SoCon Opener: CofC vs El Cid

A VMI cheerleader catches a knob hanging outside the all girls dorm

College of Charleston (5-1, 0-0)

Shitadel (2-3, 0-0)

TD Arena

Tipoff at 8pm on ESPN3

What better way to start off conference play than by hosting our crosstown rival? As much as it pains me to say it, I'm actually gonna miss rooting against the likes of Cameron Wells, Zach Urbanus and company this year. They were solid players and the basketball rivalry between Citadel and CofC is at its best when both teams are competitive in the Southern Conference. 

Like the Cougars, the Bulldogs of El Cid are also rebuilding; albeit on a whole different level. They have  eight freshman on the roster and are still adjusting to 2nd year coach Driesel's style of play. They are led by junior center Mike Groselle, who in my opinion, has been the biggest surprise in the Southern conference so far. He leads the team in both points (18.2) and rebounds (11.2) per game. I can only guess that after he got abused by Simmons last year (skip to the 3:14 mark of the video here), Big Mikey spent countless hours watching game tape of Noah Dahlman to hone his skills. He's made great strides in his back to the basket game and rebounding positioning and has been the lone bright spot in the Citadel's losses to Clemson, VMI and High Point.


Groselle will have to be the focus of the Cougars defensive game plan this week and the front line will have their hands full. Better hope Wiedeman and Baru don't get some early foul calls or we'll be watching helplessly from the sidelines as Carlton and Sundberg desperately try to draw a charge. More than the post players though, I want to see how Jordan Scott plays. No one really knew what to expect from him when the season began and he started this year looking like he might be our best player. He's cooled off significantly since then and has failed to score more than two points in three of the last four games. Now he has Anthony Stitt pushing him out of the starting spot and stealing his minutes. We know he has the potential, let's see how he responds to the adversity.


If Wiedeman and Baru can stay out of foul trouble and Wiggins doesn't go into another slump, the Cougs should win this one easily. Coach Cremins knows the importance of conference games and I'm sure the coaching staff has gotten the team pumped for tomorrows game. The Cougars are coming in with some momentum and returning to a rocking TD Arena should help them get their first conference victory. Go Cougars!

Battle 4 Atlantis Wrap Up

Like I mentioned at the end of yesterdays post, I didn't get to watch most of the UCF game or any of the UNCA game. I have however looked at the boxscores, read the game summaries and read the comments on cofcfans.com. Based on those sources, there are a few things we learned from each game.

Central Florida

• When Wiggins struggles, so does the team
•  The Cougars' leading scorer and lone senior had his worst game of the season as he was held to just six shots and ended with a grand total of two points. 'Twaine has come a long way from his knuckleball-shooting, wannabe point guard days as a freshamn to lead the Cougs this season. He's really put it together this year and continues to be a matchup nightmare for opposing players. The offense doesn't necessarily flow through Wiggins, but I think there was a bit of uneasiness amongst the team when he wasn't getting it going.
• This team would be in a rough spot if Baru had been ruled ineligible 
• I hate to return to such a dated topic, but when Baru sits early with foul trouble, like he did against UCF, you see how easy it is to dominate the Cougars inside. Trent played his best game of the weekend against the Knights but he was facing an uphill battle as the frontline of UCF (particularly Keith Clanton) had a field day against Sundberg and Carlton
• When the back of your jersey says "Jordan" you'll get some preferential treatment from the refs
• Gotta live with that one
• Rebounding was weak this game, but it will be just fine by Socon standards
• Before the season even started we knew that rebounding and defense would be our strengths this year. We were obliterated on the boards 25-44 (partly due to Baru's one rebound in 13 minutes) by the Knights and it resulted in many second chance scoring opportunities for them, particularly down the stretch. I don't believe there are many teams in the Socon who will be able to out-rebound us come March
• This loss looked a lot better the next day when UCF defeated UConn. Still wish it could've been us though.

UNC Asheville

• Not every game the Cougars play starts with a great first half and ends with us holding on to the lead
• Asheville was in this game from the beginning, at the half and in the end. The Cougar Cubs showed a lot of resilience and maturity by refusing to fold like they did against UCF and dropping to 0-2 in the Bahamas.
• Wiggins can bounce back
• After going for 2 points against the Knights, Antwaine scored 23 points to lead the Cougars on Friday. He also nailed eight straight points down the stretch. Like I said earlier, comparing his game now to that of his freshman year is unbelievable. 
• Adjehi Baru has an offensive game
• Beyond alley-oops and elbow jumpers! Baru's back-to-the-basket game is coming along slowly but surely as he still faces that huge jump in talent from 1A high school ball to D1 college ball. Against UNCA, Adjehi had his highest scoring output of the season with 14 points and still contributed seven rebounds.
• That Anthony Stitt sure is talented, one of these days he's gonna have a breakout game.
• Didn't know it would be the next day

