Last chance we could use this picture for Gokhan

As The Goldmine has already reported earlier today, Gokhan Sirin, the 3-pt Specialist from Turkey, has decided to transfer out of the Charlotte 49ers program. He has decided to pursue other options where he may be better suited.

Most of Niner Nation predicted this as Sirin’s playing time diminished as the season progressed. Whether it be a lack of connection with the coaching staff or as a result of his own effort, Gokhan just did not fit anymore. Major and Co. stress defense and motion on offense, both things that can’t be listed as strengths when it comes to The Turkey. David Scott already went into good detail here, so we won’t bother. This is similar to when Gaby opted to transfer as Spears became eligible.

GTG wishes Gokhan Sirin and hope he finds a place where his talents will fit.

The Niners are set to resume their border conflict with our neighbor to the south, Winthrop on Tuesday night in Halton Arena.   Tomorrow’s contest is a rematch to last years game in Rock Hill in which the Niners toughed out a late victory, 57-47.

With David Scott too busy breaking Charles Dewhursts’ fingers to give you information on the game, GTG proudly presents:  BASIC INFORMATION THAT TAKES THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF EFFORT TO PROVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE.  This segment is sponsored by nothing, since it requires next to nothing but the strength of a hamster-powered WFNZ signal to provide.

Game:  Winthrop Eagles (4-4, 1-1) at Charlotte 49ers (3-5).
Location: Halton Arena
Tip-off: 7:30 PM
Radio: WBCN – 1660 WFNA
Tickets: Charlotte49ers.com

How hard was that? Probably a lot easier than finding a cable-knit cardigan for a reasonable price at Belk, eh David?

So on to the game. Winthrop has had a rather interesting season thus far, beating up on horrible programs like Weak Forest and perennial high school powers like Queens and Lander (who?) but losing to Hampton, Belmont and Liberty. I know what you’re saying, we’re doing awful too. Yeah well we didn’t hire Buzz Peterson, what do you expect?

The Eagles are coached by bill-paying aficionado Randy Peele, who in his fourth year coaching the Eagles makes sure every rent check is paid on-time. Winthrop, despite the graduation of 4 seniors prior to this season, came into the season looking to improve upon a 19-14 campaign that culminated on a victory in the Big South tournament and trip to the field of 64(65). Unfortunately for them they lost to Arkansas Pine Bluff in the play-in game.

Randy Peele tells it how it is.

Early in the season Robbie Dreher has emerged as a star-in-the-making for the Eagles. His gaudy 17 ppg average is an over 11 point jump from his freshman season (Dreher shot 3-12 against the Niners last year) with nearly doubling his FG% and almost tripling his 3PT FG% from a year ago. In his last two games alone Dreher has gone for 28 and 21 points against VMI and Liberty respectively. Dreher will be a handfull for the Niner backcourt with his size (6’4″) and willingness to go to the rim to score. Andre Jones and Reggie Middleton are a pair of guards who also score in double digits/game with Jones being more of a perimeter guy than Middleton. In the interior the Eagles start Matt Morgan (6’9″) and George Valentine (6’8″ and hopefully no relation to TV Ted Valentine). The only real height advantage for Winthrop is in Julius Francis, a 6’11″ Freshman who plays 11 minutes/game off the bench; however, he has yet to really produce on either end of the floor.

As a team, expect Winthrop to pressure our guards and push our depth. It’s a recipe that’s worked all season long for Niner opposition and if Randy Peele spends more time watching tape than satisfying judgments, he’s surely picked up on this. It will be a difficult game for the Niners despite the home court advantage with the limited bench and early season struggles of both Deuce Briscoe and Derrio Green in taking care of the basketball. Should the Niners get the ball into the halfcourt without much struggle, expect Charlotte to utilize superior talent inside with Chris Braswell, Phil Jones and whatever An’Juan, Gokhan Sirin and Javarris Barnett bring from the wing position. In particular we’re excited to see if Javarris can build on his hot first half against ECU and perhaps provide some scoring spark as well as his usual solid defense.

Regardless of how we start, the biggest concern will likely be how we finish. Although there were plenty of signs of improved play on both ends of the court in the first half against ECU, those positive sentiments faded away in the second half as Brock Young repeatedly wore the Niners down as the game progressed. Although Winthrop might be lightly regarded nationally, anyone who went to Rock Hill last year knows the Eagles will be up for this game and gunning for an upset. With their pressure defense and improved scoring, it could very well happen. It’ll be up to the Niner guards to keep it from happening.

