MBB: Great South Athletic Conference

[mattgrubb]

well let's make it hot and schedule it
Bobby Golden is a flat out stud, he kind of reminds me of an overweight Justin Wansley, who was a flat out stud in his own right, do you think Bobby will get in shape so he can have the same kind of results Wansley had?

[coachwgh]

Well,
It is here and I couldn't be anymore ready than I am right now.  It is funny we can't wait for it to get here but yet it will all be over before we want it no matter when that it is.

[mattgrubb]

http://www.maryvillecollege.edu/athletics/news-detail.asp?sportNameID=5&id=1634

read it and weep GSAC

by the way it means absolutely nothing

[GSAC Killer]

Congrats to the 2006-2007 Scots for a #7 Pre-Season Ranking. My fellow Fighting Scot Matt Grubb states that it does not mean amything I disagree. We were ranked #10 in the Nation in the pre-season my senior after coming off a Sweet 16 appearance and I guarantee you everyone had us marked on the schedule as their biggest game.

There is a lot of pressure that goes along with being ranked so high. I think the Scots will be fine with the Triple B's of Bo,Brad, and Bobby!! The question is who else will step up? Bowers? Bradley? There is about an averag of 45-60 points between the 3 B's but they need to find 0 more from the rest of the guys...

I will be attending practice Thursday and see what they are really looking like.

[mattgrubb]

maybe i am just getting tired of preseason rankings in the top 10 and want a postseason top 10, but if i could get a Pat Coleman D3hoops preseason top 10 it would be comforting

[old_lion]

Nice job with the season preview, Coach Haynes.

http://www.lagrange.edu/athletics/basketball/preview.htm

It sounds like you are "loaded for bear" and ready to go.

I'm dreading the trip to LaGrange already. As I said earlier, I'm not much of a fan of the "chinese fire drill" approach. I don't like it when my team does it. And I really don't like it when your team does it against my team.   

But then I guess that's sort of the point, isn't it? 

[coachwgh]

Thanks Lion but I must pass the compliment to our asst. SID.  Football has brought us some additional staff members and we have a guy who really likes basketball and likes writing about it just as much.  We have had 4 practices and are having Mariotti Madness tomorrow night to get campus fired up about the season.  I really like working with our guys.  We have a chance to have a little more success this year if we don't turn the ball over and if we can frustrate people with both our pressure defense and high paced offense.  We have a couple good scrimmages coming up but they haven't told us much in the past.  I hope everyone is enjoying college football season.  Go Vols and Panthers.  We play a fellow 1st year program on Saturday so maybe this is our day.  The best part of cool Saturday college football games is that it means basketball season is right around the corner.

[GSAC Killer]

Nice article for the Panthers!! I have been telling everyone since last year that if the Panthers win early and gain confidence they will be the first GSAC school besides MC to make it to the NCAA Tournament. It should be interesting!!

It would be nice to see two team make it!!

[coachwgh]

Mariotti Madness is in the books and our campus is absolutely....kind of excited.  I don't think we can ask for much in mid October.  A warning to those curious about the happenings with LC basketball.  We have a staff guy at our local paper who loves basketball so you should be able to track down some articles throughout the year.  I would tell you how but I don't know.  Yet another reason we need Wilburt back on the board.  That man could find a real pearl in a plastic oyster.  I don't know if I mentioned the humidity in GA last season but it is ridiculous.  Our court is an ice rink after 30 minutes.  We still have made due and had to have any wasted days but it is tough right now with this crazy GA weather.  Killer, I expect a report on the practice you watched.  No secrets but just general thoughts. 

[GSAC Killer]

Coach although I should have been a Panther this past season I am a Scot to the end.  I didn't make it to the practice but I will tell you this there are not too many teams in the country who have a Big 3 like Maryville. If Bobby, Bradley, and Bo dedicate themselves this whole year the sky is the limit.. Depth is my only concern with the Scots, which is one of your major strengths this year Coach Haynes..
 
Scots vs Panthers GSAC Championship!!!

[old_lion]

Scots vs Panthers GSAC Championship!!!

Killer, you are really starting to offend me by consistently overlooking my Lions. But that's OK ... I can live with the disdain ... I've been married for years.

Here is a quick recap on how I see the GSAC possibilities ... because I know you, Grubb, and Coach Haynes want to know ...

Murvul:
By far the best group of post players. Bo is pretty tough, as well. (I hope they don't find a real point guard that allows Bo to move to his natural position, the 2, and concentrate on his shooting.) I'm not sure who else they have ... but I'm betting who ever is on the floor, will play hard and play well together. Still the top program in the GSAC until someone proves other-wise.

