Barea Ready for the NBA

I am completely serious in that title. I have seen very players come into Trask that seem just as ready for the NBA as Barea. Sure you can look at the box score from the Seahawks 46-44 victory over Northeastern and be confused by this. Sure he shot 2-12 FG and 0-8 from 3 point land. But every player, including any star in the NBA has a bad shooting night, you have to look at potential and the style at which he plays his game. Shooting aside, you could have thought you were watching an NBA game. I saw numerous occasions where he miraculously went from the 3 point line to the basket without dribbling in supposedly 2 steps. Because of course the refs would have called travelling if it occured especially since they called it on his defender, John Goldsberry under the basket. Or maybe they knew that he was a future NBA player and that is the mentality that an NBA player has. And you can't penalize someone for that can you? And he had more turnovers than he did assists. Surely point guards in the NBA take good care of the ball and don't try too hard to make a fast pass or give the ball to someone who isn't looking. Or maybe I'm wrong, becuase NBA players usually have good control of their emotions and don't do something stupid during the game. I mean an NBA player wouldn't get tired of having his wristband on or get tired of the students that are heckling him and take said wristband and chuck it into the crowd. Oh wait did someone say Ron Artest who is an NBA star? Ok I guess he is ready.

But back to the game which was one of the ugliest and sweetest games I have witnessed in person. Both teams played hard nosed defense and hard horrendous shooting nights. The only thing that saved UNCW was the 16-4 adavantage we held in the offensive rebounding category and our 7 TO's compared to 19 for Northeastern. That along with some clutch FT's down the stretch from Daniel Fountain off the bench and of course the buzzer beating jumper by TJ Carter who is trying his best to go down in UNCW lore as one of the best clutch performers. After a memorable 28 points against GMU a week before hand he only put up 11, but we didn't need to many points when your opponent only scores 44. Not to mention that he logged a double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds to go along with his 11 points. Todd Hendley followed with 10 points, and Goldsberry dished out 7 assists with only 1 TO.

If you want to check out video of this last second shot click here and then click the link that says Northeastern @ UNCW.

In other CAA news a tiny bit of space has cleared up at the top of the standings with now just a 2 way tie between UNCW and GMU with a 9-2 league mark. There is a 2 way tie for 3rd between ODU and VCU who are now 8-3 in the conference. Hofstra stands alone in 5th at 7-3. Here are the complete CAA standings.

In the latest Mid Major Top 25 poll on collegeinsider.com several CAA teams remain on top of the Mid Major world:

8 GMU
11 UNCW
12 ODU
18 Hofstra
23 VCU
37 Drexel
40 Northeastern

In the latest associated press national poll GMU is ranked 45th receiving 1 vote to be ranked. They are tied with Stanford and Iona.

In the latest RPI rankings 5 teams remain in the top 100:

35 GMU
40 ODU
43 UNCW
58 VCU
69 Hofstra

Also in other UNCW news the Sehawks are mentioned in the latest bracketology on espn.com. Joe Lunardi has the Hawks as the 13th seed in Oakland region where he has Illinois as the #1. Lunardi has West Virginia facing off against us in the first round. This is very inconsequential information at this point but it is nice to see us listed on an NCAA bracket prediction hopefully we can make it come true. Also it is of interest that he has GMU and ODU on being just barely on the outside looking in. Did someone say 3 bids?

The next contest for UNCW is Drexel on Thursday at 7:00. The Seahawks have won the last 4 meetings and have only lost 2 games to the Dragons in the history of the series. Both of those came by 3 points or less in Philadelphia. There have been 4 overtime games in the 11 game series and UNCW has taken all of those matchups except 1. The last 3 games have been decided in the last minutes and this should be another good one. Everyone saw the headaches they gave Duke in Madison Square Garden and how they nearly beat UCLA. Not to mention their utter domination over ODU in the 1st matchup this year between those 2 teams. Last years game in Trask was won on a last second tip in by Halston Lane to give the Hawks a 1 point victory. The game will be broadcast on 980 AM. Here is a link to the live stats.

The other marquee matchups Thursday night are ODU vs. Hofstra from NYC and Towson vs. VCU in Richmond. Hofstra won the 1st matchup between the 2 teams in Norfolk but I don't see ODU dropping multiple games to anybody this year. Expect a big game from Alex Loughton some tight defense on Loren Stokes by Drew Williamson. ODU takes this one close.

VCU has been playing very well lately and Towson has not. Especially on the road (RE: their 32 point drubbing in Wilmington) I don't see Nick George getting outgunned by Gary Neal. And even if he does VCU has the supporting cast to pull out the win whereas Towson needs Neal to be a stud every night. VCU takes this one relatively easy.

As for our game, it will not be easy. Drexel is a tough team that tends to not go down easy. They are not doing as well as UNCW this year and UNCW has dominated this series. Don't expect things to change now. More than likely the Seahawks will build a nice lead and Drexel we pull back in and hang around just enough to make the crowd in Trask nervous. Hopefully we will leave happy with more than likely a single digit victory.

See you Thursday...

Last One

If you can't come to the game tonight or listen to it on the radio here is a link to the live stats.

The Worst Pizza ever made

If you would like to read a humorous writeup on the Bob Carpenter Center. Home of fellow CAA team Delaware Blue Hens. Check this out on midmajority.com. Thats enough free publicity for you Mr. Whelliston.

