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Saturday, February 17, 2007
Bison needs a way to deal with Neal.
Any talk about Towson begins with guard Gary Neal. It usually does not go far past the 6-4 senior, either. The rest of Towson's roster reminds you of the former major league executive who once questioned the need to pay a whole roster of minor league players so you have guys for the four or five actual prospects to throw the ball to.
Averaging over 25 points per game, Neal is the primary, secondary and tertiary option in almost everything Toswon runs on offense. The No. 4 scorer in the nation, Neal has scored in double figures in all 27 of Towson's games, going over 20 in 20 of those. Eight times he has scored 30 or more. His season high is 41.
Forget anbout your run of the mill 1,000-point scorers. This guy has done it twice -- at two different schools (he scored 1,000 at LaSalle before transferring). Only two other guys have ever done that.
Neal is a 45.1 percent shooter, an impressive stat considering close to half his shots come from the three-point arc, where he has made 83 of 245 (33.9 percent).
"The guy can make incredible shots from long distances. He can make them off the catch. He makes them off the dribble. He doesn’t feel the pressure of any defense. When he misses, it’s normally not that the defense made him miss. He just happened to miss the shot,” said George Mason coach Jim Larranaga.
Neal is not without a supporting cast.
Abraham Dennard, a 6-8 senior forward, averages 11.1 points per game, much coming on garbage from Neal's missed shots. A third of his 6.4 rebounds per game come on the offensive glass. Dennard will step out from time to time to jack up a three. Let him. He is 9 for 40 on the season.
Also up front is Tommy Breaux, a 6-9, 210-pounder who doubles as a tight end for the Tigers football team. Breaux is a 61.9 percent shooter and has blocked 57 shots.
Point guard C.C. Williams, averages 4.1 assists per game, most coming when he throws the ball to Neal.
Coaching the Tigers is Pat Kennedy, a guy whose star has faded considerably since his heady days at Florida State. In the first 13 years of his head coaching career, through stops at Iona and Florida State. Kennedy's teams posted just one non-winning season in that stretch, making 10 trips to the postseason, including a Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight with the Seminoles.
The last 13 years have been a different story. In 1994, a season removed from the Elite Eight appearance, Kennedy began s stretch of three straight losing seasons. After a trip to the NIT finals in 1997, Kennedy moved on to DePaul, where he sandwiched three losing seasons around two postseason appearances (2nd round NIT in 1999, first round NCAA in 2000). The other 10 seasons, including his first two at Towson, have been below .500.
If Kennedy's team is going to finish .500 or above this season, it probably needs a win at Bucknell. Towson is 13-13, with conference games at Old Dominion and home against Drexel remaining on its Colonial Athletic Conference slate.
This is not the game the Bison had hoped for when they penciled in a rare non-conference home game for this date. Bucknell was hoping to be playing a highly regarded opponent on national television. Sort of like last year's Northern Iowa game, but at home in Sojka Pavilion.
Instead they draw a .500 poor sister from the CAA. The sort of conference they'd hoped for, not the sort of team. Those CAA teams -- the Virginia Commonwealths, the Drexels, the Hofstras -- they all are playing teams that didn't bust their brackets in the first four games of the season.
In the midst of a tough conference race, this sort of game screams watch out for a letdown. For a team like Towson, struggling for its first winning season in a while, a shot at a team with Bucknell's recent reputation is a chance to gain some respect.
Where does Bucknell's motivation come from? Face it, in a lot of ways, this game is meaningless. It won't have anything to do with the Bison's chance of getting into the Big Dance. Given their current RPI and record, it is not likely to make much difference on possible seeding should the Bucknell with the Patriot League title.
Enter the age-old end of season motivator -- Senior Day. Sending out this team's three seniors -- Chris McNaughton, Abe Badmus and the injured Donald Brown -- with a win and a place in Bison history should be more than enough spark.
Limited tickets are available. They will go on sale at noon at Sojka Pavilion. It would be a shame if their fellow students don't pack the building for McNaughton, Badmus and Donald Brown, who are currently share the school record with the Class of 1987 for most wins by one class (82).
The Bison can't let the emotion of the afternoon influence their style of play. They need to guard against getting into an up and down affair with Towson. A key to Bucknell's recent success has been the ability to dictate pace. With Neal likely to jack shots up from anywhere at anytime, it will be important to be patient on the offensive end. The last thing Pat Flannery wants to see is his team playing chuck and duck, trying to outscore the Tigers.
Expect the Bison to use Abe Badmus to try to slow down Neal, especially on the perimeter. The key phrase there is "slow down." You don't stop a guy like Neal. He is going to get his points. The key is to make him work very hard to get them. Make him work hard to get the ball, and make him work hard to get his shots.
On offense, Bucknell continues to get good balance between its big guys inside and its guards. Badmus has picked up his offense the last several games -- one of the keys in their current nine-game win streak.
Another key has been McNaughton, who seems to have shaken the funk that enveloped him early in the season. McNaughton has been a man on fire, scoring in double figures each of the last eight games while stepping up his rebounding.
John Griffin has emerged as a steady scoring option, too. Griffin has pushed his scoring average up into double figures (10.2 ppg) over the past few weeks.
This will not be the last home game for the three seniors. The Bison are guaranteed a home game in the first round of the league playoffs and will also host in the semifinals if they advance. They are also still in contention for the top seed and a chance to host the final.
With two tough road games next week, Bucknell wants a strong showing in the regular season home finale to feed the momentum down the stretch.
