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.

After being led to victory by Javarris Barnett on Monday the Charlotte 49ers (7-2) get back to action tomorrow night when the Miami Hurricanes (6-4) make their fourth trip to Halton Arena (they are 0-3), and their first since the 2002-03 season. Miami is going through a transition year as Frank Haith vacated the head coaching position to take over at Missouri after Mike Anderson bolted from the Tigers to Arkansas. Jim Larranaga answered the call and left George Mason for “The U”. The Niners might remember Larranaga as he orchestrated the most thorough dismantling of the Niners last season when Charlotte squared off with George Mason in the opening round of the Charleston Classic.

The Hurricanes started 4-0 this season before dropping four of five. Miami was able to play center Reggie Johnson for the first time on Saturday against Florida Atlantic after he underwent knee surgery in June. Thursday will mark the return of DeQuan Jones as he was allegedly implicated in accepting $10,000 to play at Miami in the scandal that embroiled Miami over the summer. Jones’ lawyer was able to get him eligible as the NCAA has yet to gather enough evidence to cite any violations. Although, nothing quite says “I didn’t accept $10,000″ like HIRING a lawyer to regain your eligibility.

Johnson put up a 15 points (6/8 FG) and pulled down nine rebounds while rejecting five shots in his debut on Saturday. At 6’10″ and 284 lbs, it’s not easy getting up the court on bum a knee so Chris Braswell can find himself a lot of room inside if he can beat Johnson and the ball down the court on offense. Braswell was the central point of Coppin State’s defense, drawing double or triple teams with every touch, but Coach Larranaga might entrust the defense of Braswell solely to Johnson.  If Braswell’s can use his high-post game and quickness to get Johnson out of his way then his numbers will bounce back up from the Coppin State game. Braswell might need the help from another big body defending Johnson to keep him out of foul trouble.

Miami’s backcourt consists of Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott who both score in the double-figures at 15.1 PPG and 12.5 PPG, respectively. Grant is the ball hog of the two, only making 1.7 APG and having taken 2.8 more shots a game than anyone else on the team. His 3-PT FG% equals his overall FG% at 38.4%, which can lead us to assume he gets reckless with his shots when he drives inside the paint. If Pierria Henry has his number, he could very well see both percentages drop. Scott is the facilitator of the two averaging 3.5 assists per game, but he is second on the team in shots attempted, at 2.9 more than the rest of the pack.

Jones is a 6’7″ PF who shot 53% last season, scoring 5.7PPG and probably expecting a larger role this season. The 6’11″  Kenny Kadji will be a force that may require the rare use of Ilijia Ivankovic as Kadji scores 8.7 PPG shooting 50.8% and pulls in 4.5 RPG. Kadji is an inside player, but has stepped behind the 3-point line to shoot eight times this season, sinking six of them. Trey McKinney Jones (long enough name, bro?), Garrius Adams, and Shane Larkin are all significant contributors for Miami, each averaging 7-8 points per game. McKinney Jones (or just Jones) and Adams are on the wing while Larkin comes off the bench behind Grant and Scott.

Miami scores 69.8 a game while allowing 68.0 from their opponents (it’s nice not having to recalculate that stat to exclude non-DI games), compared to 70.4-64.1 for Charlotte. The Hurricanes are also 0-3 on the road to the likes of Ole Miss, Purdue and West Virginia losing by an average margin of 8.3 points in those contests. On Saturday, the Florida Atlantic Owls (4-7) took Miami to two overtimes in Sunrise, FL. The Owls got 20 points from 5’6″ guard Raymond Taylor. This is favorable for Deuce Briscoe, who will look to score coming off the bench. If Briscoe can cement Miami’s trend of allowing small guards to slash them up, the Niners will keep themselves from running into long scoring droughts.

Miami’s best win to date is at home to UMass 83-75 in a game whose final score was aided by free throws. Should Charlotte play with the  attitude it had against Davidson in the second-half the Hurricanes will be going home for Christmas with a very, very sour taste in their mouth. This is a MUST win for Charlotte who need to have momentum on their side before going to Arkansas and Memphis.

