Although we lost tonight it should be said that we competed from the tip-off to the final horn against at least one of the SoCon's top two teams, and arguably the best from top to bottom. Wofford doesn't have the offense the Mocs have and is prone to blowing leads. Chattanooga, on the other hand, with Tuoyo down low and Jones running the point, is practically unstoppable. They minimized every run we had and battled a small but loud crowd to escape with a win.
Tonight we shot 25% from behind the arc and took "only" 24 three's. That's largely a testament to Chattanooga's suffocating perimeter defense. They crowded the three-point line on every possession and it forced Tim and Julian to struggle from distance, shooting a combined 2 of 12. We were outrebounded 46-39 which isn't bad considering the circumstances. The turnovers were much better: only 7 of them tonight, compared to 22 in the last game at the Roundhouse. But the biggest one came in the last minute of the second overtime, where the refs called Tim Marshall out of bounds on a catch-and-shoot three pointer. His foot was hovering the line and Duggar said he didn't like with the call in the postgame, but I think they got it right. Just an unfortunate play from a group of players that doesn't always have the best court awareness.
Individually Phil led the way with a career-high 26 points, and went 14 of 20 (!!) from the free throw line. He missed a couple late but you really can't ask for much more. Phil also had a couple chip shots that went awry in the first half as well and it ultimately cost us. But he does haul in 5 rebounds, two steals, and 6 blocks. A monster effort from a monster of a man.
Eleby followed suit with 25 points, but on 8-18 shooting and 1-5 from three. Not much you can do about it with Chattanooga's defense. He also has 7 assists (season high vs. DI) and 9 boards. Brian didn't shoot much and finishes with 10. Marshall, as mentioned earlier, struggled mightily from the floor and had 5. Weethee, the only other starter, was a no-show with 2 points despite playing most of regulation and overtime.
Only two players (Jarid and Trey) scored off the bench. Jarid was 2 of 3 from the floor and finished with 4 points, doing some nice work on the boards but it wasn't enough. He simply doesn't have the athleticism to hang with established big men a la Tuoyo, Duke Ethridge, etc. Trey scored 10 points and hit a pair of three-pointers but I thought he did a poor rebounding job, getting beat to the ball several times which lead to several Chattanooga points. He did finish up with 6 rebounds.
We were bailed out from losing in regulation or one OT by Chattanooga's 50% FT shooting. But other than that Chattanooga showed no weaknesses. They shot 47% overall, 38% from behind the arc and got 19 points from their guard Eric Robertson who came off the bench. Casey Jones also scored 17, and both players shot 50% from the field with smart shot selection from every part of the court. We forced them into 13 turnovers but could only convert those into 14 points. Not a single fast-break point was registered, hinting at our lack of a quality rim finisher.
Samford, once red-hot midway in the season, comes in riding a four-game losings streak and was drubbed by UNCG tonight on the road, eliminating any possibility of the 'Dogs getting a first-round bye. In an incredible twist of luck, Furman upset Western Carolina at home tonight 53-49, and Ashton Moore hit another buzzer beater to lift El Cid over ETSU 74-73. This of course means that both ETSU and WCU are tied at 8-9, the Keydets being one game behind each.
Having worked out the seeding scenarios last week, if VMI ends up tied with Western Carolina or ETSU (i.e. they tie only one), they will not get the tiebreaker over either one of them (this of course necessitating that VMI win Saturday). If, however, WCU and ETSU both lose, combined with a VMI win, the Keydets will leapfrog the Catamounts into fifth place by way of going 2-2 against those two squads (ETSU, at 3-1 with a sweep of the 'Cats, gets fourth, and WCU gets sixth). The Bucs play at Mercer, and the Catamounts play at The Citadel. Do I like our chances? Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see how it all plays out.
If however we lose to Samford, we can kiss fifth place goodbye. The Citadel cannot tie us even with a win (we swept them), but UNCG (now 6-11) absolutely can. If all three of these teams are tied, UNCG gets the sixth seed, VMI the seventh, and Citadel the eighth. So we'd be ousted from the bye. UNCG's game doesn't get tipped off til 5pm, so we will know how the Keydets have fared well before then. But if we lose, Keydet Nation must root loud and proud for Chattanooga on Saturday evening.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Postgame Thoughts: @ Western Carolina
Well I suppose I'll have to jump on the Eleby bandwagon after this one, since I've had no faith in him as a starting point guard for pretty much the entire year. Julian definitely proved me wrong tonight: 43 points on 11 of 22 shooting (8-15 from three), 13 of 15 FTs, 7 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. An incredible statline for a guy who came in averaging 8.5/3.9/2.5 on the season. He has certainly come a long, long way since taking over for QJ at point in mid-January.