UMass

• Remember when we kept having players cramping up in the exhibition games? 
• That is hopefully a problem of the past as the Cougars' seven man rotation was able to hang with the ten man rotation of UMass in the run-and-gun first half. In fact, Lawrence and Wiggins looked like they could've kept playing when they were sitting on the bench, despite playing 35 minutes each.
• This was a stat I found interesting but encouraging: This game was just the second time this season that the Cougars have outscored their opponent in the second half (the other was against Morehead when we scored 35 and allowed 32)
• Perhaps the comeback issues we had with Holy Cross and Clemson never come back to bite us in the butt

Overall I'd call the Battle 4 Atlantis a success for the Cougars. The loss to UCF was unfortunate but I would rather have that than have an overconfident CofC team lose the upcoming conference opening swing at TD Arena. The team and coaching staff learned a little more about who they are and we fans got to see the Cougs play some legit competition.

Baru's Dunk Against UMass

For those of you without access to HDNet, here is my bootleg version of the Stitt to Baru alley-oop that blew the roof off Imperial Arena. No need to remind you, but they are both freshman...

Cougs Leave Bahamas 2-1 After Dismantling UMass

Final Score: College of Charleston 85, UMass 61

Top Performers: Anthony Stitt 23 points, 8 assists, 3 steals

Slams and jams! 

Shooting guards the size of centers!

Matt Sundberg getting hot from downtown!

It's college basketball on HDNet!

In one of the most bizarre games I've seen in years, the College of Charleston Cougars wrapped up their Thanksgiving stay in the Bahamas with a 24-point drubbing of the UMass Minutemen. Anthony Stitt had the best game of his short college career and led the Cougars to a winning record and 5th place finish in the Battle 4 Atlantis. 

Despite having access to HDNet for almost four years, this was the first time I ever watched the programming; let alone a basketball game. And let me just say the experience did not disappoint. From player introductions that did not feature Andrew Lawrence, to color commentary gems like "Sundberg is one of those special players that always finds himself in the right place at the right time." Other highlights included a plug for a live Smash Mouth concert and an interview with the Archduke of Bahaman Sports and Culture (or something like that). One of play-by-play callers also sang into the microphone during the second half.

The entertainment value of the game's first half was most likely the cause of the commentator orgasm taking place on the sidelines. The 5th place game was marketed as the surefire, most compelling, edge-of-your seat, high scoring game-to-be of the entire tournament. For the first half it lived up to its billing.

With the exception of their minute man running the point (pun severely intended), the Minutemen had anywhere from 7 to 15 tall, lanky wing players who rotated in and out of play. In the first half, UMass infused their style of play into the game and set a track meet sort of pace. They were getting out in transition and finished just about every possession with a dunk. The Minutemen's movement on offense was getting Trent and Adjehi out of position and they were taking advantage. However, the Cougars can run and gun if that's what you want to do. We were able to go punch for punch with UMass behind the perimeter play of Andrew Lawrence and Anthony Stitt (who alone shot 5-8 from three for the game). 

I think UMass' strategy coming into last nights game was to use their athleticism and depth to their advantage and wear the Cougars seven man rotation down. That was how the game was played in the first half and CofC found themselves up by four. The second half was when we put them away. When the Cougars slowed the tempo down and settled into a zone defense, it forced the Minutemen to execute their offense more traditionally. They had to think about shot selection and weren't able to get the alley-oops and outside shooting going. UMass finished the game shooting 4-28 from three and nothing seemed to go their way down the stretch.

Anthony Stitt was phenomenal in this game. He ran the offense proficiently (he mostly ran point even with Lawrence in the game) and showed an outside shooting touch many of us thought was lacking from his game. Antwaine Wiggins also had his second solid game of the tournament by matching Stitt's 23 points and doing his thing on defense. To me the most disappointing performance of the night came from James Carlton. This was the type of game for him to really have an impact. The fact that the game was up tempo and a blowout at the end should have insured more than 6 minutes for JC. But once again he kept disappearing on offense and Coach went with Sundberg. Not to mention JC also nearly got a T for delivering a hard elbow that got him reamed out bad by Cremins. Matt responded to his opportunity by getting his shots from outside and finishing with 12 points.

Even though we didn't get our dream matchup against UConn or FSU thanks to our first round loss, finishing the trip 2-1 should instill some more confidence into the young guys. Now the Cougars will travel back to Charleston to begin conference play with a matchup against rival Citadel at TD Arena. So far we have seen great individual performances from Wiedeman, Wiggins,  Lawrence, Stitt and Adjehi but we have yet to see them all put it together in one game. The Citadel is young but they have a ton of talent. I'll be at the game and I would very much like for us to decimate the Cadets in our first conference game.

