MBB: USA South Conference

[PrideSportBBallGuy]

Congrats to the USASouth this weekend.  To the Pride and Panthers going 4-0 this weekend beating the GSAC teams.

[notamensa]

I knew when I saw your name...notamensa that you had to be from CNU. 

the problem we were having with the 3 pointers is that EVERYBODY seemed to be above the arch when we shot a trey.....rebounds would be nice....but I've been hollering "follow your shot" on this board for years.....never happens.

my father hammered me with that message my entire life... "you aint no mensa, kid. you better work a little harder than everyone else", until it's sort of become my mantra for life.

i noticed also that everyone seems to be bunched up together all the time, either down low or outside. i would like for them to spread the court on offense, and having good long range shooters helps do that. i think that lewis would be more effective with a little more room under the glass.

[old_lion]

Yep, congrats to Greensboro and Ferrum ... they played well.

But a ref was the MVP of the Ferrum/Piedmont game ... see exerpt below from a post on the GSAC board ...

"Baldwin went for 21 and 7 and 23 and 10 (pts and reb) and made the all tourney team. He was virtually unstoppable except by the officiating crew (two of them made my all-tourney defensive team) who fouled him out in 18 minutes vs. Ferrum. He may have committed 3 of them. Without the two "big stops" by the Zebras, we would have won the Ferrum game easily. Baldwin was working on a 30/15 game when the officials decided to take the game over."

http://www.ferrum.edu/athletics/Basketball-M/2006-07%20Stats/fcm1118.htm

But, what are you going to do? Unfortunately, that sort of officiating is just part of the game sometimes ...

Let me put down my crying towel and end on a positive note. Kudos to Ferrum's Gary Holden and the great staff he had working the games ... those folks did an excellent job!

[cnubbballer]

Agree spacing would help, but don't think you'll see it early on especially against man-to-man, though should be better against zones.  CNU has been running the same offense for some time, I believe it's a variation of the "flex."   It was pretty successful as the season wore on last year.  But it is pretty crowded down low for our big guys and if they don't move quickly they get doubled by "quick" guards.   And small quick guards are a "staple" of D-III!!!

[CNU85]

It didn't look "crowded down low" to me when we were taking outside shots! Like I said, for years I've been on here fussing about lack of offensive rebounds. It must have to do with the coaching and game plans, offense used, etc......been going on for as long as I can remember.

[notamensa]

there seems to be lots of talk about the refs. im guessing that officiating is a common source of angst on this site. do you think that maybe the refs (collectively) are starting the season trying to make a statement that contact will be called tightly this year? in the cnu game friday night i also saw some bad palming calls/non-calls. both teams got called fo it at least once, but both could have been called several more times.

[notamensa]

It didn't look "crowded down low" to me when we were taking outside shots! Like I said, for years I've been on here fussing about lack of offensive rebounds. It must have to do with the coaching and game plans, offense used, etc......been going on for as long as I can remember.

i said before that they were bunched up both inside and outside. every time i watch a game in the freeman center i am amazed at how crowded the floor looks. our guys are smaller than d1 players and pros, but when i watch tv it just seems like theyre spaced out more. arent all bball courts the same size? maybe its because of my perspective from the student section?

[cnubbballer]

Listening to some of the comments after the game Friday I think the live scrimmages the team played were called much differently.  If that's true it's a shame because it would have been an op for the zebras to start getting their points across.  The players have to adjust accordingly during games, but still if you've been practicing and scrimmaging one way it makes it really tough.  

[PrideSportBBallGuy]

Give the refs some slack early on, they are just getting started on the season.  If the problem is still there in the middle of the season then the comments are well deserved.  As long as the fouls are even in the games then I have no complaints.  I just don't like it when one team only gets 10 free-throws FT's and the other gets 25.  That puts the games more into the refs hands and not the teams hands.

[CNU85]

It didn't look "crowded down low" to me when we were taking outside shots! Like I said, for years I've been on here fussing about lack of offensive rebounds. It must have to do with the coaching and game plans, offense used, etc......been going on for as long as I can remember.

i said before that they were bunched up both inside and outside. every time i watch a game in the freeman center i am amazed at how crowded the floor looks. our guys are smaller than d1 players and pros, but when i watch tv it just seems like theyre spaced out more. arent all bball courts the same size? maybe its because of my perspective from the student section?

I think it's the perspective. To me, everything look sbigger and more spaced out on TV. The ffotball field on TV looks more than 100 yds.

[narch]

I knew when I saw your name...notamensa that you had to be from CNU. 

i thought it was another gc fan, and clearly it COULDN'T be a MU fan, right

monarchs hammered nna 86-59 on sunday...game story here - since i was unable to attend the game, i'm not sure what nna is like this year, but that's a great way to start, especially when the next 5 games are on the road and almost all are against tournament teams from last year - mcbryde got a double-double with 18-11 (7 off rebounds!) and didn't miss a shot...he's got so much potential...maybe this will be a breakout year for him (that would be nice) - lane had a nice game, as well, going for 15 in 13 minutes...we'll have to call him the microwave if he continues to produce like that

[narch]

But a ref was the MVP of the Ferrum/Piedmont game ...

old lion - minus one karma point for crying about the refs

i'll say this right up front before the season gets in full swing - officials don't win or lose games, players (and sometimes coaches) do

I just don't like it when one team only gets 10 free-throws FT's and the other gets 25.

what if the team shooting 25 ft's was fouled more often or fouled more often when shooting than the team with 10 ft's?

officials are right 90% of the time...when they aren't right, the calls usually even out over the course of a game - if one team fouls more than the other it's usually because one of the teams is more aggressive/better conditioned/more athletic or just plain better

i could care less about this whole karma thing, but i will smite everyone i see complaining about officials on this board (unless it's a monarch fan, of course  )

[old_lion]

But a ref was the MVP of the Ferrum/Piedmont game ...

old lion - minus one karma point for crying about the refs

i'll say this right up front before the season gets in full swing - officials don't win or lose games, players (and sometimes coaches) do

officials are right 90% of the time...when they aren't right, the calls usually even out over the course of a game

I hear you Narch, and 99% of the time I agree with you. The vast majority of the time, poor officiating does tend to even out over the course of a game.

BUT, there are exceptions to every general rule ... and if you really think your statement, "officials don't win or lose games, players (and sometimes coaches) do" is true 100% of the time, then you haven't seen as much basketball as I thought.

You had an old friend there ... ask his opinion.

And finally, it hurts me deeply that you saw fit to smite me ... but I'll learn to live with the pain ... 

[old_lion]

i'll say this right up front before the season gets in full swing - officials don't win or lose games, players (and sometimes coaches) do


officials are right 90% of the time...when they aren't right, the calls usually even out over the course of a game -

Narch, I reread your post ... and at the end of it you proved that you don't believe, absolutely, what you said at the beginning of it.

As long as you dilute your original assertion by including the word "usually", I agree with you 100%.

Apology accepted. 

[PrideSportBBallGuy]

I wasn't complaining, I just said I didn't like it (Narch, I think you know when I complain).  I know there are many fans out there that have said with less then a second left yell "why did you call a foul there."  Player hits two free throws and wins the ball game.  Either side could argue he hit the FT's so he won. Player control. But the ref called a foul when play could have decided the game.  Ref control.  I have played games football and basketball where officals have said "take it easy on them." If that isn't ref control then, I don't know what is.