Aiken for Some Offense: Cougars D Shuts Down Pacers

Final Score: College of Charleston 68, USC-A 52

Top Performers: Andrew 14 pts (3-4 3pt), 3 assists

                              Trent Wiedeman 5 pts, 12 rebs (22 mins)

For all of you who stopped watching this game after the first half and are concerned about the low margin of victory, please note that the last quarter of the game featured Cougar players who will likely never see the floor this year. This game was firmly in CofC's hands and could have been a 25 point victory. Below are some notes I took from last night's contest.

• Right away you could see the change in philosophy was evident by the product on the court. CofC was putting pressure on the Aiken ballhandlers, rotating effectively on defense and contesting every shot. For those of us who griped about losing leads and not getting stops last year, this was a welcome sign.
• Unfortunately when you do get a big stop and force the other team to take a bad shot, you still have to box out and get the ball back. The Cougars were outrebounded on the offensive glass 14-9 last night. Many of those instances were situations in which Aiken would take a really bad shot and the Cougars would be whooping and hollering from the bench while the ball would bounce out to a Pacer guard. Praising defensive stops = good. Praising defensive stops and immediately giving the opponent another chance = not so good. Seal the deal.
• Willis Hall didn't look like he had been away from basketball for a year. Jeff and Everett talked about how well he performed in the closed scrimmage against East Carolina and he was a huge factor in this game. He was hitting open shots, scrapping for rebounds and leading the on court huddles. That's the toughness and leadership Lawrence and Wiedeman were talking about missing last season.
• Trent looked solid last night. His defense was better (probably a result of the quickness he's gotten back) but the free throw shooting left a lot to be desired (more on that later). He was 1-4 from the charity stripe last night. That needs to improve quickly because he's going to spend a lot of time there this season. On the plus side he had 12 rebounds in just 22 minutes.
• Baru was getting after it on the offensive boards but he still looked a little rushed and sloppy when he got the ball on offense. This is something he did during the first exhibition game last year. Being nervous for your first collegiate game is one thing but now he knows what he's up against and has to stay composed and decisive.
• I think USC-Aiken's ball pressure surprised our guys. They went full court press all night and routinely doubled the ball handler. Lawrence and Stitt played it ok but with neither of them on the floor things got sloppy. At least this issue can be addressed now before the regular season. 
• 19 of 35 on free throws. A lot of them were taken by big men and freshman but you can't screw yourself out of free points. There were games last year where this was an issue. Not acceptable. 

Overall a very solid performance even with the little issues. The players already have a better grasp of Wojcik's playbook than I would have expected this early. Now they just need to fix the little issues.