SoCon Tournament Pick 'Em

We all fill out a bracket for the NCAA Tournament.

Now is your chance to fill out the bracket for the SoCon Tournament.

We did this last year, and I think it was a lot of fun. We also had the SoCon Pick 'Em during the regular season, which was tremendous and fun.

So it's back for another year. It costs nothing to play, and we play for nothing but pride. But still, it's a heck of a contest.

Here's the bracket.

Pick each game, start to finish of the tournament. For example, if you pick Furman to beat Samford, then you need to pick the Furman-Appalachian State game.

The points are awarded like this. You can earn the seed number for each team you correctly pick. So if you pick Furman and they win against Samford, you would earn 12 points. Here are the points per team.

Davidson- 1 point
Elon- 2 points
College of Charleston- 3 points
Appalachian State- 4 points
Samford- 5 points
Western Carolina- 6 points
Chattanooga- 7 points
Wofford- 8 points
Georgia Southern- 9 points
UNCG- 10 points
The Citadel- 11 points
Furman- 12 points

This rewards you even more for picking upsets correctly, and encourages you to take more risks in the bracket.

I need everyone's picks by Thursday evening at 10:00 PM Eastern for the entire tournament. You can e-mail your picks to me at MocsBasketball97@yahoo.com or post it in the comments section.

Good luck!

SoCon Tournament Central 2013

Be sure to check back daily for all the information on Scanning the SoCon. Here's the links:

Bracket
SoCon Travel
Official SoCon Media Awards
Official SoCon Coaches Awards

Sunday
SoCon Tournament Pick 'Em
Scanning the SoCon- Tournament Edition

Monday
Daily Dribbles
Scanning the SoCon- Postseason Awards

Tuesday
Daily Dribbles
Seeding Issues

Wednesday
Daily Dribbles
Weaknesses

Thursday
Daily Dribbles
Day One Preview

Friday
Daily Dribbles
Day One Review
Day Two Preview

Saturday
Day Two Review
Semifinals Preview

Sunday
Semifinals Review
Championship Preview

Monday
Championship Review
All SoCon Tournament Team

Appalachian State 86, Mocs 60

So we're back to this, huh?

Until Friday, the Mocs have to live with this loss hanging over their heads. On Friday they'll get to face a team that has beaten them twice, including once just two weeks ago by 28 points at home- the UNCG Spartans.

Yikes.

Regardless, this was very disappointing. Casey Jones showed why he needs to be playing. He scored 16 points and had four rebounds, and Z Mason scored 9 and had 10 rebounds. The rest of the Mocs had poor games. They turned the ball over 17 times. They got to the free throw line, but made just 15 of 32 from the charity stripe.

Ouch.

And when they got down this time, the Mountaineers did not let up, fearing another embarassing comeback by the Mocs.

Jay Canty scored 27 points. Nathan Healy scored 20 points and 14 rebounds. Healy was brilliant on his Senior Night. Jamaal Trice also scored 13 on his Senior Night. They made 12 of 26 from long range.

The Mocs had no way to combat the emotion that the Mountaineers came out and played with. They could not begin to combat the way the Mountaineers played.

So the question really is, what happens when the Mocs go out to Asheville and play the SoCon Tournament? There is no telling. Which Mocs team shows up on Friday? I'm not sure. Either one could. I still believe that the Mocs could beat any team in the SoCon on the right now or lose to any team. Anything could happen. The good news for the Mocs is that they are on the opposite side of the bracket from Davidson. They would not have to face Davidson until Monday in the Championship Game....and that's only if the Mocs put together three straight good performances, which does not feel likely at this stage.

It was a thoroughly disappointing night for the Mocs proving yet again that they have not turned the corner yet. Are they going to Asheville? After this long, it's hard to see that transpiring.

Regardless, we'll be rooting them on.

GO MOCS!

SoCon Pick 'Em- Final Standings

WOW! What a finish. Tiebreaker was each record in the Game of the Week, and then record each week starting at the most recent. The tiebreaker went to.....

