The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Sorry, this is all I had time for -
UTC 9-3:
Clearly deserves the edge going into conference with a win at Knoxville over Tennessee and a buzzer beater loss at Vanderbilt in a game that they led most of the way, but let slip away at the end. One bad loss to a very good Arkansas State team at a neutral site to go with losses to UNC and Vandy.
Bad luck in the loss of 6-7 Chuck Ester to injury was balanced by the surprising NCAA declaration that 6-10 Rs-So transfer Makinde London was eligible without having to sit out a year. Numbers are similar:
Makinde London: 17.2 minutes, 7.4 points (.333 12/36 3’s), 4.5 rebounds, 0.5 blocks, 0.8 steals
Chuck Ester: 24.5 minutes, 7.7 points (.400 14/35 3’s), 4.9 rebounds, 0.5 blocks, 1.0 steals
Great start for Tre’ McLean (14.5 points, .435 from 3 on 1.6 per game, 5.3 rebounds and 2 steals); Justin Tuoyo, 13.2 points on .648 from the field, 7.1 rebounds and 3.5 blocks; and Greg Pryor (13.2 points on .389 with 1.8 makes from 3).
However Casey Jones has struggled some, with a drop in his minutes from 29 to 18, a commensurate drop in points from 12.6 to 9.2, and a big drop in rebounds from about 6.5 to 2.3, with steals falling from 1.2 to 0.4. Is that injured ankle still bothering him?
Freshman guard Rodney Chatman has made himself a key part of the rotation (19.8 minutes, 5.4 points (3-9 .333 from 3), 2.1 rebounds, 1 steal. So has 6-4 BC transfer Nat Dixon (17.7 minutes, 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds with 0.7 steals).
High scoring (80.7 with plus 12.9 ppg margin) 53rd in the country. Strong defense with lots of steals (9.3 per game) and +3.5 turnover margin, holding opponents to .416 from the field and .314 from 3 with 5 makes per game. Surprisingly weak rebounding (-1.4 margin).
Guards:
6-2 192 Sr Greg Pryor; 28.3 minutes, 13.2 points, .389 (21-54) from 3, 2.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals
6-2 188 Sr Jonathan Burroughs-Cook; 22 minutes, 9.2 points, .345 (10-29) from 3, 2.0 rebounds, 1.1 steals
6-5 205 Sr Casey Jones; 18.6 minutes, 9.2 points, .429 (3-7) from 3, 2.3 rebounds, 0.4 steals
6-1 172 Fr Rodney Chatman; 19.8 minutes, 5.4 points,
6-3 180 Fr Peyton Woods; 9 games, 11.8 minutes, 3.9 points on .243 from 3, 0.7 rebounds
6-1 185 Fr Makali Foreman; 9.4 minutes, 3.1 points on .385 from 3, 0.3 rebounds
Front Court:
6-10 235 Sr Justin Tuoyo; 26.2 minutes, 13.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.6 blocks, 1 steal
6-5 195 Sr Tre’ McLean; 30.1 minutes, 14.5 points, .435 from 3 (20-46), 4.3 rebounds, 2 steals
6-10 220 Rs-So Makinde London; 17.2 minutes, 7.4 points, .333 from 3 (12-46), 4.5 rebounds
6-4 185 So Nat Dixon; 17.7 minutes, 2.8 points, .300 from 3 (3-10), 2.1 rebounds, 0.7 steals
ETSU 10-3:
The Bucs landed a strong road win against Mississippi State, 2 expected losses to Dayton and UNCW, and a hard-to-swallow loss at home to an improving Tennessee team. Mostly they were consistent performers despite a team full of new additions.
Points per game for Bucs and opponents are very similar to UTC: 79.0 to 67.7 for Bucs; 80.7 to 67.9 for the Mocs. UTC has the edge in steals (9.3 to 7.2) and turnover margin (+3.5 to +0.5). But the Bucs hold opponents to almost the same field goal percentage: .418 to .416. UTC defends the 3 much better (60 made 3’s on .316 to 96 made 3’s on .344). The Bucs score the 3 better (108 made 3’s on .393 to 96 made 3’s on .362) while the Mocs score inside much better. The Bucs have a big edge in rebounds: +5.2 to -1.4. The Bucs have a big edge in assists: 16.4 to 11.9.
