“Besides Charlotte, who shoots a three at the end when you’re only down two?”

Admit, you said that walking out of Halton Arena last season after the Old Dominion game. At the time, it seemed relatively harmless: a 1-pt loss to a solid team. Of course we’d go on to lose the majority of our games after that, but as this game has approached, the replay of that game winning shot has been shown on constant repeat. Can you tell that losses are hard on us here at GreenTintedGlasses.net? It seems every game has some sort of “revenge” plotline. We must get our revenge for one of our twenty losses last season! We must!

Doner Kebab - a Turkish Specialty.

The 49ers looked awful against Winthrop. Scratch that, we looked downright terrible. With the exception of a few key moments and free throws, that game was miserable from start to finish. So, one begins to worry…is the swagger gone?

Hardly. As some have said, it requires at least two bad games in a row for swagger to fade. One does not simply lose swagger, but it can relapse for a game once in awhile. Winthrop was our swagger break… hopefully. We’ll need swagger to knock off the Monarchs. Which we will.

Call me crazy. (You’re crazy) But this game will be the 49ers gift to the fans. A nice early Christmas present. There will be Blocks from Phil, Dishes from DiJuan, NomNoms from Spears, Triples from Derrio and Bowden, Kebabs from Sirin, and Real Lion Fur from An’Juan. If we play like we did against Louisville, the game won’t be in question. And while we shouldn’t expect a 20-point blow out, the Niners will bring the A-10 to 3-0 versus ODU.

Predictions are below. As usual, put yours in the comments and the winner will get a copy of Martin Iti’s best seller How To Miss Dunks and Befriend the Rim.

J Felt – Charlotte 75, Old Dirty Kings 67. Charlotte slays the Monarchs and frees their students from oppression.

HP – Sluggish Niners survived the slowdown Sunday. If they can play up tempo against the Monarchs, the 49ers win… 74-65.

letsgoNINERS11 – A win at the Ted would go a long way towards our legitimacy in the eyes of the media/voters and our fans.  Charlotte pulls off a close one continuing our hot free throw shooting:  Charlotte 73 – ODU 71

JRitchie – Old Dominon is far from “like a Duke” and Charlotte gets hot from 3 to win by 7.

NLP – This game was a loss until I rolled a 6 in the Shoutbox this morning.  Swagger prevails.  Niners 64 ODU 62.

If people haven’t noticed, NLP is a pessimist.

Real Ram's Wool - Just in time for Christmas!

Don’t you love a good thrashing?

Charlotte came out and dominated every facet of this game from start to finish. Just as we should, since the Rams are next to last in RPI overall and have practically dropped all expectations to ever compete in D1 basketball this year. We controlled every part of this game. From defensive rebounds (28 to their 10) to offensive rebounds (22 to 17) to assists (18 to 10) to field goals (35-20), the 49ers completely shut down WSSU’s entire game plan (did they really have one?).

The performance of the night, without a doubt, goes to Chris Braswell. He was phenomenal, scoring 16 points, 7-7 FGs, and bringing in 15 rebounds. He also had one assist, and it was a beauty. That high-low assist to Phil Jones for the dunk is the perfect example of what this team has lacked for a few seasons. 3 pointers, alleyoops, break away dunks, all nice, but legitimate post play is what we want to see. The best part of all? He’s a freshman!

Before this author gets lazy and starts bullet-pointing it, it would be unwise to go without mentioning the very entertaining conclusion of the game. Sure, it was WSSU, but we showed some serious depth. Our walk-ons seem legitimately serviceable, and who didn’t get visions of Plavich in their head when Colby shot that three pointer from Bass Pro Shops?

