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In Drexel's game against James Madison on Thursday night a good team beat a bad one.  News at 11.

There were actually a couple of notable takeaways which we'll quickly hit:

Matt Brady wrote a blueprint for coaches the rest of the season when playing DU.  He correctly identified Drexel's only consistent scoring threats as Kazembe Abif and Rodney Williams, so he had his guys double them at all times.  Credit to the DU coaches and bigs, they were ready for it, and threw cross court passes to wide open guards at the three point line each and every time.  And with that, inconsistent shooters had plenty of shots.  There should have been an adjustment here leading to a big to big pass, but it never came and doesn't appear to be in any part of Drexel's playbook.  If other teams follow that blueprint, well, there's a reason why Brady was willing to leave guys shooting in the 25% vicinity open.  In Bruiser's words "Honestly, you don't really need to guard us."

On the DU side of the ball, the news of note is that Terrell Allen did not start either half. Terrell had been slumping but remains the dominant and deserving starting point guard job so this was a surprise move.  Generally it's not worth reading too much into players body language with Bru during games as tensions are high and any number of players who consider Bru family have clearly tuned him out in games.  However, adding some bad body language from Terrell to him being removed from the starting spot and one has to wonder if there's trouble in paradise.

Lastly, this team quit in the second half.  They were getting their brains bashed in on the boards all game, and when you couple that with how poorly they shot they were never really in the contest, but unquestionably, down the stretch, this team quit.  They quit on their coach and they quit on each other.

Five years ago, the Dragons ran the whole regular season without a home loss.  With this game the Dragons were swept on a four game homestand, for the first time ever in the Flint era.



ADDENDUM

The University of Louisville announced today that they are "sanctioning themselves" and removing themselves from postseason consideration.  When a school does this, it's important to look for what they're not saying.  No one thinks Louisville prosecuted themselves to the fullest extent of the law, and the dirt they must be very aware of certainly is damning.

As is widely known, Drexel alum Damion Lee is probably from time to time, attending classes at Louisville.  Damion is a Dragon, he has a degree from Drexel and will always be a Dragon.  Bruiser Flint was very upset with Damion's departure and was less than professional about it.  While Bru may or may not be feeling some schadenfreude today, no joy should be had, there were no angels in this situation.

It's clear that Damion had given the coaching staff his word that he was to return to DU for his Graduate season of eligibility.  He turned his back on that, accepting an opportunity to further his career, and increase his NBA and NCAA Tournament chances.  Many are feeling for Damion today, looking at what has been a simply legendary college career without ever having the chance to dance.  On the flip side of the coin, Damion likely gave his word and then went against it, and then went to a program that was known throughout the industry to be dirty.  It may be true that some of Louisville's dirt may be the way of D-I athletics in this day and age, but that doesn't make it right.  I wish the best for Damion and look forward to see what a scorer like him can do in the NBA - he's a Dragon, he's one of us - but in regards to his Louisville career not a tear will be shed.