Late in regulation I envisioned writing a piece on Eleby's failure to come up in the clutch after missing the front end of a 1-and-1 which could have put us up by three and likely ended the game right there. I suppose you can't make them all, right? But Julian completely turned the tables after that. He scored 10 of our 13 points in the first overtime, including two threes, and did an incredible job selling a foul on Devin Peterson during a three point attempt. Julian goes to the line, calmly sinking all three FTs, and somehow we erase a five-point deficit in the final fifteen seconds. But he's not done: Julian hits a three in the second overtime and converts on 4-4 FTs to seal the hard-fought W.
Duggar once again chooses not to go platooning, and as such Eleby and Brown play 46+ minutes. Brown, by the way, shot only seven threes (made three), and had a modest 9 points. Marshall shot 6 of 17 from behind the arc, his cold shooting and foul trouble limiting him to 32 minutes. He did finish with 18 points. Weethee had a great game with 15 on 5 of 10 shooting plus 9 boards. Anglade fouled out and was limited pretty much the entire game after getting two early fouls in the first half (I thought the officiating was crappy) but not before netting 10 points and 4 blocks.
Coming off the bench I thought Jarid did tremendously well on the boards, with 7 offensive boards and 11 in all, plus 10 points. Those seven offensive boards also resulted in 7 points, which proved quite crucial. Jarid is showing himself to be a better rebounder than Phil (by having three inches on him), but we needed Phil for his scoring tonight and got lucky that Eleby couldn't miss. Chattanooga probably won't let that happen Thursday.
Trey had 5 and Craig had 3 off the bench to round out the scoring. Iruafemi got a few minutes and Chris Burton barely played, perhaps because Baucom has decided that Eleby is the man for the job (and clearly he is). With he, Phil, Tim, and Brian starting to find their stride, there's really no need for a platoon. It works when you don't have an established starting five but at this point our starters are gelling together and finding their roles. Look for a regular substitution system from here on out.
As a team we shoot 46% from the field, and an excellent 44% from behind the arc (we made 20, boosting our 11.9 average in that category). Eleby accounted for much of that, making 8 of 15, three of which came in the overtimes. Weethee hit 2 of 5 on threes, and even Hinton got in on the action. Notice that all of this super shooting is coming after Eleby starts to find his stride. Why were we shooting so pitifully in January and early February? Simple: we had no legitimate PG there to stabilize the offense and set up 3P shooters. Free throw shooting was good for the most part (25 of 32, 78%). Jarid hit four of his seven attempts, and Anglade once again impresses from the line by hitting 2 of 2. Perhaps he has started to work on that in practice? Either way, Eleby, discounting that hiccup late in regulation, hit every FT shot he needed to. A consistent FT shooter is critical in the postseason, and I think Eleby is the guy.
Western Carolina actually shot quite well at 50.6%. They made six more shots too, but the difference, of course, was VMI hitting 13 more three-pointers (the 'Cats had only seven). We held Rhett Harrelson to 2 of 11 shooting from three (several of which were awful shots), and Mike Brown, who was 9 of 19 in the last game against us, shot 4 of 10 today. WCU even turned the ball over less in this game than that one, and shot slightly worse. The difference was that we simply made more shots.
Some Notes & Observances
Late in regulation I envisioned writing a piece on Eleby's failure to come up in the clutch after missing the front end of a 1-and-1 which could have put us up by three and likely ended the game right there. I suppose you can't make them all, right? But Julian completely turned the tables after that. He scored 10 of our 13 points in the first overtime, including two threes, and did an incredible job selling a foul on Devin Peterson during a three point attempt. Julian goes to the line, calmly sinking all three FTs, and somehow we erase a five-point deficit in the final fifteen seconds. But he's not done: Julian hits a three in the second overtime and converts on 4-4 FTs to seal the hard-fought W.
Duggar once again chooses not to go platooning, and as such Eleby and Brown play 46+ minutes. Brown, by the way, shot only seven threes (made three), and had a modest 9 points. Marshall shot 6 of 17 from behind the arc, his cold shooting and foul trouble limiting him to 32 minutes. He did finish with 18 points. Weethee had a great game with 15 on 5 of 10 shooting plus 9 boards. Anglade fouled out and was limited pretty much the entire game after getting two early fouls in the first half (I thought the officiating was crappy) but not before netting 10 points and 4 blocks.
Coming off the bench I thought Jarid did tremendously well on the boards, with 7 offensive boards and 11 in all, plus 10 points. Those seven offensive boards also resulted in 7 points, which proved quite crucial. Jarid is showing himself to be a better rebounder than Phil (by having three inches on him), but we needed Phil for his scoring tonight and got lucky that Eleby couldn't miss. Chattanooga probably won't let that happen Thursday.
Trey had 5 and Craig had 3 off the bench to round out the scoring. Iruafemi got a few minutes and Chris Burton barely played, perhaps because Baucom has decided that Eleby is the man for the job (and clearly he is). With he, Phil, Tim, and Brian starting to find their stride, there's really no need for a platoon. It works when you don't have an established starting five but at this point our starters are gelling together and finding their roles. Look for a regular substitution system from here on out.