Free Publicity for ACE

By the way Mr. Whelliston had this in his blog last week when he was previewing our matchup against GMU:

"Colonial: George Mason (13-4, 7-1) at UNC-Wilmington (13-6, 6-2) -- They don't wear black on the road anymore, but GMU walks the line. The only team in the CAA with any shot at building an at-large resume travels to Wilmington, a football-free school that's busily preparing for next week's homecoming (theme: "Home is where the Seahawk is"). Don't expect too many points: GMU has the most efficient defense in the league (86.7 points allowed per 100 possessions), and UNCW has the second-best mark in that category (88.1)."
-Kyle Whelliston for ESPN.com

So our homecoming theme got mentioned on espn.com. How about that.

Walking Through the Valley

Here is an interesting story for all you fellow mid-major fans out there. Mid-Major guru Kyle Whelliston of midmajority.com has an great write up on the Missouri Valley Conference over at espn.com. You can read it here.

He also has interesting story on his blog on espn.com insider that talks about how the MVC could get 4 bids to the tourney. This is unheardof for any mid-major conference and while 3 is the most likely scenario for the nations oldest conference, 4 is a definite possibility.


"How the MVC can get four bids
posted: Tuesday, January 24, 2006
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Barry Hinson had been beaming broadly, fielding press conference softballs about how his Missouri State squad had overcome Southern Illinois' defense and gutted out a big home win. But then that question came up.
You know, the one about bids.
"We have five teams within Nos. 1 through 29 in the RPI," Hinson said, his face becoming ashen, his hands trembling. "If there were five teams 30 or below in the ACC, the Pac-10, Big 12, Big East, they'd all go to the NCAA Tournament."
"I would go right now into a courtroom," Hinson said, slapping the table hard to punctuate syllables, his voice achieving the bellow of an expert lawyer. "I would say, 'Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.' "If it's this way at the end of February, then we deserve four, maybe five bids to the NCAA Tournament. And I'm not speaking tonight for Missouri State, I'm speaking for the Missouri Valley Conference. I've been in this league for seven years. I can fight for everybody else as well."
Before you go and offer Hinson a retainer to defend your most recent speeding ticket, remember that the MVC season's only half-over. And at this moment, "this way" means no fewer than four teams at 7-2 -- it's just not mathematically likely that Northern Iowa, Wichita State, Southern Illinois and Creighton could enter the conference tourney in St. Louis with 78 percent winning percentages.
"I think you have to be a little bit cautious about drawing a conclusion that if you're the fifth-rated conference, then you should get five or four or three bids," said MVC commissioner Doug Elgin. "At the end of the day, it's going to be how your teams are measured against the other teams that don't win their conference tournaments, that are on the so-called 'bubble.' Who they've played, who they've beaten, and in what sequence."
But there's nothing like a good hot stove argument to warm up January Jaundice, before February Fever kicks in to form the foundation for March Madness. Like the web of scenarios that NFL fans fret over late in the regular season, here's a five-step plan for how a four-bid Valley can happen.
Separation. Since Missouri State's win over SIU last Thursday, the Bears have lost to Wichita State to dip their league record to 5-4. But they still maintain their conference lead in nearly every meaningful statistical category (offensive efficiency, free throws, 3-point field goal percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio and floor percentage). Thinking they're out of it for being two games behind would be premature.
But a second division is definitely forming in the league with those five teams that do not have at-large résumés and do not appear in any way qualified to steal the league title the old-fashioned way -- by sweeping the conference tourney. Bradley and Drake may be .500 teams, but the two ISU's (Indiana and Illinois) and Evansville are lagging behind with four conference wins between the three of them.
Beat each other up equally. All Valley teams have nine games remaining, and a 4BV would require that they beat the bottom teams and split their own toughies. Missouri State has the easiest road to March -- the Bears already have gone through the most rigorous stretch of their schedule, taken their inevitable losses, and have just three games remaining against the four other top teams. Northern Iowa and Wichita State have four, and Southern Illinois has five. Creighton has the toughest road, with six games left against the other elites.
But it's OK if they lose to each other, says the conference's commissioner.
"If our leaders lose to one another, they're not going to be penalized in the RPI," said Elgin. "That's the biggest difference between the Missouri Valley of today and the Missouri Valley five or six years ago."
But not too much separation. Nothing can ruin a conference's day like an RPI-dragger, and No. 222 Evansville is there to play spoiler for the teams trying to polish their digits. Indiana State and Illinois State are No. 157 and 176, respectively.
And the top teams can't lose to the lower teams.
"The bottom could fall out on some of our league leaders," said Elgin. "The one thing that can derail a team's ability to secure an at-large berth is to lose to low-RPI teams. That's what happened to Wichita State last year -- they started 15-1, and they lost seven of their last 10. We can't afford that kind of thing."
So it's imperative that the bottom teams split the games they have with each other to keep their own RPIs at relatively decent levels, then take their losses when the big boys come to town. Evansville, for example, has five of its last nine against the MVC's top tier, and it's in the Four-Bid Valley's best interest if it goes 2-2 in the other four games.
Get 20. Nothing impresses the Selection Committee like the number 20, and whichever teams get to 20 overall wins will have the inside track when it comes to bid time. Northern Iowa is at 17 now, and they're almost guaranteed to get there before the regular season ends.
Wichita (16-4) has five games against the lower division, and should get there before March as well. The only iffies here are 13-4 Creighton and 12-5 Mo-State, which both have anywhere between 10 and 12 chances to get the wins they need.
St. Louis status quo. Having four teams of this top five in the semifinal quartet -- and no surprises -- is perhaps the most crucial element to achieving a 4BV. The two finalists are virtually assured of bids, and it matters how the semifinals went down for the two losers.
So it's possible, but by no means a gimme. If the Valley does get four bids, or even a boring old three, then we'll spend the summer debating that other question. You know, the one about whether the MVC is a mid-major league or not.
"I've never cringed from that label," said Elgin. "I think that the label is pretty much on point. Mid-major doesn't have anything to do with level of play, it's about resources and television exposure."
But the coach of one of those current 7-2 teams is a bit more ambivalent.
"We don't care about the moniker," said Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery. "Winning is what matters. I don't think other people call us mid-major, because they won't come to [SIU Arena] and play us. So whatever you call that, that's what you can call us."
-Kyle Whelliston for ESPN.com

Enjoy that free section from an espn insider article.

