Elon Phoenix

Overall Record (vs. DI): 9-10
CAA Record: 3-5 (t-6th)
RPI: 276
SOS: 335
KenPom: 255

The Phoenix roll into town coming off their best offensive output of the season. Elon defeated an inconsistent Delaware squad 94-82 on Saturday, a high-scoring affair for a Phoenix squad that averages 67.6 points of offense and 69.3 points per game on defense.

Elon has had it's share of solid highs and frustrating losses this season. The Phoenix defeated William & Mary on their home floor. They to Missouri on the road by just 5 in non-conference play. And last week they lost by 3 to James Madison, then fell on a buzzer beater to Towson. The old Bill Parcells adage "You are what your record says you are" applies, but as Towson taught the Seahawks, there remain no easy wins in the CAA, and can expect a dogfight against Elon.

Though he has only started one game this year, Freshman guard Elijah Bryant has stood out for Elon. He leads the team in scoring (13.7 ppg) and assists (2.5 apg). However, he also leads the team in turnovers, with 74. This has led the Phoenix to rely on a more sure-handed Senior Austin Hamilton (6.9 ppg, 2.3 apg) to be their starter at the PG position and use Bryant as more of a scoring guard off the bench. Hamilton is coming off a 31-point outburst against the Blue Hens on Saturday, and shouldn't lose minutes to Bryant anytime soon.

The Phoenix backcourt took a hit when Sophomore Luke Eddy (13.0 ppg, 2.1 apg) was knocked out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury back in December. The sharpshooter had knocked down a very impressive 17 of 34 threes on the season. Nevertheless, Elon features several perimeter threats, including Hamilton (.349 3-pt %), Bryant (.347), Junior Tanner Samson (.355), and Senior Kevin Blake (.360). The Phoenix rank 5th in CAA-only games in three-point shooting despite being without Eddy. Elon's guards also force a lot of turnovers, leading them to rank 3rd in turnover margin (+2.38) despite the woes of Elijah Bryant.

However, with several effective guards leading the charge, the reason for Elon's struggles seem obvious. The Phoenix struggle to rebound the ball. None of their players receiving significant minutes are taller than 6-7. One freshman forward, Jack Anton, is 6-8. Only Drexel (-7.2) has a worse rebounding margin than Elon (-4.1). They also rank dead last in block shots per game (1.5) by a wide margin. They employed a 4-guard lineup against Delaware and may opt to do so again in an attempt get their best players on the court for as many minutes as possible.

This is pure speculation, but Elon's weaknesses underneath may mean the Phoenix have had to turn to zone defense more than they would like. This could be one reason why the Phoenix also rank dead last in 3-pt FG % defense (.404) in CAA-only games. Their inability to close out on shooters could simply be bad defense by Elon's guards; more scouting would be necessary to determine the reason.

In any case, this is a very good matchup for the Seahawks on paper. The Hawks hold the edge in rebounding, points in the paint, and whichever guard is asked to guard Bryant should find plenty of takeaway opportunities. The Seahawks have proven they can also match Elon's 4-guard lineup with one of their own, while still maintaining the edge in physicality and on the boards. The two primary concerns would be Elon's shooters getting hot and their defense forcing turnovers.

As a follow-up, I checked Elon's roster. CJ, Cedrick, Chuck, Sherwood, and Kevin Hickson are all taller than any player on the Phoenix roster that are getting minutes of consequence.

I think they do play a lot of zone, and also believe they rely heavily on the three pointer. Remind me of a lesser Hofstra squad.

Samson has attempted 183 three's.

It'll be very intriguing to see what kind of rotation Keatts uses. Do we go more traditional and play up our size advantage? Or do we stick mainly to the 4-guard lineup of our own?

Regardless I think we play tons of man to man in the half court, sell out to defend the 3 and try to funnel Elon to drive in on our shot blockers.

With the turnovers they give up, i'd play them hard and fast. Since they aren't that big, i'd take the risk on the trap with a 4 guard lineup, and Ced, CJ or Chuck playing goalie. Run em' out of the gym, and eat up the clock with the press to keep them from shooting 3's with time on the clock. We defend the 3 pretty well, and the long rebounds on misses turn into fast breaks on defensive rebounds.

Nice, 82. Well that was easy, now let's execute the gameplan. Aaaaand break!

(01-26-2015 07:41 PM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  Nice, 82. Well that was easy, now let's execute the gameplan. Aaaaand break!

Jerk. I haven't even weighed in yet. LOL

I'll say my peace regardless...

Due to how prone they are to turnovers, I would expect Keatts to stick to the press and take advantage of our quick full court game. Our bigs should be plenty dominant in the paint with the size advantage, they'll just have to be cautious about those little guys from Elon muscling their way in and drawing whistles on our bigs.

If they play a zone defense, hopefully Sherwood gets going early and forces them to spread out. Once we spread them in their half court zone we can attack the paint and play that inside out game. Our in-the-paint points this year have been outstanding and we should look to that again. Hopefully Gettys will be just as dominant, along with Big Ced staying hot.

The students seem to be pretty excited about this so Trask should be loud again... Although the athletic department has yet to distribute the tickets to the dorms, or fisher union for pick up... Quite strange if they want students to get the bleacher seats.

Working at a desk in the dorms several students have come in and asked about them and unfortunately I have had to tell them we don't have any.

I wonder how much longer that will be the case. If the team keeps winning or even finishes at the top of the CAA this year, I'd imagine by next year the students will own the bleachers again.

716, I'm glad yourself and the rest of current students are finally getting to see what a winning product is like in Trask.

If we beat Elon, it will be only the 2nd time we've reached 7 wins since 2008.

2008 - 3-16
2009 - 5-14
2010 - 7-12
2011 - 6-14
2012 - 5-13
2013 - 3-14

(01-27-2015 07:23 AM)82hawk Wrote:  If we beat Elon, it will be only the 2nd time we've reached 7 wins since 2008.

2008 - 3-16
2009 - 5-14
2010 - 7-12
2011 - 6-14
2012 - 5-13
2013 - 3-14

And this game only marks the end of our first trip through the conference slate. That's nuts.

I heard them say on the Kevin Keatt's Show that they will have a surprise with the unveil of the new logo. Maybe a new uniform?

I'd take a bit of a different approach, go big and pound it in. they don't have nearly the horses to stop it!

Elijah Bryant is a little scarier than I originally thought. In CAA-only games he's currently the 7th-leading scorer in the league, ahead of guys like Terry Tarpey (W&M), Scott Eatherton (NU), and Ron Curry (JMU). He's also 6th in 3-pt shooting.

If it weren't for his propensity to turn the ball over (24 turnovers in CAA play, 3 per game) he'd be the leading candidate for Freshman Player of the Year over both Kory Holden (Delaware) and Talley.

(01-27-2015 09:10 AM)BigDoubleU Wrote:  I heard them say on the Kevin Keatt's Show that they will have a surprise with the unveil of the new logo. Maybe a new uniform?

When are they planning to unveil the new logo?

Is UNCW Adidas or Nike?I think L'ville is Adidas for some reason-not that it matters at this level.

(01-27-2015 01:59 PM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  Is UNCW Adidas or Nike?I think L'ville is Adidas for some reason-not that it matters at this level.

We are Adidas but think we switched to Jordan when Buzz was here

Hawks are 4 point favorites at this time.

(01-27-2015 03:48 PM)Proff Wrote:  Hawks are 4 point favorites at this time.

For entertainment purposes only....