A.C. Read...Coaching Chronicles (part 1)

[WarEagle13]

October 30, 2016
Coaches Journal - Preseason Practices / Recruiting Updates

The first four weeks into team practices, we are beginning to see quite a bit of the smoke clear. Getting a good sight on what our capabilities and limitations are. For one of the best upsides offensively is our shooting outside the arc. In our weekly scrimmages held at the end of a weekly practice we have shot 48/115 (41.7%) as a group. Very impressed with this and the consistency that we have seen to this point. We have four guys that can light it from 3P range, while a couple of them are streaky. Within these scrimmages as a group we have shot 117/239 (49.0%) overall. This play and what we will find during the season are two completely different animals, but we have shown and can see we have the ability to shoot if we stay within our playbook. Areas for improvement offensively have got to be the turnovers. Too many travel calls and turnovers also allowing too many block shots. Overall as a team we need to improve being able to not only draw the fouls, but also take advantage and make the free throws. Too few opportunities here with very mediocre free throw shooting. Team seems very aware and improving significantly running in Triangle and Motion sets. We will continue to work on high post and utilize that when our opponents dictate the opportunity to do so.

Defensively we have much continued work to power through. Too timid on the boards, and sloppy in the paint giving many fouls and too many opportunities to add points. In the four scrimmages we have created 58 fouls, of these 43 have been by the bigs and most of these in the paint. We have done decent in creating turnovers, whether by steals or forcing the handler. We will continue to play M2M and the 1-2-2 zone as that is what we are most efficient at for the moment. As excited as I am about our ability to create shots and be opportunistic behind the arc, I am as grossly horrified at what we can't stop. In the scrimmages we allowed 128/233 (54.9%) overall and 39/84 (46.4%) from 3P range.


Coaches Grade - Team
C+ = Overall Offense
C = Inside Shooting
B+ = Outside Shooting
D = Free Throw Shooting
C- = Passing and Ball Handling
D = Offensive Rebounding

D- = Overall Defense
D- = Paint
D = Perimeter
C- = Blocking and Stealing
D- = Defensive Rebounding


Players Assessment

Grade A
SF - Caron Francis

Grade B
PG - Gerald Darby
SG - Terry Ware
PF - Antoine Weeks

Grade C
PG - Wendall Brunson
SG - Antonio Harper
SF - Rashad Pearson
PF - Michael Romano
C - Tank Josey

Grade D
PG - Bobby Chouinard
SG - Anthony McDonald
SF - Burkhard Gerstlacher
PF - Ricardo Pelt
C - Kyle Fidler
C - Jay Frist


Current Projected Lineup for the home opener -

PG - Gerald Darby
SG - Terry Ware
SF - Caron Francis
PF - Michael Romano
C - Tank Josey
6th - Wendall Brunson
7th - Antonio Harper
8th - Antoine Weeks
9th - Rashad Pearson
10th - Kyle Fidler


We are very excited about the two commitments that we have received so far in C - Todd Blodgett and SF - Jervis McCoy. We feel like their defensive skillsets will be an immediate impact for us to continue to improve upon next season. We have one scholarship offer left and it has been extended to PG - Lance Hartley. He came on very late for us this fall in the recruiting process but we are extremely excited about his future as a bulldog if he selects Samford. He will bring above average passing and ball handling skills, outstanding defense, and unmatched athleticism and could be our cornerstone for the next few years.


Go Dogs, and Ruff Em
#SamfordStrong #RuffEm

Coach A.C. Read - Samford Bulldogs

[WarEagle13]

November 13, 2016
High hopes for the Bulldogs as season is set to begin

BIRMINGHAM - The Samford Bulldogs season begins this week under the youthful tutelage of first year coach A.C. Read. The Bulldogs will host Texas State this Tuesday and follow up with a road trip to New Jersey on Friday to take on NJIT. The preseason odds makers have the Bulldogs slated to finish ninth out of ten teams in the Southern Conference. Chattanooga and The Citadel are the front runners with Samford and Wofford expected to bring up the rear. Nationally the Southern Conference has no top 25 ranked teams, and Gonzaga at #8 is the lone mid-major ranked team. The National Top Ten looks like :

