Postgame Thoughts: vs. Mercer

Our season mercifully came to an end tonight. I wasn't expecting a win coming into the game but I certainly considered it a possibility. Mercer had other plans. They were better coached, outhustled us to loose balls, and did the things it takes to win a basketball game. Our players looked lethargic and uninspired at times but it really came down to making shots and we did none of that. Mercer's defense must be credited, however; they defended the three-point line well (really the only thing you need to do to beat us) and stopped us in the post.

The defense was what we expected it to be; the offense wasn't there. It was certainly reminiscent of the home UNCG game, although a bit more redeeming this time given that Mercer is a top-three team in the SoCon (but not 28 points better than us). Eleby led us in scoring with 22 points on 7 of 17 shooting (1-5 from three). He also had a career-high 11 rebounds, the team leader. I thought he tried to do a little too much, often getting stuffed on drives in the paint and whatnot, but he certainly gave it all he had. Three of our four other starters had double-figures (surprise surprise, Weethee did not score). Marshall had 12, Brian had 11, and Phil had 10 (5 of 8 FG). The problem was both Brian and Tim shot a combined 8 of 25 and 6 of 18 from behind the arc. Add in Eleby, and that last number drops to a chilly 7 for 23 (30%). Not gonna happen.

We got a grand total of 6 bench points tonight. Hinton had a couple more stupid turnovers and just looks lost on the court. It's disappointing to see from a guy with such great potential. We know he can hit the three but his mind just wasn't in the right place for 70% of the season, including the entire second half of the season.

We had 7 assists tonight compared to 14 turnovers, most of which came in the first half (by then the game was decided and Mercer called off the dogs). Stephon Jelks, a freshman for Mercer, scored 12 points off the bench and hauled in 9 rebounds. The Bears shot 53% from the floor, had 20 assists, and outrebounded us 39-33, all without the services of starting guard Darious Moten, who injured his arm in the early seconds of the game and sat out the rest. Hallice and Nwamu, who both destroyed us last time out at Cameron, each had 19. I thought Coach Hoffman told his players to cool the engines with about 10 minutes to go, but our press was so horrid and attenuated that Mercer had no choice but to convert on wide open layups. We were also 10 of 17 (59%) from the line tonight, an appropriate statline to finish the season.

Our three seniors (sans Michael Donovan, who did get some playing time tonight) will certainly be missed.  Brian and Chris were very emotional on the bench in the waning seconds (no need to go into that any further). I really felt bad for them and hate to see us perform so poorly. It looked like the days of old, in the forgetful era of Bart Bellairs and Joe Cantafio. We had no energy and simply lacked the athleticism and pure basketball talent to win.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of Eleby in his final two seasons. We have two scholarship guards coming in next season: Austin Vereen, a 6'4 combo guard from D.C.-powerhouse Maret HS, as well as Quayson Williams, a talented 6'1 pointguard from North Carolina. As far as I can tell both players will compete for playing time and one might just take Eleby's starting spot. Julian certainly showed some bright spots this year, with the 43-point game at Western Carolina, and another 25-point performance against Chattanooga. Despite this he doesn't have the ball-handling skill or play-making ability to be a reliable starting PG. But there's always room for improvement in the offseason.

QJ is almost certainly coming back next season, good news for sure. We definitely could've used his scoring tonight. It's certainly true that QJ struggled mightily in comparison to last season. He got his point-scoring average but the shooting numbers (34% FG, 27% 3PT) were woeful. Quite simply he was playing in an unnatural position and had to take on an entirely new role in the matter of two weeks after that Elmore fiasco. I think he was incredibly uncomfortable in the PG role. Hopefully, he matures this offseason and comes back stronger than ever. We're really gonna need him.

Aside from QJ, next season depends on the play of Marshall and Anglade. Unless you're Kentucky you cannot expect freshman to come in and dominate. Tim had an up-and-down year (mostly down than up), making a living from behind the arc. In his senior year I expect a much more accurate three-point shot. Phil was immensely improved from his Rat and sophomore year. Despite being only 6'3 or so (our roster erroneously gives him a couple of inches), he battled with some of the best big men in the conference all year long and for that should be appreciated. A lot of folks say he isn't a great rim finisher, which is true only if you are comparing him to last year's Covington. Anglade, mind you, led the entire league in overall FG percentage at just a shade under 60%. He certainly has work to do at the free throw line as well, but improved tremendously in the last five games or so. He ended the season connecting on 24 of 35 FTs, boosting his percentage from 35 to 47%. The man is definitely getting better.

Some other questions to be answered: will Armani come back for his sophomore season? He was suspended from the team shortly following the UNCG debacle. Additionally, we should have enough practice players next year so we may have seen the last of walk-on Tyrell Mason (and Niles Tate as well). Or not. Who knows?

Thanks to our four seniors - Brian Brown, Christian Burton, Jarid Watson, and Michael Donovan - for all their contributions to VMI. It's disappointing that Brian was the only one of the four to see consistent playing time over his career. The other two simply weren't good enough to get in, but did what they could in their senior season. Nonetheless, Brian will go down as one of the top ten three-point shooters in program history, and he will be missed greatly. I wish him the best as he commissions into the military upon graduation.

I could talk about Weethee and the freshman and a lot of other things but this article is getting way long and I'll leave it for an end-of-season recap tomorrow (or sometime in the short future). This season will be one to forget, but I'm sure everyone who made it out to a few basketball games can come away with at least a couple good memories. Here's to hoping the baseball team can get VMI athletics back to their winning ways!

Postgame Thoughts: Chattanooga

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.

