“Why We Hate…”

Every Wednesday (or Thursday if we’re lazy) we’ll be bringing you another chapter in the series, starting with the teams of the A14. And since we tend to hate the best teams more [...]]]> Beginning today, a day you’ll never remember, GreenTintedGlasses.net is launching our brand new all important “off season” series…

“Why We Hate…”

Every Wednesday (or Thursday if we’re lazy) we’ll be bringing you another chapter in the series, starting with the teams of the A14. And since we tend to hate the best teams more (fancy that), we’ll be going in the order they finished conference play in the 2009-2010 season. In all honesty we could be kicking off with “Why We Hate Memories from the 2009-2010 Season”, but who wants to re-live the pain and anguish from the season that ended with six men on the floor? Not us, that’s for sure. That would be like forcing everyone to watch Titanic but deleting out the Propeller Guy scene, and we’re not that evil. With that said, let’s get things started with the team that everyone loves to… be ambivalent about…

“Why We Hate…the Fordham Rams”

School: Fordham University
Mascot: Rams
Founded: 1841
Location: New York City, NY
Colors: Maroon and White
2009-2010 record: 2-26 (0-16 conference)

J Felt: Ah yes, the Rams of Fordham. Look at that record, you read it right, they only won 2 games last season, none of them in conference. As such, I’m finding it hard to hate on them. How can you put down that fan base when they only had two games to celebrate last year? That’s like losing your virginity at age 28, have a dry spell until 34, and then never sealing the deal again, I can only feel sympathy.

You know you suck when your banner is larger than your crowd.

According to Wiki, their motto is Sapientia et Doctrina, which can only mean “be terrible at basketball”. Their gym is so old it originally had actual peach baskets and predates true Canadian independence. Their student section is asked not to jump for fear of game delays due to falling roof debris. I know, I know, it’s a historic place to play, but when your locker rooms likely resemble those from Hoosiers it’s time for an update.

As for the moment in Charlotte vs. Fordham history that could spark the most hatred… it would have to be last season for sure. When their crappy program with one good player almost beat us. And then their coach tried to get in a fight with Shamari Spears. Doesn’t he realize that Spears is made from 90% BadAss and is basically impossible to beat up? (The other 10% is mostly cheeseburgers and pizza, from what I understand)

On the 49erFanatics.com HateMeter, I’m giving them a 3 out of 10. While I tend to dislike almost all basketball programs but our own, I have too much sympathy for their fanbase to hate them anymore.

NLP: I can hate anything. For instance, I hate J Felt for referencing Canadia. Who does that? Only a Canadian.

But on to Fordham. I hate them because they were the game that showed the wheels were starting to come off the Niners season last year. Chris Gaston absolutely destroyed us inside and out, and be it not for the heroics of Derrio Green we would have been their lone victory of conference play.

They’re also a crappy program playing in a crappy gym. Their administration is also craptastic and worthy of my glorious hatred, investing absolutely no resources into their program for decades. You know you’re loathsome when you have to send an open letter to your fan base purporting to still have a pulse and denying the transfer of one of your players (Jio Fontan). I also have plenty of hatred for their attitude towards us when joining the A10 over concerns about the university’s academics. Sorry Rams, the only anvil in the A10(14) are you. Go join the Patriot League and get whooped on by Lehigh instead of pulling the rest of us down. Oh, and EAD.

So on to the 49erfanatics.com HateMeter: 4 These guys suck and I hate them, but we’re talking a daxified level of hatred. They annoy the shiitake mushrooms out of me, but not enough to really bring on the hatred. Like J Felt said, it’s more apathy and a hatred of their failure.

GreenTintedGlasses.net Hate Meter Score: 3.5

Put your votes in the poll and in the comments!

As you may have been able to figure out, GreenTintedGlasses.net has started to let loose a little bit. Things were so stodgy around here for awhile there, but with this new brave world of At-Larges and Top Four in Conference, we figured it’s time to change things up [...]]]>

An image from today's game.

