Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

Oh no! Drexel!

But well done against George Mason. Hopefully you can smash through the rest of the CAA Tournament.

I thought about you when I saw they went down, haha. Obviously Femi Ramsey isn't strolling through their gym anytime soon. I got revenge for Drexel's loss though and beat the Patriots pretty handily.

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

CAA Conference Tournament

Quarterfinal Results

#1 VCU 74 #9 George Mason 64


#4 Hofstra 68 #5 Towson 69


#3 William & Mary 65 #6 Delaware 76

#2 James Madison 77 #7 Georgia State 82


Semi-Final Matchups


#1 VCU vs #5 Towson


#6 Delaware vs #7 Georgia State

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

#5 Towson vs #1 VCU
Verizon Center, Washington D.C.
3/7/10

Well, that sure escalated quickly.

Towson jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the opening five minutes of the game, showing off an aggression that carried over from their win over #4 Hofstra in their last contest. After that, it wasn't even close.

The Rams went on a 34-12 run to end the half, giving them a 16 point halftime lead that was built on on their ability to score at will against the Towson 2-3 zone, especially in the paint. When the 2-3 wasn't working, Towson employed the 2-1-2, which didn't fair much better.

It only got worse. From there, VCU would outscore the Tigers 44-16 in the second half. A lot of it was because they scored whenever they wanted (they made a staggering 27 of their 35 2-point attempts), but the outcome was never in doubt because of how terrible Towson shot from the field. They were a putrid 16-59, including 4-21 from three, and didn't have many attempts from the free throw line.

CAA Player of the year, SF Isaiah Philmore, was completely taken out of the game. The senior scored 5 points on 2-13 shooting, and struggled with the size of the VCU frontline. At 6'7'' and a SF playing out of position, he was dominated down low on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor by PFs Javonte Reddic and Heath Houston.

Meanwhile, VCU had four players score in double figures and two others with 9 and 8 respectively. A trademark of the Rams offense all season has been balance and today was no different in their winning effort. VCU advances to the CAA Championship, where they will face the winner of the Delaware/Georgia State contest.

Towson Tigers at Virginia Commonwealth Rams
Mar 7, 2010	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Towson (20-10)	24	16	40
Virginia Commonwealth (26-5)	40	44	84

Towson Tigers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
C. McKnight	22	4-10	3-8	0-3	1	2	1	0	3	11
W. Klatsky	21	2-6	1-2	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	5
A. Glergen	21	2-11	0-6	3-4	4	1	0	0	0	7
I. Philmore	23	2-13	0-1	1-1	6	0	2	0	2	5
D. Skomsky	15	1-3	0-0	0-0	5	0	0	1	0	2
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
T. Mills	11	1-3	0-0	0-0	1	1	0	0	0	2
B. Torres	7	1-3	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	2
T. Dickerson	6	0-3	0-1	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	0
E. Bradley	2	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Flash	15	3-6	0-1	0-0	7	0	0	0	0	6
E. Gumbs	8	0-0	0-0	0-0	2	1	0	0	1	0
TEAM TOTALS		16-59	4-21	4-8	27	7	3	1	6	40

Virginia Commonwealth Rams
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
D. Thomasson	16	4-7	0-3	0-0	3	5	0	0	1	8
R. Brandenburg	17	5-8	4-7	0-0	2	2	0	0	0	14
I. Pleiness	20	6-9	1-3	3-5	4	5	0	0	1	16
J. Reddic	18	3-5	0-0	3-4	3	0	2	0	0	9
D.J. Haley	18	5-7	0-0	1-2	8	2	0	1	0	11
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
J. Mascoll	16	3-4	0-1	0-0	3	3	1	0	0	6
R. Skivolocke	6	2-3	0-0	0-1	3	2	1	0	0	4
H. Houston	18	2-4	0-0	1-1	8	1	1	1	0	5
D. Theus	8	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	2	0	0	0	0
T. Daniels	13	4-8	2-6	1-2	3	0	0	1	1	11
TEAM TOTALS		34-55	7-20	9-15	38	22	5	3	3	84

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

VCU has re-emerged in the latest top 25 poll, this time checking in at #22 after their two dominant wins in the CAA Tournament thus far. With a match against Georgia State looming for the CAA title, coach Martinez and his team hope they don't perform the way they did against James Madison when they were in the polls two weeks ago.

NCAA Hoops Rankings - AP Top 25 - Updated: Mar 7, 2010
RK	TEAM (VOTES)	RECORD
1	NC State	23-6
2	Kansas	24-6
3	Georgetown	25-6
4	Maryland	20-7
5	Dayton	24-4
6	Gonzaga	27-4
7	Michigan State	23-8
8	Memphis	26-5
9	Saint Louis	23-6
10	Louisville	22-9
11	Duke	20-9
12	Arizona State	21-8
13	Illinois	22-8
14	Florida	21-8
15	UConn	20-10
16	Missouri	21-8
17	Oregon	20-8
18	Alabama	20-8
19	Illinois State	23-7
20	Georgia Tech	18-11
21	UNC-Charlotte	19-7
22	VCU	26-5
23	Tennessee	21-10
24	Oklahoma	20-9
25	Washington	20-10

[waytofailself]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

Well done against Towson. I still hold a healthy dose of contempt against them from the CAA.

