Atlantic 10 Tournament Quarterfinal Notes
by Ray Floriani
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Day two at the Atlantic 10 Tournament saw the top seed survive. The always entertaining, and not without drama event, also gave us a bonus: a Big Five matchup.
Scores:
Xavier 74, Dayton 65
St. Joe’s 61, Richmond 47
Temple 84, LaSalle 75
Charlotte 69, UMass 65
Saint Joseph’s, by the way, is playing some of their best basketball at the right time. Head coach Phil Martelli noted that a year ago the Hawks and himself came into the tournament exhausted. They were knocked out in a season-ending quarterfinal loss to George Washington. One of the interested observers who saw what was happening and had some advice was none other than his wife Judy.
She played on the Immaculata teams that ruled college basketball in the early Seventies, so Judy Martelli is wellrversed with teams and how they react. “Over the Summer (Judy) said this team needed a little nurturing,” Martelli said. “They were young last year, I was demanding because I want to win, but it just burned them and myself out.”
So the veteran mentor took that into account as practice began and preparations for the season were in gear. Another big difference this season is that young group making the mistakes of last year is correcting them. Being a year older and more experienced is important.
One important plus is the outstanding leadership from junior guard Tasheed Carr. “He didn’t play much last year but was still voted team captain,” Martelli said of Carr. “He’s a vocal presence and will get in a teammates’ face if he has to. He will actually correct them before I have to.”
Both Martelli and members of his team agreed, as well as the Hawks are playing they can even be better. It couldn’t come at a better time. What a difference a year makes.
Notes
- Xavier coach Sean Miller took part of his press conference after the quarterfinal win over Dayton to explain the remarks of senior guard Stanley Burrell. The Xavier senior was critical of some of the Atlantic Ten awards choices. “No one has enjoyed his time in the Atlantic Ten than Stanley Burrell,” Miller said. “One heat-of-the-moment statement should not take away what he means to our program.”
Burrell said his remarks were, “out of frustration. I just wanted to be a leader. I felt some of our guys were excluded from awards.” Burrell did say he regretted naming specific players as Brant Dunston of Fordham and Darnell Harris, who he considers outstanding players. “I just wanted to stand up for my guys,” he said. - Martelli took part of his post game press conference to credits his assistants whom he feels, “are the best in the Atlantic 10.” Praise was especially directed at Dave Duda for his role in breaking down the Richmond tape. “He saw on tape that Richmond did not like getting pushed back with guard pressure,” Martelli said of Duda. That point was significant in keeping the Spiders’ offense out of synch most of the afternoon.
Martelli also noted that Duda picked up that Spider center Dan Geriot was not comfortable with a double team. The defensive attention on the Richmond sophomore forced him into a subpar 9 point scoring night on 4 of 13 from the field. - Coach Brian Gregory feels Dayton will be playing some more basketball in March. The quarterfinal loss to Xavier left the Flyers at 21-10. Included are non-conference wins over Pitt and Louisville. Conference tournament results will be a factor, but if the NCAA doesn’t select them, Dayton will get a call from the NIT.
- Following his team’s loss to Saint Joseph’s, Chris Mooney, the Richmond coach, had a visitor from the master. Pete Carill, Mooney’s college coach at Princeton, was there for the game. Carill commended his former playing saying, “He’s all right. He’s doing a good job and just needs a few more players, that’s all.” Mooney’s Richmond club runs the Princeton offense and he learned it from the best.
- The concession stands here have it all over MSG. To sample, you can choose from a candy stand, pretzels, Hawaiian drinks, beer, “Boardwalk” sausage, funnel cakes and the standard dogs and fries. I’m sure I missed something along the way.
- Probably most appropriate, the late night game gave us a Jekyll and Hyde performance. Charlotte looked finished with a 17-point halftime deficit against UMass. As noted previous times, the first four minutes of the game and second half are crucial. Charlotte came out strong those initial four after intermission and was right back in the contest. Over those four minutes the 49ers had six field goals, and trimmed the deficit to a manageable ten points.
Charlotte-UMass gave a great second half and finish, but I’ll choose my game of the day as Temple-La Salle. It was a hotly contested game and having two Big Five schools go at it added some spice. - Chris Clark of Temple hit a three-pointer that rimmed, kissed the backboard, then fell in. That trey came with just under a minute left and was a dagger for La Salle. That three was a classic “senior play”.
Darnell Harris’ last shot, a three point attempt, rimmed at the buzzer. So ended his career and La Salle’s season. In all was an extremely good showing this season by a young Explorer club. And once again in this quarterfinal game, despite their youth they showed excellent poise. La Salle trailed Temple early due to a slow start, yet they continued to run their offense, make an extra pass and not try to trim the double-digit deficit all at once.
Coach John Giannini sees only positives ahead for La Salle which finished the year 15-17. “We are not in a position where we have to play kids who have never played before,” Giannini said after the loss to Temple. “We’re not going to be young anymore. We’re going to have pieces.” - Keep the tourney in AC! I didn’t get the attendance figures, but the quarterfinal crowd was better than last year, and that is with a number of schools on Spring break. As the tournament gets established here the fans will warm up to it and come out.
- The quote of the day came from Phil Martelli (who else?) Asked about facing top seed Xavier in the semifinals, Martelli said, “It’s what you play for. To compete, whether it’s a game, getting a better job, dating someone different – but I don’t mean if you are married. We’re not talking a governor of New York thing…”
On The Baseline
- Best cheerleading squad: Tough call but I’ll say the Charlotte group was outstanding in gymnastic skills.
- The Charlotte pep band also gets a mention for a real nice rendition of “Hang ’em High”.
- Best fan shirt: “We’re still Ghetto, University of Dayton”. And that was worn by a Dayton fan!
- Some cheer squads do not stay at gaming hotels per their school requests. Charlotte was different. One member said they were staying nearby at Trump’s. They were even permitted to gamble if old enough. “Those of us under age,” she said, “just go the mall.”
