With five games left in the regular season, the Charlotte 49ers arrive at a crossroads in their season. This evening the Niners play at Richmond (13-14, 4-8 A10), who trails Charlotte (12-12, 4-7 A10) by 1/2 a game in the Atlantic 10 Standings for 10th-place. With a three-game home stand against two of the three teams directly ahead of Charlotte in the standings, a road win against the Spiders could vault the Niners into contention for a Top-Eight finish and a home game in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Charlotte and Richmond began their conference season against each other on January 4th, with Charlotte winning 75-70. Richmond found themselves in a deep hole late but took advantage of our poor free throw shooting to make it a close margin at the buzzer.

In the first game Richmond started hot and built a 32-21lead in the first half, but Charlotte got it going inside and clamped down defensively to tie it half-time. Charlotte dominated scoring in the paint 50-20 to secure the victory. Javarris Barnett scored 22 on 9-11 from the field working an inside job on Richmond. Braswell added 13.

Braswell didn’t have much resistance from Dayton on Wednesday and he has the potential to be that dominant again against Richmond. If Braswell can find it in himself to start scoring over 20 points a game his senior year will be one hell of a ride. Braswell was only 5-11 from the field in the first game and could sure use the efficiency he had on Wednesday in Dayton or like against UMass.

For Richmond, the points come from the back court as they are led in scoring by three guards; Darien Brothers scores 13.7 PPG, Kendall Anthony, a freshman, scores 13.3 PPG and Cedric Lindsay brings 11.5 PPG. Those three players combined for 51 of Richmond’s 70 points in the first meeting of the season. None of them shoot the ball better then 42% from the field but all shoot better then 35% from behind the arc, led by Anthony’s 43.2%. Anthony and Deuce Briscoe match-up like a dream, it’s only a matter of which one (or both) gets hot.

Richmond’s fourth leading scorer is forward Derrick Williams, at 11.1 points a game. If Williams gets 11 today he will be averaging 5.5 PPG against Charlotte as the Niners held him scoreless in the first meeting.

DeMario Mayfield is expected to return to the line-up following his run-in with the Five-Oh on Tuesday, for our sake let’s hope he turns around the life off the court and keeps getting better on the court. He scored 13.4 PPG in his last five games and 9.4 RPG with three double-doubles along the way. If he returns in that form the Niners have to be feeling good, he was held scoreless in the first game.

A fifth win should put Charlotte completely out of the danger zone of finishing worse than 12th as Fordham (2-9) nor Rhode Island (2-10) have a shot at more than one victory (when they play each other), let alone three. If Charlotte can get the interior game working for them on offense and defense they will find themselves in a position to win this game. If Charlotte can also generate some scoring from the perimeter, the Niners shot 1/6 from three-point range in the first game, they will more than likely walk away with their third road win of the Atlantic 10 season.

Predictions:

J Felt: Spurred on by the GTG crew’s attendance, the Niners get another road win. Charlotte 73, Richmond 67.
2k: Niners do not disappoint for my birthday present. Charlotte 67, Richmond 63.
McFly: Charlotte stays undefeated when I am present. Charlotte 72, Richmond 69
Geep: Niners lose 77-67 because C-Pip is attending Hooner’s plate party at The Flying Saucer and can’t make it to the game.
NLP: Niners give Alpha Duster a birthday present, win 69-63.
C-Pip: Charlotte avenges all those sweeps by Richmond with a 75-65 win.

Listen, reader. We haven’t had content since the LaSalle game. Get over it. You should be thankful that one of us bothered to write a preview for that game. Seriously, who cares about LaSalle? As NLP often points out, fans have no excuse for forgetting there’s a game. But there has to be an exception for LaSalle. In this paragraph, LaSalle has been mentioned more times than it has by basketball fans for the past six years.

But why did you forget previews for the other games after that? You didn’t even post something for Homecoming against Rhode Island!

You’re right. That’s inexcuseable. But we did decide to enjoy tailgating with the Normbulance on Saturday morning rather than sit in front of a computer screen.

