The Mocs have not arrived yet. The win over College of Charleston on Monday night was exhilirating. It proved that the Mocs were a good team, and will be a threat to win the SoCon Tournament in Chattanooga in March.
But, they have not arrived. They have not even come close.
The Mocs have plenty of room for improvement. Coach Shulman certainly said that on Monday night. The question is, do the players believe this or not? Do the players think they can just show up and win now? Or do they realize that Monday was about Monday, and they will need to show up with equal intesnity the rest of the year to win?
The game against Wofford, the reigning league champs on the road, is as good of a chance as any to find out just how good this Mocs team is.
Everyone should know about Noah Dahlman by now. He is one of the best players in the league. He is averaging 19.5 points per game on 58.5% shooting. He also collects 5.6 rebounds per game. He also shoots 78% from the free throw line. This guy is good. He is hard to guard.
Tim Johnson leads the SoCon in rebounding, averaging 8.4 per game, 6.4 points per game. Johnson is not a great shooter or scorer, but he is an amazing rebounder. He will pose a challenge for Saffore and Jefferson.
The Mocs inside guys will be challenged by Dahlman and Johnson. Chris Early, Jeremy Saffore, DeAntre Jefferson, and Jahmal "Energy Ball" Burroughs will be given an incredibly difficult task of rebounding against them and holding Dahlman's offense down.
An amazing stat- despite the fact that Dahlman and Johnson are coming up with 14.0 rebounds per game and Johnson is the leading rebounder in the SoCon, the Terriers are the 325th best rebounding team in the country. According to KenPom.com, the Terriers rank 208th in offensive rebounding percentage. They rank 260th in defenive rebounding percentage.
Cameron Rundles has been a very pleasant surprise, averaging 13.2 points per game. He has turned into one of the better players in the SoCon. He has scored twenty or more points five times already this year. Against Davidson, he scored 22 and shot 4 of 8 from three point range.
Jamar Diggs is averaging 3.3 assists per game, while scoring 12.6 points per game. Brad Loesing is averaging 3.2 asssists per game and 7 points per game, while shooting a scorching 48% from three point range. Also, in 16 free throw attempts this year, he has not missed.
KEYS TO THE GAME
--Rebounding. The Mocs will need to stop Johnson, but are the top rebounding team in the conference. It has become really important for the Mocs to dominate the boards.
--Turnovers. The Mocs have been doing a much better job of not committing turnovers in recent games. But Wofford does a good job of forcing turnovers.
--The inside presence. The Mocs don't need to score with Dahlman to win this game. But they need to control Dahlman with Early, Saffore, Burroughs, and Jefferson. They can do it.
--Don't let Rundles or Loesing go off. The Mocs have a habit of letting someone explode from outside the arc. But they need to try to control Rundles and Loesing and keep them from doing that. This is particularly true if Dahlman gets his 20-25 points. Control everyone else. Just like the Mocs did with Sims from Appalachian State and Goudelock from College of Charleston. They both scored over 25, but the Mocs still managed to win by controlling the secondary players.
WHAT I'LL DO IF THE MOCS WIN
--8-0!!?!?!!!
--Start to really think that the Mocs might just be the favorites in the SoCon after all.
--Try to keep expectations under control.
--Celebrate beating Cats (Cougars) and Dogs (Terriers).
WHAT I'LL DO IF THE MOCS LOSE
--Remember that 7-1 is better than I thought they would be at this point.
--Chase some small dogs around my neighborhood.
--Believe that Wofford may truly be the team to beat in the SoCon still.
--Sigh, take a deep breath, go to bed, and realize that tomorrow is another day.
LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--Wattad will score over 20 again.
--Keegan Bell will have another good game. Maybe not almost triple-double good, but good nonetheless.
--There will be an early hangover from the win against College of Charleston for the Mocs.
--Dahlman will get 20 points, and Rundles will add 15+.
--Wofford 73, Mocs 68. I believe in the Mocs winning a close game, but this will be too much. Believe it or not, the Mocs don't match up real well with College of Charleston, but match up much better with Wofford. But going on the road after that emotional win is too much for the Mocs to overcome. They will have a much better chance against Furman on Saturday and could win that one, but won't quite be able to come away with this one.
GO MOCS!
No comments:
Post a Comment