Date: January 28th, 2017

Time: 4:00 PM

Opponent: Chattanooga (15-5, 6-2 SoCon)

Place: Freedom Hall

Television: none

Webcast: ESPN 3

Radio online: 640WXSM.com

UTC 2016-2017 Schedule

UTC 2016-2017 Roster

UTC Message Board

Am switching this to the official game thread to keep things together:

UTC 15-5 6-2: all stats in conference only unless otherwise noted

9-3 OOC. Their best OOC win was at Knoxville right out of the box over a young, inexperienced Tennessee. Also an impressive buzzer beater loss at Vanderbilt in a game that they led most of the way, but let slip away at the end. The only surprise OOC loss was to a very good Arkansas State (14-6 and 3rd in the Sunbelt) team at a neutral site to go with losses to UNC and Vandy. They lost in conference at UNCG 68-73. They are on a less than impressive 3 game streak in conference, winning at Mercer by only 2, 70-68; winning by 4, 82-78 at home over Stamford, and losing by 16, 64-80, to VMI before the home fans in Chattanooga.

They are led by the 5 Seniors: 6-5 195 Tre’ McLean with 35.0 minutes (14.3 pts, 5.5 rebounds), 6-10 235 Justin Tuoyo at 28.0 minutes (13.3 pts, 7.4 rebounds, 2.8 blocks), 6-2 192 Greg Pryor, 6-5 205 Casey Jones and 6-2 188 Jonathan Burroughs-Cook at 26 to 28 minutes. The 4 subs are all freshmen or sophs. The 2 key subs are 6-10 220 Xavier transfer Soph Makinde London at 15.0 minutes (6.6 points, 5-19 .263 from 3, 2.8 rebounds) and 6-1 172 Freshman Rodney Chatman at 18.0 minutes (4.1 points on 2-9 .222 from 3, and 1.8 rebounds). 2 less productive subs are 6-4 185 BC transfer Soph Nat Dixon 16.1 minutes (2.0 points, 3-12 for .250 from 3 on the year with 0 in conference, 2.0 rebounds) and 6-1 185 Fr. Makale Foreman 12.3 minutes (4.2 points on 7-20 .350 from 3 and 0.5 rebounds).

If they follow last year’s pattern against the Bucs, Tuoyo could see an extra 5 minutes on the floor. He’s a different, tougher challenge than Wyatt Walker, and the Bucs will probably have to throw several bodies at him, including Mosquera-Perea, Banks and Glass.

Casey Jones started a little slowly after missing almost all last year with injury, but he has been improving in conference: minutes picked up from 18.6 to 25.9; points up slightly from 9.2 to 10.1, rebounds from 2.3 to 4.6, steals from 0.4 to 1.1. However shooting percentage is down from over .600 to .448 in conference.

Offense has slowed to 73.5 with a +4.7 margin in conference. 3 point shooting for the Mocs has fallen to .308 with 6.1 makes. More surprisingly, overall shooting from the floor is only .447. Compare to ETSU averaging 84.4 and +12.9, both best in conference. Like the Mocs, ETSU has seen 3 point shooting fall sharply to 6.3 makes on .325 shooting. Unlike the Mocs, ETSU has maintained a best in conference shooting percentage from the floor at .512, and holds opponents to .412.

Rebounding for Chattanooga has improved in conference to +2.9 from -1.4. ETSU’s is +4.9, tied for best with UNCG.

Turnover margin has sagged badly in conference – down to +0.88 from +3.5. Bucs are best in SoCon +3.12. Steals are 7.3 compared to the Bucs 10.9.

Opponents shooting percentage is higher in conference than out at .461. Bucs opponents are held to .412 in conference.

A lot of the stats seem in the Bucs favor – but they did against Furman and UNCG, too.

Physically, the Bucs match up a bit better this year with athletic 6’8” Tevin Glass and 6’6” David Burrell to help counter the 6’5” 200 pair of Tre’ McLean and Casey Jones, and a triumvirate of 6-9 Hanner, 6-7 Banks and 6-8 Glass to battle with 6-10 Tuoyo and 6-10 London.