Now that we’re riding a two game winning streak, however, GreenTintedGlasses.net is interested. We promise to bring back the the coverage you have missed so dearly. Of course we’re still lazy, so this presents us with a problem. Lucky for the us, The Blackburn Review exists. To take away the burden of doing actual research and coming up with our own jokes, we reached out to Tom Blackburn to get some insight on our game on the road against the Dayton Flyers. You can find their equally lazy preview here.

GreenTintedGlasses.net: First off, how’ve you been? It’s a new season with a new coach. Are you glad Mooney didn’t take the Georgia Tech job, opening the door for Gregory to skip town? Have you noticed any major changes with the new regime?

Blackburn: Chris Mooney holds a deserved place in the heart of every Flyer fan. In an alternate universe, Mooney is coaching the Yellow Jackets and Brian Gregory is in Dayton, in the middle of a 9-15 season, coming off a ten point loss at Fordham.

Instead, BG is pacing the Georgia Tech sideline, turning that program back to the stone age. The silver lining of this season, beside the pleasant beginning to the Flyer’s A10 schedule, has been the fact that Gregory can’t hurt us anymore. UD and BG were in an circular abusive relationship and Archie Miller came in and swept us off our collective feet. He looks like he’s 16 but he fucks like a 40 year-old trucker on dust and always has a wad of cash in his pocket. The best part is that Archie fits into all of Gregory’s old suits, win-win.

GTG: You’ve lost four of your last five (and let’s face it, using overtime to beat Fordham is practically a loss as well) since beating Xavier. Is this the classic Dayton Flyers Tailspin, or is there a logical explanation?

B: It’s just a case of a team playing above its heads for a short period of time before reality set in. Dayton came into this season with a lack of depth, yet managed to string together a fairly decent OOC record. The Flyers won the Old Spice Classic and, outside of a pink-socking against Buffalo, took care of business.

Then Josh Benson, in the midst of a solid season, went down with a season-ending ACL injury during UD’s win against Ole Miss to close out 2011. At that point, it looked like the season was all but over. Instead, the Flyers rolled off victories against Saint Louis, Temple and Xavier — good enough for first place in the league at the time. Then, like the ceiling of an Ethiopian church, it collapsed quickly and almost without warning.  And here we stand, 5-5 in the conference with nary a glimmer of hope.

GTG: Overall Dayton seems to be scoring by committee; there are currently six players averaging between eight and thirteen points. What is Archie’s offensive strategy and, be honest, do you enjoy watching it?

B: Archie likes to play at a much different pace than his predecessor. Kevin Dillard has the abilitiy to penetrate and find open looks. No one has parlayed Dillard’s play into success as much as Boof Kavanaugh.Although Dayton still bombs away from the three-point line with audacity, there are enough wrinkles to keep everyone involved on the offensive end. That’s in stark contrast to last season.

Defensively, the Flyers struggle to keep anyone from scoring. That’s not fun. However, the positive indicators far outweigh the negative. I get a rod just thinking about next season’s team.

GTG: Who should Charlotte fans watch out for tomorrow (other than the Redheaded Cheerleader)?

B: The other redheaded cheerleader? Seriously, UD doubled-down on redheaded cheerleaders. Two gingers this season. Outside of Kevin Dillard, this has been the highlight of the season. I really, really, wish I was kidding.

GTG: Prediction?

B: I think UD wins a tight one, something like 74-70. Dayton’s indifference to defense means convincing wins are hard to come by. Charlotte is good enough to hang with the Flyers, but I have a feeling Chris Johnson is about to get back on track as the season draws to an end. CJ scores 22, grabs 11 boards to lead UD to victory.

GTG: Finally, as a token of our appreciation, we present to you GingerDuster. How does she stack up to your own red celebrity?

B: She’s seem a lot more edgy and possibly dirtier than our redhead celeb. This pains me to say, more than you’ll ever know, but I think the Niners have the ginger edge. I never thought I’d say that. Cherish her, Charlotte. Cherish her.

