1/01/14:

There's a long way to go, but UNF is up 16 on Mercer with 15 remaining. JU is rolling KSU right now-up 24 with 15 min. to go.

Wow, UNF beats Mercer, 91-78
JU hammers KSU, 86-66
NKU edges Stetson in OT, 67-65
FGCU beats David Lipscomb,65-62

(01-01-2014 09:10 PM)Bucfaithful Wrote:  Wow, UNF beats Mercer, 91-78
JU hammers KSU, 86-66
NKU edges Stetson in OT, 67-65
FGCU beats David Lipscomb,65-62

UNF actually won 89-80...but was up 25 or something like that with 3:30 to go. Looks like it just got ugly the last few minutes.

Largest UNF lead was 28! Yikes.

Home games in winter - big edge.

UNF has got some very promising young guys, and Mercer was playing essemtially without Bud Thomas who broke his nose on the first play, and without Monty Brown.

Mercer's good - but not so good that they can coast in road games against the better ASun teams.

1/06/14:
NKU beats UNF
KSU over Upstate
JU defeats Lipscomb

Jacksonville is fighting to beat FGCU. The main reason FGCU will not win a championship is they are the worst free throw shooting team in the league. That trend is continuing against Jacksonville today. I have no stats on it, but I highly doubt any championship team has been dead last in FT percentage.

Edit -- Now FINAL... Jacksonville beats FGCU on a 76-69 score. I love it!

1/11/14 scores:

FGCU 69
JAX 76 FINAL

Lipscomb 60
Upstate 70 8:08 2nd

NKU 36
ETSU 44 10:57 2nd

Stetson
UNF 7pm

(01-11-2014 05:16 PM)MercerFan Wrote:  Jacksonville is fighting to beat FGCU. The main reason FGCU will not win a championship is they are the worst free throw shooting team in the league. That trend is continuing against Jacksonville today. I have no stats on it, but I highly doubt any championship team has been dead last in FT percentage.

Edit -- Now FINAL... Jacksonville beats FGCU on a 76-69 score. I love it!

1/11/14 scores:

FGCU 69
JAX 76 FINAL

Lipscomb 60
Upstate 70 8:08 2nd

NKU 36
ETSU 44 10:57 2nd

Stetson
UNF 7pm

FGCU is dead last in the league in FT percentage at 65%: http://www.atlanticsun.org/media/2013-14...nfldrs.htm

With the parity in the top half of the league, there will be several games where FT shooting determines the outcome of games. This will haunt FGCU at some point.

(01-11-2014 07:11 PM)Bucfaithful Wrote:  

(01-11-2014 05:16 PM)MercerFan Wrote:  Jacksonville is fighting to beat FGCU. The main reason FGCU will not win a championship is they are the worst free throw shooting team in the league. That trend is continuing against Jacksonville today. I have no stats on it, but I highly doubt any championship team has been dead last in FT percentage.

Edit -- Now FINAL... Jacksonville beats FGCU on a 76-69 score. I love it!

1/11/14 scores:

FGCU 69
JAX 76 FINAL

Lipscomb 60
Upstate 70 8:08 2nd

NKU 36
ETSU 44 10:57 2nd

Stetson
UNF 7pm

FGCU is dead last in the league in FT percentage at 65%: http://www.atlanticsun.org/media/2013-14...nfldrs.htm

With the parity in the top half of the league, there will be several games where FT shooting determines the outcome of games. This will haunt FGCU at some point.

Absolutely. Add the bad FT shooting to the fact that they just aren't very good... I can't wait to see Mercer play them soon.

"Very Good" as compared to who? I don't think FGCU is world beaters but I don't think anyone in the A-Sun can claim to be head and shoulders better than anyone at this point. Night in and night out its a crap shoot.

(01-13-2014 10:38 AM)Statman101 Wrote:  "Very Good" as compared to who? I don't think FGCU is world beaters but I don't think anyone in the A-Sun can claim to be head and shoulders better than anyone at this point. Night in and night out its a crap shoot.

As compared to a #1 selection in both coaches & media poll. They have played the bottom half (preseason polls) of the A-Sun to rack up the 4-1 record. The next 3 games for them will be a real measuring bar.. vs Upstate, vs ETSU, @ Mercer.

Also, according to Real Time RPI... http://www.realtimerpi.com/rpi_atsun_Men.html

FGCU has 6 bad losses and 0 quality wins. Compared to a team like Mercer with 2 bad losses and 1 quality win.

You mean the same Upstate that lost to Kennesaw State and the same ETSU that lost to Lipscomb? The Mercer game at Mercer will be tough of course, but that is a given.

I am no Gulf Coast fan and don't think they will win the league either, but to say they aren't "very good" in camparison to the rest of the A-Sun is a bit bold. As for the quality win/losses thing, that doesn't matter in league games. Case and point...look at the ACC. UNC can't beat anyone with a pulse in league play but beat Michigan State at MSU. Who of those two teams is the best? Its the league and in the league...numbers don't matter on a night in night out basis.

