Co-Conspirators
• •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Talk Hoops
• •
•
•
•
•
•
•
Official Sites
• •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Friday, December 22, 2006
A little break for Christmas couldn't come soon enough for the Holy Cross, which lost to George Mason last night.
The visiting Patriots jumped on the Crusaders early, shooting 11 for 21 (52.4 percent) with 5 three-pointers (on 9 tries) in the first half, building a 29-22 lead at the break. It was a lead a "tired and beat-up" (Ralph Willard's words) Holy Cross team could not come close to overcoming.
You can read about the play by play aspects of the game in Jen Toland's Telegram & Gazette , but an even better perspective on HC's situation comes from coach Ralph Willard himself, who after the game. According to Willard, Mason simply was "better prepared and seemed to have fresher legs" than the Crusaders, who have now lost four in a row heading, or should we say, limping, into the holdiays.
Part of the difference between the team that won its first five games and the team that has lost five of its last six has been a simple matter of scheduling. Four of the first five were in the Hart Center against teams like Fairfield, Hampton and William and Mary. Nothing against those foes, but they hardly are in the same league as the Syracuse-Dayton-Duke-Providence-Mason types the Crusaders have played during their skid. And all those except George Mason were road games.
On top of that, injuries have decimated Willard's rotation. The team's best player, senior Keith Simmons, is playing with a brace on the knee he sprained at Duke. Against George Mason he still played 36 minutes and scored 11 points, but Willard says Simmons is definitely not himself. The knee is affecting Simmons' shot, as was obvious by his 0 for 5 shooting from the three-point arc (4 of 14 overall) against Mason. Even more troubling, against Mason he experienced some cramping in his hamstring, leading to worries Simmons could be compensating for his knee in ways that could lead to further injury.
Simmons' knee is actually the good news on the injury front for HC. Pat Doherty is expected to miss at least a month with a broken hand, Lawrence Dixon had another MRI yesterday on the knee he had repaired in September and freshman Andrew Keister's bone scan this week confirmed a stress fracture in his leg, a problem likely to end his season.
Says Willard, "We are a tired and beat-up team that is trying too hard and breaking down in critical segments of the game."
The worn-out legs factor also seems to be catching up to Torey Thomas. Thomas is averaging 37.5 minutes per game this season, despite some lingering problems from the knee he had repaired over the summer. Thomas played all 40 minutes for the second game in a row last night and he played 39 in the two games before these past two. That followed a 38-minute game at Yale and the Syracuse game where he played only 37 minutes, not because Willard had the luxury of resting Thomas, but because he fouled out.
The wear is showing. Thomas was 3 for 12 from the field against Mason. In the past three games, the senior point guard has shot a combined 8 for 34 from the floor (23.5 percent).
With Simmons and Thomas struggling, HC's 8 for 34 shooting in the second half against Mason is probaly not a big surprise.
With three games in three days next week at LaSalle's Explorer Classic, it doesn't get any easier.
One note, attendance at the 14,800-seat DCU Center was just 3,114.
| | |
The visiting Patriots jumped on the Crusaders early, shooting 11 for 21 (52.4 percent) with 5 three-pointers (on 9 tries) in the first half, building a 29-22 lead at the break. It was a lead a "tired and beat-up" (Ralph Willard's words) Holy Cross team could not come close to overcoming.
You can read about the play by play aspects of the game in Jen Toland's Telegram & Gazette , but an even better perspective on HC's situation comes from coach Ralph Willard himself, who after the game. According to Willard, Mason simply was "better prepared and seemed to have fresher legs" than the Crusaders, who have now lost four in a row heading, or should we say, limping, into the holdiays.
Part of the difference between the team that won its first five games and the team that has lost five of its last six has been a simple matter of scheduling. Four of the first five were in the Hart Center against teams like Fairfield, Hampton and William and Mary. Nothing against those foes, but they hardly are in the same league as the Syracuse-Dayton-Duke-Providence-Mason types the Crusaders have played during their skid. And all those except George Mason were road games.
On top of that, injuries have decimated Willard's rotation. The team's best player, senior Keith Simmons, is playing with a brace on the knee he sprained at Duke. Against George Mason he still played 36 minutes and scored 11 points, but Willard says Simmons is definitely not himself. The knee is affecting Simmons' shot, as was obvious by his 0 for 5 shooting from the three-point arc (4 of 14 overall) against Mason. Even more troubling, against Mason he experienced some cramping in his hamstring, leading to worries Simmons could be compensating for his knee in ways that could lead to further injury.
Simmons' knee is actually the good news on the injury front for HC. Pat Doherty is expected to miss at least a month with a broken hand, Lawrence Dixon had another MRI yesterday on the knee he had repaired in September and freshman Andrew Keister's bone scan this week confirmed a stress fracture in his leg, a problem likely to end his season.
Says Willard, "We are a tired and beat-up team that is trying too hard and breaking down in critical segments of the game."
The worn-out legs factor also seems to be catching up to Torey Thomas. Thomas is averaging 37.5 minutes per game this season, despite some lingering problems from the knee he had repaired over the summer. Thomas played all 40 minutes for the second game in a row last night and he played 39 in the two games before these past two. That followed a 38-minute game at Yale and the Syracuse game where he played only 37 minutes, not because Willard had the luxury of resting Thomas, but because he fouled out.
The wear is showing. Thomas was 3 for 12 from the field against Mason. In the past three games, the senior point guard has shot a combined 8 for 34 from the floor (23.5 percent).
With Simmons and Thomas struggling, HC's 8 for 34 shooting in the second half against Mason is probaly not a big surprise.
With three games in three days next week at LaSalle's Explorer Classic, it doesn't get any easier.
One note, attendance at the 14,800-seat DCU Center was just 3,114.
| | |
Help Hoop Time
Recent Items
• Bad break for Lehigh• Payback time for the 'Saders
• Bison up to old tricks
• Pards survive D3 challenge; Navy romps
• Bison on the road again
• Shorthanded 'Saders come up short
• Raiders reach new low
• HC, 'Gate hit road in search of upsets
• Army (yawn) wins by 50
• Where have you gone? (Breaking news edition)
Archive
• • November 2005
• December 2005
• January 2006
• February 2006
• March 2006
• April 2006
• May 2006
• June 2006
• July 2006
• August 2006
• September 2006
• October 2006
• November 2006
• December 2006
• January 2007
• February 2007
• March 2007
• April 2007
• May 2007
• June 2007
• July 2007
• August 2007
• September 2007
• October 2007
• November 2007
Feeds
©2006 Hoop Time. All rights reserved.