(As a rule, I like getting email from people. Not drug companies or porn sellers or stockbrokers mind you... but actual people are fine. And in this case, it lets me know that I have readers, which is also a good thing.)
Anyway, for the second straight Line of the Day we have a tie. That's not a trend that I particularly want to continue, but I just can't figure out what to do with these. So, once again, I'll just divide them into Local and National winners.
The local LOTD (because it's oh so trendy for bloggers to use acronyms) goes to someone who doesn't play for a Philly team, but I have a pretty good feeling the name Gary Neal will ring a bell for you. Here's what he did for Towson against fellow Marylanders Loyola last night:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR | TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G. Neal |
35 |
9-15 |
2-6 |
13-16 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
33 |
In case you're wondering, OR stands for offensive rebounds and TR stands for total rebounds.
The national LOTD goes to Joseph Harris of Coastal Carolina, who did unto Virginia Military Institute what VMI has done to many others this season:
Name |
Min |
FG |
3pt |
FT |
OR | TR |
A |
TO |
S |
Blk |
PF |
Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. Harris |
34 |
11-14 |
0-0 |
9-13 |
5 |
11 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
31 |
Those of you who follow the stats out there, especially Ken Pomeroy's numbers, know that VMI has the highest number of possessions per 40 minutes in the country -- 91.7. In other words (or other numbers, I suppose), 2.2925 possessions per minute. I haven't seen the Keydets in person, so I can't really imagine how this is possible. And if I had seen them in person, I'm not sure I'd get it anyway. And it makes Harris' win in Line of the Day even more impressive. Four VMI players took more than 10 field goal attempts or more against Coastal Carolina -- 14 shots or Reggie Williams, 23 (plus 16 free throw attempts) for Chavis Holmes, 16 (plus 14 free throw attempts) for Fred Robinson, and a measly 11 shots (and no free throw attempts) for Matt Murrer.
Even better -- VMI actually played the team with the lowest tempo rating in Division I earlier this season. I'll give you three guesses... except for the Penn fans, who don't get any.
Yep, it's Princeton. Ranked 336th out of 336 Division I teams with a tempo of 53.3 possessions per 40 minutes, or 1.3325 possessions per minute. Interestingly, the teams met in the BCA Classic tournament in Columbus, Ohio at the beginning of this season. Princeton won, 73-68, and a good friend who knows these things informs me that there were 70 possessions in the game. Slow and steady wins the race indeed.