*Due to Thanksgiving travel I missed the Asheville game and most of the UCF game. Im going to accumulate what I can and put together a brief Battle 4 Atlantis summary tomorrow

Battle 4 Atlantis Game 1: CofC vs UCF

College of Charleston (3-0, 0-0)
University of Central Florida (2-1, 0-0)
Imperial Arena, Paradise Island Bahamas
Tipoff Thursday at 2pm on Versus


The first game of the first ever Battle 4 Atlantis tournament pits the UCF Knights against the Cougars on Thanksgiving Day. I'm probably going to have to record this game because my extended family is gonna elect to watch the Packers-Lions game over the first round of some new college basketball tournament.

When it was announced that this would be our first game of the tournament, I knew exactly two things about the UCF Knights. The first is that one of Michael Jordan's sons, Marcus Jordan, is on the team. The other piece of information I drew upon was that I remembered them being nationally ranked last year, but they didn't make it to the Big Dance. I looked at last years results and sure enough this was in fact the case. The Knights started last year by winning 14 straight games (including wins over UF and Miami) and earning a national ranking, before they collapsed and lost 8 straight. They finished the year 19-11 and made it to the semi-finals if the CBI (the postseason tourney we played in a few years ago).

From what little I've been able to gather about the Knights, they are balanced offensively and are very athletic. Macus Jordan and forward Keith Clanton lead the team in points with about 16 per game apiece. Three other players also average double figures this year. Just by watching video on the team you can see the athleticism. They're high flying, dunk a lot and score in transition. However, they're team field goal percentage this year is a paltry .396% (the Cougars have shot .497 this year).

The Knights are 2-1 coming into this contest, with lopsided wins over St Thomas University and Holy Cross. Their lone loss on the season was an absolute drubbing by #24 Florida State in Tallahassee (consequently, FSU is also in the Battle 4 Atlantis).

My take on UCF is that they're a lot like another team in our own conference: Chattanooga. Both the Mocs and the Knights have a team of athletes who can run, jump and dunk. This can put you at an advantage over a lot of teams and I think that's what happened at the beginning of last season for the Knights. They were able to out-hustle their opponents. But as the Mocs are finding out, athleticism only gets you so far. My guess is that once UCF got to conference play last year, their regular opponents figured them out and were able to force them to play a more coordinated style of offense.

The Knights are not a great shooting team (.235 from 3 for the team) and this consequently has lead them to score only about 70 points per game this year. The Cougars should be able to hold them at or below that number and get a victory on Thanksgiving Day. This CofC team is brimming with confidence but I think Cremins has them focused on the task at hand. As I mentioned after the Clemson game, we'll go another layer deeper in seeing what this team is made of. They can either build off of what they've done so far, learn from their 2nd half mistakes and move forward OR they let their egos get out of hand and supply us fans with the first loss of the season. I for one want to see us play Florida State and UConn. But I'll be thankful as long as the Cougs give it their all. Go Cougars!

Cougars Depart for Bahamas

Earlier today, the Cougars left Charleston to begin their journey to the Bahamas for the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis basketball tournament. 

The only guaranteed matchup right now is that the Cougars will play UCF Thanksgiving Day at 2pm on Versus. The other teams in the bracket include: Florida State, Harvard, UMass, UNC Asheville, Utah and 2011 National Champion UConn.

Here's a video preview of the tournament with Coach

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MlhwDDfRTc&feature=channel_video_title 

Cougars Hold On, Defeat Clemson at LittleJohn

Trent literally looks like a giant in this picture

Final Score: College of Charleston 72, Clemson 69
Top Performers: Lots of praise to go around here, Wiggins led the way with 22 points and 7 rebounds, Wiedeman and Lawrence had 15 each and Baru and Stitt played some great D down the stretch

Full Game (for a limited time)            Box Score


Yesterday was not a good day to be a Clemson fan. For the better part of the afternoon, the Tigers football team was getting abused by the NC State Wolfpack. Right around the end of the game, the College of Charleston Cougars were up 16 in Littlejohn Coliseum. If you're interested in seeing a bunch of grown men cry over their programs' simultaneous implosion from BCS and NCA Tournament aspirations, I recommend visiting one of Clemson's sports forums.

Back to the game itself. Because of the Saturday evening time slot, the crowd at Littlejohn was sparse and both the fans and the players seemed to come out with little energy. The Cougars jumped out to an early double-digit lead behind a turnover-creating defense and some strong offensive play by Antwaine, Andrew and Trent. Momentum continued to carry through the first half as the Cougars put the pedal to the floor and really looked like a veteran team on both ends of the floor. Cremins called it "as good a half of basketball as any team I've ever coached". In the first half the Cougars held the Tigers to 24 points, 36.7% shooting and forced 9 turnovers.