The Pros

• Post play is legit, we were looking inside all night and seemingly scoring at will
• Our defense doesn’t force turnovers (only 12), but it is working by forcing bad shots (WSSU shot just 30.8%) and getting the rebounds
• Dewhurst seemed to be in a funk to start the game, but he’s getting comfortable on offense
• Wilderness is back on the court and showing that “must-kill the humanoids” mentality we all enjoy
• Harris may have developed a jumpshot
• It may have been WSSU, but we were getting it inside pretty easily
• Our transition offense is coming together
• Gokhan Sirin showed off his beautiful shot again
• Two home games in a row with an airballed free throw, can we make it three?
• Oh yah, Chris Braswell Chris Braswell Chris Braswell

Put on your Green Tinted Glasses

• Spears may have led all scorers with 17, but he seemed to be forcing it
• Bowden was colder than ice and willing to sacrifice our love
• Kyle Church didn’t get a basket, though he did get a sweet assist to the Turkish Terror

Remember the last time we played Louisville? It was supposed to be an epic battle with not only the CUSA regular season championship at stake, but potentially the CUSA POY award as well between Garcia and Basden. Niners and Cards fans everywhere tuned in to see a battle, but instead they got what was basically a blow out. The 49ers never had a chance in that game, and Louisville hit everything (100% from the field, it seemed like). Most Niners often overlook that loss because it was followed by ones to South Florida, Memphis and NC State (did I really just bring that up? forgive me).

Regardless, it’s now time to take on the Cards in game #2 of CUSA Reunion Week. Cards fans are expecting a blow out, Niner

snow and dead cardinals will be falling in Louisville!

fans are hoping we show up. If the Niners show up and pull another Duke and lose by 30 points, our season probably won’t be as good as we hope. Keep it within ten and we’ve got serious potential. What about a win? Start saving up for tickets to the NCAA, baby!

This game will not be easy. Louisville is very, very good. Pitino’s team is full of depth and he uses it effectively, forcing teams to beat the press all night long. Of course, with three guards out with injuries, the Cardinals may have to abort the press and rely on the 2-3 zone. If you put on your Green Tinted Glasses, you know the Niners are going to shoot Louisville out of it, of course, and Shamari Spears will go down as one of the last great villains to dominate Freedom Hall.

Clean your windows Niners! Bring on the Cardinals, it’s GAMEDAY!

Predictions are below, leave yours in the comments. Winner gets a signed copy of Rick Pitino’s book, “101 Worst Places to Cheat on Your Wife”.

J Felt – Charlotte 84, Louisville 81. With three guards out, Derrio and Shamarr take the opportunity to score a bucket of points. Ian Andersen barely escapes Freedom Hall after blowing a kiss following the game winner.

D-Fo – Chris Braswell has a breakout game and leaves with a double-double.  Pitino has to call in his entourage to keep his post players from getting eaten by Shamari Spears. In a back and forth game, Bowden and Coleman get hot late from downtown and send “Don” Pitino and his Cards home with an “L” reminiscent of the C-USA days.  83-80 Charlotte.

letsgoNINERS11 – Louisville 83, Charlotte 77. Bobby tries his hardest to channel that old Freedom Hall magic, but in the end, Louisville’s 2-3 zone destroys our ability to penetrate and we start dialing long distance.  If we can get hot, we’ve got a chance, but I just don’t see it happening.  We need to steal one of the ‘big 4′ OOC games this year, and we’re 0-1 in them so far.  I expect us to keep it close but the Niners fall short.

JRitchie – Louisville’s drive to prove themselves dominant against a weak OOC schedule catches the inconsistent ‘Niners off guard. Far from shell shocked like in the Duke game, Lutz’s squad catches its breath in the second half and nearly pulls of the upset. Reminiscent of the Maryland game during Leemire’s senior year, a huge halftime deficit turns into a near upset as Charlotte loses by 5.

Bust – Louisville missing 3 guards keeps them from capitalizing on one of our biggest weaknesses: perimeter D.  The lineup’s just about worked out, the new guys are not quite as inexperienced, and Shamari is hungry to make up for ECU.  Niners bring back some of that old C-USA magic and keep it a close one in front of 19K.  Taking out their former conference member and now “made” opponent, Charlotte skins the Cards, 85-83.

