We’ve been talking about…
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 We should use some! Today is the day the entire nation stops and pays attention. Charlotte is playing UMass in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. It’s the #6 seed versus the #11 team. It’s a team that built up our hopes before smashing them versus a squad that never stood a chance. It’s Lindsay Lohan right as she started partying too much versus Oprah. It’s DASHED DREAMS vs. UGLY MESS. How could you not tune in?
As the entire country logs on to channelsurfing.net to catch the game, they’ll see a Niner squad taking on a team they’ve already demolished once this year… the Minuteboys of UMass. If you don’t remember that game, just know that Derrio Green took out his jumpshot and said, “DO I LOOK LIKE A BITCH?” to the UMass crowd. At least, that’s how I recall it happening.
You could say that was the last Swaggerwagon game, after that our floor mats got stuck and we couldn’t undo the brake pedal (Saint Joseph’s excluded). Our offense just sort of…halted… after that game. It looked to be back against Richmond on Saturday, but our defense was lacking, as was our decision making. 5.6 seconds a no shot? Ugh.
But this is a new day and with a new day comes new opportunities. Such as an opportunity to literally smash another team into the ground in Halton Arena for kicks and giggles one more time this season. UMass has been really bad at times this season, and hopefully that trend continues tonight. How sure am I that the 1-6 team is gone? I washed my official Niners socks, and thus washed away all of the losing. I hope. Maybe I washed away the last bit of Swagger. Do they sell Swagger-infused Laundry Detergent yet?
We must win this game. We must. I will not accept losing to the 11 seed at home. Losses like that lead to drinking problems.
Predictions:
J Felt – Charlotte 80, UMass 65. All 1,000 fans in attendance get a piece of what remains of UMass’ once strong program.
NLP – Even a blind chicken gets a kernal of corn sometimes. Niners 81 UMess 67
D-Fo – Charlotte takes care of business for the entire game again, and the Niners run UMass out of Halton 78-69.
HP – I don’t have a good read on this one. My guess is that the 49ers can last longer than 60 seconds tonight. The Viagara doesn’t kick in for UMass and the 49ers pack for AC, 75-64. (For some reason, this is almost inappropriate.)
JRitchie – Charlotte goes all St. Joe’s on UMASS and makes ‘em pay. Charlotte 78-UMASS 55
 Bring a few of these cans. If you can’t already tell, us GTG guys are pretty beat up right now. I don’t think any of us have really given much thought to Charlotte basketball over the past few days. Heck, some of us are even considering starting an American Idol blog dedicated to how annoying Kara DioGuardi is. No really, she’s more annoying than losing.
It’s our Seniors’ last games in Halton, unless there’s a home NIT game to expect. So thank you to DiJuan, RaShad, Ian, Dewberry, and yes, even Kyle. We thank you for all of your hard work, dedication, and loyalty to the Niners. We’ll reflect back on your careers in later posts.
In the meantime, it’s gameday. Let’s go out of the regular season on a high note. Please?
Predictions:
NLP – Park’s closed. Moose out front should have told you. Richmond 78 Charlotte 63
D-Fo – At this point, it’s painful to even TRY and predict anyting. However, we must soldier on. Call it wishful thinking or a flashback to a better time…but Charlotte 70, Richmond 67
JRitchie – The Spiders weave Charlotte’s web assuring an NIT birth by demolishing the Niners 74-44
letsgoNINERS11 – Hottest team in the country playing for NCAA seeding vs. the Kings of Next Year (with students on spring break). We’ll probably get beat by 25+. Charlotte 58 – Richmond 80. (can we just forfeit this game and the rest of the season please?)
HP – Nothing else has worked lately so here goes the reverse psychology. Niners lead the entire game, but Richmond hits a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win, 74-73.
J Felt – Richmond 82, Charlotte 67. Kevin Anderson stops in the middle of the game and yells at the Student Section, “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!”
 Depressing. Yep, they’re broken. Hard to put any green tint on going 1-5 the past 6 games. We’re collapsing worse than Kirstie Allie’s foot stool.
 Postgame carnage. Name two teams in the A14 currently in a free fall from high expectations and peak optimism…(hint Charlotte is one of them).
The answer: Charlotte and Rhode Island.
