CONGRATS to the Captains!   Awesome effort all three games!   GREAT job by Parham, Preston, Green, Capin and Parham off the bench against NCW!   Especially by Xavier and Matt in the first half!  Xavier hit some BIG baskets to get us back in the game.  Matt did a good job stepping in for Bgame when he got into a little foul trouble in the first half.  As always, was very active on the defensive end.   Drake 4 3-pointers in first 6 minutes; four points remainder of the game.  Not a good offensive day for Theo, but great defensive effort.  Only negative; rebounds!   We must send five to the glass and give our big some help.  Our 4s had one rebound—total!   HUGE 3 by Brian Herrmann with 1:27 to go!   Cannot say enough about the big guy; 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in 2nd half.   Bgame's last two rebounds in the Freeman helped seal the deal, what a great way to go out!    Conley finished the season strong and sealed the deal at the line.  The guy is tough and brings 'tude to every game.   Lastly, congrats to Paul Going for steadying what seemed to be a sinking ship.  His impact cannot be measured in numbers, but his court demeanor and savvy down the stretch was the difference.

Good luck in the tourney!     

Glad to see the Caps get two big road wins.  Couple of tough road losses for the Hornets, but Kline didn't play.  Anyone know his status?

The difference maker for me is Paul Going.   Paul is not the most athletic point guard, but he is most certainly heady.   And really do we need scoring from the PG?  We have plenty of guys who can put the ball in the hole.   Baker is by far my favorite #2 or #3.  He plays hard at both ends.  Russell seems to be a little frustrated, I sincerely hope he keeps his head in it, he can really stroke it and opens it up for our bigs.  When both Josh and Theo get it going we're a VERY dangerous team.  Conley is playing well, though he puts his head down a little too often going to the hole.  Also, while I like his toughness, needs to keep that 'tude in check during close games.  It cost us one and almost two.  Pretty good weekend for Hermann; 13-23 shooting / 16 rebs and B'game 11-16 shooting / 22 rebounds and 9 HUGE blocks. 

The beginning of the 2nd half was frustrating against Methodist.  Seemed we were in man-to-man.  Not sure why we didn't stay in the matchup zone which seemed to work best.  Carnes can flat out stroke it and is a tough matchup for our bigs.   What could have been with Carnes at the #4 and Marcus Conner at the #5.

Good luck Tuesday guys! 

On other note, I hesitate to mention this one.   Sat with the CNU fans and parents.  I don't agree with some of  CJ's coaching decisions.  Ok most of them.   But it is terribly disruptive for parents to try and coach from the sidelines.   I can only imagine how it lends to divisiveness on the team.   Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but there is a fine line between being a concerned fan/parent or downright unruly.  CJ, Ross and Waters are the coaches,  whether we like it or not.   Good luck to the team, especially the seniors,  the rest of the way.     

Made the trip down to NCW yesterday with friends to enjoy a little barbecue and watch the women play .  Oh yea there was a men's game also. 

CJ said two weeks ago on the post game and I about fell out of my chair, "I'm still looking for the right combination."  Hello?!  Still?!  Make a decision and live with it. 

Paul did a nice job at the point yesterday.  Good grief, the kid sat for a month, so kudos to him.  B'game hurt an ankle or something in the first half.  Completely changed the inside game.  Late in the second half, for what must have been six minutes, CNU had NO three point shooters on the court.  Going, Taylor, Herrmann, Green, Preston on the court.   We were down between 15 and 17.  Russell, Baker, Capin our best three point shooters sat.  Russell came on late to cut what was otherwise a rout to ten.  Nice game Conley Taylor.  Our "4s" are a fundamental wreck.  Play Preston at the four, with him and B'game on the front line we'll get some rebounds.  At least they attempt to block out.

My vote for POTY; hands down Trey Drake.   Other than Derrick Mitchell, no one comes close.   

