UNCW - Home

A note:

I join the Dragons staff in enjoying my snow day.  Please enjoy the below from Alan as his posting mirrors my opinion of this game - Drexel abused UNCW in the first matchup and after back to back games of being outtoughed and looking tuned out, they can either answer the doubters here, or decisively prove them right.

This game is available to watch online, and if you're in the Philadelphia area and beyond the reaches of the El or BSL, I recommend that you watch from home.  The noon tip is an insult to public safety workers, from the Department of Streets to PPD/PFD to Drexel's own PD.  Lets once again rise up and try to do better than those that represent our school and keep the roads as safe as possible so those people can do their jobs.  Logistics are always challenging in situations like this, but we need to see better.

~Dan

Prediction:  UNCW 72, Drexel 68
Vegas Line:  TBA


Alan Boston's Take:

Losers of 3 in a row all on the road, Drexel finally comes home to both some snow and a rematch with tied for first place UNCW. In the first game, Drexel was never truly in it, but never allowed UNCW to create a blow out. Drexel helped themselves by outrebounding UNCW 44 to 31, but hurt themselves by missing many easy shots. Given that JMU just crushed Drexel on the boards, it would behoove Drexel to get back some of the toughness that the program was known for. Getting blown out in back to back games is one thing but losing the rebounding battle 44-21 to JMU indicates more of a lack of effort and toughness.  To a Drexel fan should be extremely disturbing.

Despite all that, given how the first game played out Drexel has what looks like a winnable game. If you can limit turnovers vs UNCW, they are very beatable. I have written this before but I do believe that Drexel is all in on this one. I also believe that "all in" is good enough to beat what I think is a very over rated team in UNCW. This is certainly the last hurrah for Drexel. At least, I hope so.


Drexel 75 UNCW 71

James Madison Away - Postgame

The below is written by Jay Koeppel - The infamous "DrexelJay" of the CAAZone.  We welcome back Jay and thank him for his contribution below.


Final Score: JMU 68 Drexel 45
Drexel Player of the Game: Kazembe Abif
Key to the Game: Bench points. Points in Paint. Rebounding. 2nd Chance Points.
Next Game: Sunday January 24, Noon - vs UNCW


Tonight's game ends my personal boycott of Drexel basketball - but for only one game. I promised myself over a year ago that until Bruiser and Zillmer were removed from the Athletics Department, I would never watch another Drexel Dragons men's hoops game. I also made a promise that as soon as they were gone, I would pledge my support to the new leadership in hopes of helping get the program back to something that we can all be proud of. While our fanbase may not always get along,  everybody in our fanbase - but we have always had the same goal in mind. We want this team to WIN. We hold the team more accountable than our Athletic Department does. And the vast majority that I have spoken to have accepted that the time has come for changes to be made.

With all that said, I never expected this year's team to be this bad. 3-14 is shocking (even to the most cynical fan) and even though I am not watching the games, I still read this blog. I respect the people who put it together and the passion they display. But 3-14 is enough to get me to watch a game. Why? I want to see for myself if it is really that bad. I wrote this intro 45 minutes before tip-off knowing absolutely nothing about this year's team besides their record. I know nothing about JMU either. I have watched a lot of college hoops this year - but I haven't watched any CAA hoops. I am not going to go too crazy breaking down the x's and o's. I am simply going to give this team the eye test.

First Half Comments:

1. What a sad fan turnout for a first place JMU team. That gym is less than half full at tip-off.

2. Four of the first six Drexel shots were 3 pointers (3-6).

3. Drexel goes up 17-13 with 9:35 left. Solid defensive effort thus far.

4. JMU up 28-18 at halftime. Drexel scores 1 point in final 10:29 of first half.

Postgame Comments:

5. Drexel winds up shooting 31% from the field including 3-18 from 3 point range (0-12 after starting 3-6)

6. Points in the paint: JMU 34 Drexel 10

7. Bench Points: JMU 27 Drexel 0

8. 2nd chance points: JMU 17 Drexel 3

9. Drexel was out-rebounded 44-20. (15-4 offensive)

This was painful to watch. An absolutely pathetic showing. Today is Throwback Thursday and this was certainly a Bruiser Flint throwback game - only worse. Those were problems of the good old days. I feel like I have watched the final 10+ minutes of the first half at least 20 times before. The Bruiser Flint extended offensive droughts are the staple of our Drexel fandom. It is mind-boggling to think that a team could play more than a quarter of a game and not hit a single shot.