Guards:
6-3195 Sr T.J. Cromer; 29.9 minutes, 18.3 points, 42-107 .393 from 3, 2.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.5 t.o.’s, 0.7 steals
6-4 190 Jr Desonta Bradford; 29.0 minutes, 9.8 points, 11-24 .458 from 3, 4.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.6 t.o.’s, 0.6 blocks, 1.0 steals
6-2 205 Sr A.J. Merriweather; 23.5 minutes, 7.2 points, 5-13 .385 from 3, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 2.0 t.o.’s, 1.8 steals
6-2 175 Jr Devontavius Payne; 16.2 minutes, 7.8 points, 21-57 .368 from 3, 1.6 rebounds
5-11 185 Fr Jason Williams; 8.8 minutes, 1.7 points, 3-9 .333 from 3, 0.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.7 t.o.’s,
6-3 175 Jr Jermaine Long; 8.7 minutes, 1.5 points, 1-14 .071 from 3, 1.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.4 t.o.’s
Front Court:
6-9 230 Sr Hanner Mosquera-Perea; 20.8 minutes, 9.3 points, 0-1 from 3, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks
6-6 200 Jr David Burrell; 17.5 minutes, 8.5 points, 14-24 .583 from 3, 3.7 rebounds
6-8 220 Sr Tevin Glass; 18.4 minutes, 6.0 points, 3-9 .333 from 3, 5.5 rebounds
6-7 235 Sr Isaac Banks; 17.8 minutes, 5.4 points, 0 3’s, 4.7 rebounds
7-0 245 Sr Peter Jurkins; 8.5 minutes, 1.7 points, 0 3’s, 2.0 rebounds
UNCG 10-4
At 10-4, the record seems showy and stats are impressive, but the only big wins were an early (11/19) win over North Dakota State (9-5 and first in the Summit League) at the High Point NC Tournament and at 8-5 UNC Asheville by 2. Otherwise the record is full of wins over Southern Wesleyan, Belmont Abbey, Mars Hill, North Carolina A&T, Liberty and Presbyterian. They lost early at 6-6 High Point.
The return of 6-9 250 RS-JR Jordy Kuiper from injury and the addition of 6-9 200 RS-FR James Dickey have helped returnees 6-8 255 Sr R.J. White and 6-6 205 Marvin Smith form an improved front court. Rebounding margin is an excellent +5.4, 67th in the country and a notch ahead of Mercer and ETSU.
Physical 6-3 195 freshman guard Malik Massey has become a part of that tight rotation, bolstering the guard corps of Francis Alonso, Diante Baldwin and Demetrius Troy. +3 turnover margin
High scoring (74.2 per game with a +10.7 margin with .397 from 3 and 9.9 makes per game).
They run just an 8 person rotation with very little use of the bench beyond that. One of the most limited rotations in the conference.
Guards:
6-3 185 So Francis Alonso; 26.7 minutes, 12.1 points, 35-80 .438 from 3, 1.5 rebounds, 0.8 steals
6-0 191 Sr Diante Baldwin; 29.2 minutes, 11.6 points, 14-38 .368 from 3, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.2 steals
6-0 187 So Demetrius Troy; 23.3 minutes, 8.0 points, 21-52 .404 from 3, 2.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals
6-3 195 Fr Malik Massey; 17.3 minutes, 4.9 points, 13-26 .500 from 3, 1.0 rebounds, 0.6 steals
Front Court:
6-8 255 Sr RJ White; 23.6 minutes, 11.0 points, 3-9 .333 from 3, 6.3 rebounds, 0.8 blocks, 1.1 steals
6-6 205 Jr Marvin Smith; 23.1 minutes, 10.9 points, 24-71 .338 from 3, 4.6 rebounds, 0.6 blocks, 1.5 steals
6-9 250 Rs-Jr Jordy Kuiper; 21.6 minutes, 6.6 points, 8-17 .471 from 3, 4.0 rebounds
6-9 200 Rs-Fr James Dickey; 20.6 minutes, 5.2 points, 0 3’s, 6.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 0.4 steals
MERCER 6-7:
6-7 record is totally misleading. Every one of those losses is to a pretty solid squad: Florida, Davidson, George Mason, Clemson, La Salle. And of course an Auburn game where they outplayed the War Eagles and lost on a desperation last second heave. If they played UNCG’s OOC schedule, their records might be reversed.
