RTC Live: Richmond @ Seton Hall
Posted by rtmsf on December 26th, 2010
Game #81. RTC Live returns to the Rock for a little post-holiday hoops.
Seton Hall, staggered by their stunning second half collapse and subsequent loss, 69-65, to Dayton on Wednesday has only four days to reflect and regroup. The Pirates host their second Atlantic-10 opponent during Christmas Week — the University of Richmond. The Spiders make their first trip to the Rock on Sunday, December 26 and, ready or not, the Pirates will have to pull themselves together, put Ferrakohn Hall’s abrupt transfer and Herb Pope’s latest ding behind them as they prepare for the runner-up in the 2010 Atlantic-10 Tournament and #7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Seton Hall, laden with senior leadership found itself without an answer Wednesday when the Dayton Flyers shut down junior point guard Jordan Theodore, and Coach Willard, concerned with the rebounding imbalance (Dayton was far ahead) hesitated too long before putting fifth year senior Eniel Polynice back on the court, turning the ball handling responsibilities over to senior Keon Lawrence and allowing Theodore to roam the perimeter and find the seams in the Flyer defense. Richmond features seniors 2010 A-10 Player of the Year senior Kevin Anderson and forward Justin Harper, a long range specialist who will try to find clean looks from the perimeter and center Dan Geriot will face off with Herb Pope. Richmond wants to burnish their Tournament resume, and a road win against a BCS conference opponent will go a long way to offset losses to Iona and Old Dominion. Seton Hall, post season chances dwindling with each game, wants to enter Big East Conference play with a record north of 0.500. Join Rush the Court Sunday at noon (eastern time), as we live blog Richmond at Seton Hall from the Rock in downtown Newark, NJ.
Thanks for covering this. Didn’t know you guys were watching. What were you thoughts on the two teams?
Seton Hall has talent, but with a shorter rotation than Coach Kevin Willard anticipated at the start of the season. The loss of Jeremy Hazell combined with Herb Pope’s slower than anticipated recovery, put the Pirates farther down on the learning curve than I think their fans expected. The team will have good games, but the Big East season is going to be long and at timkes painful for them.
One of the reasons I put in for this and the Dayton game on 12/22 was to get a look at these two A-10 teams. They are both very good. Harper has really come into his own, and if he can maintain that level of play the A-10 season will come to Temple and Richmond again, with the loser getting an at-large bid. Dayton’s comeback against Seton Hall was important because they had problems doing that on the road last season. The A-10 has 4, maybe 5 serious teams for the NCAAs this time around.