I was on ESPN.com this morning and noticed the most recent "Knight Watch". This time Coach Knight talks about the lack of traveling violations being called by officials. I have alluded to this before in a previous posting, but the coach is absolutely right. Especially in the CAA, the traveling violation is not called. In the game Drexel vs. Hofstra at the Mack Arena, the officials did an amazingly poor job in not calling traveling violations. In fact, Hofstra coach Tom Pecora got a technical after yelling at an official "That's a f___ walk!" If you watch this Knight Watch, look for his example of a no walk call with Tyler Hansborough. Hansborough clearly takes FIVE steps on one play vs. Michigan State with the official looking right at the play. Holy cow! Coach Knight is right. The lack of a call here and there can result in the difference in a game. With all the usually close CAA conference games there are, CAA officials especially need to start calling the walk.
It seems I have been watching a lot of Horizon League play lately and that's a good thing. First yesterday morning, I watched the first half of the ESPN replay of Butler vs Loyola Chicago on ESPN360. It really is a treat watching Butler in action. Their weave offense is a thing of beauty. The Bulldog ball and player movement offensive sets are so well done. And then throw in the fact that Bulldog sophomore forward Matt Howard is such a fundamentally sound post player and that offense just gells. The Bulldogs got off to a 21-4 start on the Ramblers and with the Bulldogs' terrific half court defense, the game was over right there. Another key fact for Butler is that they are second in three point FG percentage and it was very evident in that game. Guard Shelvin Mack nailed several threes in that 21-4 run to begin the game. Mack had 20 points for the game on 4 of 7 shooting from beyond three. In fact, Mack is shooting 38.6 percent from beyond the arc, which is 5th in the Horizon and is third in the Horizon at 80.4 percent from the free throw line. Who leads the Horizon in three point FG percentage? Mack's teammate, Gordon Hayward at 46.4 percent. Mack and Hayward are both freshmen. And Matt Howard is a sophomore. Just how scary good is Butler going to be the next few years. Wow.
Last night, I watched the second half of Wright State-Detroit on ESPNU. The analyst for the game, former NBA great Jim Chones kept noting how disciplined and aggressive Wright State was. Chones noted how well the Raiders played the passing lanes and how they doubled up each and every time the ball went inside. Well readers of this blog should not be surprised because this is the signature play of Brad Brownell teams. Fundamentally solid on offense. Aggressive and disciplined on defense. The Raiders used an early second half spurt to coast to a 60-51 win over Detroit.
Wright State was one of my preseason Baker's Dozen members. Then they went off to an 0-6 start before "Wrighting" the ship and winning 10 of their last 12. Now I was wondering why Wright State has struggled this year. And a quick look at the Horizon league stats tell why. Now, no surprise that Wright State leads the Horizon in FG percentage defense along with Butler at 38.4 percent and they are second in turnover margin to Cleveland State with +2.6. However the Raiders are last in the Horizon in FG percentage at 39.8 percent and last in three point FG percentage at an unseemly 29.2 percent. This results in the Raiders being next to last in scoring offense at 58 points per game. So despite being second in scoring defense, the average margin for the Raiders is only +1.4.
However, there is a bigger reason for why Wright State has struggled on offense. Vaughan Duggins, their leading scorer from last year (averaging 14 points last season) was injured early on in the season and has missed the past 14 games from a broken right ring finger. Duggins is going to be out a little longer. However, other players have stepped up. After being injured for most of last season, John David Gardner is averaging 10 points per game. He had 17 points in last night's win. Guess where he came from? He transferred from UNC Wilmington after his freshman year when Brad Brownell moved from UNCW to Wright State.
Meanwhile in the CAA, there definitely is now some separation between the top four teams and the rest of the conference. Only four teams are above .500, Northeastern and George Mason at 6-0, VCU at 5-1 and James Madison at 4-2. The rest of the league is .500 (ODU and Drexel at 3-3) or below. I watched Tuesday night's impressive performance by Old Dominion in their win over Georgia State and the Monarchs might have the best chance of joining the other four teams in that first pack (however, the Monarchs are at Mason today so that may have to wait). The Monarchs shot nearly 62 percent from the field, including 10 of 16 from beyond the three point arc. That's going to be a key for ODU. If the guards can consistently hit the three, it will force teams to lessen their double teams on the Monarch forwards in the post, particularly Gerald Lee.
I listened to the Hofstra game on Wednesday night and it was another terrible performance by the Pride. Just like the first game when they met at Hofstra, Drexel jumped on the Pride early and never trailed. In this case, the game was much more lopsided. The Dragons were up by as many as twenty, 34-14 in the first half on their way to a 70-52 win. Give the Dragons credit, they did shoot 7 of 17 from three and shot 21 of 26 from the line. However, the Dragons overall did not shoot well from the field at 39 percent. However, the Pride shot far worse, shooting 29 percent from the field including 3 of 18 from beyond the three point arc. Scott Rodgers probably wishes he could play Hofstra more often. Rodgers had a career high 26 points on 8 of 13 shooting and 8 of 10 from the line. His previous career high was the 25 points he had against the Pride in their first contest.
Charles Jenkins, however, is not in a shooting groove for Hofstra. After his first eight games of the season, Jenkins was shooting 47.5 percent from the field and the Pride was 7-1. Now after the last nine games, Jenkins is now shooting 37 percent from the field, including an ugly an 23 percent from beyond the arc. Now an interesting point might be that Jenkins is shooting way too many threes. Last season Jenkins attempted 62 three pointers for the entire season (29 games). In 17 games this season, he has already attempted 52 three pointers. Hofstra as a team is next to last in three point FG percentage and last in assists to turnover ratio. Again, my suggestion, work the ball inside more.
Meanwhile a team that must be butter, because they are on a roll is Northeastern. The Huskies absolutely waxed Delaware 67-47 on Wednesday. What was really impressive was that it was at the Hens home court, the Bob Carpenter Center, a tough place to play at for a road team (just ask VCU). The Huskies, who are second in the CAA in scoring defense and first in steals, held Delaware to 30.9 percent from the field. Mind you the Hens didn't help out shooting 8 of 19 from the free throw line. But what has really impressed me is the Huskies' balance. In the win over the Hens, four Huskies scored in double figures. What really is impressive has been the play of Huskies forward Manny Adako. Adako has scored in double figures in 10 of his last 11 games. Adako is shooting 56.3 percent from the field, which is third in the CAA and an even more impressive 85 percent from the line (23 of 27). Also, just to note one thing. The top four players in FG percentage in the CAA are George Mason's Darryl Monroe, Gerald Lee, Manny Adako and VCU's Larry Sanders. All big men, all with at least 100 FG attempts. Dane Johnson, who leads Hofstra in FG percentage at 53 percent only has 44 attempts. 44 attempts???Are you listening Hofstra?? Work it inside more!
Today is a big day in the CAA with four of the top five teams playing each other in what seems to be a CAA tripleheader. First, James Madison is at George Mason at 2pm, then VCU is home to ODU at 4pm. I'll be at the early CAA televised game, Northeastern at Hofstra, noon start time. Also in televised action on ESPN2 at noon in the Missouri Valley it's Northern Iowa, tied for first place in the MVC at Drake, tied for third place. ESPN2 also has a Horizon contest as #18 Butler is at Illinois Chicago at 2pm. The best Horizon contest though is Cleveland State at UW Milwaukee tonight. Finally late tonight in the WAC, it's the battle for first as Utah State travels to Boise State. Should be a good day of Hoops all around.
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