So this blog has a few haters out there. For them, this clip is for you: For the Haters Only (NSFW language)

Now that we have that out of the way, on to the new season!

First on the slate is Charleston Southern, who are slated to win the Southern Division of the Big South Conference. Personally I think that’s a step above the California Penal League, but  since the Niners are coming off a 13-17 season, there’s little room for mockery. The Buccaneers, who are led by Barclay Radebaugh (that name screams either inbreeding or trust fund, really having a hard time choosing), boast a squad featuring two-preseason All-Big South selections in Saah Nimley and Arlon Harper. The two guards despite being a little undersized at 5’8 and 6’1 respectively, managed to average just north of 26 ppg, forming the core of a potent back court which figures to be the Buccaneers’ strength. Strong perimeter defense by the Niners, particularly likely starters Pierria’ Henry (preseason A-10 All-Defensive team) and Terrence Williams, will be important if the Niners hope to win with rumors of suspensions and injuries swirling (more on that later).

As strong as the Buccaneers are in the backcourt, they are equally weak in the front court with the graduation of All Big South and DPOY Kelvin Martin. With Martin’s graduation, CSU loses their leading scorer (15 ppg) and rebounder (9 rpg). With no clear heir apparent to anchor the backcourt, CSU will have to look for rebounding and post-scoring by committee. Senior Mathiang Muo (9.8 ppg last season) will likely lead the undersized front court in scoring and the Buccaneers will hope for contributions from newcomer Allie Fullah and Sophomores Paul Gombwer and Greg Dorleus, the latter being the only CSU player over 6’7.

The Niners will counter with a squad that has a blend of experience and youth, and at least from a positional standpoint, depth. That depth may be challenged if unconfirmed rumors of Chris Braswell being suspended are true. Braswell was head-and-shoulders the best player on the squad last year and is expected to lead a team hoping to compete in the A10 this season. Also potentially inactive are Jr. DeMario Mayfield and Sr. JT Thompson, both of whom are dealing with injuries. Mayfield per his twitter was cleared to resume practice earlier this week; however, his ankle may not be 100% and thus the team may wish to hold him out for better conditioning and  a complete recovery. JT Thompson on the other hand is dealing with the lasting effects of successive season-ending ACL tears.

So assuming the worst case scenario that the Niners will be down three upperclassman (and remember, none of this is confirmed… we’d love to be “wrong” even though we’re not saying they’re out), the Niners will likely look to their defense to generate offense. Points off turnovers and transition baskets will be critical for a team that will likely struggle to score in the half court with the absence of Braswell and Mayfield. Fortunately for the Niners, the depth in the front court may mitigate offensive struggles with superior rebounding, as athletic forwards like Darion Clark and Willie Clayton could control the glass against the undersized Buccaneers. Whatever the situation tonight, Niner faithful will expect a win and rightfully so. Coach Alan Major will have to do a lot of that this season to stem calls for his ouster should the Niners against struggle in a pivotal season. Major has his players, now it’s time to win with them.

Prediction 1: Niners 65 – Buccaneers 59 -assumes no Braswell

Prediction 2: Niners 76 – Buccaneers 61 -assumes Braswell plays

Hello fans!  Quick recruiting #scoop for your weekend consumption.  Jeremiah Worthem, a 2013 combo forward out of Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School in Philly, will be taking his official visit here at the end of the month.  Worthem will be on campus from Thursday September 27th to Saturday the 29th.  He took an unofficial visit here on June 9th, per Alex Kline.  Remember, players are allowed to take 5 official visits (school foots the bill) their Senior year, and an unlimited amount of unofficial visits (comes out of players pocket), throughout all their time in HS.  Worthem is a 3 star at Rivals and Scout recruiting services, sounds like a hard-nosed player capable of playing multiple positions on the floor.  

Currently Worthem lists Charlotte, Stony Brook, LIU, Niagara, Wagner, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris & Siena as his final 8.  He also had offers from St. Joe’s, La Salle and Temple according to multiple sites.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

At this time of year we like to think about what we’re thankful for. This year, DeMario Mayfield’s free throw shooting will not be one of them. With Charlotte holding a 70-68 lead with 8.6 seconds left the redshirt sophomore stepped up to the line for two shots that would have sealed a Niner victory, had they gone in.

Both shots missed, exactly the way a comet in a disaster movie wouldn’t.

Within the next 8.6 seconds Thomas Hubbard drives to the lane, finds an open Jarvis Jones in the left corner who’s 3-point shot left Halton Arena speechless even before it hit the nets.

The back and forth affair looked like a sure win for the Niners in the late moments. With a win we could talk about the positives of the team (which there were) and make the negatives an afterthought. But instead we have to question our turnovers, 22 (14 of those in the first half), our defense (especially in the waning moments of the game), and the line-up in the game when the Buccaneers were in a fouling situation.

It was a helter-skelter 1st-half, the Niners overcame foul trouble from Chris Braswell and 14 turnovers (matched by ETSU) to lead 31-26 at the break. The Bucs were 0-7 from behind the arc in the opening half. Charlotte did happen to make a decent run with Braswell on the bench, which, after Lamar, was encouraging. But at the beginning of the 2nd-half that lead quickly evaporated instead of growing, locking us into a close game which Charlotte never led by more than eight.