Welcome back. It’s been in awhile hasn’t it? It’s been a week since the last time the Niners took the court, and the collective fan base is itching for the winning streak to continue. Yes, you read that right, a winning streak. The Niners haven’t lost since mid-November against East Tennessee State at home. In the past month the good guys in green have won three on the road (Wright State, ECU, Radford) and one big win at home (Davidson). Some might say that a win against Coppin State is a given, but they would be forgetting that we are Charlotte after all, and no win is a given, especially if the team is already looking ahead to Miami later in the week.

So, you say you’re convinced and want to know more about Coppin State? Well, here’s what you need to know.

1) Since GTG doesn’t count wins against non-D1 opponents, the Coppin State Eagles are 1-5. Their only win is against overfeated (aka winless) Towson (71-57), but most of their losses have been against good competition like Oklahoma, Illinois and Connecticut.

2) Their colors are blue and gold.

3) The school prides itself on its excellent pep band and talented dance squad.

4) In 2007-08, they were the first team in NCAA Basketball Tournament history to participate with twenty losses.

5) The Eagles compete in the MEAC.

Now, in true GTG fashion, we’re going to go more in depth and do our best to convince you to be wary of the mighty Eagles of Coppin State.

The Eagles have played a challenging schedule against D1, and were competitive in most of them. While the eventual margins of victory were in double digits, the Eagles were very much in the game. They gave the Fighting Illini a good fight until the end and managed to keep it under twenty against UConn. To sum it up: they are better than East Tennessee State.

In the back court, Pierria Henry is going to have his hands full with guard Tony Gallo. The 5’11″ senior is averaging 19 points a game on 40% shooting while dishing out over 4 assists. He’s not just padding his stats against the scrubs either; Tony has averaged over 20 against D1 opponents. If Henry can stay out of foul trouble and the rest of the team can contribute, holding Gallo below his average could go a long way towards victory. Senior guard Michael Harper has been coming off the bench to play alongside Gallo and seems to thrive in the role, scoring 11 points a game. Other than those two, the Eagles do not have many threats in the back court.

Also of concern is 6’6″ forward Akeem Ellis from Brooklyn. He’s contributing 9 points and 5 rebounds a game. His minutes per game have gone down as of late, so he may be seeing some pressure from the bench. However, the Eagles only have two players 6’8″ or higher that see substantial playing time (Brandon St. Louis and Logan Wiens), so getting Chris Braswell established in the paint early will be key to a Niners victory. Owning the post, on paper, seems to be one of the easier tasks, but Coppin State has seen some impressive post players already this season and will be well prepared.

Expect the Niners to go inside early and often as usual. If Braswell can stay out of foul trouble, this should be another double-double game for the recent birthday boy. It would be nice to see Barnett continue what he started against Davidson, but we’d be perfectly happy to see Derrio Green return as Batman on his birthday. With the tougher part of the OOC coming up, establishing some scoring in the back court will do wonders for opening our inside game. GTG is predicting a win, but as we’ve already learned this season, nothing is guaranteed.

It’s been a long wait. Four seasons ago Davidson fought all the way to the Elite Eight, their best team in decades. That was a really, really good team, but that team wasn’t good enough to beat the Charlotte 49ers in Halton Arena. Charlotte had a guy on its roster named Leemire Goldwire who went head to head with current Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, and knocked down nine 3-pointers en route to 34 points and a 75-68 Niners victory. On Saturday night, Charlotte (5-2) will host Davidson (5-2 vs. DI) for the first time since the 2007-08 season. All the players that played in that game are no longer here, most Charlotte students don’t know what it’s like when our rivals come to visit, the ones that do only know what last year’s numbing defeat on the road felt like. Defending Halton Arena against a team more known for being the 2008 Cinderella than as our rival to the new blood will go along way towards turning their blood Niner Green.

Davidson comes into the game averaging 75 ppg against its Division I competition. They are poised, experienced and once again likely to control the Southern Conference this season. The key to beating Davidson starts inside, limiting the production of 6’10″center Jake Cohen and 6’7″ power forward De’Mon Brooks. On Tuesday night Vanderbilt forced these guys to get more of their points away from the rim and found themselves in control until the Wildcats found their 3-point shot late in the game. Last month, the Richmond Spiders had no answer to this combo, nor reserve Clint Mann, and found themselves losers by 13 points. Brooks is the Wildcat’s leading scorer at 17.6 PPG at 53.5 FG%, grabbing 7.3 RPG. He likes to bang around inside, but will step outside the paint on occasion, even shooting a couple 3-pointers a game (but only at 26.7%).

