Normally we open with some sort of snark about eviscerating our opposition; however, the GTG staff apparently has a case of the #badfans and some are predicting defeat.  As usual, McFly and 2k are being Negative Nancys. Pish tosh, says NLP, the Niners are going to empty the Saint Louis chances for victory like liposuction would empty Rick Majerus of his abundant accumulation of adipocytes. Really, Majerus should consider a career as a luxury liner. With yet another cruise ship tragedy, one would think that someone as buoyant as the Boy Beluga would be in high demand as an unsinkable vessel. It would certainly be better than hearing his annual grips about wanting to move SLU to the MVC so that his abundant waistband doesn’t have to log so many miles.

Predictions:

NLP (the best):  Charlotte put the Saint Louis offensive attack on a crash course weight loss plan. Niners 72 – Bilikens 63

J Felt:  Niners win, Majerus leaves with 4 minutes to get good seat at Olive Garden. Charlotte 70, SLU 65

McFly:  Billikens return to their early season form, Niners still search for some semblance of consistency. SLU 73, Charlotte 60

Gill: Biliken doesn’t bring luck to SLU. Charlotte 77-71

Cpip: Braswell stays in beast mode, leading Niners to victory. Charlotte 62 – Saint Louis 58

2k: Not ice under Halton, but will feel like it… SLU 63 Charlotte 57

Saturday, the Saint Louis Billikens (13-4, 1-2 A-10) come to Halton to renew their tepid rivalry with your Charlotte 49ers (9-6, 2-1 A-10). Of course, that means it is the time of year where we ask ourselves, “What exactly is a Billiken?”  Most would comment that it is a troll, or a small person, and even Google isn’t sure.  When I typed in “Billiken” the all powerful search engine asked me if I meant to search “Black Men”.  Obviously, this wasn’t satisfactory for the GTG.net archivists so they tirelessly worked to not only find us answers, but earn their high level pay, and they were able to provide us with an answer. They found that a Billiken was a charm doll created by Florence Pretz, an art teacher, from St. Louis, Missouri (our crack team of researchers have told us that there may be a coincidence to her place of residence and creation, and the university’s location and use of said mascot, but it cannot be confirmed).  Apparently, the elf-like figure came to Ms. Pretz in a dream, down to the pointy ears, little patch of hair on its head, slightly mangled, stout body, and that shit-eating grin you’re so used to seeing.

Speaking of visions coming to people in dreams, many Saint Louis fans had similar dreams when Rick Majerus was hired to take over the program, but while it hasn’t quite been a nightmare, it’s been much more like pergatory then a dream scenario.  Two seasons ago, Majerus directed the Billikens to a CBI Championship game appearance (GTG.net does not acknowledge the existence or the importance of pay-to-play post season tournaments), where they lost to VCU in a best of three championship series.  However, the good showing at the end of the season raised expectations for the following season, but Saint Louis would battle injuries, suspensions, and overall poor play to finish 12-19 (6-10 A-10).  Heading into this season, the Billikens returned a few players from injury as well as not loosing many to graduation, and were pegged as somewhat of a darkhorse, being picked third by all of us here at GTG.net in the Atlantic Ten preseason poll (As well as being rated highly by numerous, less prestigious polls).  This season the Billikens started off strong beating Big Six conference foes such as Washington, Boston College, Villanova, and Oklahoma, and racing out to a 12-1 start.  Recently, Saint Louis has gone 1-3 in their last four, with losses versus Dayton, Temple, and New Mexico (sandwiching a win versus George Washington in there).  Depending on your outlook, it could be a good thing they are in a slump, or a bad thing as they may be motivated to get out of it.

Offensively, Saint Louis is a fairly balanced team, shooting 47% from the field and 39% from the three point line (both a higher percentage then Charlotte, 40% FG, 31.3% 3FG), and are led by senior forward Brian Conklin (6’6″, 230 lbs) at 14.5 PPG.  Conklin is strictly an inside the arc player, and he is very good at it, shooting 60% from the field (only one three point attempt all year, but he made it).  He is also the anti-DeMario Mayfield, and should not be fouled as he converts on 86% of his attempts.  Conklin is flanked by Kwamain Mitchell and Cody Ellis, who both average just north of 11 PPG, but do it in different ways.  Mitchell, the junior point guard, is more adept at driving to the basket, but also shoots 36% from the three point line.  Ellis, the junior forward, is more of a face up four-man (he’s Australian, what do you expect?) and converts on nearly 41% of his three point attempts. So, all in all, Saint Louis, as always, is highly efficient on the offensive end, and now they actually score above 56 PPG (They average 70.1 PPG as a team).

