The A10 continues to play well in non-conference action with the league sporting a 19-10 for the week.  The Niners dropped a brutal road game to the Lamar Cardinals but their week wasn’t as bad as Rhode Island’s, who went out to the Midwest to receive a pair of losses from Texas and Nebraska.  Winless Rhody has three consecutive home games this week and should win at least two of them.  Cleveland State will be a tough out as Saint Bonaventure discovered.

Win of the Week – Saint Louis with a resounding victory over the Washington Huskies 77-64 at Chaifetz Arena.  The Billikens shot a blistering 52.8% from the field against the defending final Pac-10 champions.  Brian Conklin led the way with 25 points to lead both teams in scoring.  The undersized forward is having a terrific start to his Sr. season, doubling last season’s scoring average through the first three games.  Kwamain Mitchell, who missed all of last season, had his first good shooting game connecting on 7-13 shots to score 18 for SLU.

Dud of the Week – Charlotte getting drilled at Lamar 72-54.  The Niners were without Jr. F Chris Braswell, who was averaging a double-double in his first two games of the season, and it hurt mightily.  The Niners shot just 32.8% from the field and were out-rebounded by the Cardinals by a resounding 54-28 margin.

Game of the Week- Saint Bonaventure at Virginia Tech.  The Bonnies host Sienna tonight in what is sure to be a good game, but it’s the opportunity to roll into Blacksburg and secure a resume win against the Hokies that has us excited.  Saint Bonaventure needs to get more from the team and not be just the Andrew Nicholson show if they want to defeat Dorenzo Hudson-led Virginia Tech.  Other games that could produce quality OOC wins are Saint Louis and Xavier playing Boston College (Anaheim, CA) and Georgia (Cintas Center) respectively.

1. Xavier: 3-0

• Last Week: 11/16 - WIN 86-63 vs. IPFW, WIN 11/18 vs. Miami (Ohio) 66-60
• This Week: 11/25 vs. Georgia

2. Temple: 3-1

• Last Week: 11/14 - WIN 73-67 (OT) at Penn , 11/17 - WIN 69-55 vs. Western Michigan, 11/18 – LOSS 85-77 vs. Purdue, 11/20 – WIN 78-74 (OT) vs. Wichita State
• This Week: 11/27 at Bowling Green

3. Saint Louis: 3-0

• Last Week: 11/15 - WIN 61-42 at Southern Illinois, 11/20 - WIN 77-64 vs. Washington 
• Next Week: 11/24 vs. Boston College

4. St. Bonaventure: 1-1

• Last Week: 11/18 – LOSS 67-64 at Cleveland State
• This Week: 11/21 at Sienna, 11/27 at Virginia Tech

5. George Washington 1-1

• Last Week: Idle
• This Week: 11/21 vs. Detroit, 11/22 vs. Austin Peay, 11/23 at Bowling Green

6. Saint Joseph’s: 3-1

• Last Week: 11/17 - WIN 66-53 vs. Georgia Tech, 11/18 – LOSS 78-70 vs. Seton Hall, 11/20 – WIN 79-75 vs. Tulsa
• This Week: 11/23 at Iona, 11/26 vs. Pedo State

7. Charlotte: 2-1

• Last Week: 11/15 - WIN 77-75 (2OT) at Central Michigan, 11/19 – LOSS 72-54 at Lamar
• This Week: 11/22 vs. East Tennessee State, 11/26 @ Wright State

8. Richmond: 3-1

• Last Week: 11/14 – LOSS 74-61 at Davidson, 11/17 – WIN 72-51 vs. Hampton, 11/19 – WIN 83-58 vs. Sacred Heart
• This Week: 11/22 vs. Illinois

9. Duquesne: 3-2

• Last week: 11/18 – WIN 97-81 vs. District of Columbia, 11/19 – WIN 81-76 vs. Akron, 11/20 – LOSS 84-68 vs. Valparaiso
• This week: 11/26 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

9. Rhode Island: 0-3

• Last Week: 11/15 - LOSS 100-90 at Texas, 11/20 – LOSS 83-63 at Nebraska
• This Week: 11/25 vs. Hofsta, 11/26 vs. Boston University, 11/27 vs. Cleveland State

11. Dayton 2-1

• Last Week: 11/15 – LOSS 72-67 at Miami (Ohio), 11/19 – WIN 74-49 vs. UNCW
• This Week: 11/24 vs. Weak Forest

12. Massachusetts 3-0

• Last Week: 11/14 – WIN 83-67 vs. Northeastern, 11/17 - WIN 83-67 vs. NJIT
• This Week: 11/21 at Boston College, 11/24 vs. Florida State

13. La Salle 2-1

• Last Week: 11/15 – LOSS 76-69 at Villanova, 11/18 – WIN 92-83 vs. James Madison
• This Week: 11/22 at Pittsburgh, 11/25 vs. Robert Morris, 11/26 vs. Rider

14. Fordham 1-1

• Last Week: 11/18 – WIN 64-49 vs. Binghamton
• This Week: 11/26 at Loyola (IL)

The first weekend of the college basketball season is behind us, and not only did the Niners find success, but so did most of the Atlantic 10 Conference. 13 of 14 teams had games opening week, and 11 of them were able to win a game, with the conference going 11-4 to start the season. Nine teams are still undefeated.

