Re: The Accidental Career of Guy West (CH2k8)
2015 Tournament
Semifinals
#6 Towson 86 #10 William and Mary 74
#1 Drexel vs #12 UNC Wilmington
2015 Tournament
Semifinals
#6 Towson 86 #10 William and Mary 74
After a season of struggling in the CAA, the Towson Tigers are exactly where they thought they should be at the start of the year: vying for the CAA Championship. Although it took a large second half run, the Tigers dispatched the Tribe thanks to a strong defensive push that saw William & Mary go scoreless for 5 minutes in the second half.
#1 Drexel vs #12 UNC Wilmington
Once upon a time, the Drexel Dragons were the underdog and were always hungry. It didn't matter the competition, they would always come out firing and always find a way to perform.
But the question for this year's squad has been how will the defending CAA and National Champions do as favorites. But during the hubub and debate, did everyone really forget about the Seahawks?
These boys can play. They went toe to toe with the Dragons. No matter how many times Drexel looked like they were about to break away with the game, the Seahawks would storm back. And then any time it looked like UNC Wilmington was going to take control, Drexel showed the resilience that has served them so well in the past.
In a game so close, small decisions can make a huge difference. Strangely and uncharacteristically, it was Coach West who wound up making some head scratchers. Dez Braxton entered the game with a sprained knee and was clearly affected by it throughout. It looked like he was a scratch early, but then Coach West brought Braxton back onto the floor multiple times, including key possessions in the final minutes. He could not get his legs into his shot and could not keep up on defense.
Guessing and managing injured players is one thing, but managing players with fouls is Coaching 101 -- the kind of criticism Coach West was thought to have shook years ago. But he put Femi Ramsey back onto the court with three fouls early in the second half, and then put him back on the court with four fouls with over 6 minutes left in the game. Both times, Ramsey picked up fouls within possessions of being on the court.
If anything, West's coaching decisions seemed entirely distracted throughout the game. The Dragons were once up by 8 in the second half, finally closing down the defense via a 3-2 zone. But then West switched defenses on four straight plays, and each play players were out of position and soon the Seahawks were tied back up. The defensive switcheroo may have just been strategy, but bungling Ramsey's foul situation proved far more costly.
Instead of having their leader, their rock, on the floor for the closing minutes, Coach West squandered his star player. Tracy Cottrill and Duncan Sow did everything they could in the middle, but the best front court player on the floor was not even wearing white. UNCW's Urdoh Archibald was far and away the most imposing player on the floor.
Which led to the closing minutes of the game. Woody Morandais gave the Dragons a huge lift by hitting a three point shot with 12 seconds left on the clock to give the Dragons a one point lead. The Seahawks took their last time out with time enough to run just one more play. A two or three would win, even a foul and trip to the free throw line could allow for the unthinkable.
Could the fledgling UNC Wilmington Seahawks slay Goliath?
UNC Wilmington's final possession of the game.
Coach's Take: What can you do. We had them in the position we wanted to have them. Our defense collapsed. The trap was set. But a perfect pass, one defender out of position, and a perfect shot. This is what I was telling our young guys about. We can't have lapses like this. It doesn't just costs you a W, it costs you a chance to keep playing.
But the question for this year's squad has been how will the defending CAA and National Champions do as favorites. But during the hubub and debate, did everyone really forget about the Seahawks?
These boys can play. They went toe to toe with the Dragons. No matter how many times Drexel looked like they were about to break away with the game, the Seahawks would storm back. And then any time it looked like UNC Wilmington was going to take control, Drexel showed the resilience that has served them so well in the past.
In a game so close, small decisions can make a huge difference. Strangely and uncharacteristically, it was Coach West who wound up making some head scratchers. Dez Braxton entered the game with a sprained knee and was clearly affected by it throughout. It looked like he was a scratch early, but then Coach West brought Braxton back onto the floor multiple times, including key possessions in the final minutes. He could not get his legs into his shot and could not keep up on defense.
Guessing and managing injured players is one thing, but managing players with fouls is Coaching 101 -- the kind of criticism Coach West was thought to have shook years ago. But he put Femi Ramsey back onto the court with three fouls early in the second half, and then put him back on the court with four fouls with over 6 minutes left in the game. Both times, Ramsey picked up fouls within possessions of being on the court.
If anything, West's coaching decisions seemed entirely distracted throughout the game. The Dragons were once up by 8 in the second half, finally closing down the defense via a 3-2 zone. But then West switched defenses on four straight plays, and each play players were out of position and soon the Seahawks were tied back up. The defensive switcheroo may have just been strategy, but bungling Ramsey's foul situation proved far more costly.
