So the time has arrived for the Nassau tournament. Not a great field but we have a real chance to win it.
Link for tournament
Bracket is on the link, since I cant figure out how to attach a picture that isnt a URL.

11/22:
G1-Toledo/Charlotte start at 12pm
G2-Drexel/Tulane follow at 2:30p
G3-Abilene Christian/Jacksonville State at 5:30p
G4 Coastal/Valpo at 8p

11/23:
G5- Loser of G1 and G2- 12pm 11/23
G6- Loser of G3 and G4- 2:30p
G7- Winner G1 and G2- 5:30p
G8- Winner G3 and G4- 8p

11/24:
G9 (7th place game)- Loser of G5 and G6- 12p
G10 (5th place game)- Winner G5 and G6- 2:30p
G11 (3rd place game)- Loser G7 and G8- 5:30p
G12 (Championship)- Winner G7 and G8- 8p

For comparison our NET is 147

Toledo: NET 79; 2-1 (wins over Valpo and Detroit, loss to Oakland)

Charlotte: NET 231; 3-0 (wins over Monmouth, SC Upstate and App State)

Tulane: NET 158; 1-2 (Win over SE Louisiana, losses to southern and Florida state(by only 5))

Abilene Christian: NET 74; 1-2 (Win over Texas-Arlington and losses to Utah and Texas A&M)

Jacksonville State: NET 156; 1-2 (Win over Alabama A&M, losses to Wichita State and Troy)

Coastal Carolina: NET 159; 1-1 (Win over non DI and loss to UNCW)

Valparaiso: NET 223; 0-3 (Losses to Toledo, Illinois-Chicago and Stanford)

It is nice Drexel doesn't have the first game. They can watch the first game

So for the purposes of scheduling our lives around basketball....

Monday - 2:30
Tuesday - 12:00 or 5:30
Wednesday - 12:00, 5:30 or 8:00

I'm holding off on getting my Aunt FLO subscription as long as possible. I probably won't be able to watch any games until Wednesday. So these first two games will determine if I need to subscribe now or hold off until 12/31. Losing the first two games could save me $12.50.

Our first opponent is Tulane. They are 1-2, they had a tough loss to Florida State their last time out. That close result seems amiss from their other 2 games. Playing FSU close is impressive. They rely pretty heavily on their starters. Against FSU 4 starters each were over 30 minutes. Their point guard rotated around and they played 4 others in double digit minutes and one more just shy. Playing 9 is decent, but all of their production came from their 4 workhorse starters. Seems like they truly play an 8 man rotation thus far. They have 3 guys averaging over 30 minutes per game (we have 1).

They score 64.7 points per game while giving up 66.3. They get after it on defense. They are forcing 8.7 steals and blocking 3.7 shots per game. The steals come from all positions. So we will need to move the ball well and take smart shots while taking care of the ball. They dont appear to share the ball well or at least not that lead to baskets (I.e. assists). As a team they are only averaging 11 assists per game (to our 17).

Their leading scorer is Cook at 22.7 points per game while shooting 49%. He is a sketchy FT shooter at 61.5%. He is a 6'0 freshman guard. He is a volume shooter for them. He has taken 51 of their teams 173 shots. His teammate Forbes has taken 40 himself. So those are the 2 offensive guys for Tulane. Forbes is a 6'5" sophomore guard. They are not terribly efficient. They are the ones who take their 3 point shots as well. Just about everyone else defers to these two. Forbes is only scoring 12.7 points per game, so he has been terribly inefficient thus far.

Their leading rebounder is Pope with 8 rebounds a game, split pretty evenly between offensive and defensive boards. Their guards crash the boards well as their leading shooters are also at 4.7 rebounds per game. So we will need to attack the ball once the shot is up.

ESPN's predictor have Tulane at a 50.8% chance for victory. I think this is a game we have to win, if we want to be taken seriously. We have played a more difficult schedule to date. I like our chances in this one

Drexel- 74
Tulane- 66

Looks like ACU is having issues with COVID and won't be going to Nassau: https://acusports.com/news/2021/11/18/me...anges.aspx

Bummer, they were always likely the best team in this pool of teams. That certainly means our side of the bracket is the more difficult side, which means better chances to beat solid teams. Hope our team is ready for the challenge

Looking forward to facing our old friend Coach Hunter

(11-19-2021 03:21 PM)DrachenFire Wrote:  Looking forward to facing our old friend Coach Hunter

Bring your popcorn and energy.

Lines for todays games:

Toledo (-2) vs Charlotte
Drexel vs Tulane (-1)
Valparaiso vs. Jacksonville State (-6.5)
Coastal gets a bye with ACU out

Good one in game 1. Fast paced fun game. They are at the half, Toledo leads 52-47

Sparse crowd, dimly lit building it appears. I have never been a fan of arenas that are only lit on the court and dark/pitch black for the fans and surrounding areas. I feel like that has to mess with players shooting.

Other notes: Sad they dont have towels on a stick to wipe the floor. Having 1 person hand wiping the floor is painful to watch. Charlotte needs to get rid of their uniforms. Not sure if they are trying to act like an NBA team or what, but CLT across the jersey is absolutely dreadful. NBA needs to get rid of the city 3 letter abbreviations, too. They look terrible. Also for those without flo, it appears reddit has these games on it (which flo usually does a good job avoiding any visibility)

We're the much more experienced team ,need to control the boards and really focus on taking care of the ball today against their defense.

AAD groups post is up. I was surprised to see how little confidence there is in us.
Link

Crazy good shooting by both teams in the first game. Hard to believe both teams went through some 4 minute scoring droughts. Toledo advances 98-86

I just ordered my Aunt Flo subscription for this tournament. I was hoping to wait until CAA season started. Hope they make it worthwhile. So it will end up costing $50 to watch Drexel and the CAA this season and then I'll cancel after my February renewal.

U16 timeout, Drexel playing well so far. Up 7-6. Cam looking good. Bell missed a bunny

With how many kids transfer these days, I wish announcers wouldnt keep saying where kids transfer from. Just acknowledge the school they are on now. Cook on fire for Tulane.

Nice trap there past half court forced a timeout. Up 13-11 13:44 left

U12 timeout, up 15-14. Amari showing some post moves. He is such an upgrade defensively too over Butler. We are getting some good looks against their changing defense (some zone some man), but missing these looks currently.

U8 we are down 22-19. Butler just took a nice charge. Baited the double team pass but was ready for it. We are getting some looks, but not hitting. We shouldnt settle for mid-range jumpers at the top of the key, though. Amari and Butler can do well on the low post to open up our shooters.