Rhode Island went from “likely at large” to “you must be dreaming” over the past couple weeks, losing 4 of the past 5 (sound familiar?). Where did they go wrong? I don’t know. Maybe they forgot how to play basketball. And while it would have been nice for this game to have been a “Battle of the A14 Leaders!”, it still is an important game. If we can win this game, and Saint Louis drops one, then we are still alive for a first round bye in the A14 tourney. And yes, I will continue to call it the A14 until it goes down to just TEN TEAMS.
This game reminds me a lot of the 07-08 season. We were an okay team then, and with half the conference schedule remaining, Rhose Island was still contending for an at large. Then they fell apart and it all culminated with a loss on their Senior Day to… you guessed it… Charlotte. And then they went and blew a solid lead in the first round of the A14 tourney to… yep, those bastards… Charlotte. It’s amazing we don’t have a rivalry with these guys after those two games, but when you spend your athletic budget trying to look like Chapel Hill, well, you deserve it.
I want Charlotte to win this game. I truly do. But URI is full of athletic guys that are going to make our offense stutter and turn the ball over. The only thing going for us tonight is that URI is the only team in as hard of a tailspin as us. Maybe we pull this out, I sure hope we do, but I am worried that I left my green tinted glasses somewhere, probably near NLP’s swagger.
But hell, since this blog is all about blind optimism, I say we win. Predictions are below, leave yours in the comments.
 Not mine, but hilarious anyway. If you’re interested in becoming a full-time predictor, let me know!
J Felt – Charlotte 74, URI 67. Senior Day curse strikes again, as Derrio relaxes and drops in a calm, but cool, 20 points.
HP – Hate to think that a “rhode” game is a must win for the 49ers. Somehow… Niners 80, Rams 77.
letsgoNINERS11 – I don’t like our chances as we are playing for seeding in the Not Important Tournament. Charlotte 68 – URI 77
JRitchie – Charlotte proves it is unraveling at a slower pace that Rhody by ramming out a close one 71-69
Yeah so J Felt and I were too depressed to post game. Writing about the team you love losing is painful. We leave it to the people who get paid by the period to do the post mortem some times so we can spend a few hours days in the fetal position. So today we started exchanging emails while I was repairing the grammar on my surgical fellow’s abstract and voila!
Here goes nothing.
NLP says: Alright J Felt, I’m going to need to be talked down from the ledge. Team US lost on a heart-breaking goal in OT by frigging Frenchy-wannabe Sidney Crosby and more importantly, the Niners were completely beat up by George Washington -this time with no last minute heroics by the back court.
We’ve started conference play 8-1 and now there’s strong reason to believe we could finish 1-6. WTF?
J Felt gets italics today.
In my high school band geek days we referred to “WTF” as “What To Fix” and I think that is especially appropriate here. We have a lot of things that need fixing, especially since it seems that all the coaches in the A14 are sharing notes on how to beat us, Martelli just ignored the email. Its almost painful to watch, the entire squad is playing extremely tight and over thinking everything. This is also known as “choking”, and it’s easy to see on their faces. The guys are so concerned about not making mistakes that they’re making a ton of mistakes. I don’t buy the excuse that ”we can’t beat physical ball teams”, we should be compensating for it and figuring out how to win. We’re not. Who do we blame? Can we blame anyone?
As for the hockey, you seem to forget that I’m a dual citizen and I am therefore legally allowed to change my rooting interests on a whim. However, I was rooting for the USA all the way, especially since they were playing the style of hockey I love to watch. Fast paced and out-hustling their opponents. Canada should send a “Thank You” card to the US for that 5-3 beatdown earlier on, because it really turned Team Canada around, made them realize they can’t just phone it in and expect to win. The USA played 100% the entire time, and got better as the Olympics went on, which was great as well, Canada was just too good in the end.
That being said, I hate Sidney Crosby, I wouldn’t have been upset if Eric Staal had scored the winning goal, but Crosby? That’s worse than Celine Dion covering Nickelback.
- Wow, you made the impossible possible. You made Nickelback even worse. That’s suffering, folks.
 Best commercial of the Olympics. Much better than that awful GE Healthcare one that played over and over.
NLP says: I kind of figure I could count on you for some Crosby hating since you aren’t a Quebecois. I know this because I haven’t stabbed you in the back repeatedly yet. I guess I’ll have to shelve the “54 40 or fight” rhetoric and just focus my rage on Quebec. Je me souviens? Yeah you’ll remember when I’m going Jeff Gillooly on your knee, Sidney.