The shame of it is that James Madison is also a bad team and they are in first place in the CAA and just beat us by 23 points. Please don't tell me that they aren't bad. Any decent team from the golden era of the CAA (George Mason, VCU, ODU, even Drexel) would mop the floor with the JMU team I saw play tonight. It is amazing that we play in a conference that is so winnable - yet we continue to regress.

I am not going to write about any of the players. They are not the ones to blame. But now - at 3-15 - I can't figure out how anybody willingly watches this. At halftime, my girlfriend needed me to help her pick up empty boxes from a neighbor's house in the freezing cold. It was the most entertaining part of my night. And with that, I will be fading back in to my self imposed Drexel basketball ban. I wish I could write more but I am not quite sure what else to say that hasn't been said yet - except...

See you when I see you. The apathy is real.

James Madison - Away

The Dragons traveled from Philadelphia to God's Rest Stop, Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Wednesday afternoon in anticipation of a Thursday night showdown at the Convo.  Coming off of back to back seasons of 200+ finishes in the Kenpom ratings, it comes as something of a shock that Matt Brady's gang are in the top 100 this year in both Kenpom and the RPI, backed by a 13-5 D-I record.  This team seems for real, and had they been able to defend their home court in the early CAA season, would be locked into an NIT bid.  Instead JMU is just 1-2 at home in CAA play with losses to Elon and College of Charleston which has to be frustrating to a team capable of much better.

The Dukes cup runneth over with upperclassmen depth, led by senior sharpshooter Winston Grays and perennial underrated CAA Player of the Year candidate Ron Curry.  Not only will Curry hang out around 40% from downtown all season long, he will be in the top 250 nationally in both assist rate and turnover rate.  The fact that Curry came in alongside Andre Nation and not only stood tall on his own, but ended up being the better basketball player, is a testament to Curry both on and off the court.

And therein lies the rub.  It was going into a game at Drexel last season that Andre Nation's last major suspension was handed down.  He was removed from the program at that time, at which point the team's record was 9-8.  The Dukes went 10-4 from that point on and clinched a share of the regular season title.  This year the tide kept rolling behind a sudden attention to detail, defense and discipline.  The Dukes may finish in the top 100 nationally in defensive efficiency this year, a far cry from the past two years where they have been at or near the CAA basement in that category.  Inside Yohanny Dalembert continues to build towards his potential and is a formidable body for opposing big men to deal with.  At the other post position, the Drexel big men will be forced to go and do that which they don't want to do and guard the perimeter as the rotation of Shakir Brown, Tom Vodanovich and Dimitrije Cabarkapa all can shoot from 18 feet.

So there you go:  As long as you have a big that can guard the perimeter, all you have to deal with is a talented mountain of Yohanny Dalembert, an all CAA point guard, a senior sharp shooter and a junior 6'7" sg/wing who has hit 37% from distance over his career.  And they have instilled discipline and defend now too.  It might be time to be less surprised about how good JMU's record is and more surprised by how they lost two home league games.  This game shapes up to be a serious uphill battle for the Dragons.

And maybe that's not a bad thing.  Bruiser Flint was factually correct in saying that his players were outtoughed at Towson.  They have also lacked discipline for the vast majority of the season.  Coming off of an embarrassing performance last weekend, maybe going into the lion's den will show them how tough they can be.  Without a doubt, another performance like they showed at Towson will mean an even bigger blowout this time.  This game will be all the proof needed to know if the coaching staff still has a hold on their team.  That question has been asked before, both this year and in years past, and the team and its staff have always risen to the occasion.  Between that, the slow pace that both teams have played at this year and the old home court disadvantage theory that JMU seems to be abiding by, there's a chance this might just be a ballgame.

Prediction:  JMU 65 - Drexel 62
Vegas Line:  JMU -11.5



Addendum - The CAA All Underrated Team

PG - Luke Eddy (Yes, I took him off the ball so I could cheat)
SG - Caleb Donnelly
Wing - Ron Curry
SF - John Brown
C - Kazembe Abif


Addendum two

Open question:  Are the ladies of JMU good looking enough that, were Rick Pitino to coach there, he wouldn't bother hiring strippers to help recruit?