As you may have been able to figure out, GreenTintedGlasses.net has started to let loose a little bit. Things were so stodgy around here for awhile there, but with this new brave world of At-Larges and Top Four in Conference, we figured it’s time to change things up a bit.

But one thing hasn’t changed, we still HATE George Washington. You should too. Until we beat them by 30 points one day, I will continue to despise the school named after one of our Founding Fathers.

“You guys really need to get over that game in ’06. Leemire DID throw an elbow, you know.”

You know what? Screw you. I’m still pissed about that.

In other words, we HATE George Washington, and the first game this year just made it worse, despite our victory. George Washington led for most of the game by playing tough, physical ball and taking us out of our game plan. And when I say, “tough, physical ball” I mean “beat the shit out of DiJuan if he had the ball.” We still won though, which shows the character of this team. We really have a way of pulling out the close ones, Duquesne excluded. We have always found a way to get that key steal, basket, or defensive stand if the game was close near the end. Look at the Saint Joseph’s game, we hit about 100 key baskets.

You ask “will we win this game?” and to be honest, I don’t know. This has FAIL written all over it, just follow the equation…

Heated Rivalry + Away Game + Tough Physical Defense + MASN = Niners FAIL

But here’s the deal, we’re still going to win. We finally broke the MASN curse with Fordham, and Derrio is due for a big game, and that’ll be today. Our predictions are below, leave yours in the comments.

J Felt – Charlotte 81, GW 74. Derrio goes off, that’s all you need to know.

letsgoNINERS11 – A pretty heated rivalry is starting to form, and a good ole fashioned Niner beatdown in Foggy Bottom becomes the next chapter. Charlotte 75 – GW 67

D-Fo – Last game, Martelli said the Hawks came into Halton and played an “angry” team.  Wrong.  That’s not anger.  That’s Swagger, homes.  Charlotte 80, GW 70.

HP – Wolf Blitzer sits in his seat and is amazed at the 49ers’ rediscovered prowess, Good Guys 75, Foggy Bottoms 63.

JRitchie – Charlotte’s finally realized that NCAA hopes are slipping away, the Niners use that desperation in Foggy Bottom for a big win Charlotte 85-GW 68

Part II of perhaps the most intense on-court rivalry the Niners have had since joining the A10 is set to renew again Saturday night at 6 PM in Charles Dump Arena in Washington against the George Washington Colonials.  The Niners find themselves again in a must-win situation [...]]]>

GW's backcourt handing out another mugging.

Part II of perhaps the most intense on-court rivalry the Niners have had since joining the A10 is set to renew again Saturday night at 6 PM in Charles Dump Arena in Washington against the George Washington Colonials.  The Niners find themselves again in a must-win situation if they want to maintain any hopes of an at-large NCAA bid, a goal that seemed to be a distant memory until Ian Andersen and Gokhan Sirin erupted for 30 points as the Niners thrashed the Saint Joseph’s Hawks Wednesday in Halton Arena.  MASN, our favorite network to lose on, will provide TV coverage.

The last time these two teams met earlier this month it was a hard fought contest which left DiJuan Harris searching for one of CMPD’s finest to press charges for assault and battery.  The intense GW defense, which at times bordered on dirty, frustrated the Niners and had the game all but secured at the 1:25 mark leading by 5.  The Niner backcourt would have none of that, forcing a pair of turnovers and hitting clutch foul shots to secure a well-deserved 72-68 victory.

In the rematch, the key for the Niners is going to be pretty simple -contain Damian Hollis.  He’s an absolute Niner-killer and was certainly a handful scoring 23 points including 4 for 5 from 3 point land.  He’ll be a difficult matchup for whoever guards him, as he’s a bit too athletic for Braswell, Spears, and Jones, and a bit too tall for Wilderness and Dewhurst.  I would expect Lutz to again dare him to shoot from outside, although that’s increasingly becoming a bad idea has Hollis recently hit 6 of 10 from outside against Fordham.

