MBB: USA South Conference

[scottiedoug]

Congrats to Averett on beating Murvul just now (73-70).  I was afraid MC was vulnerable because of its hot start and being off for exams.  Maybe reading too much press clips and accolades on the GSAC board.  But Narch, don't get to excited about your rematch!

[AuRising]

Congratulations to my cougars who defeated number 22 maryville 73-70 today. Leading the way was freshman transfer shaun hagwood with 17 points. Also, congrats to jimmy allen who posed a great defensive scheme on the maryvill big men and forced them to give the ball up. We break now, but hopefully we can continue this winning streak. Next game: Lynchburg college, Jan. 2.

[narch]

great win for the cougars...monarchs lose by 15 to the #20 naia d1 team - 2-7 before the break...need some serious magic - game story

[cnu85]

NJLincolnlion...I guess I misinterpretted your post:


"Kyle "Fase" Myricks is alot like Allen Iverson, except he's built more solid than AI."

I thought you were comparing the guy to AI.

And...what did you mean by....."You were the one who made the crass remark about AI mowing the lawn for CNU." I don't want to misinterpret what you meant.

That was a general comment for those around here "in the know"......it wasn't a comment as a result of anything you said.

Anyway...good luck in SC....you guys most likely will bring home the trophy!

[sushotblocker04]

Congrats to AU. Didn't believe it until I checked the home page, and the D3 board. Thats a good confidence booster going into the break.

SU beats Mary Washington by 6. 77-71. Didn't make it to the game but I heard they looked good at times, and a lil sloppy at others. Its alright though, a win is a win. Especially with 4 players in double figures. Watch out come conference play, its looking like its gonna be a tough one this year. 2 more OOC games left (Davis/Elkins & Lycoming).

All....(no wait)...MOST of the teams appear pretty solid and yes a good point has been made regarding strength of schedule. That being said,

Here's my prediction....

1. SU (We'll have some close games down the road but I think SU will manage to pull them out. )
2. Methodist (They'll pull things together but come up short without veteran ledership)
3. CNU (They always seem to hang around the 2 or 3 spot)
4. AU (Will surprise some teams down the line and may even take the 3 spot from CNU)
5. NCW (They'll definitly challenge teams this year and may make a move up towards the 3 spot somewhere around mid-season, but I think thats about it.) Maybe even a 3 way tie for 3rd. I've seen crazier things in the USA South conference. 
6. GC
7. FC


Looking forward to  Jan. 11 (first game of conference play vs CNwho.)

GO HORNETS!!!!!

[captj]

Let's see... Keystone is 4-3 (24-4 last season) with the following observations about their season –

Losses to Marymount (3-5, 10-16 last season), Mansfield (not D3?), Bethany (6-4, 24-4).
Wins against Rutgers-Camden (1-7, 2-23), Oberlin (0-10, 3-22), Keuka (5-1, 11-13), Villa Julie (5-3, 18-10).

I looked at their website and found that not one single player on the team has started all 7 games, and only one has started 6 of the 7.  This seems to me to be a team searching for its identity.  They are obviously used to success (24-4 last year), but I can't tell from their (very poor) website if they lost key players or not.  I'm guessing they did.  I also noticed that for CNU, D3hoops.com lists team records back to 2003.  For Keystone there is only this year and last year recorded.  Are they a new team to D3?

I predict a win for the Captains.

[captj]

So much for my prognostication abilities.  Keystone defeats the Captains 70-65.  Each team scores 30 in the 2nd half.  Captains shoot 40% for the game.  Romeo a dismal 1 of 11 and 0 for 8 from long.  I think I could BOUNCE one in given 8 attempts.  A couple of double/doubles; Lewis 20/10, Blasingame 12/11/5 blks.  Barton with 14 points, Selden 12.  18 team turnovers. 

[narch]

keystone used to be a juco, i think

[captj]

Goose -

Do you know why Matt Coleman didn't play?

[cnu85]

Captj,

your blind optimism is appropriate for this time of year. But after Santa comes, then what? Conference play. I predict CNU gets blown out against Lincoln tomorrow. Then, come conference time it gets a little rough and we'll see how a young team tries to hold itself together. What do you predict for the record at the end fo regular season? I predict 12-13 and an empty Freeman Center come tournament time.

Lots of talent...young.....too many turnovers, too many slow starts, too easy of an early schedule.....6-2...enjoy it while we can.

[Hampton U SID]

heard CJ pregame say Coleman had tendonitis and was doubtful at best

[captj]

Ebenezer, oops, I mean 85 –

Predicting a win against Keystone can hardly be called "blind optimism".  I listened to the game online and we could have won that game with just a few more bounces going our way.  And contrary to your "too many slow starts" opinion, we actually started strong in this one.  We led by 6 two minutes in and maintained that margin until about the 13:00 mark.  We also started the 2nd half strong to overcome the 5-point deficit, leading by five with 14:00 remaining in the game.  Keystone is NOT a team that we can't beat.  I'd like to play them again with Coleman in the lineup and with Romeo having even a poor performance.  What he did last night was absolutely abysmal.  You can't win when your senior superstar plays like that.  But this was really out of character for him and I believe that now that he's got this one out of his system he will only be better for it.  And I don't think that is blind optimism; I call it being a fan.

And since you asked; I predict a win/loss record very similar to last year (18-8).  I think we'll finish in the top half of the conference, therefore getting the home game for the first round conference tourney game, which we will win.  I also think we'll win the semifinal game in a packed Freeman Center, but won't go so far as to predict a tournament championship (though it could definitely happen).

And since you've predicted a blowout today against Lincoln, I'm going to challenge you on that one too.  I think we'll give them all they can handle.

Why so much negativity?  It sounds like you already know you'll be getting a lump of coal this Christmas.

[captj]

Thanks NNASID.  Maybe Goose can give us an update on his condition?  You out there Goose?  We could really use Coleman today, but it's unlikely one day will make a difference in his condition so I expect he'll sit again.

[bspears]

Hey everybody, I am back after being MIA for two weeks or so.  That being said, here is my $20 million fearless predictions...

1.  SU (I might be a little bias, but I really like this SU team this year.  Of course, we will find out more about this team after the first round of conference games).
2.  CNU (Picking CNU below 3rd place would be foolish).
3.  Methodist (That tough nonconference schedule will pay off.  I wouldn't be surprised if SU & MU switched places).
4.  NCW (Did you expect me to put AveNOT here?).
5.  Averett (Make me a believer ).
6  Ferrum (Looking at their schedule/results this team isn't bad at all).
7. Greensboro (Magnificent Marcellous why have you forsaken them?).

Extra Prediction - My 'Canes 27, LSU 7

[Monarch96]

Sorry I missed all of the great responses and couldn't get back to you guys sooner.  To defend my post about childress and mcnair.  It is rare for mc players to put up huge numbers offensively because their teams usually have balanced scoring.  When you consider that and then look at the numbers that mcnair put up it is even more impressive.  He played in a system that ran alot of sets, just imagine if he played in the up and down system that shanandoah was using back then and probably still is.  Dixon(SU) was terrific, but white (su) i'm not sold on.  He did have alot of steals and blocks, but both of those stats are very misleading.  Nothing breaks down a team defense like missed steals and blocks, because when you miss steals it creates 5 on 4 advantages for the offense. missed blocks take you out of position for rebounds.  I believe that great shanandoah team of 95-96 was something like 19-9.  They had two guys who scored over 2,000 pts and another with 1,000.  But they gave up 100 pt.s six times, 90+ seven times. I don't think you can argue that anyone on that team was a great defender.