MBB: USA South Conference

[sushotblocker04]

OK...I've remained quiet, I haven't said much because its been out of conference play and I've been to busy to try to get a blurb in on yalls discussion. But with conference play being 2 days away, I had to add my 2 cents. I'm sure you all know it was coming anyway.  Now this is just a warning but I'm gonna be getting on some, more than others, not saying you other people are safe, but I've got a couple things to say and some fires to start. (Besides I cracked on one of my own SU fans earlier, which I'll address further down.) If you have a problem with it then obviously you've never read anything I've posted in the past and don't know that I could care less.    Bring some water its about to get HOT in here.

First of all, ALL the coaches read the post on this board, if the head coaches don't read it, than the assistants do, if they don't than the SID's do and report to them. Why? Because coaches want feedback too, there isn't 1 coach who has a perfectly sound program that even a little feedback isn't needed. This page is the easiest way of getting opinions and comments on coaching style "without knowing who they are". Last year I was asked by a coach to watch what I say because and I quote "dude, the primary objective hasn't been reached yet". Sorry coach, its a new year!! 8)

And the players....wheww.. the players definitely read this page because they wanna know if their the "talk" of the page. I was recently informed that a certain player thought I was trashing his garbage game when I was actually talking about a fellow SU poster with the same name. Hmm...I'm willing to bet the reason he thought this was because he didn't read into what was said. One day while skipping or in class he probably jumped on the page to see who said what, thought he saw his name and got mad. Didn't look into what was actually said because it IS pretty funny and was an inside joke between me and B-SPEARS. But I digress because after looking at it, I suppose I could be right about the other guy. 

(Hmm...getting a little warm in here)

Next...oh yea this whole strength of schedule thing is bogus. Sure if any D3 team went out and played Duke, NOVA, Memphis or any D1 school in the top 10, it'd be a little lop sided. Point is, teams aren't losing because its the strength of schedule, its the strength of heart. Teams who want the W more win it. I'm sure some loses can be credited to the "oh we're gonna blow these guys out" perspective. If a team shows up to play and plays like they want the W, then they'll get the W. Aside from CNwho's schedule of-course.

LEADERSHIP is the name of the game and right now no-ones leading Methodist. Don't get mad because you know I'm right. Porter led yall last year, as he went the team went. Sometimes he'd have to carry the team which is what a leader should do. Right now the void still needs to be filled for yall and I'm sure someone will eventually step up. Coaches play a big part in being leaders but they can't do it all. My coach would tell us " I can't take and make the shots for you, but I can put you in position to take the best shot possible". And 9 out of 10 times he was right, its on-court leadership that some teams are lacking and it shows in their record. A team that practices harder, argues lesser, and works as 1 cohesive unit will win more games than the team with 5 hot heads who don't see things eye to eye on and off the court. CNwho has always had leadership, SU has always had leadership, right now someones leading Averett, MC always has leadership (just having trouble finding it right now), usually NC Wes. has leadership, and back when GC had M. Morgan yep they definitely had leadership.

Biggest OOC surprise thus far goes to Averett at 9-4 they're playing well and it seems like they have some shooters. I'm not saying the 1 vote yall got is something, because look at where SU was ranked preseason. Good luck to the cougars. Definitely gonna be at this game.

(Here's a coaching hint...just a thought but instead of the match up man 2 man, shift to a 3-2 zone with the high outside players sliding to the middle when the balls on the farside of the court. If a man slips to the corner for the 3, have the low man go get him but everyone else has to ROTATE. This won't work if your team doesn't talk though. Hell, might not work anyway. Its just a thought, I'm no coach. YET!)

The award for the poorest OOC performance goes to....NC Wes.. The strength of schedule thing is out the window because they've had double digit leads and blew it. You can't blame the coaching on that.

