I'll Be a Son of a Shark

[CoachC]

ooc: very unusual, but i just found out today that Longwood in fact DID join the Big South last season in real life to make it a 12 team conference. Pretty sure the REAL Longwood didn't win a post-season title before joining, however.

Pretty interesting that conference movement put them in our conference just as they were moving there in real life. Seems to be some rhyme and reason to the conference movements. Up and geographically sensible seem to be the key criteria. There is still no chance in hell that the Valley would ever accept Chicago St. in real life Chicago St. , with the WCC folding are moving only slighly closer to home to the WAC next year. They should have held out.. the Horizon probably would have taken em.

[CoachC]

Larry: I guess we know what expect from the Flames. Smothering defense.

Gary: Yes, but in recent games they've started scoring as well. It's never easy to beat a team 3 times in one season. To get this one we'll have to play better defense than they do. Turnovers and run-outs out of the Amoeba may well be the difference in the end.


In the first half, defense was only played on one half the court... that of the good guys. We came out blistering hot, "cooling" down to a 55.3% for the half while they "heated" up to 39% in the last few minutes. Establishing a big lead early we went a little deeper on the bench than our usual 8, especially after Feeley picked up his 2nd. Gilchrist decided he didn't want to be the senior to be named later, and gave us a handful of terrific minutes at the point.

Having to yell at them about SOMETHING in the locker room, I point to our poor effort on the defensive boards early in the half... given that they didn't have another offensive rebound in the last 9 minutes of the half, even that seemed kind of hollow. The Flames seemed to come out wanting to trade baskets with us, and that will never happen.

halftime we lead 48-29

with 11:37 left and a 27 point lead we begin emptying the bench, knowing that if we didn't score another point, the Flames lacked the offense to score 27 points in the that time.

Jeffers led the way with 18 pts, 7 rebs
Felts had 16, 7 rebs
Battle 17, 5 asts
O'Conner had 10 pts, 8 rebs, and only the score of the game kept him from a solid double double.

Am having to worry a bit about 'Zilla though. He's showing the same tendencies this year as he did as a freshman... start strong... have a mediocre middle... finish strong. In horse racing this is known as a 'Z" pattern. I'm afraid next year he might break a fetlock and we might have to shoot him.

We had a 12 point lead in this game before the first media time-out and the outcome was never in jeopardy. It was good to get the bench a lot of minutes and get some rest for the Big 8.

Final:

G-W 85 Liberty 61

[CoachC]

Mar 2: in the other quarterfinals
(12) Charleston Southern upsets (4) Longwood 69-68
(6) Radford surprises (3) Presbyterian 77-75
(2) High Point holds off (10) VMI 66-64 for their 8th straight victory without Rod Jones.....the Panthers are giving me the willies.

Longwood and Presbyterian both with RPIs in the top 75 will be playing somewhere in the post-season. I'm still shocked that either lost. As it turns out we were the ONLY team to win by more than 2 in the quarterfinals and give our regulars some rest.

[CoachC]

Mar 3: Big South tourney semi-finals:

(12) Charleston Southern (8-21) v (1) Gardner-Webb (21-7)
(6) Radford (15-14) v (2) High Point (18-10)

[Wayne23]

Text from Frank Bailey: Keep kickin' them butts, Coach!

[CoachC]

Thx, Frank. If I ever find out how to get into one of those people moving rooms, let's play a closed scrimmage next year! Actually don't have to drive far to get to you, but it's the time travel thing that has me stumped.

[CoachC]

Larry: Great win yesterday afternoon, Coach. Now we face a team that is trying to play spoiler and doing a good job of it. As the 12 seed they knock of the host team in the first round, and surprise Longwood in the quarterfinals. These guys mean busiiness.

Gary: Yes, they do. I've been imploring our guys not to overlook the Buccaneers. As always it's tough to beat a team 3 times in one season, and we didn't play great in either of our wins against them. Both times turnover differential was the final determinant, and we'll have to look to try to turn them over again tonight. Their starting center Erege is out again so they are a bit thin inside. Getting them in some foul trouble could help as well.

We came out ready to play. With Jeffers and Felts both red red hot in the first half we shoot 66.7% for the half. Our defense was decent, but we need to avoid the 6 unforced turnovers we had in the first 12 minutes, and hit the boards harder. We did turn them over 10 times with 6 steals however.

At the half we are way out in front again 49-27

Our defense wasn't very good in the 2nd half, nor was our defensive rebounding. but we continued to shoot the lights out (64.5% for the game), and turned them over 16 times on 10 steals, and the outcome was never in doubt. Again we are able to empty the bench in the final minutes and give our regulars some extra rest.

Felts had 28, Jeffers 27, Battle 13 pts, 7 asts.

Feeley was limited to 14 minutes with foul trouble but had 5 pts, 4 asts.

Moore, Brown, and Sheals all played well. O'Conner was in foul trouble all game and wasn't much of a factor.

Final:
G-W 94 CS 77

[CoachC]

Mar 3: In the other semi-final Radford ended High Point's 8 game winning streak 75-65 and advance to the championship game from the 6 seed.

[CoachC]

Larry: Here we are looking to repeat as conference champions. Exciting times in Boiling Springs.

Gary: Yes. Our only meeting with the Highlanders was at our place where we smothered them defensively in the 2nd half allowing them just 15 points and won easily. Tonight's a new game, however. We need that kind of defensive effort again. In the first game, Ike carried us offensively, but we need more of the offensive balance we've had lately. We turned them over 23 time in our first meeting with 19 steals, and it's hard to expect that kind of performance again on the defensive end, but we do need to play well. Radford has nothing to lose and will be giving it their all. As the underdog they'll probably have most of the crowd behind them as well.

We came out tonight shooting cold but gradually raised our shooting pct to 40. Our defense was very good though as was our offensive rebounding. We need to get after the defensive boards better in the second half, however. (how often have I had to emphasize that this year?)

At the half we lead 37-24

We continued to shoot better in the second half (45.9 for the game) and rebounded much better (30-25,10-7). Our defense wasn't nearly as good in the 2nd half, but we were plus 6 on turnovers again. They were never able to make a significant run at us and for the 2nd straight year we are cutting down the nets.

Jeffers led with 24, Felts had 12, O'conner 12 pts 6 rebs, Battle 10, Feeley 7 pts, 4 asts, and Sheals, Brown, and Moore made their usual significant contributions. Before the press conference I congratulate our guys on taking nothing for granted in the tournament, and grabbing each opponent by the throat early and not letting go. It's going to be a great flight back to Boiling Springs.

Final
G-W 77 Radford 60

[CoachC]

Mar 6: We are shocked on Monday morning when the polls come out and we see OUR name ranked 22nd in the AP poll 2 spots ahead of the Tar Heels no less! The USA Today coach's poll has us at 24, one spot behind the Tar Heels. That we are ranked at all just amazes me. Apparently people have begun taking notice of our program. Our RPI headed into Selection Sunday next weekend though is just 42. Still, CollegeInsider is projecting us as perhaps as high as a 9 seed which would thrill us to no end. We shall see what we shall see.