For those of you planning to take the Jeopardy on-line test this week, I have prepared a practice version for you.
Check it out here, here, or here.
Good luck.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A-Sun Women's Upset of the Year (So Far)
ETSU 80, Jacksonville 74
What's amazing about this is that the game was in Jacksonville, the Dolphins played pretty well, and ETSU still found a way to win. Michelle DeVault was out of her mind, hitting 6 of 7 three's en route to 20 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Siarre Evans chipped in 18, and Kelly Turman added 14 off the bench.
Impressively, ETSU basically shut down Regina Omoite, holding her to 10 points on 2 of 7 shooting. The Dolphins tried valiently to pick up the slack, getting big nights from Ashley Williams, Courtney Jackson, and especially Virginia Gregorie (21 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals).
But ETSU got ahead early, and Jacksonville just couldn't make enough of a run to retake the lead. Every time the Dolphins got close, ETSU had an answer. On the road.
Well done.
What's amazing about this is that the game was in Jacksonville, the Dolphins played pretty well, and ETSU still found a way to win. Michelle DeVault was out of her mind, hitting 6 of 7 three's en route to 20 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Siarre Evans chipped in 18, and Kelly Turman added 14 off the bench.
Impressively, ETSU basically shut down Regina Omoite, holding her to 10 points on 2 of 7 shooting. The Dolphins tried valiently to pick up the slack, getting big nights from Ashley Williams, Courtney Jackson, and especially Virginia Gregorie (21 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals).
But ETSU got ahead early, and Jacksonville just couldn't make enough of a run to retake the lead. Every time the Dolphins got close, ETSU had an answer. On the road.
Well done.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Breaking News
The Ohio Valley Conference has lifted a key membership restriction -- requiring member schools to field a football team.
The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reported the story yesterday:
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/SPORTS07/801240343/1006/rss04
The OVC offices are in Nashville. All but 4 of their members are in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Is this a play to get Belmont and Lispcomb out of the A-Sun? Are they making a run at former members ETSU, Evansville, or somebody else?
We shall see. Stay tuned.
The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reported the story yesterday:
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/SPORTS07/801240343/1006/rss04
The OVC offices are in Nashville. All but 4 of their members are in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Is this a play to get Belmont and Lispcomb out of the A-Sun? Are they making a run at former members ETSU, Evansville, or somebody else?
We shall see. Stay tuned.
I Was Right, For Once
Lipscomb's game with Mercer last night was every bit of the ball game we thought it would be.
Mercer 84, Lipscomb 82. Lipscomb has 3 chances to tie or win in the final 6 seconds. Ard missed a 3. Pfaff missed two free throws (the second one on purpose). Josh Slater got the rebound, but his 3-ball was blocked by Player of the Game Calvin Henry.
Henry was one of 4 Mercer starters in double figures -- 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists. Mercer also had 8 players play at least 14 minutes, showing off the depth we discussed yesterday.
Lipscomb also showed some nice depth, too. 9 players played at least 12 minutes, a welcome change of pace from Scott Sanderson's M.O. Jason Hopkins had a nice night, pulling down 8 rebounds in 24 minutes. He only scored 6 points, but he didn't miss a shot all night. Lakroy Daniels played well (as he usually does in games Lipscomb has a chance to win), and Eddie Ard was Eddie Ard.
In other action, Gardner-Webb beat Stetson by 5 (I was right again), Kennesaw got Belmont by 2, and Gulf Coast upset Campbell. Here's hoping the rest of the weekend is this much fun.
Mercer 84, Lipscomb 82. Lipscomb has 3 chances to tie or win in the final 6 seconds. Ard missed a 3. Pfaff missed two free throws (the second one on purpose). Josh Slater got the rebound, but his 3-ball was blocked by Player of the Game Calvin Henry.
Henry was one of 4 Mercer starters in double figures -- 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists. Mercer also had 8 players play at least 14 minutes, showing off the depth we discussed yesterday.