In the second half we witnessed a whole different Clemson team. They came out with energy and intensity, got the crowd back into the game, straightened up on defense and began to chip away at the lead. Devin Booker led the charge (he finished with 16pts and 14 rebs) by attacking the offensive glass and getting some second chance baskets. The Cougars held on for dear life and were able to get baskets when they needed them. The lead was cut to as little as 2 in the final minutes before our freshman came up big. With 21 seconds left, Baru had a huge block on Andre Young's layup attempt and Wiggins quickly recovered the ball. Antwaine passed ahead to Stitt who faced one man in the open court and drove to the basket to draw the foul. Stitt shot one-for-two from the line and the Tigers had one last semi-open look from Young whose three point attempt clanged off the rim.

Game, Blouses.

More thoughts after the jump

Cougars Defeat Clemson, 72-69

Recap to come tomorrow. Wiggins with 22 points, Lawrence and Wiedeman with 15. 

Cougars travel across SC to face Clemson

The only home loss of last season came against Clemson

Clemson (2-0, 0-0)

College of Charleston (2-0, 0-0)

Littlejohn Coliseum 

Tipoff Satuday at 7pm on ESPN3

Last year the Cougars won 13 of 14 games at the TD Arena. The lone loss of the season was to Clemson. Now with revamped rosters for both teams, the Cougars will look to get some revenge on their in-state brethren by defeating the Tigers in Clemson tomorrow night. Like Morehead State, the Tigers also went to the Big Dance last year and made it to the second round before losing to West Virginia. 

Clemson is coming off two straight victories over Gardner-Webb and El Cid. Not that our schedule has offered us any real challenges either, but the Cougars are also 2-0 on the season. Watching half of the Citadel game, Clemson's calling card is their defense. They played mostly man-to-man against the cadets, and threw in some full-court pressure from time to time. It was enough to make the young Citadel squad uncomfortable and ineffective on offense for most of the game. 

If the Tigers have watched any tape on the Cougars, expect them to put full court pressure on for the majority of the game. I was hoping the problems we had against the Holy Cross press would be fixed for Morehead State. While some progress was made and there were fewer turnovers, I still get the nervous tingles when Wiedeman or Carlton catches the inbounds pass. 

I fully believe that the Cougars' defense is capable of stopping the Tigers' offensive attack. Clemson has some lightning-quick guards but I believe the perimeter defense can hold up in the half court. These guards are also going to have to deal with getting around Wiedeman and Baru inside. Andre Young is only listed at 5'9 and should have a tough time finishing around the rim. His backcourt running mate is TJ Sapp, a freshman who is having a solid season so far. 

The front court battle is what to watch for. Clemson has the experience, but the Cougars are certainly talented enough to keep pace if they stay sharp mentally. Between Wiggins, Wiedeman and Baru the Cougars actually have the height advantage in this one. But Booker is still a beast and Tanner Smith puts up stats similar to Trent. 

I expect this game to be a grind it out type of contest. Both teams will be battling inside, the defense will be there and both squads are young and have a tendency to get sloppy. It will be the first big test for the Cougar Cubs; playing an ACC opponent and playing on the road for the first time this season. If the game was in Charleston I would feel better about our chances, but I think the home crowd will pull the Tigers to victory in a close game. If Lawrence and Scott stay hot from outside the arc we'll stay in it. Hope to see Stitt suffocate some of his cousin's former teammates defensively and more production out of the bench.

Go Cougars! 

Charleston Classic Begins Today

The Cougars are not participating this year (the home team is only eligible to play in their own tournament once every four years) but nevertheless the Charleston Classic is great exposure for the program, the College and the TD Arena. This year's bracket consists of some high profile teams including Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Final Four participant VCU. All games are available to the public on either ESPN3 or ESPNU. If you're in Charleston, it's worth buying a ticket to catch one of the high profile games.

Bracket

Morehead State at CofC: Live Coverage

First Half

• 19:00- 3 quick threes by Wiggins, Scott and Lawrence. 9-0 Cougars
• 16:41- game finally switches to ESPN, 9-2 Cougars
• 15:57- better defense by MSU, corner 3 by Lawrence
• Nice shots of Shem Creek, announcers keep talking about how beautiful the city is. Chyea chyea!
• 15:52- Stitt and Carlton in
• Shot of Goudelock half asleep
• Full court press by Morehead, Cougars get out of it, jumper by Baru
• 13:45- not a bad crowd, still no field goals for State
• SUNDBEEERRRGGG
• 10:26- Full court pressure starting to get to the Cougars now 18-10
• Matt gets his first basket in years... then bricks a three
• 7:21- alley oop jam by the Eagles
• 6:00- Two more 3's by the Sundberg and Scott, then another by Scott 32-14
• The zone isnt letting them close out any shooters
• Shot of the huddle, Stitt's head hits camera
• 4:20- Alley oop from Lawrence to Wiggins!
• Shot of the huddle, Carlton's head hits camera  
• 1:36- 3 from the corner cuts Cougar lead to 14
• With 30 seconds to go, Cougars' hot hand is starting to cool 37-25

