From One Rivalry to the Next: Cougs Travel to Davidson

Davidson (4-9, 0-0)

College of Charleston (6-7, 0-0)

Belk Arena

Tipoff at 2pm on CSS and MyTV Charleston

Wrapping up the out-of-conference schedule and kicking off 2014, the Cougars will face another familiar opponent on New Years Day as they head up I-77 to face the Davidson Wildcats. While the Citadel game is always built up as a regional rivalry, the real rivalry in the SoCon the past eight years was CofC-Davidson. Both teams were consistently atop the SoCon year in and year out with Coach McKillop, Steph Curry and Davy carrying the banner for the Southern Conference. Now, like the Cougars, the Cats are leaving the quiet local conference for a huge upgrade - the Atlantic 10. Hoping to continue a solid mid-major rivalry, both schools locked in over the offseason to continue to play one another once a year for the next few seasons. 

The names may be unfamiliar to most Cougar fans outside of SoCon Preseason Player of the Year De'Mon Brooks but as long as McKillop is on the sideline you can rest assured that this team will run like a well oiled machine. This will be one of the tougher games the Cougars play in 2014. Davidson has had Wojcik's number so far, defeating the Cougars not once, not twice, but three times last season including the SoCon Championship. It helps that this game is on the road where the Cougars have a sterling record in Wojcik's tenure, but the Wildcats are tuned in for one last tear through the SoCon and they'll look to take care of CofC for old times sake.

Are the Wildcats any good?

Don't let the record fool you. The Wildcats have played an even tougher schedule than CofC and have an OT win over Charlotte, an OT loss to #14 UNC and most recently a single digit loss at #8 Wichita State. The Shockers were the fifth ranked team Davidson has already played this season (UVA, Duke and New Mexico the others). Davidson struggled early putting together all the new pieces with Player of the Year Jake Cohen and fellow senior starters JP Kuhlman and Nik Cochran gone. An injury to De'Mon Brooks caused the slide to continue but in the last two games Davy has really turned it on. In Chapel Hill they pushed the Tar Heels to overtime and inside one of the toughest arenas to play at in the country they got the best from Wichita State. So yea, they're pretty good.

What do they do well?

For the past quarter-century and for likely many years to come Bob McKillop has/will have his players play smart, disciplined and effective. The "motion" offense they run catches a lot of flack from opponents who view it as a cop-out for setting moving screens and other ticky tack fouls but Davidson usually runs it to perfection. They never have the best athletes or players with last names you can pronounce but the Wildcats under McKillop will not beat themselves and you don't want to come down to the wire with them in the final minutes.

What do they struggle with?

Not necessarily a "struggle" to any other team in the country but Davidson's NCAA-leading team free throw percentage has dipped to 68.4% so...there's that. But seriously, not unlike the Cougars, the Wildcats have faced issues that come with integrating newcomers and former role players into consistent pillars of the team. They have struggled getting to the line and getting shots to fall. Also uncharacteristically they are not hitting their threes (barely 30% as a team), gosh I wonder what that's like. 

Matchup to watch for?

Canyon Barry is the type of player you could see playing for Davidson. He's smart both on and off the court, has a feel for the game, versatility as a lengthy and fluid player. I'd like to see how he matches up with these guys after watching the Cougars take on the Wildcats three times from the bench during his redshirt season. I don't think the Cougars can win with everybody chipping in their usual numbers. CofC needs an exemplary performance from at least one player and Canyon, despite his recent struggles, seems like a likely candidate. 

X-Factor

Nori Johnson. You can read my recap of the Citadel game or watch Wojcik's postgame presser to hear either of us gush over the switch that turned on when Nori started raining threes in the second half. It alleviates pressure on the rest of the team and allows each player to slide more into roles they are comfortable in. Whether that be Canyon coming in as a bench contributor, Baru facing less double teams or Stitt having more driving lanes it all depends on making shots from the outside. Like the game Sunday, this will be Nori and Willis' last time playing Davidson; I'd like to see them both leave it all on the floor once again. 

Cougs Shutout Citadel for 8:53, Nori Johnson Sparks 72-48 Win

Final Score: College of Charleston 72, The Citadel 48

Top Performers:

Willis Hall 18 pts, 13 rebs

Nori Johnson 12 pts (4-7 3pt), first points of the season

Anthony Stitt 15 pts, 5 assts, 7 rebs, 2 stls

In the final crosstown rivalry match of their careers, seniors Willis Hall and sparingly used Nori Johnson set the tone early in each half en route to a dominating 24-point victory over the Citadel. The Cougars held the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly 9 minutes to start the game behind another solid team defensive performance. Yet the Cougars again struggled to put together consistent offense with another re-tooled starting five that featured Canyon Barry and Anthony Thomas on the wings. The College scored just 11 points in the opening shutout at McAlister before a mini surge by the Bulldogs cut it to a two possession game a few times late in the first half. 