Cohen is a long, mildly athletic, center scoring 13.3 PPG at 46.3 FG%. Strength isn’t the best part of Cohen’s game, but he can get up and down the court quickly which might take the breath out of Chris Braswell. Cohen also likes to step outside the paint to shoot and puts up four 3-pointers a game, making them at a rate of 27.3%. These two guys can be scored on, but Brooks might be too big for Javarris Barnett to guard in the post, expect KJ Sherrill to get some minutes in this game to contain Brooks. Getting these two guys in foul trouble early will be very beneficial to us, and Chris Braswell needs to be fed the ball early and often.

Davidson’s backcourt consists of some guys that look a lot like Michael Gerrity. JP Kuhlman(6’4″) and Nik Cochran(6’3″) run the Wildcat back court with Kuhlman scoring 13.6 PPG at 43.6 FG%. Cochran is Davidson’s greatest 3-point threat with a conversion rate of 36.4% from behind the arc, contributing to his 10 PPG, Davidson’s only other deep threat is 6’7″ Chris Czerapowics at 35.7%. These guys don’t make a lot of mistakes with the exception of falling head-over-heels for the 3-ball when they shouldn’t, which every college team has to deal with.

Defensively the backcourt is the weakness of Davidson. They lack quickness and play a zone to protect from penetration. The backcourt was scorched by Richmond’s combo of Cecrick Lindsay and freshman Kendall Anthony (very similar player to Deuce Briscoe, take note) for 17 points each. Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins and Jeffrey Taylor combined for 52 of the Commodore’s 87 points Wednesday night. If Briscoe can attack like he did against (sigh) ETSU and East Carolina, he can do a lot to secure a 49ers victory. Mayfield will also need to beat his defender off the dribble forcing the inside defense to help, E. Victor Nickerson has the chance for a breakout game if he can take advantage of Davidson’s perimeter.

Charlotte will have to keep Davidson from finding their shot outside the arc, as well as limiting production inside by their big men. As it has always been since we lost DiJuan Harris, limiting the turnovers will be very important. This experienced and intelligent Davidson squad won’t match our mistakes like Radford or Central Michigan if we decide to get careless. Pierria Henry can use his athleticism and courage to force some Davidson mistakes (his steal rate is astonishing for a freshman).

This will be an emotionally charged game on both sides, but not as much as used to be as the two-season break may have turned down the flames some, especially for players who had never participated in a Hornets Nest Game until last season. The Niners have been making gains all season, playing their best game last week at East Carolina. Tuesday was a good defensive effort but we were anemic offensively. If Charlotte continues its progression against Davidson on Saturday, a 7-0 mark inside of Halton Arena and a 27-11 record overall against the Wildcats will be a lock.

On Tuesday night the Charlotte 49ers (4-2) will be taking their two game winning streak north of the border, where the Radford Highlanders (3-6, 1-6 vs. D-I) will be waiting to avenge the 73-52 defeat (The only Charlotte win last season by 20+ points) at the hand of the Niners last season in Halton Arena. This team in the mountains of Virginia hasn’t been much of a challenge to anyone this season, as the Highlanders have only been able to score 55 PPG against their D-I competition, while allowing 71 PPG from their opponents.

Mike Jones took over the reigns of Radford from Brad Greenberg, who resigned with the school facing self-reported NCAA violations. Jones was on staff at VCU for their Final Four run last season, credited with being the defensive mastermind on Shaka Smart’s bench.

The Highlander’s leading scorer is Johnathan Edwards, who logs 10.7 PPG while shooting 47%. The 6’8″ senior forward also grabs 7 rebounds a game, doing his work inside the paint. However, Edwards is a pitiful free throw shooter at only 51.3%, which is up from his 45.4% from last season. He isn’t anything spectacular, and certainly hasn’t played at the level that should  scare our frontline. Edwards has fouled out once and gotten to up to four fouls in three other games this season. Chris Braswell should definitely look to get him in foul trouble early to open up the inside for himself and KJ Sherrill.

