[daviddaman2]

Tuesday: 1-2 (-2.4 Units)
Season: 18-7 (+20.7 Units)

Rough day yesterday going 1-2. Easy winner with USD who was covering wire to wire, flat out swing and miss with UIC who was run out of the building by Oregon State, and a narrow miss on Central Michigan which turned out to be the difference between a winning and losing day. Looking to get back on the winning track today...

Richmond +2.5 (3 Units)
Charleston -3 (2 Units)
Northern Colorado +3 (3 Units)

Best of luck to you all, write ups coming soon.

[daviddaman2]

Richmond +2.5 - In the last few games I think we're starting to get a better idea of what kind of team Iona really is or at least how they'll be on the road. On Sunday they were easily handled in a 20 point loss to Marshall and in the game before they that they eeked out an overtime win against Denver in a game that frankly they had no business winning. Denver led by 10-12 points through the first 33 minutes or so and then just fell apart. That game was more about Denver losing it, than Iona coming back to win it. All that said I see this game at Richmond as another tough spot for Iona tonight. Richmond hasn't played since last Friday's national TV loss to VCU, in a game where they were close for a half then just blown away in the 2nd half. Not a loss to be ashamed of as VCU especially at home is a very solid team with one of the best coaches in the nation. However tonight coming back home you know Richmond will be geared up to avenge that loss and put together a solid 40 minutes. Iona is an up and down team that'll look to run at any chance they get, but tonight playing at a team as well coached and disciplined as Richmond I just don't see the Spiders falling into that trap. They'll do everything they can to grind Iona into their style of play (half court game) and I think they'll be able to it. Just so many angles here that point to Richmond.

[daviddaman2]

Charleston -3 - This is a game where I think if it didn't say "Tennessee" on the front of the visiting teams jerseys tonight the line would be about 6. It's not easy for most to wrap their head around a statement like this, but Charleston is a better team than Tennessee. This Charleston team has 4 players averaging in double figures, a good mix of solid guards and strong big men, and of course tonight the advantage of playing at home. Lets not forget Charleston beat Tennessee just last season by 13 points in a game they controlled basically throughout. Tennessee has played a tough schedule and most of their early season losses are understandable but what's discouraging is the fact they couldn't walk away with one win against a good team. In their 4 games against Duke, Memphis, Pitt and Oakland i'm sure their goal was to come away 2-2, which would have been just fine. 0-4 however, that's a concern. Aside from Duke while those other 3 teams are solid they've all shown flaws this year and are certainly beatable. To make matters worse for the Vols was a loss in their last game at home to Austin Peay. I like Austin Peay, but they shouldn't be coming into Knoxville as double digit and walking out of there with an outright win. Anyways I think i've beat up on Tennessee enough, now i'll give a little credit to their opponent. Charleston lost one of their best players in school history with Andrew Goudelock and many thought the team wouldn't be able to recover. Well here they are 7-1 including a very nice road win at Clemson and a complete beating of U Mass by 24 on a neutral court. As I said Charleston beat Tennessee last year and I expect them to do it again tonight, only difference is this year it won't be an upset.

[daviddaman2]

Northern Colorado +3 - This is a series that has been dominated by the home team recently, and for a simple reason. Both of these teams are garbage on the road. Yes Denver does have a nice road win against Utah State on their resume this season but don't let fool you. This team struggles on the road and that's been the case for years. In my Iona/Richmond write up I touched on Denvers complete 2nd half meltdown against Iona basically giving away a game they'd controlled for 33 minutes. Coming off losses like that isn't easy, and having to do it on the road makes it even tougher. After a rough start and a pretty tough early season schedule Northern Colorado has won 3 of 4 and is starting to feel pretty good about themselves as a team now. I'll gladly take the 3 points here, but frankly this a game where I think the wrong team is favored. Don't be fooled by the records here. Northern Colorado wins this game outright. I'll take the 3 as insurance.

[degenerate23]

Great write ups. Loving Richmond and Charleston, not fully on board with Northern Colorado but we'll see as tip off draws closer. Keep up the good work and best of luck to us tonight!