Otherwise it was a good Olympics.
But it wasn’t such a good performance Saturday by the basketball team. That final score was no indication of how much a whooping it was. 39 trips to the foul line by GW. That’s jaw-dropping for me when all season long we were a team that made more FTs than our opponents even attempted.
The biggest problem incidently wasn’t turnovers or the GW defense as much as it was on the defensive end. Our interior players got abused early on and the infection of futility spread to the back court. Probably the biggest difference in the game was Shamari and Braswell going to the bench early, and practically everyone being in foul trouble by early in the 2nd half. As bad as I thought out defense was, it was obviously worse when you consider we had to play a little looser to keep from fouling. That means layup drill and offensive rebounds galore for GW.
The larger question, which you alluded to, is how we did we get to that point?
Unfortunately our problems start in the backcourt with DiJuan and Derrio. Though DiJuan is doing a decent job, he’s struggling with traps mightily. Derrio is also turning the ball over in really painful situations, like between the circles and on fast breaks. He’s really good with the ball in the halfcourt once we’re set, and he’s good when he sees the defense, but he seems to loose too many balls when there’s a defender around him. I guess it’s the court awareness and transition to DI where you have to account for everyone, not JUCO where the defense gives up once you start the break.
I’m really getting worried about Wednesday. Despite losing to X, I see Richmond drilling us. Mooney is no fool and he’s gonna know the scouting report. They probably feel like they owe us a beating. We HAVE to solve our problems dealing with physical teams NOW.
J Felt says: It was a good Olympics, and I pretty much just hate Crosby because he looks like a bitch but he’s still pretty good, and he plays for the Penguins. After the thrashing they laid down on the Canes in the playoffs I have some serious disdain.
 No more MASN!!! As for the game, I don’t even remember most of the 2nd half. 10 minutes into the game I asked our waitress for another pitcher of Yuengling. Already then I knew the MASN curse was kicking in. I really hate that channel, and I probably let you know that. Its as if our team notices that we’re on MASN and forgets how to play basketball. I know I said we broke the curse with the Fordham game, but does a single digit win over Fordham really count as a WIN? That’s like taking home your grandmother’s bingo partner, you’re actually losing.
- “Judy Rose’s office, how can I help you?.” … “Oh, it’s MASN? One moment please.” (call immediately transferred to angry chair-slamming guy who sits in 217)
NLP says:
I also heard they were douches to Matt and cut his feed off. Something to that effect. I would tell you first-hand but with his speech rate the words still haven’t hit my ears. He’s got good announciation though and that goes a long way.
Yeah I’m going to have to agree. We need a self-imposed ban from MASN before someone gets hurt. And I’m talking a lot more than the bruised egos the Niners and us fans are currently sporting.
Remember when everyone agreed that Shamarr leaving the team was a good thing for us. Do you still feel that way? I’m not going to tip my hand on how I feel, so ha ha! You’re on your own.
J Felt says: No, it’s never a good thing when someone leaves the team, whatever reason it is. While I wasn’t suprised in the least to see him go, I still think we could have been better with him here. Derrio did blossom for a few games after Shamarr left, but he’s fallen off as late. You can blame that on being tired, but there’s another aspect that is going unnoticed. Competition. No offense to Ian, but he is never going to contend with Derrio for that two guard spot, and maybe this long slump is because of complatency. He’d never admit it of course, he probably does work his ass off in practice, but there’s no one trying to take his starting job.
I think people forget how important practice is. If there’s no one near your calibre challenging you in practice, you’ll never improve. Just look at Phil Jones’ improvement ever since he’s had to battle K.J., Shamari, and Braswell at practice. If Green is only having to play against Ian in practice, no wonder he’s struggling in games. And yes, we’re talking about PRACTICE.
- Maybe Ian is the new Butter when it comes to killing it in practice?
 One of the most memorable interviews I've ever seen.
NLP says:
Not a game? Not a game? But Practice? Practice?
I’d take AI right now on this team, even with the neck tattoos (always popular since the Curtis Nash experiment) and broken down body too.
