The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

I hope all of you had a great Christmas. Most of CUSA can sleep through their game this week. We don't have that luxury.

SFA comes in to our game boasting a 7-4 record. They've played 3 top 60 RPI teams on the road thus far. They were defeated by Baylor in the first game of the year by 42 points! 3 days later, they dropped their match against UNI by 10 during the 24 hours of basketball. UNI went on to beat Iowa St and North Carolina OOC. Their 3rd loss came last week at the hands of Arizona St by 7.

By the RPI numbers, SFA's 4 losses are "more impressive" than our 3. Losing by 42 points is embarrassing and hardly impressive. We fielded a bunch of kids against Wisconsin last year and had a better showing. Of their 7 wins, 4 have come against D2 opponents. Their scheduling problems have been a nightmare per their coach. He said he wasn't able to fill his home schedule until August. I believe him.

Here are some stat comparisons:

UAB / SFA

FG%: 48 / 43
3P%: 35 / 31
3PM: 83 / 81
3PPG: 6.9 / 8.1
TPG: 13 / 12
APG: 19 / 18
PPG: 77 / 77
Steals: 83 / 109

As you can see, our stats are very similar. I'd give us the slight edge given that we've played 1 more game and the fact we've played 1 non D1 compared to their 4.

SFA has 6 players averaging between 20 and 30.7 minutes per game. UAB also has 6.

SFA has 1 player averaging between 10 and 20 minutes per game. UAB has 4.

SFA's best player, 6'4 Thomas Walkup, leads the team in points, assists, and rebounds. He averages a team high 30.7 MPG. They have 2 other players averaging double figures. Geffrard and Floyd both average 11.5 PPG.

The Lumberjacks are a pretty decent defensive team through 11 games. They have a boat load of steals and are turning over their opponents at a high rate. They are 2nd in the nation in turnovers forced with 20.18 per game. However, their stats have been padded by the 4 D2 teams they've played. They play almost exclusively man. I wouldn't be surprised to see them break out some type of zone against us though. They will be out sized at every position other than point guard. I'd be shocked if Cokley wasn't able to put up 15+ points against their interior line up. Their "bigs" are their weakest part of their defense.

SFA should easily finish the year with 20+ wins and a sub 100 RPI. Barring an incredible conference run by us, how the perform won't really matter. If by some chance we are in an at-large conversation they could be our best win of the year on paper.

For us to win this game, I think one of the biggest keys would be to keep them honest from the perimeter. They are going to make us beat them from beyond the arc. If we can hit a couple of timely 3's early the paint should open up and we'll abuse them there. I think we will win this going away and gain some momentum going in to the ensuing battle against Middle on Sunday.

(12-28-2015 11:02 AM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  I hope all of you had a great Christmas. Most of CUSA can sleep through their game this week. We don't have that luxury.

SFA comes in to our game boasting a 7-4 record. They've played 3 top 60 RPI teams on the road thus far. They were defeated by Baylor in the first game of the year by 42 points! 3 days later, they dropped their match against UNI by 10 during the 24 hours of basketball. UNI went on to beat Iowa St and North Carolina OOC. Their 3rd loss came last week at the hands of Arizona St by 7.

By the RPI numbers, SFA's 4 losses are "more impressive" than our 3. Losing by 42 points is embarrassing and hardly impressive. We fielded a bunch of kids against Wisconsin last year and had a better showing. Of their 7 wins, 4 have come against D2 opponents. Their scheduling problems have been a nightmare per their coach. He said he wasn't able to fill his home schedule until August. I believe him.

Here are some stat comparisons:

UAB / SFA

FG%: 48 / 43
3P%: 35 / 31
3PM: 83 / 81
3PPG: 6.9 / 8.1
TPG: 13 / 12
APG: 19 / 18
PPG: 77 / 77
Steals: 83 / 109

*We've played 2 more games

As you can see, our stats are very similar. I'd give us the slight edge given that we've played 2 more games and the fact we've played 1 non D1 compared to their 4.

SFA has 6 players averaging between 20 and 30.7 minutes per game. UAB also has 6.

SFA has 1 player averaging between 10 and 20 minutes per game. UAB has 4.