Halftime- Eagles end the hlaf on an 11-1 run. 37-25 Cougars

• two quick turnovers by CofC to start
• 18:00- lead cut to 10
• 17:05- two consecutive jumpers by Baru
• 15:52- great defense by Cougs but a 3 by the Eagles
• Wiggins fouled, falls like Shaq
• Oh is Coach K going for some kind of record? Thanks for reminding me, ESPN
• Alley oop from Hulk to Baru is thwarted
• Offensive foul on the Lawrence drive, BS the guys feet were moving
• Great D Cougars
• 13:27- the dude covering Wiedeman leaves with foul trouble
• 12:22- Wiggins keeps getting to the line (2-3 FT so far)
• Some scrub tries to tomahawk jam, Wiggins says "not in my house" and blocks it out of bounds
• 10:50- Nori checks in
• 9:34- Lawrence with a clean block but refs disagree, students not happy
• Full court pressure still getting to us
• Eagles 3 cuts lead to 10
• Drew Kelly fouls out (the one I mentioned earlier)
• 8:16- great offensive rebounding by Wiedeman and Baru, Trent gets the shot and 1
• 8:00- Cougars switch to full court pressure, Eagles starting to look desperate 
• 7:32- Wiggins with the takeaway and jam
• 5:59- Wiedeman and Lawrence give up open looks, Scott with the 3 as shot clock expires
• 4:54- Lawrence with a 3 makes the lead 17
• Wiedeman just cleaning the glass
• 4:00- Scott with a floater to get to 19 points
• 3:00- lead up to 20 on the Jordan Scott layup +1
• Lets get a dunk on the Top 10 Cougars
• 2:13- shot clock expires on the Cougs
• 4 second differential between game and shot clock. TD hits a floater as shot clock expires, then Morehead State player rushes down court as Cougars are celebrating and dunks with 0.8 seconds to go. What a douche. 

Cougars win 72-57. The 3 ball got us going early and we never looked back. Great ball movement by the Cougars and great individual performances by Wiedeman, Wiggins and Scott. 

Time to go shower.

Morehead State at CofC (ESPN)

College of Charleston (1-0, 0-0)

Morehead State (0-1, 0-0)

TD Arena 

Tipoff Tuesday at 8:00 AM on ESPN

Where to begin with this game? It is certainly a little short on star power as opposed to last years game (Kenneth Faried was drafted in the first round by the Nuggets). Nevertheless, this will be the first time that CofC gets a home game in their new arena on ESPN's primary network. Not ESPN2, not ESPNU, not ESPN3.com or even ESPN 8: The Ocho. Fans from sea to shining see will tune in at prime time to watch the Cougars take on the Eagles here in Charleston. 

Wait, what's that you say? The game is at 8 AM?!

That's right, tipoff for this game is at a time when there is not a single student on campus who is awake by choice. As part of ESPN's 24 hours of college basketball, CofC was granted one of the worst time slots and will have to hope the appeal of free coffee and donuts will be enough to get some hardcore fans out of bed, out of class and out of the cubicle to watch this game and support the Cougs. 

Morehead State is coming off of a 30-point loss to an NC State team that was missing CJ Leslie. I was able to watch most of the game and there are some things to take away. Like what the Cougars are going through, the loss of Kenneth Faried has been a huge difference maker for the Eagles. They lost the leading rebounder in the nation and their most explosive offensive player. The team is now much smaller and inexperienced and the results so far have not been pretty. They were crushed by the NAIA's Mountain State and were manhandled on the boards by NC State.

One thing that sets Morehead State apart on defense is that they stick to a strict zone for the duration of the game. This is something that could potentially cause fits for the young Cougars. The best way to attack it is by keeping the ball moving and making crisp passes. Luckily, the Eagles don't have tremendous length or speed to utilize the zone as effectively as other teams. I think they'll struggle against bigger, stronger and faster competition (one thing the Cougars definitely have going for them). The Eagles will also employ the full court press. We'll see how quick the Cougars are able to fix the mistakes they made in the full court against Holy Cross. 

Even though Kenneth Faried is gone, this team still embodies his style of play. They may be undersized but they are scrappy and will fight until the final buzzer sounds. One thing I noticed that they did against NC State was in an attempt to get an inside game going. They routinely use head and ball fakes to try and draw the foul on the big fellas. This could get us into trouble. Can't you see Baru and Carlton jumping all over those ball fakes and getting into foul trouble? Cremins is going to have to keep them disciplined because lord knows our big man rotation is thin.

Athleticism, defense and the size advantage should put the Cougars over the top. The ungodly hour also is in our favor. Not only will the travel from NC hurt the Eagles but just the fact that the Cougars will get to sleep in their own beds should give them a little more of a mental edge. I'm looking for us to out-rebound and take advantage of a highly turnover prone team. Go Cougars!