Defensively, the Billikens are just like the Billikens of old.  They hold their opponents to a 55.8 PPG average, which is fairly remarkable considering Charlotte only holds their opponents to a 67 PPG average, but holds the opponents to a lesser shooting percentage both from inside and outside the arc.  Saint Louis is not exactly a strong rebounding team, only averaging 32 RPG, but when you are as efficient as they are, there shouldn’t be too many balls to chase down at the end of possessions.  The Billikens also turn their opponents over at a solid rate of 15 turnovers per game, which is plus-five to their own turnover rate.

This game will largely come down to who can keep their composure the most.  Both teams thrive in that regard in different ways, Saint Louis with their efficiency, and Charlotte in with their lack of consistency (largely on the offensive end).  Either way, it should make for a good game, with an old rival in Halton Arena.

Keys to the Game:

• Pressure the ball and contest every shot.  Saint Louis operates at a highly efficient rate, and barely turn the ball (10 turnover per game).  This will need to change to get them out of their rhythm.
• Limit second chance opportunities.  Saint Louis is not an overly strong rebounding team, so multiple opportunities need to be limited for a team that operates at a high percentage.
• Avoid the droughts.  The Forty-Niners have struggled to start games and halves strong.  They finish fairly well, and handle the inbetween, but have been cold in many games coming out of the gates.  Saint Louis, with their defense, is not a team you can battle back against when you’re down double digits.

As poorly as the Niners (9-6, 2-1) shot against the UMass Minutemen (13-4, 2-1), they nearly pulled off the monumental comeback Wednesday.  In the end, the comeback ran out of gas, as so many often do when coming from way behind, as the Niners fell 85-75 in Amherst. In the loss Jr. PF/C Chris Braswell posted a career high 31 points on 9-15 shooting (3-5 from outside) and 10-11 at the foul line.

Early on it looked like the Niners were going to be run out of the Mullins Center, as UMass sprinted out to a 18-4 lead in the opening 5 minutes of the game. Raphiael Putney, who finished with a career high 19 points, helped key the early surge with help from Chaz Williams (19 points) and former Charlotte recruiting target Terrell Vinson (18 points). As hot as UMass was, the Niners were equally cold with Chris Braswell (who scored 8 of the team’s first 10 points) providing the only consistent response.

The Niners would eventually crawl back into the game as the Minutemen cooled off, and would close to within 7 points at 28-35 following a pair of three-pointers by Derrio Green and Javarris Barnett and a made FT by Chris Braswell.  UMass would rebuild the lead to 11 points at the end of the half with a painful 3 pointer by Putney which immediately followed an ugly missed 3 point attempt by Green.

The 2nd half opened up with UMass extending the lead they built late in the first half as the Niners went over 3 minutes between scores.  A Sean Carter layup would push the lead to 37-57 with 16:22 to go in the 2nd half, leaving most to think the game was out of reach. Fortunately some inspired play on both ends of the court, highlighted by Chris Braswell’s career night scoring the ball, broke the UMass stranglehold on the lead and allowed the Niners to roar back into the game. At one point Braswell hit 3 straight 3-pointers, bringing the Niners within 7 points and 10:36 to play in the game.

Charlotte would finally take the lead on a difficult layup by Braswell (replays showed he was very, very clearly fouled) with 4:47 remaining to give the Niners a tenuous 69-68 lead. Unfortunately that would be the last basket until the 1:24 mark, allowing UMass to retake the lead and push that margin out to 10 by the final whistle.

Throughout the game the Niners attacked the rim without abandon. For some (Braswell mostly, DeMario Mayfield as well) that meant success.  For the rest of the team, it meant missed layups (Niner bench had only 5 points for the game). What is most stunning is UMass shot 31 foul shots to the Niners’ 13 – Braswell accounting for 11 of those attempts.  Yes, you are reading those stats correctly. Remarkably, the Minutemen announcers noticed a number of missed calls as well.  That’s not to say the referees were biased, but it makes one wonder if the poor start subconsciously altered the manner in which fouls were called.

