Wednesday, January 02, 2013

This Week in Wrenball: Get On With It, Already

I received that Tweet in the waning moments of the Tribe's 73-66 loss at Purdue. It encapsulates perfectly my feeling about both the game and the 2012-13 edition of the Green and Gold.

W&M led Purdue, 40-39, at halftime, and only several difficult makes by the Boilers in the half's final possessions made it that close. The Tribe overcame a sloppy start to outplay the bigger, more acclaimed Big Ten foe, shooting 60% from the floor and making half of their 10 three-point attempts. Junior forward Kyle Gaillard was unstoppable, alternately driving for lefty floaters and making triples. Gaillard's 12 led all scorers at the break, followed closely by teammates Brandon Britt and Marcus Thornton with 11 and 10 respectively.

While the Wrens couldn't keep up the offensive pace in the second frame, they still battled the Boilers tooth and nail. Tim Rusthoven's mid-lane jumper tied the game at 58 with 8:31 left. Later, Thornton's two-pointer from the wing drew the Tribe to within 66-64 with 2:21 on the Mackey Arena clock. From there, Julian Boatner and Thornton missed three-pointers on consecutive possessions, and Purdue escaped with a home win. And dozens of Futile Superfans were left to once again lament what might have, what absolutely could have and perhaps should have been.

Thornton finished with 21, and looked entirely comfortable against power conference competition. Tim Rusthoven tallied 16 and grabbed 7 rebounds despite giving away significant size to Purdue's interior defenders. The telling story of the second half, though, was the combined zero points scored by Gaillard and Britt in the final frame. The aggression both showed in the first half paid off repeatedly - its absence in the second was glaring. This completely impartial and obviously qualified observer thinks that Tony Shaver needs to sit both down in a room and show the first half film on a loop for several hours in advance of each Tribe game. Because when Britt and Gaillard were aggressive, W&M's offense was very, very hard to stop. 

More of that, please, tonight, when the Wrens travel to Nashville to play their final non-conference game against Vanderbilt. Though the Commodores have beaten Xavier this season, they've also lost by 17 to Marist, and are licking their wounds after getting curbstomped by Butler. Kevin Stallings' team is looking at an 11-day break after this contest before they start their conference schedule against Kentucky. If ever W&M sized up an SEC opponent and expected to win, it'd be this game. 

I think they do expect to win. W&M's now played three major conference opponents in 2012. (For the purposes of this argument, we're counting the Atlantic 10 as a hoops major. Sue us. Or report us to Mid-Majority, whichever.) The Tribe was within two points in the final 2:30 of each of those contests. Yes, we're unrepentant Pollyannas. Yes, Vanderbilt will likely be more athletic (once again, see, Gaillard, Kyle and Britt, Brandon for keys to W&M's chances and an counter-argument to the athleticism point), and probably bigger. But the 'Dores are young - they've only got one junior and no seniors on their roster - they don't shoot very well (41.8% on the year), and they're coming off back to back humbling losses (they fell to Middle Tennessee State before being drilled by Butler). 

So the Tribe should expect to win.

And I think they will.   

One of these days, I'll be right about something. Why not now?

30 comments:

Danimal said...

hi. anyone else having issue viewing old posts. both on phone and compooter i cannot pull up anything prior to today's post.

zman said...

The Mayans were right, just a few days off.

Dave said...

i do not understand why that is a "moral victory."

rob said...

the pooping or the tribe game?

mayhugh said...

I never could read the 12th day of Gheorghemas, so I'm not sure whether it happened or not.

Anybody got a preview of FLA/LOU? Is it going to be akin to OK ST - PURDUE? The Cardinals are 14 point dogs.

Danimal said...

i'm sure mark will have something substantive to add. my take - gators sometimes play to their competition. they had potential losses against bowling green and louisiana lafayette. they only beat missouri by a touchdown (14-7) and only beat jacksonville state 23-0. no, not comparing louisville to jax state and bgreen but you know what i'm sayin.
for grins & giggles i just checked their "against the spread" on the year....they started out 7-1 then went 1-4. what is interesting is that they went 0-4 ATS vs BGreen/Missouri/LaLafayette/Jax State...
i doubt they fear or respect louisville a hell of a lot more than the aforementioned scrubs. but there's always a "but" - bowl game - only game on tv - ending year on a big bang, yada yada...i probably just talked myself into louisville. disclaimer: worst. year. ever.

rob said...

tribe getting six at vandy tonight, danimal. chance to start the new year right.

