Dement Out- A UNCG Fans' Reaction

As a SoCon fan, and in my unending quest to get the conference more coverage, I wanted to write a little bit more about the UNCG coachin situation.

Fortunately for me, I was approached by someone that I have gained a bit of a relationship with over the previous year through the internet who is a UNCG fan. He writes for Scanning the SoCon on a weekly basis, and always provides insightful thoughts.

So, I thought I'd ask him a few questions, and see what he had to say. I thought his answers were insightful and interesting. If you are interested in the UNCG coaching search and what's been going on there, this should make for an interesting read.

Hope you enjoy it!

His blog can be found here. A very special thank you to him for taking the time to do this.

What do you think the breaking point was for Dement that caused him to be fired midseason?

I'm not sure if there was any one thing that brought this on now. Dement has spent the last two seasons on the hot seat. However, a widely accepted rumor has been that former AD Nelson Bobb gave Dement a contract extension right before he left. So the new AD has been forced to stick with him whether she believed in him or not. This year was the last year of that deal. I guess AD Kim Record decided she couldn't wait any longer. Fall recruiting hadn't went as well as hoped and I can only guess that this was a move to try to shore it up as quickly as possible.

Were you in favor of making the move now?

I think there are some advantages to making it now. First, if you think Miller is a possible candidate then this is a great time to see what he's got. Also, It may give UNCG something to sell to spring signees. I think it would be a good sales pitch for Miller to say, "I took a 2-8 team and finished 15-15. We're building momentum." Also, if Miller is obviously not ready, UNCG has just given itself a 3 month head start on other programs that will be making a change at the end of the year. They can already get in contacts with possible candidates and, maybe have one in place much earlier in the process than other schools.

What do you think about Miller?

Honestly, I don't know enough about him to give this a good answer. He seems to have been born to be a coach. He was a walk-on at UNC (after being on scholarship at James Madison) that turned himself into a starting PG and team captain. So, you know he has some leadership qualities. He apparently has some very good prep school connections in the northeast and is credited with picking up current freshman Nick Paulos. So, he does have some upside. Plus, he's only 28. When you think about some of the rising stars in coaching right now (Brad Stevens, Shaka Smart, etc.) most got their first big break at around the same age. Not sure if Miller can be as successful as those guys here at UNCG. If the administration thinks he might have some of those guys in him, might as well give him a shot.

Are there any candidates out there to take the job long term? Is Miller the long term answer?


Well, here's where things get a little tricky. I don't think there are any other candidates. I think Miller has been the guy all along and will continue to be the guy beyond this year as far as the athletics department is concerned. There are wild flying rumors that several people that hold "clout" with the university are graduates of UNC and have been dreaming of a Tarheel running the show at UNCG. However, I wonder (if these rumors are true) will these people will be inclined to give increased financial support to the program. That is something G is sorely needing right now. If this is happening this simply to get a home game with UNC at the Greensboro Coliseum, then I am beyond outraged.

However in the fictitious world where an actual search takes place after this season, three names absolutely scream at me as possible coaching candidates. One is former WFU and South Carolina HC (and Greensboro resident) Dave Odom. I have no idea if he'd be interested based on desire to coach again or based on extreme budget restrictions that come with the job. However, he's spotted quite frequently at our games and maybe the success of other big name coaches (Bobby Cremins, Cliff Ellis) at other mid-major jobs might entice him. Who knows? I think there has to be a phone call made to him.

The second person has to be former Charlotte HC Bobby Lutz. He is currently having a successful stint as an assistant coach at NC State. I've heard that he is making more money at that position than I think we will be offering for our HC spot. So, if money is his issue then we have no shot. If he wants to move back to the big chair, then he might be willing to listen. Plus, he's a NC native. Again, I think it's a call that needs to be made.

My final suggestion is completely off the grid. However, geographically and financially it would make
sense. I think that local Guilford College coach Tom Palombo would be a great choice. He's coached Guilford to 4 straight DIII NCAA tournaments (including back-to-back final fours). He's coached 2 of the last 4 DIII National players of the year and has a 104-19 coaching record the last 4 years. His team this year is already 7-2 (one loss to Davidson). The question is can he recruit to the D1 level. Also, is he comfortable staying at that level or does he have the ambition to move up to a bigger challenge. I've seen his teams play and I think he could definitely be a coaching star.

What about the defection of Cody Henegar? Why do you think he left the team?

I haven't heard a lot about this except that he was unhappy with his role on the team. I've heard he had some defensive limitations that kept him from seeing a lot of playing time. Not sure about the truth to that, though. Cody seemed to have a nice "face the basket" game and would have probably figured heavily into the rotation next year. So, I hate to see him go. I absolutely expect there to be at least another defection or two before the dust settles. And maybe that is a good thing. Whatever was going on up until now wasn't working at all. Something had to change. So, if some guys feel like they need to be other places to succeed, then so be it. I wish Cody and who ever else leaves good luck.

How do you think the Spartans will respond to all this? Let's face it. They've been a wreck, between the blowout loss to UNC-A&T, and the Twitter crisis, and now this. Do they have anything left in the tank to make a run in the SoCon and go from 0-3 in league play into contention for a bye from the North?

Its hard to imagine things can get much worse. I mean, with the way they've treated their fans, I guess the team could just jump into the crowd and start randomly punching people like they were in NBA. But that's getting off point. I think we've already started to see a much better UNCG team. Ever since Drew Parker was inserted into the starting lineup at PG, the team has played much better. I'm not sure how the coaching change is going to play with the team now. I think there are at least one or two of the guys that had mentally given up on Dement. Maybe a new message will cause them to bring a different attitude to the court. I may be wrong, but I think UNCG can realistically go10-10 over it's last remaining games this season. And that would be a very successful run for coach Miller.

Double Dribbles- 12-14-11

1) Brad Loesing was named the SoCon Player of the Week for last week. His 24 points led the way as Wofford upset previously unbeaten Tulane at home. He also had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists against Virginia-Wise in the closer than expected win. Loesing is one of the few returning players for the Terriers this year. He is the conference leader in minutes played so far. He has been the Terriers best player,and is the reason that their fall off this year has not been anywhere near as steep as expected.

2) Mike Dement is out as UNCG's head coach. His run was not very successful this time around, especially since Kyle Hines left. Part of that is the murderer's row schedule that the administration handed him. Part of it was not getting the parts to play up to their abilities. Part of it was the players being a little too outspoken on Twitter. Regardless, the fan base was growing apathetic, and in some cases even turning on the team to some degree after the Twitter insults. It was time for a change- and I'm not one in favor of in-season changes normally. This was really a rare exception. Nonetheless, I wish him nothing but the best because he genuinely seems to be a good guy.

Mocs 98, Spalding 48

FOUR FACTORS (plus two)

eFG%
Mocs- 70.4%
Spalding- 40.2%
Advantage- Mocs

TO%
Mocs- 20.8%
Spalding- 33.2%
Advantage- Mocs

OR%
Mocs- 37.0%
Spalding- 19.4%
Advantage- Mocs

FTRate
Mocs- 57.4%
Spalding- 25.5%
Advantage- Mocs

FT%
Mocs- 71.0%
Spalding- 53.9%
Advantage- Mocs

3PtRate
Mocs- 51.9%
Spalding- 41.2%

PLAYER RATER

Overall
1) Keegan Bell 29.5
2) Dontay Hampton 25.4
3) Ricky Taylor 24.2
4) Omar Wattad 23.2
5) Drazen Zlovaric 21.5
6) Chris Early 17.6
7) Rico White 16.1
8) Z Mason 13.3
9) Jahmal Burroughs 4.9
10) Lance Stokes 4.6
11) Jared Bryant 4.0
12) Martynas Bareika 2.8
13) Drew Baker 1.0
14) Trey Brown 0.0

Per 40
1) Dontay Hampton 59.8
2) Z Mason 58.9
3) Omar Wattad 46.4
4) Ricky Taylor 46.1
5) Lance Stokes 46.0
6) Keegan Bell 42.1
7) Rico White 40.3
8) Drazen Zlovaric 39.1
9) Jahmal Burroughs 27.7
10) Chris Early 26.1
11t) Jared Bryant 16.0
11t) Marytnas Bareika 16.0
13) Drew Baker 8.0
14) Trey Brown 0.0

ANALYSIS

What do we take from a blowout over a D-III team? It's hard to take much. But let's get one thing straight right off the bat.

The Mocs shot the ball well.

In a shocking twist to this season full of awful shooting, the Mocs shot over 50% from the floor and exactly 50% from the field, which means that they came out to over 70% on effective field goal percentage. That is a darn good night for the Mocs shooting the ball.

For a team that has been struggling to shoot, could this be the night that they needed to get going? Could this be the night that the Mocs suddenly turn into the decent shooting team that we all expected them to be in the preseason?

It's easy to ignore the turnovers (there were too many, but they did force a bunch), the free throws, the rebounding (which was not good in the first half but really picked up in the second half), or any other positive to take from the game. But the fact is that the Mocs needed to start shooting the ball well and see the ball go through the basket. They shot just 48.5% against Warren Wilson and made only 30.8% from three point range in that game. This was different. This was shooting the ball well all the way around.

Also, the Mocs scored 88 against Warren Wilson and 82 against Tennessee Wesleyan, while tonight they put home 98.

