Early lineup

Thanks to Bruce, who already spoke with Coach: Dannie, Shemik, Tristan, Simmons and Horton sounds like the first five tonight.... but that's early. Could be a change before now and gametime. If there is I'll let ya know.

Final preparations

Heading over to Detrick now to get ready for the start of NEC play. I'll post any lineup changes as soon as I get them, but I expect to see Dannie, Tristan, Ken Horton and Marcus in there. I think it's that 5th spot that could rotate a bit.

Remember, get out on the shooters. That's the key. If you're not there tonight, every time you hear Bruce say the words "open three" and it's someone in red taking the shot, that's very bad news.

That's the big key tonight, along with no turnovers, good rebounding and good pace.

Let's do this.

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

Bonus points to anyone who gets the reference.
Since he was so helpful and classy during the last four years, I thought I'd take a special occasion to pass along a message from Andrew Cooper.
He made a "public" thank you after the loss to UMass, but I wanted to make sure it was truly public.

"I would just like to take this time to say thank you to Central Connecticut State," he said. "The people of the admissions department and all of the people who have helped me."

"Coop" was a bulldog. I'll remember always hearing him exhorting the team on, during good times and bad.
"Let's go boys, yeah? Pick it up." "30 minutes boys." Things like that.
He always talked, win or lose, and he always led.

Between his leadership and Jonathan Agbatar's skill, Central has two big holes to fill next year. But the Blue Devils have tons of freshmen capable of stepping up and filling those shoes.

And we go

OK, it's usually a soccer term, but it applies for Thursday night. Central and Sacred Heart will both look to score tonight, so shooting well and taking good, patient shots will be key.
If the Blue Devils can get out on the run, they'll be in good shape offensively. If Sacred Heart can get the ball into the hands of its shooters, it will be in good shape.
Central has shown that it can defend, but will need its best effort of the year at that end of the floor come Thursday. If Dannie Powell plays as well as he did on Saturday and Tristan Blackwood is his usual self, Central should be just fine in the battle of the backcourts.
With Shemik and Joe providing lifts off the bench (assuming the same lineup as Saturday), Central should be able to match the Pioneers' energy.
It may not have the luster of the last matchup, but this is pretty interesting nonetheless.

Hoops recruits

Coach Dickenman gave us some thoughts on the three newcomers for next season today... Shimeek Johnson (I'm going to have name issues next year, I can tell already) is 6-6 and versatile player, an inside-outside type.
He's one of the highest-regarded players Central has ever recruited, but rankings from high school don't mean much... it's what he does at Detrick Gym that Blue Devil fans will be interested in.

So to review, next year Central will have Shimeek Johnson, Shemik Thompson, and Tamir Johnson.

Robby Ptacek (did I mention I'll have trouble with names next year?) is a shooter. He's very strong and is active defensively. but he'll be young chronologically when he arrives in New Britain.

Chris Baskerville is a guy state hoops fans know. A tough kid, and from what coach was saying today, a real good kid.

But that's for another day. I'll have thoughts on the Sacred Heart game tomorrow.

not tonight after all

I have some quotes and a couple stories I want to share with you to wrap up soccer season but I left my tape on my desk. So hopefully we can do all that tomorrow.

Quick thoughts

I have to help get the paper out, so I'll post a bunch of things tonight when I get home, but wanted to leave you with 2 quick thoughts for now.

1) The field was a joke. It was brutal. It was the first time in my nearly 30 years in one that my chair didn't sink into grass. I couldn't tell the difference under me between the blacktop and the field. That's no good.
But, with that said, and while I think the NCAA ordering the game to go on despite everyone at the game telling them not to was a hideous call, Blue Devil fans can't blame the weather. The field was ice when UMass had the ball, too. The Minutemen simply had the right shoes and the right amount of execution to weather the storm.
2) Great turnout. A Rudd Field record as I understand it, and there might have been more blue than Maroon in the stands. Considering the weather and the delay, it was an impressive showing. Blue Devil nation came through for this team throughout the tournament.

Hoop talk

I've been saying since I hinted at it in the season preview that I like Dannie and TB3 (my shorthand for Tristan's triples in my notes during games that I always thought would be a cool nickname for him) is my favorite backcourt option. Shemik would be a nice spark off the bench, and Joe has shown (at least to me) that he's OK with the move to an instant offense kind of guy. He was also full of life tonight, grabbing 8 boards.
I'd like to see coach stay with this setup, but he's much smarter than I am, so if he doesn't he has a good reason.
The battle for playing time among the bigs will sort itself out. The real key to the season, in my opinion, is finding the right mix on the perimeter.

One other thought: It might be two games from now or two years from now, but I have a feeling I'll be writing the name Ken Horton a lot in the future. Some guys play basketball, others are basketball players. Horton strikes me as the latter.

Some soccer notes

On Wednesday morning, Shaun Green was walking through the lobby of CCSU's hotel where he saw David Tyrie preparing. No, not for the game, but for a test he had on Friday.
The men's soccer team hasn't been in the classroom as much as usual over the last few weeks, but that doesn't mean they haven't been working hard to keep track of the real reason they're at CCSU.
"Our professors have been very understanding and very happy for the team," Yan Klukowski said. "I think the majority of us are doing quite well."
The Blue Devils have also handled newfound fame well. There's been tons of media attention besides just me in recent days, but the team has been most touched by the outpouring of well wishes from students and staff.
"It's been nice to come back to," Tyrie said of the support. "It's fantastic that the school has taken that much of an interest. I don't think it's had time to sink in though, because it's one day and right back into another hotel."
So remember Blue Devil fans, these guys are students, and they are fighting off the need for one heck of a nap thanks in part to the support they get from their fellow students. I won't say they deserve a win more than UMass, which I'm sure works just as hard, but I know these kids deserve congratulations and support.
If half the people who've told me they'll come if the weather's OK make the trip, then there will be tons of support.

Inspiration: Klukowski watched the men's basketball team win the NEC tournament last March and knew what he wanted to do. So in the spring he began training harder than ever, running hills. He remembers the "sweat freezing to my back."
"I thought to myself, I want a piece of this," Klukowski said of that night in March.
He's got it now. The Blue Devils are NEC champs, but they now have the chance to reach a goal they didn't even dare dream before a couple of weeks ago.
Green watched that basketball game as well, and decided at that moment to dedicate himself even more towards having one of his own. But if you know Green, you know he's never been afraid to have big dreams.
"Is is likely that we'll win the national championship? Probably not," he said. "But as long as we're alive we have that possibility. Even if it's just a two percent chance, there's still a chance until someone knocks us out."
There's a pretty good chance that Sunday will be a special day in Amherst and New Britain.