Regarding UNCW, besides the loss to William and Mary, our losses to CofC and Elon were by 1 point each. Also, Keatts has made a subtle but very important change to our rotation after the losses to the Tribe, CofC and Elon.
When Cacock went to the bench all year, Marcus Bryan came in for him. Bryan is 6'7" and 240 lbs. but the drop off in play was significant when he came in. Not a good scorer, rebounder, defender, shot blocker, not athletic and couldn't run the court. Keatts is now subbing Chuck Ogbodo for Cacock to the tune of 10-16 minutes per game. Chuck is a 6'9" senior. He can run the court, block shots and defend the post far better than Bryan. He plays with passion and an aggressive style. The drop off in play is barely noticeable when he comes in, because he is actually a better post defender and shot blocker than Cacock.
He was a primary factor in our win at CofC this year. Not sure why, but he as been in the doghouse of Keatts since he arrived. So much so that Keatts played Dylan Sherwood at center instead of Chuck against Duke, when CJ Gettys, Marcus Bryan and Cacock all fouled out in that game. Something has changed in that relationship, and Chuck is now in that primary backup spot.
Watch for him in this tournament. He could be the X factor that allows UNCW to rectify one of its' biggest problems this year with the small four guard offense we play. Our interior defense looks really good when he comes in.
(This post was last modified: 02-28-2017 07:02 AM by 82hawk.)
(02-27-2017 08:05 PM)tribeinexile Wrote: This year feels like 2013 to me.
In that year a W&M team that slightly underperformed lost it opening round game (as a 6 seed) to JMU (the 3 seed). JMU went on to win the tournament.
The game was close and I feel that if we had won it we would have made a run that year.
Whoever wins the 4-5 game this year will also be capable of making a run.
My rosy scenario is that we play the game from inside out, by pounding the ball inside to Whitman, Knight and Prewitt and playing defense with intensity. Maybe we get hot from the outside in the second half but any time you are relying on outside shooting in an arena in which you have never played you are asking for trouble. (The good news is that Elon has never played there either.)
That is what my heart says. My head says we will launch some early threes and if they don't fall we'll be playing from behind the whole game, right up to the final buzzer.
I don't feel that way. This team is way, way better than the 2013 team that had an ugly losing streak in the middle of the season and already lost twice to JMU before getting bounced in the tourney. This team is more like the 2014 team only if they'd split with the #1 seed instead of getting swept by them.
I cannot forecast to you the action of William & Mary's 2016-17 men's basketball team. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is the team's state of mind.
These guys are talented, well coached, and capable. There is no one in the tournament they have not beaten and only 1 to whom they have not lost. My heart is just recovering from the 2014 tournament & to a lesser extent 2015.
I have high hopes for 2017, but 45 years of fandom has taken a toll. I want to go to the dance and cheer my lungs out for these guys. If they find some consistency, they will earn the chance.