Win of the Week - Saint Joseph’s, 72-61 at Western Kentucky: The Hawks ended the season on a tear, advancing to the Atlantic 10 semi-finals from the 12th-seed. Saint Joseph’s had 5 players score in double figures, led by Langston Galloway’s 19 points.  Western Kentucky isn’t as much of a challenge these days, but a double-digit win on the road is a good sign for Phil Martelli’s squad.

Dud of the Week – Rhode Island 90-92 OT at George Mason: Jim Baron and Rhody set the whole conference back by agreeing to a 2-for-1 with George Mason, and set it back even further by losing to the Patriots in overtime on Friday night.  One bright note was the play of Jamal Wilson, who exploded for 38 points.

In the week to come, Temple will hit the court for the first time (Tonight at Penn) while St. Bonaventure will visit a Cleveland State team that just won at #7 Vanderbilt by double-digits. Saint Joseph’s will welcome in Chris Mooney’s Brian Gregory’s Georgia Tech squad. Richmond will be at Davidson tonight for anyone interested, GTG may be represented there.

Game of the Week- 11/20, Washington at Saint Louis: Rick Majerus’ squad will welcome in the defending Pac-12 champs for the league’s first real shot at a BCS scalp. Saint Louis is getting a lot of hype for a team that’s depending on someone who took a year off from the team. If they can take care of the Huskies at home, it can go a long way in proving that they are worth being voted 3rd in the preseason.

1. Xavier: 1-0

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 74-63 vs. Morgan State
• This Week: 11/15 vs. IPFW, 11/18 vs. Miami (Ohio)

2. Temple: 0-0

• Last Week: Idle
• This Week: 11/14 at. Penn, 11/17 vs. Western Michigan

3. Saint Louis: 1-0

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 71-37 vs. Tennessee State
• Next Week: 11/15 at Southern Illionis, 11/20 vs. Washington

4. St. Bonaventure: 1-0

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 79-57 vs. Cornell
• This Week: 11/18 at Cleveland State

5. George Washington 1-1

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 64-38 vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore, 11/13 – LOSS 81-55 at #24 California
• This Week: Idle

6. Saint Joseph’s: 1-0

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 72-61 at Western Kentucky
• This Week: 11/17 vs. Georgia Tech

7. Charlotte: 1-0

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 73-57 vs. NC Central
• This Week: 11/15 at Central Michigan, 11/19 at Lamar

8. Richmond: 1-0

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 66-56 vs. American
• This Week: 11/14 at Davidson, 11/17 vs. Hampton, 11/19 vs. Sacred Heart

9. Duquesne: 1-1

• Last week: 11/9 –  LOSS 67-59 at #16 Arizona, 11/13 – WIN 84-66 vs. Green Bay
• This week: 11/18 vs. District of Columba, 11/19 vs. Akron, 11/20 at Valparaiso

9. Rhode Island: 0-1

• Last Week: 11/11 – LOSS 92-90 OT at George Mason
• This Week: 11/15 at Texas, 11/20 at Nebraska

11. Dayton 1-0

• Last Week: 11/12 – WIN 87-58 vs. Eastern Illinois
• This Week: 11/15 at Miami (Ohio), 11/19 vs. UNC Wilmingon

12. Massachusetts 1-0

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 85-67 vs. Elon
• This Week: 11/14 vs. Northeastern, 11/17 vs. NJIT

13. La Salle 1-0

• Last Week: 11/11 – WIN 79-53 vs. Lafayette
• This Week: 11/15 at Villanova, 11/18 vs. James Madison

14. Fordham 0-1

• Last Week: 11/12 - LOSS 78-53 at #5 Syracuse
• This Week: 11/18 vs. Binghamton

Over the past summer Niner fans everywhere followed the recruitment of Willie Clayton and Shawn Lester closely. Of course, for us at GTG, that meant keeping track of every recruiting blog on the net looking for new information to share with you. One blog that stood out for Atlantic 10 recruiting news in general was Heard This Blog, which considers itself “Your Atlantic 10 Basketball Connection.”

Heard This Blog was founded by Ben Weixlmann, who, in addition to having a ridiculously cool last name, has been writing about sports since he was in high school. He’s since gone on to write for BillikenReport.com and has managed to position himself as a go-to for Atlantic 10 recruiting news.

In the spirit of intra-conference collaboration (and of course, sharing hits), we caught up with Ben and asked him a few questions about recruiting, the Atlantic 10 and gave him a chance to hate on Dayton.