Lipscomb also showed some nice depth, too. 9 players played at least 12 minutes, a welcome change of pace from Scott Sanderson's M.O. Jason Hopkins had a nice night, pulling down 8 rebounds in 24 minutes. He only scored 6 points, but he didn't miss a shot all night. Lakroy Daniels played well (as he usually does in games Lipscomb has a chance to win), and Eddie Ard was Eddie Ard.
In other action, Gardner-Webb beat Stetson by 5 (I was right again), Kennesaw got Belmont by 2, and Gulf Coast upset Campbell. Here's hoping the rest of the weekend is this much fun.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Moment of Truth Weekend
Now than conference play is in full swing, there are a couple of nice stories that I fear will come crashing back to Earth this weekend.
Jacksonville -- They're unbeaten in conference so far, including 2 overtime wins, so they'll probably still find themselves in first place come Tuesday morning. But ETSU is coming to town, and the Bucs are strong in the Dolphins weak places. Jacksonville makes its living on 3-point defense, and in the A-Sun, that's as close to a recipe for success as you're going to find. That said, ETSU is the conference's best-shooting team inside the arc. Even on Jacksonville's home court, this match-up plays to ETSU's strengths. Look for the Belmont's and Lipscomb's of the league to take notice.
Stetson -- Their only loss in conference so far is a 3-OT thriller at Jacksonville, and since then they have won 5 straight including a non-conference win over Longwood. That run should end this weekend, as they make the North Carolina trip. Garfield Blair has played well, but the rest of his team doesn't match up well against the deeper GW. Campbell is a lot like Stetson in their make-up, but their top player (Jonathan Rodriguez) is just better than Blair. Sorry, but he is.
The closest match-up this week looks to be Lipscomb at Mercer. If both teams play the way they are capable of, this should be a great match-up. Eddie Ard has risen to the occasion of conference play after struggling in the '07 part of the schedule, and Adnan Hozdic has been a revelation. Mercer is as balanced as ever, and gave league-leader Jacksonville all they wanted before falling by 2 in overtime. They're not real deep, but they're shooting the lights out in conference. Can Mercer's hot shooting continue against one of the league's best defenses? Can Lipscomb force Mercer to defend somebody other than Eddie Ard? Will Lipscomb have a conference game end in regulation?
We shall see.
Jacksonville -- They're unbeaten in conference so far, including 2 overtime wins, so they'll probably still find themselves in first place come Tuesday morning. But ETSU is coming to town, and the Bucs are strong in the Dolphins weak places. Jacksonville makes its living on 3-point defense, and in the A-Sun, that's as close to a recipe for success as you're going to find. That said, ETSU is the conference's best-shooting team inside the arc. Even on Jacksonville's home court, this match-up plays to ETSU's strengths. Look for the Belmont's and Lipscomb's of the league to take notice.
Stetson -- Their only loss in conference so far is a 3-OT thriller at Jacksonville, and since then they have won 5 straight including a non-conference win over Longwood. That run should end this weekend, as they make the North Carolina trip. Garfield Blair has played well, but the rest of his team doesn't match up well against the deeper GW. Campbell is a lot like Stetson in their make-up, but their top player (Jonathan Rodriguez) is just better than Blair. Sorry, but he is.
The closest match-up this week looks to be Lipscomb at Mercer. If both teams play the way they are capable of, this should be a great match-up. Eddie Ard has risen to the occasion of conference play after struggling in the '07 part of the schedule, and Adnan Hozdic has been a revelation. Mercer is as balanced as ever, and gave league-leader Jacksonville all they wanted before falling by 2 in overtime. They're not real deep, but they're shooting the lights out in conference. Can Mercer's hot shooting continue against one of the league's best defenses? Can Lipscomb force Mercer to defend somebody other than Eddie Ard? Will Lipscomb have a conference game end in regulation?
