MBB: USA South Conference

[captj]

Go Monarchs!  Tip off less than an hour away, narch.

[mybleedinghands]

'nova - scottie's assesment is pretty solid - i wouldn't call the offense a princeton offense...it's more motion with some back-doors, so i guess it is "princeton-esque" in that regard - they are playing a couple of frosh (2 bigs and a guard), so no usasac team has really seen the full capability of this team - they were very limited offensively last year, but that doesn't seem to be the case this year, judging by the shooting %'s and scores - they DID play nasty defense last year, but i read scottie's assesment of their game with rmc on the odac board, and he doesn't seem to think they play hard on the defensive end...i'll reserve judgement until i see that myself - with exception of oglethorp and rmc, they've held the other 4 opponents to 68, 66, 62 and 54...pretty solid - sterling williams is their best perimeter player, and is nice on both ends - scottie mentions his turnover problems, but doesn't mention a solid 1.5:1 assist/turnover ratio...i like williams' game a lot - i think your quackers will have a tough time with them...should be a good game

as an aside, when are the quackers going to play the monarchs? i've heard they use some lame excuse about "too many conference games, not enough non-conference dates" when mc talks to them about a game, yet i see some naia programs on the gcq schedule - you do your part with the quacker coaches, and i'll do mine with the monarch coaches, and let's make this happen - no excuse for these teams to not play every year, especially with so much cross-recruiting (mostly won by the quackers the last few years ie: 2 mc transfers, strong and kimbrough)

re: averett - something about their start is reminding me of ferrum in football - i said after the 3rd or 4th game that ferrum scared me, and lo and behold they end up 9-1 and usasac champs from out of nowhere...averett's start is scaring me, as well, although not as much - in my mind i know they play strong defense (scottie's assesment notwithstanding) and they seem to have found some offensive spark now (and without boor, as captj pointed out) ..could be a recipe for a strong conference push - your prediction might just be right, captj

Defensively, at least when we played @ Averett, their defense was kinda good. I think their full court pressure will be effective against teams, but it never seemed to be all that effective against us, but we haven't really had any problems with full court pressure all season though, so it's tough to make a good call on that. But after seeing just how well macon can shoot (and i'm not exaggerating when I say they are one of the best shooting teams i have ever seen), I'd have to say that there isn't much you can do to prevent macon from filling up the box scores when they are making their shots. Basially, when they start making a high percentage of their shots you are done because they are going to keep making them for the entire game.

[cnufan]

Ya well Im really scared of several teams. Carnegie Mellon for one, who is 5-0 right now. We could match up with an Eastern Conn. team in the tourny. And of course Lincoln who's 5-1 and no pushover and Keystone, even though they are 2-3. There are and could be four tough games between the end of the year and Jan 14. And not too mention a Frostburg St. team who beat us on their floor last year and to top it off the bus broke down on the way home and it snowed its arse off the whole way home too. Thank god I wasnt on that bus.

[narch]

monarchs lose by 18 - a couple of bright spots, looking at the box score

• 5 players in double digits
• holding #11 dj thompson to just 6 pts on 2-8, BY FAR his worst performance of the season
• only outrebounded by 3, and 3 more off rebounds than a d1
• frosh mcbryde and mcdonald played well, combining for 22 pts in 32 minutes on 8-16 shooting
• despite scoring just 1 point, thomas had 5 asst, 6 reb and 2 steals

now the bad

• thomas scored just 1 point on 0-7 shooting
• the monarchs shot just 23% from 3
• mc allowed app to shoot 45% from 3
• 65% ft shooting
• mc lost!

alright boys, learn from this and beat maryville on sunday!!!!

[narch]

just read the game story...i think sid lee wright read my post before writing his release

[mybleedinghands]

methodist players played a combined 199 minutes. appalachian state players played a combined 201 minutes. how does that work?

[narch]

methodist players played a combined 199 minutes. appalachian state players played a combined 201 minutes. how does that work?

sth - the ncaa doesn't want d3's to beat d1's, so they allow the d1 team to play 1 minute at the beginning of each half w/o the other team on the floor...asu scored 22 points in those 2 minutes, so really the monarchs would have won were it not for this quirky rule...you'll see when lc plays jerry falwell u

[mybleedinghands]

methodist players played a combined 199 minutes. appalachian state players played a combined 201 minutes. how does that work?

sth - the ncaa doesn't want d3's to beat d1's, so they allow the d1 team to play 1 minute at the beginning of each half w/o the other team on the floor...asu scored 22 points in those 2 minutes, so really the monarchs would have won were it not for this quircky rule...you'll see when lc plays jerry falwell u

your math doesnt add up here! one minute each half? that would mean that methodist would have only played 198 minutes!

[captj]

Good effort Monarchs.  Sounds like there were lots of positives (very balanced scoring, few turnovers, consistent effort).

[narch]

sorry, i meant the first minute of the FIRST HALF...and somehow an extra minute for the d1...it's a very obscure and hard to understand rule, scottie...you'll see when lc plays jerry's kids

[scottiedoug]

Hey Narch:  I missed Maryville's only home game to date and have not seen them this year.  Several times they have had five people in double figures, with both inside and outside players involved.  Teams have tried zone but Mason and Calloway have stepped up and hit from outside.  Blair and Golden have been able to score inside.  Holliday is probably the best defender.  They are scoring a lot of points, but so are the other teams.   The one key starter you did not face last year is Jonathan Johnson, a slasher type with good D who plays wing. 

I guess neither of us really will know much for sure even after Sunday, as I cannot make it and I think you said you could not either.   I hate having to rely on stats and other people's opinions!

Will there be a Methodist broadcast?

[narch]

scottiedoug - thanks for the scouting report...i'm SICK that i won't be there on sunday...i've had that date circled since the schedule came out, but professional obligations call - the mc sid is going to call me at half-time and at the conclussion of the game to give me updates, though - i'm not aware of any hoops broadcasts this year...not sure why, but i don't think any games are being broadcast as of now, and i doubt anything could be pulled together before sunday - i have talked to some folks who have seen m'ville play, and the consensus is that there hasn't been much (if any) drop-off in quality vs. last year...they're a little different team, but still very, VERY good - a monarch win would be HUGE

[mybleedinghands]

sorry, i meant the first minute of the FIRST HALF...and somehow an extra minute for the d1...it's a very obscure and hard to understand rule, scottie...you'll see when lc plays jerry's kids

Sounds confusing, but it is the NCAA, so it has to be confusing! Maybe i'll be able to get some info out of somebody when we get there. This little bit of info could be the determing factor in rather we win or lose today!

[narch]

This little bit of info could be the determing factor in rather we win or lose today!

YES IT COULD!!!

make sure you tell all the players and have them prepared - it's strange to see a team out there shooting and dunking feverishly as though it's simply warm-ups and see the scoreboard registering points...it's very tough to overcome

[mybleedinghands]

This little bit of info could be the determing factor in rather we win or lose today!

YES IT COULD!!!

make sure you tell all the players and have them prepared - it's strange to see a team out there shooting and dunking feverishly as though it's simply warm-ups and see the scoreboard registering points...it's very tough to overcome

it has to be the most demoralizing thing to morale as I can imagine. Although, from a spectator point of view, it would be nice to see some good dunks Actually, I wouldn't be surprised to see their coach trying to convince someone in the ncaa to let them go 2 minutes to ensure that they'll have a lead that is just way big for us to overcome, because they are probably scared you know!