CaptJ -  I'm a little surprised to see that you are calling me out personally.  I thought this string was about USA South basketball teams.  Doesn't anyone with an opinion have an inherent bias?  I vaguely remember someone calling for CJ's ouster twice a week all last season.  Ring any bells?

For the record, I am a small business owner with business interests at the University.  I have relationships on campus and in the Freeman Center.  I donate to CNU although Tribble has not decided yet to put my name on a campus building.  Maybe next year.  I am an avid college sports fan and began following CNU teams a few years back.  This year alone, I've seen football, baseball, basketball and soccer games.  I even attended a volleyball match to stay well rounded.  I love the winning traditions CJ has established at the school.  Winning 70% of the games across all sports year after year is an incredible accomplishment especially given the fact that everyone one of these kids is a volunteer athlete.

My views are formed from a combination of experience, game observations and studies of the stat sheets.  I am a former athlete and post player so I have an admitted appreciation for the benefits derived from a big and strong front line.  I freely admit that. 

As I have said before, teams that play tough defense and rebound well control the tempo of the game.  I hated to see it but what Mitchell and Sanborn did to the Captains last year was impressive.  It's demoralizing to see the big guys reroute shots and snap down 18 rebounds.  Coach K's 24-5 team averaged 5 more rebounds per game last year than the opponents and was +95 on the offensive glass while giving up only 58ppg.  I know he worries about CNU's totals in these areas.  I just happen to think that this small ball stuff where guards play almost 70% of the minutes is better practiced here locally in the Peninsula District but that's just one reporter's opinion.

At the end of the day, nothing I say or write is really all that important.  I just enjoy venting a little and this is a great forum.  My life will go on next week despite whether Preston or Farris see any time at the 5 this weekend.  Coach K is very smart and will play who he feels gives him the best chance to win.  He is the only guy I know that is held accountable for the team's W/L record.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Wow!  I'm not sure how to describe this game.  VWC toyed with the Captains for about 8 mins then turned on the jets.  That 21-5 run in the first half put CNU away and the rest was damage control.  18 turnovers certainly didn't help the cause.

I am now an officially frustrated fan.  43-27 on the boards won't work.  I carped often last season about the need for rebounds.  I'm no Bobby Knight with the X's and O's but the team that controls the boards controls the game.  It's been that way since Neismith put up the peach basket. 

I was hopeful that this season would be different.  Although Lynchburg was close, we've now been outrounded in all 3 games with the last two by double digits.  VWC rebounded almost as many of their own shots as we did (18 offensive for Wesleyan v 23 defensive for CNU).  You can't run 4 guards and an undersized forward on the floor at this level and expect them to dominate the glass.  It won't work.  VWC wasn't even a particularly large team but they did seem to be about 2" bigger than us at every position.

I've been watching this new system now for three games and am a little confused.  It seems like Conley is the only guy playing his natural position.  Mike Green is not a true center.  Capin, Granger and Conley all look like classic shooting guards to me.  Nobody looks like a PG who can push the ball up the court and break down a defense.  Tra seems like a wing and not a post player.  The bigs were mostly planted on the bench.

Ok, I'm done now.  I've now had my one rant for the season and promise to be better from now on.  Let's hope for a strong rebound weekend.

Your Still Loyal CNU Fan

Much better defensive effort (10 steals, 29 turnovers) from the Captains against SJF versus what we saw in the Lynchburg game.  It looked like the guys were more comfortable with the traps and the jump switches.  Preston, Clarkson and Granger all drew multiple charges as they rotated on the help defense.  Still plenty of work to be done but I really like this defensive philosophy.

Coach again started 4 guards and went with many 3 and 4 guard sets which showed negatively in the rebound totals (30 v 41 total, 6 v 9 offensive).  Good defense and better shooting made up the difference but CNU will need rebounds and more diverse scoring on offense in order to win consistently this year.

The annual track meet against Virginia Wesleyan on Tuesday should be fun to watch.

85 - Hermann broke his foot a few weeks ago.  He was out of the boot last night but not in uniform which means he's probably still multiple weeks away.

Coach Krikorian gets his first CNU win with a 108-100 double OT thriller.  CNU could have easily phoned this one in early after falling behind 9-0 on some silly turnovers and missed layups.  The Captains fought all game finally catching Lynchburg in the 2nd half. 

Freshman Tra Benefield hit a big 3 pointer from the deep corner with 8 seconds left in regulation to push the game into OT.  Michael Wims from Lynchburg hit a 40 footer with 1 second left in OT to force a second OT.

Conley had 31 points to lead CNU and really took charge late in the game.  Green (16 pts, 6 rebs) and Clarkson (16pts, 11 rebs, 5 offensive boards) worked hard underneath against a bigger Lynchburg front line.  Capin hit a couple of key 3 pointers and finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds.

