Green Tinted Glasses » Atlantic 10 Basketball

We secretly replaced this post game with an Gmail exchange. Let’s see if anyone notices.

NLP — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:38:47 +0000

Yeah so J Felt and I were too depressed to post game. Writing about the team you love losing is painful. We leave it to the people who get paid by the period to do the post mortem some times so we can spend a few hours days in the fetal position. So today we started exchanging emails while I was repairing the grammar on my surgical fellow’s abstract and voila!

Here goes nothing.

NLP says: Alright J Felt, I’m going to need to be talked down from the ledge. Team US lost on a heart-breaking goal in OT by frigging Frenchy-wannabe Sidney Crosby and more importantly, the Niners were completely beat up by George Washington -this time with no last minute heroics by the back court.

We’ve started conference play 8-1 and now there’s strong reason to believe we could finish 1-6. WTF?

J Felt gets italics today.

In my high school band geek days we referred to “WTF” as “What To Fix” and I think that is especially appropriate here. We have a lot of things that need fixing, especially since it seems that all the coaches in the A14 are sharing notes on how to beat us, Martelli just ignored the email. Its almost painful to watch, the entire squad is playing extremely tight and over thinking everything. This is also known as “choking”, and it’s easy to see on their faces. The guys are so concerned about not making mistakes that they’re making a ton of mistakes. I don’t buy the excuse that ”we can’t beat physical ball teams”, we should be compensating for it and figuring out how to win. We’re not. Who do we blame? Can we blame anyone?

As for the hockey, you seem to forget that I’m a dual citizen and I am therefore legally allowed to change my rooting interests on a whim. However, I was rooting for the USA all the way, especially since they were playing the style of hockey I love to watch. Fast paced and out-hustling their opponents. Canada should send a “Thank You” card to the US for that 5-3 beatdown earlier on, because it really turned Team Canada around, made them realize they can’t just phone it in and expect to win. The USA played 100% the entire time, and got better as the Olympics went on, which was great as well, Canada was just too good in the end.

That being said, I hate Sidney Crosby, I wouldn’t have been upset if Eric Staal had scored the winning goal, but Crosby? That’s worse than Celine Dion covering Nickelback.

Wow, you made the impossible possible. You made Nickelback even worse. That’s suffering, folks.
Best commercial of the Olympics. Much better than that awful GE Healthcare one that played over and over.

NLP says: I kind of figure I could count on you for some Crosby hating since you aren’t a Quebecois. I know this because I haven’t stabbed you in the back repeatedly yet. I guess I’ll have to shelve the “54 40 or fight” rhetoric and just focus my rage on Quebec. Je me souviens? Yeah you’ll remember when I’m going Jeff Gillooly on your knee, Sidney.

Otherwise it was a good Olympics.

But it wasn’t such a good performance Saturday by the basketball team. That final score was no indication of how much a whooping it was. 39 trips to the foul line by GW. That’s jaw-dropping for me when all season long we were a team that made more FTs than our opponents even attempted.

The biggest problem incidently wasn’t turnovers or the GW defense as much as it was on the defensive end. Our interior players got abused early on and the infection of futility spread to the back court. Probably the biggest difference in the game was Shamari and Braswell going to the bench early, and practically everyone being in foul trouble by early in the 2nd half. As bad as I thought out defense was, it was obviously worse when you consider we had to play a little looser to keep from fouling. That means layup drill and offensive rebounds galore for GW.

The larger question, which you alluded to, is how we did we get to that point?

Unfortunately our problems start in the backcourt with DiJuan and Derrio. Though DiJuan is doing a decent job, he’s struggling with traps mightily. Derrio is also turning the ball over in really painful situations, like between the circles and on fast breaks. He’s really good with the ball in the halfcourt once we’re set, and he’s good when he sees the defense, but he seems to loose too many balls when there’s a defender around him. I guess it’s the court awareness and transition to DI where you have to account for everyone, not JUCO where the defense gives up once you start the break.

I’m really getting worried about Wednesday. Despite losing to X, I see Richmond drilling us. Mooney is no fool and he’s gonna know the scouting report. They probably feel like they owe us a beating. We HAVE to solve our problems dealing with physical teams NOW.

