MBB: USA South Conference

scottiedoug · December 17, 2015, 03:24:55 PM

Randy and Raul's Scots can score, at least at home. And lots of assists against Berry. Maybe they will learn defense. It is not a lack of effort or hustle.

mattgrubb · December 19, 2015, 01:25:09 PM

Lagrange is flat out good this year. As I have said before, Wallace's SYSTEM has taken over and the guys know how to excel in his system. His players, playing his way. They will be tough to beat. Murvul is full of freshman. The spectrum of their expectations is very broad. Hopefully they will learn to play on the road soon. Nice christmas tourneys for both teams. I bet both teams do well.

scottiedoug · December 20, 2015, 02:05:37 PM

Looks like the Scots have at least one win on the road, although in a neutral site, and against a team with a decent record. Will be interesting to see if they can do it agian today.

Ben Stein Fan · December 21, 2015, 11:18:06 AM

LaGrange let one get away from them yesterday. The fell to Lynchburg by 4 but had way too many turnovers. Mark Wagner was unbelievable, but we didn't ensure he touched the ball each time down the court.

I am looking forward to LC bouncing back tonight and get a win against the Preseason #14 team in the nation.

scottiedoug · December 21, 2015, 12:13:15 PM

Wagner must have touched the ball a good bit to score that much....

Ben Stein Fan · December 21, 2015, 06:10:51 PM

Scottie,

Believe it or not, Mark didn't touch it enough. The #3 for Lynchburg who was guarding him did a great job denying Mark the ball and then putting pressure when Mark did touch it. Had this game been against a typical USAA team, Mark would have had 40 plus.

LC beat Eastern Connecticut this afternoon. A very good bounce back win. Here's to hoping Berry can beat Lynchburg this afternoon.

Ben Stein Fan · December 21, 2015, 06:32:58 PM

Not sure how it amounts to SOS but USAS record vs. other D3 conferences is 42-27 which puts us 8th overall in the nation. Not too bad and should help us come NCAA tournament time.

scottiedoug · December 22, 2015, 10:29:46 AM

As the Maryville coaching tree grows....

mattgrubb · December 25, 2015, 03:30:12 PM

The Scots had a better than expected pre Christmas showing. If any team lost 3 1,000 point scorers their coaches would be in hibernation mode during the off season and most of the early part of the season. But not the Scots. Either Randy has lost a fair amount of his mental capacity and just pushed forward like nothing happened, highly probably, or he still has it and his experience lead him to realize not what he lost but what he had. Shoffner is a knock down all south performer. There are a couple players I can't tell apart so I will call them JBo Garcia and their combined stats are sick. I still think the one guy that glues this team together is Tyler Spicer. There is no way he could appear on an episode of Maury and not be the father. He is everyone on this teams daddy and may end up being the new daddy of the USASC now that Nick Mitchell has been promoted to grandpa status. Both Lagrange and Murvul are obviously beatable as they are not top 10 teams but they both deserve consideration for the top 25 if things progress as they have progressed so far this season. The regular season games will be a battle between these two teams.

I will make a bold statement but my pick for USASC player of the year is Tyler Spicer. He is doing things no one expected. Shoffner is the man but he is doing what he is supposed to be doing. Spicer's is not totally unexpected but he seems to have a very profound effect in the locker room. I, the grubby one, the undisputed king of southern D3 basketball, pick Tyler Spicer as most improved and appreciate the fact that his personality is really showing amongst all the Scots.

Now I couldn't post without mentioning my great uncle 57 year old Mike White and my god son Mark Wagner. Wallace knows what's going on this year south of the ATL and this is his shot to make some noise in the NCAA tourney. Gotta get their first and LC is probably the favorite at this point but it's not a given. The more they work to get there the better the chance they have of staying there for a while. That goes for either LC or MC.

Merry Christmas your USA Southers and with what's probably my last post for 2015 I have to mention the Legend Nick Mitchell. He represented what college basketball was all about at the end of the day. It's a tournament sport so be ready for the tourneys.