(Its like a fireplace in here....screw it lets throw another log on)

-Some Sarcasm..
Someone explain to me how Ferrum (4-9) has a better record than both Methodist and NC Wes.. Which by the way were picked 1 and 2 in the USA South in preseason polls. Since I've already addressed Methodist, lets switch gears. Its surprising to see that the leaders on the team aren't the seniors, its definitely not the juniors. But the sophomore and freshman seem to be handling things.Hall and Arrington are averaging 16 and 14 respectively, better hope these guys don't get hurt or it'll be a long season for the Bishops. Thompson is molding these 2 guys into players, as both shoot the 3 well and can take care of the ball. Now all he needs to do is find 3 more.

You know its bad when you can tell the opposing team "easy win for you guys tomorrow, good luck in the championship" and be right. Or watch 12 minutes of game then be able to predict exactly what the end result will be and I've got witnesses on this one...wait a minute... what a coinsidence.. 12   

(It's like someone set the temperature on hell in here)

Can one of you CNwho fans remove your lips from Romeo's and CJ's butt and tell me whats up with Purdham. He was pretty good in high school and I figured he's waited his turn.

(I think I hear the fireman coming)

Lastly....

HOW about them Hornets at 8-2 going into Wednesday vs. CNwho. Coach Harris and staff have the fellas thinking they can win, not to mention they're playing very well right now. Onunaku has emerged as a leader with supporting roles from Johns, Hale, Townsend, Griffin and Lawrence. But I can't discredit the team because everyone's doing their part and playing good team ball. I also see that  James Brodie is back this year, if I recall he played pretty well 2 years ago. Its always good when you have a big body who runs the floor well and have a good touch on his shot. Watch for Onunaku, Lawrence and Brodie to turn some heads inside the paint. While Townsend, Griffin, Hale and Johns, hurt yall from outside.

Might have to make the trip to CNwho.

For all you posters....

Lets look at LAST YEAR and give our thoughts on who we thought would emerge as a leader this year. Total of 3...2 leaders and 1 alternate.


Until tommorrow....

[sushotblocker04]

PS- That nonsense about GC with the best back court in the conference.  Yea right...and if I walked to work I'd make it there faster.

My predictions......
SU 8-2 with a solid schedule big bodies inside, shooters on the outside. Makes a good combo.
Averett 9-4 they've got things turned around.
MC 2-9 despite their record they always play well in the conference.
CNU 9-3 like Narch said, to young to win it all.
GC 4-7 only if their great backcourt keeps them ahead. 
NCW 2-9  Capt said it best....underacheivers again.
FC 4-9 look for them to lose 1st 3 of 4 conference games.

[PrideFan1986]

GC has a three guard starting lineup PG Mike McDuffie (9 ppg, 3 apg), James Newman (15.5 ppg), and Steve Berg (18 ppg, 13-24 threes). Add big guard Geroge Greene off the bench (9 ppg, 5 rpg) and you the best back court in the conference.

[captj]

Barton (FR)
Selden (JR)
Romeo (SR)
Lewis (JR)
Blasingame (FR)

Purdham (SR)
Riley (SO)
Claxton (JR)
McShepherd (FR)
Dickerson (SO)

This is our 2-deep team right now... 2 seniors, 3 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 3 INCREDIBLE freshmen.  Think back... there have been some really outstanding freshmen in recent USASAC history.  Kenny Johnfon was 3rd leading scorer in the conference last year, Trayvon Lathan was arguably the best player in the league the year before, and Mark Hepner made a huge impact as a freshman the year before,  My point is; this conference has a history of great freshman.  I'm not worried a bit that Barton, Blasingame, and McShepherd are freshmen.  They've got 12 games under their belts now.

I don't think this is so much a YOUNG team as it is a team with some players who haven't played at CNU for long.  Claxton and Riley have collegiate experience, just not at CNU.  And five of these guys DO have CNU experience.  Maybe I'll go back and see what the experience levels were for some of the USASAC's past champions.  Without checking, I'm guessing that we're not such a "young" team at all.

[cnufan]

Wow, last time i was on here it was dead and I was going to liven it up (if you call it that) by telling you all Marcus Vick was arrested in suffolk last night!! But now I dont need too.

[cnu85]

Shotblocker.....that wasn't firesetting. In fact, it was very interesting reading. Thanks for the insight on some things I wasn't aware of. As for Purdham...he's still a good player. His role at CNU is to come off the bench and man up on somebody. He's an extremely talented defensive player.