[zoo youk]

shit man...against you on Richmond...I agree with you on your write up...but word is the Denver game and Marshall game...all the kids from Iona were under the flu...so that could have led to their below average performance.

Tim Cluess has been stressing all week defensive stops. Iona knows they can not win without getting defensive stops and getting out in transition. I just don't think Richmond has enough fire power to hang with Iona if the Gaels play a solid crisp game for 40 minutes..that is the key...they tend to only play hard in spurts...but if they play hard for full 40 minutes Richmond goes down here.

Plus I think Machado and Mo Mo Jones are athletic enough to be able to shutdown the back court of Linsdey and the stand out freshman...which has been their bread and butter all season long.

that being said I hate betting against Richmond at home but that is how much I believe in this Iona team.

[daviddaman2]

Great write ups. Loving Richmond and Charleston, not fully on board with Northern Colorado but we'll see as tip off draws closer. Keep up the good work and best of luck to us tonight!

Thanks man, I just am not a big fan of Denver in this spot. Coming off a ball busting loss in their last game and now having to play on the road where they already aren't comfortable. Should be interesting to see how it plays out

[daviddaman2]

shit man...against you on Richmond...I agree with you on your write up...but word is the Denver game and Marshall game...all the kids from Iona were under the flu...so that could have led to their below average performance.

Tim Cluess has been stressing all week defensive stops. Iona knows they can not win without getting defensive stops and getting out in transition. I just don't think Richmond has enough fire power to hang with Iona if the Gaels play a solid crisp game for 40 minutes..that is the key...they tend to only play hard in spurts...but if they play hard for full 40 minutes Richmond goes down here.

Plus I think Machado and Mo Mo Jones are athletic enough to be able to shutdown the back court of Linsdey and the stand out freshman...which has been their bread and butter all season long.

that being said I hate betting against Richmond at home but that is how much I believe in this Iona team.

Yeah I certainly here where your coming from. I just feel a disciplined, smart Richmond team playing at home after a big loss like they suffered against VCU are going to give a "maximum effort" game today. They'll do everyone they can to slow the pace and take Iona out of that run and gun offense and force them to play some half court basketball. If can do they that (as I expect and hope they can) they'll win. At least IMO. Best of luck to you though bud

[lite1up]

David, I have to take exception to Northern Colorado feeling good about themselves as a team. 2 weeks ago these guys lost to NAIA Westminster UT, AT HOME, by 13 points! Their only game since was a win over another non-D1 opponent, Johnson & Wales. Not sure how they're feeling too high on themselves right now.

I'm on Denver fairly big...although I do see the rest of your angle on taking Northern Colorado in this spot.

Like your Charleston & Richmond picks, I'm on those myself.

Good luck tonight

[daviddaman2]

David, I have to take exception to Northern Colorado feeling good about themselves as a team. 2 weeks ago these guys lost to NAIA Westminster UT, AT HOME, by 13 points! Their only game since was a win over another non-D1 opponent, Johnson & Wales. Not sure how they're feeling too high on themselves right now.

I'm on Denver fairly big...although I do see the rest of your angle on taking Northern Colorado in this spot.

Like your Charleston & Richmond picks, I'm on those myself.

Good luck tonight

Fair point, and no way around it that's a bad loss... but 3 out of 4 wins is still good mentally for a team that got their teeth kicked in their first 4 games.

[BigDan]

good looking card...havnt played N.col as of yet, hoping to find a 4 or 4.5 and then id bite with them..already on the rest....gl

[daviddaman2]

good looking card...havnt played N.col as of yet, hoping to find a 4 or 4.5 and then id bite with them..already on the rest....gl

GL to you as well bud. Hope it works out

[daviddaman2]

14-12 Richmond early... score this early doesn't mean much to me. What I do like is that Richmond is determining the tempo (slow) which is a good sign. If they can continue to do that, they'll win

[daviddaman2]

Oh boy... pace actually picked up towards the end of the half. Not a good sign for the Spiders. They've really gotta slow things down. If this game is played in the high 70's low 80's it's going to be very tough for them. Should be an interesting 2nd half

[Fishscale]

BooooYah!!! Good to see you man, great writeups as always!!