Continuing to leave a trail of destruction through the month of December, Willis Hall had yet another dominant game with grown man double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. His work on the offensive glass as well as some timely 3-balls bailed the CofC offense out of some now sadly expected scoring droughts. He almost had a double-double going into halftime with I think a 9 and 8 stat line.

In the second half it was all about Nori Johnson. The senior sharp-shooter who has struggled to get consistent minutes behind a freshman-heavy backcourt got some extra burn with Chealey experiencing some discomfort in his knee and promptly reminded us of what he is capable of. The team is so desperate for a consistent three-point shooter and Nori proved that he can fill that role coming off the bench. He hit three straight from outside and one more for good measure to be the Cougars' third leading scorer this afternoon after being unable to find the bottom of the net all season. Nori spoke after the game about "hitting the reset button" after an academically challenging fall semester of his senior year (I do not remember that time fondly) and stressed the confidence and level-headedness he felt going into the final stretch of his college career. 

Once the outside shots start falling it really opens everything up for the Cougar offense. Things start clicking faster, Stitt and Thomas start getting to the rim and the team just kicks into a different gear. If Nori can fill the role of scorer off the bench not just as the freshmen continue to struggle, but as the season goes on we may view this game as an epiphany of sorts.

More notes from this afternoon's game:

• Anthony Stitt also deserves credit for a very solid floor game. He was driving to the basket more than I've seen him do all year and his stat line of 15, 7 and 5 might be the most well-rounded game of his career. His outside shooting is still hit or miss but if it's not falling I'd love to see him play more like he did today. You could argue that this was one of the first games of his career when he has been the sole point guard in the lineup - usually he would share the starting 5 with Andrew Lawrence or Joe Chealey. As always his defense was also of a lockdown variety.
• Speaking of defense, Matt Van Scyoc, Citadel's leading scorer and a thorn in the side of CofC last season was held to just 2 field goal attempts and four points in 33 minutes of action. Wojcik didn't hold back when those numbers were brought up postgame, saying that shutting down Van Scyoc was a major part of today's game plan and the focus of Anthony Thomas and Canyon Barry. Wojcik also said that Van Scyoc's comments in the P&C about wanting to give the Cougars "a little something" were pre-game bulletin board material. 
• Despite being hounded by Citadel's defense every time he received an entry pass, Adjehi had another solid game with 11 points and 8 boards. He would have had a very good game if he hadn't missed some easy shots right at the rim (he was 4 for 11 on the night) but he did give us the highlight of the night with a flush from an Anthony Stitt inbounds pass. 
• Another quiet game by the freshmen class in this one. Canyon Barry, back in the starting lineup, missed a number of open shots and looked as if he was forcing some takes inside. He did play solid defense and make 5-6 from the charity stripe. Joe Chealey was a non-factor. Coming off the bench he picked up two fouls in less than a minute of play and was held out the rest of the game to alleviate some stress on a sore knee. 
• The #FreeJBC movement got back on track as young Johnathan had the would-be highlight of the year when he took off Space Jam finale style from somewhere way outside the basket and attempted to crunch one on a Citadel guard. As has been the case most of the season, the rim was Cook's biggest enemy and we were all denied another JBC highlight. 
• We got our first look at Glenn Pierre this game. To the surprise of myself and many others who thought the freshman big man was redshirting this year, he came in midway through the 2nd half and quickly got a bucket by banking a hook shot off the glass. I still plan on getting to the bottom of this mystery (can you redshirt one semester?) but Pierre looked very tall (he's 6'11), skinny and a little more composed than I would have guessed in his 2 minutes of action.

El Cid Preview: Rivalry Renewed

El Cid (4-9, 0-0)

College of Charleston (5-7, 0-0)

McAllister Field House

Tipoff at 2pm on Citadel Portal ($6.95)

Conference affiliations may change and expectations dip when neither team has a winning record, but as long as the Citadel and CofC remain 2 miles apart from one another this will always be a rivalry. Both fan bases generally despise one another despite the cordial relationships between bff's Doug Wojcik and Chuck Driesell as well as Bulldogs and Cougars who play pick-up ball together every summer. Now that the teams will only meet once per year, the bragging rights for Berry Residence Hall, King Street and downtown Charleston rest on one game played at McAlister Field House. The last time the Cougars played an old SoCon foe they hung up 89 points. Will this be the game that the offense finally comes alive or are we in for another 51-44 stinker? Here's what you need to know:

Are the Bulldogs any good?

