Colonials Bouncing Back

It's been pretty hectic this past week or so for myself, so there hasn't been a lot of content coming and I apologize. Last night, Robert Morris won their second straight game, making it eight out of their last nine, by defeating St. Francis PA 60-48. The 48 points allowed was the lowest of the season and when you combine that with their recent play, the Colonials are beginning to resemble the defense of old (57 points to LIU?! Unheard of).

However, this season keeps getting crazier and crazier. Velton Jones was a no-go last night, resting his injured right shoulder after willing Robert Morris to a win Saturday in Long Island. Anthony-Myers Pate got the start and managed well... until he too left the game with an injury. Did I mention Mike McFadden has left the team? In a weird situation, McFadden has taken a, um, break (?) and no one is really sure if he'll be back, including head coach Andy Toole.

"He's a valued member of the team and just had some personal things that he kind of needed to take care of and figure out," Toole said. "We look forward to having him back. Obviously, it'll be when he's ready, but we're hopeful and his teammates are hopeful that it's as soon as possible."

The McFadden situation is certainly an odd one, and with Lijah Thompson out for the year recovering from a pre-season ACL injury and Vaughn Morgan leaving the team, the frontcourt is thin. Keith Armstrong logged 14 minutes last night but you can tell he's still working his way back from last years torn Achilles. Freshman Stephan Hawkins is going to be heavily relied on, which I'm okay with. Hawkins has improved greatly from the beginning of the season to now with everything, really. He is a problem (for opponents) defensively and knows his role on offense. To say he moves better without the ball compared to the beginning of the season would be an understatement. Still, a little depth for the big's would be nice, especially with how injuries have taken its toll on the team so far.

Our friend Andrew Chiappazzi from ColonialsCorner.com has a nice recap of last nights game. While we certainly encourage you give the whole thing a read, here is an interesting part from his story:

"It was okay. It could have been better," Lucky Jones said of the defense. "We slacked off a couple of plays, not finishing possessions by getting rebounds." 

Robert Morris held St. Francis to just 26.3 percent shooting in the first half as the Colonials built a 25-16 lead. Though Robert Morris' offense wasn't much better, the Colonials protected the ball (just seven turnovers for the game) and forced St. Francis into late shots and 16 total turnovers. 

St. Francis whittled the lead down in the second half as Dominique Major and Umar Shannon tried to shoot the Red Flash back into the game. But though the Red Flash shot 45.5 percent in the second half, Robert Morris maintained a lead largely due to the efforts of Jones and Anderson. Anderson scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half, while Jones was a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor and 13-of-13 from the free throw line. The free throw performance set a Sewall Center record for the most free throws without a miss by a Robert Morris player.

Toole suspending Lucky Jones after the Central Connecticut State loss at the beginning of conference play was the best thing that has happened to him and this team. Lucky had a career high 20 points and was 13-13 from the charity stripe. Like Chiappazzi mentioned, the Red Flash made a nice run at the start of the second half but I was impressed how the Colonials maintained composure, even after Myers-Pate went down. We saw solid defense and timely rebounding and buckets. Also, it was entertaining watch Karvel Anderson and Russell Johnson run the point from time to time. The Colonials got out-rebounded 44-28, but this has been and will continue to be a problem.

A few times last night we saw Toole switch to a 2-3 zone, which impressed me again. Opponents just don't seem to be able to penetrate the zone very well. Last Saturday against Long Island, we saw the 2-3 zone in that game more than all parts of the season combined. The whole game plan was brilliant.

Coron Williams is in a pretty bad shooting slump and RMU desperately needs for him to find his stroke. He played 31 minutes but only had three points in 1-7 shooting. While I do think he's established himself as more of a ball handler than in the past, he's passing up on good shots for tougher ones. He continually did it last night. You can get away with that against a two-win Red Flash squad but I'm more skeptical that it can work this Saturday against Wagner. Karvel Anderson can flat out score, but there needs to be more balance. We have yet to see a game where Williams and Anderson both get going, and when/if that happens, this team will hang 100 on someone easy.

These last seven games are going to be fun. Saturday's match-up against Wagner will be crucial, as they're finally getting healthy, are winners of four of their last five, and are 7-3 in conference, one game behind Robert Morris. RMU controls their own destiny the rest of the way: win out and you get home-court advantage for the NEC tournament. Saturday's tip-off is at 7:00 and the first 200 fans get a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich. Who doesn't want that! In all seriousness, I hope to see more fan support in the biggest home conference game of the year.