The GingerDuster photo was blatantly grabbed from the Observer’s kind of creepy (how did they get past Judy with all those pictures of cheerleaders and dusters?) slideshow linked here. Photo taken by Todd Sumlin.

That was definitely easier, and arguably more entertaining, than the usual GTG preview. Predictions from the crew are below. Add yours in the comments.

J Felt: Charlotte 76, Dayton 69. This is bizarro world, Niners win in Dayton to avenge losing in Halton last year
Geep: Dayton takes flight over Charlotte. Flyers 75, Niners 71
McFly: They want our ginger (not Cpip, the other one), they can’t have her, but they’ll win. Dayton 74, Charlotte 64
NLP: Much like the Spruce Goose, the Flyers never really take flight. Niners 75 – Flyers 70
2k: Dayton Flyers, nah, Dayton Failers. Niners keep it going with a 72-67 W on the road.  Archie Miller for COY.

Tonight, the Charlotte Forty-Niners (10-10 overall, 2-5 A-10) try to get on the right track by traveling to Philadelphia for a game versus the La Salle Explorers (16-6 overall, 5-2 A-10).  Some Niner fans may remember the Explorers from two years ago, when the now departed An’Juan Wilderness hit a crazy runner to win the game.  Then some of the fans may remember La Salle from when Shamari Spears attempted to go all “Incredible Hulk” against their coaching staff, players, and fans (good thing there were only 37 in attendance) during the same game.  Then the Niner fans who are historical buffs will likely be confused by the fact that the university is named for a Catholic Saint dedicated to education, where as their nickname comes from a French explorer who never did anything for the city of Philadelphia.  However, that French explorer, during an expedition had a small fort built called Fort Prudhomme (waits for the readers to Google, I’ll wait).  Niner fans should loathe this French fort as it is now known as present day Memphis, Tennessee.  With such little rivalry in the Atlantic Ten for Charlotte fans this is what we are left to in order to extrapolate hate towards a program we have no qualms with.  Therefore, La Salle created the Memphis Tigers.

Back to basketball…

The Explorers have been an enigma the past few seasons.  When they are picked to fair well, they seem to hit just low of expectations, and when picked to not be much of a contender, they fair much better.  This season the Explorers were picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic Ten, and of course in atypical La Salle fashion, they are tied for first in the conference.  How do they do it?  They shoot lights out.  Six players have shot three pointers for La Salle, with the worst one of the bunch shooting 33% from the three-point line.  To put that in to the context of Norm (one “M”), that would make La Salle’s Earl Pettis the fourth best shooter on Charlotte, and considering two of those players (Pierria’ Henry and Chris Braswell) have combined for 61 attempts, that would make Pettis the second greatest threat for Charlotte.  Four explorers shoot higher then 40%, with Ramon Galloway stroking an absurd 48% of his deep balls, all while averaging a team high 15.5 PPG.  So if you have not caught on, La Salle is going to spread out the perimeter and look for open shots.  In turn, good shooters open up multiple driving lanes, which could lead to easy buckets for the Explorers.

As for Charlotte, they will need a stellar defensive plan, and it would not hurt to get Pierria’ Henry back into the fold for this game.  The perimeter players will need to hound La Salle’s shooters off the three-point line, force them into contested jumpers, or into help situations to create turnovers.  If the Niners just expect to chase La Salle’s shooters around screens it is going to be a long night.

Offensively, Charlotte needs more balance (I know, we specialize in rocket science here at GTG).  La Salle is not known for their big men this season, so Chris Braswell should touch the ball on the block nearly every time down the court.  If and when help comes, other players need to step up and hit jump shots.  Javarris Barnett is not going off for 20+ points every night, so others need to help create balance so defenses cannot key in on these two.

