George Mason Basketball: Pre CAA Tournament links

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Pre CAA Tournament links

-Drexel suspends starter Derrick Thomas, will miss CAA tournament. This is huge because the Dragons only go 7 deep and Thomas was often matched up on defense against the opponents best perimeter player.

-Hewitt forging new path at George Mason [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] -- The news outlet that continually bashed him while he was at Georgia Tech.

- 7 out of 13 ESPN experts pick Ryan Pearson for CAA Player of the Year

-Michael Litos from caahoops.com fills out his CAA bracket predictions:

-CAA Notes: League happy with Richmond Coliseum for now [Richmond Times Dispatch]
-Bill Rohland interviews Rudolph Jones, one of the first George Mason basketball stars [GoMason.com]
-George Mason recruit Patrick Holloway was on ABC 7 on Tuesday night:

-Cinderella Madness: How would the '05-'06 George Mason team stack up against other memorable Cinderella teams? WhatIfSports.com and CollegeHoops.net run the simulations.

Labels: CAA Tournament

30 Comments:

Christopher Hirsch said...: Agree with all of Litos picks except for his W&M over Northeastern pick.; 3:42 PM
guest said...: Agree with most of this, VCU should win it this year especially with Drexel a man down now. Although I'd say if ODU can get by UD, they have a good chance to beat Drexel.

I would be surprise if Mason beats Ga St., think Mason takes a very early exit this year. Probably better so I don't have to watch them get blown out by VCU in Richmond again.; 5:46 PM
Reggie said...: any thoughts on first mariner arena in baltimore being a future site for the caa tourney after the contract in richmond expires; 5:51 PM
Patriot74 said...: How big is this arena?; 6:10 PM
Gio said...: Great interview with Patrick Holloway. That kid is gonna be a star at Mason,hitting game winning shots and still staying humble, love it. Sherrod Wright may have a competitor for that crown lol; 6:41 PM
BP said...: Man, now i reeeeally hope Mason can make it to the final to face Drexel so we can make some signs of our own! That picture of Derrick Thomas is great! "Who, me?" Agree with all those picks except I think UNCW will beat JMU and Northeastern will beat William & Mary.; 6:57 PM
BP said...: also the Thomas incident happened back in December? Why is he just now being suspended? When did he turn himself in?; 7:47 PM
Eric said...: They are going to keep it Richmond. The city provides a bunch of the services for free, which means more money for the conference. Plus, with VCU carrying a pretty good program every year they are guaranteed major attendance from fans and students that are walking distance from that dump.

They don't care that fans of other teams may have a bad experience. My dad attended most tournaments from the late 70s (as a ODU and GMU student/alum) up to two years ago. When we were there in 2010, a group of VCU fans called my dad, a full faculty-admin at ODU at the time, a "bum" because ODU couldn't bring as many fans to the arena for the game. The last few years had been full of stuff like that, and a 30+ year tradition came to an end.ODU's President Broderick brought up doing it in Charlottesville, which many find ideal, at the president's retreat thing they typically do in conjunction with the tournament. It was shot down immediately.; 9:38 PM
Mooky_l3d said...: For me his picks seem on par, except for W&M against VCU. They play VCU really tough and have done so for a number of years. The point for W&M is extremely tough to contain and trap. They have a 3/4 that shoots the lights out and is a tough person to defend. They also play really well as a team. I don't know why they play VCU so well but they aren't as fazed by "Havoc" as other teams. That is my upset. ODU will beat Delaware. Mason will be as good as they want to be. If they play as a cohesive group instead of selfish players then they will go far. I don't rule them out because in this tournament truly anything can happen. This will be the first year in 10 that I won't be there. It is sweet silence to see a VCU loss and even sweeter if GMU beats VCU.

