So I know I'm the worst blogger ever, but there are more important matters at hand...
Dayton has lost two in a row. By a total of two points. In fact their six losses this year are by a grand total of 22 points. What does this tell me? That at 14-6 they have about a one percent chance of making it to the NCAA Tournament, something that was more of an afterthought at the beginning of the season. In October it wasn't "You think they'll make the tournament?" It was "You think they'll make the Elite 8?" O how quickly things can change.
These guys can't seem to win in close games, which they did in droves last year. I don't know why, I can't tell you what they are doing wrong in these games. In the case of Nova, KState and New Mexico and St. Joe's, the biggest problem was that they decided to play from behind the entire game. Then, when they made a run, it was not enough. Xavier and Rhode Island they just lost it. So when they need a big win at Richmond or at Temple or in the A-10 Tournament to make a statement for the NCAA Tournament and it's a close game, what's going to happen. Their play this year says its gonna be a loss.
How about I start a new section called Hoorays and Boos? Name subject to change.
Hooray London Warren. London, you played the greatest game of your career and one of the greatest games played by a point guard in the entire nation this season. John Wall would not have known what to do with your defense. I'm not convinced anyone could have stopped your moves to the basket. Your dunk was awesome. Your angry comments after the game to the Fox 45 guy interviewing you were hilarious. Sorry the rest of the team couldn't help you out, man. Except this guy...
Hooray Kurt Huelsman. You set a record for consecutive starts. You played your best all-around game of the year, shutting down the inside, scoring points and grabbing rebounds. For the first time in your career you deserved to be (and should have been) in the game in the closing minutes. You were the best option UD had to grab a board, something they had a lot of trouble (out of the blue) with last night. Congrats on the record, and keep that kind of offensive play up. If you score six to 10 points a night, this team just might be able to go on the run they need when your teammates figure out whatever is going on with them.
Boo Chris Wright's defense. You left multiple three point shooters open in last nights game. And I mean egregiously open. Not to mention one of those guys you left was Marquis Jones, who made you pay. Hedge a screen man. You have been having a great season until last night. As much as I like that your jump shot is improving and you are a clear leader for these guys, it's hard to ignore the defensive mistakes you've made in A-10 play. The deal with Jones, fouling Delroy James for 3 shots last night, and the foul on Jason Duty when Duquesne visited. Can't have those.
Boo Rob Lowery. Rob, you bring a new dimension to the offense, but only if you are scoring. When you put up bad shots, it does nothing for us. We can't have the "I'm gonna take over now, I don't care what is happening around me" Rob. We need a much more calm and cool version of that guy, who makes better decisions throughout the game, but especially late.
Boo UD fans that don't like the substitutions. It's been seven years. This is how it will work. There will be lots of substitutions from UD. But you know what? The guys who should be playing will play the most minutes. Yeah, every game Chris Johnson, Chris Wright, Kurt Huelsman, Marcus Johnson, London Warren, Marcus Johnson and Mickey Perry play the most minutes. Paul Williams will play a pretty good amount too. That's eight guys. That's not very many. Luke, Devin and Josh are there to give people a rest. They don't play 20 minutes a game. Give it a rest. Guys come in and play for four hard minutes. If you don't believe me, keep track next time. London will come out 2 minutes into the game, and after that, everybody will play for at least 3:30, unless there is foul trouble involved.
There you go, I'm hoping to change the look of this thing as I learn how to do cooler stuff with Web sites.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Packers Playoff Game Journal
This will be the longest post in my blogging history--not necessarily in length, but in how long I take to post it. I will be writing this entry as a journal of my thoughts and reactions to the Packers at Cardinals playoff game today at 4:40. I don't know how much of the game I will actually be able to watch, because I am going to be spending a great deal of time in the Flyer News office on deadline day, which is devastating. Still, I will catch as much as I can and have it on gamecast at all times. Go Pack Go!
Okay, so the Patriots-Ravens game just ended which means the Packers game is closer than ever. It supposedly starts at 4:40 today, I'm not sure I buy that. I'll have the TV in the office here on the channel by then, but I don't think I'll worry too much about watching until at least 10 til 5. On a side note, the Ravens massacred the Patriots, which surprised me. They scored 24 points in the first quarter and basically won the game then. The Patriots losing is delicious though, so despite me dropping to 6-10 (ugh) on Streak for the Cash this month, I'm okay with it.
Alright, here we go. The game has begun. On time as well, I'm impressed.
