the second half and JMU was not aggressive and settled for way too many jumpers (6/25 from 3). We know this HU team is extremely streaky as well so need to make sure we don't settle if the 3s are not falling. JMU was up by 16 in the second half and completely fell apart... good reminder for the guys if we do get out to a hot start.

Elon was terrible from 2 for most of yesterday's game. They started the game 5/12 from 3 but 0/11 from 2. Later on, they were still terrible from 2, even after making a few. But it was actually 2s that won the game late for them. After they used the 3s to get JMU's big lead down to a manageable margin, they hit some huge 2s, mostly on aggressive drives in the paint to pull ahead and win the game down the stretch. So, even though they rely heavily on the 3, you still have to guard against what they did late to win yesterday.

[Wags]

Should HU and NU win tonight, Hofstra gets a nice break with the scheduling for tomorrow, taking advantage of what should have been a break for JMU, with the extra hour between semifinal games this year.

Last year, they earned the bit of extra rest they got vs. NU as the 1 seed. This year, they wouldn't really deserve it if they face NU as a 4 seed, going against a 2 seed, but they'd have it anyway. Might make a difference for a 7 pm start tomorrow to end at around 8 pm tonight vs. ending close to midnight tonight.

[EvanJ]

I already said that if we face Northeastern, it will be the first time three consecutive CAA Finals had the same teams. We have never played a team in three consecutive conference tournaments, so tomorrow could be the first time we play a team in three consecutive conference tournaments.

I'm quoting myself to correct myself. http://defiantlydutch.blogspot.com/2021 ... -make.html is Jerry Beach's "I'll Be Quirky: Elon." I looked at past seasons, but I didn't think about yesterday, so Delaware was the first team we played in three consecutive conference tournaments. This is the first time we reached three consecutive CAA Semifinals. Ray passed Desure Buie, Kenny Adeleke, and Mike Tilley for 18th in career points and sixth in career points in the CAA. Cramer became our tenth freshman to score 200 points in the CAA. Elon is the first team to reach consecutive CAA Semifinals as a 6 seed or worse.

https://static.caasports.com/custompage ... M#team.ind has Elon's statistics. We average 3.4 more free throw attempts than our opponents, and Elon averages 6.5 fewer free throw attempts. If you think opponents' free throw percentage is luck, Elon has been much luckier. Their opponents shoot free throws .656, and our opponents shoot free throws .741. Opponents' free throw percentage isn't a statistic, but to show how low .656 is, 31 of 340 teams (9.1 percent) shoot free throws worse than Elon's opponents.

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=340273 will have statistics.

[Flying Dutchmen]

Should HU and NU win tonight, Hofstra gets a nice break with the scheduling for tomorrow, taking advantage of what should have been a break for JMU, with the extra hour between semifinal games this year.

Last year, they earned the bit of extra rest they got vs. NU as the 1 seed. This year, they wouldn't really deserve it if they face NU as a 4 seed, going against a 2 seed, but they'd have it anyway. Might make a difference for a 7 pm start tomorrow to end at around 8 pm tonight vs. ending close to midnight tonight.

We deserve it if we win. We played the most games, should get some reward for that.

[EvanJ]

I put on ESPN and coincidentally was at the right time to see the tonight's games listed.

It's 14 minutes before tipoff (possibly 19 if the game starts at 6:05 P.M.), and the starters aren't posted yet.

[Polito]

Tuned in to CBS Sports Network right now, LET'S GOOOO

Showing a special on HU's season last yr winning the champ and then having it the tourney cancelled... nice exposure here. Edit: That was a great several minute piece on HU, and included an interview with Farrelly - the CBS team had truly wonderful things to say about HU, the team, and of course a lot of love for JM.

I am pumped, THIS IS FOR JOE TEAM, go get it!

[EvanJ]

Elon has double the field goal attempts, 12 to 6, because of their 4 offensive rebounds, but we lead 9-7. Ray has 5, Coburn has 2, and Kante has 2. There has been only foul on either team, it was a shooting foul, and Coburn made both free throws.

[Wags]

Should be feeding Kante in the post more - Elon doesn't have the size to defend him. HU has that all night if they want it, and they should.

[Pride97]

They are getting beaten on the boards and out hustled. The need to correct that fast!

[Flying Dutchmen]

Where's Masic?

[Wags]

Where's Masic?

Good question - not sure if he's maybe sick/hurt (haven't heard anything) or if it's just tightening up the rotation for the tourney, but wouldn't hurt to throw him in there for a bit.