Please hold the Bon Jovi references to the comments section.
With Saturday’s win over Saint Bonaventure we’ve not only matched our win total from last season, but we also crossed the mid point for our regular season. At 11 wins last year, we were in February. At 11 wins this year, we’re just starting conference play. That’s an improvement I’d take any day of the week.
However, compared to last year, any winning record at 15 games would be an improvement. But that doesn’t mean we’re all content in Niner Nation. Even the most optimistic of the fanbase (contributors to GreenTintedGlasses.net, perhaps) are feeling almost disheartened at this season so far.
We’ve been absolutely demolished twice (@ ODU and @ Duke), solidly defeated once (@ Tenn), and missed a great opportunity to make a statement against Georgia Tech in Halton. Of course, if you look at those losses as just Ls on paper, they aren’t bad. Duke is pretty darn spectular, and Georgia Tech just beat them. Tennessee took down undefeated #1 Kansas and ODU is a solid team all around and hard to beat at home. So our losses (again, not looking at score margin) aren’t that bad.
What about our wins? Our fantastic eleven wins. Well, they look alright on paper, but taking a closer look they aren’t that impressive. We have one key win at Louisville, one fairly solid win at Hofstra, and then 9 wins over teams we might’ve beaten last year.
The truth is, we might be really good and don’t know it yet. Or we could be really bad and have just padded our record versus terrible teams. Or we’re just mediocre. It’s hard to tell at this point, but we’ll see how things go in conference play. Here’s a look back at the past half-season…
Best Game – @ #18 Louisville, Charlotte wins 87-65
Is there another game this season that even comes close to the smack down we put on the Cardinals in Freedom Hall? While the Cardinals may have been out 3 players, there’s a good chance we would’ve won that game anyway when you consider the way we played. Chris Braswell put up a 21/14 double-double, Derrio and Bowden poured in 37 points, and DiJuan Harris looked unstoppable breaking the press. Blame this game for everyone’s expectations being raised.
Worst Game –
No question, it’s the Duke game. From opening tip-off to the end of the game, the Niners were in the fetal position. It was a comedy (dark comedy) of errors, turnovers, wild three-pointers, and turnovers and errors, and wild three-pointers. Duke of course responded with transition basket after transition basket and the Blue Devils steam-rolled the Niners by 42 points. I think I still have a bruise from that game.
Most Memorable Play – Derrio Green’s 3 at the half against Louisville
I wanted to mention his barrage to open the game, but I refuse to be mathematically challenged and instead opted for Green’s dagger at the half against the Cardinals. You could feel the crowd seething as Derrio swaggered off the court with his hand holding up three fingers. In all, it was Derrio’s 4th three-pointer of the first half and was really his first coming out party for the Niners.
Honorable mention goes do DiJuan’s shot to give the Niners a 1 point lead against GT, capping a furious comeback from a deficit that was as large as 15 points in the second half. The basket nearly blew the roof off the arena, but the celebration wasn’t to last.
Most Forgettable Play – Ian Andersen steps on the line at Tennessee
If one moment summed up why Ian has moved into the “disdain” category for 49ers fans, it might be this one. In the midst of a semi-comeback against the Vols, Ian Andersen inbounds the ball to Phil Jones and goes for the handoff in the corner. Usually this play is followed by a three pointer, instead Ian Andersen hadn’t stepped across the inbounds line, and was essentially still out of bounds. Boneheaded plays like this will lose close games later in the season.
Biggest Surprise –
The Turkish Terror, Gokhan Sirin. After looking absolutely lost against JCSU, he’s performed well in spots. Particularly encouraging was the 12 points in just 7 minutes of action against Winston Salem State. Though WSSU isn’t exactly top notch competition, it’s always good to see freshman play well when given the chance, and Sirin showed he’s much more than a spot-up shooter. Sirin hit a nice mid-range pull-up jumper in transition and also attacked the basket on occasions.
Team MVP –
DiJuan Harris. Statistically it’s probably Shamari Spears but DiJuan is the one who makes it click. We go as he goes. When he’s in we play much, much better than when he’s out, and it’s clear the players respond to his leadership. DiJuan is by no means the flashiest player we’ve ever had on the court, nor the most statistically productive, but he has tremendous heart and that’s a intangible that’s hard to put a measure on.
Best Newcomer –
Shamari Spears, but Derrio and Braswell are also invited to the conversation. Spears wins because he gives scoring in the paint, which the Niners have lacked for years now, and he commands a near constant double and sometimes triple team. Though he doesn’t pass out of the pressure in the paint like he should, it does free up opportunities for other players.
Best Returner –
DiJuan Harris. See above.
Biggest Disappointment –
This is easy. Definitely Shamarr Bowden. Heralded as a savior of sorts, Bowden is one of the first things people point to when suggesting last year’s 11-20 record would have been much improved were it not for personnel losses of the likes of Bowden. Pointing to his performance in Canadia last summer where he led the team in scoring, you can see the reasons for optimism. Unfortunately it didn’t pan out once the games started counting. Aside from his outburst against UNCA in the first game of the season, Bowden has been anything but consistent… or patient. This combination culminated last with Bowden’s decision to leave the program. We respect Bowden here at GTG.net and wish him well, but wonder what might have been if he learned to play within himself and the team.
Coach’s Grade –
Some here would want to put a big fat F and cite our losses to Duke, ODU, GT, and Tennessee. It’s hard to fault a team for losing all of those games, but sometimes our fans can expect too much right away. Duke, GT, and Tenn were all ranked opponents, and OSU is no slouch at home. And while the ultimate blame falls on the coach, he isn’t the one that curled into the fetal position against Duke and ODU, our players have to step up. We should have beaten Georgia Tech, and our shot selection was part of that, something Bobby is known to have little control over, but it’s hard to hold the loss against Tennessee against anyone. That “depleted” squad just knocked off the #1 team in the nation. All in all, Bobby’s doing a lot of the things this year we have wanted him to; reign in his shooters and go inside to our bigs Spears, Jones, and Braswell. However, our defense alone prevents him from getting a great grade. We’re giving him a B minus. The B is because we’re 11 and 4 and haven’t lost to any “bad” teams, the minus is because we don’t play defense. This could very easily turn into an A if we show some improvement and return the swagger, but a C or D isn’t out of the question as we go into conference play.
Expectations for rest of season…
We at GreenTintedGlasses.net collectively have no clue what to expect for the rest of the season. Ask us in Febuary.
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