This was their best offensive night of the year. We all get it. The Mocs were playing Spalding. This is not exactly taking on Kentucky on Saturday night (like they will have to do this weekend). But to watch the ball go through the hoop may give the Mocs the confidence they need to at least shoot the ball reasonably well from outside against the Wildcats, which is the only way this game can be kept respectable.

Dontay Hampton and Rico White continue to impress me a great deal. Keegan Bell had a good game. People say that Bell does not need to be scoring so much. I maintain that the Mocs look the best when he is scoring. They play good basketball when he is a scorer as well as a passer.

Bryant and Stokes still look good to me as well, for future players. 

The Mocs need to continue improving and it is tough to take anything from this game. Regardless, the Mocs played well against Spalding tonight. Doesn't mean a whole lot in the long run, but the Mocs can build on this performance, I think.

GO MOCS!

SoCon Monster Game of the Week Preview: Tennessee at College of Charleston

Time: 9:00
TV: ESPN2

Tennessee has been a mystery wrapped up in a riddle so far this year. They had close losses to Duke and Memphis, before an upset loss to Oakland, before a tight loss to Pittsburgh, before an upset loss to Austin Peay. So, the Vols have been playing up or down to their competition lately. Their dominating performance against Chaminade hardly counts, and the wins over UNC-Greensboro and UL-Monroe seem like a long time ago.

Last year, College of Charleston dominated the Vols in Knoxville. Can they pull off the win over an SEC team for a second straight year- this time in Charleston?

The Vols have four players averaging in double figures, with Trae Golden leading the way at 15.1 points per game. Jordan McRae is averaging 13.9 points per game. Jeronne Maymon is averaging 13.8. Cameron Tatum is averaging 10.3.

Golden, McRae, and Tatum all are shooting over 40% from three point range, while Maymon is shooting nearly 60% from the floor by playing well on the inside. Maymon is averaging 7.9 rebounds per game, while Kenny Hall is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game. The Vols have been allowing over 73 points per game, which is not very good, even though they average just a shade under 80. They've been outrebounding their opponents by 4 per game.

The Cougars have four double figure scorers of their own. Antwaine Wiggins leads the team in scoring with 17.4 points per game. Sometimes his shot selection is not very good, especially considering that he is a senior, but on the whole, Wiggins has turned into a very good player. Andrew Lawrence is averaging 13.6 points per game, while Trent Wiedemann is averaging 13.5. Anthony Stitt is averaging 10.3.

Wiedemann is averaging 8.8 rebounds per game, while Wiggins is averaging 6.4, and Adejhi Baru is averaging 5.6. Baru has been good, but not great as a freshman. He's probably been a bit of a disappointment. He's good, and he will be much better by the time the season ends.

KEYS TO THE GAME

--Will the Vols play up or down? Since the Cougars beat them, will they be looking for revenge or think they should beat a SoCon team? How will they respond to the stunning upset to Austin Peay?
--Antwaine Wiggins is a tough match-up for any SoCon team. Not quite as much for an SEC team How will he match-up in this game?
--Will Maymon have a big game against the Cougars Baru and Wiedemann?

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--Wiggins will score between 10 and 15.
--Lawrence and Golden will get into a shootout between them.
--This will be a tight game from start to finish.
--College of Charleston 84, Tennessee 79. The Cougars offense is very good and Lawrence will score in the 20s. The Vols are capable of winning despite the fact that the Cougars are probably the better team and playing at home. Should be an interesting one with the Vols playing up to their competition, only to fall just short late.

Double Dribbles- 12-13-11

1) Why will Davidson struggle to get anyone to win Player of the Year? I think that can best be answered in the Scanning the SoCon for this week, when three different guys got picked as the Player of the Year at this point. Jake Cohen, JP Kuhlman, and De'Mon Brooks all got picked by different guys. It also explains why they are one of the biggest threats to win the conference championship, and also a threat to pull some upsets in the NCAA Tournament. Getting Player of the Year? Probably unlikely.

2) Such a light week of games this week, but....how about those battles in Charleston? Charleston Southern plays both The Citadel and College of Charleston. The battle for the city bragging rights is on the line this weekend. The Citadel has already lost to the Cougars, so the Cougars are the big favorites to win the city title. But this should still be some of the entertaining games in a light week of games. Let's see if the Bulldogs can get to second at least.

Spalding Preview: Welcoming Home A Legend

Time: 7:00 PM
TV: None (MocsVision)

Spalding University is a Division III team that competes in the SLIAC (Saint Louis Independent Athletic Conference). The Golden Eagles are 1-6 on the season. They have played just two road games, back in mid-November, a 15 point loss to Transylvania and a 44 point loss to an 8-1 Coastal Carolina team.

The Golden Eagles are coached by Kevin Gray, a Mocs Hall of Famer. He's been at Spalding since 1998 and has had a successful run there.

The Golden Eagles are lead by Jametrius Brasher is averaging 13.1 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. He is a 6-6 junior, and one that could potentially be a match-up problem for Chris Early down low. Montray Robinson (a 6-7 center) has started just one game but is the team's second leading scorer with 7.2 points per game. He is only playing about 13 minutes per game.

Johnell Hardin is the team leader in assists-to-turnover ratio, at 1.4. He's only averaging 4.0 points per game. Quayshaun Hamilton is the leading three point shooter at 7 of 24 three pointers for 29.2 percent shooting. He is averaging 5.4 points per game.

Thomas Blakemore is another of the team's better players. He scores 6.7 points per game. Chris McDonald has 5.4 rebounds per game. Tyler St. Julian is averaging 6.7 points per game with 18 minutes per game.

The Golden Eagles are averaging 58 points per game, while shooting under 40% from the floor and 25% from three point range. They do average 36.4 rebounds per game.

The Mocs are a good defensive team, that is holding opponents to 41% from the floor. They also rebound well, so Spalding's rebounding could be a tough thing for the Mocs to deal with.

KEYS TO THE GAME

--Rebounding. The Mocs need to rebound the ball well, and shut Spalding down on the boards to cut off any chance.
--Early vs. Brasher. Brasher is the Golden Eagles best player. If Early can control him, then the Golden Eagles offense will be cut off at the head.
--Keegan Bell. Bell needs to have a nice game and dominate the tempo and set the tone early on.
--Drazen Zlovaric. He should have the biggest game he has had yet this year.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--The Mocs defense has been holding teams to around 41% shooting, and the Golden Eagles have under 40% shooting. The Mocs should be able to hold the Eagles down on shooting significantly to around 30-35% shooting.
--Zlovaric will explode for at least 20 points.
--Brasher will get some points, but Early will outplay him.
--The Mocs will continue to struggle shooting.
--Mocs 76, Spalding 45. The Golden Eagles will not be able to score much, but the Mocs will not be able to shoot well enough. They are just struggling too much offensively. It would be really nice if the Mocs could get upwards of 100 points, but that just doesn't seem likely at this point.

GO MOCS!

Scanning the SoCon-Week Six

A delayed Week Six Edition!

Let's get straight to it.

DavidsonCats- Davidson Fan.
MocsMania- Chattanooga Fan.
TheSportsArsenal- The Citadel Fan.
UNCGBasketballFan- UNC-Greensboro Fan.

SCHEDULE

Sunday, December 11
UNC-Greensboro at Florida State (Fox SportSouth/ESPN3)
Lynchburg at Elon
Jacksonville at Furman

Tuesday, December 13
Spalding at Chattanooga

Wednesday, December 14
Charleston Southern at The Citadel
Tennessee at College of Charleston (ESPN2/ESPN3)

Friday, December 16
East Carolina at UNC-Greensboro

Saturday, December 17
Charleston Southern at College of Charleston (ESPN3)
Appalachian State at North Carolina (ESPNU)
Chattanooga at Kentucky (CSS/ESPN3)
Furman at Western Kentucky

POWER RANKINGS

1t) College of Charleston 46 (2)
1t) Davidson 46 (2)
3) Elon 40
4) Western Carolina 34
5) Wofford 31
6) Georgia Southern 27
7) Furman 22
8) Appalachian State 21
9) Chattanooga 20
10) Samford 10
11) The Citadel 8
12) UNC-Greensboro 7

QUESTIONS

Sum up your team.

DavidsonCats- Davidson lost a close game at home to Vanderbilt and then got blown out in the second half of a rivalry game at Charlotte. De'Mon Brooks was fantastic against Vandy with 24 points, 9 rebounds and lots of emotion. Last night, he had 3 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 fouls. And he got the fouls in very little time. Some Wildcat fans are willing to write this off as an inexplicable loss in a rivalry game. It was during exams and in a venue where the Wildcats have never won a game. Other fans think that the inability to stay in front of quick offensive players will continue to cost us games. The Wildcats now have 9 days off before playing at Kansas. Then it is off to UMass, Christmas, and a home game against Penn before we resume conference play.

MocsMania- Prior to the season, I said that the Mocs could be 4-5 at this point if things went really bad. And they are 2-7. Ouch. I'm not surprised by the three game road losing streak to Georgia Southern, College of Charleston, and Mercer. I am surprised by the losses to Kennesaw State and Gardner-Webb. Really, those are the only two games that have gone a way that could not be foreseen in the preseason. This team right now is not good. They should get it turned around- eventually. Ironically, I also said that a record like this would mean there was no way they could win the North. Not so fast, given how weak the North has been. Still, there needs to be some improvement to really be a threat to get a bye. The next three games are virtually pointless- Spalding and Hiwassee are easy wins, and Kentucky is an easy loss. The Dr Pepper Classic just before New Year is the next time we'll learn anything about the Mocs.