NLP – Charlotte 79, Loserville 76. Some of the Niner’s greatest magic has come at Freedom Hall and today is no exception.  Bobby reaches deep into his box of Lucky Charms and pulls out a victory.

Pirates fans watch the game come to a close.

Last season at six games in, we were 1-5. Now, at 5-1, as Phil Jones put it in his post game interview, “Well, it’s a lot better than last year.” There’s not a better way to put it than that, really. After downing ECU in easy, but frustrating, fashion, Charlotte is off to its best start in years, and boy does it feel great!

Oh, you want to read about the game? If there’s one worrisome trend that’s developing (other than lack of defense), it’s the lack of a “kick the opponent when he’s down” mentality. At one point early in the second half, we were within one field goal of a twenty point lead but never could make it happen. Instead, we let ECU get back within seven and had to utilize awesome free throw shooting to ice the game. This teams needs to learn how to step on the throat, twist the knife, steal the eye-patch, shave the eyebrow, etc.

The best part? Our best player, Shamari Spears had a terrible game, and we still won. Limited to only 12 pts and 5 rbds, Spears almost seemed to do more harm than good, giving up 5 of our 13 turnovers. However, his presence on the court leads to scoring from our other players as he draws double and triple teams. The turnovers came when he tried to force his offense, but when he learns how to pass out of the double team, our offense will be that much more deadly. Braswell also failed to follow up his great performance versus Yale, but that is to be expected from a freshman. Phil Jones was able to step it up, with 10 points (2 on dunks), 9 rebounds, and even had his own block party with 4 blocks. With those blocks, Jones has come into a tie for tenth place in the all-time blocks list, and we can expect him to climb up the charts through the season.

DiJuan Harris had a stellar game with 17 points, 6 assists and only 1 turnover. One highlight of the game for DiJuan was the wide open three pointer he hit in the flow of the offense. In order to be respected as a threat on offense, DiJuan needs to consistently hit that shot.

Now for bullet points:

Positives

• Phil Jones had a great first half, in fact, the whole team did
• Derrio doesn’t seem too bothered by his Planter Fascia during games
• RaShad Coleman had a great game, and definitely played within himself and didn’t try to do too much
• Shamarr hit two threes, but that 30 footer was a momentum killer
• An ECU player airballed a free throw, he is probably destroyed for the season
• The black out looked great
• ECU turned the ball over 13 times, is our defense improving?

Put on your Green Tinted Glasses

• Still took some stupid threes
• We had difficulty assisting Spears while he was being double-teamed
• We let a guy named Brock torch us for 24 points
• Nobody is stepping up to stop the dribble drive penetration, move your feet on defense!!!!

Either way, it’s wonderful to be 5-1, and now we look forward to finishing out CUSA Reunion Week at Louisville versus the Cardinals and Rick Pitino in Freedom Hall. Lutz has a good record in there, as well as some good memories – hopefully we’ll make one more!   – J Felt

No amount of bleach to the eyes could erase this horrible game from my mind.

The last time the Charlotte 49ers faced the EZU Pirates, it was the Niners who were forced to walk the plank, losing 54-51.  That game featured an ice storm that kept many faithful from making the drive to Greenville and a dominating performance by Moussa Badiane (16 points, 9 rebounds, 3  blocks, and a key charge drawn) and a dreadful shooting night by the Niners (18-56 from the field).  Though the faces on the court have changed in the years since the last game, revenge will be on the minds of fans as Halton Arena welcomes the scourge of the Carolinas with a blackout Wednesday night.

EZU enters the game 2-4 (sorry, the win against Clinch Valley College doesn’t count) with their most recent contest a win Saturday at fellow slave-name institution, UNC Greensboro.  Despite the poor record, the Pirates should not be taken lightly by the Niners (really, no argggggguing with me).  EZU shoots a very high percentage from the field (47.0%) and gets to the line regularly (nearly as many makes as their opponents attempt).  The Pirates are also adept rebounders, enjoying a more than 5 rpg. advantage over their opponents.  Where EZU struggles is maintaining possession.  Turnovers have been the key stumbling block in the early season, with the Pirates averaging nearly 20/game.