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

• 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).

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

• 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.

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.

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.

Postgame Thoughts: The Citadel

Well for the second consecutive Saturday, the Keydets get a full-fledged team effort, force the tempo, create turnovers, rush shuts, and win the inside to defeat El Cid for the second time this year. The platoon system was in full effect and it seemed to me like the Eleby/Brown/Chap/Tim/Weethee squad was the most effective. That group combined for 58 points, and we had a fatigued 11-player Bulldog team on the run the entire game.

Julian Eleby was arguably the man of the match with 15 points, ten coming off free throws late when it mattered most in a game plagued by a Cameron Hall-record sixty foul calls.. Again we get completely balanced scoring so there really wasn't a guy that stood out. Phil returned to his shooting ways, going 3 of 4 from the field for 8 points, 5 rejections (passing Tim Allmond for fourth all-time in school history), and 6 boards. BB had 12 points and three steals, though he did turn the ball over four times, forgivable for our makeshift-makeshift-point guard.

Jordan returned from a couple of abysmal performances but still needs some fine-tuning. He had 10 on 3 of 6 shooting (2 of 3 from three), but missed a couple of makeable layups which further decreased the spread. His post play still isn't where we need it to be. Trey, who had a terrible game against Chattanooga (0 points and six turnovers) rebounded for an 11-point performance and played some good defense. Marshall came back and had 15 on 4 of 8 shooting. Solid performances all around and great shooting too: 43% from the field, our best since the Furman game. Free throw shooting still sub-par, but much of that comes from the hapless Phil who still cannot get in the right mental state to hit freebies. He was 2 of 7 today and now under 39% on the year. But excluding him we shot 69% on FTs. Below average, yes, but there's still room for improvement. Need to devote more time for those in practice.

Key stat of the game: actually, there were two. First, we forced El Cid into 21 turnovers which resulted in 25 points. You could tell they didn't have the athletes to keep up with our traps and double-teams in the corner. Second, we shot 36% from behind the arc, our best percentage since, once again, the Furman game. Citadel, by comparison, hit only 6 of 20 shots from distance. That's twelve points right there they don't get.

The one disappointing stat was the rebounding. We were outrebounded 42-32, and gave up 16 on the offensive glass which gave the Dawgs 16 second-chance points. And their FT shooting kept them in the game, too: 27 of 35. And only nine assists is a bit depressing. But, we forced 15 steals and swatted six shots which is what we needed.

One down, four to go. A date with Western Carolina, who lost by six to a 2-8 Samford team, looms on Thursday. I like our chances but looking at the big picture we really need to sweep this homestand if the Keydets want to secure a tournament bye. Despite being 4-6 in the league we stand firmly in sixth place, right at the cutoff. Can we beat WCU? Sure. Can we beat Furman? Sure. Can we beat Wofford, or UNCG? Sure. Can we beat all four of these teams? I don't know. Even so, there are still two road games after that and a rematch against Chattanooga. 7-1 over the last eight seems necessary. 5-3 seems realistic. 4-4 is not acceptable. But it's one game at a time. For now, we celebrate.

Postgame Thoughts: @ Chattanooga

Well a disappointing loss to say the least. I can't say the effort wasn't there but the focus certainly wasn't and neither was the shooting. As expected, Chattanooga was more athletic than us, more aggressive, and faster to the ball. Nothing you could do about it, unless you expect to make 50% of your three-point attempts, which, in all reality....will never happen.

This game marked the return of Tyrell Mason to the lineup, and unfortunately his presence did not spark a rally[/sarcasm]. Anglade, who came into the game third in the nation in FG percentage at .684, shot just 6 of 14 from the field, but he did get 16 points which led all scorers, plus 7 boards. And he even shot "better" from the FT line, going 4 for 8. Marshall once again a now-show: 2 of 10 overall, 1 of 7 from three, 6 points. This team is going nowhere if he can't contribute. He did six rebounds and two steals but his main asset is offense and right now it's nonexistent.

In an expected downturn Fred Iruafemi had only 4 points and made one FG. Despite getting called for his fourth foul early in the second half Fred continued to play and couldn't find a way to contribute, at least offensively. Craig had 7, and Eleby had 9 but didn't hit a three. Trey had an awful game; zero points with six turnovers, two of which were offensive fouls; a rebound and assist is all for Trey.

As a team we shot less than 32% overall and 7 of 25 from three (28%). Quite honestly this doesn't surprise me. The harsh reality is that we are not at all a good shooting team, and that's putting it softly. Even free throw shooting was again poor - 62% - although I suppose if you subtract Phil that number goes up to 69%. It's unfortunate that the players who have the ball in their hand most often are most often the poorest free throw shooters. Only positive stat is that we outrebound UTC 47-38, including 20-8 on the offensive glass. But, we counter that with 20 turnovers. We once again fail to play a complete game and it costs us. These are things that happen on the road, especially to a young team.

The Mocs shot 48% from the floor (despite shooting horribly from three - 4 of 17), which tells you where the problem lies: in the paint. Stronger, and more physical always beats weaker and unaggressive. Plus some silly fouls in the backcourt spell our doom. We don't have nearly enough talent to overcome these things; last year's team did. And such torrid shooting is not a fluctuation but a trend. We lack the height and quality rim-protectors to hold teams under 80 points, which is what we need to have a chance (although with this offense nothing is guaranteed).

At long last the five-game homestand is upon us. El Cid lost to ETSU tonight which is hopeful, but where will the offense come from? I have no idea. Brian has picked it up as of late but that's all. No one else has been consistent enough to give me confidence. We can only cross our fingers that Marshall will get on a hot streak right about now. But the good news is that the most disadvantageous portion of a schedule in all the time I've watched VMI basketball is over and for that we are thankful.