Duke
Kentucky
North Carolina
Connecticut
Kansas
Syracuse
Maryland
Gonzaga
Indiana
Oklahoma

The scouting report on the upcoming Texas State Bobcats shows a fairly evenly matched lineup with Samford having a deeper bench, while Texas State is more experienced on the floor with it's starting group. The key matchup looks to be between both teams starting SF Jerald Metcalfe (TXST) and Caron Francis (SAM). Texas State's fast paced offense could prove to be trouble for the lack lustered and inexperienced defense of the Samford Bulldogs this early in the season. The Bobcats also tend to be a heavy pressing team defensively and Coach Read stated "Ball control will be imperative to keep the game slower. We can not afford to play sloppy and turn the ball over allowing easy points. We have to make them earn what they get."

Later in the week the team will be heading to Newark, New Jersey to face the NJIT Highlanders. This matchup could be a ghostly repeat of what the Bulldogs see earlier against Texas State. NJIT and Texas State run very similar offenses, with NJIT being seasoned with their starting group. Coach Read added, "It all starts with us stopping their best player SG Walter Booker. If we can keep him without getting easy open shots and we can force the ball to go elsewhere, we feel we can slow the game down."

The only top 25 teams to face off against each other in the opening week is #3 North Carolina @ #22 Arizona. The Southern Conference weekly schedule is :

11/13/16 - Sunday
SIU-Edwardsville @ Mercer

11/14/16 - Monday
Davidson @ UNC Greensboro
Wofford @ Richmond
Western Carolina @ Detroit Mercy
Tennessee Tech @ Citadel
Furman @ Auburn
Mercer @ Maine

11/15/16 - Tuesday
Texas State @ Samford
East Tennessee State @ #9 Indiana

11/16/16 - Wednesday
Bryant @ Virginia Military

11/17/16 - Thursday
Duquesne @ Wofford
Virginia Military @ Cal State Bakersfield

11/18/16 - Friday
Samford @ NJIT
Chattanooga @ #14 Michigan State

11/19/16 - Saturday
Mercer @ Lipscomb

[WarEagle13]

November 16, 2016
Weeks dominance off the bench helps Samford to first win of the season

BIRMINGHAM - Junior PF Antoine Weeks helps Samford give Coach A.C. Read his first win as a head coach Tuesday night. In a game that saw itself tied up eight times and twenty different lead changes, it took the stronger bench to pull away late. Samford pulled off the however slight upset winning 68-61 in front of a capacity crowd of 5,000 fans in the Pete Hanna Center.

The Bulldogs trailed at halftime 32-31, but was down by 6 with just under two minutes left in the half. With Caron Francis hitting two free throws and Gerald Darby knocking down his only three pointer for the game, the Dogs were able to bring the deficit to one. Texas State's SG Tim Joseph had the hot hand in the first half scoring 11 points, while Samford's PF Michael Romano laid in 4 points and boarded 5 rebounds. Coach Read said "All in all I was pretty happy with how we played the first half. We stuck to the game plan and was able to run our top guys with theirs. We played exceptionally well that half not giving cheap fouls and hitting the boards aggressively. Samford had 17 rebounds and only 3 fouls the first half while Texas State managed 16 rebounds and 6 fouls. Both teams shot well at 42%, with over half of each teams shots coming from three point range.

The second half told the tale as the Bulldog bench came in to manage 61 minutes among five reserves, scoring 24 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. The strongest being PF Antoine Weeks who put up 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and one blocked shot in 16 minutes of play. "Our bigs made the difference in this game. I think they ended up with 45 of the points and 31 of the rebounds" Read happily proclaimed adding "We had the stronger bench. Going nip and tuck with about 5 minutes left and then being able to pull away tells me a lot about these guys. We can't be satisfied though, we got to keep ripping and show the heart that we have".