Alan Boston's Take:

It would appear to be teams headed the opposite way in Harrisonburg. Experienced and well coached JMU is coming off the week of all weeks, with upset wins at both Northeastern and then even more impressively at a very focused Hofstra in overtime. With 5 returning starters and an excellent Senior point guard, Ron Curry, you would think this team would be consistently good, Strangely, they did lose at home to both C of C and Elon.

Drexel arrives off an embarrassing and given their recent improvement, a very disappointing effort at Towson. On paper looks like a mismatch. JMU after last week, is certainly one of the favorites to win the Colonial. Drexel is one of the favorites to finish last. However, it does not work quite that way with sports. The Dukes recent home run efforts could lead to a bit of complacency and Drexel off their worst effort of the year, will certainly be all in here. Doubt it will be good enough to get the win, but I do think Drexel gets back to some of the good they showed and keeps this close.

JMU 65 Drexel 61

This Aggression Will Not Stand

The conference season is now one third over, and with the Dragons on a three win pace it could perhaps be going better.  There was some light just two weeks ago when the Dragon offense woke up and broke the point per possession barrier in consecutive games against William and Mary and College of Charleston.  Sadly, that light couldn't make it eight days before coming crashing down with Drexel's following two games, which were their worst and third worst offensive outputs of the season.  It appears that opposing coaches noticed Drexel's change away from the midrange game and are now having their players collapse in the paint.

When a team has gotten smarter than the midrange game, but also can't consistently hit from three, they have to run an offense of cuts, ball movement and speed.  Not once during the game at Towson did we see a driving player draw an extra defender and then pass the ball, perhaps the reason that the Tigers blocked almost 25% of Drexel's shot attempts.  Between the 11 shots blocked and the 9 turnovers the Dragons had 20 empty possessions in a 68 possession game.  Good luck with that.

And while an entire post should be devoted towards how ball movement and speed can take this offense to the next level right now we acknowledge that the following things are true:  Drexel's offense is one of the 10 worst in college basketball at this time.  The teams effective shooting percentage of 42.4% is behind such legendary teams as Louisiana Monroe, McNeese St, Quinnpiac or even Delaware.  In conference games that effective shooting percentage number is 40.6% which would be next to last in all of Division-I.  Thank Prairie View for keeping them out of the cellar.  Without any question at all, Drexel is dead last in the country at shooting % relative to size of basketball program budget.  The schools return on investment for basketball funds also needs a whole post of its own, and it will get one at the end of the year.  The end of the year is the time for a review and critique of the overall problem, during the season is when we look for bandaids.

The first bandaid was to get the ball into the post.  While there are certainly execution issues, and Bruiser was correct, his guys were "out-toughed" at Towson, the coaching staff has made that change, and with some tinkering, hopefully results will follow.  The next bandaid can be a simple, easily executed one:  bring back the rock fight.  When your team can't shoot, defensive slugfests are your friend.  Run and gun is decisively not.  And to prove that out, the numbers:  In games with 70 or over possessions this year, opponents are averaging 1.07 points per possession.  In games with under 70 that number is 1.01.  The difference between the two next to about 4 extra points for an opponent per game.  Drexel on the other hand, is averaging .94 points per possession both in games with 70 or over possessions and in games with under 70, no change.  The Dragons aren't turning the ball over any more or less in uptempo games, they are simply poor at transition defense.  The slower these games go, the better the outcome seems to be.

It's ironic and beneficial to discover this prior to playing JMU on Thursday.  Besides being one of the conferences slower teams, JMU has also been playing much more disciplined, defensive basketball this year, a perfect rockfight recipe.  Coming off of a game in which they were just "out-toughed" a snotknocking, slow tempo, slugfest might be exactly what the doctor ordered for this defense.  No long rebounds on poor shots, no dumb run and gun passes into the seats, just boring defensive basketball.  That's how this team gives itself a chance.

One last stat:

In games with 70 possessions or over the Dragons are 0-7
In games with less than 70 possessions the Dragons are 3-6

Towson Away - Postgame

Bill Treichel, frequent behind the scenes contributor, makes his writing debut with the below wrap of the Towson/Drexel showdown from this weekend. Thanks, as always, to Bill for his continued support.