1) DC_Int'l 81
2) Hugh Hughes 81
3) GoalCat 78
4) Muskie24 78
5) WildCock 77
6) SoConJohn 76
7) Clarkdr21 74
8) T Dog 74
9) Bill Casey 73
10) David 73
11) Jerry Love 72
12) JohnMoc 72
13) Jay 71
14) half-n-half 70
15) CougarSurf11 68
16) AP 63
17) DashSpartan 62
18) WinthropSpartan 55
19) Cujo 27
20) earle & patty 21
21t) GACoug 20
21t) BVGerd 20
23) Waitress 18
24) Mike 17
25t) bdf 15
25t) ChasCougs 15
27) Coug04 14
28) Chris 12
29) Joe 7
30) ElonFireFighter 6

Don't forget- SoCon Tourney Pick 'Em is coming tomorrow! Good luck and thanks for playing SoCon Pick 'Em!

Congratulations to DC_Int'l and Hugh Hughes, who finished tied for the best mark, and DC_Int'l who won the tiebreaker!

Four Factors Appalachian State

eFG%
Mountaineers- 58.9%
Mocs- 45.0%
Advantage- Mountaineers

TO%
Mountaineers- 16.9%
Mocs- 24.6%
Advantage- Mountaineers

OR%
Mountaineers- 31.3%
Mocs- 33.3%
Advantage- Mocs

FTRate
Mountaineers- 48.2%
Mocs- 64.0%
Advantage- Mocs

3PA%
Mountaineers- 46.4%
Mocs- 24.0%

SoCon Tournament Bracket

Friday
11:30 AM Georgia Southern vs. Wofford
2:00 PM Samford vs. Furman
6:00 PM Chattanooga vs. UNCG
8:30 PM Western Carolina vs. The Citadel

Saturday
12:00 PM Davidson vs. Georgia Southern/Wofford
2:30 PM Appalachian State vs. Samford/Furman
6:00 PM Elon vs. Chattanooga/UNCG
8:30 PM College of Charleston vs. Western Carolina/The Citadel

Sunday
6:00 PM Semifinal #1
8:30 PM Semifinal #2

Monday
7:00 PM Championship Game (ESPN2)

All games other than the Championship Game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Appalachian State Preview: It Comes Down To This

So, here we go.

The Mocs need just one win and then a Western Carolina upset of Samford later on in the day to get the fourth and final bye. Appalachian State needs to only beat the Mocs to earn that fourth and final bye.

On top of that, Appalachian State was ahead by 19 points with six and a half minutes left against Chattanooga in McKenzie Arena, only to watch the Mocs storm back and win in overtime in stunning fashion.

Appalachian State is also trying to win on senior day. Nathan Healy and Jamaal Trice are the two seniors on this roster, and the Mountaineers and their fans would love to send them off winners. Healy has been a special player this season for Appalachian State, so this has plenty of meaning to him.

Importance. Revenge. Emotion. This game has a little bit of everything. Want to talk about getting ready for the pressure of the tournament next weekend in Asheville? There's no better game than this one for both teams to start preparing for that.

The good news for Appalachian State is that Dontay Hampton won't rip their hearts out again. He made a layup at the buzzer last year to beat the Mountaineers. This year, he scored 22 including making the tying three in the final seconds. With his injury, the Mountaineers won't have to deal with seeing him on the floor. Except for in their nightmares. They definitely wake up in cold sweats thinking about Hampton.

But that's not what this game comes down to. This game will be played between two teams and their current players. So what happens in this one?

The Mountaineers are lead by senior Nathan Healy. Healy has a shot at the Player of the Year in the SoCon. He is averaging 14.4 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game. He also averages 1.4 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 2.9 steals per conteest. He is shooting 48.9% fromt he floor and 39.8% from three point range. He's made more three pointers than anyone else on the team, while shooting nearly 49% from the floor and leading the team in rebounding. The 6-7 forward scored 22 and had ten rebounds in Chattanooga. He's only scored eight points in each of the last two games. He is 6 of 20 from the floor 2 of 7 from three point range in those two games. In the last five games, he shots 22.2% from three point range (4 of 18). Is he tired? Or is he just saving up for this game? We'll find out.

