SoCon Thursday- 1/9/14

A daily preview of each game.

Thursday Thought

Not the best slate of games ever, but UNCG's trip to Appalachian State could be get interesting. Davidson makes their final trip to Furman, while the Mocs and Samford play each other in a local rivalry. We'll know a lot more about where Chattanooga and UNCG stand after today. Are they really contenders for a SoCon bye? Or were their recent hot streaks merely fake sources of enthusiasm for the fan base?

Samford at Chattanooga, 7:00 PM

The Bulldogs may be 0-2 in SoCon play, but they have played two close games against Wofford and Georgia Southern. The Bulldogs rely on four players- Tim Williams, Raijon Kelly, Isaiah Williams, and Tyler Hood. Williams is 6-8 and one of the best big men in the league. He's averaging 17.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Everyone should be entertained by how Z Mason matches up with Williams. Mason, the Mocs best player and maybe the SoCon Player of the Year, is averaging 19.1 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per contest. The Mocs defense has been improving. They are going to struggle to contain Kelly and Hood. Can Casey Jones and Gee McGhee keep the Mocs in it? The Mocs will score better than they have been. Samford will score too. Mocs eek one out at home. Mocs 78, Bulldogs 71.

Davidson at Furman, 7:00 PM

There's no doubt that Davidson is the better team than Furman. But the Paladins are better than some Wildcat fans may want to believe. That being said, De'Mon Brooks is one of the best players in the SoCon and is coming off a career game. Furman's defense is not good, so I don't exactly know how they are going to contain Brooks. However, the Paladins have Stephen Croone and Kendrec Ferrara. Ferrara is coming on right now and starting to play much better. Croone is one of the top players in the SoCon as well. The Davidson defense has struggled at times this year, and I'm not sure how they will contain his driving ability. Furman will be fired up and ready to play in this last visit from Davidson, possibly ever. But Davidson is playing too well after their 15 point win at Wofford to lose this one.  Wildcats 84, Paladins 76.

The Citadel at Wofford, 7:00 PM

These are two bad offensive teams. Neither team is likely to score too many points. The Bulldogs will be better because they have PJ Horgan back from injury. If he's healthy, and CJ Bray and Brian White can play with him, things will be much better for the Bulldogs. Matt Van Scyoc is a streaky shooter as well. The Terriers rely on Spencer Collins and Karl Cochran to be making their shots. They take an inordinate number of their shots. Cochran was red hot in their win over Samford, and was ice cold against Davidson. That was the difference in the game. Neither team scores many points, but the Terriers have more weapons. Terriers 67, Bulldogs 52.

UNCG at Appalachian State, 7:00 PM

This is the game of the night. The Mountaineers looked much better on Monday night with Jay Canty scoring 20 points in his second game back. Canty will make the Mountaineers better. He has SoCon Player of the Year talent, even though he probably will not win it having missed half the year already. Michael Obacha is the leading rebounder in the league for the Mountaineers. The Spartans are a big team. Kyle Cain and Kayel Locke are one of the better inside duos in the league. This should be a war all the way. The Mountaineers are slowly improving, and the Spartans are trying to prove they are among the league's best. Can the Mountaineers get their first D1 win? Can the Spartans protect the ball- a simple yet very real key to every Spartans game? I'm betting on Cain and Locke, even though the Spartans have not been great on the road this year. Spartans 76, Mountaineers 73.

SoCon Schedule- January 8-January 14

Thursday

Samford at Chattanooga, 7:00
Mocs and Bulldogs in a rivalry of proximity. Tim Williams against Z Mason? That's two of the top four big men in the SoCon. Yes please.

Davidson at Furman, 7:00
Paladins capable of pulling off an upset? If Davidson comes out flat (and they have done that a couple of times this year), Furman is good enough to shock the Wildcats.

The Citadel at Wofford, 7:00
Bouncing back after the tough loss to Chattanooga with PJ Horgan back, the Bulldogs will look to beat the Terriers. Wofford is the better team, but they tend to not blow out teams, so maybe The Citadel hangs around and steals one.

UNCG at Appalachian State, 7:00
With Canty back, Appalachian State looked better. Can they upset the Spartans at home for their first D1 win?

Saturday

Western Carolina at Georgia Southern, 2:00
The SoCon Game of the Week. The Eagles have been good and the Catamounts beat two good SoCon teams at home already. Can they take that on the road? Two guard-oriented teams fight it out.

Furman at Samford, 7:00
Both teams are 0-2 in SoCon play right now. If both are 0-3, the loser will be in big trouble. If either or both teams are 1-2, the winner will have a chance to get back into the race.

Wofford at Chattanooga, 7:00
Wofford and Chattanooga play twice in eight days. The first is in Chattanooga. Their games could be critical to the bye race by the end of it all.

The Citadel at Elon, 7:00
The Bulldogs are in need of a win. Elon looks to get another win before heading to Davidson in their next game.

Appalachian State at Davidson, 7:00
The Mountaineers could be playing to save Jason Capel's job. This was a great semifinal match-up a year ago. Can the Mountaineers pull off the upset?

SoCon Monster Game of the Week: Western Carolina at Georgia Southern

No team had a better week than Western Carolina in the first week of SoCon action. They hammered 
both UNCG and Elon at home. Now they go on the road, looking to prove themselves against another SoCon contender. Georgia Southern is that contender. They won their first SoCon game by beating Samford, 80-78 at home. With Furman and Wofford at home along with Appalachian State on the road in the next three games, the Eagles have a real chance to get to 5-0 in SoCon play if they can win this one heading into a trip to Davidson on January 25. That's not an easy road for the Eagles, but they can win some games. Western's tough road continues with Samford at home after this one, before going to Wofford and then hosting Davidson.

Western is in the middle of one of the oddities of an 11 team conference schedule. They played last Saturday, will not play again until this one on Saturday, and have another week off before the Samford game. Unbelievable for the Catamounts.

The Catamounts, as everyone knows, relies heavily on Trey Sumler. He is averaging 19.6 points per game and shoots nearly 44% from three point range. He leads the team in assists at 4.3 per game along with being second on the team in rebounds with 4.5 per game.

The Catamounts are not a tall team, but they are a good rebounding team. They rank 104th in the country in OR%. and actually 138th in block percentage. They do force turnovers on 21.2% of opponents possessions, which is 39th in the country.

Tawaski King is the Catamounts biggest player, and maybe their most important player in some ways. King is the leading rebounder at 4.8 per game. He is only shooting 39.4% from the field, though and averaging 6.8 points per game. King needs to start making more shots for the Catamounts to reach their ultimate goals.

Tom Tankelwicz and Brandon Boggs are the other two Catamounts averaging in double figures. Tankelwicz is averaging 10.4 points per game, while Boggs is averaging 10.2. Tankelwicz is shooting 39.8% from three point range. He is another key player for the Catamounts. He is one of the most dangerous shooters in the SoCon when he is hot. That's why he has been one of my favorite SoCon players the last several years.

The Eagles are lead by two of the top guards in the SoCon. Jelani Hewitt and Tre Bussey are 6-2 and 6-3 respectively. Hewitt is averaging 20.7 points per game, 5.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He also is shooting 36.9% from three point range and 41.6% from the field. Hewitt has made 45 threes. Hewitt is also averaging 2.5 assists per game.

Bussey is averaging 18.4 points per game, to go along with 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He is shooting 38.9% from three point range. He has made 35 threes on the year. He and Hewitt are both so good. They can both drive to the basket and they can both shoot the ball.

Georgia Southern ranks as the 348th tallest team in the league in the country out of 351 teams according to KenPom. So the Eagles are extraordinarily short. Angel Matias is 6-4. He leads the team in rebounding with 6.9 per game. He's also averaging 6.9 points per game and is shooting 48.2% from the floor. Marvin Baynham is 6-7 and the tallest starter. He is averaging 5.1 rebounds per game. He plays a lot of minutes, but takes less than four shots per game. He still shoots 72.4%f from the floor. Brian Holmes has knocked down 23 threes on 46.9% shooting from three point range.

