College of Charleston 101, Newberry 87
Top Performers:
Willis Hall 15 points (7-10 FG), 13 rebounds, 4 assists
Adjehi Baru 9 points, 15 rebounds, 7-7 FT, 4 blocks
Canyon Barry 21 points, (7-11 FG)
It's hard to take much from exhibition/preseason basketball. Coaches experiment with different lineups and strategies, stats are skewed by enlarged minutes for reserve players and play is generally quite sloppy as both teams get their legs back under them. That being said this was our first look at the 2013/2014 Cougars in live action and there were some things to be gleaned from the performance. Sure, it's a small sample size against a DII opponent but let's roll with the possible over generalizations.
1) The freshmen look ready to contribute. In a somewhat surprising move, Wojcik elected to throw redshirt frosh Canyon Barry and true freshman point guard Joe Chealey into the starting line-up over seniors Anthony Thomas and Nori Johnson. Both were amongst the most impressive players on the floor. Barry led the Cougs with 21 points and three treys while Chealey looked unflappable running the offense to the tune of a team high 8 assists. Barry was all over the court and backed up the talk that he has a basketball mind (thanks dad!), cutting to the basket without the ball and finding the open man when he was handling. The first thing you notice about Chealey is his size. At 6'3 he looks to be as tall and long as most wings at the mid-major level and the way he uses it to glide to the basket and finish at the rim is impressive. Both players were rewarded with a postgame trip to the media room.
2) Adjehi Baru and Willis Hall look like they're picking up right where they left off last season. Despite constant double teams in the paint, both contributed by cleaning the glass to the tune of 28 rebounds between them. Last year's starting 3 man Anthony Thomas also contributed 7 rebounds coming off the bench. Particularly encouraging was Adjehi's perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the free throw line. With the new rules in place and the constant defensive pressure he'll get every night, Baru needs to make other teams pay for sending him to the line. Speaking of the new rules...
3) This season will set new records for fouls called and total game times. 53 personal fouls were called in this game and resulted in frustratingly often stoppages in play. Again, these tune-up games are often sloppy contests but many across the NCAA believe the new attention given to hand-checking and forearm guarding will negatively impact the defensive minded teams (like CofC).
4) The fingerprint Wojcik and his coaching staff left on the Cougars in year one keeps on humming to the same beat. Despite giving up 87 points, the defense looked good and once again held an opponent to under 40% field goal shooting for the game. The offense continues to run methodically through the post, moving inside-out, and the guys were hitting open shots (the Cougars shot 55.6% from the field for the game including 47.8% from outside).
5) Depth will be a welcome improvement from last year. Instead of rotating seven players per game, fans might get a glimpse of up to eleven Cougars take the floor on any given night. Leading the reserve minutes in this one were Wishon, AT and Theo Johnson and all looked capable playing with both the starters and other bench players. Guards Nori Johnson and Jonathan Burroughs-Cook are good for some instant offense off the bench without compromising the team D and talented freshman big man Terrance O'Donohue looked very good in just 5 minutes of playing time. With the physicality of CAA play and the increased chances of foul trouble this year, depth will play a key factor. If the play coming off the pine stays at this level it could be the deepest rotation CofC has seen in years.
6) Most critical of all are David Wishon and Terrance O'Donohue. Frontcourt depth is one of the team's biggest question marks coming into this season with such talented players on the starting line in Hall and Baru. Wishon looked a bit more polished offensively than I expected, using some nice moves to finish through the much smaller (who isn't smaller?) Newberry bigs. Terrance did not show off any of his alleged three-point shooting skills but did have a nice assist to the corner for a three and a dunk of his own. Each one of these guys brings a different look to the forward position, it will be interesting to see who is the most effective subbing in for Hall or Baru.
7) Anthony Stitt led the Cougars in minutes (31) but struggled with fouls (4) and turnovers (5). The double-point guard look was very successful the last year and a half with Stitt and Lawrence splitting duties. If Chealey is the opening day starter we could see that same two-headed monster this year. I'm not super concerned with Stitt's up-and-down exhibition debut but the team is going to need him to play better against Louisville. As much as I like Chealey's pure point guard potential, I'm not sure throwing him into the fire that is Louisville's trap defense is the best idea.
8) One of the biggest problems with last year's offense was the frequent "droughts" of offense. Almost every game the Cougars would fall into a funk for 3-5 minutes where they couldn't score any points. This led to several frustrating losses and the distinction of "Cardiac Cougars." Hope springs eternal in the preseason but hopefully the increased assist numbers, greater depth and supreme height and length of this years team can end that trend. Even without a go-to all-conference scorer, this team will share the ball well and find good shots. Chealey and Barry should be able to shoulder some of the scoring load from Stitt. The bench figures to get most of their offense off defense and in transition. Even without much of a scoring touch, Wishon, AT and Theo can get their points from offensive putbacks, cuts to the basket and posting up smaller opponents.
9) Things that concern me going into the Louisville game next week: turnovers and free throw shooting. The swarming, ferocious defense of Louisville's full and three-quarter court defense still gives me nightmares. Last year at TD Arena the Cards forced the Cougars into 27 turnovers. Pitino's team converted many of those steals into points on the other end and rode the same formula to a national championship. The number one item on the to-do list going into opening night for the Cougars will be to limit turnovers. It's something they must work on this week. The most disappointing stat to fans like myself and even Coach Wojcik was the poor free throw shooting (21-35) by the Cougars. Not to keep harping on this but every team in the country will be going to the line more this year, not hitting free shots would be a huge detriment to a team. We saw the success Davidson had last year as the best free-throw shooting team in the country. Repeating that success would pay huge dividends in every game.
10) Finally, let's get to the biggest overreaction of the night. With less than a minute to play and the Cougars flirting with the century point mark, 6'1 freshman guard Jonathan Burroughs-Cook may have already given us the top play of the season. Cook got around his man and took flight right in the face of some poor Newberry defender who will remain unnamed for the sake of pride. If you've ever wanted to know what it looks like to murder someone on the basketball court check this out.
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