Well, it was about as bad a start as you can possibly have, but the Pack is in the game down 17-7. Still, the defense is going to need to make some drastic changes, because every time Kurt Warner has stepped back to pass his receivers have been wide open. Charles Woodson will not be able to bail the D out with a fumble every single drive. They might actually have to get a stop if they plan on winning. I'm not worried about the offense producing, they are good. Especially if Ryan Grant keeps have these holes to run through. The O-line is gaping the Cards on the run but has given up three sacks already. Not sure why that is. At any rate, the Pack have got to score at least once more before the half. Can't be worse than 20-10, or they aren't coming back.
Also, kudos to Fox Sports for their statistical blunder. When the Cardinals were up by 14-0, Fox said the Packers had never trailed by 14 all season. I immediately thought, "I guarantee they were down by more than 14 in at least one of the Vikings games." Sure enough, as they came back from a commercial later, Joe Buck informed us they trailed the Vikings 24-3 earlier this season. Well done boys, well done.
Well, Early Doucet just scored his second touchdown because the Packers secondary forgot to bring their ability to tackle to the game. Budget meeting is done, so I am going to attempt to save this and then go home and resume it on my laptop. We'll see if it works. If not, there's no way I'm going to type all of this again, it'll be a shorter post.
Well, it worked. I'm back at home and posting on the same blog as before. And amidst a game of League of Legends and making dinner, the Packers have somehow come back to tie the game at 38. They got it to within seven points by virtue of getting an onside kick and scoring without giving the ball to the Cardinals. Then they finally got a defensive stop and capitalized. Now, of course, they're just teasing me. The Cardinals are driving, and it's one of those eight-minute-drive-that-gives-us-the-lead-with-two-minutes-left-and-breaks-your-spirit drives. Seriously, they have converted multiple third downs this drive, and are getting no more than 15 yards for every first down, so it's eating up clock and field.
...And there it is. The doom of the Packers perhaps.
Nope, sometime while I was interviewing Brian Gregory the Packers stormed down the field. I came back while they were on the 11 yard line, and then they scored immediately. Unfortunately, the Cardinals have 1:56 to score. I know you don't know when I'm typing this, but I'm predicting the Cardinals will score and win. I'll come back at the end of the game.
Well, I was wrong. The Cardinals didn't score. Neil Rackers choked so badly that the Packers had to be the winners. Then the Pack won the toss--game over right? Right, but not the way anyone watching would have expected. Aaron Rodgers missed his first pass in forever to Greg Jennings for the win, and then fumbled for the loss. The Cardinals defense finally stepped up.
The Packers had better draft a cornerback that actually is good this year. No more Tramon Williams or Jarrett Bush please. Just get someone good. Trade for someone good. I don't care, but you've got to have multiple guys that can cover if you're going to always run man, which they do.
The Favre trade is a success for the Pack, because Rodgers is a top 3 quarterback in the NFL, and he'll have them back here next year.
Lets go 2010 Packers.
Okay, so the Patriots-Ravens game just ended which means the Packers game is closer than ever. It supposedly starts at 4:40 today, I'm not sure I buy that. I'll have the TV in the office here on the channel by then, but I don't think I'll worry too much about watching until at least 10 til 5. On a side note, the Ravens massacred the Patriots, which surprised me. They scored 24 points in the first quarter and basically won the game then. The Patriots losing is delicious though, so despite me dropping to 6-10 (ugh) on Streak for the Cash this month, I'm okay with it.
Alright, here we go. The game has begun. On time as well, I'm impressed.
Well, it was about as bad a start as you can possibly have, but the Pack is in the game down 17-7. Still, the defense is going to need to make some drastic changes, because every time Kurt Warner has stepped back to pass his receivers have been wide open. Charles Woodson will not be able to bail the D out with a fumble every single drive. They might actually have to get a stop if they plan on winning. I'm not worried about the offense producing, they are good. Especially if Ryan Grant keeps have these holes to run through. The O-line is gaping the Cards on the run but has given up three sacks already. Not sure why that is. At any rate, the Pack have got to score at least once more before the half. Can't be worse than 20-10, or they aren't coming back.
Also, kudos to Fox Sports for their statistical blunder. When the Cardinals were up by 14-0, Fox said the Packers had never trailed by 14 all season. I immediately thought, "I guarantee they were down by more than 14 in at least one of the Vikings games." Sure enough, as they came back from a commercial later, Joe Buck informed us they trailed the Vikings 24-3 earlier this season. Well done boys, well done.
