Previewing Drexel

After a holiday weekend in Disney and some national attention, the Patriots play their first conference game Thursday against Drexel. The key matchup in this game is of course Will Thomas against Frank Elegar. Both are all-CAA material and have been putting up similar numbers thus far in scoring and rebounding. Elegar returns as the team's leading scorer from last season but the Dragons lost Bashir Mason (11.2 ppg, 3.4 apg, 2.7 rpg), Chaz Crawford (6.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.3 bpg), Dominick Mejia (11.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg). I am especially glad to see Crawford (last seasons CAA defensive player of the year) gone as he played superb defense against the Patriots last season in Philadelphia. Despite losing some key three point shooters from last season the Dragons have seemed to fill the shoes thus far in that area. As a team they are shooting over 42% from behind the arc as true freshmen point guard Gerald Colds has made 19 of 34 attempts. Interesting to note that as strong as a three point shooting team they are, they are have shot terrible from the foul line (56.9%). The Dragons do not have much size on the perimeter and boast a three guard lineup whose speed could give Mason problems like South Carolina did. Fiery head coach Bruiser Flint likes to operate a half-court offense and keep the game low-scoring. Last year Flint's defense only allowed opponents to shoot around 40%, this season they have only allowed an average of 38%. I know they really haven't played anyone yet besides UVA but Drexel might be the toughest defense team the Patriots will face so far.

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A lot of people have been asking me about Mason getting snubbed in the polls. Normally I don't pay attention because they are always mindblogging if you look at them closely. Even though the panel failed to wait til after Sundays games to vote it still makes no sense that Mason received no votes in the Coaches poll and Kansas State received 50. In the AP poll Mason received 34 votes but K-State is ranked #25? Take my advice and don't even look at the polls, they only thing worse is the BCS system in football.

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One last side, Will Thomas was named CAA player of the week for the second straight time, shooting 55.6% from the floor and going 14-17 from the foul line. 14-17? Who are you and what have you done with the real Will Thomas. Imagine what he will be able to do when sidekick Monroe and his excellent low-post passing skills return.