Post by The Cats on Dec 13, 2023 19:37:17 GMT -5
GENE HENLEY' Rankings genehenley3.substack.com/p/watch-out-for-the-terriers?r=1jge0p&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
SOCON RANKINGS, DEC. 11
1. UNCG (8-1): The Spartans showed some toughness in an overtime win over Eastern Kentucky, a game UNCG never led in the second half and trailed by as many as 13 in. The Spartans have the best offensive player so far this season by metrics (Mikeal Brown-Jones) as well as the two best defensive players (Kobe and Keyshaun Langley) according to the same measurements. So far this season, they've been the best team in the league and they would be undefeated if not for a hiccup against Vanderbilt in the second game of the year.
This week: Saturday at Marshall (7 p.m.)
2. Samford (8-2): On one hand, the Bulldogs have looked really good in their eight-game win streak, highlighted by an 88-65 dismantling of Louisiana two weeks ago in Birmingham. But that's the thing: All eight of their wins have been at home, two have come against non-Division I teams and four others (South Carolina State, Alabama State, North Carolina A&T and Alabama A&M) are among the 50 worst teams in college basketball. But, they've looked good in dismantling those teams, and forward Achor Achor has taken over the offensive load missed by the absence of Jermaine Marshall, who returned Monday after missing four games due to injury and had 16 points. Rylan Jones (44 assists, 15 turnovers) has done a great job setting the table for others.
This week: Saturday at Belmont
3. Furman (5-5): The Paladins had a slow start to the season defensively, but have begun to turn things around in the past four games, save for the Arkansas lost. So far, they've seemed comfortable attempting to outscore people (much like Wofford), but unlike the Terriers, Furman has the personnel to be better defensively — they just haven't. Some of that has been due to injury as Alex Williams, Tyrese Hughey and most recently, Marcus Foster, have missed time, but Foster, along with guards JP Pegues, PJay Smith Jr., and Williams, have been four of the better offensive players in the league this season. That should be good enough for some wins until the defense catches up.
This week: Thursday at Tulane (7 p.m.)
4. Western Carolina (7-2): Sigh, my preseason pick to win the league had a two-game hiccup in road losses to Gardner-Webb and High Point, but started to right the ship with a win against Big South favorite UNC Asheville on Saturday. One potential issue with the Catamounts is finding the best mix of minutes at the center position: Freshman Corneilous Williams has been one of the team's more consistent players offensively, while senior Charles Lampten has had moments defensively but doesn't offer a lot on the offensive end. Having guards Vonterius Woolbright, Russell Jones and Tre Jackson help on that end, while DJ Campbell and Bernard Pelote have been solid.
This week: Saturday at USC Upstate (4:30 p.m.)
5. UTC (6-3): While the Mocs had a lot of feel-good Sunday in a 112-51 win over NAIA Tennessee Wesleyan, it's still hard to gauge exactly what this team is so far. The offense — usually a strong suit of a Dan Earl-coached team — has been average at best, and when it was really good against Morehead State, the defense let them down by allowing the Eagles to shoot 67% on 2-pointers in an 87-80 loss on Dec. 3. After a hot start, sophomore forward Sam Alexis has cooled some, and while guard Honor Huff and senior Jan Zidek have picked up the slack offensively, neither have really offered up a ton of resistance on the defensive end.
This week: Saturday at Alabama A&M (8 p.m.)
6. Wofford (5-5): The Terriers will be an interesting case study in whether or not a team that has no perimeter defense can simply outscore its opposition. But maybe it's working: Wofford has two wins (over High Point and MTSU) that are better than any that Samford currently has.
This week: Sunday vs. Kentucky Christian (2 p.m.)
7. The Citadel (6-4): The Bulldogs have just gone about their business, having quietly won six of their last seven games. None of them have been particularly impressive, but none of their losses have been particularly embarrassing, either. The Citadel, led by sophomore guard A.J. Smith, has just found a way to control games, and keeping the pace in its favor has led to the recent streak.
This week: Thursday vs. College of Charleston (7 p.m.)
8. ETSU (5-4): The Bucs have been the definition of a team that's just “been hoopin'” this season. Nothing about them has been consistent or impressive, yet with two wins in its final four games ETSU will take a winning record into SoCon play. “Toughness” isn't really a measurement, but it's led to surprising wins over Davidson and Jacksonville State. Senior Ebby Asamoah has been really good this season.
This week: Friday vs. Tusculum (7 p.m.)
9. Mercer (3-6): The Bears haven't been very good to start off the season. The good news is they have a stretch of games — six consecutive — at home that could help turn some of the fortunes of the year around. The bad news is they are 1-1 so far in this current stretch, including an 83-62 loss to South Alabama on Dec. 6 on Education Day at Hawkins Arena, with a crowd of kids chanting “Defense!” to a team that couldn't control the Jaguars on that end of the court. They did follow that up with a four-point win over Georgia State that looks pretty solid, though.
This week: Saturday vs. Florida Gulf Coast (2 p.m.)
10. VMI (2-8): The Keydets don't lack for effort, but they just don't have the talent to compete this season. The offense is ranked 336th in efficiency so far according to KenPom rankings, while the defense is 327th. There hasn't been a win over a Division I team so far this season, and in those same rankings the only projected one left on the schedule is on Dec. 22 against Penn State-New Kensington, which plays in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. Of course, there's always upsets in the SoCon and regardless of record, the Keydets seem to sneak up on teams all the time just based on willingness to play hard for 40 minutes. But regardless, it looks like it'll be a long season this year.