The Mocs are smarting from a loss at home to VMI of which Matt McCall said, “I didn't do a good enough job of getting our team prepared for this game at all. It stings. It hurts. It’s definitely the worst performance we've had since I've been here — not even close.”

Which team is ready and wants this game more?

Front Court:
6-5 195 Sr Tre’ McLean; 35.0 minutes, 14.3 points, 1.6 makes on .310 from 3 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 t.o.’s, 1.5 steals [McLean really lowered his 3 pt percentage by going 1-11 vs VMI - he was .387 before that.]
6-10 235 Sr Justin Tuoyo; 28.0 minutes, 13.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 1.9 t.o.’s, 0.4 steals
6-10 220 Rs-So Makinde London; 15.0 minutes, 6.6 points, 0.6 makes on .263 from 3, 2.8 rebounds
6-4 185 So Nat Dixon; 16.1 minutes, 2.0 points, 3-12 .250 from 3 (0 in conference), 2.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals

Guards:
6-2 192 Sr Greg Pryor; 28.1 minutes, 10.1 points, 1.4 makes on .333 from 3, 2.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.4 t.o.’s, 1.1 steals
6-5 205 Sr Casey Jones; 25.0 minutes, 10.1 points, 5-15 .333 from 3, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 t.o.’s, 1.1 steals
6-2 188 Sr Jonathan Burroughs-Cook; 25.8 minutes, 9.9 points, 4-14 .286 from 3, 3.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.8 t.o.’s, 0.9 steals
6-1 172 Fr Rodney Chatman; 18.0 minutes, 4.1 points, 2-9 .222 from 3, 1.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.7 t.o.’s, 0.3 steals
6-1 185 Fr Makale Foreman; 12.3 minutes, 4.2 points on 7-20 .350 from 3, 0.5 rebounds, 0.5 steals.

#NeverForget

I hope we rough up Tre McLean and shut down his offense. And I want to see Cromer shoot in his face all night. But all priority goes to the best winning game plan.

I can't wait to see how HMP matches up with Tuoyo.

I don't think HMP is going to score much on Tuoyo, but if HMP can hold Tuoyo under 15 pts and prevent a double-double, that will be one battle won in this war.

Apparently, at the beginning last night, VMI doubled him, and he got frustrated.

Edits:
Also, additional word on the street is that London may be somewhat in the doghouse. He has only been averaging 9 minutes or so a game the last several games. That's strictly rumor only.
Point being, if they don't use London a lot at the beginning, possibly HMP and Glass (or whoever) could employ that same strategy. I'm quite sure Forbes is on the case...

They have many ways to beat you. Could be McLean, or Pryor, or Burroughs-Cook. (Or of course Tuoyo or Casey Jones.)

(01-26-2017 03:39 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Also, additional word on the street is that London may be somewhat in the doghouse. He has only been averaging 9 minutes or so a game the last several games. That's strictly rumor only.

Scuttlebutt (to use a good Buccaneer term) on the Moc message board is that London was dogging it in practice, thus the doghouse.

On a side note, the Moc message board seems to have gone way downhill, at least in the level of participation. So, thank you to those who do such a great job providing this fine forum for the rest of us.

Wonder if the weather hurts attendance on Saturday? https://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:37601.1.99999

(01-26-2017 09:33 PM)squeak Wrote:  Wonder if the weather hurts attendance on Saturday? https://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:37601.1.99999

Well, it looks like the weather folks are on par with my stock tips and game day predictions.

I went to a charity event tonight hosted by the Kiwanis Club. Maybe 25 people there. Forbes talked awhile, then Shay. They went through everything. Practices, strategies, how they prepare and implement game plans. Shay spent a solid hour showing us the game plan for UTC. It is detailed. They do this for every game, sometimes 3 a week. Video, written scouting report, and layer upon layer of data.

BucFaithful sat at my table and he can explain what happened better than I can. But it was signifiant. I've been around this program for 35+ years. Thought I knew basketball. Nope. They can tell you how much each player sleeps at night. THEY MONITOR SLEEP. And here we sit on the board discussing that all we need to do is XYZ and then we would really win.