Once again see you at Trask at 7:00. Or hear me at Trask on 980 AM.

Seahawks Take Down (the) Duke(s)

While it's not as impressive as taking down the #2 team in the country I'll take us beating the #280 team in the nation. Especially if it is a road game, even more so if it is a conference game. This win kept UNCW in a tie for 1st place in the CAA with ODU and GMU who also posted wins Thursday night. The Hawks posted 83-46 win behind John Goldsberry who surpassed Billy Donlon for the all time lead for UNCW in assists, as well as becoming 1 of 16 players in school history to score 1,000 points. He led all scorers with 18 points as well as posting 7 assists, 6 boards and 3 steals. Daniel Freeman and Ray Barbosa led JMU in scoring with 10 apiece. The Seahawks achieved this 37 point dismantling behind 50.8% shooting helped by a staggering 62.5% behind the arch. Not to mention 78.6% from the charity stripe.

Here is the Box Score.

UNCW now returns home to face off against Jose Juan Barea and the Northeastern Huskies. Barea is currently leading the nation in assists at 8.7 apg. This is on top of their CAA leading marks in FT% and RPG at 72.5% and 34.4 rpg respectively. It will be a true challenge shutting down Barea but I believe we are up to the task. We already shut down league leading scorer Gary Neal just over a week ago holding him 18 points below his average. I realize that Northeastern has played in some tough buildings, but I would like to see how they respond to a place as loud as Trask. It should be a good game and I will be shocked if we hold the Huskies below 65 points. I predict a hard fought win for UNCW with both teams in the 70's. I think TJ Carter and Todd Hendley with a little help from John Goldsberry will have enough firepower to answer everything Northeastern can throw at them. Plus JJ Barea is going to have to deal with defense from Wyrick, Goldsberry, and perhaps Soyebo should be more than he can handle. Hopefully his teamates won't step into his scoring role.

The other top games in the circuit today are ODU vs. GMU in Fairfax, and Hofstra vs. Drexel in Philly. Even though the home team usually wins where the top tier CAA teams are concerned I think Loren Stokes will be too much for Drexel to handle. I see Hofstra pulling out a close win at the Dak. But don't be suprised if Bruiser Flint's team is able to put the clamps down and pull out a win. As for the marquee matchup of the weekend, ODU vs. GMU, this should be a hard fought remix of the instant classic earlier this year in Norfolk. It should be another low scoring game but I don't see any Drew Williamson heroics this time around. GMU takes this game by 5.

In other CAA news the 3 way tie remains on top of the standing between UNCW, ODU, and GMU as they all posted wins on Thursday night. All 3 teams stand at 8-2 in the circuit. In a 2 way tie for 4th are VCU and Northeastern at 7-3. And right in the mix in 6th place is Hofstra at 6-3.

Compelete CAA standings.

It is quite amazing how good the league is this year there are only 4 teams that are not posing much of threat to anybody. GSU, W&M, JMU, and Delaware seem to be completely out of the picture. I don't think Towson will be able to push for the a top 4 seed in the tournament but they are not out of the picture as they stand at 5-5 which amazingly puts them in 8th place, yet only 3 games out of 1st place as we pass the halfway point of the conference schedule.

But for now let's focus on the business at hand at come out early to Trask for the 7:00 tip off. I plan on being there around an hour before hand, and maybe even before that. There is an oldtimers/alumni game at 3:30 if you would like to spend even more time at Trask. And if you can't come or couldn't get a ticket make sure to tune into 980 AM and cheer on from home. See you at Trask...

Movie Magic

After getting way behind on my film reading, both in class and for recreation, I have finally caught up tonight and have found some interesting stuff mainly courtesy of rogerebert.com. First of all is the review for the latest Terrence Malick meditation The New World. I caught the film over the weekend and I think he has created another masterpiece. However, Malick is a love or hate director so if you didn't like his previous films you won't like this one either. But if you truly love film you should be able to apprectiate the style and the fact that it is different. Here is Roger's review.

Also of interest is reader response he has posted discussing the Paul Haggis film Crash. Ebert recently named it his top film of the year while other critics have named it the worst. While I think it is neither I think there are many interesting arguments to be had.

Here is his list of the Top Ten Films of 2005.

And here is his defense of the film responding to attacks.

As well as his original review.

Here is a Crash "hater" taking on Ebert once again.

I think that the critics who dislike the film should appreciate the type of dialogue the movie creates about racism in America. While they may have some valid criticism maybe they should save their worst movie of the year awards for films that don't try to make a difference that are just at heart mean spirited and bad. At least Crash strives for greatness, which is a word i would not attach to most films made today.

