Quick Preview for tonight's game:


Hampton defeated Bluefield College, 85-68 in their opener last weekend, after trailing by one at Halftime. Junior guard Akim Mitchell and Soph. guard Jermaine Marrow both scored 18 points to lead the Pirates.

Strong rebounding and better shooting in the second half made the difference. The Pirates only shot 20% from Three (2 of 10).

Marrow was their top scorer from last season (as a Freshman), averaging 15.6 ppg. They also return their top rebounder from last season, AJ Asthroth (6.2 rpg), who got 6 boards and 16 points against Bluefield and 6'6" soph. guard Greg Hartshell, who had a double-double, with 11 points and 10 boards.


About us:
No question the Pirates will have seen on tape how badly we handled tight man to man defense last Friday, so I expect we will see more of that tonight. Hopefully, the return to the friendly rims of Kaplan will also improve the shooting percentages.


The two areas I will be most looking for improvement tonight are:

1. How we handle man to man pressure (we were not moving well Friday night, because High Point did a good job of blocking our usual lanes, disrupting our set plays and banging every cutter, trying to knock them off their route) and be strong enough to fight through it to allow for more than 4 assists tonight. Also to get the fast break going. For our offense to work, we must get a high percentage of assists and we must get several "easy" buckets on fast breaks.

2.How much we have improved on our "help defense". A young team will always have more problems on defense than offense, at least early on, but we can't afford breakdowns like the ones Friday, that saw the help defense actually go the wrong way at times, thus allowing for an unimpeded drive to the basket after the prime defender was beaten.


There is no question that this is a very young team and it will get better as the season goes on. Patience will be needed as they find their footing and figure out their roles. As long as they show some improvement every time out, then even a tough early season should pay rewards come CAA League play.

Go Tribe!

No dis n data?

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Two other wishes for tonight, beyond the obvious, defense:
1) Not taking a 3 pt shot when all players, including Knight, are outside the arc.
2) Running plays to go inside to Knight more, but when he gets it and the other team drops all 5 players inside to guard him, he can't put his head down to try to score on 5 defenders, as opposed to kicking the ball back out to any of the 4 open players behind the arc.
Both situations were not good last Friday.

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ESPN's BPI has us as at a 73.8% chance to win.
Sagarin has us at -8.13.
Vegas has us at -14.5.

Could be a good night to grab our first win.

(11-15-2017 10:17 AM)Tribal Wrote:  No dis n data?

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HA! I'm working into the season slowly...

14.5 points?!? BRB...have to go bet next month’s mortgage payment on the Pirates

Tony is 13-1 in home openers. Good sign

Both teams shooting around 60%, but Hampton getting too many second chance shots.

THIS IS HOGSHIT

ball don't lie I guess

That tech on Pierce is gonna be huge as it gave him 3 fouls. I'm not sure Tony can play him again until the 1st half under 4.

11 fouls called in the first 10 minutes.

Terrible call against Pierce and the ref follows it up with two quick Ts. That's a killer to have three on Pierce.

That's a bad call too!

what the hell is going on, I just tuned in and apparently there's been a bunch of technicals in not even 10 minutes?

(11-15-2017 07:28 PM)TheBigBass Wrote:  what the hell is going on, I just tuned in and apparently there's been a bunch of technicals in not even 10 minutes?

Apparently, the refs think tonight is gonna be their big break. Tony's is the only one that maybe should have been called. I have no idea what he said.

Burch, Rowley and Millon need to hit open 3s. Knight has been our only offense.

Tribe struggling again tonight from 3 (1 for 8), at 13%.

(11-15-2017 07:38 PM)billymac Wrote:  Tribe struggling again tonight from 3 (1 for 8), at 13%.

Maybe Jihar can fix what ails us

Much as I love watching Knight shoot free throws, these refs are getting annoying