Postgame Thoughts: ETSU

This game was without a doubt the most impressive win of the season to date. In some of the darkest moments our players shine bright and play a tough game, full of hustle and heart, and come together to beat a team that was taller, stronger, and had more starpower. This may be the win we needed to kickstart a big run in the SoCon. There is still a ways to go, but the team keeps getting better.

Of course when I say darkest moments I reference the fact that QJ earlier this week decided to leave the school indefinitely on a "medical furlough", as reported by VMIKeydets.com. Initially I heard through word of mouth that he had simply thrown in the towel and left the Corps for good, but there's more to it than that. QJ is dealing with some personal problems and we can only hope he uses this time off to get his mind right. Although I thought the flow of the game was better without him, I feel bad for QJ and would like to see him return to the school, if only to finish his education. He desperately wants to win, but simply hasn't thrived in this offense.

But as for the cadets who did play, it was an outstanding effort. Leading the way was Fred Iruafemi, who had the best game of his college career: 16 points on 8 of 12 shooting, 9 rebounds, 3 assist, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. The guy was just everywhere. He also made three consecutive shots, two beautiful jumpshots from fifteen feet, and another layup which gave us the lead for good at 70-68. Game ball goes to the freshman.

Trey also had a quiet 16, hitting two three's and eight FTs. He also had six boards and five steals, a common trend against an ETSU team that turned the ball over 25 times thanks to relentless backcourt trapping and pressure defense. The other double-figure scorers were Brian (15 points and 4 of 9 from distance), and Phil, who netted 10 plus 7 rebounds and four blocks. He could've had more if he were worth anything at the free throw line, which seems to be his only Achilles' heel this season. There are other things he needs to work on but his defensive and rebounding prowess were crucial.

Tim Marshall once again struggled from the field, going 0 of 8 from three-point range and 0 of 9 overall. It should be noted that he finished with 6 points, going 6 of 7 from the line...clearly most of his teammates need work in this area. As a team we shot 22-37 (<60%) from the charity stripe which was the only thing preventing us from running the Bucs out of the gym.

Speaking of the Bucs, notice what happened to Jalen Riley? Last time against us he went off for 32 points on 11 of 17 shooting. This time? Try 13 points on 3 of 8 shooting, and he fouled out late in the second half. We completely took him out of the game and in doing so neutralized Wilson and Harris. Rembert scored 19 but needed as many shots to do it.

There are still things that must be fixed. Eleby was an 0-fer from the floor but did haul in five boards and made FTs when he had to. Weethee was a disappointment and has been much of the season, playing only 7 minutes today and shooting 0-1, blowing a layup midway in the second half. Craig shot poorly from the field but managed to hit a pair of treys. Burton had five and brought hustle as always but needs to stop taking stupid personal fouls. Jarid had 4 plus two blocks and a steal. Still there is room for improvement but overall I like where we are headed. We outrebounded the Bucs 55-48 despite being much smaller and had 4 more points in the paint, the first time we have outdone a DI team in that category all season.

We'll see what happens with QJ. Hopefully he comes together and can make some contributions later on. For now a five-day break looms before a road date with Chattanooga, who by the way beat Samford by just six. They do have a top-105 RPI so it will be no piece of cake, but certainly a chance to prove our worth in the Southern Conference. Until then, we can bask in the glory of victory.

Postgame Thoughts: @ UNC Greensboro

Different venue, different game. Same story for the Keydets tonight.

Easy to tell where things went wrong. As a team we shot 31% overall, connecting on only 23 of 74 shots. Nine of those 23 makes were from three, and we hit a dismal 23% from distance. Even the free throw shooting (50%) was horrible, the worst percentage of the year. We were about as cold as the weather outside.

Many of these shots were rushed or simply ill-advised. QJ continues to take wild shots from well beyond the arc. Look, by contrast, at the other side and you will see a UNCG team that hit 45% of their takes and outrebounded the opposition 52-40. There was one sequence late in the second half where UNCG missed two three-pointers, got offensive rebounds, missed another layup, got another rebound, and put it in on the fourth try. Next possession, Eleby airballs a three and later gets called for a player-control foul. Trey travels twice and has 4 TOs total. These are the things that separate winning teams from losing teams. And no, UNCG is not on paper a winning team, but they played like it tonight. And that was even WITH 17 turnovers. I can't see they wanted it more but they simply did the things it takes to win.

QJ once again shoots horribly from the field, going 2 for 11 and 1 of 6 from range. This is a trend that his been occurring for QJ since early December, shooting above 40% only at Navy and Mercer. He finishes with 8 points and 4 assists. Brian is 2 of 7 from long range. Tim is 2 of 11. Hinton, 0 of 5. Chapman, 1 of 4. Notice a trend? Our offense is predicated on hitting shots. We all know that our defense cannot cope with 31% shooting. And why were they all short? We can't be that tired having played twice in the past six days. Maybe the focus isn't there. I don't know.

Everyone shot pretty bad except for Anglade. Phil was 5 of 9 for 11 points and 10 rebounds in only 19 minutes. He had 4 fouls but didn't foul it so I guess it's an improvement. Still, we need Phil to be more disciplined under the net. This is a problem we didn't have to deal with having DJ down low. Iruafemi continued to see action and had 4 points as well as 4 boards and two blocks. Burton hit a three-pointer, sunk two FTs, and had three steals. That's about it.

