Our heroes head back out on the road today after a too-brief respite in the cozy confines of the TribeDome. The Wrens took out some long-simmering frustration on Towson on Saturday, avenging a double-overtime loss to the Tigers on the strength of an 11-2 game-ending run. The game marked the end of a four road games out of five stretch that weighed heavily on both the Tribe's record and its psyche.
Tonight, Tony Shaver and the boys travel to Newark (that's New-ARK, to those in the know), Delaware to take on the Fighting Blue Hens (9-11, 4-3 CAA). Delaware was highly touted in the preseason on the strength of their inside-out wonder twins, Jamelle Hagins and Devon Saddler. The bruising Hagins is second in the CAA in rebounding with 10.9 a game, though his 12.1 points per contest is a bit disappointing. Lead guard Saddler is the conference's leading scorer, dropping 19.2 a game. He and sophomore gunner Kyle Anderson are the Hens' only real outside threats - both make better than 31% of their long-range attempts.
As for the good guys, the season's turned into a tale of two teams in many ways. It's clear that this Tribe team is capable of playing at a high level for long stretches. It's equally obvious that W&M can completely forget how to play basketball for alarmingly long periods. Such blackouts cost the Tribe wins over Richmond, Purdue, Mason, and Towson, at the very least, contributing to a downward spiral that led to an 8-game losing streak.
The rest of this season will hinge on Shaver's ability to get his team to maximize the highs and minimize the bizarre lapses. They've gotta learn to win, to put it in highly technical terms.
They'll start with Tim Rusthoven, who's played some of his best ball over the past two weeks. The junior post, who unfortunately shaved his excellently scruffy beard, has averaged 19.5 points and 9.3 boards a game over the last four, recording double-doubles in three of those. He went for 25 and 11 in the double overtime loss to Northeastern before fouling out. Rusthoven leads the CAA in field goal percentage, and is one of only three players in the league's top 10 in both points and rebounds per game (along with Towson's Jerrelle Benimon and UNCW's Keith Rendleman).
For all the digital ink we've spilled on Marcus Thornton (and we remain convinced that he'll go down as the greatest player in W&M history), Rusthoven's been the Tribe's most consistent and reliable offensive threat. He's the thunder to Thornton's lightning, the Pooh Bear to Thornton's Rabbit., the...hell, you come up with something. This is hard on a deadline.
Tonight's tip is at 7:00. No television, which is probably a good thing. Delaware's good, but they had to play a tough Drexel team just two days ago. Here's hoping the Tribe catch them tired and unfocused. It'd be a bit of poetic justice.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
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42 comments:
Pantsless Griffins ride...
just got an email from someone named "Dongshin"
in native american tongue, that translates to, "He with leg-sized dick"
i found espn's announcement of their deal to televise mexico's soccer games in english in the u.s. fascinating. i'll watch, for sure.
entirely fascinating. and i will be sure to watch.
psyche! and,
psyche!
missing you though. let's talk sometime.
i'll send you a letter.
Kirk Goldsberry's shot charts on Grantland are pretty interesting (maybe).
Danilo Gallinari is the best shooter in the league from 3-point range on the right wing and the worst shooter in the NBA from 3-point range on the left wing. This is fascinating to me.
Also, league averages are slightly higher in both 2-point sectors on the left side and slightly higher in both 3-point sectors on the right side.
rotation of the earth, i assume
I'm sorry Kirk, we couldn't all go to GUDGER COLLEGE!
Can we pls stop shooting people in this country?
the mid-majority dude announced that next season will be his last. i wonder if he'll unblock me. i hope so, 'cause i want to give him a reason to reblock me.
what should we give him as a going-away present? besides a punch in the nuts?
A bottle of car pee.
elk horn powder...but tell him it is from the deer. and then just watch what happens.
A gallon of brandy.
I don't know who this person is, but it sounds like one more reason to remain uninvested in Tribe basketball.
The Americans on FX premiers tonight at 10. I've got a good feeling about it.
thanks for the reminder....meant to set up the taping maching for that.
Rusthoven looks like a mix of equal parts Patrick Bateman and Spalding Smales. That is meant as a compliment.
Syria claims it was hit by Israeli airstrikes. Those of us who used to get Dave's e-mail updates from his three-year stint in a Damascus school recall that Syrians also firmly believed that the Israelis were the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, so it's hard to take news like that headline with anything but vast grains of salt.
So if the ruling in CA continues to go the former student athlete's way and they can actually get a chunk of the money from the TV revenue deals, will college sports other than Football and Basketball die?
You just can't take the Syrians Syrias Clarence.
i think that's a fascinating question, squeakerton. i think what's more likely is that you'd see a more clear delineation between big athletic programs and smaller ones, and a split from the ncaa by hoops and football.
I was wondering that myself, Squeakers O'Toole. If men's college hoops & football revenues are needed to fund the "non-revenue" sports, then shouldn't the funds that go to those sports count as an expense against the TV revenue?
My prediction: nothing will happen.
bold! spicy! a hint of raspberry!
Right handed players tend to shoot better on the left side of the floor than the right. This is due to not having to completely square their body up on the left side in order to get your shoulders square to the basket like they do on the right side. It's the same reason why righties tend to be better pull up jump shooters going to their left than their right.
Try pull-up jumpers off the dribble going left and right. Going left is much, much easier and feels more natural.
mark, we're gonna need you to write about these gators. what they're doing is preposterous.
Rob, if you stop posting this week in wrenball, we will win the CAA.
Book it.
but what will my fans do, marls?
florida is up 59-20 over south carolina with 10 minutes to play. that's felony assault.
You wife wil survive
who's got yachtwedding pictures? we need a photo essay filler.
Yes, I can't wait to see stuff from Whitney's wedding. Yes, Whitney's wedding. Teedge.
I've been holding off on it because I don't want to jinx this team, Rob. But you're right, might be time to write about the Gators. They're destroying people lately.
it's impossible to jinx a team by writing about them, mark. just ask marls.
you think frank martin wanted to fight billy d after that asswhipping? or did he want to beat his team with a jump rope?
apparently donovan had 3 starters in the game up 45. that's amusing dickery.
chuck hagel broke twitter
i thought Marino's love child broke twitter?
Came close.
Reading recommendation on Jackie Robinson's birthday: Baseball's Great Experiment by Jules Tygiel.
syrian propaganda blamed 9/11 on the jews, the bush administration, and/or a group of crazy vietnam vets who wanted revenge for being sent to vietnam.
i have finally recovered from the wedding, just in time to attend pub night.
mickelson just had a dreadful lip out of the horseshoe variety on his 18th hole to shoot 69 - 10. double farts!
new filler posted
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