Against that tough competition, Ria’n Holland has been the best newcomer in the SoCon (19.1 ppg, .398 from 3 with 3.1 makes) 3.6 rebounds, 1.2 steals.
A 5 man corp is on the floor most of the time: 34.3 minutes to Holland, 30.5 to Rivers, 28.5 to Strawberry, 25.5 to Jelks and 23.7 to Ringer. 6th man Ryan Johnson (13.9 minutes) is really the only productive bench player with 6.1 points, .423 from 3 and 4.1 rebounds. Nobody else gets over 11 minutes. Shortest rotation in the SoCon.
Heralded 5th yr senior transfer 6-10 245 JJ N’Ganga has not made an impact with 10.2 minutes, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 points. Swing man Ethan Stair has thus far missed the year with injury.
Rebounding is strong: +5.1. Turnovers are weak -2.0, and steals are only 3.7 per game.
Guards:
6-0 152 Jr Ria’n Holland; 34.3 minutes, 19.1 points, 35-88 .398 from 3, 3.6 rebounds, 1.3 steals
6-8 180 Jr Demetre Rivers; 30.5 minutes, 12.8 points, 18-45 .400 from 3, 2.8 rebounds, 0.1 steals
6-1 175 Jr Jordan Strawberry; 28.4 minutes, 10.0 points, 15-38 .395 from 3, 3.4 rebounds, 0.7 steals
5-8 156 Jr Rashad Lewis; 11.2 minutes, 2.9 points, 7-25 .280 from 3, 1.3 rebounds, 0.4 rebounds
Front Court:
6-6 225 Jr Stephon Jelks; 25.5 minutes, 6.6 points, 7-29 .241 from 3, 6.1 rebounds
6-9 255 Rs-Jr Desmond Ringer; 23.7 minutes, 6.4 points, 0 3’s, 5.4 rebounds
6-5 192 Rs-So Ryan Johnson; 13.9 minutes, 6.1 points, 11-26 .423 from 3, 4.1 rebounds
7-1 218 Rs-Sr Andrew Fishler; 7.9 minutes, 2.6 points, 0 3’s, 1.9 rebounds
6-10 250 Rs-Sr JJ N’Ganga; 10.2 minutes, 1.7 points, 0 3’s, 2.2 rebounds
SAMFORD 9-4:
Totally rebuilt team where key front court transfers athletic scorer 6-5 Wing from UMass Demetrius Denzel Dyson and 6-8 Alex Thompson from Auburn have joined Freshmen guards Triston Chambers, Josh Sharkey and Justin Hopkins to put a strong new squad around 2 returnees – 6-9 So post Wyatt Walker, best rebounder in the SoCon at 10.8, and Jr point guard Christen Cunningham with 6.4 assists.
Best wins at 7-6 South Alabama and 4-8 St. Louis. Worst loss at home in double OT to a surprisingly good 7-6 Nicholls State squad.