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

Well done against Towson. I still hold a healthy dose of contempt against them from the CAA.

Hah, thanks. I seem to really have their number; only played em twice this year and beat them by a combined 64 points. First matchup wasn't close either. Some teams in the conference I felt really good about playing against this year and they are definitely one of them.

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

CAA Conference Tournament

Semi-Final Results
#1 VCU 84#5 Towson 40

#6 Delaware 78 #7 Georgia State 81

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

CAA Conference Tournament Final Preview

The VCU Rams have absolutely obliterated #9 George Mason and #5 Towson in their two tournament games, winning by a combined 64 over the two teams. Much of it has to do with their doing, but a lot of it has been the ineptitude of their opponents.

The Rams have played stellar defense for the most part all season and that has helped them cover some of their glaring offensive flaws, most of which revolves around their outside shooting and lack of a post player that can score consistently with his back to the basket. Also, they are an excellent passing team and make sure to get everyone involved in the scoring column. They have 4 guys averaging 10 points or more per game, led by SG Iker Pleiness who is scoring 12.7 PPG.

VCU dominated Georgia State in their first match up of the season, winning 93-46 on the road in late January. The game was a blowout before halftime, with 5 games scoring in double figures. But much has changed since then.

Georgia State finished 7th in the conference during the regular season, but were picked 4th in the preseason by the media. They definitely had the talent; it just didn't all come together for them until recently. They showed flashes earlier in the season - winning at Michigan, playing Duke down to the wire at Cameron Indoor and only losing by 5, and recently taking the Rams to overtime in their second match up 3 week ago.

A 91-55 loss in their regular season finale to Hofstra, another blowout loss to add to a resume filled with them, seemed to have finally woken the Panthers up.

They began the CAA Tournament with a convincing victory over Northeastern and followed that up by stunning #2 James Madison 82-77. The Dukes were the higher seed but it could be argued that the Panthers had more talent, so the victory should not come as too big of a surprise. Georgia State then beat #6 Delaware 81-78 in a back and forth affair, setting up this intriguing matchup between these two teams. The questions most Georgia State fans going into the game will have are: Which team will show up? Will it be the squad that gave up 93 points to VCU and lost by 47? Or will it be the team that fought and scrapped but came up just short in overtime in the rematch?

KEYS TO THE GAME:

VCU

• Defend the perimeter. Georgia State has one of the best scorers in the league in JR Rashaad Richardson. He is averaging 13.2 PPG this year shooting while shooting 35.4% from three. But he's not alone. The starting PG, SG, and SF combined for 47 of GSU's 69 points in their last meeting and attempted a lot of three-pointers, so VCU is going to have to fight through screens and stay on their man at all times.

• Stay aggressive and get to the foul line. Don't settle for outside shots. VCU made 24 of their 31 free throws in their last game against GSU, which turned out to be a major reason why they won the game. As much as GSU loves the outside shot, VCU can't get three-happy themselves and try to answer the treys that GSU will undoubtedly make in this game.

Georgia State

• Get Richardson and SF Donnie Nichols the ball early and often. The two are GSU's best players and the team is at their best when they're scoring. With two freshmen big men who haven't shown their ready to be relied on on a consistent basis, the perimeter players for GSU must show up and must play big.

• Speaking of the freshmen big men - have them aggressively attack the glass. VCU C D.J. Haley grabbed 13 rebounds in the last contest and seemed to come down with every crucial board. The Panthers must get better rebounding production of their young frontcourt if they hope to win. They don't have to score - just give their perimeter players extra shot attempts by extending possessions.

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

#1 VCU vs #7 Georgia State
Verizon Center, Washington D.C.
3/8/10

47. That was what was written on the whiteboard in the Georgia State locker room before the game Monday night. Even after forcing overtime in their previous contest against the Rams on VCU's home floor in their last meeting, coach Rod Barnes wanted his players to focus on that humiliating margin of defeat to the Rams more than two months ago.

After all, the Panthers seem to play their best after being destroyed in their previous game. Their final loss of the regular season, a 91-55 loss to Hofstra, motivated the team and helped spearhead their run in this tournament as they've won 3 games in 3 days.

Well, the tactic didn't exactly worked as Barnes had hoped. The Panthers came out of the gate sluggish - one of their keys to winning this game was grabbing rebounds and not allowing VCU to get second chance opportunities. Well, this is how their first defensive possession went:

Missed jumped by PG Denver Thomasson.

