Game 11: Championship - William & Mary vs. George Mason
> Live on-location in Richmond, VA at the CAA Tournament
Welcome to Championship Monday boys and girls! After ten games in three days here we are: 3rd-seeded George Mason and 5th-seeded William & Mary ready to duke it out for the right to play in the NCAA Tournament. There will be no at-large bid for either of these teams, its do or die tonight.
ESPN is in the house with Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes on the call for the 7 o’clock tip off. No surprise there is at least twice the number of media outlets here tonight than there was all weekend, so here’s a pat on the back for all of us who have been here for the entire tournament. Naturally with this being the night of the championship and with so many national outlets being here, the food is top notch, so my theory held true for the entirety of the tournament. Tonight’s menu: grilled chicken, baked potato wedges, mixed vegetables and peach cobbler.
The George Mason band has been here since 5:30 practicing and preparing for tonight. Their director is in his best attire for tonight naturally: a green suit with yellow pinstripes, yellow shirt and a green tie. His green scepter is of course by his side. I’m happy that these guys are back on my side of the floor tonight, now I get a close up look at all the action. Nessler and Dykes have been getting into the music too, I definitely saw Jimmy bobbing his head with the beat a couple of times while going through game notes near mid-court.
As for the game, I’m still not really sure what to think. George Mason has won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two teams and is clearly the more physically talented team. Will Thomas is trying to become just the fifth player in school history to average a double-double for the season. Assuming he doesn’t lay a goose egg in the rebounds column his 10.4 average coming into tonight should stay intact.
The Patriots were in this game last season but lost to VCU; they last won it back in 2001. Mason has had a bumpy history in the CAA title game, just 3-5 all-time, but they are in great position to improve on that tonight. The Patriots on the season are ahead of the Tribe in essentially every statistical category; most importantly in my opinion will be rebounds. GMU only averages three more rebounds per game than William & Mary, but clearly the Patriots are a more physical team inside.
With all that said, the Tribe has improved in many aspects during this past weekend. The team is shooting a full three points higher from the field and is turning the ball over less frequently. Interestingly though, they are actually doing a worse job of rebounding the ball, something I think that can be attributed to less shots being taken since they have done a good job of slowing down the pace of play. That will be the key tonight; if W&M tries to run with George Mason they are in trouble, they simply can’t keep up. I will say it right now though, if the Tribe slows this one down and its close once again down the stretch, how can you not give them the edge? They have won all three games in this tournament in the final ten seconds, with a different player hitting the game winner each time.
This place is slowly filling up and you can already feel the electricity in the building as the Mason band blares the theme from “Top Gun.” We are in for what should be a fantastic closing chapter to the 2007-08 CAA season. Check back later in the first half for some updates!
Welcome to Championship Monday boys and girls! After ten games in three days here we are: 3rd-seeded George Mason and 5th-seeded William & Mary ready to duke it out for the right to play in the NCAA Tournament. There will be no at-large bid for either of these teams, its do or die tonight.
ESPN is in the house with Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes on the call for the 7 o’clock tip off. No surprise there is at least twice the number of media outlets here tonight than there was all weekend, so here’s a pat on the back for all of us who have been here for the entire tournament. Naturally with this being the night of the championship and with so many national outlets being here, the food is top notch, so my theory held true for the entirety of the tournament. Tonight’s menu: grilled chicken, baked potato wedges, mixed vegetables and peach cobbler.
The George Mason band has been here since 5:30 practicing and preparing for tonight. Their director is in his best attire for tonight naturally: a green suit with yellow pinstripes, yellow shirt and a green tie. His green scepter is of course by his side. I’m happy that these guys are back on my side of the floor tonight, now I get a close up look at all the action. Nessler and Dykes have been getting into the music too, I definitely saw Jimmy bobbing his head with the beat a couple of times while going through game notes near mid-court.
As for the game, I’m still not really sure what to think. George Mason has won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two teams and is clearly the more physically talented team. Will Thomas is trying to become just the fifth player in school history to average a double-double for the season. Assuming he doesn’t lay a goose egg in the rebounds column his 10.4 average coming into tonight should stay intact.
The Patriots were in this game last season but lost to VCU; they last won it back in 2001. Mason has had a bumpy history in the CAA title game, just 3-5 all-time, but they are in great position to improve on that tonight. The Patriots on the season are ahead of the Tribe in essentially every statistical category; most importantly in my opinion will be rebounds. GMU only averages three more rebounds per game than William & Mary, but clearly the Patriots are a more physical team inside.
With all that said, the Tribe has improved in many aspects during this past weekend. The team is shooting a full three points higher from the field and is turning the ball over less frequently. Interestingly though, they are actually doing a worse job of rebounding the ball, something I think that can be attributed to less shots being taken since they have done a good job of slowing down the pace of play. That will be the key tonight; if W&M tries to run with George Mason they are in trouble, they simply can’t keep up. I will say it right now though, if the Tribe slows this one down and its close once again down the stretch, how can you not give them the edge? They have won all three games in this tournament in the final ten seconds, with a different player hitting the game winner each time.
This place is slowly filling up and you can already feel the electricity in the building as the Mason band blares the theme from “Top Gun.” We are in for what should be a fantastic closing chapter to the 2007-08 CAA season. Check back later in the first half for some updates!
posted by Joey, Staff at
6:26 PM