TheSportsArsenal- The Citadel played one game last week, and lost badly at home to Coastal Carolina. The Bulldogs continued to struggle on defense (currently rated in the bottom 15 nationally by Pomeroy). If the D doesn’t get better, and soon, it is going to be an even longer year for The Citadel than expected. This week the Bulldogs host Charleston Southern. I want to see if the Bulldogs can improve defensively, and I also want to see someone on the interior take pressure off of Mike Groselle.

UNCGBasketballFan- UNCG only played Elon this week. And I really thought the team brought a lot of energy to the court and played very well. Elon is just that improved this season. The Spartans still haven't had a very good offensive performance this season. If G could consistently shoot north of 40%, they would be in much better shape. However, once again a G player has taken to Twitter to bash the fans (over what, I have no idea). This time, freshman Nick Paulos has made some remarks. There appears to be a lot of internal stuff going with the team. But their continuing bashing of the fan base is eroding most of our loyalty to the team.

What is the game that you are looking most forward to this week that does not involve your team?

DavidsonCats- This is a week where the conference has a chance to get some nice wins. The best chance for a win over a big name team comes on Wednesday when Tennessee travels to Charleston to play CofC. The Vols just lost at home to APSU. Go Cougars.

MocsMania- I guess, in this incredibly light week of games, it must be Tennessee's visit to College of Charleston. I was tempted to say Furman's trip to Western Kentucky, but didn't. The Cougars are definitely the favorites against the Vols after the Vols downright awful loss to Austin Peay over the weekend.

TheSportsArsenal- I suppose Tennessee-College of Charleston is the best game on the schedule this week, but the Vols’ loss to Austin Peay took some of the shine off that matchup. No word on if Dick Vitale stood on his head after this particular victory by Austin Peay…

UNCGBasketballFan- Charleston-Tennessee is an intriguing match up. The Spartans struggled big time with the Vols. However, I think CofC has the talent and the coaching to really have a shot at UT. The bonus is that it's on TV.

Who would you vote for Freshman of the Year at the moment?

DavidsonCats- The two leaders for FOY right now look like Austin Hamilton and Karl Cochran. Hamilton is the starting point guard for the Phoenix. He's averaging 29.5 mpg, 9.4 ppg, and 2.9 assists/game on the best team in the North Division. He'd get my vote. Karl Cochran is playing very well for a Wofford team that is much better than expected.

MocsMania- Austin Hamilton, Elon. As the point guard, he is one of the main reasons that Elon has been surprassing expectations by so much. If he keeps on improving, the Phoenix could get even better.

TheSportsArsenal- Anthony Stitt of the College of Charleston. Tyler Hood of Samford has had a good start, too.

UNCGBasketballFan- Baru seems the most likely choice. So far, he's had the biggest impact on his team. I really thought Charleston would struggle at least some this season trying to replace so many big pieces of their team. Baru has really helped with the transition.

Who would you vote for the Coach of the Year at the moment?

DavidsonCats- COY looks easy right now. Matt Matheny at Elon.

MocsMania- Bobby Cremins, College of Charleston. Mike Matheny of Elon is the easy choice, and certainly a very good one that I could be talked into easily, but Cremins has done a really good job. Maybe it's because I expected the Cougars to be a distant second in the South, and I currently have voted them number one in the whole league. So, there you go. Some Cougar fans may think that I was out of line to think so little of them in the preseason, but they have so far exceeded my expectations that I have to give Cremins some love.

TheSportsArsenal- Matt Matheny of Elon.

 

UNCGBasketballFan- Matt Matheny, and I don't think it's even close. Having seen his team in person this season, it's obvious that he is the main reason that team is playing better. He uses subs and timeouts in the perfect spot and seems to draw up the right play when needed.

Who would you vote for the Player of the Year at the moment?

DavidsonCats- Statistically, Mike Groselle is having a monster year. I don't think he's the best player in the conference. His team is 332 in the Sagarin and 310 in the Pomeroy. But he's my leader for POY in mid-December. I expect a CofC or Davidson player to overtake Groselle by March.

MocsMania- De'Mon Brooks, Davidson. I've been a huge fan of Brooks for the last twelve months. A lot of people think there are other Wildcats who are better, and I may agree by the end of the year, but I still am in love with Brooks (excluding his bad game against UNC-Charlotte). Mike Groselle (The Citadel), Antwaine Wiggins (College of Charleston), and Eric Ferguson (Georgia Southern) are the other top candidates.

TheSportsArsenal- Jake Cohen of Davidson was my pre-season pick. I see no real reason to change that right now.

 

UNCGBasketballFan- I think it's entirely too early for this one to have played out yet. Right now, I'm saying JP Kuhlman. Davidson is clearly the best team in the league and I think he's the best player on that team.

Double Dribbles- 12-12-11

1) Davidson's loss to UNC-Charlotte over the weekend was ugly- and not only was it ugly, but it probably really hurts the Wildcats chances of getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In fact, barring an upset of Kansas or running the conference table all the way to the title game, this probably put an end to those hopes. Can't have losses like this in a blowout fashion and expect to get an at-large bid. All in all, not a good week for Davidson, who came up just short against Vanderbilt at home, and then were destroyed by the 49ers.

2) Appalachian State continues to be a puzzle. That makes two blowout losses to East Tennessee State for the year. The same week, they nearly pull off an upset at Minnesota. So which Mountaineers are for real? It's tough to tell from here. It looks like they are struggling to fit all the pieces together at this point. They go to North Carolina on Saturday, so more than likely that is not the place to try and get well. This Mountaineers team may continue to be a mystery (like so much of the North seems to be at this point) well into conference play.

SoCon Monster Game of the Week: Tennessee at College of Charleston

The Vols are really struggling and Charleston smells blood in their home battle with an SEC school. It can't hurt the Cougars to try to beat an SEC school, even a struggling one like the Vols.

This should be an interesting battle, and a key one if the Cougars are going to be able to get into the conversation for an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Should be a tremendous game. Can't wait for it. Coming Wednesday night....

Scanning the SoCon- Week Six (ON MONDAY)

Currently, I have been unable to complete Scanning the SoCon- Week Six. I plan to post it tomorrow evening, sometime before I do the preview for the Mocs game on Tuesday against Spalding.

I apologize for the delay and look forward to getting it to all of you tomorrow.

Mercer 67, Mocs 56

FOUR FACTORS (plus two)

eFG%
Mocs- 46.9%
Mercer- 51.0%
Advantage- Mercer

TO%
Mocs- 26.1%
Mercer- 19.5%
Advantage- Mercer

OR%
Mocs- 25.0%
Mercer- 27.3%
Advantage- Mercer

FTRate
Mocs- 40.8%
Mercer- 34.7%
Advantage- Mocs

FT%
Mocs- 50.0%
Mercer- 63.0%
Advantage- Mercer

3PtRate
Mocs- 42.9%
Mercer- 53.1%

PLAYER RANKER

Overall
1) Omar Wattad 27.8
2) Ricky Taylor 15.5
3) Chris Early 12.8
3) Keegan Bell 12.8
5) Drazen Zlovaric 12.0
6) Dontay Hampton 8.5
7) Z Mason 4.3
8) Jahmaal Burroughs 0.7
9) Lance Stokes 0.0
10) Rico White -1.1

Per 40
1) Omar Wattad 32.7
2) Ricky Taylor 27.0
3) Chris Early 23.2
4) Dontay Hampton 16.1
5) Z Mason 14.3
6) Keegan Bell 14.2
7) Drazen Zlovaric 14.1
8) Jahmal Burroughs 4.7
9) Lance Stokes 0.0
10) Rico White -7.3

ANALYSIS

Things started off so well to end so badly. The Mocs jumped out to a 17-4 lead and I, for one, thought, "Yes! The Mocs carried over their good performance against Charleston and are had a week off and are going to play their best game yet! This is great." Not so much.

After falling behind by 17, I realized that the Mocs had been outscored by thirty since that time.

What was the killer for the Mocs? Was it the nearly nine  minute scoreless drought that spanned the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half? Was it making just 5 of 14 free throws in the second half, including several front ends of 1 and 1s? Or was it jumping out to the early lead with hot shooting which lead to the Mocs taking quick shots from the outside for much of the remainder of the first half? That meant that once the shots quit falling, the Mocs quickly let Mercer back into the game.

Make no mistake. Mercer is a good basketball team. They nearly beat Belmont last weekend. They hammered the Mocs last night for much of the game. Every time the Mocs tried to get something going in their comeback attempt, they would miss a key free throw that would slow their momentum.

The fact is that the Mocs continued to show some positive qualities though. Last year, after the Mocs fell behind by 17, they would have let the final score balloon to 25. This year's team kept on fighting and got back into the game, where there was a chance of a miracle happening in the final two minutes. This is good. Last year's lacked the willpower to fight back in a lot of ways. This year's team does not.

So far that has not translated into wins.

This team is a pretty good (but not great) defensive team. Their problem is that in virtually every game, they have a long stretch where they just can't put the ball in the basket to save their life. Until they start putting the ball into the basket more consistently, they are going to continue to struggle. The problem is that between now and the Dr Pepper Classic, we really won't learn too much. Hiwassee, and Spalding should be dominant wins for the Mocs, while Kentucky should be a blowout loss. There is nothing to really be learned in any of those games.

Longwood on December 28 will teach us a lot, as will whoever the opponent is the next night (either Hampton or Utah Valley).