I agree I wouldn’t want to take Shamarr back, but the question was whether we’re still a better team without him, not would we take him back. You did answer that though by saying you thought we could be better with him here. I agree there too. Not only is it addtional competition, but it’s also additional options. Obviously we have a collection of streaky shooters. That’s a challenge, but less of one with more options. Of course there’s a caveat with more options, and that’s less playing time to go around, and as this season showed we fell victim to its consequences -Shamarr leaving. Pity, he could have really fit in well if he bought into the team concept.
Derrio kind of reminds me of Neo on his first visit to the Oracle in The Matrix.
And I have to go on an aside here. The Matrix was the only one they should have made. Reloaded and Revolutions were awful, especially the latter. If you’re the machines, how can you accept that deal? Yeah Smith is wreaking havoc inside the build, but the deal with the humans is untenable. It cuts off their sole form of energy, since the sun is out of the picture. Unless they have some sort of cold fusion energy production scheme worked out, I don’t know how it works.
Anyway, in the visit the Oracle tells Neo he’s waiting on something, and that no one call tell you you’re The One, it’s something you realize. I kind of think that about Derrio and when I recall Utter writing about him talking with his father about his game, it kind of reinforces that. I think Derrio has it in him to be a Me-guard (credit to Powerbait for introducing me to that) unlike any that Lutz has had, unlike any the program has had since H Will. Sorry Jobey fans, I just see Derrio being a more dynamic triple threat (dribble, pass, shoot) threat than Jobey even though Thomas’ mid-range game was awesome by the time he graduated.
That said, I hope Derrio’s confidence isn’t waning. He’s got to believe in himself. I think the fans absolutely do, we’ve seen him do just jaw-dropping things (like the comeback against Fordham). I think his teammates do too, otherwise they wouldn’t look for him on offense. I also think defenses would fear him too if he could get the turnovers under control. How do you guard a kid who’s athletic enough to either blow by you or hit his shot no matter how closely he’s guarded?
Hang in there Derrio. I seriously believe in you. I think we’re an absolute long-shot to win the A10 tournament (which in my opinion is our only way now), but if we were it’d be on your back.
The Phil Jones does remain a good example of competition improving a player, despite my differing view on the source of Derrio’s struggles. Unfortunately he’s the most polarizing guy on the team. People either love what he brings off the bench or he’s labelled as soft and unaggresive. Personally I think he’s physically limited in his explosiveness, but has the size to make up for it; however, deep down I see him as a SF in a C’s body.
J Felt says: Here’s the thing about The Matrix: it’s a double decker matrix. See, the people in Zion are in the deeper layer of the Matrix, how else would Neo have power in the “real” world? He’s obviously been removed from the Matrix but has only ended up in the 2nd Matrix. Following me? So everyone in Zion thinks they are “free” but they are, in fact, still just batteries. A little depressing. They should have stopped after the first film, we can agree on that
 You gotta check your mirrors, just the side of your eye. I can’t believe you segwayed from The Matrix and Neo into Derrio becoming a star. Did you pull out a white board and brain storm possible movie choices that could be used to describe Derrio? What movie do you think appropriately symbolizes our season?
NLP says: Oooh. Good point. I forgot about Neo’s real world powers too. I’ve ranted about those too. Your theory is plausible. That’d solve the machine energy conundrum.
What movie summarizes our season? Unfortunately Groundhog Day. We’re at the point where Phil Connors keeps getting turned down by Rita every way imaginable. It’s like all the creative ways we can blow a season. PLEASE LET IT END. WHAT RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS AND CHARITY MUST I PERFORM? WHAT CATHARTIC MOMENT MUST I EXPERIENCE? I’m going go step in front of a truck/electrocute myself/jump off a building/drive off a cliff with a groundhog at the wheel.
 An image from today's game. As you may have been able to figure out, GreenTintedGlasses.net has started to let loose a little bit. Things were so stodgy around here for awhile there, but with this new brave world of At-Larges and Top Four in Conference, we figured it’s time to change things up a bit.
But one thing hasn’t changed, we still HATE George Washington. You should too. Until we beat them by 30 points one day, I will continue to despise the school named after one of our Founding Fathers.
“You guys really need to get over that game in ‘06. Leemire DID throw an elbow, you know.”
You know what? Screw you. I’m still pissed about that.