To paint a picture that the Niners lost because of officiating would be absolutely wrong. To the credit of the Minutemen, they controlled the glass as they collected 11 more rebounds (38-27).  However, on the opposite end of the spectrum the Niners committed only 12 turnovers to UMass’ 20 turnovers, a definite positive trend that continues to improve from earlier this season.

What needs to improve though:

• Bench scoring.  Deuce Briscoe needs to be that consistent scorer off the bench but struggles to do so.  Some nights he’s terrific, others (like tonight) he’s not-so terrific.  Tonight in particular he was bad selfish (yes, there’s such a thing as good selfish) and forced his shots in a number of spots
• Playing with composure.  At times E Victor Nickerson and Terrence Williams were out of control and it lead to the ball quickly going the other way or a cheap foul.  The aggressiveness is certainly laudable but it needs to come with patience.

In hindsight, this writer sees the loss as more of what UMass did well (shooting early, foul shots late) on offense and their willingness to actively defend the fast break on defense as the reason the Niners lost.  Sure Charlotte struggled at times from the field but many of the shots were well contested and unfortunately UMass is a strong home team. There is no shame in this defeat and the comeback is something the team can build on.

We can absolutely beat Saint Louis on Saturday.  The end, good night.

It’s gameday Niners, and for the time being, spirits are high in Ninerland with Charlotte sporting a 9-5 (2-0 A-10) record, and sitting tied atop the Atlantic Ten standings.  So tonight the Forty-Niners put that impeccable 2-0 conference record on the line against the University of Massachusetts Amherst Minutemen (12-4, 1-1 A-10) in Amherst, Massachusetts (not Boston).  If you don’t know much about the competition for tonight’s game check out the preview here, along with the injury update here to get caught up.  Don’t feel bad though, at least you have the excuse of being out of the loop because you’re not a Massachusetts resident, likely because you enjoy warm weather, accent free douchebags, and pretty women.  Also, you would likely prefer to pay attention to more worthwhile sports teams in the area such as the New England Patriots (perennial Super Bowl contenders) with Tom Brady’s glorious locks and chin, the Boston Bruins (Stanley Cup Champs), and the Boston Red Sox (perennially buying World Series contenders).  Not a soul would blame you…  No one.  I cannot stand one Massachusetts team, and even I understand.  It probably doesn’t help matters when you have one Final Four appearance technically, but not technically thanks to the car salesman that is John Calipari.  We should probably really hate these guys, but they can’t even garner applause in their own region.  Either way, we really need to beat these guys, and give the people of Massachusetts another reason not to cheer for them.

Predictions:

J Fart: Charlotte 67, UMass 64. The dance team, tired of dealing with minute men, have their hearts stolen by Pierria.

McFly: UMass goes cold as a winters bone. Charlotte 65, UMass 59

NLP: Niners show UMass what it’s like to be 40 Minutemen.  Niners 73 UMass 62

2k: Niners escape Amherst with another road win:  Niners 64 UMass 60

Ginger: The offense shows up for this one, Charlotte 74 UMass 63

Gill: Niners can’t keep step with the Minutemen and fall 66-72.

Did we scare you with the title?  It’s okay, the injury report is not for Charlotte

After further research into our opponent for the evening, GTG.net is proud (not really, but kind of) to report that UMass will be without two players.  Sampson Carter (6’8″, 220 lbs.) is out for the season.  Carter was averaging 8.6 PPG and 3.9 RPG.  Also, it appears that Cody Lalanne (6’9″, 250 lbs.) will be out as well, although he is not done for the season.  Lalanne was currently averaging 6.7 PPG and 5.6 RPG.  While we never like to see any opponent go down with injury, this should help to diminish some of the size upfront for UMass and allow Charlotte’s frontcourt a little more breathing room.

The Niners find themselves in unfamiliar territory going into their third A10 game of the season: 1st-place. But unfamiliar territory has been a theme for Charlotte (9-5, 2-0 A10) this season as they have played nine of 15 games away from Halton Arena with the next stop being the Mullins Center, home-court of Massachusetts (12-4, 1-1 A10). The Minutemen are 8-0 at home this season, but only one of those victories (Davidson, 73-65) is against a team in the RPI Top 175. Charlotte is arguably (even if solely because I am arguing it) the best team to visit UMass this season.