In a word, no. Yea the Cougars aren't one to talk but the Citadel Bulldogs have struggled against D1 competition. Three of their four victories have come against lower division teams and the other was over Presbyterian. I really admire the job Driesell does at one of the most difficult head coaching positions in the sport but his team is struggling with the graduation of Mike Groselle - one of the best players the Citadel has had in the past decade. It is possible that El Cid is turning a corner though, at Nebraska on December 21st the Bulldogs and Cornhuskers were tied at halftime before the home team pulled away late. 

What do they do well?

The 'Dogs rank 64th nationally in assists per game with 15.2 averaged each contest. They also do a great job of putting up points against schools you have never heard of.

What do they struggle with?

Right now it seems as if Chuck Driesell is trying to fit some square pegs into round holes. He's trying to run an up-tempo offensive system that doesn't really fit with the player personnel he has on hand. Because of this I feel like they're actually playing below their talent level right now. I really like Matt Van Scyoc as a player (CofC fans should remember him lighting us up as a freshman last year and you better believe he'll be gunning to do it again) but I think he's being misused. He's a better shooter than his numbers suggest and I think it's because he's not taking the right shots. 

Matchup to watch for:

Anthony Thomas versus Van Scyoc will be good for the above reasons but I want to see how the re-tooled CofC rotation does against a thin Citadel team. Barry will likely be coming off the bench again and he should be able to generate some easy points - IF he can knock them down. I wonder if JBC will still be a starter but whether he is or not I want to see if he can still bring aggressiveness on offense. Hell, why am I beating around the bush, I want to see if the Cougars can finally put some points on the board against a shitty Citadel team. There, I said it. 

X-Factor

It seems a bit strange to list your best player as an x-factor in a rivalry game but Adjehi Baru is the most important player on the court today. He is still getting way too few touches in the paint (3 shot attempts against Kent State....3?!) despite CDW's consistent bemoaning to the media each postgame about how the team needs to get him more involved. Baru faces no real defense with Groselle gone and should really dominate this afternoon. He scores at a 60% clip, which would be an automatic boost in points if he gets the opportunities but it also opens up room outside for Stitt and Thomas to drive or Barry and Chealey to pull the trigger from three. 

All I Want for Christmas is some Offensive Execution

Following a 58-54 sleep-inducing home loss to Kent State over the weekend, fan concerns over the lack of offense from this years team have ratcheted from mild concern to near abandon ship status. The Cougars scored just 16 points in the first half of that game and the season numbers paint an even bleaker picture of offensive clumsiness.

The 2013-14 Charleston Cougars rank in the bottom ten teams nationally in both scoring per game (61.5) and assists per game (9.3). Their free throw shooting as a team (63.8%) is also perilously close to falling to the bottom of the barrel. The season statistics only confirm what fans this year have seen on the court (especially at home): the Cougs look clunky and slow on offense, take too much time to get into their sets and can't finish plays with made baskets to justify milking the clock for so long. They also have the habit of giving the other team an average of 14 extra possessions each game via turnovers. Coupled with poor free throw shooting this has inflated deficits against up-tempo teams like Louisville, SDSU and Charlotte. 

In the above video Coach Wojcik is asked about the team's struggles on the offensive end and offers his reasoning. The team, and I'll agree with this, does create open shots for themselves when they are not turning the ball over. Part of the problem is that they aren't hitting these shots. The team is probably too dependent on freshmen scoring production and all three first year guards are hitting a wall. The most efficient player on the team, Adjehi Baru, is getting too few shots per game and players like Canyon Barry and Anthony Stitt are probably shooting too much. 

It's frustrating for the fan base because the Cougars have gotten back to a top-tier defense since struggling early. They hold opponents to season-low scoring and field goal percentage numbers. They often win the rebounding battle and can take out opponents' best scoring options. But all that is for naught if the Cougars can't crack 60 points to finish off these dismal shooting teams. 

The way I see it there are three basic strategies that could help to jump start the offense. They all have their pros and cons but something has to happen before CAA play kicks in or the Cougars are in for a long and disappointing season.