The Eagles are a mediocre rebounding team, but not terrible considering their height. The Eagles scored 32.5% of their shots on threes, which ranks 48th in the country. Only 45.9% of their points come on twos, which is good for 302nd in the country.

PREDICTION

Bussey and Hewitt against Sumler and James Sinclair out on the perimeter should be very entertaining. The question for Georgia Southern may be how they are going to contain King inside. King will control the boards in this one it appears. That being said, Hewitt and Bussey should both score against the Catamounts defense. This could turn into a three point shootout between Sumler and Tankelwicz against Bussey and Hewitt. That should be a lot of fun. I think this will be one of the most interesting games of the whole season in the SoCon. I have no idea who will win this game, truthfully. But that being said, the Catamounts are playing well right now. They haven't taken it on the road yet, but something tells me they take it there this time. Western Carolina 71, Georgia Southern 70.

Daily Dribbles- 1/7/14

--Here's a recap of Monday night's games.

--PJ Horgan came back for The Citadel on Monday night against Chattanooga. He played fifteen minutes. He was supposed to be done with basketball, but decided to return after all. We'll see what kind of difference he makes as the season progresses.

--Which game is most interesting Thursday? Probably UNCG's trip to Appalachian State, now that the Mountaineers have Jay Canty. Samford's trip to Chattanooga should be competitive too, though, and Davidson's trip to Furman could be intriguing.

--Z Mason's 30 point game on Monday night was most remarkable because he only scored 4 and looked out of it in the first half for Chattanooga against The Citadel. He also collected 14 rebounds...and eleven of them were on the offensive end.

Mocs 82, Bulldogs 78

The Mocs did not play particularly well on Monday night. But no matter. They came up with the win anyway against the Bulldogs, 82-78 in Charleston.

That was the sort of win that shows how much the team has improved and how this team has gotten better. The Mocs could have easily folded in this one. But they did not. They kept on fighting, kept on battling, hung around all the way until they could take the lead.

This was redemption for the Kennesaw State game, where the Mocs trailed for the entire night and kept on fighing back and fighting back but could never get over the hump. This game felt like that one, as the Mocs trailed all night, and kept on fighting back but could never get the lead....until Martynas Bareika knocked down a huge three with just under two minutes left to give the Mocs their first lead.

This was redemption for the Nevada game, where the Mocs clung to late one point lead and had the ball, but could not execute an inbounds play and then Z Mason missed two free throws after that before giving up a last second three to lose. On this night, the Mocs were up one, executed the inbounds play, Greg Pryor got fouled and he made one of out two free throws. Then they stopped the Bulldogs, and Mason was fouled. He calmly stepped to the line and knocked down two free throws, clinching the win.

This is a team that has found confidence and belief in each other- enough to come back from twelve down in the second half on the road and come up with the "W." I get that it was just against The Citadel. I get that the Bulldogs are one of the worst teams in the SoCon. But a road win is a road win. On a night when they were not playing well, the Mocs still won. There's a lot to be excited about in there.

In the first half, the Mocs defense reverted to how they were playing earlier in the year. The Bulldogs shot 53.3% from the floor in the first half. With that kind of defensive effort, the Mocs were a bit lucky to be down just eight. In the second half, the Mocs held The Citadel to 37.5% from the floor. That was why the Mocs won the game. They stepped it up on the defensive end of the floor and that was what lead to them winning this game.

Why else did the Mocs win this game? Because Z Mason stepped up and decided that he had had enough. He scored just four points on 2 of 10 shooting and seven rebounds. In the second half, he shot 8 of 11 from the field for 26 points and seven rebounds. Mason was unbelievable in the second half. He put the team on his back in the second half and carried them to victory.

Casey Jones continues to improve and Rico White scored in double figures as well. Gee McGhee had six rebounds even though he did not shoot well. Jones is showing that he could be an All SoCon player by the end of the year. Mason is looking more and more like the Player of the Year.

This was a solid performance. Let's see what they can do at home against Samford on Thursday.

GO MOCS!

Four Factors: The Citadel

eFG%
Bulldogs- 52.4%
Mocs- 46.2%
Advantage- Bulldogs

TO%
Bulldogs- 24.6%
Mocs- 17.7%
Advantage- Mocs

OR%
Bulldogs- 50.0%
Mocs- 53.7%
Advantage- Mocs

FTRate
Bulldogs- 30.7%
Mocs- 41.5%
Advantage- Mocs

Steals
Bulldogs- 5
Mocs- 11
Advantage- Mocs

3Pt%
Bulldogs- 50.0%
Mocs- 26.1%
Advantage- Bulldogs

Possessions: 68

SoCon Recap- 1/6/14

Elon 75, Appalachian State 66

Key Stat: Elon +14 on the boards. Elon came up with 35 rebounds compared to 21 for Appalachian State. That is a huge difference. The Phoenix, not known as a good offensive rebounding team, came up with twelve offensive rebounds on the night. If Appalachian State had been able to come up with some rebounds, they may have been able to keep this one even closer and maybe even win the game.

Player of the Game: Ryan Winters, Elon. Winters came off the bench to knock down 6 of 7 from the floor and scored 14 points off the bench, to go along with three offensive rebounds. Winters made some big shots, and coming off the bench was huge for the Phoenix. They need that kind of production from someone off the bench consistently and Winters gave it to the Phoenix tonight.

What It All Means: The Mountaineers showed a lot of heart with Jay Canty there. Canty looked like an All SoCon kind of player that he is. Maybe, just maybe, the Mountaineers can get things going in the right direction with Canty back. They are showing some heart. The Phoenix needed a win very badly after a bad week. They wanted to come up with an easy win. It was not as easy as they would have liked, but to get to 1-1, a win is a win.

UNCG 90, Furman 82

Key Stat: Spartans 18 assists, Paladins 4. Assists is not a great barometer of how good a team is playing, but for the Paladins to have just four assists is pretty surprising. On 25 made shots, they came up with just four assists. That's not good offense, even if the Paladins did shoot 50% from the floor.

Player of the Game: Kayel Locke, UNCG. Hard to say, but Locke's 18 points four rebounds and one assist was very nice indeed. Locke made 8 of 12 shots. He is an underrated player in the SoCon, along with Cain, and if when they both play well, the Spartans are very difficult to beat.

What It All Means: The Paladins are 0-2 in the SoCon heading home for Davidson. That's never a good position to be in. They played OK, but still have some work to do. They are a work in progress. Tonight, the offense was good, but the defense was terrible. They'll put it all together at some point and upset some teams, but are not quite there yet. The Spartans needed a win desperately after the bad performance at Western Carolina. They did not play good defense, but they really just about could not have been better on offense. The Spartans have a trip to Appalachian State and a home game against The Citadel. If they win both, they'll get Davidson at home on a Saturday at 3-1 and the whole SoCon will be watching. The Spartans need to not get ahead of themselves, but it's out there.

Chattanooga 82, The Citadel 78

Key Stat: Bulldogs shoot 37.5% from the field in the second half. The Mocs defense has been much better recently, but in the first half, the Bulldogs shot 53% from the floor and scored 42 points. Things were bad. In the second half, the Bulldogs shot just 37.5% from the floor, and that is how the Mocs were able to come up with the win.

Player of the Game: Z Mason, Chattanooga. Mason scored 30 points and had 14 rebounds, eleven of them offensive. Mason only had four points at halftime, and rolled to 26 second half points, including the two free throws that sealed it. Mason was 10 of 21 from the floor and 2 of 7 from three, while going  8 of 9 from the free throw line.

