Waking up this morning and reading about last night’s game was like stabbing yourself in the eye with a fork. Why bother? It’s games like last night’s (and ODU, Duke, Tennessee) where one wonders if we’re truly for real. Once things got tough in [...]]]>

The scene with 5 minutes left in the game.

Waking up this morning and reading about last night’s game was like stabbing yourself in the eye with a fork. Why bother? It’s games like last night’s (and ODU, Duke, Tennessee) where one wonders if we’re truly for real. Once things got tough in the second half, we looked like a JV squad out there, eerily reminiscent of our entire game against Duke.

As I sat at a Mexican restaurant last night (Don Juan’s in Kernersville, NC, if you wanted to know), I was on pins and needles waiting for text updates from my loyal friends. At first they were good, Niners were up early and seemed to be playing well. Then Dayton took the lead, and my gut, along with the ridiculous amounts of chips and salsa I consumed, dropped. Something told me, it’s about to get ugly. But as per the course with Niner fandom, there was a glimmer of hope as Gokhan SeerHAN (is Sirin that hard to pronounce? where did the H come from?) drained a three to bring the Niners within a possession at halftime.

I was able to get home just in time to watch Dayton start to kick the living crap out of us. With Phil and Chris on the bench, the Flyers took off and had a field day. We never stood a chance in the second half. We were outscored by 25 points in 20 minutes of basketball. That is ridiculous. When did Dayton get so good? Now they’ve beaten two teams tied for first place by over 20 points. How did the Flyers lose to Saint Joseph’s? And how did our 11-20 team beat this same team one year ago in Halton? Trying to understand Charlotte basketball is like trying to understand women, but worse.

There’s an alarming trend starting to surface, and it’s a scary one indeed. While we may have a tendency to fight with teams and pull out a tough W, it seems that once the margin gets beyond 10-12 points in the second half we give up and just let the game get out of hand. For the six games we’ve lost, the margin has been over 23 points. That is not the sign of a team that fights through anything. If the game isn’t going well on the road (double digit margin) with 15 minutes left, might as well go pour another beer, because it’s going to get so ugly the beer goggles will be necessary to see any positives from the rest of the game. The only loss where we really stood a chance at all was Georgia Tech, and that was at home. If you throw away the Georgia Tech game and look at just road losses, we’re losing by over 26 points. While margin of victory really means nothing in college basketball, the tendency of this team to curl into the fetal position is frightening, to say the least. We’re willing to fight when we think we have a chance, but there’s a point at which the team just says, “Screw this, we’re going to lose anyway, might as well try and break new records!”

I tried to get NLP to exchange emails with me this morning, but he’s still trying to recover from last night, rumor is he

What said flyer may look like.

was last seen around Charlotte posting “Missing: SWAGGER If found, please see Bobby Lutz” flyers on anything and everything. However, he did manage to steal some computer time away from the pervs at the local public library to send this brief, but correct breakdown of the Niners…

It’s pretty simple.  If you play tough man-to-man defense and you’re playing at home you will beat the Niners.  Handily.  If you play zone, or matador defense, you’re just plain stupid.  The scouting report is very much out.

There you go, to beat the Niners, don’t be stupid.

I will say this though, when a team shoots 25% from the floor and 14.3% from 3 on the road, they don’t stand a chance. We got buzzsawed, folks, but it would have been nice if we started throwing 2 X 4s into the blade instead of our arms and limbs.

But since GreenTintedGlasses.net is committed to being outwardly biased, there are two big positives to remember:

1. We’re still tied for first place with Xavier and Richmond
2. We still have chances to lock up an At-Large

Niner fans, are you having fun yet? It’s February 2010, we have a great record, and we’re first place in the league. Don’t get too comfortable, though, because things could get uglier than Rick Majerus in a hurry. We’ve got Dayton today, and looming after [...]]]>

A preview of UD Arena after the game.

Niner fans, are you having fun yet? It’s February 2010, we have a great record, and we’re first place in the league. Don’t get too comfortable, though, because things could get uglier than Rick Majerus in a hurry. We’ve got Dayton today, and looming after that we have Xavier, Richmond, and AT Rhode Island. Those four games are immensely important, not only for first place, but for locking up our chances at an… well, I’m not even going to say it.