Congrats to the Hornets.   That one hurt.  Would like to stay in CJ's corner, but one of the worst coaching jobs ever.  The substitution patterns at the 2 and 3 continue to frustrate.  Josh Russell clearly had the hot hand tonight, but he sat for an extended period in the 2nd half.  Why?  Josh made a heck of a shot before the half ended, but only because of ref buffoonery.  Xavier has flashes of brilliance then he'll make a bonehead mistake that'll drive you nuts. 

CNU's offense is predictable.  Our 4s were a combined 2-14.  Should have tried Preston at the spot a LONG time ago!  Why do our 5s always pick for them and not vice versa.  We call "inside" and everyone knows B'game is going to the block.  Talk about your predictable double/triple team!   

Congrats to B'game on 1000 points.   Great effort on the boards again tonight.   

It would be super if Sherwood had four years.  I remember he was recruited by CJ and chose H-S over CNU.  Hopefully he'll be as productive as Tabb high great Jeremy Romeo. 

Regardless welcome aboard Steve Sherwood and look forward to watching you play the next three or four (hopefully!) years!   

Does Sherwood have 4 years of eligibility?   Looks like he did get in one game for H-S.  Not sure what the rules are for D-III.   I saw that wonderful little blurb in the DP this past week about him leaving.  A little hard to pass judgement on CJ without knowing the "whole" story. 

Besides, CNU already has enough team chemistry problems.  Why add another 2 or 3 unless a SERIOUS upgrade on the four guys already playing there? 

Hey Hooper I think we all want the same thing....a new coach ...no, no...what we REALLY want are some wins!  Sadly losing breeds second guessing and insubordination.  I hope that's not the case, but again, I'm sure the players are pretty doggone frustrated.  

Looks like it might be SU's year; 8-4 will probably take the conference.  If the Hornets take Averett today they're in the drivers seat.  We'll probably send a .500 team or less to the NCAAs.  With the exception of the Monarchs (the way this year is going not even counting them out) anyone is capable of taking the USA South tournament championship.  

Watched the live video feed of the Averett game yesterday.  Kudos to the Cougars, they shot lights out.  However, CNU is NOT committed on the defensive end--AT ALL.  Perimeter defense was horrible, interior defense not much better.  Offensively 20 TOs.   We cut the lead to 9 at the beginning of the second half,  then careless TOs  killed us!   NO chemistry on this team.   I like Josh, but the pulse of the team?  Not seeing that one, collectively it SHOULD be our seniors. 

I don't think they try and pound it inside at all.  I've seen every home game and the RMC game. I've seen no commitment to an inside game.  They try it once or twice, then it's back to shooting threes.     If I was 6'8" I'd get a little tired of  rebounding, blocking shots running down to the offensive end and not touching the ball.   That's on the coach.

Sure all of the players are pretty frustrated--probably understatement of the year!  I KNOW the fans are!

Hoops Xavier is definitely the point guard of the future.  I have a love-hate relationship with his play.  Sometimes he is a little out of control, but last night he made a couple of excellent interior passes; one to Green and another to B'game.  Just keep it simple X-man. 

I was really glad CJ started the seniors.  NCWs fast start might have rattled the young guys.  The substitution pattern late in the second half was a little strange.   Not only did he have Xavier, Josh and Theo sitting, B'game sat on the bench for 5+ minutes.  Little strange putting him in the last 60 seconds.  He was c-o-l-d and it showed when he was fouled and bricked the free throws.  He did recover to make a nice block on a Drake drive. 

Taylor actually did a very good job of getting to the basket against RMC as he has against most teams this year.  He had a hard time finishing against their height and athleticism.   One thing for sure, I'd never question the kids toughness. 

Good point hoop, I'm not sure we have the "will" or "know we're gonna win" tude when we step on the court.   We've lost so many close games maybe we're playing not to lose.  I don't know, but bet CJ's been drinking a lot of Maalox or Jack D of late.