There was very balanced scoring tonight but only one player (Phil) in double-figures. That cannot happen. Last season we had at least three guys every night who scored double-figures, and then some. This season, there is no go-to guy, no consistent shooter. QJ is possibly distracted with point guard duties. Marshall has been up and down all year. We simply don't have any great shooters.

ETSU comes to Lexington Saturday. I suspect a sparse crowd. This one is quite literally a must win if we are to have any shot at a top-four seed. After that we head to Chattanooga and I cannot fathom that we come out of a win there after a six-hour drive against an 11-7 team. After that the five-game homestand mercifully begins. But will it matter at that point?

I fear not...

Postgame Thoughts: @ Wofford

Well a disappointing loss tonight especially considering we had a chance to win the game late on the road against the SoCon preseason favorite. It was an up-and-down contest but nonetheless the team played well enough to win, but not well enough to not lose.

We certainly had our chances. After falling behind 68-64 with just over three minutes to go, a QJ jumper, steal, two offensive rebounds, and another floater in the lane tie the score with two minutes left. Then, a rebound and foul on Lee Skinner gives QJ two FT's which he sinks. Karl Kochran of Wofford responded with a trey, but Skinner fouled Anglade again, who, as we've seen all season, missed the free throw on the front end of the 1-and-1.

Then even after that we still had a chance to tie the game, as QJ had the ball in hand for the last possession. What does he do? Lean in to the Terrier defender in an inexplicable attempt to draw a foul. Of course the shot is an airball, CJ Neumann sinks two freebies, and that's your ball game.

First it's surprising that Wofford didn't foul. Most other teams don't do this either and it surprises me because you'd think the chances of a player making two FTs, get the ball back, and hit another shot are better than simply sinking a three. Guess not. But QJ decides to draw contact and the shot goes horrible awry. He should've known that the refs were going to let all contact go, especially on the road. But it didn't happen and we can only hope QJ will learn.

Consider that late in the first half, after an Anglade layup the Wofford lead is cut to one before the final possession. We play great defense for 27 seconds or so, and Jarid gets his hands on the ball after a missed three by Jaylen Allen. But Justin Gordon takes the ball out of his hands, and dishes to Eric Garcia who makes a three pointer as time expires. Those three points turned out to be the difference. Wofford simply makes winning plays and knows what to do in the clutch. Even when the shots aren't falling, they stick to the fundamentals. That is why they are 12-4 and VMI sits at 5-11 and 1-4 in the league.

Julian, who was coming off the flu and back for his first game in a week, clearly made a difference. Although he didn't shoot well (5 pts on 1 of 9 shooting), he had two assists, three rebounds, and sparked the team on offense. But give the game ball to Phil Anglade, who was a monster down low with 22 points, 8 boards, and 7 blocks on 11 of 13 shooting. Incredibly it's Anglade who sorta-kinda costs us the game down the stretch, missing a FT in the final minute and shooting 0-3 from the charity stripe in all. This is the only flaw in his game, but it's a critically important one.

QJ shot 6 of 19 from the field (2-8 from three) for 22 points and 6 rebounds. Marshall shoots 4 of 11 for 13 points. As far as scoring goes that's about it. Only 13 bench points, but we did outrebound a much taller Wofford team, 40-31. On the flip side we commit 14 turnovers, at least two of which were from QJ slipping and falling on the floor unprovoked...some things you just can't explain.

Incredibly disappointing night. We can take some positives from it, mainly that the energy was 100% there and we hung wire-to-wire with the SoCon favorite. It sucks to be 5-11 but at this point the brunt of our schedule is behind us. The next two games are on the road against SoCon bottomdwellers (UNCG and Furman), and the following Saturday is a home matchup with ETSU. One more road game at Chattanooga and from there seven of the final nine are at Cameron. A performance like the one tonight is encouraging, and we can only hope that it persists throughout the season, because we cannot afford to lose more than one game.

Postgame Thoughts: Mercer

Well this was just an awful game from top to bottom. I suppose the last two minutes we got it together, but by then it was far too late. The offense was out of sync, the bench was non-existent (as were some starters), and defensively Mercer attacked the paint at will, not even needing to go for the long-ball. Phil Anglade fouls out midway in the second half and there goes our rebounding.

It's apparent that we simply don't have the height nor the athleticism to compete with teams like Mercer, ETSU, and presumably Chattanooga and Wofford. Brian Brown was back tonight (sick with the flu last game), and had a meager 6 pts and two dimes on 2 of 6 shooting. Eleby was also sick with the flu for the second straight game. Would his presence have made a difference? Possibly, but one so-so contributor should not throw an entire team off course. QJ had a much better shooting night, going 9 of 21 overall (4 of 9 on 3PA) for 27 points. So his shot and scoring touch are back, and we still lay an egg at home to a beatable team. What gives?

Well the 3P shooting was where it usually is (12 of 35, 34%) but the overall shooting was bad yet again: 22 of 60, 37%. Marshall was 3 of 13 from distance, for 13 points. But that was just about it scoring-wise. Anglade did contribute 7 points and 5 boards but, as mentioned earlier, fouled it midway through the second half. No one else scores more than six.

Mercer as a team shot 71% from the line but hit nearly all of their FTs late when it counted most. But notice: Mercer gets to the line 17 more times than we do. And that gives them twelve more points. Our lack of aggressiveness is showing, and on defense our forwards and centers don't know how to take charges. And the Bears outrebound us 40-32. Stat of the night: 14 turnovers is a killer. Incredibly Mercer committed one more but if you want to win games that can't happen.