GO MASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be watching and supporting!; 10:18 PM
Ptrzem said...: What exactly makes the Richmond Coliseum a dump? I grew up in Richmond going to games there. It's far from state of the art but what is it really missing that makes it so wildly inadequate? Personally, I'm there for the basketball not for the decor. I get the feeling that people are bitter over the home town advantage for VCU and they focus that frustration on the Coliseum.
On another note, how many conference tournaments are held in another college's arena? I feel like borrowing an ACC arena would kinda just make the CAA look like the little brother conference.; 11:01 PM
Reggie said...: up to 14,000 for sporting events and there has been talks about building a new 18,500 seat arena in baltimore to replace this one within the next couple of years or so; 10:11 AM
Christopher Hirsch said...: At first I thought you were crazy, especially because W&M won just 6 games this year, but they did play them close both games. That would be awesome if they can pull off the upset.; 10:48 AM
StopWearingPurple said...: Anybody know where the A-10 holds their tournament?; 12:04 PM
Reggie said...: atlantic city in boardwalk hall; 12:20 PM
Rmjank said...: After rooting for Mason, my primary agenda (and I hope it's yours too) is to root VCU outta the tourney as early as possible. I suppose that goes without saying.
This may be subjective, but it seems to me VCU has received more "the year after the final 4 run" attention in the media than we did. Of course we faltered fairly substantially in our year after (and remember back then how much we discussed the target on our chest?) though we did make it to the CAA final (and that awful meltdown at the end of the game to ... VCU .... arghh!!). My point is: it seems to me we are in a battle with vcu to be the figurehead of the conference, the way Memphis is in their conference or Gonzaga in theirs. And that just adds one more reason to get vcu out of the tourney at least before the finals, to eradicate any chance of them receiving an at-large bid to the ncaa's.; 12:23 PM
gmuhoops said...: If they get that new casino the city of Baltimore wants to build a new arena would be perfect for them. Wouldn't that be nice for the CAA tourney.; 1:04 PM
Patriot74 said...: Yes but then wouldnt people start saying it would give Towson the court advantage? Baltimore is just down the street from Towson.; 1:16 PM
Gio said...: The reason VCU received more hype after their final four run is because of the emergence of social websites like twitter, Facebook, etc. Everybody is more connected these days and reaction is instant. The year Mason had their run, more than half those websites didn't exist and even if they did, they did not have as much public backing as they do now.; 1:25 PM
gmuhoops said...: Are you being serious? It's Towson. Come on. Let them have the advantage for all I care.; 2:13 PM
Mooky_l3d said...: I am a little crazy.; 2:34 PM
Matt said...: Poor taste to hold up signs about Thomas. Make is about bball.; 3:54 PM
Eric said...: I think you're right to a degree, I'm taking out basketball frustrations on the building. However, I think the tourney being hosted in a nicer facility will go farther in making the experience a treat for fans who come a long way.

Years ago, the tournament rotated venues, including Scope and the Hampton Colosseum. Those buildings aren't gorgeous, but at least the venue changes.

I don't have a problem appearing to be a "little brother conference" if it means playing on a neutral court in a nice facility. That's what the CAA is. It is never going to be the Big 10 or the ACC in terms of attendance, income, or media presence. On a great year, we'll have three teams dancing; for most we'll have one (preposterous given our success, and the Big East sending +/-10 teams every year).; 11:55 PM
Ben said...: Townson NEEDS the advantage to win a game! It's the least the CAA could do.

But in reality, if the CAA wants to remain a top mid-major, they need to revamp membership. Towson needs to move on to a league that fits them better, such as the Patriot League.; 10:49 AM
Ben said...: Up through 1990 the tourney was in Hampton and not Richmond; 10:52 AM
Ben said...: Sorry, hit post to fast. My point was if you think Richmond is bad, the Hampton arena back then was flat out gross. It was like an arena from the movie slap shot. Moving to Richmond was a step up, but that was 20 years ago. Time to move on and up to a better venue. Richmond is a nasty city, horrible venue, and miserable experience. I don't care how good Mason is, I will never attend another tourney in Richmond again.; 10:57 AM
Ben said...: No, VCU's unfair home court advantage is just a side note. Most people really HATE the city of Richmond.; 11:01 AM
Patriot74 said...: Hoops. Towson has a decent class coming in next year but I was just trying to gauge you guys for opinions.; 5:10 PM
Patriot74 said...: Or America East Conference. They could battle Binghamton there!; 5:11 PM
Ptrzem said...: maybe I'm just confused as to where the hate for Richmond is coming from then.; 12:32 AM
Ptrzem said...: fair enough. I can see how it could be a bit disappointing if you are making a long trip.; 12:34 AM

Pre CAA Tournament links

George Mason Basketball

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Pre CAA Tournament links

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