As a team we shoot 46% from the field, and an excellent 44% from behind the arc (we made 20, boosting our 11.9 average in that category). Eleby accounted for much of that, making 8 of 15, three of which came in the overtimes. Weethee hit 2 of 5 on threes, and even Hinton got in on the action. Notice that all of this super shooting is coming after Eleby starts to find his stride. Why were we shooting so pitifully in January and early February? Simple: we had no legitimate PG there to stabilize the offense and set up 3P shooters. Free throw shooting was good for the most part (25 of 32, 78%). Jarid hit four of his seven attempts, and Anglade once again impresses from the line by hitting 2 of 2. Perhaps he has started to work on that in practice? Either way, Eleby, discounting that hiccup late in regulation, hit every FT shot he needed to. A consistent FT shooter is critical in the postseason, and I think Eleby is the guy.
Western Carolina actually shot quite well at 50.6%. They made six more shots too, but the difference, of course, was VMI hitting 13 more three-pointers (the 'Cats had only seven). We held Rhett Harrelson to 2 of 11 shooting from three (several of which were awful shots), and Mike Brown, who was 9 of 19 in the last game against us, shot 4 of 10 today. WCU even turned the ball over less in this game than that one, and shot slightly worse. The difference was that we simply made more shots.
Some Notes & Observances
- This win puts us a game behind WCU for the fifth spot, and, if Samford (lost to Mercer in the waning seconds) and The Citadel (who got beat up by Wofford) lose, both those teams are essentially out of it for getting the final bye. Samford could still technically tie us at 7-9, but I won't get into all the tiebreaking mumbo jumbo just yet. The good news is that we control our own destiny, and one more win clinches the sixth seed.
- Thanks in large part to 27 points in overtime, we are now averaging 81.6 points per game as a team and have wiggled our way up to 4th in the nation. BYU, at first, currently averages 84.4 per game. Since we will play at least three more games in the season (hopefully more, but just for the sake of argument), we will need to average 110 PPG to surpass the Cougars at their current pace and lead the nation in scoring. Virtually impossible, yes, but if we manage to win that quarterfinal game, that number "drops" to 103.8. If we play five? 100. Essentially we would need BYU to start not-scoring a lot. We'll see where we can go with it, but today is a great start.
- This was the program's 200th all-time road victory, a momentous accomplishment (although at 200-774, there's a lot of catching up to be done).
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Postseason Scenarios
With the SoCon Tournament looming in just two weeks, pundits, bloggers, and fans alike are counting down the days to Asheville, in hopes their squad will capture the elusive championship and automatic berth to the Big Dance that comes with it. As of now, Wofford is in sole possession of first place with a one-game lead over Chattanooga, who has a one-game lead over Mercer. Four teams - ETSU, Western Carolina, VMI, and Samford - have played fifteen conference games thus far, and for that reason will be idle until Saturday, with no midweek games.
VMI of course has trudged through a down year, and, despite all the troubles, finds themselves on a two-game winning streak and in sole possession of the sixth seed and final first-round bye. Samford, who won five in a row after an 0-8 conference start, lost to The Citadel on an Ashton Moore buzzerbeater (which, if you saw it, was an unbelievable stroke of luck) and fell in a hard-fought game at Chattanooga, losing by seven. Still, the Bulldogs of the West are dangerous, with a home game against Mercer Saturday, followed by the last two on the road at UNCG and VMI.
El Cid at this point isn't really much of a threat. Because we beat them twice, the Bulldogs of the East would have to finish the year at least 3-1 AND have VMI go 0-3 to get the final bye, unlikely given they play Wofford, ETSU, and Western Carolina to end the year. May as well check them off the radar.
UNCG and Furman are also 4-10. The same criterion would apply to them as it did The Citadel to overtake the Keydets for the sixth spot. The Paladins also play Western Carolina and Wofford to end the year, and the Spartans have the Terriers on the road and Chattanooga on Senior Day. This is really a race between VMI and Samford.
Below I will go every each of the possible scenarios that the Keydets could finish, and show what must happen for us to not only get the bye but possibly obtain the third or fourth seed.
Scenario #1: Finish 2-1, beat WCU & Samford
VMI of course has trudged through a down year, and, despite all the troubles, finds themselves on a two-game winning streak and in sole possession of the sixth seed and final first-round bye. Samford, who won five in a row after an 0-8 conference start, lost to The Citadel on an Ashton Moore buzzerbeater (which, if you saw it, was an unbelievable stroke of luck) and fell in a hard-fought game at Chattanooga, losing by seven. Still, the Bulldogs of the West are dangerous, with a home game against Mercer Saturday, followed by the last two on the road at UNCG and VMI.