Front Court:
6-5 205 Jr Demetrius Denzel-Dyson; 27.3 minutes, 13.8 points, 28-55 .509 from 3, 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 turnovers
6-9 240 So Wyatt Walker; 30.7 minutes, 12.5 points, 1-3 .333 from 3, 10.8 rebounds, 0.9 steals
6-8 210 Jr Alex Thompson; 25.4 minutes, 11.3 points, 19-51 .373 from 3, 3.7 rebounds
6-6 250 Sr Terry Brutus; 9 games, 11.8 minutes, 2.7 points, 0-3 from 3, 2.8 rebounds
Guards:
6-2 190 Jr Christen Cunningham; 33.4 minutes, 10.2 points, 8-27 .296 from 3, 2.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 t.o.’s, 1.3 steals
6-2 185 Fr Triston Chambers; 22.3 minutes, 8.6 points, 30-67 .448 from 3, 1.8 rebounds, 0.5 steals
5-10 170 Fr Josh Sharkey; 21.6 minutes, 8.0 points, 6-23 .261 from 3, 1.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.8 steals
6-4 215 Fr Justin Hopkins; 15.9 minutes, 5.1 points, 4-11 .364 from 3, 2.5 rebounds
FURMAN 7-6:
Best win at 6-6 UAB. Close 6 point losses at Michigan, at Georgia, at home to UNC Asheville. Bad losses at Presbyterian, at home to 3-9 South Carolina State. They have been really uneven from game to game.
8 man rotation with Devin Sibley (31.9 minutes, 15.4 points on .453 from 3 with 2 makes and 5.3 rebounds) taking the Stephen Croone role. 4 guys (Sibley, Fowler, Acox and Davis) get 25.5 to 31.9 minutes. 2 guys (Beans and Rafferty) get 22 minutes. 2 others (Lyons and Brown) get 15 minutes. Nobody else plays a significant role. 6-8 Sophomore center Matt Rafferty has been gradually working his way back from August back surgery.
Furman has a +11.1 scoring margin, and a +4.5 rebound margin. Solid 3 point percentage with .388 and 9.1 makes. Hold opponents to a low .288 from 3 and .403 from the field. Turnovers about even. Stats make you think they would be better than their record.
Guards:
6-2 175 Jr Devin Sibley; 31.9 minutes, 15.4 points, 24-53 .453 from 3, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.0 t.o.’s, 0.8 steals
6-4 195 Jr Daniel Fowler; 30.2 minutes, 11.7 points, 17-47 .362 from 3, 4.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 t.o.’s, 1.2 steals
5-11 165 Jr John Davis; 27.9 minutes, 8.0 points, 16-39 .410 from 3, 3.6 rebounds, 1.1 steals
5-11 170 Fr Jordan Lyons; 16.8 minutes, 5.6 points, 15-45 .333 from 3, 1.8 rebounds,
6-4 190 So Andrew Brown; 15.9 minutes, 5.2 points, 17-37 .459 from 3, 2.5 rebounds
Front Court:
6-6 215 Sr Kris Acox; 25.5 minutes, 10.8 points, 0 3’s, 6.6 rebounds, 1.0 steals
6-7 210 Jr Geoff Beans; 22.3 minutes, 8.2 points, 29-68 .426 from 3, 2.8 rebounds
6-8 215 So Matt Rafferty; 21.8 minutes, 7.4 points, 1-10 .100 from 3, 5.4 rebounds
PS - 6-8 245 Jalen Williams, said to be the best rebounder on this good rebounding team in practice, has made only brief appearances in 7 games. Averaging 1.4 rebounds. When coaches hype a player, it doesn't always pan out.
WOFFORD 5-8:
“Best” wins over 4-10 Austin Peay and at 5-8 Coastal Carolina. Their controlled pace has allowed them to play several other teams quite close – Georgia Tech 72-76, Vermont, Bradley and Kent State. Just scraped by Mars Hill by 3.
3 point percentage (.424) is 5th in the country, 22nd in the country in makes per game (9.8). Six of the top seven scorers shoot over .400 from 3.
3 guys get between 25 and 30 minutes (So Fletcher Magee, Eric Garcia and 6-8 Rs-Sr Ryan Sawvell) and 3 get 17 to 19 (Cameron Jackson, Fr Nathan Hoover and Jaylen Allen) and 5 get 10 to 13 (6-11 So Matthew Pegram, Justin Tucker, Fr Donavan Theme-Love, Derrick Brooks and Fr. Dishon Lowery). Mike Young appears to still be searching for his rotation, which is usually tighter.
