2021 CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

[Captain]

Dumb question.
Can the team have any kind of practice during this pause? Hope they can maintain fitness for the potential 3 games in 3 days.
The tourney is completely wide open this year.

[stuball888]

According to protocol no games or practice

[triplec2195]

I believe Speedy referenced this on a question from Gorchov during the CC&C chronicles and my vague recollection is that individually guys would be keeping themselves in game condition. If anyone has a better recollection please offer it.

[Sctvman]

Same way with CofC when we were paused two days ago. Individual guys can keep themselves in shape. That’s what happened in our last pause.

[Wags]

You can keep yourself in shape, but nothing comes close to replicating the nuances of actual gameplay like playing games. A long layoff is the last thing you want going into a single-elimination tournament, especially with how Hofstra is built this year.

On the plus side, any lingering feelings of the two-game losing streak they ended the regular season on will be long gone and won't carry over to the tournament. They'll be very hungry for a win, and if they get one, they're suddenly one step from playing for a championship again. At that point, their sights will be completely set on that and any of the regular-season losses or areas in which they failed over the regular season won't be a factor at all at least from a mental standpoint.

But getting that first win after such a long layoff will be an extra challenge they don't need. Considering how streaky this team is, you want to come into the tournament with some rhythm, especially shooting-wise with this team. We all of course hope it doesn't happen, but all it would take is one cold shooting game and they're done because as we've seen, they're usually not built to overcome that unless they play D for a full 40 minutes - which has been a challenge in itself for this team this season.

If there's a game in which they'd be ripe for a cold-shooting game, it would be the first one after such a long layoff. That's why in some ways, regardless of that first opponent (especially because the league is so close from top to bottom - anyone can really beat anyone else), which looks to be Delaware at this point, I think that first game could be their toughest game of the tournament for them even if they do get to the semis or the finals. In a weird way, if they can overcome the layoff and get a W, they might actually be able to relax more (and get back into the rhythm of playing actual games again) after that, even though the stakes would be higher with each successive round.

[HUSID80]

Wags the good news is that everybody will be in pretty much the same position...having not played in weeks, with one or two exceptions.

[Wags]

Wags the good news is that everybody will be in pretty much the same position...having not played in weeks, with one or two exceptions.

True, but I mean not every team is as streaky as HU is or has the lulls defensively when they miss shots for as long as HU does. So that's where a cold-shooting game (because HU hasn't played in a while and might be out of rhythm) in that first game could cost HU more than other teams in their first game's. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

But at least the VA tourney location won't be a factor working against HU as in past years, when VCU, GMU and ODU were still in the league. The CAA announced today:

RICHMOND, Va. (February 26, 2021) – The Colonial Athletic Association announced today that there will be no public sale of tickets for either the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship or the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship. Attendance at both championships will be limited to families and guests of student-athletes and coaches.

[Wags]

Further evidence that this tournament is completely wide open for almost anyone, Drexel upset JMU today on the same floor the tourney will be played, dropping JMU into a tie with Northeastern at the top (though JMU still got the top seed after a convoluted tiebreaker in an extra convoluted type of season).

The pairings are set for next weekend:
https://caasports.com/news/2021/2/27/pa ... nship.aspx

After a long layoff, Hofstra gets a 4/5 game tipping at about 11 am ET. If the Pride wins that, they could get top-seeded James Madison on its home floor (the same place Hofstra lost its two most recent games) a little over 25 hours later. That's about as tough as it gets for one of the top seeds.

[Wags]

James Madison announced prior to today’s game against Drexel that Matt Lewis, the CAA’s leading scorer, will miss the remainder of the season due to a knee injury suffered in the Dukes’ previous game against Hofstra on Feb. 14. Lewis will not have lasting effects and is expected to have a complete recovery over the next eight weeks.

Glad that he'll be okay and will have a chance at a pro career perhaps, but just heartbreaking for the senior and Virginia native after leading the conference in scoring. It does make things very interesting for the tourney though.

As for his impact against HU this season (should it come to a third matchup between the teams in the semis), JMU beat HU with and essentially without him:

JMU's 93-89 win vs. HU this season was led by Lewis' 20 pts (though he only went 1/7 from 3).
The Dukes' 74-70 win against HU the next day was with Lewis scoring just five points in only 13 minutes before getting hurt.

