MBB: USA South Conference

[scottiedoug]

I just noticed Averett beat Hampden-Sydney and Greensboro did not get run out of the gym against Guilford.

[bballlover]

I agree Scottie. In addition to those Averett won At Hampton-Sydney,Ferrum Beat Eastern Mennenite, Huntingdon Beat Birmingham Southern And Covenant beat both Sewanee and Emory & Henry. E&H On the road. So, overall not a bad start for the USAS.

[Ben Stein Fan]

USA South continues its winning ways with LC beating Oglethorpe and Emory yesterday and today respectively.  Maryville beat Emory yesterday and will face Oglethorpe in a few minutes.  Not sure how the rest of the conference is doing but LC and Maryville are looking good.

[CMR]

Watching the RMC/AU game, and looks like the young RMC team will be going down again.  But why does the AU coach keep yelling at his team,,,,ask them if they want fries, ask them if they want fries?

[mattgrubb]

Murvul beat emory and oglethorpe.  Good news is they beat a top 25 ranked team.  Bad news is emory is not a top 25 team.  Emory did not execute the way eagles teams usually do.  they have players and a coach but they are not ready yet.  Of course its not even december yet.

The young Murvul team could play with anybody.  And I mean anybody, those young kids are talented but they are young.  Some nights they could play with a D1 team and some night they would play right in there trading buckets with a 6th grade team.  They understand the 30,000 foot view which is win, but they have a lot of finer points to learn.  They are awesome to watch.  They are really having fun.  Tons of talent.  Tough.  Play Hard.  Play excited.  I will even breakdown and say they are well coached.  These guys are going to be special in a year or two.  I make the 6th grade team reference as a joke b/c youth causes Coaches' hair to gray and since Lambo is already a silver fox they will cause him to go bald.  I will attend every game I can to see these guys, there will be some big time plays and a lot of fun.  There is energy in that gym that hasn't been seen in a while.  Hoppa, Bowman, Garcia, #11 with the sweet mustache, the big post from some small town no one has ever heard of, there are freshmen everywhere.  Shoffner is a legit stud, so is Brewer.  The big surprise is still Spicer.  That kid has grown up big time.  I wouldn't pick a fight with him.  Im not saying he would take the grubby one bc the grubby one fights dirty but he is about the last guy I would pick a fight with. Gotta say way to go Spicer, thats how you get it done in the off season.

Lagrange looks as good as they have ever looked.  Tough at several positions especially the wing.  They executed well and they have guys who know how to make plays.  Mike White and Mark Wagner both looked good today playing as 27th year Seniors.  I swear they have been there since '86.  It looks like Wallace has a program built there in GA.  There is consistency in his teams from year to year.

Now down to the real winner of the weekend.  In the McGreal/Placeres match up:  This was tough and easy.  As awesome as Raul is, McGreal took this one by two lengths.
First, McGreal has a lush full head of hair and that is immeasurable in value at his age.
Second, Raul doesn't even remember how to change a diaper and McGreal is in the thick of it with a baby and managing Wallace.

Its not that Raul lost, its that Randy has gotten old and isn't as mobile or as quick on his feet as he used to be so Raul doesn't get the opportunity show all of his talents b/c Lambert has been tamed by age. 

I did really like the sweatshirts with the back to back NCAA tournament appearances the Lagrange kids had but I did have to remind my boys at LC that Lambo's sweatshirt would read back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back NCAA tournament appearances.

I can't wait for the USASC regular season and then the USASC/Nick Mitchell Men's Basketball Tournament.  This season is gonna be a blast.

[Ben Stein Fan]

Matt,

If you saw the LC play this weekend, we were without our top reserve.   We have a 6-8 junior college transfer who was out this weekend with the flu.  He shoot over 50% from 3 point land last year and has a chance of being the top scorer for LC this year.  That is not taking anything away from Mark or Alex Bonner. 

[scottiedoug]

Can anybody guard R.J. Jones of the Hawks? I think Huntingdon is going to cause some trouble for the other USASouth teams this year.  Scots hadto score a lot of points to beat them.  I hope the young Scotties will pay attention to Randy's entreaties about the importance of defense...it is fun to outscore people but all that talent can play defense, too.  If it wants to.

[mattgrubb]

Yes the Scotty puppies need to learn some defense. While they can score via the dunk, they give up a lot of points. 105 points to Johnson U should be their point total for 3 games. You can't expect the puppies to know everything after having played 7 college basketball games. They are learning quickly. They will only be cute little puppies for about 12 more games. They grow up so fast but they are so cute when they are young. If these kids figure out the details it's gonna be a fun season.

The kid from Huntingdon can get it. He will be a nightmare match up in the Men's USA South/Nick Mitchell Basketball Tournament.

I am still leaning towards the 27th year Seniors that Wallace has at Lagrange to 3 peat. Wagner and White have played in every GSAC and USA South game for Lagrange since they went D3. They have a ton of experience. They execute well and can make buckets. The biggest difference between those 46 year old seniors and the Scotty puppies is the ability to lock down and defend when necessary. But that skill comes with experience and no one has more experience than Wagner and White.

2 big ones coming up for the pups with Birmingham on the road and Berry in Murvul. Could lead to a great Christmas at the Lambert household. 

[scottiedoug]

I hope the young'uns do not have to get beat by defensive indifference a few times before they commit themselves to the task.
Bad days on offense happen even with a ten or eleven person rotation....

[Ben Stein Fan]

Matt,

Look forward to the matchup of big men for BSC and MC.  Avery #24 for BSC is a great D3 player.  Against LC he has 26 points 21 rebounds and 5 assists.  He dominated the game.  Outside of him, BSC has role players.  #5 could have a great game but seems to be a little inconsistent. 

Berry likes to get up the court.  Expect another shootout when MC plays BC.

[Scots13]

As one of the MC football guys lurking around the basketball board, I'm just glad to see some excitement around the program again.

[scottiedoug]

Yeah Scots13.  As you know, a lot of effort goes a long way toward winning and excitement.

[Ben Stein Fan]

LaGrange used a dominant second half to beat Methodist 97-79.  Methodist was leading at half 44-39.  LC's starting guards put on a clinic in the second half.  I am hoping LaGrange can continue its winning ways when they travel down to Daytona to play Lynchburg and Eastern Connecticut. 

I was impressed by Covenant's score.  They beat a good BSC team pretty handily. 

[scottiedoug]

Maryville got stomped at Birmingham Southern.  My fear that the youngscots have not adopted defense as a serious ingredient in winning ball games may have been evident.  Giving up 99 points to a 2 - 5 team should be a teaching moment.  I hope.

[Ben Stein Fan]

Scottie,

BSC is a good team, I am surprised by their record.  I am not sure why BSC is inconsistent.  I am looking forward to how LaGrange does against Lynchburg and Eastern Connecticut.