Radford’s next leading scorer is Jareal Smith, with 9.4 PPG while pulling down 3 rebounds. Smith is a volume shooter, taking ten shots a game but only hitting three, including 25% from behind the arc. He is the guy we want to pressure into bad shots, because he will take them. On the perimeter, our backcourt will have to stay on Brian Darden and Charlotte native Blake Smith, who shoot 46.7% and 45.5% from 3-point range, respectively. Neither of them have gotten many looks this season, 6 3PA per game between the two of them, but if either of them get hot Coach Jones will look to get the ball in their hands.

Mike Jones uses a big rotation, he has ten guys averaging over ten minutes a game and an eleventh averaging 9.8 minutes a game. He still hasn’t found the chemistry he wants, as the Highlanders only have nine assisted baskets on 23 field goals a game plus 15 turnovers (those we can relate to). The Niners could find themselves with the opportunity to pick off quite a few Radford passes. It’s up to Charlotte to control their turnovers, which they did a fine job of Saturday until Lebo Almighty had the idea of pressing.

If Charlotte can find the basket like it has the last two games (50% FG%, 58% 3P%) Radford should not be able to keep up, with the outcome hopefully being a three game win streak and a 5-2 record leading up to the Davidson game.

Now we all know every Niner fan faces east 5 times a day to praise Lebo, but tomorrow the Niners make the pilgrimage to Mecca Greenville to play the ECU Pirates (5 PM, MASN -oh noes!).  This will be the third contest for the Niners against the Pirates since the anointed one, Jeff Lebo, took over the program.  Lebo Almighty has “turned” the Pirates “around”, having guided them to a 15-16 record last season, including purchasing a post-season appearance for the Pirates (1-2 -non-DI games are pathetic and we don’t count them as wins) on Terry Holland’s credit card.  Now, although Lebo is Lord and Savior of the ECU basketball program, the Niners, in their worst season since “Wissel-ball”, managed to split with the Pirates 1-1 last year, including a one point loss.

Lebo looks to guide the Pirates into the afterlif... er, post-season. The Division II post-season.

This season, Lebo’s Apostles are led by Darrius Morrow, the bruising forward Lebo has tapped to spread his message on the basketball court.  Pope Morrow has averaged in double figures in scoring throughout his years and adds some modest rebounding with his 6’8″ 245 lbs frame.  This season Morrow has been hampered by foul troubles in games against real competition, fouling out in the loss against Campbell and picking up four fouls against Crappalachian State and Old Dominion.  Somewhat surprising is his rebounding, which has tailed off a bit this season compared to his first three campaigns, as he is averaging only 4.2 rpg.  One might expect better rebounding numbers for a player who’s seen 3 games already this season where the opponent is little more than a meat shield (Milligan, Coker and Chowan).  Of course mind you the average fan doesn’t realize how difficult it is for ECU to schedule now that they are an elite program and besides, Milligan is a highly-rated NAIA school!

Another focal point for East Carolina is Miguel Paul.  Paul originally played two seasons under Mike Anderson at Missouri before transferring to learn under the tutelage of Lebo Almighty.  That training has clearly paid off as Paul is averaging 16 ppg for the Pirates through 3 games.  What is most impressive is the 24.4% shooting from the field that Paul is putting up.  What equally impresses me is Paul’s ability to get Nash-ty with the ball, dribbling out the shot clock and shooting awful shots.  Just what every team needs in a point guard.  Watching ECU play ODU, we originally thought the other players on the court were just standing around disinterested as Paul essentially ignored them.  Wrong.  Paul was showing them the Gospel under Lebo and they were merely studying his every move.

What else does Lebo Almighty have to throw at the Niners on Saturday?  Well none other than Shamarr “Shamwow” (as he likes to be called) Bowden.  As Niner fans know, Bowden played 15 games for Charlotte in 2009-2010 before bailing on the team quicker than that helicopter pilot bailed on David Thompson when he flew 15 feet between the magnolia tree and the property line.  But he scored 19 points on Louisville!  Yeah, he also was streaky and played lousy defense as evidenced in ECU’s loss to ODU when he committed a turnover and subsequently let his man blow by him causing Darrius Morrow to get a critical fourth foul which sent him to the bench.  That’s the Shamwow we remember most, so no matter how hot he is or isn’t, he’ll always be the French Army on defense.  Hopefully Niner guards remember that and take advantage of it.