El Cid at this point isn't really much of a threat. Because we beat them twice, the Bulldogs of the East would have to finish the year at least 3-1 AND have VMI go 0-3 to get the final bye, unlikely given they play Wofford, ETSU, and Western Carolina to end the year. May as well check them off the radar.
UNCG and Furman are also 4-10. The same criterion would apply to them as it did The Citadel to overtake the Keydets for the sixth spot. The Paladins also play Western Carolina and Wofford to end the year, and the Spartans have the Terriers on the road and Chattanooga on Senior Day. This is really a race between VMI and Samford.
Below I will go every each of the possible scenarios that the Keydets could finish, and show what must happen for us to not only get the bye but possibly obtain the third or fourth seed.
Scenario #1: Finish 2-1, beat WCU & Samford
- This one seems the most plausible. Here we finish 8-10 in the SoCon, and a win over Samford would clinch 6th place. Additionally, WCU (8-7) and ETSU (8-7) must lose their final three games for us to have a shot at 5th or 4th. The tiebreaker would then go to the record between the tied clubs if all three were tied. VMI would be 2-2, ETSU 3-1, WCU 1-3. Advantage Bucs, but Keydets get fifth. If only one of the teams finishes 8-10, the tiebreaker goes to the record against the top seed (given we split), and so on if a tie persists. WCU wins that one by splitting Chattanooga, and ETSU wins it by beating Mercer. We would need a three-way tie for a higher seed.
Scenario #2: Finish 2-1, beat WCU & Chattanooga
- A bit scarier because we lose to Samford, who could tie if they win their other two games. If this works out, Samford (who would have beaten Mercer) gets the tiebreaker because we were swept by the Bears. A win over WCU ensures the exact same scenariors in Scenario #1 must occur to obtain fifth or fourth place.
Scenario #3: Finish 2-1, beat Chattanooga & Samford
- First, this eliminates any possibility that we overtake the fifth seed from the 'Cats, but we could snatch it from ETSU by going 1-1 against the Mocs, whereas they would be 0-2 with a loss Saturday. And of course our sweep over Samford clinches sixth place.
Scenario #4: Finish 1-2, beat Western Carolina OR Chattanooga
- From this point on we cannot reach WCU or ETSU with a 7-11 record or worse. Samford would have a much easier route to the sixth seed, needing to go 1-1 in the other two games, which would give them an identical 7-11 mark in league play (they play UNCG and Mercer). A win over Mercer gives them the tiebreaker. A win over UNCG doesn't, but their sweep of WCU does. The Bulldogs win out in this scenario, so we need them to lose 2 of 3.
- By finishing 7-11, any of the other bottom three teams (El Cid, UNCG, and Furman) could tie or overtake us. UNCG and Furman do play each other, so that will take one out of the equation. El Cid also plays Furman, which may take out another, given that each squad must finish 4-0 to surpass us, and only one can do so. A 7-11 finish is open to numerous possibilities.
Scenario #5: Finish 1-2, beat Samford
- By beating Samford, we win the first tiebreaker (head-to-head) and thus clinch the sixth seed regardless.
- And yet again, any of the other bottom three teams can equal or surpass us.
Scenario #6: Finish 0-3
- Captain Obvious says we don't want this to happen. An 0-3 finish would put us at 6-12 in the league, and Samford (having hypothetically beaten us) needs only to win one game to get sixth. Plus, UNCG can pass us by finishing 2-2 or better, thanks to their season sweep (the Spartans play Furman and Samford at home - certainly possible.
- Both Furman and El Cid must finish at least 3-1 to get a better seed.
So there it is. Certainly any seed is open, although for us, doing better than sixth is a pipe dream to say the least. All we need is that first-round bye, so we should be satisfied with 6th place.
Some Notes & Observances
- I figured Wofford's at-large chances were done after their loss to Chattanooga last week, but their RPI of 46 still bodes very well for the Terriers. Right now, Wofford is projected as 12-seed according to CBSSports.com, set to play UNC. Certainly they need to finish the regular season undefeated, and if they are going to lose in the tournament, it needs to be in the title game, preferably to a top-tier squad, namely UTC (RPI 135) or Mercer (RPI 224). This would put them at 27-7, presumably still a top-60 RPI. The big killer is their 128 SOS (Strength of Schedule), which sets them back among the mid-major powers and Power Five teams. They have three quality wins, and two elite wins: NC State, Iona, and Sam Houston State, the latter I consider just quality, given their 96 RPI. But I doubt that's enough to impress the Power Five-biased selection committee.
- Chuck Driesell should be working his last go-round with The Citadel, given that he is in his final year of his current contract, and that the school chose not to renew his contract either before the season or during it, a pretty clear signal that they want out. It's disappointing for the Dogs, who seem to have some potential in his Princeton offense but have struggled to beat the press all year long. Wes Miller of UNCG may not be too far behind.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Postgame Thoughts: @ The Citadel
Road. Warriors.
