MBB: USA South Conference

[captj]

game –

Thanks for the info on Midnight Madness.  You're right of course that you can't tell much from an unstructured, run-n-gun, exhibition.  UNLESS, there's a truly big-time player on the court.  If Antoine Sinclair were on the court, even a freshman year Antoine Sinclair, he'd stand out even in a setting like that.  I sure wish we'd find another Antoine Sinclair, don't you?!  I hope that you're wrong about Donte Selden being the point guard this year.  Hopefully the freshman that drew comparisons to Blake can step up immediately.  Selden is a good player, but at the point he is really a liability.  Every trip up the court is a precarious journey with him handling the ball, and on defense he's not so great either.  I like him coming off the bench to provide an immediate spark.  He's a Vinnie Johnson type player; able to create his own shot when he has to.  He's lightning quick.  Even if we struggle through the early season with the freshman at point, it would be worth it to have him ready for the conference schedule if he is, in fact, supposed to be our point guard of the future.  I'm a big fan of Adam Purdham, but I don't see him in a starting role either.  He's solid off the bench, plays really good defense, and has a decent shot, but if he's a starter we're in trouble.  I hope I'm underestimating him, and I could be, but for some reason he actually seemed better two seasons ago than last year.  Perhaps it was just a different team chemistry last year, and his role in it was different.  I guess that we'll go with either him or Trent Dickerson at the wing opposite Romeo unless one of the newcomers steps up. 

Whoever it is that takes the court, I'll be there cheering them on.  I rarely miss a game, and even though their recent success hasn't lived up to CNU fan's rather unrealistic expectations, they're still my team.  Let's toss it up and play some hoops!

Go Captains!

[captj]

game –

To expand on my comment about a big time player standing out in a Midnight Madness type scenario; at last year's Midnight Madness Jeremy Romeo went nuts from beyond the 3-point arc.  He had to hit like 8 or 9 in a row with maybe one miss all night, if that.  Sure, he was entirely unguarded, but no one else on the court could match what he did that night.  Even Unlimited Range, who was supposed to be a great pure shooter, couldn't make more than a shot or two.  Those that have posted on this board for more than a year will remember Range, and how he was "courted" by (almost) of us.  It just goes to prove the old expression "be careful what you ask for..."

[captj]

Anyone know what happened to Jordon Short?  We WILL miss him. 

[ballgame]

capt, good point about Sinclair....didn't see anyone who jumped out with that type of dominance, at least not from my perspective.   It was a dunk-a-thon, fun to watch, and Romeo did shoot 3s well.   Thanks for the insight on the other players, let's hope Barton can step-up at the point....I've heard good things about him and he certainly has good size for a D-3 point.  He did play against some good competition last year at Bethel and also heard he held his on in the Ben Wallace League in Richmond this past summer.  Heard Jordan Short is on campus, guess he decided not to play.  Looking at the stats from last year that's a substantial loss.  It will definitely be interesting!  Regardless of what happens, I'm with you, I'll be rooting for the Captains.   Again, thanks for the insight.     

[captj]

Short is still enrolled at CNU and not playing?  Come on Jordan, lace them up and get back on the court!  We need you man.  How can you give up something like that?  I can only dream of having that level of talent, so it's hard for me to understand.

[narch]

anyone know what happened to "unlimited range"?

[NewportPlayer3]

last year Romeo hit 2 three pointers out of 6.  dancer was 1-1. I think Dantas hit about 3. So CaptJ i dont know what your talking about last year midnight madness. I wouldnt put to much emphasis on Midnight madness no one really plays for real

I recently talked on the phone with mike and he didnt think Cnu was the right prgram for him and he wanted to go closer to home so his parents and family could see him play so he transferred to Penn State Altoona, and looks like he will start along side the 3rd leading scorer from d3 last year  Tyler ( i forget his last name )

Jordan Short decided he wanted to concentrate on his studies and be a full time student. He will not lace up again, even though we'd all love to see the red haired shotter back ballin


watch out for trent Dickerson. He can get the bucket on anyone if he gets a few dribbles to break his man down.



any high risers for CNu this year

[NewportPlayer3]

Also Captj,

Dancer is one of my best friends from last year.I gaurentee you would have an entirley different tune of he had stayed and played this year. He didnt get a chance last year and i can tell u he will take advantage of his opportunity at PSUA. 

[captj]

3 –

Stirred up a little rancor, did I?  I might be thinking about Midnight Madness from two years ago, but whenever it was that I'm remembering, Romeo was unconscious from long that night.  I appreciate your support of your buddy Dancer, but he did very little to endear himself to me.  I just looked it up and see that he hit 3 of 8 on threes, not too bad for mop-up duty, but not earth shaking either.  His biggest problem was that he was just sooo skinny.  He seemed absolutely fragile.  That might work in high school but at the college level you need real strength.  Perhaps with a concentrated effort in the weight room and a 5000 calorie per day diet maybe he will improve.  He's young and maybe I was a little hard on him, but if he starts more than half of PSA's games this year I will pay for your gas to go to Altoona to see him play in their 1st round NCAA tournament game.  I wish him the best in Altoona (yikes, Altoona!).  I recall that he is from PA, maybe Camp Hill?