Back to the Numbers

In the latest Mid Major Top 25 on collegeinsider.com the CAA once again holds strong with many teams hanging around in the top 25:

ODU 5
UNCW 12
GMU 14
Hofstra 19
VCU 28
Drexel 31
Northeastern 35
Towson 54

The same holds true in the latest RPI ratings:

ODU 37
GMU 39
UNCW 54
VCU 67
Hofstra 78

There have been some slight changes in the CAA standings after Drexel's victory over Towson last night in Philly. UNCW, GMU, and ODU remain in a 3 way tie for first at 7-2. In a 3 way tie for 4th at 6-3 are Drexel, VCU, and Northeastern. Hofstra follows in 7th as they stand at 5-3 in league play.

A quick reminder to tune into 980 AM Thursday at 7:00 to catch UNCW vs. JMU from Harrisonburg. A few other games of interest are Towson vs. Hofstra in NYC, and Drexel vs. ODU being played in Norfolk. The away team in each matchup won the first meeting earlier this season. The Towson victory over Hofstra in Baltimore woke up the league to know that this Towson team was for real. I highly doubt Towson will be able to take another victory from Hofstra, especially in NYC and with the way Loren Stokes has been playing lately. I suspect the same in the Drexel/ODU game. Once again the home team will hold serve as typically happens in marquee matchups in this league. ODU knows they need to bounce back from a tough home loss last week to Hofstra. And as for the UNCW/JMU game, I really can't see JMU stealing a win from us this year. They have not won a conference game yet, but they tend to spoil a top tier teams thunder every year and pull off an upset. If it is to come against us this would be their chance since this is the only time the 2 teams meet this year thanks to the conference expansion. Even though it is first place vs. last place the score won't show it. I predict UNCW will win ugly probably scoring somewhere in the 50's or low 60's. And I will be very suprised if any player gets over 15 points or if more than 2 players hit double figures. I see John Goldsberry breaking out of his scoring slump and a solid game for Todd Hendley. Hopefully we won't need heroics from TJ Carter as he has had trouble supplying them 2 games in a row.

More news to come...

Suburban Patriots Downed in Wilmington

A hard fought game resulted in a nice victory for UNCW against the Patriots of GMU. TJ Carter lit up the scoreboard for the Hawks pouring in 28. Todd Hendley also put up 13 points basically all in the 2nd half due to foul trouble and turnover problems in the 1st. Great showing by the students and the rest of the crowd for that matter this is what Coach B had to say about it:

Students –

I wanted to say thank you for a great turnout last Thursday and Saturday at two big games for the Seahawks. Your energy and enthusiasm inside Trask and helped give our team a big lift. With your help we were able to stop Towson Thursday and get past George Mason Saturday to move into a first-place tie in the conference. The student section in all teal was a great sight. I encourage you to all wear your teal again this coming Saturday when we host a very good Northeastern team. It’ll be their first visit to Trask Coliseum, so I’m counting on you to show them why it’s the Toughest Place to Play in the CAA! Get your tickets for that game now at the University Union Information Desk. Thanks again for all your support. See you Saturday!

- Coach Brownell

Here is the Box Score.

The next test for the Seahawks is on Thursday at 7:00 versus the Dukes of JMU in Harrisonburg. JMU has not won a conference game as of yet but they are always a tough matchup for the Seahawks.

In other CAA news UNCW at 7-2 is in a 3 way tie for 1st with GMU and ODU. In a 2 way tie for 4th are VCU and Northeastern at 6-3. Hofstra, Drexel, and Towson are in a 3 way tie for 6th at 5-3. Here are the complete CAA standings.

More updates soon...

Tigers Have Been Put Down

The Towson Tigers rode into Wilmington yesterday on a nice winning streak and carrying a lot of swagger, however they left with none of falling to UNCW by 32 points. Gary Neal would have been a complete and total non-factor if not for the refs sending him to the line every time a Seahawk defender entered a 5 foot radius around him. But there will be other times to complain about the officiating, the Seahawks didn't need them last night in a solid team effort. Mitch Laue led the way even though he only played 16 minutes he managed to pour in 13 points, dish out 3 assists and pull in 3 boards. John Goldsberry tallied another solid game with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Vladimir Kuljanin also chirped in with 10 points and 9 boards.

Tim Crossin was the only other player who managed to sneak into double figures for Towson. He scored 10 to go along with Gary Neal and his 10 points. Everything went pretty smoothly during the game as the Hawks jumped out to a big lead and never looked back. A great night aside from the shameful display of some students coming up with a wonderfully clever chant for Gary Neal. I guess i don't see shouting "rapist, rapist" over and over again as not being very clever or witty. It doesn't make him feel bad or get into his head, it just makes us and our team look bad. I don't think ESPN will be running to Trask with cameras if they think that our student section is just a low rent version of Maryland's.

For more useful information on the Towson game check this out.

But I do want to thank the majority of students for coming out the electricity was great and I expect to see everyone back Saturday at 2:00. We are playing the first place George Mason Patriots and the game is being televised on Fox Sports. There has been a lot of talk about the game including by Michael Litos over at CAA Hoops:

"A Defining Moment?

So I've always wondered, outside of the obivous, why I'm so attracted to mid major college basketball.I may have a huge lead into finding the answer, thanks to Gregg Doyel. In his weekend preview of top ten games, there is nary a mid major. Which is fine.What is more telling is that the #2 on his list is West Virginia/UCLA. My very first thought is: there is no reason for this game. Who cares about an inter-conference game against two middling major schools who happen to carry a name (UCLA) and some cachet (Pittsnogle)? Is this really what America wants to see?My choice is the battle for first place in the CAA between Mason and UNCW. Far more intrigue, and far more impactful on two teams' seasons. And most likely a better college basketball atmosphere.

