Emotional Loss for the Hawks

Saint Joseph’s Hawks fell to the Richmond Spiders 57 to 63 in an emotional game at Hagan for their last weekend home game. Overall, the entire Hawks team had poor shot selection. Instead of taking it to the basket, they took questionable shots. With a field goal percentage of .393, they were left being vulnerable. Even though the game was emotional, it lacked energy.

Despite the Hawks not backing down, the Spiders did let up. With close to three minutes left the game was tied at 54, however with a step-back three from T.J. Cline the Spiders took lead. Richmond’s guards Trey Davis and Anthony Kendall were able to control the ball the entire game. Listening to Martelli talked after the game it became apparent that they did not plan for the success that Davis had.

Richmond’s zone allowed a mismatch early for DeAndre, but team did not expose it. During the match-up, DeAndre Bembry, “Mr. Everything” was not able to get much momentum. Turning the ball over five times did not help the team overall.  Though Bembry made some unbelievable plays, including an amazing block he was never truly able to get started. Number 43 for the Hawks seems to play better when he is away. Bembry may possibly play better when he feels as if he needs to overcome something. After 25 consecutive games, Bembry ended the night in single digits; which is something that did not happen since the Gonzaga game. He may be the most underrated player in the NCAA, but he does not do himself any favors in winning the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. Good thing he does not care much for personal accolades.

The bright spot for the Hawks was Aaron Brown. It is unclear why Phil Martelli does not show much faith in him. Besides missing a couple of lay-ups in the first half, he kept the Hawks fighting. The Hawks may not have a presence under the basket, but Brown proved that he can be productive along the baseline. Aaron Brown finished the night with a team high 15 points.

The Hawks have two games left in the season. On Wednesday, March 4^thagainst Rhode Island  it will be their last home game. The only changes they hope to make in the final two final two games of the season is a genuine desire to win. Their efforts to end the season strong did not start well against Richmond.

--- Pants

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Spring Training… What will happen with this Phillies team

The Phillies Spring Training begins in only a few days. That being said, many fans now have the question of how far towards the bottom will this team fall.  Looking at this roster it does not look as though they have much potential, nor much of a future. But to get people excited, we will go through the few bright spots for this team.

Chase Utley

Chase Utley was the best player on this team, and has been for along time. Now that his star is fading, it is sad to see him decline. However, looking at this team as of right now he may once again be the offensive leader. Utley brings something to the table that a lot of these other guys don’t, and that is the desire to play. Utley will most likely hit above .270 and somewhere between 10 to 15 homeruns. As always Utley will be steady.

Ben Revere

You might hate him, but you can’t argue with his results. In his first two seasons with the Phillies he has batted .306 and .305. The guy gets on base and hits above .300. If he played for a good team, he would be a key component on the team.  He is a speedster that can hit for average; if he performs like this again this season there is a good chance that the 27 year old will be here again.

Ken Giles

The fireballer has a great future here in Philadelphia. I will be honest; when Giles came up I thought he was a one trick pony. However, he proved this wrong when he was able to strikeout some of the best hitters in the league. The 100MPH man will be sticking around Philadelphia for a long time, going 3-1 with a 1.18 ERA this season.  

Cody Asche

Asche had his ups and downs all season. But, he provided us many bright spots. Watching his game improve throughout the season has shown Phillies fans that he does have potential. Asche’s defense was a huge question, and it was very spotty at the beginning of the season. However, it improved greatly and now he may even move to the Outfield. Asche may have a good future in Philadelphia.

This team will struggle this season, there is no doubt about that. They are missing many pieces to make them competitive. However, they do have potential and several bright spots.

-Brett

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Defense Wins in Hagan

Defense won the game for Saint Joseph’s Hawks against the George Mason Patriots, with a score of 54-58 in Hagan Arena. If the Hawks repeat this performance in the last 8 Atlantic games, it will not be enough to finish in good-standing.  The team needs to improve offensively. St. Joe’s struggled to take the ball past Mason’s aggressive defense. In the second half

DeAndre Bembry’s sealed the game with a dunk. The game would have been over well before the dunk, but free throws were once again were an issue. It is hard to win a college basketball game when the team is shooting 51 percent from the foul line.

Head Coach, Phil Martelli is aware that the team will only win their upcoming games from playing strong defensively. Martelli will put together a starting lineup based on who will provide the best defensive match-ups. The Hawks totaled 12 steals and were able to capitalize on 7 of those possessions.

Besides a strong defense, Jai Williams energized the team with his high energy plays. He has been improving during practice and deserved the opportunity to play against George Mason. Jai is tremendous at using his size and athleticism to his advantage. He could be an offensive presence that the Hawks need under the basket. Williams entered the game and scored 6 pts in one and half minutes. Jai and DeAndre came to Hawk Hill in the same recruiting class. Their relationship was shown as Bembry found Williams under the basket twice. Defensively, Jai’s effort was the key as he gave all that he could to block as many shots. Two attempts ended up being fouls, however one was successful.   

Jai Williams and Javon Bauman had a tough match-up. The two Hawk centers were defending against George Mason’s best player, center Shevon Thompson. Thompson is ranked 16^th in the national with 11 double doubles.  Thompson grabbed rebounds and scored with ease. He finished the game with 15 points and 16 rebounds. 

Isaiah Miles left the first half  with 2 and half minutes to left with a reported sprained knee. During halftime, he wrapped it up with ice, and returned in the second half. It did not appear to affect him too much, but he had open shots that he did not take advantage of. Miles also did not appear to attack the ball in the air like he has in the past. Hawk fans hope that the injury does not linger during the remaining games.

The biggest positive is that the Hawks never lost the lead throughout the entire game. Saint Joseph’s plays next against Rhode Island in Hagan Arena at 7:00pm on Wednesday. 

-- Pants

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DeAndre’s Dominance

There is no doubt in any Hawks fans mind that this season has been filled with ups and downs. After two tough losses to Penn and LaSalle it looked as though St. Joe’s mediocre play would continue throughout the season. However, a huge win against Davidson now has people asking if it is possible for this team to make a comeback this season. Though the team has struggled there has been one true constant throughout, and that has been DeAndre Bembry.

Since the end of December DeAndre has become a different player. He has truly been the captain that St. Joe’s needed. This team was lacking leadership early in the season, and DeAndre has finally stepped up to become the star. Bembry has been given his second Big Five Player of the Week in a row. This season Bembry has averaged 17.8ppg and over the past five games he has averaged 23.6ppg. This team is starting to go in the right direction because of Bembry, his leadership and his scoring ability will help bring this team into the future.

If this team continues to play as they did against Davidson, they will be competitive the rest of the season. As DeAndre told us off air this past Friday, “I am serious about winning an A-10 Championship this season.” There is no doubt in my mind that Bembry will eventually win another A-10 Championship by the end of his time at SJU. DeAndre is truly determined to bring the trophy back to St. Joe’s and I will not be surprised if it is brought back sooner then later.

-Brett

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