In other words, we HATE George Washington, and the first game this year just made it worse, despite our victory. George Washington led for most of the game by playing tough, physical ball and taking us out of our game plan. And when I say, “tough, physical ball” I mean “beat the shit out of DiJuan if he had the ball.” We still won though, which shows the character of this team. We really have a way of pulling out the close ones, Duquesne excluded. We have always found a way to get that key steal, basket, or defensive stand if the game was close near the end. Look at the Saint Joseph’s game, we hit about 100 key baskets.
You ask “will we win this game?” and to be honest, I don’t know. This has FAIL written all over it, just follow the equation…
Heated Rivalry + Away Game + Tough Physical Defense + MASN = Niners FAIL
But here’s the deal, we’re still going to win. We finally broke the MASN curse with Fordham, and Derrio is due for a big game, and that’ll be today. Our predictions are below, leave yours in the comments.
J Felt – Charlotte 81, GW 74. Derrio goes off, that’s all you need to know.
letsgoNINERS11 – A pretty heated rivalry is starting to form, and a good ole fashioned Niner beatdown in Foggy Bottom becomes the next chapter. Charlotte 75 – GW 67
D-Fo – Last game, Martelli said the Hawks came into Halton and played an “angry” team. Wrong. That’s not anger. That’s Swagger, homes. Charlotte 80, GW 70.
HP – Wolf Blitzer sits in his seat and is amazed at the 49ers’ rediscovered prowess, Good Guys 75, Foggy Bottoms 63.
JRitchie – Charlotte’s finally realized that NCAA hopes are slipping away, the Niners use that desperation in Foggy Bottom for a big win Charlotte 85-GW 68
 GW's backcourt handing out another mugging. Part II of perhaps the most intense on-court rivalry the Niners have had since joining the A10 is set to renew again Saturday night at 6 PM in Charles Dump Arena in Washington against the George Washington Colonials. The Niners find themselves again in a must-win situation if they want to maintain any hopes of an at-large NCAA bid, a goal that seemed to be a distant memory until Ian Andersen and Gokhan Sirin erupted for 30 points as the Niners thrashed the Saint Joseph’s Hawks Wednesday in Halton Arena. MASN, our favorite network to lose on, will provide TV coverage.
The last time these two teams met earlier this month it was a hard fought contest which left DiJuan Harris searching for one of CMPD’s finest to press charges for assault and battery. The intense GW defense, which at times bordered on dirty, frustrated the Niners and had the game all but secured at the 1:25 mark leading by 5. The Niner backcourt would have none of that, forcing a pair of turnovers and hitting clutch foul shots to secure a well-deserved 72-68 victory.
In the rematch, the key for the Niners is going to be pretty simple -contain Damian Hollis. He’s an absolute Niner-killer and was certainly a handful scoring 23 points including 4 for 5 from 3 point land. He’ll be a difficult matchup for whoever guards him, as he’s a bit too athletic for Braswell, Spears, and Jones, and a bit too tall for Wilderness and Dewhurst. I would expect Lutz to again dare him to shoot from outside, although that’s increasingly becoming a bad idea has Hollis recently hit 6 of 10 from outside against Fordham.
Freshmen. Lasan Kromah and Dwayne Smith will also merit considerable attention as both appear to be improving their play as the season progresses, looking more like Sophomores than first years. Smith in particular has steadily improved his scoring, hitting double figures in 5 of his last 8 games including 21 points against a depleted La Salle squad.
For more on the GW squad, visit the previous pre-game.
Looking at the Niners offensively, it’s a question of which team will show up. The team dazzled fans with their shooting against an inferior Saint Joseph’s squad to reverse a trend of awful shooting recently. Even Ian Andersen, who’s struggled throughout the season found the range. Hopefully that will continue as the Niners absolutely need scoring off the bench, particularly from outside. Though Ian’s struggles on defense are well-documented, he does know the offense well and if he’s hitting his shots, it’s worth having him out there.
This game is going to be war. A lot will depend on how closely the refs call it. The Niners will prefer to score at the charity stripe and get calls for all the bumps and handchecks DiJuan Harris will undoubtedly receive. For vets of the CUSA days, the Colonials play us a lot like UAB used to play us. Constant bumping and reaching for the ball. It also seemed that the refs would swallow their whistles and let our players get mugged. Honestly I’m expecting nothing different. It will be interesting to see if the zest for the game the team showed Wednesday against the Hawks can survive the physical and down-right dirty play of GW. If it does, expect the Niners to gut out another victory.
So we’re trying this new thing. Adding a new dimension to our blog.