Well, Early Doucet just scored his second touchdown because the Packers secondary forgot to bring their ability to tackle to the game. Budget meeting is done, so I am going to attempt to save this and then go home and resume it on my laptop. We'll see if it works. If not, there's no way I'm going to type all of this again, it'll be a shorter post.
Well, it worked. I'm back at home and posting on the same blog as before. And amidst a game of League of Legends and making dinner, the Packers have somehow come back to tie the game at 38. They got it to within seven points by virtue of getting an onside kick and scoring without giving the ball to the Cardinals. Then they finally got a defensive stop and capitalized. Now, of course, they're just teasing me. The Cardinals are driving, and it's one of those eight-minute-drive-that-gives-us-the-lead-with-two-minutes-left-and-breaks-your-spirit drives. Seriously, they have converted multiple third downs this drive, and are getting no more than 15 yards for every first down, so it's eating up clock and field.
...And there it is. The doom of the Packers perhaps.
Nope, sometime while I was interviewing Brian Gregory the Packers stormed down the field. I came back while they were on the 11 yard line, and then they scored immediately. Unfortunately, the Cardinals have 1:56 to score. I know you don't know when I'm typing this, but I'm predicting the Cardinals will score and win. I'll come back at the end of the game.
Well, I was wrong. The Cardinals didn't score. Neil Rackers choked so badly that the Packers had to be the winners. Then the Pack won the toss--game over right? Right, but not the way anyone watching would have expected. Aaron Rodgers missed his first pass in forever to Greg Jennings for the win, and then fumbled for the loss. The Cardinals defense finally stepped up.
The Packers had better draft a cornerback that actually is good this year. No more Tramon Williams or Jarrett Bush please. Just get someone good. Trade for someone good. I don't care, but you've got to have multiple guys that can cover if you're going to always run man, which they do.
The Favre trade is a success for the Pack, because Rodgers is a top 3 quarterback in the NFL, and he'll have them back here next year.
Lets go 2010 Packers.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
The A-10 is nasty
Got back from the Dayton-Duquesne a bit ago, and what a way to start off the Atlantic 10 for Dayton. It was completely apropos for these guys to take a shot in the gut early and come roaring back with defense, and some of the best cheering from a crowd in a long time. UD Arena was absolutely rocking, and it was great to be a part of it.
For those of you who don't know, Dayton won in overtime. Duquesne probably should have won the game at the end, but missed free throws. It evens out though, cause UD missed a ton of free throws earlier on. At any rate, it was a gutsy, gritty performance by both teams. A loss would have really hurt UD, so I'm glad they won. Just got to keep it up. They have so much heart and toughness in games, they are never out of it.
The amazing thing is Duquesn is 0-2 in the Atlantic 10. That team is GOOD. They would have a shot being champions in a lesser conference. The MVC is a bit down this year, I guarantee the Dukes would be challenging for that title. Hopefully they can string some wins together and beat up on the weaker teams in the A-10 to get themselves into the discussion for the tournament or at least the NIT, cause they are deserving.
If a team like that is going to just be middle of the road in the A-10, then the conference is going to be amazing. I don't even want to think about how grueling the schedule is going to be. As awesome as the win was, it only makes me worry about how tough it will be to go 12-4 or better in the A-10, which is pretty much as bad as I was projecting at the beginning of the season. Five losses in the conference would mean eight losses on the season, and that is no sure thing for a tourney berth.
On the plus side, Chris Wright's jumper seems to be coming along, and Luke Fabrizius is back. His instant offense is going to be a big boost. Anybody who scores 10 or so points in 10 or so minutes is valuable, even if he needs some improvement on defense. The Flyers are back close to full strength for the first time this season, and that is encouraging.
Hopefully they can keep the wins coming, and hopefully the talking head recognize how strong this conference is, and not penalize teams for going 11-5 or 10-6. That would be more of an accomplishment than a disappointment in my opinion.
For those of you who don't know, Dayton won in overtime. Duquesne probably should have won the game at the end, but missed free throws. It evens out though, cause UD missed a ton of free throws earlier on. At any rate, it was a gutsy, gritty performance by both teams. A loss would have really hurt UD, so I'm glad they won. Just got to keep it up. They have so much heart and toughness in games, they are never out of it.