A couple seasons ago in 05-06, Dayton brought a good portion of fans down to Charlotte for a game. That wasn’t so bad, it’s always exciting to have fans of the opposition in Halton, it makes the game more intense for everyone involved. The student section wasn’t the most gracious of hosts however, as we, ahem, those asshole students, tore down the Dayton fans flags not once, but twice. I do hope we’ve been forgiven for that, but not for Curtis Withers’ dominating 20 pt/20 rb game that afternoon. Oh, how could I neglect to mention those stupid hats the Dayton visitors wore? You know, those hats that come adorned with lights that let passerbys know an Idiot is coming… How silly.

We should take a second to really thank Derrio Green for saving our collective ass this past Saturday at Fordham. If it weren’t for him we’d be the laughing stock of the league. The tied for first place team that lost to Fordham. What a disaster. It was a sight to see though, wasn’t it? It was as if Derrio just said to himself, “I’m Derrio Green. I am awesome. This is ridiculous, we ARE NOT losing to Fordham.” And then he proceeded to score 49 straight points and basically win the game for us. That type of “know your role, Fordham” bitch slapping was Chuck Norris-esque. It’s nice to have a guy like him on the team, otherwise we’d be in a lot worse shape. Plus, I’ve always thought the best group chant in the world was “Rufi—ohhhhhhh” from Hook, and why the student section hasn’t started going “Derri—oohhhhhhh” is beyond me.

Back to the topic at hand: Dayton. These guys are fairly good. Not REALLY good though. They were REALLY good on Saturday, knocking Xavier around for a 25-pt butt kicking. But they’ve really only been fairly good on average. If they had played every game like they did Saturday, the A10 would have two guaranteed bids to the NCAAs and not a bunch of “should be in”s. I fully expect Dayton to play well tonight, but not nearly as well. They have to hit their shots if they want to win, because DiJuan Harris won’t let Dayton get Charlotte out of it’s gameplan. Just ask Dayton how it went last year, when they accounted for almost 10% of our wins. Plus, their name is mispelled in our poll, which definitely means we’ll beat them.

When all is said and done later tonight, Charlotte fans will know the answer to the all important question.

Are these 1st place Niners for real?

It’d be way too easy for this team to fold up and be content with being on the bubble and finishing top 4 in the conference. If Charlotte wants to prove themselves worthy of their spot in the standings (and rankings), the Niners have to show up tonight and fight from the start. In essence, Derrio Green must continue to be awesome, Shamari should draw 400 fouls, Braswell must arise and be a monster again, Phil Jones must be Phil Jones and not Butterfingers Jones (would you trust Phil Jones to hold your baby? – my fiancee), DiJuan must be rock solid, Dew and An’Juan have to play defense, and the Lutz ‘stache must intimidate Dayton’s humorous fanbase.

Our bold, scientific, and completely unbiased predictions are below. Leaves yours in the comments and the closest one to the correct score wins their very own siren hat.

J Felt – Charlotte 71, Dayton 65. We’re better than we were at Fordham and versus GW, plus, Dayton fans are weird and Braswell’s due to break out anytime now.

letsgoNINERS11 – This game would go a long way towards locking up a tourney spot and garnering some respect on the national scene, Bobby gets us ready to play.  Charlotte 78 – Dayton 74

HP – Too windy for the Flyers… Niners 72, Dayton 68.

NLP – Wait, what’s that sound?  That’s… that’s Derrio Green’s music!  Niners 67 – Bike Shops 63

D-Fo – Another big game from Spears coupled with some solid shooting from Green (and hopefully the “return” of Chris Braswell) helps Charlotte shoot down the Flyers and come out with a close “W.”  78-75 Charlotte.

JRitchie – Charlotte looked less than impressive pulling out wins v. GW and at Fordham but the pure will it took to gut out those victories proves this is a different squad than Lutz’s previous outings in the A10. Can the new look Niners gut out a win in the A10′s toughest arena? Charlotte shows up but this one comes down to a coin flip. Charlotte 65-Dayton 63. (Thanks for the novel. – J Felt)

P.S. -  Not a prediction, but we wouldn’t mind a $3 donation every once in awhile, we need to pay for JRitchie’s addiction, er, hosting costs. Click on the button up on the left! Thanks!

UMass Minutemen (4-5)

The UMass Minutemen sport a mostly new roster under second year head coach Derek Kellogg, bringing in 5 new freshmen including heralded wing forward [...]]]> Today is the second of two installments giving a brief run-down of the A10 so far during non conference play.  Click HERE for Part 1.