T.J. said...

even if Louisville gets worked tonight, it will be fun to see Teddy Bridgewater at work...dude's got a great name (and game)

Danimal said...

on second thought, lousville was favored in all but one of their games this year, played no one, lost to syracuse by 19 and uconn by 3.

mayhugh said...

Etiquette question: Do I have to wish someone a happy new year? I hate saying that phrase and everyone does it and it just gets old and extraneous. And what is an appropriately reciprocal response for someone who wishes me a happy new year? Does "Same to you" "Ditto" or "Back at you" suffice?

T.J. said...

try "no hablo ingles"

Marls said...

While "ditto" works, I think "Blow it out your ass, Cowboy" is more appropriate.

zman said...

I've been replying all day with "Yo momma." Give it a try.

Mark said...

My thoughts on tonight's game:

The mid-week Sugar Bowl is really going to cramp my usual Gator Football viewing style.

Florida has played to the level of their competition at times. Though some of that has been a matter of Muschamp and Co. keeping things very vanilla against inferior opponents as they prepared for more dangerous opponents (Bowling Green before Texas A&M, Jax State and Louisiana Lafayette before FSU...not sure what happened against Missouri).

Florida's Oline was really banged up later in the year as well. They were as healthy as they'd been since the LSU game going into the FSU game and had a dominant rushing performance. No reason to think the Oline isn't just as healthy or healthier tonight.

Louisville is awful against the run so if Florida starts gashing them early, it could get ugly quick. I think it's relatively close going into the 2nd half and the Gators pull away from there. 31-17 or something in that neighborhood.

I doubt motivation will be an issue after 8-5 and 7-6 seasons. Making the BCS and playing in the Sugar Bowl is a big deal to this team and staff. Also thrown in the fact that Charlie Strong has very strong ties to this team (he recruited most of the defense) and I think you'll see a very motivated Gator team. Also of note: Louisville should be equally motivated. Half this team is from Florida and most were not recruited by UF, FSU, or Miami. Big chance to prove themselves tonight.

Shlara said...

Anyone else watching the Tribe game? The announcers just reviewed that facts and figures about our school and they were amazed that it opened in 1693. They commented that we probably have a lot of alums for being around that long, then said there are probably more dead alums that alive alums...

Mark said...

Gator news that flew under the radar: 3rd safety and dime back De'Ante Saunders who had been suspended three separate times in two years at Florida transferred, or was asked to leave. Florida is starting in the dime and will be starting freshman Brian Poole who only played on special teams this year. Not a great start.

Shlara said...

Now they just made a bad joke about players leaving Vandy last year "that's worse than when Lionel Richie left the Commodores"
I know this isn't an A-game, but there have to be better announcers out there somewhere

Danimal said...

The plow job at the end of that play was stellar.

Mark said...

I hate 2013.

Danimal said...

Is teej at game? Just saw a coupla horse masks?

rob said...

tribe looks like shit. of course they do.

Shlara said...

Rob--go back to your family event and leave the Tribe alone...

zman said...

Holy Shlara! When did you get salty?

Clarence said...

sosat

rob said...

i don't even know who these guys are. this is pathetic.

Mark said...

This is over. I'll continue to watch but it's over. Fuck. What a shitty way to end an unexpectedly stellar season.

rob said...

not a great night for gheorgie alma maters.

Mark said...

Just in case you were thinking about staying up for the second half. Florida just made it real easy on you.

mayhugh said...

That game was surprising - sorry about that, Mark. Although I think you were the first of the Gheorghe Corporation to crush on Teddy Bridgewater, so at least you were right about that...

Rob - who you rooting for in NFL playoffs?

T.J. said...

travel post above