Overall, Texas State out shot Samford 40% to 38% and from three point range 38% to 23%. The big difference was Samford's ability to run tempo late in the game and drawing 9 of Texas State's 18 fouls in the last 6 minutes of play. Closing out the post game press conference Coach Read stated "I am really proud of how we came to play tonight. I feel like beating them on the boards and playing aggressively against their press made the difference. I know we have some things to work out before getting on the court later this week with NJIT. Particularly, we need to find a way to cover the perimeter better. We can ill afford to continue to let teams put of 32 three's in a game on us. We are really lucky that didn't hurt us worse than it did tonight"

Samford will be heading to Newark, New Jersey on Friday to take on another team eerily similar to the Texas State team they just upended. Coach Read and his Bulldogs are hoping for the same results to start the 2016-17 campaign on a positive note.


Post Game Notes
Player of the Game
PF Antoine Weeks (SAM) - 16 pts, 7 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl

Texas State... 32 - 29 = 61
Samford....... 31 - 37 = 68

Lead Changes = 20 / Times Tied = 8
Points in the Paint...... - TXST = 16 / SAM = 24
Second Chance Points.. - TXST = 1 / SAM = 10
Fast Break Points........ - TXST = 4 / SAM = 12
Largest Lead............. - TXST = 6 / SAM = 10

Texas State Top Players -
PG Kijuan Dabney.... 14 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl
SG Tim Joseph........ 13 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast
SF Jerald Metcalfe... 11 pts, 3 reb, 1 ast, a stl

Texas State Top Bench Player -
C Mike Hayes.......... 5 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk


Samford Top Players -
PF Antoine Weeks..... 16 pts, 7 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl
SF Caron Francis....... 12 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl
PF Michael Romano.... 6 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

Samford Top Bench Player -
PF Antoine Weeks..... 16 pts, 7 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl


Texas State Team Stats -
FG... 22/55 (40.0%)
3P... 12/32 (37.5%)
FT... 5/8 (62.5%)
REB.. 32
AST.. 15
STL.. 4
BLK.. 2
TO... 14
PF... 18

Samford Team Stats -
FG... 23/60 (38.3%)
3P... 6/26 (23.1%)
FT... 16/22 (72.7%)
REB.. 41
AST.. 15
STL.. 9
BLK.. 2
TO... 9
PF... 8

[WarEagle13]

November 19, 2016
Samford outlasts NJIT for first road win of the season

NEWARK, NJ – Michael Romano was in a zone last night in Samford’s 94-86 win over the NJIT Highlanders. The senior Samford PF from Rye Brook, New York just minutes up the road put up 18 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot, and 1 assist while playing in front of many friends and family. Romano said “It is always nice to come home and play, but to have a great game makes it very special.”

Much like Samford’s previous game, the Bulldogs found themselves down late in the first half. With just over two minutes to play in the half, NJIT led 38-30 before the Samford team came storming back. In two quick three pointers by Caron Francis and Gerald Darby and a foul putting Michael Romano at the line to hit one of two free throws, Samford pulled to 40-37 with just four seconds left in the half. Center Kyle Fidler was fouled on an under the basket lay in at the buzzer and completed the free throw to send the game tied 40-40 at halftime. A relieved Coach Read stated going into the locker room “There at the end we just went hard and fast playing as aggressively as we could. It paid off getting us back into the game. We will need to keep doing the same coming back out to stay with these guys, they get a lot of shots off.”

The second half became Samford’s to control as they continued to play aggressive and match NJIT’s tempo. With good ball control and handling, they forced NJIT into 21 second half fouls. The first ten minutes of the second half saw NJIT only take the lead back one time, but stayed nip and tuck all the way to the nine minute mark. With both NJIT’s big men in foul trouble, they simply were not able to match Samford’s bench and the Bulldogs took control and began to pull away. Read said “When we got four of their starters in foul trouble with six minutes left, we knew if we could keep making a high percentage of the free throws it would be hard for them to catch back up. We just tried to keep the ball in our best shooters hands and let them finish it out.”