What else can be said? Tonight the boys went into a raucous and nearly full McAlister Field House and come away with a well-fought 84-69 win. It was not surprisingly a game of runs, as we came out shooting hot, on a 13-5 spurt early in the first. El Cid came back to score the final 12 points of the first half - amazing how we can go through such drastic hot and cold swings in a matter of minutes.
Even then, Citadel wasn't finished; Jake Wright, who is shooting an absurd 43% from three-point range this year, hit two long bombs to start the second half, and the Dogs got up 46-35 before the blink of an eye. Of course any knowledgeable Keydet fan could've foreseen a collapse in the making, but Duggar decided to change up the press and our guys started hitting shots. After Ashton Moore made a layup with about fourteen minutes left, VMI ended the game on 40-17 run. Once Tim and Brian got it going - there was no stopping them.
There were too many critical stats for me to pick one that stood out. Where can I start? Citadel's 15 turnovers were impressive, including two ten-second violations. Or, how about the 37% 3P shooting percentage - including 50% (9 of 18) in the second half? Citadel couldn't handle our press and that fed right into our offensive game. We outscored the Dogs 22-9 in second-chance points, and shockingly doubled them up in offensive rebounding (16-8). We won virtually every statistical category, except for free throws. Citadel, who is the most accurate FT shooting team in the SoCon, got to the line twenty times, and not surprisingly made 17 of them. The Keydets got to the line only nine times, which needs to improve. But we did make 7 of them; and, oh by the way, Phil Anglade made 5 of 7 FTs. Incredible.
Individually, Tim Marshall had a field day with 8 three-pointers for a new career-high 26 points (in only 28 minutes). Brian was 6 of 9 from three and had 20 himself, plus four assists and four steals. Anglade, the league's leader in FG%, added another 17 on 6 of 10 shooting, and, as I mentioned, a stupendous 5 of 7 at the line. Trey was solid with 10 points and 4 boards.
Eleby, though struggling from the field (4-13 FG), had a much, much better game than in recent memory. Julian scored 9 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished two assits, but more importantly did not turn the ball over a single time. He looked much more comfortable running the point, but still needs to work on shooting.
We did not see much of Weethee, Burton, Craig, and Fred in this game. Those four players combined to go 1 of 6 from the floor in limited action. Watson did come in for eight minutes and had two rebounds, plus a beautiful lead pass to Trey late in the game for an easy layup. Only 12 bench points today, 10 from Trey.
This win puts us now a full game ahead of Samford in sixth place for the final bye. While we play on the road at WCU next Saturday, Samford will host Mercer and then play their final two on the road in a couple weeks. You've gotta think that our final game of the season at home against Samford will determine which team gets that sixth and final spot, if it hasn't already been decided by then. The good news is that if we are to win two games the rest of the way - we will get the sixth seed - or, if we beat Samford in that final game, we clinch the sixth seed, regardless of all other outcomes. Bottom line: beat Samford. If we want to get even loftier, if we finish 3-0 and WCU loses to Citadel on the road in the regular season finale, we could tie the Cats for fifth place. But that's a stretch. For now, it's one game at a time, and I think this team is starting to gel at exactly the right time. The prospectus of winning at least one tourney game is looking much brighter.
Some Notes & Observances
What else can be said? Tonight the boys went into a raucous and nearly full McAlister Field House and come away with a well-fought 84-69 win. It was not surprisingly a game of runs, as we came out shooting hot, on a 13-5 spurt early in the first. El Cid came back to score the final 12 points of the first half - amazing how we can go through such drastic hot and cold swings in a matter of minutes.
Even then, Citadel wasn't finished; Jake Wright, who is shooting an absurd 43% from three-point range this year, hit two long bombs to start the second half, and the Dogs got up 46-35 before the blink of an eye. Of course any knowledgeable Keydet fan could've foreseen a collapse in the making, but Duggar decided to change up the press and our guys started hitting shots. After Ashton Moore made a layup with about fourteen minutes left, VMI ended the game on 40-17 run. Once Tim and Brian got it going - there was no stopping them.
There were too many critical stats for me to pick one that stood out. Where can I start? Citadel's 15 turnovers were impressive, including two ten-second violations. Or, how about the 37% 3P shooting percentage - including 50% (9 of 18) in the second half? Citadel couldn't handle our press and that fed right into our offensive game. We outscored the Dogs 22-9 in second-chance points, and shockingly doubled them up in offensive rebounding (16-8). We won virtually every statistical category, except for free throws. Citadel, who is the most accurate FT shooting team in the SoCon, got to the line twenty times, and not surprisingly made 17 of them. The Keydets got to the line only nine times, which needs to improve. But we did make 7 of them; and, oh by the way, Phil Anglade made 5 of 7 FTs. Incredible.