*I'm going to be doing this game recap a little differently. Rather than the typical game summary and analysis, I'm going to have my computer on my lap and be giving a rapid reaction/ stream-of-consciousness type of instant feedback. Should be fun, fresh and keep me awake. 

Cougars Defeat Holy Cross in Season Opener

Jordan with the filthy poster dunk in the 2nd half

Final Score: College of Charleston 78, Holy Cross 69
Top Performers: Trent Wiedeman 15 pts, 10 rebs, 3 blks
                             Antwaine Wiggins 18 pts, 7 rebs, 3 assts
Highlights     Boxscore

We finally got our first real contest between the new look Cougars as they took on the Holy Cross Crusaders in front of a near sellout crowd at TD Arena. There were plenty of questions coming into this game and the results were definitely mixed. The first basket of the season was an Antwaine Wiggins slam off an alley-oop pass from Andrew Lawrence and the momentum didn't stop there. The Cougs jumped out to an early double-digit lead and kept the pedal on the floor almost through halftime.

The second half was a different story. CofC was lackadaisical and sloppy to end the half and got off to a slow start to begin the second. Holy Cross went on a quick 11-2 run and could have gone on a bigger run if not for some critical Cougar baskets.

There are a couple reasons why this game was a nine point win rather than a 20 point win. Andrew Lawrence, who masterfully ran the offense in the first half, was sidelined for much of the 2nd with a severe cramp (sounds familiar). Anthony Stitt filled in admirably for a freshman but the offense was out of sync. The second reason the Cougars let things slip was the full court press that Holy Cross put on. Cremins was noticeably frustrated as the Cougars continued to turn the ball over rather than playing smart and making the easy pass to break the pressure. The numbers don't lie; 4 turnovers in the 1st half for CofC versus 13 in the 2nd.

The Crusaders won the second half, but the first 20 minutes of the game was a glimpse of what this team is capable of. The defense was making Holy Cross a one dimensional, jump shooting team and the Cougars were pounding the ball inside the Wiedeman and Baru (11 points and 8 rebounds for the game). Like the critics have been saying for weeks, this young team will need to learn how to play hard and focused for 40 minutes. We wont have a 20+ point cushion to throw away against most teams so it's all the more important to work on these things in practice and before conference play starts.

Here's a summary of the other pros and cons I took away from this game:

Pros:

• First half defense- the Cougars held Holy Cross to 19 points on 30.8% shooting including an 0-6 mark on threes. The Crusaders were forced to run their offense from WAY behind the three point line and Stitt and Wiggins' ability to stay in front of defenders resulted in plenty of shot clock violations and tough shots
• Baru's hustle- he had the low post offense going in the first half, but was a little less aggressive in the second. He's so fast down the floor that he gets into position (offensively and defensively) much earlier than his opponent. The block he had in the first half was an impressive display of athleticism and timing. 
• Lawrence running the point- Andrew might be the first true point guard the Cougars have had in five years. Not only does he see the floor well, he also brings a calming presence to a team that can panic at the first sign of a defensive breakdown. That panic set in when the Crusaders went on that early 2nd half run and #4 was on the sideline.

Cons:

• Boneheaded plays by Carlton and Scott- jumping the the air on ball fakes, needless fouls on transition baskets and countless 5 turnovers between them (could've been more). I don't know if it's nerves or sloppiness; but it's gotta stop.
• Free throw %- Cougars are going to get to the line a lot this year. 42 times last night but only hit 27. C'mon man. 

Next game is the 8 am against Morehead on Tuesday

Holy Cross at College of Charleston

BC with former Holy Cross and NBA great, Bob Cousy

College of Charleston (0-0, 0-0)
Holy Cross (0-0, 0-0)
TD Arena, Charleston SC
Tipoff at 7:30

Well folks, here we are. The Cougars kick of the 2011-2012 season in earnest tomorrow night as they host the Holy Cross Crusaders in the first regular season game for both teams. Last season the Cougars were victorious on the road against the Crusaders by a score of 93-84.

This will be our first chance to see what the young Cougar Cubs (you like that?) are made of. The exhibition games against Queens and Limestone were a nice way of getting our feet wet, but Holy Cross will be the true Litmus test to see where this team is at. TD Arena is going to be packed and the way the Cougars play tomorrow night will set the tone and the expectations of these guys going forward.

The last time the two teams played, the Cougars were coming off a gut-wrenching loss to Maryland in College Park. Charleston got off to a quick start against the Crusaders, jumping out to an early lead behind the play of Willis Hall. The closest Holy Cross would get was within 10 in the second half before the Cougars hit some free throws down the line and maintained a comfortable margin of victory. Willis and Jeremy led the team in scoring with 20 and 22 points respectively. The Cougars shot a blistering 63.6% on field goals for the game.

