Each week, bloggers from around the
SoCon gather together to give their views on the conference and the goings on
around the league. This is the third year we’ve been doing Scanning the SoCon.
Hopefully, it is the best year yet.
SCHEDULE
Monday
Western Carolina at Wofford (CSS)
Thursday
Appalachian
State at The Citadel
Elon
at Chattanooga
Davidson
at Western Carolina
Wofford
at Georgia Southern (WSAV-TV)
UNCG
at Samford (ESPN3)
Saturday
Wofford
at Furman
Western
Carolina at The Citadel
Georgia
Southern at Davidson
Elon
at Samford
UNCG
at Chattanooga (ESPN3)
POWER RANKINGS
1)
Elon
69.5 (1.5)
2)
Western
Carolina 68 (3)
3)
Davidson
64.5 (1.5)
4)
Chattanooga
64
5)
UNCG
49
6)
Georgia
Southern 39
7)
Wofford
36
8)
Samford
27
9)
Appalachian
State 22
10)
Furman
16
11)
The
Citadel 7
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DeMon Brooks, Davidson- 3 votes.
Others Receiving Votes: Z Mason,
Chattanooga (2.5 votes), Nick Paulos, UNCG (1), Kendrec Ferrara (.5)
GAME OF THE WEEK
Elon at Chattanooga- 4 votes
Others Receiving Votes: Davidson at
Western Carolina (3 votes)
QUESTIONS
Sum up your team.
Appalachian State- It got worse and
worse but there's now a ray of sunshine. The Apps lost and lost and lost, They
lost here, they lost there, they lost everywhere. Being one of the six teams out
of all 351 D1 teams without a D1 win was embarassing. There were good moments,
but uner Capel there's always been good moments. There's talent on this team,
but it's not a team. Both UNCG and UTC got rare wins in Boone and the Apps fell
on the road at Elon and Davidson in games that saw the home team make runs to
put it away in the second half. However this past Saturday the Apps got that elusive win, beating Georgia Southern rather
thoroughly. It was momentous in that usual starters Tevin Baskins (being
terrible) and Jay Canty (hand injury) didn't play. True freshman Ty Toney and
Mike Kobani got in the game and looked good albeit raw. At this point, most App
fans will take raw over experience seeing how that's played out so far. No
we'll see if Capel learns and adjusts the rotation once everyone is healthy. A
bye isn't out of the question as this league is really bad at the bottom. It's
Dayton or Bust for Capel.
Furman-
The Paladins are really starting to
play well as a team under first-year head coach Niko Medved, and the two losses
on the road at Samford and Georgia Southern certainly did hurt, and the Paladins
might be 3-3 in SoCon play right now instead of 1-5. But give Georgia Southern
and Samford credit for making the plays when they had to in those games. When
Chuck Reddick steps up to support Stephen Croone in the backcourt, this team
could be dangerous come March and one teams want to avoid in the SoCon
Tournament, especially if Kendrec Ferrara continues to produce in the post, as
well as Adonis Rwabigwi. Overall, I think Furman is on the right track and have
already equaled last season's win total with the victory over The Citadel.
Western Carolina- The
Cats only played one game in week 11, and the same for week 12. Having 7 days
between games is not good (for two straight weeks) unless the team has
injuries, and needs time to recuperate. I think that the long periods between
games may have hurt the Catamounts edge and offense coming into last week's
Georgia Southern game, and Saturday's Samford game. Both games we close, with
the Cats taking the win in the last minute of the game. This coming week, the
Cats have three games, Monday, Thursday, Saturday. Who does this scheduling?
Who is the best point guard in the
SoCon?
Appalachian State- Trey Sumler. He
can put the team on his back, dribbles well and has been in Cullowhee for what
feels like a decade.
Furman- Stephen Croone of
Furman.
Western Carolina- In
my opinion, it would be Trey Sumler.
Who is the most overrated coach in the
SoCon?
Appalachian State- Hard to say
since there’s a bunch of new coaches. The John Shulman Memorial Award goes to
Wes Miller from UNCG. Yes, he took over as interim two years ago and won the
North Division, but with as much talent as UNCG has, he hasn’t done much with
it.
Furman- Mike Young of
Wofford.
Western Carolina- Again, in my
opinion only, it’s Elon Matt Matheny. Not taking anything away from Matheny, he
is a good coach, but I think that since he came out of the Davidson program, he
gets too much comparison as the second coming of Bob McKillop. I’m not unhappy
that he’s going to the CAA. I did say he’s a good coach, and Eon spends lots of
money on their basketball program.
Your team is down two. There is ten
seconds left in the game. Do you want your team to shoot a two or a three? Who
do you want to take the shot on your team?
Appalachian State- Show like you’re
going to shoot three, then pass to a forward going down the lane who gets the
high percentage shot and perhaps the foul if the defense doesn’t rotate. Have
Burgess handle the ball and hit Canty going down the lane.
Furman- I put the ball
in the hands of Stephen Croone and let him drive to the basket and try and tie
the game, or if I am going for the win, I let William Gates or Larry Wideman
take the shot.
Georgia Southern- I've always felt
that if you are down 2 then you try for the 2, but if the defense collapses on
the drive and leaves you with an open 3 on the kickout then you take it. I
can't stand it when a team is down 2 and plays completely behind the 3 point
line. As for who, I want the ball in Jelani Hewitt's hands if it's GSU. Spread
the floor and let him try and get to the basket.
Western Carolina- Trey Sumler and whichever
shot is open for him, a two or a three pointer. Sumler thrives under this kind
of pressure, and will usually make that kind of shot.
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