"Not so secret" SoCon scrimmages.

At this point:

Wofford has scrimmaged Belmont (!!),

UNCG scrimmaged Monmouth,

Furman went against Florida,

Mercer against North Florida AND Troy,

Samford against Presbyterian

Citadel against Coastal Carolina, and

VMI against Radford

Anybody know how any of these went??

(10-24-2018 08:46 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Another team on the Bucs schedule comes in high: Creighton of the Big East, ranked 71st, ahead of UNCG and Wofford, with Georgia State, our opener on the road November 6th, at 94th .

Didn't realize that Creighton was rated so low this year, I also saw they are picked 9th out of 10 teams in the Big East. Could be a very winnable game for us.

Along with Georgia State, a good gauge of where we are early. And maybe where we are likely to stand early on in relation to teams like UNCG and Wofford.

Coach Forbes compared Georgia State to last year’s Northern Kentucky team. He said they are experienced like that Northern Kentucky team and are picked at the top of their conference.

More preview. Apparently Hodges is going to start at both guard and forward. So Forbes has added cloning to his bag of tricks:

preview stuff

"The starting lineup handed out listed Boyd, Hodges and Isaiah Tisdale as guards and Bo Hodges and Mladen Armus at posts."

(10-25-2018 10:35 AM)Bucster Wrote:  

(10-24-2018 08:46 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Another team on the Bucs schedule comes in high: Creighton of the Big East, ranked 71st, ahead of UNCG and Wofford, with Georgia State, our opener on the road November 6th, at 94th .

Didn't realize that Creighton was rated so low this year, I also saw they are picked 9th out of 10 teams in the Big East. Could be a very winnable game for us.

Well, remember they got caught up in that recruiting scandal - supposedly one of their assistants (Preston Murphy) was one of the ones who offered top recruits money to sign. On top of that, they lost a lot of their point production. They're young. (And yes, this is premature to post all this, I guess.)

So the Coaches' Poll is out, and they go along with what has become the conventional wisdom for the top 4. Here's hoping that they will prove to be about as accurate as last year where the teams who played for the conference championship, UNCG and ETSU, were their 4th and 5th picks.

Kind of interesting that ETSU gets 3 players on the all-conference team (Bo, Jeromy and Tray) while the 2 teams rated above them get only 2 apiece (Alonso and Dickey for UNCG; Cam Jackson and Magee for Wofford). So they believe in ETSU's individual talent but not the team...yet. Interesting that they are believers in Jeromy and Tray sight unseen. No other newcomers make the list. But after the open practice, I think that choice is fully justified. Forbes puts in a pitch for Demetrius Troy of UNCG - based on his tournament play (14 ppg on ungodly shooting) I can see that. He killed us in the tournament.

2018-19 Preseason Southern Conference Coaches Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Total
UNCG (6) 78
Wofford (4) 74
ETSU 67
Furman 57
Mercer 48
The Citadel 38
Chattanooga 30
Samford 26
Western Carolina 20
VMI 12

2018-19 Preseason Player of the Year
Fletcher Magee, Sr., G, Wofford

2018-19 Preseason All-Southern Conference Team
Zane Najdawi, Sr., F, The Citadel
Tray Boyd III, Jr., G, ETSU
Bo Hodges, So., G/F, ETSU
Jeromy Rodriguez, R-Jr., F, ETSU
Matt Rafferty, Sr., F, Furman
Ross Cummings, Jr., G, Mercer
Francis Alonso, Sr., G, UNCG
James Dickey, Jr., F, UNCG
Bubba Parham, So., G, VMI
Cameron Jackson, Sr., F, Wofford
Fletcher Magee, Sr., G, Wofford

2018-19 Preseason Southern Conference Media Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Total
UNCG (16) 231
Wofford (6) 214
ETSU (2) 198
Furman 169
Mercer 136
Chattanooga 103
The Citadel 96
Samford 69
Western Carolina 59
VMI 45

Watching the recording of the Forbes interview that I missed. As Forbes says: the Bucs have finished higher than rated in the Coaches' Poll every year so far:

1st year picked 4th, finished 2nd
2nd year picked 2nd, finished 1st
3rd year picked 4th, finished 2nd

This year picked 3rd, finished....????