J Felt says: It was a good Olympics, and I pretty much just hate Crosby because he looks like a bitch but he’s still pretty good, and he plays for the Penguins. After the thrashing they laid down on the Canes in the playoffs I have some serious disdain.

No more MASN!!!

As for the game, I don’t even remember most of the 2nd half. 10 minutes into the game I asked our waitress for another pitcher of Yuengling. Already then I knew the MASN curse was kicking in. I really hate that channel, and I probably let you know that. Its as if our team notices that we’re on MASN and forgets how to play basketball. I know I said we broke the curse with the Fordham game, but does a single digit win over Fordham really count as a WIN? That’s like taking home your grandmother’s bingo partner, you’re actually losing.

“Judy Rose’s office, how can I help you?.” … “Oh, it’s MASN? One moment please.” (call immediately transferred to angry chair-slamming guy who sits in 217)

NLP says:

I also heard they were douches to Matt and cut his feed off. Something to that effect. I would tell you first-hand but with his speech rate the words still haven’t hit my ears. He’s got good announciation though and that goes a long way.

Yeah I’m going to have to agree. We need a self-imposed ban from MASN before someone gets hurt. And I’m talking a lot more than the bruised egos the Niners and us fans are currently sporting.

Remember when everyone agreed that Shamarr leaving the team was a good thing for us. Do you still feel that way? I’m not going to tip my hand on how I feel, so ha ha! You’re on your own.

J Felt says: No, it’s never a good thing when someone leaves the team, whatever reason it is. While I wasn’t suprised in the least to see him go, I still think we could have been better with him here. Derrio did blossom for a few games after Shamarr left, but he’s fallen off as late. You can blame that on being tired, but there’s another aspect that is going unnoticed. Competition. No offense to Ian, but he is never going to contend with Derrio for that two guard spot, and maybe this long slump is because of complatency. He’d never admit it of course, he probably does work his ass off in practice, but there’s no one trying to take his starting job.

I think people forget how important practice is. If there’s no one near your calibre challenging you in practice, you’ll never improve. Just look at Phil Jones’ improvement ever since he’s had to battle K.J., Shamari, and Braswell at practice. If Green is only having to play against Ian in practice, no wonder he’s struggling in games. And yes, we’re talking about PRACTICE.

Maybe Ian is the new Butter when it comes to killing it in practice?
One of the most memorable interviews I've ever seen.

NLP says:

Not a game? Not a game? But Practice? Practice?

I’d take AI right now on this team, even with the neck tattoos (always popular since the Curtis Nash experiment) and broken down body too.

I agree I wouldn’t want to take Shamarr back, but the question was whether we’re still a better team without him, not would we take him back. You did answer that though by saying you thought we could be better with him here. I agree there too. Not only is it addtional competition, but it’s also additional options. Obviously we have a collection of streaky shooters. That’s a challenge, but less of one with more options. Of course there’s a caveat with more options, and that’s less playing time to go around, and as this season showed we fell victim to its consequences -Shamarr leaving. Pity, he could have really fit in well if he bought into the team concept.

Derrio kind of reminds me of Neo on his first visit to the Oracle in The Matrix.

And I have to go on an aside here. The Matrix was the only one they should have made. Reloaded and Revolutions were awful, especially the latter. If you’re the machines, how can you accept that deal? Yeah Smith is wreaking havoc inside the build, but the deal with the humans is untenable. It cuts off their sole form of energy, since the sun is out of the picture. Unless they have some sort of cold fusion energy production scheme worked out, I don’t know how it works.

Anyway, in the visit the Oracle tells Neo he’s waiting on something, and that no one call tell you you’re The One, it’s something you realize. I kind of think that about Derrio and when I recall Utter writing about him talking with his father about his game, it kind of reinforces that. I think Derrio has it in him to be a Me-guard (credit to Powerbait for introducing me to that) unlike any that Lutz has had, unlike any the program has had since H Will. Sorry Jobey fans, I just see Derrio being a more dynamic triple threat (dribble, pass, shoot) threat than Jobey even though Thomas’ mid-range game was awesome by the time he graduated.