What It All Means: The Mocs went 2-0 on a road trip for the first time in six years. They played really poorly for much of the game tonight, but found a way to win. That's a sign of a good and improving team. The Mocs are not a SoCon favorite by any means, but they are getting themselves into a position to be in the mix for a bye. The Bulldogs looked much better. With PJ Horgan back, they looked like a legitimate SoCon team that may be able to get themselves out of the SoCon cellar. Horgan was only supposed to play five minutes and he played fifteen. They made 9 of 18 from three. If they shoot like that, the Bulldogs will be a tough out. They are 0-1 in SoCon play with games at Wofford and Elon coming up this week.

Daily Dribbles-1/6/14

--There was plenty of action on Saturday in the SoCon. Here's a recap of Saturday's SoCon action.

--Here's a look at Monday's preview of the SoCon action.

--Canty's return gives Appalachian State a little bit of hope as the Mountaineers move forward, despite the blowut loss to Duquesne last week.

--Appalachian State opens their SoCon schedule on Monday at Elon. How much difference can Canty make against the Phoenix, a team that really needs a win after the blowout loss to Western Carolina on Saturday?

--Furman goes to UNCG. If UNCG is as good as they think they are, this will be a game that they win with relative ease. If not, then that would raise more questions about the Spartans.

--The Mocs head to The Citadel in the opener for the Bulldogs. Can the Bulldogs pull off the slight upset? This is one of their better shots at a win this year in SoCon play. The Mocs need to not take this game lightly.

Scanning the SoCon- Week Ten

Scanning the SoCon is in its third and hopefully best year yet. Bloggers and fans from around the SoCon discuss their team each week here. As the SoCon season begins, we dive into power rankings, player of the week, game of the week, and questions pertaining to the conference each and every week. Hope you enjoy it.

SCHEDULE

Monday

Chattanooga at The Citadel (CSS)
Furman at UNCG
Appalachian State at Elon

Thursday

Samford at Chattanooga
Davidson at Furman
The Citadel at Wofford
UNCG at Appalachian State

Saturday

Western Carolina at Georgia Southern

Furman at Samford

Wofford at Chattanooga

The Citadel at Elon

Appalachian State at Davidson

POWER RANKINGS

1) Davidson 96 (6)

2) Western Carolina 93 (3)

3) Elon 78

4) Georgia Southern 66

5) UNCG 60
6) Wofford 56
7) Chattanooga 42

8) Samford 35

9) Furman 30

10) Appalachian State 17

11) The Citadel 11

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Trey Sumler, Western Carolina- 5 votes

Others receiving votes: Tim Williams, Samford- 2 votes, De’Mon Brooks, Davidson- 1 vote, Z Mason, Chattanooga- 1 vote

GAME OF THE WEEK

Western Carolina at Georgia Southern- 8 votes

Others receiving votes: UNCG at Appalachian State- 1 vote

QUESTIONS

Sum up your team.

Chattanooga- The Mocs have won three straight games, and suddenly look like they are a decent team after all. The switch to a zone defense has made a huge difference on the defensive side of the ball. Rico White is playing well for the first time since returning from his injury. He has made a big improvement to the offense. Z Mason is back from an injury and he has been tremendous since his return. Casey Jones is playing the best basketball of his career. They are 1-0 in SoCon play right now with a trip to The Citadel, along with home games against Samford and Wofford in the next week. A trip to Appalachian State is the following week. The Mocs have a shot to get off to a good start in SoCon play, even if they are not a tremendous team.

Davidson- Since I last wrote about the Wildcats, they rolled a non-D1 team, lost an ugly road game at Niagara, lost at home to Drexel, lost in OT at UNC, lost at Wichita State, lost at home to CofC, and then had a comfortable win at Wofford. 2-5. 1-5 against D1 teams. 2 home losses. Ugly, ugly, ugly. But the team is getting healthy. DeMon Brooks responded to a poor performance at home on New Year's Day against CofC by destroying Wofford. 28 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists. He was unstoppable. The Wildcats are just 5-10 overall, but they are 1-0 in conference play with a nice road win. Fans are hopeful and optimistic.

UNCG-The life of following a very young team. The last time I wrote for this segment, UNCG had just finished up it's worst week of the season. As I write this week, UNCG has just finished one of it's more successful portions of the year. During this stretch, the Spartans Completely whipped James Madison and taken NC State and Wake Forest down to the last minute before falling to them. UNCG also defeated just it's second ACC team ever by erasing an 11 point second half deficit to stun Virginia Tech. Unfortunately, UNCG did not look very good in its most recent game at Western Carolina. The Spartans drifted back into some old, bad trends with 23 turnovers. The team has a young back court and I guess it's not surprising to see that number a of turnovers against an experienced team on the road.

Western Carolina- Western Carolina seems to be playing some pretty good basketball right now (at least at home). The Cats have won four of their last five, including wins over preseason favorite Elon, as well as a surging UNCG, beating both very convincingly. Jumping off to a 2-0 conference record hopefully bids well for the Cats.

How much difference do you think Jay Canty will make in coming back to Appalachian State?

Chattanooga- Canty did not make much difference in a 24 point loss to Dusquesne, but the Mountaineers should be improved as the season progresses with Canty. That being said, I have some real doubts about how much improvement the team on the whole can show. They are not a good team, and don’t look like they will be much better even with Canty. The Mountaineers will win a few games, but even with Canty, I believe this team is one of the three worst teams in the SoCon.

Davidson- I don't think Jay Canty will make much of a difference. He's a solid player, but there are too many negatives to overcome. The coach has to realize that he's not going to be there much longer. The team still hasn't won a D1 game this season. Canty will help. He'll post some nice numbers. It won't translate into many wins.

UNCG- That team has been downright bad in the first 2 months of the season and Canty is an all-conference caliber player. So, I think it's safe to say that he should make a huge difference for that team. The question is more how long will it take Canty to get up to speed and for the team to adjust playing with him.

Western Carolina-Canty will make some difference for the Mountaineers, but not enough to pull ASU out of the bottom third of the conference. ASU plays Elon on Tuesday, and that game should tell us lots about both teams. Should ASU win it won’t bode well for Elon in conference play.

Which player do you think is the most underrated player in the SoCon?

Chattanooga- I’ll go with Kyle Cain from UNCG. Cain has been a tremendous asset to the Spartans and has changed their team. He is a dominant player inside, and the Spartans are a much better team because of him. You don’t often hear him mentioned among the best players in the SoCon, but he belongs in that discussion. My runner-up is Casey Jones of Chattanooga, who is not often mentioned among the Mocs best players, but has been playing as one of their best in recent weeks.

Davidson- I'm not sure. Z. Mason? Spencer Collins? Tyler Kalinoski? Stephen Croone? I guess I'll go with Z. Mason. He a very efficient scorer, superb rebounder, and the leading shot-blocker in the league. And he's just 6'6. Last week the Mocs got wins over Maine and Furman. Without Mason, they would have lost both games. In the two wins, he totaled 35 points, 28 rebounds, and 9 blocks.

UNCG-I think this panel does a very good job of noticing all of the good players in this league. So, it's awful hard to say someone gets overlooked. But with all of the attention that's been paid to who isn't playing for App State, I think Tevin Baskin has been overlooked. He's put up dome very solid stats with 11.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and almost a block a game.

Western Carolina- Kyle Cain, UNCG - Cain is averaging over 30 mins per game, putting up 51.7% field goals and leading the Spartans in rebounds with 8.5 per game. If UNCG continues to improve as a team, Cain's fortunes will continue to improve as the Spartans floor leader.

What is the top rivalry in the SoCon right now?

Chattanooga- I’ll go with Western Carolina and Appalachian State. They genuinely do not like each other. Their rivalry will not survive the move of the Mountaineers to the Sun Belt. But for now, these teams don’t get along, and their games are tense. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Davidson- I guess WCU and ASU, even though it is a rivalry that probably won't continue after ASU leaves the Southern. They really don't like each other at all. They hate losing to each other at anything.

UNCG-I think the Davidson-Elon rivalry is the most interesting right now. It has a lot to do with the Matheny-Davidson connection and the fact they play very similar styles. I'll be interested to see if Citadel-VMI can grow a good rivalry starting next season with the conference shuffling.