Instead of having their leader, their rock, on the floor for the closing minutes, Coach West squandered his star player. Tracy Cottrill and Duncan Sow did everything they could in the middle, but the best front court player on the floor was not even wearing white. UNCW's Urdoh Archibald was far and away the most imposing player on the floor.
Which led to the closing minutes of the game. Woody Morandais gave the Dragons a huge lift by hitting a three point shot with 12 seconds left on the clock to give the Dragons a one point lead. The Seahawks took their last time out with time enough to run just one more play. A two or three would win, even a foul and trip to the free throw line could allow for the unthinkable.
Could the fledgling UNC Wilmington Seahawks slay Goliath?
UNC Wilmington's final possession of the game.
Ernie Mills brought the ball up the floor with time ticking quickly. There was little time for movement, the ball had to go to the right player for the shot. Mills passed along the left baseline to Vin Casey, who was immediately swarmed in the corner by Woody Morandais and the Drexel defense. Perfect position. A perfect trap on the corner of the baseline. Textbook defense.
Except for Kentrell Dean, the defensive black hole of an otherwise perfect play. Dean inexplicably drifted off of his man into the paint while Casey was trapped. In desperation, Casey threw a perfect pass across the court to a now unguarded Reggie Bradley. With no time to think, only shoot, Bradley launched the ball as time expired.
His third three pointer of the game sealed quite possibly the biggest upset in CAA History.
Except for Kentrell Dean, the defensive black hole of an otherwise perfect play. Dean inexplicably drifted off of his man into the paint while Casey was trapped. In desperation, Casey threw a perfect pass across the court to a now unguarded Reggie Bradley. With no time to think, only shoot, Bradley launched the ball as time expired.
His third three pointer of the game sealed quite possibly the biggest upset in CAA History.
| UNC Wilmington Seahawks at Drexel Dragons | |||
| Mar 10, 2016 | 1ST | 2ND | SCORE |
| UNC Wilmington (9-21) | 34 | 37 | 71 |
| #23 Drexel (26-5) | 34 | 35 | 69 |
| North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks | |||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | |
| E. Mills | 26 | 3-9 | 1-6 | 2-5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | |
| R. Bradley | 24 | 8-13 | 3-6 | 3-5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | |
| V. Casey | 26 | 5-18 | 1-5 | 2-4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | |
| R. Jimenez | 13 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| U. Archibald | 22 | 7-11 | 0-1 | 3-3 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 17 | |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | |
| B. Fields | 9 | 2-5 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| M. Maye | 4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| D. Bruce | 4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C. Zavackas | 13 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| C. Bell | 9 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| K. Campbell | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
| D. Wentt | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 25-60 | 5-20 | 16-25 | 28 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 71 | ||
| Drexel Dragons | |||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | |
| S. Legans | 22 | 1-6 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| D. Braxton | 6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| W. Morandsais | 20 | 4-11 | 3-5 | 1-1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | |
| D. Sow | 19 | 6-13 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 13 | |
| F. Ramsey | 15 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 3-5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| BENCH* | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | |
| T. Cottrill D. Richard | XX 13 | 5-5 2-4 | 0-0 0-1 | 4-4 0-0 | 3 3 | 1 1 | 0 0 | 1 0 | 1 1 | 14 4 | |
| K. Dean | 20 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| D. Marsh | 12 | 2-2 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| G. McLaughlin | 12 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| H. Padilla | 1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| J. Vassallo | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 27-58 | 4-13 | 11-14 | 33 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 69 | ||
Ed Note: The CPU did me in this game. For some reason, when I started the game my playbook was reset and despite having the settings in the game menu set otherwise, play calling and substitutions were being called automatically by the CPU. That meant I had to recreate my playbook from scratch in game. That meant my team was not always in the defense I wanted it to be in, leading to easy Seahawk baskets. That meant a hurt/ineffective Dez Braxton kept getting subbed onto the floor. That meant Femi Ramsey got subbed on prematurely and picked up fouls 4 and 5 before I could sub him off (with 5 minutes let!). I can live with losing to a buzzer beater and I had other chances to win. I do not enjoy having the game screwing with me like this, although it has not happened before or since. I have no idea why this happened, but it very likely cost me the game.
Finals
#12 UNC Wilmington 78 #6 Towson 82
#12 UNC Wilmington 78 #6 Towson 82
The Towson Tigers are finally going to the NCAA Tournament, but they needed to come back from a large second half deficit. UNC Wilmington did everything they could, but they will have to hold onto what was a dream tournament run instead of punching their ticket to a remarkable NCAA Tournament bid. That distinction belongs to Towson -- but expect the CAA to have two teams in the Tournament for a second year in a row.
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