Tab Hamilton is averaging just 9.5 points per game, and 37.1% from three point range. He has made 46 threes on the year, which is second on the team, just one behind Healy. Clearly that is Hamilton's strength. He scored 21 against Chattanooga the last tim they played. He then scored 16 against Samford and ten against Georgia Southern. Since then, he has played in ten games, and has scored in double figures just twice. He is averaging just 6.7 points per game. Since scoring 16 against Georgia Southern on February 7, he has averaged just five points per game. So Hamilton has been in a real slump. Will he break out of it against the Mocs?

Jay Canty is 6-6, and he is second on the team in points and rebounds. He is averaging 13.9 points per game and 6.2 rebounds. He is also second on the team in assists with 2.9. He's had several very good games this year, but has scored just 17 total points in the last two games. But he had been hot prior to that, averaging 16 points per game in the previous three. He scored 19 against the Mocs the first time.

Tevin Baskin has just been averaging 20 minutes per game, but in these last two games against The Citadel and Samford, Baskin has averaged 28.5 minutes. He is averaging 11.5 points in those two games. He is averaging 10.1 points per game on the season to go along with 4.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 47.4% from the floor. He scored eleven and had seven rebounds against the Mocs in the first meeting.

Jamaal Trice, the lone senior other than Healy, scored 18 against Samford to lead the team. He scored 11 against The Citadel. On the year, he is averaging just 6.7 points per game, but he is coming on strong right now. He is shooting 39.7% from three point range. In the first game against the Mocs, he scored just three points. He should be ready for Senior Day.

Appalachian State is 6th in the conference in OR% and 7th in DR%. The Mocs are near the top in both categories. They should be able to come up with an advantage on the glass. Combine that with the how sometimes Mike Neal (who is not a true point guard) struggles to take care of the ball, and the Mocs can take care of some things. Can the Mocs get the full court pressure that worked so well at the end of regulation against the Mountaineers the first time going again? The Mountaineers have struggled with pressure this year, but the Mocs have backed off the pressure in recent games. Will the Mocs put that on the Mountaineers here?

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--Z Mason will come ready to dominate yet again and put up big numbers.
--Casey Jones will continue to show improvement.
--Gee McGhee and Rico White will have decent performances.
--Neal and White will compare notes on not being a true point guard.
--Trice and Healy will have big senior nights.
--Baskin will have another solid performance.
--Appalachian State 73, Mocs 67. The Mocs have not put together back-to-back good performances in road games. Will they be able to do it on Saturday afternoon? The Mountaineers are also drastically inconsistent, and I said prior to the week that they were too inconsistent to win both games. That being said, the Mountaineers are going to be fired up for revenge. Combine that with the motivation to get the bye, and the Mountaineers will find a way to come up with a win.

GO MOCS!

February in Review: Better Than Expected

Before the month began, people were down on the Mocs. They were 3-5 on the SoCon season. They were struggling, but there was hope, because the Mocs had six home games in seven games coming up in February.

What was going to develop for the Mocs? Were they going to have success or was the season going to go a negative way?

I picked the Mocs to go 4-5, with wins over The Citadel, Furman, UNCG, and either Wofford, Elon, College of Charleston, or Samford. In the end the Mocs only won two of the three I thought they would definitely beat. They beat Elon and Samford (better than Wofford or UNCG), and then won at Western Carolina in a shocking twist. They wound up going 5-4.

They took a really unusual route to get there. But they got there. And now the Mocs head into March with a meaningful regular season game left, along with a SoCon Tournament that they should not feel terrible about.

If the Mocs beat Appalachian State and Western Carolina beats Samford, the Mocs will get the fourth bye. Given where this team was, that is really surprising. They are playing well at the right time of year.

Of course, that could all change tomorrow. The Mocs lost in blowouts to UNCG and Wofford. That was awful. The Mocs won against better teams Elon, Samford and Western Carolina. They also nearly beat College of Charleston at home. A blowout to Appalachian State would change my view on the Mocs end season as  much as any game possibly could.

