I apologize to all of our dedicated BR readers.  I know you all look forward to reading The Rodeo as you sit in your cubicle on a shitty Monday morning and do anything you possible can BUT actual work.  Unfortunately, I had a ton of work to do yesterday and surprisingly enough, my real job pays slightly more than the check that Blackburn cuts me every week.  So without further ado, why don’t we take a look at this week’s installment of The A-10 Rodeo.  Let’s get it started.

News

Wow.  That is all I have to say.  Whether it was because The Champ showcased his knock out skills before the game or because they all hate Xavier just as much as I do, UD came out inspired.  Nothing says we’re ready to make a run quite like bending X completely over and running away with a 25 point victory.  The key to the game was composure.  X from the very beginning showed that they were not composed when Love throws a shoulder into a cutting CJ to pick up his 2nd foul in as many minutes.  This display continued as Dante Jackson walked up and got in CJ’s face with his team down 15.  Despite the fact that the Flyers shot lights out, they were taking smart shots.  This was the first time I saw UD make the extra pass on a fast break and it came in the form of a London kick to the corner to P Will, swing to CJ, swing to the top of the key for Mickey to knock down a 3 in rhythm.  The key to the phenomenal shooting was rhythm.  For once we did not see a slew of off balanced runners and fade away jumpers.  Finally our shooters continually got their feet set and took quality shots.  The one exception to the quality shots was Marcus pulling up from 20 feet on a 1 on 3 break, luckily he knocked it down.

The Flyers were paced by the Chris’s as Johnson posted 18 points and 6 rebounds and Wright put up 17 points and 9 rebounds.  Marcus Johnson and Rob Lowery came off the bench for the Flyers and combined for 26 points on 7 of 11 shooting.  The lone shinning star for the Muskies was, you guessed it, Jordan Crawford.  JC continued his dominance of the A-10 with a 24 point, 5 assist, and 4 rebound performance.  I am still trying to figure out the answers to 2 of my questions: Why didn’t JC take the ball and tell everyone to get the fuck out of the way and what did Nourse, Zesty, and Kav do to BG that found them sitting on the bench for the final minute of a 25 point blow out?

The other piece of noteworthy news comes in the form of a 17 point drubbing that the Spiders dropped on Temple.  With Juan Fernandez out for the game, the Owls just never showed up.  Richy jumped out early and secured an 18 point halftime lead and continued their dominance throughout.  I guess my prediction last week of it being a battle of the guards was both correct and incorrect.  It was correct in the fact that guard play is what led to the win (Anderson and Gonzalvez combined for 42 points and 12 boards).  I was incorrect in the fact that the guard play was going to be comparable.  I guess Brooks is just a little lost when Fernandez is out, as he went 1-8 from the field for a whopping 2 points.  It will be interesting to see how Brooks bounces back in the Owls next match up against URI.

Jordan Crawford- XU vs. UD

• JC did it yet again.  He so effortlessly put up 24 points on 57% shooting.  As I have stated several times before, Crawford is the Alpha and Omega of A-10 basketball.  I think it is absurd that X fans complain about his shot selection.  If they need a tutorial on poor shot selection,  they should go back and watch Rob Lowery in the first UD vs. XU meeting.  I would gladly accept a player who will consistently put up 20 PPG on 45% shooting.  If I haven’t made it abundantly clear already, Crawford is the man to beat for A-10 POY.

Chris Johnson- UD vs. XU

• With 4 UD players in double figures and Chris Wright posting a double-double, it was a tough choice for a top performer.  That is until I took another look at the stat sheet and saw that CJ put up his 18 points on 75% shooting from the field and 100% from the charity strip.  CJ put up a total of 12 shoots in the game and made 10 of them.  Normally if you were to see a shooting night like that, it would be coming from a post man who doesn’t roam more than 5 feet from the basket, 75% shooting from the field is unheard of for a wingman.

Kevin Anderson- Richmond vs. Temple

• Anderson has been reading The Rodeo the last couple of weeks and took offense to my opinion of A-10 POY.  Instead of sending the email that he had drafted up, he decided to shove it in my face with his 29 point (11-17 shooting) 5 rebound performance in the Spiders’ upset of Temple.  It is about time that the Kevin Anderson, that was chosen 2nd overall in the 1st annual Blackburn vs. O’Brien A-10 Fantasy Draft, decided to reappear.  Anderson entered this matchup having scored 9 and 6 points respectively against St. Joes and SLU.

Lavoy Allen- Temple vs. Richmond

• With Juan Fernandez out and Ryan Brooks nowhere to be found, it was on Allen to step up for the Owls.  Despite the fact that Temple got their asses kicked by the Spiders, Allen was able to be the lone shining star on the Owl team.  Allen shot 50% from the field and finished with 17 points and a Chris Johnson-esque 19 rebounds. 

Looking Forward to this Week

2/10- Charlotte @ Dayton

• Hopefully the Flyers can continue the stellar performance that they had against X as the 49ers come to UD Arena.  I can’t wait to hear what trick BG has up his sleeve as a pregame routine.  It’ll be interesting to see how the Flyers match up against The Cookie Monster, who at 6’6 245 will most likely be guarded by Kountry Chris 6’8 226.  The 49ers will ride a 7 game winning streak into the Gem City and are looking to crush the Flyer Faithful’s hopes of an at-large bid.  The Flyers will need this victory if they hope to maintain their status on the inside of the bubble.

2/10- Richmond @ URI

• This week is sure to be the week from hell for URI as they face off against 2 Hexagon opponents in a 3 day span.  Both teams are riding 4 game winning steaks into this matchup.  The edge definitely goes to the Rams as they are 10-1 at home and the Spiders boast a subpar 4-5 record on the road.  Both squads are currently tied for 3rd place in conference at 7-2 and 1 game back of the conference leader, Charlotte.

2/13- URI @ Temple

• It will be interesting to see if A) Juan Fernandez is ready to go for the Owls and B) how Ryan Brooks bounces back from an awful performance.  With both teams sitting at 7-2 in conference play, the loser can potentially drop towards the bottom of the Hexagon.  Look for URI to score early and score often.  The Rams average 14 more PPG than the Owls do.  While Temple is a tough place to play (10-1 at home) the Rams are road warriors and have posted an 8-2 road record up to this point.