The odd CAA slate begins this Saturday as the Seahawks hit the road to Philadelphia for tilts on back-to-back days. Barring any COVID-related postponements or cancellations, every team will have Saturday/Sunday back-to-backs for the next 7 weeks.

Other than perhaps Hofstra, there was no more difficult opponent in the league to start with than Drexel, and on the road no less. Picked to finish 3rd in the league by the CAA coaches, the Dragons have looked like the 2nd best team in the CAA to this point. But such are the cards we're dealt. Coming out of the weekend with a split would be a great result.

Drexel (5-2, # 97 RPI) will be well-rested entering this contest. Their final non-conference game against Siena (scheduled for Dec 22) was canceled. Thus, it will end up having been a 2-week break for the Dragons since their last game, an 85-68 win at Fairleigh Dickinson on December 18th.

The Dragons are in their 5th season under Zach Spiker, who finally seems to have the roster fully built as he'd like. There was a bit of a departure in moving away from the Bruiser Flint "rock fight" approach that worked in the mid-2000s version of the NCAA and CAA, but not so much after the NCAA "freedom of movement" rules implemented back in 2015.

However, this has not meant that Drexel has sacrificed any of their physicality and effort on defense. It merely has meant that Spiker has attempted to recruit a better caliber of offensive players to run a half court-dominant scheme. And this is demonstrated in the numbers so far in 2020-21: Drexel ranks # 151 in offensive efficiency and # 162 in defensive efficiency per Ken Pomeroy's metrics. And pace of play hasn't changed much from the Bruiser days if the last few seasons are any indication: This season, Drexel ranks # 323 in the NCAA in possessions per 40 minutes. Last season, that ranking was # 271, and the year before that, they ranked # 327.

In all 7 games so far this season, Drexel has had the exact same starting lineup. All have gotten heavy minutes, as Coach Spiker has a primary rotation of just 7 players. While the Seahawks run a 4-guard lineup, Drexel essentially has a four-forward starting unit, all of which are 6-6 or taller. 3 other key bench options are 6-6 or taller as well. This could create some mismatches and perhaps force Coach Siddle to use a lot of zone. Then again, the Seahawks could easily flip the script and force Drexel to go smaller.

Junior point guard Camren Wynter and Grad student frontcourt presence James Butler were picked by the league coaches to end up on the 1st Team All-CAA, and neither have disappointed. Both have stuffed the stat sheet and are the top 2 scorers on the team.

Drexel projected starting lineup:

* PG Camren Wynter (6-2 Jr.): 19.9 ppg, 4.4 apg, 1.6 spg, 3.7 rpg, .517 3-pt %
* SG Zach Walton (6-6 Gr.): 9.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.9 spg, .424 FG %
* SF Mate Okros (6-6 So.): 5.9 ppg, 2.3 apg, 2.6 rpg, 0.7 spg, .293 3-pt %
* PF T.J. Bickerstaff (6-9 So.): 11.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.3 apg, .492 FG %
* C James Butler (6-8 Gr.): 13.1 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 1.6 apg, .541 FG %

Key bench players:

* PG Matey Juric (5-11 Jr.): 2.0 ppg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg, 18.9 mpg
* G/F Lamar Oden (6-6 Fr.): 3.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.3 bpg, 14.3 mpg
* F/C Tim Perry (6-10 r-Jr.): 1.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg, .571 FG %, 7.2 mpg
* F/C Amari Williams (6-10 Fr.): 2.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.3 bpg, 6.3 mpg
* G Xavier Bell (6-3 Fr.): 2.4 ppg, 0.6 apg, 0.9 rpg, 5.9 mpg

Drexel has played a tough OOC schedule and has done really well.


This will all come down to three pointers IMO. We have one of the best three point games in the CAA and Drexel defends the three better than anyone in the CAA. They are also one of the worst three point shooting team in the CAA. If we get hot, we win. If we can't get hot from three, they win.

Drexel 75
UNCW 72

UNCW 76
Drexel 73

Seahawks are going to sweep. Drexel's bigs will become frustrated (and tired) from chasing on defense. The Dragons haven't played in two weeks, so shooting won't be sharp. UNCW will benefit from the continuity of having played nine games, and methodically getting better. New mentality. New results. Plus, back-to-back games should benefit UNCW, which is in solid physical shape.

Nice confidence Lefty. Drexel will be tough, but we do have a lot of weapons and a proven system. Need at least a split, both would be great. Go Hawks!

(12-31-2020 05:52 AM)Seahawk Lefty Wrote:  New results. Plus, back-to-back games should benefit UNCW, which is in solid physical shape.

It's a double edge sword. Playing two games in two days and playing at the pace we want to play at takes it's toll. We have already seen us come out flat and play tired after playing two games in 3 days. this is where our depth will come up big. I've been glad to see coach extending the guys playing minutes the last few games. We will need them all in these back to backs.