UMass Minutemen (4-5)

The UMass Minutemen sport a mostly new roster under second year head coach Derek Kellogg, bringing in 5 new freshmen including heralded wing forward Terrell Vinson, a former target of our Niners coaching staff.  Joining the strong freshman class are transfers Sean Carter (Oregon State, also a former Charlotte recruit) and Hashim Bailey (Memphis).  So far the results have been less than spectacular for the Minutemen.  Although the losses have been to mostly decent programs, the wins have mostly come against lesser D-I competition and DII Arkansas-Fort Smith (their hypen, not mine).  With such an inexperienced roster, these trials and tribulations can be expected, but if improvement isn’t seen over the course of the season, questions of whether Kellogg is much of a head coach will start to arise.

Not surprisingly, the top players for UMass are a pair of upperclassmen guards, Ricky Harris and Anthony Gurley.  Both are averaging north of 17 points per game and Harris has been tops in assists.  Freshman swingmen Freddie Riley and Vinson are also both off to solid starts for their careers, with Riley putting up over 9 ppg in just 16.2 mpg and Vinson averaging 8.1 ppg. and chipping in 3.9 rpg.  Sean Carter has been the top post player leading the team in both rebounding and blocked shots.  Although the Minutemen have improved their rebounding from a season ago, problems defensively persist.  UMass is allow opponents to shoot 46% from the field and a horrific 41.8% for shots taken behind the arc.  If UMass wants to finish above .500 in A10 play, this is a must for Kellogg to address.  Although I do expect the Minutemen to improve, real progress in the win/loss column will probably have to wait until next year.

La Salle Explorers (6-2)

The season has started basically as expected for the La Salle Explorers.  Dr. John Giannini has done a sharp job improving a program that lacks the facilities to really “wow” recruits despite playing on a court that bears the name of the legendary Tom Gola.  In the early going of the season, La Salle has taken care of business, winning the games it should win, but has lost both opportunities for BCS scalps (South Carolina in Charleston and @Villanova in Big 5 action).  The non conference slate has several very tough games remaining, including this weekend at Kansas, and future dates against Oklahoma State and Ivy favorite Cornell.

The Explorers are led by Sr. guard Rodney Green.  Green is averaging an even 18 ppg. and leads the team in assists.  Green also pitches in an impressive 5.8 rpg.  Fellow seniors Kimmani Barrett (13.3 ppg.), Ruben Guillandeaux (61.5% from 3), and and Yves Mekongo (10.1 ppg.) have all played well, though Mekongo is struggling a bit from the field.  Joining the senior-led Explorers is highly touted freshman center Aaric Murray.  Murray has played quite well in the early season, averaging 11.5 ppg. and leading the team with 7.1 rpg. and 2.5 bpg.  One area that needs work for Murray (as well as the Explorers as a team) is FT shooting.  Murray only has 13 attempts on the season, and has made less than half.  Despite the FT struggles, La Salle has developed into a very good team and could contend for the A10 title and should certainly contend for a conference tournament bye.  The Explorers are shooting a stellar 47.2% from the field and 43.5% from behind the arc.  They have also taken care of business on defense, enjoying an over 10 rpg. advantage over their opponents.

Dayton Flyers

I actually dread writing about Dayton.  Their neurotic fans over on the A10 board scare me.  But they’re a solid team with a good coach and hey, it’s my job.  So here goes.  The Flyers started the season with a bang, getting a victory over common non-conference foe Georgia Tech in Puerto Rico.  This was followed by a pair of losses in the same venue to Villanova and Kansas State, both very good teams and nothing to be ashamed of for the Flyer faithful.  Since returning to the continental US, the flyers have taken care of business against some slightly less-than-stellar competition including an escape @ George Mason (56-55) where the Flyers surrendered a large lead in the 2^nd half.  The remainder of the non-conference slate features good opportunities to pick up quality wins against Old Dominion (another common foe with the Niners) at home and on the road against New Mexico.