That said, I hope Derrio’s confidence isn’t waning. He’s got to believe in himself. I think the fans absolutely do, we’ve seen him do just jaw-dropping things (like the comeback against Fordham). I think his teammates do too, otherwise they wouldn’t look for him on offense. I also think defenses would fear him too if he could get the turnovers under control. How do you guard a kid who’s athletic enough to either blow by you or hit his shot no matter how closely he’s guarded?

Hang in there Derrio. I seriously believe in you. I think we’re an absolute long-shot to win the A10 tournament (which in my opinion is our only way now), but if we were it’d be on your back.

The Phil Jones does remain a good example of competition improving a player, despite my differing view on the source of Derrio’s struggles. Unfortunately he’s the most polarizing guy on the team. People either love what he brings off the bench or he’s labelled as soft and unaggresive. Personally I think he’s physically limited in his explosiveness, but has the size to make up for it; however, deep down I see him as a SF in a C’s body.

J Felt says: Here’s the thing about The Matrix: it’s a double decker matrix. See, the people in Zion are in the deeper layer of the Matrix, how else would Neo have power in the “real” world? He’s obviously been removed from the Matrix but has only ended up in the 2nd Matrix. Following me? So everyone in Zion thinks they are “free” but they are, in fact, still just batteries. A little depressing. They should have stopped after the first film, we can agree on that

You gotta check your mirrors, just the side of your eye.

I can’t believe you segwayed from The Matrix and Neo into Derrio becoming a star. Did you pull out a white board and brain storm possible movie choices that could be used to describe Derrio? What movie do you think appropriately symbolizes our season?

NLP says: Oooh. Good point. I forgot about Neo’s real world powers too. I’ve ranted about those too. Your theory is plausible. That’d solve the machine energy conundrum.

What movie summarizes our season? Unfortunately Groundhog Day. We’re at the point where Phil Connors keeps getting turned down by Rita every way imaginable. It’s like all the creative ways we can blow a season. PLEASE LET IT END. WHAT RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS AND CHARITY MUST I PERFORM? WHAT CATHARTIC MOMENT MUST I EXPERIENCE? I’m going go step in front of a truck/electrocute myself/jump off a building/drive off a cliff with a groundhog at the wheel.

Niners set to take on Hawks, hope to return to winning ways.

NLP — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:05:58 +0000

February is the make of break month for most teams with aspirations for at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately for the Niners (18-8, 8-4), it’s been the latter case as they have dropped 3 straight A10 contests to drop to 2-3 for the month. Wednesday night the Niners hope to set their course back in a winning direction when they host the Saint Joseph’s Hawks (9-18, 3-10).

During the stretch of losses, a common theme has been a dichotomy of shooting. In plain english the Niners are shooting like crap and opponents are shooing lights out, and there’s no in-between. Never a good recipe during the stretch run of the season. The last two losses have been especially difficult to stomach as they have come on the court of Halton Arena and both featured Niner leads that were put away with lengthy runs, with the opponent never looking back after ripping the lead away.

Perhaps Saint Joe's needs the cruel tutelage of Pai Mei.

The goods news is we’re playing Saint Joseph’s tomorrow (although I thought the same thing when we played Fordham… we know how that went). The Hawks are struggling under Phil Martelli this season, who is typically billed amongst the best coaches in the league. It’s surprising to see a team with a fair amount of upperclassmen leadership struggling so mightily, particular under Martelli’s leadership.

Statistically, the Hawks have done little well this season as they rank amongst the bottom of the nation in rebounding (minus 9 in this category, ouch), field goal percentage, and 3-point shooting. Not a combination that’s particularly conducive to winning, though they do get to the line somewhat frequently.