A surprising source of frustration has been the play of Jr. PG Brock Young, who last year was second in the NCAA with 7.57 assists/game and a healthy 2.44 assist:turnover ratio.  Despite leading the team in scoring this season (14.4 ppg.) he’s actually committed more turnovers than assists, possibly out of a desire to create more for the team and be the focal point of the offense.  The Niners must head caution to his ability to make things happen for the Pirates and not take his turnover problem for granted tomorrow night as he looks to create for a very potent frontline for EZU.  Terrific young forward Darrius Morrow has emerged as a rising star in his sophomore season, averaging 13.6 ppg. on 63.6% shooting and 7.0 rpg.  Morrow is joined in the paint by Jr. C Chad Wynn, who is chipping in just over 9 ppg. On 59.2% shooting and 5.3 rpg.  Rounding out the perimeter for EZU are wings Jontae Sherrod (12.6 ppg., 35.5% from 3) and Jamar Abrams (7.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg.).  For the Pirates Wednesday night, the focus should be clear:  limit turnovers and use strong interior play to get quality looks and draw fouls.  On the defensive end, force the Niners into tough shots and use the rebounding advantage to limit second-chance scoring opportunities.

The Niners will counter with standout forward Shamari Spears.  Through 4 games Spears has asserted himself in the early mix as an A10 POY candidate averaging 24.3 ppg. on a scorching 62.3% shooting from the field.  Another bright spot in the revamped Niner front court has been the play of frosh forward Chris Braswell.  Last week against Hofstra, Braswell notched the second double-double of his young career with a 15 point, 11 rebound performance in the victory.  Where concern rises is the scoring beyond Spears.  Despite having 7 other players reach double-figures in scoring already this season, no consistent second and third options have emerged.  DiJuan Harris. Derrio Green, and Shamarr Bowden are each averaging between 8.0 and 9.2 ppg.; however, neither are shooting better than 40% from the field.  In fact, it’s not until 6^th leading scorer Phil Jones (6.6 ppg.) do the Niners have a player shooting better than 40% from the field (and that being a low figure for a post player).  Bowden is the quintessential case of inconsistency, having not reached double-figures in scoring since his 21 point eruption against Asheville in the season opener.   Help should be on the way shortly, with the return of An’juan Wilderness to the lineup, but not until Saturday against Louisville.  Until then, the Niners will have to continue to search for consistent scoring.  Hopefully deliverance will come in the form of better shooting, with signs that Derrio Green is emerging from his early shooting slumber.   – NLP

The EZU mascot needs updating.

Keys to the game for EZU:

• limit turnovers (absolute must for the Pirates)
• maintain a rebounding advantage
• dominate the Niner interior (really no one has done this yet)

Keys to the game for Charlotte:

• shoot the ball better (>45% will be a feat)
• get offensive rebounds
• force Brock Young to try to do too much himself

That’s more like it.  Tonight the Niners got their first “true” road win against Hofstra 80-72.  I threw true in quotation marks because of the whopping 783 attendance tonight.  That’s not a typo either.  But consider the Mack Sports Complex was a house of horrors and the Niners lacking any sort of statement victory in this young season where we still have more questions than answers, it was a very welcome relief.

Shamari is a baaaaaaad man. Photo courtesy of William Roberston.

The Niner effort was propelled by another sensational performance by junior pit-bull Shamari Spears, who led all scorers with 26 points on 9-13 shooting and added 4 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.  Spears really did a little of everything on the offensive end, displaying a nice step-back three pointer from the baseline in the first half, a consistent turn-around jumpshot, and strong interior drives in traffic with the finish at the rim.  To say that Spears is the best post player since Demarco Johnson is increasingly becoming a statement of the obvious with each successive game.