Offensive rebound by C D.J. Haley.

Kickout to SG Iker Pleiness, who missed a three-pointer.

Offensive rebound D.J. Haley.

Put-back layup by D.J. Haley.

In a 15 second span, the Panthers inability to crash the boards set the tone for the rest of the game.

VCU would race out of the gates, led by the aggressive play of the VCU frontline that took advantage of Georgia State's youth in the interior. The 4 bigs combined for 30 points, 26 rebounds, and 3 blocks and had their way anytime they wanted to.

The Rams would take a 15-point halftime lead, 40-25, and although they didn't play particularly well after intermission, their first half onslaught of the Panthers provided them enough cushion to win. This is the second consecutive year that VCU has won their conference tournament; instead of Shaka Smart, who led guided them there last year, the Rams will go into battle led by their 3rd year coach Logan Martinez who has put together quiet the resume in his short stint as head coach.

Martinez didn't have to push a lot of buttons for this squad to succeed; he inherited a very experienced team that has played in some big games the last few years under the previous regime. Now, with Martinez at the helm, VCU is headed to the NCAA Tournament as a very likely 5 or 6 seed based on recent bracketology.

Georgia State Panthers at Virginia Commonwealth Rams
Mar 8, 2010	1ST	2ND	SCORE
Georgia State (18-16)	25	34	59
#22 Virginia Commonwealth (27-5)	40	31	71

Georgia State Panthers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
D. White	20	3-8	1-5	4-4	0	2	2	0	3	11
R. Richardson	19	6-14	3-4	0-0	5	1	1	0	2	15
D. Nichols	24	4-11	0-3	1-1	4	0	1	0	0	9
W. Hoyer	20	2-3	0-0	0-0	5	1	0	0	2	4
D. Lhota	23	4-5	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0	0	8
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
H. Doby	14	1-5	0-2	0-0	0	1	1	0	2	2
J. Vincent	9	0-4	0-1	0-0	5	2	1	1	0	0
J. Maynor	6	0-1	0-0	4-4	2	0	0	0	1	4
T. Williamson	8	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	3	0	0	1	2
S. Harris	8	2-2	0-0	0-1	3	0	1	0	0	4
TEAM TOTALS		23-55	4-15	9-10	26	10	7	1	11	59

Virginia Commonwealth Rams
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
D. Thomasson	20	1-11	0-1	0-0	0	5	0	0	3	2
R. Brandenburg	20	2-7	2-6	0-0	2	0	0	0	0	6
I. Pleiness	21	5-10	1-2	5-6	3	3	0	0	3	16
J. Reddic	18	4-6	0-0	2-3	7	1	3	1	0	10
D.J. Haley	22	6-7	0-0	0-0	14	3	1	2	1	12
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
J. Mascoll	12	3-5	1-1	0-0	4	1	3	0	1	7
R. Skivolocke	8	4-5	0-0	0-0	2	0	1	0	0	8
H. Houston	12	0-4	0-0	0-0	3	2	0	0	1	0
D. Theus	5	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	0
T. Daniels	13	4-6	2-3	0-0	1	0	0	0	0	10
TEAM TOTALS		29-61	6-13	7-9	36	16	8	3	9	71

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

VCU Tournament Resume

Record: 27-5 (16-2); Regular Season/Conference Tournament Champs

RPI: 21
Conf. RPI Rank: 12
Last 10: 9-1
Vs. Top 25: 0-2
Road/Neutral: 13-5

RPI 1-50: 1-2
RPI 51-100: 3-1
RPI 101-200: 11-1
RPI 201+: 12-1

Quality Wins: At Boston College (RPI 37), vs Hofstra (RPI 79), vs Towson 2x (RPI 93)

Bad losses: @ Old Dominion (RPI 247), @ James Madison (RPI 173)

Projected Seed: 5

Analysis: Upon closer inspection, VCU just really hasn't beaten anyone this season. Outside of a road win versus Boston College, which in itself isn't all that great considering their 17-16 record, VCU hasn't faced a very daunting slate. They were beat soundly by Georgia Tech, who was ranked all year, and by a Texas team that barely finished above .500 for the season despite their preseason rankings.

Also keep in mind that VCU only played the top 4 teams that finished behind them in the CAA a combined 6 times. They handled Towson in the regular season and conference tournament, but rematches against James Madison and Hofstra did not occur despite those two teams giving the Rams a hard time this season. Could we be looking at a very vulnerable possible 5 seed come tournament time?

