If You’re Blue And You Don’t Know Where To Go To…

We’re not very stylish at the home office. Puttin’ On The Ritz generally means “socks,” and anytime I’m dressed nicely you can bet The Beautiful One had a hand in it. But we’re thrilled to hear of UNCWs choice to go to the navy blue uniforms this season . The Dubmen broke them out only every now and again in years past, but those have always been the favorites in these parts. UNCW athletics director Jimmy Bass–is that not the perfect name for the AD of a southern school?–is also pushing a rebranding to “UNCW.” This is another move wholeheartedly approved by CAAHoops. First, we love its identifying nature. Like VCU instead of the horrible “Virginia Commonwealth,” UNCW tells you what you need to know. Second, four keystrokes is much easier. *** Dallas’s victory over Miami last night was significant. Most importantly it means the end of the NBA season. I’ll be headed out to Kroger for the cake and ice cream at lunch. However we also got to hear Northeastern’s JJ Barea name get called over and over. We love that because it’s the June version of the rest of the country seeing what we’ve already known. We remember Barea carving up Your Team’s defense in four-second possessions, or the greatest shoe kick in CAA tournament history. Now everybody gets a taste. Consider this, too. Gary Neal, Eric Maynor and Larry Sanders join Barea in the league. Matt Janning is on the cusp and I’m wagering will be back next season. This year’s draft may shake out Charles Jenkins, Jamie Skeen, and Cam Long. How about that? *** Some early Blue Ribbon nuggets. (The more work I do, the more nuggets will be uncovered.) Towson’s last CAA victory came in the 2010 CAA tournament over UNCW. Only eight players saw action for Towson last season. Paul Hewitt isn’t the only Georgia Tech coach who defected to the CAA. Georgia State associate head coach Darryl LaBarrie was on Hewitt’s staff last year. Hey, fourth place in our league gets you into the NCAA tournament, too. Plenty of room on the bandwagon. Drexel point guard Frantz Massenat had 102 assists and only 58 turnovers. As a freshman. If Ron Hunter coaches as fast as he talks, CAA teams are going to have a hard time keeping up. Hunter said on Friday that his Panthers will play “…pressure defense, about 6-7 per game, and make the game fast and play outside the three point line. That’s what my teams do.” Monte Ross calls freshman Khalid Lewis-El “a defensive menace,” and that Jamelle Hagins made a huge jump defensively from his FR to SOPH years. If Hagins can make that same jump offensively this year, he will be unstoppable. (Agree.)

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