Never again will I ever think I know the first thing about D1 athletics. The level of detail and analytics they use is so far above what I had imagined it was. They have extensive, detailed data on the BENCH players of every team. Shay was rattling off bench player stats like I rattle off Pal's menu. No one on this board, including me, has a real clue. Lots of good solid folks here, but I have been completely humbled.

And before you blast me, hold off til you hear what BucFaithful says. He told me he would post sometime soon about it.

Also, Forbes was open and candid. I left super encouraged. THESE are the good ol days.

(01-27-2017 11:19 PM)CaptainJackAubrey Wrote:  I went to a charity event tonight hosted by the Kiwanis Club. Maybe 25 people there. Forbes talked awhile, then Shay. They went through everything. Practices, strategies, how they prepare and implement game plans. Shay spent a solid hour showing us the game plan for UTC. It is detailed. They do this for every game, sometimes 3 a week. Video, written scouting report, and layer upon layer of data.

BucFaithful sat at my table and he can explain what happened better than I can. But it was signifiant. I've been around this program for 35+ years. Thought I knew basketball. Nope. They can tell you how much each player sleeps at night. THEY MONITOR SLEEP. And here we sit on the board discussing that all we need to do is XYZ and then we would really win.

Never again will I ever think I know the first thing about D1 athletics. The level of detail and analytics they use is so far above what I had imagined it was. They have extensive, detailed data on the BENCH players of every team. Shay was rattling off bench player stats like I rattle off Pal's menu. No one on this board, including me, has a real clue. Lots of good solid folks here, but I have been completely humbled.

And before you blast me, hold off til you hear what BucFaithful says. He told me he would post sometime soon about it.

Also, Forbes was open and candid. I left super encouraged. THESE are the good ol days.

Yes I can believe it! Our coaches totally awe and impress me. D1 is so intense I can only watch and support the Bucs. Will be there Saturday backing Forbes and Company.

I noticed that there are only single seats available in the bronze sections. I wonder how many non student seats are left?

Looks like a few seats left in the upper sections behind the goal, so maybe <300 or so? Those are $7.50 each, so it doesn't look like they did their flex-pricing for this game, just UTK.

Heading towards our second sell-out for the year though.

(01-27-2017 11:19 PM)CaptainJackAubrey Wrote:  I went to a charity event tonight hosted by the Kiwanis Club. Maybe 25 people there. Forbes talked awhile, then Shay. They went through everything. Practices, strategies, how they prepare and implement game plans. Shay spent a solid hour showing us the game plan for UTC. It is detailed. They do this for every game, sometimes 3 a week. Video, written scouting report, and layer upon layer of data.

BucFaithful sat at my table and he can explain what happened better than I can. But it was signifiant. I've been around this program for 35+ years. Thought I knew basketball. Nope. They can tell you how much each player sleeps at night. THEY MONITOR SLEEP. And here we sit on the board discussing that all we need to do is XYZ and then we would really win.

Never again will I ever think I know the first thing about D1 athletics. The level of detail and analytics they use is so far above what I had imagined it was. They have extensive, detailed data on the BENCH players of every team. Shay was rattling off bench player stats like I rattle off Pal's menu. No one on this board, including me, has a real clue. Lots of good solid folks here, but I have been completely humbled.

And before you blast me, hold off til you hear what BucFaithful says. He told me he would post sometime soon about it.

Also, Forbes was open and candid. I left super encouraged. THESE are the good ol days.

Awesome. But you know, that's what you should expect from a first class D1 program. Wish they'd do one of those up my neck of the woods.

SWVA,

Yeah man, I thought about you last night when Shay was waxing eloquent on stats. And I can't overhype how detailed it was. You want to see how Justin Tuoyo tends to act in the left side of the paint? Bam, here's footage of him doing it in 3 different games and numeric data on his tendencies.

They are coaching on analytics, not on chest-pass fundamentals. And we are on here arguing if Peter should get more playing time.

Officially, I now understand that I know nothing about basketball. I cringe to think what the coaching staff would say to each other if they read this message board.

(01-27-2017 11:19 PM)CaptainJackAubrey Wrote:  I went to a charity event tonight hosted by the Kiwanis Club. Maybe 25 people there. Forbes talked awhile, then Shay. They went through everything. Practices, strategies, how they prepare and implement game plans. Shay spent a solid hour showing us the game plan for UTC. It is detailed. They do this for every game, sometimes 3 a week. Video, written scouting report, and layer upon layer of data.