This was probably the most critical game to win to date. Coming home after a long road trip, your one home game before another 3-game road swing...and we blow it. Now we will most likely be 5-11 and 1-4 in the SoCon after Thursday's matinee at Wofford, but then the schedule gets a bit easier. Two games at Furman and UNCG, Saturday home game with ETSU, and after one more road contest (UTC), seven of the final nine games are at Cameron Hall. Even with that I don't know if there is a team in the league we are guaranteed to beat.

How long until baseball season starts?

Postgame Thoughts: @ Virginia Tech

Effort was the name of the game tonight and for the first twenty minutes it quite simply wasn't there. Virginia Tech held us to 25% shooting in the first half, including 2 of 17 (12%) from three. Add eleven turnovers and 23 points off those turnovers. We simply dug ourselves too big of a hole.

The second half was a different story. We finally started moving the ball, and most of all, hustled on defense. The Keydets forced several steals and limited themselves to only four turnovers in the second half. Unfortunately, we couldn't convert on many of the steals forced in Tech's half of the court, and finished with only 10 fast-break points, as compared with 18 for VT. Though the overall three-point stats look quite pitiful (10-39, 26%), much of that came in the disastrous first half, and we managed to convert on 8 of 22 second half 3P attempts. It just goes to show the contrast between what this team plays like and what it can be.

Individually, QJ had another awful shooting night: 4 of 18 from the field, 0 of 6 from range. He did haul in 8 rebounds and drew several fouls but this team will never elevate itself until he steps up his shooting game. Tim Marshall got another start tonight, and hit 5 of his 13 three point shots for 18 points. Despite being the leading scorer, I'd have to give the game ball to Christian Burton. Yes, the only non-scholarship player on the team leads by example through his hustle, effort, and determination. He didn't score but grabbed five boards and had an assist. If one of the least-used players on the team is showing the scholarship players and starters how the game should be played, you've got some issues to work out.

Craig had 9 points, all of which were three-pointers. Brian Brown had 10 points in 24 minutes, and Phil Anglade was a beast down low, swatting six VT shots and had a near double-double with 9 points and 9 rebounds. He certainly did all he could, as compared to Jordan Weethee, who did not score on 0-for-5 shooting, and Trey Chapman, who had as many fouls (4) as points.

An eight-day break looms ahead, and Duggar mentioned in the postgame comments that the guys will come home from Christmas early for a December 26th practice. Rightfully so, Coach Baucom railed in his comments about the lack of effort and focus in the first half, but humbly put the blame upon himself. Is it his fault? Not entirely. There's only so much he can do when players are passing to the wrong team and taking ill-advised shots down low, but it is up to the coach to ensure his team is focused and prepared to play. Tonight, for the most part, we weren't. Only midway in the second half did we realize we had a basketball game to play, and by then it was much too late.

On to George Washington, who is now 7-3 after a 77-49 destruction of Ohio tonight. Their RPI is 39th in DI, far and away better than VT, Maryland, and UNCW. If all goes as expected we will be 5-8 by the New Year, and thankfully done with this grueling non-conference schedule. SoCon play cannot get here soon enough.

Postgame Thoughts: Marist

We took care of business today with a win over the now 1–9 Marist Red Foxes. The effort was most certainly there, and much improved from last Tuesday's debacle at Navy (although that's not saying much). The performance was not dazzling, but not disappointing either. Regardless, we head into exam break with a 5–6 record, which, in all honesty, is where we should be.

The 55 three point attempts we took today was one shy of a Division I school record. Incredibly, 73% of all our field goal attempts were from behind the arc, of which we made 35%. Three of our starters took double-digit 3P attempts, and Marshall (who got his second career start) made 6 of 16, including four in a row early in the second half. Brian made only 3 of 10, and QJ hit 6 of 17. Presumably this is what Duggar wants. The only problem is that after our first half and early-second half three point barrage, Marist's guards (in particular, James Griffin and KJ Lee, who played the entire game) starting defending the arc much better, but our offense was slow to react. Instead of attacking the paint in retaliation, we continue to shoot threes. It didn't cost us against Marist, but it may very well cost us against any team in the upper half of the SoCon. Despite the lack of inside shooting, we do finish with a modest 20 points in the paint. Our lack of an inside game can be nullified only as long as our three point shooting is on point.

As a team, Marist got to the line more, but couldn't shoot well from the charity stripe. Creating contact is another area of the game that guys like Phil Anglade and Jordan Weethee need to work on. To Phil's credit, though, he did have two monster slams early on that got the team going. We also outrebounded Marist, the bulk of which came on the offensive glass; this explains our 18-6 advantage in second-chance points, a must have come conference play. Marist is much taller than us, as are most teams in the country, so it just goes to show that rebounding is 100% effort and hustle.

Phil hustled, and for that reason found himself all over the stat sheet - 6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals. Four fouls too, but that's nothing unexpected. Jarid also hauled in 11 rebounds, but did foul out in 24 minutes.

Trey Chapman, coming off the bench, contributed 10 points, 6 boards, and 6 assists in twenty or so quality minutes. Perhaps he is more comfortable not starting, or it was just his night. Either way, I liked what I saw from Chap. Eleby also came off the bench to score 9 on 3-of-6 shooting. The team turned it over twelve times, but hey, at least we're spreading the wealth: no player had more than two turnovers, which is a positive. It is, however, a disappointment that we allowed 77 points to a team scoring less than 55 PPG, 345th best in DI. Anglade is giving it his all, but he and Watson must remain disciplined when opponents attack the rim, or they will be shooting FT's all game long.