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Game Day: Robert Morris at Long Island

The Robert Morris Colonials (14-8, 6-2) will look for a Brooklyn split as they take on the Long Island Blackbirds (12-9, 5-3) at 3pm on ESPNU. As nearly everyone is aware, this game is a rematch of last years NEC championship game. The Blackbirds are winners of their last six and are coming off an 82-62 wacking of St. Francis PA Thursday and the Colonials are coming off a ten point loss to St. Francis Brooklyn. There's lots of good stuff from Andrew Chiappazzi on ColonialsCorner.com, but he brings up an especially good point the last two paragraphs:

Perhaps not surprisingly, Robert Morris also received strong performances in those games from Velton Jones. In the two wins, Jones averaged 21.5 points, 5.5 assists, and 1.5 turnovers per contest. In the losses, Jones averaged 14.4 points, 3.6 assists, and 3 turnovers per contest. 

One man shouldn't mean the difference. LIU, after all, will be without Julian Boyd, who has tortured RMU in the past. Whether Jones can or can't play shouldn't determine a Robert Morris win or loss. The only determining factor should be the one that will hold true for all of February: If Robert Morris plays intense, smart defense and limits mistakes, the odds of winning any game in the NEC have to be in their favor.

I was critical of the crew after Thursday nights showing, but like I said, it'll all be forgotten with a huge win today on the road against a hot LIU team. How can you not be pumped for this game? 

The health of Velton jones is going to play a huge role, who's suffering from a shoulder injury and missed nearly all of Thursday's game. Like Andrew said though, LIU is without Julian Boyd, the reigning conference MVP and a man who always gives RMU problems. I thought Anthony Myers-Pate played better than anyone on Thursday. Myers-Pate is going to have to create opportunities for everyone else too, because the offense was anemic without Jones. Coron Williams just simply needs to knock down shots. If he goes for five points (what he's averaging the last five games), this game could get out of hand. Karvel Anderson might be the best shooter on the court, but don't expect any 19-0 runs.

It comes down to defense and rebounding. RMU probably won't win the battle on the glass against LIU (or really anyone) but a few offensive rebounds could go a long way. Mike McFadden can't have another day of zero rebounds. Defensively, containing the beast that is Jamal Olasewere will be a handful. If I had a vote, Sacred Heart's Shane Gibson would be my pick for NEC player of the year, but Olasewere would be a close second. Point guard Jason Brickman is one of the best playmakers in the country, let alone the NEC, and guard CJ Garner is really finding his shooting stroke. 

My prediction: not enough stops on defense results in a 80-73 loss. 

Colonials fall to Terriers, frustration growing

I’m going to be honest, it took me a while to cool off from this one. I'm still mad about tonight's loss and you should be too. 

Robert Morris has been a team that’s prided itself on scrappy wins with a tenacious defense. This year there has clearly been no evidence of that.

 

Tonight’s ten point loss at St. Francis Brooklyn has prompted this knee-jerk reaction of an article, which will all be forgotten with an upset win Saturday at Long Island. However, there are some glaring concerns that the Terriers exposed yet again.

Robert Morris lost to St. Francis Brooklyn 71-61, in a game that was probably closer than what the score reflects. Velton Jones, clearly the most important player on this squad, went down with a re-aggravated shoulder injury a mere two minutes into the game. Lucky Jones played, but you’d have to believe he wasn’t one hundred percent. SFC (BKN) also defeated RMU last year, so maybe they’ve simply got RMU’s number. Maybe RMU wasn’t completely focused, with a huge game against Long Island looming Saturday, I simply don’t know.

All of the above suggestions are just simply excuses though. This team is too talented and experienced to be playing this inconsistently. St. Francis is by no means an offensive juggernaut, ranking sixth in the NEC in points per game, but I thought Robert Morris looked pretty soft in the frontcourt. Hawkins is a young kid still learning the system, but Mike McFadden with no rebounds? That’s inexcusable. He did a pretty poor job against Jalen Cannon too, who went for 16 points and eight rebounds. Russell Johnson more than made up for it on the boards (he had 15 rebounds) but had questionable shot selection on a 4-12 shooting night, including a forced three point attempt that was way off and pretty much sealed the game.

Coron Williams flat-out needs to step up, whose inconsistency mirrors that of the team in a lot of ways. We know Williams can ball; he’s had multiple games with point totals in the upper twenties and was named in the CBSsports.com top 40 shooting guards in the preseason. Tonight however, Williams had five points in a game where Velton Jones went down early. That just can’t happen. As a matter of fact, Williams is only averaging five points per game his last five games. I think part of the reason we’re seeing his lack of points is he’s in more of a ball handling role, but you’d be foolish to say he’s not in a slump that he needs to break.  