[Wags]

I think because of all of the cancellations, they had to go all the way down to the NINTH-PLACE team (Towson) to determine JMU as the 1 seed and NU as the 2 seed.

3) Charleston: NU swept, but JMU didn't play.
4) Hofstra: both swept.
5) Delaware: neither played.
6) Drexel: JMU split, but NU didn't play.
7) W&M: neither played.
8) Elon: both swept.
9) Towson: JMU swept, NU split.

Good thing it was settled after that because:
10) UNCW: neither played.

[Hofstra]

Looks like we are playing Delaware next Sunday at 11am.

[Wags]

Looks like we are playing Delaware next Sunday at 11am.

Yes, that's what I said above. An 11 am tip in a tough 4/5 game, in a quiet, empty arena after a three-week layoff is not exactly what you want for a team that's as streaky as HU. If there was a recipe for a 2-for-16 start from the floor for a team like HU (before warming up later), that would be it. But let's hope they can somehow guard against that and have a good start. The first eight minutes or so could be key in this one. Not sure there have been many tougher scenarios in any conference to start a tourney for a team that tied for most regular-season wins in its conference, but this is certainly a different kind of year.

If they survive Delaware, they'll get top-seeded JMU without Matt Lewis, 8th-seeded Elon or 9th-seeded Towson. None of it easy, but getting to the finals is very doable if they play like they're capable of playing on Sunday and Monday.

[cactus]

Delaware, JMU, Northeastern likely path.
Hope J Ray gets hot for 3 games in a row...

[Wags]

Delaware, JMU, Northeastern likely path.
Hope J Ray gets hot for 3 games in a row...

Not likely. Maybe two, but he almost always would have one cold game mixed in with the other two. And even if he is hot, if that's the strategy, they'll be done early. They need a lot more than just Ray. At the very least, Ray, Coburn, Kante, Cramer and Burgess all contributing every game, along with select bench players depending on the game. And they ALL have to play serious defense in this tournament or forget it.

Also, don't be surprised if Elon, which made a surprising run in last year's tourney and which comes in with four straight CAA wins after starting 0-7 in league play, beats Towson and then picks off JMU, especially with Matt Lewis done for the season. Also wouldn't be surprised to see other upsets this year. Normally, I say no, and it usually is somewhat chalk. But this year, we don't even know that the teams are seeded where they might be in a normal season. Some higher-seeded teams might not be that good and some lower-seeded teams might be better than their seeds indicate. So, this might be the year to break away from the chalk (now that I said that, watch there not be a single upset the whole tourney!).

[daHUPride]

Has it really been a year already?!?!

That championship game vs NE - was one of the last good/cool memories of the last 52 weeks - what long strange trip its been (since).

Amazing what can happen -craziness - in such a short turn around.

Lets hope that this is another tuning point for things to come.

First on that list is a healthy JAM!

[HUSID80]

Talk about inspiring! JAM appears at JMU to inspire the team! I can only dream that it would happen but can you imagine!!!!!

[EvanJ]

Looks like we are playing Delaware next Sunday at 11am.

It's a change from the normal order. Normally the 1 seed plays the first Quarterfinal and 4 vs. 5 is second.

[Hofstra]

Yup. Hate that we have the first game of the day. Could really kill the day early.

[Wags]

Looks like we are playing Delaware next Sunday at 11am.

It's a change from the normal order. Normally the 1 seed plays the first Quarterfinal and 4 vs. 5 is second.

That shows how tough it is to play as early as 11 am (instead of at least at noon), that they didn't want to make the 1 seed play at that time. Even when Hofstra hosted the two America East title games, those were at least at 11:30 am.

[Wags]

Noting that there will be an NIT this year. Apparently, it will be a 16 team field and all games will be played in New York City at MSG and without fans.

The entire NIT will be played in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Conference USA and the University of North Texas will serve as hosts for the 83rd NIT, and specific venues for each round are being finalized. Games will be played at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas and at UNT Coliseum on the campus of North Texas in Denton, Texas. First-round games will be played Wednesday, March 17, through Saturday, March 20. Quarterfinals also will take place Thursday, March 25. The semifinals and championship will take place Saturday and Sunday, March 27 and 28. 2021 also will feature a third-place game Sunday, March 28, which hasn’t been played at the NIT since 2003. All 16 games of the 2021 NIT will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.