Freshmen. Lasan Kromah and Dwayne Smith will also merit considerable attention as both appear to be improving their play as the season progresses, looking more like Sophomores than first years.  Smith in particular has steadily improved his scoring, hitting double figures in 5 of his last 8 games including 21 points against a depleted La Salle squad.

For more on the GW squad, visit the previous pre-game.

Looking at the Niners offensively, it’s a question of which team will show up.  The team dazzled fans with their shooting against an inferior Saint Joseph’s squad to reverse a trend of awful shooting recently.  Even Ian Andersen, who’s struggled throughout the season found the range.  Hopefully that will continue as the Niners absolutely need scoring off the bench, particularly from outside.  Though Ian’s struggles on defense are well-documented, he does know the offense well and if he’s hitting his shots, it’s worth having him out there.

This game is going to be war.  A lot will depend on how closely the refs call it.  The  Niners will prefer to score at the charity stripe and get calls for all the bumps and handchecks DiJuan Harris will undoubtedly receive.  For vets of the CUSA days, the Colonials play us a lot like UAB used to play us.  Constant bumping and reaching for the ball.  It also seemed that the refs would swallow their whistles and let our players get mugged.  Honestly I’m expecting nothing different.  It will be interesting to see if the zest for the game the team showed Wednesday against the Hawks can survive the physical and down-right dirty play of GW.  If it does, expect the Niners to gut out another victory.

I leave to go to Vancouver for the Olympics, stay with JRitchie, and as I’m enjoying our visit, Charlotte goes and loses to Duquesne at home. (does anyone else remember how to spell that by saying ‘doo-kes-ney’?) Then we White-Out Xavier but get massacred regardless. Can we [...]]]>

He DOES look like a dinosaur!

I leave to go to Vancouver for the Olympics, stay with JRitchie, and as I’m enjoying our visit, Charlotte goes and loses to Duquesne at home. (does anyone else remember how to spell that by saying ‘doo-kes-ney’?) Then we White-Out Xavier but get massacred regardless. Can we officially call an end to White-Out-ing Xavier? We’re 1-2 in those games and Dayton already did it Xavier. I think we should do something insanely radical, like a Neon Green-Out, or Plaid-Out (aka Al Borlan night), or Hot Girls Sit Front Row-Out. Those are winning ideas.

Needless to say, I came back to the East Coast disappointed. Maybe I should blame myself. I’m sure the players were thinking, “That guy who yells really stupid stuff isn’t here, why should we bother?” and decided to phone it in and save their best efforts for when I was in attendance. Also missed was the debut of the “Ginger Nation” sign, as one of our loyal readers, Pip, is doing his part to further the redhead race (is that really a good idea?) by wooing the crowd favorite GingerDuster. We at GTG wish him luck, and although success is unlikely, anything is possible. We were in 1st place at one time, remember?

Being at the Olympics got me thinking, what events would best suit our players?

Ian Andersen would be in curling, for obvious reasons. Shamari Spears and An’Juan would make a good two-man bobsled team. Dewhurst would do the aerials. DiJuan would tear up the moguls. Derrio seems like a speed skater. K.J. would be a great defenceman for hockey. And Phil Jones and Chris Braswell would make a formidable two-man luge squad.

We can’t leave Bobby out, of course. There’s no other place for him but Figure Skating. Have you ever seen his trademark Spin-into-Crouch and Scream? His form is impeccable.

Well, now that I’ve officially wasted your time, we need to discuss our Niners. We’ve lost three in a row. That’s rough. We’ve arguably been in a tailspin since the UMass game and we’re having a difficult time recovering. Whereas earlier in conference play luck was on our side, we seem to have run out and can’t seem to get our mojo going again. Tonight’s game is the perfect opportunity for our team to get back on their feet and remember how to win. No more imitating Mitchell Baldwin, DiJuan, play like you know how to.