Delving into the numbers like Lebo delves into sermon each practice, it might become apparent that ECU is a better shooting team.  Not true.  Again I reference their three games against non-DI opponents (remember how the Niners beat Belmont-Abbey like a drum?).  When you consider only DI opposition, ECU is shooting less than 40% from the field (compared to 41.6% for the Niners), are roughly even in rebounding and commit more fouls than the opposition.  One important caveat though -this will be ECU’s first real game at home.

Bowden gets beat up on defense worse than this guy.

So what do the Niners do to win?  Obviously more than merely show up, since we’ve suffered two losses @ ECU over the years.  What they need to do is obviously take care of the ball, as turnovers particularly at the bookends of games, have been a problem.  Protecting Braswell in the paint will also be important as Darrius Morrow will want to impose his will inside to try to get Braswell in foul trouble.  Aside from that, expect a lot of three point attempts from Paul, Bowden and Paris Roberts-Campbell.  It will also be of critical importance for Derrio Green and Deuce Briscoe not to try to out hero Shamwow, who’s sure to be excited to play his former team.  Bowden could very well get hot but his inability to play any semblance of defense on the other end can be exploited -provided the Niner backcourt keeps its composure.

As you’re reading this you might be thinking “Gee that’s a lot of vitriol for a program that is as important as Our Lady of the Blind in college basketball.” and you’d be right.  ECU is irrelevant.  However, we just don’t like a few of their obnoxious fan(s), so what better than to go down to Greenville and make them walk their own plank.

Losing sucks, particularly in the manner by which the Charlotte 49ers (2-2) lost at home to the ETSU Buccaneers last Tuesday.  A last second buzzer beater by Jarvis Jones sunk the Niners for the 2nd straight game.  To turn things around in non-conference player, the Niners will have to beat the Wright State Raiders (2-3) on the road, a team who’s looking to recover from a losing streak of their own.  The two teams met up last season in Halton Arena with the Niners defeating the Raiders 57-53.

Wright State enters the game having lost consecutive contests in the Sunshine State against the Florida Gators and North Florida Ospreys.  Much of their struggles can be easily explained by the roster.  Gone from the Raiders 2010-2011 squad were the team’s top 4 returning scorers, 3 of which who averaged over 30 minutes per game.  Making matters worse is a lack of experienced upperclassmen on the squad with Johann Mpondo the lone Sr.  What the Raiders do have is 6 new players and like the Niners, the challenge of finding the right mix of players in order to generate consistency and more importantly, wins.

One of those new players is Reggie Arceneaux, a Fr. guard who is a big on the small size (5’9″) but is leading the team in scoring at 10.8 ppg.  Arcenaux is a local product who played his basketball on a talent-laden Olympic HS team before taking his talents to Dayton.  Former NC State guard Julius Mays is also eligible to play as a Jr. this season, having sat out last year.  Expect Mays to take primary responsibility for running the offense for Wright State.

In the frontcourt the Raiders have several guys who prefer to face up and occasionally step outside to the perimeter to knock down shots.  The biggest amongst them is 6’10″ So. C AJ Pacher.  Pacher leads the team in rebounding at a modest 4.4 rpg. (in 18 minutes of action per night) and is shooting a very healthy 36.4% from outside -this is no fluke as he made 34.5% of his three point attempts last season.  Joining Pacher up front is Armond Battle (former Tulsa player who transferred after a dismissal for rules violations) and Cole Darling.  Darling is an interesting player as the forward (6’7″) shot a very impressive 47.1% from behind the arc.  This season has been more of a struggle for Darling as he’s battled through a shoulder injury that has cost him two games and is having a very obvious impact on his shooting -just 29.4% from the field overall and without a make from outside.  Despite this injury, Darling has been active on the glass with 4.3 rpg. in just over 20 minutes per game of action.

Wright State is a team that will be outmatched in experience and talent most nights and to compensate for this, prefer to limit possessions and slow the game down.  Coming into tomorrow’s game, Wright State is averaging just 59 points per game and 37.9% shooting from the field.  The Raiders also have been getting outrebounded by about 5/game despite having some quality size on their front line.  Fortunately for the Niners Wright State is not too active in the passing lanes, forcing only 5 steals/game.  Obviously given the turnover struggles the Niners have had early in games that is not particularly comforting; however, it may make life easier for Green, Briscoe and Henry who have all struggled taking care of the ball.