The amazing thing is Duquesn is 0-2 in the Atlantic 10. That team is GOOD. They would have a shot being champions in a lesser conference. The MVC is a bit down this year, I guarantee the Dukes would be challenging for that title. Hopefully they can string some wins together and beat up on the weaker teams in the A-10 to get themselves into the discussion for the tournament or at least the NIT, cause they are deserving.
If a team like that is going to just be middle of the road in the A-10, then the conference is going to be amazing. I don't even want to think about how grueling the schedule is going to be. As awesome as the win was, it only makes me worry about how tough it will be to go 12-4 or better in the A-10, which is pretty much as bad as I was projecting at the beginning of the season. Five losses in the conference would mean eight losses on the season, and that is no sure thing for a tourney berth.
On the plus side, Chris Wright's jumper seems to be coming along, and Luke Fabrizius is back. His instant offense is going to be a big boost. Anybody who scores 10 or so points in 10 or so minutes is valuable, even if he needs some improvement on defense. The Flyers are back close to full strength for the first time this season, and that is encouraging.
Hopefully they can keep the wins coming, and hopefully the talking head recognize how strong this conference is, and not penalize teams for going 11-5 or 10-6. That would be more of an accomplishment than a disappointment in my opinion.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Resumption of Activities
Well, it has been a long, long time since I have posted on this thing and I'm sure all of my followers have long since stopped checking on my Web site. In all honesty, I would prefer it that way. I'd rather have a follower that isn't someone from my family happen across this blog and enjoy it.
At any rate, I am restarting the blogging experience, and I am going to try and change the name to Spack on Sports. I think the alliteration is much more enticing, and it can go along with my column title in the Flyer News. Also, this blog will be able to serve as a fulfillment of the assignments I will undoubtedly get in my New Topics in Journalism class this semester. Again, I hope to post every weekday with some on the weekends as well. At any rate, nobody really cares about this rambling, it is just to reintroduce myself. Now to the important stuff.
I find myself at a very special time in sports as I reenter the blogosphere: the heart of the college basketball seasons. Most teams in division 1 are wrapping up their nonconference schedules and getting into the truly important part of the season, conference play. While for teams in the major conferences the beginning of conference play means their strength of schedule will skyrocket, it means just the opposite for most mid-majors. The non-conference schedule represents most midmajors' chance to notch an impressive win for the tournament committee come March.
That brings me to my University of Dayton Flyers, who most people have probably heard of, especially after their tournament appearance and first-round win last year. I'll be honest: after the success from last season and losing basically nobody (some people liked Charles Little's play, I wasn't one of them), the tournament was an afterthought for me. All I was thinking was "They could get to the Sweet 16, or even the Elite Eight, they're that good!" Not so fast. As UD enters into A-10 play this weekend, the NCAA Tournament is all but a guarantee.
The point of UD's nonconference schedule was for them to get one or two big wins. Coming into the season, Dayton had five games that had potential to be considered big wins: Creighton, Georgia Tech, Villanova, at George Mason and at New Mexico. In those five games, Dayton went 3-2. The unfortunate thing is the two losses are to Villanova and New Mexico, the two most important games they have played. Of the three wins, none of them are certain to be big ones come of the end of the season. Creighton almost certainly will not. The Blue Jays are 6-8 and 1-2 in the MVC so far, so they will most likely not even make the postseason this year. Georgia Tech is still ranked 17th in the nation, but I'm not sold on them. The Jackets are young and 0-1 in the ACC right now. If they end up with a .500 or worse record in the ACC, you can scratch them off the big-win list. George Mason doesn't look great either. They are 8-6, but 3-0 in the CAA. If the Patriots manage to get hot and win the Colonial, it could look like a good win for the Flyers at the end of the season.
Put simply, Dayton is 11-3 (most likely 12 wins after the Ball State game tonight) and doesn't have a single good win or bad loss going into A-10 play. Joe Lunardi has them slated as an 11 seed--one of the last several teams to get in. I don't think they would get in if it was picked today.
This means that UD has to impress in the conference. With as well as the A-10 has been playing, that is no guarantee either. I would say to get a 10 seed or better in the tournament, UD needs to go at least 14-2 in the conference. They have to get through games at Saint Louis, at Duquesne, at Richmond and at Temple, not to mention two games against Xavier. Duquesne, Richmond and Temple have all gotten impressive wins in the nonconference. UD does not appear to be the clear favorite they were at the beginning of the season, and that makes me nervous.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)