Predictions are below. You know what to do.

D-Fo – The Niners really need to find their rhythm again after the past couple of weeks.  In optimism, with true green-tinted glasses, I’m gonna say that it finally happens. Charlotte 75, Chicken-Hawks 68.

HP – Martelli leaves Halton scratching his bald head on what it once was like to be significant… Niners 78, Hawks 64.

letsgoNINERS11 – Phil Martelli looks like a dinosaur.  WTF happened to Saint Joe’s? Charlotte 82 – Joe’s 67

J Felt – Charlotte 85, Saint Ho-seph’s 69. Braswell, Green and Spears all wake up and nom nom on some Hawk meat.

JRitchie – Charlotte narrowly avoids continuing its losing ways by topping the hawks with a minute to go sealing the victory. Charlotte 73 – St. Joe’s 69

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 [...]]]>

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!

Derrio Green week in the Atlantic 10 came to a close with a 34 point peformance as the Niners defeated UMass at the Mullins Center 72-58.  The win puts the Niners back in a three way tie (6-1) with [...]]]>

The Niners were all smiles as Derrio Green lit UMass up with 34 points.

Derrio Green week in the Atlantic 10 came to a close with a 34 point peformance as the Niners defeated UMass at the Mullins Center 72-58.  The win puts the Niners back in a three way tie (6-1) with Temple and Xavier atop the league and with a 16-5 record are off to their best start since 2004-2005 when they ran out to a 21-4 record before losing their last four.

Green was at his best, connecting from both inside and out as he topped his outstanding 26 point performance earlier in the week against Temple.  Green connected on 8-16 from 3-point land and 9-19 overall.  Phil Jones was the only other Niner in double digits with 12, 7 of them coming consecutively in a run that took a perilous 3 point lead in the second half and extended it to 10.  The run included a three pointer and another where he seemed to have just one foot on the line.

For UMass, it was another dreadful night shooting the ball.  The Minutemen managed just 4 makes from 28 attempts from beyond the arc.  Ricky Harris was the leading scorer for UMass, scoring 25 on 11-24 shooting including 3-10 from outside.  Anthony Gurley was the only other player for the Minutemen in double figures, scoring 11 on 4-11 shooting and missing on all five of his attempts from deep.  Former Niner recruit Sean Carter had a solid game on the defensive end, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking 4 shots.

Both teams opened the game trading buckets early on with Gurley hitting a basket to give UMass an early 9-6 lead.  A Shamari Spears put back and a Derrio Green three pointer gave the Niners their first lead, one they would not relinquish.  It was this first half where Green did most of his damage, scoring 21 points, including 5 three-pointers and a dazzling drive and finish near the rim on a difficult scoop-shot layup.  The outburst gave the Niners an 8 point lead at the half, 34-26.

The second half opened up with a sustained run by UMass that cut the Niner lead to just one at 37-36 on a Ricky Harris layup.  The narrow lead persisted over the next two minutes as the teams exchanged misses, turnovers, and fouls until An’Juan Wilderness broke a 4 minute scoring drought with a tough layup.  That’s when Jones took over, scoring the next 7 points including a 3-pointer about 4 feet behind the arc as the Niners re-built the lead back into double digits.  A parade of free throws by Charlotte extended the lead to 17 with 6 minutes to go.  However, the Niners appeared to lose focus a bit in the closing stretch of the game, allowing UMass to shrink the lead to 10 with about a minute to go with miscues by Charles Dewhurst and a pair of surprising turnovers by DiJuan Harris.

Overall it was a solid win for the Niners as they showed the team can win the trap games on the road, something Derrio Green acknowledged in his post-game comments.  For fans, it’s comforting to see his development, as it shows teams will have to choose their poison against the Niners:  try to shut down the Niner perimeter game?  Shamari Spears and Chris Braswell will hurt you inside.  Focus on limiting the interior game like UMass did tonight (Spears had 4 points on 2-8 shooting, Braswell with 7 on 2-6 shooting) and Derrio will make you pay.