The first option seems to be the one that CDW teased closest to in the Marist and Kent State games: shake up the rotation to give more minutes to offensively talented players like Johnathan Burroughs-Cook, Theo Johnson and Nori Johnson. With the three guard backcourt struggling to hit shots at a decent percentage, Wojcik tried to alleviate some pressure from Barry and Chealey by bringing them off the bench and instead starting spark plug Cook and all-around utility guy AT to try and create some points. I would ask him to go a step further and also give some shooting guard minutes to the Johnsons. Senior Nori Johnson has completely fallen out of the rotation this year but many fans will remember his career high 27 points against Kent State just a few seasons ago. Theo has proven he's capable of creating points for himself and others.

The reasoning behind this strategy is simple, you give fewer minutes to the guys who are either defenders or struggling with their shots and give more minutes to shot creators like Cook and Nori Johnson or a guy like Theo who can score off cuts, steals and open threes. In this case you live with these three players' questionable defense and hope that a lineup anchored by Wishon and AT can give you enough of a defensive presence to offset any scoring swing. The problem is that even the teams best catch and shoot players are streaky. There is not a consistent three-point shooter on the team aside from Willis Hall and the inefficiencies in ball handling and ball movement are enough to warrant not playing the aforementioned shooters.

The second option is perhaps the most radical and deals with implementing an almost totally new offense and tempo that could better fit the athletes on the team: run and (cautiously) gun. Baru, Thomas and Barry are all starting caliber forwards who can sprint the length of the court better than most of their peers. Unfortunately we don't see it enough in the teams slow and deliberate sets. Getting in transition off missed baskets would rid the team of wasted clock time they experience from over-thinking and over-passing the ball. The team has been victim to a number of shot clock violations after too many dribble hand offs and probing the paint. Asking the guys to stop thinking so much and get to the rim after the numerous missed shots they force seems like an easy fix for offensive woes.

But this potential solution comes with a multitude of problems. First of all it's a little late in the game to change strategies even that much and expect a turnaround this year. The team already has a turnover problem running a half court set. The few times they have been able to get out on the break they look lost and the pressure to score in the open court could backfire tremendously. The second issue is that despite the great defense the Cougars are capable of playing, it's not the type of system that ends in steals or blocked shots. Wojcik's defense is more of a sagging, contesting, force tough shots and secure the rebound type of game plan that rarely results in the Cougars running the other way with a man advantage. 

The third option is likely the one we see implemented this season: the wait and see approach. We all know Doug Wojcik's military background comes out in what can be perceived as stubbornness. He offered a welcome glimpse of flexibility with the lineup changes last week but he will more than likely role with what he's got the rest of the season. 

The thinking behind this is you get better as a team by the individual players getting better as the season goes on. As guys like Canyon and Joe Chealey continue to acclimate themselves to the college game the entire Cougars squad gets a boost. You wait and hope that this is a stretch of bad shooting and you trust that the system can work if guys just hit the shots when open.

It's tough to stay positive and easy to lose faith when we see the same problems occur in each loss: namely poor free throw shooting, sub 40% shooting and turnovers. Teams have gotten by with stellar defense and less than mediocre offense but the Cougars really need to boost the ol' scoring average to start tallying up the win column. Conference play is just a few weeks away and a little Christmas miracle for some well-behaving Cougars would be an appreciated gift for fans and players alike.  

Wojcik Shakes Up Starting 5, Cougars Win Battle of Anemic Offense

Final Score: College of Charleston 51, Old Dominion 44

Top Performers:

Willis Hall 14 points, 7 rebounds

Aaron Bacote 13 points

Following a mostly listless performance against Marist, the Cougars needed a spark to light the fires under their back sides. Departing from his usually rigid habits, Wojcik surprised many when he made the decision to pull Joe Chealey and Canyon Barry from the starting lineup and replace the duo with fellow freshman Johnathan Burroughs-Cook and senior Anthony Thomas.

The #FreeJBC movement faltered before it really even got started as Cook's potential to score in bursts was hindered by early fouls and turnovers. The third member of the Freshman Big Three finished with zero points.

At the small forward position, AT (who started every game last season) had his clear best game of the year in extended minutes. For the moment he has snatched back the starting spot from Canyon. Thomas finished second to Hall in points and rebounds, played stellar defense and came up with two big offensive tip-ins late to kill any momentum the Monarchs worked up. While he lacks the scoring touch Barry showed early in the season, AT is a much better defender and rebounder. Until Barry earns his minutes back we should be more than content to welcome back Thomas with open arms. 