Those last two sentences give me the most encouragement for tomorrow night's game. I know we lost a lot of playmakers, but our inside game was enough to gut out a win against this team last year. We have enough of an outside threat with Lawrence and Scott to keep the defense honest, which should open up room for Trent and Adjehi to operate. In 19 minutes of playing time last year, the Hulk shot 100% from the floor and from the stripe to get himself 13 points off the bench.

The Crusaders' interior players consist of a 6-8 junior and a 6-9 sophomore would should both have a tough time guarding the height of Baru, Wiggins and Carlton as well as the strength of Wiedeman. In the backcourt, Holy Cross will be starting freshman Justin Burrell and senior Devin Brown (who may be their best player). Hopefully we stick Antwaine on Brown and let the freshman beat us in his collegiate debut.

On offense for the Cougars, look for the points to come from Trent, Jordan and Andrew. Adjehi will probably have some of those same jitters trying to play up to the expectations of TD Arena. I don't expect Bobby to force things with his prized freshman so look for Baru's points to come in transition and maybe in garbage minutes. As for the defense, I think Stitt and Wiggins will look great and Nori and James might surprise some people.

In the end I think defense, athleticism and home court advantage will trump inexperience against a Holy Cross team that really struggled in a so-so conference last year. I'm just glad college basketball is finally back. Go Cougars!

*recap of this game might be late tomorrow, I've got tickets to a concert tonight and will be watching the game on delay

Canyon Barry to Sign Today

This is a story that was first reported 2 days ago by the Colorado Springs Gazette, but Canyon Barry has supposedly signed his LOI today to become the first 2012 recruit for the Cougars. Canyon is the youngest son of NBA Hall-of-Famer Rick Barry. He will follow in the footsteps of his four half-brothers to become the 5th Barry son to play Division I basketball (3 of the other 4 went on to play in the NBA).

Canyon is a 6-5, 175 lbs wing player from Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs. According to his father and Coach Cremins, he is a bit of a project and is still growing into his frame. He will most likely redshirt his freshman year according to his dad. 

More after the jump

Examining the Lineup: Part 2

The last time we discussed the Cougars starting lineup, Baru had still not been cleared to play and practices had not begun. With the season opener in just a few short days, the 8-9 man rotation is a bit clearer but far from established.

Let's start with the positions that ARE set in stone.

• Andrew Lawrence, Anthony Stitt at the 1
• Even though he rested for the Limestone game, Lawrence's control of the offense and outside shooting make him a lock at the point guard position. Bobby Cremins has already publicly stated that Stitt will be the first sub off the bench, primarily running the point. His defense and scoring ability will ensure the team doesn't miss a beat.

• Wiggins starts at the 3
• Defensive stopper, lone senior, no chance he doesn't start here

• Trent and Adjehi start inside; James Carlton rotates in
• Trent is the obvious choice here because of his experience starting for Jeremy at the end of last season. Adjehi has shown enough potential and hustle on both sides of the court to justify this start. Like Carlton, Baru is still an unfinished product, but gets the edge due to the performances we have seen so far. JC will still see plenty of time. His energy and athleticism will likely get the better of second teams in conference play. 

And now it gets interesting. Let's take a look at the logjam we have on the wing. One (or more) of these guys is going to be the odd one out if Cremins keeps with the trend of a short bench. From my angle, it's still too early to tell who makes the rotation because Nori and TD have both played well and I have yet to see what Sundeberg can do. My hope is that Bobby continues to play a 9 or 10 man rotation until the right guys distinguish themselves from the pack. 

• Jordan Scott
• Pros- led the team in scoring in both exhibition games, showed enough in practice to warrant a start, arguably the most athletic player on the first team
• Cons- wasn't mentally prepared for playing time last year, still spotty on D

• Nori Johnson
• Pros- more experience playing as a sophomore, rebounds well, high IQ, solid defender
• Cons- didn't take advantage of playing time against Queens, doesn't excel in any one area

• Trevonte Dixon
• Pros- very smart player, posted stats similar to Nori against Limestone, physically strong
• Cons- still getting adjusted to game speed, struggled against Queens, a bit of a tweener between the 2 and the 3

• Matt Sundberg
• Pros- experience and playing time, one of the team's best shooters, height
• Cons- hasn't played a game in over a year

I can see any number of possibilities occurring. My gut instinct is that TD is left out just because he's the youngest and least experienced of the four. However, he rebounded from a bad first collegiate game to post solid numbers against Limestone. I also know that the coaches really want him to play this year. I am guessing Jordan continues to start until he gets outplayed but I don't know who could do that based off what we've seen so far. Matt's injury could cause him to sit for the beginning of the year. Maybe he subs in along the front line. Nori is one of those guys (like Willis) that finds ways to help out the team. 