Forbes message on handling the UNCG press this year: it's more a matter of personnel than strategy. 2 years ago we had shooters like T.J. and A.J. to put in the corner and big guys like Desonta and Tevin who could see over the top and pass well. Last year we didn't have as many shooters to spread the floor and were smaller up top so it was harder to pass over. Also folks did not make the extra pass. With James Dickey coming over to block shots, a man should be open, and we didn't take advantage of that enough.

This year's personnel, especially with much better shooting and more size, should be able to handle it better.

Injuries. According to Forbes, Bo and Patrick will have to be managed this year. Both situations seem to be chronic, but won't prevent them from playing. If I understand him correctly. Octavion is working back from another concussion. Is this something that he is prone to, having missed time to a severe concussion last year?

All these injuries are VERY worrisome. Fortunately we have depth. But still...…...

Eh, can't say I'm concerned. Forbes is very honest about things like these, and if something was seriously going to hinder a player, I feel like we'd have heard more.

(10-26-2018 12:06 PM)Running_Fool15 Wrote:  Eh, can't say I'm concerned. Forbes is very honest about things like these, and if something was seriously going to hinder a player, I feel like we'd have heard more.

"Honest"? Maybe. Forthcoming? No. He refuses to tell "us" things in a timely fashion, refuses to tell us the specificity or degree of the issue, and is even vague (most of the time) about even what the injury is. A counterexample of that is with Rodriguez last year - but knowing he was gone for the season made that easy to do. Of course I'm all too aware of privacy issues, etc., but I think he goes too far. Just my opinion, of course. I'll again make the case that we, as fans and ticket-buyers, are stakeholders in this big endeavor. Not nearly as big as he and the players are, of course, but stakeholders nonetheless. I think, as long as the players ok it, that he should reveal more.

No offense, but I think he gives the right amount of info. We’re not entitled to anything except the game day experience. We’re not parents of these students or administrators.

(10-26-2018 02:19 PM)shampoo Wrote:  No offense, but I think he gives the right amount of info. We’re not entitled to anything except the game day experience. We’re not parents of these students or administrators.

Agreed. We deserve to know NOTHING in my opinion. I can't think of a single coach I've been familiar with who is more open about his team than Forbes. Hell, when I was a coach I certainly wasn't.

(10-25-2018 08:26 AM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  "Not so secret" SoCon scrimmages.

At this point:

Wofford has scrimmaged Belmont (!!),

UNCG scrimmaged Monmouth,

Furman went against Florida,

Mercer against North Florida AND Troy,

Samford against Presbyterian

Citadel against Coastal Carolina, and

VMI against Radford

Anybody know how any of these went??

Wofford beat UNCC by 31 (87-56) at Wofford in a scrimmage today. Wofford hit 56% of their shots, 46% of their three pointers and had 10 fewer turnovers. Charlotte only hit 4-16 threes and 46% overall. No one played more than 23 minutes for Wofford. Charlotte started three freshmen and had three players play more than 33 minutes. Magee lead the Terriers with 15. Three other Terriers in double figures.

(10-28-2018 05:25 PM)FUATT Wrote:  

(10-25-2018 08:26 AM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  "Not so secret" SoCon scrimmages.

At this point:

Wofford has scrimmaged Belmont (!!),

UNCG scrimmaged Monmouth,

Furman went against Florida,

Mercer against North Florida AND Troy,

Samford against Presbyterian

Citadel against Coastal Carolina, and

VMI against Radford

Anybody know how any of these went??