Personnel wise, Saint Joseph’s gets most of its production from a trio of upperclassmen. Darrin Govens leads the team in scoring as a 6’0 Sr. G, putting up 13.1 ppg. on 38.2% shooting from the field. The bulk of his baskets come from behind the arc though, so his shooting percentage is somewhat deflated by his tendency to shoot the three-point shot. Though he doesn’t particularly excel from long range, he hits 33.7% of his attempts and considering the volume he attempts, his perimeter game warrants considerable attention from the Niners “defense”. Garrett Williamson is 2nd on the team in scoring and is the top assist distributor for the Hawks, averaging 12.1 ppg. and 3.7 apg. on the season. The Sr. swingman is much more of slasher than Govens, preferring to score at the rim or drawing fouls and getting to the line -Govens leads the team in FTAs. As this has been a particular weakness for the Niners this season, it will be interesting to see how Bobby Lutz divvies up defensive responsibilities to account for the contrasting styles of Williamson and Govens.

The top post player this season for the Hawks is 6’7 Jr. F Idris Hilliard. Hilliard scores 10.2 ppg. on 47% shooting and is a marksman from outside, connecting on 1-7 from the arc. Watch me jinx us and he goes 11-14 from 3. I might have to bring some lighter fluid to this game in case self-immolation is required.

Though the Hawks have struggled mightily this season they do get regular contributions from some underclassmen that hope to be impact players going forward. Todd O’Brien is a 6’11 So. C who leads the in rebounding (a modest 6.2 rpg.) and 5.6 ppg. Carl Jones is also a frequent contributor scoring 9.3 ppg. on 35.4% shooting, with about half his makes coming from behind the arc.

To win this game the Niners need to follow a very simple but suddenly elusive recipe: Make shots, and keep the other team from doing the same. Against Dayton the Niners shot 25% from the field. Dayton shot 48.1%. In the following game against Duquesne the Dukes shot 48.4% to the Niners’ 32.8%. On Saturday versus Xavier, the Niners shot 36.5% and the Musketeers 52%. You won’t win many games that way. One saving grace is the Niners tend to draw a lot of fouls, which can mitigate poor shooting; however, it seemed Shamari Spears despite his best efforts couldn’t get a whistle to save his life against Xavier. Now I’m not one to cry sour grapes since we couldn’t hit a shot or stop Xavier, but if Spears can get some foul calls, perhaps a 12 point game is really a 6 point game going down the stretch and who knows what can happen

NLP after the game if Idris Hilliard has his way.

then. Still, despite the difficult day I’ve been impressed with Spears’ effort on both ends. Though not a natural defender by any means he’s rebounded better and even managed one hell of a block shot. Keep it up Sherman!

One player who’s continued to struggle of late has been Derrio Green. The dynamic Sophomore has been a revelation at the SG position but may have hit the wall a bit in his first season at DI play. Though the future remains exceptionally bright for

Derrio,the present must seem like an abyss to him. I do like his attitude and don’t think he’s really been forcing shots, so hopefully it’s merely a slump he can play his way out of.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s time to just set aside the idea of the NCAA tournament and focus on the immediate. For anything good to come out of the remainder of the season, the Niners need to focus on Wednesday’s game and Wednesday’s game only. The winning has evaporated and play on both ends of the court has suffered. These are the times where a player needs to emerge from the pack and lead this team forward. Whether it’s DiJuan Harris, Shamari Spears, or a newcomer, someone has to take on the onus of winning and bring the team along with him. Can we do it? At least tomorrow night, I say yes.

Game #must win vs. Xavier, Homecoming edition.

NLP — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:04:52 +0000

Can DiJuan rally the troops and turn the season around?

It’s time for our annual out-of-season Homecoming contest as the Niners set to host the Xavier Musketeers. It’s been a rough two game stretch for the Niners as they’ve dropped games in the most painful of fashions, losing on the road to Dayton and again on Wednesday at home to Duquesne. The struggles come at a critical time for the team as most squads are looking to cement their NCAA resumes. For the Niners, another loss could instead be the death knell for any hopes of such a trip to the tournament, forcing the team to have to win what will likely be a highly-competitive A10 tournament. In other words, Saturday’s game is an absolute must-win.