Went to Ashland with a couple of friends to watch RMC-CNU yesterday.  Great atmosphere and RMC is good, very good.  Deep, big and athletic, especially their wing Brown.   If CNU could have made a couple of shots from outside it might have been "more" interesting.   Big stats for me were shooting %; CNU-38.8/RMC-54 and assists CNU-9/RMC-17. 

I totally disagree with giving Parham the keys to the car, by a LONG shot.  While he is "potentially" the future of CNU, he is "WAY" too erratic.  He has to lose the "get mine" attitude and run the doggone offense.  CJs giving him PLENTY of opportunities to "man up."  Kudos to Hector, he did a nice job off the bench running the point. I don't know what the heck to say about the 2's and 3's.  Capin and Taylor can score but both have a tough time with athletic defenders.   Russell is streaky of late, but still very athletic.  I still like Theo; he plays hard at both ends and played very well yesterday.   Our 4s, dunno.  Green can score and has a lot of energy.  But he cannot play defense and doesn't block out.  RMC's size definitely hurt him.  Hermann's is a tough athletic kid, but he settles too much for the outside shot.  Take it to the whole Brian!  Matt Preston always gives solid minutes.  Excellent defensive player and "blocks" out.   B'game had a solid game and they finally made a concerted effort to get him the ball in the second half.  He posts up fine.  Several times he pinned his defensive player, but when the ball swings from the wing to the point they NEVER, EVER look down.  Also, the 4's consistently shoot from 15' why doesn't our 5?  That's the one part of his game I thought CJ would expand to help free him up.   

We looked tired at the end of the game, when it was still somewhat a game.  Matador defense on the perimeter left the inside guys hanging out to dry.   And they were too tired to react.  Not in shape possibly?"The old guard isn't getting it done?"  Who is the old guard?  Only two guys that started from last year are Mark and Mike.   We're 0-1 in conference.  With a few favorable bounces this year we could easily be 8-4, maybe even 9-3.  I'm not quite ready to throw the team under the bus.  I think we'll have a pretty good idea where this team is going after next weekend.  Keep fightin' guys.  Go CAPS. 

I'll buy the San Miguel and roll the Lumpia.  Next game lets send Bubba (me), CaptJ and CNU84 to shoot free throws---4-15 in the second half.  Were they wearing blind folds?  We could do better...WITH blind folds...good grief.  Talk about the thrill of victory (first half) and the agony of defeat (second half). 

Congrats to the Hornets.     

Outstanding first half by the Captains tonight against a VERY athletic York team.   CNU went missing in action the first 6 minutes of the second half.  Xavier played like a senior in the first half, a freshman in the second.  Kid has talent, just gotta tame it a little.  Other than Conley, who is really coming into his own and gaining confidence every game our other 3-point shooters just didn't have it tonight.   Blasingame's two free throws?  Pleeeeeeeese....how about  4-21 from three point range, a whopping 19%, for a team that normally shoots .350.   And most of the looks were wide open.   Talk about unlucky; Exum's three was his first, a good four steps behind the three point line with someone in his face.  Third time this year CNU has been victimized by a long three all defended well.  That's the way the ball bounces sometimes.

Congrats to Taylor and Blasingame for making the all- tourney team .  Conley would have been MVP if the team had won.  His outside shooting continues to improve.  Blasingame battled all night against probably the tallest and most athletic lineup he'll see.  He more than held his own.   

7-5...only two road wins?  I'll definitely take that bet.  Pass the San Miguel and Lumpia please.

W&M beat UMD last night.  First time in school history the Tribe has beat two ACC teams in the same year.  Shavers is a GREAT coach....however, he can offer  a scholarship to the student-athlete.  That does help just a little.   I always thought CNU should go D-II.   How many D-II schools are in VA—two I think?  How many are in NC?  A WHOLE bunch—with academic standards well below what CNU requires.    I imagine it's pretty challenging for NC Wesleyan, Methodist and Greensboro to recruit....along with CNU.  Plenty of local talent has headed south for the money.  Can you blame them?   

But...hmmm....CNU does have a pretty good class of newbie's this year...so guess it does go back to developing/melding the talent.