By the way, your handle seems really familiar, and the fact that you are friends with the players and have access to Midnight Madness stats is really interesting.  Is that you Blake?

[captj]

3 –

Too bad about Jordan Short, but I am not going to lose faith in seeing him back on the court.  I just can't imagine a guy being that good without really loving the game, and how can you just give that up?  Come on back Jordan!

Dickerson impressed me a lot at times last year, especially early in the year.  He is definitely quick like you say.  I suspect that you know better than anyone on this board if you are who I think you are and competed against him in practices last year.  A 6-3 guard with speed would be a good practice match-up for you.

[ballgame]

Newport, McBride and Riley can get up......especially Riley, he can rise and throws down with authority!  McBride is 6'9" and looks every bit of it.....he is looooooooooooong!  However, he is a 2 or a 3....yep, so strength may be an issue.  Not sure how he slipped out of NC (Bertie County), when Chowan was just down the road, plus several other D-2 schools fairly close that could have made offers.  

[narch]

captj - psa was 9-16 (7-11) last year and looking at their roster from last year, they seem to very undersized...it wouldn't shock me at all if dancer started there...they're pretty bad in a conference that isn't a world-beater conference (3rd place lake erie was hammered by your captains in their opener last season) - does anyone know what happened to catlin pruitt from last year - i know the monarch coaches recruited him pretty hard, and some of the cnu fans were pretty high on him - cj seems to have really gutted the team last year - only one of the freshman from last year returned, and honestly, i don't recall seeing him play or hearing anything about him (dickerson) - anyone have any insight?

[captj]

narch –

You are right of course about PSA, that is why I was willing to offer 3 the free gas money to Altoona.  I hope that Range does start for them, but if he is the best that they can put on the court they will do no better than last year.  Single digit wins again this year.

Of the freshmen we had last year that made it to the end of the season, Dickerson and Chebane were by far the best.  Pruitt was OK, nothing more.  With two or three years of development he could have become a contributing player, maybe even a starter by his senior year.  To me he seemed to struggle with his ball handling, much the same as Donta Selden does, and a PG HAS to be able to get the rock up the court, and quickly, so that the team has time to set up a play.  I really wish we still had Chebane.  As a freshman he showed real promise, and at 6'-9" with good strength and real intensity on the court, he will be hard to replace.  I hope that Mike Witham will step up this year and battle down low.  With Rod Carey gone we will need someone to guard the opposing big man, which Korey Lewis can do for 25 minutes a game, but as you know, the clock starts at 20:00 each half.  One guy that didn't make it to the end of the season was Krizzio Washington.  I don't have a clue what happened to him, but what I do know is that he was incredibly athletic and had real talent. 

The elephant in the room that no one seems to want to talk about is why does CNU have such a high turnover rate?  Sure, academic requirements and personal issues contribute to attrition, but it seems to me that we're losing more than we used to.  Maybe Goose or someone closer to the team than I can shed some light on why so many guys seem to be jumping ship (or giving up; I don't want to imply a conspiracy if none exists). 

[NewportPlayer3]

HAHA no its not blake. I play on the  tennis team at CNU (hint) and i was best friends with alot of ball players last year and i love  college and hs basketball.

Catlin Pruitt decided to transfer to a prep school in NC/SC somewhere im not sure the exact name. hes looking to play somewhere d2 next year i think. Catlin has alot of talent and iwll do something

from what mike told me PSA has a new young coach this year and have only 2 returning players from last years 7-whaeterv team. I though his problem was played behind All World Romeo  .True it isnt the USA South but a tournement bid is a bid and anything can happen from there. I just wanna see how many 3's he can shoot this year haha hes a gunner

Amine Cheebane had unlimited potential , he had only played organizexd basketball for like 4 years before CNU.



yea i peeked in on practice and saw some tall black dude throwing down some slams

Turnover rate.. ha....i havea  good guess but that for me to know and for you guys to find out

[ballgame]

 Newport, seems you're pretty in tune to what's going on over at CNU.  CNU is a beautiful campus, first rate facilities.....a good selling point for recruits--especially at the D-3 level.  However, rumor has it that Dr. Tribble wants to up the academic standards, sort of a "mini" William and Mary...where by the way, they really do not recognize the term "student athlete."   My daughter plays club volleyball in Williamsburg and her coach was one of the W&M assistants and she really enlightened us on the challenges of playing ball there.  Do you think this could be one of the problems?

Anyway, back to CNU b-ball.  Read the CNU program on Pruitt, pretty good resume I'd say.  However, I am a NC native, so I'm wondering if Manteo is a 1A school? Big difference, BIG difference from 4A (is that still the top classification Narch?) and 1 or 2A. If you follow high school ball around this area the speed between even 2A and 3A is substantial.  Over the last couple of years I've watched a couple of summer tournaments at CNU and Heritage high school.   The guards were incredibly quick....3A schools such as Landstown, Booker T., Bethel, and Denbigh to name a few played FAST.   So, wondering if it may have taken Pruitt a couple of years to catch-up with the speed of the game.  That'll probably help Barton's adjustment to the college game.  I went to an NAIA school (it's now D-II) and it seemed at that level athletic guards came a dime a dozen, but quality big men were few and far in between.