Individually, Tim Marshall had a field day with 8 three-pointers for a new career-high 26 points (in only 28 minutes). Brian was 6 of 9 from three and had 20 himself, plus four assists and four steals. Anglade, the league's leader in FG%, added another 17 on 6 of 10 shooting, and, as I mentioned, a stupendous 5 of 7 at the line. Trey was solid with 10 points and 4 boards.
Eleby, though struggling from the field (4-13 FG), had a much, much better game than in recent memory. Julian scored 9 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished two assits, but more importantly did not turn the ball over a single time. He looked much more comfortable running the point, but still needs to work on shooting.
We did not see much of Weethee, Burton, Craig, and Fred in this game. Those four players combined to go 1 of 6 from the floor in limited action. Watson did come in for eight minutes and had two rebounds, plus a beautiful lead pass to Trey late in the game for an easy layup. Only 12 bench points today, 10 from Trey.
This win puts us now a full game ahead of Samford in sixth place for the final bye. While we play on the road at WCU next Saturday, Samford will host Mercer and then play their final two on the road in a couple weeks. You've gotta think that our final game of the season at home against Samford will determine which team gets that sixth and final spot, if it hasn't already been decided by then. The good news is that if we are to win two games the rest of the way - we will get the sixth seed - or, if we beat Samford in that final game, we clinch the sixth seed, regardless of all other outcomes. Bottom line: beat Samford. If we want to get even loftier, if we finish 3-0 and WCU loses to Citadel on the road in the regular season finale, we could tie the Cats for fifth place. But that's a stretch. For now, it's one game at a time, and I think this team is starting to gel at exactly the right time. The prospectus of winning at least one tourney game is looking much brighter.
Some Notes & Observances
- The ASN commentators said that this was the first game in which Citadel cadets were required to attend. Interesting, given that attendance is mandatory for nearly all Saturday basketball games at the Institute, even some during the weekday if the occasion is special.
- Props to Citadel fans who packed McAlister today, with an attendance of 4,248, by far the biggest of the year for them (they hadn't even hit 2,000 before this). You have to wonder why VMI can't get 4,000+ for a televised home game without it being in the CIT or some such. Of course our record is dismal this year, but then again, so is Citadel's. Charleston is vastly more populated than Lex, so that explains quite a bit, but the Dogs do live in the shadow of CofC which greatly hinders attendance. Not today though.
- For the first time since 2014 (I believe), Duggar chose not to utilize the platoon system. I suppose it worked; Eleby looked much more comfortable running the point, and he is a superior option to Burton, who played only two minutes. All the starters were solid, and as the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
- Home teams in the SoCon are winning just around 55% of their games this year in conference play. Why is this? Possibly the low attendances and the overall parity in the league, with everyone other than Wofford being beatable on the road. UNCG's pathetic 1-9 home record against DI competition certainly has something to do with it (and who was that one win? I think we all shudder to know). We definitely continued that trend today, as Citadel looked overamped coming in and didn't have the legs to keep up with us.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Postgame Thoughts: Furman
I try to be calm and reasonable after big losses and big wins, but tonight deserves some extra celebrating and embellishment. This was by far the best performance of the year for the Keydets, from a shooting standpoint, as well as on defense and in transition. Despite the same old first half defensive nonsense, allowing Furman easy, uncontested layups and second-chance points off rebounds. But, much like last Saturday, we get our act together in half two and cruise for a blowout win that no one who follows this team was expecting.
It should be duly noted that our three-point shooting tonight was insane: 24 for 45 and 53% is not going to happen again this season, and probably for long after that. But it did show that these players are capable of shooting well without a true PG, although having one is certainly a necessity in order to stabilize the offense and run the motions. Our overall shooting and 3P shooting were practically identical, so we were hitting two-point shots as well, just not taking them often, and we clearly didn't need to. And it's not as if Furman came in with a bad defense: they've allowed 65.4 PPG this season, around middle of the pack among national ranks.
Brown had a saintly night, going off for 29 points 9 of 14 shooting from behind the arc. Forget what anyone did overall. Weethee was 3 of 4 on treys and had 9 points for another solid game. Jordan's 3PT shooting has picked up as of late and it's incredibly pleasing. Marshall was 7 of 15 for 25 with three dimes. Anglade had five blocks and four points, but it'd be nice to see him get more boards. Bench scoring wasn't what it's usually been, but Trey and Craig both had five points and each hit a long ball. Always good, too, to see Niles Tate to get some action, who scored late to provide for the 34-point margin.
Eleby was much better than he has been most of the year but still isn't what we need at the PG position. He essentially cost us the Wofford game (not just with the two clumsy late turnovers (and the five overall), but 1 of 9 shooting and two assists were pitiful). He hit 3 of 9 overall and had 9 points, 4 boards, and six assists. For the past few weeks our offense has seriously suffered when he runs the point, but tonight it was much better. Not sure that he had much to do with that more so than the fact that Brian simply decided to take the game over and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.