Well the Alan Major Era officially officially got underway tonight with a win against the South Carolina State Bulldogs 90-81 in a hard-fought, excessively officiated game. We say officially officially because there’s some sort of crazy rumor going around that we played Friday afternoon. I don’t see it on my schedule or my booklet of halftime hospitality passes so I’m just going to dismiss it as shenanigans (and frankly, a bunch of hooey).

It was a rough start in the early going as the Niners fell behind 7-0 without even attempting a shot. Actually, they didn’t even get the ball inside the three-point arc. Deuce Briscoe in particular struggled early on with turnovers, telegraphing several passes that turned into baskets for SC State. After the 16:00 timeout, however, the boys settled down and played much better basketball.

Shamari Spears and An’Juan Wilderness, both fresh off suspensions, paced the Niners in the early going with tremendous energy and effort on both ends of the floor. An’Juan had an emphatic block early on that was unlike any I’ve seen him have before. Unfortunately though things took a turn for the ugly when several incidents caused the refs to start chirping away on their whistles, not stopping until the final horn sounded. Shamari Spears was fouled on the offensive end and made contact with Carrio Bennett trying to force a shot up. Carrio seemed to take issued with this, words and glares were exchanged, and a double-technical was accessed. Personally I have no problem with either the contact -of course Shamari is going to try to get a shot off or the technical (the refs are always going to call a double-technical there to cool tensions). The problem is one technical means you’re one technical away from ejection. We’ll get to that. The other early T was on An’Juan Wilderness who was harassed after securing an defensive board. His elbows got a little too wide and with it being a point of emphasis, was whistled for a technical. Was it malicious? I didn’t think so. But it’s the rule now, so it’s something he’s got to be careful of.

By halftime the Niners had a 43-41 advantage thanks to a couple offensive rebounds by Gokhan Sirin, including a put back bucket that gave the Niners the lead going into the break. Sirin was definitely better on offense today, hitting a triple, getting to the line, and scoring the aforementioned basket; however, his defense left much to be desired and spent the 2nd half on the bench. Sirin is definitely going to have to work on improving his strength and defensive awareness going forward.

The second half saw more of the same. Aggressive, product play by Spears, nifty scoring by Briscoe, and plenty of fouls, fouls, fouls. Chris Braswell scored 15 points on the night on just 2 FGs. How? 17 trips to the line. Same thing with Shamari -just 5 FGs but 25 points for the game thanks to 13-16 shooting from the line. In all the Niners had 4 players in double figures, a welcome change from the G-W game that didn’t happen and last year as a whole.

By about 7-8 minutes to go, the Niners built an impressive 17 point lead. That was whittled away towards the end thanks to some turnovers, some fouls, and Shamari Spears’ second technical. This one came out of frustration on a whistle away from him. He got the ball, slammed it down, and 20 feet into the air later he was T’d up and sent out for the rest of the game. Shamari’s emotion and skill make him an exceptional basketball player, but that emotion when unchecked can cause problems. We at GTG love that passion and aggression he plays with, but he needs to be smart about it and keep it within when he’s frustrated. Don’t take it out on yourself, Shamari, take it out on the opposition with baskets. It’s the most brutal payback of all.

Things I liked tonight:

-Chris Braswell’s from-the-floor finger roll in the 2nd half after an inbound play. Serious envy there. Expect a call from George Gervin.

-Colby Lewis’s steady performance when called on again. Had a few rebounds, hit a key 3 pointer, and took care of the ball. He also had the best feed into the post of the night. He’s not Derrio or Briscoe, but he’s much more than a walk-on. Personally, I think he deserves the 13th scholarship (that’s the right way to get one).

-Deuce Briscoe’s scoring. He’s fearless, he hits his shots, and he seldom takes bad shots. Just needs to take better care of the ball in the halfcourt.

Things that need work:

-Sirin’s defense: He’s not going to get off the bench much if he gives up as much or more than he produces on offense.

-Foul shooting: 49 trips to the line is terrific. 67.3% conversion rate, not so terrific.

-Players not visiting the student section after the game: Those kids love you guys. Why else would they camp out in the cold and wait in line for hours to watch you play? They bring their passion the entire game for each and every one of you. If the players have a problem with what they see on the internet, it’s coming from the other side of the arena. But really, what’s so objectionable? Fans wanting to see the team win? Don’t you guys want the same?