Piedmont:
No one has a better top 4 players than we do. After that, there are several guys with potential (potential means you haven't done it yet) that could be major contributors ... including several newcomers. IMHO, the best of the rest may be Rubio ... a freshman, Mason-like, combo guard. He is not quite the shooter Bo is, but is more athletic ... ultimately, might be a better all-around player.

A few keys for us ...
* Can we become effective at various pressure defenses?
* Can we figure out how to play Green and Rubio together?
* Can Miller and/or Poland emerge as effective "do the dirty work" post players?
* Can we strike an effective balance between using our depth and "riding our big 4"?
* What team chemistry will emerge? We have a lot back, but, we lost a couple of warriors ...
* Rebounding, defense, and especially ... rebounding!

LaGrange:
A scary team! They will have unbelievable depth ... and they are all experienced now. They have always had the "intensity factor" going for them. And they have the type of roster where that "Chinese fire drill approach" works. IMHO, there is not that much of a talent differential between their best 4 or 5 players and the rest of their guys. I don't even know if Coach Haynes knows who his best 4 or 5 guys are. BTW, that is not meant as a knock on their "best guys" as much as it's meant as a testament to their depth and long-term commitment to that style. IMHO, that style is not something you can just casually mess around with ... if you are going to do it, you have to live and breathe it constantly ... probably for years, to really master it.

The one bright spot for the rest of us ... at least Corie Jackson is gone. That guy could play!

Huntingdon:I have no idea what's going on over there. I imagine Coach Duckworth has been working hard and is going to pull some rabbits out of his hat. If he doesn't have several of them to pull out, Cole Hairston is going to have a disappointing senior season.


BTW, the colors are in memory of our absent friend, Wilburt. Come on back, Wilburt ... we would all welcome your comments and observations.

[mattgrubb]

Old lion i now have a dirty man crush on you for using the quote "potential means you have not done it yet" that is the best quote these young athletes need to remember when looking at themselves

[colincondi]

Old Lion,

I'm not sure who the fourth is in the "best top four"...  I know Green, Adams, and Baldwin are three of them, but who is the fourth?  That is a very good top three,  for sure... and I know you guys have a pretty good recruiting class as well... Have you seen any practices?

Any impact new players for any of the schools, or are returners going to play the bulk of the minutes for everyone?  Huntingdon will probably need some new guys to give some quality minutes, considering all the minutes they graduated...

My prediction, based on very little knowledge:

1)  Maryville:  still the king
2)  toss-up between Piedmont and LaGrange
4)  Huntingdon:  rebuild year

Conference championship game:  Maryville in a close one over LaGrange at LaGrange

Player of the Year:  Bobby Golden

[old_lion]

Old Lion,

I'm not sure who the fourth is in the "best top four"...  I know Green, Adams, and Baldwin are three of them, but who is the fourth?  That is a very good top three,  for sure... and I know you guys have a pretty good recruiting class as well... Have you seen any practices?

ColinCondi,

So what's the story with that name ... are you a secret Secretary of State groupie? 
Which school do you support?

But to your questions ...

1) Yep, that was 3 of them, and IMHO, Tyler Whitlock is the other one. He went through a shooting slump toward the end of last year that skewed his numbers downward a bit. But he is a lot better than last year's numbers would seem to indicate. He is a real "intangibles guy", has a good feel for the game and can contribute in a lot of different areas ...  the type of player that you appreciate more as you see him play over an extended period of time. I'm expecting him to have a very good year.

2) I think we have a good, deep recruiting class coming in. I mentioned Rubio and Miller ... Mayweather, McCoy, and Patton also look to me like they have a chance to help us this year. We also have a few other vets that could have something to say about playing time.

3) I haven't had an opportunity to see a practice yet ... but I did see most of them play a few times over the summer and fall. For instance, I know Green, Baldwin and Rubio played together a good bit over the summer and developed a pretty good rapport.

It should be an interesting year. Even though we have 4 solid vets back ... I personally, was a big fan of the other 4 members of last year's top 8 that aren't back. If our core guys play as I expect and our new guys get up to speed pretty quickly, we could have a pretty good season.

We better hit the ground running though. To me, our schedule seems to be sort of inverted ... a lot of South  Region games early with most of the non-region games later in the season. Not a schedule that is conducive to screwing around ... we better have our feces coagulated when we go to Virginia on Nov 17th.

[old_lion]

Old lion i now have a dirty man crush on you for using the quote "potential means you have not done it yet" that is the best quote these young athletes need to remember when looking at themselves

O.. K ...

A "dirty man crush"? That's a good thing, right?

Thanks, I guess ...