MBB: USA South Conference

[captj]

My prediction for the CNU-SoVA game was close.  I called the SoVA score (68) and would have gotten CNU's right also if we could make free throws.

[cnufan]

I think  it was a lil worse than it appeared captj.

And no they dont have to bring the hardwood and backboards!! I do know its in a high school gym tho.

[narch]

myrtle beach has div 1 coastal carolina nearby, and that's about it for college hoops in the area

looks like the monarchs got a nice game from craig moore with 16 and 9, but not much else to write home about - here is the game story and box score

[captj]

Goose -

E-mail more news to me.  Or get my telephone number out of the program and call me.

[narch]

monarchs get a nice regional win vs. thomas more, 82-72 - b. williams puts up 21 on 8-9 shooting - 2nd straight night one of the 4's has led the monarch charge offensively

game story

box score

i like the shooting %'s, both offensively and on defense - too many to's and ft shooting needs to improve...gotta fix that before sunday's rematch w/ m'ville

mcbryde had a nice game, and he, williams & moore combined for 38 pts & 14 rebs...need that type of production from those 3 more often

[captj]

Pending news about Davon Barton, I'm going to go ahead and give my random thoughts on SoVA II –

Can we buy a free throw please?

Good intensity on the defensive end for most of the game. 

I have never seen a team miss so many one foot shots and lay ups.  And I'm not talking about just this one game.  Adam Purdham has been a solid, workman-like player for a long time, but what was that little flick-of-the-wrist flourish to put spin on a wide-open lay up in crunch time?  The spin caused it to bounce off the glass long.  Note to all Captains; fancy hot-dogging doesn't impress us, clutch buckets do.

Give Romeo a split second and he'll hit nothing but net.

The zebras were abysmal, as usual.  When the ball hits the chest of the player in green and goes out of bounds, possession goes to the team in white.  The contact that they allowed was incredible, and Barton is now paying for it.  Blasingame took a shot to the eye that caused the game to be stopped so that he could have the trainers stop the blood flow, but no call!  But, until the officials learn to call a game correctly, we need to learn to play with the same level of aggression that the opposing team uses. 

Blasingame played very well and seems to have the best free throw touch on the team, but he was on the bench at the end when SoVA turned it into a rugby scrum to get back in it.  Test him now, CJ.

Waaaaaay too many turnovers.  A lot of them were by Barton (bad passes, ill-advised passes).  I can live with those because he's very young and will improve with time, and the rest of his game is most often spectacular.

I still love the heart of this team.  They play with a lot of emotion and give it everything they've got.  I saw a lot more consistent an effort than the first time we played these guys.  I can't wait until we've got the rotations figured out because it seems like we are going to be a deep team at most positions.

And finally; we're praying for you Davon. 

[captj]

What's up with my karma now?  First Goose, then me.  I've had three hits in the last couple of days.  Wadidido?  Wadidido?

[captj]

Good news about Davon Barton –

An inside source just gave me an update on Davon.  From a very selfish, fans perspective, the news is good.  The injury was not to the knee and will not keep him out of the lineup for long.  It was a painful injury to be sure, and I am having sympathy pains myself just thinking about it, but the bottom line is that he will be fine and is no longer in pain.  In fact, I was told that when he was in the ambulance and heard his name announced as an all-tournament selection he asked the EMT if he could go back in to get his trophy.  Big-time courage and intestinal fortitude.  The rest of you USASAC fans are in for a treat because you are going to love this guy's game. 

[hoopshops]

Narch,

I agree with you if Moore, Williams, and McBryde give MC that kind of effort every night they'll tough to stop come conference play. Tough schedule for the monarchs coming up D1 App State, Maryville , Mobile and VW coming up in the near future. Hopefully it will make them stronger for the conference run.

[captj]

Way too much time on my hands.  Actually, this took about five minutes with a spreadsheet.  By calculating the points per minute played (and) the rebounds per minute played, and then multiplying those values by 32 minutes, you have an approximation of what the different players would be doing given equal playing time.  32 minutes is a little bit more than the highest actual value among all of our players, so I used that.  Points and rebounds per 40 minutes would also work.

Name      pts/32min      reb/32min

Romeo                      17.5                2.9
Barton                       16.0                4.9
Riley                          15.1                8.2
Selden                       14.1                 5.6
Coleman                    13.7                10.2

Dickerson                    10.4                 4.3
Lewis                          9.4                  3.9
Blasingame                  8.2                  8.6
Witham                       7.3                  7.3
Purdham                     6.4                  4.0

There are some interesting observations –

Coleman is playing very, very well.

Romeo needs to go to the boards more.

Blasingame is going to be a solid player.  I can't wait to see this guy in a couple of years.  Freshmen are seldom impact players in the post and he could be this year.  He reminds me so much of another freshman named Mark that would still be on our team this year if we hadn't lost our Leisure Studies program.  I think he even wears the same number.

Purdham's numbers are surprising.  He has hit some very clutch shots for us and plays D very well.  I wish everyone on the team hustled every second of the game like he does.

Selden's numbers are also surprising.  I thought they would be higher.  He too has hit some very clutch shots for us and goes to the boards like he was 6 inches taller.  I believe that he thinks he's 6-6.

I'm disappointed in Lewis, but I'm sure that his game will pick up soon.  He's too good for it not to.

If you look at the 2nd five statistically, three of them have started multiple games.  I'd like to see these two fives practice against each other, although that 2nd five would definitely need help at the point.

[cnu85]

housing market must be slow

[captj]

You got that right.

[captj]

"mcbryde had a nice game, and he, williams & moore combined for 38 pts & 14 rebs...need that type of production from those 3 more often"

I'm not seeing your point narch.  I looked at your box score and these guys combined played 54 minutes.  Those combined stats (38/14) WOULD be great over 40 minutes if they played the same position and subbed for each other, but I'm not sure how valuable it is to just add three players stats together.  Tell us WHY these combined stats mean something.

[cnu85]

Congrats to Romeo and Barton.....Romeo was named player of the week....not sure why, his stats were ok...12 ppg and 4 reb pg. Barton wins rookie of the week for the second straight week.

A week until the next hoops game....good thing I have 3 players on my fantasy team in tonight's MNF game. It'll keep me busy tonight until I fall asleep. This old guy almost never makes it past halftime.

[narch]

Tell us WHY these combined stats mean something.

because they are 3 guys (along with mcevoy) who will play the 4 and 5 positions for the monarchs...the biggest positional question marks coming into the season -  they are also 3 guys who played sparingly (williams and moore) or not at all (mcbryde...he's a frosh) last season - when they start consistently producing, become threats offensively and can control the boards, it will allow thomas, grant and lee to play more effectively on the outside - and when radmanovic steps up and plays to his capability, it will make 5 positions that teams will have to defend...difficult to do - if they DON'T step up, it will make life difficult on the perimeter players - geez, captj, this seems like hoops 101 to me...i thought you were in hoops grad school