Despite being the preseason favorite to win the A10, the Flyers do have some holes that need addressing before conference play begins.  Dayton has struggled to keep opponents from reaching the FT line, allowing 24.8 trips/game (about 5 less per game than the Flyers).  They have also struggled to outrebound their opposition, holding the slightest of edges (0.4 rpg.).  Offensively, the Flyers are led by a pair of very good forwards, Chris Johnson and Chris Wright.  The pair lead the Flyers in both scoring and rebounding providing 14.5 and 7.0 (Johnson) and 14.3 and 6.1 (Wright) respectively.  In the backcourt, Sr. PG London Warren and Sr. SG Marcus Johnson get the starting nod.  London is a blur with and without the ball, but looks to pass and defend as opposed to scoring.  Johnson is scoring 8.4 ppg. but has struggled with his shot.  The top outside threat for Dayton has been F Luke Fabrizius who is hitting on 45.5% of his long-distance attempts.

Saint Joseph’s Hawks (3-5)

The season couldn’t have started much better for the Hawks, winning their first three including a nice victory over Boston College in the Virgin Islands.  However, the inexperienced roster (only 2 seniors) dropped the next five, largely to quality teams such as Purdue, Cornell, and Villanova.  The remaining non-conference slate doesn’t get much easier with trips to Minnesota and Siena.  Saint Joseph’s is led by its lone pair of seniors; guards Darrin Govens and Garrett Williamson, scoring 25 points between each other.  A bright spot so far has been the play of Fr. guard Carl Jones who’s contributing 10.1 ppg. in 21 minutes/game off the bench for the Hawks.

Looking strictly at the numbers, a couple stats stand out that contribute to the Hawks’ losing record.  Saint Joseph’s has struggled to rebound the ball, averaging a deficit of nearly 8 rpg.  Couple the rebounding woes with poor shooting (41.5% from the field) and it’s no surprise Saint Joseph’s has posted a 3-5 record thus far.  Though the non-conference schedule is one of the most difficult in the league, the Hawks’ early struggles will likely carry over to conference play and Coach Phil Martelli is likely to see his squad post the first losing record in 10 years.

Duquesne Dukes (6-3)

Despite being friends with Huggy Bear, I’m a Ron Everhart fan.  He’s quickly turned the wreckage of Danny Nee around, inheriting a 3-win team in Nee’s last year and turning it into a 21-win team last season.  Despite the loss of Aaron Jackson, the Dukes have a strong roster to go with their excellent coach and should be in the top half of the A10 this season.  Duquesne has no seniors and is led by Jr. forward Damian Saunders.  Saunders is putting up 14.8 ppg on 54.1% shooting from the field to go with a beastly 12.4 rpg.  Fellow Jr. swingman Bill Clark is also playing well, putting up 16 ppg.  The Dukes have relied heavily on a tight rotation thus far with 5 players averaging over 30 minutes per game.  This should improve in a few weeks with the return of Melquan Bolding, who is nursing a broken wrist sustained in a game with Nicholls State (shame too, he was having a big game).

In non-conference play, the Dukes have victories over Iowa and a collection of lesser regarded such as Binghamton and Savannah State.  Losses have come at the hands of Western Carolina, Pittsburgh, and mostly recently a blowout against WVU where the Dukes managed just 39 points.  The remaining non-conference games are quite manageable with the most difficult being trips to IUPUI and Old Dominion (is it me or is every A10 team required to play ODU or Cornell in the non conference?).  One area Duquesne does need to focus on is 3 point shooting.  The Dukes are connecting on just 27.0% of their 3 point attempts.

Xavier Musketeers (5-3)

The Musketeers, under first year Head Coach Chris Mack, have produced mix results against their usual difficult non-conference schedule.  Xavier has dropped games against Marquette, Baylor, and Kansas State while posting wins against Creighton and Kent State.  Remaining non-conference games against Cincinnati, Butler, LSU, and Wake Forest will further test this edition of the Musketeers and ideally ready them for conference play as well as providing a means to hopefully boost the conference RPI.  Xavier is led by So. transfer Jordan Crawford (by way of Indiana) putting up 18.5 ppg. with a scorching 48.7% from behind the arc.  The only other player scoring in double figures for Xavier is Sr. forward Jason Love who is averaging a double-double with 10.3 ppg. and 10.0 rpg.

Despite a record that is not particularly awe-inspiring, Xavier is playing good basketball.  They shoot the ball extremely well (48.0%) from the field and perimeter (44.5%), hold their opponents to poor shooting (38.7%), and limit second chances by rebounding the ball well (+6.2 rpg).  Don’t let the early losses fool anyone.  This Xavier team plays a very difficult schedule, probably the most difficult in the league.  If Chris Mack is as good of a coach as he is a recruiter, I won’t be surprised at all if Xavier is one of the top teams in the A10.