With this win, the Bulldogs start the young season 2-0 for the first time in over a decade. They continue on the road for the next three games and will not host again until December 2nd when the Richmond Spiders come to town. Next week will be a test of time management for the coaches keeping the players engaged and focused during the Thanksgiving holiday week. Samford’s next game is Tuesday November 22nd when the travel to Charleston, Illinois to play Eastern Illinois. The Panthers are coming off a good road when against Harvard to even their season up at a win and a loss. After a quick trip home for Thanksgiving, the team will travel to Denver, Colorado on Friday November 25th to take on the Denver Pioneers. Read said “This upcoming week will be a test. We have a lot of travel and the holiday to contend with. Going to be spending a lot of time this weekend with the coaches to scout and watch film but we will have our guys ready to play.”

Post Game Notes
Player of the Game
PF Michael Romano (SAM) - 18 pts, 13 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 ast

Samford..... 40 - 54 = 94
NJIT…........ 40 - 46 = 86

Lead Changes = 10 / Times Tied = 4
Points in the Paint.......... - SAM = 32 / NJIT = 42
Second Chance Points...... - SAM = 21 / NJIT = 12
Fast Break Points........... - SAM = 18 / NJIT = 14
Largest Lead................. - SAM = 8 / NJIT = 8

Samford Top Players -
PF Michael Romano........ 18 pts, 13 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk
PG Gerald Darby............ 18 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast
SF Caron Francis............ 16 pts, 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl

Samford Top Bench Player -
C Kyle Fidler................. 11 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl


NJIT Top Players -
C Matthew Graible.......... 20 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl
PF Alex Hutton............... 18 pts, 9 reb, 1 ast
SG Walter Booker............ 12 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl

NJIT Top Bench Player -
C Dane Edelman.............. 4 pts, 2 reb, 2 blk, 1 ast


Samford Team Stats -
FG... 26/62 (41.9%)
3P... 8/23 (34.8%)
FT... 34/46 (73.9%)
REB.. 38
AST.. 13
STL.. 6
BLK.. 1
TO... 8
PF... 19

NJIT Team Stats -
FG... 32/62 (51.6%)
3P... 6/22 (27.3%)
FT... 16/22 (72.7%)
REB.. 35
AST.. 18
STL.. 4
BLK.. 3
TO...13
PF... 33

[WarEagle13]

November 20, 2016
Bulldogs start the season 2-0, on the road for week 2 of the season

BIRMINGHAM - Coach Read and the Bulldogs could not have asked for a better start to the young season going 2-0 in the first week with wins over Texas State and NJIT. They will be on the road for the next two games during the holiday week playing on Tuesday night and Friday night against Eastern Illinois and Denver University, respectively. Samford currently is on top in the Southern Conference as the only team with multiple wins. This week the SoCon awards went to Junior Center, Jeff Rider of Wofford and freshman player of the week is SF Claudell Batiste of The Citadel. Wofford's Rider edged out the Bulldogs own PF Michael Romano to win the weekly conference award.

Nationally, the overwhelming choice for player of the week went to UNLV's Junior SF Kenny Baylor as he put up 42 and 51 points in the Rebels two wins. National Freshman Player of the Weeks honors went to SG Demondre Howling of Kentucky. The NCAA saw eight new teams crack the top 25 this week with the largest climb being the Georgia Bulldogs of the SEC going 3-1 and climbing to #10 after not being in the top 25 preseason polls. The largest fall belongs to the Kansas Jayhawks who fell from #5 to #19 after being upset by Cincinnati in the Coaches Classic tournament.

National Team Leaders -
PPG
Miami...................99.0 >>>>>>>Kenny Baylor (UNLV)........46.5
Duke....................98.0 >>>>>>>Quinton Landry (MAR)......32.0
Citadel.................96.0 >>>>>>>Demondre Howling (KEN)...29.0
Belmont................94.0 >>>>>>>Royce Whatley (MARQ).....27.5
Michigan State........93.0 >>>>>>>Trafford Collins (NOVA)....27.0

APG
Sam Houston State...25.5 >>>>>>>Ebram Feathers (SFNY)....10.0
Cal State Fullerton...25.0 >>>>>>>Briley Gaither (STAN)......10.0
Citadel.................24.0 >>>>>>>Lou Abramson (SF)..........10.0
Miami..................23.0 >>>>>>>Thomas Grove (BYU).........9.5
Duke...................23.0 >>>>>>>Nick Livers (SHSU)............9.0