I know I’ve received my fair share of criticism in life and in work. You know what? Most of it was deserved. But I didn’t take it personally and used it to better myself. A big key to life isn’t avoiding adversity, it’s learning how to respond to it. That’s something that can really separate people no matter what they do.

Alright. Down off the soap box. Good win Niners and keep your heads up. I think we’ll see a lot more of them out of you guys as long as you stick together and trust in yourselves and your coaches.

The Saintsations, not what were you expecting for a team named the "Billikens", eh?

To all our loyal readers (do we have any?) I apologize for the lack of constant content on the site these days. The realization that running a blog about basketball while basketball season is in full swing is kind of hard, especially if you have to drive to these games 1.5 hours away. Here’s the truth though, our schedule is a lot harder than it was in the first half of the season.

We’ve lost three of the last four, all to tough teams. As bad as our wins are beginning to look, our losses are starting to look “better” if there is a way they can. Is it wrong to actually be glad we fought at Xavier? We usually curl up and die in the Cintas Center, so some of us Niner faithful weren’t completely demoralized by the loss.

Shamarr Bowden’s gone so now we’re going to see more Sirin, Barnett, and to the chagrin of half of Halton Arena, Ian Andersen. It’s amazing how quickly that poor guy has gone from “crowd favorite” to “#1 sign we aren’t that good” in four seasons. For one, I think Derrio should be playing 30 minutes a game until someone else proves he can hit a shot from the perimeter. Why does it seem like our 2Gs have such a hard time hitting the shot they were recruited to make?

Either way, we’re going to return the SWAGGER this game. It’s been missing for far too long and this is the game we’ll get it back. And for one reason, An’Juan Wilderness will dominate the first five minutes of this game and set the tone, he has started to look like the Wilderness of old and look for him to start demanding more attention on offense.

On a completely unrelated note, what is our athletic department’s complete lack of respect for the Golddusters? Where is our Golddusters website? We’re talking bios, pictures, and instructions on how to book them for events! Take a look at the Saintsations page, and then take a look at ours. This is more important than football! Bust needs to know the name of that particularly cute blonde!

Predictions are below, and since this author was forgetful and didn’t ask for them, we only have a few. Leave yours in the comments. Stonecoldken has made a guest appearance in this edition, but we all want you to leave yours in the comments! If you guess it correctly, GreenTintedGlasses.net will book the Golddusters for your next birthday celebration…

J Felt – Charlotte 70, Saint Louis 59. Niners win, I go to Ikea and lose, and Phil Jones gets 3 blocks.

Bust – Niners squeak by Saint Louis at home. Verdict still out on what the heck a billiken is supposed to be. Charlotte 72, Saint Louis 65.

D-Fo – It’s time to Charlotte to show what they’re all about and give the rest of us an idea what the team is gonna look like now that conference play is in full swing.  The Niners will have to shut down freshman wonderboy Cody Ellis, but that’s not gonna be a problem today.  Charlotte gets back on track at home and gives us a reason to be excited again.   Niners 81, Billikens 74.

NLP – Saint Louis is on the verge of being nasty, but not nasty enough to deal with Braswell and HIS NAME IS GOKHAN SIRIN!  Niners 63 – Billikens 58.

Guest Appearance: StoneColdKen – The Niners will have to perform a real life exorcism to beat Rick “tub of lard” Majerus. SLU always has tough defense. We had a game there one time where both were in the 30’s with 3 minutes to go.
Pick: Niners 13, Scary A** Window 12.

Raise your hand if you're the stupidest mascot in the nation.

Sunday afternoon the St. Louis (just kidding run49er), I mean Saint Louis Billikens take to the Halton Arena floor to square off against our beloved Charlotte 49ers (11-5).  The Billikens enter the game sporting the same 11-5 record on the Niners but enter the contest with a 2-0 conference record.  Saint Louis has defeated Richmond at home and most recently posted an impressive double-overtime win at Duquesne.

A welcome addition to svelte Head Coach Rick Majerus’ squad is freshman import Cody Ellis.  Ellis, a 6’8″ power forward finally received clearance to play by the NCAA (we know how that goes) and has posted a 12 point average in two games coming off the bench.  Despite being unproven in live game action, Ellis has logged an average of 27 minutes in this two games, and has pulled down 8 rpg.  His addition brings a very welcome addition for Saint Louis and changes the complexion of the team as well as how teams will have to prepare for them.