Though the Niners were outrebounded on the night by 5 and UMass managed 12 offensive boards, this should come as little surprise.  As we mentioned in the pregame, the Minutemen are tough rebounders, particularly on the offensive glass.  The Niners managed to secure a victory in my personal favorite stat:  foul shooting.  Charlotte hit 21 of 30 FTAs, the makes being 9 more than UMass even attempted (9-12).  An advantage like that is very difficult to overcome and is a hallmark of tournament caliber teams coached by Bobby Lutz.

Up next for the Niners are the George Washington Colonials on Wednesday in Halton Arena followed by a trip to the Bronx to take on the Fordham Rams next Saturday.  A pair of victories and the Niners could be looking at their first trip into the Top 25 in 5 years.

So while Charlotte is under siege from the white death falling from the sky, the Niners head up to Amherst to face the youthful and enigmatic Minutemen of UMass.

Personally I can’t stand UMass.  Actually I can’t stand their fans.  Last I knew universities themselves aren’t sentient.  [...]]]>

Potential 4-star recruit for Derek Kellog?

So while Charlotte is under siege from the white death falling from the sky, the Niners head up to Amherst to face the youthful and enigmatic Minutemen of UMass.

Personally I can’t stand UMass.  Actually I can’t stand their fans.  Last I knew universities themselves aren’t sentient.  Anyway their fans crapped on us when we joined the league and they crapped on Shamari Spears when he transferred to Charlotte.  It’s not all of them, but it’s the internet so I’m gonna exaggerate because I can.  And yes, that does make it right. I will give them this:  their band plays “Africa” by Toto and that’s pretty rad.

On to what’s important.  The Niners are on a roll and they look to keep their winning ways going Saturday evening against UMass, televised by ESPNU.

The Minutemen (8-12, 2-4) broke a 5 game losing streak with a win an 87-80 road against Saint Joseph’s  Wednesday.  UMass is the epitome of chuck-and-duck basketball many have accused the Niners of playing in years past.  Offensively they shoot the three.  Frequently.  As in 35th in the nation in attempts.  Couple that with only 29.9% three-point field goal percentage and you have a lot of misses.  A painful lot of them.  Perhaps counter-intuitively they rebound the ball extremely well on the offensive glass, snagging a top-10 in the nation 15.2 offensive rpg.  That makes for a lot of second chance scoring so despite the poor shooting percentages, they do manage to score a fairly impressive 71.2 ppg.  The problem is they are the French military on defense, giving up a whopping 74.1 ppg which puts them at 302nd best in the nation.  And sorry to any French readers out there.  If it’s any consolation I like your beaches.  One stat that really illustrates how awful they are on defense is the assist to turnover ratio for opponents (1.22, 333rd in the nation).  They’re also dreadful at blocking shots but that’s not an essential stat for success (just like our lack of dunks) but taken together with the assist to turnover stat, it’s pretty evident they play matador defense.

It’s not as if UMass is devoid of talent.  It’s actually quite the contrary.  Problem is Derek Kellogg hasn’t quite figured out this coaching thing yet, but since he’s a former player and a Squid disciple, he’ll get a free pass for a good while.  As for the personal, it’s hard to find a better guard in the A10 than Ricky Harris.  For the third year in a row, the 6’2″ Sr. guard is averaging over 17 points a game.  The problem is he’s taking far too many outside shots and hitting far too few (28.5%).  In comparison he’s hitting 50.6% of his shots from inside the arc.  Ricky, take it to the basket!  Just not Saturday.