I like your comments about leadership. You're absolutely correct in saying that without it, it doesn;t really matter how much talent you have.

Anyway - good post.

Goose - It doesn't matter if MV-2 got arrested..."I'm going pro".....he doesn't have to follow rules anymore since he no longer plays for the VT Hoodlums!

[captj]

Hey shotblocker, buy a vowel from Goose.  Between the two of you, you got it right.

From shotblocker's post – "CNU 9-3 like Narch said, to young to win it all."

From Goose's post – "But now I dont need too."

Sell him that extra o, Goose.

I'm sorry guys, I couldn't resist.  After all; we're starting fires now.  Go ahead and ding my karma.

[cnu85]

you got a plus karma from me captj...I love you're way of dinging they're grammar  - your the king - their no match for you!

[cnu85]

Captj - in an earlier post you mentioned playing a d1 school. I noticed SU is playing Longwood in Feb. I started to think about teams CNU could play...how about anyone in the MEAC? Their top team (2-0 in conf) is 4-10. Their out of conf schedule for the entire MEAC is 17-93. Bring on Coppin St. !!!!!!

[cnufan]

smite you all mighty smiter!!

Great comments from sushotblocker, I figured it was a skimmer, but i read the entire thing and enjoyed most of it, except the cnwho part of course.

[narch]

Next...oh yea this whole strength of schedule thing is bogus. Sure if any D3 team went out and played Duke, NOVA, Memphis or any D1 school in the top 10, it'd be a little lop sided. Point is, teams aren't losing because its the strength of schedule, its the strength of heart. Teams who want the W more win it. I'm sure some loses can be credited to the "oh we're gonna blow these guys out" perspective. If a team shows up to play and plays like they want the W, then they'll get the W. Aside from CNwho's schedule of-course.

do you REALLY think that if maryland bible simply WANTED the game more than cnu, they would win???  while i agree that you've got to WANT to win, i think who you play has a lot to do with a w/l record - this is not a knock on cnu, just an observation...mc might have just two or three losses right now if they had played cnu's schedule...would everyone be writing a 10-2/9-3 monarch squad off as they are writing off a 2-9 squad right now? - i think not

LEADERSHIP is the name of the game and right now no-ones leading Methodist. Don't get mad because you know I'm right. Porter led yall last year, as he went the team went. Sometimes he'd have to carry the team which is what a leader should do. Right now the void still needs to be filled for yall and I'm sure someone will eventually step up.

i don't think i'll get mad, especially since i said virtually the same about 5 or 6 posts ago - sam porter was the emotional rock for this team the last few years, and i knew there would be a void, i just assumed someone would step up and fill it - right now, nobody has - i think that guy NEEDS to be seth thomas or eugene grant, but on sunday it looked like antwin shuford, of all guys could be the emotional leader...the team certainly seemed to feed off him when he was on the court and he plays HARD - right now i don't care WHO leads this team, but someone NEEDS to step up

captj - you know i GAVE you a karma point for the grammar thing

[captj]

Thanks to narch and 85 for the plus-ones.  Goose dinged me (deservedly) as expected, but so far shotblocker hasn't.  So for now I'm plus-one for the post, much better than I expected.  85's response was just about the funniest thing I've ever red.

[cnufan]

Im not writing off Methodist yet. They could be 0-11 and I still wouldnt worry. Now if you open conference play up tomorrow with a loss at Greensboro, then I may start to worry, but not quite in full worry mode, but close.

I forgot this was English class, my bad.

[captj]

Captj - in an earlier post you mentioned playing a d1 school. I noticed SU is playing Longwood in Feb. I started to think about teams CNU could play...how about anyone in the MEAC? Their top team (2-0 in conf) is 4-10. Their out of conf schedule for the entire MEAC is 17-93. Bring on Coppin St. !!!!!!

Great idea.  Hampton and Norfolk St. are right in our back yard.  I'd love to see either of those games.   

[captj]

I forgot this was English class, my bad.

It's not, of course.  But when I read the to posts almost back too back I couldn't resist.