Final Score: Towson 69, Drexel 50

Drexel Player of the Game: Terrell Allen

Key to the Game: Aiming for the broad side of the barn

Next Game: Thursday Jan. 21 @ JMU

The Dragons visited the Artist Formerly Known As Towson State on Saturday.  Those fans that chose to skip an afternoon of NFL playoff football were treated to a bit of a lopsided affair in favor of the home team.  The short short version for those of you in a hurry: Towson paired solid defense with pace in transition to race to a 33-12 halftime lead, and cruised the rest of the way.

For those of you not yet finished drinking your after dinner digestif (or morning coffee, whatever the case may be), let’s look at this one some more.  The defense was about the same as it’s been all season.  Drexel should crash the offensive boards better or get back more quickly in transition, but seem to be doing neither of those things well these days.  Let’s focus on the offense.

The first thing that we see is this contest is another illustration of a common theme this season:  Shot selection.  Some observations:

• At some point in the first half: Drexel had more shots blocked (4) than points (3)
• At the half, Drexel had only scored 5 baskets from the floor, all at the rim.  The were 0-for-everything elsewhere (minus the 2 foul shots)
• The first non-layup, non-charity stripe shot: an inbounds play!  Well not so much a play, rather Tavon finding Mojica in the corner for 3.  This didn’t occur until at the 16:45 mark of the second half.
• Throughout the first half, the Dragons were making a somewhat uncharacteristic attempt to attack in the paint: both by passing it in to forwards who didn’t reflexively pass it back out to the perimeter, and by guards slashing to the rim (sometimes a bit too recklessly).

While this was an illustration of the point (higher percentage shots usually go for higher percentages!), this game was not lost because the offense was taking ill-advised shots, for the most part.  Rather, they were simply outmuscled on the boards and outhustled down the court.   That inbounds 3-pointer by Mojica mentioned earlier?  That proved to be the only points in a 4-minute span until another inbounds play (this time for a dunk) brushed the dust off of the scorekeeper’s “visitor +2” button.  

For most of the 1st half, the baskets weren’t coming, but the defense was able to keep the game within reach.  Once the offense started pressing and playing hero ball, the Tigers were able to make Drexel pay in transition and build an insurmountable lead.  The Dragons were able to make up little ground in the second half, and finished the afternoon shooting 26.7% from the floor.  The team didn’t make their first mid range jumper until there was just 12:30 left in the game, and only one player shot above 38% on the day.  That was freshman Andrew Cartwright who drained a 3 in the waning seconds of the contest.  Freshman Terrell Allen led all Dragons with 15 points, but did most of his damage from the charity stripe (8-for-10).  The PG didn’t have the greatest assists-to-turnover ratio, but it’s hard to pick up assists when 73% of the team’s shots aren’t falling.

It seems obvious that despite this weekend’s outcome, the offense is moving in the right direction.  For the last few games, the team has begun doing some of the things that fans (or at least this fan) has been hoping to see all season.  For a team without a true deep threat, you have to manufacture ways to get the guys to the rim.  I didn’t think that a minor modification to the trademark Bruiser Weave (patent pending) would do that, but that’s what we saw the offense do at Towson.  The wheel wasn’t reinvented, but the players were coached to look for something better than just the open look that the defense gives them.  That, my friends, is a big step in the right direction.

Towson Away - Pregame

The Bill Batemen's Wings Drexel Fan Trip to Towson leads up to a 4pm tip at the State Employees Credit Union Arena on the campus of Towson University.  A postgame highlight reel has already been released:

If napalm in the morning isn't your cup of tea, how about the smell of two bad teams in a poorly officiated free throw contest?  It's #CAAHoops on a Saturday afternoon!

The worst kept secret in the CAA is that the Saturday games, when the best east coast officials are spread throughout the ACC, SEC, A-10, or American conferences often get third tier officials.  Now take note of this particular stat from Kenpom,com:

Lay your eyes on the bottom line here, which shows the Towson offense, behind stud forward Arnaud Willaim Adala Moto, is 11th in the country in getting to the line.  There are 351 D-I basketball teams right now, so doing some loose math with a base of 10, only 7 teams in the country put more players on the line than the Dragons.  Add to the recipe the back bench officials and the emphasis on this game needs to be around the foul line.  That breaks down to three key points:

1)  Who gets fouled:  Tyshawn Myles and Timajh Parker-Rivera for example, are about 50/50 propositions when they're at the free throw line.  That's only a point per possession when they're put at the line.  Tavon Allen or Adala Moto on the other hand are closer to 80% shooters, an expected 1.6 points per possession.  That's a massive difference over the course of the game.