BucFaithful sat at my table and he can explain what happened better than I can. But it was signifiant. I've been around this program for 35+ years. Thought I knew basketball. Nope. They can tell you how much each player sleeps at night. THEY MONITOR SLEEP. And here we sit on the board discussing that all we need to do is XYZ and then we would really win.

Never again will I ever think I know the first thing about D1 athletics. The level of detail and analytics they use is so far above what I had imagined it was. They have extensive, detailed data on the BENCH players of every team. Shay was rattling off bench player stats like I rattle off Pal's menu. No one on this board, including me, has a real clue. Lots of good solid folks here, but I have been completely humbled.

And before you blast me, hold off til you hear what BucFaithful says. He told me he would post sometime soon about it.

Also, Forbes was open and candid. I left super encouraged. THESE are the good ol days.

Some of us already knew this. While the approach varies by coach at each institution, good D1 schools are similar.

The advent of the Olympic training center at ETSU strengthened data driven training even more. The Olympic center puts ETSU's training a step above its peers.

(01-28-2017 07:12 AM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  

(01-27-2017 11:19 PM)CaptainJackAubrey Wrote:  I went to a charity event tonight hosted by the Kiwanis Club. Maybe 25 people there. Forbes talked awhile, then Shay. They went through everything. Practices, strategies, how they prepare and implement game plans. Shay spent a solid hour showing us the game plan for UTC. It is detailed. They do this for every game, sometimes 3 a week. Video, written scouting report, and layer upon layer of data.

BucFaithful sat at my table and he can explain what happened better than I can. But it was signifiant. I've been around this program for 35+ years. Thought I knew basketball. Nope. They can tell you how much each player sleeps at night. THEY MONITOR SLEEP. And here we sit on the board discussing that all we need to do is XYZ and then we would really win.

Never again will I ever think I know the first thing about D1 athletics. The level of detail and analytics they use is so far above what I had imagined it was. They have extensive, detailed data on the BENCH players of every team. Shay was rattling off bench player stats like I rattle off Pal's menu. No one on this board, including me, has a real clue. Lots of good solid folks here, but I have been completely humbled.

And before you blast me, hold off til you hear what BucFaithful says. He told me he would post sometime soon about it.

Also, Forbes was open and candid. I left super encouraged. THESE are the good ol days.

Awesome. But you know, that's what you should expect from a first class D1 program. Wish they'd do one of those up my neck of the woods.

Interesting stuff. It's good to hear Forbes's staff are on top of things.That kind of information would've been useful during the Buc drug cartel under Bartow's watch.

(01-26-2017 05:05 PM)Flippmb Wrote:  On a side note, the Moc message board seems to have gone way downhill, at least in the level of participation. So, thank you to those who do such a great job providing this fine forum for the rest of us.

Wow. Just now looked at it. You are not wrong! What happened to their board?!? It used to be the most vigorous one in the conference with several knowledgeable contributors.

(01-28-2017 07:12 AM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Awesome. But you know, that's what you should expect from a first class D1 program.

Indeed. What did you all think those assistant coaches and staff do besides help out at practice? I'm not saying every DI program goes to the depth ETSU's does, but most of the decent ones do.

It didn't take all that long for Billy Beane's precepts from "Moneyball" to creep into college athletics - and indeed, some teams did some forms of it already. Although not sabermetrics in the strict, baseball sense, the extreme analytical attention to detail fairly quickly spread into most serious sports. As coaching salaries escalated, the search for every. little. edge. just took it's natural course. With so much at stake, little tiny nuances can add up, and make or break a team's success. It's like an arms race - sort of.

But ultimately, despite preparation to the nth degree, "players make plays" - thus we have UNCG doing to us what they did. No amount of preparation and analytics could have predicted what White did. And although Alonso's night wasn't shocking at all - again, no amount of preparation and analytics stops him from doing his thing when he's on.

All that prep work pays dividends, but the talent and speed have to be there, and the head coach has to know how and when to pull the strings. The 'science' of basketball has come a long way, but the 'art' of it still must be masterful.