Western Carolina- Probably the top rivalry right now would be Davidson and Elon. Next season it's The Citadel and VMI, as well as, UTC and ETSU.

Parity....or Bad Basketball?

When does parity become bad basketball?

The SoCon is dangerously pushing that limit this year. The teams in the SoCon are not good. But, on a happy note, that means that there should be a lot of very competitive games in the SoCon this year.

According to Pomeroy's Monday rankings, the SoCon features five teams ranked between 295 and 312. That's nearly half the conference crammed in those seventeen spots. That speaks to the parity in this league. It also speaks to how bad the conference is, because any team ranked 295 or lower is generally not considered a good team. Sadly, there are two teams ranked lower than the 312 mentioned. That's a full seven teams ranked in the bottom 56 of D1 college basketball, with only eleven teams in the conference. That leaves four teams ranked higher than that.

The problem of course is that there is no real hope for the SoCon moving out of this cycle at least this year. They are going to be doing nothing but playing each other from here on out, which means there is going to be a lot of bad basketball teams playing each other to close games. That will be exciting for the fans and enjoyable to watch.

That being said, it won't prove that the SoCon teams are good. It will simply prove that someone has to win.

The SoCon teams were showing improvement right before the start of conference play and it's unfortunate that there are not many opportunities left to tell if these teams are truly improved or if it will only be in our heads in the coming weeks. Still, let's not be deceived by whatever team Samford or Appalachian State's it this year- gets hot in February and powers their way to a bye in the tournament. Those can work out- but usually don't. (Unless of course it is the team you cheer for- then by all means, be deceived and prove me wrong.)

The conference race is going to be one of the most compelling in years. Davidson looks at least somewhat beatable. Western Carolina is good and so is Elon, but both have had ugly outings too. UNCG, Chattanooga, Wofford and Georgia Southern all have been very inconsistent. Furman and Samford have not looked particulalry good, but have some good pieces. Appalachian State with Jay Canty and The Citadel with PJ Horgan back are much better teams. There is no reason to think that this year's conference race and tournament won't be the most exciting in years.

These first few weeks should be very interesting to see how these teams develop and how the race starts shaping up. All any team has to do is start winning.

So is it parity or bad basketball? I'll go with both.

Team To Watch This Week: Appalachian State

It's a strange occurence for a team that has no D1 wins to get this much attention paid to them. But this week feature a trip to Davidson and a home game against UNCG. That's two good SoCon teams. Can Jay Canty make a difference and start to turn this team around? Can Jason Capel save his job with a couple of wins? He may be fired by the end of the week with no wins. The Mountaineers are an intriguing team as they get healthy. This week is an interesting week for them.

Something You May Not Know....But Should

As of Sunday, Bob McKillop from Davidson has gone 264-87 in SoCon play over the years. Mike Young at Wofford is 98-96. Larry Hunter at Western Carolina is 73-73. Mark Byington at Georgia Southern is 7-5. Will Wade at Chattanooga is 1-0. Jason Capel is 27-27 at Appalachian State. Those are the six SoCon coaches who have a .500 or better record in conference games at this point. Two of them are brand new hires. One of them is on the verge of being fired (Capel). One of them has the fanbase a little restless (Hunter). Things are truly odd in the SoCon coaching ranks. That is neither here nor there, but that Capel and Hunter who are in some trouble (or more) at their school and some of the few coaches with a .500 or better SoCon record is truly strange. Trust me- I am no defender of Capel, but I just find it interesting.

The Citadel Preview: Can We Get A Second?

The Mocs just went on the road to take on and take out the Furman Paladins. Now, they get a chance 
to take out a second team on the road- The Citadel Bulldogs. The Citadel is considered the worst team in the SoCon by most people, but it is never easy to win on the road in the SoCon. Can the Mocs get it done for a second straight game?

The Bulldogs have beaten one D1 team this year- a 14 point win over Presbyterian at home all the way back on November 12. Since that time, they have beaten North Greenville, Montreat and Brevard as non-D1 teams and they lost to West Alabama, a non-D1. This is The Citadel's SoCon opener, as the Bulldogs last game was a road loss to Radford on Thursday, 76-59. With The Citadel going to Elon, Wofford and UNCG in their next three games, this is the Bulldogs best chance for a win for a while. After that, they get Furman and Appalachian State at home.

The Citadel is relying heavily on 6-6 freshman Brian White. He is the second leading scorer at 14.0 points per game, to go along with 7.2 rebounds per game. He's shooting 54.7% from the floor. He's certainly the favorite to be the SoCon Freshman of the Year at this point. White scored 48 points in two games to start the year. Since then, he has only averaged 12.6 points per game- still a solid performer, but not quite as good.

Matt Van Scyoc is the player that the Bulldogs are relying the most on to produce. At 6-6, he's a tough match-up. He's taken 152 shots on the year and 81 of them have been threes. He's making just 34.6% of his shots on the year. He's averaging 14.2 points per game and 5.3 rebounds. He's an 89% free throw shooter, but shooting under 40% from the floor on the year. He shot better from the floor last year, when he made 37% of his threes and 42.5% of his shots overall. He's been on and off again this year. He scored just three against Towson, five against Gardner-Webb and four against College of Charleston. For the player that is supposed to be leading the team, he can't afford to have games like that.

Ashton Moore and Marshall Harris III are both pretty good shooters as well. Moore is shooting 32.8% from three point range, while coming up with 3.4 assists per game and 2.7 turnovers per contest. Harris III is shooting 39.5% from three point range while dishing out 4.3 assists per game and 1.9 turnovers. They will need to be relied on to challenge the Mocs defense so that Van Scyoc and White can operate normally.

Tom Koopman is a 6-8 freshman who plays quite a bit. CJ Bray is a 6-7 sophomore and a bigger body. He's only been healthy recently. With 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, he's playing OK.

The Citadel is a young team and has really been struggling offensively. They play fast, but are not efficient. They turn the ball over quite a bit (ranking 333rd in the country out of 351 teams). The Bulldogs defense has been good against three point shots, allowing opponents to shoot just 31.8% from long range. They do not force a lot of turnovers on the defensive side, and have been pretty weak against two point shots. Opponents are shooting 52.1% on those two point shots.

Z Mason, Casey Jones and Lance Stokes are solid performers inside. Jones and Mason should be able to have their way inside. The question will be if the Mocs defense can slow down Moore and Harris III. Van Scyoc may or may not be on, and the Mocs will need to take care of him and White as well. We'll see how the Mocs improving defense does against the Bulldogs weak offense. If the Mocs defense takes a game off, things could be very interesting.

PREDICTION

The Mocs defense has been getting better. The Mocs offense is still struggling, but if they remember to pound the ball inside to Mason and let Jones do what he does offensively. Gee McGhee seems to be getting going again on the offensive end. Rico White and Greg Pryor are combining to play well at point guard. If the Mocs show up ready to play like they have the last three games, the Mocs will win this one. If they don't, it's anyone's guess. My bet is they don't play as well after their good performance against Furman, but the Mocs still can come up with the win. Mocs 72, Bulldogs 66.

GO MOCS!

SoCon Review- 1/4

Georgia Southern 80, Samford 78

Key Stat: Georgia Southern 38 free throw attempts. The Eagles took 38 free throws compared to 24 for Samford. That made all the difference in a two point Eagles win. They only made 26 free throws and the Bulldogs made 18, but the 38 free throws made a huge difference for Georgia Southern.

Player of the Game: Jelani Hewitt, Georgia Southern. He scored 23 points on 6 of 11 shooting and knocked down all six of his free throws. He came up with three rebounds, two assists, and committed seven turnovers, which were costly, but there was no one else that rose to Hewitt's level in this one.

