The Mocs were bad at the beginning of December. As in, not good. The Mocs were humiliated by Davidson, humbled by Eastern Kentucky, competitive but still lost to LSU, and were OK but still beaten pretty soundly by Mercer. That was how the month started. Then the last three games were a dominating performance against Reinhardt, and solid wins over High Point and Utah Valley. The Mocs wound up 3-4 for the month, but took a really odd way to get there.
Before the month started, I projected a 5-2 mark for the month. I thought they would beat Eastern Kentucky and one of Davidson, LSU, and Mercer. Turns out thet were outmatched against Davidson, Eastern Kentucky, LSU, and Mercer. Whoops.
But there is reason to believe that the team is starting to come around. Despite Casey Jones injury that will have him sidelined for probably at least the majority of January, the injury to Lance Stokes, and the preseason injury to Dontay Hampton, the Mocs showed signs of coming together in the Dr Pepper Classic.
Can the Mocs continue to come together? Were those two wins a sign of things to come or simply two wins against overmatched teams? It's hard to know at this point. I don't know when we'll know for sure. Obviously, winning some SoCon games is very important to prove this team is still coming together.
The Mocs injury problems are very real, but actually it is forcing Coach Shulman to play a shorter bench, which is something many fans have clamored for. He simply does not have the bodies to play many more right now.
It also has forced Farad Cobb into the starting lineup, and Alex Bran into a role on the team. Cobb is learning, and Bran provides a little bit of instant offense. But mostly, this moves gets Rico White off the point, and puts him in a better position to score. Probably not ironically, the Mocs have cut down on their turnovers dramatically in the two games that White has not started at point guard. White is a wonderful scorer and shooter, but he needs to be off the ball. I admire him for playing point guard, but is not his natural position. This is helping the offense look smoother.
We'll see what lies ahead. It was a bad start to the month, but the end provides a little hope.
GO MOCS!
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