February saw Gee McGhee get into the race for Freshman of the Year and Z Mason become a contender for Player of the Year, and solidify himself as an All SoCon performer.

We'll see what March brings, but February was good enough.

GO MOCS!

Daily Dribbles- 3/1/13

--The final bye comes down to this. If Appalachian State wins, the Mountaineers get the final bye. If Chattanooga beats Appalachian State and Western Carolina beats Samford, the Mocs get the final bye. If Chattanooga beats Appalachian State and Samford beats Western Carolina, the Bulldogs get the final bye. Very interesting race down to the last day.

--Mike Groselle had 24 points and 10 rebounds for The Citadel in the Bulldogs win over the Paladins on Thursday that clinched no worse than the eleven seed for his team. Furman will be the last seed in the SoCon Tournament and will be playing at 2:00 next Friday against the five seed, whoever that is.

--Appalachian State and Samford, both of whom have huge games on Saturday afternoon, went double overtime on Thursday evening. What difference will that make?

--An interesting question- the Coach of the Year is likely to come down to Bob McKillop and Matt Matheny. However, Samford, Appalachian State, and Chattanooga were picked to finish as the bottom three in the North. One of those teams will get the fourth bye. Bennie Seltzer is Samford's first year coach. Jeff Capel of Appalachian State and John Shulman of Chattanooga have been on the hot seat all year long. If one of those three get the bye, could one of them get consideration for Coach of the Year? That would be something else- especially if it is Capel or Shulman.

Mocs 81, Western Carolina 72

What a great performance by the Mocs!

I'm going to hold off on proclaiming that the Mocs have turned the corner, because this was only their second straight good game, but it is the first time heading into the game that I was asking that question and the Mocs actually won.

The Mocs came into the game as a sizable underdog, and they needed to win both games while Samford lost both games for the Mocs to get the fourth bye. I picked on the blog yesterday for the Mocs to lose and for Samford to win. So, needless to say, I was not giving the Mocs much chance heading into the weekend.

Yet, the Mocs jumped out to a 12-0 lead on their way to this win and Appalachian State survived against Samford, after trailing by eight in the closing minutes to come back and tie it, send it to overtime, eventually to double overtime, and hold on to win.

So now the Mocs head into Saturday in a very important game for Appalachian State and the Mocs. If Appalachian State wins, they get the bye. If the Mocs win and Western Carolina beats Samford, the Mocs get the bye. If the Mocs win and Samford beats Western Carolina, the Bulldogs get the bye.

They head into it with a lot of momentum. Brandon Boggs scored 21 points for the Catamounts, while Z Mason had 25 points and 14 rebounds. Rico White had 19 points, while Gee McGhee had 12.

The game was hampered badly by foul calls. There were 30 fouls called on Western Carolina and 23 fouls called on the Mocs. That means 53 total fouls were called for the game. That is an unreasonably high number. I was even frustrated with the number of fouls being called on Western Carolina, not to mention the Mocs. It was just creating a slow paced game that was choppy.

Some of that choppiness allowed Western Carolina to get back into the game. Tawaski King scored 12 points and had 12 rebounds. Trey Sumler was not good. Boggs had four fouls for much of the second half, and actually fouled out at one point, but then the refs changed who the foul was on, and Boggs scored eight points after that. He nearly brought them back after he fouled out.

The Mocs did not do a good job on the defensive glass. They allowed Western Carolina to get over 45% of the rebounds on the offensive side of the ball. I said yesterday the Mocs needed to hold them down to around 25%. They did not do that. Yet the Mocs won, in large part thanks to good shooting. They made 54.2% from the floor. That was really good shooting. The Mocs also only turned the ball over eight times. That was such a problem earlier in the year. The Mocs have really gotten that under control and that is why they have been more successful.

Z Mason needs one more solid game to all but seal 1st team All SoCon. That's my thought, anyway. He was brilliant tonight. Gee McGhee had a solid performance. He needs a big night against Appalachian State to help his case for Freshman of the Year.

