On the 5th/6th day of Conference Tourneys, the Buffet gave to me...
We're Jammin on the James, (& maybe having a Maynor-free tournament.) Drinking Pepsi in the MAAC. Dueling in the Am-East. Tipping in Big Sky Country. Rising up in the Summitt, A 3-day Davidson Coronation. Jenny Craig bringing you upsets. and a Waiting Line that Stretches from you to me...
On the Banks of the James River in Richmond, Virginia.
So, what does hosting a tournament, in a conference you won by 3 games, and getting to play a school with an ampersand in its name in the seminals get you? Nowhere. A devastating loss for Maynor, Coach Anthony Grant and VCU to William & Mary, who not only did the Rams defeat twice, but both times was by double-digits. We'll discuss the Rams Waiting Line chances a bit more later, for now let's midview those left standing:
George Mason: Well look who's here. After what seemed to be a season-long hangover from their magical 2006 Final Four run (also the graduation of Jai Lewis, Tony Skinn & Lamar Butler didn't help). But, suddenly, Jim Larranaga (he of the famous motivation timeouts during Mason's Final Four clinching victory over UConn -- where he repeatedly told his team that the UConn players didn't even know what conference the Patriots were in, and that they should educate the Huskiee on the CAA -- Connecticut Assassins Association. Well, backed by Final Four starters Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas, and with a potential dynamo off the bench in Dre Smith, if Mason can avoid what VCU could not (losing to an average Colonial team), the Pats will be back (and undoubtedly overrated because of their Final Four run, and therefore likely free money for those that are into that sort of thing). The Patriots are not without their flaws -- no real outside shooting threat, periods of a Southern Illinois-like inability to score and a penchance for turnovers (although they've completely silenced TOs so far in the tourney). But the show of defense they put on against UNC-Wilmington was most impressive. In their only regular season match-up with William & Mary, they were paced by Folarin Campbell's 17 points and 6 rebounds, John Vaughan's 15 points and 4 rebounds and Will Thomas's 10 and 8. No one on Mason is particularly adept at racking up assists, another hancuff for this team. In tonight's game they will undoubtedly need more than the 0 points scored by Dre Smith (who ranged from the 34 he put up against James Madison to the 0 he was able to net against Wm & Mary.
Overall, it is Will Thomas' double-double (15.7 pts, 10.4 rebounds) and Folarin Campbell's 15.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists that lead this team, who is trying for one more round of glory with the Final Four class of 2006 (Mason had no real contributing freshman on that team)
William & Mary. It is nice to upset tournament hosts, especially when you are a program known more for your 20-loss seasons and lack of NCAA tournament berth, than you are as a giant killer in the CAA. But a school whose Chancellor is Sandra Day O'Connor, that was founded in 1693 by a Royal Charter issued by King William II and Queen Mary II (joint sovereigns of England, Scotland & Ireland), and has given us Thomas Jefferson, John Tyler, James Monroe, Chief Justice John Marshall, Henry Clay, Darren Sharper, Mike Tomlin, Baltimore Oriole erstwhile closer Chris Ray, Glenn Close, Jon Stewart, Bill Lawrence, Perry Ellis and Robert Gates, and is only now (after winning its third game in three days) guaranteed its first winning season since 1997-1998 (when they finished 19-7, and 13-3 in conference, but lost in the first round of the CAA tournament to #7 seeded American (before American headed off to the Patriot League).
They've done in nearly as dramatically as possible. First, was the payback round, sophomore David Schneider hit a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left, sending W&M to the CAA quarterfinals with a 58-57 victory over Georgia State. In 2007, Georgia State hit a buzzer beating triple to knock William & Mary out of the CAAs in the very same round.
Next up was Old Dominion, and this time the hero was Senior Nathan Mann, who nailed down a long-range shot with 7.5 seconds left, giving the Green & Gold a 63-60 win and a chance at homestanding VCU in the semis.
Now came VCU, CAA regular season champs, hosts of the tournament, and Waiting Line candidate ... W&M, playing their third game and three nights, all three of which required last-second heorics and high levels of stress, should have rolled over and been excited to have played well. Right? Not so much. CAA All-League senior Laimis Kisielius leaned in from about six-feet away, spinning free at the elbow, with about 3 second left, hitting the bank and finishing off the upset.
The Tribe is led by Seniors Laimis Kisielius (11 pts, 3.4 rebs, 2.5 assists) and Nathan Mann (9.6 pts, 3.1 rebs, 2.3 assists) and the sophomore D's -- David Schneider (10.9 pts, 4.6 rebs, 3.8 assists) and Danny Sumner (10.6 pts, 3.6 rebs). Sumner has caught fire down the strength (17 pts in the opener against Georgia St, 16 against ODU in the quarters, and a career-high 19 points to go with 7 rebounds in the stunner against VCU. Giving Kisielius a legitimate #2 threat has been the difference for the Tribe.
In the Waiting Line...
