Weekend Wrap Up and AU-St. Francis (PA) Report

I attended the AU (DC)-St. Francis(PA) game tonight, and I came away with a few thoughts:

- Jason Thomas is getting, way, way too many minutes. He played as many minutes as Andre Ingram, yet didn't contribute offensively until late in the second half. I think he's a good defensive player, but I'd like to have someone in there who is an offensive threat for portions of the game. Hopefully the rumors about Sekou Lewis taking some time are true. I don't like saying anything bad about Thomas, by the way, I think he's got a lot of heart out there-- but sometimes that isn't everything.
- Lekavicius is starting to come into his own, and that's a good thing if you're an AU fan. He was much faster and better equipped than the SFPA point guard, who looked strangely like Frodo Baggins.
- Something has to be wrong with Raimondas Petrauskas (i.e. he's hurt), or I'm seeing something Jeff Jones isn't. He had 17 points in 13 minutes and more or less dominated the smaller St. Francis frontline. Yet he had only as many minutes as freshman Brayden Billbe. I think he should be starting over either Cresnik or Oakpwe. He may next game, as Cresnik had a disappointing game.
- Ingram is great. I am excited about watching him for another 70 games.
- This was a very streaky game-- AU looked great at certain times, and terrible at others. When they looked good, AU could have knocked off Wake Forest. When they looked bad, they could have lost to Chaminade.
- St. Francis was really, really bad in the first 8 or 10 minutes of the first half-- it was more of them sucking than AU that gave AU the big lead early in the half. But if this team beat Bucknell, I feel pretty good about my squad's chances four games in.

Line of the week:

David Hooper, Navy vs. VMI
3-14, 24 Min. 0-10 from behind the arch. 1 rb, 1 asst, 3 TO, 2 Stl, 6 TP

If Hooper hits two of those ten, Navy wins the game. Hooper is typically very good, and this is an atypical down night for him.

Holy Cross obliterated lowly Marist. They get their first real test in Princeton Wednesday night is what is clearly the Patriot League Game of the Week (c) TM. Lafayette nearly pulled out a victory against the Tigers this weekend, but 38 points ain't going to get you very many victories. If HC wins against Princeton, they rocket up to PL contention easily, maybe even ending up the favorite going into league play. Don't underestimate the Saders, it's a dumb mistake this writer has made before.

Lehigh has had an unimpressive season thus far. Joe Knight only played 26 minutes in a victory over Dartmouth. Jose Olivero hit 12 of 15 free throws en route to 29 points and a LU victory, but it should have been more convincing than this. Dartmouth is lousy, plain and simple, and LU should have blown them out.

I'm still not sure what to think about Lafayette. One night they beat an A10 team, the next they get beat up by a team that went on to lose to NEC bottom trawler Monmouth. It will be interesting to follow them throughout the whole year-- they have a lot of upside, but man, there is a lot of downside there too.

I wish Army wouldn't blow the amazing performances by Matt Bell this week. If you live in upstate NY, this kid alone is worth the price of admission. He's only a sophomore, and represents the hopes and dreams of the Cadets going into the future. I hope to get up to the AU @ Army game this year to watch this guy go against AI (As Andre Ingram will be referred to from now on) at home.

Next: Previews for this week's games.
  @ 10:54 PM