The willingness to try something different with the rotation was a welcome sign but the team continued to struggle offensively - the very reason for the change. Hall and Thomas were the only players who scored in double figures and the team shot just 37% for the game. Once again turnovers (13) and lack of clock awareness forced the clunky Cougar offense to stutter. It could be a freshman wall or cold streak but the CofC backcourt rotation of Stitt, JBC, Barry and Chealey was a combined 6-23 from the field. Some of those shots were forced as the clock ran down but you can't fault the coaching staff for the open looks that aren't falling. 

On the positive side, CofC's defense played great and their FREE THROW SHOOTING was outstanding. Anthony Thomas and David Wishon deserve recognition for the way they played last night on the defensive end. Wishon had the best game of his career, subbing in for the foul plagued Baru he packed the paint, grabbed seven boards and blocked three shots. Thomas is such a great one-on-one stopper but his value last night was as a team defender. He's very aware of when to leave his man and where everyone is on the floor. It's something Canyon hasn't picked up yet and part of the reason why the lineup of Wishon-Hall-AT-Stitt-Chealey was so productive. 

Compared to ODU the Cougar offense looked like they were playing in an open gym. The Monarchs admittedly missed some bunnies but also were harassed into bad shots again and again. They were 1-10 from beyond the arc and barely cracked 30% shooting from the field. Bacote was their go-to scorer coming into this game and Anthony Stitt deserves a lot of credit for keeping him in check the entire game. 

It all made for another sloppy affair in which the Cougars were only really threatened once. ODU was able to make a push with a few minutes left in the 2nd half, but timely tip-ins by AT and Canyon Barry's clutch three (his only basket) from the top of the key as one of the final shot clock possessions expired put this one away. 

Moving forward I'd love to see the guys continue to hit free throws at a solid clip and play the same type of defense they played last night. Wishon finally looked serviceable as a role player and AT should remain in the starting lineup. I also think JBC should not see his minutes cut so drastically. He did not seize the opportunity last night and CDW benched him much of the game but the team desperately needs someone who can create offense. Up next is a surprisingly competent Kent State team at TD Arena. I'm not expecting a decent crowd but the Cougs could use a boost in their shooting confidence. It's either that or a sacrifice to the shooting gods. 

Cougars Look to Bounce Back with Trip to ODU

Old Dominion University (4-6, 0-0)

College of Charleston (4-6, 0-0)

Ted Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, VA

Tipoff at 7pm on ODUSports.com ($9.95)

The Cougars are in a skid right now. Despite a lightened schedule since the first two rounds of the Wooden Legacy, CofC (in the words of coach Wojcik in his latest podcast) has "not been great at anything." They're not shooting the ball well, they're allowing way too many open jumpers and the absence of David Wishon has made the teams lack of size painfully obvious. The Cougars will try to right the ship with a mid-week break from Charleston as they head to the Old Dominion to face ODU:

Are the Monarchs any good?

Record wise they are precisely as good as the Cougars. They've beaten the teams they should beat (Presbyterian, Murray State, Howard, Waffle House Univeristy) and lost to the likes of VCU, St. Louis and West Virginia. Having gone a surprising 5-25 last year, new head coach Jeff Jones has guided the team to a very "meh" season thus far. The team is probably a little bit better than the squad the Cougars beat last year in Chucktown - which could be good enough to win the way the Cougs have been playing recently. 

What do they do well?

This game looks to be dead even on the boards as both ODU and CofC hover around 38 per game and top 100 nationally. The Cougars have out-rebounded their last four opponents, Arizona St and Coker by 17 apiece. Richard Ross, a junior who played sparingly against the Cougars last year, and freshman forward Denzell Taylor lead the way with 7.9 and 6.1 per game respectively. Willis gets a quick break from going against bigger, bulkier opponents for at least a game as he matches up size-wise with ODU's 4-spot. He's was a beast against Marist on Sunday, he'll need to bring it again tonight.

What do they struggle with?

Much like the Cougars, the Monarchs cannot create consistent offense. They don't share the ball very well and don't get good shots. They're averaging 60 points their last five games (all losses by the way) and have few options outside guard Aaron Bacote. The sophomore is averaging 19 per game on 44% shooting.