Wofford beat UNCC by 31 (87-56) at Wofford in a scrimmage today. Wofford hit 56% of their shots, 46% of their three pointers and had 10 fewer turnovers. Charlotte only hit 4-16 threes and 46% overall. No one played more than 23 minutes for Wofford. Charlotte started three freshmen and had three players play more than 33 minutes. Magee lead the Terriers with 15. Three other Terriers in double figures.

I wouldn’t put much stock into that. Charlotte is predicted to finish last in their league.

UTC beat Charlotte last year. That's all you need to know. Lol

Is there any news about Buc scrimmages?

(10-28-2018 06:32 PM)bucfan81 Wrote:  Is there any news about Buc scrimmages?

Coach Forbes on the radio this morning

-ETSU scrimmaged at Austin Peay this Saturday. Corley didn't travel with team. Basically they played some half court scrimmages and then a final 40 min full court "game." He played 11 of the 12 players that went. Starters were Tisdale, Good, Hodges, Rodriguez and Armas. He said he was impressed by the way that AP defended so he was pleased by ETSU's offense effort. They shot 53% overall, about 40% from 3 and 78% at the line and 5 players were in double figures. He liked the team's offensive balance. He compared them to his 2nd team at ETSU, but said they had more depth and defended better inside. He especially praised the way that the whole team passes the ball. He said that Hodges and Good stood out in the scrimmages offensively. Good had no misses and made 4 3s. Hodges had 11 points playing at the 3 spot. He mentioned their "manageable" injuries. He said that he might have to give them a day or 2 off now and again and couldn't grind them too hard in practice, but that they had both earned that. When asked about Rodriguez he continued to praise his offense, but said that his defense needed work, not so much inside but in defending his man outside.

-When asked about preseason polls he said again that he was surprised by Boyd and Rodriguez being chosen without having played a game yet. He, also, said that he was surprised that Armas wasn't chosen after being on the post season freshman team last year.

- In speaking of Pasta and Practice event this Tuesday at the dome, Coach said that the auction would go to fund their European trip next summer with stops in Belgrade, Vienna and Budapest. Mark Adams will be the speaker. He started the Mid-major alliance which ETSU is now a part of. Coach said that he liked the alliance because once you are tabbed to play someone, you can't opt out of it which will alleviate some of the burden of scheduling.

(10-29-2018 08:09 AM)BigIslandBuc Wrote:  

(10-28-2018 06:32 PM)bucfan81 Wrote:  Is there any news about Buc scrimmages?

Coach Forbes on the radio this morning

-ETSU scrimmaged at Austin Peay this Saturday. Corley didn't travel with team. Basically they played some half court scrimmages and then a final 40 min full court "game." He played 11 of the 12 players that went. Starters were Tisdale, Good, Hodges, Rodriguez and Armas. He said he was impressed by the way that AP defended so he was pleased by ETSU's offense effort. They shot 53% overall, about 40% from 3 and 78% at the line and 5 players were in double figures. He liked the team's offensive balance. He compared them to his 2nd team at ETSU, but said they had more depth and defended better inside. He especially praised the way that the whole team passes the ball. He said that Hodges and Good stood out in the scrimmages offensively. Good had no misses and made 4 3s. Hodges had 11 points playing at the 3 spot. He mentioned their "manageable" injuries. He said that he might have to give them a day or 2 off now and again and couldn't grind them too hard in practice, but that they had both earned that. When asked about Rodriguez he continued to praise his offense, but said that his defense needed work, not so much inside but in defending his man outside.

-When asked about preseason polls he said again that he was surprised by Boyd and Rodriguez being chosen without having played a game yet. He, also, said that he was surprised that Armas wasn't chosen after being on the post season freshman team last year.

- In speaking of Pasta and Practice event this Tuesday at the dome, Coach said that the auction would go to fund their European trip next summer with stops in Belgrade, Vienna and Budapest. Mark Adams will be the speaker. He started the Mid-major alliance which ETSU is now a part of. Coach said that he liked the alliance because once you are tabbed to play someone, you can't opt out of it which will alleviate some of the burden of scheduling.

Thanks! Sounds excellent!