Keys To The Game:

• Pressure La Salle’s shooters.  Percentages do not lie, and these guys will make you pay for leaving them open.  A tight man-to-man is likely the best medicine defensively against this team, because a zone would be like Dr. Kevorkian, or Dr. Conrad Murray, whichever pop-culture reference works for you.
• Rebound the ball.  If the Niners can pressure their shooters, there will be rebounds to get, and La Salle is not an overly good rebounding team (Charlotte 36.4 RPG, La Salle 34.0 RPG).  Charlotte needs to win this battle.
• Take the ball to the hole strong and convert lay-ups.  La Salle does not have an intimidating post presence like St. Joseph’s.  Chris Braswell will have the highest blocks per game average on the court tonight and he might have a 7” vertical.

Predictions:

McFly:  Niners continue their slide, despite a competitive performance.  La Salle 73, Charlotte 68.

J-Felt: JB breaks the thirty point barrier and the Explorers get lost. Niners 73, LaSalle 67.

C-Pip: Charlotte explores how it feels to win, Niners 66-La Salle 64

The Geep:  We’ll probably lose.

2k: Niners falter in a close game on the road. Explorers 74, Niners 69

NLP: Niners sneak the Easy Button on the plane and win comfortably. Charlotte 83 – La Salle 52

Since joining the Atlantic 10, the Niners have managed to beat Xavier twice. Both of those victories occurred in Halton and took place during losing seasons. Needless to say, it’s been strange. Beating Xavier seems to be an indication that we suck, and since we have done just that the past two games there’s a sense of confidence in the fan base going into this contest.

The bad news is that Henry is still sidelined with a sprained MCL (not his finger, “obviously”) and there appears to be some chemistry issues within the team. Maybe the newcomers have yet to mesh with the elder Hit Squad. Maybe there’s favoritism from the coaching staff for “their guys.” Maybe Judy Rose has stopped giving fashion tips to the seniors. Who knows? Either way, the team is going to need to come together this weekend or else it will be another embarrassment. We can count on Chris Braswell to bring his game to the court, but will Derrio and Deuce step up in Henry’s absence?

There is some good news. Xavier is beatable. Ever since The Brawl the Musketeers just haven’t had the same swagger they had to start out the season. A top ten team with Final Four potential has become a mid-pack Atlantic 10 squad and just suffered demoralizing losses at Dayton and to Saint Louis at home. For whatever reason, they seem as broken as we do.

To get some insight, GTG reached out to Dana and Victory contributor golfitup (@muskieblog). He provided the information you need to know about Xavier that we were too lazy to look up.

GreenTintedGlasses: Xavier was tabbed early on as not only one of the favorites in the conference, but also a potential Final Four team. Now things are obviously not going as well. Would you agree that the Cincy game was the turning point? What has changed with this team since the brawl?

Golf: Clearly, everything points to the “brawl” with UC. But I don’t think the turning point was the fight or subsequent suspensions that followed. The vilification the players faced from everyone in the media who has a keyboard and/or a microphone for referring to themselves as “gangstas” has had a far more lasting impact on the mental make-up of this team. For better or worse, that’s how this team identified themselves. And frankly, I could have cared less. We live in a country where athletes are continually compared to “warriors” and everyone goes “to battle” every time they take the court/field. Hell, against Dayton last Saturday the play by play guy referred to Mark Lyons as an “assassin,” and Tu Holloway had been called a “killer” earlier in the year. I know I’m looking through this with Xavier colored glasses, but what the hell? I just don’t see the difference. And the team has clearly not been able to shake it. The defense has been especially alarming. If Charlotte can run a competent offense with lots of good screens they should see a lot of open looks Saturday night.

GTG: Tu Holloway is one of the best guards in the country and a threat to takeover the game at any time, what do you think makes him such a special player? Are you concerned that he has a tendency to shoot Xavier OUT of games at time as well?

Golf: What makes Tu special is his clutch play late in games. He hit multiple big time three pointers in come from behind wins against Vanderbilt and Purdue earlier this season. Last season, he had to take a lot of the shots because of an extreme lack of depth in the back court and if the shots weren’t falling (like last year at Halton), then our chances of winning reduced significantly. This year he has taken a measured approach to scoring, taking it to opponents only when the opportunity presents itself or late in games when points are needed.