Omar Wattad played his best game of the year to date. Chris Early and Keegan Bell (two players that have to shoot well apparently for the Mocs to be close to effective offensively) combined for nine points, though they both made their presence felt in other ways. Stokes was not impressive on the offensive end. Rico White had his worst game in a while and did not seem to have the influence that he has been having on a game.

On top of all that, Mercer got a bunch of key offensive rebounds it seemed like, but it was slightly less critical than in recent games. So maybe that is slightly under control at this point.

Got to wait a long 18 days to find out where this team really is. The next three games will not teach us much, but will basically be extra practices to get ready for the remainder of the season, of which no game will be a given either way. Now's the time to go back to work and figure out where they are. This is a huge eighteen days- and one that we the fans will know very little about where things really are. So it's time to exhibit some patience and hope for the best in the Dr Pepper Classic.

GO MOCS!

Mercer Preview: The Biggest Yet

Time: 7:00
TV: None (ASun TV)

In a lot of ways, this game is the biggest game of the year to date. The Mocs have struggled to a 2-6 start, but showed some life last Saturday afternoon against College of Charleston. Now, they get a chance to build on that momentum against a very good Mercer Bears team.

Mercer is 6-3 on the season, and 1-1 in Atlantic Sun play, while also being 2-0 against SoCon teams Furman and Samford. Both of those wins came on the road, by an average of 74.5-62, although the win over Samford came in overtime on Wednesday night. The losses came to Missouri, South Dakota State, and Belmont, while the other D-1 wins are over Sam Houston State, Niagra, and Lipscomb. The Bears currently have an RPI of 112 according to live-rpi.com. They have not played at home since November 23, when they lost to South Dakota State.

Against Samford on Wednesday, Travis Smith and Monty Brown both had good games off the bench. Smith scored ten points, with four rebounds, three assists and steals. Brown had eight points and six rebounds. Smith has only played two games so far this year. So he is one of the Bears more important players as the season progresses.

Langston Hall leads the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game. He is the teams second best three point shooter at 37.2%. He has 3.4 rebounds per game and is the team leader in assists (3.7) and steals (1.7). The 6-4 guard will be tough to guard for anyone on the Mocs. He will be the toughest challenge for the Mocs.

Justin Cecil is the team's best three point shooter. He is shooting 42% from three point range. He is shooting 90% from the free throw line. He is the second leading scorer with 11.3 points per game.

Jakob Gollon and Bud Thomas are the team's two leading rebounders with 5.7 and 4.8 rebounds per game. Daniel Coursey is third in rebounding, but is averaging 2 blocks per game. Gollon and Thomas are both 6-6, while Coursey is 6-10. Coursey is averaging 4.7 rebounds per game. Bryant is 6-11 and starting to develop a bit.

Coursey needs to stay on the court. He is averaging 18.2 minutes per game. He is an incredibly dangerous weapon when he stays on the court, with his rebounding and his blocks, to go along with his nearly 70% shooting from the floor. But 18 minutes per game really limits his ability to explode. It's not always foul trouble that causes problems either. It's also his stamina.

Mercer is a middle of the road offensive team (ranking in the 140s in both scoring and field goal percentage), but are a good rebounding team (in the top 100 in the country). They are a team that plays similar to the way the Mocs play- trying to be good on defense and in rebounding, and hoping that the offense takes care of itself. So far for the Mocs, more often than the not, the offense has not been taking care of itself.

The Mocs defense (outside of Georgia Southern last Thursday) has been very effective. They have allowed too many offensive rebounds late in games to opponents, but the rebounding has been OK outside of that. The shooting remains abysmal. Easy shots from inside have been missed, and open looks from outside aren't falling either. Omar Wattad needs to get going for the Mocs. Their most prolific scorer a year ago and the player picked to finish second in Player of the Year voting in the preseason is making under 37% of his shots and under 36% from three point range.

The intrigue may be in how much a guy like Lance Stokes plays. He was so valuable against Georgia Southern in those closing minutes as the game tightened, but then did not see action against College of Charleston. He has shown flashes, but it is a little unclear where he fits into the rotation at this point in time.

KEYS TO THE GAME

--Rebounding. That's the name of the game. Always.
--Controlling Coursey. The big man from Mercer can contribute in a big way when he can stay on the court. The Mocs need to contain him during the minutes he is on the court, because Drazen Zlovaric will have his hands full with him.
--Rico White and Dontay Hampton. The Mocs players that have been playing the best off the bench need to step up and have big performances.
--Travis Smith. Will he continue to shine for the Bears?

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--Wattad will play his best game in weeks, thanks to the week off to rest and get closer to 100% healthy.
--Keegan Bell and Chris Early will both shoot well from three.
--Hall and Coursey will have the best games of any Bears.
--Coursey will dominate Zlovaric on the inside when he's in the game. When he is not, Zlovaric will play decently well.
--Mercer 68, Mocs 63. The Bears are playing good basketball and are inspired to be back home. The Mocs will show some aggression and fire, but the shots will continue to not fall. The Mocs will not come up with the win, but will give another good effort, giving the fans another glimmer of hope as the season progresses, though the moral victories will start to wear a little thin.

GO MOCS!

Double Dribbles- 12-9-11

1) There are ten games this weekend involving SoCon teams. With the conference lagging in the RPI rankings (currently 28th, though projected to finish 25th according to RPIForecast.com), Georgia Southern's trip to Eastern Kentucky, ETSU's visit to Appalachian State, Chattanooga's trip to Mercer, Davidson's battle with Charlotte, and Western Carolina's home battle against Kent State are probably the biggest games, because those are all winnable against decent opponents. The SoCon has struggled to come up with big out of conference wins this  year. It has been ugly so far. This weekend could turn into a big weekend for the conference with the right wins.

2) Appalachian State was blown out by ETSU in their visit to the Minidome earlier this year. Now the Mountaineers get their chance against the Bucs at home. The Bucs used to be in the SoCon, and they always were a battle. They were a tough out for every team. Can the Mountaineers get their revenge and help out the Bucs old conference? This would be a big win for Appalachian State. They seem to struggle for stretches of every game and that's why they are struggling. They lost to Minnesota in the last four minutes, where they got blown out. The Mountaineers got destroyed by Georgia Southern in the first half. They need to try to put a full game together. That would be a good win for the SoCon.

It's Time....

This is a big for any number of reasons.

The Mocs are a bumbling 2-6. They hit the road to take on Mercer on Saturday.

The Mocs are coming off one of their best performances of the season, a double overtime loss to College of Charleston on Saturday evening. The Mocs desperately need to build on that solid performance with another good performance.

The Mocs are also in bad need of coming up with a win. They are just 2-6 (as we said before), and the Mocs could really use another win heading into Spalding and Kentucky week.

This is a huge moment for the Mocs to step up. The Bears are very strong, despite a fairly average performance against Samford last night. But the Bears hung with a very good Belmont team all night long last weekend. If the Mocs can somehow upset Mercer on Saturday night, then they will start to put some of the early season struggles behind them.

This is a huge moment. It is time for the seniors to step up and lead the team. It's time to show the SoCon that the Mocs are serious about being a contender this year.

It's time.

GO MOCS!

Double Dribbles- 12-8-11

1) It was a rough night for the SoCon last night. Every team put up a valiant effort against a favored foe, but none were able to come away with wins in the end. Davidson's game against Vanderbilt was critical to the perception of the SoCon and to Davidson's at large chances come NCAA Tournament time. They dominated the first eight minutes and the last eight minutes, winning those stretches by 20 points. The middle 24 minutes they lost by 24, and got beat by four points on their home floor. The Wildcats now will rely heavily on beating Kansas at Kansas in a couple of weeks to have any shot at all at an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This is very unfortunate, because that was a good performance in coming back against the Commodores.

2) Samford and Western Carolina both lead at halftime, and Samford was able to take Mercer to overtime before succumbing to a Bears team that has been playing very well. The Bulldogs are not a particularly good SoCon team, but they made some threes last night to show that if they are hot shooting, they can be a tough out after all. Western Carolina was leading at Purdue last night before losing to the Boilermakers by five. That makes two Big Ten teams in two nights that teams from the North have put a scare into (Appalachian State against Minnesota Tuesday night). Maybe the SoCon North is starting to come around a bit with some of these performances. They have been badly outmatched so far this year, but maybe things are starting to look up.

Rankings- 12-7-11

RPI

1) Davidson 12
2) College of Charleston 85
3) Elon 133
4) Wofford 151
5) Furman 167
6) Western Carolina 219
7) Georgia Southern 285
8) Samford 311
9) Appalachian State 318
10) The Citadel 324
11) UNC-Greensboro 327
12) Chattanooga 329

SoCon Rank: 28

KenPom

1) Davidson 72
2) College of Charleston 109
3) Elon 201
4) Wofford 202
5) Appalachian State 227
6) Furman 234
7) Western Carolina 248
8) Chattanooga 254
9) Georgia Southern 266
10) UNC-Greensboro 295
11) Samford 296
12) The Citadel 309

Sagarin

1) Davidson 33
2) College of Charleston 81
3) Wofford 171
4) Elon 177
5) Furman 203
6) Western Carolina 235
7) Georgia Southern 265
8) Appalachian State 284
9) Samford 301
10) Chattanooga 306
11) UNC-Greensboro 331
12) The Citadel 332

SoCon Rank: 27

ANALYSIS

This is before Wednesday night's games. The biggest problem I see is the SoCon's rank. Really? 27th? 28th? C'mon Socon! I expect more from you than that! Of course, it is still really early in the year, but we are starting to see some trends develop in these rankings. First of all, to date, UNCG, The Citadel, and Chattanooga have probably been the worst teams. Samford is not far off from there. Davidson is the best team, followed  by College of Charleston, with Wofford and Elon battling it out for the third and fourth spots.