Just a note on the FT shooting...FGCU is 5th in its five league games in FT. Ahead of teams like Mercer and Upstate and just percentage points behind ETSU.

It is crazy that the same team (Upstate) that beat Virginia Tech and South Carolina, both on the road, could lose to Kennesaw St. I'm not sure how that happens, unless injuries or a bunch of them had the flu, or the refs were all from Atlanta. Then they beat Northern KY and Lipscomb handily, so you have to believe there was something afoot the Kennesaw game. It's very much like us beating Fla Gulf Coast last year. I'm sure the Eagles were asking themselves how they lost to us.

(01-13-2014 04:50 PM)Buckyball Wrote:  It is crazy that the same team (Upstate) that beat Virginia Tech and South Carolina, both on the road, could lose to Kennesaw St. I'm not sure how that happens, unless injuries or a bunch of them had the flu, or the refs were all from Atlanta. Then they beat Northern KY and Lipscomb handily, so you have to believe there was something afoot the Kennesaw game. It's very much like us beating Fla Gulf Coast last year. I'm sure the Eagles were asking themselves how they lost to us.

Kennesaw also had the added emotion of just losing their head coach to undisclosed reasons. Whatever the reason, something was definitely off in that game for them to blow out Upstate.

Don't forget FGCU lost twice last season to Lipscomb as well. It is just this league.

(01-13-2014 07:16 PM)Statman101 Wrote:  Don't forget FGCU lost twice last season to Lipscomb as well. It is just this league.

It's definitely a tough league. I've watched for enough years to know that this FGCU does not pass the 'eye test' for being a good team. To me, they are decent. Not a team to take lightly, but not much of a contender.

For ETSU losing to Lipscomb that's not THAT crazy to me. Lipscomb has the leading scorer in the A-Sun. Any team with the conference leading scorer has a chance to win a game. They don't have a great chance, but when one player can efficiently score 30+ points that's scary.

FGCU is a little less than I thought they would be this year – but still seems second best in the ASun to me, although closer to the pack than to No. 1 Mercer. Their 4-1 record is indeed fattened by coming against some of the weakest teams in the conference (Lipscomb, Stetson, NKU). But the other 2 teams on their schedule are solid ASun teams: North Florida has a good young squad, and Jacksonville has talent – it has just been a matter of getting the chemistry right, and Cliff Warren may have done that by axing Kordario Fleming and suspending McDougald.

One interesting dynamic going on with FGCU involves the chemistry with five (5) transfers and redshirts already stacked on the roster and waiting to claim playing time next year. FGCU has only one senior (Chase Fieler), and most everybody else must be looking over their shoulders at that crowd of 5 new guys and wondering how solid their future is with this team.

Transfers include 6’4” 196 Jr Julian DeBose who started for Rice as a sophomore last year and was a productive Conference USA player (10.4 ppg on 37% from 3, 4.3 rpg in 32.4 minutes); 6’8” 225 So Marc-Eddy Norelia from Tulane; 6’6” 205 So. Nick Pellar from Auburn; and 6’3” 205 So. Brian Greene from Auburn; along with 6’7” 210 Fr. Logan Hovey. http://www.fgcuathletics.com/mbasketball/roster/

How does this crowd of guys, non-playing but eagerly awaiting next year, affect the spirit and focus of this year’s team?

I didn't realize FGCU had so many new players waiting in the wings. That has to be adding some amount of pressure to the on court players. They may say it doesn't, but whether they admit it or not....they are being auditioned for next year. This new coach has clearly wanted to make this team his own, and that is ultimately his undoing in my opinion.

I guess. I figure FGCU is a top 3 team without a doubt in the league (which means they are a pretty good team) even though they can be beaten. Lets look at it this way, Mercer, who everyone agrees is the best team in the league, was destroyed by UNF (I know Thomas and Brown didn't play, but they would hardly make up the difference in that game) is a 2-point OT game away from being 3-2 in the league. To say anyone in this league is head and shoulders above anyone else is an overstatement.

Bad news for Upstate... they lost Ty Greene with a fractured hand. Twitter posts saying that maybe he could be back by the tourney.

Also, Kennesaw is just about guaranteed to be the odd man out of the tourney. I gotta hand it to Lipscomb and Stetson for being better than I anticipated. They have shown fight and some hope for the future. Kennesaw on the other hand took massive steps backward again. I saw in AJC (I believe) that the Kennesaw coach is figuring out a time table to come back.

(02-01-2014 02:37 PM)MercerFan Wrote:  Bad news for Upstate... they lost Ty Greene with a fractured hand. Twitter posts saying that maybe he could be back by the tourney.

Also, Kennesaw is just about guaranteed to be the odd man out of the tourney. I gotta hand it to Lipscomb and Stetson for being better than I anticipated. They have shown fight and some hope for the future. Kennesaw on the other hand took massive steps backward again. I saw in AJC (I believe) that the Kennesaw coach is figuring out a time table to come back.

That's a huge loss for the enigmatic Spartans.