LU/WU

[WinthropEagleFan]

I might as well get this thread started, even though Winthrop still has two games to play before they head to Lynchburg....should be a battle, though I think it is about time for that 15-game home conference winning streak to end for LU.

[SCAR]

How about all of those Radford players getting suspended! This is from the Big South website. They still won without those guys. See quote below:

Earlier in the day, Radford players Whit Holcomb-Faye, Chris Goodin, Tom Hayes and freshman Branden Smith were suspended for the remainder of the season for a violation of team rules and athletic department policy. Radford has seven regular season games remaining.

[SCAR]

Winthrop has 4 tough games in a row next week:

Monday vs UNCA
Tuesday @ HPU
Thursday @ Liberty
Saturday vs BSC

I think they will lose 2 of those games and be tied with Liberty for 1st place at the end of the week. Liberty gets to prepare for 4 days for Winthrop while Winthrop can't think about Liberty until Wed. I can't wait to talk with coach Marshall next week to see what his thoughts are about the Tuesday night reschedule of HP. This race is coming down to 2 teams right now with HP losing to UNCA by 12!

[Sly Fox]

Why couldn't those Radford kids get caught BEFORE our game with them last week?

That schedule for Winthrop next week is like an NBA schedule with four games so quickly. That has to be tough on their legs for their game with us and then on Saturday. Particularly when you consider who they are playing. Even the home game against UNCA will be a challenge the way they've been playing of late.

It'll be fun to scoreboard watch Winthrop the next few days.

WinEagFan --- Once you guys get through Monday & Tuesday's games, have some of your Winthrop posters come over here to post. I'm getting juiced for what figures to be the key game of the Big South regular season.

[eddantes]

This is the second time in three years that Radford has had to suspend players for disciplinary reasons. Why doesn't the Big South impose sanctions on them?

And before we get our hopes up about whooping up on the mountain people, the last time they had players suspended, they came into the Vines during the semi-finals and beat us.

[WinthropEagleFan]

As far as I know, those suspensions from a couple of years ago and the suspensions from yesterday stemmed from players breaking team rules...I'm not sure I see a need for the conference to step in, especially if Byron Samuels is handling the situation in-house. And I watched them play last night (I live 10 minutes from CSU) and I think they play better as a team without Whit Holcomb-Faye. They won't have much depth the rest of the way, but they still have some decent players on their roster.

[Sly Fox]

"Team rules" is the most bogus cop-out a coach can use for suspensions. When you consider that the coach kicked his best player off the team for the remainder of the season, it must have been something fairly serious. I'm guessing there are probably legal issues at play in this one. Someone needs to keep an eye on the news.

I hope they do continue to play well ... we've already played them and it would be nice if they could knock off a few teams down the stretch.

[Duntonville]

WHF is RU's best -individual- player. He is not their best contributor. He doesn't know how to be a team player. Samuels might have been looking for an excuse to bench his "best player".

Like WuiglesFan said, I would not doubt it for a minute that RU can play better without him.

He's such a cry-baby too. He's an embarrassment on the court. Woodson certainly isn't a class act but at least his quirks are amusing to watch. WHF is just annoying.

[LUconn]

Back to the game at hand. While I'm very pleased that this is Winthrop's 3rd game in 4 days with another one to follow 2 days later being in the back of their heads, the fact that this game is a full 5 days after LU's last one doesn't sit well with me. I think this team gets rolling and gelling together and a big break doesn't help. Hopefully their practice will be intense. I think we win this one though. I'll chime back in with a score once I see how the HPU games goes for them. (go panthers)

This stretch may help this young WU team, who hasn't experianced the postseason, feel what it's like during tournament time. But lets hope they're just tired instead.

[Sly Fox]

My hope is that this stetch allows the LU players to catch up on some academics so we don't have any more issues with eligibility like we did earlier this season.

Its not THAT long of an off period for the players. I'm sure Sunday was a good day of rest after the trip to Alabama. I'm juiced about Thursday night's game.

[Sly Fox]

Winthrop squeaked by their first test of the week against UNCA. Hopefully, it took quite a bit of energy.

[Realist]

Sorry boys, you can't even tie WU on Thursday. WU is in the driver's seat and can completely lock it up with a win. An LU win only gives a glimmer of hope.

[WinthropEagleFan]

OK..now we can really start talking about this game..Hopefully WU can figure out how to slow down Dees and Blair...they always seem to play well against the Eagles.

[Sly Fox]

Congrats on yet another victory tonight. For the record, Realist, when we wrote earlier in the thread it was BEFORE you guys won the past two nights.

Thursday can't get hear fast enough.

[LUconn]

Yeah, this game is somewhat meaningless now. Except that I still predicted that WU would lose to BSC at home on saturday. 2 losses in a row would tie it up. Then again I see us struggling at UNCA. All in all we need to win this game on thursday but in the end I don't think it will make a difference (in terms of the standings) unless it's the beginning of a complete meltdown by LU. On the other hand what a win vs a loss would do for the team mentally is big.