Only seven guys played double digit minutes tonight. Jones, Mason, White, and McGhee all played over 30. They seemed to be energized by that much playing time. That was an encouraging sign moving forward.

The 19 point lead nearly evaporated, but Western Carolina could not get over the hump. Thanks to that, the Mocs still have a shot at the bye heading into the final day of the regular season. Given where the season started, what the expectations were preseason, and where Moc fans were a week ago (coming off a 28 point home loss to UNCG), this is an unexpected development.


GO MOCS!

Four Factors Western Carolina

eFG%
Catamounts- 45.0%
Mocs- 57.3%
Advantage- Mocs

TO%
Catamounts- 19.7%
Mocs- 12.6%
Advantage- Mocs

OR%
Catamounts- 46.3%
Mocs- 37.9%
Advantage- Catamounts

FTRate
Catamounts- 41.7%
Mocs- 81.3%
Advantage- Mocs

3PA%
Catamounts- 36.7%
Mocs- 16.7%

SoCon Pick 'Em- 2/28/13

1) DC_Int'l 75
2) Hugh Hughes 74
3t) Muskie24 72
3t) WildCock 72
5) GoalCat 71
6t) Clarkdr21 69
6t) SoConJohn 69
6t) Bill Casey 69
9t) David 68
9t) T Dog 68
11) JohnMoc 67
12t) Jerry Love 66
12t) Jay 66
14) half-n-half 65
15) CougarSurf11 63
15t) AP 63 
17) DashSpartan 56
18) WinthropSpartan 55
19) Cujo 27
20) earle & patty 21
21t) GACoug 20
21t) BVGerd 20
23) Waitress 18
24) Mike 17
25t) bdf 15
25t) ChasCougs 15
27) Coug04 14
28) Chris 12
29) Joe 7
30) ElonFireFighter 6

Good luck as we head into the final day of the regular season! Huge day for a lot of reasons- including our SoCon Pick 'Em Standings!

Daily Dribbles- 2/28/13

--Davidson beat Elon in a match-up of the top two seeds in the SoCon Tournament. Lucas Troutman did play, and Elon was in the game the whole way. But Davidson won in the end, behind Chris Czerapowicz scoring 20 points. It would be a good championship match-up to see those two in it in twelve days.

--Eric Ferguson scored just five points, but Georgia Southern managed to win at UNCG. It was a close game throughout, and now the Spartans have to beat Elon to avoid the ten seed in the SoCon Tournament. From expected two seed preseason to the ten seed. Ouch.

--The Citadel is home against Furman and can clinch the eleven seed. They can not catch UNCG, because the Spartans destroyed the Bulldogs.

--A Samford win over Appalachian State ends the fourth bye race. What happens? Huge match-up.

Western Carolina Preview: Corner Turned?

There is no way to know the answer to this question until the game in Cullowhee has ended. But the Mocs have been plagued by this question at several different points this year. Have the Mocs turned the corner?

The last time this question was asked was just before the Wofford game less than two weeks ago. They answered that question by losed by 20 at Wofford, and then coming home and losing by 28 to UNCG. So the answer was no.

Now, following a rousing upset of Elon in the home finale, the Mocs are able to ask the question one more time. Have they turned the corner? Are they now going to be able to be a consistent team and win a game or two on this road trip? Or are they going to prove once again, that the only thing that we know for sure about the Mocs is that they will be maddeningly inconsistent?

On Thursday, the Mocs take on Western Carolina, who beat the Mocs 90-81 in Chattanooga earlier this year. In that one, Tom Tankelwicz was a dominant presence. He made seven threes and scored 21 points. He only took nine shots. He is averaging 10.1 points per game on the year and shooting 39.3% from three point range. Tankelwicz (like Chris Czerapowicz of Davidson) can light it up, and when he is shooting well, his team becomes much more difficult to beat. If Tankelwicz is not as hot as he was in the first one, that would be a big boost to the Mocs chances.