It's interesting to look at these things as they continue to develop. With each passing day, Sagarin and KenPom rely more and more on this year's games only and less and less on last year's games. This year's games are becoming more and more important- which is why you see the Mocs sinking like a rock to the bottom of the standings (they have not been good so far).

Furman has been better than expected, and these rankings bear that out too.

Very interesting.

Double Dribbles- 12-7-11

1) Jake Cohen was named SoCon Player of the Week. He averaged 21 points and six rebounds for the week. He scored 26 against Wofford and 16 against Furman. Cohen definitely deserved the award this week. He was the second consecutive Davidson player to win the award. Cohen is probably not going to win Player of the Year or anything, but he is a solid player that is a major contributor to one of the top two teams in the conference. Cohen needs to have a big game for the Wildcats to beat Vanderbilt on Wednesday night.


2) Furman dominated Virginia-Wise and The Citadel was hammered by Coastal Carolina as expected on Wednesday night. But Appalachian State battled Minnesota down to the end before losing, but the Mountaineers continued to prove that they are a contender in the North race. But the best performance of the night belonged to Wofford, who beat previously 9-0 Tulane by 11. That was what they lead by for most of the game too. They really just beat down the Green Wave. That is a good win for Wofford. The Terriers are a real threat to finish at least third in the South, if not higher. This South race gets more and more interesting with each passing day.

Ill

No article today. I feel little under the weather (apparently caught what my wife had).

So, there will be Double Dribbles tomorrow morning, and the rankings articles will be out tomorrow as well.

The OOC opponents article will be written at some point. I need to wait and see when. It was supposed to be written today, but I just can't get to it. Need to get to bed.

GO MOCS!

Double Dribbles- 12-6-11

1) Someone please put Samford out of their misery. They nearly beat Western Carolina over the weekend, which was nice and all, but their game against Texas-San Antonio on Monday night ended with a 22 point home loss. A 22 point home loss to a team from the Southland? Not acceptable. Admittedly, this team lost by five to Oklahoma State in overtime, so maybe the loss is not as bad as I think. But I expected Samford to win that game. But they did not even compete. The Bulldogs were picked to finish last in the division in the preseason, and it is getting harder and harder to imagine that they do any better than that.

2) Time to start gearing up for round one of the battle for an at large bid. Davidson plays a critical home game against Vanderbilt on Wednesday night at 7:00. The Wildcats need to win at least one of these two games against Vanderbilt and Kansas to get into the at large discussion for the NCAA Tournament. This a great opportunity for the SoCon and a great opportunity for Davidson. Charleston has their own set of two games in this battle. They host Tennessee and go to Louisville. The next couple of weeks will be very interesting in this regard. Everyone in the conference should be paying attention to these four games. It's the most important games in a while for the SoCon in out of conference games. Both teams need to make sure they don't blow it in the mean time against an out of conference opponent they should beat.

SoCon Monster Game of the Week Review: Elon 80, UNCG 72

Elon came up with the win over the Spartans on Monday night. It was hard fought. The Phoenix jumped out to a thirteen point lead.

The Spartans came back. UNCG fought the entire night. Elon held on in the end.

I don't have access to a boxscore at this point, and I wasn't listening to the broadcast, so I didn't catch who everyone was that I thought was playing well, so I hate to throw things out there at this point. What I did notice was that I am growing more and more impressed with Elon's offense every time I watch them play. They are not just a team that is based on defense. They can play rough and tough defense, but they are also very efficient on offense.

I picked the Spartans to finish third in the North and Elon fifth in the preseason, thinking that the Spartans may be able to finish second, even. At this point, it is becoming increasingly clear to everyone that the Spartans are below the Phoenix in the standings. The Spartans are not likely to make it as high as third in the North (particularly since they are 0-3 against other North teams) and Elon has got to be considered the favorite to win the North at this point, and certainly the favorite to get one of the bye spots.

It's been a strange first month indeed.

Double Dribbles- 12-5-11

1) Georgia Southern beat the two preseason North favorites at home this weekend when they beat Chattanooga and Appalachian State. Their eight point win over Chattanooga was impressive, as the Eagles got a big lead, watched it get cut down, and then would put it back away. However, their eleven point win over Appalachian State may have been even more impressive. The Eagles jumped out to a 20 point halftime lead and cruised home from there. The Eagles had been disappointing in the first part of the year, but showed why they were picked to finish third in the division in the preseason in this weekend's games. They are a real threat to be a contender in the South if either College of Charleston or Davidson let up. Third is more realistic, but it is very realistic.

2) Wofford has traded wins and losses so far this year, never winning or losing more than one in a row. Their close loss to Davidson last Thursday served notice that they were going to be a tough out in the South. Then they walloped The Citadel by 19 on Saturday. College of Charleston, one of the two best teams in the SoCon nearly universally, only beat The Citadel by 20. Wofford is again showing they are an incredibly dangerous team. The race for third in the South is incredibly compelling, with both Wofford and Georgia Southern making huge statements this weekend. Furman did not make that kind of statement, but they are not a bad team. The South is again showing why they are better than the North.

SoCon Monster Game of the Week Preview: Elon at UNC-Greensboro

Elon is off to a roaring start. They are 5-2 overall, having only lost to Massachusetts and North Carolina State, while beating South Carolina, Navy, Princeton, and Furman, while also beating a non-D1.

On the other hand, UNC-Greensboro has been horribly disappointing. They beat Pembroke and Towson, while losing to Tennessee, Georgetown, Middle Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, North Carolina A&T, Appalachian State and Western Carolina. The Spartans got hammered by North Carolina A&T in their own gym (despite the fact that it qualified as a road game) last week, and set off a rash of negativity from the fans, which in turn created a rash of negativity from the  players.

It's been quite a terrible start for the Spartans. But, there is a good team somewhere in there, right? Trevis Simpson leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game.

Aloysius Henry, who was a solid player last year and is in trouble for his tweets last week, is averaging 4.5 points per game, and 3.6 rebounds per game. Nine guys are averaging 14.6 minutes per game or more.

Simpson, Nick Paulos, and Drew Parker have made twelve or thirteen three pointers, leading the team. Parker has made 12 of 16 on the year, which is 75%. Kyle Randall is averaging 2.6 assists per game, leading the team.

For Elon, Lucas Troutman is averaging 12.3 points per game with 5.0 rebounds per game. Drew Spradlin is averaging 12.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Spradlin is a 48% three point shooter. Sebastian Koch has also been hot from three point range. Koch also is averaging 5.3 rebounds per game. Ryley Beaumont is averaging 5.7 rebounds per game. Jack Isenbarger is coming back from injury, and so he is a little bit down but with 8.6 points per game.

Elon is a very good defensive team. They will make this game very difficult to win from a defensive standpoint. But the Phoenix has not been blowing people out. The Spartans, playing their first home game since the tweet controversy, will need to come ready to play.

KEYS TO THE GAME

--The Spartans will need to come out and play with energy and enthusiasm in their biggest game yet this season. They need to win to avoid going 0-3 in SoCon play.
--The Phoenix need to keep on playing solid defense.
--Isenbarger needs to get going. The Phoenix are a much more potent team when he is at the top of his game. He sat out against Navy.
--Austin Hamilton could make another shot like he did against Navy for the win.
--The Phoenix need to warm up from the field.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--The Phoenix will continue to struggle shooting.
--The Spartans Trevis Simpson will come through with a nice game.
--Drew Parker will make some big shots.
--Elon 62, UNC-Greensboro 58. The Phoenix will come up with one more defensive stop and a couple of more big shots than the Spartans. They are playing with more confidence than the Spartans at the moment. UNCG will come away with another tough loss. This should be a great SoCon game.

SoCon Monster Game of the Week: Elon at UNCG

Hey- this is a blog about the Mocs, and a blog about the SoCon. How am I supposed to pick any game outside of a SoCon game for the Monster Game of the Week when given an option?

So, this week, that leaves us with Elon's trip to UNCG. The Phoenix are 1-0 in SoCon play and one of the season's biggest early season surprises. UNCG is 0-2 in SoCon play and one of the season's biggest early season disappointments.

They will battle in Greensboro on Monday night. And I, for one, can't wait for it. Preview later on tonight.

Scanning the SoCon- Week Five

Very interesting week as conference play opened this week. Lots of stuff to talk about. So let's get going.

Here are our four bloggers:

DavidsonCats- A Davidson Wildcats fan.
MocsMania- A Chattanooga Mocs fan.
TheSportsArsenal- The Citadel Bulldogs fan.
UNCGBasketballFan- A UNCG Spartans fan.

SCHEDULE

Monday, December 5
Elon at UNC-Greensboro
Texas-San Antonio at Samford

Tuesday, December 6
Virginia-Wise at Furman
Coastal Carolina at The Citadel
Tulane at Wofford
Appalachian State at Minnesota (Big Ten Network 2 Go)

Wednesday, December 7
Vanderbilt at Davidson (ESPN3)
Western Carolina at Purdue (Big Ten Network)
Mercer at Samford

Saturday, December 10
ETSU at Appalachian State
Lindsey Wilson College at Samford
Chattanooga at Mercer
Virginia Wise at Wofford
Kent State at Western Carolina
Davidson at Charlotte
Georgia Southern at Eastern Kentucky

POWER RANKINGS
1) Davidson 48 (4)
2) College of Charleston 44
3) Elon 39
4) Western Carolina 32
5) Wofford 29
6t) Appalachian State 26
6t) Georgia Southern 26
8) Chattanooga 23
9) Furman 21
10) UNC-Greensboro 9
11) Samford 8
12) The Citadel 7

QUESTIONS

Sum up your team.