On defense we held one of the SoCon's elite guards (Croone) to just 10 points where he had been averaging 18 per game coming in. Furman was actually very good shooting-wise, hitting 48% of their shots; they just turned the ball over 15 times and made only one three. I reiterate that on almost any other night, we lose, or at the very least come close to losing this game. Tonight we hit 24 three-point attempts (a DI record), but imagine what would've happened had we been stuck at our season average of 30% - we'd make only 14 and lose 30 of our 93 points. Makes a difference, doesn't it?
Getting to the line is one thing that must improve. We took only four FTs tonight, three of which came off a questionable 3PT foul on Marshall (for what it's worth we hit 75% of them). Again we get outrebounded both offensively and defensively (32-27 overall), but our shooting made that stat picayune. We scored 90+ for the first time since the Marist game and also dished out 21 assists. Turnovers were better: we had only nine.
Let not our shooting deceive you. This team still has serious kinks it needs to work out but tonight was a good start on what was largely a failed homestand. I said in an earlier post that we needed to go 4-1 to essentially lock position for a bye; we go 2-3. Realistically 4-1 wasn't possible and I really thought we'd go 3-2, but what can you do? Western Carolina and UNCG came in and dominated, and in hindsight we should've seen it coming. We had a chance to win that Wofford game late but the game was really lost in the first half. So much for the past now. The guys will head to Charleston in the next two days and better get prepared for a big and loud crowd at McAlister. It's incredibly difficult to beat a team three times in one season; we can only hope it won't have to be four come tournament time.
It should be duly noted that our three-point shooting tonight was insane: 24 for 45 and 53% is not going to happen again this season, and probably for long after that. But it did show that these players are capable of shooting well without a true PG, although having one is certainly a necessity in order to stabilize the offense and run the motions. Our overall shooting and 3P shooting were practically identical, so we were hitting two-point shots as well, just not taking them often, and we clearly didn't need to. And it's not as if Furman came in with a bad defense: they've allowed 65.4 PPG this season, around middle of the pack among national ranks.
Brown had a saintly night, going off for 29 points 9 of 14 shooting from behind the arc. Forget what anyone did overall. Weethee was 3 of 4 on treys and had 9 points for another solid game. Jordan's 3PT shooting has picked up as of late and it's incredibly pleasing. Marshall was 7 of 15 for 25 with three dimes. Anglade had five blocks and four points, but it'd be nice to see him get more boards. Bench scoring wasn't what it's usually been, but Trey and Craig both had five points and each hit a long ball. Always good, too, to see Niles Tate to get some action, who scored late to provide for the 34-point margin.
Eleby was much better than he has been most of the year but still isn't what we need at the PG position. He essentially cost us the Wofford game (not just with the two clumsy late turnovers (and the five overall), but 1 of 9 shooting and two assists were pitiful). He hit 3 of 9 overall and had 9 points, 4 boards, and six assists. For the past few weeks our offense has seriously suffered when he runs the point, but tonight it was much better. Not sure that he had much to do with that more so than the fact that Brian simply decided to take the game over and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.
On defense we held one of the SoCon's elite guards (Croone) to just 10 points where he had been averaging 18 per game coming in. Furman was actually very good shooting-wise, hitting 48% of their shots; they just turned the ball over 15 times and made only one three. I reiterate that on almost any other night, we lose, or at the very least come close to losing this game. Tonight we hit 24 three-point attempts (a DI record), but imagine what would've happened had we been stuck at our season average of 30% - we'd make only 14 and lose 30 of our 93 points. Makes a difference, doesn't it?
Getting to the line is one thing that must improve. We took only four FTs tonight, three of which came off a questionable 3PT foul on Marshall (for what it's worth we hit 75% of them). Again we get outrebounded both offensively and defensively (32-27 overall), but our shooting made that stat picayune. We scored 90+ for the first time since the Marist game and also dished out 21 assists. Turnovers were better: we had only nine.
Let not our shooting deceive you. This team still has serious kinks it needs to work out but tonight was a good start on what was largely a failed homestand. I said in an earlier post that we needed to go 4-1 to essentially lock position for a bye; we go 2-3. Realistically 4-1 wasn't possible and I really thought we'd go 3-2, but what can you do? Western Carolina and UNCG came in and dominated, and in hindsight we should've seen it coming. We had a chance to win that Wofford game late but the game was really lost in the first half. So much for the past now. The guys will head to Charleston in the next two days and better get prepared for a big and loud crowd at McAlister. It's incredibly difficult to beat a team three times in one season; we can only hope it won't have to be four come tournament time.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Postgame Thoughts: UNC Greensboro
Not much to say about this loss, other than the fact that it was the most pathetic effort I've seen in several years, including the Navy game last December. We bumbled, fumbled, and stumbled our way around and got manhandled in own gym by an athletically superior team. No defense, no offense, no nothing. Many of our possessions featured aimless passing around the perimeter, where after sometime one guy would drive alone and either get stuffed or throw up an errant contested layup. Pitiful in every sense.