There’s a bigger problem here, too. This team has yet to get dirty, D up, and grind out a win. This isn’t something I’m conjuring out of mid-air (although it’s not too hard to see); the Colonials are 0-8 in games they’re trailing at halftime in. You can blame tonight’s loss all you want on #2 not being out there, because it certainly changed the game, but more than once RMU cut the lead to four or five late and couldn’t get over the hump. That’s a time you have to bear down on defense and get a stop, but time and time again we’ve seen they can’t and couldn’t again tonight.

I thought the Lijah Thompson injury was going to hurt RMU, but not as bad as it is now. With Vaughn Morgan gone and Keith Armstrong still not completely back from off-season surgery, the frontcourt is thin but also struggles to defend the rim. Where’s the pride?

My fear is this team doesn’t have that “it” factor. I’m not sure if anything has been done for me to think otherwise. Per the commentators in the last game, RMU ranks eight in the NEC in points allowed per game. There are times when this team locks down, and times where the guys look lost and rotations look slow. With a mere nine games remaining, shouldn’t a team with this much talent be more consistent?

I’m probably overreacting to a tough road loss without the team’s best player, but someone has to say this, right? This is supposed to be “the Golden Era” of Robert Morris basketball, it’s time to start defending like it.

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Game Day: RMU at St. Francis Brooklyn

Tonight, the Robert Morris Colonials (14-7, 6-1) begins a tough six game stretch at St. Francis Brooklyn (8-11, 4-4). The Terriers are coming off a two point loss last Saturday at Central Connecticut State and are losers of three of their last four. Tip off is at 7:00 and the game can be caught on NECFrontRow.com or locally on the radio at 730 AM WPIT. Andrew Chiappazzi of ColonialsCorner.com has some interesting insight on the defensive-minded Terriers, as Robert Morris looks to extend their six game win streak: 

St. Francis-Brooklyn is one of just two teams allowing less than a point per possession in the NEC. The Terriers also lead the league in scoring defense in NEC games, as well as 3-point field goal percentage defense. 

"They just don't give you anything easy. They make you work for everything, even ball reversals and coming off screens," Toole said. "They're physical, they disrupt your timing, and they have a really good combination of guys that can pressure on the perimeter and then bigs that can defend the paint. They do a nice job of switching defenses from zone to man to disrupt your timing." 

Offensively, the Terriers are balanced. Five players average eight points per game or more, highlighted by sophomore forward Jalen Cannon's 16.4 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Defense is the name of the game for St. Francis-NY, but they haven't been able to get that going consistently the last four games. Just a week ago, St. Francis held LIU to only 21 first half points. The result? LIU hanging a 57 spot in the second half en route to a ten point victory. St. Francis is 4-4 in conference, but when you look at their schedule, they're lacking that quality win that they can hang their hat on. At this point, their best win is probably a blowout win at Wagner. 

You would hope RMU is one hundred percent focused at the task at hand, but lets face it: everyone has Saturday's showdown at LIU circled on the calender. This could easily be a trap game, especially if Lucky Jones is a no-go, which I would expect. I would expect to see more three-guard sets on the court than usual, specifically a Velton Jones-Coron Williams-Karvel Anderson trio. Neither of the three guys are people I would classify as other-worldly defenders, but can definitely hold their own on defense and would create spacing problems for the Terriers defense. 

As Andrew noted, slowing down sophomore forward Jalen Cannon is going to be a task (along with Akeem Johnson). I'm interested to see how the defense handles a balanced scoring attack; you have to respect all of the guys out on the court. Doubling Canon on the low post could lead to open looks for a guy like Ben Mockford. I would like to see the boys come out and bring a stout defensive effort tonight even without Lucky Jones. 

My prediction? How about some more momentum heading into Saturday's 3:00 game at LIU (which can be seen on ESPNU)... RMU: 75 St. Francis Brooklyn: 65. 

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

Mid-week links

Need to get caught up on some reading? Here are some suggestions from local to national news...

• Our own Lee Kunkel takes a look at RMU by the numbers (ColonialsCorner)
• A good look at NEC defensive trends from RMU and the rest of the NEC by Andrew Chiappazzi (ColonialsCorner)
• Manti Te'o released voicemails from his fake girlfriend Ronaiah Tuiasosopo (Deadspin) who now says he was in love with him (abcnews)
• What should the Celtics do with Rondo out for the year? (Grantland)
• 3 changes Dan Bylsma must make for the Penguins to contend (The Bleacher Report)
• Ray Lewis Can't hide his past, according to Bill Plaschke (LA Times)
• Some fun prop bets regarding the Super Bowl (CBS Sports)
• Surprise! PED's still exsist in baseball! (ESPN)

Off-Season Diagnosis: San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers fired a coach after a 14-2 season just six years ago.

