We open tournament play against the home team Alaska Anchorage. While they are a Division II program, they have competed with teams of Belmont's caliber in the past. Last year they lost to a soon to be top 10 team in Murray State 64-62. UAA remained ranked throughout much of the year. As much as I want to overlook this game and the tournament at large, we will be playing at their gym and at 1:00 am central time. If we were to win the tournament and squeeze out tough wins over VCU and MTSU, we could be 9-0 going into Kansas and possibly be ranked (at least will receive some votes). This assumes another easy victory over the Bisons.

(11-19-2012 09:44 AM)BruinsFan31 Wrote:  We open tournament play against the home team Alaska Anchorage. While they are a Division II program, they have competed with teams of Belmont's caliber in the past. Last year they lost to a soon to be top 10 team in Murray State 64-62. UAA remained ranked throughout much of the year. As much as I want to overlook this game and the tournament at large, we will be playing at their gym and at 1:00 am central time. If we were to win the tournament and squeeze out tough wins over VCU and MTSU, we could be 9-0 going into Kansas and possibly be ranked (at least will receive some votes). This assumes another easy victory over the Bisons.

This tournament is big for UAA. They play in it every year, it is a home game, and it is with upper division schools. They will be pumped and playing their best. We would be wise not to overlook them, especially since it is possible for us to have a letdown after a Stanford win.

If we win the first round, we would likely play Northeastern. They are 2-1 this year. Last year they upset St. John’s even though they had a down year with only 14 losses. They will be competitive.

If we play in the finals, we would likely face Oral Roberts. ORU went 27-7 last year with a bid to the NIT.

Although I would love to see us 9-0 going into KU, I haven’t seen us play consistent enough to think we are there yet. Our shooting goes cold at times and our play can be a little sloppy at times. We also have a knack for getting too many fouls by some of our players.

I think Byrd will have them together by mid-season, but I would like to see some consistently strong play with more consistent shooting in this tournament.

(11-19-2012 09:04 PM)Bruin2002 Wrote:  

(11-19-2012 09:44 AM)BruinsFan31 Wrote:  We open tournament play against the home team Alaska Anchorage. While they are a Division II program, they have competed with teams of Belmont's caliber in the past. Last year they lost to a soon to be top 10 team in Murray State 64-62. UAA remained ranked throughout much of the year. As much as I want to overlook this game and the tournament at large, we will be playing at their gym and at 1:00 am central time. If we were to win the tournament and squeeze out tough wins over VCU and MTSU, we could be 9-0 going into Kansas and possibly be ranked (at least will receive some votes). This assumes another easy victory over the Bisons.

This tournament is big for UAA. They play in it every year, it is a home game, and it is with upper division schools. They will be pumped and playing their best. We would be wise not to overlook them, especially since it is possible for us to have a letdown after a Stanford win.

If we win the first round, we would likely play Northeastern. They are 2-1 this year. Last year they upset St. John’s even though they had a down year with only 14 losses. They will be competitive.

If we play in the finals, we would likely face Oral Roberts. ORU went 27-7 last year with a bid to the NIT.

Although I would love to see us 9-0 going into KU, I haven’t seen us play consistent enough to think we are there yet. Our shooting goes cold at times and our play can be a little sloppy at times. We also have a knack for getting too many fouls by some of our players.I think Byrd will have them together by mid-season, but I would like to see some consistently strong play with more consistent shooting in this tournament.

This was my fear for the tournament. If you look at our struggles with UAA, it was because Kerron got in foul trouble early and sat out most of the first half. In the loss to Northeastern, Ian was having the game of his life, yet we lost our double digit lead because he was taken out with 2 fouls in the first half. Then he fouled out of the game and the final shot had to be taken long range by Kerron.

Now, I don't begrudge these guys for their fouls. I think that part of the foul situation is the result of our lack of size and athleticism. Byrd does fantastic with the guys that we have, but even he admitted at the halftime interview that Northeastern was beating us with their athleticism. Ian and Kerron are wonderful athletes, as well as Blake, but our athleticism falls off some after that. The fouls seem like an attempt to make up for team athleticism.

We'll have a good year, but there will be some teams that we seem to struggle against for this reason.