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The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
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swvabucsfan Offline
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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.)
12-29-2016 01:56 PM
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FUATT Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Chattanooga - Seniors playing very well, especially Tuoyo and McLean. London and Tuoyo will be a tough pair for SoCon teams to deal with when they are on the floor together. I've been impressed with how they have taken care of business against the teams that they were supposed to beat. Every win has been by 11 or more.

ETSU - look deep with scorers at guard and have 3 big guys hitting over 58%. Not quite as consistent as Chattanooga.

UNCG - White getting a lot of help from Smith, Kuiper, and Dickey on the front line and Troy has stepped up his game. The question I have is what happens if you can contain Baldwin's penetration. Their offense was stagnant last year when that happened.

Mercer - What is the story with Jelks? He was a pre-season all conference pick but his numbers are way down from last year - barely averaging half as many points this year. They need him to pick it up. It doesn't appear they are as good defensively as usual. So far.

Samford - Their three point shooting is way up from last year and they appear to be better at forward. Last year they were good in the pre-conference games but faltered in the SoCon. I think they are better prepared this year and will be a threat.

Furman - Has lost three games this year to teams that hit shots with 2 seconds or less. Tough to take, especially the Winthrop game where they banked in a desperation three from the top of the key after 20 seconds of perfect defense. Even that shot was well covered.

And the Paladin defense has had some inconsistency. It has been very good at times particularly UAB, Winthrop, and Michigan but it was low energy against Presbyterian and S. C. State. Was it from overlooking those teams? I don't know. Furman has also missed a ridiculous amount of layups. Acox has been the worst offender. It is a big deal when you have 6 losses by 6 points or less and 3 by 2 or less.

Three point shooting is much better this year for Furman. Most of the returnees are improved. Sibley went from 33% to 45% from behind the line. He has hit some clutch shots late. Sophomore Andrew Brown is leading the team at 46% from three. Freshman Jordan Lyons has hit 44% in his last 5 games. He is also very composed for a freshman and will be getting a lot of time this year.

[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.]

Williams has been injured. That is why he hasn't been playing. He was averaging about 10 minutes a game early. He had a key role in the win at UAB. In the second half he came into the game midway through with Furman down 5. He blocked a layup that turned into a Paladin fastbreak basket then knocked down a pass that became another quick hoop. Later he hit two FTs. He also played solid defense with Acox and Beans on the bench with 4 fouls each and Rafferty unavailable. When he left the game after about 5 minutes Furman had turned the deficit into a 7 point lead and never looked back.

Wofford - They had problems early but have shot the ball much better in the past few games. They could be getting it together at the right time. Sawvell has been their top big man. Garcia having an excellent start to his senior year. Magee is going to score. Freshman Hoover is another shooter. I wonder about their defense.

The Citadel - Three freshmen and two sophomores averaging double figures. Parks has been on a tear lately. He is averaging over 22 a game the past six games and had 32 against UNCG. They are going to beat some teams they shouldn't and look bad in some of the games they lose. Nature of the beast and their style.

Western Carolina - Their offense has been putrid. Last in every statistic in the league and by big margins. But they do appear to be able to defend some. Second in FG% defensively and rebound OK. Their front line is bigger than last year and maybe deeper, but I don't know if they are equaling what Brummit did last year by himself. Expect them to be real scrappy and play "ugly" to keep the games close and steal one here and there. They are usually a team that improves over the course of a season so that is what they will be aiming for.

VMI - maybe the opposite of Western Carolina. They have some scorers but don't defend. They will have to have big games from Peterson and Eleby to have a chance most nights. One website has predicted them to go 0-18. I think they will win a couple of games.
(This post was last modified: 12-31-2016 04:47 AM by FUATT.)
12-31-2016 04:44 AM
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swvabucsfan Offline
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Post: #3
RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Interesting observations from FUATT:

re Chattanooga - winning games by 11 is nice, but how will they do with the close ones? At Vandy, they couldn't keep a close game that they should have won.

UNCG's relatively light OOC schedule leaves them a bit of a question mark to me on several fronts. Will Kuiper and Dickey be as effective in conference against the Mocs, Bucs and Bears?

Mercer - still integrating new faces, and coming off a very tough OOC schedule. I would be surprised if a Bob Hoffman coached team does not pick up the defense as the season goes. Good point about Jelks. The team focuses so much on Ria'n Holland with the ball in his hands that I wonder if that is affecting Jelks play.

Samford - agree that this team seems more 'real' than last year's, and more likely to be an in conference threat.