Matchup to watch for

The Cougars inability to start fast versus the Monarchs ability to close games. Last year I coined the nickname "Cardiac Cougars" for CofC's habit of giving up leads late in winnable games. This year the Cougars have not found themselves in many dogfights but they were able to miraculously come back against Charlotte and make a number of second half runs in Anaheim as well as against Marist. Part of the reason why these runs are necessary is that the Cougars have taken lethargic play to the first five minutes of games and have given teams like San Diego State and Marist insurmountable leads early on. ODU is suffering from Cardiac Cougar syndrome this season (Myocardial Monarchs?) against the likes of NC Central and Georgia State. One team figures to start slow and finish strong, the other figures to do just the opposite. So goes a battle of 4-6 teams...

X-Factor

Who else could it be?? #FreeJBC

Cougars Embarrassed at Home, Lose to Formerly Winless Marist

Final Score: Marist 69, College of Charleston 62
Top Performers:
Willis Hall 19 points, 11 rebounds
Chavaughn Lewis 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals

Full disclosure - I was unable to watch this game live due to familial travel obligations so I'm mostly going off the boxscore and what I've overheard on the web so far. Regardless, this is a pathetic loss at home for the Cougars. As if losing to UNC Asheville wasn't bad enough, Marist (0-9 on the season prior to today) was able to build a 15-point halftime lead and withstand a Willis Hall-fueled comeback to win their first game of the season.

Once again the Cougars were unable to put the ball in the basket, shooting under 40% from the field and just 22% from three. As has been the case in most losses this season, last year's stout defense also took the night off as Marist shot nearly 50% from the floor (much higher in the first half) and 47% from outside the arc. I can't say why exactly the defense was so porous having not seen the film but it probably had something to do with slow rotations and closeouts. The Cougars actually did well to significantly out rebound the Red Foxes (expected) and make their free throws (pleasant surprise) but it was the inability to hit shots and 15 team turnovers that negated any positive improvements the Cougars made in those two areas.

Down double digits in the second half, Willis Hall became fed up with his team's performance and went on a tear of 7 straight points to spearhead a 16-5 run that cut the deficit to just 2 points. But in the final minutes, Marist was able to make more shots than CofC and the Red Foxes walked away with a rare victory.

On any night the Cougars can either look like a legit contender or clear bottom-feeder in the CAA. I'm not buying the idea that they'll finish as a bottom three team in the conference but right now we look like a middle of the pack team despite what I would consider an advantage in talent. The main problem is that the Cougars cannot consistently make shots. It was a big problem last year but at least the defense could bail us out on occasion. What the coaching staff needs to do is figure out a way to get points when Baru is double teamed and the jump shots aren't falling. Barry, Chealey and Stitt are all capable of driving to the basket. The team has a number of guys who can play up-tempo. Somehow, someway the team needs to consistently produce offense, not when their backs are against the wall and not when they're cruising to a double digit victory. Until then it's going to be more of these low-scoring losses, no matter how easy the schedule looks on paper.

10 Reasons why Johnathan Burroughs-Cook is your New Favorite Player

Resistance is futile. The Johnathan Burroughs-Cook hype bandwagon is pulling out of the station and you have no choice but to hop on. The late-signing, under-recruited freshman has been granted more and more playing time as the season has gone on thanks to his so-tenacious-it's-almost-reckless style and propensity to make plays. In just a few short weeks he's moved so far up the rotation thats he's now the Cougars' go-to sixth man. He's proven his worth in extended minutes against Furman and Coker. He's must-see JBC. And he's your new favorite player - here's 10 reasons why. All aboard!

1) He started off his career like this 

It didn't take long for Johnathan (yes, that's how you spell his first name) to find a warm place in our hearts. Entering an exhibition game in garbage time, he decided that coasting to a modest victory in his first collegiate game just wasn't his style. Not breaking 100 points against Newberry College doesn't sit too well with JBC's go hard 24/7/365 style so instead THIS IS WHAT YOU HEARING. Number 2 decided to take matters into his own hands and posterize some 6-7 kid from a 1,000 student Evangelical college to get CofC over the century mark and give us college basketball's first highlight dunk of the season. The #FreeJBC movement was born.

2) He has three names

Joining the storied ranks of three-named luminaries such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Daniel Day-Lewis and Billy Dee Williams, Johnathan Burroughs-Cook's name oozes excellence and cool. His last name, Cook, is reflective of his propensity to "cook" opponents in limited minutes. Not unlike a microwave.

