Some Conference Notes and a look at the CAA Opener vs The Pride


PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

Grant Riller • College of Charleston
So., G, 6-3, 195 - Ocoee, Fla./Ocoee
Riller averaged 27.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals as Charleston went 2-0 against a pair of in-state foes. The sophomore guard has tallied double digits in six straight games.


ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:

Kevin Anderson • Delaware
Fr., G, 6-5, 180 - Williamsport, Pa./St. John Neumann
Anderson scored a team-high 22 points and added six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in Delaware’s 76-62 triumph over CSU Bakersfield. The freshman guard leads all CAA freshmen in scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (4.9 rpg).



CONFERENCE NOTES:

CONFERENCE PLAY ARRIVES: CAA Conference play gets underway on Saturday with all 12 teams in action. The schedule gets off to a busy start with four games in a nine-day stretch (Dec. 30, Jan. 2, Jan. 5 and Jan. 7) before settling into the usual Thursday/Saturday slate for the remainder of the season.

TEAMS IN RPI TOP 100: Three CAA teams are ranked in the top 85 of the latest RPI through games of Dec. 23. Towson leads the way at #53, William & Mary follows at #64 and Hofstra is ranked #84. CAA teams have a 66-56 record against non-conference competition with two games to play on Thursday. The CAA is ranked 14th out of the nation’s 32 Division I conferences, a drop of two spots.

THE STAT SHEET: Several CAA players rank in the Top 20 nationally in various statistical categories. UNCW’s Devontae Cacok ranks 2nd in the nation in rebounding (12.4 rpg) and Hofstra’s Rokas Gustys is 14th (10.5 rpg). David Cohn ranks 9th in assists (7.2 apg). Drexel’s Austin Williams is 14th (2.9 bpg) and Nathan Knight is 24th (2.6 bpg) in blocked shots. Connor Burchfield is 3rd in 3-point FG percentage (56.7%) while teammate Matt Milon is 6th (53.7%). Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman is 11th (23.2 ppg) in scoring.

BEST OFFENSE, DEFENSE: William & Mary ranks among the Top 15 in the nation in field goal percentage (51.5%/12th), 3-point FG percentage (45.9%/2nd) and free throw percentage (80.1%/3rd). Towson ranks among the Top 25 in the nation in FG percentage defense (38.3%/23rd) and 3-point FG percentage defense (28.1%/9th) and is 36th in scoring defense (64.5 ppg/36th).

CAA GAME OF THE WEEK ON COLLEGE SPORTS LIVE: The CAA is teaming with CBS Sports Digital for a 12-game “CAA Game of the Week” on CollegeSportsLive.com. All 10 teams will appear at least two times as part of the broadcast package. Jeff McCarragher will provide play-by-play of the games and former coach Mack McCarthy will be the analyst. The opening game of the package will be on Jan. 2 as The Tribe visits James Madison at 7 p.m.

MID-MAJOR POLL TOP 10: Towson was ranked 4th and Charleston was ranked #10 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll released on Dec. 18. The CAA, West Coast Conference, Missouri Valley Conference and Sun Belt Conference were the only leagues with multiple teams in the Top 10.





Hofstra Pride GAME NOTES:

Coached by Joe Mihalich (7-5), coming off 95-71 loss to #1 Villanova.

• Suffered setbacks to Manhattan (63-61) and #1 Villanova (95-71) last week.

• 6’1” Jr. Guard Justin Wright-Foreman was HU’s top scorer in both games with 25 points vs. VU and 22 against MC. He’s tallied 20+ points in nine of 12 contests and ranks 11th in Div. I in scoring with 23.2 ppg. He has scored in double digits in 34 straight games, 8th longest in the nation this season.

• 6’9” Sr. Center Rokas Gustys averaged 10.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg last week, including his 5th double-double (10 pts/13 reb) vs. MC. He’s tied for 5th on the CAA’s career rebounds list (1,059). Gustys has 10+ boards in 8 games and is 2nd in the CAA with 10.5 rpg.

• 6’5” So. Guard Eli Pemberton contributed 10.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists over the two games. He’s among the CAA’s top 20 in scoring (16.2ppg) and rebounding (5.2 rpg) and ranks 3rd in the league in 3-point FG percentage (45.1%).

• 6’4” Jr. Point Guard Kenny Wormley chipped in 7 points, a season-high 7 rebounds and 5 assists against Villanova. He averages 4.5 ppg and 2.7 assists per game.

• 6’6” R-Sr. Forward Joel Angus averages 7.3 ppg and 5.1 rpg, while shooting 56% from the floor and 82% from the FT line.




Tribe Disa & Data:

• Matt Milon hit 6-of-11 treys and tied his season-high with 22 points at TCU. He’s 2nd in the CAA in 3’s per game (3.3) and 3-point FG percentage (53.7%).

• Connor Burchfield was 4-for-7 from three and had 18 points at TCU. He tops the CAA in 3’s per game (3.5) and 3-pt FG% (56.7%).

• Nathan Knight chipped in 10 points and a career-high 6 assists at TCU. He ranks among the CAA’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, FG% and blocked shots.