Rebounds are negative (-1.3), as are turnovers (-0.7).
My guess is that these guys will improve to finish above Citadel and Western Carolina.
Guards:
6-4 194 So Fletcher Magee; 30.0 minutes, 16.3 points, 41-99 .414 from 3, 3.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.8 t.o.’s, 0.6 steals
6-0 185 Sr Eric Garcia; 28.9 minutes, 11.8 points, 31-60 .517 from 3, 2.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.2 t.o.’s,
6-4 180 Fr Nathan Hoover; 18.8 minutes, 7.5 points, 20-57 .351 from 3, 1.8 rebounds
6-3 185 Sr Jaylen Allen; 16.7 minutes, 5.1 points, 13-32 .406 from 3, 1.9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 t.o., 0.8 steals
6-1 185 Fr Donovan Theme-Love; 10.3 minutes, 2.6 points, 7-16 .438 from 3, 1.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 t.o.’s
6-4 195 Jr Derrick Brooks; 11.3 minute, 2.6 points, 3-3 1.000 from 3, 1.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 t.o.’s
Front Court:
6-8 215 Rs-Sr Ryan Sawvell; 24.8 minutes, 10.7 points, 11-24 .458 from 3, 5.6 rebounds
6-8 235 So Cameron Jackson; 19.2 minutes, 9.9 points, 1-2 .500 from 3, 4.5 rebounds, 0.6 blocks, 1.0 steals
6-11 240 So Matthew Pegram; 13.5 minutes, 3.8 points, 0 3’s, 2.5 rebounds
6-7 218 Fr Justin Tucker; 12.4 minutes, 2.9 points, 0 3’s, 1.9 rebounds
6-6 240 Fr Dishon Lowery; 9.8 minutes, 1.8 points, 0 3’s, 2.3 rebounds, 0.6 blocks
CITADEL 7-7:
They beat 6-8 Stetson, 8-7 USC Upstate, 2-11 Colgate and 4-7 Presbyterian (who beat Furman).
As usual for a Duggar Baucom team, they are #1 nationally in scoring at 103.2, and 2nd worst (to Savannah State) in scoring defense at 101.8. Minus 2.9 in rebounds, but maintain an excellent +4.2 in turnover margin (25th in the country) and 10.5 steals per game (5th in the country).
6-7 205 So Zane Najdawi is the only guy over 6-4 who gets over 15.5 minutes (23.7). He thrives in this uptempo game getting 17.9 points, popping an occasional 3, hauling in 8.2 rebounds, blocking 1.4 shots and stealing 1.5.
Guards:
5-11 170 So Quayson Williams; 21.9 minutes, 13.5 points, 42-94 .447 from 3; 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals
6-1 175 Fr Preston Parks; 24.7 minutes, 13.3 points, 28-95 .292 from 3, 3.2 rebound, 5.0 assists, 2.5 t.o.’s, 2.2 steals
6-4 225 Fr Kaelon Harris; 19.8 minutes, 11.3 points, 8-22 .364 from 3, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 t.o.’s
5-9 150 Fr Frankie Johnson; 27 minutes, 10.2 points, 15-44 .341 from 3, 3.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 2.2 t.o.’s, 2.0 steals
6-3 180 Sr Warren Sledge; 27.4 minutes, 6.5 points, 16-53 .302 from 3, 2.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 0.7 steals
6-1 150 So Matt Frierson; 15.2 minutes, 6.3 points, 26-79 .329 from 3, 0.8 rebounds, 0.8 steals
6-6 190 Fr Leandro Allende; 12.2 minutes, 6.2 points, 12-43 .279 from 3, 2.7 rebounds,
Front Court:
6-7 205 So Zane Najdawi; 23.7 minutes, 17.9 points, 7-18 .389 from 3, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 t.o.’s, 1.3 blocks, 1.4 steals
6-8 205 Sr Brian White; 15.5 minutes, 10.1 points, 17-32 .531 from 3, 3.8 rebounds
WESTERN CAROLINA 5-8:
They beat High Point, which UNCG did not. Beat Appy State and lost by 2 at Asheville.