Matchup | Tom Housenick column (Daily Item)
Any talk about Towson begins with guard Gary Neal. It usually does not go far past the 6-4 senior, either. The rest of Towson's roster reminds you of the former major league executive who once questioned the need to pay a whole roster of minor league players so you have guys for the four or five actual prospects to throw the ball to.
Averaging over 25 points per game, Neal is the primary, secondary and tertiary option in almost everything Toswon runs on offense. The No. 4 scorer in the nation, Neal has scored in double figures in all 27 of Towson's games, going over 20 in 20 of those. Eight times he has scored 30 or more. His season high is 41.
Forget anbout your run of the mill 1,000-point scorers. This guy has done it twice -- at two different schools (he scored 1,000 at LaSalle before transferring). Only two other guys have ever done that.
Neal is a 45.1 percent shooter, an impressive stat considering close to half his shots come from the three-point arc, where he has made 83 of 245 (33.9 percent).
"The guy can make incredible shots from long distances. He can make them off the catch. He makes them off the dribble. He doesn’t feel the pressure of any defense. When he misses, it’s normally not that the defense made him miss. He just happened to miss the shot,” said George Mason coach Jim Larranaga.
Neal is not without a supporting cast.
Abraham Dennard, a 6-8 senior forward, averages 11.1 points per game, much coming on garbage from Neal's missed shots. A third of his 6.4 rebounds per game come on the offensive glass. Dennard will step out from time to time to jack up a three. Let him. He is 9 for 40 on the season.
Also up front is Tommy Breaux, a 6-9, 210-pounder who doubles as a tight end for the Tigers football team. Breaux is a 61.9 percent shooter and has blocked 57 shots.
Point guard C.C. Williams, averages 4.1 assists per game, most coming when he throws the ball to Neal.
Coaching the Tigers is Pat Kennedy, a guy whose star has faded considerably since his heady days at Florida State. In the first 13 years of his head coaching career, through stops at Iona and Florida State. Kennedy's teams posted just one non-winning season in that stretch, making 10 trips to the postseason, including a Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight with the Seminoles.
The last 13 years have been a different story. In 1994, a season removed from the Elite Eight appearance, Kennedy began s stretch of three straight losing seasons. After a trip to the NIT finals in 1997, Kennedy moved on to DePaul, where he sandwiched three losing seasons around two postseason appearances (2nd round NIT in 1999, first round NCAA in 2000). The other 10 seasons, including his first two at Towson, have been below .500.
If Kennedy's team is going to finish .500 or above this season, it probably needs a win at Bucknell. Towson is 13-13, with conference games at Old Dominion and home against Drexel remaining on its Colonial Athletic Conference slate.
This is not the game the Bison had hoped for when they penciled in a rare non-conference home game for this date. Bucknell was hoping to be playing a highly regarded opponent on national television. Sort of like last year's Northern Iowa game, but at home in Sojka Pavilion.
Instead they draw a .500 poor sister from the CAA. The sort of conference they'd hoped for, not the sort of team. Those CAA teams -- the Virginia Commonwealths, the Drexels, the Hofstras -- they all are playing teams that didn't bust their brackets in the first four games of the season.
In the midst of a tough conference race, this sort of game screams watch out for a letdown. For a team like Towson, struggling for its first winning season in a while, a shot at a team with Bucknell's recent reputation is a chance to gain some respect.
Where does Bucknell's motivation come from? Face it, in a lot of ways, this game is meaningless. It won't have anything to do with the Bison's chance of getting into the Big Dance. Given their current RPI and record, it is not likely to make much difference on possible seeding should the Bucknell with the Patriot League title.
Enter the age-old end of season motivator -- Senior Day. Sending out this team's three seniors -- Chris McNaughton, Abe Badmus and the injured Donald Brown -- with a win and a place in Bison history should be more than enough spark.
Limited tickets are available. They will go on sale at noon at Sojka Pavilion. It would be a shame if their fellow students don't pack the building for McNaughton, Badmus and Donald Brown, who are currently share the school record with the Class of 1987 for most wins by one class (82).
The Bison can't let the emotion of the afternoon influence their style of play. They need to guard against getting into an up and down affair with Towson. A key to Bucknell's recent success has been the ability to dictate pace. With Neal likely to jack shots up from anywhere at anytime, it will be important to be patient on the offensive end. The last thing Pat Flannery wants to see is his team playing chuck and duck, trying to outscore the Tigers.
Expect the Bison to use Abe Badmus to try to slow down Neal, especially on the perimeter. The key phrase there is "slow down." You don't stop a guy like Neal. He is going to get his points. The key is to make him work very hard to get them. Make him work hard to get the ball, and make him work hard to get his shots.
On offense, Bucknell continues to get good balance between its big guys inside and its guards. Badmus has picked up his offense the last several games -- one of the keys in their current nine-game win streak.
Another key has been McNaughton, who seems to have shaken the funk that enveloped him early in the season. McNaughton has been a man on fire, scoring in double figures each of the last eight games while stepping up his rebounding.
John Griffin has emerged as a steady scoring option, too. Griffin has pushed his scoring average up into double figures (10.2 ppg) over the past few weeks.
This will not be the last home game for the three seniors. The Bison are guaranteed a home game in the first round of the league playoffs and will also host in the semifinals if they advance. They are also still in contention for the top seed and a chance to host the final.
With two tough road games next week, Bucknell wants a strong showing in the regular season home finale to feed the momentum down the stretch.
Matchup | Tom Housenick column (Daily Item)
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