CBB Weekly Thoughts [3/4-3/10]

[Rudi]

15-20 Liberty wins the Big South tourney and makes the tournament

[SuperKevin]

Maryland needs a big win today at Virginia.

[Pitty]

Buzz Williams...

[Influence]

Didn't Indiana give out Sweet 16 rings last season?

Elite 8

[JimLeavy59]

Elite 8

Even worse.

[Rudi]

What a fucking choke from Michigan. Bunch of losers man

:choke:

[Influence]

[Swarley]

[ralaw]

Time to look at NIT bracketology.

In all honesty though, we were due for a performance like that. We've lived and died by the three all year and eventually were gonna have a poor shooting day. Mount's on fire right now and their "Havoc" style is a bitch to prepare for in a tournament format. Jamion Christian is doing tremendous things in his first year on the job, and hopefully they beat LIU on Tuesday (although that'll be tough with Ralaw's boy Norfleet hurt with an ankle injury).

Hard pill to swallow, but it's easier to take than the Nova loss or the last two NEC title games. That's the beauty of March.

That was a tough game for you guys. IMO it seemed like RMU was trying to play MSM's style of play, which made it tough for them. Norfleet told me that he is going to play on Tuesday, regardless, but that was as of yesterday. Even if he does play I don't expect him to be the same, so it will be interesting.

[Woy]

That was a tough game for you guys. IMO it seemed like RMU was trying to play MSM's style of play, which made it tough for them. Norfleet told me that he is going to play on Tuesday, regardless, but that was as of yesterday. Even if he does play I don't expect him to be the same, so it will be interesting.

That's exactly what they were trying to do. A few of our early shots weren't falling so we panicked and rushed things, which in turn only made our shot selection worse. Christian said in his post-game presser that their goal was to guard the perimeter and force Velton Jones (who has been playing with a separated shooting shoulder for the past month or so) to shoot, instead of going out and distributing like he normally does. Even with his injuries, nine chances out of 10 he will never shoot 2-17 from the field again, so Mount got fortunate there, but it was the perfect gameplan to beat RMU.

I also think Velton's stubbornness hurt RMU tremendously. Velton was shook up after a collision with Christian early in the first half and it showed, and when he was taken out, junior PG Anthony Myers-Pate (who would probably start on at least half of the other NEC teams) had the offense running a lot more smoothly. V got hurt again when the deficit was nearing 20 late in the second half, but once Ant came in, RMU cut it to six. Velton comes back in and immediately turns the ball over, and that would be as close as we'd get.

Velton's the toughest player I've ever seen in college basketball, but if he wasn't trying to Willis Reed it on Saturday, there's a great chance we pull that out and are hosting the title game on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, Mount deserved to win that one, and I really hope Norfleet plays because he's a lot of fun to watch. I can't go through another tournament with LIU as the NEC's representative.

[Rylo]