The Slate

George Mason at UNCW: Mason's reward for a dominating win and first place in the standings (as if that matters right now)? A trip to the beach. And not one of those really good vacation kind of trips to the beach. This is where a short bench takes its toll, and Jim Larranaga understands the true ills of the Thursday/Saturday schedule. By the way, the benches in Trask are the same length as in every other home arena. It's a figure of speech. Look for Brad Brownell and Larranaga to engage in a LoveFest, each praising the other's team after The Dub's 61-57 victory. Neither will be lying."

In other CAA news as mentioned before GMU has claimed first place in the circuit stading at 7-1. ODU and UNCW are in a tie for 2nd at 6-2. Hofstra follows in 4th at 5-2. Consult this for complete CAA standings.

See you at Trask on Saturday at 2:00 or you should see me on Fox Sports or hear me on 980 AM.

Big Movie Weekend

This weekend is a big one in great films coming to local multiplexes. As discussed in earlier entries Brokeback Mountain is raising eyebrows, fattening wallets, and winning awards. After taking home best Drama at the Golden Globes it will be coming to Wilmington on January 20th.

Not to be outdone New Line Cinema is dropping the latest Terrence Malick film in Theatres on the same day as Coling Farrell stars in The New World.

And also The End of the Spear is opening in Theatres this weekend. It is a fascinating story and the casting was done by the Wilmington based Fincannon agency. Click on the link in the title to find out more about the film.

So it will be a big weekend for independent film as 3 of them hit multiplexes.

And while you are at it you can still catch the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line which took home best picture in the Musical/Comedy category at the Golden Globes.

Back Home Again

While I headed home over the weekend the Seahawks hit the road. After downing Drexel in Philly in OT; UNCW headed to Long Island on the outskirts of NYC to take the Hofstra pride to triple OT before falling by 5. After all this free basketball the road-weary Hawks return to the comforts of Trask Coliseium to take on Gary Neal, oh excuse me, the Towson Tigers.

The Thursday night matchup in the City of Brotherly Love was filled with stingy defense. Frank Elegar led all scorers with 15 and Vladimir Kuljanin paced the Seahawks with 14. As the series history goes UNCW usually builds a big lead against Drexel and then blows it in the final minutes only to pull out a dramatic victory, or every once in awhile a dramatic loss. This matchup was no different as the Seahawks squandered a nice lead to let Drexel send it into to OT. But in the end it was the poor FT shooting of Drexel in in the extra period matched with the good shooting of UNCW to pull out the victory.

For complete stats check the Box Score.

The Seahawks were obviously still sluggish from the excitement on Thursday night as they hit the floor in NYC on Saturday afternooon. Hofstra jumped out to a big lead early but UNCW grinded away and managed to send the game to OT. Whereas 1 OT or even 2 would be sufficent for most teams to pull out the win UNCW decided they would like to do it in the 3rd. But unfortunately Hofstra had other plans as Loren Stokes opened the 11th minute of free basketball with back to back 3's. This proved to be too much for the Hawks to overcome even with a late Techinical foul on Hofstra.

TJ Carter continued his game of setting careers highs as the team loses as he led all scorers with 31 points. This was the 3rd time this year that he has set a career high. The first time was against an unnamed team from Madison Wisconsin when he dropped in 19 only to allow UNCW to drop the road contest on a last second 3 by Kammron (I don't know how to spell Cameron or even Kameron) Taylor. He matched that total against ODU only to have the Monarchs go crazy in the 2nd half as they dropped everything from behind the arch to grind out the 5 point victory in Norfolk.

To see an impressively long play by play breakdown as well as complete stats from the Hofstra game consult this Box Score.

If you are a subscriber to espn.com insider and have the good sense to read midmajority.com's Kyle Whelliston's blog then you will have seen him mention our Hofstra game. It would have been nicer if it was a winning effort but, any publicity is good publicity:

• While this weekend's NBA triple-OT thriller between Boston and Philadelphia was given full narrative treatment on "SportsCenter," you may have missed the three-OT battle between UNC-Wilmington and Hofstra, won by the home-standing Pride 92-87. Jumpy junior guard Loren Stokes (who played 54 minutes) showed why Hofstra is a "buy" in the 2006-07 CAA futures market, as he scored six of his 30 in the third extra session.

I will wrap up this entry by saying that I will see all you faithful readers in Trask Coliseium Thursaday night as we take on The Towson Tigers at 7:00. The Tigers are led by Gary Neal and Lawrence Hamm. Neal averages 28 ppg to go along with 4rpg. And the big Hamm in the middle averages 17 ppg and 8rpg. Towson who has prennially been a league doormat in the CAA has stormed out to an early 4-2 mark putting them in a tie with Hofstra for 5th place. They have already won 3 more games than they did all of last season with their 8-7 mark. So make it out to Trask if you can and if not listen in on 980 AM in Wilmington.

In other league news:

ODU and GMU remain atop the league with 6-1 records. UNCW and Norhteastern are in a tie for 3rd at 5-2. And as mentioned before Hofstra and Towson are tied for 5th with 4-2 conference marks. Complete CAA Standings

In the latest Mid-Major Top 25 Several CAA teams reamin prominent:

ODU 4
GMU 14
Hofstra 15
UNCW 18
Drexel 30
VCU 31
Northeastern 38
Towson 58

And in the latest RPI rankings:

ODU 21
GMU 43
UNCW 64
VCU 66
Hofstra 93

Thats all the UNCW/CAA news for now. See you at Trask.