The formula for beating the Niners, which I’ve mentioned time and again, has become common knowledge amongst coaches. It was clearly on display Saturday. The Niners ran up a 10 point lead in the second half, and Duquesne responded with pressure, steals, forcing turnovers, easy buckets, and a 16-1 run to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Although Xavier isn’t the most defensively astute team, unless something drastic changes, they will be tomorrow if they play tough man-to-man defense and harass the Niner backcourt. It’s becoming a sour realization in another otherwise very successful season and it threatens to undo all the hard work the team has put in this season. But the path back is clear: Just win baby. This is the same team that ran Louisville off their court and thoroughly dominated Richmond on the road and Temple at home. The talent is there, but will the execution?

In the first meeting the execution certainly was there… for Xavier. The Musketeers hit 53% from the field overall and had a balance of inside and outside scoring, with 4 players scoring in double figures, led by Jordan Crawford’s 18 points. The Niners for their part played smart basketball, but just couldn’t get the early shots needed to stay competitive. They also suffered from abysmal outside shooting all game long, hitting just 2 of 22. The bright spots were less turnovers than Xavier (15 vs. 16) and 59% shooting from inside the arc.

The recipes for both teams should be relatively simple: For X, they should go true and tested and play tough man defense against the Niners and force turnovers. It’s worked for teams all season long. For the Niners, taking care of the ball is the most critical aspect of the game. They have the talent to stick with Xavier, particularly with a noisy Halton Arena backing them up. The question though is whether they can even get looks, since turnovers early in possessions has becoming a mounting problem for the team.

The Niners’ also need Derrio Green to snap out of his run of poor play. He’s far too talented to continue to struggle this much, so part of it might be mental. If it is, keep your head up Derrio. Niner Nation believes in you and will have the Bat Signal on, waiting for yet another super human performance. The Niners’ inside game should a field day -if the backcourt can get them the ball. Spears, Braswell, and Wilderness all had success in the first matchup and there’s no reason to believe the Xavier defense should be any more stout should we manage to get them the ball down low.

Oh, and I departed from our normal scheduling since I’ve already talked about Xavier’s personnel. As I’ve been droning on and on about, it’s the style of play that’s bothering the Niners the most right now. It’s beyond who’s on the roster and more how teams deal with the Niners. There’s no point re-hashing what we already know about Xavier.

Personally, I think we gut it out and win. I still believe in DiJuan Harris, and I don’t see how he could allow us to lose a must win game, particularly home coming. What do you think? Post your predictions in the comments and I’ll highlight them on the game day post. Anyone hits it on the head, and I’ll buy them a pitcher of beer (or some Green Kool-aid if you’re underage) at Picasso’s.

Well it’s about time! Niners return to the court and face Dukes.

NLP — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:26:03 +0000

Ron Everhart is looking for his spit can.

It’s been a long week off for Niner fans following the dismantling the team experienced against the Dayton Flyers last Wednesday at UD Arena. Fortunately the basketball gods (or the A10 office) have delivered salvation in the form of a hump day matchup against the Duquesne Dukes. Gametime is 7 PM in Halton Arena and the contest will be broadcast by CBS College Sports Regional.

The week off probably was a good thing for the Niners. When a team runs out to an 8-1 conference start and sole possession of 1st place only to see it come crashing down on the road in brutal fashion, the extra time between games is an opportunity to circle the wagons, regroup, and hopefully adjust. The principal adjustment that needs to be made? Clearly running the offense against strong man-to-man defense. It’s been the Achilles’ Heel of the team all season long. If you’re a head coach and you see Charlotte on the schedule, dial up the man defense. Until the Niners can make that adjustment and handle the pressure, they will continue to struggle in the half court. In particular DiJuan Harris and Shamari Spears, the two most experienced players on the team need to step and create opportunities for others to loosen the defense. Spears for his part has to recognize *BROKEN RECORD ALERT* the defense collapsing around him and kick it out to open players. Do it AS they collapse, not once they are already there. Custard couldn’t pass out of his last stand, why would Spears be able to?