• Justin Pierce scored 7 points and had a team-high 10 rebounds at TCU. It was his 5th game with 10+ boards this season.

• David Cohn dished out 7 assists at TCU and leads the CAA with 7.2 apg.

• W&M hit 15 threes at TCU, which was its sixth game with 15 or more treys.

• TCU was the 15th game with 20 or more assists over the last two years for the Tribe. W&M lost only its second game when dishing out 20 or more assists since 2010 (33-2).



Wayward Thoughts:
If both teams play up to expectations, this should be a high scoring, fast moving affair (take the Over). Both teams score well and can shoot the 3. They are #1 and #3 in overall scoring (87 to 77.8) and 3 pt. % (46% to 37%). We'll just skip the defensive side and say, again, it should be a high scoring affair (did I say "take the Over" ??).
Wright-Foreman scored 30 and 35 against the Tribe last season, hitting 7 threes at in the win, in Williamsburg.
W&M outrebounded the Pride in both games last season. That will need to happen again this time. Nathan needs to be able to stay on the floor against the big guy and the Tribe long distance shooters need to find the range early. The Tribe turned the ball over 15 times against them at the Kap, leading to 24 points off TO's, another stat that will need to be turned around to insure a victory.

Protect the ball, shoot well and rebound. Sounds like a plan.

Go Tribe!!

.

Oh,...and Happy New Year, Tribe Talkers!!

Great post, Billy. This is an important game to gauge where we may land within the CAA. I expect HU to be in the top 3 by the CAAT, so I'm hoping we show well and pull out the win.

Quick question: why, exactly, is Towson getting so much love? Have they beaten any team of note? LaSalle is average for the A10 and GA Southern looks like a decent Slumbelt squad. Nothing notable there. And, they lost to ODU.

I'm not saying they aren't good or even very good, but it's not like they knocked off Kentucky.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

(12-26-2017 09:53 PM)Tribal Wrote:  Great post, Billy. This is an important game to gauge where we may land within the CAA. I expect HU to be in the top 3 by the CAAT, so I'm hoping we show well and pull out the win.

Quick question: why, exactly, is Towson getting so much love? Have they beaten any team of note? LaSalle is average for the A10 and GA Southern looks like a decent Slumbelt squad. Nothing notable there. And, they lost to ODU.

I'm not saying they aren't good or even very good, but it's not like they knocked off Kentucky.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

To be fair, Kentucky hasn’t been that good either.

(12-26-2017 09:53 PM)Tribal Wrote:  Great post, Billy. This is an important game to gauge where we may land within the CAA. I expect HU to be in the top 3 by the CAAT, so I'm hoping we show well and pull out the win.

Quick question: why, exactly, is Towson getting so much love? Have they beaten any team of note? LaSalle is average for the A10 and GA Southern looks like a decent Slumbelt squad. Nothing notable there. And, they lost to ODU.

I'm not saying they aren't good or even very good, but it's not like they knocked off Kentucky.

I wish I could tell you that I know the ins and outs of the RPI, but I only took "Checkbook Math" at W&M.

Preseason hype combined with a win streak? Towson was on a 10 game win streak until two losses last week, and were picked to be one of the better CAA teams. That's all I can guess.

Thanks, Billymac!!

I think we are going to have to play zone a lot from the get go on Sat and play it well. We have always struggled controlling the penetration of Hofstra guards. From Lauren Stokes to Green to now JWF, we just really struggle, and there is no way this year’s trio of starting guards of Cohn, Milon and Burchfield is gonna do any better. I’d probably start in the zone and see how it goes. Saturday is a big game. Definitely take the over and Let’s Go Tribe!

May the hottest shooting team win

Thanks Billie Mac! This is a big game and we'll get a feel for how we stack up with the top half of the CAA. Let's hope we can hold JWF to his season average and Knight can stay on the floor and contain Gustys, while achieving his own averages.

Hope to see you all there for my first excursion into Kaplan for a game this season.

Tribe RPI up to 64 and Hofstra at 72 though expected end of the year projections have at 149 for Tribe and 111 for Hofstra.

With conference play starting, just a reminder that over the last 23 years the #1 seed has won the CAA tourney fourteen times, the #2 seed four times, the #3 seed four times and the #4 seed once. It's fun to say "only March matters" but the CAA tourney has been Cinderella-proof for a while. If W&M wants to cut down the tourney history suggests they need a top 3 seed.

The next 5 games are really important. The conference opener at home, 2 games with JMU(who is expected to be a weaker opponent), and then 2 road games at Drexel and Delaware. It is vital for the Tribe's confidence and regular season hopes to get off to a good start and also to win some conference road games early. Dates with Towson and Charleston follow(the expected conference favorites). Both Towson and Charleston rebound well and play good defense which should be the biggest problems for us. But, these 5 games first give us opportunity to get off to a really good start in conference and develop our defense and rebounding. In that regard, Pierce and Knight are key. Both should be our best rebounders and both have to stay out of foul trouble while playing solid defense. While playing Pierce near the top of the zone might have some benefit,we need his rebounding as well.