What It All Means: Georgia Southern starts off 1-0 in SoCon play with a very important home win. They are definitely a contender for a bye spot and it was a big help to get a win over another team that thinks they are a contender for one of those spots. They have a whole week off before they host Western Carolina and get a chance to show off whether or not they are true SoCon contenders. Samford drops to 0-2 in SoCon play, and there is a hint of trouble for the Bulldogs. Samford goes to Chattanooga next Thursday in a game that will be critical to the Bulldogs chances of getting back into the bye race. They have to start winning games at some point. Tim Williams continues to look good, but the rest of the team is struggling.

Western Carolina 74, Elon 62

Key Stat: Elon 23 turnovers. The Phoenix had 23 turnovers in this one and simply could not keep up because of it. This is the second straight game the Catamounts forced turnovers and that was the key to victory.

Player of the Game: Trey Sumler, Western Carolina. Sumler scored 21 points, making both of his threes and 3 of 4 free throws. He also had six assists and four rebounds. Sumler had a very solid performance and was the key to the Catamounts winning this one.

What It All Means: Elon drops to 0-1 in SoCon play. This is not good for the Phoenix. This was a game they thought they could win against another SoCon contender. The Phoenix are looking a bit like a SoCon pretende at this point. The good news for Elon is that they host Appalachian State and The Citadel before going to Davidson. They should be able to get well in those games and be in good shape heading to Davidson. Western Carolina improved to 2-0 in SoCon play, and looks like they may be the co-favorites with Davidson right now. They beat two good teams- UNCG and Elon. That's impressive. Now they go to Georgia Southern next weekend, and that will tell us if they can take their hot game on the road.

Chattanooga 72, Furman 63

Key Stat: Chattanooga 23 offensive rebounds. The Mocs shot under 40% from the floor, but collected 23 offensive rebounds. This helped to give them opportunities to score despite their poor shooting performance. That was the reason they wee able to score enough points to win the game.

Player of the Game: Z Mason, Chattanooga. It's a real toss up between Mason and Casey Jones. Jones collected 13 rebounds to go along with 13 points and eight assists. Mason scored 20 points with thirteen rebounds and came up with six blocks. Mason came up with seven offensive rebounds. Mason also made two threes, both of which were important.
 
What It All Means: Furman drops to 0-1 in SoCon play. The Paladins are an OK team, but clearly still have steps that need to be made to be a real SoCon contender. I'd be surprised if they are a true contender for a bye spot. They go to UNCG and host Davidson in their next two games. This 0-1 start could quickly turn to 0-3. It would help Niko Medved's squad if he could steal one of those. The Mocs are 1-0. They play at The Citadel on Monday night. The Moc have suddenly won three straight, and are starting to get the look of a team that could get a bye in the SoCon. They won their first road game of the Will Wade era. A win at The Citadel on Monday night would be another step for these Mocs to take.

Davidson 78, Wofford 63

Key Stat: Karl Cochran 2 of 11 shooting. Cochran can shoot the Terriers right out of a game sometimes. He made 10 of 17 at Samford on Thursday, but only 2 of 11 against Davidson. That will consistently hurt the Terriers when he is off on his shooting. When he is shooting well, the Terriers are very difficult out, but the Wildcats shut him down tonight.

Player of the Game: DeMon Brooks, Davidson. Brooks had a career night. He scored 28 points on 12 of 16 shooting and had 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Brooks had one of his best nights (if not his best night) as a Wildcat. He was tremendous. He played like the SoCon Player of the Year. If he's going to play like that, the Wildcats will be almost unbeatable in SoCon play.

What It All Means: For at least this one night, Davidson looked 100% like the SoCon favorite. To take apart Wofford like that on the road is impressive. If the Wildcats play like that, they will win nearly every SoCon game they play this year. The offense looks much better with Brooks back in the lineup. Wofford dropped to 1-1 in SoCon play. They did not show up in this one. They need to put this one behind them and try to move forward. Davidson goes to Furman and hosts Appalachian State next week before hosting Elon the following week. The Wildcats should get to 3-0 heading into that Elon game. Will they maintain focus and consistency? We'll see.

Mocs 72, Paladins 63

And this is getting closer and closer to what we envisioned.

The Mocs showed up on Saturday afternoon and played a very solid basketball game in Greenville, beating the Paladins by nine. Their heart and hustle showed through again.

Earlier this year, I would have never expected the Mocs to win while shooting under 40% from the floor. The defense has improved drastically in the last two weeks, and I think part of that is related to the switch to zone defense. They have been playing the zone defense since the UAB game and have looked good three times in the last four games.

This is an evolving team. They are evolving into a team that can come up with stops on the defensive side of the ball. The effort is not changing, and now, finally, they are healthy. Rico White scored thirteen points. Z Mason collected twenty points and thirteen rebounds to go along with six blocks. Those guys both were injured up until the Dr Pepper Classic and they have made a huge difference in this three game win streak.

Casey Jones scored thirteen points, had thirteen rebounds and eight assists, not to mention three steals. He had a tremendous game and deserves accolades for it. He has been at the top of his game lately, and that has been a major difference.

Gee McGhee seems to have discovered his role. He was really struggling to score back before Christmas. He has knocked down a couple of threes in recent weeks and that has helped him drive the lane with more consistency. That's his strength, but when he's knocking down his shot, he's more capable of doing that.

The Mocs got 23 offensive rebounds, which is the reason they were able to win this game. That continues to display their effort and energy.

Can the Mocs collect their second road win of the SoCon season in just two tries? Maybe. The Citadel on Monday is a winnable game. We'll have to see if they can come up with it, but this is a great time for the Mocs. They really seem to be turning the corner.

GO MOCS!

Four Factors: Furman

eFG%
Paladins- 46.5%
Mocs- 42.7%
Advantage- Paladins

TO%
Paladins- 19.8%
Mocs- 17.8%
Advantage- Mocs

OR%
Paladins- 32.4%
Mocs- 46.9%
Advantage- Mocs

FTRate
Paladins- 24.6%
Mocs- 32.4%
Advantage- Mocs

Steals
Paladins- 4
Mocs- 5
Advantage- Mocs

3P%
Paladins- 21.4%
Mocs- 28.6%
Advantage- Mocs

Possessions: 67

Furman Preview: A Whole New Season

These two programs were not good last year. They were bad in fact. Both determined that they
needed new head coaches. Furman hired Niko Medved. Chattanooga hired Will Wade. Furman went 6-7 out of conference, beating D1 opponents Gardner Webb, Presbyterian, Liberty and UC-Davis along the way (I'll only put the loss to Mars Hill in parentheses so maybe fewer people see it). The Mocs went 6-8 out of conference, beating D1 opponents IUPUI, Grand Canyon and Maine. The Mocs just got Rico White back to full strength and Z Mason back as well. They promptly won two straight. Now a whole new season starts for two teams that are going through new beginnings with new coaches.

The Paladins are hoping that Charlie Reddick gets back to full force at some point. He missed the first seven games, but has played in the last six. Against UC-Davis in the most recent game, he played his best game. He played 32 minutes with 11 points and seven rebounds, all season highs. The 6-5 senior needs to be a leader on this team. As he gets back into the swing of things, he will get better and make this team better.

Of course, this team belongs to Stephen Croone. Croone is a 6-0 point guard that I voted for the SoCon Player of the Year two weeks back in Scanning the SoCon. He leads the Paladins in scoring, rebounding and assists. He is averaging 20.1 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game and 3.5 assists per contest. Croone had 40 against Liberty back on December 20. He is shooting 51.2% from the floor and 35.0% from three point range. He is one of the best in the conference at driving the ball into the paint and scoring in the SoCon. Croone is also an 80% free throw shooter. The Mocs, who struggle to stop guys who drive the ball, will have a nightmarish time trying to contain Croone. Rico White and Greg Pryor will have a huge responsibility ahead of them.

Kendrec Ferrara will also be a handful for the Mocs. He is 6-9, and second on the team in rebounds with 4.9. He is also averaging one block per game and 7.5 points. Ferrara took a team high twelve shots against their last opponent, UC-Davis and scored 14 points. He will be a handful for the Mocs inside players- Lance Stokes, Casey Jones, Z Mason and Martynas Bareika.