We shall see.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A-Sun Weekend Review
The ETSU-Belmont game turned out to be pretty good. Kudos to the Bucs, making their toughest road trip of the year and coming away with the split. Either team is good enough to get the 1-seed and the automatic spot in the NIT, provided Jacksonville comes back to Earth.
The rest of the weekend, not so much. Upstate's men gave Lipscomb a scare at Allen Arena Thursday. But the lesson of the rest of the weekend is never to underestimate the ability of bad teams to make other bad teams look good. Case in point -- Upstate @ Lipscomb women. Lipscomb is nowhere near good enough to beat anybody by 35. A team that shoots under 30% from the field for the season can only hit better than 50% and go 9-19 from 3-point range is they're playing a bad team having a bad night. But that's what happened. Lady Bisons 82, Upstate 47.
The most impressive performance of the weekend was Jacksonville's women winning by 15 at North Florida. Even when they don't play particularly well, the Dolphins can still make anybody else in the conference look really bad.
Easily the best defensive team in the league, Jacksonville went on an 18-minute stretch where they outscored North Florida 23-2. During that stretch North Florida hit 1 of 23 shots and turned the ball over 13 times.
And Jacksonville posted those defensive numbers while commiting one foul. One. Jacksonville had zero team fouls in the first 14 minutes of the second half.
This game might have been the conference's best shot at pinning a loss on Jacksonville this year. I'm not saying they will go 16-0, but I won't be too terribly surprised if they do.
The rest of the weekend, not so much. Upstate's men gave Lipscomb a scare at Allen Arena Thursday. But the lesson of the rest of the weekend is never to underestimate the ability of bad teams to make other bad teams look good. Case in point -- Upstate @ Lipscomb women. Lipscomb is nowhere near good enough to beat anybody by 35. A team that shoots under 30% from the field for the season can only hit better than 50% and go 9-19 from 3-point range is they're playing a bad team having a bad night. But that's what happened. Lady Bisons 82, Upstate 47.
The most impressive performance of the weekend was Jacksonville's women winning by 15 at North Florida. Even when they don't play particularly well, the Dolphins can still make anybody else in the conference look really bad.
Easily the best defensive team in the league, Jacksonville went on an 18-minute stretch where they outscored North Florida 23-2. During that stretch North Florida hit 1 of 23 shots and turned the ball over 13 times.
And Jacksonville posted those defensive numbers while commiting one foul. One. Jacksonville had zero team fouls in the first 14 minutes of the second half.
This game might have been the conference's best shot at pinning a loss on Jacksonville this year. I'm not saying they will go 16-0, but I won't be too terribly surprised if they do.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Atlantic Sun Games of the Week
ETSU at Belmont tonight. Belmont is coming off a double-OT thriller at Lipscomb, and should have Justin Hare back. ETSU has won 3 of 4, and seems to be hitting their stride now thatthey've settled on a starting line-up. A couple of weeks ago I picked these two teams to finish 1-2 in the conference race. I'm picking Belmont, but not by much.
Close second -- Kennesaw State at Stetson. A true coin-flip game. Probably not as well-played as ETSU-Belmont, but the stats say it could truly go either way.
Women's GOTW -- Jacksonville @ North Florida. Here is where we find out whether North Florida is for real. Jacksonville is. The Dolphins made the ARV line in the latest coaches poll. Saturday looks to be their best chance to lose a game in conference this year.
Closest match-up -- USC-Upstate @ Lipscomb. Neither team is very good, and Lipscomb is at home, but there is at least a decent chance for an upset here.
Close second -- Kennesaw State at Stetson. A true coin-flip game. Probably not as well-played as ETSU-Belmont, but the stats say it could truly go either way.
Women's GOTW -- Jacksonville @ North Florida. Here is where we find out whether North Florida is for real. Jacksonville is. The Dolphins made the ARV line in the latest coaches poll. Saturday looks to be their best chance to lose a game in conference this year.
Closest match-up -- USC-Upstate @ Lipscomb. Neither team is very good, and Lipscomb is at home, but there is at least a decent chance for an upset here.
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