Re: Paving Their Road to Success: The Legacy of Coach Moon
Southland Conference Tournament 2009-2010 Preview
Quarterfinals:
#1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. #8 Northwestern State
Not much has changed between last year and this year for the defending Southland champions. Minus a late surge by #2 seed Central Arkansas the Islanders controlled the conference from day two of conference play. The Islanders have been lead by their their large frountcourt and their balanced attack. On the other hand Northwestern State is definitely on the downswing following the graduation of last year's star Keithan Hancock. With no weapons of note for the Demons this looks like an easy game for the Islanders.
WINNER: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
#4 SE Louisiana vs. #5 Sam Houston State
Both of these teams come into this opening round rubber match very evenly matched. Both games in the regular season were close, with the home team narrowly edging the visitor both times. The Bearkats rely on senior guard Ashton Mitchell to run the show, averaging 9 points and 8 assists a game. On the otherhand SE Louisiana's x-factor all season has been sixth man Daryl Arnold. In both games Arnold came up huge posting a double-double in points and rebounds, he'll need similiar numbers for the Lions to hopefully dispatch the Bearkats with ease. With how close these teams have been it's hard to pick a winner, but SE Louisiana is the overall higher seed for a reason.
WINNER: SE Louisiana
#3 UT-Arlington vs. #6 Texas State
Two of the high flying offenses in the Southland go at it in this #3 v. #6 matchup. With both teams running fast paced offenses it looks to be which team can execute the gameplan better. With that said Texas State comes into this game hot on the heels of a three game win streak, while Arlington is coming off of two rough outings. With that said momentum is key in the playoffs and we expect Texas State to ride it out to earn their fourth straight.
WINNER: Texas State
#2 Central Arkansas vs. #7 Nicholls State
Coach Moon's done it, good for him. They might not be the most prolific freshmen five to ever play but they answered the bell in January, setting the Bears up for their best finish ever under third year Coach Moon. Now, the hottest team in the Southland looks to get back on track and completely forget last year's letdown by making a strong run to win it all. Unfortunately for them the Colonels are standing in their way. The Colonels have yet to solve their regular season problems, unlike the Bears, but have been more than a handful for teams in the postseason. And that experience can go a long way too, as last year's top recruiting class struggled for UTSA vs Corpus Christi. That loss may easily be one of the main reasons the Roadrunners struggled this year, so the Bears better not overlook the Colonels or it may just come back to haunt them.
Re: Paving Their Road to Success: The Legacy of Coach Moon
How are Hairston and Randell dealing with the minutes at the PG spot? I saw Hairston numbers have dipped, and Randell has had a strong FR year, he seems like a low major two guard at 6'3.
Re: Paving Their Road to Success: The Legacy of Coach Moon
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sydney Deane
How are Hairston and Randell dealing with the minutes at the PG spot? I saw Hairston numbers have dipped, and Randell has had a strong FR year, he seems like a low major two guard at 6'3.
Oh definitely 6'3 is a bit short for my tastes at the two. But, Hairston and Randle pretty much split time at the 1, and only occasionally Randle will play the 2 with Hairston at the 1 (sometimes Pillow), making for a really short line. But I've always been huge on getting size in the front court so when my short back court is in I've got Shimokawa (7'1) at the 5 and Briggs (7'0) at the 4, so they more than make up for the size difference in size (so far). Thanks for checking in!
Re: Paving Their Road to Success: The Legacy of Coach Moon
Southland Conference Tournament 2009-2010 Recap
Quarterfinals Featured Story and Headlines:
"Un-bear-lievable"
Beware the Colonels, they said. Beware the trap game, they said."Someone get a hand in his face!"
Coach Moon had a rare off day. The Coach who's becoming known for his calm demeanor and unchanging facial expressions was livid on the sideline. But you can't blame him, they had slipped, badly, and he was all too familiar with the scene. Somewhere amidst the background noise the PA announcer was stating Kent Summers had just made his 3rd three pointer of the game, and somewhere on the scoreboard it stated the Bears trailed 17 points with five minutes to go. But he heard and saw none of it, just the silence that comes with being deep in thought.
"Someone has to take charge out there! These guys didn't come all the way here to lose, they didn't come here to let you walk all over them because you're the latest juicy story. In fact, they want their five minutes of stardom, and they're only going to get that by rolling you. Are you going to let them just roll over you? All that work, all that sweat, and that's it? Months of hardwork wiped away because of a sloppy 35 minutes. No, one of you is going to step up, put a body on your guy, find the open man for the easy basket, something. This is your time, now let's make the most of it!"
Post game one of the reporters repeated the timeout speech to him and with a shake of the head responded "It definitely seemed like a good idea at the time, x's and o's just didn't seem right." Moon flashed a quick smile, the ice had returned to his veins. Somewhere in that non-technical, not flashy monologue Moon struck home with his young point guard, and boy was it something to watch.
"I don't really think it's anything the Coach said to be honest, I wasn't really paying attention. I was so caught up in trying to figure out how to get us back in the game it kinda went in one ear out the other. I really hope he doesn't make me run for this (laughter)."
Steal, assist, score, repeat. Utah's Mr. Basketball proved why he was named the best high school player in Utah with this single performance, dropping 16 of his 32 points in the final five minutes of regular time.
"El was definitely something to watch, he's definitely gonna make a bit of a name for himself if he keeps working as hard as he has been."