Larry Wideman is averaging 12.2 points per game on 38% shooting from three point range. He has made 26 threes on the year. William Gates Jr. is averaging 10.8 points per game with 17 threes on 48.6% shooting from three point range.

Furman made nearly 52% of their shots against UC-Davis in the win. They shot 82% from the free throw line. If they shoot the ball that well, any team is tough to beat.

This Furman team is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country. They rank 241st in the country in OR% and 339th in DR%. The Mocs rank 193rd in OR% and 224th in DR%. The Mocs are a better rebounding team than Furman. Casey Jones and Z Mason will be relied upon to come up with a bunch of rebounds. They can do it, but that will be necessary.

Furman is not a good defensive team- much like Maine on Monday night. They resemble Maine in a lot of ways. The Mocs will be looking to come up with the kind of plays that helped them win the Dr Pepper Classic when they take to the road on Saturday.

PREDICTION

The key in this game is Croone. If the Mocs come up with a gimmick defense to slow down Croone without letting someone else completely going off, they will have a very good chance to win. Croone is so good and is kind of the Mocs kryptonite- a guard who can drive the ball. Will Wideman or Gates go off shooting threes when they collapse on Croone driving? Or will their shots be off? Furman is a slow paced team and the Mocs like to speed it up. The same thing happened against Northern Kentucky. The team seemed to really start coming together in the Dr Pepper Classic as everyone seemed to be starting to find their role. The Mocs will bring the effort and be in the game until the end, but won't be able to come up with a way to stop Croone and will just barely fall. Paladins 82, Mocs 77.

Daily Dribbles- 1/3/14

--So, the good play of the SoCon out of conference may be over. Duquesne destroyed Appalachian State (apparently it does not matter if Jay Canty is back or not, the Mountaineers still stink), and Radford handled The Citadel in the final two SoCon out of conference games for a while. Not a good ending for the SoCon.

--A great article by David Uchiyama of the Chattanooga Times Free Press about the SoCon's downward spiral.

--Western Carolina blasted UNCG on Thursday night. Purple & Gold had some thouhgts here.

--Wofford pulled away late and beat Samford.

--For a full recap and my thoughts of Thursday's SoCon games, click here.

--Saturday should be a huge day. Here's a preview. Here's a preview of the Elon at Western Carolina game, the SoCon Game of the Week.

Reviewing the Mocs Out of Conference Schedule

The Mocs did not have the best out of conference performance in the history of college basketball. They went 6-8. With a new coaching staff and renewed optimism among the Mocs faithful, there is plenty to look at. Let's do some analysis of the out of conference portion of the schedule (ignoring of course the upcoming contest against Eastern Kentucky that won't take place until February).

BEST PERFORMANCE

November 22, Nevada 83, Chattanooga 81. It's hard to call a loss the best performance, but it's also hard to ignore. The Mocs lead in Reno virtually the entire game. They got beat on a last second, bank shot three pointer. The Mocs were not completely sure how to win at this point, and it showed late in the game with poor execution late. Now, the Mocs have learned a little bit more about how to win, and would probably have made enough plays at the end to win this one. The Mocs left it all out there on the floor in Reno. The loss seemed to leave them in a funk, as they had just one good performance in their next six games.

WORST PERFORMANCE

December 15, Northern Kentucky 87, Chattanooga 71. There was something that was just disappointing about this loss, but disheartening. UCLA was expected to be a blowout and it was. Georgia had potential to be a blowout, and it was. This game should have been very close. And it was for a half, but not in the second half. The Mocs played so poorly in this one, I questioned in my mind if the Mocs would win another game all year. They just did not look like a team that was going to win basketball games. Since this loss, they have played three solid games, winning two, and losing a third in respectable fashion to UAB. So that shows what I know.

OVERALL

Is 6-8 great? Of course not. It is disappointing to go 6-8, especially when three of the wins are over non-D1 teams. But on the whole, there are positives to build on. For example, the team plays with all the effort they have almost every night, and that's all you can ask for. They bring the energy. They don't always make shots. They are not the best on the ball defenders. But they play their hardest. Also, I have been intrigued to watch Will Wade coach and find out how he handles it. Having never coached before, I was afraid that he would be stubborn in his ways and not willing to change. On the contrary, I've seen a coach who is willing to put token pressure on and then play off to try to help out the defense. I've seen a coach who is making adjustments, such as playing zone, to help his team out. I've seen a coach that sees his team can't shoot well, and is trying to help them by getting the ball inside more consistently. He seems to know what he's doing. I'm not sure if Coach John Shulman would have had any different results than we've had so far, but watching Will Wade has given me confidence that he will get things going in the right direction- hopefully by March, possibly by next season, but definitely by 2015-16.

SoCon Review- 1/2/14

Western Carolina 72, UNCG 51

Key Stat: UNCG had 23 turnovers. The Spartans started really struggling late in the first half when a rash turnovers took a Spartans lead and turned it into a deficit. The turnovers never stopped for the Spartans. Too many turnovers made it too easy for the Spartans to fall behind. The Catamounts capitalized and only turned it over eleven turnovers. That was why the Spartans were beaten down.

Player of the Game: Trey Sumler, Western Carolina. Sumler scored 16 points on 6 of 14 shooting. He had four rebounds and three assists to go along with it. Sumler made 2 of 6 from three point range. The leading scorer in the SoCon needed to have a great game and he had a solid scoring contest. No Catamount had a truly great game, but Sumler was the closest thing.

What It All Means: UNCG went into this game thinking they were one of the top teams in the SoCon. But the Spartans were not ready for primetime in the SoCon yet. They did not take it to the road. They are still a tough team to beat and could contend in the SoCon. But they need to turn things around when they play Furman on Monday. Western Carolina has guaranteed the split they needed out of this weekend. They get Elon on Saturday. If they win that one, then the Catamounts will be in very good position in the SoCon very early in the season. Saturday shapes up as very important.

Wofford 71, Samford 61

Key Stat:  Terriers +10 on the boards. Samford has Tim Williams, and should be expected to control the boards many nights in the SoCon. They did not tonight. The Terriers dominated the boards and that was one reason that Samford could not win. It was a late run by the Terriers that put it away, but it was that the Bulldogs only had three offensive rebounds that made it so hard for them to win to begin with.

Player of the Game: Karl Cochran, Wofford. Cochran scored 27 points, which is not shocking, but he did it on only seventeen shots, which is surprising. Cochran had the kind of night that when he has it, the Terriers are going to be tough to beat. He also collected six rebounds. If Cochran is going to be that good, the Terriers will contend in the SoCon consistently.

What It All Means: Wofford is considered a contender by many statistically based formulas, but people that have been watching haven't been believing it as much. That being said, they are a solid team, and they looked the part tonight. If they are going to shoot 46% from the floor, they are going to be tough to beat. They host Davidson on Saturday with an opportunity to establish themselves as one of the SoCon favorites. Samford has to get things together quickly. They go to Georgia Southern, another team looking to prove that they belong in the discussion for a bye in the SoCon. The Bulldogs continue to not look quite right this year, but Tyler Hood and Tim Williams shot 16 of 21 in this one. The rest of the team was 9 of 25. They've got to do better on the boards to have more success.

Daily Dribbles- 1/2/14

--I've added a new SoCon feature to the blog- SoCon This Week. Be sure to check out the weekly schedule and the Thursday preview. It's a tentative add for now, because
 I'm not sure if it is going to stick around in this form or not. I'm interested in what people think of it. Is it something people will be interested in each week? What could be better about it? If you have time to give some feedback, please feel free.

--College of Charleston upset Davidson in Belk Arena to start off the New Year, winning 76-64. This shows that Davidson is still inconsistent and still hard to call the clear favorite in the SoCon. Are they the favorite? Probably. But it is not the clear favorite that they have been other years.