No one here expects us to be in the top 3 in rebounding or defense, but we cannot be at the very bottom and expect to win. With Towson's defensive stats, that game will really be an irresistable force vs immovable object type game.

If we truly are near the bottom of the league, we won't go 4-1 or 5-0 to start the conference slate. But, if we are a potential top 3 team with Towson and Charleston, a 4-1 or 5-0 start is a must.

Massey Ratings are predicting that we go through conference play at 13-5 on a simple w/l and 10.33-7.67 on a weighted probability average. The key to getting a good seed in the tournament would seem to lie with winning the 6 games where the probability of the Tribe winning is shown as between 46-58%, and performing as expected for the 12 other games.

(12-27-2017 10:21 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  Massey Ratings are predicting that we go through conference play at 13-5 on a simple w/l and 10.33-7.67 on a weighted probability average. The key to getting a good seed in the tournament would seem to lie with winning the 6 games where the probability of the Tribe winning is shown as between 46-58%, and performing as expected for the 12 other games.

In the past, we have struggled with that "performing as expected for the 12 other games" part of the equation.

(12-27-2017 11:48 AM)NC Tribe Wrote:  

(12-27-2017 10:21 AM)LeadBolt Wrote:  Massey Ratings are predicting that we go through conference play at 13-5 on a simple w/l and 10.33-7.67 on a weighted probability average. The key to getting a good seed in the tournament would seem to lie with winning the 6 games where the probability of the Tribe winning is shown as between 46-58%, and performing as expected for the 12 other games.

In the past, we have struggled with that "performing as expected for the 12 other games" part of the equation.

I understand that, which is why I added the statement at the end when I read over it prior to posting. I still feel that the games in the great in between (46-58% in this case) will make or break the year, much as SB, Elon and Delaware did in football.

(12-27-2017 08:56 AM)Rocco Wrote:  With conference play starting, just a reminder that over the last 23 years the #1 seed has won the CAA tourney fourteen times, the #2 seed four times, the #3 seed four times and the #4 seed once. It's fun to say "only March matters" but the CAA tourney has been Cinderella-proof for a while. If W&M wants to cut down the tourney history suggests they need a top 3 seed.

Many years ago, East Carolina showed the CAA how its done in March. Proof that no matter how low your seed, there is always a chance.

Having no students at the first three home CAA games due to winter break is a real negative...no band, no cheerleaders, no student ragging of opposition. The latter would be important for Hofstra as I would imagine their treatment of their center and Pemberton would be less than cordial.

(12-27-2017 02:23 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  

(12-27-2017 08:56 AM)Rocco Wrote:  With conference play starting, just a reminder that over the last 23 years the #1 seed has won the CAA tourney fourteen times, the #2 seed four times, the #3 seed four times and the #4 seed once. It's fun to say "only March matters" but the CAA tourney has been Cinderella-proof for a while. If W&M wants to cut down the tourney history suggests they need a top 3 seed.

Many years ago, East Carolina showed the CAA how its done in March. Proof that no matter how low your seed, there is always a chance.

Blue Edwards!!

(12-27-2017 03:32 PM)WMTRIBE75 Wrote:  

(12-27-2017 02:23 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  

(12-27-2017 08:56 AM)Rocco Wrote:  With conference play starting, just a reminder that over the last 23 years the #1 seed has won the CAA tourney fourteen times, the #2 seed four times, the #3 seed four times and the #4 seed once. It's fun to say "only March matters" but the CAA tourney has been Cinderella-proof for a while. If W&M wants to cut down the tourney history suggests they need a top 3 seed.

Many years ago, East Carolina showed the CAA how its done in March. Proof that no matter how low your seed, there is always a chance.

Blue Edwards!!

Blue Edwards wasn't on the ECU team that won the tourney. He transferred in in '96.

The important thing to remember about ECU is that they won the tourney in '93 as the 7th seed, but only had to win 3 games. Seeding is more important with a 10 team field than it used to be.

(12-27-2017 02:39 PM)BigTribe3 Wrote:  Having no students at the first three home CAA games due to winter break is a real negative...no band, no cheerleaders, no student ragging of opposition. The latter would be important for Hofstra as I would imagine their treatment of their center and Pemberton would be less than cordial.

While those on this board might know Pemberton's connection with W&M, I'd be willing to bet anything that 99% of the students at that game would have no idea he reneged on his commitment.

Now, Gustys... I get the feeling that guy doesn't hear a damn thing anyone outside the court is saying. He's going to miss his free throws whether 3000 Tribe students are giving him hell, or if the gym is empty.

(12-27-2017 07:25 PM)WM Beancounter Wrote:  While those on this board might know Pemberton's connection with W&M, I'd be willing to bet anything that 99% of the students at that game would have no idea he reneged on his commitment.

Now, Gustys... I get the feeling that guy doesn't hear a damn thing anyone outside the court is saying. He's going to miss his free throws whether 3000 Tribe students are giving him hell, or if the gym is empty.

Is this including the ghosts of Tribe students past?