Charlotte and UMass have an interesting history since the 49ers joined the A10, they were there for our peak and our rock bottom. It only seems fitting that the Minutemen stand between the Niners and their assertion in the 2012 Atlantic 10 race.

Look at you.. scoring on Fordham

The Minutemen boast a high scoring offense, putting away 77.2 points a game. Their offense runs through point guard Chaz Williams (5’9″ 175 lbs) who scores 15.7 PPG while dishing out 6.9 APG. Williams transferred from Hofstra after his freshman year and sat out last season. He is a volume scorer and even though he shoots better than 40% from long range he only averages four 3-point attempts a game. He shoots only 39% from inside the arc, but will take most of his shots there. It will be interesting to see what Pierria’s Henry’s tactics are to shut him down and force him into bad shots. Williams also boasts 3.3 turnovers a game, which will have his defender, Henry, wide-eyed from the tip.

UMass gets 9.1 PPG from PF Raphiael Putney and another 8.6 PPG from his help off the bench, Sampson Carter. Neither of the two break the two-hundred pound barrier and are in for a rude awakening when they try to take their game against Javarris Barnett. They both get a lot of their points inside but will step out for the occasional long shot, still in Barnett’s comfort zone. When Javarris has the ball on offense he should find about as much resistance as he did against Richmond. Chris Braswell will be posted up by Sean Carter (6’9″ 225 lbs), who is 9th in scoring for the Minutemen at 6.2 PPG. Carter only takes 4.5 shots a game, but might have to take more with the rest of the front court at a size disadvantage.

Barnett matches up well with UMass' frontcourt.

The Minutemen perimeter is patrolled by Freddie Riley (very streaky), Terrell Vinson and Jesse Morgan, who all score between eight and nine points a game. These three players are all 6’5″ or taller which could cause trouble if they can pass and/or shoot over Deuce Briscoe and Derrio Green. If either of these players get hot Major should look to match their length with E. Victor Nickerson and Terrence Williams, along with starter DeMario Mayfield.

Charlotte will have to play smothering defense and force turnovers, much like the last two games, to find themselves in this game. If Charlotte’s offense can find points like it did against Richmond the Niners will be in control of the game well before it’s over. The Mullins Center is where Derrio Green’s best game as a Niner took place, when he scored 34 points (8/16 3pt FG) while Charlotte won by double-digits; he may once again find that swagger.

With Dayton (2-0 A10) going to the hostile confines of St. Bonaventure tomorrow before hosting La Salle (Also 2-0 A10, playing Penn tonight) the Niners could get lonely at the top by taking care of their next two. But first things first, if Charlotte wants this time on top to last more than a minute then Massachusetts has to fall.

The Atlantic 10 season is finally underway after two months of non-conference competition. If this first week is any indication of the future, we are in store for an absolutely insane and unpredictable conference season. Conference games tipped-off on Wednesday, a day after Fordham shocked a Top 25 Harvard team that Saint Joseph’s couldn’t put away days earlier.  Temple won over #5 Duke, but ran into a hiccup days later when the Dayton Flyers came to town fresh off their home victory over Saint Louis. Dayton, Charlotte and La Salle are now sharing the conference lead at 2-0, those teams were picked 6th, 11th and 13th before the season. Charlotte won at home against Richmond before knocking off the re-surging Saint Joseph’s Hawks on the road. George Washington has quietly lost nine of ten, and look like a good candidate to be watching the A10 Tournament from the couch.

Win of the Week – Duke 73, Temple 78: In what was perhaps the most marquee game of any team’s non-conference schedule, Temple stepped up to knock down the Duke Blue Devils in Philly.

Dud of the Week- Xavier 70, La Salle 80: This result opened up the conference race more than any other, is La Salle this good or is Xavier in that much of a funk? Winning at Fordham this Saturday wasn’t enough to prove Xavier had recovered

Game of the Week- 12/22 Temple at Saint Louis: Both of these teams were picked in the top 3 of the conference in the preseason but find themselves with a loss in conference, both to Dayton. A win now would pay dividends for either team as momentum will be hard to come by if this conference is as wide open as it appears.

