this is the Official August 11 Preview of the upcoming CAA basketball season. It is a loooonnng read, but darn good and subject to change by the time you finish this sentence.

A couple notes:

•I tried to chunk it out and provide some interesting tidbits wrapped in key areas of emphasis for the season. I wanted to stay away from “Charles Jenkins is a good basketball player” because you deserve better. Work with me here.
•You get one quote from each coach and one stat gleaned while doing background work for Blue Ribbon. Like it? Go buy it, because there’s 1,500 words on every CAA team, a conference overview, full schedules, and choices for the best backcourts, frontcourts, and All CAA team. It’s worth it.


1st: Old Dominion

What Matters: Personality. Blaine Taylor is always talking about his team being comfortable in their own skin, and having all the oars rowing in the same direction. I’m certain Gary Cooper in Sergeant York, picking off the Germans from behind like he used to do to ducks in his hillbilly town, is in there somewhere. A huge part of ODUs player development strategy is accepting roles. If, for instance, Darius James decides he wants to score 20 ppg, ODU is sunk.

It’s Good If: Trian Illiadis or Josh Hicks can shoot a high percentage of threes. They don’t need to be gunners nor make hundreds of them. However if opponents are forced to guard them, the paint opens up for Frank Hassell, and for slashers.
It’s Not Good If: Hassell decides he’s good enough; Keyon Carter doesn’t graduate from inconsistent role player to bona fide threat, and that includes crashing the glass and providing rebounding help; the Monarchs are inefficient on offense—they can’t afford that.
Look Out For: Kent Bazemore. He’s a suffocating defender and elite athlete. If ODU can open up a defense to give him room to drive and he can shoot just a little bit, Bazemore is first team All CAA material.

One Stat: Frank Hassell was a double figures scorer in 19 of ODUs final 26 games. He scored 30 points and hauled in 17 rebounds in ODUs two NCAA tournament games.

Blaine Taylor, on Kent Bazemore: “He’s kind of like a horse. Sometimes you have to let him run but sometimes you have to keep him in the corral. Some of the better players are going to make mistakes and you have to live with aggressive errors.”

In Summary: As odd as this sounds, even though ODU lost a first team All CAA player in Gerald Lee, I think they can be better than last year. It may not play out to 16-2, but ODU gets the preseason nod and will not play on Friday.

2nd: VCU

What Matters: Sybil. Specifically, Joey Rodriguez’s ability to portray the legendary Sally Field role. VCU is going to need different things from him this season: leadership, shooting, playmaking, defense. It’s going to be different every night and we won’t know until the under 12 media timeout. J-Rod must do everything well, just not on the same night.
It’s Good If: Brad Burgess brings it every night. Burgess put 30 on Drexel and 22 on Towson and had three double-doubles. However he also had one point against Hofstra and two points against Mason and The Pugs.
It’s Not Good If: The Rams play 25 seconds of defense. They are talented enough to beat half the conference playing average defense. The problem: that makes for a nice 11-7 season, and that’s not going to cut it. VCU must grind defensively for the entire shot clock.
Look Out For: Jamie Skeen. You run a play for a post player, only one guy is getting the ball. Are you giving it to Skeen, or first round NBA draft pick Larry Sanders? Note: in VCUs CBI title-clincher over St. Louis, while Sanders sat with foul trouble, Skeen scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds.

One Stat: Brandon Rozzell shot 48.3% at home, and 29.8% on the road.

Shaka Smart: “It’s Havoc 2.0. We’re going to press more and get after it more, but we’ve got to play better halfcourt defense. That’s a huge point of emphasis.”

In Summary: Appropriately for this rivalry: “see ODU and change Lee to Sanders.” It’s obvious that Sanders lost respect for the college game, and that took a toll. The Rams are in that 2nd-5th spot in my mind, and don’t underestimate the impact of Shaka Smart with a year under his belt, and the VCU players with a year under Smart.

3rd: Mason

What Matters: Boldness. Really, this is all about Cam Long. The kid has got to be that guy, both on and off the court. When Mason was its best Long was a selfish ballhog, and we mean that in a good way. Long must show up, and demand things of his teammates. Luke Hancock taking the frosh to soph jump is important, too, but a distant second.
It’s Good If: Long yells at a teammate during an early season game (then hits a three); Mike Morrison and Ryan Pearson become a consistent Batman and Robin combination on the baseline; Johnny Williams provides a measure of bulk.
It’s Not Good If: Mason has six different leading scorers in its first eight games. Mason is the ultimate in expect the unexpected, and that’s not good; Andre Cornelius starts the season slowly. Jim Larranaga defers to upperclassmen, and the coach will have a decision to make if Sherrod Wright or Bryon Allen are outplaying ACorn.

Look Out For: Wright. He didn’t shoot it well and his assist-to-turnover ratio was horrible (14/34). But that’s typical freshman stuff. I see consistent minutes and three double-figures games down the stretch, when most freshman have hit the wall.

One Stat: Mason played five games against the top three teams (ODU, NU, Pugs). The Patriots were 1-4 in those games, and Cam Long scored 27 total points (5.4ppg), never getting more than seven in any one game. He missed 11 of 12 threes.

Jim Larranaga: “(Freshman) Bryon (Allen) is a powerful guard who can score at the rim and from the perimeter as well as create for his teammates.”

In Summary: The only thing I’m certain of is that Mason will finish somewhere between first and 12th. I have them third based on talent level and coaching acumen, but nothing would surprise me out of this group. Maturity may tell the tale. Vegas builds casinos on people who think they’ve got a team like Mason figured out.

4th: James Madison

What Matters: Hawkeye. (Pierce). AD Jeff Bourne hopefully hired the country’s best sports doc, and they invested some of that football stadium money in protective equipment for the cagers; That Devon Moore mentally is past his knee injury—that kid is a winner who makes his teammates winners and that’s a mental edge.

It’s Good If: Give ‘Em Hell doesn’t play like he’s tiptoeing on thin ice—a 20/10 will do, kind sir; Moore wipes out, it looks ugly, and he bounces right up laughing; that Julius Wells has equal production with fewer shots; Rayshawn Goins looks like a cheap Charles Barkley, circa 1987.

It’s Not Good If: Trevon Flores continues to drift around the court and waste his skills; obviously if Moore favors his hurt knee; if Goins is a cheap Charles Barkley, circa 2010; if the trainer is voted most improved player.
Look Out For: I read good things about Chad Jackson, but I’ll believe it when the kid gets on campus and adjusts to college life; Give ‘Em Hell, who has reportedly been working hard this summer due to some, uh, encouragement from his coach is POY material.

One Stat: For all his scoring prowess, Denzel Bowles is also a deft passer on the block. His 62 assists were 16 more than any other CAA big man.

Matt Brady, on Andrey Semenov: “He played without pain all summer, and by all accounts he’s a handful and might be the best basketball player on the team. We don’t need 30 minutes out of him, but if he can give us 20 great minutes we’re a much better basketball team.”

In Summary: This bunch is everybody’s trendy pick to “make something happen,” whatever that means. I see a team that will pound some opponents, good ones too. They have the mix: point guard, shooter, big man, tough guy. I buy the trend, but we’ll have them settle into fourth for now.

the rest: http://www.caahoops.com/2010/08/havoc-2-...you-ready/