As mentioned earlier, the Niners’ opponent on Wednesday are the ever enigmatic Dukes of Duquesne. The average fan (yes, I’m going there) might look at their 13-12 record and think mediocre team and expect a blowout. The Dukes are instead a very dangerous, yet inconsistent opponent. Most recently they exploded on La Salle with a blistering 103-82 victory; however, this performance immediately following a let-down 84-80 OT loss to UMass. So the question begs, which Duquesne team will show up Wednesday? If the 2-8 road record is any indication, most likely the team that last to UMass. But as this season has illustrated, the Niners can ill-afford to take the Dukes, or any team, for granted.

These Dukes are led by head coach Ron Everhart, who when not chewing tobacky is a fun coach to watch. He’s assembled a talented squad that while yet to transform into a consistent performer, has a lot of nice parts that can go off on any particular night. The cog in the engine for Duquesne is Jr. F Damian Saunders. On a contender, Saunders is probably the runaway A10 POY. He’s a double-double machine (14.9 ppg and 12.2 rpg.) who’s achieved lofty individual heights in the NCAAs, ranking 3rd in the nation in rebounding, 4th in steals, and 8th in blocks. Even more impressive is he does it all with just a 6’7″ frame. Saunders will be a handful on both ends of the court, but it will be fun to see how he matches up defensively on Shamari Spears. It’ll be a contrast of strength and craft versus freak athleticism. Let’s hope Spears wins out.

If the Dukes through up some tough M2M will the Niners pull a France?

Joining Saunders in the “post” (using the term loosely) is fellow Jr. Bill Clark. Clark is second on the team in both scoring (13.8) and rebounding (6.2), though the former comes at the expense of his arm practically falling off after every game. In other words, he shoots the three-ball with reckless abandon and only manages to convert on 1 in 4. For someone like him, 25-30 three pointers is a lot. He’s taken 133. Nice shot selection there, buddy. Of course against La Salle he goes 11-14 and scores 34 points. Wasn’t that supposed to happen against us?

Though Sr. guard Jason “Light” Duty has started much of the season, he will likely cede his starting role tomorrow to Melquan Bolding, who’s rounding back into form after a lengthy injury. Bolding is a nice young player but again suffers from poor shooting selection. He shoots overall at a 40.7% clip from the field, which is about the norm for a collegiate shooting guard. But his numbers are dragged down again by poor shooting from the arc (25.5%). On paper the Dukes remind me of the worst of the 08-09 team combined with the worst of the 02-03 team when it comes to three-point shooting.

B.J. Monteiro is touted as the Dukes best three point shooter. Brace yourselves folks: He shoots 33.3% from behind the arc.

Running the show for Duquesne is So. PG Eric Evans. Evans, like the other 4 scorers averages over 10 ppg. He also leads the team in assists and is 2nd in steals.

So there you have it, the Duquesne starters. For all intents and purposes, they’re the entire team, as like the Niners the starters do the bulk of the scoring for Ron Everhart’s squad. When looking at the teams stats, it’s easy to see where their struggles come from: 1) They can’t shoot a lick from outside, hitting only 25.5% as a team. 2) They’re awful from the line, hitting just 60.6% of their FTAs. 3) They’re woefully undersized and it shows: They’re tallest starter is 6’7″ Saunders. After that they run 6’5″ 6’5″ 6’3″ and 5’11″. This might be the first game since the scrub non-conf. games that the Niners have had a size advantage.

The Niners have a clear task at hand tomorrow: Take a game that could be dangerous, since Duquesne has the potential to explode offensively, and dominate it.

Despite Saunders being a terrific talent and consistent top-notch performer, the Niners have the size and capacity to dominate the game on the glass, and I expect them to. Sure Saunders will likely get 8-10, but the Niners need to have a sizeable rebounding margin, like +7 or greater and double-digit offensive rebounds.

Specifically I would expect to see plenty of zone again. Duquesne is a poor shooting team, and it only makes sense strategically to sag off the “shooters” and keep Saunders from going off inside.

One difference from the Dayton to Duquesne game I would like to see is in Derrio Green. He’s at his best when he’s both driving and shooting, not relying on the outside game. He also needs to show he can handle tough defensive pressure all game long.