1. Temple 10-4, 0-1 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – WIN vs. #5 Duke 78-73, 1/7 – LOSS vs. Dayton 87-77
• Next Week: 1/11 at Saint Louis, 1/14 at Richmond

2. Saint Louis 12-3, 1-1 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – LOSS at Dayton 79-72 OT, 1/7 – WIN vs. George Washington 78-56
• This Week: 1/11 vs. Temple, 1/14 at Charlotte

3. Dayton 12-4, 2-0 A10

• Last Week:1/4 – WIN vs. Saint Louis 79-72 OT, 1/7 – WIN vs. Temple 87-77
• This Week: 1/11 at St. Bonaventure, 1/14 vs. La Salle

4. Charlotte 9-5, 2-0 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – WIN vs. Richmond 75-70, 1/7 – WIN at Saint Joseph’s 57-52
• This Week: 1/11 at Massachusetts, 1/14 vs. Saint Louis

5. La Salle 12-4, 2-0 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – WIN vs. Xavier 80-70, 1/8 – WIN vs. Massachusetts 82-75
• This Week: 1/10 at Pennsylvania, 1/14 at Dayton

6. Xavier 10-5, 1-1 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – LOSS at La Salle 80-70, 1/7 – WIN at Fordham 67-59
• This Week: 1/11 vs. Duquesne, 1/14 vs. St. Bonaventure

7. Saint Joseph’s 11-5, 1-1 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – WIN at Duquesne 84-82 OT, 1/7 – LOSS vs. Charlotte 57-52
• This Week: 1/11 vs. Fordham, 1/14 at Massachusetts

8. Richmond 10-7, 1-1 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – LOSS at Charlotte 75-70, 1/7 – WIN at Rhode Island 70-53
• This Week: 1/14 vs. Temple

9.  Massachusetts 12-4 1-1 A10

• Last Week: 1/5 – WIN vs. Fordham 80-76, 1/8 – LOSS at La Salle 82-75
• This Week: 1/11 vs. Charlotte, 1/14 vs. Saint Joseph’s

10. St. Bonaventure 8-6, 1-1 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – WIN vs. George Washington 66-56, 1/7 – LOSS at Duquesne 66-52
• This Week: 1/11 vs. Dayton, 1/14 at Xavier

11. Duquesne 9-6, 1-1 A10

• Last week: 1/4 – LOSS vs. Saint Joseph’s 84-82 OT, 1/7 – WIN vs. St. Bonaventure 66-52
• This week: 1/11 at Xavier, 1/14 at Rhode Island

12. Fordham 7-8, 0-2 A10

• Last Week: 1/3 – WIN vs. #21 Harvard 60-54, 1/5 – LOSS at Massachusetts 80-76, 1/7 – LOSS vs. Xavier 67-59
• This Week: 1/11 at Saint Joseph’s

13. Rhode Island 3-13, 0-1 A10

• Last Week: 1/2 – WIN at Boston College 78-72 2OT, 1/7 – LOSS vs. Richmond 70-53
• This Week: 1/11 at George Washington, 1/14 vs. Duquesne

14. George Washington 5-10, 0-2 A10

• Last Week: 1/4 – LOSS at St. Bonaventure 66-56, 1/7 – LOSS at Saint Louis 78-56
• This Week: 1/11 vs. Rhode Island, 1/14 at Harvard

It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy but it felt good. Charlotte went on the road to play a (kinda) touted St. Joseph’s team and outlasted them in a low-scoring defensive affair, taking a 57-52 win.

All those early season road games paid dividends today when Charlotte (9-5, 2-0 A10) had to comeback from a late 45-50 deficit to Saint Joseph’s (11-5, 1-1 A10) after coughing up a lead that reached 13 points in the 1st-half. When it came time to make plays to win the game, the Niners went hard and the Hawks went cold.

The early stages of the game featured four lead changes during the first seven minutes. Deuce Briscoe’s 8-0 run against the Hawks, including his 1000th career point in D-1, broke open a 13-12 game. The Niners continued to flex their collective muscle, taking a 13-point lead with 4:38 left when Pierria Henry converted a steal into a fast-break layup. St. Joe’s responded aptly with an 8-2 run to close the half and went into the break with Charlotte up 31-24 at Hagan Arena.

