How the SoCon Tournament Could Play Out

There are still about three weeks of regular season basketball left on the schedule, but let's take a moment now to look at how the Tournament in Chattanooga could play out. I know what you're thinking: "CofC is way too inconsistent for this preview to be a reasonable expectation" or "you're only writing this now because CofC is currently in 1st place" or "you're blog doesn't hold my interest for very long." Well, those first two assumptions are certainly correct. Now let's take a look at what our path to March Madness might look like. 

Furman Struggles, Cougars Find Rhythm

Final Score: College of Charleston 73, Furman 54
Top Performances: Andrew Godlike 29 pts, 3 rebs
                                  Trent Wiedeman 11 pts, 7 rebs, 2 ats, 1 blk

"We know who we are." It's what Coach Bobby Cremins kept repeating in his postgame interview and something that I hope is true. After another lopsided victory over a SoCon championship contender, it looks more and more like the Cougars are scratching the surface of what they are truly capable of.

Dedicating the game to their roommate, Donovan, Antwaine and especially Andrew Goudelock all came out on fire. Wiedeman established himself as more than just a fill-in early as he held his own against Furman center Brandon Sebirumbi. Wiggins did his part once again by admirably shutting down Amu Saaka on defense. Donovan became the second scoring option the Cougars always need by finishing with 17 points.

Unfortunately, the scoring at the end of the game was severely unbalanced. Goudelock attempted 22 field goals (nearly half of the team's 51) to finish with 29 points. I think he knew that with Jeremy gone, the team would need his offensive arsenal in this crucial game more than ever. Everyone knows we need his talents, but once the lead was built to double-digits I wish he could've distributed more. He finished with zero assists.

After a few minutes of action, Carlton came off the bench and entered the game. He was noticeably flustered. His first shot was an airball along the baseline and he was getting pushed around by the much heavier Sebirumbi. He got his confidence going after a tip-in basket and got the other half of his points as he calmly swished two free throws. The kid is certainly talented, he just needs the minutes to get adjusted to the game pace and level of competition.

So lets go back to the Cremins quote for a minute. There's no denying that since coming home after that disappointing GSU/Davy road trip, the Cougars have displayed a much more sustainable competitive advantage over opponents. We still base our offense around Drew's ability to score, but the emergence of a low post game as well as Wiggins' epiphany gives us second and third options. Couple that with blue collar grinders like Willis and Donovan and you have a solid starting lineup. Additionally we have one (maybe two) guards coming off the bench who can score or distribute and a long, athletic big man who can give needed spot minutes.

Now let's talk about who the Cougars "are" (or "have become") on defense. Before this week we displayed a night and day disparity of defensive effort on the road and at home. On the road we were slower on defensive rotations and had a tendency to let opposing bigs push us around. After what we did to Dahlman in the second half on Thursday, things might be changing for the better. The double team only works if the entire team is operating as a unit. The guards and the frontline need to be in perfect harmony in order to protect the basket. After the last two games it looks like everything clicked for the Cougars and they all might finally get it.

If the offensive and defensive acuity is in fact what Cremins is talking about when he says "we know who we are", and the team really is turning a corner, there might not be much of a threat in the Socon. Now let's just see if we can duplicate it on the road.

CofC Homecoming vs Furman

College of Charleston (16-7, 9-2)

Furman (17-6, 9-3)

Carolina First Arena 

Tipoff at 4pm on CSS

Not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said. The whole situation with Jeremy could present one of two issues for the players mentally. One is that their minds are with their hospital-ridden teammate, instead of being focused on the game at hand. The other alternative is that they use this game as a sort of tribute to number 21. Hopefully the Cougars will play their heart out and win this one for him. Jeremy's proved year after year that he's a warrior and I know he'll be reacquainted with the team soon.

Trent Wiedeman will get the start next to Willis and James Carlton will see his first significant minutes of the season as the first big off the bench. I know Wiedeman will be able to hold his own. Don't forget that he posted double-doubles in his only two starts of this season. I'm interested to see how Carlton does. Furman has some talented senior forwards in Amu Saaka and Noah States, but their more speed and finesse than sheer bulk like Wofford's front line. This will bode well for Carlton as it matches his skill set.

The game is Homecoming too. In my four years at the College, Homecoming has never been good to us (if any of you remember the disastrous Elon game, you know what I'm talking about). Furman is coming off a hard fought win over Citadel up the peninsula on Thursday. They know what's at stake tonight and are not intimidated by the Cougars at all. I remember watching the game at Furman over winter break and it was a nail biter.

Then again, I thought the Wofford game was gonna come down to the wire too. So let's bring that same intensity and basketball intelligence to the CFA and get another step closer to that regular season championship! Go Cougars!

Simmons has Blood Clot, Out Indefinitely

This according to the Post & Courier. Not good news.

UPDATE: Simmons had a surgical procedure yesterday morning. He did not react well and was placed into the ICU. Here's the updated article from P&C. He's going to need another sugery in a few weeks. Definitely out for today's game.

More on CofC Wofford Game

No Simmons did not lose weight and get a haircut. That really is Wiggins playing defense in the post.

Final Score: CofC 79, Wofford 54

Top Performers: Andrew Goudelock 25 pts, 6 assts

                             Noah Dahlman 22 pts, 9 rebs

                             Honorable mention: Wiggins 13 pts, 6 rebs, 3 assts

Nothing like a good ol' fashioned bounceback win to reinforce a fan's faith in the Cougars. This is exactly the type of win I wanted from CofC going into last night's game. We played the most inspired half of basketball I have seen this season and routed the defending champs by 25. Here are my observations from the game. 

