Going into last night's game, Georgia Southern was shooting an incredible 69% from inside the 3pt line and was going to the line a whopping 32x a game. Last night they shot 52% from inside the 3pt line and only shot 10 FT's the entire game. They had a hard time scoring in their half court offense, but scored 19 points off our TO's and had 15 fast break points. Coach Forbes made the comparison to the TN vs. Memphis game in 08. He said going into that game, their staff knew they had to take away the driving lanes and live with Memphis shooting 3's. He said Memphis made several in the in the 1st half but didn't make a 3 in the 2nd half, and TN won the game. He said they felt the same way about Georgia Southern going into the game. In my opinion, the best thing they did last night was defend without fouling, on the road. I doubt you will see the same defensive strategy concerning the 3pt line vs. Wofford on Saturday.

(11-28-2018 10:32 AM)ETSU4Life Wrote:  In my opinion, the best thing they did last night was defend without fouling, on the road. I doubt you will see the same defensive strategy concerning the 3pt line vs. Wofford on Saturday.

Defending without fouling was a real key. The Bucs have gotten better the last couple games about playing physical on both offense and and defense but avoiding fouls.

I expect that they will defend Wofford more like they did North Dakota State: fight through screens and make defending the perimeter the priority. North Dakota State made 43% of their points from 3 and so does Wofford. But Wofford is better at it, shooting .401 from 3 to .378 for NDS, and getting 11.6 makes per game, 6th best in D1 in makes per game, compared to 10.8 makes for NDS going into the ETSU game.

Oddly enough, free throw shooting is one of the few areas that Wofford is not doing quite as well as usual. They shoot .670 (232nd in D1) with 8.7 makes (317th in D1). Although Magee (1.000) and Hoover (.925) do not miss.

(11-28-2018 11:10 AM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Defending without fouling was a real key. The Bucs have gotten better the last couple games about playing physical on both offense and and defense but avoiding fouls.

Yeah that's going to be hard because every time Hoover and Flopper Magee take a three-point shot they fall down.

Regarding Davien Williamson, the kid already has posted 2 big boy games, one of them against a solid midmajor in Winthrop:

At Winthrop in game 4: 19 minutes, 9 points on 3-5 from the field, no 3's, 3-4 from the line; 1 rebound, 2 steals, 1 turnover.
Against Chicago State in game 5: 21 minutes, 10 points on 3-5 from the field, 0-1 from 3, 4-5 from the line, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 turnovers.

And let's not even consider his 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists against Hiwassee in game 2.

A kid who can post a couple of games like Winthrop and Chicago State in his first few games in D1 is worth the investment of some regular minutes in the rotation, IMHO.

You like Bo Hodges? He didn't score as much as 9 points till his 6th game in last year (against Fort Wayne, and that took him 26 minutes). If you'd have gotten frustrated and sat Bo down at that point, you'd have missed his 20 point outburst against Fordham in game 7.

I don't think that Daivien is quite ready to do what Bo and Mladen eventually did as freshmen last year. But I think that the minutes that Forbes is giving him now have already given us a couple of good games and will pay bigger dividends later. Freshman Ryan Larson didn't look like much in his first few games for Wofford. But Mike Young kept giving him a few minutes each game. When Storm Murphy went down he stepped in and helped them beat South Carolina.

(11-28-2018 10:49 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Regarding Davien Williamson, the kid already has posted 2 big boy games, one of them against a solid midmajor in Winthrop:

At Winthrop in game 4: 19 minutes, 9 points on 3-5 from the field, no 3's, 3-4 from the line; 1 rebound, 2 steals, 1 turnover.
Against Chicago State in game 5: 21 minutes, 10 points on 3-5 from the field, 0-1 from 3, 4-5 from the line, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 turnovers.

And let's not even consider his 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists against Hiwassee in game 2.

A kid who can post a couple of games like Winthrop and Chicago State in his first few games in D1 is worth the investment of some regular minutes in the rotation, IMHO.

You like Bo Hodges? He didn't score as much as 9 points till his 6th game in last year (against Fort Wayne, and that took him 26 minutes). If you'd have gotten frustrated and sat Bo down at that point, you'd have missed his 20 point outburst against Fordham in game 7.

I don't think that Daivien is quite ready to do what Bo and Mladen eventually did as freshmen last year. But I think that the minutes that Forbes is giving him now have already given us a couple of good games and will pay bigger dividends later. Freshman Ryan Larson didn't look like much in his first few games for Wofford. But Mike Young kept giving him a few minutes each game. When Storm Murphy went down he stepped in and helped them beat South Carolina.

Williamson is doing fine. This year on most nights we need him to give 10-12 minutes per game backing up Tisdale and/or Good and not hurt us. Mission accomplished. He is a little slight but I like his quickness. He gets beat on D every now and then just like any freshman.

ESPN basketball highlights can lead you to believe that freshmen can just jump in and play great immediately. That's true for, say, 10% of them - the rest are trying to figure it out. As a college basketball fan I enjoy watching the freshman cluelessness turning into contribution and finally leadership as a junior or senior.
I don't know how Williamson will turn out as a college player; a few games isn't the final report on him. He doesn't seem afraid. Coach is giving him minutes. My outlook for him is positive.

Yes, I believe Daivien has the right mental attitude to overcome any mistakes that freshmen encounter. With the minutes he is getting I hope pays off down the road. I believe it will. Hope we get Curtis more minutes as well. Anxious for the game tonite. I want to see our defense rise to the occasion again.....good luck guys !!!