After the break, Charlotte built the advantage back up to ten, leading 36-26, before the Hawks’ wheels finally found traction. Carl Jones scored eight during a 12-0 Hawks’ run that put them up 38-36 with 13:16 remaining in the contest. Two Terrence Williams free throws tied it back up at 38 before Saint Joseph’s outscored Charlotte 12-7 over the next eight minutes, establishing a 50-45 lead with 4:31 remaining.

Briscoe's 8-0 run gave Charlotte a 1st-half cushion.

This is when Charlotte woke up; Javarris Barnett cut it down to a two-point margin with a 3-pointer from the wing. A jumper each from Briscoe and Henry tied the Niners with the Hawks and gave them a two-point lead, respectively. DeMario Mayfield hit both of his free throws (Myself and the five others I was watching with erupted when this happened) to cap off a 9-0 run for Charlotte. The Niners hit 3/4 free throws in the final minute, the last two by Henry after a steal with 7 seconds left, as the Hawks continued to unsuccessfully heave 3-pointers at the rim. The 49ers closed with a 12-2 run to end the game, keeping Saint Joe’s from scoring a field goal over the last 6:36 of the game.

Defense was a huge part of this victory, as Charlotte held Saint Joe’s to 2/21 from behind the arc which is noteworthy considering the Hawks were shooting nearly 40% from 3-point range going into the game. Charlotte held the Hawks to 40.4% shooting from the field and kept a team that was averaging 74 PPG in the low 50′s.

“We thought their length was going to be a problem. We really wanted to pace the game,” said Saint Joseph’s Head Coach Phil Martelli, addressing Charlotte’s defensive prowess and intensity, “We don’t want to be in 50-point games, but you’re in the league and people have tape on you. We just didn’t go at them, they were very aggressive in their switches. We knew their length was going to be an issue and we allowed it to be an issue.”

Charlotte stole the ball 13 times, lead by Henry’s four pick-pockets.

“The guys did an outstanding job of staying with the gameplan, keeping track of their two best guys,” said Head Coach Alan Major after the game. Those two guys are Langston Galloway and Carl Jones, who average 35 PPG between them and were held to 20 today.

“The guys showed a maturity. We got our defense back down the stretch.”

The Niners aggressiveness paid off as Charlotte got to the line 22 times to Saint Joe’s seven (I had to spell that out because it was so low) but both teams shot under 60% from the line. Converting free throws is still a problem for Charlotte, and if they’re going to find themselves in close games it has to be fixed before it bites them. Very interesting difference in attempted free throws since the Hawks only out-fouled Charlotte 14-13. A lot of chippy reach-ins called on the perimeter, especially in the 2nd-half.

Henry and Briscoe led scoring for Charlotte, 11 points each. Henry converted 4/7 from the field and 2/4 from the line. Briscoe shot 5/12 and missed his only free throw in a 1-and-1 situation. Chris Braswell had nine points after going a terrible 2/11 from the field and turning it over five times, but making 5/7 from the line and hauled in seven boards. DeMario Mayfield led the Niners in rebounding and assists today with nine and three, respectively. Terrence Williams was able to pull down seven rebounds in just 16 minutes of play.

Looking forward, Charlotte goes to UMass on Wednesday, the site of Derrio Green’s best game as a Niner when he converted 8/16 3-pointers during the peak (you try putting a sad face inside parenthesis, not easy) of Charlotte’s run in 2010. The Minutemen play at La Salle on Sunday and the winner will be on top of the Atlantic 10 standings with Charlotte and Dayton, 2-0 records for the trio.

On Saturday, the Charlotte 49ers (8-5, 1-0 A-10) take a road trip North to The City of Brotherly Hate, Philadelphia to do battle with St. Joseph’s (11-4, 1-0 A-10).  Just kidding, they will be playing in Chestnut Hill, PA, which is probably a good thing in case Braswell decided to wear his Ovechkin jersey to Geno’s for a cheese steak.  Regardless of location, hopefully the game ends in one manner… with that annoying mascot, which flaps its wings incessantly, going home crying into its down with a loss.  I’m not an “avian-hater” by any means, but I go to zoos and nature preserves plenty, and I have never came across a hawk that just keeps flapping its wings.  Most are generally quite still.