I am glad you think we play so many forwards. Okros and Bickerstaff are 2/3's. Butler is our only true forward we play as a starter. I do agree the 3 point line will be the determining factor in these games. We are not an aggressive team. In that we dont actively try for steals and dont actively push pace. That is true. I believe that is so we can hide our deficiencies. We are better this year, but not a good defensive team. So playing slower allows us more time to defend or attempt to defend. We have used our size to our advantage with getting to the basket. So look for us to attack attack and attack some more. If you are prone to fouling, this style will not bode well for UNCW. I expect us to try and use our size advantage.

With that said, we are not adverse to getting up and down the court if necessary. We are a pretty athletic team (minus Butler). The other key for this game will be the foul situation of Cam Wynter. When he is in foul trouble or out of the game we magically cannot break a press. With him in there, we have not had issues breaking presses. If Wynter picks up a couple of early fouls, Drexel will be doomed as we will likely turn it over like its our job. If he stays out of foul trouble I dont see your press giving us too many issues. If we shoot a bunch of 3's, it will benefit the seahawks in this one. Walton is super streaky, but if he is on he makes many, but usually he hurts us by taking bad ones. We are waiting for Bickerstaff to start hitting some. He was an excellent 3 point shooter in higher school but it has not translated yet. He is fun to watch as he can seemingly blow by most defenders with his size/speed combination.

UNCW- 83
Drexel- 74

UNCW- 68
Drexel- 81

(12-31-2020 05:52 AM)Seahawk Lefty Wrote:  Seahawks are going to sweep. Drexel's bigs will become frustrated (and tired) from chasing on defense. The Dragons haven't played in two weeks, so shooting won't be sharp. UNCW will benefit from the continuity of having played nine games, and methodically getting better. New mentality. New results. Plus, back-to-back games should benefit UNCW, which is in solid physical shape.

I like this attitude

I'm curious to see how we come back after Christmas break.

This team has been constantly improving after the WCU game on opening day, so I'm excited to see us in conference play with a league that I belive is very winnable this year

Here is an interesting data analysis by Dan Spears

Interesting data. Let's see what happens. Go Hawks!

Hawks 3 to 4 point dogs for game 1. Hawks have been playing well lately so we will see.

3.5 dogs with the over/under ar 139.

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Dropped to 3 now. I still like you guys in game 1

Have you watched UNCW play Dan? This group drives the ball more. I haven’t seen Drexel play this year, but do know of 3 guys that gave people trouble.

I don’t think that Shykeim will play this weekend. He hasn’t played all year, but may be back soon.

It’s hard to gauge game 1 vs game 2,but there are those, myself included, that really like UNCW in game 2 games with the way they are constructed. That advantage is somewhat negated without Shykeim, but I do like UNCW to play relatively better, win or lose, game 2.

(01-02-2021 09:07 AM)billthebighawksfan Wrote:  Have you watched UNCW play Dan? This group drives the ball more. I haven’t seen Drexel play this year, but do know of 3 guys that gave people trouble.

I don’t think that Shykeim will play this weekend. He hasn’t played all year, but may be back soon.

It’s hard to gauge game 1 vs game 2,but there are those, myself included, that really like UNCW in game 2 games with the way they are constructed. That advantage is somewhat negated without Shykeim, but I do like UNCW to play relatively better, win or lose, game 2.

I think there is a 0% chance Shykeim plays this weekend. Coach has been adamant that the middle of Jan is the earliest he’ll be ready.


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Just for laughs I’ll take: Hofstra, Elon, Delaware and UNCW ATS today. Go Hawks!

Unpopular opinion:

Drexel sweeps and wins both games.

Reason(s): In my opinion our defense has improved but not to the point of dealing with a team that loves a rock fight physicality. We just don’t have the size to contend with that, especially not in back to back games. The only man on our team that I trust to not get pushed around is Pridgeon. Sims won’t be pushed around a lot either but that physicality will surely wear on his ability to score the ball. We’re gonna need Dodd to play big and strong against their big, but I don’t think Siddle has given him the amount of minutes so far to be able to go for that duration of time. Bowen has played above his weight class so far this year, but I don’t trust him in CAA games on defense, and he’s a liability on offense. We don’t have our starting PG back from injury yet. Last reason is in almost all of our recent games our offense has disappeared for minutes at a time. Against a team with two of the best players in the conference, and one of them being Wynter, that’s not an easy problem to contend with, especially with 10 days between games.

I do think the guys will play hard and the games will be competitive, but I think we go 0-2 against the Dragons. I’d love to be wrong.

Go Seahawks.


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Men’s team with a positive test. No games this weekend or next. Just got confirmation of that from our event manager.

Team is on the way back from Philly.

Now confirmed on Drexel’s website as well. Makeup dates TBD.