[daviddaman2]

BooooYah!!! Good to see you man, great writeups as always!!

Thanks bud, looks like i've got a loser here to start the day though

[zoo youk]

Read earlier Richmond has only given up 80 points 14 times since Mooney has been HC

Iona is that good.

Not trying to rub it in u keno that.. Hope you nail rest of your card bro

[daviddaman2]

Read earlier Richmond has only given up 80 points 14 times since Mooney has been HC

Iona is that good.

Not trying to rub it in u keno that.. Hope you nail rest of your card bro

Yeah i'll tip my cap to Iona their better than I thought. This score is a bit misleading seeing Iona with 88 points you'd think the tempo was insane and your standard up and down Iona contest. That however wasn't really the case. I'll give Richmond credit for at least trying (and for the most part doing a decent job) to slow the pace, but at the end of the day when a team shoots 58% there's not much you can really do. Glover was a monster, Armand (role player) came off the bench and lit it up. All 5 of their top scorers in today's game shot over 50% from the field. At the end of the day when a good talented team (like Iona is) is shooting the lights out you aren't going to beat them. Not overly upset with this play. You just can't plan on a team shooting as well as Iona did tonight. Fact of the matter slowing the pace a bit is the only way Richmond even kept Iona under 100.

[daviddaman2]

Just to avoid any confusion or before anyone else points it out... yes this game ended with about 75 possessions for each team (very fast tempo) that was skewed by the frantic last 10-15 minutes or so after the game was out of reach. At that point Richmond didn't have the luxury of trying to slow the tempo while playing from double figures behind. They had to run and gun from then on out, explaining the 95 point 2nd half.

[baazigar]

i was pretty confident too that Richmond would've kept it close and pulled it out but the runs Iona was on in the second half was just unbelievable. The refs weren't helping either. Richmond has 5 fouls 3 minutes into it.

[Gooooducks]

Iona is a sweet sixteen team. They have everything working for them. Machado is a facilitator and Mo Jones has a stroke.

[daviddaman2]

i was pretty confident too that Richmond would've kept it close and pulled it out but the runs Iona was on in the second half was just unbelievable. The refs weren't helping either. Richmond has 5 fouls 3 minutes into it.

Yeah Iona was just on nuts the last 30 minutes. I believe they scored 12 points the first 10 minutes, then 76 in the final 30. Amazing production. They earned it.

[daviddaman2]

Iona is a sweet sixteen team. They have everything working for them. Machado is a facilitator and Mo Jones has a stroke.

I can see them as a tournament team, think sweet 16 is pushing it.

[daviddaman2]

Tennessee looking for the backdoor... that'd be a killer

[daviddaman2]

Tough loss with Northern Colorado... Everything was in their favor coming into tonight's game as I pointed out in my write up. Fact is they simply didn't have enough talent to take advantage of their opportunity. Denver was ripe for a beating tonight. No. Colorado was up 5 at the half and flat out let them off the hook. Oh well, i'll store that away and remember it. Northern Colorado flat out just not a very good team.

[snakemeron91]

northern Colorado inches from the backdoor damn dood close 1

[daviddaman2]

Charleston holds on for the cover. Took them a little while to get going but once they did the game went about as I thought it would. Better team, playing at home did what good teams do. Take care of business and win the game. I'm still not sure if I see Charleston making a run at a tournament bid, but I certainly see them in the NIT and there's nothing wrong with that.

Wednesday: 1-2 (-4.6 Units)
Season: 19-9 (+16.1 Units)

[daviddaman2]

northern Colorado inches from the backdoor damn dood close 1

Yeah, still disappointed with that one though. As I said Denver was ripe for a beating tonight. Really no reason Northern Colorado shouldn't have won that game. I knew this wasn't North Carolina or anything but there really is a shortage of talent on that team.

[daviddaman2]

Looking back can't really second guess myself on either of today's losses. Iona just shot the lights out, no way they aren't going to cover shooting like that. No way can account for 58% shooting when capping a game. As far as Northern Colorado I knew they had mediocre talent at best, but apparently it's even less than that. Denver was ripe to beat tonight, and the bears just couldn't it. Pretty sad