Well Niner fans, it’s crunch time. The team simply can’t afford a home loss from here on out. Let’s start with Duquesne and build momentum going into Saturday.

Niners head to the Bronx looking to dehorn the Rams.

NLP — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:36:32 +0000

Personally I think it's been dead for a few.... years.

While there’s a Nor’easter in full effect in the Mid Atlantic there’s a different kind of warning being posted for Niners fans:

MONSTRA ALERT! MONSTRA ALERT!

Niners scheduled to play horrific, craptastic team in the next 24 hours. Expect periods of ineptitude approaching record highs. 100% chance of substantial RPI drop will occur as a wave of ugly basketball crosses the Rose Hill Gym court. Secure your possessions and seek shelter in a concrete fallout shelther no less than 1000 feet below surface should Niners face 2nd half deficit.

In a game that’s probably more likely to resemble a trip to the Bronx Zoo than a Division I basketball program, the Niners take on the Fordham Rams Saturday afternoon at 2 PM in a contest televised on MASN. The zoo analogy is pretty fitting for Fordham considering the season the Rams have been having, dating back to the spring letter the university’s administration sent to boosters claiming support for it’s coaches and basketball programs. Considering the financial meltdown it was kind of fitting in its timing considering many a bank that failed tried a similar strategy to placate investors.

The situation did not improve despite the announcement that Jio Fontan would return to the team and the arrival of heralded frosh post man Chris Gaston. Just five games and one win against lowly Sacred Heart later, Jio Fontan announced his transfer again, this time for good. One day later, out goes Dereck Whittenburg and Jared Grasso takes over the train wreck.

Things haven’t gotten much better -just 1 win and 14 more losses.

There are a couple of bright spots though, one being the aforementioned Gaston. Gaston has been nothing short of spectacular on a team where opponents know he’s going to be one of the two focal points of the offense. To average 17.8 ppg. and nearly 10.7 rpg. on an abysmal team is very impressive and Gaston will warrant serious consideration for A10 FOY (go Braswell). Extra impressive when you consider he’s listed at “just” 6’7″. Gaston does have areas to improve on though, such as shooting from outside (in other words, don’t) and turnovers (averaging over 4 tpg.). Part of the problem might be the fact he’s got so little around him and forces his shots and drives. Oh, and he’s on the market. LOL.

Gaston does have a pretty solid Sr. wingmate in Brenton Butler. The 6’3″ guard is scoring at a nice clip (15.7 ppg.) but it does come at the expense of a lot of shots (33% from the field and 31% from behind the arc). Again, it’s likely because he’s one of only realistic options on offense for the Rams.

After that the cupboard is pretty bare. Alberto Estwick (So.) and Lance Brown (Fr.) are a pair of nice young guards, but they’re not ready to carry the team or take significant weight off Gaston or Butler. Perhaps in a year or two, the Gaston/Estwick/Brown could form a nice nucleus, but it’s hard to envision that given the lack of support from Fordham.

As a team Fordham does _______________ well. Fill in the blank cause I can’t find anything. I guess you could say they play good perimeter defense since they limit teams to under 25% from behind the arc, but who cares? They’re 2-18.

The game itself really is a must-win for the Niners. Fordham is awful and to lose to them on the road would be devastating to the Niners’ at-large hopes. The good news is we’ve got some serious swagger and Phil Jones’ game is on an upswing ever since he circled the wagons emotionally after going through a rough patch in his life. GTG admires Big Phil for his resiliency.

What we the writers would like to see is a balanced attack on offense and respect for Fordham on defense. They’re awful, but we’re not in any position to take any team for granted. The stakes are way too high at this point of the season. Charles Dewhurst has been spectacular on the defensive glass of late and we will need him to keep that up in order to counter Chris Gaston. This will be particularly important since Chris Braswell will likely have his hands full trying to defend Gaston. With Braswell getting in early trouble with fouls against GW, his focus will be critical and Javarris Barnett and KJ Sherrill will have to be ready if called on to play key minutes.

All that being said, it’s reasonable to expect the Niners to win this game, and frankly, to demand it. They’ve shown mental toughness that’s been lacking for years over the last few games and as long as they stay focused and playing the way they’ve been, this should be an easy W. Let’s just not have an epidemic of turnovers in the first half this time, mkay?