His fellow gun-slinging backcourt mate is Anthony Gurley, who is in his second season at UMass by way of Wake Forest.  Problem is he’s more Barney Fife than Pvt. Daniel Jackson as like Harris he’s hitting less than 30% of his 3-point attempts.  Fortunately for him though he doesn’t take nearly as many outside shots as Harris, and gets the bulk of his 14 plus points from inside the arc and at the foul line.  Two other frequent starters of note are Sean Carter and Terrell Vinson.  Those names should be familiar to the Niner faithful as both were recruiting targets in the past for Charlotte.  Vinson in particular looks like he’s going to be a player for UMass.  The 6’7″ Fr. SF product of Baltimore is averaging 9.7 ppg. in his rookie campaign.  Unfortunately for him though Kellogg’s offensive philosophy might be detrimental to his development as he takes quite a lot of 3 pointers (is this a theme or what?) and misses nearly 75% of them.  It boggles the mind how any coach can be comfortable with a play that will 3 times out of 4 fail.  Ladies and Gentlemen, the 2009-2010 UMass Minutemen!

Sean Carter is a 6’9″ So. F/C who’s playing his first season with UMass after transferring from Oregon State.  Carter leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 rpg., with half of them coming on the offensive glass.   A modest scorer at just about 5 ppg, Carter is a 48.8% shooter who *gasp* hasn’t taken a three-pointer this season.  But before I go too far lauding his selectivity, I have to point out he’s just a 44.7% shooter from the FT line.  The top player off the bench is another impressive Fr. in Freddie Riley.  Riley is a 6’5″ swingman who’s averaging 10.5 ppg. who’s actually a respectable, if not great, three point shooter who converts on 37.4% of this attempts.

Although this is clearly a trap game for the Niners coming off the big win at Temple, this is a game they should and need to win.  One of the absolute keys is to rebound the ball well.  Chris Braswell, I’m pointing to you as our top defensive rebounder (ranked 11th in the country at defensive rebounding percentage according to kenpom.com).   Another potential danger is the UMass transition game.  Transition defense is an Achilles’s Heel for the Niners as they’ve struggled often to get back on defense against teams that like to get out into the open court.  One other fear is the temptation to get into a three point shooting contest.  Like with UMass, the 3 point shot is like heroin to Bobby Lutz-coached teams.   This year’s team seems to be more disciplined, however, and the departure of Shamarr Bowden has only seemed to fortify that sense of discipline on offense.  One thing I’d definitely like to see is more of Super Derrio.  You know, the one who gets to the rim like a speeding locomotive?  It’s been a joy to watch his balance of inside/outside play of late and I’m praying to see more of it.  Defensively I think we should expect a lot of zone:  force UMass to make some shots from outside, much like the case against Temple.  And just like the game against the Owls, some early makes shouldn’t deter the strategy.

Well that was pretty much the definition of awesome.  D-Fo had his birthday wish delivered in the form of a game-winning runner delivered by the hands of An’Juan Wilderness as time expired at Tom Gola Arena.  The basket broke a 82-82 tie [...]]]>

Wilderness provided the heroics with the game winner against La Salle.

Well that was pretty much the definition of awesome.  D-Fo had his birthday wish delivered in the form of a game-winning runner delivered by the hands of An’Juan Wilderness as time expired at Tom Gola Arena.  The basket broke a 82-82 tie with the La Salle Explorers and gave the Niners another impressive road victory as they try to keep place with Xavier and Temple at the top of the A10 standings.  The win sets up a battle for first place Wednesday against #16 Temple  in Halton Arena (7PM tip.  If you don’t have tickets yet I’m gonna hunt you down).

Coming out of the opening tip, the Niners pulled out to an early 8 point lead thanks in large part to the hot shooting of Derrio Green.  Green scored 9 straight points for the Niners on three 3-point baskets and layups by Chris Braswell and An’Juan Wilderness put Charlotte ahead 15-7.  La Salle would battle back with impressive shooting for long range of their own thanks to sensational Fr. C Aaric Murray.  Murray, despite the offensive explosion in the first half, would be limited in action for much of the game due to foul problems, which exacerbated an already thin bench for the Explorers thanks to injuries to Ruben Guillandeaux and Kimmani Barrett, the latter finding out he will likely miss the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot.