Pictures of hot chicks.
Not really, we’re just adding a weekly conversation about the state of Niner basketball between J Felt (me) and NLP. We’re both completely untalented and unfunny by ourselves, but together we form a mildly humorous duo capable of making you smirk once or twice. This one was started right after the Saint Joseph’s game. Read on…
J Felt (I’m in italics because I’m artsy): Well, who saw that coming? With the way we’ve been struggling, the thought of us beating a team down like that, in conference play no less, was far fetched. Saint Joe’s looked like us last year: bad at everything. They walked into a buzzsaw, and after 5 minutes into the game it was never in doubt. The Hawks forgot how to play basketball on the same day our team remembered. What does this victory tell you about our team heading into the last few games of the season?
 Ian Andersen is fired up!!! NLP (in regular, because he’s a straightfoward guy): It tells me that we need to play the Hawks more often. I don’t know how much of it was execution on our part or ineptitude on their part, but I’ll take the result either way. Take Ian and Gokhan for instance: 30 points between them. Basically they were hitting the shots they’ve been missing as both have been able to get open looks during their respective scoring droughts (Ian’s lasting all season up until last night). Really how often do you have someone as a Sr. who isn’t injured burst for 19 points when he’s been below the double-digit line all season? Rare.
We’ll find out if we’re back this weekend when we take on the Foggy Bottom Colonials. The team that lost three straight will lose that game by double digits. The team we saw last night would win by double digits. I don’t think we’ll see anything in between. It’s going to be either one extreme or the other.
J: That GW game has worried me all season. They really are starting to develop as a rival, and Lutz even mentioned in the postgame, “they REALLY don’t like us.” So you know the Colonials will be fired up for the game, and it’s on MASN. We never win on that channel, unless you count barely beating Fordham as a win…
Speaking of Ian Andersen, where does his layup on the break rank amongst your “Most Awkward Fast Breaks” list? To me, it’s got to go pretty high, right up there with E.J. Drayton getting called for a palming violation against Miss St. a few years ago. I wonder what was going through Ian’s head, if his first intention was to bring down a tomahawk slam but got distracted by thinking about whether or not he should blow a kiss to his wife after a slam dunk.
N: I’m on Orbitz right now looking for flight and hotel packages (I’d take the bus up but NQH has never seen DC and we might head up tomorrow night and come back Sunday. Point? I’m trying to guarantee a loss. Although we’re undefeated at the Smith Center with me in attendence… granted my last appearance was in 2002 when we still had Jobey, Cam, Eddie, and the Curtis Nash experiment hadn’t yet begun.
Ian’s layup? I think he achieved the minimum elevation possible while still leaving the ground… maybe 1 or 2 micrometers, which is funny because he can actually dunk fairly easily. In warmups. Important distinction. Yesterday’s game is proof that the basketball gods are willing to relent at least for one game. Bask in the glory Ian, there’s no knowing how long it will last!
 Free the Golddusters! J: Back to the really important issues. Which Goldduster is #1? Short haired brunette, or GingerDuster? There are serious arguments being made on both sides, but I think some people are neglecting the blondes. I would be worried about asking this question because it might offend some women, but we already know women don’t read our blog.
N: Look, they’re both gahgeous. It just comes down to preference. Most people will probably gravitate towards Ginger for the novelty factor and you can’t fault that.
Personally? Short-haired brunette wins the NLP Goldduster award. Both can feel free to schedule a competition with GTG as judges to determine the ultimate winner.
J: Its too bad our athletic department doesn’t have a page dedicated to them where we can bios and Judy Rose-approved headshots. They’d probably all list UNC-CH as their favorite college basketball team anyway. However, Short-Haired Brunetter Duster is probably leading the vote right now, You’re right, the only way to settle it is a GreenTintedGlasses.net Goldduster competition, which I’m sure Judy Rose would be more than happy to allow.
Back to basketball. There was a noticeable difference in the demeanor of our team last night. They were smiling and enjoying basketball. Even during the 7 game win streak, our team didn’t exactly look excited to be playing basketball until the end of the games, but last night they were a different team before tip off. I guess winning does that to you. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out for the rest of the season. Do guys like Gokhan and Ian see more of a role? Will Derrio come out of his “slump”?
N: Do we really have to go back to basketball? I guess I don’t want Judy Rose sticking a shank in my neck at the Richmond game.