As young as the Xavier squad was that the Niners fell to on Wednesday, Saint Louis is even younger.   With Paul Eckerle out with a pre-season knee injury, the Billikens are comprised of entirely Freshmen and Sophomores.  According to Ken Pomeroy, that makes the Billikens 2nd least experienced team in the nation.  Leading the Billikens in scoring is So. PG Kwamain Mitchell, who puts up 16.2 ppg. on 46.6% shooting from the field and 36.1% from behind the arc. Giving the Billikens good inside balance to go with Mitchell is post man Willie Reed.  Reed is also a So., and averages 12.8 ppg. and 8.6 rpg. giving Saint Louis along with Ellis a pair of very good, young post players.

Rounding out the main starting unit for Saint Louis are wing players Brian Conklin (7.8 ppg.) and Christian Salecich (7.6 ppg.).  Coming off the bench to give the Billikens a boost from the perimeter is diminutive Fr. G Justin Jordan.  Jordan hits on 40% of his 3-point attempts and contributes 6.6 ppg. in just over 20 minutes a game.

As a team, Saint Louis provides a stark contrast to the Niners’ style of play, preferring a slower tempo and grinding out victories.  Saint Louis “only” averages 64.3 ppg. and limits the opposition to 58.5 ppg.  More impressive is their ability to force defenses into poor shooting, limiting them to just 38.0% from the field and 26.3% from the 3-point line.  The Billikens do have some weaknesses though that the Niners can hope to exploit.  Though a respectable team at blocking shots, Saint Louis does not excel at rebounding, allowing the opposition to out-rebound them by about 1.3 rpg.  Chris Braswell and KJ Sherrill could have big games on the glass, as the Niners will likely need plenty of second-chance scoring to overcome the Billikens’ excellent floor defense.

Additionally, Saint Louis is a bit suspect from the line, particularly at the F positions, where they convert just 63% of their attempts from the charity stripe.  If players like Phil Jones and Shamari Spears get beat on defense, strong fouls might be a better alternative to giving up the easy basket.  Of course, that’s not a good strategy if it leads to following out or extended stretches on the bench, of course.

For the Niners, some consistency in scoring is absolutely needed.  Though DiJuan Harris appears to be breaking out of his funk, Derrio Green needs to utilize better shot selection lest he fall in a slump of his own.  The Niners can ill-afford another 0-9 performance behind the arc from Green, particularly with the defection of Shamarr Bowden. As for Shamari Spears, I’m going to be a broken record.  When he gets the ball early in the possession he’s deadly.  If he’s not double or triple teamed, that is.  If he does receive pressure after the catch, he absolutely must do a better job of getting the ball back out, whether it’s to a backdoor player, a slasher like An’Juan Wilderness, or back out to the guards.  Too often has he forced the ball up in a crowd either missing the shot or getting stripped.  That’s not to say he’s a poor player; Shamari has been terrific.  But he can’t be his best until he can also use the attention he draws in the post to make his teammates get better scoring opportunities.

Two other players to keep an eye on are Fr. F Gokhan Sirin and So. F Javarris Barnett.  Both received more action in the Xavier game and this trend may continue as the Niners look to replace the perimeter offense of Bowden.  Sirin in

Rick is bringing sexy back.

particular, despite missing all his attempts against the Musketeers, continues to look more comfortable in the offensive flow.  One can only hope more opportunities leads to more improvement.  As for Barnett, it’s hard not to notice that he tends to do good things in the few minutes he receives.  Against Xavier he drilled a 3 in the corner that was waived off due to an offensive foul, and hit a little flip shot in the paint while collecting 2 rebounds in just 6 minutes.  Though he’s neither a true guard or true forward, his blend of skill and size can potentially lead to matchup problems in the time when he’s on the court.

Another player to keep a watch on is Wilderness, who is shooting a sizzling 63.9% from the field since his return from an early season calf injury.  Though Wilderness continues to struggle at the line, he is a terror around the rim and is probably the Niners best finisher close to the basket.

This game is going to be tougher than some anticipate.  A very young Saint Louis squad continues to improve and the addition of Cody Ellis will only help.  If the contest was at Chaifetz, I’d put this down as a loss, but I think the Niners go to 2-1 in A10 play by grinding out a victory tomorrow afternoon.  The rebounding of Braswell and the rest of the squad will be the determining factor, as the Niners will prevail in a game that will probably be ugly in terms of scoring and field goal percentage.

