The Bonnies started this season plagued by injuries to two starters.
It's only fitting that the culmination of the year takes place with the backdrop of a literal pandemic.
Ok, that's the only coronavirus joke in this preview. I'm tired of hearing about it, you're tired of hearing about it. Wash your damn hands more often, bring Lysol wipes with you to Brooklyn and don't touch anyone. Got it? Ok, let's actually talk about some damn basketball.
The Bonnies are playing George Mason, who defeated St. Joe's in what has been officially unofficially named the "Wednesday Night Pillow Fight." For the unaware, this is the first round of the tournament and the name was made by Bona alum Uncle Vinny's nephew Petey Buckets. It used to be played as an evening session, but last year, the games were moved to 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., presumably because primetime shows like The Masked Singer and CSI: Whatever the Fuck were upset about getting worse ratings than GW-Fordham. Either way, it still sounds great, so the moniker remains.
The Patriots were able to get past the Hawks in the newly dimmed Barclays Center. I hope they're just doing it to hide the lack of fans at the Pillow Fights. Anyways, despite being down Jamal Hartwell and the Green Machine, GMU was able to control most of the opening game of A10s. Ryan Daly was basically the only factor for St. Joe's, big surprise there...
I kind of wanted St. Joe's to play us, but since it seems like Mason has a thin bench, I don't think it'll matter that much. What matters is how the Brown and White decide to play against the Patriots. We fell behind 19-4 early in Fairfax back in January, before taking control and eventually winning by 12. The alumni weekend game was one that we led from basically start to finish, but never really felt comfortable to me until the very end. Then again, Petey Buckets said on SBUnfurled and Friends this week that he never thought the GooMoos had a chance, so what do I know?
Speaking of which, time to plug the podcast to fill space!
In all seriousness, you should really check out our two-part A10 extravaganza. We put a lot of work into it (I'm embarrassed to say how long it took to edit it all, but it was worth every minute, personally), and I really hope it's worth your time. It'll keep you entertained on your long trips to NYC this week and it also breaks up nicely into 8-10 minute segments, so you don't have to binge it!
Even if you aren't a Bonnies fan, you should listen. You'll learn a little bit about every A10 team going into the tournament, you'll hear some hilarious stories from each fanbase and there's even a musical number in part two! Click here for part one and click here for part two!
Alright, shill time is over, back to the preview!
Some people may point to the fact that we beat GMU twice and it's hard to beat a team a third time. I think that kind of cliche thinking is worthless! In my opinion, when you have two wins against a team, you really don't have one folks. This game is being played in Uncle Vinny's home city, so I firmly believe that we will have the home-court advantage.
Shorter end of the previews because I don't have time to scour the forums or play 2k this week. Sorry folks.
Seven Steps to Victory (and the Double Bye!!)
They may be "Mason," but we have a Carpenter, and which one was Jesus??? Exactly.
This is the a repeat of last year's quarterfinal game that made Captain Beer a somewhat-viral star!
We should have known a team with an Antonin Scalia law school would be prepared for a fight involving pillows...
There's no Green Machine, but we will bring the brown noise, folks.
Tom Brady still hasn't re-signed with the Patriots.
Alejandro Vasquez, Justin Winston, Kyle Lofton, Osun Osunniyi and Malik Lacewell are all from the tri-state area, so it's basically our home court.
The pregame spot is the 40/40 Club inside the Barclays, so we better shoot at least 40% and keep George Mason in the 40s on the scoreboard, folks.
Travel safe and remember, cleanliness is only second to Bonnie-ness. Let's go Bona's!