Not them, per se, but their results to date. And really, their results before the beginning of the CAA season.
Sure, losses to Hampton and High Point are going to be really hard to explain to the Selection Committee come tournament time, and it's unlikely that the NCAA will give W&M any credit for leading at halftime against Wichita State. But the team that's played the first four games for Tony Shaver isn't the team that will take the floor beginning on December 20.
And that's the peg upon which we'll hang our tri-corners.
Brandon Britt did a stupid thing, driving while intoxicated, and the process dictates that he'll serve a deserved 9-game suspension because of it. He returns to the court on December 20 against Goucher (I'd make a snide remark about Goucher, but hell, we lost to High Point.), and will play in the Tribe's final four non-conference games. He'll get his court legs agains West Virginia, Old Dominion, and Western Illinois, in addition to the Gophers (the Goucher Gophers? Why haven't we commented on this previously?).It's difficult to precisely pinpoint what ails the Tribe in Britt's absence, except to say they've been...off. W&M's been far less efficient on offense - despite averaging 71 points per game, they're only making 32.1% from three-point range - and ineffective generally on defense, giving up 77 points a contest. Marcus Thornton's averaging 20 points per game, as expected, but he's only made 9 of 34 threes. Tim Rusthoven's only grabbing 3.5 rebounds a contest after pulling down double that last season. He's also fouled out twice in four games.
On the bright side, frosh Omar Prewitt's hit the ground running (and gunning), tallying 14 points, 6.8 boards, and 2 steals a game while making nearly 50% of his threes and doing it all coming off the bench. Sophomore Terry Tarpey's filling the glue guy role vacated by Matt Rum extremely well, grabbing 6.5 rebounds and scoring 7.5 points per game.
Production drops off pretty quickly after those four, though, which is perhaps the place where Britt's return means the most. Another penetrating frontcourt weapon spreads the floor for Thornton, and allows Rusthoven room to operate in the paint. Britt also provides a scoring option that diversifies a starting lineup that's relying far too heavily on too few players.
But hell, we're four games in. W&M wasn't ever going to run the table in non-conference play, and nothing's changed about the only thing that matters.Fun one for Team G:TB (or at least one of us) tomorrow in Piscataway (or wherever the Rutgers Athletic Center is located), as W&M heads north to take on the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers stinks by the standards of the American Athletic Conference. We stink by an entirely different set of standards.
And that's okay.
For now.
Posts
27 comments:
i look forward to z's upcoming post on filibusters. or geoff's. doesn't matter. not to say i didn't thoroughly enjoy rob's wren report. i did, really.
Sorry Kirk, we couldn't all go to GOUCHER COLLEGE!!!
dated a goucher girl for a few months post college. she was attractive and sweet, but she was a total slob. she had no problem going out w/stained clothes and unkept hair. she was also my verty first cat person. it didn't last long.
Rules change: Short-sighted, but possibly necessary in the long-run. Major slippery slope concerns. My main contention is doing it in the middle of a congress. At the outset of each congress, you vote on the rules...that's when its appropriate to make the change--not in the middle of one when your perspective is clouded by your frustrations and your agenda.
McConnell was spot on that the Dems will regret this and regret this soon.
I work for a coalition that has three cases pending before the DC Circuit that will likely break party line. So, the appointees just forced through with 51 will likely change the outcome of those cases. We had a large ad campaigned teed up a week ago on "Don't Nuke the Senate." We were advised by numerous GOP Senators not to worry about the nuke option--this was 7 days ago. They said they were certain Reid didn't have the votes. But that changed Wednesday night, when Kay Hagan and a couple other Senators flipped because they were so desperate to change the subject from Obamacare.
i don't mean to be trite on this point, but elections do have consequences. that's true, too, if the republicans regain control of the senate - if that happens, they should be allowed to advance their agenda. will of the people and all that. under the previous system, the minority had far too much power to obstruct for the sake of obstruction. will the dems come to regret this? possibly? is it better for democracy? probably.
There is something to that argument. The President was elected and is entitled to appointing his picks. And if it stays limited to judicial noms (excluding USSC) then it may be for the best. But Reid already broke the rules once before to pass Obamacare with 51...and this moves us closer to more 51 vote thresholds for legislation. With a 51 vote threshold over the last 10 years, we'd have Cap and Trade, Card Check and an on-going parade of horribles as law now.
I have never heard of Goucher ... College? University? A&M? ... until today.
Gudger College is a fictional college that Kirk Van Houton attended in the long-running animated FOX series, "The Simpsons." Greg has made an attempt at a humorous reference to Episode 4F04 in which Kirk's attendance at said college is lampooned. Goucher College is outside of Baltimore, and is often mistaken for an outlet mall.
The current DC Circuit fiasco is shameful. The Republicans look like morons for crying about court packing. Court packing happens when the president adds more judges to a court than the court currently has, like increasing SCOTUS from 9 to 15. Obama isn't engaging in court packing, he is filling open Article III positions as set forth under Article II. Will his appointees lean left? Probably. Do GW Bush's SCOTUS appointees lean right? Very much so. As do his and Reagan's appointees currently sitting on the DC Circuit.
In fact, I threatened to write a post about this exact fiasco but decided that no one would want to read it, so I didn't.
Oooh..."shameful"...dramatic. Now tell us Uncle Mitch is ruining your life and then storm upstairs and slam your door.
write that shit, z.
Geoff knows me too well.
point of order! the gentleman from the right is engaging in obfuscation and obstruction!
oh, right.
buncha court packers!
perhaps the post could be in "point, counterpoint" form with z & g as the point and counterpoint providers, in no particlular order.
fair and balanced dipshittery!
in other news, the danimal clan will be hosting a chinese national this evening at our home for din din. she's never heard of elvis, so we'll probably get our elvis on. this should bode well for chinese/american relations.
Don't ask about her siblings.
I don't have an Uncle Mitch, both my parents are only children. Shamefully.
yeah...i already whiffed on that during one of my recent visits there.
i immediately thought of chris farley - "why did i say that!?" and hit myself in the face a couple of times.
have given the heads up to the wife. she'll look less stupider.
I laughed out loud while sitting alone in my car at Greg's comment on the Chinese nationsl's siblings. Who knew infanticide could be so funny? Greg, natch.
"Hound Dog." Yum.
ask her if she knows gheorghe's good friend yao.
have i mentioned that i've met clint hill, the secret service agent that climbed on the back of the presidential car and pushed mrs. kennedy back into her seat after the shots that killed jfk? 'cause i have.
#notatallahumblebrag
#whydoesen'trobusecapitalletters
too high to reach
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