3) He's from Memphis, TN

4) This attempted dunk against Miami

When you put JBC in the game, rest assured that no rim is safe. The hoop is the acquired target and it's go hard or go home. As you can see from the above picture, JBC's trajectory for finishing above the rim will come up a few inches short...he was definitely not still on his way up at the point this photo was taken. Jonathan would go on to miss this dunk but it's the aggressiveness that counts. JBC doesn't let a 1-on-4 fast break against the ACC Champs or his 6'1 frame stop him from trying to flush another jam in front of the TD Arena crowd. After getting stuffed by the iron and crashing to the floor, JBC dusted himself off and hustled back on defense.

5) He chose CofC over Northeastern

Can you imagine JBC ballin' up in Bah-ston? His southern drawl is as slow as the Mississippi, he belongs in Charleston. 

6) He played AAU ball for Team Penny (as in Hardaway)

And his high school team was the Roadrunners 

7) He was raised by wolves and interned with Somali pirates last summer*

*still factually unconfirmed

8) He's leads CofC in highlights per minute and a number of other small-sample statistics

 

Despite averaging just 8 minutes per game, JBC leads the team in both three-point percentage (41.7%) and free throw shooting (75%) - two huge weaknesses in the Cougar offense this year. He also ranks second on the team, between Barry and Baru, for points per minute played. He's also got the best motor on the team and I'm waiting for him to dive out of bounds and throw the ball of his opponents' leg so hard he tears some kid's ACL. 

9) He loves the beach!

10) He's only just a freshman!

Terrance O'Donohue was the highest ranked player in last year's recruiting class, Canyon Barry leads the team in points and Joe Chealey has been nationally lauded for his outstanding play as a freshman. Lost in the mix up until now was JBC. He brings the playmaking of Chealey and the shooting of Barry along with an aggressive effort on defense. He's a perfect sixth man and will continue to grow over the next three and a half years. Team JBC for life!

Baru Carries Cougars Past Coker in Sloppy Contest

Final Score: College of Charleston 68, Coker 54
Top Performers:
Adjehi Baru 19 points, 11 rebs, 2 blks
Eren Moses 15 points, 7 rebs

Playing their first game in 12 days, the Cougars looked out of sync for much of a virtual scrimmage against DII Coker. After overcoming another slow start and poor free throw shooting, the size and depth of the Cougars eventually proved too much for the under-manned Cobras as the home team pulled away for a 14 point victory in the 2nd half.

Adjehi Baru was head and shoulders above everyone on the court tonight. Once the Cougars started hitting enough shots to force Coker out of their double and triple teams on Baru, the junior big man went to work on the much smaller Cobra front line and shot 9-12 from the field to come within a point of tying a career high. Since Wojcik came aboard last year the team has preached an inside-out mentality but with the surprise play of Barry and Chealey the team has often initiated offense from the perimeter. That was not the case tonight. Stitt and Chealey were feeding Baru early and often in the shot clock and Baru was effective nearly every time he made his moves. The only thing missing was his free throw shooting. That's a shame because Adjehi has been one of the better free throw shooters on the team this year and if he went more than 1-for-7 tonight he would have easily eclipsed his career scoring mark.

The rest of the team generally looked like a group who had not played in close to 2 weeks. With exams to focus on and the downswing of going from a tough OOC schedule to an exhibition game, a few lapses could probably be expected. While I don't advocate playing Division II schools, I guess it is better to get the kinks out against such an opponent. So long as you are able to put said opponent away. There were careless unforced turnovers, goaltends and miscommunication on offense and the Cougars' unwillingness to close out on Coker's shooters at full speed resulted in a game that was cut to 2-3 points several times in the first half. My hope is that the win will not discourage the coaching staff and players from using this as a learning experience and fixing some of the issues (free throw shooting, over-dribbling, lackadaisical defense) that started to creep back in the losses out in California.

The plus side of tonight was two-fold. Number one: we got to see more minutes out of reserves like Theo, Terrance O'Donohue and JBC. Theo showed off some nice facets of his game that he teased us with in limited minutes last year. In a short stretch he nailed a three-pointer and cut hard to the rim for a very nice jam off the pass from Baru.

But the real spark off the bench tonight was Jonathan Burroughs-Cook. The freshman from Memphis continues to be a fan favorite (maybe just my favorite) and microwave off the pine. He's all over the floor, flying around at 110% effort, every second of time he's on the court. In this game he was the best free throw shooter in a white jersey (instant fan favorite material on a night like tonight), faked out the entire Coker team on a shake and stutter move to the rim for an uncontested layup, drew an and-1 going to the rim yet again and stole the ball on a broken inbounds pass from Coker. My man-crush on Cook is gaining steam as he gets more playing time and I'm totally alright with all of this. #TeamJBC 4 Lyfe.