Quick Reminder

In a battle for 1st place in the CAA tomorrow night UNCW takes on Drexel. Right now UNCW stands at 4-1 in league play (11-5 overall), Drexel is 3-1 in the circuit (9-6 overall). This is a huge week as they continue the battle for first place on Saturday afternoon against Hofstra.

Both games will be broadcast on 980 AM in Wilmington. The Drexel game at 7:30 and the Hofstra game at 4. The Hofstra game will also be on channel 17 in Wilmington.

Also the game between VCU and ODU in Norfolk will be on Fox Sports at noon on Saturday. So plenty of CAA hoops action this week.

And on Sunday don't forget to watch the Carolina Panthers take down the Chicago Bears in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs on Fox at 4:30.

Go Seahawks and Go Panthers

Movie Update

Brokeback Mountain will not be in Wilmington this week but I am holding faith that it will be here soon enough. I can't imagine theaters holding out on the payday that will certainly come when Brokeback arrives. This film is getting nominated for awards faster than it is being bashed by right wing "critics" who are convinced that the movie was only made to turn the nations heartland gay. And it has broken the Per-Theatre average for any film. It pulled in an average of $14,000 per screen a couple of weekends ago. So in conclusion no Brokeback this weekend in Wilmington, but hopefully next weekend or sometime soon.

In addition the new Terrence Malick film The New World is due out on Jan. 20th. I know this is coming to Mayfaire as they have had posters up for it for several months. If you enjoyed The Thin Red Line or one of his earlier efforts than you will be in for a treat. It has been said that the film is beatifully shot and contains a great story that sheds light on both sides of the story that occured at Jamestown when America was colonized by the British. Click on the link to view the trailer.

I'll Let My Coach Do the Talking

With classes gearing up and the Seahawks Hoops Student Athletes hitting the road Coach B left the students a little love note this morning to let us know that he will be thinking about us while they are facing 2 tough road tests in Philadelphia and New York. UNCW takes on Drexel on Thursday and Hofstra on Saturday. You can view the latter on Channel 17 at 4:00 in the Wilmington area. If you didn't check your email or are not a student here is the email that he sent out this morning:

Students –

Welcome back to campus! Hope you all had a great holiday break and are ready for a great spring semester. Our players can’t wait to have your enthusiasm and energy back in Trask Coliseum for some key conference games coming up in the next two months. We return next Thursday (Jan. 19) when we host Towson at 7:00pm and again next Saturday (Jan. 21) when we host a big rival in George Mason at 2:00pm.

The game against the George Mason Patriots is a TV game with a special promotion called “Drown the Patriots in a Sea of Teal”. The Student Government Association will be giving away free teal t-shirts to the first 1000 students to enter the game, so I invite you to get there early. Don’t forget to pick-up your tickets at the University Union Information Desk starting 10 days prior to the game. Again, hope to see you in Trask this season and be sure to always Attend in Teal!

- Coach Brownell

So keep in mind to be sure you show up early for the GMU game if you want a free T-Shirt. And for that matter show up early for the Towson game to show your support. It should be fun.

More later...

CAA Mid Major Power Conference

Well the new collegeinsider.com Mid Major Top 25 came out today and over half the teams in the 12 team conference were either in the top 25 or receiving votes. That is a tie with the Missouri Valley Conference, but the Colonial has 6 teams in the top 25 with 1 receiving votes whereas the MVC has 5 with 2 receiving votes.

Here is where the CAA teams placed in this weeks poll with last weeks ranking in parenthesis:

ODU 4 (7)
Hofstra 12 (17)
Drexel 16 (14)
UNCW 17 (16)
GMU 19
VCU 24 (24)
Northeastern 45

Also all these teams besides Northeastern remain in the top 100 in the latest RPI rankings:

ODU 24
GMU 42
VCU 60
UNCW 68
Drexel 79
Hofstra 98

I find these statistics interesting because most basketball pundits believe that the Missouri Valley Conference will get at least 3 bids to the NCAA tournament and that the Colonial will only get the 1 automatic bid.

Here is how the Missouri Valley fared in this weeks Mid Major Poll:

Norhern Iowa 2
Wichita State 6
Southern Illinois 11
Missouri State 13
Creighton 15
Indiana State 27
Bradley 42

And in the latest RPI rankings:

Northern Iowa 9
Missouri State 22
Southern Illinois 30
Creighton 48
Wichita State 52
Bradley 53

Now while these overall rankings are stronger keep in mind that the Missouri Valley is a smaller conference with 10 teams opposed to the CAA's 12. And yes top to bottom the Valley is tougher with their lowest team RPI being Illinois State at 185 whereas the lowest Colonial team is James Madison at 256. The problem is that the lower tier CAA teams are god awful in the 200's RPI and the MVC lower tier is all in the 100's making their conference RPI 7th in the nation and the CAA's 12. I think the top 7 teams in the CAA are quite comparable to the top 7 teams in the Valley. It would be interesting seeing some of these teams meet up in OOC play next year or maybe in the Bracket Buster weekend this year.

Thats enough analysis for now...