The Niners would again build a first half lead, this time going to the inside game.  Shamari Spears, and in particular, Braswell scored often against the big La Salle frontcourt.  Braswell did his damage both on the floor and at the line, finish the game with another double-double (21 points, 13 rebounds and a very impressive 9-9 at the foul line).  The Explorers would again make a run to tighten the game at the half thanks to Yves Mekongo and Jerrell Williams, who found themselves frequently converting at the foul line in the latter minutes of the first half.  When the buzzer sounded to send the game to halftime, the Niners held a small 48-46 advantage.

The second half featured more of the same: the Niners building leads and the Explorers battling back.  The lead grew to as many as 11 points for the Niners, and they maintained a 5 point lead with just 2:03 remaining before the La Salle would make one last run.  A pair of Rodney Green free throws and a Yves Mekongo 3 pointer tied the game at 82 points apiece with just under a minute remaining.  A missed Derrio Green shot left the ball in La Salle’s hands with a chance to win and 25 seconds to work with -basically they could run the clock down and either win it or send it to overtime.

Not so fast.  An’Juan Wilderness played tough defense on Rodney Green on a pick and roll with Aaric Murray, causing Green to opt to pass to Murray who was cutting to the basket with possibly a dunk or layup to win it.  The pass however sailed off Murray’s fingers out-of-bounds giving the Niners one last chance with a little less than 5 seconds remaining.  The 49ers immediately inbounded the ball to An’Juan Wilderness who covered about three-quarters of the court an managed to get off a runner as time expired which found the bottom of the net, giving the Niners the stunning last second victory.  It was the 2nd win in 3 games that game on the last possession for the Niners who suddenly find themselves in the unfamiliar role of road warrior in A10 conference play.

The starters again shined for the Niners as they were responsible for 81 of the 84 points scored.  The lone bench points came from an Ian Andersen first half 3-pointer.  Leading the scoring charge for Charlotte was Shamari “Sherman” Spears who finished with 22 points on 7-12 shooting and 8-11 from the foul line.  Derrio Green was the third Niner to reach 20 points for the game, managing exactly that number on 6-14 shooting.  Derrio had another good game distributing the ball and leading the team with 7 assists on the game to go with just 1 turnover.  The provider of the last-second heroics, An’Juan Wilderness, also had a terrific game with 13 points on 6-7 shooting and adding 4 assists and 3 rebounds.  DiJuan Harris didn’t have his best game, fouling out in 33 minutes of action with 5 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists to go with 3 turnovers.  Credit Rodney Green for being a difficult matchup all game for Harris.

Despite being outrebounded by La Salle, the margin was not particularly bad.  Finishing just boards behind the Explorers, the Niners managed 11 offensive rebounds including 6 by Braswell.  Impressively, Charlotte handed out 23 assists on 27 made baskets as again the Niners did a fantastic job moving the ball on offense, including in transition.  Who is this team?  What have they done with my Niners of old???  Actually, don’t answer that question.  I just want to enjoy this.

In the end, the difference in the game was foul shooting by the Niners.  Most, if not all previous Niner teams under Lutz would have lost this game, but Charlotte coverted 23 of 28 foul shots, good for an 82.1% mark.  In contrast, La Salle only hit 16 of 23, which was good for 69.6%.

Next up, a first place tumble with the very tough and very well-coached Temple Owls.  Here’s to hoping we fill Halton Arena on Wednesday to give Fran Dunphy a not-so-warm welcome to the QC.  The average sports fan needs to know how good the Niners, Owls, and A10 are so be sure to get the word out!  See you on the 27th.

There was one casualty for the Niners tonight.  Charles Dewhurst went down late in the 2nd half with a leg injury.  No would yet from the team what the extent of it is, but rumors are an ankle injury.  We’ll update you when we get word on the extent of his injury.