Heard This Blog: Ha! I really do enjoy covering the Atlantic 10.  In my opinion, the A-10 is the best non-BCS basketball conference out there.  Many folks already cover the more well-known conferences, and thus I feel as though I can create a niche following by solely following the Atlantic 10.  As you well know, a lot of the fanbases within the conference are just as rabid as BCS schools, and so it makes for a lot of engaging conversations.

GTG: You’ve made it a priority so far to cover recruiting in this conference. What types of opinions do high school prospects have about the Atlantic 10? Are most of them weighing the conference in the decision, or is it strictly based on the merits of the individual schools?

HTB: This is a very interesting question.  The answer to this question ranges the entire spectrum.  Some recruits I have spoken to are very knowledgeable about the league, and some honestly don’t know anything about it.  I would say it’s 50/50 regarding conference and individual schools.  Many of the top-level recruits in the league simply know the individual school that is recruiting them.  Some East Coast prospects I have spoken to are being recruited by many of the A-10 schools and therefore have a greater understanding of the conference as a whole.

GTG: Related to that, how do you rank the 2012 classes in the Atlantic 10 so far?

HTB: Just as one would expect, it’s Xavier and then a sizable drop from there. The Musketeers have a Top 25 recruiting class nationally for ’12.  I’d argue it’s even closer to Top 15.  Semaj Christon and Jalen Reynolds are both players that will have instant impacts in the Atlantic 10.  I saw Christon play this past summer, and he’s the real deal.  His height, athleticism, and skill set are incredibly advanced.  From there, it’s tough to say.  Dayton has Jevon Thomas and Jalen Robinson.  Both are big-time talents.  Temple, Charlotte, and Duquesne all have two members in their 2012 classes.  It’s just really difficult to grade them out without having a more full understanding.  We’ll know a lot more here in a couple of months.  Xavier is the only one of the bunch that has a full 2012 class.

DiJuan celebrates after making the game winner. courtesy HP

Anybody remember the last time Saint Louis and Charlotte went down to the wire in Halton Arena? Saint Louis hit a game-winning alley-oop with only a few tics left on the clock to send the Niners home demoralized and ashamed.

But tonight, the tables were turned by Niner warrior DiJuan Harris and his game winner with 3 seconds left in overtime. Forget the missed free throws and the inability to keep a lead, that shot made the entire night worth it. Usually on the losing end of game winners, it was a breath of fresh air to see that ball hit the net and go through. Everyone in Halton Arena (all 35 of us, it seemed) erupted and celebrated going 2-1 in conference play. Here’s the crazy part. DiJuan Harris only made 2 FGs tonight, and they were both buzzer beaters, one at the end of the first half to take a 1-pt lead, and the other to win the game.

That said, I really hate Saint Louis. Not because of any conference affiliation or rivalry reasons, I just hate games we play against them. The ground-it-out and slow basketball is extremely tiring to watch and it is easy to find yourself bored. That’s probably part of the game plan, when you think about it. Bore the other team to lose. Make them not care anymore.

We got off to such a great start, mostly thanks to the great play of Derrio Green, but quickly found a way to squander the lead and make it a game. Got to give people their money’s worth, right? How Saint Louis, with their painfully slow offense, managed to erase a ten point margin in a few minutes is beyond this author. We have got to step on our opponents’ proverbial throats and never let up.

But who are we kidding, we know why the offense sputtered to a stall and Saint Louis came back so quickly. As much as we hate to call him out, Ian Andersen is killing our flow on offense AND defense. Got to love his heart and hustle, but the 5 minutes he was in the game in the first half felt like 50. Those minutes need to go to developing Sirin and Barnett at this point. Ian just doesn’t mesh with this group of guys. It’s time to move Ian to “spark off the bench when down or up by 15″. NLP said it best when he sent this text: When Bobby said Ian calms the team I think he actually meant sedates. Ian “Tranquilizer” Andersen, everybody.

Braswell and Spears impressed once again. Spears had eight turnovers, but his presence on the court demands respect and opens everything up for the rest of the squad. It was nice to see him grab rebounds tonight and get a double double (16 pts, 13 rbds). Braswell played like a seasoned member of the squad tonight, playing with 4 fouls through overtime but still playing aggressively and taking it to the Australian Cody Ellis. He’s already very good, and he’s going to be extremely good in the next few years.

Time for bullets, because the game is being rebroadcast and I want to pay attention.

The Good

• Derrio Green is awesome, going to be fun watching him through the next few seasons
• An’Juan Wilderness is becoming part of offense now and has started to assert himself
• We missed all seven of our threes, and still won
• K.J. Sherrill got 9 minutes and is developing nicely
• The Green, Black, and Gold Man suits in the student section

Put on your Green Tinted Glasses

• Ian Andersen is killing the flow of our offense
• Shamari needs to work on passing out of those double teams and not forcing it
• Phil Jones has seemingly regressed, but still has moments
• We let Saint Louis dictate the tempo after the first five minutes
• We didn’t make a three for the first time since 1989, wow!
• Gave away too many dunks

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.