[PAmedic]

stupid question here, but I'm not exactly a "bracketology" expert. If we finish 2nd in the conf, but win the Big South tourney, does that lock in an automatic bid- or can the committee extend the invite to the team finishing the reg season first, even if they lose the championship (no matter who beats them)?

[WinthropEagleFan]

The winner of the Big South Tournament gets the automatic bid...end of story. I believe it is up to the individual conferences to set their own criteria to determine their automatic bid, and everyone other than the Ivy League uses their tourney champion.

[PAmedic]

ok- thanks. Then it doesn't REALLY matter who ends up first (second or eighth for that matter) during the reg season, LU, Winthrop or even VMI (HA) winning the Big South tourney sends them to the "big dance".

[LUconn]

I guess technically it doesn't matter. (unless you're in last because you can't participate) But let's get realistic, it's very difficult for anybody to win on the road in this conference and the regular season champ has home court throughout the tourney. So your regular season standing does matter, a lot.

[SCAR]

Well said LUconn. The way the Big South seedings go will probably determine the champion although I know WU is capable of winning in Lynchburg and I think the Flames can go to Rock Hill and win on that big Saturday in March. However you have to give the advantage to the home team in this case I think. Can't wait for tomorrows game. I will be talking to coach Marshall today or tomorrow. I already asked him via email about the Big South putting the HPU game on Tuesday and he told me he was totally against it. Had he know Gathings would get suspended on that day and not play in his game he might have had a different answer . On a side note I have to give Lundy and Samuels credit for having the guts to suspend great players even in the thick of a hunt for the grand prize. Believe me lots of coaches would not do what they did. Unless their hand was forced because the media got the info like at Colorado, Iowa State and other schools with recent scandals. Can't forget Baylor either (Sly).

[Sly Fox]

I hadn't seen where Gathings had been suspended. That explains the ease with which Winthrop rolled them.

I agree wholeheartedly that homecourt advantage plays a MAJOR role in the outcome of the tourney. But I believe it is more of a factor in the opening rounds than in the championship. In the title game, all bets are off and anything can happen as we've seen on our own floor in recent years.

[Ormov]

Yo Scar, do you have more info on this Gathings suspension?

[Smally]

Isn't the tie-breaker overall record after conference record is tied? Winthrop would need to lose 3 and we would need to win out if that were the case. I honestly thought at halftime that High Point could win only being down by one, but they really missed Danny Gathings in the second half. I am curious on the indefinite suspesion. I tried to google it but found nothing except that he was. Anyway, should be a good game if we keep our heads in the game.

[Realist]

That game was a blowout with or without Gathings. WU's defense is becoming one of the best in the nation.

PAmedic, there is only one bid and that is from the conference tourney. The regular season championship is pretty nice too though, it gets you a nice long banner to hang from the rafters, and it is really the true measure of the best team in the conference. Everyone wants the tourney win for the press and exposure, which of course, makes sense.

The Winthrop dynasty has 6 regular season championships in the last seven years, very close to sealing up 7 out of 8.

[SCAR]

Below is the link on the Big South website.


Also I have included the write up at the bottom. I don't have any more details but I will find out today I hope when I go up to talk with the LU coaches and players. I just got back from Philly (planned on attending the parade ) Really I had personal business up there but what timing if we had won the game. Anyway, my focus is totally on college hoops right now and Big South in particular.

www.bigsouthsports.com/article.asp?articleid=66152

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, High Point senior forward Danny Gathings was suspended indefinitely from the Panthers' men's basketball team for a violation of team rules. Gathings, from Winston-Salem, N.C., is averaging 13.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51 percent from the floor this season.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Guest-Realist said:

The Winthrop dynasty has 6 regular season championships in the last seven years, very close to sealing up 7 out of 8.

Not sure Radford would appreciate you taking away their 99-00 and 00-01 regular season titles from them (WU won the tourney as the #2 seed both of those years)....But either way, it would always be most 'fair' to award the automatic bid to the regular season champ...but the exposure of the conference championship game on ESPN or ESPN2 is too much to give up. Also, one of the fun parts of college basketball is the 'everybody has a chance' type of atmosphere of the conference tourneys. In theory, I really like the way the Big South does the tourney now, as it still gives everyone a chance, but the teams that do well in the regular season get an easier road. Of course as a fan, I miss being able to see all the games in person.

[eddantes]

Hey Scar, consider yourself lucky that the Eagles didn't win when you were in Philly. I mean, if they did, the city would probably have burned down.

[eddantes]

LUConn - how do you get it so you can have a picture (the dunk) with your signature?

[SCAR]

It would have been awesome to be there for a parade. I still remember the Sixers win when I was a kid. I even went to the Philadelphia Stars parade in 86 I think when they won the USFL championship. I watched the game in the friendly confines of my home in Lynchburg.

[LUconn]

you gotta have this in your sigunature

(img)http://www.yourpicturethatyouwant.com/coolpicture.jpg(/img)

just replace the () with []