Furman has by far the biggest disconnect between excellent stats and a mediocre record. Had they turned a couple of those close losses into wins (say at Michigan and Winthrop), they would be the talk of the conference. They need to be more consistent and tougher down the stretch - but they are within reach of being very good.

Wofford - Mike Young has his system and Wofford players have got to learn to play his way. All those Coach of the Year trophies suggest that the Terriers are a good bet to improve, as you suggest. Guards are great shooters, but agree that their defense may be questionable. Young has been getting by with front courts that are "good enough". This year's may be less than that.

Citadel - they ARE very young, which may mean there is room to improve. Last year I was impressed by their OOC performance, but they folded in conference where the opponents tend to know exactly what is coming better than OOC opponents. Don't know how effective their freakish style will be in conference this year. Duggar Baucom is a known quantity in the SoCon.

Western Carolina - Larry Hunter made the Ohio Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame by recruiting players that others overlooked to Wittenberg and Ohio U, and developing them into strong teams. When he loses a good class like last year, he doesn't bring in a crew of 5th year transfers and highly touted JUCO's like some coaches. You get the scrappy, play-em-ugly bunch of overlooked guys like he's fielding this year. He is likely to improve them, as you say, and surprise a few people. He's hoping to find the Torian Brummit/Mike Brown/Justin Browning types for the future.

VMI - Peterson and Eleby make them a threat. Both are Seniors. Dan Earls is just in his second year as coach, but it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for VMI right now.
(This post was last modified: 12-31-2016 10:41 AM by swvabucsfan.)
12-31-2016 10:08 AM
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Buc66 Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
1/2/17 streaming SoCon games tonight, seats eerily empty around the league -- especially the UTC vs UNCG game in Greensboro -- wow.
01-02-2017 07:52 PM
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etsubuc Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Big win by UNCG
01-02-2017 08:59 PM
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Bucs06 Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
The Citadel is in OT at Wofford.
01-02-2017 09:07 PM
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Buc66 Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
(01-02-2017 08:59 PM)etsubuc Wrote:  Big win by UNCG

They won this important one with next to no support from 90% empty seats.
01-02-2017 09:10 PM
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swvabucsfan Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Citadel hangs on in overtime to win by one, demonstrating the value of good free throw shooting to close out a game.
01-02-2017 09:33 PM
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swvabucsfan Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Love conference basketball. UNC loses, Duke loses. The teams rated the biggest challenges for the Bucs are now 0-2 (Mercer) and 1-1 (Chattanooga).
01-02-2017 09:40 PM
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swvabucsfan Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
UNCG’s bigs ( 6-9 250 Jordy Kuiper, 6-8 255 R.J. White and 6-9 210 James Dickey) clogged the middle and prevented easy points in the paint, and exposed the Mocs jump shooting weaknesses. Makinde London is a fine long, athletic 6-10, with 15 points, but he hoists up way too many 3’s (1-4). Casey Jones continues to struggle on offense, with 6 points. Guards Greg Pryor (1-5 and 4 points) and Burroughs-Cook (0-5 and 2 points) were ice cold. The Mocs big men really had to work for their points with offensive rebounds and put backs.

Deny the easy points in the middle (or at least limit them) and the Mocs, who have the second worst assists total in the SoCon at 11.9 per game, may have trouble creating offense.

On offense the Andalusian Assassin, Francis Alonso of Malaga, Spain, got 22 of his 26 points in the second half to help turn around a 6 point half time deficit. That’s over half of the Spartan’s second half total of 40. This Boquerón is especially good at drawing fouls and knocking them down (7-7).

The replay on ESPN3 makes instructive viewing.
(This post was last modified: 01-02-2017 11:42 PM by swvabucsfan.)
01-02-2017 11:34 PM
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FUATT Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
(01-02-2017 07:52 PM)Buc66 Wrote:  1/2/17 streaming SoCon games tonight, seats eerily empty around the league -- especially the UTC vs UNCG game in Greensboro -- wow.

Remember that students aren't back from the break. And games around Christmas and New Year's Day aren't usually good draws.

Furman had a poor shooting night all around and made some uncharacteristic mistakes on defense but scrapped to the victory over Mercer. Mercer had a great start to the game offensively and responded several times with baskets when the Paladins closed the gap but eventually cracked. Devin Sibley has been playing very well. He had 20 against the Citadel and 23 tonight. He has been the consistent scorer for Furman and the guy hitting key shots too.

