NCDS: Jim McCarthy, Asst. Coach - Northeastern ("CAA Tournament Time")

By: Jim McCarthy, Asst. Coach - Northeastern

Our regular season came to a close with a dramatic and hard-fought two-point win at George Mason on Saturday.  We finished second in the CAA and our conference tournament is this weekend at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va.

Obviously, conference tournaments are extremely important for mid-major programs.  In many BCS leagues, the conference tournament is a factor for NCAA seeding and moving some teams on or off "the bubble".  Our league had a great season with six teams finishing the season in the Top 125 RPI Standings.  That being said, the only way to know for certain that your name will be called on Selection Sunday is to win the conference tournament!

There are 12 teams in our league and the top four earn a 1^st round bye - this is extremely important as no team has ever won the tournament without receiving a bye (it would require 4 wins in 4 straight days).  The 1^st round match-ups are 5 vs 12, 6 vs 11, 7 vs 10, and 8 vs 9.  The entire tournament is at the Coliseum, so those teams with a bye do have the benefit of "live scouting" these first round match-ups. 

We will spend the early part of this week focusing on ourselves and areas we need to improve upon.  It's important to balance the mental and physical preparation, knowing that we could potentially play three games in a row, which is something we haven't done before.  Watching film, getting proper rest, and staying sharp will be critical.

At this point in the season, there are very few surprises.  Everyone has played each other at least once, often times twice, and is very familiar with each opponent's strengths and weaknesses.  In fact, we could potentially face Hofstra for the third time in the past month!  This is why execution on both ends of the court is so critical.  The scouting reports are still fresh in everyone's mind (hopefully!) and it comes down to making as many winning plays as possible.  Can your man-to-man offense be better than their man-to-man defense? Can your zone defense be better than their zone offense?  These questions are answered on each possession.

Conference tournaments are fun, exciting, and are a culmination of a lot of hard work.  For freshmen, it probably started this past summer with weight training and the high expectations that their new teammates and coaches had for them.  For seniors, it started four or five years ago and now comes to fruition over three or four days.  Conference tournaments also come at a time of the year when players and coaches can start to get worn down, right after the February grind.  However, conference tournaments provide a great second wind and energy knowing what is at stake. 

One teaching point that we used down the stretch was counting down how many days and minutes we had left in the regular season, as a way to show our team how each day was precious.  After practice or before a game we would remind them, "13 days left" or "120 minutes left to play" and that couldn't be more true now.  The second season has begun and by Monday night around 9:00p.m., our conference champion will be decided.

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