DavidsonCats: It was a very good week for Davidson with a narrow road win at Wofford and a comfortable home win against Furman.  It was great to see Jake Cohen bounce back from his 0 point, 5 foul game at UNCW.  He had 42 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks in the two games.   De'Mon Brooks had 38 points and 14 rebounds.  I think Chris Czerapowicz played his best game as a Wildcat in the Furman win.  He has really worked on his defense and played the top spot in a very effective 1-3-1 for Davidson.  Davidson has some tough games and huge opportunities coming with Vanderbilt at our house on Wednesday before hitting the road for Charlotte and Kansas.  The Wildcats are definitely getting better, adding some new wrinkles to the offense and defense, and developing some players.  We'll see how it all pays off when we resume conference action next month.
MocsMania: The Mocs had an 0-3 week that started off bad, then got slightly better, then got much better, but never resulted in a win. The Mocs loss last Sunday to Gardner-Webb in overtime was downright disgusting in a lot of ways. The loss at Georgia Southern on Thursday was not as bad as some seemed to think it was. Then the Mocs took College of Charleston to double overtime before losing on Saturday on the road. You can't say, "Chattanooga is back," like Keegan Bell did after Saturday's loss, but you can say that the Mocs are improving. Rico White is getting better all the time, Ricky Taylor and Chris Early are starting to come out of an early season funk, Keegan Bell had a triple double against Charleston, and Dontay Hamtpon has been playing well. Lance Stokes looked really good against Georgia Southern coming back from his ankle injury. Omar Wattad and Drazen Zlovaric both need to get it going. Zlovaric looks to be slowly improving. Wattad looks like his confidence is shot for some reason. Maybe too much pressure- probably related to his back injury from the preseason. Regardless, the Mocs new guys are getting better all the time, which means the Mocs will be a much tougher out in January than they are right now. They need to start winning games, though.

TheSportsArsenal: It was a disappointing week for The Citadel. Although not favored in either game (at CofC, at Wofford), I had expected slightly better play from the Bulldogs. The game against the Cougars featured way too many turnovers. Against the Terriers, The Citadel started off horrendously, particularly on defense, and never recovered. Porous defense (and bad starts as a result) has been a theme so far this season for the Bulldogs, one that must be corrected. Mike Groselle continues to work hard and get his points and rebounds (including 19 boards against the CofC), but it hasn't been nearly enough.
UNCGBasketballFan: First, there's that whole Twitter mess that I'm going discuss below. After that, this week has basically been divided into two different parts. There was the first part of the week where G got crushed by it's rival, then had the team and fans explode on each other. Then there was the road trip to the high country where Coach Dement completely changed the starting lineup and got some solid success out of it. That is a tough way to start the SoCon season and I thought that the Spartans actually played pretty well on the road swing. Weird to say that I'm actually sitting here today a little more hopeful about the team. However, I think that Monday's game at home against a red hot Elon is almost a must-win to salvage something of the SoCon season.
Which game are you most looking forward to this week that does not involve your team?

DavidsonCats: We have two high schools here in Mooresville, NC.  One is Lake Norman High School.  They won the state championship in basketball in 2010 and sent two players from that team to Mercer.  I'm looking forward to Mercer's games at Samford and home for Chattanooga this week.
MocsMania: The easy answer is when Davidson hosts Vanderbilt. The Wildcats have their shot at an at large bid in their hands with a win there. That being said, any time there is a conference game on the schedule, that has to be the game I'm most looking forward to. For that reason, I'm going with UNCG hosting Elon as the game I am most looking forward to. (For those who don't know, UNCGSpartans.com provides free video coverage of all their home games.) The Spartans are 0-2 in the SoCon, and desperately need a win to avoid 0-3, all against North teams. Elon can continue their early season surge and get to 2-0 in SoCon play and take command of the North. This is a huge in-division game, and the last SoCon game until after New Year's.

TheSportsArsenal: Tulane at Wofford. Ed Conroy brings a 9-0 Green Wave team to Spartanburg. Admittedly, Tulane's early season schedule has been tissue-soft, but you can't do better than undefeated, and the ninth victory was against Georgia Tech.
UNCGBasketballFan: I think Davidson against Charlotte should be interesting. The Wildcats almost never beat Charlotte. I think they even lost to them during their Elite 8 year. However, I think this Davidson team is superior to Charlotte. 
Let's jump ahead for a moment and assume that Davidson and College of Charleston finish first and second (in some order) in the South. Which team finishes third?

DavidsonCats: Not Citadel.  Wofford, Furman, and GSU are all playing better than expected.  The coaches picked GSU 3rd in the preseason.  They certainly have the talent to do it.  I'm a big Willie Powers fan and think that his return will give them some leadership and discipline on the court.  I guess I'd go with GSU to finish 3rd, but Wofford and Furman are both better than I expected.
MocsMania: I GUESS I'll go with Georgia Southern. The Citadel appears to me to be stapled into  last place despite the best efforts of Groeselle. But Wofford and Furman both have been decent. I'm beginning to think that I may have been overrating Furman earlier this year (they looked good against Elon, but not great last week), but Wofford and Georgia Southern both look like good teams to me. Both teams look like they will be tough outs for anyone in the conference. I picked GSU in the preseason to finish third, so I guess I'll stick with them for third place for now. They really showed up this weekend against Chattanooga and Appalachian State, the two North favorites. They need to prove they can take it to the road.

TheSportsArsenal: If I had to guess today, I would pick Wofford would finish third in the SoCon South, assuming the Terriers can shoot the ball fairly well and don't wear out their guards over the course of the season.

UNCGBasketballFan: I think Ga Southern may have thrown a wrench into that scenario this weekend. However, if we're using this assumption, I go ahead and say Ga Southern.

 
In response to the UNCG players tweets this week about the fans (go to this link from DavidsonCats if you don't know about it- discussion on DavidsonCats),  what are your thoughts on athletes using Twitter to vent?

DavidsonCats: College athletes should know better than to vent in social media.  It has caused schools to get investigated and sanctioned by the NCAA.  It caused an Elon football player some problems just this season.  I'm stunned that the coach/AD/chancellor/whoever didn't jump on the UNCG players this week. 

MocsMania: It is mind boggling that athletes continue to go out there and do this sort of thing to me. The UNCG players are just the latest example. An Elon football player got kicked off the team earlier this year for comments he made on Twitter. (Not sure about  how that story ended and if he got reinstated.) Why did UNCG not respond with at least some sort of suspension for the players for acting out like this? How can you let the players tell the hardcore fans that they are not real fans? At the same time, I kind of get the players responses. It must hurt a bit to be in the situation to hear that negativity swirling around your program. Still, you just can't insult the fans. It goes against everything about athletics (unless, apparently, you are Roy Williams). I don't get venting on Twitter. Venting on Facebook is a little bit better, because that is a little bit more controlled, depending on who your "friends" are. But you can't put negative stuff about your fan base or coaching staff out for public consumption. At least, you shouldn't.

TheSportsArsenal: I am frequently surprised by the lack of awareness (if not downright naïveté) young people have when it comes to social media. You would think the younger generation would have a better understanding of the public nature of things like Facebook and Twitter and the concept of something "going viral", but to a significant degree that isn't the case. That isn't just restricted to athletes, though.

UNCGBasketballFan: I was absolutely floored to see what those guys wrote on Twitter. I was (and still am) furious about it. I shut down my blog for a bit b/c I was quite concerned that I was going to post something that I would eventually regret. I also shut it down b/c I felt like I shouldn't spend my time doing anything for that program if there was absolutely no appreciation for my work. Apparently word has made it back to them or someone close to the program b/c at least one of the Twitter accounts is now protected. I'm still left with tons of questions. First, why are players going on message boards after a 22 point loss to your rival? What were you expecting to read on there? I honestly don't remember what all was written on the deleted thread. I know part of it was me questioning if our team was really ready to play. Everyone sitting near me at the game commented on how "amped up" A&T was before that contest. So, it wasn't like I invented something to be angry about. But then for a couple of players (and a former one) to take to Twitter to blast the part of the fan base that actually still cares about basketball at G was just mind bogglin. Compared to most SoCon schools, UNCG has a large student body and a large alumni base living all in the triad and they still have trouble drawing any major numbers at the coliseum. I think it's safe to call the UNCG fan base apathetic. So, to give a big (digital) middle finger to the part that is showing up every night and is hardcore about the program makes no sense to me.

 

Also if I were a coach of a team that might be starting to worry about my current employment, I think it might be in my best interest to keep my players from making very public statements that might reflect poorly on my team and my university. You can delete posts on Twitter, but it's impossible to delete them if they've already made their way into other parts of the Internet.

 
So we've played a couple of games in the conference season. The South was far better than the North a year ago. The North was supposed to be a little bit better than the South heading into the year this year. Which division do you believe is better, top to bottom?

