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| Students rushed the court at last year's White Out Wofford Game |
College of Charleston (15-7, 8-2)
Carolina First Arena
Tipoff at 7pm on ESPNU
Big big game for the Cougars. Wofford is a half game up on CofC in the South Division and would sit in the drivers seat with a win in Charleston. A Cougar victory would produce the opposite outcome. It would push Wofford into a tie with Furman (who we play at home Saturday). Beat Furman and we're in very good shape for a tournament bye and regular season title.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. The sole focus of Cremins' team right now should be on containing Noah Dahlman and the Terriers. We were able to steal a victory in Spartanburg to close out 2010, but will now be facing a very motivated squad. Until March, Wofford is still the reigning conference champion and a force to be reckoned with in the Socon. The Terriers are currently surging and their only blemish since losing to the Cougars was a tough overtime loss to Furman. The Cougars are headed in the opposite direction; barely getting past the GSU cellar dwellers and losing to Davidson.
It's tough to call what Cremin's game plan is going to be. Based on his past tendencies it's safe to assume he'll follow the general strategy of relying on our guard play to put up more points than Wofford. If this happens, Dahlman will destroy us inside and maybe get Simmons in early foul trouble. At that point the Cougars will have to hope the shooting gods are on our side and we get a high percentage from 3. If not, you might see me slouching in my seat with a bitter look on my face if you're watching ESPNU.
Now, since this is my blog, I'll offer my opinion on how I would face the Terriers. I'd play a much bigger and tougher lineup of Monroe, Goudelock, Hall, Wiedeman and Simmons. Wofford's guards shouldn't be much of a threat and Wiggin's defensive specialties don't warrant a starting role. Monroe is perfectly capable of playing good enough defense on Cameron Rundles. This bigger lineup wouldn't allow Dahlman to do his dirty work under the basket. In a recent article on ESPN, Mike Young stated that he has never seen Noah shoot a jumpshot in a game. That being said, why not have our bigs team up on him to box out his potential foul-drawing and putbacks. If anything maybe we'll get him in foul trouble early and send him to the bench. Maybe this is the game where Trent gets extended minutes again and takes it to Dahlman with his array of aggressive low post moves.
The obvious disadvantage of this lineup is that we'll lose a lot of speed and outside shooting. Wofford might get some steals and fast break points, but we'll still be taking away what they do best. Their offense runs through Mr. D.
Regardless of lineup, tempo or shot selection, I'm hoping to see a good game tomorrow night. I want the Cougars to give it their best shot after getting pushed into a corner and play the way they did at the beginning of the season. If last years contest was used for comparison, the game's gonna come down to the wire. Go Cougars!
It's tough to call what Cremin's game plan is going to be. Based on his past tendencies it's safe to assume he'll follow the general strategy of relying on our guard play to put up more points than Wofford. If this happens, Dahlman will destroy us inside and maybe get Simmons in early foul trouble. At that point the Cougars will have to hope the shooting gods are on our side and we get a high percentage from 3. If not, you might see me slouching in my seat with a bitter look on my face if you're watching ESPNU.
Now, since this is my blog, I'll offer my opinion on how I would face the Terriers. I'd play a much bigger and tougher lineup of Monroe, Goudelock, Hall, Wiedeman and Simmons. Wofford's guards shouldn't be much of a threat and Wiggin's defensive specialties don't warrant a starting role. Monroe is perfectly capable of playing good enough defense on Cameron Rundles. This bigger lineup wouldn't allow Dahlman to do his dirty work under the basket. In a recent article on ESPN, Mike Young stated that he has never seen Noah shoot a jumpshot in a game. That being said, why not have our bigs team up on him to box out his potential foul-drawing and putbacks. If anything maybe we'll get him in foul trouble early and send him to the bench. Maybe this is the game where Trent gets extended minutes again and takes it to Dahlman with his array of aggressive low post moves.
The obvious disadvantage of this lineup is that we'll lose a lot of speed and outside shooting. Wofford might get some steals and fast break points, but we'll still be taking away what they do best. Their offense runs through Mr. D.
Regardless of lineup, tempo or shot selection, I'm hoping to see a good game tomorrow night. I want the Cougars to give it their best shot after getting pushed into a corner and play the way they did at the beginning of the season. If last years contest was used for comparison, the game's gonna come down to the wire. Go Cougars!
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