IS SPORTING A MUSTACHE
March Madness is an exciting time of year for college basketball coaches, players and fans, and we start our own version of the "Madness" this week with the Atlantic 10 Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
It has been a very, very balanced season in the A-10 which should make for a tremendous tournament. The first portion of the season all the coaches in the league would agree that Xavier had separated itself from the field. Then all of the sudden Dayton comes on strong and Rhode Island really started playing well, especially down the stretch. I also think that we have had a good season at Temple, but no team can be overlooked as evidenced by our 12-seed Charlotte defeating Xavier and Richmond closing out the season with a win over Xavier.
With the A-10 Championships it is a whole different world. You have to play well for three nights in a row, but before you can play three games, you have to win the first one. It is going to be a tough road, but the team that stays together is going to survive.
As a coach, when your teams takes the floor you hope your guys are ready. Coaches prepare their teams through practices, film work and strategy then we just throw it up against the wall and hope that it sticks.
You cannot change much this time of year. The interesting thing for our team is that we are going to play an afternoon game on Thursday and, if we are lucky enough to win, we will play an evening game on Friday. That will at least allow us some time to prepare for the next opponent. It is not like you are playing at night then noon on the next day. We will have also played the our seminfinal opponent so we will know something about them. Plus we will have watched them play during the tournament.
We hope to become the first team since Coach Chaney's 2001 squad to successfully defend its A-10 title. It takes a lot of luck to repeat as champions, hopefully we have the luck on our side again this season.
Hope to see you down at Boardwalk Hall.
Philly is a hoops town and Phillyhoopsinsider.com provides complete coverage of the Big 5 and Drexel with news and commentary from the people inside the game and those who cover it. Look for regular contributions from the Daily News team of college hoops reporters and from many of Philly’s coaches.
FRAN DUNPHY, Temple
He begins his fourth season on North Broad with nearly 350 career victories after a long tenure at Penn. The Owls won the Atlantic 10 Tournament last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
BRUISER FLINT, Drexel
He begins his eighth season with the Dragons after returning to the city where he played collegiately at St. Joe’s. The Dragons have advanced to the postseason in four of the last six years and have won at least 17 games four times under Flint.
DR. JOHN GIANNINI, La Salle
He begins his fifth season at the school after successful tenures at the University of Maine and Rowan, where teams made two trips to the Division III Final Four. At LaSalle two seasons ago, he engineered an 18-win season and third-place finish in the Atlantic 10, the school’s best finish since joining the league for the 1995-96 season.
PHIL MARTELLI, Saint Joseph’s
He begins his 14th season on Hawk Hill, having won more than 250 games. He is a four-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and has taken the Hawks to the postseason in seven of the last eight years.
JAY WRIGHT, Villanova
He begins his eighth season at ‘Nova, having amassed 148 wins at the school. Villanova has made the NCAA Tournament for the last four seasons, including three trips to the Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight appearance. Wright came to Villanova following his tenure at Hofstra and has 270 career victories.