First off, the crowd last night really was the 6th man. I showed up to the CFA at about 5 minutes to 6:00 and was relegated to get in line behind a couple hundred white-clad students. By the time they opened the Student Entrance at 6pm, the line was stretching down George Street. A little after 6:10 there came word that the student section was over capacity. Every fan got the White-Out memo and most students made it their own (looking at you, labcoat-wearing nerds). 

This excitement may have gotten to the Cougars in the first half. We jumped out to a typical first 5 minutes lead behind some Goudelock and Simmons shots. By the time the crowd settled down, Wofford (I mean, Noah Dahlman) started playing their game. I hope it was just nerves from the game atmosphere, but the Cougars could not hold onto the ball. We would have had 3 steals/easy buckets if we could just pick the ball up off the ground. It was extremely frustrating. Couple that with the fact that we couldn't tip a defensive rebound to ourselves and it made for unhappy times in the sea of white. 

Dahlman was killing us in the first half. Like I mentioned, he does all his damage under the basket. There were only two ways he got 15 points and like 5 boards in the first half. They were:

1) Wofford guard gets screen on the perimeter, gets by defender and drives to hoop. Sensing disaster, Charleston big rotates off Dahlman to stop would-be layup. Wofford guard dishes to Dahlman who releases his shot four inches from the basket.

2) Drew Goudelock-wannabe Terrier guard launches ill-advised jumper with hand in his face. Shot predictably bounces of rim. By this time Dahlman has already boxed out Simmons/Hall. Noah tips ball into net.

It was literally that simple in the first half. Thankfully for the Cougars, someone in the locker room made this realization as well.

Cougars Crush Terriers with Big Second Half

A few rapid reactions:

• Cougars were down 2 at halftime due to Dahlman's 15 points. All from less than 3 feet from the basket.
• The second half was a whole different ballgame. The Charleston bigs took turns doubling up on Dahlman and keeping him away from the basket. He was forced to pass it to Wofford's terrible backcourt who, predictably, stunk it up from downtown.
• Speaking of bigs, Trent Wiedeman gave the Cougs so many 2nd, 3rd and even 4th chance opportunities with his offensive rebounding. The boxscore won't do Wheaties justice, he was keeping Noah from getting the ball and usually tipped it to one of our guards.
• Wiggins played his best game of the year. Rather than hanging out around the perimeter he was driving to the basket like he should. He was pulling up from mid-range, crashing the boards and forced a couple turnovers.
• I was not expecting such a dominant Cougars performance. Not after the Davidson game, not this afternoon and certainly not at halftime. 
• Great crowd, great atmosphere and a great win. More to come tomorrow. 

CofC vs Wofford: Round 2

Students rushed the court at last year's White Out Wofford Game

Wofford (12-10, 9-2)

College of Charleston (15-7, 8-2)

Carolina First Arena

Tipoff at 7pm on ESPNU

Big big game for the Cougars. Wofford is a half game up on CofC in the South Division and would sit in the drivers seat with a win in Charleston. A Cougar victory would produce the opposite outcome. It would push Wofford into a tie with Furman (who we play at home Saturday). Beat Furman and we're in very good shape for a tournament bye and regular season title.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The sole focus of Cremins' team right now should be on containing Noah Dahlman and the Terriers. We were able to steal a victory in Spartanburg to close out 2010, but will now be facing a very motivated squad. Until March, Wofford is still the reigning conference champion and a force to be reckoned with in the Socon. The Terriers are currently surging and their only blemish since losing to the Cougars was a tough overtime loss to Furman. The Cougars are headed in the opposite direction; barely getting past the GSU cellar dwellers and losing to Davidson.

It's tough to call what Cremin's game plan is going to be. Based on his past tendencies it's safe to assume he'll follow the general strategy of relying on our guard play to put up more points than Wofford. If this happens, Dahlman will destroy us inside and maybe get Simmons in early foul trouble. At that point the Cougars will have to hope the shooting gods are on our side and we get a high percentage from 3. If not, you might see me slouching in my seat with a bitter look on my face if you're watching ESPNU.

Now, since this is my blog, I'll offer my opinion on how I would face the Terriers. I'd play a much bigger and tougher lineup of Monroe, Goudelock, Hall, Wiedeman and Simmons. Wofford's guards shouldn't be much of a threat and Wiggin's defensive specialties don't warrant a starting role. Monroe is perfectly capable of playing good enough defense on Cameron Rundles. This bigger lineup wouldn't allow Dahlman to do his dirty work under the basket. In a recent article on ESPN, Mike Young stated that he has never seen Noah shoot a jumpshot in a game. That being said, why not have our bigs team up on him to box out his potential foul-drawing and putbacks. If anything maybe we'll get him in foul trouble early and send him to the bench. Maybe this is the game where Trent gets extended minutes again and takes it to Dahlman with his array of aggressive low post moves.

The obvious disadvantage of this lineup is that we'll lose a lot of speed and outside shooting. Wofford might get some steals and fast break points, but we'll still be taking away what they do best. Their offense runs through Mr. D.

Regardless of lineup, tempo or shot selection, I'm hoping to see a good game tomorrow night. I want the Cougars to give it their best shot after getting pushed into a corner and play the way they did at the beginning of the season. If last years contest was used for comparison, the game's gonna come down to the wire. Go Cougars!