Two years ago, George Mason's profile was sketchy, and Tony Skinn was suspended for the opening round against Michigan St. The Committee put them in (should be noted that George Mason's AD was on the committe then and is the Chair this year), and much of the focus was the quality of the CAA and that George Mason was co-champs with 2006 tournament 9-seed UNC-Wilmington. Fast forward to 2008. Virginia Commonwealth won the CAA by 3 games, but then coughed it up to William & Mary in the CAA semis ... this team has no signature wins, beat Houston by 1, Maryland by 9 and at Akron by 5 on BracketBuster -- the problem is, none of these teams (most likely, unless Maryland gets freakishly hot and wins the ACC tourney -- Houston cannot win the C-USA without beating Memphis, and beating Memphis is the only way they get discussed for an at-large berth) are going to the NCAA tournament. Otherwise, you are looking at a medium RPI (53), 0-2 record versus the Top 50, and mediocre SOS (152) for a conference champ (by 3 games, as mentioned), with a nice road record 9-3, and relatively hot last 12 (9-3) ... The Buffet is a bit stumped here, Resume-wise VCU doesn't cut it, but knowing the selection commitee's love for conference champions, especially such convincing champs, wethinks that VCU may steal a bid here and get themselves in the NCAA tournament.
George Mason: It was a catch-22 for George Mason. Finishing 3rd in the CAA would have been damaging for at-large hopes, because, assuming the #2 team was not tourney-worthy, they would have finished behind a team not invited and hoped to get invited. BUT, they only way Mason was even going to get back in consideration was defeating VCU ... however, as constructed by seeding, the CAA tourney didn't provide them that opportunity without also winning the match-up and garnering an Auto Bid. Mason must win tonight if they want to head to the NCAA tournament.
How Did they Do: (Due to the various Buffet Time Committments, some previews got short-circuited, this section is to highlight how several players, who would've been highlighted as players to watch, did in the CAA tourney.)
Frank Elegar, Sr C., Drexel - 15 points, 4 rebounds in 37 minutes of a 60-51 opening round loss to Delaware
Antoine Agudio, Sr. G. Hoftrsa - Much like his Pride teammates, forgot to show up in the first half, but had 25 in the second, giving his 27 points for the game (to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal -- but, despite a huge run to pull within 51-48, Hofstra then let Towson go on a 15-2 spurt, and suddenly the game was back out of reach and Agudio's awesome Hofstra career was over.
T.J. Carter - Sr. G. UNC-Wilmington - Plagued by fail-trouble, but not really needed, was held to 5 points in Wilmington's quarterfinal win over Delaware (82-59), came back with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in the Seahawks 53-41 loss to George Mason
James Shuler, Sr. G, VCU -- Had 10 points and 7 rebounds in CAA Quarterfinal win over Towson (57-46), and added 13 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds in stunning semifinal loss to William & Mary
Eric Maynor, Jr. G, VCU -- 19 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists versus Towson; 16 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists in 56-54 loss to Wm & Mary
Colonial Athletic Association All-Conference Awardees
Player of the Year: VCU Junior Guard Eric Maynor
Coach of the Year: William & Mary's Tony Shaver
Rookie of the Year: Hofstra frosh Charles Jenkins
Defensive Player of the Year: Old Dominion senior Brandon Johnson
All-Conference First Team:
Antonie Agudio, Sr. G, Hofstra
T.J. Carter, Sr. Guard, UNC-Wilmington
Eric Maynor, Junior Guard, VCU
Jamal Shuler, Senior Guard, VCU
Will Thomas, Senior Forward, George Mason
Did You Know:
Delaware Head Coach Monte Ross was Phil Martelli's top assistant at St. Joseph's the last 10 year, he brought sophomore transfer Jawann Carter with him from St. Joe's.
George Mason Junior John Vaughan is the cousin of former St. John's Stormer Marcus Hatten
George Mason senior Folarin Campbell's first name means "Walk With Glory" in Nigerian
Georgie State Jr Guard Sharmaine Antoine Dukes would be a potential All-Name Team Nominee, if he didn't decide to go by "Joe" instead.
Georgia St. Soph Guard Michael Moynihan is the grandson of coaching legend (and former Ga. State coach) Lefty Dreisell
Remember Me? Georgia State is coached by Rod Barnes, formerly failure at Ole Miss.
Hofstra Junior Guard Greg Johnson is nicknamed "PlayStation" -- awesome.
James Madison junior Abdulai Jalloh is a transfer from St. Joe's, who was a 2006 All-Atlantic 10 second team member, and Hawks leading scorer & rebounder that season (15.0 pts & 5.5 boards)
UNC-Wilmington sophomore Montez Downey is the younger brother of former Wake Forest standout, Taron Downey
Old Dominion Junior Jonathan Adams was the g-dson of NFL Hall of Famer, the late Reggie White
Towson Junior Forward Tony Durant is the older brother of Buffet Man-Crush and 2nd Greatest Human Alive (behind Vince Young), Kevin Durant. He is a Junior College transfer who just finished his first D-1 season. He averaged 8.7 points and 4.6 rebounds playing 26.4 minutes per game
As previously reported, Wil Fameni, Senior forward on VCU is a transfer from Ariz St -- otherwise known as a Rob Evans Refugee.
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