A few days before the 2012-2013 season began I wrote a preview that appeared both here and as a part of Scanning the SoCon Previews over at MocsMania. In it we talked about expectations for Wojcik and the new players, looked ahead to the schedule and proposed three questions that would only be answered by the time the season was behind us. That day has come so let's take a look back and try to answer what were such burning questions in November.
Three Questions I Demand be Answered
How will players respond to Doug Wojcik’s system?
I get to cheat a little with this question because it encompasses a hundred more. Who will thrive? Who will struggle to grasp the new concepts? What will be the strengths and weaknesses of the ‘12-13 Cougars?
I was so naive. It's almost glaringly obvious what the Cougar's strengths and weaknesses were this year but that was the biggest question that needed answering with so many unknowns heading into the first year under Doug Wojcik.
College of Charleston was amongst the best teams in the country in two statistical categories: rebounding (37.6 rpg) and three-point defense (.301). In comparison to other Southern Conference teams the Cougars also led the league in blocked shots and had the player with the most recorded double-doubles (Adjehi Baru). These rebounding and defensive numbers are all reflective of a Wojcik-coached team. Coach was brought in to improve the team in these two areas and without even looking at the stats you could see from the product on the court that the players were more dialed in on the defensive side of the game. Maybe more so than any time since the Kresse era.
But the change did not come without some growing pains. One weakness that seemed to pop up at the most inopportune times was turnovers. Andrew Lawrence had run basically the same system his first three years in Charleston and had never really fed the post on a consistent basis until this year. Anthony Stitt was being asked to take over starting point guard duties after only a half-season of collegiate experience. Both backcourt players struggled early on with turnovers. The big men as well struggled often with the increased pressure put on them by double teams and turned the ball over at an alarming rate. In the second half of SoCon play the team started taking much better care of the ball but they never seemed to go an entire game without it being a problem.
Another weakness that is hard to quantify through statistics was the Cougars' inability to close out games. All to often the CofC offense would go long stretches without scoring. We saw it happen time and again against sub-par competition; Charleston would blow a late lead and have to fend off an epic comeback from their competitor.
Amongst the weaknesses that corrected themselves over time was the team free throw shooting. Remember how dreadful it was early in the year? As the season went on the Cougs went from a 60% free throw shooting team to a Davidson wannabe with near perfect performances in the postseason. A lot of credit goes to guys like Baru, AT and Theo for massively improving their production at the line.
Who will thrive and who will struggle? I think the most obvious Cougar to blossom under the new coaching regime has got to be Adjehi Baru. He was so much more polished and decisive in his sophomore season. I could write a whole post on just his development (oh I already have) from last season to now and even from the start of the season to the end. Baru realized so much of his tantalizing potential this year as a rebounder, shot-blocker and banger in the paint. If he takes a leap as large as he did last off season again, he could be unstoppable against the CAA.
Along with Adjehi I think everyone was very pleased with Willis Hall's return to the team. His blue-collar mentality, dirty work and hustle are all instrumental to the team executing Wojcik's mentality on the court and his time as a starter only proved his worth. We just touched on the guards' troubles with running a new set of plays so I guess you could say they struggled early on before tightening things up. To no fault of his own I think Trent also struggled to get back up to game speed following his injuries. But that had nothing to do with Wojcik being coach. Trent will still be a big-time cog in the team his senior year.
How will Willis Hall, Anthony Stitt and Trent Wiedeman perform coming off injury?
Willis Hall was a rock solid contributor for the Andrew Goudelock-led teams of his freshman and sophomore years. Last preseason he tore his ACL in practice and missed the entire year. Now he’s asked to take on a new role, coming off the bench, for a whole new team. Anthony Stitt was having a Freshman of the Year type season before breaking his hand and the team struggled mightily for the 12 games he missed. Stitt is now the starting point guard and won’t catch any teams by surprise.
Now this is all messed up. Willis only came off the bench for the first three games this season and played phenomenally as a starter most of the year. He showed no signs of lingering issues with his repaired knee and he had a near All-SoCon type season as an undersized power forward. Not only that but he was also a vocal and emotional leader all season: something the team lacked at times last year in his absence. Now Willis has to recover from a broken foot he suffered in what was the team's final practice. Go figure.
The reason Willis was an unexpected starter the entire season was because Trent suffered injuries to both his ankles in separate games this year. That's why I'm giving the answer to this question a big fat "Incomplete" for Mr. Wiedeman. Trent slowly recovered from his injuries coming off the bench for most of his games but he never got back to giving the type of minutes we expect from him. When healthy he's one of the best big men in the league. He did not get as much time sharing the court with Adjehi as we thought he would but if he's good to go for a whole season the Cougars will have a dominant frontcourt.
As for Stitt, after he got the turnover junk out of his game, he built on the flashes of brilliance we saw his freshman year. There was of course that depressing shooting slump we all had to suffer through for three games but that's in the past. More often than not Anthony Stitt is the best shooter on the team. He can hit from three, he has the best mid-range jumper and he can take the ball to the hoop. At no time was this more apparent than in the final game of the season when Stitt led the Cougs with 21 points and a 5-7 mark from behind the arc. Our starting point guard is a major piece going forward and hopefully his last game this year is a sign of things to come. In short, his hand looked healthy.
How many minutes will Andrew Lawrence log?
Lead the team in minutes last year, try-out for Great Britain national team, train, practice and compete in Olympics, return to Charleston and jump right back into collegiate ball. Sounds tiring doesn’t it? With a healthy Anthony Stitt, Lawrence may have more opportunities to sit and reserve his legs this year. He faded down the stretch last season and the Cougars are going to need one of their best players come Asheville.
It seems like so long ago doesn't it? The 2012 London Olympics? I remember this topic being a major area of discussion at the end of last season and the fall of 2012. Going into his senior campaign, the assumption from CofC fans was that Lawrence's league-leading 35.4 minutes per game would decrease with a healthy Anthony Stitt to run the point. The Captain's minutes did drop to 32 per game this year but when the team offense was struggling, Wojcik had to bring in his ringer (sometimes ahead of schedule) to get some points on the board. Thankfully I don't think Lawrence's legs ever gave out on him this year. Remember last year he was visibly hobbled by leg cramps that he would have to get treated on the bench. Lawrence remained a work horse for the Cougars, fighting through virus's and other ailments to will his team to victory and leading by example.
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