RPG
Duke...................53.0 >>>>>>>Trafford Collins (NOVA).....16.0
Texas Tech...........49.5 >>>>>>>Reggie Kilborne (OHIO)......15.5
Pittsburgh............48.5 >>>>>>>Reid Whitney (SLU)...........15.5
Maryland..............48.3 >>>>>>>Julias Miles (TXTC)...........15.0
Northwestern........48.0 >>>>>>>Osaza Idumwonyi (MIA)......15.0

SPG
Texas Christian......12.0 >>>>>>>Adrian Otis (NW)...............6.0
Georgia State........12.0 >>>>>>>Royce Whatley (MARQ).......5.0
Mississippi State.....12.0 >>>>>>>Nick Duplessis (STJOE)........5.0
UNC Greensboro.....12.0 >>>>>>>Bruce Blayton (GWU).........4.0
Northwestern........12.0 >>>>>>>Lazarius Hammonds (ASU)....4.0

BPG
Syracuse..............11.8 >>>>>>>Osaza Idumwonyi (MIA).......6.0
Cincinnati............11.7 >>>>>>>Jayshon Conrad (GU)..........4.0
Maryland.............11.0 >>>>>>>Cullen Wade (WV)..............4.0
West Virginia........11.0 >>>>>>>David McLauren (MSU).........4.0
Wake Forest.........11.0 >>>>>>>Jay Kinzer (WIS)................4.0


SoCon Team Leaders -
PPG
Citadel................96.0 >>>>>>>Jeff Rider (WOF)..............24.0
Furman................83.0 >>>>>>>Wes Carlson (WCAR).........24.0
UNC Greensboro.....82.0 >>>>>>>Claudell Batiste (CIT)........23.0
Samford...............81.0 >>>>>>>Jeremy Fogel (UNCG)........23.0
Virginia Military......77.5 >>>>>>>Donovan Potter (FUR).......18.0

APG
Citadel.................24.0 >>>>>>>Tony Hudson (UNCG).........7.0
Virginia Military......19.0 >>>>>>>Chris Delblanco (CIT).........6.0
UNC Greensboro......18.0 >>>>>>>Bobby Royal (VMI)............6.0
Western Carolina.....17.0 >>>>>>>Mark Coleman (WOF)........5.0
Wofford................15.0 >>>>>>>Lance Krendler (FUR)........5.0

RPG
Samford...............39.5 >>>>>>>Michael Romano (SAM).......10.5
Western Carolina....37.0 >>>>>>>Jeff Rider (WOF)..............10.5
Citadel................35.0 >>>>>>>Brent Abernathy (WCAR).....10.0
Wofford...............32.5 >>>>>>>Gary Byers (FUR)...............8.0
UNC Greensboro.....30.0 >>>>>>>Ronald Lane (CHAT)...........7.0

SPG
UNC Greensboro.....12.0 >>>>>>>Lance Krendler (FUR).........3.0
Furman.................9.0 >>>>>>>Tony Hudson (UNCG)..........3.0
Citadel.................9.0 >>>>>>>Solomon Crawford (CIT)......3.0
Virginia Military......8.0 >>>>>>>Reece Lovell (VMI).............2.5
Samford................7.5 >>>>>>>Fernando Black (UNCG)......2.0

BPG
Chattanooga..........9.0 >>>>>>>Gary Byers (FUR)...............3.0
Furman................6.0 >>>>>>>Nigel Bradham (CHAT).........2.0
Virginia Military......4.5 >>>>>>>Ronald Lane (CHAT)...........2.0
Citadel................4.0 >>>>>>>Kent Caulfield (CHAT).........2.0
Wofford...............3.5 >>>>>>>Lyle Amos (VMI)................1.5

[PointGuard]

Hey, I want Kenny Baylor to transfer to MY team.

[WarEagle13]

Hey, I want Kenny Baylor to transfer to MY team.