The second good sign of possible offensive wrinkles to come was that the team looked to push the tempo and run a bit more in this game. Maybe it was the level of competition or the number of blocked shots and steals the Cougars used to jumpstart themselves but the guys definitely made an effort to get out and run in this game. There were moments where the Cougars looked as though they had never practiced such open and variable plays before (the 3-on-1 fastbreak resulting in a Canyon Barry turnover comes to mind) but at least Wojcik showed that he is not bound to the sometimes overly-decisive slow moving sets. The Cougs have the athletes to pad their point totals by getting in transition, the one thing that I'd just like to see them do a bit more is pass ahead to Sitt or Barry on the wings when they're on the break. Too often tonight the Cougars would take off for the other end of the court only to have Chealey or whoever was running point hang on to the ball for too long and waste an opportunity.

All in all tonight went about as I expected. The Cougars avoided the massive letdown of losing to a DII team and had they hit their FT's (again, a gaping weakness of this team) they could have easily walked away with this one with an even larger margin. The defensive lapses need to be cleaned up but as long as we have Baru and Burroughs-Cook everything will be ok.

Baru Anchors CofC in Victory Over Titans

Final Score: College of Charleston 61, Cal State Fullerton 48

Top Performers:

Adjehi Baru 13 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks

Michael Williams 14 points, 6 rebounds

After suffering back-to-back blowout losses to San Diego State and Arizona State, the Cougars started to get defensive. No, they did not lash out at media or fans who questioned the team's game time strategies - they simply locked down the Cal State Fullerton Titans and produced enough easy offense to win comfortably. The win over the Wooden Legacy host team gave the Cougars a 7th place finish in the ESPN tournament. 

The star of this one was the man in the middle - Adjehi Baru. From the opening tip Baru took full advantage of the thin Titan front line on his way to another double-double and a season-high 5 blocks just to let everyone in orange know who was boss. There were questions about how CofC was going to balance a three-guard attack with the obvious advantage of a dominant big man in Adjehi - the latter seemingly under-used in the first few games. That judgement was put to rest in Anaheim as Adjehi was the best player for Charleston over the entire three-game stretch. Playing more as a help defender with Fullerton's lack of quality bigs, Baru feasted on whatever the Titans tossed up from inside the paint. As an offensive force he continues to see double teams but if the perimeter players can feed him the ball before help arrives he still has quick (and high) enough moves to finish against most teams. Adjehi's 10 rebounds, and Willis Hall's 11, helped the Cougars edge the Titans in rebounding 40-35. 

Getting back to what they did best last year, the Cougars won this game with defense. A few minutes into the 1st half they threw a 2-3 zone at the Titans that proved to be highly effective. This was where the length of Chealey, Barry, AT and Baru is so clutch. The Titans spent their first 3-4 possessions against the zone passing the ball around the perimeter, unable to penetrate with the outstretched arms of the Cougars filling nearly every passing lane. Long threes and contested mid-range jumpers were almost all the Titans could muster with those 4 sharing the court (AT was the only significant contributor off the bench, playing 21 minutes). CofC held Cal State to just 31% shooting for the game, including a 5 for 20 mark from behind the arc.

All four starters were effective last night. In addition to Hall's dominance on the boards and Adjehi's all around game, Anthony Stitt and Canyon Barry actually led the Cougs with 14 points apiece and Joe Chealey contributed another dozen. All three still have their flaws: Stitt with his hot-and-cold shooting, Barry sometimes takes too many long twos and Chealey often holds on the ball for too long before setting up the offense, but last night they were efficient and steady throughout the entire game.

Great defense, good enough offense adds up to a standard Doug Wojcik-style victory. The Anaheim tournament went about as I expected. San Diego and Arizona State will both be NCAA Tournament teams this year. As great as it would have been to beat them (or even bring it down to the wire), the only loss the Cougars have dropped the ball in this year was the OT contest against Asheville. The one where the they couldn't throw a beach ball through a hula hoop if they tried.

The schedule eases up from here on out. Following exams is a matchup with non-D1 Coker, then Marist, ODU and Kent State. All of those games are winnable and I'd love to see guys like Wishon, Cook, O'Donohue and Theo Johnson get some burn before conference play. The Cougars could use the boost off the bench after the starters carried them in this game.