--AppHoops is back to it this week, after taking time off so he didn't have to think about how App hasn't beaten a D1 team yet this year.

--Ty Toney and Tevin Baskin were out with injury for Appalachian State on Tuesday night. Jay Canty is going to be back this weekend for the Mountaineers. Are they about to get it together? They probably need Canty, Toney and Baskin all together.

--SoCon season is underway! On Thurday night, Samford hosts Wofford and UNCG goes to Western Carolina. This should be a great day and I can't wait to get to the SoCon season on Thursday evening.

--UNCG goes to Western Carolina in what is one tremendous SoCon basketball game on Thursday night. Should be a ton of fun. Purple & Gold has a preview.

SoCon This Week- Week of 12/31/13

Feature Article- Getting the Gang Together One Last Time
SoCon Schedule- Week One
SoCon Weekly Release
Scanning the SoCon- Week Nine
SoCon Monster Game of the Week: Elon at Western Carolina
Thursday SoCon Previews
Saturday SoCon Previews
Monday SoCon Previews
Thursday SoCon Reviews
Saturday SoCon Reviews
Monday SoCon Reviews

SoCon Monster Game of the Week: Elon at Western Carolina

The SoCon season opens on Thursday night, and Western Carolina will battle UNCG on that night. 
That will tell us a lot about the importance of this game. If the Catamounts are going for 2-0, this will be a massive game. If they are going to avoid 0-2, this will be a massive game. So no matter what, this is a huge game. The Catamounts desperately need to come up with at least a split this weekend, while a 2-0 start would establish Western Carolina as possibly the SoCon favorites. An 0-2 start would put them in a big hole in the race for the SoCon title, and maybe create some trouble in the race for the bye.

In the mean time, Elon will be trying to start 1-0 in SoCon play. The Phoenix feel like this is their year to advance to the NCAA Tournament and they don't want anything to stand in their way. The Phoenix were dominated by Duke in their last game, and there are some questions about just how good Elon will be this year in the SoCon. They want to come out and establish early in SoCon play that they are the team to beat in the SoCon. This is an opportunity to do just that.

Western Carolina is lead by Trey Sumler, the reigning SoCon Player of the Week. He scored 40 his last time out against Milligan. Really, that just means, he's doing what he does. He is a scorer, and has been ever since he entered the league. He can score and score in bunches. He can drive the ball, but also shoots 43% from three point range. He is not a big guy, but he also leads the team in assists with 4.3 per game and rebounds at 4.6 per game. Yes, Sumler may be the most important player on any team in the SoCon, even if he is not the best player. If Western Carolina winds up finishing in the top two in the SoCon, it will be tough to deny Sumler the Player of the Year.

The Catamounts are not a big team, but you have to love the effort that Tawaski King shows. He is tied for the team lead in rebounds with Sumler at 4.6 per game. He only scores 6.7 points per game. However, it is his effort that guides this team, possibly even more than Sumler. The gameplan centers on Sumler- the heart centers on King.

Tom Tankelwicz has been another Catamount (like King) that I have really enjoyed watching the last couple of years. Tankelwicz is only shooting 38% from three point range this year, but he is critical to the team's success. They need him to shoot the ball effiiciently to give them the best chance to win the game.

Elon will look to wear out the smaller Catamounts in the paint. At 6-10, Lucas Troutman should be to big for almost any team in the SoCon to handle, particularly a team like the Catamounts. Ryley Beaumont is 6-7, and will be another handful for the Catamounts. Troutman leads the team in scoring, with 15.2 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game. Beaumont averages 10.3 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Sebastian Koch and Tanner Samson are also very important players for the Phoenix. Samson has made 46 threes and is shooting 49.5% from three point range. Koch is shooting 43.6% from three point range and has made 41 on the year. When the Phoenix have the inside outside game working properly, they are very efficient offensively.

But there is something strange about this Elon team. While they are a reasonably big team for the SoCon, they rank 350th in the country in OR% out of 351 teams. They have not been a good offensive rebounding team for several years. I have a hard time getting behind a team that can't come up with offensive rebounds as a real contender. So this is a real flaw to me.

PREDICTION

Sumler will step up and play big, but Elon is too big on the whole. I don't know if Elon will use their height to the full advantage that it should be against the Catamounts, but Troutman will score plenty and Samson and Koch will hit some threes. The Catamounts won't have quite enough to win this one in Cullowhee. Elon 74, Western Carolina 69.

Getting the Gang Together One Last Time

It's no secret that the SoCon is changing. Teams are going. Teams are coming. Teams are returning. But for one last year, we have these eleven teams all together in one conference.

College of Charleston already is gone, but next year is when the major changes take place. Davidson leaves the SoCon (they have been a member since 1992, after being a member from 1936 to 1988) to join the Atlantic 10. Elon leaves (they have been a member since 2003) to join the Colonial. Georgia Southern joined in 1991 and is now going to the Sun Belt. Appalachian State joined in 1971 and is also going to the Sun Belt.

Joining the conference will be Mercer, ETSU (re-joining after leaving in 2005) and VMI (re-joining after leaving in 2003). Next year this will feel like a new conference, even to those teams that are returning to the SoCon.

But for this year, the whole gang (minus College of Charleston) is still together. Sadly, it has been a pretty bad start to the season for much of the conference, which has taken some of the excitement away from the start of conference season. Multiple teams are going through rebuilding projects or have simply not lived up to expectations.

So what will this conference season bring? It will bring match-ups that we are familiar with, like Western Carolina-Appalachian State, Davidson-Wofford, Davidson-Appalachian State, Chattanooga-Samford, Furman-Wofford, UNCG-Elon and many others. It will feature names that you already knwo if you have followed SoCon basketball in recent years- Karl Cochran, De'Mon Brooks, Z Mason, Trey Sumler and Lucas Troutman to name a few. It will bring us rising conference starts like Kyle Cain and Stephen Croone. It will feature new freshman like Brian White. There will be old coaches like Mike Young, Bob McKillop, and Larry Hunter, and new coaches like Will Wade, Niko Medved and Marky Byington.

It will all end in Asheville on a March Monday night with the SoCon Championship Game. Regardless of what anyone says, the SoCon has been a part of all these schools history- most of them an intricate part. Elon has even been a member for eleven years now. That's no small chunk of their history. Will the Phoenix finally be able to claim their first conference championship? Will Davidson make it three in a row before leaving? Will Georgia Southern finally win their first SoCon Tournament? Will Appaalachian State win their first one since 2000? Or will some team sticking around the conference keep the trophy in place for defending next year?

It's one final run for these schools against each other. It should be a very fun year.

Team to Watch This Week: Western Carolina

The Catamounts host Elon and UNCG this week. The Catamounts are already considered one of the conference favorites, and those two are conference favorites as well. If the Catamounts can win both games at home, they will serve notice that they may in fact be the SoCon favorites this year. It will be a very difficult task for them to pull off, though, against two teams playing pretty well.

Something You May Not Know....But Should

There are four teams that have been playing better than anyone else in recent weeks, in my opinion, and in the opinion of the Scanning the SoCon voters, who have these teams as the clear top four: Davidson, Elon, Western Carolina, and UNCG. One team does not play any of those teams until January 23- the Chattanooga Mocs. The Mocs have six conference games with none against the "big four" before they play Elon and UNCG at home on the last Thursday and Saturday of January. Those five games are at Furman, at The Citadel, at home against Samford and Wofford, and then at Appalachian State and Wofford before they play one of the big four. However, if Pomeroy's opinion on Wofford is to be believed (he has them as the third best team in the SoCon right now), this schedule is not easy, but he overestimated the Terriers last year pre-SoCon play, and I think he may be doing it again. The Mocs schedule toughens up later, but early on, they may go on a bit of a run early in conference play, which could help them grow in confidence- the one thing this team has been sorely lacking for much of this year. Then again, with four road games in their first six, they may wind up struggling.

SoCon Monday- 1/6/14

A daily preview of all the SoCon games.