Hofstra led the contest in the half 41-39 mostly as a consequence of lax Charlotte defense, hitting 5-10 from behind the arc.  In the second half, the Niner defense did improve as more shots were contested and fewer fell for the Pride, who shot 2-15 from the 3 and 12-38 overall in the 2^nd half as Charlotte rallied to the victory.  A major key to victory for the Niners was the persistence with the inside game.  Hofstra defenders resorted to committing fouls as they have all season long, sending the men in green to the line 25 times in the second half compared to only 7 for Hofstra.  Wing forwards Charles Dewhurst and RaShad Coleman did an excellent job cleaning up misses and preventing opportunities for Hofstra late in the game and solid, but not spectacular foul shooting helped  preserve the win.

Ready for the blackout against ECU

Overall, Charlotte had another solid night shooting the ball overall, despite only 27.3% from 3 point land.  Spears and frosh forward Chris Braswell,who recorded his second

double-double in his young career, scored around the basket and got to the foul line seemingly at will against the Hofstra man-to-man defense.  It came as a surprise that Hofstra didn’t attempt to play more zone to limit opportunities for the Niner big men and force our “marksmen” to beat them from the perimeter.   Hofstra did occasionally double-team Spears with some success but this was not a large part of the Pride strategy.  Joining the Niners forwards in double figure scoring was sophomore guard Derrio Green, who despite scoring 12 points struggled a bit with his shot, particularly in the 2^nd half.  For Hofstra, Charles Jenkins and Greg Washington stood out.  The former scored 25 points on 8-16 shooting and Washington contributed 18 points and 9 rebounds.

The Niners will be off until a December 2^nd contest against the Pirates of ECU.  Plenty of tickets will be available for any ninjas that want to see their arch enemies fall at the hands of the Niners.   – NLP

LIARS!

Here’s a true story that many Niner fans across the world (yes, across the world, we have a fan in Australia) can commiserate with about the Hofstra game in 07-08. HP and I wanted to watch the game, but like most people, didn’t have MASN at home. Going to a bar was our only option. I being the young guy in town really wanted to impress the alumni in the area and make sure we had a spot to watch the game. So I called Buffalo Wild Wings, I mean, surely, they’ve got the game, right? The nice lady on the phone said, “if it’s on TV, we’ve got it.” Sounds good. At gametime, they have yet to find the channel and eventually we hear some BS excuse about it being “blacked out” because the game wasn’t sold out. Mind you, this game was in frigid New York, not North Carolina. Thanks overweight manager lady, now the alumni are mad at me.

Needless to say, we found a different place across town, because we HAD TO watch this game. Gerrity was making his regular season debut as a Niner, and there’s no way I was missing the enveiling of his frosted tips. But after all that, we played terrible and still lost. To Hofstra. Add that game to the earlier loss to Monmouth, and the Niners have a new term for those type of RPI-anchor/NCAA-bubble popping losses….Monstra losses.

The Niners are 3-0 this season against animal mascots!

So here we are, matching up with those jerks again. Though, this isn’t the same Hofstra we faced two seasons ago, this one is experienced, fast, athletic and plays smart basketball. They took it to UConn in the PNIT, but they did struggle against Yale more than we did. The transitive property of sports is unapplicable here, since both teams are 2-0 against the same competition (Yale and Elon). Though, Hofstra destroyed Elon last night, so we may want to keep our Glasses on while we make predictions.

Spears will eat the Pride for his last Thanksgiving appetizer, but who else will step up and score? And when will we play solid defense? If we can answer those questions, we’ll pick up the W and go to 4-1. Predictions are below, add your own in the comments. Winner gets an official Godzilla vs. Monstra Collector’s DVD.   – J Felt

J Felt – Charlotte 84, Hofstra 75. Everything clicks for the Niners and Dewhurst seals the game late with free throws and witty jokes.

JRitchie – Charlotte 83, Hofstra 71. The Pride get shamed by three’s that drop at record rates.