This team is a work in progress as Coach K substituted frequently looking for the right combination of guys to gel.  I think injuries and illness have impacted practice time.  The young guys played a big role and Hermann is still out so the big guys had to play a lot of minutes.

CNU plays St. John Fischer tonight.

Word is that a couple of new guys are competing for the PG spot.  Tre is a 3 I think.  Preston is a 5 and Clarkson is a forward so no conflict there.  Both guys were stuck behind the seniors last year and probably should have gotten more playing time especially given how poorly we rebounded the ball at times.  I never could understand why CJ played so many 3 guard sets while surrendering the glass but Preston was not going to play in front of Big Mark and Clarkson wasn't going to play in front of Theo, Josh or Green.   It will be interesting to see how Coach Krikorian uses his talent.

My point was that the core group of athletic guys can rebound, run the floor and finish at/above the rim.  Combine the group with a rebounding big man like Preston and a crafty PG who can push it up the floor and we should win some games.

What a difference a year makes.  Last year there were 15 healthy guys all year with not enough minutes to go around.  This year there may be room for 4 or 5 walk-ons on the CNU roster.

Hermann has been seen hobbling around campus with a foot injury.  I was told he will play this year but won't likely be ready for the first game.  Farris messed up his hand but should be ready by Nov 19.  A transfer named Luc looked good in preseason workouts but hurt his knee and is out for the season. 

As for Klein, transfers and the walk-ons, I haven't seen anybody play yet against competition so it's hard to tell who Coach K will use in the rotation especially at the critical PG position.  From what I could tell at MM, Hector has spent time in the weight room as has Clarkson and Preston who all look bigger than last year.  Tre, Conley, Clarkson, Greene and a healthy Hermann give the Captains a good athletic core.  Given the injuries and promised up tempo style of play, I suspect that the Captains will be going deeper into the bench this year and will need production from the younger guys.

Freeman Center was packed for MM which included intros, dunk contest and a 3 pt shooting contest against All America Chelsie Schweers who actually had an off night and lost to a guy out of the crowd. I'm sure this will provide her plenty of incentive to knock down 75% of her shots this season.

5 or 6 guys started  in the dunk contest which turned into a head to head match between Clarkson and a freshman named Tre.  (I don't remember his last name and the roster isn't posted yet).  Tre won with a nice spinning 360 slammer but the crowd favorite was Clarkson who leaped over Preston, caught a ball that Preston on his knees bounced high in the air and slammed home a two hander bringing the crowd to it's feet.

The team looks solid although there are a number of new faces and several guys are injured.  The non-conference schedule looks challenging as I see that Coach K has scheduled games against three ranked D3 teams including #2 Randolph Macon.

Two weeks left until Midnight Madness.  Rumor around the Freeman Center is that only 8 players are back from last year's playoff team.  Josh, Theo and Big Mark graduated while Going, Xavier and DaJuan are not coming back.  With only 2 seniors on this year's team, the younger guys will need to step it up early.  No predictions at this point other than to say that Coach Krikorians's new defensive oriented Captains with their up tempo offense should be competitive and fun to watch.

My sources in the athletic department say that there have been several hundred inquiries, referrals and applications for the head coaching position.  Many of the candidates are assistants with current D2 and D3 college coaching experience.  Given CNU's past successes and first class facilities, it sounds like this  is considered to be a hot coaching job.  I think the chances are remote that CJ would risk hiring someone without a proven college coaching record.  If Ross doesn't stick around, it would make sense to have another assistant on staff with strong ties to the local 757 basketball community.

The mystical spell of the pink warm up shirts came to an end after 6 straight wins.  Looks like we can start next year in the regular gear.  CNU gave them a game for 15 minutes but Bonner and Sanborn proved too much to handle for the Captains.  Once CNU fell behind and got out of any offensive rhythm, it seemed that every possession became a one shot and done display of Newport News YMCA street ball.

I thought Big Mark did a decent job on the ODAC POY although Sanborn still finished with 16 points and completely dominated the boards with 17 rebounds.  Bonner was equally impressive for the Quakers.  He actually missed a couple of shots to show us that he is human but 8-10 from 3 point land was awesome.  CNU sat in their 2-3 zone most of the night and was kind of slow on the rotations leaving the weak side totally exposed.  Bonner took full advantage as #34 was wide open to knock down 3 after 3.

As it has gone recently, the Captains got out rebounded 46-27 and were -9 on the O glass.  Somewhere around mid-season, this team began routinely giving up mid to high teens in offensive rebounds.  We need to play bigger across the front line next year and do a much better job of boxing out on the weak side.  Rebound totals from last night pretty much tell the story as the 5's had 14, the 4's had 2 and the 3's had 1 rebound.  Defense and rebounding control the tempo of a basketball game and it will be a long season next year if we don't start to muscle up.