Brandon Boggs also had a huge game in the first contest in Chattanooga. He scored 19 on 9 of 11 shooting. He's averaging 10.5 points per game. He scored 26 against Coastal Carolina on Saturday. He had only averaged 6.3 points per game in the four games prior to that. So Boggs had been struggling some.

But make no mistake. The best player on the roster is Trey Sumler. He is averaging 18.1 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. He has only been held in single digits three times this whole year. He is shooting 36.2% from three point range. He is an 83.4% shooter from the free throw line, and scored 25 against Chattanooga, aided by 10 of 10 from the charity stripe. Sumler only scored 12 against Coastal Carolina and had three assists and seven turnovers. Yes, the Catamounts won by ten. It could have been much worse if Sumler had played better.

Tawaski King is a very critical player to the Catamounts. He is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game and 11.2 points per game. King does a lot of the little things like Harouna Mutombo did last year for the Catamounts. King also played very wll last year in the SoCon Tournament. He needs to go out and start getting on a roll to prepare himself for the tournament.

The Catamounts rank 2nd in the SoCon in OR%, while the Mocs rank 1st in DR%. The Mocs are 3rd in OR%, and the Catamounts are 8th in DR%. In other words, the battle on the Catamounts offensive glass will be critical to the game, and the Mocs will need to get a lot of second chance points in order to stick around in this game. The Mocs get to the free throw line more than any other team in the SoCon, while Western Carolina fouls more than any other team in the SoCon except The Citadel.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--The rebounding battle on the Catamounts offensive end of the floor will be one of the most important stats in this game. If the Mocs can get 75% of the defensive rebounds in this game, they will really help their chances. If it is closer to 65%, then the Catamounts will have a big edge.
--Sumler will have a much better game this time around.
--Gee McGhee will continue his current hot play, and so will Z Mason.
--Drazen Zlovaric, who has been playing better since the first Western Carolina game, will continue to play well.
--Western Carolina 78, Mocs 71. The Mocs have played better on Thursdays in general in SoCon play. They are 4-2 on Thursdays. While that may be a fluke, it happens when they have a little bit of time off between games. Of course, last week, the Mocs were blown out by UNCG on a Thursday. So, who knows if that has any bearing or not. Still, look for the Mocs to play better than they played in the Wofford and UNCG games. Look for the Mocs to make this one interesting, but for Sumler and Tankelwicz to make key shots down the stretch and come up with the win.

GO MOCS!

Battle of North vs. South- 2/27/13

Wednesday Scores

Davidson (S) 69
Elon (N) 63

Georgia Southern (S) 66
UNCG (N) 60

at North
North- 12
South- 12

at South
North- 13
South- 11

Overall
North- 25
South- 23

ANALYSIS

The North beat the South this year, but the South really narrowed the gap at the end. The South is making up a ton of ground on the North here at the end. The question is if they will be able to win the Battle of North vs. South: Tournament Edition. We'll see. This should be an interesting finish to the year. College of Charleston and Davidson went 15-1 against the North, and the rest of the South went 8-24 against the North. That is how the North won this battle.

SoCon Monster Game of the Week: Samford at Appalachian State

The Battle for the Fourth Bye comes down to this. Samford needs to only win this game and they will get the bye. If Appalachian State beats Samford and Chattanooga, they will get the bye. This is how the bye is decided.

Of course, it is not completely how the bye is decided. Both Western Carolina and Chattanooga can still get the fourth bye. However, this is the game that dictates what matters from this point forward. While Western Carolina and Chattanooga are battling in Cullowhee, they will be keeping an eye on the scoreboard to see the result of this one.

The Bulldogs beat Appalachian State 72-68 earlier this year. Raijon Kelly leads Samford in scoring with 14.8 points per game and also has 4.8 assists per game. He has made his way into the discussion for the All SoCon teams. Kelly is shooting 43.4% from three point range. Kelly also averages almost one steal per game. His assists to turnover is 1.4.

Tim Williams ia also a contender for an All SoCon team and for Freshman of the Year. He's averaging 7.0 rebounds per game, and 14.3 points per game. He is shooting 54% from the floor. He's also come up with 1.2 blocks per game.