Yeah the team looked like it had fun out there, which is the big idea. Win and enjoy doing it. We absolutely need more of that. As for roles, I’m scared Bobby might overuse Ian after his ‘breakout’. He’s still awful on defense and just doesn’t have the speed and overall athleticism to do anything more than come off screens. If he’s on though, give it a whirl but watch that +/-.
I do want more Sirin, I’ll admit it, I’m enamored with his game but he’s still a work in progress and needs to be more aware on defense, work on his dribbling as you mentioned when we were gtalking it up, and get stronger. Most of those things will come in the off-season. The SF position will be interesting. Dewhurst just doesn’t provide much on offense, but he’s a great glue guy who can get offensive rebounds and tends to get fouled if and when he shoots. But I really like the way Wilderness is playing. It’s just unfortunate he’s never really developed that consistent jumper that teams have to respect. Still, he’s amazing around the rim. Easily our best finisher. The question is whether teams will let him get there.
As for Derrio, he’ll be fine. He just needs to re-iterate that shooters mentality and have the short memory whenever he makes a mistake. That doesn’t mean force up shots, that just means always believe a good shot will go in.
J: You know Judy has all that hair for a reason. She keeps a collection of weapons in there for people like you.
Sirin has an amazing shot, and fairly good basketball IQ, but call me when he can play defense, adds some muscle, and can dribble the ball out of double teams. If he can do at least one of those things, I say give him plenty more playing time, but in the meantime I like his “Sean Phaler + Skill” role right now. And Wilderness, man, what a beast. In my mind I’m picturing a Basden-esque senior year for Wilderness. Remember how much more dangerous Eddie was when he sort of developed a jumper? If Wilderness can do that and stay healthy, watch out, we could be really good next year.
I hate saying that with so much of the season left, but that’s really the biggest thing I’m getting from this season: we could be REALLY good next year. I’m already excited and this one’s not even over yet.
 Obligatory N: We’re the kings of next year. For once, I’d like to be the king of this year. This team could do it -the ability is there, but can they seize it? That I don’t know. I’m personally of the belief that unless we run the remaining 3 regular season games, we have to win the A10 title to make the NCAA tournament. In the event we do run the table, I think we still have to make the A10 finals, or at least beat an RPI top 40 team like Dayton who had to play their way to AC by winning a first round game.
I’m excited too, but unlike the Pointer Sisters I’m still kind of hiding it.
J: I refuse to mention anything about the big post season event that happens following the conference tourney. No point getting our hopes up, because I hate to be disappointed. I will say this, we still have a chance because there are a TON of bubble teams that could easily drop off and let us in. We still have work to do.
Last topic for your discussion (I sense our reader is bored), what do you think matters the most heading into these last three games?
N: Our reader? We have just one now? :’(
Going into the last three games the difference is going to be defense. We need to get better at it and play the kind of defense we did against Richmond. We’ve been good at getting open shots this season, but they don’t always fall. We’ve been good at getting Shamari the ball down low, but he doesn’t always get the call when he’s fouled. But none of that should impact how hard we go at it on defense. There’s no better way to keep a game close when shots aren’t falling than going all out on defense.
After that, it’s taking care of the ball. We’re still turnover prone between the circles, and that’s the worst play to turn it over. It’s an almost guaranteed layup/dunk/foul because of the numbers.
 The Hawks put up the white flag with 10 minutes left in the 1st It’s nice to see someone else in conference pull a Kevin Bacon. Last night the Niners obliterated the Hawks to the tune of 95-58. That’s 37 points, in case you’re an English major. Protip: if Ian Andersen is in the game, it be would be wise to guard him, he’s out there to shoot the ball, that’s it.
Lutz stated in the postgame that the team was starting to get down on itself and wasn’t having any fun, so the assistant coaches put together a highlight reel of the season to get them in a good mood again. Whether or not said video included videos of the best GoldDuster moments, it worked. The team came out tonight and dominated every aspect of the game, including rebounding (43 to 35) and defense (8 steals). Hell, we even dominated in the rare statistic of “white guy makes awkward layup”, a stat we almost always lose. You could see the proverbial weight being lifted off our shoulders when the game got off to a good start, and we never took our foot off the throttle. Saint Joe’s? They stopped fighting with 30 minutes left in the game.