Back to the preview at hand. St. Joe’s is playing the first part of this season much like they finished last season: winning.  After sucking out loud for much of last season, the Hawks closed their season with a mini-surge in the Atlantic 10 tournament, and continued that momentum into this season (with wins over Villanova and Creighton).  Offensively, St. Joe’s shoots a very good percentage as a team (48.7% FG, 39.7% 3FG), and are led by Carl Jones, a “non-SIZE KING-esque” 5’11″ junior guard.  Jones averages just over 18 PPG and shoots a fairly good percentage at 44% FG and 37% 3FG.  However, Jones also sports a fashionable .93 to 1 A/TO ratio, so he can be had on the defensive end and isn’t much of a distributor.  The Hawks have three other players who average double figures in scoring, those players being guard Langston Galloway (16.1 PPG), forward C. J. Aiken (11.8 PPG), and forward Ronald Roberts Jr. (10.3 PPG).  Out of that bunch, Galloway is going to be the main guy to keep tabs on.  The 6’1″ guard has hit on 51.2% of his three pointers on the season, which just seems to scream out “Big game” versus a program that notoriously likes to have guys absolutely go off on them from deep.

Defensively, the Hawks are statistically similar to Charlotte in many ways.  Both squads are good at keeping their opponent around the 66 to 67 point mark and keeping the opponent below 40% shooting.  Charlotte is a better team at turning opponents over, but St. Joe’s, largely because of C.J. Aiken, more than make up for that in the blocked shots category.  Niner fans can easily remember back to New Year’s Eve when we were the guests of honor at a block party thrown for us on Beale Street by Memphis; well this St. Joe’s squad could do similar damage.  While not overly large in stature, Aiken (6’9″, 190 lbs) makes up for it in length and timing, blocking 4.5 shots per game.  The key for Braswell and others will be to get him off his feet with pump fakes (no easy task), into foul trouble (not likely on his home court), or for Braswell to use his weight advantage to move him off his ground.  However the team decides to do it, they need to neutralize Aiken’s post presence on the defensive end.

Keys to the Game:

• Don’t crap the bed out of the gate.  The Niners, lately, have been having a rough go of it to start games.  Being on the road, against a good defensive team is not the time to continue this trend.
• Pressure St. Joe’s guards.  While it may be easier said then done, the Hawks starting backcourt accounts for 47% of their scoring.  The Niners need to make other players beat them, although we tend to excel at that a little too much.
• Neutralize C.J. Aiken’s defensive presence.  Defensively, I do not know if they will let him float out on Braswell when he goes out to the elbow, but if Aiken doesn’t Braswell needs to make him pay for it.  Also, a bevy of pump fakes and strong takes will be necessary.

When you’re bestowed with riches unbeknownst to man hitherto, the occasional squabble over compensation surely erupts. I admit I was tempted by the spoils of fortune and held out for a higher cut of the revenues GTG pumps in on a daily basis.  With some shrewd negotiating I have secured a 500% raise from the GTG coffers, as J Felt finally acquiesced to my demands (or more adequately, recognized my satchel and got out of the way).

All bragging aside, it’s time to discuss the game at hand.  The Niners are reeling after facing three quality opponents and now have to do without Fr. G Luka Voncina (I would figure out how to place the appropriate squiggly line over the appropriate letter if he was still on the team) who has opted to remain in Slovenia after taking an indefinite leave of absence just prior to the Miami game.  On the bright side, Justin Harper, Kevin Anderson and their 34.5 ppg are gone and while they have capable replacements in Darien Brothers and Cedrick Lindsay, SIZE KING is ready for them.

With cans of RAID a blazing, let’s snap this win streak and squash some Spidy.

McFly: Charlotte gets back to winning. Niners 76, UR 69

2k: Niners start out A10 with a solid home win, 76-67. BTW, I thought Mooney went to GT, he sign an extension or something?

Chaz: Charlotte in a breath-takingly close game. Niners 64 Spiders 63

Gillingsly: Itsy Bitsy Spider went down to Charlotte and got crushed 66-62

J Felt: Niners 77, Spiders 65. Without its Gorilla-Spider Hybrid Mascot for inspiration, Richmond struggles in Halton.

jollyobetro: He’s already my favorite Coach in Niner history, but today is the day SIZE KING wins over the entire fan base.  Niners 94 Richmond 59

NLP: I’m on one hour of sleep.  Last time my wife was on one hour of sleep Withers dropped a 20-20 on Dayton.  Coincidence? Who cares.  Niners 78 Richmond 69