MBB: USA South Conference

[exmonarchsid]

Great weekend, Monarchs. I don't miss those back-to-back weekend doubleheaders when it comes to work, but the games have always been exciting. Judging by the box score, Methodist was near-flawless from the floor and the free throw line in the second half against Shenandoah. Narch, you're right - Lawrence is a heck of a player - it's too bad he doesn't have a great supporting cast around him. Lee had a monster weekend, and maybe he will come alive in the second half, as will Dragan and Shuford. The misery continues for Hornets in the Riddle Center - 14 straight defeats at Methodist against the Monarchs! This should be a great second half of the conference. Narch, will you be making the trip to Gboro on Wednesday?

[old_lion]

CNU ... strange situation ...

At a glance, it appears to me, that CNU is one of the most talented teams I've seen this season.

* A first class PG
* Good big guy, shot blocker/rebounder in the middle
* Very good, quick, do-everything 2 guard
* Very good, big, scoring and rebounding forward
* Riley and Baker are certainly no slouches
* They all  shoot the ball well ...
* What else do you need?

It's hard to believe those guys have lost 7 games. What's the deal?

[scottiedoug]

Good components don't always add up to a team....

[CNU85]

* What else do you need?

It's hard to believe those guys have lost 7 games. What's the deal?

How about some Freakin' DEFENSE...maybe some more rebounds, especially when the opponent is significantly shorter! How about...going to the ball, blocking out, steals, being aggressive without the ball?

Need more?

[averetthoops]

Averett had a good win against NCW on Saturday - the 3 balls seem to fall a little better than in recent games!  It seems like our interior guys went to the boards better than they did over the last 4-5 games.  We have been outrebounded consistently, especially with the opposition getting easy put backs. Our bigs have to be more aggressive in going for the ball!

This is a huge week for us.  The Ferrum game will not be easy, especially since we have to go up there!  Then we have G'boro on Saturday at home.  Our trip up there was one of the ugliest games I've seen us play this season but we should have everyone back for the first time in over a month.

We're lucky to have G'boro, CNU and SU for home games but we have to go to Methodist and NCW on the road. 

[notamensa]

a look at the conference stats for the 1st half of the season reveals some interesting information about cnu:

cnu is dead last in team rebounding margin. no surprise there, we all expected that. what is surprising though is that they are FIRST in defensive rebounds. in offensive rebounds they are dead last by a large margin. not a single player for cnu is even listed among the 16 conference leaders in off rebounds. the front line for cnu is big, and they are getting the def rebounds, but its obvious that they have no interest at all in off rebounds.

cnu is 1st by a mile in blocks (thank you, blasingame). this includes the game when the greensboro scorer gave blasingame NO blocks for the game. im guessing that the last time he played 32 minutes without a block he was in preschool. on second thought, i dont think it has ever happened.

as a note; how can methodist only have 7 blocks as a team in their 6 conference games? their scorer must know what one look likes since he credited cnu with 8 of them on saturday.

there is one seemingly contradictory statistic for cnu, which is that they are 2nd in the conference in fg% defense. but, as we all know, they are definitely taking a lot of heat for not playing defense. maybe all of those blocked shots are keeping the fg% down?

cnu is dead last in steals, perhaps an indication of their lack of defensive intensity.

cnu is also dead last in forcing turnovers, another example of their lack of defensive intensity.

cnu has the highest team 3pt% in the conference, but has attempted the fewest 3s. ive been saying all year that we should be shooting more 3s (except riley). id like to see plays for threes with our big guys (riley) going inside for misses. that would certainly surprise the opposition!

korey lewis is having a great conference run statistically. he is 4th in scoring, 5th in rebounding (almost all of them on the defensive end), 4th in fg%, 4th in blocks.

[PrideSportBBallGuy]

Week 10 Power Rankings (Plus this is what I said the way the conference will finish)

Greensboro
Averett
CNU
Ferrum
NC Wesleyan
Methodist
Shenadoah

Narch-MU had a great weekend.  Great win over CNU.  I think the CNU fans have said it already, 7 losses because the lack of intensity on defense.

I think CNU won alot of thier conference games on just FT shooting alone, and alot of thier games and are decided from the FT line.  Go look at the statistics. Lucky for MU, CNU had a bad shooting night from the FT line (68% for CNU that is bad)  I can't see them winning the conference if like the statistics show they are horrible on defense.

As for the rankings CNU and AU are virtually equal, and the same goes for NCWC and MU.  Those two sets of teams will probably flip-flop from week to week.

[narch]

Tool

witty retort...was this directed at me 

[narch]

I think CNU won alot of thier conference games on just FT shooting alone, and alot of thier games and are decided from the FT line.  Go look at the statistics. Lucky for MU, CNU had a bad shooting night from the FT line (68% for CNU that is bad) 

in conference games, cnu is #5 among 7 teams in ft's made with 13 per game, while the league leaders, ncwc average 21.33 per game...the captains score 8 fewer ppg at the line than do the bishops, yet average only 3 fewer ppg...i'd say they're winning with something else...like maybe a .512 shooting percentage from the field?

and don't underestimate the monarchs ft defense...they work on the fundamentals of ft defense (sneezing just as the ball is being released, having cute cheerleaders walk under the basket to distract the shooter, etc.) for the last 5 minutes of practice every day...