This week: Tuesday at Radford (7 p.m.), Sunday at Longwood (2 p.m.)
SOCON RANKINGS, DEC. 11
1. UNCG (8-1): The Spartans showed some toughness in an overtime win over Eastern Kentucky, a game UNCG never led in the second half and trailed by as many as 13 in. The Spartans have the best offensive player so far this season by metrics (Mikeal Brown-Jones) as well as the two best defensive players (Kobe and Keyshaun Langley) according to the same measurements. So far this season, they've been the best team in the league and they would be undefeated if not for a hiccup against Vanderbilt in the second game of the year.
This week: Saturday at Marshall (7 p.m.)
2. Samford (8-2): On one hand, the Bulldogs have looked really good in their eight-game win streak, highlighted by an 88-65 dismantling of Louisiana two weeks ago in Birmingham. But that's the thing: All eight of their wins have been at home, two have come against non-Division I teams and four others (South Carolina State, Alabama State, North Carolina A&T and Alabama A&M) are among the 50 worst teams in college basketball. But, they've looked good in dismantling those teams, and forward Achor Achor has taken over the offensive load missed by the absence of Jermaine Marshall, who returned Monday after missing four games due to injury and had 16 points. Rylan Jones (44 assists, 15 turnovers) has done a great job setting the table for others.
This week: Saturday at Belmont
3. Furman (5-5): The Paladins had a slow start to the season defensively, but have begun to turn things around in the past four games, save for the Arkansas lost. So far, they've seemed comfortable attempting to outscore people (much like Wofford), but unlike the Terriers, Furman has the personnel to be better defensively — they just haven't. Some of that has been due to injury as Alex Williams, Tyrese Hughey and most recently, Marcus Foster, have missed time, but Foster, along with guards JP Pegues, PJay Smith Jr., and Williams, have been four of the better offensive players in the league this season. That should be good enough for some wins until the defense catches up.
This week: Thursday at Tulane (7 p.m.)
4. Western Carolina (7-2): Sigh, my preseason pick to win the league had a two-game hiccup in road losses to Gardner-Webb and High Point, but started to right the ship with a win against Big South favorite UNC Asheville on Saturday. One potential issue with the Catamounts is finding the best mix of minutes at the center position: Freshman Corneilous Williams has been one of the team's more consistent players offensively, while senior Charles Lampten has had moments defensively but doesn't offer a lot on the offensive end. Having guards Vonterius Woolbright, Russell Jones and Tre Jackson help on that end, while DJ Campbell and Bernard Pelote have been solid.
This week: Saturday at USC Upstate (4:30 p.m.)
5. UTC (6-3): While the Mocs had a lot of feel-good Sunday in a 112-51 win over NAIA Tennessee Wesleyan, it's still hard to gauge exactly what this team is so far. The offense — usually a strong suit of a Dan Earl-coached team — has been average at best, and when it was really good against Morehead State, the defense let them down by allowing the Eagles to shoot 67% on 2-pointers in an 87-80 loss on Dec. 3. After a hot start, sophomore forward Sam Alexis has cooled some, and while guard Honor Huff and senior Jan Zidek have picked up the slack offensively, neither have really offered up a ton of resistance on the defensive end.
This week: Saturday at Alabama A&M (8 p.m.)
6. Wofford (5-5): The Terriers will be an interesting case study in whether or not a team that has no perimeter defense can simply outscore its opposition. But maybe it's working: Wofford has two wins (over High Point and MTSU) that are better than any that Samford currently has.
This week: Sunday vs. Kentucky Christian (2 p.m.)
7. The Citadel (6-4): The Bulldogs have just gone about their business, having quietly won six of their last seven games. None of them have been particularly impressive, but none of their losses have been particularly embarrassing, either. The Citadel, led by sophomore guard A.J. Smith, has just found a way to control games, and keeping the pace in its favor has led to the recent streak.
This week: Thursday vs. College of Charleston (7 p.m.)
8. ETSU (5-4): The Bucs have been the definition of a team that's just “been hoopin'” this season. Nothing about them has been consistent or impressive, yet with two wins in its final four games ETSU will take a winning record into SoCon play. “Toughness” isn't really a measurement, but it's led to surprising wins over Davidson and Jacksonville State. Senior Ebby Asamoah has been really good this season.
This week: Friday vs. Tusculum (7 p.m.)
9. Mercer (3-6): The Bears haven't been very good to start off the season. The good news is they have a stretch of games — six consecutive — at home that could help turn some of the fortunes of the year around. The bad news is they are 1-1 so far in this current stretch, including an 83-62 loss to South Alabama on Dec. 6 on Education Day at Hawkins Arena, with a crowd of kids chanting “Defense!” to a team that couldn't control the Jaguars on that end of the court. They did follow that up with a four-point win over Georgia State that looks pretty solid, though.
This week: Saturday vs. Florida Gulf Coast (2 p.m.)
10. VMI (2-8): The Keydets don't lack for effort, but they just don't have the talent to compete this season. The offense is ranked 336th in efficiency so far according to KenPom rankings, while the defense is 327th. There hasn't been a win over a Division I team so far this season, and in those same rankings the only projected one left on the schedule is on Dec. 22 against Penn State-New Kensington, which plays in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. Of course, there's always upsets in the SoCon and regardless of record, the Keydets seem to sneak up on teams all the time just based on willingness to play hard for 40 minutes. But regardless, it looks like it'll be a long season this year.
This week: Tuesday at Radford (7 p.m.), Sunday at Longwood (2 p.m.)