GTG: Xavier has seen good play from some new faces this year, who has really stood out?

Golf: Dezmine Wells has jump out of the gym athleticism. Once he refines his all-around game he could become one of the better players in the league down the line. Dee Davis is a pest defensively, but needs to improve his offensive game. The new front court additions, Andre Walker and Travis Taylor, have their moments but all too often have not shown the requisite toughness needed to be good consistent performers in the low post on both ends of the floor.

GTG: Sucker punches aside, what’s the best way for opponents to control the paint against big Kenny Frease?

Golf: Well, no one in the fan base is quite sure what to make of Kenny Frease this year. He’s been rather disappointing which is unfortunate. Last season was clearly his best in a Xavier uniform. But this year he tends to panic when faced with pressure. If I’m Alan Major I double Kenny right away each time he catches the ball in the low post until he consistently proves he can make the right play under pressure.

GTG: How do you see the Atlantic 10 shaking out in the end? Will Xavier be standing at the top mocking all the pretenders again? Biggest surprise?

Golf: What a mess this conference is right now. At 2-4 you all are only 2 games back of first at the moment. Dayton look like legit contenders against us Saturday, and then lost at St. Joe’s by 14 Wednesday night so who the hell knows what will happen. For Xavier, if things don’t improve on the defensive end in a hurry our run at a 6th straight regular season title will end sooner rather than later. At this point, almost nothing will surprise me.

Big thanks to golfitup and Dana and Victory. For those looking for pregame fun, the tailgate starts around 3 PM. Our predictions for the game are below. Leave yours in the comments.

J Felt: Stranger things have happened. Charlotte 71, Xavier 65.
NLP: Bet the house on Green. Niners 49, Xavier 45.
Chaz: Niners aren’t that good this year… which means Xavier is TOAST in Halton Arena. Charlotte 65, Xavier 60.
Mandill “Don’t Think For Yourself” Geep: Very well said Chaz, I agree Niners 68, Muskies 63.
2k: Niners play harder than they did vs Temple, same outcome. XU 80, Charlotte 62.
McFly: Niners may as well wear an X on their jerseys because the Muskies are going to put a shovel in them, they’re done.  X 74, Charlotte 55.

Three straight conferences losses have deflated the momentum created by the Niners’ hot start to conference play. Looking to reverse that backwards momentum, Charlotte (10-8, 2-3) welcomes Temple (13-5, 2-2) to Halton Arena tonight for the 12th all-time meeting between the schools (Temple leads 6-5).

The Niners are looking to regain some of their fire

Temple, as most are #aware, is a quality program. They score a lot of points, shoot really well from the field and have a winning record on the road (5-3), coming into this game having won two straight (both at home) against La Salle and the rebuilding Maryland Terrapins (LOL). Last season, when things seemed their bleakest Temple was only able to beat Charlotte by nine in Philadelphia. However, Temple converts on greater than 46% of their shots from the field, so it will take a defensive intensity unseen before and an offensive fire to keep Charlotte in this game.

Temple has an offense oriented towards the perimeter being lead in scoring by two guards, Ramon Moore (17.2 PPG) and Khalif Wyatt (16.6 PPG). Moore is shooting 41.1% from the field, while Wyatt is converting 47.7% of his shots which is astounding from the guard position. Should the 49ers overbear on these two players, the third leading scorer, Juan Fernandez (11.6 PPG), will probably be wide open with a hunger to make a basket. Moore, Wyatt, and Fernandez all shoot above 35% from behind the arc, with Wyatt and Fernandez shooting over 40% from three-point range. Making matters worse is the overall size of Temple’s backcourt, which is amongst the largest the Niners will face this season. Working in Charlotte’s favor, especially if Pierria Henry gets his usual share of minutes, is that Temple’s three guards account for 7.3 turnovers a game. Henry will need help from Deuce Brisco, Derrio Green, and Terrence Williams to help force these turnovers. More importantly the fastbreaks can’t end with missed lay-ups, fastbreaks only seem to work when DeMario Mayfield has the ball because he finishes strong every time he can.