Brian led the way with 16 points on 4 of 10 shooting, and by golly that was it. No one else contributed. Trey had 7 but made only two FGs and connected on 2 of 5 free throws. Oh by the way, we shoot 63% from the line, saved by a late-game barrage. At this point there is really nothing you can do but shake your head and try to fathom our incompetence at the line. Blame Duggar if you want, but Duggar can't tell players how to shoot free throws. This is the simplest part of the thing and we have consistently failed at it the last seven games, perhaps beyond.
For a UNCG team that came in giving up 74 PPG (330th in the country), they hold us to 56 and obliterate us in every fashion. Anglade was 2 for 6, 6 points. Hinton had a solid game with 8 points but got destroyed on the boards. Eleby had 5 on 2 of 16 shooting (1 of 5 from three). Marshall did not make a field goal and had a single point. No one else had more than two. Burton chocked up a couple airballs, fittingly. Overall we shot 16 of 72; no, that is not a typo: 16 of 72. 22% for the game, and most of these were two-point field goals. We have played teams with better defenders but tonight UNCG did what they had to do and allowed us absolutely nothing. And they did that the entire game, constantly blocking shots and playing tight on-ball defense (not that they needed to try very hard) to the very end.
We shoot 20%, nothing unexpected given our shooting touch as of late. The players we have simply are not good shooters, at least not without a quality point guard. It kind of shows how much DJ and Rodney carried this team last season, because without them we are nothing. I doubt QJ would've made much of a difference; he certainly wouldn't have won us this game.
UNCG pulled down 56 boards and 21 assists, nine better than us. We forced 20 turnovers yet couldn't capitalize on any. A team that lost to Samford by 11 not long ago comes into Cameron on "Red-Out" night and controls the game from horn to horn. I feel embarrassed for anyone who attended and would not blame a soul for demanding a refund on their ticket.
Losing by 29 to a 6-17 team at home (RPI 335) is not an aberration of any sort. It is indicative of the athletes on this team, the shooters, the rebounders, everything. This game was a travesty, and the best part of it is that we got to show off in front of a large regional TV audience. I don't care what kind of pep talk or come-to-Jesus meeting the players have; there is no way we will drastically improve from this point out. I only dread what Wofford will do to us. And after that game, we should be 1-3 on this homestand which we needed to go 4-1. An embarrassing loss to say the least. Credit UNC Greensboro: they decided to play basketball tonight.
Brian led the way with 16 points on 4 of 10 shooting, and by golly that was it. No one else contributed. Trey had 7 but made only two FGs and connected on 2 of 5 free throws. Oh by the way, we shoot 63% from the line, saved by a late-game barrage. At this point there is really nothing you can do but shake your head and try to fathom our incompetence at the line. Blame Duggar if you want, but Duggar can't tell players how to shoot free throws. This is the simplest part of the thing and we have consistently failed at it the last seven games, perhaps beyond.
For a UNCG team that came in giving up 74 PPG (330th in the country), they hold us to 56 and obliterate us in every fashion. Anglade was 2 for 6, 6 points. Hinton had a solid game with 8 points but got destroyed on the boards. Eleby had 5 on 2 of 16 shooting (1 of 5 from three). Marshall did not make a field goal and had a single point. No one else had more than two. Burton chocked up a couple airballs, fittingly. Overall we shot 16 of 72; no, that is not a typo: 16 of 72. 22% for the game, and most of these were two-point field goals. We have played teams with better defenders but tonight UNCG did what they had to do and allowed us absolutely nothing. And they did that the entire game, constantly blocking shots and playing tight on-ball defense (not that they needed to try very hard) to the very end.
We shoot 20%, nothing unexpected given our shooting touch as of late. The players we have simply are not good shooters, at least not without a quality point guard. It kind of shows how much DJ and Rodney carried this team last season, because without them we are nothing. I doubt QJ would've made much of a difference; he certainly wouldn't have won us this game.
UNCG pulled down 56 boards and 21 assists, nine better than us. We forced 20 turnovers yet couldn't capitalize on any. A team that lost to Samford by 11 not long ago comes into Cameron on "Red-Out" night and controls the game from horn to horn. I feel embarrassed for anyone who attended and would not blame a soul for demanding a refund on their ticket.
Losing by 29 to a 6-17 team at home (RPI 335) is not an aberration of any sort. It is indicative of the athletes on this team, the shooters, the rebounders, everything. This game was a travesty, and the best part of it is that we got to show off in front of a large regional TV audience. I don't care what kind of pep talk or come-to-Jesus meeting the players have; there is no way we will drastically improve from this point out. I only dread what Wofford will do to us. And after that game, we should be 1-3 on this homestand which we needed to go 4-1. An embarrassing loss to say the least. Credit UNC Greensboro: they decided to play basketball tonight.
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