SFA's best player, 6'4 Thomas Walkup, leads the team in points, assists, and rebounds. He averages a team high 30.7 MPG. They have 2 other players averaging double figures. Geffrard and Floyd both average 11.5 PPG.

The Lumberjacks are a pretty decent defensive team through 10 games. They have a boat load of steals and are turning over their opponents at a high rate. However, their stats have been padded by the 4 D2 teams they've played. They play almost exclusively man. I wouldn't be surprised to see them break out some type of zone against us though. They will be out sized at every position other than point guard. I'd be shocked if Cokley wasn't able to put up 15+ points against their interior line up. Their "bigs" are their weakest part of their defense.

SFA should easily finish the year with 20+ wins and a sub 100 RPI. Barring an incredible conference run by us, how the perform won't really matter. If by some chance we are in an at-large conversation they could be our best win of the year on paper.

For us to win this game, I think one of the biggest keys would be to keep them honest from the perimeter. They are going to make us beat them from beyond the arc. If we can hit a couple of timely 3's early the paint should open up and we'll abuse them there. I think we will win this going away and gain some momentum going in to the ensuing battle against Middle on Sunday.

Played at Samford as a freshman...

My understanding is they fullcourt press for majority of the game...

I hope we win by 20 but think it will go to the wire. They will cause us trouble. If we play balls to the wall we can beat them double digits.

(12-28-2015 11:53 AM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  

(12-28-2015 11:02 AM)BlazerGold09 Wrote:  I hope all of you had a great Christmas. Most of CUSA can sleep through their game this week. We don't have that luxury.

SFA comes in to our game boasting a 7-4 record. They've played 3 top 60 RPI teams on the road thus far. They were defeated by Baylor in the first game of the year by 42 points! 3 days later, they dropped their match against UNI by 10 during the 24 hours of basketball. UNI went on to beat Iowa St and North Carolina OOC. Their 3rd loss came last week at the hands of Arizona St by 7.

By the RPI numbers, SFA's 4 losses are "more impressive" than our 3. Losing by 42 points is embarrassing and hardly impressive. We fielded a bunch of kids against Wisconsin last year and had a better showing. Of their 7 wins, 4 have come against D2 opponents. Their scheduling problems have been a nightmare per their coach. He said he wasn't able to fill his home schedule until August. I believe him.

Here are some stat comparisons:

UAB / SFA

FG%: 48 / 43
3P%: 35 / 31
3PM: 83 / 81
3PPG: 6.9 / 8.1
TPG: 13 / 12
APG: 19 / 18
PPG: 77 / 77
Steals: 83 / 109

*We've played 2 more games

As you can see, our stats are very similar. I'd give us the slight edge given that we've played 2 more games and the fact we've played 1 non D1 compared to their 4.

SFA has 6 players averaging between 20 and 30.7 minutes per game. UAB also has 6.

SFA has 1 player averaging between 10 and 20 minutes per game. UAB has 4.

SFA's best player, 6'4 Thomas Walkup, leads the team in points, assists, and rebounds. He averages a team high 30.7 MPG. They have 2 other players averaging double figures. Geffrard and Floyd both average 11.5 PPG.

The Lumberjacks are a pretty decent defensive team through 10 games. They have a boat load of steals and are turning over their opponents at a high rate. However, their stats have been padded by the 4 D2 teams they've played. They play almost exclusively man. I wouldn't be surprised to see them break out some type of zone against us though. They will be out sized at every position other than point guard. I'd be shocked if Cokley wasn't able to put up 15+ points against their interior line up. Their "bigs" are their weakest part of their defense.

SFA should easily finish the year with 20+ wins and a sub 100 RPI. Barring an incredible conference run by us, how the perform won't really matter. If by some chance we are in an at-large conversation they could be our best win of the year on paper.

For us to win this game, I think one of the biggest keys would be to keep them honest from the perimeter. They are going to make us beat them from beyond the arc. If we can hit a couple of timely 3's early the paint should open up and we'll abuse them there. I think we will win this going away and gain some momentum going in to the ensuing battle against Middle on Sunday.

Played at Samford as a freshman...

My understanding is they fullcourt press for majority of the game...

They have a bunch of blue collar dudes. The games I've watched they pressed most of the first half. Teams like Arizona St and Baylor abused their press though.