We should keep in mind here that Marist was missing their two leading scorers in Khallid Hart (24.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG) and Chavaughn Lewis, who did play but only for one minute. Although Hart has played in only two games (against Bucknell and Army, a 14-point loss), Lewis came in averaging 17.9/4.4/2.3, which most certainly would've made an impact, and narrowed out the 15-point spread. Neither player is very tall, so we did hold our own against Marist's big men.

And one other thing: did Duggar Baucom read my blog post from last week's game against Mercer? Both Marshall and Watson started today, as I suggested. They effectively replaced Chapman and Anglade, and, as it turns out, both players gave us quality minutes in their respective roles. I like the three-guard lineup with Watson, the only true center on the roster, down low. Luckily it's still December, and Duggar has plenty of time to tinker with his starting rotations. For now, we wait, and hope that the players' focus on exams translates into focus on the court.

Postgame Thoughts: @ Navy

Right from the opening tip-off this has been a season of ups and downs. The performance, however, has to be considered a new low. There was absolutely no hustle, no effort, and no focus. Navy dominated right from the start with a 7-0 run, and by then the game was over, barring a slight run late in the first half. The Keydets were dominated in every facet of the game, and deservedly got whipped by eighteen points.

There is no doubt that Navy is bad team...very bad. They came into the game with an RPI of 338 (there are only 351 Division I teams in the country). They were 2-7, beating only a Division II school and Binghamton (now 1-9, most recently losing to Caldwell College). Samford and Citadel are right behind the Mids in the RPI category, and yet we stumble and bumble in this game after beating Citadel and demolishing Samford. What gives? Sure, it was a terrible shooting night - 35% overall, 21% from three - but nothing else was even half-decent. Outrebounded 44-29, had seven assists to Navy's eighteen, and two blocks to Navy's five. And once again there was no discipline under the boards or anywhere else; we were called for 25 fouls, some of which were unnecessary and flat-out inexplicable. As bad as Navy is, imagine that we were infinitely worse, at least in this game. I weep for all the VMI fans in attendance.

The threes were all short, the defense was nonexistent, and Navy took advantage. An effort like that would not beat an SoCon team, and maybe not any Division I team. We took twenty-two three-pointers in the second half and made a whopping three. For the first ten minutes of a game, we did not grab a single rebound. There was little ball movement and passing, evidence by the seven assists. No one decided to guard and the Mids knew it. We did not score in the final 4:27 and missed our last eight shots. Free throw shooting was just about the only positive from tonight's debacle, at least percentage-wise (13 of 16). But we still aren't getting to the line enough, and Navy beat us in that category by thirteen. Their sour shooting only added six more points, but the real problem was the foul trouble it caused us. Phil played little time with three PFs (although his inability to finish at the rim makes that less of a big deal), Brian had four, and Trey fouled out after accumulating 4 points and one rebound.

Once again, QJ's shooting is not there, going 8 of 19 from the field and 3 of 10 from distance. But by taking so many shots he gets 23 points, further concealing the truth of his shooting troubles. Marshall took seven threes and made none. Craig was a no-show and so was Brian. Give credit to Weethee for going 7 of 7 from the line and scoring 14 (but only three boards). The best performance (I hesitate to use such a term) was probably from Julian Eleby, who scored 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting. Other than that it was bad, bad, bad....

In the postgame comments Duggar said that this performance was the worst he's seen in all his coaching experience at VMI. Considering the level of talent on this team, I'd agree. After an encouraging two-game SoCon road swing down south, we go into Annapolis and throw up a brick. If QJ hates losing so much (and I know he does) he should step up, become a leader, and get the team's focus back on track. We are suffering from a serious lack of leadership. In my opinion, Marist is even worse than Navy, but a performance like we saw tonight will not beat a single team in the country. There will be better shooting days, but hustle and effort is a factor that you have 100% control of. Against the Mids there was none of it and for that reason we are 4-6, looking at, at best, a 5-8 record by the New Year.

The struggle is real.

Postgame Thoughts: @ Samford

Talk about making a statement....

I won't say that this win is indicative of the way the rest of the season will go. Samford is a respectable squad but coming in had beaten three not-so-quality Division I teams, but they did stay competitive in every game (save for the one @ Purdue). Add the fact that it was a conference opener on the road (eight-hour drive is a killer too), this was a solid, confidence-boosting win.

The pace of the game was as expected. Both teams got off nearly an identical amount of shots, and had nearly identical shooting percentages. So where did the 22-point margin come from? Simple - free throws. We got to the line 35 times, seventeen of which were courtesy of QJ, who, despite scoring 28 points, had another awful shooting night: 5 of 19 from the field, 3 of 9 from distance. The stats sound nice on the surface but if you dig into it, he could've and should've scored 40 if he made just half of his shots. He did pull down six assists and only three turnovers (an improvement).

Contrastingly, Samford got to the line only sixteen times and made ten free throws. This is a tribute to solid pressure from the guards and disciplined rim protection from our big men. Jarid Watson, who generally fouls often when opponents attack the rim, had no fouls last night in seven minutes of play. Weethee had only one, and Phil had three, but hauled down eleven rebounds and five blocks. Speaking of Weethee, Jordan had the first double-double for VMI of the season with 14 points and 11 boards. Our forwards contained the much taller and stronger Michael Bradley and Alex Peters.

Three-point shooting was poor, but the fact that we were able to overcome it and not only win, but win decisively, is very encouraging. We made five more three-pointers than Samford (who took only twelve, and shot miserably from distance as well), so that and the free-throws explain the final score. Biggest stat of the game: only ten turnovers, and forced the Bulldogs into twenty, and ten steals. QJ is starting to figure out his role at the point, and Eleby has gotten it together. Julian also scored 19 points and had five steals, but was most impressively 8 of 11 from the field. Put it together and you have a collection of superb individual performances, on the glass, on defense, and at the line. Deservedly, we are 1-0 in the SoCon.