Monday Thought

This day will end the SoCon debuts for all the teams. Any remaining teams will play their first SoCon game. Elon and UNCG play at home against teams that they should beat, and The Citadel hosts Chattanooga in a game that will be huge to determine where the pecking order is right now.

Appalachian State at Elon, 7:00 PM

When will Jay Canty come back? Will he come back? If he does, Appalachian State becomes a very different team. Until then, this is a team that struggles on both offense and defense. They are a really bad shooting team. Michael Obacha and Tevin Baskin will be very important in this one, as they will have to control the Elon bigs lead by Lucas Troutman. This should be a relatively easy one for the Phoenix, unless Canty is back. Prediction: Elon 78, Appalachian State 61.

Furman at UNCG, 7:00 PM

Kendrec Ferrara may be the key to the game. He is 6-9. He will need to find a way to help control the Spartans inside attack of Kayel Lock and Kyle Cain. Stephen Croone will have a tougher time driving against the Spartans than he will against the Mocs. Still, he is one of the best players in the SoCon and will be a challenge for UNCG to contain. But the Spartans are much bigger than the Paladins which should be the difference in this one. Prediction: UNCG 78, Furman 64.

Chattanooga at The Citadel, 7:05 PM ESPN3

The Citadel beat Presbyterian by 14 at home back on November 12. Since then, no D1 wins. Ouch. Brian White is the top freshman in the SoCon. He leads the team in scoring and rebounding. They need to get Matt Van Syoc going. He was expected to be the star of this team, and he is the second leading scorer and rebounder, but has not quite lived up to expectations. They are one of the worst two point shooting teams in the country. The Mocs will challenge them inside with Z Mason and Casey Jones. This is one of the Bulldogs best chances for a win over the remainder of the year. It's also one the Mocs must have if they are looking to contend for a SoCon bye. Prediction: Chattanooga 72, The Citadel 66.

SoCon Saturday- 1/4/14

A daily preview of each SoCon game.

Saturday Thought

Four very competitive games on Saturday. Three new coaches make their SoCon premieres on Saturday, with two facing off against each other. Western Carolina gets another shot against a top SoCon team at home, Davidson and Wofford renew their rivalry, while Samford heads to Georgia Southern to find out if either of them could make their way to the top of the SoCon.

Samford at Georgia Southern, 2:00 PM

Jelani Hewitt of the Eagles is one of the top players in the SoCon. Raijon Kelly of the Bulldogs is another very good player. Hewitt vs. Kelly? That's the sort of thing that we all dream of seeing in SoCon play. How Georgia Southern controls Tim Williams inside may be the real question? The game is at Georgia Southern, where the Eagles are 4-1 (though just 1-1 against D1 teams). It's tough to figure out how Georgia Southern is going to slow down Williams, but their guard play is among the best in the SoCon. Prediction: Georgia Southern 78, Samford 71.

Elon at Western Carolina, 2:00 PM

The Catamounts get their second straight home game against a legitimate SoCon contender. That's why this week is so critical for the Catamounts. They have to win these kinds of games at home. Elon is a potentially bad match-up for Western Carolina. Elon is big, with Ryler Beaumont at 6-7, Sebasian Koch at 6-8 and Lucas Troutman is 6-10. However, this is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country, particularly on the offensive glass. Western Carolina is not a big team, however. They may have a hard time containing the Elon offense. Trey Sumler will have to be lights out. What else is new? Prediction: Elon 74, Western Carolina 69.

Chattanooga at Furman, 4:00 PM ESPN3

Will Wade and Niko Medved are each coaching their first SoCon game. The Paladins have Stephen Croone, one of the best driving guards in the SoCon. The Mocs defense has been very susceptible to that so far this year. Can the Mocs stop him? I doubt it. On the other hand, the Paladins defense has not been good. The Mocs offense has not been great, but if Z Mason plays like the SoCon Player of the Year candidate he is, then they could win in Greenville. But Croone is too much. Prediction: Furman 82, Chattanooga 77.

Davidson at Wofford, 7:00 PM

The Wildcats have not been good defensively this year. The Terriers defense is very good. That makes it interesting. De'Mon Brooks is back and will provide a challenge to the Terriers defense, though. Will Chris Czerapowicz make his threes? How will Karl Cochran make his shots against this Davidson defense? Cochran can shoot the Terriers right out of a game. If he is making his shots at Wofford, this team will be almost unbeatable. This may be the most unpredictable game of the whole day on a day full of them.  Prediction: Davidson 68, Wofford 67.

SoCon Thursday Game- 1/2/14

A daily preview of each game.

Thursday Thought

Two really good games today. One is a match-up of two teams that currently are tied for third in the SoCon Power Rankings. One is a match-up between two teams that could conceivably make a run now that we are in SoCon play. Should be a great day of basketball and a great way to start the SoCon season.

UNCG at Western Carolina, 7:00 PM

The Spartans are lead by their inside game of Kayel Locke and Kyle Cain. Jordan Potts and Nicholas Paulos are very good three point shooters. They played well against their threesome of ACC foes with Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State. There are people that feel that the Spartans may be the best in the SoCon. Trey Sumler is one of the best scorers in the SoCon for Western Carolina. Tom Tankelwicz is very good three point shooter. Can the Catamounts defend their home court? How will they stop the Spartans big guys inside? Tawaski King may be the key to this game for that reason. King is one of the hardest workers in the SoCon. Prediction: Western Carolina 74, UNCG 70.

Wofford at Samford, 8:00 PM

These are two teams that have not yet performed up to expectations. This game is going to be really good. The Terriers have Karl Cochran and Spencer Collins take an inordinate amount the team's shots. Neither one are particularly good shooters. Lee Skinner is fourth in the SoCon in rebounding. The Terriers are a good defensive team even if they struggle offensively. Samford has not won back-to-back games all year against D1 teams. Can they win their second straight against Samford? They are not a good defensive team. So will Wofford be able to score against them? Tim Williams is in the top six in both scoring and rebounding. Williams vs. Skinner? That sounds like a good match-up. Prediction: Samford 63, Wofford 62.

SoCon Schedule- January 1, 2014-January 6, 2014

Thursday

UNCG at Western Carolina, 7:00 PM
Two of the SoCon's best take the court looking to prove that they belong atop the SoCon.

Wofford at Samford, 8:00 PM
Preseason, these were the two teams most identified as most likely to challenge Western Carolina, Elon and Davidson atop the conference. The preseason didn't go well. Now they look to get well.

Saturday

Samford at Georgia Southern, 2:00 PM
Georgia Southern is a possible contender in the SoCon. They need to win at home to prove it.

Elon at Western Carolina, 2:00 PM
After UNCG, Elon comes to Western. Are the Catamounts up to the challenge?

Chattanooga at Furman, 4:00 PM ESPN3
Two coaches in their first SoCon game looking to get off to a good start.

Davidson at Wofford, 7:00 PM
Wofford and Davidson have won the last four SoCon Tournament championships, and seven of the last eight.

Monday

Appalachian State at Elon, 7:00 PM
The Mountaineers are in bad need of good performances against good teams. This is an opportunity.

Furman at UNCG, 7:00 PM
Will good UNCG or bad UNCG show up in this one?

Chattanooga at The Citadel, 7:05 ESPN3
Two teams battle to prove that expectations are too low heading into conference play.

Daily Dribbles- 1/1/14

--Happy New Year! Hope everyone has a great 2014.

--Elon was demolished by Duke on Tuesday. The Phoenix lost by 38 points and did not look particularly good doing it. The Phoenix are overrated, in my opinion.

--Sebastian Koch of Elon won the SoCon Player of the Week for every game from December 17 on. Jaylen Allen of Wofford won Freshman of the Week.

--College of Charleston at Davidson on New Year's Day? Yes please. That happens at 2:00 PM. It should be a good game, and it will tell us a lot about where the Wildcats are as they head into SoCon play. The SoCon could really use this one.