HP – 84-81 Charlotte. $pears can’t be stopped.

letsgoNINERS11 – Charlotte 65, Hofstra 70.  Shamari Spears for 24.  Remember when I said I wasn’t worried?  I’m worried. (You aren’t wearing your green tinted glasses, did you break them after the Duke game? – J Felt)

D-Fo – 82-78 Charlotte. Another solid night for Derrio Green, who goes for 15+ Points.  Spears plays with one arm behind his back to make it fair in the paint.  Rashad Coleman remembers why he has a scholarship and actually scores a few points.  The recent boycotting of defense by the Niners leads to a close one.

NLP – Charlotte pulls a Captain Koons and finds victory in the least likely of places.  Charlotte 84 Hofstra 81

Bust – If Rashad Coleman sees very limited minutes, we will win. If he sees significant minutes (like more than 6), we will continually blow leads, fall behind, and kill our momentum. 83-74 Charlotte wins or 78-71 Hofstra wins, depending on how much time Coleman plays. (So you’re saying we either win or we lose?)

 

Infamous alum Bernie Madoff unavailable for tonight's game.

Tonight the Niners get the opportunity to redeem one of their worst losses in recent years when they tip off against the Flying Dutchmen of Hofstra.  The Pride (nothing better than changing your nickname because your previous one is a slave ship reference) is coming off a 70-46 victory over Elon Monday night which improved them to 3-2 on the season.  For the Niners it’s an opportunity to make a statement about what kind of team it is:  will they roll over when facing a true road test or will the team begin finding its composure away from Halton and leave with a much-needed W.

Hofstra, much like the previous editions the Niners faced in a home-and-home series that ended two years ago, is a guard-oriented team.  All three leading scorers (Nathaniel Lester, Charles Jenkins, and Cornelius Vines) play starting guard positions, which forwards Miklos Szabo (my candidate for out of nowhere player who scores a career high against us) and Greg Washington rounding out the starting lineup.  Despite getting strong scoring contributions from its guards, Hofstra is not a particularly good shooting team.  The Pride have connected on just 28.3% of shots from 3 and 41.6% from the field overall.  Another glaring weakness so far has been Hofstra’s inability to keep opponents from getting to the free throw line (16.2 FTAs for Hofstra vs. 26.6 for opponents).  The Pride for the most part has been able to overcome its shooting woes and propensity to foul with superior rebounding, outrebounding teams by 8 rpg and paced by reserve forward Halil Kanacevic with 8.4 rpg off the bench.  I suspect Hofstra will play a good deal of zone and force the Niners to beat them from the perimeter, especially given the outstanding recent play by Shamari Spears.  Should the Niners be off, or fail to get Spears established, Hofstra will likely use their rebounding advantage to vacuum up long misses and get out in transition frequently, a big area of concern for the Niners who have struggled to defend the fastbreak.

Hofstra alums are used to pulling things out of their...

The Niners are coming off their best offensive showing of the season in besting Yale 88-74 Monday night.  Spears had the most dominating interior performance since the days of Demarco Johnson, scoring 28 points on 13-15 shooting.  Derrio Green broke out of his shooting slump adding 18 points on 6-11 shooting from downtown.  Joining them in double figure scoring were DiJuan Harris and Phil Jones.  Despite the strong shooting by the Niners (53.8% from the field), the game was closer for much longer than fans would have hoped for, as Jordan Gibson nearly doubled his career high for Yale.  If the Niners are to win tonight against a hostile crowd, they will absolutely have to defend much better and find a way to overcome the Hofstra rebounding advantage.  Chris Braswell and Jones will play important roles tonight trying to keep the Pride big men off the boards.  Coach Lutz will also need to find ways to get Shamari Spears going and not rely on just outside shooting should Hofstra try to take away the inside game.

Keys of the game for Hofstra:

• Maintain the rebounding edge
• Transition scoring off Charlotte misses

Keys of the game for Charlotte:

• Force the Pride to commit fouls
• Do not rely on the perimeter game should Hofstra play frequent zone defenses

Nevermind the fact that for a possession or two we were losing to Yale by one point, the Niners are 3-1! That’s way better than last season, which I think we all want to forget. A winning record, that by itself we only had for one game last year, right? Harsh.