Strategy wise, the Niners should expect to face more zone to limit the scoring of Chris Braswell until they can effectively prove they can break a zone.  With Wright State being a face-up team, hopefully the Niners man-to-man defense (which Alan Major clearly prefers to play) will limit the tendency of Wright State to shoot from outside, which is clearly one of their strengths.  Turnovers as mentioned before will again play a huge role in this game (as they do in any game); however, what concerns most is execution.  The Niners could have and should have won against ETSU but poor transition defense following two critical FT misses by DeMario Mayfield doomed the team.

This game is not a must-win for a team per se but it does represent a substantial opportunity for the team to forge an identity.  Winning on the road always takes toughness and to bounce back from two consecutive (and painful) losses might be the kind of breakthrough event for the Niners desperately need to reverse course for a program that continues to slide.

Saturday’s game against the Lamar Cardinals was certainly a humbling experience for Niners players and fans alike. With the loss of Chris Braswell due to a bout with the flu, the Niners were manhandled by Lamar 72-54. The Niners were hampered by poor shooting (32.8% for the game) and were out-rebounded handily, with the Cardinals enjoying a 52-28 advantage on the glass. As awful as it was, don’t worry, we’re not gonna do what you all think we’re gonna do, which is, you know, FLIP OUT!

The Niners can get back on track Tuesday night (7:30 PM, Halton Arena) against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers with their first of two games against Atlantic Sun programs (Kennesaw State being the other). ETSU enters the game with a record of 2-1, boasting wins against Crappalachian State and Troy, with their lone loss coming against Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The Buccaneers are coming off a 24-win season that saw them fall just short of the NCAA tournament with a ASUN Conference Tourny loss to North Florida. Gone from that squad is several quality basketball players, including top two leading scorers Mike Smith and Micah Williams. The Bucs have replaced that scoring somewhat by committee, with expanded roles of returnees and a newcomer in Marcus Dubose. Dubose is a Jr. transfer into the program and is leading the team with 15.0 ppg. He’s not a particularly skilled shooter, only hitting 38.3% from the field and 5-22 (22.7%) from behind the arc. If the Niners were anyone but the Niners, we’d want Dubose shooting the ball a lot, but since they are we know he’ll probably hit 8-11 from 3 point land.

ETSU is not a particularly deep team, choosing to use 8 players most nights and relying heavily on the trio of Sheldon Cooley (6’3″ Jr. G), Adam Sollazzo (6’6″ Sr. G) and Tommy Hubbard (6’4″ Sr. ‘athlete’) who have each played over 30 minutes/game for ETSU this season. The Bucs have one of the larger backcourts the Niners will see this year, particularly at the point with Sollazzo who’s having a fine start to the season averaging 11.7 ppg., 6.3 rpg. and 6.0 apg. With Sollazzo (who was probably the first alternate to be on Jersey Shore) likely to get big minutes at the point, it will be interesting to see how Alan Major counters. Deuce Briscoe would have a substantial size disadvantage if he matched up with Sollazzo, and might limit his usage to the off-guard again -how many minutes though will be the question.

In the frontcourt the Bucs appear to have a significant disadvantage, with their tallest post player being 6’8″ 5th yr Sr. Isiah Brown. Brown certainly has the talent to produce against top competition, having scored 25 points against Kentucky last year, but appears to struggle with consistent production which sounds similar to Javarris Barnett. The only other post player with appreciable size is 6’8″ Jr. F Lukas Poderis.

Looking at ETSU’s stats over their first three games the turnovers-caused at first glance looks alarming, as the Bucs have averaged 20 turnovers forced/game. That’s not exactly something Niner fans want to see; however, those numbers are rather inflated due to Crapp State chalking up a 29 turnover performance in their loss to ETSU… and we thought we had trouble taking care of the ball.

