Atlantic-10 Conference Notebook
by Stephen Dahl
Aloha Flyers
The Maui Invitational has seen past winners such as Duke, Kentucky and Kansas. The Dayton Flyers join them with 3 wins in three days. They achieved victories over San Diego St. and Hawaii to jump new head coach Brian Gregory up to 4 wins and go 4-0 on a west coast swing.
In the final against Hawaii, the Flyers were down going into the half and came out in the 2nd frame with a zone defense that foiled Hawaii, leading to a Dayton run and a 10 point victory. Hawaii head coach Riley Wallace was impressed by the Flyers, which led to an ultimatum by him to the press in attendance. “If any of you have votes out there, you better put Dayton in the top 25 or I’ll break your pens”.
Shhh . . . here comes George Washington
Laying under the radar except to your crack Hoopville staff, Karl Hobbs has quietly gotten the Colonials off to a 4-0 start, including a win against Charlotte. Sure they may be young, but you can’t help but root for this team who lost their leading scorer in Chris Monroe.
LaSalle?
Sometimes your crack Hoopville staff makes, well, a couple of bad predictions. We predicted LaSalle would make a run at 3rd in the A-10 West. Well, the Explorers have yet to win a game, dropping to 0-4. With a good freshman class last year in Steve Smith and Gary Neal, I think even head coach Billy Hahn is a bit surprised.
Reeling Muskies
Life after David West isn’t a pretty one. Xavier has dropped two games already, one to Ball State and one to Indiana in the Wooden Classic. Losing to Ball State by 12 hurts, but having the opportunity to knock off Indiana, in Indianapolis, that could have been priceless.
Jameer and the Gang still rolling
The Hawks are just winning games, and that’s all they’re concerned about it. They’ve won good games, and not so good games (ex. Old Dominion), but are proving they are worthy of being in the Hoopville top 25.
Conference Player of the Week:
Keith Waleskowski: Junior forward
Waleskowski averaged a double-double in the Maui Invitational, including a 17-point performance in the championship game. His play garnered MVP honors and a spot on the all-tournament team.
Freshman/Newcomer of the Week:
Rashaun Freeman: Massachusetts Sophomore forward
Freeman is 2 for 2 in this category. Despite dropping a heartbreaker to the Hartford Hawks, Freeman had 19 points and 9 rebounds in the loss and has scored in double figures in his first 3 games.
Dayton Flyers (4-0)
The Flyers return from Maui with 4 wins on their West coast swing and a Maui title to boast. A lot of what the Flyers can credit their success to was the solid play of center Sean Finn, forward Keith Waleskowski and guard Ramod Marshall. All three made the all-tournament team. Marshall had 27 points in the game against Hawaii. The Flyers open up a 4 game home stand with Miami (Ohio), Wagner, La.-Lafayette and IUPUI.
Duquesne Dukes (1-2)
The Dukes won their season opener in convincing fashion over Prairie View A&M, 77-57. Jimmy Tricco paced the Dukes with 18 points. The Dukes weren’t so lucky against Siena and Pittsburgh, dropping both games at home. Duquesne will face Loyola (MD) on Saturday.
Fordham Rams (1-3)
The Rams are still trying to find themselves, losing to former conference mates from the MAAC, Siena and Manhattan, but pulling off a victory against Fairfield in OT. Mark Jarrell-Wright had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Rams will open up at home on Saturday against Northeastern University.
George Washington Colonials (4-0)
The Colonials are rolling with victories over Florida International, William & Mary and Appalachian St. With a 4-0 start, it’s safe to say that GW is the early surprise in the A-10. They’ll face West Virginia in the first round of the BB&T classic in Washington D.C.
LaSalle Explorers (0-4)
Surprise…the surprise team of the year, in a bad way. LaSalle dropped another one to Lafayette 83-63. LaSalle will have to get their act together with the Big 5 schedule upon them. They’ll open up with Villanova in the Big 5 Classic on Saturday.
Massachusetts Minutemen (2-2)
The Minutemen picked up a sneaky good victory over the Vermont Catamounts. Vermont, the preseason pick to win the America East rolled into Amherst and left with a 12 point loss, 76-64. It was the Anthony Anderson show, as he had 29 points in the victory. UMass will take on Boston College in Chestnut Hill on Saturday.
Rhode Island Rams (3-2)
The Rams picked up a couple of wins against the Miami Hurricanes and Louisiana-Monroe. They also dropped a tough one to Syracuse 69-65. The Rams didn’t have a great Las Vegas Tournament. They came away with 3 wins, but the one they dropped was to Lubbock Christian. They’ll renew their rivalry with Providence on Saturday.
Richmond Spiders (3-2)
After a great start in the Guardians classic, they couldn’t sweep the tournament and dropped one to South Carolina, 67-61. The Spiders kept on their losing ways with another loss to UAB. They will look to rebound on Saturday when they head down to Wake Forest.
St. Joseph’s Hawks (4-0)
The Hawks continue their winning ways, with a pair of road victories and a home slaughtering. The Hawks knocked off Boston University, squeaked by Old Dominion and picked up a home win over San Francisco. It’s been the Jameer Nelson and Delonte West show. Both are averaging in double figures, including a 24-point performance by Nelson against Old Dominion.
St. Bonaventure Bonnies (2-1)
Head Coach Anthony Solomon is trying to rebuild from a debacle a year ago and is doing a pretty nice job. The Bonnies split the week, beating Arkansas Pine-Bluff and losing to Creighton. Marques Green has made sure that his senior year counts, scoring 25 in the 89-75 victory. Next up for the Bonnies are Canisus and Iona.
Temple Owls (0-3)
The Owls are still looking for the elusive first win and it might take some time with all that brutal scheduling that head coach John Chaney loves. Temple dropped a 15-point game to Illinois, 75-60 at The Palestra. This preseason NCAA tournament pick by many other publications must step it up. They’re next chance will be at Arizona State on Tuesday.
Xavier Musketeers (3-2)
It wasn’t a good week to be a Musketeer fan. The Muskies dropped two to Ball State and Indiana respectively. Against Indiana, Xavier was down at times by 15 in the first half, but was given the opportunity to get back in the game and win it. They got back in it, but lost in overtime, 80-77. Next up for Xavier is a road contest at Miami (OH) next Tuesday.