Manifest Destiny Pt. 2

The Seahawks with some heroics by Taylor Lay defeated the Tribe of William and Mary once again last night. Taylor didn't dominate the stat line but he put up 10 points and 3 boards. But he accomplished all of this in just 13 minutes of playing time, most of it coming in the last 10 minutes of the ball game. This gave UNCW a huge lift off the bench. Todd Hendley had another solid game scoring 15 points and pulling in 4 rebounds. Goldsberry pulled dropped in 14 points of his own. He also had 2 assists, 8 rebounds and 6 (count em) 6 steals. Temi Soyebo also had a strong game putting up 10 points and assisting on 6 field goals.

Taylor Lay's points were so important because of when they occured. William and Mary had just completed a 11-0 run to make a 14 point game a 3 point contest. He then came down and hit a 3. On the other side he had a huge steal to seal the game. As well as a couple of big rebounds. In addition he hit his FT's down the stretch as did Goldsberry. The Seahawks got a big lift at the beginning of the game thanks to Beckham Wyrick he only scored 2 points, but pulled in 10 boards 6 of them offensive.

Box Score

In other CAA news the night contest was won by VCU on a last second shot by BA Walker giving the Rams a 2 point win against the first place Drexel Dragons. In the noon game I witnessed Northeastern blow a 16 point lead in Norfolk against ODU. This was my first glimpse of Jose Juan Barea and he lived up to his billing with a double-double. And not just a slight DD, he had 32 points and 10 assists. But it wasn't enough as ODU protected their home court and came away with the win.

Here is video of the last second shot by BA Walker, if you are better with computers than I am you may be able to get it to play, i sure couldn't.

The current CAA standings are as follows:

UNCW, ODU, and GMU are in a 3 way tie for first at 4-1. Hofstra and Drexel follow in a 2 way tie for 4th as with 3-1 records. VCU and Northeastern are in a 2 way tie for 6th at 3-2. Towson follows in 8th place at 2-2.

The next game for UNCW is Thursday at 7:30 as we take Drexel in Philadelphia. Both teams will be playing for first place so it should be a good one. Tune in to 980 AM to see how it goes down.

These Hens are Singing the Blues

The Seahawks could not go on a 4 game losing streak. Todd Hendley and John Goldsberry made sure of that. UNCW made the shots when they needed them in their 13 point victory against the Blue Hens of Delaware last night. Can't get enough of those wonderful stat lines you say? Then my friends this is the box score for you. If you check closely you will see that Hendley poured 18, Goldsberry put in 16, and TJ Carter chimed in with 12 of his own. Harding Nana put in another great performance for Delaware getting a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. But alas, you can't beat these Seahawks by yourself; unless your name is Dontaye Draper or Kammron Taylor. But I digress...

Last night was the first full slate of games for the CAA with GMU beating VCU on Fox Sports last night. The CAA Standings are now as follows:

Drexel remains in first at 3-0. They are followed by UNCW, ODU, GMU, and Northeastern who are in a 4 way tie for 2nd with a 3-1 conference record. Hofstra remains a half game back at 2-1 standing in 6th place.

The Seahawks get a full day off before coming home Saturday to face William and Mary at 4:00 on Fox Sports. Also at noon on the very same network you can watch ODU take on Jose Juan Barea and CAA newcomer Northeastern. Should be a good Saturday and don't forget the Carolina Panthers defeat the New York Giants at 1:00 on Sunday on Fox. Also Munich opens today in Wilmington so don't forget to see that.

See you on the other side...

They Keep Pumping them Out

The Great Movies keep on coming this time of the year. I will very quickly recommend The Squid and the Whale and King Kong. Noah Baumbachs The Squid and the Whale is a wonderfully told story about a family going through a divorce. If you liked Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou this is half of the brains behind it. It is playing in art houses now and should be out on video in a mont or two.

As for Peter Jackson's King Kong, enough has been said about that by other people but it is quite an event and it completely blew me away. Very suprisingly you sympathize for basically every character in the film, and any director will tell that is very difficult to acheive.

See you at the movies...

Funny and Sad

It is always interesting to see what type of debate an "important" film will create in the media. Two films seem to be taking all the fun right now particularly Munich and Brokeback Mountain.

Munich is getting criticized on so many fronts that it makes your head spin. It seems like the people who hate the film would know well enough to keep their mouths shut because any publicity is good publicity. It is being criticized for being too sympathetic to the Palestinians. Rg It is also being criticized for being too sympathetic of the Israelis. Which is it folks? I have not seen the film yet but from what I hear it is a brilliant piece of filmmaking on par with Spielberg's masterpiece Schindler's List. It opens in Wilmington on Friday and I plan on seeing it that day. There have been many interesting and infuriating articles written on this film here are some of the more interesting ones that also supply links to other articles.

Jim Emerson's Spy vs. Spy: The Morality of Munich

Roger Ebert's 2 Interviews of Steven Spielberg A Telephone Call with Spielberg
Spielberg Calls Back

Roger Ebert's review of Munich

On the subject of Brokeback Mountain the articles go from hilarious to frustrating to infuriating once again. Once again criticism comes from all sides of the spectrum and most of it isn't even worth worrying about. Here is one exceptionally funny piece from the New York Times written by Larry David. Cowboys are my Weakness

Once again Jim Emerson does a good job of shedding some light on the subject and opens good debate on the film while exposing the ridiculousness of worrying about whether or not it is gay, too gay, or not gay enough.

Who's Afraid of Riding Brokeback

The Heartbreak of Brokeback

Here is Roger Ebert's Review

No word on when Brokeback Mountain will open in Wilmington but it will most likely be Jan. 13th or 20th. Either way it should be fun watching homophobic men and women squirm in front of the movie poster.