They have trouble scoring at 56.1 per game (-14.8 point margin). They shoot .339 from the field and .271 from 3.
They have neither much length nor muscle, but manage to have a slightly positive rebounding margin of +0.6. Turnover margin is an awful -5.0, 337th (4th from the bottom) nationally.
Guards:
6-5 190 Rs-Jr Haboubacar Mutombo; 31.5 minutes, 10.3 points, 11-35 .324 from 3, 6.5 rebounds, 0.9 steals
6-5 155 Sr Deriece Parks; 25.1 minutes, 9.4 points, 18-60 .300 from 3, 3.0 rebounds
6-1 175 Jr Devin Peterson; 29.2 minutes, 9.0 points, 5-26 .192 from 3, 2.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals
6-1 170 So Elijah Pughsley; 21.8 minutes, 6.1 points, 13-76 .171 from 3, 2.2 rebounds
Front Court:
6-7 205 So Marc Gosselin; 25.8 minutes, 7.4 points, 11-30 .367 from 3, 7.0 rebounds
6-5 205 Fr Onno Steger; 15.8 minutes, 4.5 points, 10-32 .313 from 3, 3.1 rebounds, 0.6 steals
6-8 220 Fr Adam Sledd; 13.0 minutes, 3.6 points, 0 3’s, 4.3 rebounds
6-8 225 Fr Yalim Olcay; 14.5 minutes, 2.2 points, 0 3’s, 2.6 rebounds
6-9 240 Rs-Jr Charlendez Brooks; 11.1 minutes 2.0 points, 0 3’s, 2.0 rebounds, 1.4 t.o.’s, 0.5 blocks
VMI 3-8:
Only 8 guys on this squad average over 9.3 minutes or 1.8 points or 1.9 rebounds. Only 3 of those 8 guys are over 6-4 or 200 pounds (6-6 205 Fred Iruafemi, 6-6 205 Trey Chapman and 6-8 210 Fred Miller). They are a worst in conference -2.8 rebounds, -7.7 points and .320 from 3 with 8.5 makes, while allowing .437 from 3 (.482 from the field).
Their only win over a D1 team was at home over 4-7 Charleston Southern by 5 points.
They do have the remarkable Sr. Q.J. Peterson who at 6-0 leads the team in both scoring (18.5) and rebounds 6.9 and a good second guard in 6-3 Sr. Julian Eleby with 14.1 points and 4.1 rebounds.
Guards:
6-0 185 Sr QJ Peterson; 30.1 minutes, 18.5 points, 26-81 .321 from 3, 6.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals
6-3 290 Sr Julian Eleby; 29.3 minutes, 14.1 points, 31-81 .383 from 3, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals
6-2 170 So Adrian Rich; 23.8 minutes, 7.3 points, 13-30 .400 from 3, 1.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals
6-0 170 Fr Keith Smith; 21.2 minutes, 5.3 points, 9-23 .391 from 3, 1.4 rebounds, 0.7 steals
6-4 200 Fr Garrett Gilkeson; 14.5 minutes, 2.8 points, 7-23 .304 from 3, 2.0 rebounds, 0.1 steals
Front Court
6-6 205 Sr Trey Chapman; 25.6 minutes, 9.9 points, 4-23 .174 from 3, 5.1 rebounds, 0.3 steals
6-6 205 Jr Fred Iruafemi; 19.4 minutes, 3.5 points, 0 3’s, 4.3 rebounds, 0.5 steals
6-8 210 Fr Will Miller; 14.2 minutes, 2.5 points, 0-7 3’s, 2.2 rebounds, 0.5 steals
(This post was last modified: 01-02-2017 01:31 PM by swvabucsfan.)
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