Right now there is no right or wrong answer. Things get real on Friday and everything will be magnified. Mistakes will justify a benching and above average play could be the stepping stone for time on the court the rest of the season. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

CBSSports Recognizes Wiggins, Baru

I don't always check CBSSports.com, but when I do, it's to see how my fantasy football team is doing.

However, I was alerted to the fact that two Cougar players were recognized in articles by CBS bloggers. Antwaine Wiggins was named one of the Top 20 Defenders in the nation for his work on the perimeter. Adjehi Baru snuck into the Top 30 Freshman. Both were the only Southern Conference players mentioned on either list (although Davidson was picked to represent the Socon in March).

Cougars Go Phi Slamma Jamma on Limestone

Another preseason game and another lopsided victory for the Cougars, 95-61 over Limestone. As you can see from some of the above highlights, this year's Cougar team has the length and athleticism to dunk all over this type of competition. The aerial acrobatics from James, Trent and Adjehi were entertaining, but the real meat and potatoes of this victory lay in the stat sheet. Very balanced scoring from Charleston.  Trent and James both finished with double-doubles, five other Cougars finished with 10 or more points and Baru was right on the cusp with 9 points and 7 rebounds.

Let's go ahead and answer the questions I posted in my preview yesterday.

1) Can Trent rebound? (figuratively and literally)

• Yes and Yes. Hulk led the way and could have finished with more if Cremins hadn't run sets for Baru in the 2nd half.

2) What ever happened to that competition at the 2-guard spot?

• Because of a minor injury to Andrew Lawrence, Anthony Stitt made the start at point and further clouded the backcourt quagmire. AL will start at the one and Jordan Scott seems to have done enough to secure a start at the two. Coach really wants Stitt to see playing time this year, but he couldn't overtake Jordan (and seems a more natural fit at point), so his consolation prize will be the 6th man role. To complicate matter further, Nori and TD played nearly identical games and neither distinguished themselves enough to be the final rotation player. More analysis on all of this in my final "Examining the Starting Lineup."

3) Will Baru settle in?

• Adjehi did look much more comfortable in this game as opposed to last week. He wasn't getting offensive touches in the first half, but BC ran some one-on-one plays for him in the second half. Baru finished the game going 4-13 and 1-3 from the charity stripe. I don't think the inefficiency was from nerves though. He was making nice moves on his opponent, the shots just weren't going in. This problem should be solved with more reps.

A few more parting thoughts:

• Cramps?! Both Wiggins and Stitt had to be nearly carried off the court in the final minutes do to severe cramps. I know it's still preseason, but shouldn't the guys have better conditioning?
• The offensive disparity between the halves was interesting. Lots of threes from the "Drew Goudelock" offense in the first, lots of inside-out play in the 2nd. Nothing wrong with either, but I hope we find an identity. Or maybe we can play both. Too early to tell.
• Love how the perimeter defense of Wiggins and Stitt allows us to get out in transition so often. Combine that with three big man who can run the floor and you have a recipe for crowd-pleasing baskets.
• Speaking of running the floor, there was a play in the first half when Baru was stripped of the ball. He chased his defender down, sped in front of him, didn't foul and forced the turnover. Awesome one-on-one defense. 

Final Exhibition Game: Limestone Preview

In their final preseason tune-up, the Cougars will host another Conference Carolinas opponent in DII Limestone. After handling Queens University with ease, the Cougs will use this contest to implement a little more of the new offense and see who steps up for the final spots in the rotation. 

Limestone is coming off of a preseason loss to something called the Athletes in Action. This is just sort of a team consisting of former college players from all three divisions of college basketball. I've never heard of a college team hosting a game like this but the Limestone Saints were defeated 75-64. This should be an opportunity to see lots of experimental line-ups and offensive sets from the Cougars.

Here are three things I'm hoping to see from today's game:

1) Can Trent Rebound? (figuratively and literally)

• I documented last week how Trent struggled and appeared frustrated for the majority of the Queens game. I would love to see him bounce back to his old self and be one to lead the Cougars. That means more efficient offensive post play and fewer bone-headed turnovers and fouls.

2) What ever happened to that competition at the 2-guard spot?

• Cremins stated before the Queens game that the starting shooting guard position was being hotly contested. Eventually, Jordan Scott showed enough in practice to get the starting nod and responded by leading the Cougars with 23 points. Meanwhile, the players who were supposedly pushing for the spot didn't show anything during game time. Nori and TD were laying bricks all game and Sundberg was nursing a sprained ankle. Matt will likely still be out, so let's see what the other two have to contribute.

3) Will Baru settle in?

• Nerves got the best of young Adjehi last week, but he showed signs of calming down and playing his game as the minutes ticked by. Hopefully he got all those first game jitters out of his system and is ready to dominate today.

Go Cougars!