After a shaky start to the year, with a rough schedule and incohesive play stemming from a lack of leadership, this team is beginning to gel together. Players are becoming more comfortable in their roles. Guys are rebounding aggressively and hustling. When shots don't fall, they stick to the gameplan and run with it. So perhaps the post-UNCW vent was unjust, and a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. There is still much work to be done, no doubt about it. But seeing the steady improvement of the team in the last week or so, there is definitely a bright future ahead.

Postgame Thoughts: @ Maryland

It was the same old story for the Keydets tonight, although this time, the story was a bit brighter. I think Coach Baucom would take an 18-point loss against a Big Ten team on the road any day of the week, a loss in which VMI was down by four at halftime (though it really should've been tied), and Maryland needed a stellar effort from Richaud Pack and Dion Wiley to pull three.

Not having Brian Brown tonight hurt, though perhaps not so much offensively. Brian struggled mightily against West Virginia (1 for 9 shooting), but his defense was sorely missed. Christian Burton is not much of a defender and didn't put anything on the stat sheet. It's odd that Duggar would have him start over a guy like Tim Marshall or Julian Eleby, and it kind of defeats the purpose when he only plays ten minutes.

Nevertheless, the story of the game was Craig Hinton; 23 points, 8 of 9 overall, and 6 of 6 from long-range. That last stat is a killer. Craig has had a torrid start to the year and is now shooting 72% from deep, easily leading the team and well ahead of Tim Marshall, who scored 14 points tonight but needed seventeen shots to do it. Tim regressed from the WVU game, and connected on only two of his ten three-point attempts. QJ put up 18, and was the team's leading rebounder with nine boards. His three-point shooting touch is still not there, and it needs to be fixed before conference play. It's not so much the overall statistics but rather his inconsistency from beyond the arc. QJ had bad shooting performances against El Cid, Army, and now Maryland, but countered with good effort in the UNCW and WVU games. This wasn't a problem with Glasgow last season, so if he wants to be known as the go-to guy, then the three-point shots must start falling.

Phil Anglade fouled out, but not before collecting seven rebounds and six points. Phil was the only player besides Hinton who shot the ball well, as VMI connected on less than 40% of their FGs and 29% of three's. They are certainly taking as many as they should be, but it's still November and we should expect some cold shooting early on.

We "limited" ourselves to 18 turnovers, much improved from the West Va. game (it's incredible that I even have to type such a sentence). That number still needs to go down, especially for our PGs (Eleby and QJ) who combined to turn it over seven times. QJ is averaging about five turnovers per game, which is unacceptable at that position. Other than that, rebounding was what you'd expect it to be, and VMI did a much better job of pressuring the ball and forcing turnovers than on Wednesday.

I thought we had a sliver of chance late in the first half, but there were a couple things that went awry and turned the tide in MD's favor. First, let them go on an 8-0 run late in the half, but Hinton nailed a three-pointer and a turnover + foul had QJ going to the line for a 1-and-1. QJ misses the first free throw, and on the ensuing rebound, Trey Chapman fouls Jake Layman who hits both FT's with four seconds left, putting Maryland up four at the half. This was essentially a four-point turnaround all stemming from a missed FT and a foul, unfortunate mistakes that need to be corrected. Immediately we come out cold in the second half, and MD eventually takes advantage with a 13-0 run after a Marshall three. Then Eleby turns it over here and there, Branch airballs a three, Layman and Cekovsky have a block party and just like that we lose by 18.

These are things that would not have happened last season, mostly because of Glasgow's ability to take over a game when necessary. He could drive the lane for a soft floater, hit from long-range, or set up Covington and Co. with crisp passing. Obviously, both players are gone now and with that it is upon QJ (and no one else) to put a halt to runs when things fall apart. If he cannot do this then we better hope that Craig, Brian, and others step up when the going gets tough. Otherwise, expect many more second half debacles as we saw here tonight.

Postgame Thoughts: @ West Virginia

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.

Did I mention turnovers?

Honestly, I have not seen such a horrid ball handling performance in all my years of watching VMI basketball. Such a performance is not acceptable at any level of basketball, let alone in Division I. I had no idea that the effects of losing Glasgow would be this bad. There is not a single exceptional ball handler on this team and that's just the unfortunate reality.

Looking at the box score (and ignoring a couple stats) you might think we won the game. Incredibly, despite being far outmatched length-wise and physically, we won the rebounding battle 44-36. It's obvious that the gang-rebounding strategy is working, and the guys are giving full effort in that regard. A +8 advantage against a Big 12 team would lead you to think that we could dominate any SoCon school on the glass. Not to mention that we held WVU to 7 second-chance points, and had 12 of our own. Three-point shooting was solid at 35%, as was free-throw shooting (90%).

But never mind that, because rebounding and three-point shooting ain't the problem. Turnovers are the problem, and the turnovers are derived from a lack of a true point guard. QJ, the natural shooting guard, has been thrust into a foreign position and it's understandable that he would need time to adjust, but his performance tonight was truly unacceptable. Eleven turnovers and five assists is not what you need from a PG. And you might consider Brian to be the man for the job but his shooting is so awfully inconsistent (1 for 9, 3 pts) that you are left with no reliable options. Eleby has been seeing more action, but turned it over six times as well. I might actually prefer a guy like Tim Marshall, who unlike QJ, gives you quality defensive night in and night out, and has a better FG% as well. Who would've thought before the year that the loss of DJ would not be our Achilles' heel? Dare I say, we are doing just fine without him in this regard.