Last time we faced Yale, we only won by six points, and that was back in 04-05, the last time we went to the NCAA tournament. Does that mean this team (having defeated Yale by 14), is eight points better than Eddie Basden’s last 49er team? Of course. That’s how sports works.

Actually, this game served as the official debut of Mr. Derrio Green, who is destined to be good for us because his last name is “Green”. He remembered how to hit three pointers and went 6-11, scoring 18 points in all. Not a bad night, for sure. And of course, Spears was a beast as usual, feasting upon the Bulldogs for 28 points on 13-15 FG. Shamari Spears is a monster, really.

As for Yale, well who didn’t want to punch that Gibson kid in the face? Watching Listening to that game was frustrating, hearing his name over and over as he won the coveted “GTG. net Unheralded Player Gets Career High Vs. Niners” He torched our non-existent D for 25 points.

The Positives

• Shamari Spears can do almost everything
• The Dewberry was very impressive (8 pts, 7 rbs, 5 Asts, 1 Blks, 4 Stls, 2 TOs) and may be 100% back
• Shamarr Bowden passed the ball and didn’t just shoot it right away
• DiJuan Harris was solid
• 22 Asts on 30 FGs, not bad at all

Take off your Glasses for a look

• We got off to a 14 pt lead, and then took our foot off the gas (need that killer instinct)
• We were losing to Yale in the 2nd half
• Chris Braswell disappeared, but he’ll be back
• We may as well put up traffic cones on defense

Either way, bring on Hofstra! Time to get revenge for that horrible day two seasons ago!   – J Felt

After a brutal whipping by the Duke Blue Devils, Niner fans hope to leave the fetal position with a good showing against today’s opponent, the Yale Bulldogs. The Elis of New Haven sport a 1-3 record, with their most recent game being a defeat at the hands of Quinnipiac (64-71). Although this normally sounds like just what the doctor ordered, the game comes with a caveat: Both today’s and tomorrow’s game will be played at the site of our two-headed Monstra friend, Hofstra. But hey, when have the Niners made anything look easy the last few years?

For Yale, the team revolves around senior shooting guard captain and future Goldman Sachs soul-eater (okay, we made the last part up) Alex Zampier. Zampier takes the lion-share of shots, and averages 24.5 ppg, more than twice that of next leading scorer Jordan Gibson. Zampier has a nice mix of interior and perimeter shooting, and should command the attention of Niner defenses. He’s also a deadly marksman from the line, having converted on all 18 attempts thus far. So the challenge is simple: Contain Zampier, force the other Bulldogs to make shots.

"Am I open, now? How about, now? Good enough for me!"

For the Niners, we simply need to shoot better and not play like we’re lost in the headlights. We’re shooting a dreadful 37.4% from the field and an even more paltry 26.3% from the perimeter. Better shooting is an absolute must to have any semblance of a positive season this year. On the bright side however, the Niners have gotten to the free throw line extensively, holding a sizable advantage in both FTAs and FTMs. Another concern is the hashing out of a pecking order offensively. Shamari Spears is clearly the go-to guy, averaging 21.5 ppg. He’s however in need of a wingman. Freshman Shamarr Bowden is second in ppg with 9.7 ppg, but most of those came in a barrage against UNC-Asheville. DiJuan Harris is third in scoring at 9.0 ppg, but he’s never really been one to take a large number of shots. Rashad Coleman and Derrio Green are potential candidates (they sure have the shoot the ball concept down, but need to figure out how to make shots fall), as is junior center Phil Jones.   – NLP

Yale keys for the game:

• Get someone besides Zampier going
• Limit opponents FG percentage (46.7%)
• Rebound

Charlotte keys for the game:

• Get scoring from people other than Shamari
• Continue to draw fouls and go to the line
• REBOUND