It's safe to say that when the Bears got back on the court he just told the guys "hey, get on my back, I got this". But nothing was bigger than his 12th assist of the game. With only ten ticks on the clock remaining Randle took the in bounds and raced down the court, pumped at the three point line and got his man in the air, perfect.
"Honestly, it was too flashy for me. Now I know why coach's get gray-haired so quick."
Randle lobbed it to the basket as the crowd went silent noticing the off course trajectory, but just as everyone and their dog thought it was over, shooting guard Will Capel released from his man and got big above the rim and slammed home the symbolic dagger through the Colonels season. The buzzer sounded and the Bears sixth man Oswaldo Hairston checked the scoreboard for reassurance.
"I couldn't believe it, I just kept looking. The game's tied? Overtime? Well, sucks to be you Nicholls State, see you next year."
Hairston couldn't have said it any better. The Colonels looked lost and beaten walking off the court. They hadn't trailed once all game and for most of the 2nd half lead by as many as 23, and now they're in overtime?
"We had'em where we wanted them and just had to finish it off."
Overtime was like a cliff notes version of the entire game. Despite their demeanor the Colonels valiantly struck first, beginning the period on a 9-2 run. But that was that, as Randle handled the Bears offense like a well tuned symphony orchestra, ending the game on a 21-3 run and a 133-122 victory. But there was no over the top celebration, just a few high fives and hugs and walk to the locker room as Moon's words seemingly started to sink in following a 10 minute delay.
"It's awesome definitely, But we're not done yet. My team lost in the Utah State finals three years in a row, and we've got another game before I even get another chance at a championship so I need to be ready. Tonight was definitely a wake up call for us, totally."
Nicholls State Colonels at Central Arkansas Bears
Mar 11, 2010
1ST
2ND
OT
SCORE
Nicholls State (15-15)
55
55
12
122
Central Arkansas (20-9)
43
67
23
133
Headlines From the Other Games
"Putting On the Cruise Control. #1 seeded Islanders sail past Northwestern State 89-64"
"Scratching Out a Win. Sam Houston State wins first round classic, beat SE Louisiana 87-86 in overtime."
"Staying Hot. Texas State survives a late UT-Arlington run to win 96-95."
Re: Paving Their Road to Success: The Legacy of Coach Moon
Southland Conference Tournament 2009-2010 Preview
Semifinals:
#1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. #5 Sam Houston State
As good and as nail-biting the SE Louisiana v. Sam Houston State first game was it proved one thing, they're not championship caliber. Sure, Corpus Christi won it all last year from the six seed, but they were a lot better off coming from the six seed. The Islanders relied on a strong balanced attack and a "bend but don't break" defense, eerily similar to how they played this year. However, this fifth seed Bearkat squad is streaky at best, and when they're on they're still not deadly enough to give top teams a problem. So unless the Islanders have a very off day they should cruise through another round of play.
WINNER: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
#2 Central Arkansas vs. #6 Texas State
Last night might be included in the classic games of this year's March, but make no mistake about it that the Bears are for real. Starting point guard Elgrace Randle is here to stay, and after a performance that nearly netted him his first career triple-double performance (32 pts,16 asts, 7 stls) he finds himself staring a conference tourney MVP right in the face if he leads his freshmen brethren to a conference title. In the semifinals his Bears match up against a hot handed group from Texas State. With that said, Texas State is the clear underdog in this match up. Unless the Bobcats stay red hot the Bears are still riding high from their miraculous first round win over Nicholls State, and when these Bears are clicking they might be too good for anyone in the Southland to handle, even #1 seeded Corpus Christi. So the Bears easily beat the Bobcats and set up a Southland power battle between themselves and #1 seeded and defending Southland champs Corpus Christi.
Re: Paving Their Road to Success: The Legacy of Coach Moon
Southland Conference Tournament 2009-2010 Recap
Quarterfinals Featured Story and Headlines:
"That's More Like It"
Conference tourney MVP frontrunner Elgrace Randle dropped 22 points and shooting guard Will Capel pitched in 15, the rest of the game followed suit.
"It was definitely nice to get back to doing things our way, I don't think I could've handled another game like last night anyways (laugh).
The Bears proved to Corpus Christi that they're not scared of the big show in round two, pitching a complete performance on both sides of the ball. Central Arkansas broke lose of tradition, slipping away from Moon's bread and butter of man to man defense and showing a wide variety of zones, which they seemed to play very well in befuddling what's been a very potent Texas State offense. When asked about their defense Randle seemed excited by the concept of throwing them against the Islanders.
"We might not show them, but trust me they're there. Whether we show'em or not, well, you're gonna find out but they better be ready.
On the other side of the ball the Bears made it look too easy, as Randle and Hairston combined for 13 assists on the night. Capel also had another fine night, his 15 points was second most on the night behind lead man Randle's 22. When asked if he wish he were more in the spotlight Capel seemed to handle the question like a savvy veteran.
"Absolutely not. We're a team, I get my baskets because of plays made by my teammates. When they do well I'm given a soft assignment, I'm just playing well enough right now to make the most of it."
Texas State Bobcats at Central Arkansas Bears
Mar 12, 2010
1ST
2ND
SCORE
Texas State (15-14)
31
26
57
Central Arkansas (20-9)
44
35
79
Headlines From the Other Games
"Nothing To See Here. Corpus Christi's big men handle the Bearkats, lead Islanders in expected 10 point win."
06-13-2012, 02:25 PM