Williams is not the only contender for an All Freshman team on the Bulldogs. Clide Geffrard Jr. is also one of the top freshman in the league. He's averaging 11.4 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding, with 4.4 boards per contest. Tyler Hood scored fourteen against UNCG last time out, and is averaging 8.2 points per game. He is shooting 36.5% from three point range.

Samford is last in the league in OR% and is seventh in DR%. The Bulldogs leads the league in eFG% at 54.5%. They are shooting 41.5% from three point range, which is also tops in the SoCon. They are the best in the league at forcing turnovers too.

Appalachian State is lead by Nathan Healy. He leads the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game, rebounding at 7.6 boards per contest, steals with 1.9 per game, and blocks with 1.4. He is among the SoCon leaders in all those categories as well. Healy also is shooting 40.2% from three point range and nearly 50% from the floor.

Mike Neal leads the team in assists with 3.4 per game. He's also averaging nine points per game and 1.1 steals per game. He was out early in the year, and Neal has been playing well since he returned, and the Mountaineers have been much better since then as well.

Jay Canty averages 14.1 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, along with 2.8 assists per game. He is second in all of those categories on the team. Canty and Healy combined are both excellent contributors to the team and will have to have huge games in the future. Tab Hamilton may be the most explosive three point shooter on the team. Healy is even better percentage-wise. However, Hamilton is shooting 38.3% from three point range. He averages 9.9 points per game.

Appalachian State is mediocre in rebounding percentages. They are the third best team in the SoCon in three point field goal percentage defense. They are ranked second to last in the conference in forcing turnovers.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--The Mountaineers will make some threes.
--The Bulldogs will challenge the Mountaineers three point defense.
--Williams and Geffrard will have big games in the lane, and Kelly will also have a decent game.

--Samford 67, Appalachian State 65. This game is as 50/50 as they come. Who knows who will win this game? With the way The Citadel walked into Boone and won last week, it makes me wonder if the Mountaineers have quit on the season. Maybe they have. That's the reason that I picked Samford. Healy will have a solid game, and Williams will too. This is going to be huge. In the end, Samford locks down the fourth bye.

Daily Dribbles- 2/27/13

--The Spartans and Eagles play on Wednesday night. The loser is almost guaranteed the ten seed, unless they can beat Elon or Davidson on Saturday. The winner could get up to the seven seed without any real upsets happening. These two could wind up meeting again next Friday night.

--Davidson-Elon tonight will be available on Elon's website. Check it out.

--Samford's trip to Appalachian State and Chattanooga's trip to Western Carolina on Thursday night should be a fun night of trying to figure out the final bye.

--The Citadel hosts Furman in the Pillow Fight of the Week. The loser is likely to be the 12th seed, while the winner is the likely 11th seed. Good luck!

The Case for Z- He Demands SoCon Respect

Yesterday, I made the case for Gee McGhee to win Freshman of the Year. Tonight, I'll attempt to make an equal case for Z Mason to be 1st Team All SoCon. I think a case could be made for him to be SoCon Player of the Year, but that is an unlikely event given that Z is not playing for one of the big three schools in the SoCon this year.

Z Mason is one of just three players to be in the Top Ten for the season in points and rebounds. He is tenth in points and fourth in rebounds. Mike Groselle of The Citadel is fourth in points and third in rebounds, while Nathan Healy is ninth in points and second in rebounding. Mason is twelfth in the league in field goal percentage and tenth in blocked shots. So, it's easy to see that Mason is consistently near the top of the league statistically.

In SoCon games only, only two players rank in the Top 4 in points and rebounds. Mason is tied for fourth in scoring and tied for fourth in rebounding. Healy is tied for fourth in points with Mason, and is first in rebounding. So, again, Mason has clearly established that he is one of the top players in the league. Just for the record, Healy probably deserves to be on the first team as well.

But that does not tell the whole story. The fact is that this year's Mocs team desperately needed leadership. Mason had to really take control of the team. He had to become the vocal leader on this club, and it appears that is exactly what he has done. He went out and worked hard and made sure that the Mocs worked hard.