I Thought the 3rd Time was the Charm

The Monarchs of ODU sure don't like me or Brad Brownell too much. Last night they handed the Seahawks their 3rd straight loss dropping them to 9-5 (2-1). UNCW is in the midst of a 3 game road trip and the first 2 have gone poorly. This game was certainly a tale of 2 halves as ODU shot 29% in the first half and 55% in the second half. And it didn't help that they hit all 7 of their 3's in the 2nd half to hand the Seahawks a 5 point loss. For the game we outshot the Monarchs shooting 40% to their 38%. But once again a descrepency in the FT stat line as ODU shot 24 to our 9. So they shot 15 more FT's and won by 5. I will say no more. Check out the Box Score.

While you are there you may notice that TJ Carter tied his career high point total by dropping in 19 points. He previously set this career high in our 3 point loss to Wisconsin in Madison. So TJ please stop making your career high. It seems to be costing us games. Mitch Laue had another solid game putting in 12 points, 3 assists, 2 boards and a steal. John Goldsberry broke out of his shooting slump putting in 4-8 for 10 points. He also tallied 5 assists, 4 rebounds and a steal. The Monarchs were led by Brian Henderson who put in 17 points. Alex Loughton tallied a double-double scoring 10 and pulling in 11 boards.

UNCW now travels to Newark, Delaware to take on the Blue Hens of Delaware. The game will be played at 7:30 on 980 AM in Wilmington. The Blue Hens are not a very good team this year with the exception of workhorse Harding Nana who is averaging 19.8 ppg and 11.9 rpg. If Delaware were not 4-7 you would probably be hearing more about him.

In the latest CAA standings Drexel sits alone at the top of the league at 2-0. They are followed by UNCW, Northeastern, VCU, GMU, and ODU who are in a 5 way tie for 2nd place at 2-1. Hofstra and Towson follow in a tie for 7th.

In other CAA news several teams remain in the top 100 RPI even with the latest struggles:

36 ODU
59 GMU
65 Drexel
70 UNCW
73 Hofstra
81 VCU

Also if you happen to live in North Carolina or if you get CSN-MA you can watch the VCU vs. GMU matchup on Thursday night at 7:00. Thats Channel 47 for those of you in Wilmington.

And a reminder UNCW Seahawks vs. Delaware Blue Hens in the battle of the fictional birds at 7:30 on 980 AM in Wilmington.

Unhappy New Year

Despite the fact that the Carolina Panthers clinched a playoff spot on Sunday by beating the Atlanta Falcons (again) this has not been a good sports week as far as I'm concerned. That didn't even go compleltely as planned. Tampa Bay beat New Orleans to clinch the NFC South so the Panthers road to the Superbowl will all be on the road.

But back to the bad news...

During my absence from Wilmington for Christmas break the Seahawks squandered a good chance at their 10th win of the season by dropping a 4 point contest to the College of Charleston Cougars. I didn't see the game but I did see the Box Score. And if you look at the stats for #11 Dontaye Draper you may notice that he dropped 33 points on my poor Seahawks in the friendly confines of Trask Coliseium. It is kind of hard to prepare for a player who is planning to drop the most points in his schools history. You may also notice that Charelston shot 79% in the 2nd half compared to 39% for UNCW. So I guess it isn't all bad that we only lost by 4 points.

So when I thought the worst was behind us I took a road trip to Greenville to see the Seahawks take on the Pirates of ECU on New Year's Eve. About 1 minute into the game I knew I had probably wasted my time as ECU was knocking down everything they threw in the general direction of the basket and UNCW was doing it's best to win a layup missing contest. It seemed like we panicked after giving up an early double digit lead but I credit ECU with doing a good job of grinding out the clock and never letting us get back to single digits. After getting down by 25 with 11 minutes to play we did do a good job and rallied to make it a 10 point deficit with about 2 minutes remaining. But ECU hit their free throws to pull out a 13 point upset. You could almost see our chances of an at large bid flying out the window as we pulled away from Minges Coliseuim that day as our record dropped to 9-4 when it could have easily been 11-2 or maybe even 12-1. If you want more info on this game consult your friendly neighborhood Box Score.

Now to make matters worse UNCW faces off against pre-season CAA favorites Old Dominion at 7:00 in Norfolk. ODU stands at 8-4 right now and #7 in the latest Mid-Major poll. The Seahawks dropped 3 spots in that same poll to #16. Now this doesn't seem too intimidating except that this is an absolute must win for the Seahawks as both teams are playing for first place. And the fact that Coach Brownell has never beaten the Monarchs as a head coach. Thats right not even in Brett Blizzard senior could we muster a win against Blaine Taylor's club even in Wilmington. So Brownell will try for his first win against ODU in 7 tries once again tonight. You can listen to the game on 980 AM in Wilmington. Here is a link to the live stats.

Here is how the CAA teams fared in the latest Mid-Major Poll.

7 ODU
14 Drexel
16 UNCW
17 Hofstra
24 VCU
29 GMU
35 Northeastern

In the latest CAA basketball standings UNCW and Drexel remain in first place at 2-0. A half game back in a 3 way tie for 3rd are GMU, VCU and Northeatern at 2-1. They are followed by Hofstra, ODU and Towson who are in a 3 way tie for 6th place at 1-1.

Thats all for now. I should have a game report tomorrow.

By the way those two recent losses have pushed UNCW's RPI down to 63. A win tonight would help. ODU's RPI is 45. This is a far cry from 2 weeks ago when we were 9-2 and in the top 20 RPI.