Think about that last sentence and think about where San Diego is now.

The Chargers have always seemed to have a talented team. This year seemed like it was no different. As a person who picked San Diego to snatch one of the two wild card spots before the season started, things looked good. The Chargers, traditionally a slow-starting team, came out guns a’ blazing to a 3-1 record, with the wins coming against the top NFL prizefighters in Oakland, Tennessee, and Kansas City.

Things went downhill from there.

San Diego lost close, critical games in the latter part of the season at Denver (by seven) in week eleven, to Baltimore (in overtime) week twelve, and to Cincinnati (by seven) week 13. Winning three out of their last four couldn’t save the Chargers en route to a 7-9 season. I wouldn’t fault Chargers fans for going all Ron Burgandy on the franchise, but at least owner Alex Spanos understands there’s a problem and has been progressive in fixing it.

In my opinion, Spanos has led the best off-season front office and coaching search, landing former Colts vice president of football operations Tom Telesco as general manager, former Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy head coach, and former Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt as offensive coordinator. All of those guys are winners and I think the McCoy-Whisenhunt combo could lead to San Diego being the most dynamic offense in football. Whisenhunt was flat-out awesome as OC of the Steelers and led Arizona to a super bowl. He can do wonders when someone who resembles a quarterback is under center. McCoy was OC of Denver when Kyle Orton was looking like a pro bowler and has overseen Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning led-offenses.

I can’t say this enough: Mike McCoy and Ken Whisenhunt were meant for each other. They’re the Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson of football. Both are awesome at adapting to their circumstances (See McCoy with Tebow, Tim) and base their offensive identity off the pieces they have and the team they’re playing. With some simple offensive upgrades (we’ll get to that in a minute), we could see some fireworks.

San Diego is picking eleventh in the upcoming draft. Ideally, they would grab an offensive lineman to help keep quarterback Phillip Rivers upright. Rivers was sacked an astounding 49 times last season. In comparison, Tom Brady was sacked 25 times. You need a great offensive line in this league to win. The chargers offensive line isn’t good in pass protection and is even worse in rushing offense, ranking 27^th total with a paltry 92 yards per game. Part of that has to do with the talent at running back, but we’ve seen running backs who aren’t very talented yet still put together good seasons (Vick Ballard anyone?).

San Diego needs to keep Philip Rivers upright. 

It’s well known San Diego really likes Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher. Fisher has dominated at the senior bowl practices and is drawing a lot of comparisons to former Chippewa tackle Joe Staley. Fisher has a big frame, nimble feet, and is one of the most athletic lineman in the draft. The Chargers also wouldn’t be upset with nabbing Alabama guard Chance Warmack, who is a slight notch ahead of David DeCastro (taken 24^th by Pittsburgh last year) in my opinion. Here’s the problem: I’m not sure both of those players will be available. If I’m San Diego, I’m hoping Geno Smith is not taken before Arizona at seven because he would be hard to pass up. Don’t be surprised if Warmack is off the board at nine to New York too. In the case that Fisher is taken at seven and Warmack at nine, cornerback Dee Milliner would be a nice fit as would defensive end Ezekiel Ansah out BYU. Cornerback definitely needs to be addressed early in the draft or in free agency. 

San Diego is going to have lots of room to play with in cap space (I’ve heard estimates in the $40-50 million range). Both starting guards are free agents and they should make an effort to sign right guard Louis Vasquez who recorded a +12.7 season according to ProFootballFocus.com. Tyrone Green is also a free agent, but you can let him walk and fill his shoes by drafting Warmack or signing a stop-gap like Matt Slauson for about $1.5 million a year. Don’t be surprised if Bills guard Andy Levitre is also on the Chargers radar.

Time for the Chargers to get serious about finding a replacement for Antonio Gates. Gates hasn’t played a full season since 2009 and is 32. Even if Gates was still putting up 65-80 catches a season, we’re seeing more and more teams with two really good tight ends creating match up problems. The Chargers second tight end? Future hall of famer Career backup Randy McMichael, who put up a stunning nine receptions for 51 yards. Go after Dennis Pitta or Dustin Keller, who has been generally misused as a Jet.

Things get interesting at wide receiver. Eddie Royal and Robert Meachem were huge underachievers in San Diego and a lot of people would like to see them gone. I’m definitely no genius when it comes to understanding the salary cap and all the terms that go with it, but it sounds as if cutting both of those guys would only result in a hit of $2.25 million. If that’s really the case, then I’d just be done with both of them and focus on working out a deal with Danario Alexander after this season, who should get a first round tender. The duo of Malcom Floyd (who’s a beast) and Alexander is better than a majority of NFL teams. I’m not a big Ryan Mathews guy at the running back position and apparently San Diego isn’t either. Mathew lost reps to Jackie Battle and could not stay healthy… again. I’m in favor of doing whatever it takes to get bruiser Eddie Lacy in the draft, but if that can’t happen I would like the signing of Jonathon Dwyer or Rashard Mendenhall in free agency.