Yes, this Mocs team has been blown out, and has struggled at various times, but the effort has been there most nights. That is thanks to Mason, who has been one of the ultimate leaders.

He is one of the big favorites to win the SoCon Player of the Year next year. I hope he gets the recognition he deserves this year for 1st Team All SoCon, and possibly Player of the Year. He has been a leader on the floor, and a leader off the floor, for a team that was picked to finish eleventh in the SoCon preseason, and is guaranteed to finish higher than that (although how much, no one knows, yet).

GO MOCS!

Daily Dribbles- 2/26/13

--Purple & Gold has an early preview of Thursday night's battle between Western Carolina and Chattanooga in Cullowhee.

--Just in case I haven't done enough to promote the SoCon Tournament yet, here's a link for those planning to go to Asheville.

--Davidson and Elon hook up Wednesday night. I think the Phoenix view this game as more important than the Wildcats. The Phoenix really want to prove they can beat the best in the SoCon. Davidson has no doubts that they can beat Elon. This game means nothing in terms of seeding, which makes it a great match-up, but one that means very little in the grand scheme of things.

--UNCG plays host to Georgia Southern on Wednesday night. The winner is in line to make a run at the seventh seed or maybe even higher with the right breaks. The loser is in line to fall to the tenth seed. It's actually fairly important to both teams seeding.

--The race for Freshman of the Year should be between Tim Williams of Samford and Gee McGhee of Chattanooga. Here's the case for McGhee.

The Case For Gee

The Mocs are playing for a bye this week, but there are a couple of players also competing for personal awards as the season wraps up.

The most interesting case may be for Gee McGhee, who is trying to win the Freshman of the Year.

Tim Williams of Samford, the player that is McGhee's biggest competition for Freshman of the Year, is averaging 14.1 points per game and is 13th in the SoCon. Williams is third in the SoCon in shooting percentage, and sixth in rebounding. Williams is also fourth in blocked shots, and seventh in steals.

McGhee ranks 20th in the SoCon in scoring at 11.9 points per game. He is 15th in the league in assists, and ranks eighth in steals per game.

In other words, his overall stats are not that far off from what Williams has done. It is surprising considering how much better most people consider Williams to be when compared to McGhee.

Then, when you look even closer, things get even more interesting. When looking at stats in SoCon play, McGhee actually ranks 11th in scoring at 14.2 points per game, while Williams is 12th at 14.1.  Williams is tied with Eric Ferguson, and both are ahead of Derrell Armstrong, Jack Isenbarger, Andrew Lawrence, and De'Mon Brooks. This tells you how well both have played in SoCon games this year. Williams is just tenth in rebounding in SoCon games. He is still third in shooting, while McGhee is 14th in assists. In terms of steals, Williams is sixth and McGhee is eighth. McGhee is also 14th in three point percentage.

In other words, in SoCon games, the two guys are basically equal players. It is almost impossible to distinguish between the two, given that they play vastly different positions. It is actually very exciting to have two candidates that both deserve consideration for being on a postseason All SoCon team (whether that be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team) that are both freshman. This speaks well for the future of the league.

McGhee is fighting the battle of perception. All season people expected Williams to win this award. He started off strong, and his play has not really diminished. The fact is that McGhee's performance has jumped, and he has basically demanded that he be in this conversation. In the last eleven games, McGhee has scored at least twelve points each time out, and is averaging 17.0 points during that stretch. He's also averaging 5.0 rebounds during that stretch and 2.2 assists. He's shooting 68.5% from the free throw line during that stretch, getting to the line about 8.5 times per game. If you take out the College of Charleston game where he went 3 of 9, he has shot 72.3% from the free throw line during this stretch run.

In other words, McGhee has had a huge run down the stretch. He has forced his way into a conversation that looked closed at the beginning of January. He deserves a ton of credit for that. I want the voters to at least really seriously consider McGhee when making their decision about the Freshman of the Year, because the case is compelling. It is good to have two worthy candidates this year, and I hope all the voters take a couple of minutes to really consider who they should be voting for.