Some surprises tonight were the extended minutes and play of Deuce Briscoe and freshman Terrence Williams. While Briscoe struggled early to find his shot, he converted all four of his free throws and 2-pointers, the last of which with his foot on the line. Moments later he would hit his first trey of the night, after apparently finding his swagger again to end the night with 15 points. Briscoe’s minutes came at the expense of Derrio Green, who registered one assist, two turnovers and two missed shots in 13 minutes. Williams, along with Mayfield, were the only players with the courage to drive on ETSU’s zone defense. Williams scored four points on three attempts, the only miss an acrobatic jumper that should be chalked up as a freshman mistake. Pierria Henry also showed off his shooting touch, hitting three 3-pointers in the second half on top of five steals (and four 1st-half turnovers).

Why DeMario was in for the fouling situation late is puzzling. He was a 60% free throw shooter going into the game, and was one of three in the game at that point. Charlotte shot 17-22 from the line, and four of those misses belonged to Mayfield. Even though Derrio had been sitting on the bench almost all night, having him in the game to draw the foul may as well be two guaranteed points.

The lack of defense after Mayfield’s misses was astoundingly bad. No one was prepared to cover their assignments, panicked, and collapsed on the ball-handler driving the lane. It’s almost certain that Major’s instructions weren’t to “leave a guy all by himself in the corner”, someone on the court needs to step up in that moment with the instinct to be on that man.

Still perplexing is the idleness of Mike Thorne and Ilija Ivankovic, who both failed to register a minute for the third time in four games. These guys can’t be so raw that, when paired with Braswell, defenders ditch them to double-team every play, especially when our current player at the four is a shooter first and plays on the perimeter, inspiring memories of LaMont Mack. Either one of them would have been the tallest player on the court at any moment of tonight’s game, and they aren’t getting the chance to get better. If Major wants to keep experimenting in these non-conference games, seeing what Thorne and Ivankovic are really made out of HAS to be on the agenda.

ETSU did their damage through Marcus Dubose, who scored 26 points on 9-17 shooting, converting 7-9 from inside the arc. Our rebounding struggles continued, although not to the degree as it was against Lamar, with ETSU pulling down 35 boards to Charlotte’s 29. Once again, having Thorne or Invankovic would almost have to limit the other team’s rebounding, but we don’t know, because they haven’t been given a chance.

Also worth noting is the presence of official Mike Eades. We won’t go blaming a referee for this loss but Mr. Eades was given a chance to be terrible and he didn’t disappoint. One play that stands out is when an ETSU player drove on Pierria and Mr. Eades called the reach-in  from the opposite side even though his view of Henry was obstructed by the ball handler. We aren’t blaming the loss on him, but he is terrible and the world should know.

This team isn’t close to being a good team yet, a win tonight would not have changed that but it would have felt much better. We played well enough to win, but choked hard enough to lose. It will be interesting to see how the team responds, the buzzer beater by Rhode Island effectively put last year’s team down for the count. Niner Nation needs to see some signs of improvement before things get much worse or “Wait until next year” will be replaced by solemn silence.

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.

Good Morning Niner Nation, the Charlotte 49ers take the court today against the Lamar Cardinals today at Noon, located in Beaumont, Texas, United States of America. We got some terrible effing news last night that Chris Braswell is under the weather, and did not make the trip with the team. If you read the preview yesterday, you know that Lamar doesn’t rely heavily on inside scoring, but it would still be wise to pair KJ with either Ivankovic or Thorne in the front court if the Cardinals get too cocky around the basket.

Now it’s time to make fun of them. Beaumont, Texas doesn’t have any claims to fame. The only thing recognizable that came out of Beaumont, Texas was Jason’s Deli. And that was founded by some chump named Joe. Someone has to carry the third place banner behind Jimmy John’s and Jersey Mike’s.Lamar is like a bizzaro version of Louisville, both are Cardinals, they’re abbreviations are reflections, and both places have spawned national food chains, except Papa John’s was actually started by a guy named John. But what Lamar and Louisville have in common, is that they are both about to be victims of an overwhelming Charlotte 49er road victory.

Here are our predictions, make your own in the comments’ section. If you guess it right, you get a Jason’s’ Deli sandwich I found in a trash can at work.

JFelt: Charlotte 76, Lamar 67. I guess those Cardinals…[puts on green tinted glasses]… just don’t fly.
CPip: I was there the last time Charlotte played some Cardinals on the road. Same score, Charlotte 87, Lamar 65.
McFly: No Bras no W.  Lamar 68, Niners 58
2k: Niners squeak one out on the road, sans Braswell. Niners 65, Lamar 61
Geep: Cardinals turn green with envy as the Niners earn this one 81-77.
NLP: Alright I’m jealous. J_Felt with the first ever GTG Horatio Caine reference. ::sigh:: Wish I came up with it first. Niners beat Lamar UT-style 49-48.