Colonial Athletic Association Notebook
by Jay Pearlman
Lots of us ex-coaches, and almost as many knowledgeable fans, talk the talk of defense. You hear things like, “we only play people committed to guarding”, “we only recruit those kinds of kids”, or “I love the college game because of the defense.” (The last one is a fallacy, as no college team guards like the Pistons, the Heat, the Spurs or the Pat Riley Knicks). When Bob Knight won his first championship in ’76, his “people” (including Billy Packer) told us it was because of better defense than anyone else played, and the reputation has stuck right through this year’s Texas Tech team. No matter that Knight’s ’81 championship was largely based on the scoring of college superstar (and current Teflon Don) Isiah Thomas, or that by the time Steve Alford won in ’87 – and ever since – most of the focus in practice was on motion offense, not man-to-man defense.
And you fans, do you really love it when you find yourself at a brutal, grinding, physical, half-court college game, with every shot contested, guard penetration at a minimum, court balance negating transition, and the final score barely into the 50s? You may say that you do, but I’ve been at enough games like that to know different, to know that most of you agonize over the smothering defense and teeth-pulling offense, yearn for a fast break (primary or secondary), for uncontested jump shots, and for a point guard whose penetration can’t be stopped by one defender. Do any of you really want to see a first half like the one played by Penn Saturday night down at Florida Gulf Coast, in which they scored just 6 points?
Now, if there are any true believers out there, then you simply must love Bruiser Flint’s Drexel Dragons. Drexel played a New Year’s Eve home game against Saint Joseph’s in the world’s greatest basketball arena (the Palestra, not Madison Square Garden). In fact, Drexel is playing just enough home games at the grand arena at neighboring Penn that I noticed alternate end zones on the court under each basket reading “Drexel Dragons.”
When Flint asked me what I was doing 300 miles from home, I simply told him that I came to see his team guard, that no matter what else his group can or cannot do, it can always guard. And this year’s group – minus Chaz Crawford, who Flint called the greatest defender he’s ever seen, and minus Bashir Mason, who I thought even better – can still flat-out guard, better than anyone I’ve seen yet this season. And that’s man-to man defense, beginning with individual defense on the ball at the guard positions; no one I’ve seen this year does that better than 6-0 Tramayne Hawthorne, and 6-3 fellow junior Scott Rodgers isn’t far behind.
Now, the Dragons sure have to guard ferociously this rebuilding year, returning only center Frank Elegar among their four top players. In addition to Mason (11 points, 3.5 assists) and Crawford (7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks), Drexel lost the league’s best 3-man in Dominick Mejia (12 points, 4 rebounds). And even with senior forward Randy Oveneke much improved, offense will be hard to come by. Rodgers and Hawthorne will provide some (no, Hawthorne likely won’t shoot 40 percent from the arc now that he’s playing starter’s minutes), and eventually undersized New York City freshmen guards Gerald Colds and Jamie Harris will provide some. But for this year’s edition of the Dragons even more than last year’s, it’s live and die by your defense.
Coming into last night’s game, I’d seen Phil Martelli’s St. Joe’s team once previously, and knew Tasheed Carr could score outside and on penetration, Ahmad Nivins could score under the basket, and Pat Calathes could score from just about anywhere. And that while not quite Drexel, St. Joe’s could also guard.
I watched the scoreboard from my perch atop the Palestra, and for much of the first half neither team was scoring a point per minute. And after a brutal lock-down half of defense by Drexel (particularly at the guard positions), at the half the game was 28-20 in favor of the Hawks. That the final score got into the 60’s (69-51 St. Joe’s) is hardly indicative of the game. When Drexel couldn’t score at all for a stretch mid-second half, and the St. Joe’s lead widened to double digits, Coach Flint had no choice but to extend his defense, resulting both in steals and conversions for Drexel and in run-outs for St. Joe’s.
So, with the full conference schedule to start tomorrow (Wilmington and Delaware visit the DAC this week), this young Drexel team is 7-6. They manage to score only 59 points per game, and are out-rebounded each night by 2. They shoot just 42 percent from the field (33 percent from three), and just 60.5 percent from the line. They do give up 63 points per game (four more than they score), making their record one game over .500 all the more impressive. But it’s their smothering, smoldering, aggressive half-court man-to-man defense that’s keeping them in games, allowing them to win the close games, and keeping opponents’ shooting percentage down at 40 percent. And while I haven’t seen a single one of their wins yet, I’d imagine that Bruiser Flint’s signature defense is the reason for every one of them.
CAA news and notes
- With Antoine Agudio out (ankle injury in practice the day after Christmas) and Hofstra losing two at the Garden, with just Bracketbusters and post-season play remaining, the CAA has dipped under .500 in non-conference play, 61-65.
- If one were to view conference Player of the Year like we often do Most Valuable Players (how the team performs with and without), Hofstra’s play in the two games since his injury supports the case for Agudio as Player of the Year (assuming he gets back relatively soon).
- Consider tomorrow a wonderful opportunity for CAA teams who earlier lost conference games at home to “catch-up” on the road: Northeastern is at Towson, and Hofstra has the tougher draw, down at ODU. Agudio’s availability at ODU will be a game-time decision.
- And it is a Happy New Year, with conference play about to begin all over America, notably in the CAA tomorrow.
- Tomorrow’s George Mason at Georgia State game tips at the unusual midweek time of 3 P.M. If Mason wins on the road in Atlanta, everyone else in the league will be looking up at the Patriots in the league standings when the remaining games tip at 7.