2)  Who does the fouling:  Rodney Williams importance to the Dragons team has been clearly showcased over the last two weeks.  After only playing 8 minutes at Hofstra, he needs to keep himself in this game, as do Moto and the very underrated John Brown for Towson.

3)  Forcing the issue:  Both of these teams have a tendency for lazy offense from time to time.  The team that will get to the line the most will be the team that passes up the jumpshot and goes hard to the basket.  As a coach, this is a game to be accepting of offensive fouls, as long as they are in the course of a player being aggressive.  Every mid range jumpshot is worth roughly .7 points per possession for these team, each trip to the line is closer to 1.4.  Taking that jumper in this game is essentially spotting your opponent a possession - a turnover - and completely unacceptable.

We would much rather write a pregame post on the battle between Rodney Williams and Arnaud William Adala Moto, or the similarities between Mike Morsell and Tavon Allen (both leading their team in shots while poorly shooting, evidence of completely irresponsible coaching) or how John Davis has always been one of my favorite players in this conference to watch during his three year career.  Or about X's and O's and how DU needs to figure out zone offense to contend in this game.  But this is much more likely to be a poorly officiated Saturday rockfight between two bad teams.  Or as we like to call it, CAA Hoops, where somebody has to win!


Prediction:  Towson 68, Drexel 60
Vegas Line Towson -6.5

Hofstra Away - Postgame

Thanks to Mark Walush, who wrote the post game wrap below:


Final Score: Hofstra 69, Drexel 61
Drexel Player of the Game: Kazembe Abif
Key to the Game: Missed Opportunities
Next Game: Saturday Jan 16, @ Towson

Coming into this game, it appeared to be an absolute mismatch on paper, with Hofstra's offense being an absolute wrecking ball so far this season, going against a Drexel team that has not only struggled to defend opposing teams, but also being unable to put up significant points on their own. The Dragons had shown promise the past few games, putting up over 1 point per possession, but this game was far from the offensive showcase it was expecting to be.

In a game that saw 76 possessions per team, only 130 total points were put up, a paltry 0.85 points per possession, a rate which would be bottom 10 nationally for a team. Due to both teams offensive struggles, Hofstra was never able to pull away from Drexel, and Drexel was never able to mount a significant comeback. This led to a game that was within a few possessions cover to cover, with Drexel actually taking a lead 56-54 late in the second  half. Hofstra then went on a quick 10-0 run which sealed the game for the Pride.

As we have seen with this Drexel team throughout this season, late game situations have proven to be a trouble area. Multiple times from the U-4 timeout, there were botched inbounds plays leading to untimely turnovers, poor shot selection (aka mid range jumpers) leading to easy transition buckets, and telegraphing passes leading to easy steals and even more transition baskets.

The gameplan going into this should have been to keep Hofstra off the perimeter, and maintain focus in the paint to prevent easy cutting layups and keep Hofstra off the free throw line. Drexel did manage to do at least 1 of those, holding Hofstra to 3-18 shooting on 3 pointers, well below their season average. However, sloppy defense on penetration in the lane led to fouls and easy and-1 opportunities. Hofstra shot 28 FTs compared to Drexel's 6, due to their ability to drive the lane and aggressively finish at the rim.

If you had said before the game that the Drexel defense would hold Hofstra to 0.91 points per possession, many would have assumed that the Dragons had won, or be in a position to win the game. Unfortunately, the Dragons countered the Pride's offensive performance shooting 40% inside the arc and 25% from 3.

One positive takeaway was the Dragons once again showing willingness to involve the forwards in the offense. This has exposed a weakness in the offensive game, though, the lack of a true outside threat. Without a legitimate 3 point shooter, defenses can easily clog the paint when Drexel passes inside and stifle the forwards. More consistent shooting from outside can stretch the defense out to the 3 point line, opening things up for the forwards, significantly improving the offensive efficiency.
At the end of the day, while the team does show signs of improving, and the talent is there, execution and preparation continue to rear its ugly head in clutch situations, leading to many close losses. (10 of Drexel's 13 losses have been by single digits) With another game in the books, we look towards Towson on Saturday and hope to gain some momentum for the rest of the season.