Keys to the game

• Get Braswell going early: Niners looked like they were psychologically deflated not having Braswell out there Saturday versus Lamar.  His play has been a key for the Niners so far and we expect the Niners to go as he goes most nights.
• Limit turnovers: ETSU forced 29 turnovers against ASU.  While that might be a bit of a fluke it’s definitely attention getting.
• Better outside shooting.  Murry Bartow should strongly consider playing zone against the Niners tomorrow night.  If he does, the Niners long distance shooters like Green, Briscoe and Barnett need to connect on open jumpers to punish the Bucs.
• Make your layups! It was devastating to see the Niners miss so many layups Saturday against Lamar.  Whether it was overthinking if they would draw contact or something else, the Niners need to stick to the basics and let the refs worry about calling fouls.

This is a game the Niners should expect to win with the squad back at full strength; however, ETSU is a quality team that should compete for the ASUN title with Belmont this season.  Lightly regarding them will put the Niners at 2-2 instead of the 3-1 fans should expect at 00:00 tomorrow.

On Tuesday night, Charlotte went on the road and got a double-overtime win over the Central Michigan Chippewas to secure their third 2-0 start in the last five seasons (2007-08, 2009-10). Standing in between the Niners and their first 3-0 start since 1995 are the Lamar Cardinals (12 PM EST). This will be the second meeting between the two programs, the first taking place on December 12^th, 1975 resulting in a 91-86 Charlotte victory. That was the same score of our first Central Michigan game too. Mind blown?

Last season, Lamar finished 13-17 (7-9 in league play), resulting in the termination of Steve Roccaforte following five seasons at the helm. The 2011-12 version of the Cardinals are coached by Pat Knight, you know who his dad is. Lamar is sitting on a 1-2 record after beating Arkansas State 65-62 to open the season, followed by the Cardinals dropping two in a row to Louisville, 68-48, and Ohio, 85-78 in overtime. The problem for Lamar so far would have to be the shooting. Only 33% of the Cardinals shots have gone in, exemplified by a 23% shooting effort against Louisville.

Lamar rebounds well, pulling down 41.7 rebounds a game, but Charlotte rebounds better hauling in 50.5 a game in their first two contests. Both Chris Braswell and Javarris Barnett are averaging 11 rebounds apiece. Lamar’s rebounding is led by pesky 6’2” guard Devon Lamb, who averaged 8.3 rpg last season and is maintaining that average this season. Lamb accounted for 100 offensive boards last year, boxing him out will be key to limiting second chance opportunities by the Cardinals.

The Cardinals have four scorers in double-digits, but before you go adding up all those points, all four average between 10 and 11.7 ppg. That 11.7 total belongs to Charlie Harper. Harper, 6’5” 210 lbs. forward, gets most of his points banging with the big guys inside, stepping outside the arc to take only one shot (which he made). With 11.3 ppg is senior sharp-shooter Brandon Davis, in the three games so far he has made 8 of his 16 3-point shot attempts (remember when Derrio Green did that in one game?). His percentage last season was 37.5%, and the Niners would be more than glad to help him knock it back down to that level.

Seniors Mike James and Anthony Miles are both averaging 10 points a game. This combo led the Cardinals in scoring last season with 12.5 and 11.9 ppg, respectively. While their actual point totals aren’t much lower, their efficiency has almost been halved. James shot 42% last season, and this season has only converted 24% of his attempts, Miles boasts a similar drop from 44% to 22%.

The inside authority for Lamar is 6’11” center Osas Ebomwonyi. “Ebaumsworld” saw limited action in the first game. While averaging 25 minutes in the second two games, he has averaged 3 blocks to go with 7 rpg and 6.5  ppg. He fouled 3 times each in the last two games after committing zero in thee seven minutes he logged in the opener.

Keys for a Charlotte Victory

• Put a body on Devon Lamb to keep him from rebounding, to limit second-chance points by Lamar.
• Smother Davis on the perimeter, don’t let him get comfortable. He has been hot this season, and it’s time to cool him off.
• Force James and Miles into bad shots, neither are shooting 25%, but still taking a lot of shots. A lot of Lamar’s empty possessions will end with the ball coming out of their hands.
• Use our size to get Ebomwonyi in foul trouble, Braswell has been unstoppable against smaller teams, if he can get going against someone like this and get to the line, the game will open up in favor of the Niners. It might be necessary to get Ilija Ivankovic and Mike Thorne off the bench in this one.