Inside, the Owls have had to turn to the 6’10″ Anthony Lee and 6’6″ Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson while Michael Eric has been injured for most of the season. Eric (6’10″) might be seeing his first extended action (logged 7 minutes versus Maryland and looked rusty) since his injury tomorrow and Charlotte’s Chris Braswell needs to be ready to pounce if there is vulnerability in Eric’s game. The team only gets four blocks a game so if Braswell, or even Sherrill, can get their post game working for them their shots that start so low have a good chance of getting up and over the basket. Anthony and Hollis-Jefferson have only accounted for 15PPG to this point of the season, Temple doesn’t run an inside-out offense which will help our frontcourt stay out of foul trouble.

Charlotte has to play almost, if not entirely, like a good basketball team to beat Temple. Braswell needs to make his buckets and pass out of double-teams without throwing the ball out of bounds or to an Owl. The Niners have to, as stated earlier, stay composed on fastbreaks and focus on getting the ball through the hoop. When a wing penetrates the lane they need to play through the foul, unless the foul shooting improves the Niners would be better off coming out empty handed on an and-one situation than bricking two from the charity stripe.

This season’s team is nerve-racking and they do not make it easy on [The] Niner Nation. If they can put together 40 Minutes of well-composed basketball they may find themselves with a win over Temple.

Predictions:

J_Felt: I believe that we will win, I believe that we will win, I believe… oh Henry is still hurt?…that we will lose, I believe that we will lose. Charlotte 67, Temple 79.
C-Pip: The Niners are back! Charlotte squeeks one out over the Owls, 75-73
McFly:  I’d bet against us in this one even if Henry was 100%, if he’s not I’d bet the house.  Charlotte 52, Temple 68.
2k: Niners look to remain undefeated at Halton vs Temple.  If PH can play, Niners win 71-68.  If no PH, Temple 76-64.
Geep:  Niners bow down in front of Temple. Owls 82, Charlotte 77.
NLP:  F*** you guys. Niners 74 Temple 68

With a two-game losing streak, the Charlotte 49ers (9-7, 2-2) look to get back to winning with a Wednesday evening tilt against the Kennesaw State Owls (3-15, 0-7). Normally we refuse to include victories against non-DI teams; however, when your level of futility is approaching Wisselian proportions… well we just feel bad.

KSU is one of those surprisingly large universities (enrollment of > 24,000 students) you haven’t heard a lot about.  Kennesaw State is located just outside Atlanta up I-75 and is named after former MLB Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who not-so-coincidentally also served as the inspiration behind the Owls’ mascot.

Kennesaw State, led by first year head coach and double first-namer Lewis Preston, enters the game losers of 6 straight and 13 of their last 14. Most recently the Owls fell to Mercer on the road 81-51

Banisher of Black Sox and inspiration for KSU Owls logo. Eat your heart out, Jerry West.

in a game which saw the Bears shoot a wh0pping 62% in Macon. Despite KSU’s woes this season, given the Niners own predilection for turnovers and a mere 4 point loss to East Tennessee State University, the Owls are certainly worth our attention and best effort.

The Owls are led by Jr. F Markeith Cummings. Cummings is good for a team-leading 15.8 ppg and a solid 5.4 rpg and has the ability to extend out to the three-point line where he connects on 35.3% of his attempts from long range. Consistent with his scoring output, Cummings was tapped as the ASUN preseason POY; however despite the lofty expectations things haven’t been so peachy for the Kennesaw State forward. Cummings served a one-game suspension in November for conduct detrimental to the team. It was probably just a case of HC Lewis Preston lowering expectations in his first season by providing a scapegoat for the teams’ struggles – straight out of the Alan Major/Judy Rose playbook. Joining Cummings in the post (we swear that isn’t dirty) is another Jr. F in Aaron Anderson.  The alliterative post is the team’s leading rebounding at just over 8 rpg. and coincidently also scores around 8 ppg. (someone likes symmetry).