To be fair though I must concede that it is West Virginia, who has one of the most suffocating defenses in the nation with long, tall, and athletic guards who pressure the ball (in pairs) on every possession. But coming into the game, the Mountaineers were forcing "only" 22 turnovers per game. Tonight we had 36...the previous record wasn't even close (25, back in 2008 against Winthrop, the game after we lost Reggie Williams temporarily to injury. Appropriately, we scored 41 points that night).

So the truth of our passing inability cannot be masked by WVU's solid defense. Turning the ball over 36 times will not win you a single game, whether you are playing in major college basketball or for the local rec league middle school team. If I can harp on any positives, I thought that Anglade had a decent game on both sides of the ball, Trey's effort was 100% as always, and Hinton was much improved from the debacle at UNCW, with 10 points, 5 boards, and no turnovers. Christian Burton was impressive in limited action, going 2-for-2 from the field (one three) and five points. Most notably, Tim Marshall came off the bench and scored 8 points with two assists. Perhaps Tim deserves a spot in the starting lineup, because his play has been much more consistent than that of Brian, and more focused than that of QJ. He never turns it over and plays solid defense, which cannot be said of most of those on our team right now. Timmy is averaging 11.2 PPG and shooting 52% from long range (53% overall).

Cut out the turnovers, make smart passes, know your assignments, and everything after that will fall into place. It's still early and QJ is still developing as a point guard, but if progress is not made before conference play, we are in deep trouble.

Postgame Thoughts: UNC Wilmington

This may come off as a knee-jerk reaction but I think we are in for a long struggle this season. Last night's game was one of three realistic chances that VMI had to win a D-1 game and we blew it. It's pretty obvious where we went wrong. When you don't have a real big man you give up 84 points in the paint. When you don't have a real point guard you turn the ball over 23 times.

It would be easy to blame this on Duggar, and to some extent it his fault (not recruiting a big-man in the offseason), but what can he do? His point guard bailed out on him two weeks before the season, along with two other players. Nothing he can do about that. But I can personally testify to the fact that we were outmatched, out-hustled, and out-coached in yesterday's ballgame.

This has to be the first VMI team in quite some time (certainly as long as I've been a fan) that has no dominant player who at any given moment can take over a game. Last year it was Rodney. Year before that it was Stan. Year before that it was any combination of Stan, Keith, or DJ. From what I saw last night QJ is an immature player. He was tapped for a technical foul early in the first (2 pts) and turned the ball over a whopping seven times (8 pts). Not to mention the other 33 points scored by UNCW of our abysmal 23 turnovers, AND the 21 second-chance points. When you give up free shots you lose games, it's fairly simple.

If QJ is not the leader, then who is? Brian Brown is a huge asset defensively but as a scorer is frighteningly inconsistent. Last year he was a role player. So too was Phil Anglade, who, at 6-foot-5, we are now using as a post player. What we have now is a collection of misfit toys who got together and said, "Hey! Let's go play some basketball!" At least that's what it feels like....

Individually, I thought Craig's effort was poor. At a luncheon earlier in the day I heard Coach Baucom say that while Craig's physical health was improving, his mental sharpness is not there. You can see why; he absolutely botched what should've been an easy board and watched the ball roll into the hands of Malik Pugh for an easy two. He finishes with 9 points and three turnovers. Eleby had four turnovers as well, and Iruafemi didn't score in limited action.

If I can grasp at any positives to take away from this game, Tim Marshall played well, scoring 17 points and hitting three treys. On that note, Trey Chapman had 5 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Jarid was 2 of 2 from the floor in the short time that he played, and Phil had six blocks, but only one point.

By the end of Thanksgiving we will be 2-4. We have two SoCon games at Samford and Mercer the following weekend, as well as road games against Navy, Tech, and George Washington. Even an optimist would concede that we are in a deep hole and that this team is in serious need of leadership. I can't guarantee us winning any of these games, and we will be lucky to be 5-8 by New Year's.

Postgame Thoughts: Johnson Univ.

Short post tonight.

Not much to say about this game, other than that we dominated. I mean really. Johnson University is a member of the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (which believe it or not is lower than the NAIA) so it's not like these guys bore any resemblance to the '72 Bruins coming into the game. But the final score did surprise me a bit.

A quiet 19 for QJ tonight in as many minutes. Jordan (17/7) hit 3 of 5 three-pointers and Chap had 14 in limited action. Christian Burton impressed me the most, with 9 points, all off three-pointers. Branch had 12 points and six boards, although his shooting wasn't great. Marshall was money from distance, as was Hinton.

Just about the only disappointing performance was that of Phil, who didn't score in seven minutes of playing time. He did haul in 7 rebounds, though the height of Johnson U tells us that isn't much of an accomplishment. It'll be interesting to see what these guys can do against Charleston Southern later this year.

Overall it was truly a balanced scoring effort. Everyone except Anglade scored, and everyone except Anglade and Eleby had at least six points (Julian made up for it with six assists and four steals). And for much of the game we shot 50%+ from three-point land...ended up at ~46%. That statistic feels even better when looking at the opponent, who shot 14 of 63 overall (22%).

So the warm-up is over, and as I type this, UNC Wilmington is in the process of defeating in-state rival UNCG. Don't want to take them lightly. Hopefully the guys keep their focus the rest of the week and a big crowd in Cameron on Saturday gets them going.