Other than Ian Andersen, the biggest surprise of the night was An’Juan Wilderness. Doing his best Eddie Basden impersonation, Wilderness ended with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, including two high flying dunks. It’s nice to see him coming back to form, and if he can continue to hit a jumper once or twice a game and stay healthy, he could be a big key component heading down the stretch.
Of course, we should note the play of DiJuan Harris. He stopped being Mitchell Baldwin and went back to being the warrior we’ve come to respect so much, driving the lane and making plays happen. If anyone can change the face of this team in a hurry, it’s him. We go as DiJuan goes, and hopefully he wants to continue to win.
All in all last night was a fantastic effort all around, time for some short observations. Look for the first ever edition of “Post Game Mine-Side Chats with NLP and J Felt” shortly. We’re still working on a name…
- Chris Braswell seems to have come out of his funk and is playing well, just wait until ALL those layups go in next year
- K.J. Sherrill is going to be awesome for us
- Derrio Green still drew heavy defensive pressure despite only scoring 5 points
- Gokhan Sirin, or “Goky” to some, is really good, every shot looks PERFECT
- Trevin Parks needs more PT opportunities, he reminds me of DiJuan
- Shamari Spears is a work horse, and the team hitting shots made his job 10X easier
- Phil Jones hit his trademark jumper again, defensives are going to have to respect him more
- Dewhurst, SHOOT THE BALL, we know you can
 He DOES look like a dinosaur! I leave to go to Vancouver for the Olympics, stay with JRitchie, and as I’m enjoying our visit, Charlotte goes and loses to Duquesne at home. (does anyone else remember how to spell that by saying ‘doo-kes-ney’?) Then we White-Out Xavier but get massacred regardless. Can we officially call an end to White-Out-ing Xavier? We’re 1-2 in those games and Dayton already did it Xavier. I think we should do something insanely radical, like a Neon Green-Out, or Plaid-Out (aka Al Borlan night), or Hot Girls Sit Front Row-Out. Those are winning ideas.
Needless to say, I came back to the East Coast disappointed. Maybe I should blame myself. I’m sure the players were thinking, “That guy who yells really stupid stuff isn’t here, why should we bother?” and decided to phone it in and save their best efforts for when I was in attendance. Also missed was the debut of the “Ginger Nation” sign, as one of our loyal readers, Pip, is doing his part to further the redhead race (is that really a good idea?) by wooing the crowd favorite GingerDuster. We at GTG wish him luck, and although success is unlikely, anything is possible. We were in 1st place at one time, remember?
Being at the Olympics got me thinking, what events would best suit our players?
Ian Andersen would be in curling, for obvious reasons. Shamari Spears and An’Juan would make a good two-man bobsled team. Dewhurst would do the aerials. DiJuan would tear up the moguls. Derrio seems like a speed skater. K.J. would be a great defenceman for hockey. And Phil Jones and Chris Braswell would make a formidable two-man luge squad.
We can’t leave Bobby out, of course. There’s no other place for him but Figure Skating. Have you ever seen his trademark Spin-into-Crouch and Scream? His form is impeccable.
Well, now that I’ve officially wasted your time, we need to discuss our Niners. We’ve lost three in a row. That’s rough. We’ve arguably been in a tailspin since the UMass game and we’re having a difficult time recovering. Whereas earlier in conference play luck was on our side, we seem to have run out and can’t seem to get our mojo going again. Tonight’s game is the perfect opportunity for our team to get back on their feet and remember how to win. No more imitating Mitchell Baldwin, DiJuan, play like you know how to.
Predictions are below. You know what to do.
D-Fo – The Niners really need to find their rhythm again after the past couple of weeks. In optimism, with true green-tinted glasses, I’m gonna say that it finally happens. Charlotte 75, Chicken-Hawks 68.
HP – Martelli leaves Halton scratching his bald head on what it once was like to be significant… Niners 78, Hawks 64.
letsgoNINERS11 – Phil Martelli looks like a dinosaur. WTF happened to Saint Joe’s? Charlotte 82 – Joe’s 67
J Felt – Charlotte 85, Saint Ho-seph’s 69. Braswell, Green and Spears all wake up and nom nom on some Hawk meat.
JRitchie – Charlotte narrowly avoids continuing its losing ways by topping the hawks with a minute to go sealing the victory. Charlotte 73 – St. Joe’s 69
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