Go Niners!

Game #9: Gardner-Webb vs. Charlotte, 12/12/2009

J Felt — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:47:52 +0000

We must be dreaming, right Niner fans? Football is coming in 2013 (if the world doesn’t end first), we have stadium renderings to drool over, and a Men’s Basketball squad that is off to its best start since the 1994-1995 campaign that took us to the Big Dance. There is certainly no reason to expect the party to stop tonight when the Niners host the Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb.

So far this season, Charlotte is 2-0 against canines which doesn’t bode well for G-W. Gardner-Webb (3-3, 0-1) last played in Halton Arena during the 2007-2008 season and took an 83-51 beating at the hands of a 20 point performance by Leemire Goldwire and double-doubles chipped in by Charles Dewhurst and Charlie Coley (who also gave us a memorable breakaway slam from nearly the free throw line.) That Niners team was probably not as complete as our team this year, and the Runnin’ Bulldogs are definitely worse than they were in the last meeting between the two clubs.

The Bulldogs have yet to win a game against a Division I opponent, sporting 3 wins over Division III Covenant College, and Division II schools Montreat and Methodist. Against Division I schools, the Bulldogs have played to their ability (aka “scrubs”), taking their lumps against UNC-CH on a night when senior guard Grayson Flittner scored a season-high 32 points on 10/19 shooting including 9 treys in a 93-72 loss. The Runnin’ Bulldogs then lost back to back home games against a surprising 9-1 Western Carolina team (75-59) and most recently, a heartbreaker to a below average UNC Asheville team (58-56) starting Gardner-Webb off at 0-1 in Big South play.

Gardner-Webb will look to Flittner and fellow senior Auyrn MacMillian, a 6’8” Aussie averaging nearly a double-double, contributing 9.3 ppg and 9.2 rpg per night, to lead them into the valley of death. Head Coach Rick Scruggs is not afraid to go deep into the bench so that all his scrubs can feel the embarrassment of playing against real Division I basketball players; more than 10 players are averaging minutes in the double digits per game. However, nobody other than Flittner averages more than 9.3 ppg. The Bulldogs aren’t a particularly poor shooting team from the field at 44.9% but they shoot an abysmal 56.8% from the charity stripe and an unimpressive 32.9% from Bowden-Land.

The Niners are coming off a 42 point blowout of the WSSU Rams in which Niner Fans witnessed the much-anticipated debut of junior forward An’Juan Wilderness who has been recovering from a strained calf. Wilderness was a bit rusty, as to be expected. He didn’t take a single shot, but in true Wilderness style, chipped in 6 rebounds. The Swagger Award winner for the game was Chris Braswell, who notched his 4^th double-double of his young career, with 16 points (on a perfect 7-7 shooting) and 15 rebounds. Shamari Spears’ 17points and Gokhan Sirin’s 11 points showed excellent scoring balance yet again, something we haven’t seen much in recent years as Forty-Niner Fans.

This matchup, much like the last one, should be a beatdown. G-W is not going to get their first Division I victory on Saturday, no matter how hard they try. Charlotte is a far superior team on both ends of the floor and the addition of Wilderness only adds to the superiority with more physicality and fresh legs. This game really shouldn’t ever be close, as long as we don’t lose focus over the next two games and start thinking about Old Dominion too soon. This game will be another great tune-up for Wilderness, and we’ll probably see a lot of experimentation with lineup changes to see how he fits in. Our bench guys should get some good PT and valuable experience as well. This will probably hurt our defense some, but Charlotte rolls to 8-1: 84-63

-Job Fickett (letsgoNINERS11)

Keys for Gardner-Webb:

Attempt to contain our frontcourt
Get into transition quickly to take advantage of Charlotte’s suspect perimeter defense
Keep Charlotte off the free-throw line

Keys for Charlotte:

Continue the balanced scoring attack
Transition defense must improve
Don’t lose focus and start looking forward to ODU and GT, we must take care of business against the teams we should