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket

East Region

#1 Maryland (23-7) vs #16 Long Island (12-21)
#8 Saint Mary's (21-11) vs #9 Minnesota (20-12)
#5 Memphis (27-6) vs #12 UAB (20-10)
#4 Illinois State (23-7) vs #13 Utah (17-14)
#6 Colorado State (23-8) vs #11 San Francisco (18-15)
#3 Dayton (24-5) vs #14 Princeton (16-12)
#7 Ohio State (19-13) vs #10 Boston College (17-15)
#2 Arizona State (21-9) vs #15 Louisiana Tech (18-15)

Analysis: Maryland can thank themselves for winning the ACC tournament as that helped them earn the number 1 overall seed and a by far the easist path to the Final Four. 6 of the top 10 schools are from none-power conferences and Boston College got an at-large big with a 17-15 record. This is Maryland's and Arizona State's bracket to lose. The Sun Devils have made it to back-to-back Final Fours and hope to cap off a trip there by winning it all this year.

West Region

#1 Gonzaga (27-4) vs #16 Northern Arizona (16-14)
#8 Charlotte (19-8) vs #9 Providence (20-12)
#5 UConn (20-11) vs #12 Cal Poly (23-7)
#4 Louisville (22-10) vs #13 Troy (20-12)
#6 Wake Forest (22-9) vs #11 Toledo (20-11)
#3 Missouri (23-9) vs #14 Texas Southern (22-9)
#7 Washington (20-11) vs #10 Florida State (21-14)
#2 Kansas (24-7) vs #15 Binghamton(15-17)

Analysis: The school that Martinez left and and the program that had Martinez at the top of their wish list are in this bracket. Gonzaga, which has been very successful with Jacksonville State's head man after missing out on Martinez, has a tough road. The defending champs, Louisville, are here as well as a strong 2 seed in Kansas. Texas Southern will make its second consecutive appearance and proved they can be successful in the absence of Martinez.

South Region

#1 Georgetown (28-6) vs #16 Lafeyette (16-14)
#8 Arizona (19-13) vs #9 Fairfield (28-5)
#5 VCU (27-5) vs #12 Xavier (21-12)
#4 Saint Louis (25-7) vs #13 UT-Martin (19-11)
#6 Alabama (22-9) vs #11 South Carolina (20-13)
#3 Michigan State (23-9) vs #14 SC Upstate (20-12)
#7 Oregon State (22-10) vs #10 UNLV (21-9)
#2 Illinois (25-8) vs #15 Davidson (20-12)

Analysis: Martinez and his VCU Rams will go up against a very tough #12 seed in Xavier. #1 Georgetown is riding a wave of momentum after winning the Big East Tournament. Saint Louis is a very dangerous #4, and watch out for #10 UNLV. The Runnin' Rebels are very talented after recruiting so well the last few years.


Midwest Region

#1 NC State (23-7) vs #16 Texas A&M Corpus Christi (16-11)
#8 San Diego (20-9) vs #9 Creighton (21-10)
#5 Oklahoma (23-9) vs #12 Drake (18-12)
#4 Florida (21-9) vs #13 Siena (21-10)
#6 Georgia Tech (19-12) vs #11 Detroit (24-8)
#3 Duke (20-10) vs #14 Oral Roberts (19-11)
#7 Tennessee (22-11) vs #10 New Mexico (20-9)
#2 Oregon (25-8) vs #15 High Point (17-14)

Analysis: After being No. 1 in the polls for so long NCSU wasn't able to hold on to the #1 overall seed because they lost in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament to Florida State. This looks to be a pretty manageable bracket for them, but Creighton could be dangerous and have proven themselves in a tournament setting. Remember, they won the Paradise Jam Tournament at the beginning of the season. #11 Detroit could also be dangerous with two NBA players in Ray McCallum and and Eli Holman.

Conference Breakdown:

ACC - 7
PAC 10 - 5
Big Ten - 4
SEC - 4
Big East - 4
Mountain West - 4
Atlantic 10 - 4
WCC - 4
Big 12 - 3
Missouri Valley - 3

[waytofailself]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

Well done on winning the CAA by such a huge margin and making it as a #5 seed. Xavier is a tough draw, but hopefully your team has what it takes. Good luck!

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

Well done on winning the CAA by such a huge margin and making it as a #5 seed. Xavier is a tough draw, but hopefully your team has what it takes. Good luck!

Thank you! I just played the game and my hands are still shaking, wow. This matchup definitely lived up the the mantra of "March Madness." Can't wait to do my writeup.

[waytofailself]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

Thank you! I just played the game and my hands are still shaking, wow. This matchup definitely lived up the the mantra of "March Madness." Can't wait to do my writeup.

Ha. Been waiting on pins and needles man. You're holding out on us.

[HarkTheSound]

Re: Career Coaching Legacy of Logan Martinez (CH2K8)

Ha. Been waiting on pins and needles man. You're holding out on us.

Lol I know I apologize, I've been swamped with school work ever since I got back from spring break. The fun thing about college is when professors all assign their work at the same time...I should have an update by the weekend.