When you're talking about the best safties in the league,
make sure you mention Eric Weddle. 

I’m not going to get too specific on the Chargers defense because overall it’s pretty good. The pass defense needs some work, but they have a solid cornerstone to build off of with Eric Weddle, who might be the best safety in the league. I would try and re-sign Corey Lynch and Chris Carr but would be done with Quinton Jammer, who was porous this year. The pass defense will improve if Melvin Ingram develops into a top-tier pass rusher like he’s projected too. Last year’s first round pick had only one sack and 41 tackles in his rookie campaign. Shaun Phillips did his part with 9.5 sacks on the right side, but outside of him and defensive end Corey Liuget, that was it. Takeo Spikes is the leader of the defense but he’s also in his 15^th year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see San Diego take a flyer on Michael Mauti in the third round (who will be there because of injury concerns) and try and develop him into a starter.

Chargers fans would be happy if they saw less of this in 2013.

Lets be clear though: none of this matters if Philip Rivers doesn’t stop turning the ball over. The last two seasons Rivers has had 64 interceptions and fumbles. Sixty-freaking-four. Your in Mark Sanchez territory with numbers like that. Look at thisinterception in a game at Tampa (fast forward to the 2:55 mark). If you’re ever having a bad day, just put this on a loop. Always know you never did that. You can’t win games when a) you quarterback is a terrible decision maker, b) your quarterback is a terrible decision maker who gets sacked nearly 50 times a year, and c) (not related) your special teams are terrible.

The talent is still there. Rivers has a 64% completion percentage and threw for over 3,600 yards. To me, it's no coincidence that when Rivers lost Darren Sproles his turnovers went up. Every quarterback needs a safety valve, whether it's a running back or possession receiver. Brady had Kevin Faulk and now has Wes Welker and Danny Woodhead. Flacco has Ray Rice. Ben Roethlisberger has Heath Miller, Matt Ryan has Tony Gonzalez, Rodgers has James Jones (among others), etc. Who is Rivers guy? Ryan Mathews? Yikes. I think Rivers has plenty left in the tank. His game in Pittsburgh was vintage Phillip Rivers: on the road, dropping dimes all over the place, talking smack, etc. San Diego needs more of that. That’s the guy who’s won playoff games and that’s a guy who can win you a super bowl. 

--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella

a super bowl. Don’t forget that. 

Game Day: RMU vs The Mount

The Robert Morris Colonials are at home today against Mt. Saint Mary's. RMU is riding a five game win streak after an 0-2 start to conference play. The five game win streak is tied for a season high. The Mount is coming off a heartbreaking home loss to Wagner in a game they really should have had. It's been an interesting season for the Mountaineers, who has undergone coaching turnover and a new philosophy that has come with it. Andrew Chiappazzi from ColonialsCorner.com has more on that:

The Mount's changed even more. Milan Brown is long gone, now at Holy Cross. The two-year experiment under Robert Burke failed miserably, leading for the Mount to follow a similar path to RMU and go young with former Virginia Commonwealth assistant Jamion Christian.

Christian has introduced an up-tempo style nicknamed "Havoc", and while the Mount has shown flashes of adapting to the style, it's been a process. It's also led to drastically different numbers. In 2008-2009, Mount St. Mary's allowed 63.2 points per game in the NEC and just 0.95 points per possession. Offensively, the Mount wasn't special, averaging a respectable 1.07 points per possession and 71.6 points per game, third in the league. 

Under Christian, though, both sides have struggled. The offense is at 67.4 points per game, a two basket difference that's exacerbated by a more prolific scoring league. That number puts the Mount eighth in NEC play, and their 1.02 points per possession puts Christian's club sixth in the league. Defensively, the Mount gives up 70.4 points per game and 1.06 points per possession, tied for seventh.

 Havoc. That's all you need to know about this Mount team. They're hopes are to wear out a team as the game goes on and get easy baskets off dumb turnovers. As Andrew notes, the difference in offense and defense from last year to this hasn't been much of anything. We've seen a few times this year that RMU has had trouble breaking the press, but with a few days to prepare that shouldnt be a problem. Bryant fell to LIU today so a win could put RMU at a tie atop the standings. My prediction? RMU 71 MSMU 58