After watching the Citadel and Mercer in person in the opening weekend I am not sure sure either is a threat for first, although Mercer has the talent. Right now they just don't have it all together. Mercer's guards are dominating the offense too much. Strawberry and Holland took almost half of their shots tonight. Strawberry had a very good game tonight with 23 and good shooting but Holland only hit 1-9 from three point range and was benched for a long stretch of the second half. The Mercer big men were effective when they got the ball.

The Citadel really made Wofford play their style tonight. Even though it went to OT, 104 is a lot of points for the Terriers to surrender.
01-03-2017 12:55 AM
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posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Over the weekend, I wrote a post predicting that UNCG would beat either UTC or ETSU this season, and maybe both, but erased it as that's just not that bold a prediction - as we now see.

Can McCall successfully adjust?

Samford has now won 8 out of 9, the lone 'L' against Fla. St., and despite the opponents not being terribly strong, that's a fairly studly display. (And they've picked up 3 votes in the mid-major poll.)

Sibley and Acox scare the dickens out of me. We've done ok with Sibley, but have never been able to handle Acox. He is much man. Will be interesting to see how he does against our new bigs.

Much congratulations, swbucsfan, on getting "Boquerón" onto this site. Likely that's a first, and surely deserves some type of award?
01-03-2017 02:11 AM
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swvabucsfan Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
(01-03-2017 02:11 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Much congratulations, swbucsfan, on getting "Boquerón" onto this site. Likely that's a first, and surely deserves some type of award?

Thanks, Poster. But for others who may not know - Alonso is from the beautiful coastal city of Malaga, Spain, in the area known as Andalusia, the heart of Moorish influence and the birthplace of flamenco. There is a large anchovy ("boqueron") that makes a tapas called "boquerones fritos" wildly popular in bars in that town. So popular that "Boquerón" has become an affectionate nickname for natives of that city, which include Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas. It's also often used for athletes from Malaga.
01-03-2017 07:22 AM
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Bucster Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Samford scares me. Wyatt Walker can play. I hope we can find a way to stop him, we were unable to last year.
(This post was last modified: 01-03-2017 09:38 AM by Bucster.)
01-03-2017 09:37 AM
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posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Well....Furman tamped down that little Samford uprising(in B'ham) for the time being, and is now 3-0 in conference. Much man Acox went for 19 and 12, in a game a bit closer than the score indicates.
Their (Furman's) visit to the Roundhouse tomorrow (while we're in Macon) will be interesting - altho one must suspect Tuoyo will be somewhat successful in making Acox "Less man".
01-06-2017 12:15 PM
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etsuBucsFan1988 Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Furman still worries me.
01-06-2017 01:37 PM
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Bucster Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
(01-06-2017 01:37 PM)etsuBucsFan1988 Wrote:  Furman still worries me.

Me too. They actually seem to be playing better this year than the previous season. Last year they struggled in pretty much every road game they played, this year they are getting it done on the road.
01-06-2017 01:45 PM
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shampoo Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Good luck to Furman tomorrow! If they can beat Chattanooga, I think they are fully deserving of "the team to beat" status for the time being. ETSU hasn't had a real test yet, and I don't think we can qualify it as Mercer based on Mercer's season so far.
(This post was last modified: 01-06-2017 02:53 PM by shampoo.)
01-06-2017 02:53 PM
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CaptainJackAubrey Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
(01-03-2017 07:22 AM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  
(01-03-2017 02:11 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Much congratulations, swbucsfan, on getting "Boquerón" onto this site. Likely that's a first, and surely deserves some type of award?

Thanks, Poster. But for others who may not know - Alonso is from the beautiful coastal city of Malaga, Spain, in the area known as Andalusia, the heart of Moorish influence and the birthplace of flamenco. There is a large anchovy ("boqueron") that makes a tapas called "boquerones fritos" wildly popular in bars in that town. So popular that "Boquerón" has become an affectionate nickname for natives of that city, which include Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas. It's also often used for athletes from Malaga.

SWVA could be making up every word of this and I'd still believe. You make the board a better place, bro.
01-06-2017 08:00 PM
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swvabucsfan Offline
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RE: The SoCon after OOC games - end of 2016
Before the internet, you might get away with making it up:

But here is a Spanish translation for Boqueron noting the connection with Malaga. http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/boquer%C3%B3n

And a little note explaining why the players from Malaga in La Liga are called Boquerones. http://usa.laliga.es/en/news/why-the-pla...boquerones

And here is a Youtube video for making Boquerones Fritos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAJVO1zhykI

Of course, the internet being what it is, you might also be able to find a site explaining that Boquerones don't exist and are just a government conspiracy.

The truth is stranger than fiction. Almost as strange as East Tennessee Buccaneers.
01-06-2017 11:30 PM
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