As for next season, this fan's wish list is for a bigger front line, a coach willing to demand defense from his players and a shooting guard with a new unselfish positive attitude.  I thought it was absurd to see our top scorer sulking at the far end of the bench during a late in the game timeout after getting yanked when the rest of the team was huddled up around CJ at the opposite end of the bench.  That kid needs to grow up.  The team is bigger than any individual player and his WIFM attitude.

Having said all that, congrats to the Captains for playing with passion over the last month and salvaging what could have been a dismal season.  Work hard in the off season and come back fired up next year and ready to defend the USA South title.

It was a great day for USA South basketball.  I got off early and went over to see both boys semi-final games as well as the CNU girls game.  Crowds were good at the Freeman and the basketball was high quality.  Both finals will be fun to watch today.

CNU will need bring their A game to this war near the shore.  That NCW team loves to rebound and run, run and then run some more.  They remind me of the old Paul Westhead run and gun Loyola teams that didn't play much defense but shot the ball every 8 seconds and routinely put up 90+ points.  Coach Thompson even looks a little like Westhead although I see some Pat Reilly in his GQ look as well.

I'm hoping our crafty and sly 501 win coach has some tricks up his sleeve for stopping the ball early and slowing down the track meet.  Shooting 50% again and making them inbound the ball would be a nice start.  Controlling the tempo and limiting the transition buckets will be important.  Make them work for everything.  NCW will go down fighting.  With six seniors graduating and no juniors on this team, I think it will be all in for Drake, Arrington, Stokes and Frazier.  Good luck to the Captains today.

One of this season's great mysteries is why CNU has been rarely able to string together two halves of good basketball.  No lead has been safe and yesterday was no exception. 

During MU's 20-5 run to open the 2nd half, you saw the same problems that have plagued the Captains all season....poor shot selection, turnovers and soft defense.  Everyone starts pressing.  Our shooting guards (Josh and Theo) step further and further back to take really early NBA length jump shots.  Our other shooting guard (the one without an outside shot) goes one on one to the basket several times and but doesn't get the ball to drop.  Hermann and Big Mark settle for jump shots when we should be posting up the big fellas.  4 turnovers result in easy transition baskets.  No defensive intensity as MU players are left wide open to knock down 3 pointers.  Most importantly, we seem to lack a Davon Barton type leader this year to take control and slow everybody down when things start to go haywire.

All said, two road wins should build good momentum for the tournament.  The team was +19 on the boards yesterday and only gave up 4 offensive rebounds.  I thought I was in heaven.   Good luck to CJ and the Captains this week.

A CNU win on the road in OT sets the table for tonight's game at MU.  A win gives CJ #499, the team a .500 record and the Captains the #3 seed.  A loss leaves CJ at 498 and means the Captains would need to beat NCW and make the tournament final next week for CJ to grab #500 this season.  It turns out the regular season finale is important for a bunch of reasons.

CNU didn't shoot the ball well at GC but played a good defensive game and was helped by GC's 36% shooting from the field.  Rebounding was good at +6 although we gave up another 14 offensive boards resulting in too many second chances.  Despite all that, CNU led by 8 with 2 1/2 minutes to play but a series of poor possessions, missed shots, turnovers and fouls let the Pride send this one into OT.  Even OT was no day at the beach as CNU led by 5 with 12 seconds to play but 2 clutch free throws by Paul Going iced the game.

This season has been a roller coaster.

The two key games are NCW @ Averett tomorrow night and CNU @ Greensboro on Friday.  The good news from CNU's perspective is that they will know exactly what they are playing for when they get on the bus Friday morning.

The NCW game would be fun to watch.  NCW has the #1 ranked offense in the league.  Averett has the #1 defense.  Does offense trump defense?  Even though they are on the road, my prediction is that Drake/Arrington get the best of Hart/Malone and NCW wins by 6.

CNU @ Greensboro could go either way.  The first game was a 15 point blow out until GC cut the lead down to 2 with a minute left.  A couple of baskets and some foul shots gave CNU a 9 pt win at home.  I think CNU grows tired of reading my posts and shows up ready to play team defense and rebound the basketball this weekend.  CNU by 8 in this one and then they take care of business Saturday @ MU to lock up the #3.

Karma was flowing the Captains way today as Chelsia and Theo both hit huge 3's from the same identical corner spot at the end of regulation.  Chelsia nailed her shot with 1.7 seconds left in regulation to send the game into OT and allow the girls to extend their unbeaten streak to 23 games.

Poor overall shooting night for CNU guys but much better effort defensively.  CNU got outrebounded by 8 and gave up 15 on the O glass.  CJ has to figure out how to fix the rebounding situation.  He loves to go with the shorter lineup but we get killed on the boards.  #33 Mitchell had 16 points and 21 boards for Ferrum and broke Hermann's nose with a monster two handed jame right over the guy.

The #3 seed is huge for CNU as I would hate to have to play these Ferrum guys again in the 1st round.  I'm a little mystified that they are 4-7 in conference.