I can't see them winning the conference if like the statistics show they are horrible on defense.

like, i totally agree...oh my god [/valley girl accent]...

i'm not sure the stats show they are horrible on defense, though...they certainly aren't as good as the pride, but not sure they're horrible either

[SU97]

a look at the conference stats for the 1st half of the season reveals some interesting information about cnu:

cnu is dead last in team rebounding margin. no surprise there, we all expected that. what is surprising though is that they are FIRST in defensive rebounds. in offensive rebounds they are dead last by a large margin. not a single player for cnu is even listed among the 16 conference leaders in off rebounds. the front line for cnu is big, and they are getting the def rebounds, but its obvious that they have no interest at all in off rebounds.

cnu is 1st by a mile in blocks (thank you, blasingame). this includes the game when the greensboro scorer gave blasingame NO blocks for the game. im guessing that the last time he played 32 minutes without a block he was in preschool. on second thought, i dont think it has ever happened.

as a note; how can methodist only have 7 blocks as a team in their 6 conference games? their scorer must know what one look likes since he credited cnu with 8 of them on saturday.

there is one seemingly contradictory statistic for cnu, which is that they are 2nd in the conference in fg% defense. but, as we all know, they are definitely taking a lot of heat for not playing defense. maybe all of those blocked shots are keeping the fg% down?

cnu is dead last in steals, perhaps an indication of their lack of defensive intensity.

cnu is also dead last in forcing turnovers, another example of their lack of defensive intensity.

cnu has the highest team 3pt% in the conference, but has attempted the fewest 3s. ive been saying all year that we should be shooting more 3s (except riley). id like to see plays for threes with our big guys (riley) going inside for misses. that would certainly surprise the opposition!

korey lewis is having a great conference run statistically. he is 4th in scoring, 5th in rebounding (almost all of them on the defensive end), 4th in fg%, 4th in blocks.

mensa:  I ask that you please refrain from using the phrase "Dead Last" in referencing CNU. At 1-5 in conference SU has established itself, unquestionably, as dead last. 

[PrideSportBBallGuy]

...like maybe a .512 shooting percentage from the field?

LIKE...You did it too. 


Narch maybe if you look at all 7 of CNU's losses...look at the FT line numbers.  Look at all the close games they won as well.

CNU is shooting .495 on the year in terms of FG% and they have 7 losses.  Obiviously thier defense is really good (Sarcastic)

You may joke about FT% defense, but if you can get a team tired FT shooting can be affected(CNU did get worse and worse during the MU Game) Or you have to "foul" the right players.

CNU is tough offensive team no doubt about it.  I only saw CNU play once this year and they are team that looks to drive and shoot, that of course puts them in a higher probablity of getting fouls.  (Not too many fouls called on 3pter's)  The players that get to the line the most for them are those that are driving to the basket. They are shooting .495 from the field which is reduced because of the 3FG% of .355 (best in the conference) take that out they are shooting .5366 from the 2pt range, which means they are probably getting a lot of easy lay-ups and a lot of easy jumpers.

[SU97]

From the one game I saw, CNU plays more of a run-and-gun style of hoops than a half court offense that milks the clock. They got a bunch of layups and easy baskets against SU in transition. I think Narch is right with refering to the shooting percentage as the key.

[SU97]

Still...   I do think SU could upset a couple of teams in the next two weeks; maybe even grabbing 2 or even 3 wins (yes a bit of a stretch here), which might mess things up for some of the other teams in the mix.  We've lost two games by less than 5 points and we've been in a few of them until teams pull away at the end.  We could be a spoiler for some of those current 3 win teams. At that point if JLawrence can get some help from ANYBODY we might have a chance to make a decent run into the conf. tourney.

[notamensa]

mensa:  I ask that you please refrain from using the phrase "Dead Last" in referencing CNU. At 1-5 in conference SU has established itself, unquestionably, as dead last. 

ok, i will use "not as good as su". is that better? and by the way, su is only 3 games out of 1st.

[notamensa]

i think all this talk about cnu free throws is a little bit unnecessary. the real reason for the disappointing cnu season is their lack of defense and rebounding on the offensive end of the court. when a team gives up one second chance bucket after another to the opposition, while never getting any of their own, that is a sure recipe for disaster, even if they do outshoot their opponent. they just arent hustling at all times, its as simple as that. they dont fight for every possession, for every loose ball, for every missed shot. they seem to think that because of their talent, they will just score on their next possession, so the current missed opportunity isnt that important. against the better teams they know that their effort needs to be higher, so they DO play better. but against teams that they should dominate (sorry narch), they sleepwalk through the game thinking that their superior talent will pull it out for them.

so... why arent they playing harder? is it a lack of leadership? coaching? character? i think it is definitely the first two, and maybe a little bit of the 3rd.

go ahead and smite me, cnu fans. obviously ive lost a little bit of respect for the team this year. but you know what? i will still be at every game they play in the freeman this year.