MBB: USA South Conference

[mattgrubb]

Its like Coach Klein in the Waterboy, they can get their manhood back or earn their brass.

So there has been some backlash on the Grubby One, apparently some of the Scots are saying they are loyal to Lambert etc.  I am not being disloyal to my 2nd favorite coach of all time.  Sorry, Matt O'Connor convinced me to go to Maryville so he is the fave.  I love Lambert. 

I am simply sticking to my principles.  I value winning and loyalty so I am going to give my loyalty to whoever wins the most.

The Grubby One is a simple man with simple principles and right now his principles are leading him to bleed red and black.  Go Panthers!!!!!

[scottiedoug]

Not having the vast experiences of the Grubby One, I remain a ScotsFirst fan.  Playing really hard really helps win.  If any Scots once thought all you have to do is be a Scot to win, they should have rethought that by now.  A liberal arts education is supposed to teach analysis and adjustment skills.

[mattgrubb]

Yes Agreed and while the grubby one has no clue what they teach at Murvul although i have a degree from there, these scots are not learning what I learned while I was there.  Since I refuse to blame coach lambert, i blame the color commentator for the scots:  Kris Sigmund.  This season's record is his fault.

[bballlover]

Piedmont needs to play well this weekend to stay in the mix.

[mattgrubb]

Yes, piedmont is still on an amazing run having sat out a year recently!!!  That was a nice signature win over Emory and hopefully a great recruiting tool for them as they try to regain some of the performances that had about 10 years ago.  PC should be able to handle Ferrum fairly easily but the Averett game will a great tell for the young lions.  If they win that game, they have a great shot at a conference title and don't really have more than sophomores!!!!  I know they have some guys that are juniors but not under Coach Neely.  He is doing a great job down there.  I am confident that Coach Wallace and my Panthers will hold their own and hopefully be a stain on the PC schedule.  My panthers also have a good chance at repeating with a trip to the tourney.  Coach Wallace, Coach McGreal and my man Wagner are capable of anything.  Go Panthers.

No one for PC has stats that really jump off the page, but they are balanced.  Looks like England is giving some consistent scoring and rebounding for the lions.  While he is no Mark Wagner, he has to be a contender for All Conference.  The Grubby One will be awarding his own all conference team this year and it is much better than being voted on by the coaches.

Go Panthers!  Buy my book: Greal: The college years 92-98

[scottiedoug]

Not a good day for the Lions at Ferrum yesterday.   And the Grubby One missed one!   Maybe the Scotsmen can borrow Lauren Trent for a few games.

[mattgrubb]

Yes, the Grubby One has had a rough weekend.  My Panthers took one on the chin.  PC choked.  And my former team actually won a game.  It was a home game against probably the worst team in the conference.  Now NC wes sits atop the conference at 3-1 in a conference where it seems no one wants to win the league, except for NC Wes and maybe William Peace.

But lets take a look at how MC scots aka the real scots of the USASC won today with only 9 bench points in a 77 point performance?  The answer is simple  Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett aka the 305 Bad Boys.  We all know who is Mike Lowry in that duo!  I know the Mike Lowry of the duo called the play for Oscar to break to the bucket and crush on someone.  The only thing better than the finish was the color commentator's reaction.  It was ooo oo oo ooooh! In a dirty south georgia accent.  That was a nice play against a zone and they moved the ball really will but that zone had more holes in it than my bank account.  They missed him wide open under the basket 3 times before that on that possession.
Not a pretty win but much better than a loss and now they are only a half game back of first place and playing at methodist on monday.

My panthers are at NC Wesleyan.  The bishops play hard and are a scrappy bunch.  If my panthers can match their intensity they have a good chance to get a good win.

[mattgrubb]

The MC Scots blew a 16 point halftime lead and had 22 turnovers.  Ouch!!!  No Antonio Jackson?  Where is he?  It looks like we need him back ASAP!

here are several key observations:
1.  when you blow a lead like that in high school the bus ride is only 20 minutes home, not 4 long winding hours with a pissed off coach and assistants who can't understand what is wrong with the players.  Thats not a shot at MC, that is almost every college team ever!!!  And just fact.
2.  If a team has 22 turnovers in a game, they need to run the Norman Dale between the chairs dribbling drill and especially the Norman Dale Shotgun passing drill.  After drills are completed, contemplate quitting the game of basketball.
3.  How to blow a 16 point halftime lead?  The grubby one has no real answer here?  Pulling a Vlade and smoking in the locker room at halftime would be an explainable excuse but this aint the 80s and everyone is so concerned about tobacco, except in central North Carolina???  Was there a pack of Marlboro reds passed around the locker room at the half???

I will be attending more MC Scots home basketball games but now it is only to watch the Scotties dance team.  What talent.  What drive.  What heart.  What determination.  They have what it takes to win!

[scottiedoug]

Mr. Grubby's confusion is shared.  Antonio??

[bballlover]

Important game this afternoon for Piedmont if they hope to make the conference tournament.

[mattgrubb]

This should be an easy one for PC.  They can play much better than Covenant.

[scottiedoug]

Grubby One is on an unusual losing streak.

Are the USASouth men's teams equally bad or equally good?

[mattgrubb]

equally terrible.  I understand Lagrange having a tough year as they lost some key guys from their first ever NCAA tournament team.  D3 is usually dominated by your senior class and if you ain't got seniors well.........

For the rest of the teams, its just bad basketball.  They should just forfeit their AQ NCAA bid as whoever is left holding the hot potato when the music stops will get murdered in the first round.  The committee will send them some place nice too with a very highly ranked team like Emory, Randy mac, or VA Wesleyan.  There is a chance they could get slid up to Marietta or Wooster to get annihilated but that would just be cruel.  This league reminds me of the SLIAC around 2000.  Nobody wants nor should go to the tourney.
Now, NCWC and William Peace play hard they just lack some talent and size.  I don't want to degrade them b/c their hearts are in the right place.  Same with PC as they didn't even have a program 2 years ago and they are giving all they got (again, see the seniors comment).  CNU aint in this league anymore and I see why they left! 
This conference is a good fit for Murvul but they have chosen to sink to the level of their conference competition instead of remaining above the rest and focus on a national presence.  Randy Lambert has done some amazing things at MC, I sure hope the crafty veteran has something up his sleeve and pulls it out soon!  I wonder if his two assistants Tony Montana and Pit bull have any eligibility left?
I feel for my LC Panthers but Wallace has not been there long enough to gain consistency.  he will be up and down for a few more years then he will be able to go on his own run of NCAA tourney appearances.  He knows what its like to compete against the best aka Bo Ryan!!!

BBallover, Please explain what happened to PC the other night??? I don't understand how that happened.

[bballlover]

I wish I knew Grubby One I wish I knew. Just hope Coach Neeley can fix it. One thing is for sure, either PC or Maryville will get a win Saturday.

[scottiedoug]

It is already all about who has solved the most problems by tournament time.