Any discussion of Northeastern hoops of late has to begin with a couple notes about their many injuries:

* Against JMU on Feb 4, the Huskies only had 7 players available. T.J. Williams, Jeremy Miller (leg) and freshman Max Boursiquot were among the major names who were out. Several players have still been on the mend since that date.

* Miller managed to play 7 minutes in a loss to Hofstra on Saturday. Boursiquot played 9 minutes. TJ Williams, who seems to be at or close to 100 %, logged 40.

It's very possible that by Thursday, the Huskies will be ready to go against us. So just because they've struggled at times this season, plagued by both inconsistency and injuries, don't expect anything but their best basketball when we face them at Matthews Arena, where they are 7-2 this season.

Now, let's take a look at how the Huskies have performed this year by the statistical rankings, in CAA-only games:

* Scoring Offense: 7th (71.4 ppg)
* Scoring Defense: 3rd (68.9)
* Scoring Margin: 3rd (+2.6)
* FT Shooting: 10th (.616)
* FG %: 3rd (.472)
* FG % Defense: 6th (.464)
* 3-Pt %: 2nd (.392)
* 3-Pt % Defense: 5th (.353)
* Rebounding Margin: 5th (-0.7 rpg)
* Defensive Rebound %: 3rd (.752)
* Offensive Rebound %: 8th (.236)
* Blocked Shots: 4th (3.7 bpg)
* Assists: 5th (13.6 apg)
* Steals: 5th (5.9 spg)
* Turnover Margin: t-4th (+0.07)
* A/TO Ratio: 6th (1.1)

Here are how NU's individual performers rank in CAA-only contests:

* T.J. Williams

Scoring: 3rd (20.6 ppg)
Assists: 3rd (4.8 apg)
Rebounding: 19th (4.6 rpg)
FG %: 14th (.468)
A/TO Ratio: 11th (1.3)
Minutes: 1st (38.1 mpg)

* Alex Murphy

Scoring: 13th (14.8 ppg)
Rebounding: 11th (5.9 rpg)
FG %: 8th (.510)
3-Pt FG %: 2nd (.440)
Blocks: t-13th (0.7 bpg)
Minutes: t-10th (34.1 mpg)

* Devon Begley

Scoring: 28th (11.4 ppg)
Assists: 8th (3.5 apg)
Steals: 1st (2.2 spg)
3-Pt FG %: 13th (.388)
A/TO Ratio: 10th (1.3)
Minutes: 6th (35.6 mpg)

* Anthony Green

Rebounding: 20th (4.6 rpg)
Blocks: t-4th (1.4 bpg)

* Max Boursiquot

Rebounding: t-17th (4.9 rpg)

* Bolden Brace

3-Pt FG %: 15th (.377)


One can easily glean from the stat sheet just how dangerous the Huskies are, both collectively and as individuals, when fully healthy. Their biggest weakness is that they are perhaps the only team in the league that's been struggling more than us at the free throw line. Otherwise it is difficult to find an area on the court where they are exploitable.

A lot has been said about Williams, who is a POY candidate and has been getting some national attention. The Senior guard and Texas product has been relied on heavily at both guard spots, sharing PG duties with Begley, a junior who also hails from Texas. Neither have protected the ball very well, as they occupy the bottom 2 spots in the Assist:Turnover Ratio rankings for eligible players in the league. However, they make up for those deficiencies in numerous ways. Williams is active on the glass and doesn't force up too many bad shots, which is a great quality out of a player who scores at such a high rate. Begley is tps in the league in steals by a wide margin and can shoot from the perimeter in addition to being a decent distributor.

Murphy is a highly efficient big man who operates as a "Stretch 4". The grad student, who had stints at both Duke and Florida in his undergrad days, is a sleek 6-8, 225 and can score on the inside and outside effectively. Ranking in the Top 10 in both field goal percentage AND 3-point field goal percentage is a very difficult and rare accomplishment.

The development of sophomore Jeremy Miller as well as a trio of freshman in Max Boursiquot, Bolden Brace and Shawn Occeus has been very interesting to watch as well. While Miller's season has been hampered by his leg injury, his ceiling remains very high. In just 13 games played, Miller has blocked 16 shots, is an efficient .558 from the field and can also shoot from the outside (.457). Having yet another inside-outside threat, and one who stands at 6-10 no less, adds to the seemingly endless weapons Coen has in his arsenal.

As for the freshmen, Boursiquot, a Canadian, has been the most impressive, but all 3 have shown flashes. The 6-5 wing is posting a 18.5 minutes per contest, less than the other 2, but has shown he can do a little bit of everything off the bench. Brace, from California, and Occeus, from Florida, are each posting 21.5 minutes per game, with Occeus drawing 24 starts. Both are big guards, with Brace standing at 6-6 and Occeus at 6-4. Occeus is more of a 2-guard who can shoot from outside and is 3rd on the team in steals. Brace operates as more of a 3 who attacks the basket. When he draws fouls he's very dangerous, as he's 20-24 (.833) from the free throw line.

This is a solid, deep squad we'll be facing on Thursday, making it a monster game for us on the road as we try to fend off Charleston for the regular season title and # 1 seed at the CAA Tournament.

We can have difficulty with good combo guards, who can shoot the 3 and can dribble drive to the hole.

That's the only reason why we've lost twice to Hoffy and why Drexel was a pain in da arse.

UNCW presents the same kind of problems ...

(02-14-2017 05:43 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  We can have difficulty with good combo guards, who can shoot the 3 and can dribble drive to the hole.

That's the only reason why we've lost twice to Hoffy and why Drexel was a pain in da arse.

UNCW presents the same kind of problems ...

Decent teams tend to give us problems, especially on the road. I'm picking against us for the first time this year. (which means we are prob likely to win)

(02-14-2017 05:50 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  

(02-14-2017 05:43 PM)geewizNU Wrote:  We can have difficulty with good combo guards, who can shoot the 3 and can dribble drive to the hole.

That's the only reason why we've lost twice to Hoffy and why Drexel was a pain in da arse.

UNCW presents the same kind of problems ...

Decent teams tend to give us problems, especially on the road. I'm picking against us for the first time this year. (which means we are prob likely to win)

Thanks for taking one for the team. Literally.