Oh, and kennethhouck gave a little tid bit in the comments to the X game that I’m going to pass along to anyone who hasn’t seen it.

Tough loss to X.

For St. Louis, do you know what a Billiken is? It’s a Blue Demon. Do you know why SLU has a Blue Demon? Did you see the Exorcist? The movie is based on a real story. The real exorcsim was in a building on the SLU campus. No one goes in the room where the exorcism takes place. It’s sealed up. A window cleaner was on the fire escape cleaning windows, & went down to the floor to clean the outside of the window of the sealed room. He was scared s**tless when he saw a blue demon in the room.
The Niners will have to perform a real life exorcism to beat Rick “tub of lard” Majerus. SLU always has tough defense. We had a game there one time where both were in the 30′s with 3 minutes to go.
Pick: Niners 13, Scary A** Window 12.

We’ll move this to the predictions tomorrow when J Felt gets off his butt and writes it.  Or gets on his butt.  I really don’t want to know in what state of being he writes his articles now that I think about it.  I’m going to go bleach my eyes now.

Wilderness may make his regular season debut against the Rams.

The last time we saw the men in green and white in action they were dismantling the Louisville Cardinals and handing the second Cards coach in a row his worst ever home loss.  The Niners return to action Tuesday night in Halton Arena at 8 PM against the Winston Salem State University Rams.  The Rams enter the contest at 2-5 boasting proud wins against NAIA-member Milligan College and D-II Atlanta Christian College (word has it Davidson is looking for a game against both next year).  WSSU is yet to skin a D-I program’s hide this season and that is fitting; the Rams are playing their final season as a Division I program.  Most recently, WSSU lost to South Carolina State University at home on December 5th.

Looking at the Rams’ roster, it’s easy to pinpoint their struggles.  It’s a team that returned just 3 players from an 8-22 season that resulted in a final RPI of 327.  Of the 9 newcomers, one player who has performed reasonably well is Shelton Carter, in his first season with the Rams after transfering from Charleston Southern.  Carter is a 6’5″ wing forward who shoots the ball well from the perimeter (38.6%) and is averaging 13.3 ppg. and 6.3 rpg to lead the team in both categories.  Other notable players for the Rams are second leading scorer Brian Fisher, a senior guard who’s averaging 12.4 ppg. on a dreadful 32.1% from the field and 22.2% from behind the arc; exactly the type of player you want taking a lot of shots.  The top post player for the Rams is 6’9″ junior forward Paul Davis, who’s pulling down a respectable 6.1 rpg. in just 20 minutes of action per game and leads the team with 9 blocks on the season.  He also pitches in a modest 5.9 ppg on 50% shooting from the field.  I’m not going to bother reviewing the other players because I expect an easy win for the Niners against a team that isn’t going to contend for anything.

For the  Niners, this is a game that presents some opportunities.  For one, it should mark the return of rugged small forward An’Juan Wilderness from his strained calf injury.  Although word was he’d return against Louisville, in my opinion he was smartly held out from action (to be honest, for all I know it could have been a medical decision).  Tuesday’s game will allow him to be returned to the lineup gradually, as both rust and game-conditioning will be an issue.  Hopefully the Niners will also be able to dominate the game on both ends of the floor as I expect them too, giving a chance to rest key players like DiJuan Harris (played 39 amazing minutes against Louisville) and Derrio Green (probably still sore from his plantar fascitiis).  We average fans would also welcome a chance to see new players like Gokhan Sirin get some seasoning, as well as what Javarris Barnett might be able to contribute.  Lastly, it could represent an opportunity to work on some facets of the offense that struggled just a bit against Louisville.  The Niners had problems passing in traffic to try to work the ball to open scorers in the lane against the Cardinals.  This is really just a matter of execution rather than a mental error, and something that can be improved hopefully with repetitions.

Will Tuesday give us an extended look at Gokhan's development?

I’m going to abstain from bullet points for this game.  We simply need to take care of business against a clearly inferior opponent that’s playing a lame duck season as they prepare to drop to Division II.  The Niners have historically under Lutz have lacked a “killer instinct” and have often played to the level of their opponents.  Hopefully the improved play and ability to close the game demonstrated against Louisville will prevail and the Niners will win this game by 25 points or more.