Yep....he seems to be slacking though, he only put up 34 points in his next game against Indiana State

Drops his PPG all the way down to 42.3

[Wayne23]

Wow! I'm not sure I've ever had a guy average 30+ a game.

[WarEagle13]

Wow! I'm not sure I've ever had a guy average 30+ a game.

Me either.....will be really curious to see how his pace keeps up as the season progresses.

[WarEagle13]

November 23, 2016
Samford gets schooled in the art of defense, suffers defeat at the hands of Eastern Illinois

CHARLESTON, IL – There was no late first half drama and no end of game magic for the Samford Bulldogs Tuesday night as they fell to the Eastern Illinois Panthers 69-63. Having dug themselves a large crater early in the first half, it proved too much to overcome. It was with 15:31 left in the first half before Samford saw their first points put up on the board. Down 12-0, Weeks hit a layup for the first Samford score of the game. It wasn’t until midway through the first half before the Bulldogs found any sort of rhythm being down 20-6 at that point. With the Bulldogs 14 fouls in the first half and 26 for the game, it was the key failure point and a critical aspect in the game that took Samford out of their game plan early on. A.C. Read said going into the locker room at the half “We can’t seem to stay out of our own way. Poor excuse for a half. We got to have more urgency coming back out.” Eastern Illinois led at the half 40-34 with the EIU PF Gordon Lorreus leading all scorers with 13 points.

In the second half Samford noticeably picked up tempo as they seemed to begin to feel more comfortable on the floor offensively. Read said “I felt like we came out strong to start the second half. Our struggle was having to sub in and out too often, keeping us from gaining any sort of consistency.” The Bulldogs were able to fight back and tie the game at 45-45 with 13:29 left, and took their first lead of the game 56-54 with 6:47 left. Unfortunately, the Panthers went on a 10-0 run to take the lead back 64-56 at the three minute mark. With the Bulldogs Ware, Romano, and Francis having four fouls each they simply could not afford the aggression needed to come back and fell 69-63.

The Bulldogs will travel home for Thanksgiving before going back on the road early Friday to Denver, Colorado to take on the Pioneers (1-2) of the University of Denver. Denver runs an up tempo offense, with their big man Center Levi Pardee leading the charge for the Pioneers. Read stated “Stopping them in the paint is going to be tough, but we also need to not lose sight on the fact that 40% of their shots are at the three point range. Pardee is their shot leader, but SF Hurrell can hurt you outside.” As we get past the first holiday of the season one can only hope too much dressing and pie is not devoured making the Bulldogs turkey’s on the court Friday night.


Post Game Notes
Player of the Game
PF Gordon Lorreus (EIU) - 17 pts, 6 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, 2 ast

Samford................34 - 29 = 63
Eastern Illinois........40 - 29 = 69

Lead Changes = 5 / Times Tied = 3
Points in the Paint.......... - SAM = 26 / EIU = 20
Second Chance Points...... - SAM = 8 / EIU = 5
Fast Break Points........... - SAM = 8 / EIU = 6
Largest Lead................. - SAM = 2 / EIU = 14

Samford Top Players -
C Kyle Fidler................. 11 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk
PG Gerald Darby..............9 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl
PF Michael Romano...........9 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast

Samford Top Bench Player -
C Kyle Fidler................. 11 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk


EIU Top Players -
PF Gordon Lorreus.......... 17 pts, 6 reb, 3 blk, 2 ast, 1 stl
SF Brett Barnhardt.......... 15 pts, 8 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl
C Tom Fortuna................ 9 pts, 7 reb, 2 stl, 2 ast

EIU Top Bench Player -
C Marcel Pang................. 6 pts, 5 reb, 1 stl, 1 ast


Samford Team Stats -
FG... 24/58 (41.4%)
3P... 4/17 (23.5%)
FT... 11/14 (78.6%)
REB.. 30
AST.. 14
STL.. 7
BLK.. 3
TO... 14
PF... 26

EIU Team Stats -
FG... 19/47 (40.4%)
3P... 6/12 (50.0%)
FT... 25/36 (69.4%)
REB.. 36
AST.. 9
STL.. 10
BLK.. 5
TO...15
PF... 13