Sage observers in the Community of Gheorghe have long held that abbreviated tournament offers our Tribe their best chance in years to break the Curse of Bill Chambers and advance to dance, if only based on the odds. And while W&M's 7-11 CAA record (13-16 overall) doesn't necessarily presage a championship run, some of the underlying fundamentals indicate that it's at least a possibility.
The Wrens enter the tournament winners of 4 of their last 6 games, and boast the CAA's best shooting percentage (.467), second-best three-point shooting percentage (.374), and have made more three-pointers than any team in the tournament. W&M also has a positive rebounding margin for the first time in years, and leads the CAA in assists/game - they've shared the ball extremely well over the season's last third. Combined, these stats tell the story of a team that's capable of getting hot for three nights and shooting their way to Dayton.
After they blew the JMU game, Tony Shaver hit on the season's key, saying "We’ve got to have somebody take charge — somebody slap the floor, slap each other." In other words, this Tribe team needs some redass. They've got a bunch of great kids - players who we should all be proud to have represent our alma mater - but they don't have any assholes.
Holding out for an asshole doesn't make for a great lyric, but unless one shows up against JMU in Richmond tomorrow at 8:30 pm, it may well be 'wait til' next year' time again in Williamsburg.
PantslessGriffin gonna get it done.
ReplyDeleteAre any of the G:TB family making the trip to the Confederacy Colliseum?
ReplyDeleteIf you go to Richmond, make sure you stop by the statue of my ancestor Jefferson Davis. And then spit on that shit.
ReplyDeleteWe're going to have to score the basketball and make the other team work to get good shots.
ReplyDeleteThe team that scores the most points WILL win this game.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Tribe will need to get stops on defense. Can't just let your opponent score.
ReplyDeleteYou play to win the game.
ReplyDeleteMy team's on the floor.
ReplyDeletei would like to hear tom brennan or bill raftery expound at length on the missing asshole theory of hoops success.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy that Clarence quoted Norman Dale. I'd have cast him in the Shooter role.
ReplyDeleteIt applies to football, too, or at least it did in the 1988 lost classic The Best of Times.
ReplyDeleteKurt Russell's character is a nice guy for most of the film, but at halftime of the big game, he reverts back to his high school prick self, and as Robin Williams' Jack Dundee muses, "When he was a prick, Reno Hightower was the greatest quarterback in the history of south Kern county."
There's a larger arc that suggest that to be truly great at something like sports, you have to have an element of arrogant dickishness that propels you to greatness. My guess is that the arrogance at W&M will always be confined to the Physics lab and other academic arenas.
and unit M
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark. Now don't get caught watchin' the paint dry.
ReplyDeleteThis weekend for the Tribe it's fourth and fifteen and they're looking at a full-court press.
ReplyDeletekenny chesney playing an impromptu concert a block down from my office this eve in a place that holds 800...a coworker was able to purchase 15 tix at $15. of course he didn't tell anyone 'til after the fact. not into kenny but the wife likes him. i am however into making easy money. that would have been pretty easy.
ReplyDeletew&m's got a scrappy, white, pass-first point guard coming in next year. runs the offense for the #1 high school team in indiana. really hoping he's a wojo-type cocksucker.
ReplyDeletecocksucker, in this case, is a term of endearment.
For your sake,I hope he's more skilled offensively than Wojo. That fucker couldn't shoot for shit.
ReplyDeleteBut man, oh man, could he suck cock.
ReplyDeleteAWL
ReplyDeleteAudible Wrenball Laughter
ReplyDeletewe don't need him to shoot, we need him to find shots for thornton, rusthoven, britt, and gaillard. in fact, if he shoots, we're making him run gassers.
ReplyDeleteand suck less cock than Woj. i think we've established his role, rob
ReplyDeleteMo Chi
ReplyDeleteMo Chi
Takes it up the ass, yeah
You're missing the point, Rob. I didn't say you wanted him to shoot, but you do need him to have the ability to knock down open shots to keep the defense honest and open up lanes for the other guys. If he's self check from anywhere outside the lane then the effectiveness of his passing and floor generalship is dramatically reduced.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome - discussing the offensive approach that a HS kid should have a year from now when he suits up for a terrible college basketball team that nobody cares about via the avatar of a famous college player from 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteIts pretty much what the internet was created for, Jerry.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's more like 15 years ago. Because we're really old.
ReplyDelete"a terrible college basketball team that nobody cares about"????
ReplyDeleteI think we've demonstrated here that there is a strong (or at least flimsy) contingent of diehard (or at least casually interested), rabid (or at least drooling) fans that cares deeply (or at least until something better comes along).
You got the terrible part right, though.
noted and agreed, mark. but he'd still better not shoot.
ReplyDeletejerry, you shut up.
tribe baseball beat rutgers, 4-3, to move to 9-4 on the season. how you like that, jerry?
ReplyDeletetribe gets two players on the all-caa three-deep: thornton second team, rusthoven third team. last time we had two was...fuck if i know.
ReplyDelete8 tribe players made caa all-academic teams, out of 19 total selections. fuck, yeah, smart kids. 4th time in the history of the conference we've had two all-caa selections.
ReplyDeleteUnless his a twitter account has been hacked, we've all learned tonight that Peter Vecsey loves Biggie.
ReplyDeleteHonestly though, who doesn't?
ReplyDeletetupac?
ReplyDeleteokay, just read vecsey's feed. did not see that coming.
ReplyDeletePretty awesome though, right?
ReplyDeletehoyas defense that good, or cuse offense play poorly?
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a good team that is worse offensively late in close games than this year's Florida squad. Just awful all year long. Went scoreless for the last 8 minutes of today's loss at Kentucky.
ReplyDeleteworse, you let kentucky into the dance. jerks.
ReplyDeleteNo. What's worse is we're going to lose early in the tournament because our this inability to close late.
ReplyDeleteCalling my shot now. Florida loses early in the SEC tournament. Drops to a 4 seed and gets bounced during the tournament's first weekend.
ReplyDeleteThere are some terrible hair style decisions on display in this St. Louis-LaSalle game.
ReplyDeleteBiggie died 16 years ago today so I guess Vecsey is showing some love.
ReplyDeleteRob....nervous?
ReplyDeleteJmu -3
ReplyDeleteIs this game on e Telly?
Did the Tribe change up their jerseys for Noche Latina?
ReplyDeletedanimal, yes. you? game is on some comcast channel, but not one that i get. super.
ReplyDeleteguillermo y maria
ReplyDeleteNervous, no. Actually I put a small wager on the dorks. So a 1 or 2 point victory by the purple rockers would be choice. Good luck.
ReplyDeletewell, that...feels normal.
ReplyDeletesome day, before we all die... those assholes will make a NCAA tourney...
ReplyDeleteThe only way to bounce back is to get a CAA fantasy baseball league going.
ReplyDelete