DavidsonCats: The current Sagarin/Pomeroy/RPI numbers all agree that the South is the stronger division.  Of course, there is some bias in these numbers based on prior seasons.  I thought that the North would be significantly stronger than the South this season. So far, I'm wrong.  The South is 3-1 in head-to-head games.  Wofford and Furman were expected to be dreadful, but are playing pretty well.  Davidson and CofC are both better than anticipated.  ASU and Chattanooga were the popular picks in the preseason.  They are a combined 1-3 and both took beatings at GSU.  But Chattanooga gave CofC all they handle in Charleston and had many chances to win.  I think the head-to-head game total between the divisions this year will be very close.
MocsMania: Count me as one who thought the North would be slightly better this year than the South. Count me as one that has been completely disappointed with the North's play so far this year. When looking at the Mocs early struggles, I have looked around at the rest of the North, and (outside of Elon) thought that no one is playing well enough to have clearly established themselves as better than the Mocs. That's how rotten the North has been. At the same time, College of Charleston has been better than expected preseason (when I picked them to finish second, but a distant second), and Furman and Wofford have exceeded expectations, and Georgia Southern proved this weekend that they are not underperforming. The South is better- for now. I expect the North to come back after the New Year and win the head-to-head, but based on what we've seen, I have no real reason to believe that.

TheSportsArsenal: The south is the better division. It has the two best teams. Elon is the only team in the north division to distinguish itself so far this season. Chattanooga was supposed to carry the flag for the north but has been disappointing. Wofford and GSU could be a little better than expected and UNCG might be worse.

UNCGBasketballFan: At this point, the south looks a lot better than the North. Chattanooga, UNCG and ASU have all been disappointments to the North to some degree. Meanwhile, GSU, Wofford and Furman all look better than was earlier predicted. 

Battle of North vs. South- 12-4-11

Saturday's Scores
Chattanooga (N) 85
College of Charleston (S) 87

Appalachian State (N) 62
Georgia Southern (S) 73

at North
North- 1
South- 0

at South
North- 0
South- 3

Overall
North- 1
South- 3

ANALYSIS

All the home teams have won so far, so even though the South holds a commanding lead, it may not be quite as commanding as people would have thought since the home team has won every game. Plus, there are 48 games between the two divisions, so there are still 44 games left. So three wins doesn't mean much yet. That being said, it's a bit surprising that the South is leading. Most would have thought it would be 3-1 North right, with Appy and Chattanooga both beating GSU. But the Eagles pulled them both out.

College of Charleston 87, Mocs 85 (2OT)

FOUR FACTORS

eFG%
Mocs- 53.6%
Charleston- 47.1%
Advantage- Mocs

TO%
Mocs- 20.4%
Charleston- 14.4%
Advantage- Charleston

OR%
Mocs- 14.6%
Charleston- 22.9%
Advantage- Charleston

FTRate
Mocs- 20.3%
Charleston- 45.6%
Advantage- Charleston

FT%
Mocs- 78.6%
Charleston- 74.2%
Advantage- Mocs

3PtRate
Mocs- 37.7%
Charleston- 63.2%

PLAYER RATER

Overall
1) Chris Early 30.9
2) Keegan Bell 30.5
3) Ricky Taylor 20.9
3) Dontay Hampton 20.9
5) Rico White 19.0
6) Omar Wattad 16.2
7) Drazen Zlovaric 8.9
8) Jahmal Burroughs 5.2
9) Z Mason -0.9

Per 40
1) Dontay Hampton 52.3
2) Rico White 42.1
3) Chris Early 29.4
4) Ricky Taylor 27.0
5) Keegan Bell 25.9
6) Jahmal Burroughs 20.8
7) Omar Wattad 17.0
8) Drazen Zlovaric 8.1
9) Z Mason -9.0

ANALYSIS

The Mocs did so many things well for the majority of this game, it was shame to watch it all slip away in the closing moments.

Here's the biggest problem the Mocs are still facing- they are not shooting the ball too well yet. They missed several shots close to the basket in the first half that should not have been missed. The Mocs could have lead by double digits at the half if some of those shots had fallen, making it much more difficult for the Cougars to come back in the second half.

Secondly- the Mocs are still allowing too many offensive rebounds and are not getting enough of their own. The Mocs only collected 14.6% of their own misses, while the Cougars got 22.9% of their misses. That was a huge difference in this game. Second chance points were 9-5 in favor of the Cougars, which is not a huge total, but in a two point game that goes to double overtime, it is plenty enough of a difference.

Also, Drazen Zlovaric was the guy who missed a lot of those close shots. He went 2 for 8 on the afternoon. The Mocs need him to make some of those shots. He is a talented guy that just isn't quite comfortable yet. As he gets more comfortable, he will be significantly better. He needs to get there quick, but maybe by January when conference play really heats up, he will be much improved.

The Mocs certainly allowed Trent Wiedeman to beat them on the inside, but Adejhi Baru was held in check. The Mocs sagged off of the shooters and dared them to shoot for a lot of the game. They did that. The Cougars shot 43 threes on the game out of 68 total shots. They also got to the free throw line 31 times. So the Cougars shot more one point shots than two point shots on the game. That is really an unusual stat.

Keegan Bell had a triple double for the day with 12 points, ten rebounds, and ten assists. That was a nice solid performance. Omar Wattad still looks out of sorts. Chris Early and Ricky Taylor combined to shoot 7 out of 9 on three pointers. Rico White and Dontay Hampton both connected on both of their three point tries for the game. White really looked good out there. He seems to be getting more and more comfortable as the season progresses. He and Hampton both seem to have a nice calming effect on the Mocs when they are in the game. They will be very nice pieces next year for the Mocs starting lineup (possibly).

The Mocs defense was back tonight. They held the Cougars to under 39% shooting from the floor for the game. If not for the free throws, the Mocs would have won this game.

I'm not particularly into moral victories, but there are some things that this game proves. It proves that the Mocs can play with the best teams in the SoCon, because the Cougars are certainly in the Top Two. It gives the Mocs some positives to build on as they head into the non-conference again despite going 0-2. Georgia Southern also beat Appalachian State tonight by 11, in a game that was a 20 point game at halftime. So maybe the Mocs are not that far behind the other North teams, despite their very slow start.

The Mocs have played (excluding Kennesaw State and Georgia Southern, both of which got relatively close in the final minutes due to furious rallies) four really tight games this year, and just come up with one win. The other two games mentioned were not blowouts, so the Mocs are 1-5 in close games this year. This goes against what happened last year, when the Mocs won virtually every close game. The breaks are going against them, and it is unfortunate for the won-loss record, but could mean that the breaks work out for them later on this year.

The Mercer game becomes huge to continue to build on this performance. We'll have to wait and see if it comes.

GO MOCS!

College of Charleston Preview: Losing Touch

I don't like College of Charleston much, and I've made not secret of that over the years. I don't know that I dislike them as much as some Cougar fans seem to dislike this blog and other Moc fans.

But- and make absolutely no mistake about this- the Cougars are the best team the Mocs have faced yet this year. Yep- better than Indiana. Certainly better than Butler. Clearly better than Kennesaw State, Savannah State, Warren Wilson, and Gardner-Webb. More than likely better than Georgia Southern by a pretty good margin. So this is an absolutely astronomical challenge for the Mocs.

The Cougars feature Trent Wiedeman, Antwaine Wiggins, and Adjehi Baru inside. How did UCF beat this team? By slowing down those guys. The only chance any team has is to slow down those guys and hope that they can somehow force the Cougars to miss some shots. Not that that is likely to work. Andrew Lawrence has made 14 of 28 three pointers, for 50% shooting. So, maybe letting them shoot isn't the best. Just got to hope they are cold. Wiggins has made 12 of 34 threes so far this year and is shooting nearly 49% from the floor. He is averaging 17.5 points per game and 5.8 rebounds. Honestly, he is the favorite for the player of the year at this point.

Wiedeman is second on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game. He leads the team in rebounding. He is a very solid player. He has improved this year and become an even more solid player. Baru is second on the team in rebounding with 6.3 rebounds per game, and is scoring 8.5 points per game. Watching him, you can see some improvement on offense happening. He is going to be much better as the season goes along. He is a really talented player. He is living up to the hype so far. Maybe not the Player of the Year hype, but he is living up to the hype of Newcomer of the Year.

Matt Sundberg is still bouncing back from not playing last year. He has just been OK. Truthfully, if the Cougars want to advance a long way in the NCAA Tournament (which they have the talent to do), they probably need Sundberg to get a little bit more improved.

Lawrence is not only a great shooter, but also leads the team in assists with 5.0 per game.

The Cougars are not a tremendous defensive team. They are OK on that end, but are probably not quite as good as some of the other SoCon teams, such as Wofford, Furman, Elon, and Davidson. They are good, though. They have allowed between 57 and 74 in every game this year, only more than 70 only once- in their loss to UCF. They are good, but not great.

On offense, they are 80th in the country in scoring and 39th in field goal percentage. They are not a great rebounding team, which may be the one place the Mocs have a slight edge...if they can turn around their recent trend to really struggle in that department.

The Mocs have no match-up advantage against the Cougars with the way they are playing. The good thing is that the Mocs do have the ability to match-up inside with the Cougars a bit. They have more ability to match-up down there with Zlovaric, Early, Bryant, Mason, and Burroughs than many teams in the SoCon.  They still do not have an advantage there though. There is a chance that if Bell and Wattad and Taylor were playing better they could have a slight edge at those positions combined- but they aren't playing well enough at the moment. Therefore, they do not match-up well with the Cougars.