Hope these very talented young coaches had great Christmases with their fine young children, especially you Greal since it was your first. Now put he wife and kids to bed and let's get it on in these conference battles. NO Mercy in 2016. Let's get two NCAA bids from the USASouth!

scottiedoug · December 26, 2015, 05:30:01 PM

As the GO says. Let's get two NCAA bids from the USASouth!

Ben Stein Fan · December 28, 2015, 07:38:46 AM

Scottie,

I think two bids by the USASC this year is a possibility.

Grubb,

Mark is still my odds on favorite from LC to win the MVP award because he gets the most minutes on the team. However, my dark horse candidate is Justyn Olson. Justin is not afraid to take the ball to the rim and gets to the line on a regular basis. He is a better rebounder than Mark. Mark is the better shooter and makes better decisions with the ball and Justyn splits time with Alex Bonner.

mattgrubb · December 28, 2015, 11:50:14 AM

Ben Stein
Agreed. Olson adds to the depth. He is a really good player but LC is full of really good players. Olson could be an all conference player if he was on another team b/c he could be a #1 option in this league. LC is just loaded and Wagner is just so good looking. The ladies of the USA South love him and Spicer from Murvul. Shoffner would get love for his looks b/c his hair is too 5 all time but he tries to distract from the hair by dunking and hitting all those 3s.

I am pumped that we are going to get to see a match up between Randy and Wallace with both teams at their near best. Kendal has more veteran players and Greal. Lambert has some young super studs so the talent goes to Murvul. I can't wait hopefully we will have a rematch in the finals of the USASouth/Nick Mitchell Men's basketball tournament finals.

I don't usually like to talk about coaches kids or families on here but I have to be honest when I say I have already had two D2 coaches inquire about Rex Wallace. That kid is young but he already understands the art of rebounding and has good size and a high basketball IQ. His dad Is gonna have to push hard to get him to come to LC! #greatgenes #breedtosucceed #blowthecollegefundnow #thekidcanboard

Dixie Fan · December 30, 2015, 08:26:23 PM

Matthew & Ben,

So what you are saying is that the league may get a 2nd bid other than Averett? I hope so too! That would be great for the league. Time will tell, let's play a few games in the league though before we get ahead of ourselves.

mattgrubb · December 31, 2015, 02:23:49 PM

Dixie Fan
That is a valid point. Right now to be the man you have to beat the man and Coach Wallace is the man for the past 2 plus seasons. AU has some good wins and some big name wins that in other years would be good but not so good this year like Randy Mac, EMU, and D2 UVA wise. It's great they have 5 wins against the ODAC. That is its own special prize!!!!
It looks like they are gonna be tough but they only see MC and LC once and the LC is in Danville. Between MC and LC, LC is the better team right now. More experience which leads to better execution and their talent is GOOD for D3. If they keep clicking they will be tough to beat but that game in Danville will be a big one for both teams. AU plays at Maryville and the young Scots will be tough to beat in Murvul. That one will be a very high scoring contest. It's nice to see some high level competition across the conference.

Ben Stein Fan · December 31, 2015, 03:39:57 PM

Quote from: mattgrubb on December 31, 2015, 02:23:49 PM
Dixie Fan
That is a valid point. Right now to be the man you have to beat the man and Coach Wallace is the man for the past 2 plus seasons. AU has some good wins and some big name wins that in other years would be good but not so good this year like Randy Mac, EMU, and D2 UVA wise. It's great they have 5 wins against the ODAC. That is its own special prize!!!!
It looks like they are gonna be tough but they only see MC and LC once and the LC is in Danville. Between MC and LC, LC is the better team right now. More experience which leads to better execution and their talent is GOOD for D3. If they keep clicking they will be tough to beat but that game in Danville will be a big one for both teams. AU plays at Maryville and the young Scots will be tough to beat in Murvul. That one will be a very high scoring contest. It's nice to see some high level competition across the conference.

Dixie,

I think Averett should get a bid from the ODAC. How did you guys manage to get so many home games against that conference? Averett is a really good team. The USASC is loaded this year. There are some legit teams that are going to be very hard to beat on their home court. I honestly believe that the conference will get two bids this year. It will be interesting to see the first regional rankings this season. Averett, LC and MC each have one loss that they wish they could have a redo...other than that all three teams have played tough out of conference schedules and have handled themselves well.