In the backcourt Kennesaw State pairs two perimeter threats in Sr. G Spencer Dixon and Fr. G Delbert Love. Dixon averages 13.5 ppg. and Love is good for 10.8 ppg. Neither shoot a superior percentage overall; however, their 35 and 32% success from beyond the 3 point arc would seem stellar compared to the Niner normal. Splitting time at the wing forward position are Brandon Dawson and Romain “Lettuce” Henry. Neither are particularly productive on the court and unfortunately for the Owls, there is little to turn to after these 6 on the Kennesaw State bench though Mirza Sabic, a JUCO transfer, went for 10 points in the loss to Mercer.

Keys to victory:

• Don’t let the rest of the Owls beat us: Markeith Cummings is an explosive forward, much like Dominique Sutton from NC Central.  He’ll get his points but the Niners need to keep the rest of the squad in check, particularly the Owl backcourt
• Limit turnovers: This should come as a shock to no one. With a stretch of 75 turnovers in 76 possessions, it’s obvious the Niners tend to get a little ahead of themselves, particularly on the fast break. Pierria’ Henry in particular needs to fight the urge to press when the team is struggling and instead slow things down a little to calm the team and execute on offense.
• Bench production: The Niners have struggled mightily to get any semblance of regular bench scoring. Deuce Briscoe needs to step up and provide that lift from the bench while E Victor Nickerson and Terrence Williams, for all their ability to get to the rim, need to finish plays.

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.

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.

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.

Tonight, Atlantic 10 play will begin for the Charlotte 49ers (7-5) and Richmond Spiders (9-6) when they take to the court in Halton Arena. The Spiders was won four-straight games on Charlotte’s home court, the only visiting team to ever do so. That streak was masterminded by Chris Mooney’s amazing duo of Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper.  Mooney, surprisingly, didn’t leave Richmond to take the Georgia Tech coaching job this off-season, allowing another mediocre A-10 coach to take those reins.

Speaking of Mooney, he is the most familiar face.  This is a different Richmond team, as Harper and Anderson exhausted their eligibility taking the Spiders to the Sweet 16 in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Richmond is taking their second trip to Mecklenburg County this season, after visiting Davidson the first week of the season. That Richmond team resembled very little the teams of the past two seasons. The offense was chaotic and without order, players often having to create their own shot. The leadership on the floor in Kevin Anderson isn’t coming back, leaving inconsistent play in Richmond. Davidson took that game 74-61, the first of six losses for Richmond with nearly all of them questionable.

The losing streak has taught the Niners a lot, but fortunately we won’t face any teams during conference play with the size of Miami, the ferocity of Arkansas nor the length and athleticism of Memphis. If Chris Braswell was to get back on track versus anyone, Richmond is the team to do so against. Against Davidson points from the post were a rare occurrence while they were inversely plentiful for the Wildcats. The Spiders are one of the worst rebounding teams in the country, ranking 330th. Charlotte should be able to find lots of second chance opportunities which would help the team immensely considering the recent shooting slump.

Richmond gets its scoring from a pair of guards, Darien Brothers and Kendall Anthony, a freshman. Brothers is the more potent of the two scoring 14.3 PPG while shooting 48.6% from the field and 51.0% from 3-pt range. He is incredibly effective and takes ten shots a game. Anthony, on the other hand, is shooting at 39.3% from the field and 37.7% from 3-pt range en route to 13.3 PPG. He has a very similar game to Deuce Briscoe (much to the dismay of the SIZE KING) and it will be very interesting to watch these two players defend each other.

Both Charlotte and Richmond are young teams and struggle with consistency. Expect a close game in which (hopefully) home-court advantage will finally be on the Niners side against the Spiders. Either team could bring their “A-game” while the other brings their “B” and it might not even be close. Both teams need to rebound from their shaky non-conference records.  However, the Niners need it more and need to play that way.