KEYS TO THE GAME

--Rebounding. The Mocs have been beaten on the boards in their last three games, and lost key offensive rebounds to both Gardner-Webb and Georgia Southern. They will have to do significantly better against College of Charleston to manage to hang around in this one.
--Shooting. The Mocs will need to be able to hold down the Cougars shooting from long range to be able to clog up the lane. A little bit of luck on some missed threes wouldn't hurt the Mocs any.
--Turnovers. The Mocs need to protect the ball.
--Let the athleticism show. The Cougars have a lot of athleticism. So do the Mocs. The Mocs need to let their athleticism show in this one, and match the Cougars intensity.
--Put the first three weeks behind them. The Mocs don't want to have to keep on reliving these last three weeks. They need to get over it and play the way they are capable. If they do, they can hang around in this one.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--Lawrence will score at least 25 points.
--Wiggins will not have his best game of the year, but will still be too much for any Moc to handle.
--Baru will have his best offensive game yet.
--Bell will continue to struggle.
--College of Charleston 79, Mocs 56. The Mocs are not playing even remotely well enough to think that they can come up with this win. I'd love it if they proved me wrong, but I don't see it at this point. The Cougars are really close to being a Top 25 team, and if they are a Top 25 team, the Mocs don't have a shot without playing their best game in years.

GO MOCS!

Georgia Southern 84, Mocs 76

FOUR FACTORS (plus two)

eFG%
Mocs- 57.8%
Georgia Southern- 60.8%
Advantage- Georgia Southern

TO%
Mocs- 19.8%
Georgia Southern- 25.5%
Advantage- Mocs

OR%
Mocs- 29.0%
Georgia Southern- 38.3%
Advantage- Georgia Southern

FTRate
Mocs- 27.6%
Georgia Southern- 28.3%
Advantage- Georgia Southern

FT%
Mocs- 56.3%
Georgia Southern- 64.7%
Advantage- Georgia Southern

3PtRate
Mocs- 39.7%
Georgia Southern- 38.3%

PLAYER RATER

Overall
1) Ricky Taylor 21.7
2) Omar Wattad 15.3
3) Drazen Zlovaric 14.3
4) Dontay Hampton 12.1
5) Keegan Bell 11.2
6) Lance Stokes 10.5
7) Z Mason 9.4
8) Chris Early 8.3
9) Rico White 7.3
10) Jahmal Burroughs 5.5
11) Jared Bryant 4.2

Per 40
1) Lance Stokes 70.0
2) Dontay Hampton 60.5
3) Ricky Taylor 34.7
4) Drazen Zlovaric 31.7
5) Jared Bryant 21.0
6) Z Mason 19.8
7) Omar Wattad 19.7
8) Chris Early 19.5
9) Rico White 19.5
10) Jahmal Burroughs 15.7
11) Keegan Bell 11.5

ANALYSIS

Well, this is not exactly where the Mocs expected to be at this point. Sitting at 2-5, the negativity that is beginning to envelope the program is stronger than ever.

That being said, the Mocs hung tough in this game. Unlike the Mocs losses last year, after falling behind by 15 and 16 points in the second half, they fought back and made it closer. They narrowed the final score at the end and kept on fighting for it. That was pleasant to see. A team with a little bit of fight is not such a bad thing.

Unfortunately, that is the most positive thing that can be said about the Mocs at this point. Wattad went to the free throw line for three free throws late in the game....and missed all three. Zlovaric was all alone for a breakaway dunk....and missed it. Give the Mocs four of the five points there, and the Mocs only lose by four points, and maybe the pressure gets to the Eagles.

The Eagles did not turn the ball over much in the first half. They kept from turning the ball over, and they were very efficient at scoring. JR kept on mentioning how few points per game Georgia Southern was averaging, but the Eagles offense had been effective when they could protect the ball so far this year. That's why they looked so effective in the first half offensively.

The Mocs continued the bugaboo that has been biting them for the last three games. They could not come up with a big rebound. Georgia Southern came up with several huge offensive rebounds. Even my kids who are five and just started watching basketball this year noticed it- they said, "How come the Mocs do not get the rebound when Georgia Southern misses a shot?" It was a very valid question.

There were other positives, I suppose. Namely, Lance Stokes. Stokes came into the game when it appeared over, and suddenly, the Mocs cut the lead down sharply, and he dominated the final few minutes of the game. He played outstanding basketball. He had been coming back from an ankle sprain and looked like he may deserve to be playing consistently for the Mocs. He may need a lot more minutes.

Ricky Taylor also played OK. Zlovaric was not active enough. He scored eleven, but only had one rebound. That is not the type of performance Zlovaric needs to have for the Mocs to be consistently successful.

This was a disappointing loss for the Mocs. There is time to get this turned around. But they need to start. It may not happen on Saturday against College of Charleston, but it needs to start next weekend against Mercer. That is when things need to get going. The team looks a little lost on offense, but the defense has been OK.  They did not close on defense very well against Georgia Southern, looking a little lethargic at times. The Mocs continue to not be able to do what they should be able to do on the boards. There is PLENTY to fix. A road trip may not be a time to get everything done. But- next week is when they need to go to work.

As the line for the discount on tickets goes, "IT'S TIME!"

GO MOCS!

Double Dribbles-12-2-11

1) Truthfully, it has been a pleasure to write this blog so far this year. It's nice to see the page views up on the blog, and know that some people are out there reading it. It's nice to provide some coverage for the SoCon, which does not get much national coverage. Truthfully,the Mocs are driving me a little nuts at the moment, so it's nice to be following the SoCon so closely and have other interests around the league to keep me a little entertained. Note that everything I write is not related to the Mocs. When I write something like, "This team is beatable," I am not referring to how the Mocs would beat a team. I am referring to how anyone could beat them.  So let me just say, thank you to all of the people that have been reading this blog over the last several weeks. You all are making this season that would have frustrated me enjoyable.

2) Appalachian State's Omar Carter showed why he was the Preseason Player of the Year. After games against Milligan and East Carolina where he combined to shoot 1 of 11, six points and nine rebounds. In the SoCon opener against UNC-Greensboro, the Mountaineer player made 9 of 15 shots with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Carter has potential to be a really special player, and it was only a matter of time before that player showed up for a game. Tonight was that night. He can certainly still win the Player of the Year- particularly if he puts up more nights like this against other SoCon teams.

Mocs vs. Georgia Southern Recap Tomorrow

My wife has been sick today, and while I made time for the Mocs game to listen to it, I have not had time to write about the Mocs game. I am planning on covering the Mocs games tomorrow. In other words, I will write a review of the Mocs loss to Georgia Southern tomorrow night, and a preview of the Chattanooga-CofC game for Saturday.

GO MOCS!

SoCon Monster Game of the Week Recap: Davidson 72, Wofford 69

Honestly, I did not get to watch a tremendous amount of this game (I was watching the Mocs game). I do plan on watching the game on replay tomorrow night off of ESPN3.

Jake Cohen and De'Mon Brooks poured it in. They scored 26 and 23 respectively. No one else scored in double digits. JP Kuhlman did add 9 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists, so he played well.

Wofford shot 52.7% from the floor, which was more than a little surprising. The Davidson defense has been very good so far this year, and the Terriers offense has been struggling. But the Terriers still managed to shoot at that clip.

The effort is there for the Terriers. They appear to be on their way to rebuilding much faster than anyone thought they would. It has been a very good start for the Terriers. There is an interesting battle that is going to happen between Wofford, Furman, and Georgia Southern for third in the South. It is going to be anyone's guess which team is going to win that battle.

Davidson has not played as well lately, struggling a bit with UNC-Wilmington and with Wofford tonight. Now, wins are wins. So there really can't be any complaining about that. That being said, they will probably need to play a little bit better in the coming weeks against Kansas and Vanderbilt, which are the games that will determine just how much the Wildcats are in the at large race for the NCAA Tournament.

Wofford is showing a lot of pride and is proving to be a much tougher out than most people expected heading into the year.

Battle of North vs. South- 12-1-11

Todays Scores
Chattanooga (N) 76
Georgia Southern (S) 84

at North
South- 0
North- 1

at South
North- 0
South- 1

Overall
North- 1
South- 1

ANALYSIS

Nothing too shocking so far. Both home teams have won. Honestly, this does not get interesting until a road team or two win a game.

Double Dribbles- 12-1-11

1) Elon's win over Furman proved a couple of things. For one, Furman is better than people expect. This game was not always pretty- in fact, it was ugly at times. My guess is that both teams will play games like this. They make the other team look out of sorts. They both play solid defense, and both try to take the other team out of what they are doing offensively. Obviously. That's the point of defense, right? But few teams do it better than these two teams do. The Phoenix are just a little bit better at it. But the Paladins are a threat for the third place spot in the South division, which at this point looks pretty wide open. Depending on how Wofford looks against Davidson on Thursday, Furman may have even turned into the favorite for that third spot.

2) The SoCon season opens on Thursday night for the remaining ten teams. There are previews on this blog of the Chattanooga-Georgia Southern game and the Davidson-Wofford game. Western Carolina's trip to Samford is absolutely critical for the Catamounts to get back on the winning track. The Citadel heads to College of Charleston in a great rivalry match-up, and UNCG faces off with Appalachian State. This is a big game for the Spartans to try to get back on track in a huge division road game. Everything that has happened up until now doesn't matter unless your team name is Davidson or College of Charleston. It all begins today. I, for one, can't wait to start seeing the conference races play out a little bit. It won't play out much this weekend...but it will be enough for me.